Lord of our Sexuality (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Jeff Kliewer)

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Sermon Notes: http://notes.cornerstonesj.org Lord of our Sexuality

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If you would grab a seat, being together with the brothers and sisters in the
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Lord is something I look forward to all week long. I want to encourage you with some words out of Deuteronomy today because we're coming together and anticipating a meeting with the
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Lord this morning, and now Israel, I'm going to say, and now Cornerstone. What does the
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Lord require from you? That's a good thing to ask. But to fear the Lord your
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God, to walk in His ways, and love Him, and serve the
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Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and my encouragement to you this morning is that we're coming before the throne of God, we're coming into fellowship with our heart and with our soul focused on Him.
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Some few announcements this morning, tomorrow is an important meeting, our congregational meeting is tomorrow at 7 o 'clock right here.
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If you're a member, please definitely come, and if you're not a member but you're interested in what our church is doing, please come, we have some really interesting topics to bring out and we would like you all to be informed about them.
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I would also say that on the end of the month, in about a couple of weeks, we're going to be experiencing what's called a
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Bible journaling workshop. If you have... Is that...
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Okay. Hi, Heather. If you have never experienced the blessings of Bible journaling,
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I obviously encourage reading and meditating. Journaling has a way of making that specific lesson, that specific thought significant to you, and so Heather's going to be leading us.
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It will be on a Saturday from 10 .30 to 2 .30. There is a cost. Lunch will be provided, and I believe you sign on at the church app, at the church website, so we encourage you for that.
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We had our first starting point class. It's a three -week class this morning.
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What I want you guys to do next week is more to come so that we don't fit in the room.
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That would be exciting if we have to get a bigger room. But come on in. If you want to learn about what we believe about our church, that's a great place.
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It's three weeks. We have two more to go, and so if you're interested, just come on out, first service time, starting again next
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Sunday. And then the end of the month on the 30th, that's a Sunday, we've had an annual men's fellowship that the tradition goes back probably almost 20 years, guys getting together with guys over the
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NFC championship game. I saw a few Eagles jerseys.
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I think there are some of you who are hoping to be celebrating that day. So, please, join with us in fellowship, whether your team's in it or not.
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It's guys with guys, and it will be Sunday, the 30th, 640 p .m.
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That is a strange time to start a fellowship. I guess that's kickoff? And it will be at Michael's house.
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Does Brendan know? Yes. Okay. Please be aware that we are in full swing with things like prayer meeting tonight, care groups, men's and women's studies are ongoing.
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So, check on for that, and at this time, I'm going to ask Louise if you would come up. Good morning, everyone.
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Good morning. Okay. I am here for our missionaries, and our missionary for the month is
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Tim and Kathy Sheets, and they are the founder and ministry ambassadors of HVMI.
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Kathy is his happy wife, Tim's happy wife, and HVMI's lead ministry secretary.
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They have, there's a lot going on with them. They have six ministries,
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Twilight Senior Ministries, Rest Ministries, Handicap Camp, Discipleship Ministries, International, and BASES.
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The Twilight Senior Ministry, the goal of TSM is to be
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Christ's hand to the elderly, offering God's great gift of salvation, and offering a concrete presence of his compassion.
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His Rest Ministry, R -E -S -T, which is restoration, encouragement, and support through truth exists to make
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God real and to facilitate restoration to people who are hurting, abused, and addicted.
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The Handicap, Handicamp, uses many full -time missionaries in key leadership positions joined by many more summer staff serving as counselors,
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Bible teachers, service staff, and assistant nurses.
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Campers with physical, mental, or multiple disabilities come for camp, come for summer camp where they enjoy many activities.
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They're not just staying at home being disabled, but they're, through this camp, they can enjoy things.
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They also have, as I mentioned, International H -V -M -I is now in Ghana, West Africa, where they have a facility to provide camps with people with sight and hearing impairments, help for foster homes, and a home for women with disabilities who were living on the streets there.
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And the Basis Ministry is a ministry to help bereaved parents.
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Bereaved parents, it was established to encourage hurting parents through the darkest and heaviest days of their grief.
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So I have handouts in the back for you, which will give you more detailed information, but thank you.
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Please continue to pray for our missionaries. They are doing an awesome job for the
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Lord, and we can be a part of that by praying for them. All right?
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Thank you. Thank you. Louise, I want to say thank you.
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There are a lot of missionaries, and to be able to put a concept with a name, we're going to be trying to get their pictures up so that we can have that visual.
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But I also encourage you to come back at 6 o 'clock tonight to our prayer meeting. When we do the missions moment in the morning, that will be an emphasis of prayer even tonight in our prayer meeting.
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So right now, let's go to prayer. Father, Lord, we come to you with hearts in awe, knowing our unworthiness, but Lord, resting in the love that you have.
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Lord, we thank you for the sheets that are working for your kingdom, ministering to so many people who are in need, and bringing their lives to minister to them.
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Father, here I pray, Lord, for within our own church, for opportunities for people to be fellowshipping, discipling, growing spiritually together.
