THE LIVING WORD TRANSCRIPT
Program Air Date – 8-2-09
LESSON TITLE: “THE WORKS OF THE FLESH ARE? HOMOSEXUALITY”
WELCOME
“In the beginning - God - created the heavens and the earth!” This morning, it is before this awesome, great and mighty God which we assemble - to praise, laud and magnify His wondrous name! Will you approach His Almighty throne with me in prayer at this time!
(PRAYER)
One of the greatest blessing we have from God is the command to Worship Him. And what a wondrous opportunity we have to worship our God through the avenue of song. It is now time to praise our God with the first hymn of the day. So, won’t you join in with the congregation at this time as we sing together, “Leaning On The Everlasting Arms?”
(SONG # 1)
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS
Oh, how I love the song we just sang together, “Leaning On The Everlasting Arms!” How encouraging this song is and what hope it gives each of us as we strive to follow our God. But think for moment as to why it is so encouraging? Well it reminds us that God is always there for us and ready to help us! Are you leaning on the everlasting arms of your Creator?
The reality is we are not perfect and we all make mistakes. In fact, even though we are Christians we still do things from time to time which are contrary to the will of God. However, the wonderful news is, if we are willing to do our best and remain penitent before our God, of those things we mess up in - He will forgive us and love us anyway. As long as we are willing to repent and correct those wrongs that we commit against God and others - He is always ready with open arms to receive us to His side.
I think the man of God - King David, had this all figured out, as we see clarified by his thoughts in Psalm 51:1-7. There we read, “Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your loving kindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight; that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Yes, how wonderful it is to serve such a loving and forgiving God who will accept us, despite our past wrongs. Furthermore, notice how David was able to lean on His God for help, no matter how desperate the time of need!
So let me ask, have you turned to God? Are you leaning on His Mighty Arms? The fact is, those who choose to serve God, will never be alone or without the help of their Creator.
This morning, we will consider another lesson in our series entitled, “The Works Of The Flesh Are?” Our specific lesson this morning deals with the sin of “Homosexuality.” So please stay with us this morning and after our next song together, I will return and lead us in our main thoughts of the day. But for now let’s join together in our second song of the morning. The name of this hymn, “Let The Lower Lights Be Burning.”
(SONG # 2)
LESSON
By Ray Sullins
In 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 1 we read, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come.”
You know think about the days that we live in and we certainly are aware of the many things that are happening in our day and time that are obviously different from what we read according to the things that God wants, and because of that we consider these times as well as perilous times. But I read this text because this text tells us something about the day that we consider in this text thousands of years ago when even Paul was telling this young evangelist about some perilous times, about some situations and men of his day that were just as wicked, just as evil, just as interested in doing things contrary to the will of God.
You might notice there as he goes on in verse 2 to say, “For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving…”
On and on and on he goes in talking about things that were according to the lifestyles of those of that day, certainly of individuals that were not conforming to the plan of God. With that in mind, how interesting that in our study together, we have been seeing list after list like this of sins that were prevalent in the New Testament times that also were contrary to the Will of God yet under the Roman law and under the Roman empire, guess what. Everybody was jumping on the bandwagon. Everybody was excited about these sins and really didn’t seem to mind engaging in them at all except for those that really loved God.
As we see here in Timothy, we find in our main text we’ve been considering of Galatians 5 the works of the flesh and a long list of sin, sin that keeps us, as it says there, from the kingdom of God, that we cannot inherit the kingdom of God if we partake in such sin. Sins such as we find in 1 Corinthians 6 yet another list of Corinthians that we’ll come back to later in our lesson of those who practice things contrary to the Will of God and therefore chose sin over God. But as we think about all of these things, it is very interesting to see what Paul said to the Roman church. In fact, most likely Paul had never been to Rome at this time, but he began to warn the Romans in the writing about the judgment of God.
