We want to thank you for listening to this week's sermon from Harvest Bible Chapel, Kansas City. We pray that you will be encouraged and challenged by God's Word today. If you would like more information about Harvest, please visit our website at www.harvestkansascity.org. So today, we'll be continuing in our Summer of Soul Care series. And it's been a great series, looking at a lot of different topics. I know we've had various speakers come up. We've had Sal, we've had Chad, we've had Jeff, and this is my first time preaching in it. And I hope it's been a blessing to you. I know it's been a blessing to me. It really challenges me because soul care counseling is something that is, it's not necessarily natural to me. So it's something that I want to grow in as well, and I'm sure you do as well. But today, we are discussing a topic that gets much publicity. It divides denominations, it divides individuals in the church, even, and definitely in the world. It's a very divisive topic. And this topic is homosexuality. There's maybe no topic that's more polarizing, more dividing within the church today, in our day. Unfortunately. But I can assure you, I will handle this topic with care. It's going to be a little bit different than maybe what you would expect when it comes to this topic. We do have a great children's ministry, so if you have kids here that you'd like to bring there, our teachers would love to pour into them as far as this morning if you don't feel comfortable with them being here. But what I want to tell you is that what this message is not going to be. What it's not going to be, all right? So what it's not going to be is a fully developed lesson or theological position of where we are regarding this issue. We've done that at length, and we obviously believe that homosexuality is a sin, amongst many other sins, of course. It is a sin. But that's not the purpose of this message. We want to go a little bit different as far as where we're going to go. And if you're interested in hearing more about our actual position, you can go to our website, harvestkc.org, click on sermons, Go to page six, scroll down, and what you'll see is some messages from Pastor Jeff where he goes through the seven different arguments that revisionists will offer up when it comes to this topic. He also goes through the different biblical passages as well. So if you're looking for more of that type of message as far as where we stand and why we stand on that, that would be a great place for you to go. So given our position regarding the sinful nature of homosexuality, my goal is not to try to convince you why this is a sin. That's not the goal here. My intention in this message is to open up your mind a bit in how you interact with homosexuals, and also to give you some tools as far as how to care for someone struggling with same-sex attraction. Because it genuinely is a struggle. Know that no matter how happy, quote-unquote, somebody seems that they are, this is a struggle for them. It is. It's a struggle in a lot of different ways, mainly in areas of loneliness, depression, rejection by those closest to them, and sometimes suicide. One statistic that I read, it said, numerous studies have shown that lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth have a higher rate of suicide attempts than that do, than that of heterosexual youth. The Suicide Prevention Resource Center synthesized these studies and estimated that between 30 and 40% of LGBT youth, depending on age and sex groups, have attempted suicide. Think about that. 30 to 40%. That's a lot of people. That's a startling statistic. And maybe that person that's struggling through this process is a family member that's close to you. I was talking to some guys out in the hallway here, realizing that all of us have a relationship in our life that's close to us, a family member that would identify in this way. So I know it's an issue that hits close to home. So maybe it's a family member that's close to you. Maybe it's a coworker. Maybe it's a neighbor. Maybe it's your child. Maybe, maybe it's you. But maybe you've never admitted it. No matter who it is, the goal, the goal is still the same. And that is, first and foremost, to find hope in the gospel. To find hope in the gospel. That is our only hope. The gospel is the starting point, the end point, and everything in between when it comes to counseling and discipling somebody who's struggling with same-sex attraction. The gospel is everything. So the fundamental question we must ask is, why do we all need the gospel? That's because apart from Jesus Christ, apart from a relationship with him, we have no hope. We are hopeless. Zero hope. no hope for salvation in the future, no hope for living a life pleasing to God now here in the present? Kevin Carson, in his book, Counseling the Heart Cases, says, Now, we say this a lot around here, but you have to preach the gospel to yourself. We can't walk around thinking that we are bulletproof in some form. We, you and I, desperately, desperately need Christ. We have no hope without him. We need his renewal. We need his hope. We need his life change so that we can grow away from the sexual sin in our lives. The finger must be pointed not at others, but at ourselves. So for the purposes of this message, we'll be looking at a few different passages of Scripture. The first is 1 Corinthians 6, 9 through 11. So if you'd like to turn over there now. It's a verse that you know well in regards to this topic. Verse 9a says, Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? This passage is so often used only, exclusively, to describe how homosexuality is a sin biblically. That's the way that it's used. But isn't it so much more? The unrighteous, the wicked, the heathen, They're clearly defined here as not just those practicing homosexuality, but