Romans chapter one, please, Romans chapter one. If you would there, please, Romans one. So last time we have come to this very important text regarding proper behavior. And so last time we sort of giving a background for it and why it was needed in Romans chapter one and why the Holy Spirit included it there, Paul very clearly. It's probably the strongest statement against immoral behavior, perhaps in the entire New Testament, or the results of, if you would. Romans chapter one, about 24, wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, to the lust of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies, between themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie. Romans 1.25, and worship and serve the Creator more than a creator, who is blessed forevermore, amen. for this cause. Secondly, God gave them up, gave them over into vile affections, even though their women did change their natural use into that which is against nature, and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust one toward another, one toward another, men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meat, Then again, 28, and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which were not convenient. May the Lord's blessing to the reading of his words. Pray for a moment. Heavenly Father, help me this evening. I so need your help every time, especially tonight. I would say nothing amiss. a difficult topic to be sure, a controversial topic in our area, in our era, because it has been so foisted upon the church that we need to acquiesce, we need to surrender what the Bible says and leave some kind of new interpretation, Lord. Your word stands, and we are not to surrender what your word says. And so help us to, in love, to hold forth the line, the truth of your words. Help me this evening, please, in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Last time we talked about this, we called it the reversal of society. We saw the collapse. We called it moral insanity. We have collapsed as a nation, as a people, as a world, it seems. And sadly to say, America has been very much about, I want to say encouraging. celebrating such behavior. Matter of fact, now we've heard it so long, America has heard the fact that same-sex relations is just as good as heterosexual relationships, that we just pretty much, a lot of America believes it and celebrates it, and that's just the norm now. Do you see how they have really, do you understand what I'm saying? We in America, we are not, you and I per se, But America as a whole has, now matter of fact, we're okay with same-sex marriage. 70% of America is okay now with same-sex marriage. I'm not okay with that. And so we are to still love them. We are to still share the gospel. We are still to be their friends in some capacity, but we don't have to support, nor agree with, nor celebrate an immoral behavior. By the way, it's still wrong for a man and a woman to live together unmarried. That's still wrong as well. Or two women, two men, three, two, four, five, six, whatever it is. God is clearly, as you're turning now with me to Genesis chapter one. So that was the reversal of society, the collapse, and the controversy. Now we're going to the revisiting of Sodom and Gomorrah. Let's turn to Genesis chapter one before we get there, Lord, please. Genesis chapter one before we get to 19. The Revisiting of Sodom and Gomorrah, if you're taking down notes, that will be our title for this evening, The Revisiting of Sodom. And if you want to add Gomorrah, Adma, Zuboim, those in there if you want. From the book called The Same-Sex Controversy, it says, the manner in which man is to love as the creation of God made in his image is so fundamental, so basic, that one of the earliest narratives in scripture reflects clearly upon the wickedness involved in violation of God's purposes for mankind. It is just not, just don't do that, it is one man, one woman for life. So it's not just don't do this, it is do this, so God has already set forth in his word what he plans, what he wants. 126, it says, so God created, Genesis 126. And God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, 28. And God blessed them, and said unto them, be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth, 2, 24. 