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Lord, we pray that we would be seeking you in every aspect of our life. Tomorrow night,
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Lord, with our congregational meeting, we pray for your wisdom and for your guidance that as we discuss matters, this is your kingdom.
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So we surrender to your sovereignty, and with that, Lord, as we're considering the new board, the new budget, again, we seek your guide.
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Lord, for many who are hurting, whether they're in physical need for healing or have lost recently loved ones, we pray,
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Lord. And now, Lord, as Pastor Jeff is going to bring the message of understanding the biblical definition of genders and some of the world's attack,
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Lord, we pray that you would speak clearly to him, that we would understand, we would be moved to being your servants.
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And Father, I specifically pray for our brothers in Canada, in pulpits who are being attacked and face even imprisonment for speaking the truth about this matter.
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We pray that you protect them. And we pray now, Lord, for your hand. In Jesus' name, amen.
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Amen. He is Lord of all creation, maker of heaven and earth.
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He's the one and only God. Can we stand together and sing? You are the one alone in greatness.
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The one who never changes. Jesus, you are the one who rose in power.
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The one who reigns forever. Jesus, the one true
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God. One man on a cross, way to be saved, that was slain.
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One love above all, there is no other.
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You are the one alone in greatness.
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The one who never changes. Jesus, you are the one who rose in power.
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The one who reigns forever. Jesus, the one true
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God. You're the one true God.
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And we have seen the glory of the one and only
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Son of God. Yes, we have seen the glory of the one and only
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Son of God. You are the one alone in greatness.
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The one who never changes. Jesus, you are the one who rose in power.
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The one who reigns forever. Jesus, the one true
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God. You're the one true God.
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You're the one true God. Amen.
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Galatians 1 .4 says, who gave himself for our sins so that he might rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our
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God and Father. The next song we're going to sing together has a few key statements.
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The first in the first verse is who, O Lord, could save themselves which brings us to the beginning that we cannot save ourselves.
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And then in verse 2 it says, you, O Lord, have made a way. Going back to John 14 .6.
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I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. So essentially this song allows us to sing our faith and give
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God thanks and praise for saving us from our shameful ways.
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Let's sing together. You alone can rescue. Who, O Lord, could save themselves?
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Their own soul could heal. Our shame was deeper than the sea.
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Your grace is deeper still. You alone can rescue.
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You alone can save. You alone can lift us from the grave.
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You came down to find us, let us out of death.
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To you alone belongs the highest praise.
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You, O Lord, have made a way.
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You alone can rescue. You alone can lift us from the grave.
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You alone can lift us from the grave. You alone can lift us from the grave. You came down to find us, let us out of death.
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To you alone belongs the highest praise.
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To you alone. Let's lift up our voices and our eyes together.
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We lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes to the giver of life.
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We lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes. You're the giver of life.
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We lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes. You're the giver of life.
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We lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes. You're the giver of life.
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And you alone can rescue. You alone can save.
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You alone can lift us from the grave. You came down to find us, let us out of death.
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And you alone belongs the highest praise.
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To you alone belongs the highest praise.
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To you alone. Lord, we come to you this morning accepting that you have redeemed us from our shameful ways.
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Lord, we want to come before you with hearts that are just empty without you.
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I pray, Lord, that we will come to the point that we want to follow you.
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We want to serve you. We want to serve your people. You are the refuge that we can run to.
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You are the fire that leads us through the night. You stand right beside us. There's so many ways that you bless us.
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There's so many that we can't even count. Stir our hearts to follow you wherever you lead us.
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Sing with me. You make it easy to love you.
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You are good and you bring joy into my life.
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You make it easy to trust you. Have never left my side.
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You've been faithful every time. All I want is you.
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Jesus, all I want is you.
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You are the refuge I run to. You are the fire that leads me through the night.
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I'll follow you anywhere. There's a million reasons to trust you.
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Nothing to fear for you are by my side.
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I'll follow you anywhere. Jesus, you came to my rescue.
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Took my place upon. You redeemed what
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I had lost. Now my whole world revolving around you.
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You're the center of my life. You're the treasure, you're the prize.
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All I want is you.
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Jesus, all I want is you.
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You are the refuge I run to. You are the fire that leads me through the night.
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I'll follow you anywhere. There's a million reasons to trust you.
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Nothing to fear for you are by my side. I'll follow you anywhere.
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I'll follow you anywhere. I want to follow you.
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Wherever you lead me. Whatever it costs me.
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All I want is you. Jesus, all I want is you.
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Wherever you lead me. Whatever it costs me.
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All I want is you. Jesus, all I want is you.
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All I want is you.
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Jesus, all I want is you.
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You are the refuge I run to. You are the fire that leads me through the night.
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I'll follow you anywhere. There's a million reasons to trust you.
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Nothing to fear for you are by my side. I'll follow you anywhere.
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I'll follow you anywhere. I hope that's your prayer this morning.
