We're in Genesis chapter 2, and I want to tell you where I'm at this morning with this sermon. Some of you are aware of this. Some of you probably are not. There is a bill that has just passed the U.S. House of Representatives. It is Bill H.R. 5. It is deceptively called the Equality Act. It just passed the U.S. House of Representatives this past Thursday. It is going to the Senate, U.S. Senate soon, and will be voted on by the U.S. Senate. It is supported, of course, by President Biden. It is supposedly a bill to protect the rights of the LGBTQ population. And I normally don't bring these things up in my preaching, but I really feel like I need to address this. And I want to talk to us as Christians about our response to the sodomite agenda. So this bill supposedly protects the rights of the LGBTQ population, but in reality, It is an attempt to empower them to legally squelch anyone who opposes their perversion. It is a very aggressive attempt to push the LGBTQ agenda on everyone in our country. And let me say this much, it will affect churches. It will affect Christian schools. There are some of you that have children in Christian schools. It will affect them. It will affect Christian business owners and any public venue. It will affect all of our nation. In fact, it will invade the rights of parents to make decisions regarding the healthcare of their elementary aged children if that decision involves gender identity. In short, the bill is wicked and runs in opposition to God's word, and of course, to sound doctrine. I'm not here necessarily to preach against this bill, but I am here this morning with the purpose of looking into God's word and seeing what our attitude about this should be. That's where we're at. Now the document is 32 pages long. I skimmed through it yesterday. I did not read the entire document. I skimmed through it a little bit. And on page 24, verses 6 through 11, the bill states this. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 shall not provide a claim concerning or a defense to claim under a covered title or provide a basis for challenging the application or enforcement of a covered title. In other words, the rights of the sodomite will legally supersede your right to practice biblical truth in the home and in the church. It's a deceptive bill. It is an aggressive bill. It is a wicked bill. You need to contact your senators and let them know that you do not support the passage of this bill. But we're not here to talk about the bill anymore. We're here to talk about what God's word has to say about the LGBTQ lifestyle. The scripture calls it sodomy. Now we're gonna begin in Genesis two, look at verse number 21. And let's go to the Lord in prayer. Our Father, we thank you for the truth of your word. And Lord, we thank you that you don't leave us guessing. Father, your word states very clearly that by mercy and truth, iniquity is purged. So Lord, we are asking this morning that you will open our eyes to truth. At the same time, Father, that you will help us to do it with the spirit of mercy. Help us, dear Lord, to represent Jesus Christ well, Lord, in all of our interactions. Dear Father, this is a topic here that is probably pretty hot in some people's hearts and minds, particularly when it begins to affect our children. Lord, help us to have your attitude. Help us, dear Father, to appeal to truth and, Lord, to embrace truth and not to compromise, Lord, but at the same time to have the spirit of Christ in all of our affairs, we pray. Lord, we ask that your Holy Spirit will have freedom this morning within our hearts and minds to teach us what you want us to learn. In these things we pray in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. Genesis 2, look at verse number 21. It says, And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept, and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman and brought her under the man. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman. One preacher said it this way. Why did he name her woman? Because when he opened his eyes and saw her, he said, whoa, man. But anyway, there it is. Woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. And they both were naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." You know, let me start by saying here at the beginning of this message very clearly that God defines marriage from the beginning of creation. It's one man and one woman for one life. God makes that very clear. Now God defines marriage as one man and one woman. And our country has now passed the point where they are pushing for same sex marriages to become legal. That was a hot topic a few years ago. By the way, I went back to see when the last time was I preached on this, it was in 2015. And so I realized we've had a lot of new folks come between now and then. And we just need to establish where we stand based upon God's word on this subject. And especially since a bill just passed our House of Representatives and it's coming before the Senate, it will impact our country. So our country has passed the point where they're just pushing for same-sex marriages to become legal. They are now pushing for all sorts of sexual perversion to be legal. And God calls this sodomy. In 2014, Illinois legalized sodomite marriage. And after both chambers of the state legislature approved a measure legalizing gay marriages, the governor at that point, Pat Quinn, said, today