Refuting Five Myths about Homosexuality #2

Welcome to the Truth Pulpit with Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Hello again, I'm Bill Wright. It is our joy to continue our commitment to teaching God's people God's Word. Today, Don is continuing with the second part of a message we started last time.

So let's get right to it. Open your Bible as we join Don now in the Truth Pulpit.

Now For the upswing of political correctness That forbade studies like what I'm about to describe. Before our modern age impinged itself upon. Academic and medical thought. Past secular treatment of homosexuality supports the assertion that it is not genetically determined. Between nineteen thirty and nineteen eighty six, many It's in italics in my notes, so I know it's a lot.

Many medical studies were published that documented a composite fifty percent success rate in producing considerable or complete change from homosexual behavior. That's over 50 years. of research. It's now been flushed down the commode because of Political wins. But listen, beloved, if homosexual behavior is genetically determined now, it was always genetically determined.

And as shown by the fact that 50% success rate existed in prior treatment, shows that it's not genetically determined. And what we're seeing here is individual arguments under this third point. The myth that homosexuality is, homosexuals are born that way. What you're seeing is a Culmination, a cumulative argument that is being made here indicating that. This is just not true.

The twin studies refute it. The American Psychological Association says, no, we don't know. We can't say that. A professional organization known as NORSH says no. In the past, there were medical studies that said 50% change.

Gracious. Do you see? How massive the lie is it's perpetrated. Just on this one argument.

Now let me ask you a question. You're thinking people. You're intelligent. Every one of you. Why would they lie?

If not, that they had to misrepresent something in order to achieve another result. This isn't about searching after truth for them. It's about a social goal that they want to accomplish by any means possible. Otherwise They would be as forthcoming. With this information.

And look, I feel sorry for you in one sense. I know that many of you are saying, I never heard this. Where can you find this stuff? It's not easy to find. It's all there, but it's not readily available.

You really have to go after it like a detective going after a criminal in order to find the evidence that is right there. They don't want you to see this. And yet it is easily documented, and I've got all the documentation right here on my table in front of me. I'm not making this up. If the narrative were true.

There would be no ex-homosexuals. But the narrative is not true. Many Christian ministries exist to help homosexuals change their behavior. Many of the leaders are ex-homosexuals. For those of you who would like a Good book to read: a modern account of a homosexual conversion.

Now I know you're going to write down notes. I encourage you to pick up the book titled The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert. By an author known as Rosaria. Champagne Butterfield. It's a well-known book in Circles that teach on this issue.

The secret thoughts of an unlikely convert. misses Butterfield Was a lesbian English professor at Syracuse University. Who was converted to Christ under the patient ministry of an older pastor? And she is now a pastor's wife. in a Presbyterian denomination.

That would be impossible. If the prevailing narrative We're true. Homosexuals can change, they do change. The genetic argument is simply a falsehood, it's a fiction. Myth number four.

Homosexuality is physically and mentally safe. Yeah. Look, if if love is love. then what could be what could be harmful about it? I've sanitized what I'm about to say to you as much as possible.

I don't think it's even rated PG, but I want you to know that I've sanitized what you're about to hear as much as possible. But I want to say this. Just by way of start, and there's a place for a Christian pulpit to be somewhat prophetic, not in predicting the future, but in denouncing. The wickedness of men and women in leadership. There are people who have gotten rich.

and been elected to office on the issue of homosexual rights. And I want you to know, as a way of preface for what we're about to hear, that they have gotten rich. And they have obtained power on the backs of thousands, if not millions, of unreported broken lives. And it is a shameful disgrace on our nation. That's right.

How much? This lifestyle has ruined life after life after life. I understand. that people like me are called haters. By that so-called community.

But I utterly reject the hater label. It is the biblically faithful Christian alone who is expressing true love to homosexuals. Not just in the spiritual realm by offering them the forgiveness of their sins through faith in Jesus Christ, but in being willing to tell them the hard truth about the lifestyle that they're pursuing. I am weary.

Okay? I am weary.

Of hearing the argument from professing Christians who. who attack the kinds of things that we're saying and saying we just need to love everybody and affirm them and be friendly in the decisions that they make. After all, it's their lifestyle. It's their life. They get to choose.

You wouldn't say that about anything else that was dangerous to your health. You wouldn't encourage people down a path of self-destruction if they said, Hey, I think I'll put five bullets in the chamber and play Russian roulette. What do you think? Spin it and pull the trigger. You'd have a moral obligation to slap the gun out of their hand and say, Stop it.

What do you think you're doing? You're going to kill yourself. And yet No one would call That person, a hater. But I'm a hater for what I'm about to say. Here.

Let me just. This isn't the only study, but I just want to Sometimes visual props are nice, aren't they? This report, top health Top Health Issues for LGBT Populations. Information and Resource Kit. Holding it up for our online viewers.

Glad you're with us. Published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. of the US Department of Health And human services. In other words, the Obama administration. In 2010, Obama officials reported And I'm going to give you a string of health statistics here.

It's as horrific as the heroin outbreak here in the Cincinnati area. Obama officials reported That men who have sex with men Are 44 times more likely to be diagnosed with the HIV virus. than the general population. Syphilis rates We're 46 times higher than the general male population and 71 times higher than the female population. More generally, Homosexuality has been shown to result in a decreased life expectancy of 25 to 30 years.

Liver disease, which increases the risk of liver cancer. Fatal immune disease, including associated cancers.

Sorry, but this needs to be said. For homosexual men. Anal cancer at rates seventeen times higher than heterosexuals. Multiple bowel and infectious diseases, and much higher rates of suicide. Homosexuality, it's a documented fact.

