if you would take your Bibles and open them to the book of Romans. The book of Romans, otherwise known as Paul's epistle or letter to the church in Rome. Romans chapter one. And we are going to read together verses 18 through 32. We will not Unpack every detail of this text. In fact, this is one text among a series of texts we are going to look at this morning. Because we are in the middle of a bit of a different, atypical sermon series at First Baptist Church here in Powell. What we might call a thematic or topical sermon series and we'll say more about that here in just a moment. Romans chapter one. Verses 18 through 32, when you get there, because this is the word of the living God, would you please stand to hear from the God who still speaks to his people in scripture. Romans chapter one, I will begin reading in verse 18. Paul the apostle wrote these words as he was born along by God's spirit. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him. But they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie. and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever, amen. For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature. And the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die. They not only do them, but give approval to those who practice them. The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God will stand forever. You may be seated. As I mentioned a moment ago, we are right in the middle of a topical sermon series. This topical series I've called Gender and Sexuality. Throughout the series, it has been and it remains my desire to explain what the Bible teaches about, you guessed it, gender, sexuality, and related issues. By way of review, in week one, we talked through the biblical story in order to build a kind of framework for understanding gender and sexuality and understanding issues related to gender and sexuality. In that particular sermon, we summarized scripture in four stages. For those of you who were present, you might remember these. Number one, we talked about the way things were in creation. The way things were in creation. Second, we discussed the way things are because of corruption. And I made the comment then, that was a couple of weeks ago, I made the comment then that if we really did understand the way things were in creation and the way things are in corruption, we are positioned to really dissect and ascertain the truth from so much of the confusion that is taking place, not just in the broader culture concerning gender and sexuality, but perhaps even in our own hearts, in our own minds. Third, in that first sermon, in addition to the way things were in creation and the way things are because of our corruption, we discuss the way things are becoming through our transformation in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The good news of the gospel is not merely that God forgives sinners, though that is indeed good news. The good news of the gospel is that he actually came in Christ to rescue sinners and to transform sinners into saints. A transformation, of course, that is not yet complete in this life, but will be completed when Jesus Christ returns, which brings us to the fourth stage of summarizing all of scripture that we offered in that first sermon, the stage we called the way things will be in the restoration. Christ is coming again and will make all things new. And that promise to make all things new and to restore all things includes a promise to restore his people. into the image of the one who created us. That was sermon one. In sermon two, we focused our attention on marriage, because it's difficult, isn't it, to talk about gender and sexuality without also talking about marriage? And in that sermon, that was last Lord's Day, we offered a definition of marriage from Matthew chapter 19, verses three through six, and Ephesians chapter five, verses 31 and 32 primarily. And the definition we offered concerning marriage was this, marriage is a relationship established by God wherein one man and one woman become one flesh for life, symbolizing Christ's eternal relationship with the church. That was our definition of marriage, a definition that I would suggest is a biblical definition. and one that is historically, of course, consistent with the Christian consensus in how to read Scripture. Well, today, we are going to focus our attention on one particular manifestation of this conversation, and I would suggest to you, of corruption, the sin of homosexuality. Now, I thought through how to unpack these four or five weeks. I wasn't sure how many weeks it would be. I think it's turned out to be four. Pastor Tim sure hopes so because he's planning on preaching on what would be week five of this sermon series. So unless we're going to redirect Pastor Tim, we're aiming to finish the series in four weeks. And I considered, why is it that I'm inclined to preach an entire sermon? I'm just being frank here, just kind of putting cards on the table. Why is it that I'm inclined to preach an entire sermon on the sin of homosexuality? Is it to pick fights? Is it to kind of isolate one's sin over others? And I don't think that's the case, actually. In fact, I think that one of the reasons why I am so inclined as a pastor and an expositor of the word of God to preach an entire sermon on homosexuality is found here. There are so many, in fact, there are a growing number of people who are attempting to justify homosexuality by using the word of God. This is common, and so this is a conversation that is happening broadly within the context of the so-called church. A number of books have been written, and this goes back years, of course, but even just recently, in fact, I mentioned to you one book, I didn't mention the author, some of you came up afterward, a couple of authors, a father and his son, and that