the Illinois House put our state on the right side of history. Mr. Pat Quinn, you are standing against God and his word by saying that. The man was sitting in the seat of the scornful, Psalm 1. President Obama expressed deep pride in the Illinois General Assembly after it became the 15th state to legalize same-sex marriage. In 2014, I sent an email to the president's office. Now, please understand, President Obama and I were not buds. I just wanted to express myself to him. I stated my opposition to the LGBT agenda. The letter Q has been added since then. But I sent that in 2014. The response came back in September of 2014, and this is what it said. I am proud my administration has gone further than any in history to advance the rights of the LGBT Americans, signed President Obama. Now, I'm sure he didn't send me that email personally, but I'm sure he had that represented or pre-written for folks that would email him like I did. So he took pride in it. Wow, what a country. Where have we gone? At that point, he even stated that there was a special website, www.whitehouse.gov slash LGBT. So if you wanted to go there, you could see what they're doing for the sodomite agenda. I tried to find www.whitehouse.gov.righteousness, but I couldn't find one. But the question is this, how will you as a Christian respond to this social, political, and governmental pressure as it becomes more and more heavy upon us? Hopefully, you've already made up your mind, and if you haven't, by the end of this sermon, I pray that you will. Some Christian business people have already suffered legal action because they refused to cater for sodomite marriages or take pictures for sodomite marriages when they were standing true to God's Word upon their convictions and principles that God had given them. How will you respond if this church becomes a target of legal actions? Because this pastor refuses to perform a sodomite marriage, how will you respond? Daniel 1 verse 9 puts it this way, but Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank. Daniel was under intense pressure, both politically and socially, and yet he stood on principles that were eternal, not principles based upon cultural pressures. And I pray that you will too. The day is coming. where we will have to make a choice, whether to obey God or to obey man. God's judgment was upon Sodom, and I want you to see that. Go with me to Genesis 18. Now, we've got quite a ways to go this morning, so I'm gonna start picking up my pace a little bit, and if you are the type of individual that takes notes, I ask you to do that. You would be well-served to write down some of these references and do your own study. Now, I'm not going to read the whole story, but I am going to read part of it because I want to focus. on two groups here because I'm setting the stage for what we're about to look at. I'm asking us the question, how will we respond or how will you respond as the Sodomite agenda becomes more and more pressurized upon us? And so based on that, I want us to read this passage beginning in verse number 16. Genesis 18, 16 says this, and the men rose up from thence and looked towards Sodom. And Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. And the Lord says, shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do? seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he had spoken of him. And the Lord said, 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. And the men turned their faces from thence and went toward Sodom. But Abraham stood yet before the Lord. And then Abraham began to plead with the Lord. And I want you to notice verse number 23. And Abraham drew near and said, Wilt thou also destroy thee? What's the next word? Righteous with the wicked. And then he draws a distinction between the righteous and the wicked. And he gets it all the way down to 10 righteous people. Will you find 10 righteous people? Will you destroy the city? And God said, I will not destroy it for 10 righteous. But I got news for you this morning. God destroyed Sodom, right? There weren't even 10 righteous. Go to verse, or excuse me, chapter 19. Look at verse one. And there are two groups that I want you to focus on. I want you to focus on the men of Sodom. and the way they handled themselves, and Lot's sons, and the way they handled themselves. Those are the two groups we're gonna look at this morning. It says, and there came two angels to Sodom at even, and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom, and Lot, seeing them, rose up to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servants' house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay, but we will abide in the street all night. And He pressed upon them greatly, and they turned in unto Him, and entered into His house. And He made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, can pass the house around, both old and young, all the people from every quarter. And they called upon Lot and said unto him, where are the men that came into you this night? Bring them out unto us that we may know them. It's a word that involves intimate sexual relationship, verse number six. And Lot went out at the door unto them and shut the door after him. And he said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold, now I have two daughters, which have not known man. Let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes, only unto these