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You are the refuge I run to. You are the fire that leads me through the night.
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I'll follow you anywhere. There's a million reasons to trust you.
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Nothing to fear for you are by my side.
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I'll follow you anywhere. Let's pray.
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Jesus, in Matthew 13, you told a parable of the soil. And we desire,
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Lord, to be that good soil. You say, take care how you hear. And so,
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Lord, we pray that we would take care now to hear your word well. To receive what you say, to submit to your authority for you are
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God. We pray that you would use the preaching of your word to change us from the inside out.
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To make us more pure and holy in your sight. More like Christ.
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Even at the level of our desires and affections. Lord, change us at the deepest part of who we are.
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We also pray, Lord, that you would tear down strongholds through the preaching of your word. Lord, we pray that you would move powerfully to destroy the enemy.
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To set people free. And even at a cultural level, we pray that you would use preaching to be salt and light in the culture.
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In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. This sermon is illegal in Canada.
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What I'm about to preach this morning would be grounds for arrest and two years in jail in Canada as of January 8, 2022.
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With the new bill, C -4, that was just passed in Canada, which reads this way.
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Everyone who knowingly causes another person to undergo conversion therapy is guilty of an indictable offense and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years.
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Now that applies to counselors who try to help someone who's struggling with gender dysphoria to recognize how
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God made them. Or someone who has the sense that they are gay to become straight.
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If a counselor were to work with a person in that area, they go to jail for five years.
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But the language continues in C -4. Everyone who knowingly promotes or advertises this is guilty of an indictable offense and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years.
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That applies to pastors who preach the full counsel of God's word in Canada this morning are liable to two years in jail.
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So there is a pastor of Grace Life Church in Canada whose name is James Coates. We prayed for him because they've already thrown him in jail once.
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When the Bible told you to assemble and not neglect the assembling of yourselves together,
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Hebrews 10 .25, he said, OK, so our church is going to meet. But the government said you must not meet.
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And he obeyed God rather than man. And he spent, I think, a couple of months in jail.
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James Coates was educated at Master Seminary in California with John MacArthur as his pastor.
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And so James Coates this week reached out to Pastor John and said, hey, I'm going to preach on sexuality this week because they said it was illegal.
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And a number of pastors in Canada joined with him. And John MacArthur sent out a charge to all pastors across America and Canada saying every one of you needs to preach on sexuality this week.
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They can't throw everybody in jail. Let's test this law at the get go.
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Now notice in New Jersey, it's not illegal. So it's no great bold stand for me to preach on sexuality here this morning.
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However, there is a bill in New Jersey which passed in 2013, which says that it's prohibited to counsel the change of sexual orientation to a minor.
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That's Assembly Bill 3371 in New Jersey. So if you're a family counselor, you're not allowed to work with a minor to help them overcome gender dysphoria or sexual orientation issues.
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So it is coming to America, even if it hasn't enlarged to the adult population and to the pulpit at this time.
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In fact, I just heard between the services that Indiana just introduced the same bill that Canada did, which is surprising.
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I wouldn't think Indiana. I would have thought California or New Jersey would have initiated that. But it seems to be in the house in Indiana.
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This issue of sexuality is a gospel issue.
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If the Bible cannot tell us ethics, what's morally good, what's right versus what's wrong, it cannot offer a savior for sin.
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There's no salvation for sinners who don't know how to repent of sin to turn to the
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Savior. The gospel call is repentance and faith. And so the Bible must first define what sin is in the first place in order for the sinner to turn from sin to take
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Christ at his word. This is a gospel issue. In fact, Martin Luther put a sharper edge on that razor.
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He was debating the Roman Catholic Church in his day, and he was preaching sola fide, faith alone, no sacraments unto salvation.
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You have to preach Christ alone because the Roman papist gospel is a non -gospel.
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And Martin Luther said, there's many people who will say some things, but they won't speak about this issue. And here's what he said, if I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God, except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking,
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I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing
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Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved.
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And to be steady on all other battlefields is merely flight and disgrace if he flinches at that one point.
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Martin Luther is saying, you need to fight the battle where it rages. And in our day, in 2022 in the
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United States of America, the authority of God's word is being challenged at the point of sexuality.
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That's where the battle is raging. So to be a faithful pastor, I must speak to this issue today.
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If not, it's merely flight and disgrace. Likewise, Christian, to stand for the name that is above every name requires you to speak the truth about these issues, however unpopular you will be in your classroom, in your workplace, when the subject comes up at the lunch table.
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You need to stand for the truth of God's word in total, and especially at the points that are under attack.
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Let's do that this morning from 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verses 9 to 11.
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And the big idea this morning is that the Lord of heaven and earth, the one who hung the stars in the sky, who built everything that is, including humanity, he has the sovereign right to define right and wrong, male and female.
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He has the right even over our hearts, and he is the one who can set people free from sexual perversion.
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So let's read 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verses 9 to 11, for the good news of deliverance from sin.
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The good news that God has the power to change people. His gospel is good news.
