INTRODUCTION
Open your Bibles to Romans 1:18. Today I am going to address the issue of homosexuality. After I preached this in the last two services, I was amazed at how quiet everyone has been. They have really been listening. Also, people really don’t know what to say when they leave the service, because it is certainly not appropriate to say, “I enjoyed that.” But maybe if you agree with it, you can say, “That was the truth.” Thank you for standing for the truth.
Preachers can face two different temptations when it comes to preaching about issues like this. Number one, some are issue-oriented and they will pull out a soapbox and stand up and rant and rave against moral sins in America in any and every occasion. There are some who think that is what I should do. But I think that is the wrong approach.
The other temptation, on the other extreme, is as people are preaching through the Bible, when they come to passages of scripture like we are going to look at today; there is a temptation to just skip it. I call that “kangarooics of Jesus” where you just kind of hop over it and just mumble and keep going. Well, I’m not going to succumb to that temptation either. For those of you who have been around for a while, you know I preach the Bible verse after verse after verse. This is one of the reasons I do it, because in God’s timing and in God’s plan, we come naturally to this passage of scripture. I’m not picking on anyone; I’m just following the Word of God.
Now today, the question I want to ask you is this: Homosexuality: Is it a lifestyle or is it a deathstyle? It is a hot topic in America today. It is one of the two greatest social issues facing us as Americans. As we move into the 21st century, should the Lord tarry, I think probably the next civil war fought in America, not fought with guns and bullets, but fought with editorials and laws, will be the fight over abortion and acceptance of homosexuality. Today I am going to address one of those.
Many of you are aware many of our television shows are used as a platform to teach a certain view of homosexuality. For instance, in the sitcom “Ellen,” the character Ellen not only announced she was a lesbian but also revealed the person playing the role was a lesbian in real life as well. 36 million Americans watched that show when she “came out of the closet.” What’s the rest of the story? As many of you know, ABC canceled the show. TV Guide printed an article written by television critic Matt Rouche, obviously not a Christian, who wrote:
“This week’s all-star finale is billed as a Hollywood tribute to Ellen. As fate would have it, however, the hour-long extravaganza comes across more like a wake than a tribute. ABC announced what just about everybody knew Ellen was Hollywood history, canceled as a result of steadily declining ratings amid perceptions that viewers had grown disenchanted with the show’s focus on life as a lesbian.
Of course we know it’s in the media: television shows, movies, magazines, but it is affecting churches and denominations. There are several denominations around the world that have decided homosexuality is an accepted lifestyle and they are ordaining and accepting homosexual clergy persons. I use persons because they are doing it for men and women who are avowed homosexuals.
Do you recall the Kansas United Methodist minister, Reverend Greg Creech, who married a homosexual couple, which was against the teachings of the United Methodist Church? He was threatened with censure by the conference. But the conference, in a surprising move, supported him and approved his actions in marrying this same-gender couple. It’s interesting that a year later, that church was half its size. Many left that church. His time as pastor was not renewed and no churches as of today’s message have requested he come to be their minister. You say, “Well, that’s Methodist. That’s the way the Church of England and the Episcopalians have to deal with it. At least those Baptists aren’t having to deal with it.” Oh yes we are.
University Baptist Church in Austin, Texas, decided they would ordain a man who was an avowed homosexual. The Baptist General Convention of Texas had to take a stand on it. Now, please understand, most Baptists don’t even know this, but in the Baptist church, there is no hierarchy. There is no organization over a local church telling them what and what not to do. We voluntarily participate with other churches in the Southern Baptist Convention and in the Baptist General Convention of Texas and in Smith County Baptist Association. But every single church is independent and autonomous. So, when this church in Austin decided to ordain a homosexual as a deacon, the only thing that our convention could do is say, “All right, thank you, but we no longer want you to send your money to us. And if you decide to send messengers to next year’s state convention, we will not seat those messengers.” That’s all they could do. But I thank God that our denomination did that. They have a stated policy for the Baptist General Convention of Texas that states, and I quote, “The Bible teaches that the ideal for sexual behavior is the marital union between husband and wife and that all other sexual relations, whether premarital, extramarital or homosexual are contrary to God’s purposes and thus sinful.”
