Good evening, everyone. Please turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 16, beginning at verse 17. Romans 16, verses 17 through 20. This is our Scripture reading for this evening's message. Romans 16, verses 17 through 20. Romans 16, verses 17 through 20. This is God's Word. Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore, I am glad on your behalf. But I want you to be wise in what is good and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we would ask you now to be with us during this time as we think about an important topic and offer a response to those who would seek to overthrow the simple biblical teaching on the issue of marriage and the gift of sexuality in marriage between one man and one woman for life. We pray that you would help us to be wise and discerning, but not to be like children tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine and the cunning deceitfulness of crafty schemers. Help us to be wise and discerning concerning what is good. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, if you'll look there at that passage again in Romans 16, notice verses 17 and 18 in particular. Paul said there, I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you learned and avoid them. Isn't it amazing that this document, which most New Testament scholars would put in the mid-50s, that this was happening then, just as it's happened in every century, just as it happens even now today. Note those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. In verse 18, key critical text. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, stop right there. But they give the pretension that they do. And will tell you that they are followers of Christ. And that they do know God. And that they love Jesus and want to follow Him and want to serve Him and be Christians. Okay, continuing on, look at the text. They don't serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly. Now think about that. What does that mean? They don't serve Christ, although they claim to, but their own belly. Their own appetites. Their own lusts. That's what drives them. continuing on, and by smooth words and flattering speech, deceive the hearts of the simple. It was a problem then. It's a problem now. And so God calls us to be wise and discerning, to be able to cut through the rhetoric and to listen to what people are saying, to take it to the bar of Scripture and test it, to hold fast what is good and to discard that which is evil. What's remarkable about Matthew Vine's book, God and the Gay Christian, is that in the first sentence of the book, he engages in a logical fallacy. In the dedication page, where there's one sentence, that single sentence on that blank page reads, and I quote, to all those who have suffered in silence for so long, That's called the fallacy of faulty appeal. In this case, it's called the faulty appeal to pity. Woe is us. We suffer. Would it make any sense for me to argue Christianity is true because Christians have been persecuted in the past? Does it follow logically that my position is therefore true? Of course not. Of course not. The first sentence of the book is a logical fallacy. The fallacy of faulty appeal, in this case, the appeal to pity. In the next five sentences, the first five sentences of the first chapter, he commits two more logical fallacies, and so far as I can tell, assumes these for the remainder of the book. I'd like to read to you the first five sentences of the first chapter. Quote, I grew up singing a chorus in Sunday school about how we should share the light of our faith with the world. This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. We sang in the classrooms of my family's church in Wichita, Kansas. Hide it under a bushel. No, I'm going to let it shine. That was before I knew I was gay." Right out of the gate, that sentence right there, that's called begging the question. Assuming your conclusion. That's a logical fallacy. You see, I'm not going to allow him to get away with using that as an epithet to describe himself. I'm a gay Christian. He does it over and over and over again. And as I've been reading through the book, I've been using, I quit writing question begging, question begging. I just write QB, QB. I've written QB in this book at least 50 times already, begging the question over and over and over again. We do not accept that as a designation. That was before I knew I was gay. In other words, it's something you just come to realize one day. You just realize that that's what you are. Begging the question. And then the next sentence, he says, unfortunately, in recent years, many outside the church haven't been able to see our faith's light due to the rancor towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. That's the logical fallacy of poisoning the well. You see, in his mind, there can be no thoughtful, calm, reflective, honest objection to his opinion. It's only rancor. The only people who disagree with him are mean, nasty, hateful people who engage in rancor. I looked up the word rancor to get a more accurate definition of it. Rancor means, and I quote in Webster's Dictionary, quote, bitter, rankling resentment or ill will, hatred or malice. So anyone who disagrees with his position in this book, they're just hateful, ill-willed, bitter, rankling people. So right out of