In fact, here’s how he states it in verse 1 of chapter 1. “For the wrath of God is revealed from (where?) Heaven against all ungodliness and all unrighteousness of men.” He says here, “Listen up folks; you need to understand that you will be judged by God and if in sin, by the wrath of God.” Then he goes on in the same text to talk about the uncleanness after he says, “God is mighty and powerful, and we can see that God is real and therefore we should live righteously.” Notice what he says that the world was choosing. Verse 24, “Therefore God also gave them up to their uncleanness…” Remember we talked about that last week? “…In the lust of their hearts to dishonor their bodies amongst themselves who exchange the truth of God for lies, who worship and served the creature rather than the Creator.” They were setting up idols and images and they were following all manner of worldly things rather than the true God. But I want you to notice the sin of idolatry and the sin also as he said also of unrighteousness and ungodliness, that he also states this in verse 26, “For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions for even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature and likewise the men leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust for one another.” Men with men committing what is shameful and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
What do you think he is talking about there? Well I think anyone3 who has got any common sense realizes that he is talking about the act of homosexuality. The reality is as any sin we yet find another sin that was plaguing the New Testament world. But before you say, “Well you know those are things of the New Testament and today is different.” Let’s see what the Bible really says about this plague, this social sin that often was accepted in certain times or by certain nations or even cities. Let’s see what the Bible says about this sin and concerning the things of this sin.
If you’ll back all the way up with me to the book of Genesis and chapter 18. You might recall here Abraham, Abraham who now by this time knew that Lot was living in guess what, Sodom, and when He knew this God was determined to destroy those cities. Look at chapter 18 of Genesis, verse 20 says, “And the Lord said because of the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah it is great and because their sin is very grave I will go down and see whether it is real and once I see that it is real…” Guess what He was going to do. “…I will destroy it because of (what?) sin.”
I want you to notice the sin that was prevalent in Sodom. Now remember this was Abraham, not long after the world had been created, 18, 19 or 20 generations had passed before Abraham, and now what do we find? A world consumed with great wickedness and sin. And what was the problem? Well there were some visitors as you might recall in chapter 19 that had come to the city and Lot brings them in and what did the men of the city do there in verse 4? It says, “Now behold, they came the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all of the people from every corner surrounded the house and they called to Lot and they said to him, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.’” What do you think one of the great sins of Sodom was? The desire of a man for a man or a woman for a woman that is contrary to the law of God.
How do we know that further? Well we can keep moving on into the story of the Bible to the time of Moses and guess what we find within the Law of Moses itself. I might ask you first, “Who gave Moses the law?” Well it was directly from God. And what was a part of that law? Morality. What does the Law of Moses say about this sin? If you’ll look with me there in chapter 18 in verse 21 it is mentioned although not as clear, it mentions in verse 21, “And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire of Molech nor shall you profane the name of the Lord your God.”
Look at verse 22. “And you shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.”
Now this is what he stated already to the people, but then as he was writing the law over in chapter 20, I want you to notice with me what he actually states as a part of the law there in verse 13. It says, “If a man lies with a man as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination.” Well I don’t think I have to explain the concept of an abomination. We know that is obviously not just contrary to God, but totally against and horrifying in the mind of God. Then I want you to notice the outcome of one who practiced homosexuality. Look in the same verse. “There shall be those who are (what?) put to death.” In fact, it goes on to say, “Their blood shall be upon them.” You see here again hundreds of years later, still under the Law of Moses, the truth is the same.
Now what I want you to do is to go over 1,000 years later back to Romans 1 with me and what was the desire of the Roman world? That a man burn in his lust against another man. Which was what? Not the natural use. That a woman burn against a woman. Which was what? Not the natural use which was still, thousands of years after it first came into existence, an abomination in the sight of God. And so therefore what we try to understand, what we try to comprehend, what we try to conceive at this point is the reality that God has not changed His basis law. God did not at one time say that adultery or sin was a sin, but oh now it’s not. Or that is not a sin of old but now it is a sin. God is unchanging. God is the same.
In fact, I would like you to look at a few texts with me that show us this nature of an all-powerful and all-perfect God. Look at the last book found in the Old Testament. There we know in the book of Malachi, that if you’ll look with me in chapter 3 and verse 6 that it is interesting what is stated here about a God that does not change, once again in verse 6. The Lord says, “I do not change.” That’s the direct quote from God Almighty Himself. “Be confident, be sure, know that I am a God that does not change.”
We also go over in the New Testament once again to the book of Hebrews however at this time and we find out there once again another challenging text that shows us that God is an unchanging God. There in verse 8, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God in the flesh. It is stated in this way concerning Him. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” Where was Jesus? He was even in the beginning before the creation? Who created all things? Jesus Christ. He is God and He has always been there. It is Jesus, it says, that has never changed in the past, never changed today and never changes in the future. So God does not change. His law does not change in relationship to sin and sin has always been sin and as we have developed from the very beginning of this series that any transgression of the law of God is sin.
So what we look at in relationship to homosexuality as any sin is that it is a transgression of God’s law. Now that being the case, the great news is that all sin can be repented of. You know we are very bad in our day and time and probably as we would say it in New Testament times, “And even in the olden days of the Old Testament,” we are very bad as the human race of qualifying one sin as worse than the other or setting up one sin as, “Ooh a bad sin,” and saying, “Well you know I lie a little bit.” You see we like to maybe put them in categories, but the reality is that sin is sin. Sin leads to death. But the wondrous news is through Jesus Christ we can all be washed in the blood of Jesus.
I want you to look with me at a text we mentioned earlier there in the book of 1 Corinthians. I think this is of the utmost importance because in 1 Corinthians and chapter 6 we read about a church at Corinth. Brethren, Paul is talking to Christians, those who have already been washed in the blood of Jesus. They have already been forgiven of their sins. But there was a problem. Many of them were returning to their previous sins. It wasn’t just big sins and little sins. It was any sin. A lot of them were being caught up once again in their old ways, their old lifestyles.
There in verse 9 of 1 Corinthians 6 he said, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?” The same wording and terminology we have already seen. Do you not realize that you should not be deceived that neither fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, or sodomites, thieves, covetous, drunkards or revilers, or extortioners or any such like will inherit the kingdom of God? Those who choose sin will not inherit it. He is telling them, “You’ve been washed in the blood, but if you turn back to sin, you are still guilty of sin and you will die in your sin.”
But then look at verse 11. What were they able to do when they became Christians? “And such were some of you. You’ve been these things before but you’ve chose to follow Christ and to leave them, but you now are (what?) washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of God.” He says that, “You have been washed in the blood of Jesus. You left all of this sin. You left all of that unrighteousness. You left all of the ungodly things of old and you chose to serve God so do not allow Satan to steal your liberty and your freedom and your wondrous reward, but do not return. Remain faithful.”
You see the great challenge that we find there that amongst many sins; homosexuality was simply another sin, that they were told to repent of and to realize that they had been washed from. They had been forgiven of it. They had been forgiven of it like the liar had been forgiven. You know in Revelation chapter 21 and verse 8 it is interesting that it states, “Those who go to Hell, there amongst them the liar.” We don’t like to think about that do we? It also mentions there “the cowardly.” If you are cowardly you can lose your soul eternally. Well you know those aren’t the things we like to talk about. The gossip will lose their soul. But we need to understand that any sin can keep us from God and certainly there is nothing in this life, in this world that is worth losing our soul over.
There’s another thing that I want us to make note of here in the book of Acts in our last and few remaining minutes. We know there that often in our day and time people will say, “Well, you know times have changed. Things have changed.” Although we go back and we see that for thousands of years they have not changed and for thousands of years God remained the same, and even in the book that He gave us to obey and follow He proclaimed the same truth for us today that we might follow it. You know things haven’t changed in relationship to sin. That is the reality. That’s the truth of it.
But therefore what must we realize? The same thing that Paul told them there in Athens. And you might notice with me there in that text in verse 30, he says, “Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all men everywhere to repent.”
Why must we repent of sin? Because verse 31 goes on to say, “Because He (that is God) has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this day to all by raising Him from the dead.” Now that really backs us up to right where we kind of started around Romans chapter 1 that God will come and judge and He will bring good judgment on the righteous and wrath upon the unrighteous. So you see the decision is ours that we cannot be caught up in the world and even what the world chooses to call that which is socially acceptable or okay or is not that big of a deal because in the eyes of God, He has proclaimed truth. He has proclaimed what is good and what is bad and therefore we must obey that which is good.
But even though that being said, knowing that when we do make mistakes, when sin does pull at us, that we can be forgiven of it no matter what the sin is, no matter what we have done, no matter what we are doing today. Through the blood of Jesus Christ you can be forgiven. You can have eternal life and you can be found in a relationship with Jesus Christ that is according to the truth and His Will. Won’t you do that today so that you might have the promise of eternal life in Heaven?
(SONG # 3 - “Living By Faith!”)
CLOSING COMMENTS
Let me thank you again for choosing to be with us today, in this offering to God. I hope our time together has been an encouragement and blessing to all of us. We invite you back every Sunday morning at 7:30, as we commit ourselves to this worship to God!
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Sin is sin, and all sin keeps us from God. However, the great news is God can and will forgive all sin that we repent of. So, why not purge all sin from your life today and serve the true and the living God!
(Program closing)