The reason I am a Baptist is because Baptists believe the Bible. But you can be thankful that at least at this point, Baptists are some of the few religious denominations in America who have drawn the line and said, “We still believe homosexuality is sinful behavior.” Now, that’s an introduction. As we get into this passage of scripture, I do not want us to read it out of context. A text out of context becomes a pretext. So let me give you the setting for what this passage is talking about. Look at verse 18. It talks about how the wrath of God is being revealed against all ungodliness and wickedness for people who suppress the truth. As I have said, all people have some light or knowledge of God (message #730, 5/10/98) and if they turn toward the light and they move toward the light, they get more truth from faith to faith, but if people turn from the truth of God and they reject it, they go deeper and deeper into sinful behavior.
Look at verse 24. It begins to talk about some of this sinful behavior. It says, “God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of the bodies with one another.” I told you that is one of the consequences of a life without God. Then in verses 26-27, we come to the specific reference to homosexuality: “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. He their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.” Now in this passage, the Bible says homosexuality, number one, is unnatural. Number two, it is called “a perversion.” This morning as we discuss this issue, I want to present to you what our culture is teaching us and then I want to talk about what the Bible teaches and then I want talk about what our response to homosexuality is, because it is not going to go away.
I. OUR CULTURE INSISTS:
1. Homosexuals are born that way
Our culture teaches homosexuals are born; they aren’t made. It teaches that just as some people are born with blonde hair, some people are born as homosexuals. Just as some people are born left-handed, some people are born homosexuals. That’s the crux of the issue right there, because we believe it is a choice. It is a choice of behavior but there are some people justifying their behavior by saying, “Well I can’t help it; I was born this way.” Now I will be honest with you and tell you the medical community is divided over this. There are those who try to justify homosexual behavior by saying it is a genetic makeup. But many of them are trying to justify their behavior.
Let me just read an article out of the Los Angeles Times dated October 23, 1997:
Much of the push to normalize homosexuality has been linked with the assertion that sexual orientation, straight or homosexual is determined by genetics. Gay rights activists have based their claims of discrimination on the fact that they had no say in their sexual preference. They were born with a homosexual disposition. However, evidence now seems to suggest otherwise. The claims of normalcy were based on autopsies performed by Dr. Simon LeVay at the Salk Institute in San Diego. Dr. LeVay found there was a difference in the brain structure between heterosexuals and homosexuals.
Gay rights activists anxious to validate their sexual orientation, suggested that the difference proved a biological basis for their homosexuality. However, according to new information by Dr. Mark Breedlove of the University of California of Berkley [not the conservative citadel of America], Breedlove, a neuroscientist and psychology professor, has produced evidence from laboratory rats that suggest that sexual behavior changes the human brain, not vice versa. “These findings,” he writes, “give us proof what we theoretically know to be the case, that sexual experience can alter the structure of the brain, just as genes can alter it,” Breedlove said. “It is possible that differences in sexual behavior cause rather than are caused by differences in the brain structure.”
Now you say, “That’s too confusing.” A gene has not been found that causes homosexuality. But differences in the brain cells have been discovered. Dr. Mark Breedlove says it is because they behaved a certain way and it affected their brain, not vice versa.
We know there are many reasons many people get into homosexuality. It may be due to their home life, it may be some males are smaller and look more like a woman or it may be that some females are bigger and stronger and more tomboyish. There are a lot of factors. Friends influence people. We believe it is more of an environmental choice rather than a genetic cause. But that reasoning is not popular in our culture today. There are those who try to teach us that they are born that way. That’s the first thing they insist.
2. It is an acceptable sexual preference
This is the second thing our culture insists. Randy Stevenson, a member of our state Board of Education for several years, showed me some textbooks approved for use in Texas. I do not believe they were used anywhere locally. These books on health sciences for public school elementary children taught there were three sexual orientations and all of them are normal. The text listed and described heterosexual behavior, homosexual behavior and bisexual behavior. That was in a textbook some Texas schools were using. That is the mindset. You’ve all heard about some of these books written for preschoolers and younger children with names something like “Mommy Has a Live-in Friend Who’s a Woman.” Our culture is trying to normalize it.
Did you know if some people had their way, every time you fill out an application for anything and they are getting information from you, people want it so you put your name / address / gender: male or female / marital status: married, single, divorced, widowed / sexual preference: check one: hetero, homo or bi-sexual. There are those who are saying that’s where we are going in our society today and our culture is pushing it.
What about our government? Several years ago, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services conducted a study of teen suicide. In the causes and effects section of the study, they discovered there was large preponderance of suicide among teenagers struggling with homosexuality. So they printed a report, paid for with yours and my tax dollars. Their conclusions: “Parents should know that homosexuality is a natural and healthy form of sexual expression. Teenagers do not need to feel bad about something that is good.” Another quotation from this study by our federal government: “A variety of gay male and lesbian lifestyles should be presented as positive and viable for you.” Folks, all I’m trying to say right now is that our culture is teaching one thing about accepting homosexuality. Another thing our culture insists is:
3. They deserve civil rights
There is a highly financed, highly organized movement in America today called the Gay Rights Movement. Anyone involved in national politics today is aware of it. They are saying gay people, male homosexuals and lesbians are a minority that is discriminated against who deserve special treatment in America when it comes to hiring and social services. You know there have been all kinds of laws that have been passed or brought up for things like that. The Gay Rights Movement today compares themselves to the Civil Rights Movement in America of the 1950s and the 1960s. An African-American person had no choice whatsoever in being born as an African-American. I think any discrimination in any form or fashion against a person due to the color of their skin is an abomination and a sin against God. But to say that a moral choice as related to a sexual preference is the same thing as racial injustice, friend, I’ve got some lakefront property in West Texas I want to sell you if you believe that.
4. Anyone who disagrees is a bigot
Our culture also insists anyone who disagrees is homophobic. I was with Reggie White, football player for the Green Bay Packers, for an entire week when he graduated from the University of Tennessee. We were at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes camp before he went to Philadelphia. Reggie’s a great guy who loves the Lord and believes the Bible. So when he stood up before the Wisconsin State Legislature in March 1998 and said homosexual behavior is a sin; that was not politically correct and he has been the target of a lot of abuse. Many people say he has forfeited forever any chance of securing a sportscasting job in our society because it is not politically correct to say homosexual behavior is wrong. I say, “Good for you, Reggie! You’re big enough to say anything you want to say.”
Before I brought this message today, I prayed for God to not allow me to say anything in a harsh or unkind or condemning way, because that’s not the kind of message we need to present. All I’m trying to say to you is that if we’re going to believe what the Bible says about homosexuality, we’re going to have to become what the hippies claimed to be in 1970s. We’re going to have to become a counter-cultural revolutionary group, because our culture is saying it’s okay and if anyone, a preacher, a church stands up and says it’s wrong, we are either going to be prosecuted or persecuted in the future. We’d better be willing to stand up for what we believe.
Because of their decision to not allow homosexual scoutmasters, the Boy Scouts of America, they have become the target of much discrimination themselves. Levi Strauss clothing withdrew all their support of the scouts, amounting to several million dollars per year. Anywhere, anytime, people stand up for what they believe the Bible teaches about this, be prepared to be called a bigot, because that’s what our culture teaches, “It’s okay. It’s acceptable. They deserve special rights. And if you don’t accept them, you are a bigot.” On the other hand,
II. THE BIBLE TEACHES:
1. All homosexual behavior is sinful
I can give you a lot of scripture to back that up. Leviticus 18:22 says, “Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.” If you want to know how God feels about homosexual behavior, just read Genesis 18. In the city of Sodom there was rampant, aggressive, citywide homosexual behavior and God sent judgement against it. Now, there are those who argue that homosexual behavior should to be accepted because it has always been around. Well sin has been around ever since Genesis chapter 3. Yes, Julius Caesar was a homosexual. Yes, there have been a lot of people throughout history who were homosexuals. That doesn’t mean it has to be accepted in a culture. It is sin according to the Bible. The easiest way to know what is sinful or not when it comes to sexual behavior is to know that God has protected the institution and the relationship of sex. Anything outside those perimeters is unacceptable.
Note: God created sex for a man and a woman who are married to each other. ALL other sexual practices are a perversion of God’s good plan.
Any other use of sex is an abuse and is wrong including extramarital sex, premarital sex, and homosexual activity. These activities abuse and pervert God’s original intent of sexual intimacy between a husband and a wife in marriage. The Bible says it’s wrong.
