WWUTT 890 Q&A Inviting Unbelievers, Same-Sex Couple Baby Showers, and the Bible Whispers About Sexual Sins?

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Does the Bible say not to invite unbelievers into your home? Should you attend a baby shower for a same -sex couple?

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And does the Bible whisper about homosexual sin? Some sensitive topics today, but the Bible has answers for them when we understand the text.

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This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible study in the Word of Christ. If you'd like to submit a comment or a question to our ministry, email us at whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. You're welcome. Being Friday, we are responding to questions from listeners.

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And if I've got time at the very end, I've also got an email from somebody asking about the latest video, which critiques a statement that was made by J .D.

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Greer in a sermon he preached at his church back in January. So I'll play that video and also the criticism that we received regarding that toward the end if we've got time.

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But first, on Twitter, there was a liberal professor at a liberal arts college, small college

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I'd never even heard of before. I had to look it up, even find out where it was. But he made this tweet.

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He made the following tweet. Now, this guy teaches some kind of religion class, but he's not a Christian. As I was looking through his

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Twitter, yeah, he's not a believer. Here was what he tweeted. He said, what's your favorite example of something that people see in the biblical texts, but that isn't actually there?

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And he said, my two favorites. Number one, the apple in Eden, because they did not actually eat an apple.

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It doesn't say that in the text anyway, that it was an apple that they ate. And then number two, Moses floating down the

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Nile. Yeah. When I had first heard about this tweet, I thought it was

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Moses as a grown man floating down the Nile. I was totally confused. Like, when did that happen?

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When was Moses doing the dead man's float down the Nile? That's kind of weird.

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No, in the story in Exodus 2, it says that they made a basket for him, covered it in pitch so it would be waterproof, and they just set it in the reeds.

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So he wasn't actually ever floating down the Nile, and then just ended up in Pharaoh's daughter's bath area or something.

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That was who came down into the Nile to bathe and found Moses in a basket in the reeds, but he never floated in her direction.

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And then Moses' sister was nearby watching to see who would find the basket and who would take

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Moses. And then came to Pharaoh's daughter and says, I know somebody who can nurse him for you, which was

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Moses' mother. Moses' mother got paid to raise her own child. How would you like that?

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Ah, that would be an interesting... I don't know. I don't think

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I would like that so much, but I mean, if I had to, I would settle for it. Sure. I mean, Moses wasn't in his mother's home.

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Right. He grew up in the palace. But anyway. Right. You'd still get paid for raising your own child.

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That would be an interesting time period. Interesting arrangement. Yes. Arrangement.

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That's a good way of working it. Anyway. Yes. I'm joking about something that was actually extremely tragic because of the number of Israelite children that were killed.

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Anyway, so some of the responses to this tweet were really good and pretty common.

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We've even addressed some of these myths in various what videos, things that people say are in the

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Bible, but are not actually there. One of my favorites was the Daniel diet. Because this diet that Daniel and his friends were on was not...

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it didn't cause them to lose weight. It caused them to gain weight. Gain weight. Yes. And muscle.

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Right. So, it's very funny. Yes. When somebody will use that to say, hey, now we need a

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Daniel diet plan. Yeah. That's so funny. To help you lose weight. This one was good. The Book of Revelations.

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Oh, yeah. Because it's the Book of Revelation. Right. Singular. Not Revelations.

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An innkeeper in the story of Jesus' birth. Mm -hmm. The Immaculate Conception, of course, which is the

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Catholic doctrine that claims that Mary was born without sin. That's not in the Bible. Computer chips are the mark of the beast, right?

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You know what I'm talking about? No. You really don't know what that reference is? No. All of the... We have not watched enough corny apocalyptic rapture movies, babe.

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I'm okay with that. I'm okay with being out of the loop on that one.

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They all... All of them are a little computer chip in the back of the hand or in the forehead, and that's the mark of the beast.

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Okay. Okay. Right. Because whenever they were chipping people, they started talking about chipping people that...

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Everybody's like, it's the mark of the beast. Right. Yeah. Right. Right. Okay. I'm following you now. But that's not in the Bible. Okay. Right.

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And admittedly, people who claim that that's the way that the mark of the beast is going to be, they're not saying that's in the

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Bible that way. It's just the logical conclusion based on our modern technology and the way things are going these days.

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Yeah. Yeah. I still hold that the mark of the beast is figurative. It's not literal. So you think of the command that's given to us in Deuteronomy chapter six, starting in verse six, these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

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You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

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So may the work of your hands and the things that you look at, the thoughts that you think, may everything that you do be conformed to the word of God.

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You think of the contrast to that being the mark of the beast. Right. That people who do the things that they have seen their father, the devil do.

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Going back to what we've referenced earlier this week in John chapter eight, verse 44, you are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires.

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So those who do the works of Satan will show by their hands, by their works that they do, that they're children of Satan and the thoughts they think with their head, the frontlets between the eyes.

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Yeah. That they think the thoughts of the devil rather than the thoughts of God. So that's just the contrast to God's instruction to his people, that his word should be as a sign on our hand and as frontlets between your eyes.

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Gotcha. So anyway, that's the way that I understand the mark of the beast. But when you unhitch the help. From the

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Old Testament, right. Somebody else made the comment, Apache helicopters are also not in the

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Bible. That comes from the late great planet Earth, which was the Hal Lindsay book. Okay.

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Yeah, you didn't. No. You've never heard that? No. You missed that whole rapture period of, yeah.

