Such Were Some of You

now as you know we have [Music] joined with some of our brothers in christ to [Music] address the issue of biblical sexual morality on this particular sunday because the new law went into effect in canada bill c4 which basically made it a crime uh to offer to a transgender person or homosexual person any kind of conversion therapy it is a crime punishable by up to five years in prison to attempt to convert a transgender person or a homosexual the business of conversion is the reason the church is in the world this is why we exist in the world so when pastors knew this law had been established in canada they wanted to stand up for the truth of god and let the whole nation know that the church of jesus christ will preach the conversion of sinners from every kind of sinful lifestyle including that one [Applause] so so james coats got a hold of me and said would you join us and i said of course and so that led to the emphasis today and uh we have been joined by about 5 000 others who have sort of signed up to support this day in that way and obviously the objective of course is that the church is called by the lord to convert sinners that's i mean that's his work but we preach the message of conversion by which the holy spirit does that wonderful miracle [Music] and thinking about how we could address this in the most important way i was drawn to first corinthians chapter 6 and i would invite you to turn to that section of your bible first corinthians chapter 6 verses 9 to 11. paul is writing to the corinthians church and here he discusses the kinds of people who are in that church and they are the kinds of people who are in every church they are people who have been converted from all kinds of sinful backgrounds so listen to what he says first corinthians 6 and verse 9 through verse 11. or 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 effeminate nor homosexuals nor thieves nor the covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of god such were some of you but you were washed but you were sanctified but you were justified in the name of the lord jesus christ and in the spirit of our god the church at corinth was made up of people who were converted from fornication idolatry adultery effeminate sexual practice homosexuality thievery covetousness drunkenness slander extortion that was a congregation of converted people that's what they were and that's what every church is it is a congregation of converted sinners this passage is describing the collection of sinners that make up the church they are converted sinners this is the mission of the church in the world to convert sinners governments can make laws all they want they will never dictate to the church what its mission is the mission of the church is to preach the gospel of jesus christ that sinners might be converted all kinds of sinner every kind of sinner the church is in the world to convert sinners in james chapter 5 and verse 20 we read he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death let me read that again he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and death being spoken of there is eternal death meaning hell so our mission is to convert sinners that's what we do that's why we exist in the world we are not a charitable organization we are not a moral organization in the world we're not trying to make people better by some kind of behavioral instruction we exist in the world to preach the gospel of jesus christ so that sinners can be converted transformed the greatest man who had ever lived up until his time was john the baptist that's what jesus said about him the last of the old testament prophets and the forerunner of our lord when the angel came to announce that he would be born the message from heaven regarding john the baptist was this he will turn many of the sons of israel back to the lord their god that's conversion he will turn many of the sons of israel back to the lord their god in the old testament david who was a great sinner confessed his sin in the penitent tones of psalm 51. it is an agonizing psalm to read because david is honest about his wretchedness he had committed adultery with bathsheba and he had seen to it that her husband was actually killed in the remorse of his sin he cries out to god to forgive him and to create in him a clean heart and in psalm 51 and verse 13 david says if you will do this i will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will be converted to you david knows whatever he converted sinner knows that you were saved so that you could help convert other sinners david says create in me a clean heart and i will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will be converted to you any attack on this operation of converting sinners to christ is an assault on god on christ on the holy spirit on the bible on the church that will be met by the church with 100 resistance because this is our mission sinners must be converted or they will not enter the kingdom of god being outside the kingdom of god means eternal punishment in hell forever the early church had one commission the conversion of sinners and as the apostles went out to preach the gospel to the nations for the first time in the book of acts the 15th chapter they came back to report what was happening and we read in chapter 15 of acts and verse 3 that paul and barnabas came to the brethren in jerusalem and verse 3 says therefore being sent on their way by the church they were passing through both phoenicia and samaria describing in detail the conversion of the gentiles and were bringing great joy to all the brethren when they came back to give a mission report they were describing the conversion of gentiles down in verse 19 of the same chapter therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to god from among the gentiles they went out into the gentile nations who had no understanding of christian truth who had for the most part no understanding of the old testament which was the only existing scripture no understanding of the gospel they confronted them in their lostness and their sin for the very purpose of conversion an illustration of that occurred for example in the city of thessalonica in 1st thessalonians chapter 1 we read this verse 9 for they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you that is with the people in thessalonica and how you turned to god from idols to serve a living and true god and to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead that is jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come paul went to thessalonica he preached the gospel they turned to god from idols and thereby were rescued from eternal damnation and wrath that is what the church does in the world sadly there's so much confusion about the purpose of the church because so many churches are false churches they're fraudulent they don't stick with the mission many of them don't seem to care about it there are plenty of churches that are ordaining people who need to be converted before they get ordained to illustrate the reality of conversion we go back to our text of first corinthians chapter six and paul gives us very clear instruction in fact it's so clear it's almost obvious and that's why he begins by saying in verse 9 or do you not know that the unrighteous will not enter the kingdom of god there's a certain amount of incredulity in that you wouldn't think for a moment that anybody would be foolish enough to assume that unrighteous people would be in the kingdom of god who is righteous who is holy are you so foolish that you don't even know that the kingdom of god does not belong to those who are unrighteous and if you are unrighteous you have no part in the kingdom of god that is a foundational truth that cannot be gain said now what do we mean by the kingdom of god we mean the sphere of salvation where christ rules over those who have been redeemed through the work of christ on the cross the kingdom of god is made up of the converted not the unconverted the unconverted belong to the kingdom of satan the kingdom of darkness the unrighteous simply refer to the unconverted the unholy and then paul says do not be deceived do not be deceived so many people are deceived about what the kingdom of god is and who's in it don't be deceived i'll tell you who's not in the kingdom fornicators idolaters adulterers effeminate homosexuals thieves covetous drunkards revilers and swindlers they're not in it they'll never inherit it the unconverted have no place in the kingdom so the purpose of the church in proclaiming the kingdom of god and the salvation that gives you entrance into the kingdom is to preach the gospel that converts sinners so they can enter the kingdom and look at this list and it's a representative list you could add other categories of sins but it starts with fornicators that's um porneia in which we get the word pornography that's just general immorality of of any kind they're not in the kingdom idolaters are not in the kingdom because they're worshiping someone other than god or something other than god that's false religion adulterers are not in the kingdom adultery means the violation of marital codes marital pledges marital covenants violation of marriage vows they're not in the kingdom thieves are not in the kingdom the greedy or the covetous are not in the kingdom drunkards are not in the kingdom revilers or slanderers are not in the kingdom and swindlers or extortioners con men criminals etc are not in the kingdom now so far i haven't heard about any laws that the government is going to make to forbid us from trying to convert swindlers or trying to convert slanderers or trying to convert drunkards or thieves there are no laws made to protect those people but they make laws to protect two of these categories the effeminate and the homosexuals why is the government doing that why has the government selected sins to protect why is that happening because the government is under the sway of satan himself and the damage done by these sins is massive substantial and seminal because it destroys human identity destroys marriage and destroys the family and destroys children and destroys the society so the kingdom of darkness makes laws to protect the most destructive behaviors what is effeminate include well it's the word malacos it means soft like soft clothing just the word soft but used in the sexual sense it refers to the passive partner in a homosexual relationship or the transvestite or the cross-dresser or the transgender person or the male prostitute or the eunuch the the one who offers himself to the aggressive homosexual the homosexual yes that's arsenal test from two words man bed someone who goes to bed with a man man in bed with a man so you have really pretty broad terms homosexuality and all the forms of transition found up in the word malachos in first timothy chapter 1 there is another list that you would do well to look at first timothy chapter 1 verse 8 paul's talking about the law and why the law should be preached if you're going to preach law if you're going to make law and here here is what the law is designed for we know the law is good if one uses it lawfully realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person but for those who are lawless and rebellious and now you begin to get some categories of these lawless rebellious people they are ungodly they are sinners they are unholy they are profane and they are those who kill their fathers or mothers they are murderers immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching again i don't see governments in a big hurry to make laws to protect kidnappers or perjurers why are they bent on protecting homosexuals so what interest does government have in protecting a particular sin previous administration of our government in america there were 250 homosexuals and transgender people in the white house operation and this current administration has exceeded that in just one year why are they especially protected we don't protect kidnappers we don't protect perjurers it is preposterous to protect sodomites and preposter us to protect them to the degree that they can prey on your children to be seduced into that kind of life which your children are supposed to have the liberty to decide about without parental consent that's insane they're given free reign as predators to deceive and seduce your children what interest does the government have in protecting homosexuals from the kingdom of god why is it a threat to convert a homosexual to convert a transgender person why do they want to make laws to prevent that do they have a particular interest in populating hell with a certain kind of sinner what business do they have in telling the church under divine mandate that it's a felony to convert a sinner the church doesn't help in many cases because so many churches are confusing there are churches called metropolitan community churches their church is founded by troy perry who was a very well-known homosexual number of years ago in hollywood currently there are 222 metropolitan community churches around the world in 37 countries there are churches for homosexuals and i remember sitting at a table having a debate with him personally looking at him across the table and confronting him about the sin and confronting about the wretchedness of starting churches in the name of jesus christ made up of people who had not converted from that sin and he tried to pass himself off as a noble homosexual who was monogamous and i happen to have in my notebook the police records from his multiple arrests in hollywood for anonymous sex on the streets with just about anybody he's still around still the patriarch of these 222 churches and to show you how this society feels about troy perry who is in the business of making sure that homosexuals and transgender people are deceived and stay on the road to hell to show you how this culture feels about him in june of 2021 he was honored with the lifetime achievement award by the los angeles dodgers what's his achievement all sinners need to be converted what does the bible have to say about this we have the general statement that i read to you in first corinthians six in first timothy one let's get a little more specific and go back to the old testament first let's talk about the transgender issue go back to deuteronomy chapter 22. deuteronomy chapter 22 and then verse 5. god is laying down the law for life in the promised land and verse 5 says deuteronomy 22 5 a woman shall not wear man's clothing nor shall a man put on a woman's clothing for whoever does these things is an abomination to the lord your god abomination is a very strong word detestable would be a synonym it is detestable to god any cross dresser drag queen transsexual transvestite transgender is an abomination to god chapter 23 verse 1 god said no one who is emasculated or has his male organ cut off shall enter the assembly of the lord looking having these kinds of surgeries is nothing new nothing new it went on in paganism all the time people who did this then weren't called transgender they were called eunuchs in ancient time people were castrated for their gods to become temple prostitutes male prostitutes some nations did it at the age of 10 or even younger the people were so deeply into paganism and perversion that they would literally offer up their children to their gods as emasculated male prostitutes to be raped by the quote-unquote male worshipers anyone who was in that condition it says shall not enter the assembly of the lord you can't be with the people of god that's strong was there any hope what if you did that and you came to your senses and you wanted to change what if you were sorry was there any way back to god turn to isaiah 56 isaiah 56. and we'll look at verse 3. let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the lord say the lord will surely separate me from his people let not the eunuch say behold i'm a dry tree this is a good word this is encouraging god speaks and he says no the foreigner the stranger who joins himself to the lord he's accepted he doesn't have to say the lord will surely separate me from his people the lord will accept that stranger that non-israelite that pagan well what about the eunuch let him not say behold i'm a dry tree it's not the end is this the end that i have no life i'm just a dead tree i'm as good as dead no don't let the eunuch say that verse 4 for thus says the lord to the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths and choose what pleases me and hold fast my covenant in other words to the eunuchs who come to the true god to them i will give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than that of sons and daughters i will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off there's a play on words there is hope for a eunuch there's hope for a male prostitute there's hope for somebody who's had gender transition surgery there's hope for those who choose to please the true god hold fast his covenant he will not just accept you on the fringes but give in my house and within my walls a memorial in other words i will remember you i will write you down as a part of the family in the house and you'll have a name better than that of sons and daughters because you weren't just born in you were adopted in and you'll have an everlasting name and the same is true for the foreigner in verse six who comes to love the name of the lord yeah the stranger the pagan the idolater can be converted and come into the kingdom of god and the the transgender person can be converted and come into the kingdom of god and we actually have the story of a converted eunuch go to the eighth chapter of the book of acts this is an amazing story acts chapter 8 philip one of the believers in the jerusalem church his story starts in verse 26 an angel of the lord spoke to philip saying get up and go south to the road that descends from jerusalem to gaza the desert road so the lord communicates to philip that he wants him to go down this road into the desert so he got up and went and there was an ethiopian eunuch that would be someone who physically was emasculated for the service of his gods and his queen he is an ethiopian eunuch a court official of candace queen of the ethiopians and he has significant responsibility being in charge of all her treasure and he had come to jerusalem to worship what is he doing coming to jerusalem to worship maybe he had read isaiah 56 maybe he had read isaiah 56 is not a stretch why because verse 28 says he was returning and sitting in his chariot and was reading what the prophet isaiah and the spirit said to philip go up and join this chariot philip ran up and heard him reading isaiah the prophet he has read that there is no reason to accept that your life is over in your dead tree forever and he's on his way to jerusalem because that's associated with the god of isaiah and he's also reading more of isaiah he's reading the part about the son of god and philip says to him do you understand what you're reading and he said well how could i unless someone guides me and he invited philip to come up and sit with him and the passage of scripture which he was reading was isaiah 53 as a sheep to slaughter a lamb before it shares the silence so he doesn't open his mouth and he reads about this lamb this sacrifice who was pierced for our transgressions and the eunuch says to philip verse 34 who's he talking about who is this then philip opened his mouth and beginning from the scripture he preached jesus to him what a wonderful moment a dry tree a hopeless pagan and he finds out that god the god of the israelites will accept him and he's been stigmatized his entire life he's an adult been around a while or he wouldn't have had the responsibility he did he can't reverse physically what was done he bears the stigma his conscience is torturous he finds that the god of isaiah will welcome him into the family and give him a memorial name which means make him a permanent occupant of the home and give him everlasting life and now he finds out that the access to all of that is through jesus so philip opened his mouth in verse 35 beginning with this scripture isaiah 53 he preached jesus to him i love that moment as he went along the road they came to some water and the eunuch said look water what prevents me from being baptized so guess what philip told him about baptism by the way that was part of the message of the gospel repent and believe and be baptized and so he says there's water what prevents me being baptized philip said if you believe with all your heart you may and he answered and said i believe that jesus christ is the son of god what a wonderful moment and he ordered the chariot to stop and they both went down into the water did you hear that you presbyterians they went down into the water philip as well as the eunuch and he baptized him he immersed him when they came up out of the water the spirit of the lord snatched philip away and the eunuch no longer saw him but went on his way what this is what we do we offer devastated people the gospel of conversion through faith in christ that brings them joy that's what we do that's a living illustration of the promise that isaiah gave in that 56th chapter so the old testament was clear about the sin of any kind of transitional surgery any kind of transitional clothing anything that made confusing your sexual identity and it was an abomination to god detestable and you couldn't be a part of the assembly of god's people oh unless you came to the true god with a heart of faith as this man did on the road to gaza now what does the old testament say about homosexuality let's go back to leviticus 18. we saw the transgender part but what about homosexuality itself go back to leviticus 18 and again the the word of god is clear verse 22 leviticus 18 22 you shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female it is an abomination that is not confusing that is as clear as it can be in fact it's right alongside another abomination verse 23 you shall 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 homosexual sex is in god's eyes just a perversion like bestiality verse 24 then of leviticus 18 do not defile yourselves by any of these things and here's some history for by all these the nations which i'm casting out before you have become defiled all the nations around you are into bestiality and homosexuality they're all into it that's how they became defiled for the land has become defiled therefore i have brought its punishment upon it so the land has spewed out its inhabitants israel is going to the land of canaan and the question comes up why did god allow israel to take over the land of canaan because god was punishing the people who were in canaan for this kind of behavior god's judgment had come on them part of that judgment was israel his people taking over the land that they had defiled the land has become defiled therefore i have brought its punishment upon it so the land has spewed out its inhabitants and then god says to israel but as for you you are to keep my statutes and my judgments and shall not do any of these abominations neither the native nor the alien who sojourns among you you're not to allow bestiality you're not to allow homosexuality at all and it reminds them in verse 27 for the men of the land who have been before you have done all these abominations and the land has been defiled parenthetically and then in verse 28 so that the land will not spew you out should you defile it as it has spewed out the nation which has been before you look you're going to have the same exact problem if you behave in that exact way what happened to the previous nations is going to happen to you verse 29 whoever does any of these abominations those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people capital punishment capital punishment why verse 30 thus you are to keep my charge or my command that you do not practice any of the abominable customs which have been practiced before you so as not to defile yourselves with them i am the lord your god and then in chapter 19 verse 2 you shall be holy for i the lord am holy then he says it in verse 3 i am the lord your god and verse 4 i am the lord your god and verse 10 i'm the lord you god you can't treat me that way or you're going to end up like everybody else before you it is an abomination and he repeats all through the next chapter i am the lord your god i am the lord your god you're insulting me if you do these things and by the way in chapter 20 and verse 13 we have the penalty for that behavior of homosexuality if there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman both of them have committed a detestable act they shall surely be put to death capital punishment for homosexuality so destructive so devastating to personal identity god's design family society homosexual life is defiling always brings divine wrath you will not escape it you will not and the penalty is death that's god's protection on his people from the damage that is done to a society by homosexual behavior god played this out in a pretty dramatic way back in genesis let's go back to genesis you know in the beginning god created man and woman right one man one woman brought them together marriage between a man and a woman for life was god's design then came the fall and as soon as the fall came we began to see the corruption of marriage by the 12th chapter of genesis in human life by the 19th chapter the end of the 19th chapter verse 36 you have incest by the 34th chapter verse 2 you have rape by the 38th chapter of genesis you have prostitution so the corruption of sexual behavior comes in all its forms and you're not even out of the book of genesis and homosexuality is also seen turn to the 19th chapter this is one of the most horrific scenes in the entire bible genesis 19 it's a story that only needs to be read to be understood two angels came to sodom two angels came to sodom in the evening as lot was sitting in the gate of sodom when lot saw them he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground obviously knew they were heavenly visitors in some kind of physical form like men and he said now behold my lords please turn aside into your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet then you may rise early and go on your way they said however no [Music] we will spend the night in the square and this immediately terrified lot because he knew his city verse three he urged them strongly no you can't stay outside so they turned aside to him and entered his house and they prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread and they ate before they lay down before they could lay down for the night the men of sodom surrounded the house both young and old all the people from every quarter mob and they called to lot and said to him where are the men who came to you tonight bring them out to us that we may have relations with them they want to rape the angel the two angels this is how perverse they were and lot horrified went out to them at the doorway and pulled the door closed behind him and he said please my brothers do not act wickedly you don't know what you're doing this will be the end of everything i know how god feels about homosexuality you can't do this you have no idea what you're doing these are angels behold he says in verse 8 this is a bizarre twist i have two daughters who have not had relations with men please let me bring them out to you and do to them whatever you like only do nothing to these men inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof this is such a weird thing for a father to do but he understood the judgment that would come on that house on the basis of homosexuality would be far greater than the judgment that would fall if his daughters had a relationship with those men and he may have hedged a little knowing that they were homosexuals he may have hoped they would reject the daughters but he knew god hated homosexuality he said don't do this they're being protected in my house i don't want the judgment they said stand aside furthermore they said this one came in as an alien and already he's acting like a judge this man lot stranger now we will treat you worse than them so they pressed hard against lot and came near to break the door they they're gonna they're gonna rape these angels if they have to go over lot's body and smash the door but the men reached out their hands and brought lot into the house with him and shut the door the angels saved him and slammed the door then in verse 11 they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness and there were a massive mob of them and they were small and great meaning they were the range of people in the society and they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway how about look i'm blind i think i'll leave i mean you're blind and you're still driven by this lust that in your blindness you're trying to find the doorway and the two men said to lot whom else have you here the son-in-law and your sons and your daughters and whomever you have in the city bring them out of the place for we are about to destroy this place because their outcry has become so great before the lord that the lord has sent us to destroy it lot went out spoke to his sons in laws who were to marry his daughters and said up get out of this place so the lord will destroy the city they thought he was jesting the morning the angels urged lot saying take your wife and your daughters who are here or you'll be swept away in the punishment of the city and they hesitated so the men seized his hand on the hand of his wife in the hands of his two daughters for the compassion of the lord was upon him and they brought him out and put him outside the city and one said escape for your life then down in verse 24 they reigned on sodom and gomorrah brimstone and fire from the lord out of heaven and lot's wife looked back and was told not to and turned into a pillar of salt that's how god feels about homosexuality and he's the same god today you know there are some who have tried to suggest that the sin of sodom was a lack of hospitality but jude describes the sin of sodom as going after strange flesh and peter in ii peter describes the sin of sodom as going after strange flesh the gross sin of that city was the sin of homosexuality for which god burned it to a crisp and everyone in it this is what happens through history when god looks on other cities we know this because in the book of isaiah for example from isaiah 13 to 23 the prophet declares judgment from god on all kinds of cities all kinds of nations for the same kind of conduct isaiah pronounces judgment on babylon assyria philistia moab damascus ethiopia egypt edom arabia and tyre in jeremiah 46-57 the prophet jeremiah receives the word of the lord concerning the nations to be judged egypt philistia moab ammon damascus khadar hazor elam and babylon in ezekiel 25 to 33 god pronounces judgment on ammon moab edom felicity attire egypt and assyria throughout history god destroys nations who behave in violation of his law i think most of us understand that god punishes sinners individually but he also punishes nations and there's a long history of that national punishment laid out in the scripture even in the new testament jesus pronounced doom on cities chorus and bethsaida sadly [Music] isaiah also had to pronounce judgment on israel look at isaiah 3 and take a little time not much longer but in isaiah 3 this is very powerful as it turns out god warned i god warned israel not to reject his word not to conduct their lives the way the pagan nations did but in the third chapter of isaiah if you look down at verse 9 you see that israel had also displayed their sin like sodom they didn't conceal it woe to them they have brought evil on themselves here comes judgment on another nation and we all know that it came in the babylonian captivity devastating crushing destruction and death because israel didn't heed the word of the lord they got the very same punishment as the pagan nations because they behaved in the very same way but i want you to see a picture of what this began to look like at the end of chapter 2 verse 22 says stop regarding man whose breath of life is in his nostrils for why should he be esteemed stop trusting in man that's exactly what they had done stop trusting in man rather than god or god will judge you push god out put your trust in man and judgment will come and verse 1 declares for behold the lord god of hosts is going to remove from jerusalem and judah this is what the judgment looks like god removes supply and support the whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water the judgment begins with god attacking them at the level of provision and protection all of a sudden they they can't get what they could always get things aren't available that were once available it comes down to the very necessities of life that starts to disappear and then in verses 2 and 3 god removes everyone who has value everyone who could help the mighty man verse two that that's literally the hero and the warrior that's the man of war the great military genius the leader the protector the judge the prophet the diviner that means the man of wisdom the elder the ancient man who has the history and the experience and the collapse of all these leaders the disappearance of all those who have value and it trickles down to even the captains of 50 leadership at all levels begins to disappear and the honorable men would be the highly es the highly distinguished men and the counselors and the the expert craftsmen and the skillful orators everybody who could bring some value is disappearing they trusted in man and now they're being stripped of the only men who could help and when all the powerful and wise and influential are gone verse 4 says i'll make mere lads their princess and capricious children will rule over them all of a sudden their leaders become weak and childish no strong leadership so the people are oppressed verse five this is what happens sounds familiar the people are oppressed each one by another and each one by his neighbor you get anarchy you get chaos disorder civil destruction civil disobedience the youth storm against the elder no respect for those that are older the young people terrorize the elder the inferior have no respect for the honorable when god begins to judge a nation all of a sudden what once was available is not available anymore and all the people you could depend on all the great people who could make a difference are gone and now you're literally being ruled by weak childish rulers and there's anarchy in the streets and chaos and disorder in fact it's so desperate they need a leader so when a man lays hold of his brother in his father's house he says you have a cloak you be our ruler that's the only qualification you have a coat you'll be our ruler and and these ruins will be under your charge already they've ruined the place but he will protest on that day saying i'm not going to be your healer i don't want to take this responsibility on for in my house there is neither bread nor a cloak you should not appoint me ruler of the people in other words everything begins to disintegrate everything all the way down to leadership for jerusalem verse 8 has stumbled and judah has fallen because their speech and their actions are against the lord to rebel against his glorious presence they were displaying sin they were just like sodom woe to them woe to them news in verse 10 say to the righteous it'll go well with them oh i'm glad to hear that for they will eat the fruit of their actions but woe to the wicked it will go badly with him for what he deserves will be done to him mark that the wicked get exactly what they deserve and verse 12 sums it up oh my people their oppressors are children and women rule over them their oppressors are children childish weak effeminate and women rule over them and those who guide them lead them astray and confuse the direction of their paths sin destroys people yes it also destroys nations and this nation and any nation that makes laws to protect sin is on that same path to total destruction sin destroys i'll say it again individuals and it destroys nations because it invites down on its own head the wrath of god romans 1 tells us what that wrath looks like god gives the nation up he gives them up to sexual immorality romans 1 24 and then he gives them up to homosexuality and then he gives them up to a reprobate mind you go from sexuality a sexual revolution pornography to homosexuality to insanity a reprobate mind means you just you don't even function you can't use no way back because you're not rational start making laws to protect people who are insane why do you say that because they don't know whether they are male or female how insane can you be that becomes in itself a judgment so we know how [Music] god feels about [Music] the transitional [Music] transgender movement we know how he feels about homosexuals is there any hope let's go back to first corinthians 6 and we'll wrap it up first corinthians 6. this is the good news verse 11. such were some of you is that good news such were some of you right there in the corinthian church right here in grace community church i know personally people who have been converted out of every one of these categories in this church have been here half a century i've seen it all and that's our mission and people have asked me through the years why don't you get out of california because this is where people need to be converted some of you he says all of you really were outside the kingdom of god alienated hopeless sons of hell children of wrath but you were washed you were sanctified but you were justified in the name of the lord jesus christ and in the spirit of our god amazing statement and he uses three words to describe it it's such a thorough conversion this is not therapy this is not a process this is a divine event that takes place in a divine moment it's something that had already happened to them it wasn't in process you were washed you were sanctified you were justified a decisive event in which god washed you sanctified you and justified you the hopeless sinner three words first of all if you're a sinner you need to be washed it's a compound verb washed thoroughly washed down to the bone deep cleaning no matter what the category of your sin you come to christ and you will be washed then you'll be sanctified once all the filth is washed away the lord will plant his holy presence in your life and then you'll be justified he will declare you righteous you say well how did i get righteous so fast because god will credit to your account his own righteousness that's conversion that's that's why we exist and no government will ever make any law that will stop the true church from being in the business of converting sinners and you can be washed which includes complete forgiveness you can be sanctified which includes being a new creation becoming holy as it were [Music] and you can become justified in not a process and not a therapy it's a divine miracle when you trust christ trust in his name and it's the work of the spirit how dramatic was this conversion go back to chapter one we'll end there how dramatic was the change chapter 1 verse 2 to the church of god which is at corinth to those who have been sanctified in christ jesus saints by calling what did those effeminate transgender homosexuals revilers slanderers perjurers become saints yes that's how complete the conversion is it's a divine miraculous transformation in the name of the lord jesus and by the spirit of our god whatever your category of sin christ can convert you into a saint washing all the filth away giving you a holy new life and covering you with his own everlasting perfect righteousness that's the message of the gospel it was some years ago [Music] that i read some 107 like i did this morning in a service here and um just read it and as it turned out there was a gentleman sitting back here in that area and he told me this afterwards when i read that he was so excited by what he heard when i read the part about how god would lead you in a straight way his name was robert lagerstrom he was one of the leaders of the hollywood gay pride parade he had been told he was dying of aids he didn't want to die he was terrified he said to some of his homosexual friends in hollywood where can i go i'm afraid to die where can i go they told him go to grace community church that's that's the truth he said i came to grace church my first sunday i sat there and you read psalm 107 and you read that god could break the the iron bars and the bronze gates and set me free and when i heard you read that all i want to do is run to you and you just kept talking and then people saying and then you took an offering and then you kept talking and finally you said amen and i came flying to the prayer room and he was converted that day totally transformed and he happened to live on the pariah uh the gay pride parade route which was not long after that and he opened his home for everyone to stop by and gave them the gospel i baptized him right here he lived for a few months and he went to heaven that's why the church exists so that sinners can be converted and enter the kingdom of heaven any government that stands in the way of that work of god is in the most dangerous position that anyone could ever be in on this planet far day more dangerous than any human enemy or any virus or any other conceivable threat is to have god come down in judgment the church will be the church amen let's pray father we thank you again for the clarity with which your word speaks to us um so much pouring through our hearts today we pray that some sinners would be converted today please lord open hearts that's my prayer amen you

Channel: Grace to You

Views: 802,822

Keywords: John MacArthur, Bible, Preaching, Christianity, Expository, Exposition, Sermon, Jesus, Christ, Grace to You, Biblical Sexuality, Homosexuality, Transgenderism, eunuchs in the bible, Conversion, Conversion Theraphy

Id: y0I_A5oOJAc

Length: 72min 23sec (4343 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 20 2022