In this sermon from Romans 1, Pastor Mark preaches on forbidden sexual acts from the Bible, homosexuality, 9 objections to Biblical sex, gender, and sexuality, and the wrath of God.
Set Free: Escaping Rebellion
Rom. 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
· Born 1970 as sexual revolution of 1960’s rooting into culture & classroom
· 1973 Roe v Wade legalized abortion – anonymous “Jane Roe” died 2017 XN anti-abort
· Until 1974 the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders by American Psychiatric Association, listed homosexuality as a mental disorder
· 1989 Got saved not a virgin and sleeping with girlfriend & wrong minded
· Mid 1990’s man w/a beard & dress @ church nicely asked to use the restroom
· Most adult life media interviews on sex, marriage, gender – canned answer
· 2012 WA legalized gay marriage, we released Real Marriage – Fox & Friends, DL Hughley (CNN), Dr. Drew, Piers Morgan (CNN), Barbara Walters (View)
· Pastors turned are pro-gay and transgender
· Gallup poll – thought 23% gay/bisexual actual 5% & rising
What Are Forbidden Sexual Acts in the Bible?
1. Fornication (Gen. 38:24; cf. Lev. 21:9; Deut. 22:21; 1 Cor. 6:18, 7:2; Heb. 13:4).
2. Adultery (Ex. 20:14; Deut. 5:18; Prov. 6:32; Matt. 5:27-32, 15:19; 1 Cor. 6:9-11).
3. Polygamy (Gen. 2:1-8 cf. Matt. 19:4-6; Gen. 4:19-24; 1 Ki. 11:-9; 1 Tim. 3:2,12)
4. Rape (Gen. 34:1-31; Jdg. 19:1-30, 2 Sam. 13:11-14)
5. Incest (Lev. 18, 20, 27).
6. Homosexuality (Lev. 18:22, 20:13; Rom. 1:26-27; 1 Cor. 6:9)
7. Bestiality (Ex. 22:19; Lev. 20:15-16; Deut. 27:21)
8. Prostitution (Lv 19:29; 21:9; 1 Cor. 6:16).
9. Sexual Immorality [“porneia”] (Matt. 19:9; 1 Cor. 6:13, 6:18; Eph. 5:3; 1 Thess. 4:3)
10. Pagan sexual activity (Ex. 32, Is. 57:7-8, Hosea 4:12-14, Eph. 5:5, Col. 3:5)
The Wrath of God
Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
General Revelation – available to all people, times, places = less specific. Able to condemn.
- External Creation (Rom. 1:19-20) – powerful, beautiful, helpful
- Internal Conscience (Rom. 2:14-15) – good, wise, moral
Truth – corresponds with reality (Correspondence Theory of Truth)
- Suppressed (problems moral not mental)
“to prevent someone from exercising power” [Arndt Greek-English Lexicon]
= The truth and the lie are in a fight, & you choose to drown the truth (active)
= Politics, Riots, Curriculum, Hash Tags, Misinformation, Character Attacks
- Exchanged – Truth for Lie (demonic)
= I will only be judged by a god I make, not a God that made me
Wrath
- Real love requires hatred of what destroys the beloved
- Cross shows God’s love for us and His hatred for sin which destroys us
- WRATH – all justice no grace, no mercy, no exception
- Holiness – #1 Attribute vs Demons & Sinners
- OT – 20 words nearly 600X
- Passive wrath – Rom 1:18, 24, 26 God’s wrath revealed…God handed over
- Active wrath – Rom 2:5 …you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
- Either you get wrath, or Jesus gets wrath for you
Revelation 14:10 he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
When Sex Becomes a Religion
Romans 1:21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
#1. Who is God?
- God is not worth honoring/thanking/obeying/ because He is wrong & repressive
#2. Who am I?
- I am smart/right & free to do what I want with my body as an evolved animal
Worship Options
- Worship Creator enjoy & steward creation
= accept the Sex, Gender, Lifestyle the Creator made for you
- Worship created (ideology & sexuality)
= replace the Creator and create your own Sex, Gender, Lifestyle as re-creator
-Everything God made “good”, human body “very good” =most beautiful/enjoyable
Natural Law
Romans 1:26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
-Natural Law – Thomas Aquinas
-Natural – God’s creation design before sin & fall for reproduction be fruitful/multiply
The Word The World
Sex: Fixed Binary Male/Female Sex: Fluid on an Intersex Spectrum
Gender: Fixed Binary Masculine/Feminine Gender: Fluid on an Unfixed Spectrum
Sexuality: Fixed 1 man and 1 woman in marriage Sexuality: Fluid on an Unfixed Spectrum
Sex: biological status (sex chromosomes, gonads, internal reproductive organs, external genitalia) In babies .1%-.2% have ambiguous external genitalia, and between 1-2% less severe ambiguity. This Bible which says we are made male and female.
Gender: used to believe flowed from sex with masculine males and feminine females starting from birth in such things as dress and appearance, but no longer. Today, gender is said to be how someone feels, not how they are created (e.g. a male trapped in a female body)? This conflicts with the Bible which speaks directly to males and females with specific commands, including husbands and wives.
Sexuality: used to believe that your sexual interest was for the opposite sex.
= Today, the act of “coming out” is to make public desires that were private (vs closeted) which is like baptism for the XN.
6 Steps to Rebellion, Riots, and other Hellish Hobbies
Romans 1:28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
Step 1 – reject God as repressive, outdated, limiting
Step 2 – reject parents & older generations as repressive, outdated, limiting
Step 3 – feed a debased mind that claims wisdom & liberation
Step 4 – rebel by dismantling all external morality & authority
Step 5 – align with other rebels and militantly defend one another as a mob
Step 6 – pressure everyone to approve of/support/endorse your rebellion
9 Objections to Biblical Sex, Gender, and Sexuality
1. Times have changed, and we have evolved.
- Have times truly changed (e.g. ancient Greek culture)
- Has God changed?
- Are times better?
-Cohab – test marriage = high dom violence & divorce, out of wedlock childbirth
-No One Hurth – std 50% of sexually active by 25 now 110 million, abortion 1/4, out of wedlock birth, sexual assault ¼ women 1/6 men, sex trafficking incl kids, emotional/mental?
-Lowest divorce & Highest satisfaction – both XN in church under Word
2. Because God is loving, He must be tolerant.
Revelation 2:20 I have this against you, that you tolerate…Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality
· Everyone agrees at some intolerance is good (smoking in hospital, drunk driving)
· The dictionary definition of tolerance has changed from I disagree with to I celebrate
· Source of authority is now internal, not external
· Tolerance is the counterfeit of repentance.
· God’s love changes us in a way that tolerance cannot.
3. Jesus was silent on homosexuality.
Mark 10:5-8 Jesus said…from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’
Luke 17:29-30 Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
- All Jewish teachers centuries before and after Jesus condemn
- Jesus was an OT rabbi
- Argument from silence = fallacy
- Jesus was silent about rape, pedophilia, incest, etc.
4. Sex and gender are civil rights issues
1 Timothy 1:9-10 the ungodly and sinners…unholy and profane….those who strike their fathers and mothers…murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers…
- BLM and changing mission statement (404)
- “We do the work to dismantle cisgender” [God-given]
- “We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure”
- “freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking” [male/female]
5. Sex is inevitable
Matthew 19:12 there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.
-1. Castrated 2. Impotent 3. Celibate
- Self-control & self-denial are aspects of Christian discipleship
- Everyone practice celibacy for at least some seasons of life (health, deployed)
- Jeremiah (OT), Paul (NT)
- Jesus – perfect and full life
6. God made me this way
Romans 8:20-23 the creation was subjected to futility…the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God….we…groan inwardly as we wait eagerly…the redemption of our bodies.
- is vs ought
7. Sex, gender, and sexuality should be an open-handed issue among God’s people
- Genesis 1-2 God, fender, marriage, parenting, family
- 2012 I wrote an unreleased ebook predicting same sex marriage, civil war, & rise in sex trafficking & pedophilia moving to mainstream
- I was a college class (it’s a closed handed issue in the world)
= 2 Teams Today
8. I disagree with where the Bible draws moral lines for sex and gender.
- We do not live on islands (dorms, locker rooms, sports)
- Some states have mandatory k-12 sex ed for kids (Pride Day Jr Hi)
- Polygamy is next reshaping the family in ways unknown
- Pedophilia up w/kids online (Netflix Cuties)
- Infringement of Civil Liberties
- Education – K-12 & college, XN schools orgs churches, & criminalization
9. Sex is a physical issue, not a spiritual issue.
The Spirit of Babylon
· Babylon – 227 English Bible
· Babylon – 1). ancient nation castrated Daniel 2). demonic spirit creating counterfeits
1 Peter 5:13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings
Revelation 14:8 angel…saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.”
Revelation 17:3-5 in the Spirit…I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names…The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.”
Revelation 18:2-3 “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit…all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”
-Amazon web services – hosts 40% of web traffic & (70%?) of profit is adult
Pastoral Closing
-Do they know Jesus Christ as Lord, new nature, new desires, new power by the Spirit?
-Is there any abuse in the past, including childhood?
-Is there any addiction in the past or present?
-The worst is probably men who impregnate women with no interest in marriage/kids
-I started in a bad place. We all start in a bad place. Jesus is perfect & we all need His forgiveness, healing, and power
-Temptation vs Sin
-Jesus came to set captives free from the demonic temptations of the flesh
What Are All the Scriptures Regarding Homosexuality?
Genesis 19:4-8 the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.””
Jude 7 Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
2 Peter 2:6 by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly
Leviticus 18:22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
Leviticus 20:13 If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination
Romans 1:26-27 God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
1 Corinthians 6:9 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.
1 Timothy 1:9-10 the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine.