Well, I want to invite you to turn in your copy of God's Word of Romans chapter one. I gave Jamie the wrong text in the bulletin. I said Genesis, but it's Romans. I want you to turn to Romans chapter one. And that's going to be the only text that you will not see on the screen. And so you need to turn to that in your own Bibles. There are many other passages, but you can see those in your sermon notes. If you want to look in your Bible ahead and get there ahead of time, we're not going to waste a lot of time getting to those places. But you certainly have to have your Bibles open to Romans 1 as we begin. As you know, if you've been here the last few Sundays, you realize that we're hitting on the hot button items that are being talked about and being discussed and that we as Christians and others are observing in our society. And I want us to see, among other things, that one, the Bible is not silent on most, if not all, that is going on. And two, I want us as Christians to be able to think and respond biblically. Because if we're not careful, If we're not careful and we're not in God's word and we're not listening to God's Holy Spirit, apply his word to our heart, then what we're gonna do is we're gonna end up hearing that there are two sides, you know, the conservative and then there's the liberal side. And they're saying, if you're not for us, you're for them. And if you're not for them, then you're for us. And if we listen to that, then we think there's really only two things, but I'm telling you that nothing, nothing besides God's word ought to ever define us. This ought to be what defines us. We ought not go to a political party or to a candidate or anything like that to determine how it is that we're to think. We're to go to God's word and realize that as Christians we lose our saltiness, we lose our light whenever on a field we are playing with one of the teams, we're playing on the side of one of the teams. Jesus has never intended for us to play on one side or the other. He has intended for us to be the referees. And we've got the book, and we're to hold each side accountable, right? And so this is what I want us to do. I want us to look at what the Bible has to say. And there will inevitably be times whenever we say, okay, you know what, that leads me to think that this policy is what I need to value because this is biblical or this. But that's beside the point. That is for you to decide. What my job is, is to say, this is what the Bible has to say about these issues. This is what the Bible has to say about these issues. And to realize that as we are following the Lord, we're not just Jesus followers in this building. We're Jesus followers in our homes, in our workplaces, in our schools, in the voting booth, and in everything else. We are to be as biblical and as Christ-focused and be a Christ follower wherever we are. And so this morning we have come to the second of two, I'm not going to make this a big long one on this topic, but we've come to the second of two sermons on the LGBTQ, just movement, wave that is taking place in our society. There are so many things that we could look at, so many texts that we could look at. I don't want this to be a 10-week series, you know, on this one topic. And so what I want us to do is I just want to answer four questions, at least give preliminary biblical answers to four basic questions. Okay, and so these are the four points that you'll see in your sermon notes, and then we're gonna get into God's word, and I'm gonna show you some things. First, what is the moral trajectory of our nation? Is this a big enough issue that we need to be focusing on this? Should this be right at the forefront of our radar? Two, what causes people to identify as LGBTQ? Let's see what the Bible has to say about that. Three, can Christians identify as LGBTQ? Can someone be a gay Christian? Then four, what can we do about the LGBTQ agenda? And I'm telling you, I'll just give you a little secret, the gospel is our weapon. The gospel is our ultimate weapon, and we're going to see that here in just a few moments. So, I want us to pray, and then I do, I want you to buckle up keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times because there's a lot of content but Just hang on. Alright, so let's pray Lord Jesus. We come to you again and we thank you for your word that speaks into these Things that are going on within our society, but Lord, I'm not so naive as to think that there are not Probably quite a few within the sound of my voice Even in this room right now that are that are battling with this in their own life, maybe silently and privately But they're battling with this lord. I pray that we would balance, as we look at your word, that we would balance what it is, Jesus, that you are filled with, according to John 1, verse 14. Lord, it says that you are filled with grace and truth. Help us as Christians to walk that balance, to be people of the truth, unapologetically, but also to be people that are saturated with your grace for us, who oftentimes don't align with the truth. Lord, I pray that you would help us to be people of the truth, but also people who are filled with grace at the same time, holding both of them so importantly. And I pray that this sermon would demonstrate that in Jesus' name. Amen, amen. All right, so number one, what is the moral trajectory of our nation? So you're at Romans chapter one. I've got 18 verses 18 through 32. I want to just take you through this very quickly. don't be so egocentric as to think that the Bible was written for America, right? I mean, and a lot of Christians do that. Whenever we see, you know, some calamity going on that affects America, or we see some, you know, something that's going on that affects America, we think this is what the Bible was prophesying about, and we're focusing on it from an America-centric worldview. Don't ever think that. There are countries that have lived and died before ours, and they thought the same thing. Realize that the Bible is written, was written ultimately to the first century believers, and we continue to enjoy the benefits and blessings