Navigating Culture: Deviations from God's Pattern for the Family

Recently we attended the Bible Conference in New Jersey and while there I picked up a book entitled God and the Transgender Debate. I had been working on a message on this topic.

Some of you might remember the last time I spoke it was on abortion, which is another issue that Christians need to be praying about. I hope that you are praying about the upcoming Supreme Court case, but I saw this book and bought it. I had been working on the message and I binge read it.

Those of you that have been there know they give you time in the afternoon to do some reading and whatever. I read through the book and learned much from it. Earlier in the service, as you know, we read from Romans chapter 1 and it listed many deviations from God's plan. Most of the cultures in the world today are being bombarded to varying degrees on various fronts by what is called the sexual revolution. One recent far-reaching front involves the debate over transgenderism. For Bible-believing churches, there is no debate. As we shall see, God's word is clear on the issue of human sexuality, but this is a debate, beloved, that the church cannot ignore. The world will not let us ignore it. Those who champion transgenderism and other deviations from God's plan consider Christians and our beliefs a threat to their agenda.

If you want proof of that, I'm going to read the foreword to this book. The foreword was written by Dr. Al Mohler, the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He offers a sobering warning to the church.

Listen if you would. The Christian church in the West now faces a set of challenges that exceeds anything it has experienced in the past. The sexual revolution is fundamentally restructuring our culture's collective understanding of family, society, and the very meaning of life. These challenges would be vexing enough for any generation, but the contours of our current challenge have to be understood as part of a larger project, which is affecting every square inch of society.

This revolution, like all revolutions, takes few prisoners. In other words, it demands total acceptance of its revolutionary claims and the affirmation, the thumbs up, of its aims or its goals. This is the problem now faced by Christians who are committed to uncompromising faithfulness to the Bible as the word of God and to the gospel as the only message of salvation.

I want to ask you three questions as we get started tonight. Is it your conviction that the Bible reveals the principles by which God will judge all mankind with eternal consequences? Read that again. Is it your conviction that the Bible reveals the principles by which God will judge all mankind with eternal consequences? A second question. Is it your conviction that you cannot participate in, assist, or approve of anything that is contrary to the Bible? When you stop to think about the ramifications of that second question, they're broad. Is it your conviction that you cannot participate in, assist, or approve of anything that is contrary to the Bible?

And then finally, the third question. Is it your conviction that if you are to obey the command to love your neighbor as yourself, you must speak the truth of God's word to him with compassion? Is it your conviction that if you are to obey the command to love your neighbor as yourself, you must speak the truth of God's word to him with compassion?

A brief introduction that I want to share with you. The attack on gender and the family as defined in scripture is part of the sexual revolution. And folks, just like they do with the account, the biblical account of creation, secularists scorn the Bible's teaching on gender and marriage. And they go further by accusing those who hold the Bible's teaching on gender and marriage as being phobic or being bigots. What is a phobic? Phobic means having an intolerance or aversion to something.

Secularist terms for those who do not share their opinions include the following. And you don't need to remember these. What I want you to get is this is just a taste. I'll mention this later in the message. One website I got on identified 112 genders.

You heard me. 112 genders. I'm just going to share a couple of things with you. What are some of the subtitles under this area of phobic? First, biphobia that they say is an irrational fear, dislike of bisexuality or bisexuals. Homophobia, irrational fear or dislike of homosexuality or homosexuals. Lesbophobia, irrational fear or dislike of lesbians. Transphobia, irrational fear or dislike of transsexuality or trans people.

At this point, I'd like to stop and ask a question. Are they becoming Christophobic? Are they becoming Christophobic? Irrational fear and dislike of Christians. The second thing, they not only call us phobic, but their second accusation of Christians that we're bigots. What is a bigot?

A bigot is one who regards or treats the members of a group such as a racial or ethnic group with hatred and intolerance. I want you to listen carefully to this next statement because it's very important. While Christians are commanded to love all mankind for their soul's sake, they must not practice, condone or facilitate anything which the Bible condemns. While Christians are commanded to love all mankind for their soul's sake, including our enemies, we must not practice, condone or facilitate anything which the Bible condemns. We are mainly going to be in Genesis tonight, but at this point I want you to turn to Isaiah. If you would, Isaiah chapter 5. And before I read the verses or tell you which one we're going to read, God gives a clear warning to those who would practice, condemn or facilitate anything that He identifies as evil. Isaiah chapter 5 beginning with verse 18 and we'll go down to verse 21. Isaiah writes, woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity and sin as if it were a cart rope. That say, let him make speed and hasten his work that we may see it.

