Gender Confusion, Evolution & The Refusal to Excommunicate (Consequences of Not Making Application)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. I've told you what is right. Now let's get into what's wrong. Can we do that for a few minutes?

How long do I have? I need a lot of time to talk about what's wrong. Say, Pastor, but you could have just, you know, the past 15 -20 minutes, you could have just said, the Bible is the word of God, it's our authority.

That would have been enough. But I had to show you from the scripture. I gave you the correct interpretation. But a lot of people, they have their private interpretations. Okay, so let's get into that.

The Problem of Private Interpretations

That's the name of the message, private interpretations. Here's the problem. A lot of people today, this is how they view the Bible. It can mean whatever I want it to mean. Here's the thing, the text has one meaning, but many applications.

Okay, the Bible can apply to a lot of different things. But it really only has one meaning. When people get it wrong, and let's face it, we've all gotten things wrong, right? There are some parts of the Bible that are really hard to understand.

Sometimes when people get it wrong, it's an honest mistake. We want to have grace when people get it wrong. Other times, it's a reckless mistake. The Bible warns in James 3 verse 1, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.

Not everybody is qualified to be a teacher. So sometimes it's an honest mistake. Sometimes people are teaching, they really don't have any business teaching because they don't know enough. I mean, if I was a math teacher, that was always my worst subject in school.

You wouldn't want me as a math teacher. It just wouldn't work out. I have no business teaching certain things, but you get the point. But sometimes it's not an innocent mistake. Sometimes it's not even a reckless mistake.

Sometimes people already have their minds made up. They know what they want the Bible to say, so they take it and they twist it or they quote unquote reinterpret it to mean sometimes the opposite of what it says.

So let me go back to that statement that I wanted to title the message. If your interpretation of scripture results in you believing the opposite of what the text says, what you have is not an interpretation.

What is it? It's a denial of the text. But a lot of people do this. They, well, I believe the Bible. And then when they tell you what the Bible says, it's like, no, that you're denying what the scripture obviously says.

Let's give a few examples. OK, if you're falling asleep, you'll wake up for this one. OK, this issue today of gender confusion, I think by now we've all heard about it. It's big in the culture. It's being pushed by the government.

It's being pushed by the large corporations. We just saw that for the past month. Target and all these big businesses, they're pushing it. They used to say this about Christians, you know, you evangelicals, you're just trying to shove your faith down people's throat.

Remember that? Well, they don't mind shoving this down people's throat, but that's the double standard. But here's the thing. It's being pushed so hard by the government and the large corporations. Eventually, it's going to trickle down into the local churches.

And that's what's happening today. There are a lot of people trying to reinterpret the Bible to make it fit with this, you know, trans movement. For example, I heard one person. Are you ready? Brace yourselves.

One person said one professing Christian, I might add, said this. You know, the Bible says that in Christ there is neither male nor female. So that means you can kind of go either way. Is that what the apostle Paul meant?

I assure you it's not what he meant. You say, well, that's ridiculous. Yeah, but there's people making that argument. And of course, that's a twisting of scripture. The context has nothing to do with that.

And I almost feel foolish repeating it, honestly. But that type of thing is more common than you think. Just think, if you heard that, how would you refute it? You can't just tell someone, well, that's ridiculous.

That's stupid. You need to have an actual response to be able to explain to them what the text means. And what's our goal? Just to tell people they're wrong? That's not our goal. Our goal is to win people over because we love people and we want to see them converted to Christ.

So that's one thing that people do. And they're going, people who are pushing this movement, they're going by feelings, right? They're going by experience. Remember Peter? He had that experience on the mountain with Jesus.

But did he base everything on that experience? No, he based it on what? The more sure word of prophecy. He based his beliefs on the scripture. So let me say this. If a person goes by feelings, and you listen to people's experiences and the way they feel, I have no doubt that there are many men and women and young people who are confused.

Matter of fact, I know there's a lot of people who are confused, especially young people. And they may really be convinced of some of these things. And based on their feelings, it seems legitimate. I'll say that much.

And I do have sympathy because I think for a lot of young people, they are being, again, pushed into that. So I don't doubt that makes sense if people base things on how they feel. But, you know, feelings can be deceptive.

Don't you know that? How did you feel when you were a teenager? I mean, you thought all sorts of different things. It's a hard time in life, right? So if you base things on feelings, I sort of get where some of them might be.

I mean, with that, I don't. But I understand there might be a lot of confusion going on. I think we can bring facts into the equation that XX and XY chromosomes, that's actually what determines a person's gender.

But long before scientists discovered that, as Christians, where do we base our beliefs on? Where do we base our teachings on? Where do we get these things? From where? From Scripture. Genesis 1, 27 says,.

So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. Any questions? There's no third option. Male and female, he created them. So these people are made in the image of God.

According to Romans 2, God's law is written on their heart. And deep down, they know it's true that they were either born male or female. So we just have to pray for them in appeal, maybe to their common sense.

Use the word of God. Try to cut through all the brainwashing that they're getting, whether it's in the public school system, social media, or elsewhere. Try to get through to them before they do irreversible damage to their body.

But some people will use the Bible, and they'll try to justify it. That in Christ, there's neither male nor female. Here's another private interpretation of the Bible. We could talk about the Big Bang Theory in evolution, right?

Here's the thing about that. That is absolutely impossible. That the whole universe essentially created itself from nothing for no reason. Or that bacteria evolved into monkeys, who eventually over time turned into men.

Now, an atheist who is against God is going to latch on to whatever they want to latch on to, to justify their position. But as Christians, where do we look? The Scripture. The Scripture is very clear that God created the heavens and the earth in how many days?

Six days. Adam was created on day six. And then it gives the timeline of how long Adam lived, and his descendants, how long they lived, to write down until today. And you realize what that means. According to what the Bible teaches, the earth is actually around 6 ,000 years old.

Well, you Christians are ridiculous for believing that. Okay, you believe that the universe created itself out of nothing. You know, but people, and listen, the atheists, the skeptics, the mockers, I'm not mad at them.

You know, I'm not mad at them. I realize that's what they were taught. People are a product of their environment and what they have been taught. Here's what I'm against. Professing Christians who twist the Word of God and try to make the Bible say something it does.

So here's the private interpretation. Exodus 20 verse 11 says, For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them. So what's their private interpretation? They'll say, well, when the Bible says a day, what that really means is millions of years.

Is that what it says? Or when the Bible says a day, what that really means is it could be a billion years. Well, that's not what it says. I don't know what they do with Genesis 1, 24 and 25, which keeps repeating how everything reproduces according to its kind.

And in Matthew 19, Jesus reaffirms all of these things with gender and marriage. And Jesus believed in Adam and Eve. But, you know, they'll latch on to a verse and take it out of context. But I think you get the point.

So when somebody does this, they come up with their own reinterpretation of the Bible. Hey, listen, a day means how long?

A day.

It actually says an evening and the morning were the first day. A day means a day. That's a literal interpretation. That's believing the Bible. But if you say a day means a billion years, that's a private interpretation.

The Bible never says that. Matter of fact, it would indicate the exact opposite. So you get the point. But this is more common than you might think. And for a lot of people, if you can just gain a lot of followers, a lot of people going along with what you're saying, it seems to have credibility.

So I don't want to come up with my own private interpretations. I want to teach what the Scripture actually says. Now, my second point, Jesus said in Matthew 4, 4, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

The Call to Live by Every Word of God

So we should not only hear the Scripture and believe the Scripture, we should do what, according to Jesus? Live by it.

Right?

So some people reinterpret the Bible to make it say the opposite of what it says. Some people are doing that. Sometimes it's an honest mistake. Sometimes it's reckless. Sometimes it's intentional. Here's the second problem.

People's refusal at times to apply the Word of God. Jesus says we should live by every word. You know, one thing I've discovered, and if you take notes, write this down. Over time, I have discovered that application is everything.

If you do not apply the Word of God to the modern day, it's a text that was written thousands of years ago about things that happened thousands of years ago. And as long as it's in the past, it has no relevance to our lives.

Isn't this the way people view the Bible today? They say this book is totally irrelevant. And as long as you keep it in the past, you know, that might be true. So we need to apply the Word of God. So some try to reinterpret it.

Others will affirm what Scripture says, but they refuse to actually do it. This is happening right now locally. There is a known false teacher. The Scripture is very clear. This has been going on for years.

There's a guy who's going from church to church, church event to men's breakfast. He's come here. He's gone other places. And he tells people, hey, I believe I'm a Christian. I believe the Bible. But then some of us have heard what he said online on his podcast where he is denying the Scriptures.

He's actually teaching pantheism and that you can get to God through Buddha as well. What does the Bible say? Okay, so you talk to the guy after the first and second admonition reject. So and I know that a lot of people don't like this because they were brought up in a church that just doesn't do this.

The Bible requires excommunication for an individual like that. If someone tries to come into a church and he has those heretical beliefs, the church is called to not allow him in the fellowship until he repents.

And that's obviously the goal. We pray for repentance and reconciliation. But the Scripture says that he is to be disciplined and put out of the church. You realize this church, they don't want to do that.

They are actually welcoming him into the local churches. He went to this past year's men's retreat where he was allowed to take communion. You know, so here's the thing. If you can just believe whatever you want, do whatever you want, be admonished, and you just continue to live however you want, and the Bible calls for excommunication, but a church refuses to do that, what are they doing?

They're refusing to apply the Scriptures, refusing to apply the Word of God. Do you realize the path to God's blessing is obedience? So I believe the Bible. Well that's great, but if you don't actually apply it, what good is it to say I believe?

We have to apply the Word of God. Just imagine when God said to the children of Israel to remember He told them to enter into the land of Canaan, enter the promised land. Some could have reinterpreted that and say, well I think when God said enter into the promised land what He actually meant was don't enter.

Again, you say, well that's ridiculous. Here's what they actually did though. They say, yes, God did tell us to enter into the land, but we can't because there's giants in the land. So they affirmed what God said.

They didn't try to reinterpret it, they just refused to apply the Word. They wouldn't go in, right, because they had all these excuses. Let's turn to the book of James, and we're almost done, but I just really want to kind of hit this point that the Word of God, it means what it says, and you have to apply it.

Because I think for a generation a lot of churches just didn't want to actually apply the Word. And you know why a lot of people leave churches, or they leave Christianity altogether? Sometimes it's because they say, well it's just not working for me.

Christianity it's not doing anything for me, it's not working for me. Well why is it not working? I would argue it's because they're not actually applying the Word. They're reading it, some believe it and some don't, but even those who say they believe, they're not actually doing it.

They're not actually living it out. That's why it's not working. So we need to stir one another up. As Peter said, I say these things to remind you that this is the authority and we have to listen. So the book of James is really a book all about applying the Scripture.

Remember faith without works is what?

Dead.

You say you're a Christian, you say you believe the Bible, but you're not willing to actually do anything about it, that's a dead faith, it's worthless, it's pointless. You might as well have no faith at all.

That's what he's saying and that's a crucial thing. James 1 verse 22, he says, Doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror.

For he observes himself, goes away and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this one will be what?

Blessed in what he does. You can read through the Bible, the children of Israel, the book of Exodus and Numbers and Joshua in particular. You see how God punishes the children of Israel. Have you ever read these stories?

Why did God do that? Did He want to punish them? Did He want to send, you know, the fiery serpents and all those things? Did God want to do that? No. God wanted to bless His people abundantly. But it required something.

They had to actually do what He said. They had to believe what God said and then do it. And when they didn't do it, they were not blessed. But there were certain men, you know, men like Joshua, who were just blessed beyond measure.

That's a person God can truly use and truly bless, the one who is not only a hearer of the word, but also a doer. So again, the reason why a lot of people, Christianity isn't working for them, sometimes it's because they believe the wrong things and wrong beliefs will lead to wrong practice.

That's one problem. Other times, people believe the right things, they're just not willing to apply it. Now, I will warn you. If you try to uphold the godly standard and you actually seek to apply the word of God to your life, upholding that standard, people will get upset.

That will happen. They might even call you that dreaded P word or the L word, you know, legalist or a Pharisee. And if that happens, just remind them that the Pharisees were not guilty. They were not the enemies of Jesus because they obeyed the Bible.

That was not the problem, folks. The Pharisees were not the enemy of Christ because they upheld the godly standard. The problem with the Pharisees is that they said one thing and they did another. The problem with the Pharisees is they said, but they did not do.

That's according to Jesus himself. So, the Pharisees, they had the word of God, they believed the word of God, so they claimed, but they reinterpreted it through their man-made tradition to actually nullify the scriptures.

The Difference Between Hearing and Doing

So, my appeal to you, so in conclusion, if there's someone here today where Christianity just isn't working for you, and you say, you know, I'm trying to come to church on Sunday or, you know, when I have time or I'm reading the Bible and, you know, I'm trying to do that, but it's just not really working out.

Let me just ask you this. Do you believe every word of the Bible? Or are there some passages you just don't like? And you know you don't like it. And you're trying to reinterpret it to make it say something else.

God can't bless that. The second problem, if Christianity isn't working for you, you're not feeling blessed by God. Let me just ask you to evaluate your life. Are you actually taking the principles in God's word and applying them?

Are you living it out? Are you a hearer of the word only? Or are you actually a doer of the word? Let me read that verse again. James 1 .22. But be doers of the word and not hearers only. Otherwise, you're deceiving yourself.

Verse 25. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be, what does it say? Blessed in what he does. Do you want to be blessed this morning?

I pray you do. So if so, be a doer of the word.

Amen?

Amen.

Let's pray. And Lord, how thankful we are for this reminder to be a doer of the word and not a hearer only. And Father, may you reveal more of your truth to us as we shed our private interpretations. Lord, I know there's been times where I've been wrong, many times where I've been wrong, but I can always count on this, that you and your word is always right.

So Lord, help us to realize this, to walk in that, to hold fast that more sure word of prophecy, which is the Holy Scriptures. And Lord, I ask you that you would stir up your people through your Holy Spirit, help us all to be encouraged, to continue to fight that good fight of faith, to not only run the race, but to finish the race and to finish strong.

Lord, some are reaching that final mile, others have just started, but we're all moving closer to the prize, which is in Christ Jesus. And finally, Lord, if there's anyone listening today who has never chosen to follow Christ, may you change their heart to receive you, even now at this very moment, that they might become a doer and not a hearer only.

And I ask all these things in Jesus' name. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornickchurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.