Jesus Loves Homosexuals - Part 2 - Part A

We may disagree about the use of spiritual gifts in the church. A lot of churches disagree. We may disagree about the timing of the rapture and end time events. But this is one issue we cannot disagree on his wife. Issues of sexuality are not secondary issues according to what we just read those who practice these things will not what will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Scripture says joy for those who obey God's laws and search for him with all their hearts they do not compromise with evil and they walked only in his paths today on connect with Skip Heitzig Skip shares how you can build a healthy balance between loving others and standing firm in God's truth and at the end of today's program Skip his wife Linda invite you to show God's love to a group of people who have been victims of a particular kind of hate.

There is a small and Nigeria where at least one of the parents of the children have died. Sometimes both advocate to get build a playground for them. So God has just it's been a miracle that he opened the door. We met people on the ground and so really, pray for us as we are so careful about the world that God will give us not only up in dormant safety that I will be able to do all these things Thanksgiving when you be sure to stay tuned.

After today's message to the full conversation. Now we want to tell you about a resource that will give you more insight into God's extraordinary love. People everywhere have a deep God-given need to be loved, but sadly sometimes the people who need love the most the most rejected here. Skip, I think we all crave love. We will do sometimes almost anything to get it to know that we are loved by somebody else unconditionally. No wonder that better than Jesus love the worst of sinners. You love the best of saints Jesus. So the love of God in human flesh we want to give you a glimpse of God's relentless love for all people including you by sending you the Jesus loves people for booklet collection by skip.

I think all four Jesus loves people titles including Jesus loves the broken RR thanks for your gift of $25 or more today to help connect more people to God's love through his word connectwithskip.com/offer to give online securely or call 892 1888 chapter 6 Skip Heitzig starts finished in Jordan, a friend of ours is a part of this fellowship is the chief archaeologist of the dig of historical Sodom and the Bible.

And I've read about it and I've seen articles about it even documentaries on his day, but I've never gotten to see it so you just have to imagine the kind of excitement as he would bend down and point to a layer of ash that that dig along with soil samples of the area give evidence to an event that happened in airburst event of incredibly high heat at an incredible velocity that they have tracked that decimated the city in an instant was so exciting to see that with your own eyes, something the Bible says happened at the same time is incredibly sad to see exactly what the Bible said happened was very sobering moment and I was standing there thinking of a lot of the texts that are familiar to most of us about Sodom and Mora. Even Jesus spoke about those two cities.

The one that came to mind is out of the book of Jude says don't forget the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and neighboring towns which were filled with sexual immorality in every kind of sexual perversion.

Those cities were destroyed by fire and are warning of the eternal fire that will punish all those who are evil, very very sobering moment to see that in the ground. We have been and are dealing with a very very controversial subject of our time and we have decided to put in the positive. Jesus loves homosexuals but it was Ruth Graham before she died and went to heaven who used to say to her husband Billy Graham.

If God does not judge the United States of America is going to have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. Why did we choose the list that we have chosen the people that are on the list that you see week by week and the little runners the plan the video people have asked that. Are you suggesting that homosexuality and terrorism are the same or are you saying that those were divorced or who have addictive behaviors are equivalent to murderers know the reason we affect the list that we have picked is simply because we discovered that the church historically has been very good at alienating those groups of people and not really great at showing compassion to them.

One search. For example, puts out signs like this, God hates fags fags die, God laughs as a smidgen of what they put out.

We thought this is a better message to get out Jesus loves homosexuals. Last week we had such an overwhelming amount of positive feedback and how helpful it was and we want to reinforce today. Some of what we looked at last week that we are aware of something that is been happening in our culture for some time. We know that homosexuality as a topic is the cause for sure. It's the cause of the day in our culture, from elementary school curriculum to films and movies to talking points of politicians in every political cycle. There is a massive effort to redefine and reclassify what is traditionally been viewed in homosexuality or as homosexuality and the redefinition is it's not a sin.

That's a very, very acceptable and normal lifestyle. In fact, even ennoble lifestyle because after all, the person who is discovering us about himself or herself is simply living in a more honest way of living as God has made him or her and just like you would never tell a left-handed person to become a right-handed writer you would never tell somebody who has a leaning toward something sexually to prefer anything but that. And so the message of that community and politicians and curriculums and movies, etc. is we will not change our behavior so you must change your classification of our behavior.

You're free to see what we do as an alternate lifestyle. You're free to see it as a sexual orientation. You are free to see it is a genetic predisposition or as personal preference, but one thing you cannot, you must not see it as his sin don't bring God into this is a that's the problem I've had with any lifestyle chosen by anyone is usually God is the very last person anyone thinks up so I like to look at first Corinthians chapter 6 with you today and share with you three truths. These are true about all people from all walks of life who have come to Christ. Everyone is on a list. Everyone has a past everyone can have the best. Let's look at our text together in first Corinthians the sixth chapter there only three verses verse nine do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites before you nod too much. Look at the next verse, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards nor rope violators nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God and such were some of you but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of God that is quite a list.