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1 Corinthians 6, verses 9 to 11. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
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Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
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And such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the
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Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God. Amen.
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The Lord of heaven and earth sets the boundaries of right and wrong.
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It is fundamentally a prideful, arrogant spirit that thinks that mankind defines what's right and what's wrong.
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Or this concept that each person has an individual truth which is good for them, this is also arrogance.
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Micah 6, verse 8 says, He has told you, O man, what is good.
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And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your
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God? God, as the sovereign over creation, has the right to define right and wrong.
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He tells us, He has told you, O man, what is good. And He tells us to do justly, to do justice, what is right, we must learn that category from God Himself.
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He defines what's right and what's wrong. He is sovereign over morality.
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So let's begin to speak of sexuality, but not at first with the prohibitions. Let us begin to build a positive case.
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Many people say, well listen, homosexuality, transgenderism, lesbianism, these things aren't sin, or Jesus would have spoken to them.
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And Jesus never said anything about these things, therefore it must be okay. Let's examine that argument in light of the counsel of God.
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Because the argument from silence of what Jesus didn't say cuts in two directions.
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Being the omnipotent, omniscient God of the universe who came in flesh, and knowing that in 2022, most of the world would be for homosexuality, and Christians would be left here with our
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Bibles, He very well could have spoken about these matters and clearly affirmed homosexual relationships.
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But He did not. Jesus never said anything about homosexuality in a positive light.
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Nor did He speak to these issues in that way. However, we will learn He did affirm what
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God always said from the beginning. And explicitly so. So we need to begin in the beginning with a positive case.
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We're going to do a brief review of morality. Because this culture needs to hear, and we, to be honest, need to be reminded of these things.
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That our Christian ethic would be formed from Scripture. Turn with me to Genesis 1, verse 27.
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We're going to move quickly. It's in your notes, so don't feel that you have to find every passage.
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If you'd rather just listen, that's okay. It says in Genesis 1, verse 27, So God created man in His own image.
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In the image of God, He created him. Male and female,
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He created them. The sovereign who made the universe has the right to define the binary of maleness and femaleness.
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It is His design. Then in chapter 2, verse 23 and 24,
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The man said of the woman, This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.
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She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Genesis 2, 24,
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Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh.
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This is God's invention, God's design, and sexuality is a good thing.
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This is prior to the fall of man in Genesis 3. God creates male and female. And not just speaking of Adam and Eve because they had no mother and father.
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He says a man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife.
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This is a picture of companionship between a male and a female in marriage.
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And it is a good picture for enjoyment and companionship and for the command to fill the earth and subdue it.
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That is, of course, reproduction. This is God's design and it is a good design that He created.
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Now, the sexual activity that He designed for man and woman to enjoy within marriage, this, then, is guarded by prohibitions.
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Meaning that the God who designed sex for marriage draws boundaries around that gift lest when people transgress it, it would turn to their detriment rather than to their blessing.
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So turn with me to Exodus 20, verse 14. As part of the
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Ten Commandments, guarding marriage here in Exodus 20, 14, the
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Lord of heaven and earth says, You shall not commit adultery.
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Adultery, of course, refers to transgressing the marriage covenant. That husband and wife have entered into a covenant and God, as one of the
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Ten Commandments, prohibits adultery. Turn, then, to Leviticus, chapter 18, and God will become much more specific regarding sexual behaviors in Leviticus 18.
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Now, we will get to the point, so I want you to mark the thought. Many people will say that Leviticus only applies to Israel.
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It doesn't apply to us. Therefore, what's prohibited in the law should not be imposed upon the church and New Testament dispensation.
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That concept completely falls apart when we look at the actual language of Leviticus 18.
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Let's do that first at the beginning of Leviticus 18, then we're going to go back in a few minutes to 1
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Corinthians 6 and see why this teaching still applies. Notice in Leviticus 18, 1 through 5, the
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Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the
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Lord your God. I titled my message, Lord of Our Sexuality.
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God is the sovereign who created all things, and he has the right to speak to matters of justice, right and wrong, morality, what is good and what is not.
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He says in verse 2, Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the
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Lord your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan to which
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I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them.
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I am the Lord your God. The creator claims authority to define right and wrong.
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Verse 5, You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules. If a person does them, he shall live by them.
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I am the Lord. So notice, first of all, that there are nations surrounding
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Israel that do not walk in the ethical standard that God sets for his people.
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By the end of Leviticus 18, we'll learn that because they don't, he vomits them out of the land.
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The Canaanites, the Egyptian, they're vomited out from God. Referenced in 18 .3,
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by the end of Leviticus 18, verse 27,
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For the people of the land who were before you did all of these abominations so that the land became unclean.
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So the difference between how Israel was to live and how the nations disobeyed
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Leviticus 18 indicates that God has a standard that applies to all people because he applies that standard to the nations and vomits them out of the land.
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Verse 28, Lest the land vomit you out. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be vomited out of anything when you make it unclean.
