God's Guardrails on Gender #1

We must understand that God is holy, that he is separate and he is a God to be feared and in the whole spectacle of transgender is on the fear of God has been utterly lost.

Scripture is clear that those who want to be friends with the world becoming enemy of God that includes them embracing the worldview of transgender is high on bill right today on the truth.

Pulpit pastor Don Greene continues teaching God's people.

God's will. Don continues a series titled, the Bible, and transgender is him so Don, do we as a church no longer take God's holiness and wrath. Seriously. Bill that's a great question in my friend. I wish I could give a more optimistic sanguine the answer to the question but look at the churches and look at the prominent preachers around us and know we don't take God's holiness or God. Sin seriously.

If we did would be less concerned about matters of earthly justice and concern to call people to repent and to put their faith in Christ because they've offended a holy God that would be the indication that were taken God's holiness seriously is that we are calling people to flee from the wrath that is to come. So we need to come back to the gospel. We need to come back to Christ and in the context of this series on transgender is and will see what that means is we study God's word together today on the truth pulpit. Thanks, Don and friend there certainly more for us to learn about God's guardrails on gender. Let's join John now to lead us deeper into God's word on the truthful will we return to our series on the Bible and transgender is him he could ask the question why spend time studying something like this when to the best of my knowledge that it is not immediately affecting our congregation. At the present time there are no transgender issues certainly were dealing with is an elder board. Why would we deal with this RB Kuyper said this in his book the glorious body of Christ at page 228. He said this, he said it is important that the church in instructing its membership. Apply the teachings of Scripture to the peculiar conditions and pressing problems of the day" and so we recognize that this is an issue that is come upon our shores like a spiritual tsunami. As I've said in the past. It's important for us to be able to know how to respond to it and to understand it.

From a biblical perspective, I would say this for the benefit of those of you that maybe you're just kind of dropping in in the middle of it is that all of the messages are somewhat interconnected and I can't take the time to repeat and rehearse all of the context of what's gone before. Just know the what said tonight is in a much broader context of teaching this taken place over the past two or three weeks.

What I want to share with you tonight. I've titled God's guardrails on gender. I like the alliteration of that God's guardrails on gender God created gender God designed sex and gender expression.

You might say, and set down in Scripture what his expectations are for that God is the creator of men and women. Generally, he is signed a binary dual sexuality to humanity and in the active conception forms each person in its mother's womb to be male or female, and that is expressed by their biological sex gender is not something that you get to choose. It is assigned to you by God at conception and is identified at birth with covered all of that and I'm not going to go into it anymore than to review that little bit of summary here right now. What we want to see tonight is that God as revealed in Scripture has established protection for sex and gender. In other words, he has set boundaries upon it which men are not to violate the fact that it is being violated in our day and age in very open ways and embrace by even by society that does not claim to be transgender personally is a most serious matter. As you will see from the teaching that lies just ahead.

Here there something that needs to be said and when we start with that with this fundamental premise. Any thinking about any issue of any significance must start with God and his nature and his character. We cannot begin to think properly about this whole issue of gender and transgender is him unless we start with the reality and the character of God.

God is the creator of heavens and earth. He is the creator of humanity is an eternal spirit. He is grade in his sovereign majesty. He is omnipotent he is not present he is omniscient he is a good God is a loving, gracious God, but what I want to focus on. Specifically this evening.

Is this in breaking tonight's message down into two parts will start tonight with this matters. We consider God's guardrails on gender were starting with this first point, which will handle rather briefly.

It is the high truth about God's holiness.

The high truth about God's holiness. We must understand that God is holy, that he is majestic that he is separate and he is a God to be feared in Proverbs chapter 1 verse seven it goes so far as to say that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. And in the whole spectacle of transgender is in the fear of God has been utterly lost and that has tragic consequences of of eternal magnitude for those that do not repent, so we need to come back to God's holiness as we think about this matter of gender. The God who created humanity.

The God who made humanity male and female. The God who assigns sex in the mother's womb is a God who is holy, he is high and hilly. He is majestic and we are reviewing some things we've taught over the years. In this brief portion of tonight's message. What does it mean that God is holy.

Well first we can say this, the theologian Lewisburg cough defines it in this matter.

In his standard textbook on theology. He said and I quote holiness is that divine perfection by which God is absolutely distinct from all his creatures and exalted above them in infinite majesty holiness. When we speak about the holiness of God in part what that means is, is that he is utterly separate from all of his creation. God is separate he is distinct. He is majestic and in an infinite way and in that way.

He is different in essence from us. He is uncreated and eternal.