the gate, within six sentences, we have two logical fallacies. He begs the question, a faulty appeal to pity, and then he poisons the well against all opposition by saying, there can be no opposition to me unless it's based upon hate. And brothers and sisters, that's basically it. That's basically the argument the culture has towards us. And that's what's carrying the day. And I want to point out, why are these arguments that we're going to go through in this series, why are these actually working? Because the children who grew up in the last two or three decades of Christian history in this nation, the children who grew up in a setting in their churches where they were not getting solid, doctrinal, expositional preaching based upon a firm commitment to Sola Scriptura and a firm commitment to the inerrancy and absolute infallibility of the Word of God, they have come of age now. They're grown up now. And they're buying this stuff because they have not been well grounded. I really think that the arguments Matthew Vines presents in this book are very shallow and very easy to refute by anyone who has been catechized, anyone who's been taught the basic truths of scripture. My heart has sunk repeatedly as I've read this book, because we see every indication around us that these are the arguments that are carrying the day. Professed conservative evangelicals are finding this persuasive. And why are they? Because they've not been taught the Bible accurately. They've been given a truncated view of God's holiness, sovereignty, and majesty. They have a low view of scripture because of the very obvious compromise that dominates much of the professing Christian church regarding the meaning of the word day. Genesis chapter one in the approximate age of the earth. There's compromise all over the place. There are so many chinks in the armor that the enemy is firing shot after shot after shot into those holes. And that's why we've got to plug them up. We've got to stop the compromise and be standing upon the authority of the Word of God against this stuff. We are seeing this is the end result of a whole bunch of small holes in the ship called American Christianity that's been sinking slowly for a long time. Also, because salvation is seen to be the work of the independent will of the creature man rather than a sovereign act of God to the cross of Christ in the proclamation of that truth. The focal point of evangelism and much of American Christianity has not been the cross, but rather using any and all means possible to extract decisions and responses to things like altar calls, etc. Thus, there are innumerable professing Christians in America today who, in point of fact, are not converted and who have never even heard the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Mix all of these factors together, and what is the result? Full-tilt apostasy from the true gospel of Christ and full-tilt apostasy from the law of God to which all men are accountable at all places and at all times. Swirl all of this together, and you get God and the gay Christian making headway into the church. being believed. Now, I want to share with you this evening two arguments, the first two arguments that binds levels in his book. And I think that you'll know exactly what's wrong with him when I share them with you. The first argument, I'd like to present it to you the way that he does in his book. He cites Matthew 7, 15 through 20, which reads, Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them." And here's Vine's argument based on that passage. Jesus' test is simple. If something bears bad fruit, it cannot be a good tree. And if something bears good fruit, it cannot be a bad tree. Condemning same-sex relationships causes unnecessary suffering. Bad fruit, in other words. That's actually in print. Narrating how he brought his father to embrace his own position on this, he wrote this, and I quote, Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10, 13, God will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But mandatory celibacy for gay Christians. And again, I wrote in the margin, begging the question. I don't grant that. There's no such thing as a gay Christian. No such thing. Mandatory celibacy for gay Christians is more than many of them can bear. It produces bad fruit in many of their lives. And for some, it fuels despair to the point of suicide. Such outcomes made it difficult for my dad to see how the church's rejection of same-sex relationships could qualify as a good tree that, according to Jesus, produces good fruit." The Binds then writes, I ask, as a brother in Christ, again, begging the question, I ask as a brother in Christ, one who has sometimes been hurt by others' unwillingness to listen, and who continues to see fresh wounds open up in the body of Christ, I invite you to join me for the journey. Now, what's wrong with that argument? Well, first of all, the passage is talking about false prophets. You're supposed to judge false prophets by their teaching. Secondly, if that interpretation of Jesus's teaching in the Sermon on the Mount and Matthew 7, 15 to 20 is correct, that passage could be used to justify any of not only sexual perversion, but any sin you wanted. Just delete the word homosexual and insert your choice of sexual perversion. You could use that very same argument. And