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As it vomited out the nations that was before you. So, in Leviticus 18, then, you have specific instructions and boundaries that guard the good gift of sexuality.
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In verse 6, and continuing on, there are a number of prohibitions against incest of various kinds.
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There are prohibitions against bestiality. And then we come to chapter 18, verse 21, and here is the only verse in the chapter that doesn't ostensibly deal with sexuality.
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It deals with murder. It says, You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Moloch.
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And so profane the name of your God, I am the Lord. What's that doing in the middle of Leviticus 18?
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Why a prohibition against giving children, sacrificing children to a false god? Could it be that God, in His omnipotence, omniscience, knowing what would come in culture, places this here, because abortion is the offering of children to Moloch, and that results from sexual immorality.
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The reason that a mother would take her child, made in the image of God, that she carries and protects within her womb, and say,
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No, I don't want this child, is because this child, in almost every case, was conceived in sexual immorality.
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So it is a sexual issue that drives the abortion issue in this country, and the parallel drawn is that the killing of a child, an innocent child made in the image of God, comes about because of sexual immorality.
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The passage goes on in Leviticus 18, 22. Notice how explicit the language is here.
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It is because God is clear in His communication. He doesn't deceive people.
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The deceiver obfuscates language. God, in contrast, speaks very clearly that we would understand, and He says in verse 22,
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You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.
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God does not mince His words. He speaks very clearly. In fact, I want you to take note of the language of this text, because what
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He says now is a standard for all time, and I'll show you why. Notice the word male and lie.
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The Greek translation of this, so the Septuagint was a Greek translation of the
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Old Testament. The Greek words for male and lie are arsen koite, just mark that.
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I'm going to bring it up in a few minutes. Male is arsen. Koite means bed or to lie.
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God is saying that a male is not to go to the bed, to lie with another male as He would with a woman.
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It's very descriptive, and it's unmissable what God is saying. But notice the language.
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Mark it for a few minutes later. Arsen koite. Now, continue on to the
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New Testament. Those who seek to deceive do not be deceived.
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Those who seek to deceive will tell you that Jesus never spoke to the issue of homosexuality. So what was said in the law of God does not apply to the
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New Testament the way it did to Israel in the Old Covenant. So turn with me to Matthew 5, verse 17.
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There are a number of things that Jesus never explicitly spoke about, like bestiality and incest and all manner of sexual perversion, naming those things the way
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Leviticus 18 does. But if you read Matthew 5, verse 17, He clearly affirms the morality of Leviticus 18 as being determinative for all time.
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Now, here's what He says. Matthew 5, verse 17, from Jesus Himself. As all of the word is from Jesus Himself.
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Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
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I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.
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Let me read that again. Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
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I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. So Jesus very clearly draws a distinction between abolishing the law and fulfilling the law.
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Meaning there are things within the law of God, that which was given to Moses.
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In the book of Leviticus would be examples, which are fulfilled in Christ.
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Ceremonies, like the festivals. The offering of sacrifices, animals.
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The Sabbath. These things are fulfilled in Christ.
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Meaning that there were animal sacrifices prescribed by God to be offered day after day in the temple.
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And the Passover lamb killed every year until Christ Himself came. And His body as the
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Lamb of God dies the death that we deserve. A sacrifice once and for all, showing that it was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin.
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In His death on the tree, He once and for all becomes the sacrifice that all of that pointed to.
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Notice that this is fulfillment of the sacrificial system. He didn't abolish the sacrifices,
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He fulfilled them. All of those sacrifices pointed to Him and He finished what
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He came to do. You see the distinction? The same is true with the Sabbath, He becomes our rest.
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The ceremonies, the festivals, He is the fulfillment of those things. So these ceremonial and dietary laws are fulfilled in Him, in Christ.
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But here's the question that we face. Does that imply then that morality is shifty?
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Is it like a shifting shadow? Is morality only what a culture determines to be good and bad?
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And of course Jesus affirms very strongly, do not think that I came to abolish the law,
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I came to fulfill it. What is moral? What is good?
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It flows from the character of God. The Ten Commandments are not abolished in the work of Christ.
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Morality itself is fixed in the universe and cannot be changed. It is always wrong to steal, to commit adultery, to lie, to bear false witness, to take the
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Lord's name in vain. We wouldn't say that any of these things have changed because morality is based and flows from the character of God.
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Amen? So there's the distinction that we need to make. Jesus affirms the law. And continue on to Matthew 19, verses 3 -6.
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Jesus also cites the Old Testament, quoting from a passage we already read.
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Questioned about divorce, Jesus answers this way, verses 4 -6 of Matthew 19.
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Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female?
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The gender binary, that God makes people male and female. Psalm 139,
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He knits us together in our mother's womb. Jesus affirms such things and said,
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Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.
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The positive teaching on what marriage is, a union between a man and a woman, by definition, these are things that Jesus explicitly affirms.
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And then being the author of all Scripture, He goes on to speak directly in the New Testament prohibiting homosexual behavior.
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Turn with me to Romans chapter 1, verses 26 and 27.