It’d like to say at this point that you don’t have to believe the Bible. No one in this room has to believe the Bible. God gives you the perfect liberty to choose whether or not you want to believe the Bible or what our culture is teaching us. I’m not going to cram it down your throats; God is not going to do it either. It’s your choice. Every one of you is going to have to decide, “Do I believe what the Bible teaches about it or do I believe what our culture today says is correct?” The Bible also teaches
2. Homosexual temptation can be resisted
Don’t miss me on this. No one is born a homosexual. But there are some individuals who struggle particularly with homosexual tendencies. You say, “How can you say that?” I’ll tell you how I can say that, because I know there are some who struggle specifically with alcoholic tendencies, don’t you? I know some men who struggle particularly with pornographic tendencies. I know some people who struggle mightily with the tendency to gossip. In other words, there are some who struggle with a particular. That’s biblical. It talks about running the race in Hebrews 12:1, “Let us lay aside every weight and the sin that easily entangles us.” Honestly, there are some sins I don’t have any problem with. Same with you? I guarantee you there are some others I struggle with all the time and devil knows what they are. There are some who struggle specifically with homosexual temptation. But the good news is that any sinful temptation can be resisted. How do you say that? 1 Corinthians 10:13 is a great verse for whatever temptation you face. “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” Whatever temptation you face, there are two doorways. One doorway leads into sin; the other is the way out. It is your choice which door you walk through.
Frankly, there are some churches that call themselves churches made up of homosexual persons. Drive over to DFW. In the Metroplex there are several churches primarily for homosexual people. One of them will have over 1,000 in attendance this Sunday morning. You wonder how that can be? I’ve read much of their literature. I’ve studied it. What they do is go through the Bible and they explain away, trying to justify their behavior, every scripture in the Bible about homosexual behavior being wrong. They say, “Oh no, that’s not really what it means. It means homosexual aggression. It’s not condemning a monogamous relationship between two homosexuals.” I’ve even read their literature that says that David and Jonathan were homosexual lovers. I’ve read where they write Ruth and Naomi were Lesbian lovers. I’ve even read where they said Jesus and His disciples were a homosexual group of lovers. Isn’t that sad? It’s amazing a person will go to try to justify their behavior.
I’m going to say something that may shock you out of your socks: Jesus had to deal with homosexual temptation. You wonder how I can say that? It’s simple. Jesus dealt with every kind of temptation. He dealt with alcoholic temptation. Jesus dealt with the temptation to lie. You say, “How do you know that?” Hebrews 4:15 says Jesus is our high priest and he’s the high priest who was tempted with all of our weaknesses. It says “He has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet without sin.”
I’m here to inform you that you will never experience a temptation in your life Jesus Christ hasn’t already faced and overcome. So yes, he struggled with homosexual temptation but he overcame it. He struggled with every kind of temptation. Temptation can be resisted. It can be conquered if you trust the power of Jesus Christ. I say that because there are those here who struggle with homosexual temptation. You are struggling with your sexuality. There may not be many in this room that practice it, but there may be a lot of people who struggle with it and I doubt there are few in this room who does not know someone who struggles with it. The Bible also teaches
3. A practicing homosexual is rejecting it
The key there is practicing, because a person may have a homosexual tendency, just as a person may have an alcoholic tendency but as long as they don’t practice it, they can remain pure before God. Let’s just make that comparison a little longer. We all know people who have struggled with the sin of drunkenness or alcoholism. And how do they overcome it? They overcome it by saying, “I am an alcoholic. I have a problem with drinking. I know I will struggle with it for the rest of my life but this is the first day of sobriety. This is the second day of sobriety. This is the third day of sobriety and with the help of Jesus Christ; I can live for the rest of my life without being drunk one time.” The same is true for a homosexual. They struggle with a temptation. They resist it and they live one day, and the next day, and the next day, and the next day with the power of Jesus Christ to resist it.
But I’m here to say that a person who does not resist it, who practices it as a lifestyle is not practicing a lifestyle, it’s a deathstyle. Romans 6:23a says, “For the wages of sin is death.” I’m not picking on any sin, just sin. Period. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.” So we’ve got to understand that is a road to death. Any person who willfully, continually rejects God’s teachings should know it is a roadway to death.