everybody who practices sexually immoral behavior. So what does that include? That's any form of sexuality outside the confines of marriage. Adultery, the passing lustful glance, the viewing of pornography, and also homosexuality. No one gets a pass here. And in case none of those hit you, Paul gives us a whole bunch of other elements, a whole bunch of other areas where he could point the finger in some ways. Idolaters, adulterers, greedy, thieves, swindlers, revilers, drunkards. I know that in my own life, that all of those apply to me in some way. I'm no different. None of us are righteous apart from Christ, and verse 11 says that none of us will inherit the kingdom of God apart from a relationship with Him. So no matter your sexual orientation and our unrighteousness, we have no chance. But, but God made a way through Christ. Amen? That's the good news, the good news of the gospel. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, Christ became our sin. He became same-sex attraction. He became lust, idolatry. He became those things, and we became righteous through Him. What a glorious truth for all of you. Verse 11 is one of... I love verse 11 in this passage. It says, And such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. The gospel changes everything. I think there's a song about that. And everyone, when they embrace Christ as their one and only Savior, Once somebody is gripped by the gospel, they will change from the inside out. The ripple effect will transform even the most hardened gay or straight sinner. The key word there is were, and such were some of you. Isn't that hopeful? From my own experience in coming to know Christ at 16 years old, there were some parts of my life that really were changed very, very quickly. I had a dirty mouth. I used to swear and I used to lie. I used to steal things and vandalize people's homes. Those areas of my life changed very, very quickly, but there was other areas of my life that did not change so quickly. Selfishness, pride, lust. Those are a continual, ongoing battle. I'm a work in progress, and so I'm so grateful for the word were there, and you should be too. As such were some of you. So when it comes to this issue of homosexuality, it's easy to get caught up in the issue specifically and never actually get to the gospel, right? So there's a couple reasons for that. Number one is that Christians bring it up immediately as though it's their primary message. Like it's the one battle that we have to fight with people. It shouldn't be that way. It's not our one battle. The other reason why people get caught up is because many times people struggling in this way will bring it up to you. They've heard about Christians, they know our stance, and they want to see what you think about that. So we must be careful, cautious, prayerful. Every word must be thought out. You can't afford to just speak. And speaking from someone who just says things out loud and doesn't really think about them, like this word is for me, okay? So important. See, in our zeal for the Word of God, we have to be so cautious. And I know we want to stand on the truth of God's Word, but we have to do that in a very loving way. And this is key. I want you to be, I want to be clear that it's important for you to be clear on your position. Like, you want people to know where you stand, for sure, but it must be in a way where the gospel is of central focus. The actual, like, the gospel has to be centered in that, and our own vulnerability, our own sin must be on full display. People see right through you when you're not being genuine. One of my good friends who works in ministry, he's been building a relationship with a homosexual couple for the last two years, and it's taken a long time to build trust. The question that he constantly gets asked by them is whether he sees their lifestyle as a sin. And while he's very clear with them that he does, in fact, see it that way, he's also very, very quick to say that he is a sinner just like them, in need of grace, in need of forgiveness, in need of a relationship with Jesus Christ. And him doing that in a loving and gracious way has caused fruit to happen. The Lord has been working in that relationship. And one of the partners has been going to church with him locally here at a Bible-believing church for the last several weeks. And they've been reading scripture with him. Think about that. That's a beautiful thing. The Lord is moving there. So if you or anyone you know is struggling with this sin, know that Christ already took it upon himself on the cross. Therefore, trust him as such were some of you. Be found in him. Stay centered in the gospel. So whether you're needing hope or you're providing hope when it comes to same-sex attraction, find hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Number two, find identity in Christ. That's our next key here, is find identity in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5.17 will be key here. Identity is defined as who or what a person is, very simply, right? So for a same-sex attracted person, much of their identity, nearly all of their identity, is wrapped up in their sexuality. Even to call someone gay carries with it an identity, it carries with it a lifestyle, it carries with it stereotypes. Some of them harmful, many of them harmful. But we are so much more than our sexuality. It should not define us. Again, Kevin Carson, in his great book, he tells us that, for that reason, they seek affirmation in people that share that common identity. Shouldn't that identity be found in the church for someone who's a believer but struggling with that? In seeking to help a person with same-sex attraction, a replanting of their biblical identity is absolutely essential. Who they are in Christ. We all experience identity theft in some form. I recently