particular father had written a book called something like The Moral Vision of the New Testament. You can now find out who that author is. The Moral Vision of the New Testament. This was years ago, around 1998 or so, and in that book, I mean, it wasn't a book with which I would agree on every point, but it was a book that held to what we would call the classical, biblical, orthodox understanding of sexuality. He handled it with grace and sensitivity, and at times, perhaps, I would even take issue with some of his conclusions, but nevertheless, he did, in the end, handle it with the kind of viewpoint of the historical Christian consensus concerning the issue, and that was 1998. Well, just recently, very recently, he published another book with his son called The Widening of God's Mercy, and in that book, he recants his position previously. And this is a very influential New Testament scholar. And so that's why, just in case you're wondering, why is it that our pastor has chosen to kind of pick one sermon to be what may feel like a bit of a polemical sermon and a defense and to focus on one particular manifestation of corruption, the sin of homosexuality. That tells you a little bit as to why that's the case. I just think it's necessary. To ask the question, what does God's word really teach concerning the issue? Because, just to be frank again, God speaks with clarity concerning this. He speaks with clarity concerning this, which is one of the reasons why it was never debated until recently in the church. So, that's a bit of why, okay, if you like. Maybe some justification. Validation as to why I've chosen to spend an entire sermon on this. So here's my desire this morning in the sermon. It is to ask and answer two primary questions. Two primary questions. The first question is what and the second question is how. What and how. So that's that first question. What does the word of God teach concerning homosexuality? Now this is gonna be broader and we're gonna talk a bit about this. Because we could say, what does the word of God teach concerning sin? And so much of what we're going to say would apply. But in particular, we are interested in asking the question, what does the word of God teach concerning homosexuality? And for this, if you're taking notes, we're going to look at three passages primarily. There are a number of other passages. In fact, I toyed with just kind of giving you a litany of other passages. I'm not going to do that. If you'd like to talk more about other passages, I'm glad to have that conversation. We're going to focus on three passages, Romans 1 being one of them. Okay, so first, what does Scripture teach about homosexuality? And then second, how should we respond in light of Scripture? And here, we're going to get very broad, all right? Very broad. How should we respond in light of Scripture as a church and as followers of Jesus Christ? It's always a question we ought to ask. So we'll get right to it, and I'm going to attempt to leave some time for that second question. I've been accused of building massive front porches. to houses, I can build a front porch, but having more difficulty building the house itself, so we'll try to leave some time for that second question in the house, all right? First, what does scripture teach about homosexuality? The first text I wanna consider is right there, perhaps you still have your Bibles open, Romans chapter one, verses 18 through 32, and I wanna summarize this text, then we'll look at a couple of details here. In this section of Romans, Paul provides God's verdict against, now don't miss this, sinful humanity as a whole. It can be tricky because we parachuted in to Romans 1 verse 18 and just started reading it, and we've not been building the context that has been laid in verses 1 through 17. Moreover, we're not gonna take the time to unpack subsequent chapters, but here in Romans chapter one, verses 18 through 32, God is not simply speaking or describing those people out there. Third person plural is what's oftentimes used in this text, and you perhaps heard me read it and noticed that. But if we're reading it, we are to read it with the first person plural, it's us. It's us. This is God's verdict against sinful humanity. Without exception, leaving the caveat, of course, for the one who is truly human and truly God, Jesus the Christ. And according to this passage, humanity has moved has shifted away from God's good design in creation. That's fundamental to understanding Romans chapter one. In fact, a lot of the language used in Romans one really is taken from Genesis chapter one and Genesis chapter two. All of humanity has willfully refused to worship the God who has clearly revealed himself through the things he has made. And so if you can imagine with me for just a second the question, what about the person who doesn't know God? And according to Paul in Romans chapter one, there is no such person. Now there are some details we would need to unpack if we were in Romans in an exposition, I'm going to avoid those right now. But the point is this, God has given us sufficient revelation concerning himself to condemn us. And all of humanity responds. with rejection will not honor God as God. And Paul organizes the text around three exchanges. And so you can notice these in the text. I'll point these out in just a moment. Three exchanges. So humanity takes something God has given us and we exchange that something for something else. And the exchange is always a bad exchange. It's always a bad exchange. We're not trading up, we're trading down. I used to trade baseball cards when I was younger with my younger brother. And it went very well for me. Now, he eventually got older and wised up. But even just recently, he and I were talking about this and had a conversation, he lives in Texas, and I had a conversation