When I was in college I learned a lot of scriptures, memorized them. I remember James 1:15. I called it “Satan’s LSD.” Here is what it says: “Then, after desire [lust] has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” Lust, sin, death – that is always the progression. If you wonder why I’m so strong about this, there are a couple of reasons, if I may get personal for a moment. When I was in the third grade, a high school boy down the street from us befriended me for the sole purpose of taking me out and sexually abusing me. I say that without any apology because there are a lot of people in this room who are victims of sexual abuse. It doesn’t have to bother you. I never went to counseling over it. I never even pressed charges. I don’t where that guy is today. But you know, I look back on that and I say, “Gosh, that was so stupid. Why did he have to do something like that?” I’m also strong about this for another reason. I know personally and you do too some fine people who got into this lifestyle and they are no longer here. What a waste. How sad. So that leads us to the third thing I want to say. Our culture is saying it is right, the Bible says it’s wrong. But if all we’re going to do is say it’s wrong, we’ve missed the point.
III. THE CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
We must:
1. Repent of the sin of rejecting homosexuals
What? Yes. We must repent of the sin of rejecting, should I say at least to minister to homosexual people, those who struggle with homosexual temptation. Darlene Boggle, a practicing homosexual before she found Jesus Christ, who is now totally free, gave her testimony in an article in Moody Monthly Magazine:
Many years ago, in an attempt to leave the homosexual lifestyle that I’d embraced for five years, I wandered into a church in California. I went to speak with the pastor and after several minutes of small talk, I blurted out that I had been involved in homosexual activity and asked for his counsel and prayer as I sought to break my ties with my past. He drew back his broad shoulders, stiffened in his padded black leather chair; his words shattered my spirit. “I’ll certainly pray for you, Darlene,” he said. “But in all my years of ministry, I’ve never seen a homosexual change.” He then laid down a strict set of rules and regulations about relating to people in the church. Meanwhile, my mind whirled with vows to prove him wrong.
Six months later, I again became entangled in a homosexual relationship but I left town rather than let my pastor know. Not until 12 years later, did I know and experience the full deliverance from homosexual bondage and it was years beyond that before I would seek help from another church.
My own struggle became resolved seven years later and the power of the cross totally transformed my life. It offered me wholeness, not just celibacy. It offered me heterosexual womanhood, not just abstinence with torment for the rest of my life. There is a church body that I found that believed that Christ’s power to deliver is as strong as it was 2,000 years ago. They extended the hand of fellowship to me, embracing hugs, supporting prayer and accountability became my door to freedom. As I matured in the faith, I discovered it’s easier to advocate this kind of acceptance, than to see it practiced throughout the Body of Christ.
When it comes to homosexuality most churches ignore it, forget about it. We need to provide a ministry to those who are struggling with homosexual temptation.
Do you remember when Jesus was teaching one day when they brought in before him the woman who was caught in a sexual sin? All the religious people said, “Hey, Jesus, she’s guilty. Let’s stone her.” Do you remember what Jesus did? He bent down and scribbled in the dirt. I am just fascinated by that. One of these days I am going to ask him, “Lord, what was it that you wrote in that dirt?” You know, I think it might have been the names of women all those guys had lusted after or some sins they had committed. But whatever it was, he said, “Let him who is without sin throw the first stone.” Thump. They started dropping those stones and they left. I tell you what, when it comes to the sin of homosexuality, the church has been holding some big rocks.
The church must also
2. Receive sinners without approving their sin
That’s tough to do. In fact, I can’t do it and you can’t do it, only Jesus can do it, because He did it during his earthly ministry. Look at Luke 15:2. The reason the religious people didn’t like Jesus, it says, “But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” Do you know what Jesus used to do? He used to relate to sinners for the express purpose of helping them change and giving them the power to change! This is very, very important. He didn’t say, “Sinner, you change and then I’ll relate to you.” He related to them so they could experience change.
