“Father,
give us lives that honor You. Awaken our
minds to the truth of Scripture, and how we may live in a godless time. Let us not be conformed to the world but to
the way of Christ and to His blessed image.
Let us live in conformity to Christ and love His truth and live His
truth. Grant us hearts that are willing
to witness to the lost. Amen.”
The subject
of homosexuality or sexual immorality is a subject to study. In this sermon I have touched upon certain
things. Perhaps in another sermon on
this same subject I will write the additional things that could be spoken about
on this subject. My intention for
writing this sermon is to spread the message of ‘Repentance’ for the sin of
homosexuality or sexual immorality or fornication. It is not out of a heart of cruel hatred that
I write this sermon. No, no! Rather it is because we deeply care about the
lifestyles of people and where they will spend eternality. The lifestyles of people are our concern
because Scripture commands a life of holiness and godliness. And I also have a right to freedom of speech
to preach on this subject. But holiness
and godliness do not include this moral sin.
However, it is possible to struggle with this sin and repent of it but
have it as a besetting sin. There is a
difference between a habitual sin and a besetting sin. Habitual sins do not include repentance but
besetting sins include repentance. It is
my hope that reformation will take place in the lives of people who are
involved in this sin. The Bible is
replete with evidence that supports a pro-family environment not homosexuality
or homosexual marriage. The Bible is
against homosexuality in every age. We
see that God is against it in Genesis 19:1-28, Leviticus 18:22; 20:13, Ezekiel 16:46-50 and Romans
1:18-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Jude 7-8.
The sin of homosexuality has spread throughout our country and
land. Homosexuality is an immoral
act. It is an act condemned by the
Christian Bible. The Bible calls it
detestable or an abomination. The KJV, NKJV uses the word “abomination”
while the NIV and NASB uses the word “detestable.”
'If there is a man who lies with a male as those
who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall
surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.” (Lev. 20:13 NIV).
To have a
man lie with another man as one would do with a woman is clearly
reprehensible. It is indeed an act that
is contrary to human nature, and it is contrary to the law of God. In the time of the Old Testament it was a
crime worthy of death. So, then, it is a
serious matter and we will do well to look into this matter with great
attention and caution. Today we see
people living their lives in the way that seems right to them. They decide what “morals” are and what are
not “morals.” In a certain sense they
are a law unto themselves. Some will say
that a relationship with many homosexuals is appropriate at once. Others will say that they desire to have a
relationship with one male. Some would
believe themselves to be somewhat “loose” in their interpretation of
homosexuality, and others would seem “restricted” to their interpretation of
it. I think the homosexuals reason, that
since heterosexual couples have many partners, or some seek merely one partner,
they are able to do the same kind of thing.
They see heterosexuals engaged in promiscuity, and for some reason they
see no reason why they can’t do the same thing.
The classic case for these people is taking an example from the world
and applying to their own lives of sin. The
truth is that, if a person as a homosexual, looks to the way heterosexuals are,
and he thinks it is appropriate to have multiple partners, or have a single
partner as a homosexual; he has reasoned wrongly. It is wrong for a man to lie with another man
because the divine Scriptures speak clearly against such activity. The question is, what gives you the right to
decide what morals are, and what morals are not? God has a law, and in that law He forbids
certain activity. As much as
homosexuality is a sin, it is just as much as a sin, to commit adultery,
fornication and the like. The point is,
they are all sin, and must be rejected and avoided. If someone rejects these spiritual crimes
against God and believes Christ, it is clear sign that he or she desires to
live in conformity with God’s ways not the ways of depraved man. There is a way that seems right to a man but
in the end it leads in death. I submit
to you that the sin of homosexuality will led to a shorter life, and it is
harmful to the human body. Yet the sin
of homosexuality will not lead to the second death. The second death is hell. But if a person goes through their lives and
rejects God’s standards, and replaces it with their own, and denies the gospel in
the state of unbelief and impenitence, he or she will surely suffer the second
death. There is no second chance after
you die. If someone thought there was,
it is certainly not from the Bible and such a view is foreign from the biblical
text itself. The Bible is the Word of
God, and there are some people who believe that they can be Christian and a
homosexual at the same time. Yet the
Word of God is plainly clear: such an understanding is absent from
Scripture. It is similar to saying that
a Freemason can be a Christian. They do
not believe the sound doctrines of the faith.
Imagine I said that you can be Christian and practice unbelief on the
essential doctrines of the faith. So,
then, it is impossible. It is the same
thing as saying you can be a Christian and live a life of sin. Such is contrary to godliness and holiness in
the Christian life. When we see a person
sin the sin of homosexuality, we do not see a person who has committed the
unforgivable sin. This kind of sin is a
sin of immorality. It is not the sin of the
second death. It is scripturally
sufficient to call people to ‘Repentance’ from their immoral actions. It is time for people to ‘Repent’ of their
spiritual crimes. It is a crime against
the Living God because He has said in His Word that is it detestable. So when we offer people to ‘Repent’ we do so
out of Christ-like love. We follow His
example and tell people to ‘Repent.’ Repentance
is turning from sin, and confessing our sin to God. Let’s call it for what it really is: homosexuality is a sin. In the New Testament the teachers of the law
and the Pharisees brought someone to Jesus who committed adultery. They made her stand before the group, and
they wanted her stoned because she was caught in the act of adultery. But they said this as a trap for the basis of
accusing Him. Then, Jesus began to write
on the ground with his finger. They
continued to question Him, and He got up, and said “if any one of you is
without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Another time, He stood down and wrote on the
ground. But the people went away one at
a time. The older ones left first, and
it was then that Jesus was the only One left.
The woman was standing there. He
stood up and asked where they were, and that no one condemned her. She said that no one condemned her, and He
said “neither do I condemn you” and here is the place we must listen more
intensely: "Go
now and leave your life of sin."
This is what Jesus declared to the woman. Jesus did not mean when He said “Neither do I
condemn you” that He approved of adultery.
Jesus was a man who perfectly obeyed the Father’s will and law. He never sinned. When Jesus said this, He desired mercy on
her, but He never gave a moral approver of it.
It is the same with homosexuality.
He never has moral approver of it, yet He desires mercy upon the one
caught in the act of homosexuality who is His own. He wants people to leave their life of
sin. He calls for a radical reformation
in the life of people. God condemns
homosexuality in every age: Patriarchs,
the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the New Testament. It is not that people trust in ourselves to
save ourselves but it is in God’s mercy that people can be accepted. Yet God’s mercy is not a license to sin more,
and more. It is not scriptural to sin
knowing that God will forgive. Such a
sin is intentional and serious. Do you
wish to crucify the Son of God afresh?
People must leave their lives of sin and cling to the matchless Savior
who saves to the uttermost. He saves His
people, and the sin of homosexuality is not the unpardonable sin. It is clearly a sin that can be
forgiven. If you have sin and guilt,
confess it to God through His only Beloved Son and you will be forgive. The Scripture declares that if you confess
your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive, and cleanse from all
unrighteousness. But first I must ask,
have you placed your faith in Christ? Somewhere
in the New Testament Jesus tells a person that he should leave his life of sin
or something worse will happen to him.
Such is the case with sinners. People
must leave their life of sin—no matter what it is. We must live in conformity to the Ten
Commandments. Some say they are and hold
to the act of homosexuality. But such is
foreign to biblical law. Some would dare
to say that the Ten Commandments do not teach a broad understanding of
law. They would limit it in the scope of
what it means. If we look at the
Westminster Catechism under “Thou shalt not commit adultery” Question 137
through 139, we see that in the question that speaks of what is forbidden, it
plainly says
“The sins forbidden in the seventh
commandment, besides the neglect of the duties required,[780]
are, adultery, fornication,[781]
rape, incest,[782]
sodomy, and all unnatural lusts;[783]
all unclean imaginations, thoughts, purposes, and affections;[784]
all corrupt or filthy communications, or listening thereunto;[785]
wanton looks,[786]
impudent or light behaviour, immodest apparel;[787]
prohibiting of lawful,[788]
and dispensing with unlawful marriages;[789]
allowing, tolerating, keeping of stews, and resorting to them;[790]
entangling vows of single life,[791]
undue delay of marriage,[792]
having more wives or husbands than one at the same time;[793]
unjust divorce,[794]
or desertion;[795]
idleness, gluttony, drunkenness,[796]
unchaste company;[797]
lascivious songs, books, pictures, dancings, stage plays;[798]
and all other provocations to, or acts of uncleanness, either in ourselves or
others.[799].”
I think that
sodomy and all unnatural lusts fits well with what I am speaking of. Let us turn to Scripture that supports the
understanding of what is forbidden…
Romans 1:24,
26-27. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through
the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between
themselves.... For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even
their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And
likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their
lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and
receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.
Tertullian wrote,
“When Paul asserts that males
and females changed among themselves the natural use of the creature into that
which is unnatural, he validates the natural way.” (Romans, p. 46).
Cyprian wrote,
“If you were able…to direct your
eyes into secret places, to unfasten the locked doors of sleeping chambers and
to open these hidden recesses to the perception of sight, you would behold that
being carried on by the unchaste which a chaste countenance could not
behold. You would see what it is an
indignity even to see…Men with frenzied lusts rush against men. Things are done which cannot even give
pleasure to those who them.” (Romans, p. 47).
Severian wrote,
“Paul did not say this lightly,
but because he had heard that there was a homosexual community at Rome.” (Romans, p. 47).
We read God’s disproval of bestiality:
Leviticus
20:15-16. And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be
put to death: and ye shall slay the beast. And if a woman approach unto any
beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they
shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
The sin of
bestiality is also an abomination. The
Scripture says it is worthy of death because it is so reprehensible, and it is
a grave offense against a holy God. The
Bible offers a simple message, “Repent and believe in the gospel.”
Dr.
MacArthur wrote,
“Why does God condemn homosexuality? Because it overturns
God’s fundamental design for human relationships—a design that pictures the
complementary relationship between a man and a woman (Genesis 2:18-25; Matthew
19:4-6; Ephesians 5:22-33).
Why,
then, have homosexual interpretations of Scripture been so successful at
persuading so many? Simple: people want to be convinced. Since the Bible is so
clear about the issue, sinners have had to defy reason and embrace error to
quiet their accusing consciences (Romans 2:14-16). As Jesus said, “Men loved
the darkness rather than the Light, [because] their deeds were evil” (John
3:19-20).
As
a Christian, you must not compromise what the Bible says about homosexuality—ever.
No matter how much you desire to be compassionate to the homosexual, your first
sympathies belong to the Lord and to the exaltation of His righteousness.
Homosexuals stand in defiant rebellion against the will of their Creator who
from the beginning “made them male and female” (Matthew 19:4).
Don’t
allow yourself to be intimidated by homosexual advocates and their futile
reasoning—their arguments are without substance. Homosexuals, and those who
advocate that sin, are fundamentally committed to overturning the lordship of
Christ in this world. But their rebellion is useless, for the Holy Spirit says,
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,
nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will
inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; cf.
Galatians 5:19-21).
So,
what is God’s response to the homosexual agenda? Certain and final judgment. To
claim anything else is to compromise the truth of God and deceive those who are
perishing.
As
you interact with homosexuals and their sympathizers, you must affirm the
Bible’s condemnation. You are not trying to bring damnation on the head of
homosexuals, you are trying to bring conviction so that they can turn from that
sin and embrace the only hope of salvation for all of us sinners—and that’s
through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Homosexuals need salvation. They don’t
need healing—homosexuality is not a disease. They don’t need
therapy—homosexuality is not a psychological condition. Homosexuals need
forgiveness, because homosexuality is a sin.”
Homosexuality,
adultery, fornication and bestiality are all serious moral sins that condemns. He commands everyone everywhere to repent and
believe in the gospel. I also think that
these civil unions are a further abomination toward what the family ought to
be, and most importantly, toward God Himself.
We see that in its broad understanding the Ten Commandments forbid
homosexuality. I think people do not
understand this because they merely look at it on a surface level. They do not plunge the riches and depths of these
blessed commandments. I think some see
what they want to see. Some do not want
to believe that they break God’s law.
They are blinded people who are blinded by unnatural lust. Others know they break God’s law, but they do
not care. They know that human beings have not be made in a such a way as to
approve of homosexuality. But they
engage in it despite the fact that God has desired nature in such a way that is
against it. If we did not have the
Scripture we would at least know that God says “no” to it because of the way He
has design human beings. But the fact is
we do have the Scriptures, and they speak against such activity. God is holy and just. He is righteous and good. Would God allow sin without putting into
effect His precious law? No, no! God is holy and He demands that we are holy
as He is. Some think it is possible to
be holy and yet be a homosexual. Such is
a clearly absurd and clearly absent from Scripture. Holiness is not living in sin. Rather it is a life of faithful
repentance. If you lust, have you
repented? If you have committed indecent
acts, have you repented? Turn from your
sin and live for God’s glory. Do not
live a life of sin. We must remain
faithful to our God and live in conformity to His ways and law. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 states,
9Do you not know
that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:
Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes
nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves nor the greedy
nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
The
wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God. They are sexually immoral, idolaters,
adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexual offenders, thieves, greedy, drunkards,
slanderers and swindlers. Chrysostom
wrote, “Paul does not confine his accusations to a short list of types of sin
but condemns all equally.” (1
Corinthians, 54). All of these verses
speak against certain spiritual crimes.
