This Message is Banned by the State Religion of the United States

It's time for another edition of Fighting for the

Faith, Friday, January 11th, 2013. The Louie Giglio Obama inaugural controversy has hit a fevered pitch, and it will pretty much dominate all of our number one on Fighting for the

Faith. Thank you for tuning in.

You're listening to Fighting for the Faith. My name is Chris Rosebro. I am your servant in Jesus Christ, and this is the program that dishes up a daily dose of biblical discernment, the goal of which, help you to think biblically, help you to think critically, help you compare what people are saying in the name of God to the

Word of God. There is no shortage of crazy things being said out there, and what is needed are

Christians who are discipled and know what the Scriptures say.

We live in very treacherous times, and one of the reasons why we live in treacherous times is due to the fact that people base or determine what truth is based upon their subjective feelings and experiences.

Now, I understand that very recently, just a few days ago, I did an entire opening monologue pointing out the fact that your subjective experiences do not equal the truth.

Now, this is what we are dealing with when we are dealing with the issue of homosexuality in the broader culture as well as in the church.

And what I mean by that is this, is that in the broader culture, when you use the word homosexual, what the culture believes that means, down on some fundamental level, despite what the word means in the dictionary, what they think that means is somebody who is born a particular way, that at that person's essence and being, they are a particular thing.

For instance, when we talk about leopards, we all know what a leopard is, a leopard has spots.

And the reason why leopards have spots is because that's what a leopard is. At its core being, it's a spotted large cat.

So that's the idea, is that when you say the term homosexual, people think that that means that somebody is born a particular way.

To give you another equivalent, it would be the equivalent of being born black or white or Asian or pick whatever color combination it is.

So the idea is that therefore, since they are born that way and that's what they are down in their being, it is wrong for anybody to say what somebody is in their being is wrong.

So that's the idea, that's the thinking, that's the premise that you're dealing with.

But the Bible reveals something very different. And that is that nobody is in their core being a homosexual.

We're going to talk about that on today's edition of Fighting for the Faith and help equip you to be able to talk about this biblically and understand when you're talking with people at the water cooler or in the neighborhood or in your small group study, if somebody is basically being sympathetic and saying, who are we to judge or something like that, or being antagonistic or attacking you for putting out the biblical position, you need to understand what their thinking is and know how to confront it properly.

So that's what we're going to be doing part of today at Fighting for the Faith. So you're going to need your Bible and a piece of paper and stuff like that.

But we're going to talk about the Louie Giglio thing a little bit more. And in the course of this hour, we're going to unpack the rest of the stuff.

Now if you've been following the Louie Giglio Obama inaugural controversy, then you are probably aware of the fact that some pretty important people like Denny Burke, Albert Mueller, Russell Moore, and others have weighed in regarding Louie Giglio's being disinvited.

But see, that's the thing, was he disinvited? Because according to his blog post, he bowed out.

And so there's two issues going on. And it's really easy to squish the two issues together and you've got to do that.

Now, I'm on record and I stand by what I said. Louie Giglio is not a martyr.

He's not a Christian martyr. He hasn't stood up for what the Bible says on this matter.

In fact, I made it very clear that he was behaving in a very cowardly fashion.

And I stand by what I said. And I will continue to stand by what

I said because he has an obligation as a pastor to be preaching and teaching the truth on this matter and hasn't done so by his own admission for more than 15 years.

Now, as a teacher in the church, I teach weekly in my congregation. And as a result of being a teacher in the church,

I find it just absolutely impossible for anybody who is teaching

God's Word to not on a regular basis have to deal with this. Seriously, rarely a month or two goes by before I have to address the topic and usually it's the biblical text that forced me to do so.

It's not that they're forcing me. You understand what I'm saying. So for him to go 15 years without actually preaching or teaching on this topic, yeah, there's something seriously wrong there.

So what we're going to do is we're going to take a look at some of the coverage out there.

I want to take a look at Albert Muller's piece, maybe Russell Moore's piece, but I'm also going to give ear to Aaron Benziger's piece about Louis Giglio because I think she nails it spot on and points out the fact that Louis Giglio is not a martyr.

Now, all of that being said, there is a second aspect to this. And the two need to be separated in your mind as two completely different issues.

Number one, Giglio is not a martyr. But second, what has happened and transpired is, well, it should cause everybody to wake up.

If you've been asleep at the switch or haven't weighed in on this, let me put it this way.

The bugle is being blown and the soldiers are being called to muster.

Reveille has been sounding forth, and it's real simple.

If you don't muster on this one, you're AWOL. And if you're AWOL, well, the only way to interpret your

AWOLness or your silence on this matter is that you don't agree with what God has said.

Instead, you have chosen to side with the enemy. I know that sounds harsh.

I know that sounds ridiculous. But that's exactly what the case is. It's time to stand up and be counted.

That's all there is to it. Flat -out open persecution of Christianity pretty much has been declared.

This is a very, very clear warning shot across the bow of Christianity.

And make no mistake about it. Something has changed in the broader culture.

It's a different day today than it was a couple of days ago. And as a result of it, it's time to weigh in.

Time for people to muster and to show their support, even if it costs them their job, their marriage, popularity, celebrity, or whatever, or even their life.

They must stand and be counted and stand with Christ in what

He has said on this matter. Plain and simple. Alright, so, looking at how

I want to do this. Whose piece do I want to start with? Alright, I think

I got it figured out here. From the Russell Moore website, entitled

Moore to the Point, he's a professor over at Southern Seminary in Louisville and a good friend of Al Moore.

The name of the headline is, Louis Giglio and the New State Church. Louis Giglio and the New State Church.

Now, Russell Moore's angle on this is that this is a clear shot as to what's coming down the pike, and so he's not dealing with Louis Giglio's statements per se.

He's dealing with the story itself. So here's what Russell Moore writes. He says, Now that's the important part.

After a couple of days of firestorm, Giglio announced he would withdraw.