about this and I told him something along the lines of, man, I really made it out good in those trades, didn't I, bub? And he was like, yeah, you sure did. You deceived me. He consistently traded down and I consistently traded up. Now, by the way, this has nothing to do with the sermon now. He has all of the cards now. I moved to California, he has the cards, they're all in his possession, so what goes around comes around, I suppose. But that's the idea, we exchange down, we trade down, and this organizes the text. And you'll notice in the text, we exchange something, and then as a result, God sovereignly gives us over to it. So we exchange God the creator for creatures, and then God gives us to our idolatry, gives us over to our idolatry and sinful perversions. And so that's how the text is organized. So let's look at those three exchanges. First, notice, first exchange in the text, notice that humanity exchanged the glory of the creator for creation. Okay, that's the first exchange. We exchange the glory of the creator for creation. Look with me at verses 21 through 24. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened, verse 22, claiming to be wise, they became fools. Now here it is, verse 23. They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images. Resembling mortal man, there's creation. We exchange the glory of the creator for idolatry and creation. Exchange the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. All language taken, by the way, from Genesis chapter one. Therefore, now here's the giving over, right? So we exchange the glory of the creator for creation. So what does God do? Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves. Okay, so that's the first exchange and the giving up. Second exchange, observe that humanity exchanged the truth about God for a lie. So we exchange the creator for creatures and we exchange the truth about God for a lie. A foolish exchange. Notice verse 25. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever, amen. And then in verse 26, we find, for this reason, God did what? He gave them up to dishonorable passions. You see that? So again, notice how Paul is organizing the text. There is a God in heaven who made all things and he made everything good. And part of his creation is humanity. But we foolishly exchanged what God has given us for lesser things. The first exchange was exchanging the glory of the creator for creation. The second exchange is exchanging the truth about God for a lie. Settling for what is not best for us. Third exchange. And this is germane to our topic this morning. Paul asserts that humanity exchanged natural relations for unnatural relations, or perhaps even better, relations that are contrary to nature. So we exchanged natural relations with one another for what was contrary to nature. We could say it this way. when we exchanged the glory of the immortal God for a lesser glory in creation. It didn't just impact our relationship with God, it impacted our relationship with one another. So Paul writes in verses 26 and 27, for this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions, notice, for their women exchanged, there's that word again, natural relations for those that are contrary to nature. And the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another. Men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves a due penalty for their error. And then verse 28 we read, and since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, what did God do? Gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not be done. All right, so we get the context now. Throughout the context, we are, humanity is exchanging something that is good by design, according to the design of creation by the creator. And we exchange that for something else, something that ends up being actually contrary to nature. predicated on a refusal to acknowledge God as God. And there appears to be a kind of progression from exchanging the glory of God all the way down to exchanging natural relations with one another. And I mentioned that a moment ago. It begins with idolatry. You see that? It begins with idolatry. By the way, every sin begins with idolatry. Every sin in my heart at its root is found in a summary description that we call idolatry, the worship of a false god. Everyone, and that's the case here in the text. And in creation, if we were to go back and look at Genesis chapter one and Genesis chapter two, what God does is he forms and he separates complementary and distinct parts of creation. And he does this in binaries, couplets. All right, so for example, God separates light from what? Darkness. He separates evening from morning, if you know Genesis 1 and 2. He separates land and water. And he distinguishes and separates in creation male and female. What homosexuality does, friends, is it defies the complementary binary inherent in God's good creation between male and female and instead seeks to join what is essentially the same thing, female and female, male and male. And it's predicated on a refusal to worship and serve the creator. Now note, Because I wrestled with how many of the interpretations ought I interact with this morning, I'm not gonna interact with many at all. Because of time, and I don't think that's time well spent for us. But I do wanna make a note here about this word natural in the text. And this is in that third exchange in verses 26 and 27. I want you to know that what is natural What is natural in this context is not what an individual feels in the moment. You don't know, nor do I, what is natural anymore. Simply by evaluating our own desires. Because those desires are now corrupt. On account of Genesis chapter three. So this is not a statement about, well, it's important that a man follow his own individual desires and that's what's natural. That's an