2, 24. Therefore, shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh, and they were both naked, the man and his wife, female, and were not ashamed. It is so common sense, it is so understood clearly from God's word that for hundreds of years of church history, mankind, matter of fact, all 50 states in America up until 1963 had anti-sodomy laws, all 50. There's 14 left, they still have. It was so understood. It was so clear from Scripture. By the way, it is still clear from Scripture. The Scripture has not changed. It hasn't. It is mankind who is so want to sanction their own immoral behavior. Again, from the book, Same-Sex Controversy, we are hardly overstating the case to say that the story of Sodom and Gomorrah has, as long as the collective memory of Jewish and Christian people can be determined, been understood to speak directly to the issue of homosexuality. The constant drumming of pro-homosexual explanation of this passage somehow however, seems intent on drowning out the plain meaning as well as the historical consistency of how it has been understood since it was written under the direction of God's spirit." End of quote. So it's been such a loud, and you say, how does that work, Pastor? You keep telling people long enough, and they're going to start believing it. America, we've been told long enough that homosexuality is just a viable option, and just the same, and just as righteous as regular intimate relations, that now a lot of America is like, Do you realize that a lot of your children, perhaps you've only grown up in America that only knows that to be supposedly the case. Our children are growing up in America where that's accepted by the majority of Americans today, and now it has crept into the church, and the church, according to the new renderings and according to the theologians who know better than yesteryear, we are supposed to, oh, that's just okay, it's not okay. So you need to know why, and that's why we have this message. Well, the second message. Revisiting Sodom, first of all, then the setting of Sodom, not Solomon, the setting of Sodom. Genesis 13, please, Genesis chapter 13. And by the way, how can we be fruitful and multiply if that same-sex relationship is just as viable as heterosexual? How can we be fruitful? You can't have children. If every single person in the world turned to same-sex ideology, we'd be gone one generation. We'd have no more kids. It just doesn't make sense in any way, shape, or form. It's not God's plan. 1312, and Abraham dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and Lot pitched his tent towards Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. This is chapter 13. So clearly from the get-go, it's not going to be a good place for Lot to go. He chose, and he chose Poorly if you would how about Genesis chapter? Let's go back over to 18, please if you would there By the way, this word, you see them in 13, there was the word men. Now, there's a generic word people, such as in 11.6, behold, the people is one, 14.16. And it returned and it got the woman, the women, Lot, and all the people Abraham rescued in chapter 14. However, it says clearly in 13.13, the men of Sodom were exceeding wicked. 18, verse 20 of Genesis. God or Christ, same thing. Christ is God. He comes in the form of theophany, Christophany, perhaps you want to call it here. And the Lord said in verse 20, because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is coming to me. And if not, I will know. Can we just pause for a moment? Did God not know what's going on? He knows what's going on. Why does He come down to earth? So that mankind will know. That's why He wants you to confess your sin. He knows what sin you've got in your life. He just wants to hear it from you, that you know. So He comes down to earth just to prove, you know, He's right all along. Man, that is a very... Matter of fact, Abraham goes to bat for Sodom. Starts at 50. If you find 50 righteous, all the way down, find... One more time. If you find 10... Okay, I'll save it for 10. That's pretty sad that Lot, his wife, I think he's got at least four daughters, I think, two son-in-laws, maybe some grandkids. He probably has 10 in his family, perhaps, or just the 10 of them together, and still there's not 10. I'm thinking that Lot is the only righteous one of the whole, I'm gonna say Lot, of the whole family. He's gonna come down. So revisiting Sodom, and we find out, look at 19 please, this is the setting of Sodom, revisiting Sodom, the setting of Sodom, chapter 19, verse one, if you would there please, and the two angels, God does not go into the city. The two angels go to Sodom at evening, and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. By the way, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Sitting in the gate was like you go to fiscal court. You are like sitting, you're an authority. You are one of the commissioners. You are the city council. You are one of the head honchos in the city. You are the, we had Friday, we had the groundbreaking for the new Carter County High School, and they had all of the Board of Education right there, right under the tent. because they were people in authority for that particular decision. Lots sitting in the gate. Do you remember when Boaz got, he claimed the redeemer, the kinsman redeemer, he was at the gate, took off his shoe and flopped, whoever flopped, and smacked the other one with it, and he got Ruth and the whole shebang. It was at the gate because that's Absalom. Where did Absalom sit when he took the kingdom from David? He sat at the gate. That was a very important part. We find here that Lot sitting at the gate, a very bad thing. First he looked, then he pitched, and then he dwelt, and