Now scripture reading tonight comes from Genesis chapter 2. Genesis chapter 2 and we pick up the reading at verse 20 and reading through to the end of the chapter. Genesis chapter 2 and verse 20. The man, that is Adam, gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. and the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man, he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then man said, this at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife. And they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. So far God's holy, inerrant word. Let's pray together. Father, as we come now to Look at this passage together. We pray for the blessing of the Holy Spirit. Come, Lord Jesus, with the word upon your lips and the Spirit in your hand, and grant that we might hear it as though from you. For Jesus' sake. Amen. Now I announced last week and this morning, and I suspect that some of you are here this evening because of the topic that I have chosen to speak on this evening, the decision of the Supreme Court and the majority ruling of that court, five to four, in favor of same-sex marriage being institutionalized in all 50 states of the union. I'm not here tonight to speak about the political aspects of it. There are far more able bodies in our congregation who can do that. nor am I here to speak about some of the legal aspects of it. Again, there are more capable folk in our congregation to do that. My task as your minister is to take you to the Scripture and ask, what does Scripture say about this topic? I was impressed, I have to say, with Chief Justice John Roberts in his dissenting argument, who summarized it in this way. that the court, and speaking now of the Supreme Court of which he was of course a member, the court invalidates the marriage laws of more than half the states and orders transformation of a social institution that has formed the basis of human society for millennia. For the Kalahari Bushmen, the Han Chinese, the Carthaginians, and the Aztecs. Just who do we think we are? And that was part of his dissenting argument. The answer, of course, to his question, who do we think we are? We are sons and daughters of late modernity. We are sons and daughters of post-modernity, if you like. a view that declares that there is no objective truth, that there is no ultimate meaning, there is no ultimate purpose, there is no transcendent goal. All there is is me and all there is is now. And the collapse of societal norms in sexual ethics hasn't happened overnight. We have been on this road for a century or more, and we have certainly been on this road since the 1960s. And as Judeo-Christian traditions evaporate in our society, and with it any sense of natural law operating in the secular world, For a couple of decades now, those who analyze culture have been saying that the most basic contours of American culture have been radically altered. The so-called Judeo-Christian consensus of the last millennium has given way to a post-modern, post-Christian, post-Western cultural crisis that threatens the very heart of our society. So let's turn to Scripture because that's what we do as a church. That's our role here at First Presbyterian Church is to ask, what does the Bible have to say about this? And I want to say three very basic things. They're not This is a sermon, but it's more than a sermon and I have at least five or six little additional things I want to say at the end by way of some practical application. But I want us first of all to say and to see that the Bible views marriage as between one man and one woman. The Bible views marriage as between one man and one woman. You have the Genesis account in Genesis chapter 1. In verses 27 and 28, God creates Adam and Eve. He creates them male and female. In Genesis 1, when Moses uses the term man, he means man in the generic sense. He means man as humanity. He means man as male and female as opposed to gorillas or giraffes or hippopotami. He creates Adam and Eve, male and female, and He blesses them and He says to them, be fruitful and multiply. Be fruitful and increase. And then we come to this passage in Genesis chapter 2 and verses 18 through to the end of the chapter. I picked it up at verse 20. It's that It's that point in the narrative, it's what I like to call the Dr. Doolittle moment. Adam, Eve hasn't been created. This is the second creation account. Adam has been created and he's naming the animals. I've often thought about it. You know, a giraffe. I don't know what language Adam is speaking. It probably wasn't Hebrew. It was a language before the fall, and I don't know what that language was. Welsh, maybe. You know, he names the animals, and they come two by two. And there's a male and a female. There's a he giraffe, and there's a she giraffe. And there's a he elephant, and there's a she elephant. Wonderful, amusing, poignant Dr. Dolittle moment. Of course, this too has been questioned, you understand. The entire narrative of Genesis has been questioned. The historicity of the creation account has been called into question. The historicity of Adam and Eve, and the garden of Eden, and a fall, and a representative man. All of these have been questioned. So the point we are in our society, and perhaps the point that we are in church, has all systematically piece by piece been undermined. So in Genesis chapter 2 you have Adam seeing male and female animals and you have in the first account of creation in Genesis chapter 1 everything is good and good and