Do you remember when he went to Zacchaeus’ house? He didn’t say, “Zacchaeus, when you pay back all those taxes you’ve stolen, I’ll come to your house for dinner.” He said, “I’m coming to your house for dinner.” And after Zacchaeus met Jesus, what did he do? He repaid all his debts. We make a mistake if we say to any sinner, whether they are an adulterer, fornicator or a homosexual, “Hey listen, clean up your act, then you can come to our church.” We say, “Come to Jesus, come meet Jesus. And Jesus can change you from the inside out.” We need to accept them without approving their sin. That’s too hard for me to do. I can only do it through the power of Jesus but he was the expert at doing it. The church must also
3. Believe that God can forgive and change any sinner
Do you think there are going to be any people in heaven who committed murder? I think so. Moses will be there. He was a murderer. Do you think there are going to be any people in heaven who committed adultery? I think so because King David committed adultery. Do you think there are going to be any people who ever practiced homosexual behavior in heaven? I think so, if they repented of their sin and put their faith in Jesus. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Paul writing to Christians said, “Do you now know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived.” Here is the list of those who won’t be there: “Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” Folks, look there, because you’ll find yourself there in one of them I’m sure. That’s when some people stop. Keep reading: “And that is what some of you were.” Not are –were. What happened? “But you were washed,” that’s salvation in the blood of Jesus. “You were sanctified,” that’s the purifying work of the Holy Spirit. And “you were justified,” that’s what faith does, “in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
Now maybe you know it or maybe you don’t. Green Acres Baptist Church has a couple of support groups for people who are coming out the homosexual lifestyle. We don’t advertise it. We don’t publicize it for obvious reasons. But friends, our church needs to lift up Jesus Christ and say to whomever a sinner may be and whatever they are struggling with, there is hope in Jesus Christ. And our church needs to be a redemptive body that doesn’t just stand on a soapbox and say, “Homosexuality is a sin.” Although it is, we need to say, “It is a sin but Jesus Christ receives sinners and Jesus Christ can forgive sinners and Jesus Christ can change sinners. Look what he’s done for us.”
CONCLUSION
George Whitfield was a great preacher from England. He tells a story about a man who grew up as an orphan in Scotland. He was a wicked, evil boy who was always robbing, vandalizing until a local magistrate got so angry that he branded the initials “D. C.” (Devil’s Child) into the child’s forehead. Because he was such a ruffian, wherever this young man went people said, “There’s the Devil’s Child,” and they would guard their possessions, guard their children and stay out of his way. When D.C. was a young adult, he wandered into a little church outside Edinburgh, Scotland and heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. D.C. went to the front of that church and fell on his knees, repented of his sin and became a Christian. He became a humble servant of Jesus Christ and served Jesus for many, many years.
He died as an old man and everyone just knew him as D.C. When they held his funeral, the little village church was packed with people. Someone said, “You know, I never knew what D.C. stood for.” Another said, “I don’t know either, but I think it probably stands for ‘Disciple of Christ.’”
Friends, Jesus is the only one who can change a devil’s child into a Disciple of Christ. But he can do it and he will do it to anyone who allows him to. Let’s pray:
Lord, I thank you for allowing us to hold out the redemptive message to a lost and dying world that there is hope for sinners. There but for the grace of God go every one of us. Lord, I pray that our church can offer this message of hope without compromising our position on the truth on this issue.
Help us, Lord, to be willing to have the courage to stand against a society and a culture that is going to call us bigots. But Lord, instead of throwing back hatred and returning evil for evil, help us to just respond with such love to our community and our culture, that people will see Jesus in us. And we pray this prayer in Jesus’ name. Amen.
OUTLINE
I. OUR CULTURE INSISTS:
1. Homosexuals are born that way
2. It is an acceptable sexual preference
3. They deserve civil rights
4. Anyone who disagrees is a bigot
II. THE BIBLE TEACHES:
1. All homosexual behavior is sinful
“‘Do not lie with a man as one lies with a women; that is destestable.’ ” Leviticus 18:22
Note: God created sex for a man and a woman who are married to each other. ALL other sexual practices are a perversion of God’s good plan.
2. Homosexual temptation can be resisted
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up against it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
3. A practicing homosexual is rejecting life
III. THE CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
We must:
1. Repent of the sin of rejecting homosexuals
2. Receive sinners without approving their sin
But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Luke 15:2
3. Believe that God can forgive and change any sinner
Do you now know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolators nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