men do nothing. For therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. I can't even imagine being in a state of mind to say that. Verse number nine. And they said, stand back. And they said again, this one fellow came into sojourn, talking about Lot, and he will need to be a judge? Now will we deal worse with thee than with them? And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. And the men put forth their hand and pulled Lot into the house to them and shut to 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. And the men said unto Lot, 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, for we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxing great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it. And Lot went out and spake unto his sons-in-law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked. unto his sons-in-law." We're going to stop right there in our reading. There are two groups I want you to notice. I want you to notice the men of Sodom. These men were so consumed with their insatiable lusts that actually it defined who they were. And they were willing to impose their will on others even to the point of harming them. I want you to notice that. By the way, we see that happening today. We see that in this bill that is before the Senate. This lust defined who they were so much so that it just consumed them and they were willing to impose their will upon others even if it meant harming them. That did not matter to them as long as they were satisfied. The very word Sodom means burn or scorch. Sodomy is a burning sin that consumes the lives of those that are involved, and that was evident from the behavior of the men that lived in this city. God chose that word on purpose. The same behavior is happening today. Elementary schools are targeted to have sodomite speakers without informing the parents. The children are taught to applaud these speakers when they speak on their lifestyle. The sodomite crowd is willing to promote their wicked lifestyle among young children in spite of the harm it will do to them. You can do the research. I'm not here to pour out all this information to you in regards to that. I'm just making statements that are well-founded and then look into God's word. And let me say this, I'll just give a little insight into rearing children. Those of you that have children within your home, you will get what you honor. If you praise athletes in your home, your children will want to be athletes. If you praise musicians in your home, your children will want to be musicians. If you praise preachers and teachers of God's word and missionaries and those that surrender to God, if you praise them to your children, your children will tend to want to emulate them because they see it's important to you. So be careful who you applaud. If you applaud and praise sodomites, who will the children want to emulate? The sodomite. Parents, as a side note, we need to understand this principle and be very careful who we praise and who we criticize within our homes because we guide our children's thinking even when we don't intend to. Now we could preach a whole message on that, but I'm done, I'm gonna move on with that. Now I want you to notice Lot's son-in-laws. These men could have listened to truth, but they chose to follow popular cultural thinking over truth. They chose culture over truth. Interesting verse, Psalm 2927. We're not gonna look it up. If you want to look it up later, you can write it down. Proverbs 2927 says this, an unjust man is an abomination to the just. When we see someone, If our attitudes and our hearts are right and just, we see an unjust man, it is an abomination to us as it should be. But the verse goes on and says this, and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked. Isn't that amazing? When an individual is living with a wicked lifestyle and their sin consumes them, then they look at those that are living righteously and upright and they see them as an abomination. Now, we preach messages that would answer the question, why do they do that? In a nutshell, it reflects on their corruption. That's the answer in a nutshell. There's more that can be said about it, but not for today. But I've got to ask this question. Have we as Christians gotten caught up in the thinking of the world? Popular cultural thinking, has it seeped its way into our minds? Psalm 1 says, blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. Have we walked in the counsel of the ungodly? Have we taken it in? Are we standing in the way of sinners? I'm gonna say this, that many who call themselves Christians have done just that. Now I'm not out to offend any one person, but I am gonna state some facts this morning that may be very hard hitting. Most contemporary Christian musicians, either condone or take a neutral position on sodomy, which is just as bad. By the way, clear evidence. This is clear evidence that contemporary Christian music is a music of compromise. It is worldly. It is used by the devil to compromise the church and to make it more worldly. It just is. I'm saying a lot of things this morning that I could back up given the time, but this morning I'm not going to do it. I'm just gonna state them and go on. The contemporary Christian music crowd are very worldly people, by and large, because the music is worldly. And most of them support the sodomite lifestyle, or just stay silent