actually, it's already being done now. People are already using that same argument to justify pedophilia, bestiality, polygamy, pederasty. Matthew Bynes insists right at the very outset of his book, he's gay and that's how God made him. And it cannot be changed. Now think about that argument. Our condemnation of his behavior causes him unnecessary suffering. It makes him have self-loathing. It makes him feel bad about himself. But just pick your own sin. What about theft, for example? Let's plug that into the equation. I grew up singing a chorus in Sunday school about how we should share the light of our faith with the world. This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. We sang in the classrooms at my family's church in Kansas. Hide it under a bushel? No, I'm going to let it shine. That was before I knew I was a thief. Or that's before I knew I was a pedophile. That's before I knew I was an adulterer. Or that's before I knew I was a polygamist. See how easy that is? Just pick your form of wickedness and plug it right in there. And you know what? People are already doing that. Just imagine the man who commits adultery against his wife saying, good trees can't bear bad fruit. I cannot imagine someone saying that to me in my office. Jesus said so. Your condemnation of my adulterous behavior is causing self-loathing in me. It is causing me unnecessary suffering, even to the point of suicide. You're causing excessive suffering. Hide it under a bushel? No. I'm going to let it shine. I'm an adulterous Christian. I'm a thieving Christian. And you need to accept and affirm me for what God made me to be. This argument is just a simple case of sauce for the gooses, sauce for the gander. If the bad fruit argument works for the sin of sodomy, then it works just as well for any other category of sinners who express pain because of the traditional interpretation of scripture causes them suffering. And by the way, I want to make an important theological point, and I hope someone who has his ear will eventually explain this to him. The law of God is supposed to cause self love. It's evidently never occurred to this young man that self-loathing might be a good thing, especially if it's a self-loathing because of shame over sexual perversion and sin. Such as, for example, homosexuality, or lust, or being lazy, or whatever that sin might be. Remember Job? Job was one of the most righteous people that the world's ever seen. In fact, one of the greatest joys I ever experienced was being able to preach a number of chapters of the book of Job, especially his speeches. What a remarkable man, what a wonderful guy, a pillar of godliness and tenacious devotion to God, even in the midst of inexplicable suffering, the likes of which very few people in this room will probably ever experience. How many people who have ever lived in this world, could experience the kinds of losses that that righteous guy did, and still have this said, inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, Job 1.22, in all this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. What a remarkable, righteous, godly man. But when he was confronted with God Himself, listen to what happens. Job 42, 5 and 6, Job said, I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore, I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. You see, Mr. Mines, self-loathing isn't such a bad thing when it's the law of God and His holiness that are bringing us to that realization and to that position. Where we own our own sin and abhor ourselves for it. And wasn't that the very purpose for which God gave us the law anyway? You see, I think Matthew Bynes betrays the fact that he's created in the image of God. He knows deep in his heart of hearts, although he has worked very hard to hide this from himself, he knows in his heart of hearts this is shameful stuff. He knows that this is wrong. There's still small voice telling him, you guys are making me feel bad, and they don't like that. They don't like to be reminded of what they know in their hearts and are constantly reminded of. And yet, Romans 3.20, Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Remember Peter? When that cock crowed the third time and he had just denied that he even knew who Jesus was using swear words and oaths and calling down curses and everything else. And he hears the sound of the cock crowing and realizes what he just did. And what does it say in Matthew's account? He went out and did what? He wept bitterly. Why do you think he did that? He was disgusted with himself. Now could he say, well, that's obviously not of God. That can't be a good tree because it's producing bad fruit in me. Remember the prostitute who abhorred herself and wept because she knew how deep her sexual sin was in her soul. She knew it. And she was ashamed of it. And yet, hope against hope goes to Jesus. Picture that scene. It's just such a beautiful scene of all of us when we come to Christ. The tears falling off of her cheeks onto His feet, and then she's realizing she's getting tears on His feet, and then using her hair to wipe His feet off. It was the repentant prostitute whose tears fell from her sad face onto the feet of Christ, who then heard those wonderful words from Jesus. Luke 7.48, Your sins are forgiven. You see, self-loathing is a good thing when it's