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That's okay. The whole rapture literature. The statement,

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God helps those who help themselves. Yes. Also not in the Bible. That the devil's real name is Lucifer.

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Also did a what video on that one. People laughing at Noah for building an ark. That's true.

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That's not actually mentioned in the scriptures. We just assume that would be the case. Right. But that isn't mentioned.

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Jesus changed Saul's name to Paul. Now, to be honest,

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I've actually never heard a preacher say that. I've never heard a pastor say that Jesus changed

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Saul's name to Paul. I think we just kind of assume that God changed his name.

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Right. But the reality is that they were both his name. Saul was his Hebrew name. Right. Paul was his

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Gentile name. So it's not that Paul changed his own name. But when he went to preach to the

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Gentiles, which is what God was calling him to do. He used his

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Gentile name since he was a Roman citizen. Right. So that the Gentiles would be more receptive of him.

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As he said to the Corinthians, I became all things to all people. So to the Gentiles, he became as a Gentile. Right. He would use a

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Gentile name so that they wouldn't immediately dismiss this guy as, oh, he's preaching about his Jewish God. Right.

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We don't want to hear about that. So sort of like Francis and Francesca, same name.

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Is it? Yeah. Oh, okay. For a girl. Yes. Okay. I was going to say, I don't think I know many men named

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Francesca. No. Francis is short for Francesca, I guess, or it's the

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English equivalent to the Italian name. Is that what that would be? Yeah. Or the Latin name? They're the same name.

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And like one's Italian and one's American. Okay. So. Sure. That'll work. And then.

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I learned it on one of my old movies. And then lastly, the Rapture.

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Yes. There's another one. Now, you kind of have to qualify that one, though, because the

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Rapture is in the Bible, but it's the same event as the return of Christ. It's not like there's a secret rapture that takes place where everybody just disappears.

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That's not in the Bible. But then after that, there were a bunch of folks that just kind of hijacked that thread.

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Of course, since the guy posting it in the first place. Well, naturally. Is a liberal. He's not even a believer himself.

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So a bunch of people posted a bunch of stuff that was just, frankly, clueless to what the text actually says.

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For example, a woman named Kimberly. Well, I'll say this. They're not only clueless to what the text says, they're even clueless to what the

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Christian arguments even are. It's like they've never actually listened to what a Christian has to say about what the

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Bible says concerning this matter or this issue. So this woman named Kimberly says, this is something that is not in the scriptures.

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I wish everybody knew is not actually in the biblical text. She says the only people called to evangelize about the resurrection of Christ were or are men.

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Where has she ever heard that the only people called to evangelize about the resurrection of Christ are men?

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Unless you find some fringe lunatic, I've never heard anybody say that only men should be evangelizing or sharing the good news of the resurrection of Christ with anybody.

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I don't even know where she gets that from. Another woman named

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Terry said, what's not in the Bible, an absolute edict against women speaking in church.

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Again, where has she ever heard that argument? So these are all straw man arguments. Nobody has ever said these things before.

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Now the reason why I singled out these comments is because they had dozens of likes on them.

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So it's not like somebody just made a comment. It was just some random comment, but they were also well liked by the other people who were leaving comments.

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So multiple people believe what these two women were saying. Interesting. Another fellow by the name of Johnson said,

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I wish people realized that there is no harmony between the gospels. I sent him our what video on that.

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Awesome. A fellow named JC said, there is no coherent narrative in the

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Bible, which is absurd. But of course, as it says in first Corinthians 2, 14, the naturally minded man cannot understand the things of God, or even in first Corinthians 1, 18, where it says the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God.

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A fellow by the name of Andrew says, God is a man, is not in the Bible.

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Now there's a sense in which that's true, because Jesus says in John 4, God is spirit.

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And those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. But the way that God has revealed himself to us and referred to himself is in the masculine.

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And so we must refer to him in the masculine, not in the feminine. Jesus, of course, was a man.

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So he means as a male or a man? Yeah, I don't know.

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That statement's not qualified. Okay. I'm not sure. Yeah. So like I said, there is a sense in which that's true.

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Right. Because God is spirit. But it seems like just based on the nature of the people who are leaving comments and the number of people that liked that comment.

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Very true. Yeah. He's trying to oppose God being referred to in the masculine at all.

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Another fellow named Andrew, different Andrew, said something that's not in the

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Bible. But I wish everybody knew it's not in the Bible. And he had dozens of likes on this comment. Okay. Monotheism.

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Hmm. Yet, Exodus 20, verse 3, God said, You shall have no other gods before me.

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That's interesting. Deuteronomy 6, I've already quoted, starting at verse 6, verses 4 and 5 say,

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Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength.

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And then, let's see, Isaiah 44, 8, Is there a God besides me? There is no rock.

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I know not of any. And then later on, chapter 45, verse 5, I am the Lord. There is no other besides me.

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There is no God. That's monotheism, folks. Right. There is only one God.

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A fellow by the name of Benjamin said, There is no creatio ex nihilo in the

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Bible, or created out of nothing. Oh, okay. That's what that is in Latin. So, Hebrews 11, 3 says,

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By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

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Someone else said, A prohibition on polygamy. That's not in the Bible. Now, there's a certain sense in which that's true.

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There is no absolute statement that's made in the Bible, Thou shalt not be a polygamist or have multiple wives.

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But you have one man and one wife. Yes. But, yeah, right. Jesus' statement in Matthew 19.

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Be a man of one wife. Right. That's the qualification for an elder, is that he must be a one -woman man.