When I was a kid. They told me Santa Claus was making a list and checking it twice. It's what I didn't like about them.

I was glad the day I found out he was a real one… This is, this sounds like God's blacklist. This sounds like a rollcall for the Hall of shame. What's up with this list and those are mentioned on wall what you have here in these verses is a summation a conclusion to the previous chapter of this book chapter 5 in the beginning of chapter 6 with the apostle Paul addresses immoral behavior in the church at Corinth. It is not an exhaustive list of sins, but it is a typical list for ancient Greco-Roman culture and especially the city of Corinth, to whom Paul was writing these things were rampant in that culture. Corinth was a very permissive society.

It was a very sexually promiscuous society very similar to our own years ago in the Victorian era when Charles Haddon Spurgeon addressed his congregation. He said on one account all sorts of hearers come to this place and it will be the first to say the preacher should not mention such a subject as fornication. My answer to that remark is, then you should not commit such iniquity, and give me a reason to speak of it. That's how Paul felt when he wrote this letter. This kind of behavior was so mainstream to Corinth that he highlights it into chapters of his book and what is really saying in these verses is this is what you guys were this what you used to practice this is your life BC before Christ. But now you come to Christ and now we are changed so we make Celeste and everybody's on some list all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But that's briefly look at it first on this list is fornicators will be familiar with the term and I stayed in great porn office is a general term for sexual immorality. We get the term pornography from paranoia porn Oscar Cornejo and in this context said it seems to refer more specifically to sexual relationships outside of marriage. People who shack up with together. Enjoy sex before they get married. Which by the way is one of the characteristics of Western culture. When was the last time you ever saw film that didn't have. This is the norm, which is what everybody has done don't even blink an eye at next on the list is idolaters. That's the worship of any false god or any false religious system. It is essentially at its root, putting anything before God adulterers is next at specifically refers to those who are married, engaging in sex outside of the covenant relationship of marriage. It's what we saw last week with the woman caught in adultery, in John chapter 8 was brought before Jesus look in the next two words, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites that this wasn't referring to people who lived in the city of Sodom. At that time. This word had become a term synonymous with the lifestyle that was once prevalent in that city. This is not how all translations render what we just read the old King James version puts it, nor those who are effeminate, nor abusers. The English standard version says nor those men who practice homosexuality. Now these two words. Interestingly enough, are actually technical terms for the passive and active roles in a homosexual relationship and why would Paul be so dramatic you might say or be so descriptive in mentioning these things.

Well, here's why it's very easy that was what was prevalent in that ancient culture at Corinth.

According to New Testament scholar William Barclay. Socrates was a homosexual and Plato was probably a homosexual William McDonald.

Another scholar says he definitely was in his writing. The symposium of love was an essay glorifying homosexuality 14 of the first 15 Roman emperors were homosexuals Caesar Nero, who was raining in Rome at the time of Paul's life and a lot of his writing had a boy name's Boris, whom he castrated so that that young boy could become the Emperor's wife and when Nero died.

That boy was passed on as a possession to one of his successors named Ortho for the same exact purpose, so that is why Paul brings it up. This was rampant in Greek and Roman culture messages? Why do these things. Top the list and I think I have an answer for because, though there are other sins in life and in this list. These represent a moral divide when it comes to sin a moral divide is in a way to minutes Art all sins equal 11 cents. All sins are equal.

But in another sense, all sins are not equal. All sins are equal and that any sin will separate you from God's all sins are equal in their spiritual consequence, but not all sin is equal in its moral equivalence.

None of you think that all sin is equal none of you do lying to someone is in the same as killing someone. There's a moral difference. They are not morally equivalent in the Bible would indicate that there are degrees of reward in heaven, and even degrees of punishment for those who don't receive Christ in John 19 verse 11 Jesus said to Pontius Pilate, the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin as it held to a higher culpability in Matthew 23 verse 23 Jesus said to the Pharisees, you pay ties of all of these different plants you have neglected the weightier matters of the law, and according to first Corinthians chapter 6 of chapter were study sexual immorality is one sin that you commit against your own body. Paul says this is a bit different. Look at verse 18 of chapter 6 flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does outside or is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. So here's the deal you and I may disagree over a lot of different secondary issues. We might not agree about the mode of baptism. Some of you think that you should be done to backward some of you think you should be done forward. Some of you think you should be sprinkled some of you think you should be firehose Dino no, but we may disagree on that. We may disagree about the use of spiritual gifts in the church. A lot of churches disagree.