interpretation, that's why I'm saying this. Pretty common one. In an attempt to justify what is contrary to God's word. In fact, in the text, notice this, natural is a synonym for what was created. For it was according to design. That's what natural means in the text. As a result, what is contrary to nature is what is contrary to God's good creation. This has little to do with how I feel. And so this is why, in verse 26, Paul says that homosexuality is contrary to nature, or contrary to God's good design in creation. Okay, so in summary, we're gonna move on past Romans chapter one. We won't spend the same amount of time on the two other texts. But in summary, what does this text tell us about homosexuality? This text teaches us that homosexuality is sinful because it is contrary to God's good design in creation. That's why it's sinful. It's contrary to God's good design in creation. Now, the second text really is more of a couplet of texts, okay? couplet of texts, Leviticus chapter 18, verse 22, and you don't have to turn there, we're just gonna read a single verse, all right? Leviticus 18, 22, and Leviticus 20, verse 13. Two texts that essentially say the same thing. Now, by the way, the reason why I began with Romans is one of the common arguments against the classical Orthodox understanding of sexuality. One of the arguments against it is any appeal to something in the Old Testament attempts to obscure the clear meaning of the text by saying, well, the Old Testament also proscribed or prohibited things like bacon. We'll get to that in just a moment. But that's one of the reasons why I began in Romans 1, because the same cannot be said about Romans 1. But I actually do think that Leviticus 18 and Leviticus chapter 20 has direct relevance for us as followers of Jesus Christ, okay? So Leviticus 18, 22, and Leviticus 20, verse 13. Here's what these two texts say. Leviticus 18, 22. You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. Strong language, it's very, very strong. Toeva. A strong Hebrew word for what displeases the Lord, what is an abomination to the name of the Lord. Leviticus 18, 22. And then similarly, Leviticus 20, verse 13. If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. Same word, toiva. They shall surely be put to death, their blood is upon them. All right. As I mentioned, these two texts are often dismissed. because they are present in the Old Testament. Which, by the way, simply as an argument, it's a terrible one. It's a terrible one. There was an early Christian heretic named Marcion, and he made a very strong, wide, clear divide between the Old Testament and the New Testament, to such an extent that anything that was present in the Old Testament was irrelevant for the church. And it's that kind of an argument. It really is a kind of modern Marcionism, repackaged. Just because it's in the Old Testament does not mean it doesn't have relevance. In fact, may I submit to you that everything in the Old Testament has relevance? Everything. All of Scripture. That's how Paul read Scripture. 2 Timothy 3.16, all Scripture. What is he talking about there? Old Testament. He's talking about the Old Testament, all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, training, and righteousness, so that the man of God might be equipped, perfect for every good work. So this is not a Christian, it's not a Christian view to dismiss something merely on account of its presence in the Old Testament. Now, to take a step back, what we ought to do, of course, is we ought to be able to sift through how it is that it applies to us as followers of Jesus. Things do change through the coming of Christ, but Christ did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. There's a complexity here, and I just kinda wanna give you some of the framework for thinking through this. So in the Mosaic Law, things like dietary restrictions take place, right? So one of the reasons I'm grateful for the coming of Christ, I like bacon. Sausage isn't bad. Breakfast sausage is a delight. I hope this doesn't offend any of you. Just know that I'm speaking from an interpretation of Mark 7 and celebrating the goodness of God, okay? But the Old Testament is clear. For the people of Israel living under the Mosaic Covenant, they were not to eat pork, and a whole host of other things, by the way. It's not just pork, that's just something that I really like. Not all pork, I'm chasing a rabbit that does need to be chased. Bacon in particular, sorry. I can feel my wife saying, keep going. Keep going, please. However, that there are some laws in the Old Testament, and we'll say it this way, that do not immediately apply to the church, and others, by the way, that do immediately apply to the church, simply means that we have to do the work of distinguishing. No one says, because the Old Testament says, thou shalt not murder, that because it's in the Old Testament, you ought to murder. It doesn't say that. No one says that, right? No one says that because God's word actually teaches in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, you shall worship and serve the Lord your God only. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or the waters under the earth. Do not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. No one says, oh, by the way, Christ has come and we can now worship other gods. I say no one says. Someone says something somewhere. Not many say it. So we've gotta do the hard work of interpreting the scriptures through the lens of the coming of Jesus Christ. And I'm not gonna be able to do all that this morning, but I do wanna answer at an elementary level this question here. How can we know what laws in the Old Testament immediately apply, they all apply, immediately apply to us? And there is an easy way to tell. One of the ways. It's more complex than this. It's this. If the law appears in the New Testament, it immediately applies. If the New Testament authors could quote the law as directly applying to believers, it applies. Now it's more complex than that. And that's not enough. But I say it here because it applies with regard to homosexuality. In fact, as I may point out in just a moment, 1 Corinthians chapter six, nine, and 10, the Apostle Paul uses language that is taken from Leviticus 18, 22, and Leviticus 20, verse 13, concerning homosexuality. So Paul appears to interpret Leviticus 18, 22, and Leviticus 20, 13, that homosexuality is an abomination to the Lord. He appears to interpret this through the lens of Christ as immediately relevant for the new covenant believer in Christ, okay? Much more we could say about that. That's all I'm going to say just because of time. But I think that gets us off to a good start. Now in summary, Leviticus 18, Leviticus 20, what does Scripture teach here concerning homosexuality? And this is it, right? Let's use Scripture's language. Scripture teaches that homosexuality is an abomination before God. Friends, the language of abomination may feel to you an unloving assessment, even a hateful one. I wanna plead with you, do not attempt to be more loving than God. If my understanding of love does not permit me to use the language God gives me in his word, my understanding of love needs to be modified. Because according to 1 John chapter four, two times actually, God is love. He's not loving, that's different. We can learn to be loving by the power of the Spirit. God is love absolutely. And so then everything that is worthy of the description love is measured by the one who is love absolutely. So please hear me. If God is love and this is how God describes sin, then the most loving thing that we can say is what God has said. And let's say it this way too, especially if it is said with a deep awareness of the abominations that plague my own heart. So look, this is not name calling. This is an assessment of what is an abomination to God with a recognition that I'm in the same pool you're in. Abominations plague my heart too. Third, third text. 1 Corinthians chapter six, verses nine and 10, and I am going to try to be swift here because I wanna get to our second question. Just wanted to build a framework for you from scripture and understanding and some key texts that you can meditate on and look to and perhaps even minister to others through or even your own heart concerning this sin. So 1 Corinthians chapter six verses nine and 10, here's what Paul writes, or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Now I want you to notice, Paul is not merely describing sins, he's describing sinners, people. The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not be deceived, he says. Apparently we are prone to deception. Neither the sexually immoral. Now that captures all of it, all sexual sin. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, and then the English Standard Version reads, nor men who practice homosexuality. It's a translational decision, we'll get to that. Nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. Okay, so first, I want you to notice something. Notice that Paul is not picking on homosexuality. It occurs in a litany of other sins or sinners, manifestations of this sin in the lives of people. Second, observe that Paul speaks not merely, and I've said this, not merely of sin, but speaks of sinners. Not merely of unrighteousness, but the unrighteous. And that's important. This is a kind of status. This is a characteristic. So he is describing people who are characterized by these sins. That's important. Someone whose life is characterized by the sin of adultery, by the sin of homosexuality, by the sin of theft, by the sin of greed, by the sin of drunkenness, and so forth. Now, there are two terms that are used in the Greek text that are together translated by the English Standard Version, and I think really a whole host of English translations choose to do this. They're together translated men who practice homosexuality, and that's a fine translation. I'm not going to get into detail, largely because we have the privilege of having our younger worshipers in the room, and it's graphic. The Greek is quite graphic. But there are two words that are used. The two words that are used, I'm thinking about communicating this effectively in this context, the two words that are used describe partners in a relationship that dishonor the Lord in this way. I take it that the focus on men in the text, men who practice homosexuality, is somewhat immaterial. I think it's due to common practices in Roman culture, by the way, and pagan culture, which would have been prominent in Corinth. Paul is not implying that this practice is prohibited for men and permitted for women. It's not the case, and we know that's not the case for a number of reasons, not the least of which is some of the other texts that we've mentioned, in particular Romans 1, very clear. Very, very clear. But what Paul does through those two terms is he seizes upon two Greek terms that were used, and I mentioned this a moment ago, that were used in Leviticus 18 verse 22 and Leviticus 20 verse 13. And the two Greek words, the two Greek words, oh man. Let's put it this way. The two Greek words in Leviticus 18 and Leviticus 20, both Greek words are used. They're combined to form one word that Paul uses here in this text alongside another word. What does that tell me? Sorry, I ran us astray just for a moment. That tells me it is likely that what Paul is doing is reading and interpreting Leviticus 18 and Leviticus 20 for the believer in Jesus Christ and warning that people who do these things, namely those whose lives are characterized by these sins, end up themselves being an abomination before the Lord and therefore will not inherit the kingdom of God. That's the point. That's the point of 1 Corinthians chapter six. So in summary, what is Paul saying in that text? He says that those who practice homosexuality will not inherit the kingdom of God. Will not inherit the kingdom. So broadly, what are we saying? And we'll get to the how question. Any location in scripture, any location in scripture where homosexuality is mentioned either reveals that it is strictly forbidden, overtly forbidden, absolutely forbidden by God, or that it is in some way connected to sinful corruption and God's resulting judgment. There are other texts. For example, Genesis chapter 19 concerning Sodom, connected to God's fierce judgment. So these texts all reveal that any time homosexuality is mentioned or implied, God is strictly forbidding it or it's connected to, in some way, God's judgment and the corruption of humanity. There is simply, friends, hear me, there is simply no room whatsoever to justify homosexuality according to Scripture. It is not a Christian position. It is not. Second question, how? Let's get a little practical here as we wrap up. And by the way, wrap up doesn't mean next 30 seconds. You know that if you know me. Finally doesn't mean finally. How should we respond in light of Scripture? I wanna give you four responses. In light of what Scripture teaches in these texts and other texts as well, considering the gospel, first, first, keep an eye toward your own depravity. Keep an eye toward your own depravity. Adam and Eve's fall into sin plagues us to the present. In Genesis chapter three, every part of our existence became tainted by idolatry. This is not limited to those who experience homosexual desires, or even act on those desires. This applies to all of us. Robert Murray McShane, I mentioned him recently. The great Scottish pastor and theologian once said, the seed of every sin known to man is in my heart. We've got to remember this because it guards us against falling prey to a self-righteousness that fails to see that anything we have is a gift. through the grace of God. In Luke chapter 18, Jesus tells the story of a tax collector, one who was despised by the religious leaders, and a Pharisee, one who was esteemed by the Jewish people. And both of these people go up to the temple mount to pray. The tax collector, Jesus tells us, stands far off, and he wouldn't even lift up his eyes to heaven, but he beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. The Pharisee, on the other hand, thanked God that he was unlike many other sinners. He didn't realize he was just like all other sinners. That's the point. But I thank you, God, that I'm not like so many others, and I'm not like this poor man here, a tax collector. The point is, the tax collector had an eye toward his own depravity. The Pharisee, on the other hand, was blinded concerning his own depravity and instead focused on the depravity of another. So keep an eye toward your own depravity in all of this. It's easy to lose sight of that. The Puritans, this is for Pastor Tim, the Puritans who lived just a few years ago, had a practice of self-diagnosis each evening. And I think it's a wonderful practice. And they would spend time in prayer and meditation and contemplation, even as a family, before the Lord, and they would seek to answer this question, in what ways did I fail to obey the Lord today? And then they would lean into the grace of the gospel. It was a question they asked on a regular basis. So keep an eye toward your own depravity. Second, second way we ought to respond Look to Christ to rescue, transform, and someday completely restore you and others. You could just summarize that by saying, look to Christ. Look to Christ to rescue, transform, and someday completely restore you and others. In the passage we looked at a moment ago, 1 Corinthians chapter six, verses nine and 10, Paul described those whose lives were characterized by particular sins. And he said, do not be deceived. Don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? And so this is a warning. This is a massive warning. Well, we didn't read that final verse, 1 Corinthians 6, verse 11. The verse immediately after this, that these people will not inherit the kingdom of God, and then in verse 11, 1 Corinthians chapter six, Paul writes these words, and such were some of you. But you were washed. That's passive. Someone else washed you. You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. Friends, we've focused on homosexuality throughout this sermon. We could have focused on any number of manifestations of our sinful corruption. The good news of the gospel is that God in Christ forgives and cleanses sinners. And that's massive for us. A lot of bad news this morning. We build that bad news so that we understand the goodness of the good news. That God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians chapter five. That in Jesus Christ, who is truly God and truly man, in one person, in Christ, the God-man obeyed the law perfectly for us, never sinning. Moreover, this God-man, the Savior, offered himself as a sacrifice in suffering and death on the cross through Roman crucifixion as a substitute for sinners. He became, in the words of Deuteronomy 21, he became a curse for us, bearing God's wrath, God's fury on our behalf. And then on the third day, he was raised in glorious power from the dead, appearing to many, now has ascended to the right hand of the Father, has been installed as king over heaven and earth, and will someday come back to this earth to claim what is rightfully his. And God's word gives us the good news that all who call on the name of this Lord will be saved. So, look to Christ. Look to Christ to rescue you, to transform you, and to someday completely restore you and others who trust in Christ. If you'd like to talk more about this, we