as God speaks to us now. But having said that, Romans chapter one, verses 18 through 32, sure fits the trajectory that America has been on. Fits it to a T. Romans chapter 1 verse 18. Again, I'm going to read fairly quickly. Let's just begin in verse 21. What it does is it shows the decline, the step, you know, this, which leads to this, which leads to a moral decline here, which leads to the final moral decline, and it's the fourth step. And when we see this, we realize, man, America has been on this trajectory, and we're either right at the end of the third one, or probably already in the fourth and the last stage. Look at this, Romans chapter one, beginning in verse 21. For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. So within the human heart, within human nature, there is this knowledge that there's something greater out there. Nature itself doesn't tell us that there is a Jesus that died on the cross for our sins. The gospel has to be proclaimed in order for people to know that. But innately, people know there's something out there. Though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. So what's that step? That step is this, that with the knowledge of God, We chase after other things rather than pursuing God. That he's not first and foremost, there are other things, idols, that take the place of that. And I'm telling you, it's within the tendency of every single human heart to do just that very thing. That's why the first and greatest commandment love the Lord your God with all of your heart soul mind and strength is so Important and relevant to us because all too often we take him off the throne of our heart and we sit there We've got something else that feeds our souls when we should be going to the Lord for that It would be like someone in a marriage, like my wife and I, as we have been faithful to each other the entirety of our marriage. But it would be like me saying, you know what? There are things that I should be going to Kim for, but I'm going to start going to another woman for. You know what you call that? It's adultery. It's wrong, I don't care if it's emotional adultery, I don't care if it's physical adultery, I don't care if it, whatever, I don't care what, it is wrong, and that's what's being prohibited here in this first step. We should be going to God for things, but instead we're going to the fridge, or we're going to the bottle, or we're going to the internet, or we're going to whatever it is that satisfies that longing, and so that's the first step, it starts there. Then you go to 24. Verse 24, therefore God delivered them over. So God said, you know what, you want that? I'm gonna let you have the consequences of that. God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity so that their bodies were degraded among themselves and they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the creator who is praised forever. And so what do we see as that second step? It's a sexual revolution, right? It's just adultery that's just taken place. I mean, anybody that lived through the 60s and 70s kind of agree that that's kind of what happened here in the United States. It's always been a factor, but it was on steroids at that time. What happens as a result of that? God says, okay, you know what? If you want that and you're not coming to me, then you will, therefore, I will let you go to the next step. Verse 26, for this reason, and this is where the LGBTQ comes in, for this reason, God delivered them over to disgraceful passions. The women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. The men in the same way also left natural relations with women and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Men committing shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty of their error. And so what we see here is idolatry, we're going to something other than God, and if it remains, then God says, you know what, okay, you're not worshiping me, so I'm gonna let you have the consequences of that. And so then you're going after happiness and trying to find it in relationships with other people. And then when that doesn't satisfy, but you insist on that, then I'm gonna let you go into, okay, you know what? You're gonna grow bored of this, and now you're gonna start engaging in all sorts of things that are, oh, far away. It's not just adultery. It is far away from not only God's law, but natural law. And we're there as a country right now. We're there as a country right now. And what happens whenever people insist on that? What's the next step? Look at verse 28. And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do. what is not right. They're filled with all unrighteousness. Keep on going. Go to verse 32. Although they know God's just sentence, that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them. And so the final step is antinomianism. It's anti-law. I'll do whatever I want to do. And in fact, I'll celebrate you in doing whatever you want to do, right? This is the decline that God has shown, and I'm telling you that it fits the decline that America has been on for quite some time. There has never been a time where America had it all together. There's never been that time. But I'm telling you that this decline has been so obvious over the last 60 years, 60, 70 years or so. Gallup poll you've probably heard of the Gallup poll ran an article a couple of years ago on February the 17th of 2022 and it was entitled LGBT identification in US ticks up to 7.1% 7.1% of the population here in America And then there, if you were to go to that article, it gives the story highlights and it gives three things. It says LGBT identification up from 5.6 in 2020. So in two years, it went up one and a half points. one and a half percentage points. Another summary, one in five Gen Z, that's people born from 1997 to 2012, one in five, that's 20% of Gen Z identify as LGBT. 20%, 20%. The other one, the next summary, it says bisexual, and that's people that claim to be attracted to both. Identification is most common, is most common. In fact, look at the graph that I've got for you, the graph that you're looking at right