then he was serving in Sodom. And he said, and if we find it, it's outside of the gate. And Lot, seeing them, arose to meet them, and bowed himself with his face toward the ground, and said, behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servants' house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and you shall rise up early, and go your ways. And they said, nay, but we will abide in the street all night. And he pressed upon them greatly, and they turned into him, and he entered into his house, and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. Now, righteous law, righteous law could at least see, and there's something different about these men, and so he immediately humbles himself before them and invites them inside. Abraham, too, also recognized in chapter 18 the righteousness of these three visitors he had, and so he invites them in. Why does he suggest that they come inside? I think he knew off the bat what kind of people they were that inhabited Sodom. We learned in 13 the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked. Several chapters, at least six chapters earlier, they're exceedingly wicked. Nay, but we're going to abide in the street, they say. Perhaps a test for Mr. Lott. And he said, oh no, and he's fine there. He pressed them greatly, verse three, and they turned into him. Please, please, come into my house. Let me abide in my house overnight. I think he's fearing for the safety of these two angels, these two men. By the way, the accusation is that we've so misinterpreted that God simply smoked Sodom because they were inhospitable. I'm telling you, they rolled out the red carpet for these two angels. Now, it wasn't the men of Sodom, but he was very hospitable. But it seems like they're grasping at straws. And I'm telling you, a lot of people have swallowed at hook, line, and sinker. Oh, this is just a legitimate relationship. And they were born. No, they weren't born that way, honestly. They were not. And if they even have those tendencies, they are, as a Christian, supposed to ask God to help them and repent of those and stay in a righteous life. You and I, men, we may have a desire for someone other than our wives. We are to repent of that. It's wrong. Just the desire is wrong. If a man looketh on the lust after a woman, he has committed adultery in his heart already. Jesus just said that earlier on. So why then is it right for people to have the same kind of lust after someone other than their spouse? And by the way, you cannot be married. Two same sex cannot be married. They can have a relationship. But God, we just read, has already set one man, one woman for life till death do them part. Please don't throw out what we know to be God's truth on the basis of emotionalism. Please don't do that. Now, we are to love those who are involved in this. And if a Christian, they need to confess that and forsake that. If they're not a Christian, they probably don't see the need of confessing and they're going to determine themselves. So when this Matthew Vines gives his testimony that he's a gay Christian, I really struggle with that. He may have those tendencies, but he's supposed to confess those. That's not something I would make public. But yet now it's such in the limelight and there's the same sex attracted and so it's okay in many people's view to be same-sex attracted as long as you don't act upon it. I'm telling you, the Bible doesn't agree with that. It's that feeling. You can sin without actually doing something. Why do you know? Because it says in verse 7, He says to them, I pray you, brethren, do not sow wickedly. done anything yet, per se, but they have that strong burning desire and that was wrong right from the get-go. Do you see that? How do you covet? Thou shalt not covet. You cover it long before I actually take Adam's saxophone, before I ever get to break into the school and take his saxophone. I've thought about it. I've read about it. I've looked it up. I've got his locker number. I've got his car keys. So I've covered it long before I ever put my hand on his saxophone to steal it and take it down to the pawn shop in Ashland. So I've already sinned before I ever did it. They've already sinned before they ever got a hold of two men. By the way, can I just say, if they had actually gotten a hold of these two angels, I'm just telling you, they'd have been gone before the fire hits. Do you think holy angels are going to put up with such kind of things? I'm just thinking in my mind, that's not going to happen that way. So really, they preserved for a few more hours, really, is all it was. But they want these men. They do not know what they were asking for, I do not think. So we find then that the women, the girls surround the house. Let's go ahead and read it there, please. But before verse four, before they lay down the men of the city of Sodom, even the men, by the way, can I just, I need to tell you that we are to love the person involved in homosexuality. We are to love them. The person who's behaving any kind of, we are to love them. And please don't think that I am saying we need to take all the people involved in this and put them somewhere and then, you know, and whatever. I'm saying we need to be right about how we handle things and we need to love, show love. for other people. We are. It doesn't mean we have to agree with what they're doing, but we need to show love. And so before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, promised a house about both young and old and all people from every quarter. The people word is the only one there that's not specific to men. So even the men of Sodom The men of the city, I think it's quite clear, all the men of the city were surrounding, perhaps there were some people, other, maybe there were some ladies, I don't know on the periphery, but I can tell you a majority, I believe, would be the men. We found they were called men in 13, chapter 13, the men of Sodom. The men of the city, young and old, whether they were rich or poor, from every quarter, they're all gathered around. They were known, the city of Sodom was known as a center of sodomy and homosexuality. Matter of fact, it's so egregious that even in 2020, it's called the city of sodomy. When you, and appropriately, do something with, you know, more graphic than that. But then town's name is attached to the law in our country in 2000. That's a law that's been almost 4,000 years ago. It's still carrying on. That's how this has been known in history. You simply can't take 4,000 years of history and because you find someone who finds some abbreviate interpretation or rendering of a verse, oh, that's not what it means. The context is quite clear. Quite clear. Well, they make their presence known a lot. Verse 5, and they called on the lot and said unto him, where are the men? Which, by the way, they don't know they're angels. Where are the men? Came unto thee this night, bring them out unto us that we may know them. Male visitors, specifically, the crowd suggested they bring them out that we may have intimate relations with them, that we may know them. That's the key issue here. No. Does it mean simply to know somebody? Like email address, exchange business cards. I went to speak at the Chamber of Commerce last weekend. I exchanged business cards, et cetera. Got me in trouble because it landed on the paper this past week. And so, but it's more, that can mean that. But the Hebrew yadah can mean, can mean intimate relations. How so? Genesis chapter four, verse one, the same word. Genesis chapter four, verse one. Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived. You can understand it pretty easily, 17. Cain knew his wife and she conceived and bear Enoch. Later on at about 25, 425, and Adam knew his wife again and she bear a son and called his name Seth. So it's, I mean, we understand what they're talking about. Intimate relations are resulting in a child. So that we may know them. The context is absolutely abundantly clear. How so? Read on. Verse seven and eight. Start at six. And Lot went out at the door and said to them, shut the door after him. And he said unto them, I pray you, verse seven, brethren, do not sow wickedly. Behold, now I have two daughters, which have not known a man. Let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes. Only to these men do nothing, for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. That right there, that settles it. The intention of the man that I have two daughters that have not known a man clearly the context of the scripture is Abundantly clear they wanted to have this intimate relations with the two men that they did not know who they were But if somebody knew and they gathered around together and up until verse 9, they're okay because they got around the door and But Lot says in verse seven, do not so wickedly. Is it going to change their response? I'm telling you, it's gonna change their response. And they said, stand back. And they said again, this fellow came in to sojourn and he will meet be a judge. Now we will deal worse with thee than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man and came near to break the door. So it was somewhat okay until he says, don't do so wickedly. Evidently there was some kind of a parlay maybe, some kind of agreement where he didn't hound them about their ungodliness and they didn't hound him and they let him become Sid in the seat. Somehow they got along okay, just as long as he didn't say the W word. do not so wickedly. Oh, that's the, well, you've crossed the line now, Mr. Law. You're going to come in here and tell us what to do, and on they go. I think it surely is not a coincidence. The writer, the Holy Spirit uses the same word from 1313 of Genesis here to 19. The men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly, do not so wickedly." I think it's abundantly clear. If you will just read it for what it says, instead of trying to read it through your glasses that are so colored