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Romans 1, 26 and 27. In the context, the wrath of God is revealed against all mankind because mankind exchanges the truth of God for a lie.
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Worshiping and serving created things instead of the Creator who is forever praised. He gives an example of this exchange of God's natural and good creation for something that's man -made and man -centered.
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He says in Romans 1, 26 and 27, For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions.
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For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature.
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So this, of course, speaks of lesbianism. And then in verse 27, And the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another.
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Men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
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So the New Testament teaching is clear in holding up what God also said in the
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Old Testament. So let's go back now to 1 Corinthians 6 and we'll remain here now for the remainder of the sermon.
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You really need to see a few things in 1 Corinthians 6, 9 to 11.
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The first thing we've covered. And that is that a vice list. When God tells us what a vice is and lists those things, indicates that God is sovereign over morality.
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He has the right to tell us what's right and wrong. So he gives a list of things. And notice, it's not all sexual.
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It's not all targeted to the LGBTQ. It applies to all people in various categories.
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The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, men who practice homosexuality, thieves, greedy, drunkards, revilers, swindlers.
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All of these are moral wrongs that God condemns.
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The first two within the sexual category are sexual immorality and adultery.
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Sexual immorality, the word there is pornoi, from where we get pornography.
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It refers to all manner of sexual immorality. Anything that is not in keeping with God's design.
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The second word is moikoi, that's adultery. But moving now into the second point.
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God has the right to define maleness and femaleness.
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I want to show you something in 1 Corinthians 6, 9 that's very important and that all of you need to remember.
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Because this will become a topic of conversation in your schools. And as you defend the
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Bible, 1 Peter 3, 15 says, always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you.
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The point at which that hope is under attack is the area of sexuality. And a few other areas like race and economics.
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But you need to be able to turn to 1 Corinthians 6, 9 and explain the meaning of that text.
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So let's read this phrase. Nor men who practice homosexuality.
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Those who reject the authority of God's word will often masquerade, as deceivers do, as teachers of God's word.
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And they will tell you that this does not refer to consensual sex between committed, loving men.
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They say it refers to some manner of abuse. And they borrow from the
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Roman culture to say that there were practices of sexual domination in that society to which this refers.
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But committed homosexual marriage would be completely out of view with regard to this text.
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You understand what they're saying? We need to understand from the text that they're lying.
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It says here, men who practice homosexuality. Now, that word homosexuality was invented within the last couple hundred years.
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Became popular in the English language. And it's true that the translation homosexual didn't come into vogue until the 1940s when the
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RSV translated the Bible this way. Because, understand, we are
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English speakers reading in English. But God's word here was given in Koine Greek.
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And that language has even more precise meaning than we often find in the
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English. So then, what is the expression underlying men who practice homosexuality?
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It is malakoi, ute, arsenikoite.
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Now, that's hard. It's a mouthful to remember. Malakoi refers to the passive homosexual in the act of homosexual sin.
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Arsenikoite refers to the active male. Ute just means or.
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Why would Paul string these words together? Well, yes, so it's perfectly clear.
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Well, he is drawing from Leviticus 18. He is not borrowing from Greek culture.
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The actual language that I told you to make note of from Leviticus 18 .22, repeated in Leviticus 20 .13.
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Men who lay with men as with women. In the
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Septuagint was arson men, bed, koite.
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And Paul here, for the first time in human history, as far as we know, combines those two words to form a new word to describe homosexual behavior.
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Arsenikoite. Men, bed. And then he lays that next to malakoi to make the meaning clear.
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Malakoi was understood in Greek language. It was a soft man, an effeminate man. The word just means soft, malakoi.
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So imagine the word soft applied to something other than a man. For example, clothing. What did you go out into the wilderness to see?
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A reed shaken by the wind? Jesus asked. He's referring to John the
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Baptist, a manly man. Not a reed shaken by the wind, a courageous man.
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A man who is, in his masculinity, representing wealth. And he said, if you wanted to see a soft man, you would go to a king's palace because that's where you'll find soft clothing, malakoi clothing.
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But what did you go out to see? John the Baptist. Not in a king's palace wearing soft clothing, but a man like an unshakable reed.
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Jesus holds John the Baptist up as the example of masculinity. And he says he doesn't wear malakoi clothing.
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What does he wear? Camel hair. And he eats honey and locusts and stuff like that in the wilderness.
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Guys, that's how you be a man. He's not dressing in skinny jeans. He's John the
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Baptist. And Jesus says he doesn't wear malakoi clothing. Now, that's
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Jesus describing how John dresses. Not effeminate, okay? The word malakoi means effeminate.
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And here to describe a man as a malakoi, not clothing, but a person, describes an effeminate man.
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So the language of arsenikoite, ute, malakoi is the active and the passive man in bed together.
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It has nothing to do with Roman practices of pederasty, as the liars and deceivers will say.
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It's Paul drawing from the language of Leviticus 18 and coining a term in conjunction with a known term and laying those together so that nobody, brother, could miss the meaning of what he's saying.
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Exactly right. So men are not women.
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And men ought not act like women and be effeminate and certainly not go to bed with men.
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He makes that very plain from the language spoken. Now, there's only two more things for us to talk about today.
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Both very important. The first is many who want to name the name of Christ but reject this kind of teaching will say, okay,
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I recognize that homosexual behavior is wrong, but a person can still remain gay as long as they don't act upon it.
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This is the teaching of the ReVoice conference, livingoutreformationproject .org.
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They try to renegotiate what the word of God says, and they tell you that God is only concerned with how you behave, not what's happening in the heart.
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You see that word adultery in verse 9? Adulterer?
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Does it only refer to the outward act of adultery?
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In this context, it does because he's listing behaviors. But Jesus also spoke about something far deeper than outward behavior.
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The heart. Paul was convinced that he was a righteous man because as a
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Pharisee, he kept the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt not murder. He never killed. He wouldn't consider murder what he did to Stephen and the others.
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He never committed adultery. He didn't take the Lord's name in vain. He honored the Sabbath and kept it holy.
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He didn't have any idols. But then he got to the Ten Commandments, and it said, Thou shalt not covet.
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And he realized coveting is not outward at all. It's this desire in the heart for another person's goods, for their silver and gold.
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And so in Romans 7 -7, he explains that when he read the law cut him deeply.
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It showed him that his heart wasn't right. Even if he kept things outwardly, his heart was wrong.
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And so what Jesus taught, if a man even looks at a woman with lust in his eye, he's violating the deeper meaning of Thou shalt not commit adultery.
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And if you obey outwardly, Thou shalt not murder, but you have hate in your heart towards your brother, you're violating the deeper meaning, the heart -level meaning of Thou shalt not murder.
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Jesus took the teaching of God's word and applied it to the heart. And I want to tell you, that applies to sexuality as well.
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God does not only look out the outward behavior, he looks at what you desire, the affections of your heart.
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He sees you down to the depth of what you think about, what you covet.
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Paul will say in Acts 20 -33, I coveted no one's silver or gold.
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So what was it that happened between Romans 7 -7 when the command Thou shalt not covet and the declaration that he does not covet any longer?
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What happened to Paul? To change him from a covetous man to a man who can say,
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I do not covet. Answer, verse 11, and we close here.
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And such were some of you, but you were washed, you were cleansed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the
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Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God. And brothers and sisters, we need to hear this.
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Contra the Revoice Conference and Living Out and all those who want to redefine
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God's word. The gospel has power to change us even to the level of our desires and our hearts to the deepest part of who we are.
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The power of God is available in Christ Jesus by the spirit of the living God to change us and renew us from the inside out.
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That's the new covenant promise of Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 36. There is a change.
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There is a change. God can change not only your behavior but even malformed sexuality.
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Listen, those who depart into homosexual sin and even into homosexual identification or transgenderism are being deceived and led astray into that.
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And Christ Jesus can set them free. Good news. I know it's illegal to say this in Canada.
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It's still legal to say it here and it's always been true. There is a doctor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
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I think until recently. I think they let him go because he was saying this. His name is
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Dr. Robert Lopez. When he was a little boy, his parents divorced.
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And so the masculine father figure in his life was not there as he grew up.
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And his mother was kind of overbearing and dominating and he never connected with his mom.
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There wasn't affection between his mom and he. And so this boy, who's now
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Dr. Robert Lopez, he grew up as an effeminate kid, malachoy, soft. And the boys at school would bully him because of that and tell him that he was gay, mock him.
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And the girls said nobody would ever date you. And so he began to believe that.
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And most of the people who are identifying as homosexual or transgender have a similar story to tell.
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Father wounds, fathers that weren't there, and very often abuse, sexual abuse.
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The other factor that is shaping people in this way is pornography. We live in such a hyper -sexualized world.
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People begin to look at pornography and then continue in that and get exposed to more and more debauchery.
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And what happens is the human brain gets rewired by seeing these kind of images.
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And what arouses a person naturally gets distorted by the images that they're seeing.
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The images that people look at are actually rewiring their brains. And so because of these influences in our culture, because of the breakdown of family, you have many people whose minds have been actually changed chemically.
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Different paths of the brain, electrical paths have been cut. And it's a very damaging thing.
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But I want to tell you something about Dr. Robert Lopez. He believed the lie from age 13 when he got involved with homosexual activity until he was 28 years old.
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But when he encountered my Lord, Jesus Christ, Jesus set him free.
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And over time, not just from the behaviors, but from the affections and the desires, and his brain was healed through the sanctifying power of the
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Holy Spirit of the living God. He testifies to it. I had a friend who was raised on the mission field.
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And when he came back to America, because he was like a third -culture kid, he was awkward and weird, and he didn't understand culture, well, he assumed, because of the lies of the culture, that he was gay.
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And he got involved in male prostitution for a number of years until finally meeting
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Jesus for himself, not just the Jesus of his parents, but the Jesus who changes him from the inside.