Now, I am absolutely of the firm opinion that Giglio should have stood his ground and made

Obama kick him out. That way it would have been a clear, unambiguous stand taken by Giglio regarding what the scripture says, and had

Obama had to kick him out and disinvite him, then Obama would clearly have been the bad guy and doing wrong, and Giglio would have been the

Christian standing up for the truth. That's not what happened. Giglio announced that he would withdraw.

Moore continues. He says, Now this is talking about the sermon that was dug up from nearly 15, 20 years ago.

Here's what he said. Unrepentant homosexuals, Giglio said, as with unrepentant sinners of all kinds, will not inherit the kingdom of God.

That's 1 Corinthians 6, 9 -10. Giglio said, It's not easy to change, but it is possible to change.

The Bible says God commands all people everywhere to repent, Acts 17 -30, and the same gospel

Giglio said, Back 15 -20 years ago,

Giglio clearly, unambiguously, unapologetically, proclaimed what the

Bible says regarding same -sex sins. Nobody is challenging that.

This is what he did 15 -20 years ago. Now those of us who teach regularly in the church, we have to do this a little bit more often than every 15 -20 years.

Like I said, hardly a month or two goes by where it doesn't come up in the text that I teach.

It comes up. You dress it because if you're teaching the full counsel of the Word of God, God's Word dictates the message and it dictates the agenda.

It's just that clear. We continue though. Moore says, To which

I would say, Yep, Russell's right on it. So here's what he continues. Says, Yeah, I think that's a fair way of putting it.

In fact, by the standards of this controversy, no Muslim imam or Orthodox Jewish rabbi alive can pray at a presidential inauguration.

Yep. When it is now impossible for one who holds to the Catholic -Christian view of marriage and the gospel to pray at a public event, we now have a de facto established state church.

Yep. Moore is absolutely right. We have a de facto state church now.

Okay? The United States of America has created a state religion.

If you do not agree with their state religion, well, there's a cost and prices to pay.

I think Moore is right on to it here. He says, Note, This now doesn't simply exclude harsh and intemperate statements or even activism.

Simply holding the view held by every Roman pontiff and by every congregation and synagogue in the world until very recent days is enough to make one radioactive in public.

Yeah, radioactive in quotes, meaning we can't have you there. As citizens, we ought to insist that the president stand up to his base and articulate a vision of a healthy pluralism in the public square.

Notice that the problem is not that the evangelical wants to impose his religion on the rest of society.

The problem is not that he wants to exclude homosexuals or others from the public square or their civil rights.

The problem is that he won't say that they can go to heaven without repentance.

That's not a civil issue, but a religious test of orthodoxy. As Christians, we ought to recognize that the old majoritarian understanding of church -state relations is outmoded.

Our situation today is not to hold on to some form of American civil religion.

Our situation today is more akin to the minority religions of America's past.

Colonial Baptists, 19th century Baptists, early 20th century Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses who are appealing simply for the right to exist at all in the face of an established religion armed with popular support and, in the fullness of time, state power.

It turns out we're circling around to where we should have been all along with the understanding that religious liberty isn't toleration and separation of church and state isn't secularism.

We don't have a natural right to pray at anyone's inauguration. But when one is pressured out from a previous invitation because he's too toxic for simply mentioning once something universal in the

Christian faith, we ought to see what we're looking at. A state church.

And as one old revolutionary era Baptist said, as he went in and out of prison for preaching, there is nothing so offensive to an established church than the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Yep. I think Russell Moore has a very, very important point that he's made there.

And that's absolutely what we're dealing with here. We're dealing with now, in the public square, the

United States of America has a state church. And that state church will not tolerate anybody who even once in Christianity has said what scripture says regarding same -sex sin.

Great point. All right. The next one that we're going to be looking at is Albert Muller's piece.

And the name of his is entitled, The Giglio and Broglio, The Public Inauguration of a

New Moral McCarthyism. Albert Muller writes, he says, A new chapter in America's moral revolution came to us as Atlanta pastor

Louis Giglio withdrew from giving the benediction at President Obama's second inaugural ceremony.

In a statement released to the White House and the Presidential Inaugural Committee, Giglio said that he withdrew because of the furor that emerged yesterday after a liberal watchdog group revealed that almost 20 years ago he had preached a sermon in which he had stated that homosexuality is a sin and that the only way out of a homosexual lifestyle is through the healing power of Jesus.

In other words, a Christian pastor has been effectively disinvited from delivering an inaugural prayer because he believes and teaches

Christian truth. Well, at least he did 20 years ago. I'm not so sure

Giglio does today. We continue though. The fact that Giglio was actually disinvited made clear in a statement from Addie Weissenot of the

Presidential Inaugural Committee. Quote, We were not aware of Pastor Giglio's past comments at the time of his selection, and they don't reflect our desire to celebrate the strength and diversity of our country at this inaugural.

Pastor Giglio was asked to deliver the benediction in part because of his leadership in combating human trafficking around the world.

As we now work to select someone to deliver the benediction, we will ensure their beliefs reflect this administration's vision of inclusion and acceptance for all

Americans. Well, that statement is in effect an embarrassed apology for having invited

Louis Giglio in the first place. Weissenot's statement apologizes for the Presidential Inaugural Committee's failure to make certain that their selection had never at any time for any reason believed that homosexuality is less than a perfectly acceptable lifestyle.

The committee then promised to repent and learn from their failure, committing to select a replacement who would, quote, reflect this administration's vision of inclusion and acceptance.

The imbroglio over Louis Giglio is the clearest evidence of the new moral

McCarthyism of our sexually, quote, tolerant age. During the infamous

McCarthy hearings, witnesses would be asked, quote, Are you now or have you ever been a member of the

Communist Party? Well, in the version that is now being employed by the

Presidential Inaugural Committee, the question will be, quote, Are you now or have you ever been one who believes that homosexuality or bisexuality or transsexualism, et cetera, is anything less than morally acceptable and worthy of celebration?