had my wallet taken, and I was worried about such things. But we all experience it as believers. We forget who we are. We forget who we're becoming. Our identity is stolen. The enemy seeks to steal, kill, and destroy, and that so much involves our identity in Christ. It's a huge struggle for me. So what does the Bible say about our identity in Christ, and how does that relate to a person struggling with same-sex attraction? But we will look at one primary passage, again 2 Corinthians 5.17. It says, So before we can look at what the new is, the new creation, we have to look at what the old is. What is the old that has actually passed away? Well, the old that Paul is talking about is who you and I were before we came to know Christ. Romans 6.6, I love this verse, it says, Isn't that a great verse? Crucifixion is very likely the most painful form of death, and the old self being crucified is a painful and lengthy process for someone who's struggling with same-sex attraction just like anybody else. Your identity is being crucified, right? Who you used to be. The crucifixion of self causes the way a person thinks, acts, speaks, lives, who they hang out with, to change. But it changes sometimes slowly with tears and often backsliding. The reason for that is exactly what Pastor Jeff spoke on a few weeks ago, and that's Jeremiah 17, 9, about how our hearts are sick and deceitfully wicked. We can't help it. But when a person is immersed in the gay lifestyle, this is a full-out change because their identity is found in their sex, their sexuality. But are you much different? Our lives are so wrapped up in the idols that we worship. Our kids, our money, our house, our career, our second house, the way we look, the sports that we watch, the Royals. Amen. Guilty. Power. TV. Lust. Colossians 3, 9, B, and 10 says that we have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self which is being renewed in the knowledge and image of the Creator. What a wonderful and powerful verse. It says that we are being renewed in the knowledge of God and in His image. Like, we're changing. There's an instantaneous change, but there's also an ongoing change. So does this mean that a person struggling with same-sex attraction will lose their attraction to the same sex and be redirected to the opposite sex? That's a key question. And if there's an answer I'm going to give you that you may not like, and the answer is, not necessarily. Not necessarily. Some people who are former practicing homosexuals do grow in a desire for the opposite sex, but some don't. Sanctification for us all looks different, but the goal of sanctification for the homosexual is not heterosexuality. That's not the goal. That's not what we're trying to attain for them. That's not what we're trying to help them attain. Christopher Yuan, write his name down, Y-U-A-N, Look him up. I'm going to tell a story in a little bit, but he's amazing. Christopher Yuan, professor at Moody Bible, states that the goal for all Christians should not be heterosexuality, but rather holy sexuality. Holy sexuality means one of two scenarios. The first is marriage, devotion, and complete faithfulness to your husband or wife. The second scenario is singleness and celibacy. Single people must devote themselves to complete faithfulness to the Lord through celibacy. And despite how marriage is glorified in the church in a lot of ways, I think we need to do a better job with singleness, don't you? There's glorious truths that are directed towards people that are single. If you want to write down 1 Corinthians 7.32, It's a blessing. Singleness is a blessing. It allows the person to focus solely upon the Lord. That 1 Corinthians 7.32 verse talks about how we are anxious for the things of our spouse. A single person doesn't have that. Their interests aren't divided. So whether married or single, holiness is the goal. Being Christ-like is the goal. You are not defined by who you were before. That's so important for a person struggling in this way. So the old passes away and the new creation comes. This happens kind of simultaneously, as I've mentioned, but you're going to look different. You're going to speak different. Romans 6, 4 talks about how you're going to walk with a newness of life. Not talking like you're going to actually walk, like, literally, like, you're not going to have a different gait, like, the way you walk. I walk like a duck, P.S. That's what people tell me. I kind of wish I walked differently physically, but when you're a believer, like, when you're walking in newness of a life, like, the way that you live is different. So how does being a new creation change things for the same sex attracted? Well, let's go back to 1 Corinthians 6, 11. And such were some of you, but you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. The three words that we'll look at here define the identity that we have as Christians. It says that we are washed. We're made clean. We're fully pure. We have a little goofy dog named Bosco. If you've been to our house, you probably haven't heard about him, because I don't talk about him because he bothers me a lot. But Bosco is literally unable to be made clean. I wash him, I give him a bath, he gets out, he's wet, he's more stinky. There's no way around it. The dirt is just so ingrained in him because he rolls in dead animals and does all this gross stuff. Yeah, he does. He's gross. But that's us. We're stinky. We're dirty. We can't be washed in and of ourselves. We need him to wash us. And that's what he does. He makes us pure. He makes us clean. He removes the stench. So we'll come back to sanctified here in a second, but next we see the word justified. It's the third word. That means to be put right with. All the brokenness of our sin, including homosexuality, has been made right through the blood of