by the perspective. Some people read the Bible with their theological perspective, put that on first, and then we go to the Bible. That's not how it should be. We should read the Bible and let it speak for itself. Don't think I've got to put, I've got to find millions of years here somewhere. So, oh, there's, oh, well, here we got Genesis chapter 1, and then the beginning of the earth, God created the heaven and the earth, and there was that form. Oh, I can put a gap right there. I see it right there's my millions. Got it right there. No, not the Bible. God knows what he's wanted to say. He's infinitely smarter than you and I. And he said what he meant. He meant what he said. Now what we need to do is just humble ourselves and follow it. Be obedient. You want to know about God, you need to be obedient to God and be obedient to His Word. Perhaps one of the most perplexing verses in all the Bible is verse 8, 19, 8. It's unconscionable to me. Behold, now I have two daughters, which have not known a man. Let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you. Oh, pastor, they wouldn't hurt judges. Chapter 19, please, terminate me, please, Judges 19. Oh, they wouldn't hurt these ladies because they're homosexual. They wouldn't bother these girls because they, and Lot knows that. That's why Lot offered them to him. Judges chapter 19, again, one of the most discouraging, discouraging chapters in the whole Bible. 22, 19, 22, now they were making with their hearts merry and behold the men of the city, certain men of Belial set beset the house around about and beat at the door and spake unto the master of the house, the old man saying, bring forth the man that came unto thy house that we may know him. And the man said, the master of the house went out to them and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly, seeing this man has come under my house, do not this folly. Behold, here's my daughter, a maiden, and his concubine. Them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you, that this man do not so vile a thing. Oh, they won't hurt her. And the men would not hearken to him. So he took the concubine and brought her forth unto them. And they knew her and abused her all the night until the morning. And when the day began to spring, they let her go. And she came and she died on the steps. Oh, they won't hurt her. Really, Lot? Really? People who are so insane with lust will not hurt her? I don't understand, and maybe you have a better grasp on this, and I know it's important, but I'm telling you, people staying in my house will protect you, but I'm telling you, I'm not giving my daughters to the wolves. That's part of my job. Part of your job, men, is to protect your wife and your children. I don't know what Lot was thinking, but he offered them, and of course, maybe he believed no matter what he did, they would say no, and they don't want his daughters, but I'm telling you, that man may have thought they don't want his concubine. We see what happened to her. Why would you even risk such a thing? Stand back, verse nine. This one fellow came into sojourn. He will need to be a judge. Now we will deal worse with thee than with these, than with them. First it was, stand back, now how dare you judge us, Lot? Verse 10, but the men put forth their hand and pulled Lot, the angels pulled Lot into the house and shut the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door. What an utterly amazing commentary on the power of man's lust to take over their lives. You would think, if you are one of these men, and you're outside, you're knocking on the door, you're part of the, and all of a sudden, every single one of you have been struck blind, it might just be that we're not doing the right thing here. I mean, I'm just thinking to myself, I can't see a thing. George, can you, I can't see a thing. Jeremy, can you see, I can't see a thing. Can anybody see anything? We can't see a thing, we don't know even where the door is at anymore. Man. Are we doing the right thing here? But it wasn't that. How do you know? What does the Bible say? What did they do? They wearied themselves trying to find the door. Wearied themselves to find the door. And the man of Lot said unto Lot, verse 12, hast thou here any besides son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place. You talk about mercy. Mercy. In wrath, remember mercy. Here it is. You have righteous Lot, whose soul is vexed. And again, as the fleshly person I am, I see Lot's life and I say, how in the world is he righteous? It's not for you and I to decide in our self-serving arrogance who is and who's not. God says, the Bible says, his righteous soul was vexed in 2 Peter. Righteous soul. But Lot's still struggling. Verse 16, and while he lingered, the men laid hold on his hand and brought him forth. He still had such a hold on his life. And we know the rest of the story. The angels take Lot, his wife, and his two daughters out. And they're getting out. And they're going. And