on it. Recently, the Republic of Ireland, by a margin of 60%, voted a referendum to amend its constitution to say gay, or to allow gay marriages. And they put the word marriage in there. That's not to be confused with Northern Ireland, it's the Republic of Ireland. And prior to that vote, there was an Irish group, it's kind of a semi-Christian rock band by the name of U2. I say that and a lot of you would know who that is. They posted an Instagram note in support of same-sex marriage, and that note said, quote, in the name of love, vote yes, unquote. That group's lead singer and front man, a man that is known by the name of Bono or Bono, was invited to Willow Creek Community Church in 2006 and interviewed by Bill Hybels. brought in a man to his church who openly supports gay marriage. I'm talking about have we as Christians begin to compromise our thinking. In 2013, Rick Warren, the pastor of Saddleback Church in California, a buddy of Bill Heibel's, invited Bono to come out there to help him launch a PEACE program. And the word PEACE is an acronym in this case. Two large churches. I have here this morning A copy of the NIV. It's a copy that I keep in my office. It's a very popular translation. And as the translators translated the NIV, they left out the word sodomite. You won't find it in the NIV. Sodomite or sonomites, you're not going to find it. Why did they do that? There was a gay man on the translation committee. And this is one of the most popular translations that are out there today. In January of 2015, Bob Jones University had a secular professional men's ensemble called Cantus sing in their evening artist series. Now let me say this, that BJU has never claimed their artist series to be a sacred event. They never have in their defense. They've had many secular musicians that have performed there because of their fine musical ability and their high music standard. But I'm going to say this, this group, Cantus, has two men in the ensemble who are openly gay. Not hidden, openly. That did not stop. Bob Jones University from having them perform on their campus in a live performance to their students. Folks, it's wrong. Now, my purpose this morning is not to preach against these different ministries or these different things that may be appealing to you. That's not my point this morning. My point is this. My point is that the sin of sodomy is becoming more acceptable among Christians. We're beginning to adopt the world's thinking. Isaiah 5 and verse 20 says this, woe unto them that call evil good and good evil, that put darkness for light and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Go with me to Jude verse 7, please. We're going to bounce around to a few verses now, Old and New Testament. Go to the book of Jude. which is the book right before Revelation. And look at verse number seven, please. Jude, verse seven, even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them and like men are giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. And you can take all that in context. The author here, Jude, gives a few different examples. But one of the ones that he gives is the city of Sodom. It's given as an example of wickedness and said to suffer eternal fire. Isn't that interesting? What does that mean? That means the inhabitants went to hell, period. God destroyed the whole city because of their sin. Now this is serious. What we need to see is what the scripture says about sodomy. Now Christian, in order to form your biblical opinion, you must search the scriptures and see what God says about it, not what man says about it. Please go with me to Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10. I'm going to give you this morning a few reasons or a few insights into what God has to say about sodomy, as to why it is a wickedness, it's abomination to God. The first one is in Mark 10. Begin reading with me in verse number six. Jesus is speaking in Mark 10, verse six, and he says, but from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh, so then they are no more twain but one. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. What do we see in this verse of Scripture? It goes against God's purpose. God has, excuse me, man has made attempts to redefine marriage by passing laws, but God has already defined marriage. Here it is, male and female, one man, one woman, husband and wife. There is no variation, you know, from this union of a man and a woman comes children that are to be reared to fear the Lord. Malachi 2.15 gives us that principle. There are other principles throughout scripture that will teach us the same, other verses that will teach us the same thing. God intends for the union of a man and a woman to produce children that are then to be reared to fear the Lord. Marriage is also a picture of Christ in the church in Ephesians 5, right? Are y'all with me this morning? Marriage is a picture of Jesus Christ and the church in Ephesians 5. It is sacred. It is not to be desecrated by man's perversion. Now again, I recommend that you write these things down and look them up for yourself. I'm giving you a lot of information. A person won't understand though until they know Jesus as Savior. Now Christian, we can rant and rave about the wickedness of the lifestyles. of the people that are outside of these walls. But do you know what? We have the solution. We have what they need. We have exactly what they need. As our pastor back in Martinsville used to say, sinners will do what sinners will do. Sinners live in sin because that's all they know. They don't have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. They have not embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ. They have a soul that is dead and they have a spirit that is perverted. They need the gospel of Jesus Christ. They don't understand that marriage is a picture of Christ in the church. They don't understand that their union is to produce children that is to be reared to fear the Lord. They need to hear it. Go with me to Leviticus 20, please. Leviticus 20. And let me say, people are hungry for the gospel. People are hungry for the gospel. Leviticus 20. I'm going to put up the next point. Leviticus 20, verse 13. Sodomy was condemned under the Levitical law. In Leviticus 20, look at verse number 13. If a man also lie with mankind as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. Now that's under the Levitical law. I want you to notice that God lays the blame for their sin squarely upon them. God does not say they can't help it, they were born that way. Do you hear me? God doesn't say that. Now go with me to Deuteronomy chapter 23. Flip over to Deuteronomy 23. Deuteronomy 23, we're going to read verse 17. There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel. Do you see that? God makes it very plain. If you wanna read the context, you can later, that's fine. Now go with me to 1 Kings chapter 14, please. 1 Kings chapter 14. 1 Kings chapter 14, I wanna begin reading in verse number 22. And I'm gonna preface this by saying this, that God in the Old Testament often used the sin of sodomy to some degree as a standard to describe how wicked the nation of Israel or Judah had gotten. When an evil king reigned, God would often allow, excuse me, that king would often allow sodomy in the land. When a good king reigned, he would often remove the sodomites from the land, and God chose to record that as one of the factors to establish this is a good king or a bad king, and to what degree that they were good or bad. Now look at verse 22, 1 Kings 14, 22. says, And Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked them with jealousy with their sins, which they had committed above all that their fathers had done. For they also built them high places, and images, and groves on every high hill, and under every green tree. And there were also sodomites in the land, and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. God calls it abomination. Look at chapter 15, just the next chapter. Look at verse 11, please. Chapter 15, verse 11. And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did David his father. And he took away the sodomites out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. God used it as one of the standards. Now, go with me to Romans chapter 1. Romans 1. Romans 1, we're going to begin reading in verse number 24. In Romans 1, verse number 24, it says this, who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator who is blessed forever. Amen. And in case you're wondering what that is, you can continue. We'll read the next two verses in just a moment under our next point. But the idea is this is talking about sodomite behavior. Men with men, women with women. They changed the truth of God into a lie. I'm gonna put it up on our PowerPoint this way. Sodomy is anti-God. They change the truth of God into a lie. It is just plain anti-God. And you may say, but I know people who are gay and they believe in God. And I'm going to stand before you and tell you I do too. There are two men in particular that I know that I cared about in an appropriate way. One an adult about my age, one a former student of mine. that I know have both turned away from the truth of God's word and have both embraced the sodomite lifestyle, thinking that they would find happiness. And guess what? They're pretty miserable. If you ask them if they believed in God, they will say yes, you see. But the Bible teaches us that the devils also believe in tremble. They may believe in God, but they have not accepted his truth. They may work jobs. They may contribute to their employer. They may pay taxes. They may, in some appearances, appear to be very good people, but they are rejecting the truth of God's Word and living in sin. Now, here's the underlying cause, pride. Ezekiel 16, 49, we're not gonna look it up, you can look it up if you want later, but Ezekiel 16, 49 says this, behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride. You see, when a man puts his own desires above the desire of God, the result is always sin. Now, concerning the sin of sodomy, you see that I put up there, it is anti-God. Romans 1 says, they change the truth of God into a lie. Please understand this, that man is made in the image of God. And to defile oneself with that type of perversion is to mar the image of God. Do we get it? God, I don't care what you say. This is what I want, so this is what I'm going to do. Those of you that have been around here a while have heard me say this before. It made an impact on me. A news article one time where that early in his presidency, President Obama was talking about his evolving position on sodomy. He didn't call it sodomy. I'm using that word because that's God's word. But he said he had an evolving position and he made the comment that he had sought several counselors and talked to them to get their input. And in the process of that, he named a few here and a few there. He didn't name all the counselors, but he kind of gave us an idea of who those people might be. But in the process, he never one time stated that he consulted the Bible to see what the creator of mankind had to say about it. Not once. The reason is pride. I don't care what God has to say. I want to do it my way. Now go with me to Romans 1, verse 26. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections. For even their women did change the 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. Men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error, which was meat. Now, we don't want to get into all of the description of the verse, but I do want to say this. I see this as being another reason that sodomy is wrong, what the scripture states, and that is it's against your created nature. The Bible tells us that they are working that which is unseemly. It goes against your created nature. Well, there are other places besides these. I'm going to put it up this way. Other places in scripture where sodomy is condemned. This one I'm just going to give you. We're not going to look it up. You can look it up later. But it's a story that is kind of similar to the story of Sodom. A group of men called the Sons of Belial, that's what God called them, tried to sodomize a man who was passing through the city. God referred to it as wickedness. They were unsuccessful because the host would not let them in, kind of the same situation with Lot. And so in turn, they actually raped a woman all night long, which ended up killing her by morning. See, Pastor York, that's pretty graphic. I'm just telling you the way it worked. Why? That goes back to our first point. They're willing to impose their will upon others, even to the point of harming them. God refers to it as wickedness. Now go with me to 1 Timothy 1, please. 1 Timothy 1. In 1 Timothy 1, I want you to look at verse number 9. In 1 Timothy 1, beginning in verse number 9, the Bible says this, knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind. Do you see that? them that defile themselves with mankind, for men-stealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust." In this passage of scripture and all these sins that are listed, God includes this idea of sodomy and calls it lawless and disobedient. Go with me to Leviticus chapter 18, Leviticus 18. In Leviticus 18, God is giving a list of sins that were performed by the Canaanites. when God brought Israel in. And God said, I am destroying these people and the land is going to spew them out for their wickedness. Now let's read a part of what God says, beginning in verse 1, please. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and saying to them, I am the Lord your God. After the doings of the land of Egypt wherein ye dwell, shall ye not do? And after the doings of the land of Canaan, whether I bring you, shall ye not do? Neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. Ye shall do my judgments and keep my ordinances to walk therein. I am the Lord your God. Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them. I am the Lord. And then he starts naming them. Now go over to verse 22, please. Verse 22 of this chapter, chapter 18. It says this, Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind, it is an abomination." Very clearly stated, verse 24. Defile not yourselves in any of these things, for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you. And the land is defiled, therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomited out her inhabitants. God abhors it. Makes you wonder about the future of America, doesn't it? Now, in spite of what the scriptures say, many Christians have followed the counsel of the world and have the opinion that it is an individual choice and we should not be judgmental about another person's lifestyle. There are people that will say that. As a Christian, your outlook on any subject should be based on the truth of God's word, right? If Scripture contradicts your opinion or if it contradicts popular opinion, you are responsible to God to bring your thinking in line with Scripture, period. Now, we are told by the Sodomite supporters that to speak against their sin is hate speech. That's what we're told. I want to read to you Ezekiel 33 verses 6 and 7. It says, But if the watchman see the sword come and blow not the trumpet and the people be not warned, if the sword come and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman under the house of Israel. Therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth and warn them from me." Do you understand? We have a responsibility to speak the truth. To warn them about their sin is an action of love, not hate. It is to warn them about their end. God has given us the responsibility to love the sinner and at the same time to hate the sin. Christian, it's your responsibility to have that balance. And what about the claim that they're born this way? I want you to listen to me for just a moment. I am not saying that the temptation of sodomy is not very real and even very strong in some individuals. I'm not saying that because I believe it is. But I want you to remember what Hebrews 12, 1 says. It says, wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. For some people, this is the sin that doth so easily beset them. There was