caused by shame that's brought about in our hearts by the law of God. Couldn't Isaiah have told God in chapter 6 of his prophecy that the vision of God's holiness was producing bad fruit by causing suffering? Remember Isaiah, the righteous prophet, the man of God? He has this vision of God in the temple and the train fills the temple and there's smoke and the earth shakes. What does he say? Woe is me, for I am undone. Because I'm a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." What is so sad and frightening about Vines' argument that self-loathing and suffering brought about by condemning sin for what it is, is that it is this very self-loathing, this very cutting to the heart that is absolutely essential for a person to see their need for Jesus. We have to be brought to that point. And I would say to Matthew Vines, that sense of self-loathing is a gift from God to you. You should loathe yourself for that kind of sin. Just as a man who lusts after a woman he's not married to should loathe himself for that kind of sin, too. As the great Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, one of the greatest evangelists of the last hundred years, said, to become a Christian, you have to first be insulted by God. He's going to insult you and basically tell you, you are just evil through and through. You are utterly selfish, self-centered, prideful, vain, deceitful, a liar, lazy, wicked. He's going to attach every epithet in the world to you. And you know what? To confess that is to repeat the same thing back. Yes, all that's true. And in fact, and a lot more you left out. That's a good thing because that makes us cling with both hands to the cross as our only hope. I wrote here in my manuscript, a little bold heading, the immaturity issue. There's a real problem with this in our culture today, with over sensitivity in our culture. My goodness. There's real paranoia about bullying and about being a victim, isn't there? Men have really ceased to be men in our culture. Anything that makes me feel negative is a bad tree bearing bad fruit. I mean, seriously? Men melting into puddles on the ground when they're faced with any adversity or negative feelings at all? People can't even enter into a spirited argument without getting their feelings hurt and running away? We're actually being told that the negative feelings generated by God Himself telling us our behavior is sinful is the bad fruit Jesus is talking about in the Sermon on the Mount? And that therefore on those grounds we can discard what the Bible says to us about something as basic as human sexuality and marriage? Men seriously need to grow up. People speak often about God accepting and loving everyone just as they are. There was a video put out by a I guess what ostensibly still is a Christian college, Grand Canyon University in Arizona, and a bunch of students put out this video under the school's auspices affirming same-sex behavior, gay marriage, and everything else. This is a Christian college, a Christian Bible college, a conservative Christian Bible college. using a lot of these kinds of arguments. And they say, God loves us. He just loves everybody exactly the way they are. He loves you just the way you are. You're special. You're God's child just the way you are. I'd like to say for all who will ever listen to this, that is a lie. God does not love you as you are. God does not accept anyone as they are. That's why we need Christ and His righteousness. That's why we are accepted when we're in Him. He doesn't love us just as we are. He doesn't accept us just as we are. He demands that we repent, that we turn from sin, that we cut off and pluck out those things that are a hindrance to us, those idols in our lives that we love more than Him. God demands that we rid ourselves of those things. God demands we turn from our ways and submit to His holy and righteous law. no matter how much personal angst, suffering, or consternation it might bring to us. He is God. He is our Creator. He is the one who tells us who we are, what we are, and what we are allowed to do, not vice versa. So that's the bad fruit argument. It's already being picked up. It's being put out there all over the place. All of the pain and suffering and depression and anxiety and heartache that all of us who hold to the traditional old interpretation of scripture are causing them is bad fruit and therefore it can't be true. It can't be from a good tree. Just remember that argument can be used to justify anything you want. Any sin, you just plug it right into the equation and it works. The second argument Bynes brings up is this sexual orientation is not a choice and it is highly resistant to change. That's the second argument. Sexual orientation is not a choice and it is highly resistant to change. This is a constant drumbeat throughout this book. Matthew Bynes is absolutely convinced that his attraction to men is part of his very constitution as a human being created by God. And he completely dismisses repeatedly out of hand that individuals who experience same sex attraction can have their sexual orientation changed. And this is where we have to put our foot down. If sexual orientation is from God and cannot be changed, then it follows that God purposefully creates people in this way, that they are not shaped in any way by external factors or