I want to address three matters in this message with regard to the Supreme Court’s supremely satanic decision in Obergefell v. Hodges: What has changed, what hasn’t changed, and what must change.
First of all, what has changed? For one thing, this nation. Obergefell v. Hodges is new evidence that the United States is already under God’s judgment. I hear too many Christians saying this decision is "inviting God’s judgment on this land." The Bible tells us God judges nations by giving them over to their own perverse desires. Paul describes God’s penalty for unbelief, idolatry and rebellion in Rom. 1:24, 26-27 – “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them…God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.” What has happened in this nation is not inviting God’s judgment, it IS God’s judgment. It’s our due penalty. And this nation will remain under judgment until and unless a wave of revival, repentance and humility sweeps this land.
What else has changed? Well, a manipulative tool that has been used to marginalize Bible-believing Christ-followers has now been affirmed as national law. 2 Tim. 3:12 – “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Our refusal to embrace this perversion of matrimony has been used to cast us as bigots and fanatics for years now, but as of last week, this slander now carries the weight of government endorsement. This is what Justice Alito, who opposed the decision, wrote in his dissent: “[This decision] will be used to vilify Americans who are unwilling to assent to the new orthodoxy…The majority’s decision compares traditional marriage laws to laws that denied equal treatment for African-Americans and women. The implications of this analogy will be exploited by those who are determined to stamp out every vestige of dissent…The majority attempts…to reassure those who oppose same-sex marriage that their rights of conscience will be protected. I assume that those who cling to old beliefs will be able to whisper their thoughts in the recesses of their homes, but if they repeat those views in public, they will risk being labeled as bigots and treated as such by governments, employers, and schools…” Well, he’s right, but it’s already happening and has been for some time. The only change is now it has the force of law.
Something else has changed: Bible-believing Christians who refuse to compromise are being driven from public office. This decision forces local, state and federal workers to choose between their livelihood and their faith. In North Carolina, numerous judges already have resigned to avoid criminal prosecution for refusing to perform sodomite unions. So if you think government is bad now, imagine what it’s going to be like when fewer believers work within it! The Bible describes a God-fearing government official this way: 1 Sam. 23:3-4 – “He who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God, is as the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, when the tender grass springs out of the earth, through sunshine after rain.” There will be fewer of those cloudless mornings and tender grasses in government.
What has changed legally, constitutionally, governmentally speaking? Well, consider the Fourteenth Amendment, which deals with rights of citizenship and the concept of equal protection under the law. It was born out of issues related to former slaves following the Civil War. However, as far as the Supreme Court majority is concerned, the Fourteenth Amendment is a magician’s top hat from which they can pull whatever rabbit they need. Do you need a legal basis to slaughter unborn children? It’s in the Fourteenth Amendment! BOOM! Roe v. Wade! Need a legal basis to force sodomite counterfeit marriage on America? Nothing up my sleeve; presto! It’s in the Fourteenth Amendment! BOOM! Obergefell v. Hodges! Except it’s not there.
Consider the 10th Amendment. The 10th is about limiting the federal government’s powers to only those delegated to it by the Constitution. It says, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Let me ask the people, since you are the people, do you feel empowered by what the majority did with this decision? Or do you feel powerless? The answer should be obvious. Pro. 28:15 – “Like a roaring lion and a rushing bear Is a wicked ruler over a poor people.” Justice Scalia wrote in his dissent, “Today’s decree says that my Ruler, and the Ruler of 320 million Americans coast-to-coast, is a majority of the nine lawyers on the Supreme Court.”
What else has changed? This is more about what is going to change: Next it’s polygamy. 1 Cor. 7:2 – “Each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband.” One man and one woman is what the Bible teaches. But Warren Jeffs is celebrating in his jail cell, believe me, because he knows what this decision means to those for whom one spouse is not enough. Justice Roberts wrote in his dissent, “It is striking how much of the majority’s reasoning would apply with equal force to the claim of a fundamental right to plural marriage. If ‘[t]here is dignity in the bond between two men or two women who seek to […]why would there be any less dignity in the bond between three people who[…]seek to make the profound choice to marry?” Exactly. He’s right. I mean, what legal argument now remains to deny modern-day Brigham Youngs and Joseph Smiths their harems? Supporters of plural marriage now need only to wait. Their own victory – that of seeing their own sin legitimized and institutionalized by government - is now foreordained by this decision! It is now just a matter of time.
I could go on and on, and I often do, but let’s move from what has changed to what has not changed because of this decision. First of all, God hasn’t changed. Mal. 3:6 – “For I, the LORD, do not change…” Heb. 13:8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” He opposed sin in the past and He opposes it today and forever.
Secondly, our king has not changed. The Supreme Court Justices are not the king. President Obama is not the king. Psa. 10:16 – “The LORD is King forever and ever.” This will never change. Russell Moore wrote, “The Supreme Court can do many things, but the Supreme Court cannot get Jesus back in that tomb. Jesus of Nazareth is still alive. He is still calling the universe toward his kingdom.” We have no king but Jesus!
Third, our love has not changed. While I certainly do perceive this decision as an attempt to impeach God’s glory and to heap scorn on His followers, especially in the way the President and the other supporters of this mess are gloating right now, I still recognize that Jesus died for them too. I still recognize that I am commanded to love them and pray for them. Rom. 12:17 – “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone.”