Let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come that we may know it. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight. Folks, if you'll note verse 19, the taunting unbelievers said, where's the judgment of which you've spoken, Isaiah? Bring it on.

We'll believe it when we see it. And that's the attitude that a lot of people have today. These verses refer to the kind of confound distinctions of right and wrong. They're confounding the distinctions between right and wrong, just like those mentioned in Romans 1 that we looked at earlier. Paul warned us in that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. It goes on to state that those who practice such things, these vile passions that defy nature, sexual immorality, these things are deserving of death, and they not only do them, but they approve of those who practice them.

As we navigate culture, one question has got to guide us. What does the Bible have to say? That's why we ask those three questions. Is it your conviction about the Bible?

One thing we've got to question. What does the Bible have to say? As I mentioned earlier, most of this first point is going to be in Genesis. If you would turn to Genesis 1.

Genesis 1. And the first thing that we would share with you is Christians hold as a conviction that God created two sexes, male and female. Christians hold as a conviction that God created two sexes, male and female.

Notice verse 27. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. Then God blessed them. God said to them, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.

Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over every living thing that moves on the earth. He created males and females, first of all, for procreation. Notice verse 28 again. God blessed them. God said to them, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth. I have a few quotes tonight that I'm going to read slowly so that we make sure that you get them.

I thought about leaving them out and I just couldn't. People far smarter than I can offer us great insights. Dr. Georgia Prudhomme, with answers in Genesis, earned her doctorate degree in molecular genetics from the Ohio State University.

She spent six years as professor of biology at Mount Vernon Nazarene University. She states this. She says, the word of God does not separate gender from sex. That's important. The word of God does not separate gender from sex.

You know, the theoretical or psychological from the physical. Genesis 1.27 refers to the creation of male and female. That's two sexes. In Genesis 2, we read in more detail about the creation of man and woman. That's two genders. Specific male and female pronouns, she and her, he and his, are used to link male with man and female with woman throughout the general account of Genesis and creation. In other words, sex is directly connected to gender. And moreover, when God had finished his work, what did he say in Genesis 1.31?

He said it was very good. So God's good design is for only two genders or sexes, and this design is confirmed by our biology. Beloved, in short, there is no sliding scale between male and female.

There are males and females, period. Turn over to Genesis 4, if you would, and as I read these verses, you're going to see the ripples that happen when you throw a stone in the water. God is saying over and over and over again in different ways, I've created two sexes. Notice Genesis 4, verse 1, and the first part of verse 2. In that, we read Adam and Eve obeyed the command to be fruitful and multiply. It says, Now Adam knew his wife, and she conceived, and bore Cain, and said, I've acquired a man from the Lord, first part of verse 2. Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Two other terms are introduced to us in these verses, wife and brother.

And I think we all realize that brother refers to a male sibling. Turn over to Genesis 5. This restates the creation of a male and a female. Genesis 5, verse 2. He created them male and female and blessed them and called them mankind on the day they were created. To obey God's command to be fruitful and multiply, beloved, requires a heterosexual union between the two sexes that are necessary and complementary.

Any way you cut it, that's the only way that that command of God is going to come about. This is a biological fact that atheists and agnostics must acknowledge. In Genesis 5, verse 4 speaks of Adam beginning sons and daughters, two new gender terms that are introduced.

And what have we looked at thus far? God made males and females for procreation. But secondly, he made males and females for partnership.

I want you to turn back to Genesis 2. This is verse 18, God fills in the details of man's creation on day 6. And he introduces another of the reasons that God created woman. And we've mentioned it, partnership. Verse 18, the Lord God said, it is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him. Not identical, but comparable.

Equal in value, but necessarily different in some functions. Drop down to verse 21, and we'll read through 25. The Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept. And he took one of the ribs, his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man he made into a woman, and he brought her to the man.

And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. In this text, in this text we see the terms woman and man in verse 22. We see the terms father, mother, and wife in verse 24. Over in chapter 3, don't turn there, but chapter 3 verse 6, Adam is referred to as Eve's husband.

Let me repeat one more time for us. There is no sliding scale between male and female. God created men and women, males and females, husbands and wives, period. Turn to Matthew 19, and Jesus rehearses the truth taught in Genesis 1, 27. Matthew 19, we want to read verses 3 through 6, and he mentions two genders, males and females. Verse 3, Matthew 19, 3.

The Pharisees also came to him, testing him and saying to him, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason? And he answered and said to them, Have you not read that he who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate. Friends, the command for a man to be joined to his wife and the two becoming one flesh necessitates a heterosexual monogamous relationship.

There's another 25-cent word. Heterosexual, two sexes. Monogamous, one mate. Two sexes, one mate. God didn't create wives for Adam.

His model is one man and one woman. And when you drop down to verse 6, he states what God has joined together, let not man separate. So what he's clearly revealing is that God also intends for marriage to last a lifetime. Two sexes, male and female, a man and his wife for a lifetime.

That is his perfect plan. And we see so many deviations from that plan. Any deviation from God's model violates his word that is binding upon mankind. Adultery, fornication, polygamy, divorce, all of these things destroy the intimacy of oneness. The oneness of husband and wife must be guarded and grown for the health of any marriage. I hope that you understand that and I don't say that talking down, I speak to myself. The oneness that I have with my wife must be guarded and grown.

Must be guarded and grown. That is God's plan. Turn to Genesis 6 and we want to look at verses 18 through 20. Genesis 6, 18 through 20. And we're going to read about God's reboot of mankind and other life forms at the time of the flood. Let me insert here before we start reading in verse 18. Notice what I said earlier in the message. God is using different ways to bring up the same principle. Two sexes or genders. And he starts it all over again after the flood. Notice what he says.

He uses the same terminology also. Verse 18, God says, But I will establish my covenant with you, you shall go under the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, lie, to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female, of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind. Two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. This is repeated in Genesis chapter 7 verses 2 and 3. And in that text, Genesis 7, 2 and 3, God again instructs Noah.

Notice it. You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female. Two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female. Also seven each of the birds of the air, male and female.

Why? To keep the species or the kinds alive on the face of all the earth. He repeats a major reason for two sexes.

What is that? To keep the species or kinds alive. In the verses that we've considered, let me give you an overview, wrapping this first point up. In the verses we've considered, God created two sexes or genders, male and female, for the purposes of procreation and partnership. He defines the family as a union of one man and one woman and the offspring that result from their one flesh relationship. Upon the birth of their baby, the male or man is known as the child's father and the female or woman the child's mother. Adam's male children are called sons and his female offspring are called daughters. Again, any deviation from God's model violates his word that is binding upon mankind.

Folks, God makes it crystal clear, two sexes or genders, a man and his wife for a lifetime. Now let me tell you up front, the second point is a bit academic, but I want you to stick with me because you're going to hear some stuff that probably will shock you. Again, it's a bit academic, it's not exposition, but I think you'll see the value in it. We've looked at point one. Point two, Christians face challenges in a culture that is rapidly and blatantly declining morally and that considers biblical Christianity a threat to a secular agenda.

Let me say that last part again, that considers biblical Christianity a threat to a secular agenda. And what I'm going to give you is an overview of the society in which we live. And folks, this is not just America. This is worldwide.

Any quote civilized country is dealing with these issues. The challenge of some biological realities and this first one we have to mention and why I mention it is we don't want to be ignorant. And there's young people here may need mom and dad to explain this to them, but it needs to be said because it is a fact, intersex.

What is that? A person can be born with a combination of male and female organs, although a person's true biological sex can be determined through medical tests. This abnormal condition is called intersex and it is rare. So for people to use this as an excuse is bogus. The National Center for Biotechnology puts it at 0.018% of the population.

Now listen carefully to this. Dr. Leonard Sachs, medical doctor with a PhD, states, quote, The available data support the conclusion that human sexuality is a dichotomy, not a continuum. It's a dichotomy too, not a continuum. More than 99.98% of humans are either male or female, period.

Referring to intersex, Ken Ham, you've heard that name with answers in Genesis, adds that these abnormalities are not the same as so-called gender identity. Transgender, gender fluidity, and everything else the LGBTQ activists are pushing have nothing to do with biology. It has everything to do with psychology, and there is a huge difference when you think about that. It has nothing to do with biology, it has everything to do with psychology, how a person thinks or views himself or herself.

It's not a problem of the body, it's a problem of the mind. The challenge and the complexity of new vocabulary, hold onto your hat. The challenge and the complexity of new vocabulary.

Now, let me put you at ease, I'm not going to read all 112 genders that I found on that website, but you need to listen carefully to this. This is the culture that we live in, folks. This is the culture.

This is the culture that our young people are going to go out into. The challenge and the complexity of new vocabulary. Owen Stratton is Associate Professor of Christian Theology at Midwest Seminary.