We are creatures in finite. He is sinless. We are sinful. There is a separateness about him that is intrinsic to his being.

If you would turn to the book of Exodus chapter 15. It's always nice and good and important to have a Scripture text to attach to things like this when you are making theological assertions in Exodus chapter 15 verse 11 Moses after the deliverance of Israel through the Red Sea said this, he said, who is like you among the gods, old Lord, who is like you majestic in holiness, awesome, and praises working wonders.

He says God who is like you and the implied answer is no one is like you. You are different from everyone. Everyone and everything else. There is no one like you in the context of what Moses was praising him for God. There is no one who can part water and bring a nation through on dry land and then The waters come back and converge that their enemies are drowned in the sea. No one does that God except you. You are separate you are distinct you are above all else. You are infinite in power and in majesty.

So God is separate from all else.

Secondly, we can say this about God's holiness. Let me just read because it's a little bit hard to find the the book and I don't want to spend a whole lot of time here from the book of Habakkuk chapter 1 verse 13 Habakkuk chapter 1 verse 13 the prophet said this about the character of God.

He said that your eyes are too pure to approve evil and you cannot look on wickedness with favor. Habakkuk 113.

Your eyes are too pure to approve evil and you cannot look on wickedness with favor and in this we see that in God's holiness. Not only has he separate and distinct.

God's holiness means this in addition, again quoting from her cough holiness means that God is free from all moral impurity or sin and is therefore morally perfect." So God is separate and he is morally perfect and that aspect of his essence and nature means that he is to be respected. He is to be feared. He is to be obeyed and we are not to trifle with him no matter how much comedians stand in pulpits and make us try to think something different and diminish God by their small way of handling his word now stay with me here. This is all just kind of an unfolding of of some basic theology here in the 10 Commandments in God's word God demands exclusive worship of himself as the only true God. You shall have no other gods before me.

Scripture says the 10 Commandments, say and so God requires and demands exclusive worship is the one true God. In the second table of the 10 Commandments Commandments five through 10. In summary fashion. The 10 Commandments require the honoring of parents, loving others, you shall not commit murder and sexual purity, among other things, it forbids theft and dishonesty in coveting and so there is this searching moral dimension of the 10 Commandments and when we understand them at any basic level. We understand that we all fall short of of God and have his glory and of the holiness that he requires why we need a Savior is why were profoundly grateful that Jesus Christ became a curse for us on the cross because God's word condemns us and places us under the curse that is attached to those who disobey his will in Christ, in love, went to the cross bore that curse became a curse for us that those who believe in him might be forgiven and ultimately the 10 Commandments points you inexorably to the cross of Jesus Christ. When you are convicted. The laws become our tutor to lead us to Christ. Now, beloved, with all of that little bit of background, said here's what I want you to understand I make in simple points here tonight. God has revealed his will and he is revealed in Scripture as part of the revelation of his will, he has expressed his judgment on those things which contradict his holiness and there is a word that is used frequently, particularly in the Old Testament that were going to focus on here to express God's view on some particular sins of men, and it is the word abomination will take you to a few passages in just a moment, but the word abomination is used to describe those things which God considers detestable, repulsive or loathsome abomination is used for those things that God considers detestable, repulsive or loathsome. It refers to those things that are repugnant to God and fall under his judgment and this is all under the point that were making here about the high truth about God's holiness. What we see and what were about to see is is a God's holiness has consequences.

And it is incumbent upon us to take his holiness seriously and to adopt God's perspective on the things that we see in the world around us, rather than letting the world influence us. Beloved, when it comes to the matters of of revealed morality.

Let me give you a hint what you want to be in this discussion is you want to be on God's side here you want to think God's thoughts after him you want to have a godly mind and a godly mind is a mind that is shaped and informed by the revelation of God in Scripture, not what is popular in the world, not what is politically correct, not what is not what is going to wind you friends with people who have no regard for God. We have to think God's thoughts after him. And when you go into Scripture you find what God says about many different things so turn to the book of Leviticus with me if you will.

I'm going to show you passages briefly that show the word abomination being used in God's revelation of his moral will and the foundational first five books of the Bible, the book, the five books of Moses the book of the law, which is intended as just as it was written by one author. These five books of the law are meant to be read together as a unit to be understood together and in Leviticus chapter 18 verse 22 you find this word abomination in reference to the sin of homosexuality, where it says you shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female. It is an abomination goes on says. Also, you should not have intercourse with any animal to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is a perversion. This idea of abomination.

It is detestable before God in Scripture declares that in no uncertain terms turn over to the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 7 were doing a little bit of a brief word study on this word abomination because it is important for what comes in the second half of the message in Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 25 Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 25.

You see this word abomination being applied to the sin of idolatry. In Deuteronomy 7 verse 25 it says the graven images of their God.

You are to burn with fire you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, or you will be snared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God, no beloved were just building a context for putting together a matrix through which to see things the sin of homosexuality is called an abomination, a separate sin.

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In a sense a different kind of sin, the sin of idolatry is called an abomination to God. It goes on and you can see how how some of these things are classed together. Deuteronomy chapter 12 verse 29 when the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going into dispossess and you dispossess them and dwell in them, beware that you are not ensnared to follow them after they are destroyed before you and that you do not inquire after their God saying how do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise. You shall not behave. Thus, toward the Lord your God for every abominable act, which the Lord hates, they have done for their gods, for they even burned their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods child sacrifice mingled with idolatry falling under the condemnation of an abomination before God. These are the grossest kinds of sins that even in today's society. To some extent abortion, certainly takes the blunts the edge of what I'm about to say but even in that which does were talking about things would even repulse our society what's left of it in terms of thinking about sacrificing children by fire to a false God, I mean were just just appalled at the thought of that archway and God expresses his condemnation of it in his word. One more in Deuteronomy chapter 18 Deuteronomy chapter 18 verses nine through 12. As Moses is giving instruction to the children of Israel shortly before they enter into the promised land and take possession of the land that God had given to them. He said to them this when you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations detestable things being a translation of the same word that is elsewhere translated abomination. There should not be found among you, anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft or one who interprets omens or sorcerer, one who casts a spell or a medium or spiritist or one who calls up the dead.

For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord and because of these detestable things the Lord your God will drive them out before you, the nations were being judged as as God drove them out from the land, in part, it was not only a deliverance of the land to Israel is a judgment on the nations for doing these detestable things in the side of God and so beloved. Well, what we see is this is that that nations lost their existence over these things and therefore God obviously takes them seriously. One more passage that perhaps it's a little bit closer to home, that's a little bit more in our own personal kitchen. Since none of us are sacrificing children to false gods here tonight. Look at Proverbs chapter 6 verse 16 and you see more respectable sins, falling under the umbrella of that which is an abomination to God. Use respectable sins. Of course, in an ironic way.

Proverbs chapter 6 verse 16. There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to him, detestable, loathsome, repulsive in the side of God. Haughty eyes for 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood of heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers.

All of these things being a detestable, repulsive, loathsome, thing in the sight of God. No beloved me to sum this up as we talk about the high truth of God's holiness, God abhors these things that fall under the label of an abomination. God abhors your lying lips and your lying tongue, and the reason in part that he hates it is because God is a God of absolute truth.

There is no deceit in him. It is impossible for him to lie so that every dishonest word and misleading action that comes out of our lives is a contradiction in a violation of that which is the very essence of God, and he abomination sent frightening to think about, and God abhors all of these things and he judges those who do them one resource said about these matters. These acts of disobedience were sure to bring God's wrath on those who perpetrated them so God is high and holy.

He's expressed his holiness in his word and his moral law, and it has consequences. And God works it out in detail in the things that are now widely accepted and approved and endorsed in and defended within our society. And yet the approval of the world does nothing to change the perspective of God on them. And as the people of God as those redeemed by Christ, forgiven of our sins through the redemption that is found in Christ alone is our responsibility. It is our duty and it is our privilege to understand these things from God's perspective rather than simply swimming along downstream with the world. Christians are not meant to be a fish that just swim downstream and go with whatever the existing current of the day it must know God's word and we must respect it and we must believe it, and we must adopt it as our own perspective on these things, lest we be found in sharing in the approval of that which God hates you, know it's reassuring to know that the holy God of the universe knit you and me together in our mother's womb with a specific DNA and gender. We must always carry Scripture verses in our hearts and minds and share them with others who are struggling with truth. We hope this series better equips you to do just that and join us on our next program is pastor Don Greene continues teaching about God's guardrails concerning gender during this series titled, the Bible, and transgender is him here on the truth pulpit. Right now Don's backer in studio with a special message will bill this whole matter of transgender-ism is something that just breaks my heart. The world says it's a matter of freedom and self identity.

But the truth is is that it's a matter of false advertising in many lives and families are being torn apart by it's hard to find clear answers my friend and that's why were offering the complete pulpit series for free at our website. The truth pulpit.com thanks Don and Fred were out of time for today. I feel like inviting you to join us again next time is Don Greene continues teaching God's people. God's word from the truth