Louis Giglio, pastor of Atlanta's Passion City Church, is also founder of the Passion Movement that brings tens of thousands of Christian young people together to hear

Giglio along with speakers such as John Piper. They urge a rising generation of young Christians to make a passionate commitment to Christ.

In recent years, the movement has also sought to raise awareness and activism among young Christians on the issue of sex trafficking.

It was that activism that caught the attention of both President Obama and the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

Note carefully that both the White House and the committee were ready to celebrate

Giglio's activism on sex trafficking, but all that was swept away by the moral

McCarthyism on the question of homosexuality. Two other dimensions of this story also demand attention.

First, we should note that Louis Giglio has not been known lately for taking any stand on the issue of homosexuality.

To the contrary, Giglio's own statement withdrawing from the invitation made this clear,

Due to a message of mine that has surfaced from 15 to 20 years ago, it is likely that my participation and the prayer

I would offer will be dwarfed by those seeking to make their agenda the focal point of the inauguration.

Clearly, speaking on this issue has not been in the range of my priorities in the past 15 years.

Instead, my aim has been to call people to ultimate significance as we make much of Jesus Christ.

Mueller then states, A fair -minded reading of that statement indicates that Pastor Giglio has strategically avoided any confrontation with the issue of homosexuality for at least 15 years.

The issue, quote, has not been in the range of my priorities, unquote, he said,

Given the Bible's insistence that sexual morality is inseparable from our ultimate significance as we make much of Jesus Christ, this must have been a difficult strategy.

It is also a strategy that is very attractive to those who want to avoid being castigated as intolerant or homophobic.

As this controversy makes abundantly clear, it is a failed strategy.

Louis Giglio was cast out of the circle of the acceptable simply because a liberal watchdog group found one sermon he preached almost 20 years ago.

If a preacher has ever taken a stand on biblical conviction, he risks being exposed decades after the fact.

Anyone who teaches at any time to any degree that homosexual behavior is a sin is now to be cast out.

Second, we should note that Pastor Giglio's sermon was, as we would expect and hope, filled with grace and the promise of the gospel.

Giglio did not just state that homosexuals are sinners. He made clear that every single human being is a sinner in need of the redemption that is found only in Jesus Christ.

Quote, We've got to say to the homosexuals the same things that I would say that you would say to me.

It's not easy to change, but it's possible to change, he preached. He pointed his congregation gay and straight to the healing power of Jesus.

He called his entire congregation to repent and to come to Christ by faith.

That is the quintessential Christian gospel. That is undiluted biblical truth.

Those words are the consensus of the Church for over 2 ,000 years and the firm belief held by the vast majority of Christians around the world today.

The Presidential Inaugural Committee and the White House have now declared historic biblical Christianity to be out of bounds, casting it off the inaugural program as an embarrassment.

By its newly articulated standard, any preacher who holds to the faith of the Church for the last 2 ,000 years is persona non grata.

By this standard, no Roman Catholic prelate or priest can participate in the ceremony.

No evangelical who holds to biblical orthodoxy is welcomed. The vast majority of Christians around the world have been disinvited.

Mormons and the rabbis of Orthodox Judaism, they're out. Any Muslim imam who could walk freely in Cairo would be denied a place on the inaugural program.

Billy Graham, who participated in at least 10 presidential inaugurations, is welcome no more.

Rick Warren, who incited a similar controversy when he prayed at President Obama's first inauguration, is out of bounds.

In the span of just 4 years, the rules are fully changed. The gauntlet was thrown down yesterday and the axe fell today.

Wayne Besson, founder of the activist group Truth Wins Out, told the New York Times yesterday,

It is imperative that Giglio clarify his remarks and explain whether he has evolved on gay rights like so many other faith and political leaders.

It would be a shame to select a preacher with a backwards view on LGBT people at a moment when the nation is rapidly moving forward on our issues.

And there you have it. Anyone who has ever believed that homosexuality is morally problematic in any way must now offer public repentance and evidence of having evolved on the question.

This is the language that President Obama used of his own evolving position on same -sex marriage.

This is what is now openly demanded of Christians today. If you want to avoid being thrown off the program, you had better learn to evolve fast and repent in public.

This is precisely what biblical Christians cannot do. While seeking to be gentle in spirit and ruthlessly gospel -centered in speaking of any sin, we cannot cease to speak of sin as sin.

To do so is not only to deny the authority of scripture, not only to reject the moral consensus of the saints, but it undermines the gospel itself.

The gospel makes no sense and is robbed of its saving power if sin is denied as sin.

An imbroglio is a painful and embarrassing conflict. The imbroglio surrounding

Louis Giglio is not only painful, it is revealing. We now see the new moral

McCarthyism in its undisguised and unvarnished reality.

If you are a Christian, get ready for the question you will now undoubtedly face.

Do you now or have you ever believed that homosexuality is a sin?

There is now nowhere to hide. That's right. There is nowhere to hide.

There is absolutely nowhere to hide. The government of the United States of America has set up a state church and their state church demands that you repent publicly of ever saying that homosexuality is a sin or you are on the outs.

Plain and simple. Now, I want to cover the topic of Louis Giglio just a little bit again, because I want to make something very clear that Albert Muller pointed it out very clearly that Louis Giglio hasn't preached on this for at least 15 years.

Okay, what did that get him? Nothing. When you think about this strategy of trying to appease the culture by giving the culture what they want and trying to be relevant and hip to the things that they believe, you're basically becoming, well, the equivalent of a

Christianized version of Neville Chamberlain trying to appease

Hitler. It doesn't work, does it? No, of course it doesn't.

But the other thing that is also very clear here is that I'm not the only one out there who is demanding that Louis Giglio clarify his remarks.

Remember the New York Times, Wayne Besson of the New York Times wrote, quote, it is imperative that Giglio clarify his remarks and explain whether he has evolved on gay rights like so many other faith and political leaders.

Well, Louis Giglio hasn't clarified his remarks. In fact, his bowing out the way he did leaves all kinds of questions as to whether or not his theology has evolved.

And so keep the two issues separated because you've got to do it, even though they're all together in one big mess at the moment.

And that is this, is that Louis Giglio is not a living martyr. He's not.

He has not made a principled stand. He has not clarified his position.

And so I turn now to the DoNotBeSurprised .com website and Erin Benziger's commentary regarding this.

And her headline is entitled, Louis Giglio, Living Martyr? Erin writes, she says, it was announced on 8

January, the 8th of January, that Louis Giglio, pastor of Passion City Church in Atlanta and founder of the

Passion Conferences, had accepted an invitation to deliver the benediction at President Obama's inaugural on the 21st of January.

Immediately following that announcement, someone dug up a 15 to 20 year old sermon of Giglio's wherein he made comments about homosexuality that didn't sit so well with the loudest voices in this country.

By the morning of the 10th of January, Giglio had withdrawn his acceptance of the invitation. With this news,

Louis Giglio immediately became a living martyr among evangelicals. Indeed, the backlash in response to the contents of the sermon was unfortunate.

There is little arguing that fact. At the same time, it really should not surprise the

Christian who does not have his head stuck in the sand. America is, after all, a

Roman's one nation. We love our sin. We love our sexual sin. We revel in it.

We celebrate it. So what do you expect? But is Giglio's withdrawal from the inauguration ceremony worthy of the praise and commendation of Christians?

Has he taken a strong stance that so many evangelical leaders would have us believe? Is he a victim taken to the figurative stake and burned for his adherence to God's word?

Now, the argument is swirling based upon a New York Times article that Giglio was asked to step aside, that he in essence was ousted.

This was the scenario painted by Danny Burke's blog. However, the quote in question has since been removed from the original

New York Times article. One looks at the pastor's own words, though Giglio says,

I respectfully withdraw my acceptance of the president's invitation. So if Louis Giglio was asked to step aside, then that needs to be said by Louis Giglio.

Otherwise, we should take him at his word. He is, after all, a Christian pastor, and thus his words should be able to be trusted, should it not?

With that, and because Louis Giglio wears the title of Christian pastor, it behooves the

Christian to examine the statement he has made regarding this decision to withdraw.

The remainder of this post will look at that statement in its entirety, as it was shared with Louis Giglio's own church at the blog of Passion City Church.

Dear PCC family, Though I was invited by the President of the United States to pray at his upcoming inauguration, after conversations between our team and the

White House, I am no longer serving in that role. I sent the following statement to the White House today. I am honored to be invited by the

President to get the benediction at the upcoming inaugural on January 21. Though the

President and I do not agree on every issue, we have fashioned a friendship around common goals and ideals, most notably ending slavery in all of its forms.

Due to a message of mine that has surfaced from 15 to 20 years ago, it is likely that my participation and the prayer

I would offer will be dwarfed by those seeking to make their agenda the focal point of the inauguration. Clearly speaking on this issue has not been in the range of my priorities for the past 15 years.

Instead, my aim has been to call people to ultimate significance as we make much of Jesus Christ.

Neither I nor our team feel it best serves the core message and goals we are seeking to accomplish to be in a fight on an issue not of our choosing.

Thus, I respectfully withdraw my acceptance of the President's invitation. I will continue to pray regularly for the

President and urge the nation to do so. I will most certainly pray for him on Inauguration Day.

Our nation is deeply divided and hurting, and more than ever, we need God's grace and mercy in our time of need.

The issue of homosexuality, which a particular message of mine some 20 years ago addressed, is one of the most difficult our nation will navigate.

However, individual rights of freedom and the collective right to hold differing views on any subject is a critical balance we as a people must recover and preserve.

As a pastor, my mission is to love people and lead them well. While lifting up the name of Jesus above anything else,

I am confident that anyone who knows me or has listened to the multitude of my messages I have given in the last decade would most likely conclude that I am not easily characterized as being opposed to people, any people.

Rather, I am constantly seeking to understand where all people are coming from and how to best serve them as I point them to Jesus.

In all things, the most helpful thing I can do is to invite each of us to wrestle with Scripture and its implications for our lives.

God's words trump all opinions, including mine, and in the end, I believe God's words lead to life.

My greatest desire is that we not be distracted from the things that we are focused on, and seeing people in our city come to know

Jesus and speaking up for the last and least of these throughout the world. Honored to be your pastor, Louis."

Aaron then writes, Let's break this down. The first part of it reads, I am honored to be invited by the

President to give the benediction at the upcoming Inaugural. On January 21st, though the President and I do not agree on every issue, we have fashioned a friendship around common goals and ideals, most notably ending slavery in all of its form.

Uniting around common goals is fine, Aaron writes, so long as the gospel is not compromised in the process.

Any pastor agreeing to offer the benediction at an event such as this should do so with the gospel in mind, not a social agenda.

If one truly desires to end slavery in all its forms, then start with the great eternal slavery of sin, and seek to end that by preaching repentance and the forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ.

Romans 6, verses 6 -7 reads, We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin, for one who has died has been set free from sin.

Romans 6, verses 16 -18 read, Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey, either of sin which leads to death, or of obedience which leads to righteousness?

But thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

Giglio then continues, Due to a message of mine that has surfaced from fifteen to twenty years ago, it is likely that my participation and the prayer

I would offer would be dwarfed by those seeking to make their agenda the focal point of the inauguration. One might ask,

Mr. Giglio, do you still believe the words you preached fifteen to twenty years ago? Do you believe what the

Scripture says about the sin of homosexuality? If so, then stand firm on that Scripture.

It is the only worthwhile support you have. If the media labels you as anti -gay in the process, does it really matter?

The Gospel of John, chapter 15, verses 18 -23 read, If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

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

Remember, the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master.

If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

But all these things they will do to you on account of my name because they do not know him who sent me.

If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin.

But now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my father also.

Aaron then continues, May we be counted worthy to be persecuted for the name of Christ.

