Summary: Truthful and Tactful look at this sin, and the sinners which God loves involved in it. Link included to formatted text and Powerpoint.

What does the Bible say about Homosexuality?

(Questions Series)

[Hundreds of free formatted text sermons, complete with Powerpoint Presentations, are at our website...link is at bottom of this sermon.]

God loves all people, including homosexuals. And thus, like Christ, Christians (forgiven sinners) should love all other sinners and seek to help them. The religious community, however, should not be required to endorse the sin, and neither should the government.

We should be humbled at the fact that thruout history, God has never once failed to judge a nation that has accepted these practices.

Ps. 118:6

The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?

Christians ought to be optimistic people/positive.

“Life in Christ is an endless hope, life w/out Christ is a hopeless end!” (good news/bad news)

We should try our best to be positive about the future of America…we should strive to be optimistic…but we need to be realistic. Nothing is more realistic than the Word of God, which makes it very clear that Sodom’s sins will reap Sodom’s doom.

Ill.—“Randy”—I led to the Lord in ‘93—chose new lifestyle!

Jesus said, “remember Lot’s wife”—God had saved Lot and his wife from the destruction of the land of Sodom, but she looked back at what God had saved her from…longingly! There goes my home/possessions/friends/lifestyle…her heart was still in Sodom, and even worse, Sodom was still in her heart.

And homosexuals don’t need reformation, they need transformation…a new heart! Only the blood of Jesus can free a person from such shackles.

“you can take the boy out of the country…”

This principle applies to any sin we can commit…you can take a man out of homosexuality, but to take the homosexuality out of the man is an entirely different thing! It can be done, I’ve seen it happen, but the 2 steps are different.

America has become a nation for homosexuals. And homosexuals from other nations that feel unwelcome have found a home here. It has been said that if America doesn’t get right w/ God, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. The sins of Sodom have been resurrected in our day, in our land! Thanks to Clinton/gay pride month (June), parades/they’re out of the closet, brazenly, unashamedly, they flaunt their sin…in your face! It’s not enough for them to just say they’re ok w/ it, they want your endorsement as well! And they won’t be happy until the government officially endorses their sin/gay marriage/military endorsement…getting closer/public school endorsement/church endorsement…here already, in large part/every week you hear about another church that has ordained a homosexual, or performed a so-called homosexual union.

This is not hate speech…our constitution refers to it as free speech!

Remember, God loves sinners/homosexuals. And in love, our God, which knows what sin will do to us…ruin our life…drag us to hell, he calls upon all sinners, inc. homosexual, to repent! And our God who loves these sinners, hates their sin, and Jesus died for those sins, just like ours…as if He had committed them!

Our culture today whitewashes sin.

Drunkard/alcoholic…now it’s a disease, releasing them from personal responsibility.

Thief/cleptomaniac adultery/affair…sounds so sophisticated!

Sodomite/gay, glad…we’ve taken good words from the English language, that used to mean happy and carefree, and now used to describe perverts and deviants.

God doesn’t think that sodomy is gay…He calls it repulsive, abominable, and abhorrent.

If the Bible is clear on anything, it teaches that the sin for which Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed was the sin of homosexuality.

Many people deny that today…homosexuals take the scripture and twist it…they do all kinds of mental gymnastics to try to teach otherwise…even claiming that Jesus and His disciples were gay, because they lived in a commune together!

God’s Word strips away the veneer!

I Cor. 6

9Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

They can be saved!…

11And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Lev. 18

22Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

Lev. 20

13If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death…

Rom. 1

24Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. (AIDS?)

Look at this: Other sins which are grouped w/ it:

28And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

They’re out of the closet…

Eph. 5

11And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

Is. 3

9The show of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

It is not natural…God our creator has spoken! (That settles it!) The animals understand, but man cannot!

Homosexuals cannot reproduce, only recruit!

Medical science says that homosexuality is a behavioral choice!

Homosexuals claim there is a “gay gene” which they inherit. Medical science disagrees.

Ill.—identical twins

I agree to a certain extent!: I believe we all inherit a gene…a gene called the sin nature. And any of us are capable of choosing that sinful lifestyle, as so many have!

The trends today toward homosexuality are scary. The end of the road our society is on is frightening!

They want not just equal status, they want preferred status. Not only do they want an employer to have to consider them equally w/ another applicant, regardless of his personal beliefs, but they want him to feel pressure to choose them over another, to help fill the quota!

Lawmakers have taken our discrimination laws, which are a relatively good thing protecting people regardless of race, color, creed, and have added the phrase “or sexual orientation”. And lawmakers like Barney Frank, an openly homosexual Senator, stand on a platform of discrimination that is very shaky.

He said, “we shouldn’t be discriminated against any more than the blacks or the Jews.”

If I were black, or Jewish, I’d be offended at that statement. For you cannot choose your race, but you can choose your lifestyle!

Pres. Clinton appointed at least 25 openly gay men and women to key positions in his administration, including his cabinet. When the homosexuals are moved from the closet--to the cabinet…we’ve got major problems!

State Universities now teach what they call, “sensitivity training” to all incoming freshmen. And students caught speaking out against this “alternate lifestyle”, can be the subjects of discipline for “hate speech”…whatever happened to free speech! And at the same time, the homosexual crowd is allowed to speak against people like us, labeling us with all kinds of names, and that’s not hate speech??? (I’ve been called some names this week!)

Someday soon this will be used to try to silence preachers like myself. Even though I don’t recommend gay bashing (physical abuse of them)…I do recommend gay evangelization! I have the right to preach the Bible, and against sin!

And so, the end of this road we’re on is horrifying!

If America is going to be spared, realize the answer does not lie in the white house/state house/court house/…the answer is in God’s house, the church house!

(God told Abe He’d spare the city for 10 righteous)

I don’t know if God has placed a righteous quota upon our nation, and if so, if we can even meet up to it…

…I do know we need to be winning souls, and taking our stand, and praying for God’s mercy upon our nation!

Homosexuals are already granted equal protection under the law. They enjoy the same freedoms you and I do. There is no need for our government to put its stamp of approval upon their lifestyle!

No law exists on the national or state level declaring one’s sexual orientation to be a characteristic which deserves civil rights protection. Only 124 cities and counties out of the hundreds of thousands located in our great nation have allowed for this provision.

Should we indeed launch out from the safe shores of our most respected levels of leadership into the wild deep of political correctness? Does the city of Decatur truly want to include itself in a tiny minority of towns willing to succumb to the pressures of a few activists?

One of the most patriotic things we can do is take care of ourselves…get right w/ God.

Any of us can start down that slippery slope toward sin, not just homosexuality, but any sin.

And then take our stand. If we stand on God’s Word, we cannot fall! Even if you have to stand alone…take your stand!

Ps. 118:6

The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?

A look at Lot:

1. The course of the man—Lot (Abe’s nephew)

There came a time when they had to separate. (this place ain’t big enough for the both of us.)

Abraham did something very unselfish…gave him the best land…land which had been promised to him, rather.

Look at Lot’s course: The course of the man

13:10 lifted up his eyes toward Sodom

12 pitched his tent toward Sodom

19:1 sitting in the gate! Living there!

Ps. 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not…

4 things about Lot

1. Weak in his devotions

Abraham had an altar, Gen. 13:5 says Lot had flocks, herds, tents.

Abraham had devotions 19:27…He knew that the Bible will keep you from sin, and sin will keep you from the Bible!

Abraham knew to keep short accts w/ God.

What steps have you taken? Thought about sin/moved closer/committed the sin/habit?

What you get here in 3 services a week is not enough. You can only ride on someone else’s spiritual coattail for so long. Sooner or later you have got to develop that personal, intimate, one on one, daily relationship w/ God.

2. Worldly in his desires

Gen. 13:10 says that Lot chose Sodom because it reminded him of the land of Egypt…that he had been saved from! (World)

Lot asked, is this a good place to raise cattle/didn’t ask about kids!

Make money/grow spiritually feed me/be fed

Serve self/serve God

He became worldly in his desires.

Jesus said, “remember Lot’s wife”—she was worldly too, she looked back at what God had saved her from…longingly! There goes my home/possessions/friends/lifestyle…her heart was still in Sodom, and even worse, Sodom was still in her heart.

And homosexuals don’t need reformation, they need transformation…a new heart! Only the blood of Jesus can free a person from such shackles.

“you can take the boy out of the country…”

This principle applies to any sin we can commit…you can take a man out of homosexuality, but to take the homosexuality out of the man is an entirely different thing! It can be done, I’ve seen it happen, but the 2 steps are different.

3. Wrong in his decision

Gen. 13:11 3 key words… “then Lot chose”

God allows us to choose our own path…but He doesn’t allow us to choose what destination that path will lead to.

God will allow us to choose anything we want, except for the consequences, we can’t choose those! As a matter of fact, we have to live w/ the consequences of our choices.

Every decision we make, to at least some degree, affects the direction of our future.

For the most part, our decisions are determined by our desires.

Ill.—pastor/raised by mother not to go to movies/he didn’t…because it was against the rules/his friend was raised the same way/when they became teens, friend said, it’s Sunday night, let’s skip church, and go to the theatre/ “no, better not”/ “oh, come on!”/they decided to go their separate ways, the one to church, the other to the theatre/the one who went to church became a successful pastor/other moved to Hollywood and eventually became a successful producer

One day that Pastor was in L.A., preaching a mtg. He decided to call his old friend. They got together. His friend said, “you know, several years ago when we were teens, I skipped church to go to the movies” “I remember,” the pastor said.

“Little did I know that on that night, we were prophetically choosing our life’s work.”

Decisions may seem small at the time, but you never know where those roads will lead.

Our teens need to think twice before they attend that party. Because you never know, when you’ll make a decision that will change the course of your life forever.

Dance/car alone together/rebel against parents

“then Lot chose…” and he lived forever w/ the consequences of that worldly-minded decision!

Lot was weak in his devotions/worldly in his desires/wrong in his decision…

4. Wrecked in his deterioration

Here’s a man that the NT says was saved, and yet here he is getting drunk, committing incest w/ both of his daughters, and the result of those relations was his daughters each giving birth to leaders of enemy nations (ammonites/moabites) that would plague Israel for years to come…oh, the power of a single decision!

That was the course of the man

Now, the curse of the society:

If the Bible is clear on anything, it teaches that the sin for which Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed was the sin of homosexuality.

Many people deny that today…homosexuals take the scripture and twist it…they do all kinds of mental gymnastics to try to teach otherwise…even claiming that Jesus and His disciples were gay, because they lived in a commune together!

I Cor. 6

9Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

They can be saved!…

11And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Lev. 18

22Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

Lev. 20

13If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death…

Rom. 1

24Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. (AIDS?)

Look at this: Other sins which are grouped w/ it:

28And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

They’re out of the closet…

Eph. 5

11And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

Is. 3

9The show of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves. 10Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. 11Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.

It is not natural…God our creator has spoken!

Homosexuals cannot reproduce, only recruit!

Medical science says that homosexuality is a behavioral choice!

Homosexuals claim there is a “gay gene” which they inherit. Medical science disagrees.

I agree to a certain extent!: I believe we all inherit a gene…a gene called the sin nature. And any of us are capable of choosing that sinful lifestyle, as so many have!

The trends today toward homosexuality are scary. The end of the road our society is on is frightening!

They want not just equal status, they want preferred status. Not only do they want an employer to have to consider them equally w/ another applicant, regardless of his personal beliefs, but they want him to feel pressure to choose them over another, to help fill the quota!

Lawmakers have taken our discrimination laws, which are a relatively good thing protecting people regardless of race, color, creed, and have added the phrase “or sexual preference”. And lawmakers like Barney Frank, an openly homosexual Senator, stand on a platform of discrimination that is very shaky.

He said, “we shouldn’t be discriminated against any more than the blacks or the Jews.”

If I were black, or Jewish, I’d be offended at that statement. For you cannot choose your race, but you can choose your lifestyle!

Pres. Clinton appointed at least 25 openly gay men and women to key positions in his administration, including his cabinet. When the homosexuals are moved from the closet to the cabinet…we’ve got major problems!

State Universities now teach what they call, “sensitivity training” to all incoming freshmen. And students caught speaking out against this “alternate lifestyle”, can be the subjects of discipline for “hate speech”…whatever happened to free speech! And at the same time, the homosexual crowd is allowed to speak against people like us, labeling us with all kinds of names, and that’s not hate speech???

Someday soon this will be used to try to silence preachers like myself. Even though I don’t recommend gay bashing (physical abuse of them)…I recommend gay evangelization! I have the right to preach the Bible, and against sin!

And so, the end of this road we’re on is horrifying!

the course of the man/curse of society

the cure that could have been

Abraham negotiated w/ God, and God said to Abraham, if there’s just 10 believers there, I’ll spare the whole city for just those ten!

Lot and his wife…that’s 2…he had 2 married daughters, they and their husbands make 6, and he had 2 unmarried daughters…there’s 8 right there. If Lot had only reached his own family, and just 2 more, the whole city would have been spared.

But even his family laughed at him, because he was backslidden. He had already lost his testimony…the NT in II Pet. 2:8 says Lot dwelling among them, seeing them, “vexed his righteous soul from day to day” because of just being in their presence!

If America is going to be spared, realize the answer does not lie in the white house/state house/court house/…the answer is in God’s house, the church house!

I don’t know if God has placed a righteous quota upon our nation, and if so, if we can even meet up to it…

…I do know we need to be winning souls, and taking our stand, and praying for God’s mercy upon our nation!

And one of the most patriotic things we can do is take care of ourselves…get right w/ God.

Any of us can start down that slippery slope toward sin, not just homosexuality, but any sin. How?

By being weak in our devotions/worldly in our desires/we can become wrong in our decisions, and fall!

First you just lift your eyes toward it/then pitch tent toward it, and before you know it, you’re sitting in the gate!

----------------

This link is free...we only ask that you vote for this sermon if you use the link or Powerpoint Presentation. Thank you.

http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/ALotOfTrouble.html