one young man that I'm fully aware of that went to a good church. He grew up within that church, went to a Christian school, went to a Christian college, graduated, went to teach in a Christian school. And a few years after teaching, came out and said, I'm gay. I have fought this all of my life and I'm finally giving in. I don't want to fight it anymore. And his pastor said, there's the problem. You're not fighting it, you gave in. There are some men that have a desire for alcohol and for other drugs and they have to fight that. There are some men in this room that have a desire for pornography and for fornication and they have to fight that. There are some men in this room and ladies in this room that have a sin of gambling and they need to fight that. There are people in this room that have a love of money to the point where they neglect other responsibilities in order to gain money. They have to fight that. There are some people in this room that have a problem with depression or a critical spirit and it comes upon them and it is something they have to fight with on a daily basis. We live in a sin-cursed earth. It is a lifelong battle. And as we have learned, God gives us his Holy Spirit. God gives us his word. God gives us the high priestly ministry of Jesus Christ. God gives us the church family to help us. And he even puts some authority in our lives to guide us. God gives us the help we need to be an overcomer. But it takes surrender. It takes surrender. No matter what sin it is. Now let me say this, and while I'm saying this, would you please go with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. God loves and God forgives. Aren't you glad for that? I kind of get the impression some of you agree with that, so let me say it again. God loves and God forgives. Aren't you grateful? Praise God, because if He didn't, you and I all would be in a pickle, right? For those of you that are not from America, When I say they'd put us in a pickle, that means we'd be in trouble. Just clarifying. Look at 1 Corinthians 6. How do we answer a sodomite? 1 Corinthians 6, look at verse 9. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind. they are the sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. You see verse 11, and such were some of you. This is a pretty nasty list, isn't it? Sodomy, transgenderism, Those things are just in the middle of all of this. They're just part of the whole. This is a nasty list of sins. And the Bible says, such were some of you. But don't stop there. Look at the verse 11. It says, and such were some of you, but you are washed. Praise God, you are sanctified, you're set apart for God. You are justified in the name of Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God, amen, period. What do we say? We say that God can save them from their wicked lifestyle. But there must be repentance, there must be cleansing. It means a forsaking of the wickedness. Sodomy can be forgiven just like all the other sins that are listed in this passage. It can be. All you have to do is look at the Corinthian church and you can see it. There were some of them in that church. They're no longer the way they were. By God's grace, they are washed. By God's grace, they are sanctified. You see, God loves the sinner and he wants to save them, but he hates the sin. It's what put Jesus Christ on the cross. Now let me look back at the question that I started with. How will you as a Christian respond to the social, political, and government pressure? Peter had it right in Acts 529. He said this, then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. What are you going to use to formulate your thinking patterns? The culture or God's word? And I'm just gonna put one more point up there, because this message is about us, and about the way we think, and about the way we respond. And when governmental authority conflicts with God's commands, Christians have no choice but disobey government in order to obey God. It comes with consequences, are you ready? Can you do that and show the love of Jesus Christ to those that are around us? We can. I pray that we will. Would you bow your head with me this morning? We're going to have a time of invitation in just a moment. And when we do, you may want to get on your knees and pray for yourself, for boldness. Pray for those that are around you. Pray for folks that you may know. You may just want to ask the Lord to help your thinking to be in line with his. You may want to ask the Lord to help you be a testimony to those that you interact with on a regular basis in such a way where they see the light of Jesus Christ through you. Not in being hateful. That doesn't accomplish anything. But having the love of Jesus Christ emanate from you, but do it with a firm foundation on God's word. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the truth of your word. We thank you, Lord, that you don't leave us guessing, and we thank you that morality is based upon you and upon your word, Lord, not upon culture. We praise your name for that. And Lord, as we, as your children, face a dark world ahead of us, may we be that shining light that people are so looking for and longing for. Lord, would you lead those people to us and lead us to them? We pray, Lord, please help us to respond properly, to be obedient, to represent you well as ambassadors for Christ. And these things we pray in Jesus Christ's name, amen.