here. They checked it out, they polled in 2012, it was 3.5%, and it continues to go up. And this is the way moral decline happens. It doesn't happen all at once, it happens slowly at first, and then it picks up speed, and then it picks up speed. It's like when a roller coaster, you know, if you love roller coasters like I used to, I can't handle them like I used to, But if you like roller coasters, it's got the click, the clicking noise. It just builds anticipation. You're slowly going up, and then you go over the top, and slowly, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, it goes down. That's what moral decline is like. That's what it does. It starts off slow, and then it picks up speed. This 7.1% almost guaranteed is a very low number compared to what they would find if they pulled even right now. This is not a small issue. America is on a big trajectory, a fast trajectory. You've heard about all of these things. You've heard about the fight against so-called book bans. Anybody heard of book bans? How many of you know that that is not even possible here in the United States? You can go on Amazon and get just about any book you want. You can go to some bookstores and get just about any book you want. There are not books that are banned. There are places where it is deemed appropriate and not appropriate. That's what's going on, but it's being called a book ban. If I had my little precious granddaughter, if she was going to a public school, I would not want her to have easy access to a book that shows pictures and talks about things that her little mind should not be consuming. I would want her protected from that. I guess you would say that I would be wanting to ban that book using that vernacular, but that's what's going on. There is a force that is wanting to indoctrinate and to familiarize even our most vulnerable, our children, with things that normally had been set aside for those that were much older content, for those that are much older. Transgender story hours becoming something that's being highlighted in libraries. Pride month. the required use of personal pronouns. I'm not going to ask you to raise your hands, but I guarantee you some of you in here are working in places where you have somebody that has demanded that you call them by their pronoun and you know That's not who you are. When I see you, I don't see a her, a she, I see a clearly, I see a him. But we're in a culture that has turned things upside down. We're in a culture also where boys and men who say that they are females are beating females and girls in women's sports and then having free access to the female locker rooms. Media is just taking this and just shoving it down the throat of our culture. This is not a small thing. It is huge. It is huge. So I want us just to talk about a few things. There are so many other avenues, there's so many other questions, but I just want us to focus on these next three questions with the remainder of our time. Number two, what causes people to identify with LGBTQ? What causes people to identify with LGBTQ? And, you know, I'm sure you know this by now, but what do the letters stand for? L, lesbian. That's women with women. G, gay. That's men with men. B, bisexual. men or women that are attracted to both. T, that's the one that's really causing a national uprising against the whole thing is the transgender, right? The transgender. And then Q, it's the word queer, but it's the umbrella that just encompasses everything else that is not included in those first four that is apart from God's divine design. And so, what causes people to identify with that? Let me give you three basic things as found in scripture. One, the sin nature. The sin nature. You were born with it, and I was born with it, and everybody was born with it. The only three people that were not born with the sin nature on planet Earth, in the history of planet Earth, Adam and Eve, and they weren't even born, they were created, but they did not originally have it until they chose to sin in Genesis chapter three, and then they had the sin nature put inside of them, which they themselves made that choice, and every one of their posterity, all of us, have that sin nature except for one other person that was born in Bethlehem and did not have the sin nature. Anybody want to guess who that person was? It was Jesus. Jesus did not have the sin nature. Everybody else has got the sin nature. Psalm chapter 51 verse 5. Indeed I was guilty when I was born. I was sinful when my mother conceived me. So this is a theological statement the psalmist is saying, that when I was born, I was a sinner. In fact, I was a sinner when I was conceived. Which brings about the question, do you sin and then become a sinner, or are we sinners, therefore we sin? We are sinners, therefore we sin. Before a baby ever commits whatever it is, that first sin, that first conscious sin, it is already a sinner because we are born dead in trespasses and sins. So why does some people identify with this? Why does it come natural to some people? It's because they and we are born with a sin nature. There are some people that seem as if they were born with a root of pride, you know? Some people that seem as if they were born with self-centeredness. Others that seem like their set of choices. I mean, just all sorts of things. It's like they're wired for that. Yes, all of us have a sin that so easily besets us. Every one of us has at least that one sin among all of the others that we struggle with, that one that really gets us. So how is it that some are able to identify with the LGBTQ? It's because they're sinners like the rest of us. They are born sinners like the rest of us. It just manifests itself in a different way. Another cause for why people identify with LGBTQ is a sinful society. And I wrote peer pressure off to the side. It's a society that is worldly and anti-God in its nature, and it wants to force conformity on all of those that are within that society. That's why we read Paul saying, don't be conformed to this world. Don't let the world force you by peer pressure into being something that you know God has said not to do. Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed. Have your mind completely changed by the renewing of the word, by getting into God's word, getting into God's word. But this is one of the reasons why there are those, and in fact, the number is going up, Of those that identify with LGBTQ, it's because we live in a sinful society and the world has always been sinful. 1 John 2, verses 15 and 16. Do not love the world or the things in the world. Now, he's not saying don't love a beautiful waterfall. He's not saying that. Don't love a beautiful mountainscape. Don't love the just looking at and smelling a beautiful flower, a beautiful rose. He's not saying that. When the word world is being used here, it's being used to describe a world system that is against God. That's what he's talking about. Do not love the sinful world system or the things that are in the sinful world system. If anyone loves the world, if your heart is moving toward the things that the world, the sinful world system offers, the love of the Father is not in him, he's not saved. He's not saved. for everything in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride. My translation says the pride in one's possessions. I believe the pride of life is a better translation. The lust of the flesh is my body wants it. The lust of the eyes is my mind wants to feast on, the lust of the eyes. I wanna look and I wanna feast on it in my mind. And the lust of the pride of life is my ego wants it. All of this is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the sinful world system is right now here in America bombarding people with this content everywhere. It's bombarding it and calling it to conform. And the world system can show up in media, it can show up in people who are forcing you or want to force you to call them by something that you know is not true of them or causing you to, or if you're a baker out in Colorado and you keep having people from the LGBTQ movement that are forthcoming, they're not interested in your cake, they just wanna sue you because you are not gonna use your creativity to make something for them. The world wants to force people into its system. And I'm telling you, our youth are being bombarded, particularly our youth are being bombarded. Parents and grandparents, if you think that your child, your grandchild, whoever it is that you're responsible for, is doing well, and so you're not checking up on them, one day, almost certainly, they're gonna break your heart. If you love them, you will not trust them. Right? Trust, but verify. The world system is bombarding people so that what was once abhorrent has been normalized. And if now this that we're seeing is normalized, What's the next step? It just keeps going. And so a sinful society, peer pressure causes people to just be bombarded with this and they become curious and then begin to move into that. And then before you know it, they are a part of that system. And then a third cause for people identifying is just sinful choices, personal responsibility, personal responsibility. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 33 says, do not be deceived, bad company corrupts good morals. You hang around something, you hang around content long enough, and it's gonna change the way your brain thinks. It's going to change the way your brain thinks. And this, we're not talking about the world pushing it. We're talking here in this third step of people who are using their choice to say, I will choose to be influenced by this. I will choose to view this. I will choose to fill my mind with this. And it is rewriting their brain, rewriting their brain to begin to be somebody that they probably never thought they would ever be. Sinful choices. These are the three big categories of how it happens. Don't be so simplistic as to say, nobody's born that way. Well, the sin nature says that people are born with deformities with their arms, or some people are born with a brain that's not quite working right. There are other people that are born with certain sinful propensities. It's just because of the sin nature, right? Don't be simplistic. Get into God's Word and realize that there are at least three major forces that work against someone in this area, but in so many other areas as well. It's the sinful world system, it's the sinful choices, and it's also the sin nature. So let's jump into point number three. Can Christians identify as LGBTQ? There's no shortage of people that say, I'm a gay Christian. Is that possible? Not biblically, not biblically. Letter A, Jesus said that if someone refuses to give up their sin, they are not saved. Letter B, I'm just gonna go on and give you the names to fill in. Letter B, Paul said that if someone refuses to give up their sin, they are not saved. They are not saved. So let's go back and look at the verses. Jesus said that if someone refuses to give up their sin, whether it's the LGBTQ participation or whatever sin, Jesus said they are not saved. Where does he say that? Look at the screen, Matthew chapter 18, verses 15 to 17. Jesus says this, if your brother sins against you, You know, somebody does something wrong to you, your brother sins against you, you go and say, what you did was wrong, what you said was wrong. You go, if it's worth it. Don't do it over small, petty stuff, but if it's a big enough issue, you go and tell him his faults. between you and him alone, so keep it private. Don't make it a big deal. Don't jump on Facebook and tell others what somebody did or what somebody said to you. That's a cowardly way of dealing with things. That way we hide behind a computer screen or a keyboard. Jesus said the biblical way is if somebody does something bad to you, you go privately to them and say, this is what you did and this was wrong. We need to make this right. If he listens to you, you've won your brother. If he listens to you, then it's a private matter and nobody will ever know about it, right? It's a private matter, nobody will ever know about it. But then what Jesus showed us is if that doesn't work, keep pushing, keep pushing, right? If it's a big enough issue, keep pushing. Look at verse... 16, but if he won't listen, if that private conversation didn't do it, if he won't listen, take one or two others with you. Now this we understand is not taking two or three of your allies who are gonna just verbally beat him up or whatever, four against one, three against one. That's not in the nature, in the spirit of this. I believe what Jesus is assuming is we will understand this to be take two or three objective witnesses. Just people that know God's Word, know truth, love the truth, and they'll be there as witnesses and to speak into it objectively. Not one side or the other. They're interested in the truth. Take two or three others with you so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses, every fact will be established. He's referring back to a law in the book of Deuteronomy. So go to him privately. If that doesn't work, take two or three with you and try to work it out that way. If that doesn't work, verse 17, if he doesn't pay attention to them, tell the church, do you see this? If it's a big enough issue and you go to somebody privately and they don't wanna resolve it, they're holding onto this and they feel justified in what they did and it's clearly what they did is wrong. And now you've taken two or three and they're verifying that yes, What this person did is wrong, what they said, what they did, whatever. What they did against you is wrong, and they need to repent, and then this is over with. But if they don't listen to them, then take it even higher. Tell it to the church. Keep things private unless it doesn't work, and then escalate it only as the person is unrepentant. If he doesn't pay attention to them, tell it to the church. So what happens if he doesn't listen to the church? Listen to what Jesus says. If he doesn't pay attention even to the church, let him be like a Gentile and a tax collector to you. Do you know what Jesus just said? If you have worked it privately and it didn't work out, they're not repenting, they're holding onto that sin, that whatever they did, they're holding onto it. And if you took two or three and they're holding onto it, they're not repenting. And then you tell it to the church and they're holding onto it. Jesus said at that point, Treat them like somebody that needs to get the gospel shared with them, because saved people don't act like that. Treat them like a Gentile, treat them like a tax collector, because saved people don't act like that. Do you hear what Jesus said? Someone who, as the process has worked its way out, and they're continuing to hold on to what they did, even though the Bible clearly speaks against it, if they refuse to let that sin go, Jesus is saying, send an evangelism team out to share the gospel with them, because safe people don't act like that. I remember an instance many years ago, did not happen here at this church, but I was leading a church through a project that was costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, hundreds of thousands of dollars. The church wanted this. In fact, they had already voted on this before I was even accepted as the pastor. And so whenever I came on board, I had the choice to shut down what the church had already said that they wanted or to move ahead. And I thought, you know what, I'm not gonna, I'm gonna move ahead with them on this. And so it was hundreds of thousands of dollars that was gonna happen. Well, one of the things is the contractor was doing a shoddy job, a horrible job, and they were taking our money. They were taking our money, but they were doing a horrible job and bad stewardship. We were giving them money to do the right thing, and they were doing very, very bad work. Some of it was really bad work. People within the church were beginning to complain, and it wasn't just me noticing this, people within the church, and I thought, this is gonna be more than just that one issue. It's gonna move up into a big church brouhaha. So I called in a gentleman who was over the group that was overseeing this project, and saying, you know, I just need you to hold those people's feet to the fire, because we are taking the Lord's money that has been entrusted to the church, giving it to them, and they're not doing a good job. I'll never forget. He got so upset, he took his papers, the papers that he had brought in, and he threw them in my office, threw them there in my lap, and stormed out of the office so much so that I had the two secretaries come in and say, what just happened? I called his house a little bit later on, got his wife and said, hey, I'd like to talk to him to just see if we can't work this out. She said, he does not want to talk to you. And so then I talked to one of his friends, because I'm thinking Matthew 18, we need to, let's do this privately. If that doesn't work, let's move ahead. So I talked with one of his friends and said, okay, you know, I'm thinking Matthew 18, because this clearly he's wrong in this. My request was just because it was bad stewardship. We were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on something that we weren't getting a good return on this. And I'll never forget what his friend told me. His friend told me, Pastor, I love him, but he's got one flaw. He will never, ever forgive you, because he's never forgiven anybody who he believes has hurt him. I said, are you saying he has never and therefore will never? He said, I'm sorry, it's the way it is, it's the way he is, he will never forgive you. In my mind, that became a salvation issue. That became a salvation issue. What we see, not only in this text, but I'm not gonna read the whole, all of the verses of what Paul said, but what we see is if someone is grabbing a hold of something, and it's not just a temporary struggle, a temporary unforgiveness, and then they realize that they messed up, and they ask for forgiveness, and they repent, and then unity is restored. That's not a salvation issue. That's just, we're all sinners, and we all need Jesus, and we all need to forgive and love each other, right? But if there is one sin that that's what characterizes them, and they refuse to let it go, that is a salvation issue, right? That's a salvation issue. It would be like somebody who is saying that, yes, I'm saved, I said a prayer whenever I was a kid, but I'm involved in perpetual adultery. Nope, no, if there is no repentance, if there is no brokenness, if this is who you are, then you're not saved. You're not saved. I'm telling you that this goes into the American flawed gospel. And this is why I encourage people to read God's word, because there is much that goes on with American Christendom that is not biblical. The flawed American gospel is this. If you say a prayer, as a kid, say a prayer, Jesus, will you forgive me and save me? then you are saved and you are good, and therefore, in the rest of your life, while it would be good for you to pursue reading God's word and spending time in prayer and sharing your faith and killing sin in your life, while it would be good for that to happen, it doesn't have to happen, because after all, you said a prayer. You know what I'm talking about, right? There is no place in Scripture, no place in Scripture where the assurance of salvation is where we are told to determine if we are saved by going back to some point in time to see, did I pray that prayer? In the Bible, do you know what we look at? We look at the fruit. Are you living in such a way that it's obvious that Jesus has taken up residence within your heart? That's how we know that we are saved. And what Jesus says, and then what Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter six, verses nine through 11, is if we claim that we're saved, and yet a certain sin, whatever that sin is, whether it's the LGBTQ, or whether it's adultery, or whether it's unforgiveness, or whether it's lying, or whether, whatever it is, whatever that is, if that is who we are, and there's no victory at all in that sin, that's a salvation issue. You see what I'm saying? Either the gospel is powerful enough to save a lost soul, and either God, who began a good work in us, will be faithful to complete it. Either the Bible is true in that, or the American gospel is true, that if you say a prayer, and you struggle, but you don't have to really worry about that. Either that is true. Which of them is true? I'm telling you that you dare not get it wrong. Because after we breathe our last breath, it's over. You lift your eyes in a place of joy there in the presence of the Lord, or you lift your eyes in the place of torment. I'm telling you the Bible demonstrates that if we are truly born again, we will struggle with sin. We will need to confess our sins daily before the Lord. but it's gonna be a struggle and a fight. We will fight this. But if there are things that we will not let go, we will, this is who we are. That becomes a gospel issue. You're probably not saved. In fact, look at 1 Corinthians 6, verses 9-11. Don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God's kingdom? We're not gonna be a part of the kingdom. Jesus isn't gonna be our king, and we're not gonna be in his kingdom. We're not saved. We're not gonna be able to be with him in a place called heaven one day. Don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? And then he goes on to say, don't be deceived. No sexually immoral, so now he's describing the unrighteousness. No sexually immoral people. So if there's someone who is saved, but they struggle with, you know, a sexual sin, struggle with a sexual sin. If it's a struggle and if they are broken over this, and if God's Holy Spirit is pointing that out and convicting them of that sin, regardless of how much victory they get, there will be something that points to the fact that Jesus has taken up residence. But if someone says, I said a prayer and they are just, this is who they are, they're not saved. Do you understand? I mean, I've gotten in trouble for telling people this, but I'm telling you, I'm telling you the truth. Search Scripture, this is what the Bible says. No sexually immoral people. So does that mean that Christians don't sometimes commit sexual immorality? No, sometimes Christians do this. But true followers of Jesus are broken over it, and they repent of it, and they make it right. thus demonstrating that God's Holy Spirit is in them, pointing that sin out and calling them to repentance. Someone who is not saved has said a prayer, but this is who they are, right? And so the list is no sexually immoral people, no idolaters, no adulterers, males who have sex with males, no thieves. I mean, it's not just the LGBTQ, it's things that greedy, look at the next thing in verse 10, greedy people. I just want more, I just want more. This is described as someone who, if that's who you are, you are a greedy person, you just want more, then that's maybe a salvation issue. I'm just telling you that if we are genuinely saved, then there will be no sin that identifies who we are, that is not characterized at least by even the smallest amount of brokenness and surrender to the authority of Christ. Paul said, and Jesus said, thus God in his word has said that if someone refuses to give up their sin, they are not saved. So therefore, I would say that based on these scriptures and others, there is no such thing as a gay Christian. If you choose to identify as gay, then you also, according to the Bible, cannot identify as Christian. But there is no such thing as a greedy Christian. There is no such thing as an adulterous Christian. There is no such thing as an unforgiving Christian. If unforgiveness is more than just a thing, it's actually who you are, then you also have to call into question whether or not I truly belong to the Lord. If the gospel is what the Bible says that it is, it will change us. It will change us. And so no, Christians cannot identify with the LGBTQ movement as a whole or in their own life. So let's go to point number four, and let's just talk about some things to create some hope in this. What can we do about the LGBTQ agenda? Okay, I'm just going to tell you the first one and then move on, vote, right? As Salt and Light, we have the ability within our country to push back bad policies and try to embrace good policies that we believe are good for our country and are aligned with God's word. And so that's one thing that we can do. But friends, I'm telling you, So many Christians believe this is the thing and this is not the thing for us. This is part of it, but this isn't the big thing. Number two, if you are the one struggling, what can we do about the LGBTQ plus agenda? If you are the one struggling, let me just give some counsel. One, be honest with a serious Christian. And I'm just going to tell you that I'm telling you the truth. Serious Christians are few and far between, unfortunately. There are some that claim to be Christians, and they probably are, but they're not far enough in their faith to understand the balance of grace and truth, or they're not familiar enough with Scripture to be able to give good counsel from the Bible, or you can't trust them because they'll gossip, you know, whenever you share something this big with them. So I'm gonna encourage you, be honest with a serious Christian, someone who you know will love you through this, someone who you know will help you and provide encouragement and counsel. It may be difficult to begin the conversation with them about, hey, this is what I'm struggling with, and in fact, this is some of the stuff that I've done already, and I can't believe that I've done this, and I want help. Sometimes better than talking to them, maybe write it out. Say, you know what, I'm gonna write you a letter. I'm gonna write something, and I'm just gonna pour it all out on this paper, and I'm gonna give it to you. Please keep it private. Burn it when you're done, but this will begin the conversation. Find some Christian. that is serious, and parents and grandparents, I would encourage you that it needs to be on your kids' and grandkids' radar that if they are struggling with this, you are someone safe that they can talk to. That you're someone safe that they can talk to. I'm telling you, there are many kids that are struggling in this area. They're bombarded by this. They get peer pressure and all sorts of other things. Be that serious, safe, honest Christian that they can come to to talk. Number two, I would encourage, meet with a Christian counselor. And I'm telling you that this is getting more and more difficult. In Kentucky, the state that we just moved from, well, moved from a little over five years ago, the governor of Kentucky just gave an executive order getting rid of and criminalizing conversion therapy. to say that if someone comes to a Christian counselor and says, I'm involved in this, I've got desires, I know we're not right, and I don't want this, I don't wanna be involved in that lifestyle, help me, please. If that counselor engages in a process to try to help them move from where they are to where they should be, in Kentucky, it just got criminalized. Just got criminalized. Just this past week, I believe. Here in Florida, we still have the ability for counselors to maintain their license and help people in this way. Get them a good Christian, not just a counselor, a good Christian counselor. Make sure they have a biblical worldview and get them with a Christian counselor. And then I would encourage that if you are the one struggling, your part is to kill the sin in your life. Romans 8, verses 12 and 13, particularly verse 13 at the end, put to death the deeds of the body, put to death. Sometimes people have all sorts of, you know, their natural desire. Sometimes the desires are natural and they're good, but through viewing pornography or through watching filth on television or engaging in conversations, that natural desire becomes a monster, right? So kill it. How do you kill that monster within your mind and in your heart? Get rid of every single thing that can feed it. Get rid of everything that can feed it. Kill the deeds of the flesh, of the body. Kill the sin in your life. And kill is a powerful word, but I'm telling you, if you were serious about breaking free, it's an appropriate word. Kill that sin in your life. If you know that there is something that is feeding this monster, get rid of it. Don't trust yourself. Get rid of it. Kill that thing, that sinful monster that is in your mind and in your heart. And then four, realize that you may never fully get rid of your desires. Is there such thing as a homosexual Christian? No. Is there such a thing as a Christian who does struggle with same-sex attraction, but they don't act on it, and they know it's wrong, and they don't want to do it, but their mind's just wired that way? Is that possible? Absolutely. Absolutely. There are boys and girls that are being raised up in a sexually perverted society, and this is their knowledge. This is what they are seeing. And you think you're protecting them, and they're getting all sorts of stuff fed into their mind. And so it's rewiring their brain. Is it possible for someone to have a mind where they never fully get rid of those desires? They don't act on those desires, but they never fully get rid of those desires because they wanna live for the Lord. Yes, yes, that's possible. That's possible for a Christian to still have, I could ask the same question. Is it possible for you as a Christian to have a mind and a heart that easily gets angry, but you don't act on that all the time? Is it possible? Yes, of course it's possible. So there are desires, but you don't act on them. That's all I'm saying with this. It's possible for someone who their brain is never fully rewired and they're just going to struggle. Some people just continue to struggle, but I'm telling you that you can be a follower of the Lord and be a devout follower of the Lord as you fight against that. And as you refuse, you realize that there are certain desires that I will not act on. I will not act on. If this is you, there is help. If you know someone who is struggling, if you know somebody who is struggling, love them like God loves you. Love them like God loves you. The thing about the LGBTQ movement is those of us who are not in any way wired in any way that way, we can look at it and there's a yuck factor to it. You know what I'm talking about, right? There's