He's the author of The Grand Design, and he states, quote, the sexual revolution has created a host of bewildering terms to describe the struggle for people to reconcile their internal desires with their bodies. Familiarity with modern terminology does not necessarily mean you accept these terms as descriptions of what should be. Familiarity doesn't mean that you accept it. It just means that you're aware of it. And that is very critical.

We need to keep that in mind. You notice that when you know what these terms are, they simply allow you to talk accurately, sensitively, and intelligently about what people claim they are feeling. And that's important, as we'll see in a moment.

The most important concept to understand, and I've got this in red to emphasize it. The most important concept to understand is the attempt to distinguish between, number one, the sex that a person is born with. In other words, the physical characteristics that that person has at birth, male or female. Trying to distinguish between, one, the sex that a person is born with, and two, the gender a person identifies with. In other words, their lived role as man or woman.

And as we've seen, God does not distinguish between the sex of an individual and the gender of that person. Gender dysphoria, and I don't expect you to remember this stuff, but you need to have just a broad understanding. Gender dysphoria is the general term to describe an individual's discontent with a gender. Listen to this, and I'm quoting these people.

I'm quoting these people. It's the general term to describe an individual's discontent with the gender imposed at birth based on visible physical sex characteristics. That's referred to as assigned gender. And you need to get the terminology, assigned gender. I want you to notice the words imposed and assigned. Why don't they use the words the gender identified at birth based on physical characteristics? You see what they're doing?

Let me read that again. This is referred to as assigned gender. An individual is discontent with the gender imposed at birth based on visible physical sex characteristics, or assigned gender. And I ask the question, why not just look at the baby and say, that's a boy. Look at the baby and say, that's a girl.

We go on. Individuals who are content with their sex and gender at birth are referred to as cis, C-I-S, gender. People who identify with a gender different from the one they were created with and that they had at birth are referred to as transgender.

You've heard that term. These other identities can take many forms. Some individuals identify with different genders at different times. Figure that one out. That's called gender fluidity. Unbelievable.

The wisdom of men is foolishness with God. They can identify with different genders at different times. That's called gender fluidity. Or no gender at all called agender. You don't identify as a male or a female or anything else. So what are you? An it.

I mean, really. The possibilities and the vocabulary to describe them are seemingly endless. And this is where I inserted, I counted, or I looked at 112 on one particular website. And I put in my notes, talk about confusion. Now, a report from the New Atlantis entitled, Sexuality and Gender, listen to this. The hypothesis. A hypothesis is something that you're throwing out there you can't prove.

Like a theory by testing. The hypothesis that gender identity is an innate fixed property of human beings. That is dependent or independent of biological sex. That a person might be a man trapped in a woman's body. Or a woman trapped in a man's body isn't supported by scientific evidence.

Did you get what they're saying there? The hypothesis that gender identity is an innate fixed property of human beings. That is independent of biological sex. In other words, that a person might be a man trapped in a woman's body. Or a woman trapped in a man's body is not supported by scientific evidence.

But they will still drive it down our throats as we'll see. Dr. Paul McHugh. And this is not a Christian descriptive of him. He is arguably, I'm quoting, the most important American psychiatrist of the last half century. He's got a four decade record of strong and well argued skepticism.

Regarding the increasingly accepted courses of treatment for gender dysphoria. The growing acceptance of transgenderism rests on insubstantial claims, he says. Insubstantial claims. The point of recent attacks on this doctor is not to take him down. And folks, this is why this point number two is important.

This is why it's vital. Listen, the point of the recent attacks on this man who's been a respected psychiatrist. A preeminent psychiatrist for nearly 40 years is for this purpose. It's to signal to every other mental health and medical professional in the country.

From psychiatrist to endocrinologist to surgeons to therapists to counselors. That the ideology of transgenderism will brook no dissent. You will not disagree with us. That intolerance will eventually include preachers that speak the truth.

Al Mohler points that on the introduction very clearly of the forward. They're basically attacking this man, a renowned psychiatrist, simply to send a signal to every other doctor in that field. Don't mess with us. We have an agenda.

Remember what I read earlier? That transgender is just part of the bigger program. There are several fronts. Abortion is a front, transgenderism is a front, and on and on it goes. The challenge of government involvement.

This is going to blow your mind. Springfield, Illinois, May 28, 2021, from LifeSite News. Illinois lawmakers passed a bill redefining infertility to apply to homosexuals and single people. And mandating insurance coverage for in vitro fertilization and other infertility services for the LGBT identifying individuals. What on earth is that saying? Well, let me tell you what brought this up. Pediatrician Zachary Marcus and his husband, Gary McDowell, a scientist, are pursuing surrogacy.

What is that? It's when a woman agrees to carry their baby. This new bill will force insurance companies to now cover the cost for homosexual couples. When you think about that, folks, it's alarming. It is alarming. In line with this, the Biden administration's budget includes a public health section which substitutes the words birthing person for the word mother. His budget has in it words birthing person that take the place of the word mother.

That's how far our culture has gone. And I don't say this to be funny at all. It's not. Are you basically just going to say the word mother has no meaning? And are you basically going to say this is birthing person's day? And again, I'm not trying to be funny. It's just absurd.

It's absurd when you come right down to it. The challenge of government involvement. This is the alarming one.

That's alarming. But the challenge of wolves in sheep's clothing. The Reformation Project. This is a group, their website states that the Reformation Project is a Bible-based Christian grassroots organization whose mission is to promote inclusion of LGBTQ people by reforming church teaching on sexual orientation and gender identity. So we are a Christian organization that's going to reteach what the word of God has to say on this topic. That's mind-blowing to me.

That's frightening. He says, or they say, we run national conferences, leadership development cohorts. We offer trainings and sources to empower LGBTQ Christians and their allies. If you'd like to become a more vocal advocate in your church, we'd love to partner with you. Folks, that statement is implying there's enough people that are swallowing this poison that they can have national conferences.

That's scary. And the key is this. They're going to do it by reforming church teaching on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The last thing that we will look at briefly. Christians need to be biblical, wise, and loving when addressing the issue of sex gender. First thing, we should not follow the culture in separating sex from gender, which is really the crux of the matter.

We must not change the Bible's vocabulary or apologize for what it says, period. We should speak the truth in love. The easiest thing for us to do is just remain silent.

Easiest thing for us to do. I'm not advocating we go out on street corners and be a crusader, but I am advocating that we need to be knowledgeable and for their soul's sake speak the truth in love. Because this is just a sin like innumerable others. And we need to be sensitive and loving in our approach. Gentlemen love is willing to suffer repercussions to be true to the scriptures. We should recognize that some people really do experience a range of desires, and they will be offended if we deny the existence of those desires.

You might sit there saying, big deal. Folks, we should be sympathetic and acknowledge that the issues are real, but then we need to point them to the deeper issues that are covered in the Bible. There are desires that are real and sinful. We're not denying that you got the desire, dude. What we are saying is that it's sinful.

See what I'm saying? If we deny that they have those desires, that's going to be a turn off. And I will give you an example that many of you have read about.

You'll see it in a minute. But we should recognize that some people really do experience a range of desires. Quote, if a person feels he or she has been born as a wrong gender, the answer is not gender reassignment surgery, hormone therapy, cross-dressing, et cetera. Those are simply worldly ways of acquiescing to the devil's lies. God doesn't make mistakes. God doesn't make mistakes.

He's not the author of confusion. Now, because of time, I'm going to be brief on this, but this is from an article on Together for the Gospel, June 24th, 2021. How do we affirm the dignity of each person we meet and work with while maintaining godly distance from affirmations that violate scripture?

He might say, what are you talking about, dignity? We don't want to treat other people like dirt or you're not going to have much of a witness. He's saying, how do we affirm the dignity of each person we meet and work with while maintaining godly distance from affirming something that violates scripture?

And this is most profitable throughout church history. Missionaries have discerned the difference between healthy contextualization, thinking you're losing me. Stick with me and we'll explain that. Healthy contextualization and ungodly syncretism. What does the author mean by these terms?

Because I had no clue. Healthy contextualization. Basically, Rosaria, you remember that? That gospel comes with a house key. She was a lesbian, very intelligent professor with tenure, a pastor and his wife invited her over with supper. They didn't get out their Bible and beat her over the head with it.

They just befriended her. And if I can say this from a human standpoint, they loved her to Christ. They did not affirm her lifestyle. They did not approve of her lifestyle. They just didn't attack her.

They didn't attack her. That is healthy contextualization. What about ungodly syncretism? When you put the words Christian transgender or Christian homosexual or Christian, anything that the Bible clearly condemns is wrong.

We read it in Romans 1. That is ungodly syncretism. What is syncretism? It's the combination of different forms of belief or practice.

It's the combination of two things, like a Christian homosexual. It doesn't work. It does not work and we've got to be aware of that.

I want to give two final warnings. Warning to parents, an article entitled Parents Helping Kids Navigate Transgender Ideology by Maria Bear. She says this, parents, you need to teach your young people about sex and to warn them about the attempts to normalize transgender, homosexuality, fornication and other sins that the Bible clearly condemns. This indoctrination is becoming rampant and oppressive. Whether you had your kids in a Christian school or home school them, you better teach them the truth. If you have them in public education, you better teach them the truth. This stuff will invade their space in the neighborhood if not in school. So you better be teaching your kids the truth. You better be teaching them the truth. And a warning to those who may struggle with gender identity.

I've already mentioned to you that surgery and whatnot is not the way to go. It says, this guy ends up saying that the truth be known, a radically disproportionate number of people suffering with gender dysphoria die by suicide as compared with the general population. An awful lot of them that have these surgeries and realize I've made an awful, awful mistake and I can't go back.

And what they do is they take their life. Five applications, five applications, and I missed changing one slide. That's okay, a couple. Applications for us, don't buy the lie that agreeing with what the Bible condemns is a phobia or a bigotry. That's a lie. Don't buy the lie that agreeing with what the Bible condemns is a phobia or a bigotry. Disagreement is an intolerance. I am not afraid of, nor do I hate, people who are unbiblical.

I am burdened for them. And I'm not going to allow somebody to pin the lie that I'm a bigot or a phobic on me. It's not true.

It's not true. The second thing, acknowledge the real psychological factors that influence some men and women toward gender reassignment. If you discount or disdain their struggle, you undermine your ability to share the Gospel with them. Acknowledging their struggle is not the same as affirming or approving of their desire. We don't approve of it.

We don't affirm it. We're simply acknowledging it and trying to be of help to them by sharing the Word with them. Two others, number three, when talking to someone who may be struggling with issues like sexual identity, homosexuality, or fornication, make it clear. The silence is your easy path, but love for them compels you as a sinner saved by grace to share the truth of God's Word with a desire to point them to His solution. The flip side of that, folks, is we look down our pious nose at them and think that their sin is worse than ours. And pride is one of the things that God hates. So what we want to make certain we do when we're talking to them, we want to make certain that we could take the easy way out, but because we do care for them, we want to speak the truth in love. Parents, understand that you need to teach your children and teens that God makes us male or female. His creations are always good for His purposes. They need to understand that both desire and discontentment cannot trump obedience to Scripture and find their contentment in Christ. Can I say that last part again, just part of it? Desire and discontentment cannot trump obedience to Scripture. Obedience to Scripture has to be first and foremost.

And then this last final application, and this is easier said than done. It's one of the things at the back of this book. Avoid pronouns altogether if possible when interacting with a transgender individual. Calling a person by their legal name or preferred name is more acceptable because names are not objectively gendered, but they change from culture to culture. And I give the example, the name Jessie, Casey, Riley, they're not gender specific.

And when you're interacting with someone, it's not the same as calling a male her or she. May God help us to be salt and light in a world that's becoming increasingly corrupt. I do want to close on a positive note. And, folks, I was telling someone before the service, this is one of the hardest messages I've ever had to prepare, and I know that there were some complex things in there, but we need to make sure our head is out of the sand. We need to make sure we understand what is happening to the values of this country that once shouted loudly, in God we trust. We need to understand that. We need to be knowledgeable, and we need to speak the truth in love. I want to read Psalm, don't turn there please, but I want to read Psalm 31, 19 through 24. Because this is encouraging.

This is the forefront we're facing. The writer, it's a psalm of David, and he says, Oh, how great is your goodness, what you've laid up for those who fear you, what you've prepared for those who trust in you, in the presence of the sons of men. You shall hide them in the secret place of your presence from the plots of man. You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. Blessed be the Lord, for he has shown me his marvelous kindness in a strong city.

For I said in my haste, I'm cut off from before your eyes. Nevertheless, you heard the voice of my supplications when I cried out to you. Oh, love the Lord, all you his saints, for the Lord preserves the faithful and fully repays the proud person. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord. Father, we do pray that you take what I've said tonight and make it profitable to each of us. We need to know what is going on in our culture. We need to know the truth of your word, your perfect plan for the family. And Lord, we need to be able to articulate it in love with the souls of people, our burden. Lord, I pray that you'd put your hedge about our families, that you'd help us to be bold in our witness, using the gospel in Christ's name. Amen.