by their own decisions. It is actually natural that they would experience this kind of attraction because that's just how God created them. And here, Matthew Bynes wrote a very important paragraph that we need to hear. And you probably have heard things similar to this because we're going to hear this over and over again. I want to read it to you and then respond to it. He says this on page 28 and 29 of his book, quote, the permanence of same sex orientation does not settle the moral questions at issue here, but we cannot adequately address those questions without acknowledging it. If you are a straight Christian, again, that's the question. I don't accept that. You're either a man or a woman. Okay? It's not, well, some are straight, some are gay. No, you're either a man or a woman. If you are a man, you are created and designed by God emotionally and physically to complement a woman. If you're a woman, vice versa. I do not accept, don't let them get away with making these kinds of sliding under the radar, gay Christian, straight Christian, whatever, trans Christian, whatever label you want to use. If you are a straight Christian, I invite you to think about your own experience with sexuality. I doubt you could come to a point or could point to a moment when you chose to be attracted to members of the opposite sex. That attraction is simply part of who you are. Now listen closely. The same is true for me. Same-sex attraction is completely natural to me. It's not something I chose, or something I could change. And while I could act on my sexual orientation in lustful ways, I could also express it in the context of a committed, monogamous relationship." It's a very critical paragraph, because it flatly denies the Word of God. Please turn in your Bible to Romans 1, beginning at verse 24. There's a key phrase that we all need to commit to memory when we hear this kind of stuff. It's in verse 26, but we're going to look at verses 24-27 of Romans 1. Verse 24 says, Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts to dishonor their bodies among themselves, to exchange the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions, for even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. You see that there? That Greek phrase is para-phusen. The Greek preposition para, P-A-R-A, means against. And the word phusen, P-H-U-S-I-N, phusen means nature. What Paul is saying here is that this behavior is against Nature. And so when Matthew Vines tells us that for him to be attracted to the same sex is completely natural, that is a lie. That is not the case. There is nothing natural about that. The Apostle Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Spirit, describes that as paraphusen, against nature. So I would ask you, who are you going to believe here? Him or God? Verse 27, likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error, which was due. So when Matthew Vines publishes the statement in print, same-sex attraction is completely natural to me, he is directly going against the Holy Spirit of God, who said it's against nature. There's nothing natural about that at all. It is against nature and is given as the example par excellence of human rebellion against God which suppresses the truth and unrighteousness. Isn't that remarkable? that in the passage where Paul describes the wrath of God, in verse 18 of Romans 1, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is evident to them, for God has shown it to them since the creation of the world. His invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made. Even his eternal power in God has stood there without excuse. And then he goes right into a discourse on they even do this. People are so much in rebellion against God, they'll even engage in sexual behavior that is parafusan, against nature. And so when someone, I don't care how sincere or mild-mannered or gentle or nice they may come across, if they tell us this is natural to them, we have to go to the text of Scripture and say, no, it is not. And you know it's not. When your head hits the pillow at night and you reflect on these things, you know this is against nature. What is the root cause of this idea of same-sex attraction, this idea of orientation in that direction? Sin. Why is this a problem for some people? Sin. Many years ago, when I was in college, when I was a junior, a freshman guy, I met with, somewhat regularly, shared with me once, with tears in his eyes, that he struggled with being attracted to children. And he wept. And it was very hard for him to admit this, but he really needed to and he wanted me to pray for him. And he knew instinctively that it was wrong. He knew it was wrong. And nevertheless, that desire was there. But he knew it was a sin and that he shouldn't think that way. And we worked through that. And in Christ, he overcame that. But can you imagine the devastation it would have brought to say, that's just how God made you. That's natural to you. That's what we're being asked to do. And I want to warn you, there is nothing loving about affirming people in behavior that we're told in the Bible will exclude them from entering into the Kingdom of God. There's nothing loving about that at all. And if we care about them, we have to respond to this and encourage them. There is new life. You can be liberated from this. Does it not strike you as a profoundly obvious error to trust the desires of your sinful heart about such things? What did Jesus teach about the desires that proceed forth from the human heart? Matthew 15-19. Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies. In one sense, sin is very natural to us, but it's natural to us because we're morally depraved and corrupted. Over and over again. Matthew Vines insists, and you can tell by reading his book, that he is working very hard to convince himself of this because he says it over and over and over again in the book. He insists that this is just the way he is and that nothing can be done to change it. And in fact, he discredits all ex-gay ministries. He discredits all groups which try to help people change this about themselves. They're all bogus. It's all nonsense. None of it ever works. This is what we are. And that's what he's saying. This is what I am. Take me or leave me. And I want to be a follower of Christ and a Bible-believing Christian. And I want to be committed to just one man for life. So, what do we do? What do we do with someone like this? How do we answer them? First, God does not create gay people. God creates men and women. We must not allow Matthew Bynes or anyone else to proceed with that definition. Were I to find myself in a dialogue with him, I would object every single time he used that designation, I'm a gay Christian or I'm a gay man. I would say, no, you're a man. uniquely designed physically and spiritually and emotionally for intimacy, romantic love, and sexual intercourse with a woman in a marriage context. You are a man. And you are condoning behaviors that we would attach the descriptor of gay or homosexual to. You are not a homosexual. And I want to make that as strongly as I can to you. Did you know that? R.C. Sproul has said this in some of the stuff he's put out on this issue. There's no such thing as gay people. Some complete misnomer. No one has the right to identify themselves in this way. There are men and there are women. And some men and some women choose to engage in perverted behavior that we would refer to using. We're going to go through all the Greek terms that are used in the New Testament. We're going to go through the terms in the Old Testament here later on. But there are no gay people in the world. There are people who engage, who are a certain gender, who engage in perverted sexual behavior that we label that way. Matthew Bynes insists that there are gay people. Betty is one. But as I said, such does not fit with scripture. Homosexuality is a description of actions men and women engage in. No one is a homosexual. It's not a description of our constitution as human beings. God creates us with one gender or the other. And if you're a man, you know that you're designed for marriage to a woman. If you're a woman, you know that you're designed for marriage with a man. You're either a man or a woman, not a homosexual. Over and over again throughout the book, Bynes makes statements like this one found on page 29, quote, But based on the traditional interpretation of Scripture, I am uniquely excluded from the possibility of romantic love and intimacy, end quote. That is false. Matthew Bynes is a man. Based upon the Word of God, he is excluded from romantic love and intimacy with other men. with another man's wife, with children, and with animals, just like we all are. Matthew Vines, like any other man, is free to pursue the possibility of romantic love and intimacy with a woman. Over and over again. You're going to hear this in the media. You hear it in these books. You hear it from these folks all the time. You guys are saying that we're unworthy of being married. We're unworthy of being loved. We're unworthy of loving someone else. And the simple answer is no, we're not saying that. You are free just as free as I was when I was in my early 20s and became ready for life to pursue a woman and get married. He speaks endlessly in this book how he's excluded from a lifetime of love, commitment, intimacy, and family. No one is excluding individuals who experience same-sex attraction from those things. That is a real experience. That does happen sometimes. By insisting upon, however, defining themselves by their particular kind of sexual perversion, they exclude themselves and lock themselves in a cell and throw away the key. And that brings me to the final conclusion to my message to you this evening. This book by Matthew Mines is a very sad book to read. This young man has worked very hard to shut the door to the possibility that he could be changed and transformed and delivered by Christ from this deviant path that he has chosen to take. He has not only shut the door, he has bolted it, welded it shut, and built an electromagnetic seal into it as well. He asserted and begged the question at the outset of his book, I am gay. And I came to realize that later in life. That is his fundamental presuppositional commitment. That is his sacred cow. That is what he will defend at all costs. And you'll see this more and more as we get into the specific biblical passages and how he deals with them. No matter what has to be sacrificed, he will sacrifice it upon that altar. And think of the sacrifice he's willing to make. 2,000 years of consistent unquestioned teaching about what the created order itself