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He was born again. And he was set free, and he was completely delivered, even from the desires.
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And he raised a family, and he's a godly husband, and a godly father. And he's free.
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Do you know that Jesus has power to redeem you from whatever the devil has brought you through?
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He's a God that sets people free. Do we still believe that? Hasn't he set the drug addict free?
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Hasn't he sent each one of us free from all manner of sin in our past? That's what we testify, because it's true.
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He saves us from the penalty of sin. He also breaks the power of sin over us.
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This is good news. And so I close with it. In verse 11, I want to underscore this. Just see it in the text.
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Such past tense were some of you. Guys, homosexuality in 2022 is nothing new in the world.
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It was all over the Roman Empire. It was in Corinth. And Paul is talking to actual people who used to be homosexual.
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Men who went to bed with other men. And malachoi, soft men, who are now learning to be men, to be manly as God made them to be.
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He says such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the
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Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead now lives in you.
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He can cleanse your mind. Now you need to set your mind on things above. Stop looking at pornography.
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If that's you, it is destroying your brain. It's rewiring it.
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Start looking at Christ. Reading his Word. Praying. God sets the sinner free.
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He changes us. He delivers us. So, in closing, I've written down an application. Understand what's at stake when a culture departs from its ethical foundations.
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I don't know how many years we have left, but it seems, from the trajectory of our culture, from our northern neighbors in Canada, that preaching the whole counsel of God will soon be illegal.
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James Coates might get locked up this Sunday, but they're going to have to lock up hundreds of pastors in Canada if they're going to do it.
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And thousands in America. Let the pastors boldly speak the whole counsel of God.
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And let every one of you don't be ashamed, but stand strong on what
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God has said. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Just because Obergefell in 2015 calls marriage what was never marriage and tries to redefine it contrary to the word of God doesn't make it so.
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He does not change like shifting shadows. So be willing to speak the truth in love. He has not given you a spirit of timidity, a soft spirit, but a spirit of power and of love and of self -control.
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This is the word of God. Let's pray. Father God, we do pray for our northern neighbors.
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We pray for James Coates and all the pastors who faithfully preach your word. We pray that there would be too many of them for the
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Canadian government to lock them up. We also pray for our culture. Like salt and light here,
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Lord, we pray that you would restrain the work of the enemy. We pray that America would remain free to preach the whole counsel of God's word.
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Let us do that without fear. We pray this way for our country. We also pray for our brothers in Russia who haven't been allowed to preach the gospel since 2016 when
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Putin outlawed proselytization. For our brothers in North Korea under Kim Jong -un.
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For our brothers and sisters that get locked up in China under Xi Jinping. And all the
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Western powers like Australia that are locking up the innocent because their moral compass is upside down.
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We pray for our brothers and sisters there. We do pray for our country and for the land.
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But Lord, most importantly, we pray for our own hearts that you would set us free from any sexual sin.
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Lord, we pray that you would set your people free from fantasies and perverted thinking, wrong desires, inappropriate affections.
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We pray in Jesus' name that our hearts and our minds would be set on things above that you would keep us pure as you are pure.
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In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's stand and sing. What gift of grace is
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Jesus our Redeemer? There is no more for heaven now to give.
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He is my joy, my righteousness and freedom.
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My steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace.
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To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus.
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For my life is wholly bound to His. Oh, how strange and can't see.
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All is mine, yet not I, but through Christ in me.
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The night is dark, but I am not forsaken.
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For by my side, the Savior, He will stay.
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I labor on in weakness and rejoice.
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For in my need, His power is displayed.
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To this I hold, my shepherd will defend me.
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Through the deepest valley, He will lead.
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Oh, the night has begun and I shall overcome.
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Yet not I, but through Christ in me. No fate
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I dread, I know I am forgiven. The future sure, the price it has been paid.
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For Jesus bled and suffered for my pardon.
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And He was raised to overthrow the grave.
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To this I hold, my sin has been defeated.
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Jesus now and ever is my plea.
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Oh, the chains are released, I can sing.
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I am free, yet not I, but through Christ in me.
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With every breath, I long to follow Jesus.
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For He has said that He will bring me home.
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And day by day, I know He will. Until I stand with joy before the throne.
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To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus. All the glory evermore to Him.
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When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat.
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Yet not I, but through Christ in me. When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat.
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Yet not I, but through Christ in me.
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Christ in me. Okay.
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Before I read the benediction, just a quick point of clarification for women.
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Bible journaling, by this, it's actually an artistic way to draw pictures in your
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Bible that help you remember what the text is saying. So ladies, please see Heather Henry with questions about that.
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It's going to be awesome. And guys, football game, don't forget. NFC champs. See, it's a good illustration.
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Women are going to do the artsy thing and we're going to go watch football. No, men can be artistic as well.
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So let me just read. Yeah, and women can like football too.
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That's right. That's right. You're right. Let's do the benediction.
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Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only
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God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, our Savior, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever.