Confronting the Sexual Chaos #1

Here's what we need to do to give you three quick principles here and understanding that this is beyond what any one pastor can do this is beyond what anyone can do is far beyond what any one conference can do. Hello and welcome to the truth of that with Don green founding pastor of truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio by Bill Wright a short time ago. Don was asked to speak at an event called the truth matters conference subject of sexuality and gender today as he continues teaching God's people. God's word will hear what he has to say regarding the current cultural chaos surrounding this hot button topic and done God's word is really very clear on these matters is bill.

I think this is one of the more important messages that I've preached in several years and I'm glad we can aerate over the next couple of broadcasts you know part of the reason my friend that our society is so confused.

Today is because the church stopped being a voice for the very concept of truth itself, and when the truth stopped being concerned about truth a lot of satanic error flew in to fill in the vacuum that was left behind.

And so my friend what you're about to hear is more than a defense of biblical teaching on sexual morality. It is a call to the church of Jesus Christ to recognize where the church has failed its duty, how the church needs to repent and where we go from here. You will be challenged and you will be encouraged today here on the truth pulpit thanks done right now friends, let's get onto today's lesson with part one of a message called confronting the sexual chaos from the pulpit. 11 understand our sexual chaos today is based on a presupposition is based on a prior understanding of how reality is determined, and it assumes that reality is determined by what I feel on the inside.

The way that I think what my opinions are what my deeply held feelings, even from my early childhood are that that determines what reality is. And if you just think about it in a simple and just the most basic simplistic terms, you can see how that's true.

Someone who is an open homosexual bases his identity on his sexual attraction, and on his sexual activity. He's basing it on on what drives him inside. In his sexual or her sexual proclivities.

The transgender person bases his or her identity on inward self perception if I feel like I'm a girl in a boy's body. Then I am a girl. The reality is based on what I feel to the exclusion of consideration of what my bodily anatomy is and so desires and feelings become the basis for truth.

They become the basis for identity. The very core of who I am in this mindset is determined by what I feel what my attractions what my desires are. It is all inwardly focused and that's very crucial to understand that is a philosophical matter of profound consequence. It is the root of everything else and when I say something is philosophical, I simply mean it. In these easy to understand terms.

When something is philosophical it relates to the nature of knowledge and reality. How do we know what is true.

How do we know what is real. How do we know what is true about identity and purpose, and I am thankful to be in the position to say that the church of Jesus Christ has to understand something fundamental.

This is a battle over truth itself is a battle over the nature of truth itself, not simply the nature of the truth about sexuality, it is before that, in order of thought. You must understand, and we must define what the nature of truth is itself and how we know truth before we can apply those those principles to the matter of sexuality. I'm not entirely convinced that everyone has recognize that up to this point so please stay with me as I continue with what I'm about to say you and I as Christians, we appeal to Scripture as truth and well that we should, but the postmodern sexual chaos of our day denies that truth even exists.

We preach biblical ethics as well.

We should, but they deny the very concept of authority they are authority unto themselves. What I think determines what reality is, and no one can contradict it. There's a reason that a biological male can compete in women's sports and win championships at the national level is because society has yielded to the individual the right to determine what reality is, and no one had the guts to stand up and say no to it and so understand that the culture does not even recognize or acknowledge our presuppositions. That alone would be a sufficient challenge to confront the sexual chaos of the day. That alone would make it a a massive undertaking to confront the way an entire culture thinks with biblical truth. That alone would be challenge enough to remember him talking to the church of Christ, not to the culture per se or something closer to home.

That makes the challenge far more difficult makes the challenge much worse and shows and exposes the utter weakness with which we approach the opportunity that is before us. I take it as a matter of fact I take it as something that cannot successfully be challenged.

Beloved, that the failures in the infidelity. The disloyalty of the church itself has contributed to the sexual and gender disorder that we see in society today.

And it's not simply a matter of what we have taught on sexual ethics friends. The church, broadly speaking, the church has undercut biblical truth undercut biblical authority has undercut biblical morality. Let me just walk through some things with you that are a matter of easy public record and common knowledge. The Willow Creek Rick Warren seeker sensitive model of ministry has conditioned men to expect the church to provide a soothing place of inspirational messages with a healthy dose of lighthearted laughter along with state-of-the-art childcare that has become the defining that the defining principle that God seeker sensitive ministry go to other realms. What is the prosperity gospel done for us. It has conditioned people to be selfish and to consider what is in the gospel. What is in Christ for themselves, how can I be healthy. How can I get my desires met. How can I be wealthy in the name of Jesus. Moralistic therapeutic deism. I know that terms, unfamiliar to many of you, but that's okay has conditioned men to think that God simply wants to help them through their problems in life really makes no serious demands on their loyalty or behavior and simply wants them to be nice to each other. So, God is there to help you.

God wants you to be nice to each other and if we do that we've met our duty and fulfill our responsibility before God. This is, this underlies to to the to the mega churches that aren't directly seeker sensitive. This underlies the philosophy of many others, we need to go further consider it further and getting closer to the root of how we determine what is true what has the charismatic movement done for us over the past decades it has diluted millions and told them to look inside for new revelation from God. You see the connection. You see the connection. Look inside to find what is true. Listen to God speaking to you in your heart and you will know what is true and their pastors. Of course, routinely cite their own visions what God said to them in the privacy of their own bathroom or whatever. They cite their own visions as authority from God in and dictate that and lay it up on the consciences of those that are under their supposedly spiritual care. More recently, the disastrous MLK 50 conference from the Gospel coalition in 2018. Blue opened the door to race baiting and the social justice gospel in the church, the Southern Baptist convention elected a sermon plagiarist as its president and all of their leadership circled the wagons around him as many called for his resignation but let's get even closer to home was a "assuming that that many in here are sympathetic with everything I've said so far. Let's not deny the fact that a steady stream of men have disqualified themselves from ministry for their own sexual misconduct and even churches that affirm scripture in their doctrinal statements deny it in practice. By the way that they deemphasize the role of the pulpit. The pastor who has had an excellent statement of faith on the authority of Scripture, who simply preaches his own personal stories to his congregation is a big part of the problem and now now the church wants to say that truth matters on matters of sexuality. Now the church says we need to get to what is true about sexual conduct and sexual identity. Why now, why do we insist on the truth now, if we haven't done it before. If all of these other accumulated monstrosities in the name of Christ and in the name of Scripture have been perpetrated on what possible basis do we say the truth matters. Now it hasn't mattered. Your philosophy of ministry before now.

I would say to those years ago in Grace life. Phil mentioned Grace life. There was a deer woman named Francis Greg who only recently went to be with the Lord. She was into her 90s.

As I recall, she would often in a jovial way confront me after certain sermons that I preached she'd say Don you. You're getting into my kitchen to get into my kitchen. She was an old school lady who was just a doll. Very sweet and I miss her dearly. I mentioned that because I'm going to get into some of your kitchens. Now this misguided approach to understanding truth, this inward approach of assessing what is true is something that I'm afraid that many of you are some of you, at least you have also been part of the problem and it shows in the way that you talk about your daily decisions in the way that you exercise so-called discernment as you walk through life. How many of you have said things like this. The Lord spoke to me and now I know what to do. Not talking about what he said in his word, but something that arose in your mind or in your heart and your feelings say will the Lord spoke to me. I just know it or it's God's will, because I have peace about it. Speaking of these things, but not being able to articulate biblical principles of wisdom to support what you're saying or here's one that I added just this afternoon in a small church pastors favorite get an email that says after much prayer, I've decided to leave the church in every case, beloved in everything that I have shown to you so far.

The person's feelings. Place the matter beyond challenge or beyond accountability people whose talk like that people who live like that are saying that what you feel determines what is true and there is no external authority that can be brought to bear to contradict it. The Lord spoke to me. It doesn't matter what my pastor said I have peace about it. It doesn't matter that you're confronting me with biblical principles that would contradict what I am saying and it doesn't matter what kind of what kind of public commitment I made to my local church. I prayed about it and so it's time for me to go in every case, I repeat myself. The person's feelings. Place the matter beyond challenge or accountability. They cannot be corrected when they talk that way. This is a crucial pivot point in today's message.

What I am about to say. Do you see in light of the monstrosities of the church at large.

Do you see in light of the individual examples that I have given you here today that the church of Jesus Christ is using the same principle the same philosophical approach to truth as any transgender man or any transgender woman. Listen, the appeal to determine proof, the appeal that that decides what is true in all of these instances is subjective. It is based on what I feel and what I think and if I think it if I feel it sincerely and deeply enough, no one can contradict it. God has spoken by what is taking place inside me yes beloved.

Yes, homosexuality and transgender is violate biblical truth, but how can the church the professing broad church speaking. How can the church confronted if it is not clear itself on what the seat of authority is in assessing truth claims in a different context, Martin Lloyd Jones said this, he said. I argued that in many ways it is the departure of the church from preaching that is responsible in a large measure for the state of modern society. In his day. He said this, the church has been preaching morality without godliness and it simply does not work and the result is that the church having abandon her real task has left humanity more or less to its own devices." Because the church wasn't out front asserting truth in teaching truth and teaching people how to think about truth. The church has its own responsibility to play and left society to its own devices and, if nothing. If nothing else, the restraining influence of grace being mediated through the serious proclamation of biblical truth has been removed from society as the church has chased after making unregenerate people feel comfortable in their services trying to ally the ally.

The forces of Christ with the forces of Satan. This is what you get when you do that another author said this and I quote.

To be blunt, the church has become a laughingstock with no moral authority to stand before the world and confront sin declare Christ Lordship and speak with any credibility about sin, righteousness, or judgment." Ashamed of the gospel, third edition. Let it all sink in beloved, let it all sink in.

I understand that you've been outraged, as you seen the that the rapid progression of sin in our culture.

I have been also but it's time for us to to buck up and take our own responsibility.

This is a most serious matter. This is a watershed matter for the church of Jesus Christ and we all need to understand that and embrace it as such. First Peter chapter 4 verse 17 says, for it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God, and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God. We should not congratulate ourselves on our sexual ethics. We need a sweeping revival in how we ourselves think and how we ourselves practice ministry how we ourselves articulate the philosophy of why the church exists Scripture can help us on all of these things as I intend to show you in a moment, but we need to remember the very purpose of the church of the church. The apostle Paul said in first Timothy 315 the church of the living God is the pillar and support of the truth and here we stand. Looking back on decades of wreckage as if a massive hurricane has blown through our spiritual midst and left nothing but hundreds of miles of destruction in its wake you look at it in you, you see all of the destruction and say where do I even begin. Where do we even began to pick up the first misplaced rock to start to deal with this or to use a different biblical metaphor. The walls of our Jerusalem of truth are broken and they are consumed by fire. Beloved, we must rebuild them.

We must rebuild those walls. What I want to say here is no easy fix what lies before the church of Jesus Christ, whether or not she undertakes. It is a long and painful task. It has taken decades to reach this pathetic point and we have reached a tipping point.

That is obvious around us, but the collective failures of the church are so broad and they are so deeply ingrained in the way that we even think about ministry that frankly there is no human solution to it. There is nothing that we can do today to fix this at all.

The starting point is the church itself. The church itself. We ourselves must repent of what we have done with the Lord's truth and what we have done to his church and asked the Lord for mercy and so point number one the first thing that we must do the starting point is that the church must return to truth the church must return to truth.

I'm using the term church very broadly here speaking broadly.

I'm grateful to have brothers in ministry with exemplified for me a pattern to follow in the things that I'm saying here.

The church must return to truth. Truth itself.

We must take the time to explain principles of objective truth to our people and so there's a positive and a negative aspect to this as we help people understand where truth is found and where it is not found in so positively we assert the very principle of objective truth. We look at our postmodern society and in a head-on collision.

We say you are wrong about truth there is objective truth that is external to you that was true before you were born that is true now and will be true after you are gone. Truth is not resident in your heart is resident externally and it applies to everyone. We have to start there and that is a cultural collision of massive proportions.

Psalm 119, 142 says your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness in your law is truth verse 160 says the sum of your word is truth and every one of your righteous ordinances is everlasting. John 17 verse 17. Your word is truth and take a moment to in order to drive this in just a little bit further. Turn in your Bibles to first John chapter 4 verses one through six, said beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world by this you know the Spirit of God.

Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.

This is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world you're from God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is he who is in you than he was in the world they are from the world.

Therefore they speak is from the world and the world listens to them. Watch this in verse six we are from God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. The call to biblical discernment presupposes that there is absolute truth to be know the principle of objective truth. We cannot sacrifice that that is a hill that we must die on if we must, we cannot abandon that ground. We must go to our graves, asserting the very principle of objective truth. Truth is I objective it is external to us.

It transcends us and truth is revealed in God's word. The 66 and no more books of the Bible and truth is revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So we make that positive assertion as we returned to truth.

We must teach our people diligently about these things, but further we need to go further and make denials.

We have to make a very clear denial that is even a more direct assault on the postmodern spirit of our age. We have to deny the possibility we have to assert that it is utterly impossible for man to find truth within himself that's going green, bringing today's broadcast to a close friend if you'd like to share this important teaching with a friend or loved one just direct them to Don's website that's the truth. Pulpit.com once you're there you'll find this message along with all of Don's Bible study materials right at your fingertips again. Just visit the truth.

Pulpit.com but were out of time for today nine, Bill Wright, inviting you to join us next time is going green continues teaching God's people. God's word truth