Christ. That means to be put right with. Love that. There's no condemnation for those that are in Christ despite what their former life looked like. The third word I'm going to talk about is sanctified. And in this context, the word means dedicated to service and loyalty to God. Think about that. Dedicated to service and loyalty to God. See, oftentimes, same-sex attracted Christians feel as if they are damaged goods, unsuitable to be used because of their past sins. Have you ever felt that way? I know that I have. Nothing could be further from the truth. God uses our past experiences, He uses our past struggles to encourage others that are going through the same thing. He uses our sin for His glory. God uses same-sex attracted people for His ministry. It's anything but a disqualifier. I've mentioned Christopher Yuan, but let me tell you his story. Christopher grew up, he was a first-generation Christian, or Chinese, immigrant to the United States. His parents' English is their second language. He grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and no one in his family had a relationship with Christ. He started experiencing same-sex attraction at a very young age. He felt a lot closer to his boyfriends, to his girlfriends. He was always looked at as different by his friends. He was really small. He was very artistic. He liked to play musical instruments. He played the violin. He always felt different in that way. He wasn't good at sports. So as he got older, he got into his teenage years, he started expressing his sexuality. He decided that he was gay and he wanted to live that way. So while he was down in Louisville, he was pursuing his doctorate in dentistry, he started living like a very outwardly gay lifestyle. He decided to tell his parents. He came out to them, and it was all those feelings that I talked about. It was rejection. It was despair. So he goes back to Louisville after he tells his parents. His mom, a couple weeks later, she decides to go down to Louisville because she wants to tell him one last time that she loves him and that her plan was to end her life. That's how much despair she felt. God miraculously intervenes. She's on the way down. She comes across a gospel tract of some sort or a booklet. She reads it. She comes to know Christ on a train on the way down to see her son. Isn't that incredible? So when she gets down there, Christopher won't see her. He doesn't want anything to do with her. And so this begins a 10-year journey for Angela, that's his mom, of prayer. She had a prayer closet in their house with prayers everywhere. and fasting. She fasted every single week, one day a week, for her son for 10 years. She had other people fasting and praying for him as well. But as this journey began for Angela of going down this road of praying for him and hoping for him, Christopher went down the other way. He immersed himself in this lifestyle. He began having multiple anonymous partners on a daily basis and selling drugs. Two are very intertwined. He became a very, very large drug dealer on the East Coast. He eventually got kicked out of dental school because of what he was doing. and he became a huge drug dealer. This all eventually ended when he got a knock on his door, and it's a knock you don't want to hear, it's from the DEA, Drug Enforcement Administration, and they busted in, and he had just received a huge shipment of marijuana. He was charged with the equivalent of two tons of marijuana in his apartment. Not actually thousands of pounds, but the equivalent of. So he gets sentenced to 15 years in jail And while he's in jail, the bad news just keeps coming, because he goes to see the nurse. And she slides a paper across the table, and it has three letters on it, and a sign, HIV positive. So talk about your world collapsing down. So as he's in this place of despair and uncertainty, he runs across a Bible in a trash can. It was a Gideon's Bible. So he grabs this Bible and he begins reading it. And he reads it cover to cover because he says in his testimony, I had lots of time. He did, right? He was a few years in prison at this point. So he reads the Bible numerous times and the word of God just changes him from the inside out. God begins to move and he comes to know Christ in prison. But then, the hard part, right? How could he reconcile his identity as a homosexual with his newfound faith in Christ? How could he do that? He read the Bible again, more times, through, all the way through, looking for justification for the way that he was made and the way that he was living. But he simply couldn't find it. He realized that despite his feelings, despite his desires, despite his experiences, homosexuality and Christianity cannot coexist. He can't live that lifestyle and call himself a Christian. During this time in prison, Christopher felt a deep desire to study God's Word. So he applies to Moody Bible Institute from his prison cell. His references are prison guards to get into the college. Somehow, someway, he gets into the school, right? He goes on to get his bachelor's in Bible from Moody. He gets his master's in exegesis from Wheaton College. And in 2014, he finishes doctorate from Moody. And now he teaches there. An HIV positive, former homosexual, prison felonies teaching at a Bible college. Miraculous, right? Now he speaks all over the world. I've heard him speak multiple times. He has a book that if you're interested, this book will captivate you. It's called Out of a Far Country. Out of a Far Country is what the book is called. I got to speak to him at the Moody Pastors Conference. It's last week. He held a couple of sessions there. Amazing, amazing guy. He has a website also. You can look him up. He's got all kinds of answers and resources and just really good stuff on there. All that to say that God uses his people for his work