May we never back down on what we know to be true because it has been spoken in his word. May we never be ashamed of our master seeking to step aside from conflict that arises simply because the world hates him, as he told us it would.

Next, Giglio offers a most curious statement, Clearly speaking on this issue has not been in the range of my priorities in the past 15 years.

Look closely at the sentence above and then answer this question. If a man has not seen fit to preach on the topic of sin in the past 15 years, then can he legitimately wear the title of Christian pastor?

Homosexuality is a sin. It is in the Bible. Preaching about sin, not just homosexual sin, but all sin, must be a weekly priority for every pastor.

Why? Because without teaching your flock about the sinful nature of man, without sharing with them their depravity and wickedness, they cannot see their need for a

Savior, nor can they see and understand the great, glorious, saving gospel of grace.

The good news is not good news if there is not bad news delivered first. A pastor who has not placed sin as a priority within his sermons for one and a half decades is, it could be argued, a pastor in name only.

The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 1, verses 15 -16,

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom

I am the foremost. But I receive mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost,

Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life.

Giglio then shares what the purpose of his ministry has been over the past 15 years.

Instead, my aim has been to call people to ultimate significance, as we make much of Jesus Christ.

This sentence does not even make sense. Is he calling people to be significant? One would hope not, since Jesus must always increase as we decrease.

Further, one cannot make much of Jesus if one diminishes sin. With a diminished view of sin,

Jesus is unnecessary. The good news of the gospel, as Paul taught in 1

Timothy, quoted above, is that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.

And that, through His life, death, and resurrection, He has saved sinners. But if we choose to ignore the concept of sin in any form, then that good news fails to maintain any concept of goodness.

Christians are to call people to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

See Luke 24, verse 47. Any other mission is doomed to fail.

What Giglio has stated here is not the gospel. And if Louis Giglio's aim has not been to proclaim the gospel and the whole counsel of God, then he has been gravely off target.

If one truly desires to make much of Jesus Christ, then one may consider calling people to repent of their sins and to turn to Jesus Christ alone for salvation.

Nothing gives God more glory. Giglio then continues, I will continue to pray regularly for the president and urge the nation to do so.

I will most certainly pray for him on inauguration day. Mr. Giglio has been called out and attacked for teaching the truth about the sin of homosexuality as found in God's Word.

Yet, this is not a battle that he thinks is worthy to fight. What a travesty to think that there is a man posing as an under -shepherd of the

Lord Jesus Christ who will not stand and defend his shepherd's word.

Jude, verse 3 says, Beloved, although I was eager to write to you about our common salvation,

I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

Opposition will come from both within and without. In neither instance is the

Christian to retreat from the battle that rages against God's truth. Continuing Giglio's statement, he says,

Our nation is deeply divided and hurting, and more than ever we need God's grace and mercy in our time of need.

Benziger then responds, More than ever this country needs the truth. It does not need weak and wobbly

Christians. That's right. It doesn't need that. Now I'm not going to continue reading the rest of her piece, but you can find this at DoNotBeSurprised .com

DoNotBeSurprised .com The January 11, 2013 post entitled, Louis Giglio, Living Martyr?

No, he's not. He's not a living martyr. Unfortunately, he's a coward.

Rather than stand up for Christ, he completely walked off the battlefield when the heat was on.

We should not hold him up as a Christian martyr at all. We must call him what he is, a squishy, weak -kneed coward who left the battle when he was instructed in Scripture to stand firm.

Plain and simple. And there's a lot more going on than just what

Louis Giglio did. A lot more going on. It's a different day now in the United States of America.

A different day altogether. And Albert Muller and Russell Moore did a fine job of pointing that out.

Alright, we're going to take our first break. When we come back, we're going to take a look at what the Bible says regarding same -sex sins.

Don't want to miss it. If you'd like to email me regarding anything you've heard on this edition or any previous editions of Fighting for the Faith, you can do so.

My email address is TalkBackAtFightingForTheFaith .com or you can ask me at my friend on Facebook, Facebook .com forward slash

PirateChristian or follow me on Twitter, my name there, at PirateChristian. We will be right back.

Living a life of purpose can't save you. You're listening to Fighting for the Faith. You're listening to Pirate Christian Radio.

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I'm here. Okay, you'll do. Come up here. Bow to your pastor. Bow to your pastor!

Okay. Now I'm going to give you one chance. One chance, people. Turn around. Turn around.

Alright. Now fall back and I'll catch you. Ow. That was pretty good.

Now, listen everybody. The reason why he fell was because he didn't have enough faith. Go sit down.

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Warning, listening to Fighting for the Faith can get you in a lot of trouble. What I'm about to teach you is banned information from the new

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Okay. We're not doing a sermon review today. We are doing biblical teaching. And what

I'm about to teach you could get you disinvited from just about any possible thing that you can imagine, including from, well, from being invited to pray the benediction at the presidential inaugural.

It doesn't matter. The new state church of the United States of America has set up a new kind of McCarthyism.

And if you believe any of this that I'm going to teach you, you could be in deep kimchi. That's all

I'm saying. So I'm going to teach it to you anyway because my allegiance is to Jesus Christ.

As far as I'm concerned, the state church of the United States of America, I don't recognize that church as a church, nor do

I recognize Barack Obama or any political leader as having authority in the kingdom of God.

So my allegiance is to Jesus Christ and what his word says. And if you don't like it or agree with it, tough, you're wrong.

God's word is true. Men are liars. All right. So open up your Bible to properly understand this topic.

We begin at the beginning. Go to Genesis 1. Genesis 1.

Now here's the fundamental problem. I mentioned this at the beginning of the program, and that is that the basic argument in America being used by people who are pro -homosexual is that homosexuality is a state of being in the same sense that somebody is born black or white or human or whatever.

So punishing or saying that somebody is a sinner because they are engaging in homosexual sin or attracted or having passion for somebody of the same sex, well, that's like punishing a carnation and saying a carnation is sinful for being a carnation.

But that is not what is true at all. In fact, we all know this isn't true at all, and it goes back to creation itself.