good and good and good and good and very good. And now in verse 18 of chapter 2, it is not good that man should be alone. It is not good that man should be alone. So you have this account of creation with male and femaleness, with masculine and feminine gender. but you have Adam alone. And so in verses 21, 22, and 23 you have the account of the creation of Eve as a companion, as a help mate for Adam. Not that men need help, that's not the point. Men need help, but that's not what Moses is teaching us here. The word helpmate is a word that's used of God. And in various places, Exodus 18, 4, Deuteronomy 32, 39, this term is used of God. And you need to be strong if you're going to help someone. If you've tried to minister to someone who's depressed, if you've tried to minister to someone who has lost their vision and impetus, you need to be strong in order to help them. Eve is created to be a source of strength for Adam, a helper. And so you have in Genesis 2 what we sometimes refer to as the complementarian argument that you have Adam and Eve, male and female, and they complement each other. There is no egalitarianism here. Now, this creation account is taken by Jesus in Matthew chapter 19. And Jesus cites this passage that we're looking at. It's a case of divorce, and the Pharisees are coming to Jesus and they're testing Him. They're asking Him this question, is it lawful for a man to divorce a woman on any and every ground for any and every reason? That's the question that's put to Jesus. A divorce on demand question. Well, we're there. So the institution of marriage and the beauty of marriage has already been defiled. So in our society we've moved on all of these issues, on creation, on maleness and femaleness and complementarity on the role of women in society and so on, and divorce, and divorce on demand. Is it right to divorce on any and every reason? And Jesus cites this passage in Genesis chapter 2, whom God has joined together, let no man put asunder. And the answer to the question is no, it's not right for a man to divorce a woman on any and every ground. Now there are grounds for divorce. That's not my topic this evening but let me just say that in case you misunderstood what it is I was just saying. The Bible does allow for two grounds for divorce, adultery and desertion. And that's written down in the Westminster Confession of Faith, the subordinate standards that our elders and ministers subscribe to here in this church. So there are grounds for divorce. But Jesus quotes this passage. A passage which for Jesus has authority and authority for answering questions about morals and ethics and standards of behavior on a topic like marriage. He goes to Genesis chapter 2 to answer that question. Now let me say, forget the world for a minute and forget the secular world, but let's confine it to the church. If you're a follower of Jesus, if you say you love Jesus, you also have to follow what He believes and what He says. And if Jesus thinks that the answer to a question about marriage is to cite a passage from Genesis, who are you to question whether Genesis has any validity for a modern society? The Bible clearly teaches in Genesis, and it's corroborated by Jesus in Matthew 19, that marriage is between one man and one woman. And outside of that biblical worldview, outside of that range of discourse, well of course there is no basis for saying same-sex activity. or same-sex marriage, or polygamy, or incest is wrong. We're arguing this from within the structure, within the confines of a biblical worldview, a worldview that our society has now rejected, a Judeo-Christian worldview. That's the point at which we have arrived. Dermot McCulloch, some of you have read his book on the Reformation. Some of you may have read his biography of Thomas Tranmer. Some of you may have read his book on the first thousand years of the church and so on. Dermot McCulloch, an Irishman, teaches at Oxford University, who's gay, and openly so. This is what he says, and he's refreshingly candid about it. This is an issue of biblical authority. Despite much well-intentioned theological fancy footwork, to the contrary, it is difficult to see the Bible as expressing anything else but disapproval for homosexual activity. He's saying this as a homosexual, let alone of having any conception of homosexual identity. The Bible doesn't know that. The only alternatives are either to cleave to patterns of life and assumptions set out in the Bible, or say that in this, as in so much else, the Bible is wrong. Well, that's refreshingly candid. That focuses the issue. Here's a man who is well known, he's an authority figure on the Reformation, who happens to be gay. Openly so. And he's saying it's an issue of biblical authority. Because you can't have it both ways. And I'm speaking here, my audience here tonight is the church where I'm speaking to ourselves. It's a matter of biblical authority. And you can either say the Bible is right or the Bible is wrong. Now, secondly, I want to say that the Bible is clear. If the Bible is clear that marriage is between one man and one woman, it really doesn't know anything else. Secondly, the Bible is clear that homosexual practice is sin. Well, let's look at a passage together. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. I just want to look at two or three verses in chapter 6, verses 9, 10, and 11. We could have gone to a number of passages. We could have gone to Leviticus 18. We could have gone to Romans chapter 1. But I want to look at this passage because it's Well, it's very blunt. 1 Corinthians 6, 9, 10, and 11. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality. Now in Paul's day, Homosexuality was far more common than lesbianism, so he's talking about men here, some male focus that he has, I think, in this particular passage. But you notice the order. He talks about sexually immoral and idolaters and adulterers, and then he talks about homosexuality. We need to see that order. That the sin of adultery is as much a sin And if the order has anything to say, it is a greater sin. So let's not be hypocritical about it. Nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. Now what is Paul saying? That there's no forgiveness for people who are adulterers and those who practice homosexuality and those who are thieves and drunkards? No, he's not saying anything of the sort. But those who continue in that lifestyle and who do not repent and believe and trust in the gospel, there is no forgiveness. They're not part of the kingdom of God is what Paul is saying. And then he says in verse 11, and such were some of you. in the Corinthian church. Now let me say four things out of this passage, just four things that Paul is saying here. Number one, that he's talking about lifestyle here. He's not talking about an occasional lapse into sin. He's talking about a lifestyle, a committed lifestyle, a regular pattern of behavior. He's not talking here about occasional lapses followed by repentance and forgiveness, but established patterns believing that for Christians there was no harm in them. And Paul is saying on the contrary. If you follow this as a lifestyle, if this is your lifestyle, then for Paul you cannot inherit the kingdom of God. What is Paul saying about these habits? That they are ways of sin that if not repented of and forsaken will keep people out of the kingdom and salvation. Thirdly, what is Paul saying about homosexuality? Those who claim to be Christ's should avoid the practice of same-sex physical connection. Now he uses words here that have been somewhat translated rather softly, but in the Greek they are actually quite explicit. He uses words that suggest men who play a man's part and men who play a woman's part in sexual activity. And the words are fairly explicit. For Paul to say this to the Corinthians means he recognizes that some men are drawn to other men. And some women are drawn to other women. He recognizes the phenomenon of same-sex attraction in the church among those who are Christians, among those who are members of the church in Corinth. He recognizes that. It is a cross that they must carry, and they must bear that cross with dignity. That's Paul's Fourthly, what is Paul saying about the role of change and repentance? What he's saying is, you in Corinth who struggle with adultery, you in Corinth who struggle with alcohol, you in Corinth who struggle with honesty, and quite honestly, some of you are thieves. And those of you in Corinth who struggle with same-sex attraction, you must be able to say, I am a non-practicing alcoholic. I am a non-practicing thief. I am a non-practicing adulterer. I am attracted to other men, but I do not yield to it. You see, the modern ethic says, be what you are. because you can't help it. Be what you're inclined to. Be what your heart desires after. And Paul is saying, no, you must repent of it. You must deny yourself and take up a cross and follow the Lord Jesus. The Bible is clear that homosexual practice, as well as adultery and thievery, and drunkenness and a whole list of other sins, that they are sins. It's not just a lifestyle. Now let's be clear. Same-sex attraction is not the unforgivable sin. Nor is it, nor should we, put same-sex attraction and same-sex activity as a greater sin than the sin of adultery. There are horrible things that have happened to marriages among Christians in this church. And it is ugly. It is ugly. Now, you know, those of us who are from the baby boomers era, and that's me, that's anyone from 1946 to 1964, according to sociologists. So we're baby boomers. And most baby boomers react to same-sex attraction and same-sex activity with a yuck factor. And that's typical of my generation. That's all they know. It's the instant response of the yuck factor. Now, in our church, we have different responses, I think. And I think that Gen Xers and Gen Ys and Millennials in our congregation react to this in a very different way. You were raised in a society where, you know, when I was growing up, And I do know what sexual abuse is. But when I was growing up, I never used any of these words. We were aware that it existed, but it existed somewhere far off and closeted somewhere. And the millennials in our congregation, anyone really born from 1990 onwards, View this in an entirely different way. I mean your emotional response to it is different. Christian struggle here. Dr. McDowell referred to it in his prayer. We have brothers and sisters in our congregation. I say this to you as your senior minister. And I say this pastorally with love and care and as much tenderness and compassion as I can muster this evening. And we love these brothers and sisters, but they struggle here for a whole variety of reasons. Is it genetic? I don't know. Maybe it is. Jesus speaks about those who are born eunuchs. You may mean that in a generic way. Who are born with a propensity and something that they struggle with. It's a product of the fall. Maybe it's parenting issues. Maybe. Maybe it's abuse. Maybe. Maybe it's learned activity. Yes, for sure. in a culture and a society where there is such freedom of access to pornography on his cell phone. Whatever the cause, whether it's genetic or societal or learned for Christians, if Christians struggle here, and some of our brothers and sisters struggle here, it's a call to self-denial. That's the cross that you have to bear. I am a non-practicing individual who struggles with same-sex attraction. That may be you tonight. But if you love the Bible and you love Jesus, that's what you must say. And we'll help you. We may fail and we may falter here, but we will help you. Now, a third thing I want to say. The Bible is equally clear that as Christians we are to have no other gods but Him. The basis of our authority in ethics, in morals, in sexual ethics, it's not the Supreme Court. It's not the majority of the judges in the Supreme Court. It's not family. It's not friends. It's not our favorite authors or preachers. It's not the cultural mores and norms. It is God. Our president called for religion to change. to accommodate changing societal values. And we say as Christians, Mr. President, no, absolutely not. Absolutely not. We stand here with Peter and John in Acts chapter 5 when they were told to accommodate something that would violate their obedience to God, their obedience to Scripture. And what was their response? In such instances we must obey God rather than men. Now marriage is a civil ordinance. It's a civil ordinance. When ministers perform marriages here, I will do one on Saturday, not here, but in a church building, I do it on behalf of the state. I sign a piece of paper, a document that has been filled out by a representative of the state. I'm an official of the state. I do it on their behalf. What takes place in the church is the Christian blessing on an institution that the state recognizes. Now the church cannot be forced into performing gay weddings. It cannot as a church. We have our church lawyer. Wilmot Irvin has been looking at our documents that we have. We have a document on marriage as a church. And the clerk of session, Ken Wingate, and the chairman of the administration, Dave Vandewater, and the ministers, and the session will be looking at this document. And we'll tie it up if we need to and make it tighter. And we're looking at that. We have a wedding policy. We don't perform weddings here that are contrary to the principles of God's Word. We don't marry somebody who is a Christian to a non-Christian. That's the policy of our ministers. If somebody comes to us and says, I want to get married, and the partner makes absolutely no profession of faith whatsoever, we wouldn't perform that wedding. Now, does that mean if the church says no. And it will. And it will. This church will say no. Lovingly, graciously, winsomely I trust. Will we lose some privileges? Yes, we may. Will we lose tax exemption? We may. Listen my friend, that's serious, that is serious. It would make a serious dent into our budget for sure, but it'll make more of a dent into folk who depend on giving, para-church organizations, and there are several of you in here this evening who absolutely depend on the giving that comes with tax exemption. And it will make far more of an impact on para-church organizations first of all than I think it will on the church. But is that coming? I don't know. It may be. But let's get things into proportion here. There are brothers and sisters of ours in the world who are losing their heads. They're being decapitated. What's paying a few more dollars? What's being more sacrificial for the cause of Christ? It's nothing. It's absolutely nothing in comparison. Does this mean that Christians, not the church, Church is called to preach the Word of God and the gospel. But does that mean that individual Christians need to be more actively involved in politics and in the social arena? Yes, absolutely. And organizations like the Palmetto family will be crucial in the days to come. And you need to pray for them. And they're here in this room tonight. Some applications. Well, I've made some already, but some more. We mustn't panic. Christians don't panic, ever. Don't panic. You know, you've seen that little poster. It comes from the Second World War. It was a British poster. Stay calm and keep going. Some of you have it on your car. I've seen it hundreds of times. Stay calm and keep going. Well, stay calm and keep going. Stay calm, people. On Facebook, be careful what you say. God is on His throne. Sometimes we behave as though we were atheists. We do. As though God had abandoned His throne. God can turn a society upside down. Read your church history, people. The Reformation. The 1730s and 40s. The 1640s and 50s in England turned society upside down in a matter of decades. And it can happen again. The road ahead is uncertain and may be difficult. Here's my prediction. We're going to be tested. Yes, we're going to be tested. I don't want this church to become known as a negative church. But all we say is no. We say yes. Yes to the gospel. Yes to Jesus. Yes to the forgiveness of sins. Yes to the Christian life. Yes to the way of self-denial and cross-bearing. We don't want to become a Dullam's cave here. Yes, the charge will be made. Hate speech. It's a phrase that's impossible to define, but it will be made homophobic as soon as that term comes out. You're on the defensive. Yes, we're going to be tested. One evening a gay couple is going to come into this