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He must be the husband of one wife. Because if he's going to be the example of spiritual maturity to his congregation, this is

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God's intention for marriage, that there would be one man and one wife. And so, he must set that example for his congregation.

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There are people that have raised the argument and have said, you know, that statement in particular means that there were a lot of people in that particular time, in the first century

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Greco -Roman world, that had multiple wives. But an elder of the church could not have multiple wives.

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He had a multiple personality disorder wife, couldn't have that either. Yeah, there you go. He had to be a one -woman man, because that's the standard.

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That's what God originally intended marriage to be, that it would be one man and one woman for life.

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Because he made only Eve for Adam. That's right. And Jesus points this out in Matthew 19.

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And by the way, John 1, 3 says that all things were created by him and for him, so it is

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Jesus Christ who created marriage. So he's saying in Matthew 19, here's what I made marriage to be.

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Right. That a man shall leave his father and his mother and be united to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh, two, one flesh.

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So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let man not separate.

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Another way you can understand that, and I'm not adding to the text or changing the text to say this, what

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God has created, let man not redefine. So this is the way that God intended for marriage to be.

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Now let's say a missionary went into another part of the world, and he's evangelizing to a people group in which the husbands have many wives.

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If he becomes a Christian, more often than not, the missionary will not encourage the man to only be united to his first wife and then dismiss all the others.

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Because what ends up happening is children grow up without fathers. And so that would be a terrible situation for that culture in particular, but rather they would remain faithful to their wives, not marry any other wives, and teach their children to only have one spouse.

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That's how they should go about doing that. So again, there's no absolute prohibition on polygamy, and you have men in the

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Bible who did have multiple wives, Abraham, Jacob, David. But those are not a permissive text.

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That's not God saying it's okay to have multiple wives. Another person said that the

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Bible doesn't say everyone is descended from Adam and Eve. Yeah, on the contrary, it does.

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I was gonna say. We have all descended from Adam and have inherited his sin nature.

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That's Romans chapter five and also first Corinthians chapter 15. So that is stated in the text, but also if you follow the genealogies.

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Follow the genealogies in Genesis, and you follow the genealogies even as they pertain to Christ or more specifically the one in Luke because it goes all the way back to Adam.

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But there you have all men of creation, all men and women, are descended from Adam and Eve.

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They are our great, great, great, great, 10 times something power grandparents. I was gonna say. Are you gonna say all that?

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All right, now let's get to our actual questions here from our listeners. This first one comes from Joseph, and he says, hello,

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Pastor Gabe and Becky. My name is Joseph from Hampstead, Maryland. Thank you for your ministry. It's truly been a blessing to me.

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I listen to your Q &A session every week on the way to work. I have the following two questions that are unrelated in nature.

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So I'll do the first question, we'll answer that one, and then we'll do a second question. Sounds good. First, in light of 2

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John 9 -11, how do you feel about inviting unbelievers in your home?

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Recently, my wife and I welcomed two Mormon missionaries into our home to share the true gospel and to expose the darkness of Mormonism.

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Typically, I would suggest meeting in a cafe or a public location, but in this case, we have a newborn, so the home was more convenient.

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The meeting went really well, and when we ended, they seemed to ponder the gospel and asked to take home a

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Bible. So here's 2 John 9 -11, and this is in the New American Standard, because this is what

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So this is your response to them? To him? Yes. Okay. Right. But reading the text that he sent me in the

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New American Standard. Oh, he did? Yes. So he says, anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have

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God. The one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house and do not give him a greeting, for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.

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Okay. So to understand the context of this, whether or not we should be inviting unbelievers into our home.

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Right. Or is 2 John telling us that that's prohibited? Christians should not invite unbelievers into our home.

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Go back to the very beginning of the letter. Okay. 2 John, starting in verse 1. The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom

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I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever.

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Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the

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Father's Son in truth and love. I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the

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Father. And now I ask you, dear lady, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one that we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.

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And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.

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And then at the conclusion of the letter, I'm going to skip down to the conclusion, last two verses, though I have much to write to you,

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I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face so that our joy may be complete.

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The children of your elect sister greet you. Now there are some who interpret this letter as John writing to a particular woman, but the elect lady in this case is the church.

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This is the church and her children, those who are part of this particular congregation.

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For John to say, I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children are walking in the truth.

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So in his first letter, the first epistle of John, which is first John, he's writing to several churches.

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Several churches have received that letter. Second John is to one church, and then the letter to third

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John, or letter to third John, third John, which is his third epistle, is specifically to one person, and that is

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Gaius. So we have a letter that's written to multiple churches. We have a letter written to one church, and then we have a letter written to a single individual.

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That's the way that John's epistles are laid out. When we get to verses nine through 11, which says that if anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting.

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The reference to house is the same as reference to an elect lady. It's the church.

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Right. It's the church. Lady is figurative, house, and therefore her house is figurative. It's a reference to the church.

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So don't let anyone come in teaching a different gospel. That's basically what that means.

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Now you have somebody who is curious about the gospel. They've heard it. They want to hear more about it.

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Sure. Come on in. Regardless of whether or not they are a believer, because apparently the

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Holy Spirit is wooing them to something, though there should be an expectation that over a period of time they're eventually going to repent of their sin and follow

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Jesus Christ. So anyway, using discernment there as to how long that process should take. But regarding this question about what this means about inviting a person into your home, this is in regards to the church and not letting a person teach any different gospel.

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And we find that instruction multiple places. Paul saying it to Timothy, 1 Timothy chapter 1. Paul rebuking the

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Galatians for even believing a different gospel in Galatians chapter 1. So don't let anyone bring a teaching other than that which flows from the sound words of our

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Lord Jesus Christ. So therefore, this passage, 2 John verse 10, does not mean you shouldn't be inviting unbelievers into your home.

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Now I will say, though, I'm kind of troubled at the number of Christian teachers I will hear say you need to open up your home to unbelievers.

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You need to have unbelievers. I've heard it a lot. Yeah, and have them around your table and play with your kids and I'm going, no.

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There are people who are unbelievers I do not want in my home. We will meet in a neutral location, but I'm not going to have you in my house.

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I don't trust your speech. I don't trust your language. I see no obligation to have to do that. Now, I will say you should be hospitable to the people in your church.

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And if you've got somebody in your church, you've seen that family there. Maybe you've gone to church with them for a couple of years, but you've never really gotten to know them before.

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Invite them over for dinner. Open your house up, eat some dinner, talk

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Christ. Yeah, play a game. But don't feel obligated to have to invite your unbelieving neighborhood to your house.

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There's no obligation on you to have to do that. But if you do, if you do invite an unbeliever into your home, that's fine.

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You're not somehow going against 2 John verse 10, but you would be if you were to put them in your pulpit.

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Right. Or give them a Sunday school class or something. And they start teaching something to somebody that is not at all the gospel.

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Gotcha. That would be bad. And there are surprisingly a lot of churches that do this because they want to get people plugged in.

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Okay. And so just because they've expressed, hey, I love Jesus, and I'd love to volunteer.

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You know, give me a Sunday school class to teach. There's a lot of people who I've come across that are, they seem like they're still babies in the faith, and they're given a platform to like really speak out and write articles and whatever.

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And I'm just like, I don't think that they're ready for that kind of platform.

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Like it's just, it's too much too soon. And they really need to have more growth and be mentored more.

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Yeah. Or even just tested for crying out loud. Oh, yeah. I mean, like, do you even understand, articulate the gospel for me?

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Can you even tell me what that is? I have a pastor friend who, when he took over the church that he was hired at, sat down with the elders and asked them to explain to him the gospel, and even they couldn't do it.

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Wow. So just because a person claims to be a Christian doesn't automatically mean, oh, great, well, they're ready to lead a

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Sunday school class, volunteer with the kids, help out in Awana or whatever. Folks have to be tested.

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Even professing believers, you need to test and understand that what they believe is the truth. Right. And that they're ready to teach such a thing.

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And not just teaching, but like you were saying with helping out with Awana and stuff like that, the children's

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Bible studies, just make sure they're, you know, walking in the face at the very least.

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Yes. Not just, oh, hey, they seem like a nice person and they volunteered. So of course, I'm going to give them a spot, you know?

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Because there's so many churches, especially that seeker sensitive mentality that they think in order to retain people who are interested in our church, we've got to give them something to do.

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Yeah. So we'll automatically plop them into a Sunday school class, a person that has never even been tested or asked if they understand the basics of the gospel.

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Especially somebody, yeah, like you said, it's a baby believer. Right. Who just became a Christian. You've actually given them a teaching platform as though to approve that whatever they believe is automatically true.

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There's also a very prevailing thought that's very common. I encounter this among my friends, sadly enough, not people in my own church, but just friends who claim to be

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Christians, friends and family members that claim to be Christians, is that I have the Holy Spirit. I don't have any more or less of the

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Holy Spirit than you have the Holy Spirit. So therefore, I'm just as capable of teaching as you are.

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And I hear that a lot. That's one of the most common arguments that I hear, in fact, against plurality eldership.

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Because why are we going to let this plurality of men oversee the teaching in our church?

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Do I not have the Holy Spirit? Am I not just as capable of being able to discern what good teaching and bad teaching is as these men are?

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The answer to that question is no, you're not. And what's strange is... It's almost like an arrogant statement.

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It really is. What's strange is you don't seem to challenge that regarding the pastor, but once the proposal is set forth of a plurality eldership that these men would oversee and approve any and all teaching aspects in the church, suddenly it becomes this defensive, well,

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I have the Holy Spirit too. Why do these guys have the privilege of being able to do that?

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That's a very common argument. I encounter that quite a bit when it comes to those who are opposed to the plurality eldership model, even though that is the biblical model.

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We've kind of rabbit -trailed. Well, we have quite a bit. Sorry. But we always do. This is just standard fare.

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This is true. Standard fare for when we understand the text. So the second question that comes from Joseph, he says, my second question has to do with a work situation that has come up.

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I work at a secular university and with a team of 13. A member of that team is homosexual and she and her partner adopted a baby.

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The team is throwing her a baby shower and asks that each team member contribute a gift. My question is, should a

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Christian attend an event like this? Should I sit in my office? If so, this would look rather standoffish, but something

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I would be willing to do if needed. Should I take a vacation day? If I do this, I would have to do the same every time something like this comes up and it seems like I am running away from the issue.

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Should I go and bring only gifts that benefit the baby, i .e. diapers, wipes, and or a

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Christian children's book? There is one believer on the team and I asked her thoughts and she is unsure what to do as well.

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One of the things that we thought about was Jesus did sit with publicans and sinners.

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He didn't run from these situations. But would I be embracing or showing that I am supporting homosexuality if I attend?

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Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Joseph. So let me back up here.

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I work at a secular university with a team of 13. A member of that team is homosexual and she and her partner adopted a baby.

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The team is throwing her a baby shower and asks that each member contribute a gift.

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I would say that you not attend and I'm sorry this is putting you on the spot.

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I'm sorry that this may actually cost you your job. But you should also say why. You should say why you're not going to attend that event.

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Again Joseph, I know that's really placing a lot on you and my heart aches for you seeing what could potentially be coming down the pike.

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You could lose your job. I get that. But I don't think that you should just abstain from this without word.

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I think that you should explain why. Now, I have prepared for you a statement and I'm going to email this to Joseph.

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You don't have to say exactly this, but what you say should sound something like it.

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You should say, I am a Christian and I believe that God created marriage to be between a man and his wife.

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Not only does the Bible say this is what marriage is, we can observe this through general revelation in nature.

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A man and a woman are naturally compatible for procreation. A family begins with a husband and wife.

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A woman and a woman cannot procreate together. These two women are doing something that is against my faith and it is against nature.

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Therefore it is also harmful to the child they are adopting. This child needs a mother and a father and the child is being deprived of that because these two women want to use someone else's baby to justify what is contrary to the laws of nature.

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I cannot go along with this. I care for this woman, my co -worker, too much to lead her to believe that what she is doing is healthy.

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It is not healthy for her, for this woman she says is her partner, and it is not healthy for the child they say they are adopting.

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I wish her the best and I pray for her salvation that God would have mercy on her, but please respect my beliefs and permit me to abstain from this celebration.

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And I think that is the way that you should go. I don't think that you should run from the situation not having said anything.

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For yes, Jesus did sit with publicans and sinners, sit with the tax collectors and the sinners, but he told them to repent.

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He did. He told them go and sin no more. Jesus never hung out with them. Like that's the term that gets used.

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And the woman at the well, he just laid out all of her. He was there and it was in public. Right. And he laid out all of her sins.

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Yeah, he did. He told her that she had many husbands, revealed his awareness of that, and then she changed the subject.

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You know, even the man that was healed at the pool of Bethesda in John chapter five, Jesus said to him, go and sin no more.

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Now we taught on John chapter eight a couple of weeks ago, and I said that particular story in John eight verses one through 11 was not actually written by John.

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But nevertheless, this woman who was caught in adultery and was brought before Jesus, he still says to this woman, go and sin no more.

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So there's never an occasion where Jesus is just hanging out with sinners and not saying anything about it.

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That's a common argument that that gets used. Well, Jesus hung out with sinners. He didn't hang out with them as though that was his regular common company.

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He just he just didn't try to. Well, for example, he didn't try to walk on the other side of the road, right?

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Like in the in the parable of the Good Samaritan or where you have the account of like you mentioned

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Jesus at the well with the woman of Samaria. I mean, it was uncommon for Jews to even walk through Samaria, right?

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They would go around Samaria, right? But Jesus has no prejudice against anybody. So he went through Samaria, a group of people, by the way, who did not truly know and fear

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God. So the entire nation of people who did not know God. And that's what that's what Jesus even explained to the woman at the well.

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You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know for salvation is from the

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Jews. And so he wasn't he wasn't in any way, you know, trying to be like like like this tolerant of her sin sort of a thing, right?

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He told her exactly what her problem was and that she wasn't a true believer on top of that. But in showing her her sin and preaching to her the truth, he shares the gospel and she brings an entire village back with her to hear.

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Now I hope that that would be your situation, that you're actually providing a positive witness that that turns into an evangelism opportunity.

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That would be terrific. But unfortunately, the way our our day and age is going, you may end up losing your job over this, especially at a secular institution like like a secular university.

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Yeah. These environments are much more hostile toward Christians than they used to be.

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But, Joseph, we'll pray for you. Definitely. Next question is, was asked to be submitted anonymously.

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He says, thank you for your ministry. I benefited greatly recently. My pastor said, I'm too much in the reformed slashed slashed.

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I'm too much in the reformed slash Calvinist camp. They both ended ended in to get the slash out.

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He is not a Calvinist, but he is a solid preacher. He has allowed me to preach in his pulpit as a deacon.

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We're moving to an elder model. Praise the Lord. And I am a seminary student. But recently, he said my social media posts show that I'm too much in one camp and he wants me to be more well rounded.

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I don't know what to think. I am going to meet with him to get more clarification. I know he has my best interest at heart.

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I do listen to people not in that camp. I just don't always agree with their conclusions. I'm feeling very frustrated.

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My wife feels the same way as I do. The pastor has her lead worship and she's been feeling convicted about if she should and over the way that he wants her to lead.

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We don't want to leave the church because we have left the church once already and don't want to be church hoppers just because we don't agree with the things that may only be preference or a product of ego.

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I don't know what I'm seeking by writing to you. Anything you could offer would be great. Well, so far you have said in your email that you're planning on talking more with him about that.

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And that's perfect. That's it. Yeah. That's really where I would tell you to go, that you just need to continue this conversation, at least in this part of the process.

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My advice to you would not be to leave, right? Because I don't see any reason yet there for you to leave.

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If things start to get hostile, though, I mean, like if the pastor really doesn't see your side on this and he really does start to tell you, hey, look,

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I don't like what you're saying on social media. I don't like the way that you're responding in these kinds of situations. You're either going to have to, you know, tone it down or come to this side or whatever, or I'm going to have to ask you to step down, your wife step down or whatever.

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Once it gets to that point, I think you should respectfully say, well, why don't we pull away?

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I don't want to cause division, right? I don't think that that you, my brothers and sisters here at this church are unbelievers.

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We just don't see eye to eye on ecclesiology or soteriology. And so I'm going to I'm we're going to quietly go away and we'll find another church.

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So don't like push this to the end of causing a major split or hostility among believers.

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That is unnecessary. Again, where you are at in the process is you still want to meet and talk with one another.

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That's absolutely what I would encourage you to do. And do you have any advice on because he's feeling frustrated and so is his wife?

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Pray. Yeah. Be as regular in prayer and do this together.

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Yeah. Husband and wife together that you would submit your mind to God, that he would give you peace and that he would give you wisdom.

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If anyone lacks wisdom, James one, let him ask of God who gives liberally to all and without reproach.

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All right. So, yeah, be in prayer about that and ask him specifically, you know, if he if he expresses frustration with you, ask for specifics.

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Say, can you tell me specifically what it is you don't like? Yeah. Now, I will say that there is an obligation on you, especially as somebody who is a teacher and you're a seminary student.

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You need to know the viewpoint that you don't agree with and even be able to argue from that perspective.

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So R .C. Sproul, whenever he would have, you know, R .C. Sproul is a Calvinist and he's trying to raise up Calvinists in his class.

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But he would pit two students against one another and he would say, you're representing the

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Arminian camp. And then he would look at another and say, you're representing the Calvinist camp. And the guy who is the

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Arminian, he has to be able to argue as an Arminian and he can fail the assignment if he tries to make

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Arminians look stupid. You need to understand the arguments. Right. And and how to argue from that perspective.

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And I think in being able to do that gives you a more gentle approach to it as well. So don't don't be hostile and combative in these things.

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Your pastor has said that he wants to meet with you about it. That should be the next step. And you guys figure out where you see eye to eye.

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And if there are any changes and things that need to be made, because who knows? There may actually be something in your behavior that you do need to check and maybe you just don't see it.

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Yeah, sometimes. And your pastor in his wisdom, even though soteriologically he may not agree with your perspective, still is a man of wisdom and a man that is called in that particular position to shepherd his people.

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And so there may be something there that he can offer you as your pastor, as your shepherd.

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Right. That will help you in your character building as a Christian. There there may be something there you need to check.

39:32

Yeah. So be humble about that. Right. Thank you for your question. All right.

39:38

This this last one is the criticism regarding the video that was just made in response to a statement that J .D.

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Greer made in a sermon back at the end of January. So here is the video. And then

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I will read the email. All right. We ought to whisper about what the

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Bible whispers about. And we ought to shout about what it shouts about. And the Bible appears more to whisper when it comes to sexual sin compared to its shouts about materialism and religious pride.

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It's religious pride to preach the Bible whispers about sexual sin. God said, loud and clear, flee from sexual immorality or any kind of sex outside the marriage bed since God created sex for a husband and a wife.

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Often when the Bible lists the sins God will judge, sexual sins are first on the list. Now, someone might say, wait,

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I listen to Pastor Greer's sermon. And in context, he was saying the Bible whispers about homosexual sin.

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OK, was God whispering when he destroyed the sodomites? Jude seven says they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire and now serve as an example by undergoing punishment of eternal fire.

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Greer's sermon was on Romans one, 24 through 32. Over half that section describes homosexual passions as the perverse behavior of a people given over to a debased mind.

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How does anyone preach the Bible whispers about this? Many churches are embroiled in sexual scandal, and this is in front of the whole world.

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It does not help when church leaders say things like the Bible whispers about sexual sin.

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Bad doctrine causes these problems and bad doctrine makes them worse. Do not whisper any word of God.

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Preach Christ and him crucified for our sins. When we understand the text.

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Well, there's that. Yeah. So this is the president of the

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Southern Baptist Convention. Yeah. Which is what we are. We're Southern Baptist.

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Yeah, we're Southern Baptist, Southern Baptist Church. It says on the sign for Southern Baptist Church. So I imagine we're a

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Southern Baptist Church. Yeah, I'm just I'm just letting it out there for the people who aren't familiar. All right.

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So this this question came from a fellow by the name of John, and he says, Good morning. Emailed me in the morning.

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I had an issue with your most recent video that I wanted to discuss with you. You said that even if you take the pastor's comments in context and that he was only talking about homosexuality, the

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Bible doesn't whisper about it. And then you pointed to Sodom and Gomorrah as evidence.

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Why is it that the destruction of Sodom is used to show that God is against homosexuality? He might be.

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But from a logical standpoint, you can't use Sodom to prove that. The Jude verse you referenced talk talked about Sodom's sexual immorality.

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Last time I checked, aside from homosexuality and Sodom, they wanted to commit rape, sexual sin, sexual sin one.

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OK, that's what he said. So he's labeling the sexual sins in Sodom. They wanted to commit rape, sexual sin one with a large amount of people, an orgy, sexual sin two with angels, sexual sin three, bestiality, intercourse with nonhumans.

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That's ridiculous. And they weren't married to the person. So it was a lustful form of sex, sexual sin four.

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I have just listed four other sexual sins they committed in the same chapter. So why is it that Christians will ignore those other sins and say that it must have obviously been about homosexuality?

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Are those other sins not sexually immoral as well? Then he goes on to make several references to Matthew Vines.

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Matthew Vines is the author of the book God and the Gay Christian. OK, and Matthew Vines says that Sodom and Gomorrah were not punished for homosexuality, but rather, according to the book of Ezekiel, Chapter 16, they were punished because they were uncharitable.