Genesis 1. I'll start at verse 26. We'll read a little bit from Genesis. Here's what it says.

Then God said,

Here's the idea. What you are sexually is not subjective.

You were created either male or female.

What you are down to your being is what you are either male or female.

Plain and simple. If you're confused about this, look down.

Have one of those private moments and determine based upon the plumbing down there if you are a male or a female.

It's just that simple. If you have the plumbing of a male, you're a dude. You're a male.

If you have the plumbing of a female, you are a female. Plain and simple.

God created man male and female. It's just that simple.

That's what you are. We know this. We know this in our society. When you go to the restaurant and you need to use the restroom, they have two doors.

One for males, the other for females.

It's that simple. It really, truly is that simple. What you are sexually is objective.

It's tangible. It's in your very flesh. Sexual sin begins by saying what

I am physically is not what I am sexually.

What's it based upon? Subjectivity. Experience.

Feelings. The way the argument runs is that if your young son is starting to have amorous thoughts towards guys, people of the same sex, that means your son is a homosexual.

No, it doesn't mean that at all. What it means is that your son, who is a male, is being tempted by his own sinful flesh, the devil, whatever, to run contrary to what

God has made him. You do not set up his experiences as the arbiter of decider of truth as to what he is.

What he is was determined long ago when he was born.

It's on his birth certificate. He's either male or female.

But if he's a he, he's a he. It's real simple. This is what God made them. Let's go back again to Genesis.

Flip forward to Genesis 2, starting at verse 18. Then the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone.

I will make for him a helper fit for him. Now out of the ground the Lord had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them.

And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the heavens, and to every beast of the field.

But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the

Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept, took one of his ribs, closed up its place with flesh, and the rib that the

Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman, and brought her to the man. And then the man said,

This at last is bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh. He shall be called woman because she was taken out of the man.

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother, and hold fast or cling to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

The man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. Suitable helper for man.

Woman, plain and simple. Man and woman come together and become one flesh.

That's why this union produces other human beings. This is the way

God created. We talk about it being nature. This is the nature that God put in us.

To act contrary to this is to go against the very nature of who you are and what

God has made you. It is the ultimate rebellion against God.

That's why when we get to the book of Leviticus later, Leviticus chapter 18 verse 22 says,

And you shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.

Leviticus chapter 20 verse 13 says, If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination.

They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them. In ancient

Israel, not only was it declared, according to the civil law of ancient

Israel, that homosexual, actual physical deeds, the deed itself was against the law.

God declared it to be an abomination. An abomination that according to the civil law of ancient

Israel required the death penalty. This was a crime that the solution, according to God's justice, was the death penalty.

This is absolutely indisputable. The person who claims that what's being outlawed here is having sex with a slave or prostitution or whatever, temple prostitution.

The thing about the Hebrew language is it's very descriptive. Greek is very analytical and somewhat philosophical in the way it does things.

It deals with ideas. It's very analytical in that sense. The Hebrew mindset is not analytical like that.

It's not abstract. And so it's real simple. Listen carefully to the language.

It's describing the act, not the mindset behind it or the justification for it or what you were thinking or what you were feeling or some abstract concept or subjective thing.

Leviticus 18 .22, You shall not lie with a male as with a woman.

It is an abomination. Leviticus 20 .13, If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination.

They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them. There's nothing talking about motive, nothing whatsoever talking about motive or the context in which this is happening.

The sheer act itself, God declares an abomination. And in the nation of ancient

Israel, the theocracy of Israel, this was a crime punishable by death. Absolutely undeniable.

Anybody who says something to the contrary is not telling you the truth. Now, by the way, one of the pet liberal arguments is that in 1

Corinthians 6 .9 where we translate regarding homosexuality, that the

Greek term is arsenokoites and they're not sure what that means. That's ridiculous.

Because when you read Leviticus 18 .20 from the

Greek translation of the ancient world called the Septuagint, when you read it from the

Septuagint, it's very clear and you see where this word arsenokoites comes from.

And it's real simple. Literally means man bedder.

Somebody who lies with or beds a man. And basically when the

Apostle Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in 1 Corinthians 6 .9

uses the word arsenokoites, it's basically the Holy Spirit taking two words from Leviticus 18, arsenos and koite, and putting them together into one word.

The Greek language works that way. So keep that in mind. But that's not the next passage we're going to go to. The next passage we're going to take a look at is

Romans 1. Romans 1. We'll start at verse 18. Here's what it says.

Do you feel like any of that's going on right now? Men in unrighteousness suppress the truth.

That's what's going on with this new state church. They're suppressing the truth of God's word regarding the sin of homosexual behavior as well as lust.

But we'll get into this. Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the

Creator who is blessed forever. Amen. Notice, verse 24 says that God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts.

Where does lust of the heart start? In your heart. It's a subjective feeling that begins in there.

So because they refused to recognize God as God, God gave them up to the lusts of their heart to their subjective feelings.

Because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and they worshipped and served the creature rather than the

Creator who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions.

To dishonorable passions. The Greek here for passions is the word pathos.

Okay? Pathos. Yeah, you've probably heard of something similar to this. Well, according to BDAG, the premier

Greek lexicon for New Testament Greek, pathos means an experience of strong desire or passion.

Okay? So listen again to the passage. For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions.

Lusts. That's the subjective feeling. For their women exchanged natural relations.

What would be the natural relation for a woman? Well, the natural relation for a woman would be for her to be married to a man and have sexual relations with her husband, who is a male.

That would be the natural. But the Scripture says that God gave them up to dishonorable passions.

It begins as a subjective lust in your heart. And it doesn't say in Scripture here that this is what you are.

It says that God has turned you over to it for you to exchange what is natural for that which is contrary to nature.

That's what it says. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature.

And the men, likewise, gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another.

Now, I'll come back to point out the subjective here. The Greek word, oraxis, literally means a condition of strong desire or longing and strong desire.