a yuck factor to it. Let that inform you. that our yuck factor is nowhere near the yuck that God felt when he looked at us and had to put our sins there on the cross. And God loved us anyway. Romans chapter five, verse eight, but God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Let your feelings toward, maybe those feelings towards somebody who is going through that, let your feelings of disdain and everything inform you as to just a little bit of how a holy God looked at us and saw our sin and yet still loved us and still died on the cross to pay our sin debt. Love people, love them. God loves them. Love them the way that God loves you. Listen patiently and provide biblical counselor and pray for them. and pray for them. I don't mean just pray, I mean pray. Pray that God would get the victory in their life and then we see share the gospel and we're done. This is our ultimate weapon. This is the ultimate weapon. Some Christians and many Christians believe they get all excited about the election and they're not sharing their faith. I thought I would have got an amen there. There's a lot of people that get excited about an election. They think that's the way you change society, but they're not sharing their faith. Do you know that the election doesn't change anybody's heart? All it kind of does is get the people that are on the other side angry at us because we're forcing our agenda on them. Yes, we should vote, but that's not the weapon that God has given us. The thing that changes hearts is the gospel. that God loved me so much in my sin. Yes, I sin differently than you, but God loved me so much in my sin that he died on the cross, Jesus died on the cross. And there was a time where I gave myself to him and I have since relied upon him to make me right in the father's eyes. And if God can through Jesus make me right, he can sure make you right too. Will you trust in him? Will you turn from sin and will you trust in him? That's where change happens. In the book of Acts, as we get to about chapter 17 or so, it says that the Christians were accused of turning the world upside down. Do you know how they turned the world upside down? By going to the ballot box and voting. No, that's not how they changed the world. Do you know how they changed the world? One soul at a time. They shared the gospel with people and they changed hearts and let God begin to work on their heart as you lovingly in truth and grace, speak truth into their life, humbly because you know also that even though you sin differently than them, you and I struggle with sin just as they do. It's the gospel that changes. God told us, Jesus told us in Matthew chapter eight, go into all the world and make disciples. That's change. Go into all the world and make Jesus followers. And how do we do it? It is by telling them of a God who loved the world so much that he gave his one and only son, that whoever, whatever your sin is, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but will have eternal life. Share the gospel. Tell people about Jesus. Love them. Don't be a Pharisee. A Pharisee is somebody who refuses to look at their sin and refuses to see that they are someone in need of a savior. They just find it easy looking down on other people's sin, right? And so when you go to the Lord and ask him to forgive you multiple times a day, like I do, of an attitude, a word, an action, whatever else, Realize that that sin's nailed to the cross, so it's over with, it's forgotten, it's done, but don't forget that you got forgiven, and then share that grace with other people. God forgave me, he can forgive you too. He can forgive you too. It's the gospel, that's the weapon. Share the gospel, tell people about a God who loves them and can help them, and then you come alongside, and you be the hands and feet of Jesus to help them as they go through what they're going through. I'm telling you, we don't know how this is all gonna play out and the trajectory here in this country does not look good. But let's not be derelict of duty as far as we're concerned. Let's do what the master told us to do. Let's share the good news of the gospel with people. Let's share the hope of the gospel with at least those within our sphere. And at least when we stand before the Lord on the day of judgment, regardless of what happens to this nation, when we stand before the Lord, we can see a smile come across his face as he lifts his hands and says, well done. Well done, good and faithful servant. Will you chase after Him, love sinners like He loves us, and will you tell them about a God who loves them so much He died on the cross to pay their sin debt and call them to trust in Him? Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we come to You. Lord, I thank you that it seems as if many, most of us here in this room are cognizant of the fact that we're messed up and we need you, Jesus. So we're humbled by that, and that's a good posture. That's a good posture that we realize that we're fellow strugglers as well. So Lord, I pray that as we stand for truth, that we would not do so in a pharisaical way, looking down our nose at other people. But I pray, Lord, that we which share the good news of the gospel. And just as while we were sinners, you died for us, just as you did that for us, Lord, I pray that we wouldn't at all wait for anybody else to get their life cleaned up before we share the good news of the gospel, that while they are in their sin, we would tell them of a God who loves them. And Lord, I pray that you would bless us as we do that. Lord, pray right now as we go into this time of response, however it is that we need to move, whether we just let people around us sing as we bow our heads and just pray and do business with you, or whether there's going to be people that come forward and just kneel at the steps as something of a public decision and make things right with you as they pray. Or even if people were to come to me and put their hand in mine and let me know of some decision you were leading them to make. However that happens, as we sing this next song, Lord help us to make things right with you.