We may disagree about the timing of the rapture and end time events. But this is one issue we cannot disagree on in his life. Issues of sexual morality are not secondary issues according to what we just read those who practice these things will not what will not inherit the kingdom of God. So now the apostle ties morality with entering the kingdom of God as if to say, those who practice that lifestyle or simply giving evidence that there is not a change in their life brought on by repentance. According to Sean McDowell, who wrote a terrific book called same-sex marriage. He says there are five general biblical truths about homosexuality. When we run through them quickly five general biblical truth number one there is not a single passage in either the Old Testament or New Testament that will support homosexual behavior. Not one I mentioned, there are seven texts last week. Genesis 19 Leviticus 18 and 20.

Judges 19, Romans one, first Corinthians 6 and first Timothy chapter 1.

Not one of those tax will support homosexual behavior is the second general truth, not until the mid-20th century did a single church leader or Jewish leader firm homosexuality. That's how recent it is historically hadn't happened till mid-20th century number three every regulation in the Bible concerning marital relations assumes male female sex before every wise saying, like in the book of Proverbs assumes male female sexuality and number five, the 10 Commandments.

Assume heterosexuality. Honor your father and your mother. It assumes that you shall not commit adultery. It assumes that you shall not covet your neighbor's wife.

It assumes heterosexual behavior so God indeed has spoken on this issue.

In fact, he spoke on this issue in the very beginning book of Genesis chapter 1, when God said, let us make man in our image it says God made them male and female why male and female lies so unique and why highlight the uniqueness because he then stated his goal for humanity, he said, be fruitful, and what multiply not think anybody's and argue that it takes a man and a woman to make more people if you're to be fruitful and multiply. It assumes a heterosexual relation and then the pattern is given in the very next chapter. Chapter 2 of Genesis. For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and be joined into his wife and the two shall become one flesh. There's leaving there's cleaving and there's leaving you leave one relationship of dependence you are glued inseparably to another and then you become one you leave your lives together to the production of offspring. Now and having said that, the critics will say about what I just said this, it will say well that example in Genesis is only an example only one example of marriage. It doesn't tell us how we are to live today. While Jesus has a response for that. I'm glad that he does because a few thousand years after all that Took Pl. in Genesis Jesus comes along and he says have you not read that he who made them.

In the beginning made them male and female, and said, for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two will become one flesh. Therefore what God has joined let not man separate.

And he said, so they are no longer to but one flesh.

I mean no disrespect in stating what I have just stated I mean the lack of love.

I love you and if you are gay. I love you and God loves you, but I will say that when it comes to all of all respect on a human level. Even with wife and kids. Even with other believers in church. I love God more and I must fear and respect God more.

I must as it says in the book of acts obey God rather than men with a message from the series Jesus loved, now let's go to the studio with Skip Gilenya as the invite you to show God's love to a group of people who have been victims of a particular kind of hate when there are millions of children. Sadly around the world who have become victims of a very particular act of hatred that is terrorism's not going the way it seems to be increasing, but you are on a mission God gave you a vision for this some years ago and I've been so proud of the way you have obeyed him in the success God is giving you to change parts of the world have been impacted by terror and you are on a mission to share God's love with these kids and bring them physical. A physical help. Tell us more about what you're doing with reloadable. I'm very excited and went when God gave this vision, we didn't know where the people were that we would reach that are impacted by terrorism and the Lord led us to Burma and then of course Iraq and Jordan and other countries and there's been countries that we prayed about for a long time because we know there's terrorism there but we don't know how to get there. One of those is Nigeria at Nigeria has a group of Terrace called Boca Hara and add they are just running through the jungles, raping, pillaging ruining villages and it's dark and it's awful.

And so even asking God how can we get and how can we find partners in the good news is we have found Sam and one of the partners is this Holy Ghost at church and that they have been given a piece of property, and they want to build a soccer field there and they have people to train the kids in soccer, but also cuts them in light and discipleship sewer throughout.

There is a school also and at Nigeria, where at least one of the parents of the children have died.

Sometimes both and working to get to be able to build a playground for them.

So God has just it's been a miracle that he opened the door.

We've met people on the ground and so really, pray for us.

You know, because we are so prayerful about the world that God will give us not only open-door but safety that I will be able to do all these things and then also if you want to donate, you can donate to reload. Love.com and you can help us on these missions to help the least of these children. What a great report is the first time we've been able to hear and announce that Nigeria is going to be open for some of this work and we can't wait to party those churches thoughts reload love.com accomplish if and when you we hope you enjoy getting to know skiff and running after this conversation now help keep these teachings coming your way. If you connect more listeners like you to password just call 819 to 1819 to 18 or visit connectwithskip.com/donate back connectwithskip.com/donate to you tune into my Skip six years how you can find freedom from sin and hope and joy in Christ. Even if you have a past mistakes and fill with Skip presentation of connection communication go through ever-changing time