They are crimes of darkness. We
do not say the idolater can enter the kingdom of heaven before the homosexual. No, no!
We say that these sins are completely foreign to the totality of
Scripture, and they are wrong to do. Someone
who practices these sins, and who dies in a state of unbelief, will go to
hell. God is just and He will punish
every sin that a man commits. God will
not let one sin go uncovered. He will
act at His appointed time. Hell is a
place of God’s perfect justice. To
escape hell you need the matchless robes of righteousness of Christ. To believe you must be born again. God is the One who makes a Christian.
If you are a Christian and yet, you
struggle but you do not practice the sin of homosexuality, my question to you
is, have you repented, and do you bear fruits of repentance? There are people who think they are merely
born this way and therefore, they reason they are without excuse, but listen to
the wisdom of Chrysostom,
“Here too Paul shows that the heathen were
responsible for their own sins, and he deprives them of all excuse. For he says that their evil deeds did not
come from ignorance but from willful practice.
This is why he did not say because they did not know God but rather they
did not see fit to acknowledge God” (Romans p. 48).
Thus
people are responsible for their thoughts, emotions and actions to God. Have you been enabled by God’s grace to
engage in a moral reformation of your life?
Have you turned from it and have you found victory over it? Victory over sin is God’s wonderful way of
giving us grace. We have victory through
the Lord Jesus because He died for His people.
If you need victory over your temptation, God has surely given you a way
of escape. Ask Him to strength you and
encourage you in the spirit of purity. Walk
in purity, and live as a saint since you have trusted Christ. You can walk in purity if you have submitted
to God’s grace to enable you to live in conformity to His most blessed
ways.
Luther
wrote in the Preface to the Romans, which is directly related to what we are
talking about regarding sin…
“_Sin_ in the Scriptures means not only external works of the body
but also all those movements within us which bestir themselves and move
us to do the external works, namely, the depth of the heart with all its powers.
Therefore the word _do_ should refer to a person's completely falling into sin.
No external work of sin happens, after all, unless a person commit himself to
it completely, body and soul. In particular, the Scriptures see into the heart, to
the root and main source of al sin: unbelief in the depth of the heart. Thus, even
as faith alone makes just and brings the Spirit and the desire to do good external
works, so it is only unbelief which sins and exalts the flesh and brings desire to do
evil external works. That's what happened to Adam and Eve in Paradise (cf. Genesis 3).”
Do
not kid yourself that you can walk in purity and homosexuality at the same
time. Such is a disgrace and it is
surely detestable to the Lord. God does
not receive you as you are. It is like
walking hand-in-hand with the world and Christ, or it is like walking
hand-in-hand with Satan and Christ. The
Bible tells us that we are to have no fellowship with the world and Satan. This is so because the world and Satan are
diametrically opposed to the Lord Jesus who is the light of the world. That is, He will not receive you in your life
of sin. But He seeks and saves that
which is lost. Your responsibility is to
repent and trust Christ. Sinners who
have victory over sin can sing…
I lay my sins on Jesus, the spotless Lamb of
God; He bears them all, and frees us from the accursed load: I bring my guilt
to Jesus, to wash my crimson stains white in His blood most precious, till not
a spot remains.
I lay my wants on Jesus; all fullness dwells in
him; He heals all my diseases, He doth my soul redeem: I lay my griefs on
Jesus, my burdens and my cares; He from them all releases, He all my sorrows
shares.
I rest my soul on Jesus, this weary soul of
mine; His right hand me embraces, I on his breast recline. I love the Name of Jesus, Immanuel, Christ,
the Lord; Like fragrance on the breezes His name abroad is poured.
I long to be like Jesus, Meek, loving, mild; I
long to be like Jesus, the Father’s holy Child; I long to be with Jesus amid
the heavenly throng, to sing with saints his praises, to learn the angels’
song. (Hymn 430).
Have
you laid your sins of homosexuality, if you have committed it, on the Lord
Jesus Christ? Calvin wrote, “He calls
those disgraceful passions, which are shameful even in the estimation of
men, and redound to the dishonoring of God.”
Perhaps you have not committed it in action but in thought. Whatever the case, there is mercy for you but
you must ask for it through the crucified Savior and Redeemer. Through Him you will become clean, and it
will be wiped out as if it never happened.
God will deal with you through His Beloved Son, and there is no person
in history that has never been through Christ and left without redemption and
cleansing. God surely accepts the
perfect life and atoning death of the Lord Jesus in the place of His
people. His unified righteousness will
be able to stand in your place before a holy God. You see, because God is holy and righteous,
He rightly has wrath that comes from His holiness and righteousness upon
sin. Sin is no small matter. It is an eternal offense against the God who
is superlatively holy. People are not by
nature holy. People are by nature
thoroughly depraved. People are in
desperate need of a perfect Savior who can save perfectly. The Lord Jesus saved every person in history
He intended to save up to this point. I
do not know who will be the last person whom He will save but He saves without
frustrating the Father’s will. What He
does is from the will of the Father through the Lord Jesus by His Spirit. I hope there are many more that He intends to
save, and I suspect that there is. But
what I say at this point is, “Lord whatever seems good to You.” For He is all-wise and all-holy, and I know
that I will do much better in giving Him the honor to decide rather then
forcing evangelical universalism upon divine Scripture.
Let us understand the story of the
chalkmarks. “A little girl, coming home
from her first day at school, asked her mother where the marks on the
blackboard went when they were rubbed out.
The mother answered that they disappear.
“But where do they disappear to?” the little girl questioned. “They vanish,” her mother told her. “But where do they vanish to? The child
insisted. But though the mother used all the words she knew to explain she did
not seem to make it clear to the child.
This is like that which God has done with our sins. He goes so far as to say that He, Who is all
knowledge, will remember our sins against us no more (Heb. 10:17).” (BTI, pg. 53).
As we have seen in 1 Corinthians, God will not
let the wicked into heaven. They have
defiled themselves in the presence of God.
For His presence is always there.
There is never a time when His presence is not there. Now, dear Christian, let us understand the
reality of the way of Christ: He brings
people out of these kinds of sinners because He is the sinner-Seeker. He saves the sinner from himself and from the
wrath of God. He gives the sinner
eternal life and it is absolutely abundant.
He will never forsake the sinner, nor will He abandon the sinner to face
temptation alone. 1 Corinthians says,
“And such were some of you.” That is,
these people who suffer the sins of these particular miseries have a sure hope
of redemption. For they have laid hold of
the hope of eternal life. It is by grace
from start to finish and in everyway possible.
These people came out of their pit of darkness and learned faithful
repentance. This faithful repentance is
key to a life of living for Christ. And
as we saw the chalk on the chalkboard vanish we should think of this blessed
verse, “But you were washed, but were sanctified, but you were justified in the
name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God.” Yet even the chalk analogy fails because
there is still raiment left from the chalk.
But with the washing of our sins there is nothing left because we have
been through the blood of Christ. Baptism
does not wash our sins away. Rather it
is Christ alone that washes our sins away.
Some of the church fathers held that it was baptism that washed our sins
away. I shall not add to His work. For I know it is Christ alone that washes His
people clean from the defilement of sin.
Surely though baptism by immersion identifies us with Christ and shows
we have been washed by His precious blood.
Christ died for His people and the Blessed Spirit applies the work of
Christ to His people. What a picture
Christians have with our Lord Jesus Christ!
He will not lead you into the sin of your past, nor will He tempt you
with it. He is faithful and true and His
word says, “It is I; be of good courage.”
What greater encouragement could we have! What great protection Christians have because
of Him who died, and who now lives, and intercedes for His people!
If you have not placed your trust in the Savior,
I urge you today to believe in Him.
Forsake the ways of sin, and leave your life of sin. Be awakened to the reality of God’s law and
His ways of morality. Live a life of
repentance and faith. Time is running out. Our prayer for you is to believe the Lord
Jesus and live a life of holiness for His glory. It can be done.
Let’s
pray…
“Lord
Jesus, give us minds and hearts to live our lives in the way that you did. For You are holy and good and pure. You were never engaged in homosexuality or
any kind of sin. May we take Your
example in all things and live in the way that You lived to bring glory to You,
the Father and the Spirit. Amen.”