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Now, I've made a reference to that. Actually, there's another video about that. Ezekiel 16 is one of the most sexually explicit chapters in the entire

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Bible. So to say that Ezekiel 16 is not accusing Israel of being guilty of all of Sodom's abominations, which is exactly what it says.

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It just says, in addition to this, you are also uncharitable, like like Sodom was.

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That that's a terrible rep. That's a terrible defense. Ezekiel 16 does not work in Matthew Vines favor.

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But anyway, so going on, John says again, I'm not arguing that homosexuality is not a sin.

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I'm saying that you can't use Sodom and Gomorrah to prove that the fact that 19 of the 20 times

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Sodom is mentioned outside of the Genesis chapter, it appears in reference to their sin being things other than sodomy proves the point of of the pastor.

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I'm guessing J .D. Greer is who he's referring to there. OK, even if you argue that homosexuality is a sin, it is only mentioned six times in the entire

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Bible, and that's being generous and counting Sodom and Gomorrah. If it's such a great sin, why so little times?

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The Bible mentions prohibitions for working on the Sabbath more than that. And that's not even something binding under the new law.

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Jesus talked about money and warned against greed. Two hundred and eighty eight verses in the New Testament alone. How many verses did he ever mention homosexuality?

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I think it's a problem when celebrity pastors making millions of dollars per year will gloss over those two hundred and eighty eight verses, but focus on the six that talk about homosexuality and portray it as like the greatest evil.

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Now, I would be curious as to who he's referring to when he's talking about celebrity pastors making millions of dollars, because a lot of them actually do endorse homosexuality.

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Yeah. Anyway, he goes on to say, I think it's a problem when the church in the modern world is known for saying

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God hates gays, that it is for loving people, which First Corinthians thirteen thirteen literally lists as the most important thing a

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Christian can do. If I don't have love, I am a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If it's truly a sin, then

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Christians should condemn it, of course. But that condemnation doesn't give the OK to hate people or to minimize other sins in the process.

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I think probably what the pastor was trying to say is that the church has casted one or two specific sins and directed their energy towards hating that.

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And oftentimes, subsequently, the people who do them and in the process hypocritically overlook sins they commit and ignore the basic extortion to love.

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Please reply when you have the chance. I'd love to hear back with you. Peace be with you, John. Well, one of the things that I replied to him with were two links where I had responded to Matthew Vines claims, both in a video and in a blog.

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Right. Matthew Vines is a liar and a deceiver. He is second

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Timothy three, 13, deceiving and being deceived. And he is on top of that, a practicing homosexual.

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He is openly gay. He wrote this book called God and the Gay Christian. There is a response to it under the same title.

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And I would encourage you to read the response edited by Albert Moeller. If you're going to give if you're going to give any time to Matthew Vines arguments, you need to be reading the counter arguments.

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Dr. James White has offered to debate Matthew Vines at his expense. But Vines won't do it because he knows that that all of the the flaws in his interpretations of scripture will be exposed.

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And that will compromise the agenda that he is trying to afflict the church with.

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And that's and by the way, his ministry, quote unquote, ministry is called the Reformation Project.

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That's blasphemous. Wow. Because he claims he is reforming the church to be accepting of LGBTQ issues.

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So that's the first problem there that Matthew Vines is no expert. No appeal to Matthew Vines is going to give any credibility to your argument.

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Secondly, the common argument that homosexuality is mentioned only six times, which is also a claim that Matthew Vines makes.

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OK, that's a myth. First of all, every time marriage is mentioned, it is a passive condemnation of homosexuality.

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And every other sexual sin. But that's beside the point. Let's set that aside. OK. Male prostitutes are mentioned in Kings four times.

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Deuteronomy 23, 18 forbids receiving any money from a male prostitute. And these references to male prostitutes are references to homosexuals.

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When the Apostle Paul said, look out for the dogs. Philippians three, two. Right. He was referring to sodomites, the same word used in Deuteronomy to describe homosexuals.

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In Revelation 22, 15, Jesus himself says the dogs or homosexual men will not receive the kingdom of God.

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Try not to imagine too hard why the Bible uses the word dog to describe a homosexual. The Bible is bold and harsh in condemning sexual sin, particularly homosexuality, which is an abomination.

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We've grown soft believing myths like the Bible mentions homosexuality only six times, so it's not that big a deal.

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And Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities were not actually destroyed because of their homosexual perversity.

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In in John's response to me, he said Jude seven refers to Sodom and Gomorrah of being guilty of sexual immorality.

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No, it specifically says in Jude seven. And you skipped over the reference and it points it out in the video.

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It says unnatural desire. And that's the same term used in Romans one twenty six to describe homosexual behavior as unnatural desire.

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That's what Sodom and Gomorrah was killed for. It was sodomy, which is, by the way, where we get that word from because of the sodomites who wanted to have men who wanted to have sex with men who engaged in behavior that's contrary to nature.

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And such persons will be judged. It is absolutely not hateful to say that God will judge the homosexual, nor does it breed hatred for the homosexual person.

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It is biblical and it is loving to rebuke this sin. And anyone who would try to soften or permit it must also be rebuked, for they would be permitting a person to engage in this sin that could potentially lead them to hell.

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Now, I will say this to regarding J .D. Greer's sermon. He did condemn homosexuality in that sermon, but it was like he was talking out of two sides of his face.

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On the one hand, he condemns it. But then on the other, he says, but the Bible speaks softly about it anyway.

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So we shouldn't really make that big a deal out of it. Right. That's that's a huge problem. Somebody in your congregation heard you say that if a person is not that big of a deal, it's not that big of a deal.

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That's what they're going to hear. And that's what made his statement so problematic.

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There are people that have been responding to that video saying, no, no, no. He condemned homosexuality. He read from First Corinthians chapter six verses nine and ten.

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Of course he did. I listened to the whole sermon. But he still said that the Bible whispers about sexual immorality.

50:36

That is absurd. Yeah. The Bible doesn't whisper about any sin and trying to numerically place sins in certain categories and say, see, this is a bigger deal because it's mentioned more times.

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Yeah, that's that's not OK. You're softening the issue. You're still taking a sin that the Bible has clearly said

50:55

God will send a person to hell over. I mean, if it's mentioned in the Bible at all, it's huge.

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Exactly. I mean, why would you write about something that's not such a big deal? Don't whisper any word of God, which

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I said in the video. I'm just being redundant now at this point. So anyway, I don't want these men and women who think homosexuality is

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OK to fall under the wrath of God. So I must speak. Right. I must say, turn from your sin and follow

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Christ. Follow Jesus. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

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Exactly the words of Christ that you would follow him and you would be changed into a new person.

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The old has passed away. The new has come. And you will be able to say exactly what

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Paul said to the Corinthians in first Corinthians, 611. You will be able to say, I once was that, but I've been washed and I have been cleansed by the blood of Christ.

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I love you too much not to tell you that it is absolutely not hateful to warn people of the judgment that is to come.

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It is loving. What is hateful is to permit people to continue in behavior.

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God has promised will exclude a person from the kingdom of God. It's not even loving to soften that message.

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Right. We must articulate what the Bible says and regarding homosexuality.

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Even you agree, John, you agree that the Bible says homosexuality is sin. Stop trying to soften it.

52:32

It is a serious, serious issue. And our culture is going down the toilet fast on this specific issue.

52:40

Yeah, it's like the biggest thing that's going on in our culture right now. You know, we were just talking about Joseph a moment ago who could potentially lose his job because he would express that he cannot participate in a baby shower for two lesbian women.

52:56

Where? Well, I don't even understand how he got here so fast.

53:01

Very fast. Right. You're talking. It wasn't even 20 years ago. Right. Gay marriage was not legal anywhere in any country on earth.

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And then in 2001, the floodgates opened when the Netherlands were the first to legalize it.

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And then so many other countries have followed since. And the United States is quite an influence.

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And because we've done it, many other countries are following suit. Yep. So God save us from this wicked and depraved generation.

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Lord Jesus, come quickly. Let's conclude with prayer. We'll pray for Joseph as we as we bring this to a close.

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Yes, let's. Our wonderful heavenly father, we thank you for the mercy and grace that has been given to us in Christ so that all who believe in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

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And there is no sin that is not covered by the blood of Christ. You are so gracious and merciful.

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You will cleanse us from all our uncleanness is. None of us have any place to be able to stand before God and declare our own innocence or righteousness, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

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We were enemies of God, deserving of God's wrath. But as it says in Romans 5, 8,

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God demonstrated his love for us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

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Romans 6, 23, the wages of sin is death. But the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our

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Lord. And I desire that for all people may all hear the message of the gospel and turn from their sin and so be saved.

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Lord, I know that Joseph is in a very difficult situation right now in his work, that he is having to consider taking a stand on the truth on, on, on what

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God has said is true. And it could cost him his job. And he does this because he loves the

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Lord. And he also loves those who are walking in this sin and could potentially fall into condemnation.

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And I pray for Joseph. I pray that you would, uh, that you would lead him in truth, that he would be a good witness to these people that he works with, that you would protect him, spare his job.

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God, may he not have to be looking for work just because he would not participate in this thing that is being required of him to have to participate in.

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May he also not shy away from the truth, but may he stand boldly on the word of Christ and proclaim the gospel because it is the power of God for salvation to all who believe to the

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Jew first and also to the Greek, everyone who believes in Jesus Christ who died for our sins and rose again from the grave will be saved.

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I pray for our anonymous contributor as well, that you would give him a sound words that he may speak to his pastor with kindness and that his pastor may even lead him in truth also.

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And I pray for John who has submitted this email that he would see the truth and likewise would preach boldly to his friends, not permitting sinful behavior, but would tell others to repent and follow

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Jesus Christ. I pray for this wicked and depraved generation. God, may your gospel speak loudly to those who are walking in sin and heading toward wrath unless they turn and believe in Christ and so be saved.

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Give us courage in this moment to do what we know is extremely unpopular in this culture and may cost us jobs, friends, family, but we know that our reward is secured in heaven in Jesus Christ, our

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Lord. And if God is for us, what can man do to us? In Jesus name we pray.

56:41

Amen. You should record yourself typing and then whenever you're angry, typing, record yourself again.

58:03

Can hear the difference. That sounds happy. It's happy typing.

58:13

I'm actually quite tired. I'm sure you are. Uh, all right. But, um,

58:21

Justin Peters. No. Trudeau.

58:28

No. Who? McFadden. McFadden.

58:34

Yeah. Um, Kelly's. Oh yeah. Yeah. Okay. He, he said that we sound quite good whenever we're tired.

58:42

So, okay. All right. This should be a great show then.

58:47

Yeah. I'm exhausted. Yes. I forgot how you were. He worded it better. Why am

58:53

I getting so tired so early? I don't know. I think whatever we had is just totally messed up.

58:58

My, yeah, we seem to do bio rhythms very well when tired. There we go.