So here's what the text is saying. Men, likewise, gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with strong lust, passion and desire for one another.

For other men, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Now, this is important and it's key. The reason why it's important and it's key is because the culture out there wants to argue that somebody is born and that their nature, sexually, is defined by their feelings.

And yet, Romans makes it clear that these dishonorable passions, these feelings, these lusts, that they're a punishment of God.

God turning people over to them because they refuse to honor Him as God. Right?

So these feelings are what are... that cause somebody to do something that's contrary to their nature.

The scripture makes it clear that you are not born homosexual.

You are born male or female. That's the natural order that God has set up.

And when you are being evil, God turns you over to your feelings so that your feelings cause you to do things that are contrary to the very nature of who you are.

In other words, there is only male and female. There is no homosexual. And really, there's no heterosexual as a state of being.

I am not... You've got to be careful how you quote me here. But I am not, as a being, by definition defined as a heterosexual.

Okay? I am a man. I am a male. Okay? My desire for my wife is truly natural in an order of the way that God created it.

Okay? That's the idea. And by the way, other aspect of it, is that within Scripture, just having a desire for someone of the opposite sex is not a positive thing.

And what I mean by that is this. Okay? We are to be attracted to and only exercise our sexual prowess, if you would, our sexual functions within the context of a marriage.

A monogamous marriage. So heterosexual relationships outside of marriage are contrary to Scripture and our sins.

They're forbidden by God. So the idea here is that, oh, and just because your desire is for somebody of the opposite sex doesn't mean that that's somehow necessarily a good thing.

If that were the case, then pornography wouldn't be a problem, now would it? But it is.

Next passage. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 9. Listen again.

Do not be deceived. This is what the Holy Spirit wrote for us. Do not be deceived.

Neither the sexually immoral, that would be adulterers, okay?

Heterosexual forbidden relationships. That would be, do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality.

Now, a little quick note here on the Greek here. What's coming across in the

English, it's a phrase that's a little bit tricky to translate.

Let me read it again in the ESV. Nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality.

The phrase in question we want to look at is, and literally what this is saying, a malakoi, the malakoi, by the way, according to BDAG, again, the premier

New Testament Greek lexicon, the malakoi are those who are passive in a same -sex relationship.

They are the effeminate receivers. Whereas the arsenikoitai, that would be the male bettors, they are the ones, well, for lack of a better way of putting it, the dominant in that particular relationship.

So the scripture here is saying that neither the malakoi, the effeminate receivers, and the arsenikoitai, the guys who are on top, if you would, neither of them.

Homosexual offenders, period. Men who practice homosexuality, that's the phrase that comes across, but it includes both ends of that.

Nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

And if you don't like that, your argument is with God. It's His kingdom.

He decides who inherits, who is the one who gets to inherit it. You don't like it? I'm sorry.

I've got nothing to offer you. But for those who will listen, who will not harden their hearts against what

God is saying here, Paul has a little bit more to say. And he says to those in Corinth, and such were some of you.

Were. You were. Okay? In other words, and the nice thing is this is the imperfect here, it's a past tense.

Some were some of you, and such were some of you, but you were washed. You were sanctified.

You were justified or declared righteous in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the

Spirit of God. You'll notice in that list there that's given, neither the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

There's few people that can say that they don't show up on this list.

Few people who can say that they don't show up on this list. But the good news is not that you didn't commit the sin.

The good news is that the sin was atoned for by the shed blood of Christ.

Okay? That's the idea. Next passage. 1

Timothy 1 verse 9. Understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just, but the law is laid down for the lawless, and the disobedient, for the ungodly, and the sinners, for the unholy, and the profane, and those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, those men who practice homosexuality.

There's the phrase again, arsenikoitais, the man -betters, enslavers, liars, perjurers, whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed

God with which I have been entrusted. Christian message is clear. It's not ambiguous.

It's right on and to the point. This is a sin.

Same sex, passion, lust, and the deed itself, all are a sin.

Contrary to nature, contrary to who you are, and sins for which

Christ has died for. Just like Christ has died for all of the sins that I've committed.

In fact, I'm not sitting here as a sinless person, pointing my finger at you and saying, Ha! You're a sinner and I'm not.

No, Paul goes on to say in that same chapter of 1st Timothy, this saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

Let me pause there for a second. In the gospel of Mark, there's a great little encounter that Jesus has with the Pharisees.

Jesus, the Son of God in human flesh, has come to earth. He's just called

Matthew, Levi, the tax collector, to be one of his disciples, and ends up having dinner at his house.

And, well, all the town sinners showed up for the party. Yep, that's right.

There was a whole bunch of other sinners and tax collectors all there at Matthew's house, and Jesus was there dining with them.

And the Pharisees were absolutely torched. And they come to Jesus, and they're just,

Look! You're eating with sinners!

And Jesus' response to them is instructive. Jesus says it is not those who are healthy and well who need a physician, but it is the sick.

He said, I have not come to call the righteous, but to call sinners.

That's who Jesus came for. If you are not a sinner, then

Jesus has absolutely nothing to offer you, because Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

And you and I are all sinners. Let me say it again.

Verse 15, The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

And here's the Apostle Paul writing, Of whom I am the foremost, or the chief. The Apostle Paul never claimed to be a righteous dude after coming to Christianity.

No. He claimed to be the chief of sinners. I think all of us should have this attitude.

But here's what he says, But I received mercy, for this reason that in me as the foremost,

Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who are to believe in Him for eternal life.

Jesus came to save sinners. And see, here's the deal. We are not loving our neighbors, and friends, and family who are enslaved to same -sex passions and same -sex behavior if we do not confront them with their sin and call them to repentance and tell them of their crucified and risen

Savior who came to save sinners. Because unrepentant sinners, unrepentant adulterers, swindlers, greedy, and homosexuals,

God has said will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. But the kingdom of heaven will be absolutely packed full with forgiven sinners who have been brought to repentance and faith and trust in Christ for the forgiveness of sins.