would love to visit with you after the service. Stick around, it's cold outside anyway. And as you exit one of these double doors behind you, take a laughter. There's a room out there called Crossroads. Before you leave this building, and there will be a couple of elders in that room who would love to visit with you. And just know, believers, those of you who trust in the Lord Jesus, we live in a season of tension until Christ returns. We've been rescued, but we're being transformed. In fact, this is the language that the Apostle Paul uses in 2 Corinthians chapter three. We all with unveiled face are beholding the glory of the Lord and we're being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to the next. This is the work of the Spirit. We're being transformed. I'm not yet what I wanna be. It's just the case. And yet it's happening. It's happening genuinely and authentically in the gospel. Okay, so don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I'm not saying that in Christ, you will lose every desire for what displeases the Lord. However, in Christ, you will come to call those desires what they really are. Sin. Abominations. And you will slowly, in God's mercy, and then of course when Christ returns, finally, someday, be restored. Third, I've got two more. You're doing great. Third, practice and preach a gospel of repentance. Practice and preach a gospel of repentance. Don't practice and preach a gospel of license. In Mark chapter one, verses 14 and 15, Listen to the way Mark introduces Jesus' ministry. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the gospel. People love the story of the woman caught in adultery in John chapter eight, the very end of John seven, beginning of John chapter eight through verse 11 or so. Love that story, I do too. where Jesus makes the comment concerning this woman and the religious leaders who brought the woman to Jesus to test him, wanting to stone her, and he says, let him who is without sin cast the first stone. And it is a tremendous story of grace, forgiveness. But often, Jesus' final statement is missed, isn't it? He doesn't excuse the woman's sin. He never says to the woman, no, don't worry about it. It's not really sin. In fact, he says to her, after he has extended grace and forgiveness, go and sin no more. Turn from this sin. Believe, practice, preach a gospel of repentance, a costly grace. Fourth. Finally, there's that word. Finally, open to interpretation. Speak the truth in love. Speak the truth Now, by the way, this is a quote from Ephesians 4. Paul says, speaking the truth in love, uses a participle. This is at times employed to emphasize winsomeness over truth. And that's not what I'm doing here. In fact, this runs contrary to God's definition of love. This is not licensed for compromise, speak the truth in love. Paul informs us in 1 Corinthians 13 verse six, love does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love is always truthful and the truth is always loving. Say it that way. In fact, love in some context demands, doesn't it? Opposition, it demands correction. It's part of it. The parent that sees the child running out into the highway is a loving parent who opposes the child's desire to go into the highway. That's love. That's a manifestation of love in that moment. In fact, the parent who has imbibed an understanding of love, we're in love is nothing more than consent and affirmation and support, that parent is crippled because the child wants to go into the highway. What is that parent to do but to simply say, go fulfill your desires? No, no, we know intuitively that's not loving. We know that. Jean Lloyd, Jean C. Lloyd, a Christian woman who used to be a practicing lesbian wrote a letter to pastors years ago, and don't misunderstand. When I quote somebody, I'm not saying I affirm everything in the document. Please understand, I spend a lot of time reading people with whom I don't agree and many people with whom I agree partially. And I've said this time and time again, I don't always agree with myself after I've said something. So keep that in mind. But Gene Lloyd, wrote a letter to pastors regarding her struggle with homosexuality. She had been rescued out of it in Christ, and she said this, and we really will land here. May I make two requests. Continue to love me, but remember, you cannot be more merciful than God. It isn't mercy to affirm same-sex acts as good. Practice compassion, she said, according to the root meaning of compassion. Suffer with me, but don't compromise truth. Help me to live in harmony with it. She concluded this particular quote. I'm asking you to help me take up my cross and follow Jesus. This sounds just like, my words, this sounds just like what all repenting sinners need. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Sharper than any two-edged sword. Piercing to the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and as a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Father, as we have heard your word this morning, I pray that you would grant us grace to believe your word, to trust your word because we trust you, to bring our desires, our thoughts, our actions into the light of your word. To find that we are, if left in our own depravity, condemned. But to realize that we have not been left in our depravity, but have been rescued out of and are being transformed from a state of corruption. into a state that is finally and fully pleasing to you. Father, we do pray as a church that you would give us the boldness to speak truth and love to one another and to others. Grant us the privilege and posture of ongoing repentance in our own lives. And grant us the joy of simply knowing that you are good. You are sovereign and all you do is good. We pray these things on account of Christ, our risen and ascended Lord. And all God's people said, amen.