Fourth, true marriage has not changed, because true marriage is God’s. Man has no authority to change the character of the institution, man can only convince himself and others to accept a counterfeit. Marriage has not been changed by the government; government has merely decided to embrace that which is inauthentic and to adjudicate it as genuine: “The emperor’s new clothes.” Isa. 44:20 – “A deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say, ‘Is there not a lie in my right hand?”’ Rom. 1:25 – “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie.” God gave us His inerrant word and in Gen. 2:24, Mat. 19:5, Mark 10:7-8, Eph. 5:31 you will find some form of God’s picture of marriage – one man and one woman – repeatedly described and affirmed. Mat. 24:35 – “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”
And listen: I, our Deacon board, and this church have not changed. This church will not compromise. If you ask me how far the board and I will go to ensure that this abomination is not given quarter by this church, the answer to that is, we will go as far as we need to go. I don’t want to stand up here like Clint Eastwood and spew a bunch of macho clichés and tough-guy talk. But as sad as we all are, I want you to at least leave this place today with at least one modest note of encouragement: If you’re a member or a regular attender of Rozetta Baptist Church, you are a member of a body that is populated by a congregation of men and women and governed by Deacons and pastored by a man who will not defy God to please men but who will defy men to please God! This church has a rich history of rejecting falsehood. Founder Benjamin Coghill rejected slavery and freed his own slaves, securing homes for the older ones and paying to send the younger ones to Liberia. More recently this church broke off from a liberal denomination over abortion and other matters just like the one we’re discussing today. And today, with the Lord Himself as my witness, here I stand to declare that as long as God keeps us here, we will stand as ONE and reject this newest lie from the pit of Hell! If you can find no other encouragement at this dark time, you can at least know that as for you and your church, we will follow the Lord! We will not cower, capitulate or compromise!
Now, my final point: What needs to change. First of all, we need to clean up our own house. If we are going to uphold God’s plan for marriage, we need to acknowledge that other sins are no better than same-sex counterfeit marriage in the eyes of God. Where there is lust and pornography, let us teach and practice purity. Where there is adultery, we must teach and practice fidelity. Where there is fornication and cohabitation, we must teach and practice chastity. Heb. 13:14 – “Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” Where there is estrangement and divorce, let us work toward reconciliation. Mal. 2:16 – ‘“For I hate divorce,’ says the LORD.” Where there is domestic violence, let us defend the wounded and rebuke the offender! Eph. 5:28-29 – “So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies….for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it.” If we condemn same-sex counterfeit marriage but merely wink and shrug at these other sins, we’re just hypocrites! Fornicators, adulterers and spouse-beaters are every bit as morally corrupt in the eyes of God as the one who engages in homosexual behavior! If you’re engaging in pre-marital sex, or cheating on your spouse, or beating on your spouse, God has placed you in the same category as homosexuals. Those sins are equally harmful to marriage.
Secondly, we all need to learn that what we do in the polling place is secondary to what we do in our prayer closets, our church sanctuaries, and our Christian homes. Our hope is not in politicians, programs or policies, it’s in the Prince of Peace. Here’s what I mean: Four liberal justices voted exactly as everyone knew they would. Sotomayor, Bader-Ginsberg, Kagan, and Breyer did what liberals do: They couldn’t find what they needed in the Constitution, so they spun it out of whole cloth. But who was the swing vote, and who authored the decision? Justice Kennedy. Now, ask yourself – which liberal president appointed this confused fellow who somehow found in the Constitution a right for the Federal Government to redefine society’s most fundamental institution? Which left-wing President nominated Kennedy? Was it Obama? No. Was it Clinton? No. Jimmy Carter? No. It was Ronald Reagan, arguably the most politically and socially conservative president of the modern era. I’m not blaming Reagan or besmirching his legacy. I admire him. I’m confident Reagan would have found someone else if he had known in advance what Kennedy would do. But what I am saying is this: Yes, voting for candidates that would govern in a God-honoring fashion is important, but that isn’t where the power is. So yes, vote, and when you do so, be sure you carry your biblical, Christian convictions with you. But make no mistake: What we do in the polling place is secondary to what we do in our prayer closets, our church sanctuaries, and our Christian homes. All the Christian congressmen, presidents and judges in the world are just fallen people. Vote for them, but don’t place your trust in them. Trust in Jesus.
And lastly, this must change: we must now preach the gospel with more urgency and zeal than ever. As judgment increases and immorality is now joyously institutionalized, the message of the gospel is more vital. This government is obscuring truth with lies. And the truth is this: Every last one of us is a sinner. There is not one righteous, no not one. And God is a righteous judge: He must see that a penalty is paid when the law is broken. His heavenly courtroom hands down only one sentence for sin: Death; conscious separation from God in hellfire forever. But the good news to every one of us is this, though we are all sinners, and though death is our just penalty, God is also a merciful Father who wants to save rather than condemn. So He made a way – He sent His Son, God the Son, Jesus Christ, to fulfill the law we break. Jesus kept the law for us. And Jesus took our punishment for us. Though He never sinned, He knowingly, willingly went to the cross and died, being made sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God. Jesus purchased our pardon when He died and rose again. And He offers that pardon to us as a gift of grace. We can refuse it, but we cannot earn it. We can only receive it. And we receive it by turning from sin in repentance to turn to the Son, God the Son, in faith, believing that He died for our sins according to the scriptures, believing that He was buried dead, believing that He rose the third day according to the scriptures. He loves the sinner. He wants to save the sinner. He wants to change the sinner. And if you’re here today without Him, you can leave here as His forever, with a future inheritance kept for you in Heaven: Eternal life. This is the message the world needs now more than ever. In a world where sin is institutionalized, endorsed by government, celebrated by presidents, and paraded proudly down main street, our preaching of the gospel must be more urgent, more passionate, more uncompromising than every before. Repent. Trust Christ. Be saved.