Now, if you've been paying attention to the passages that I've been bringing up, you'll notice that I left a particular story out.

And that's the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, a much disputed text. Rather than enter the fray regarding the dispute by just reading the text itself,

I'm going to employ a hermeneutical technique known as Scripture Interprets Scripture.

There's a whole bunch of people out there who say, Oh, yeah, Sodom and Gomorrah, that's all about inhospitality.

You know, people who weren't being hospitable and treating strangers badly.

I would agree. Homosexual rape is a bad way to treat a stranger. But the

Scripture tells us that it's a lot more than that. And it does so in, of all places, the epistle of Jude.

So if you have your Bible, flip over to Jude. I'll start at verse 1 so we get the context. This is a short little letter worth passing along.

Jude, verse 1. Here we go. Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James.

Jude, by the way, is a half -brother of Jesus. But he can't bring himself to say that. That's interesting, right?

To those who are called beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ, may mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

Beloved, although I was eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints.

For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our

God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ. Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt afterward, destroyed those who did not believe.

And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority but left their proper dwelling, He has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.

Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

Jude, verse 7, makes it clear. The men of Sodom were not only sexually immoral, but it defines and describes their immorality as that of pursuing unnatural desire.

There it is. Again, unnatural desire. Okay? Let me read a little bit more.

Yet in like manner, these people, these false teachers who've crept in, relying on their dreams, they defile the flesh, they reject authority, blaspheme the glorious ones.

But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment.

But he said, The Lord rebuke you. But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively.

Woe to them! For they walk in the way of Cain, and have abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion.

Notice it says here, these people are like unreasoning animals, following things that they understand instinctively.

They're feelings, right? These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds who feed only themselves, waterless clouds, swept along by winds, fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted, wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame.

They are wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever. It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying,

Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of his holy ones to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly of their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against them.

These are grumblers. They're malcontents. They are following their own sinful desires.

They are loudmouth boasters showing favoritism to gain an advantage. But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our

Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, In the last times, in the last time, there will be scoffers following their own ungodly passions.

It is these, these are the ones who cause divisions. They are worldly people.

They are devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourself up in your most holy faith and praying in the

Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our

Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt.

Save others by snatching them out of the fire. To others, show mercy with fear, hating even the garments stained by the flesh.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you as blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy.

To the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever.

This is what God's Word says. There are false teachers among us.

And as Jude points out, the apostles themselves prophesied. And he reiterates their prophecies that in the last time there will be scoffers.

Scoffers. These are people who mock God's Word, reject the authority of Scripture, reject what

Christ has said, reject what the Holy Spirit has revealed. They are scoffers who follow their own ungodly passions.

And that they, they are the ones who cause divisions.

And that they are worldly people devoid, completely devoid of the

Spirit of the Holy and True God. Who is it, the ones who are causing divisions in the body of Christ?

Those who are following their own worldly passions and are bringing the sin of Sodom into Christianity claiming that God celebrates and embraces and is completely happy with those who commit these sins.

And now we live in a time, and now the day has come. It is a new season.

It is a new day. Where you say this publicly, you will be marked.

You will be shunned. You will be rejected. You will suffer just as your

Savior has suffered. So here's the question I have for you. Will you preach the truth?

Will you love your neighbor enough to risk jail?

To risk losing your job? To risk being disinvited?

To risk whatever the cost is? Are you ready to risk everything that you have on this earth including your own life for the sake of your

Lord and Savior? Because I'm going to ask you this straight up or at least say it straight up.

Because if you're not willing to stand for the truth, then what do you believe?

We've come to the time now where those who have been remaining silent are celebrity pastors and teachers who you can't figure out exactly what they believe by what they say.

We must come to the conclusion that by remaining silent, their silence speaks not in favor of what

Scripture says but proves that they do not believe what

Scripture says. That's how we must interpret the silence. So the bugle is blowing.

Reveille is being called. You're called to muster. Will you stand with Christ and His saints even to the point of death?

Revelation chapter 21 verse 5. And he who was seated on the throne said,

Behold, I am making all things new. Also he said, Write this down for these words are trustworthy and they are true.

He said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

To the thirsty, I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.

The one who conquers will have this heritage and I will be his

God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, let me read that again.

This is the Lord Jesus speaking. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for the murderers and the sexually immoral, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all the liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

Are you a Christian? Have you been brought to repentance and faith and trust in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins?

If that is true of you, this is not a day for you to be cowardly.

This is not a day for you to side with those who are embracing and teaching rebellion in the body of Christ.

Those who are sexually immoral, murderers and sorcerers and idolaters and all the like.

As the Apostle Paul points out in 1 Corinthians 6, they shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But Jesus in Revelation 21, verse 8, makes it clear that not only will they not inherit the kingdom of God, their portion is going to be in the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

This is the second death. Hell awaits them. Not just the sexually immoral, the cowards.

That's what it says. So will you capitulate?

Will you put your head down? Not make eye contact? Look away silently while your

Christian brothers and sisters are being persecuted? Or will you be numbered with them?

That's the question. Will you be numbered with them? For heaven and earth are passing away.

You're not even going to be here in a hundred years if the Lord tarries. What will you be holding on the last day?

Christ and His word? Or a world that is soon to be destroyed and is going to pass away?

Oh, I know it doesn't really sound like that easy of a decision. But that's what it's come down to.

These days are now perilous days for Christians in the

United States. And the question is, who is your allegiance to?

Jesus Christ and what He's revealed in His word? For you to stand on, proclaim, and defend?

Or capitulate and continue to give the world what they want to hear? Which is in effect not loving them, is in reality, is cowardly, and sending them and maybe you to hell.

Repent. Be forgiven. The good news is that Christ came to save sinners.

We have nothing to offer people who are not sinners. For as scripture says, if you say you have no sin, you deceive yourself.

And the truth is not in you. But if you confess your sin,

God, who is faithful and just, will forgive your sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

will it be? The time has come to pick sides. Amen.