despite what they have done. He sets them apart for his usage. So there's so much more that can be said as far as in terms of identity, but I will leave it at that for now, because you guys want to get out of here and watch football at some point today, I'm sure. So, find hope in the gospel, find identity in Christ, and next is find strength in the battle. Once the gospel has been received and their true identity in Christ has been embraced, the battle is truly on. We're going to look at 1 Corinthians 10.13 here, and it says, But God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it. This verse mentions temptation in three different ways here. Temptation is unavoidable, but temptation is not sin. Even homosexual temptation is not sin. James 1.14-15 says, And sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death. Sam Alberry, he wrote a book called, Is God Anti-Gay? Another amazing book and amazing resource. He's a pastor who struggles with same-sex attraction himself. He says that the formal and functional goal of counseling in any situation is for the believer to glorify God regardless of the type of temptation that needs to be overcome. For the same-sex attracted person, one of the things that is hardest for them to believe is that their sin is common to man. But it is. It's common to man. And it's common to you, but in a different way. You may be thinking, well, I've never struggled with same-sex attraction. It's not common to me. How could that be true? Well, how are you doing with porneia? It's a Greek word for sexual immorality. How is your purity? Are you staying 100% faithful to your wife or your husband? If you're single, are you staying faithful to the Lord in your singleness? Sexual sin is the most widely struggled with and probably least talked about sin in the church today. And that's one of the many reasons that we have small groups. There's a little plug. Join a small group. Receive accountability. We need to help each other in that way. Sexual sin is common to man. We're in the same boat. Remember, the goal is holy sexuality. See, in the midst of temptation towards whatever the sex, God is faithful. He gives us two promises that we can take to the bank in this verse. And he says, the first one is, no temptation is beyond your ability to endure. This means that no temptation will ever be so great that you can't say no. There may be times where it feels like you can't say no, but you can. Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him. Denying yourself is maybe one of the most difficult things that you will ever do. Sam Alberry again, he says, denying yourself does not mean tweaking your behavior here and there. It's saying no to your deepest sense of who you are for the sake of Christ. This is the essence of spiritual maturity, to look at what we want to do and to look that in the face and say, no, I will not do it. I will go the other way. That shows your growth in Christ, not how much you know about the Bible. The second promise that we see is that there is a way of escape. In the midst of temptation, there is always a way of escape, a way to remove yourself from the situation or maybe never even get into the situation to begin with. Again, in that book by Kevin Carson, he's sharing how he was counseling a person who was struggling with same-sex attraction, and how this man had to avoid malls and gyms, and he couldn't go online, he couldn't go to chat rooms, because that's how he would meet other men. He had to avoid it at all costs. So when you're helping someone with same-sex attraction, there's going to be moments of victory, moments of defeat, But there's also moments of victory. God is faithful. You believe that? It doesn't matter what the sin is. God is faithful. He's faithful in your desire to help. He's faithful in your desire to pursue holiness. So as we begin to kind of wrap this up, I want to give you some very practical kind of instructions from that Sam Alberry book when it comes to when someone shares with you for the first time that they're struggling with homosexuality or same-sex attraction. And the first thing that you should do in that circumstance is thank them. Thank them. It's something that is so personal and so difficult and so frowned upon and they feel so much condemnation for it, thank them. Do not reinforce the stereotypes that people have of Christians. That they're intolerant and angry. Number two, assure them of your care for them, of your love for them, of your willingness to help them through this and to walk with them as they receive help. Assure them. Number three, listen and ask questions. Do not be afraid to ask questions. You're not gonna start struggling with this yourself. It's not like catching the flu or something. Ask questions, learn, listen. And number four, and most important, is pray for them. Pray with them. Pray scripture over them. God is faithful, and he can do it. I know this is a difficult topic and I pray that the Lord has used my words, but if you go ahead and just pray with me as we close. God, we thank you so much that you are a faithful God, that you meet us where we're at, no matter what our struggle is, no matter what sex we're attracted to, God, that you are faithful and you can break the bonds of enslavement. You offer hope in your gospel, Lord, for anybody who's struggling here today and maybe has never shared their feelings, God. Would you put someone in their life? Would you give them boldness? Would you help them to know that they're not alone? And Lord, would you use us, God? May we be a place of love. May people be able to walk in our doors struggling in this way and feel welcomed and loved and not condemned. God, I thank you for your word. I thank you for the power that's available through you to overcome. God, we thank you for this time, in Jesus' name, amen.