tells us before we even open the Bible, what creation by design has made him aware of already. And amazingly enough, and I was waiting to see if he would do this and he did, he brought up Galileo. and how the church used to think that everything revolved around the earth and then using the telescope, there was this Copernican revolution. We need to have another Copernican revolution because we know more about homosexuality and these poor biblical writers didn't know anything about sexual orientation and they were ignorant. You see how this grows out of a low view of scripture? Jesus evidently didn't know the things that science has told us these days. As if there's a parallel between anything in the Bible about the earth revolving around the sun or the sun revolving around the earth and vice versa, as if there's a parallel between the amount of information we have on that and the amount of information we have about creation, man, woman, marriage, gender roles, family. Remarkable. Repeatedly, Matthew Vine speaks about his own wholesome desire to start a family with a gay man. Now, I want you to chew on that one for a minute. Start a family? Yes, Matthew Vines wants to get married and have children. Now, I suppose he could write a book about how unfair it is that two men and two women can't have a baby, no matter what, but wouldn't that strike you as just a little silly? But that is the length to which this young man is going. He wants a spouse that he defines as only another gay man will fit that bill. The fact is, gay people cannot, in principle, procreate. They cannot be fruitful and multiply. Psalm 128 can never be true of two men. His wife is like a fruitful vine. His children all around his table. If there's going to be children who are part of a gay couple's family, a woman is going to have to be entered into the equation somewhere, right? But it is just this kind of rhetoric that is so sad to read. Matthew Vines absolutely will not entertain even the possibility that he could love and be married or even attracted to a woman ever. And it is because of this that he himself has uniquely locked himself out of one of the greatest blessings in life, marriage. No one's excluding him as being unworthy of getting married. Creation itself excludes him from doing what he wants to do. No one is saying that he's unworthy of love and a lifetime of intimacy and companionship. He's excluded himself from it by elevating his personal experience over the simple and clear teaching of both the created order itself and the clear pronouncements of the Word of God. But even now, there is hope. This is a very young guy. I think he's only 23 or 24 or something like that. Even now, there can be change. repentance, and new life in the place of death. And I want you to remember that is part of this issue. And I've mentioned that to you before. Does it strike you? Again, I'm going to bring this up, I think, in every message because I want to emphasize this to you. Does it surprise you that in this day and age, all of a sudden, people are discovering things in the Bible that no one ever saw for 2,000 years? With the collapse of morality, the collapse of the church, the collapse of the authority of scripture, the destruction of family, all of the insanity that's going on in our culture. And all of a sudden, people are having these new insights into what the scriptures say about something as basic as marriage and family. It's all part of the death culture. In closing, I want you to look with me at Proverbs chapter 8. Proverbs chapter 8. Proverbs 8, beginning at verse 32-36, and we'll close with this reference. Proverbs 8, 32-36, and before I read it, keep in mind, God is the one who designed the universe. God designed us. God designed our genders. God is the one who created marriage. God is the one who creates family. That is part of His wisdom and what He has revealed to us in creation itself and in His Word, the Bible. Listen to this text when it comes to God's wisdom. Proverbs 8.32. This is wisdom speaking. Now, therefore, listen to me, my children. For blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise and do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul. All those who hate me love death. Let's close in prayer. O gracious God in heaven, we know that there but for the grace of God go I. We praise you for giving us the scriptures, a clear, simple revelation of our roles as men and women of the nature of human sexuality that you've created to be expressed only within the bonds of a monogamous marriage between one man and one woman. We praise you for the blessing and gift that is in that context. It would help us to honor that, that part of who we are by never allowing our minds or bodies to go outside of those parameters. And we pray for repentance among those who would seek to label themselves and define their very existence by a form of sexual perversion. And we pray that men would recognize they're men. They're designed for companionship and love and intimacy with a woman in marriage. And that women who struggle with the same thing would recognize that about themselves. We pray for liberation for their souls and we pray that they would repent and put their hope in Christ and that you would help them overcome these things. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.