the fire's going to start falling soon. And Lot says, we can't go. Can we just go to a city somewhere? And they go to Zoar. And Zoar is spared. The other four cities are ignited with fire and brimstone. And Lot's wife. So encumber now I have to say I've also thought maybe she had grandchildren not sure speculating But lots wife was so encumbered with the world. Yeah, it's got to get one more look And that was it. And the Bible says in the New Testament, remember Lot's wife. And that is a pillar of testament to us to be careful to get so worldly minded that it takes over our spiritual thinking and my thinking. So three brief objections before we close. That's the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is, in my thinking, in the church's understanding for the last 1,900, 2,000 years, clear as day what it's talking about. Yet now, for all of a sudden, we have been wrong all this time. In the last 20 years, we got people with far more knowledge, and they found some loopholes, and we've been misinterpreting. I'm not encouraging you to do so, but you can go online. There's this abundance of evidence now that we have done wrong. So through the centuries, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, has been so misunderstood they say, so often there's contradictory arguments that are brought forward and they say, matter of fact, you can't even use this story against homosexuality anymore. So three objections before we close. Objection number one, this is the objection stated, again from the same sex controversy. The rest of scripture, now quoting, the rest of scripture, Old and New Testament, does not identify the sin of Sodom as homosexuality, but instead speaks of inhospitality, mistreatment of the poor, and other general sins of behavior as the basis of God's judgment. This silence regarding homosexuality proves that the traditional reading is in error. And a Roman Catholic priest, Daniel Helminiak, echoes this. He says this, as you're turning to Ezekiel 16. But in this particular case, the meaning of the text is obvious, he says, from other parts of the Bible. For the Bible often refers back to the story of Sodom and says outright what Sodom's sin was. And he turns to, as you turn to Ezekiel 16, which we are turning to now, if you would please, Ezekiel 16.48. Ezekiel 16, 48, and he reads 48 and 49. So if you look here, and we'll see it, 48 says for us here, as I live, saith the Lord God, Sodom, thy sister, hath not done she nor her daughters as thou hast done thou and thy daughters. Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom. Pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. Oh, there we are. Pastor, right there we are. That is it. See how it says the Sodom is guilty of not being kind to the poor and needy and not, and they're idle. That's what it's talking about there. And so he concludes and says Sodomites, they refused to take in the needy travelers and that was their sin. But what he did not do is to read the next verse. and they were haughty and committed Toeva, abomination before me. Therefore, I took them away as I saw good. Now, oh, that changes it completely right there. It just changes the whole the context. Oh, no. Yes, there were those things, but not just those things. They committed abomination. And that's what God got God's attention. I do not think God and the two angels, the Christophane is going to come down from heaven and walk into Abraham because the people or Sodom are in hospital are inhospitable. You'd have to come to every city in Kentucky. You're probably going to find people who are inhospitable. I trust it's not you and me. So I've got a sign-up sheet in the back of when you're having me over for supper. Just teasing. Very little humor. So clearly, the biblical response is abomination. And we'll see you next time. That is in Leviticus 18 and 20. We're not denying that the inhabitants of Sodom were probably inhospitable, although Lot showed great hospitality when the men came right from the get-go. But sin is often a complex of attitudes and actions joined together, and the common thread is R-E-B-E-L-L-I-O-N, against God. That's what they want to do. That's what America wants to do. We want to rebel against God. Not everyone, not you and I, trust. But we want to say we're pretty good as we are. We've got things going on. And we're just arriving. And we're going to have all these other things. L. Ron Hubbard, he wanted to have his own religion. Joseph Smith wanted to have his own religion. So he, who was a really questionable character guy, started a religion, become the first prophet, all these things. By the way, I wonder, the people before Mormonism, how did anybody ever go to heaven before Mormonism? Think about it, just think logically when there was no one really. It could be saved before that. I mean, really, the more you're in the true church, et cetera. So just think logically through it. Scripturally, most importantly, but think logically. Secondly, second objection is this. It's highly unlikely the word no in Genesis 19 means to know in an intimate manner or in a homosexual context. The word is used over 900 times in the Bible and simply does not refer to homosexual activity in any of these instances. and the Hebrew word is yadah and it is used over 900 times. It both means to know in a general sense of factual information and also means to know intimately in a sexual fashion as one we saw earlier on in Genesis. Adam knew his wife and she gave birth. Cain knew his wife, she gave birth. Adam knew his wife, she gave birth. And that's just the normal context. And that's the context of Genesis 19. So yes, other places it doesn't mean that, but some places it does. And clearly by the context, here it is. If you don't, if you doubt that, look at that passage in Judges chapter 19, one of the most horrendous passages. After the man comes out and finds his concubine dead after being abused all night, he takes and cuts her into 12 pieces and sends her throughout Israel and say, listen, you need to come. And the Benjamites, Benjaminites, we are going to wipe them out. And if you don't come, you see this piece of body, I just showed you what's going to happen. I'm paraphrasing, but that's what happened. It was a terrible thing. The response to this is yes, we know sometimes it doesn't, but sometimes it does. And finally, the final objection, this is just three of many. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is irrelevant to homosexuality because it does not address loving monogamous relationships. It is only decrying gang rape and violence, nothing else. Now, surely I will tell you that it is wrong to be violent, and sexual assault is absolutely horrendously wrong, and there's everything wrong with gang abuse as well. But to note that these things are wrong does not explain the many issues in Genesis 19. That wasn't what they started out wanting to do. It doesn't say they had done it in the past necessarily. It simply says that was their lifestyle. Was Lot wrong to say that these men wanted to do wickedly? No. If there's anyone who knew these men, it was Lott. So as you read these scriptures. There is a biblical answer, a biblical reasoning. Please do not be succumbed to the ideology of those who want to change scripture, twist it around. So three points in closing, just three ideas. First of all, very few homosexual relationships are in fact monogamous. I just looked it up yesterday. And about 50% in the relationship they are currently in, are monogamous. Many have had 500,000 or more partners. One man guesstimated that like a marriage relationship, 1%. To where they have one person with each other for life, 1%. Secondly, to call relationship loving. Wait just a minute. We know what loving is. It's one man, one woman, dedicated, committed to each other for life. That's God's plan and you can't circumvent that and say, oh, we can love just like the Bible. No, you can't. You can't. Gnaw and honor God. You can't. And finally, It assumes that a homosexual relationship thus described is part of the biblical concept to begin with, and such is an unfounded assertion refuted by a fair and careful examination. Oh, that's just as good as two, as a man and a woman, well, two men or two women, two men together, two women together, is just as righteous as a man and woman. No, it is not. It is not. We need to stand on that, but it doesn't mean we have to go and throwing stones at everybody else, but it does mean we need to pray. God give us wisdom and love for those who are caught up in whatever sin it is. But you can stand on the truth that the same sex relationship is still wrong, was wrong, is wrong, always will be wrong. It's a sin that needs to be confessed. Can Christians get involved? Yes. But if a Christian gets involved in a sin, if they're truly born again, I believe they will repent unless they've hardened their heart beyond whatever repentance. But typically a Christian, when they get involved, they have that guilty feeling and they will repent. Unbeliever, just go on their way. So I know it's a difficult topic, but something we need, we'll get back to our Romans in a couple of weeks. But anyway, let's pray together. Lord, it is a difficult topic. It certainly is. It's a sad state of affairs, and we in America have signed on as a whole and accepting of an unnatural lifestyle, saying it's just as good as a man and a woman being married. Lord, we know better than that. Lord, give us a heart of compassion. For those who are involved, caught up in this, may we pray for those perhaps we know who are caught up in this. May we not be this arrogant, I know it all, and condemn everybody about every, Lord, yes, it is a sin. And yes, you have condemned that sin. But Lord, I also am a sinner, saved by your marvelous grace. And your grace is strong enough to save anyone. So if they will repent. So Lord, may we be about your business this week. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.