church. They're going to sit down in these chairs. You may be here tonight. They may engage in inappropriate affection in the middle of a service. Folks, it is wrong to engage in inappropriate affection of a heterosexual nature, even if you are husband and wife in a worship service. So what are we going to do when that happens? And it's going to happen. I'm pretty sure of it. What are you going to do? What are we going to do at First Presbyterian Church? Well, we're going to demonstrate love. We're going to witness to the gospel. We're going to do the same if somebody tried to disrupt our service. Our deacons will take care of it in a kind, considerate, thoughtful way. Firm? Yes. Resolute? Yes. Loving? Yes. You see, love is not the same as unconditional affirmation of any and all behavior. That's not love. What does James 5 teach us? Turning a sinner from the error of his ways is the way of covering a multitude of sins. You want to demonstrate love? You want to cover a multitude of sins? Then you turn that sinner from his sinful lifestyle or her sinful lifestyle. Lovingly, graciously, winsomely, pointing them to Jesus. But here's one thing that we all need to do. We need to weep. I think John Piper got it right of all the blogs and responses I've read in the last week or ten days. I think John Piper got it right. We need to weep more. Jesus died that heterosexual and homosexual sinners might be saved. For those who have walked into the path of homosexual intercourse and extramarital fornication or adultery, Jesus offers mercy and forgiveness in the gospel. And such were some of you, Paul says to the Corinthians. You know what the Supreme Court has done? It's done exactly what the Apostle Paul talks about in Romans chapter 1. They have approved those who practice sin. They have approved it. There is nothing new about homosexuality. There is nothing new about weird sex. Nothing. Read the history of the Roman Empire. That brokenness has been in society since the fall. It's not even the celebration of it that's new. What's new is the institutionalization of it. We have become a society that has institutionalized it, not just recognized it, not just allowed it, but we have now institutionalized it. That's new. What's the church's calling? to be a flagship for the gospel, to preach Christ and Him crucified, and to weep. We need to pray more for revival. Yes, there's activity to do and some of you are going to get involved in it in the political and social realms. You know there's a passage I've been thinking about it this week. A long time ago, 30 years ago, I got convicted one day. I was out walking. One of the things I did when I lived in Belfast, when things got on top of me, there was a beautiful park. I would park the car and I would walk. and pray and think and walk some more in a climate that was more accommodating to walking in the middle of the afternoon. And I remember being tremendously convicted about meeting Ezekiel in heaven. You know, you'd go up to him and you'd say, who are you? You're the one who wrote that big, long prophecy at the end of the Old Testament. You know, I knew you were there. I just never got around to reading you. And I was a minister. There's a passage in Ezekiel chapter 9 and verse 4, the glory of God is leaving the temple. Israel as a society had sinned and abandoned the ways of God and the glory of God was leaving the temple. And in Ezekiel 9 and verse 4, God said to Ezekiel, go and put a mark. The word he uses is tau, which is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which looks like an X. Go and put a mark on the foreheads of those who weep over the detestable things that are done. Put a mark on the forehead of those who weep for the sins of the city. Well, I think the Holy Spirit is going to walk around in the next few weeks and months and years putting a mark on the forehead of those who weep for our society, as our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ looked on the city of Jerusalem and wept for its sins. I don't know where this society is going. I tend to be more optimistic than pessimistic about it because I believe that God is sovereign and He can do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or even think. Well, let's pray together. Father, we bow now in Your presence. There are some here among us. whose hearts are deeply troubled and broken. They struggle with same-sex attraction. We live in a time when it's easier to access than it once was. And therefore the sin manifests itself in different ways today. Some of us have relatives, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, children who have pronounced themselves to be gay. We pray for them. We bring them before you tonight. We pray for the church as we walk down a new path. We pray that we might manifest a love for the Lord Jesus, a belief in the gospel, a winsome spirit in a hostile age. There might be something attractive, more attractive about us because we demonstrate something of the beauty and fullness of the Lord Jesus. So come, Holy Spirit, help us as we weep for our nation. and our lost neighbors all around us who need the gospel and need Christ and need the assurance of sins forgiven. And hear us, Lord. In wrath remember mercy. Pour out your Spirit upon us. Reverse the trends of our culture. by an outpouring of Your Spirit. Bless those who are involved in political and social structures and avenues of change, and give them strength and wisdom, we pray. And hear us, for Jesus' sake. Amen.