By the Obama administration itself, that it greatly increases suicide, suicide idiation, and substance abuse. One study found this. homosexuals and lesbians were twice as likely. to have attempted suicide in the preceding year. Homosexual and bisexual men were four times as likely to attempt suicide during their lifetimes.

Depression and substance abuse were at least one and a half times more common in the homosexual. community. Do you ever wonder why they are depressed and suicidal? Listen. It has nothing to do with the fact that there are Christians that uphold a biblical ethic.

has nothing to do with that. I know that we're the scapegoats. That's not true. It's an utter fiction. Try this on instead.

for an explanation. Again. Relying on statistics from Top Health Issues for LGBT Populations published by the Obama administration. That's what I think of that. Try this on.

Over 56% of lesbian or gay adults report experiencing intimate partner violence. compared with 17.5% of straight adults. You are three times more likely to be beaten up by your intimate partner if you're in that lifestyle than if you're a heterosexual. Who's telling them that? Why isn't that public front page one news?

Why do you have to dig through a 100-page report and read the fine print in order to find that? Why isn't someone warning these people before they get enmeshed in the lifestyle? Look out, this is bad news. You know why? Because the politics aren't good in it.

There's not money to be made by protecting people. What's this saying? More than half the time. Their own lovers are beating them up. It makes me want to weep.

This is horrific. For those of you who are in the homosexual lifestyle. Watching over the live stream. I want to assure you, I'm not your enemy. Did I become your enemy just by speaking the truth?

On statistics Attested by your own preferred administration. That doesn't make any sense. I have no axe to grind against you. The axe that I'm grinding The thing that Elicits my passionate reaction against it is the fact that people are lying about this. People are not disclosing information that needs to be made.

And there is this great delusion. There are these rampant myths that are easily disproved. And you may not like me for saying it. But my homosexual friend, I love you enough to tell you the truth. I love you enough to lay out the consequences of what's ahead of you.

And there's another aspect of it, you know. I'm a pastor. I've counseled homosexuals in my office. I know the guilt that they feel. I know that some of them feel trapped in a lifestyle that they can't get out of.

Some of them say, but I didn't choose to be this way. We're going to talk about those kinds of things tomorrow. But I don't believe for a minute that everyone who has a homosexual inclination. or has been engaged in homosexual behavior. is a is a radical Like In some circles, I don't believe that for a minute.

Some of the reasons that I'm saying this, a big part of the reason that I'm saying these things, is to let you know that there is hope out of that lifestyle. The change is possible. that Christ does save sinners. He saved me. I wasn't into the homosexual lifestyle.

I had my own bank of sins. that I was proud of. and engaged in, and enslaved to. Christ saved me. He'll save you too.

I just invite you to come to him and lay yourself down before him. And the reason that we need to say these things is that we recognize that there is hurt. Deep hurt. In the lives of many homosexuals, why else would they destroy themselves? What's In the traditional use of the word, the historic use of the word, what's gay about that?

What's happy about that? What's happy about being a slave to your own desires to such an extent that you let strangers abuse you? Who's kidding whom? Who loves whom here? Can you imagine being beaten up after giving yourself over to someone, the hurt, the shame, the anger that must build into their broken hearts over time?

I'm not excusing the sin of it. But the way of the transgressor is hard. It's difficult, Scripture says. And where is the word that would warn them? Where is the word that would bring a word of comfort and hope and say it doesn't always have to be this way?

There's one person that has the power to do that. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only Christ who can redeem us. When you put these four myths together that we've looked at. that homosexuality is common.

That homosexual love is like heterosexual love. that homosexuals are born that way, that Homosexuality is physically and mentally safe, and you see how utterly false. All of that is There's two things that we would say about it. First of all, is this, is that on a human level, there has been an astonishingly successful misinformation campaign at work regarding the nature of homosexuality. On a human level, from a media and political and legal strategy standpoint, man, they are geniuses to have been able to pull this off in the past 20 or 30 years.

But it is. It is outwardly successful, but it is based on A series of demonstrable lies. That's just on a human level. On a spiritual level, bringing it back here within the church. to those of you.

Turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter 10. Second Corinthians chapter 10. I may have alluded to this on a prior Sunday morning. We need to understand. Actually, put your finger there and then look over at Ephesians chapter 6.

So, we'll just have your fingers in a couple of different places here. We need to understand the The nature of the battle. In Ephesians chapter 6, The Apostle Paul said, Put on the full armour of God.

so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Look at this in verse 12. How is it that we're up against this in our day and age? Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Jesus said that Satan is the father of lies.

We see a systematic perpetration of lies on a culture and upon a world system. And when you trace it back, look past the media. Campaigns, look past the political action committees, look past the legal. Maneuvers. And realize that we are against, and we are coming against tonight and this weekend, against a supernatural, deluding influence traced to Satan himself.

Because every lie traces back to him. I had you put your finger in 2 Corinthians 7. I don't want your finger to get a cramp in it.

Now turn there if you would.

So what do we do? How do we respond to this? What do we say in light of these things? 2 Corinthians chapter 10. How do we engage the battle?

Second Corinthians 10, verse 3 says, Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh in other words, not by human means that rely on lawsuits and politics and a constitutional amendment. No, no, our weapons are not of the flesh, but they are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Where is the knowledge of God found? Where is the mind of Christ found?

Nowhere else except in the 66 books of the Bible. It is God's truth. It is the teaching of God's truth. It is the proclamation of the gospel, which is the cannonball of fire against these lies. that we find ourselves enmeshed around.

And if If the collapsed society around us on a moral level brings us back to this one fundamental point, this time in history will be marked as a blessing from God to the church. to bring us back to the truth. Bring us back to the scriptures. Bring us back to that which And the words of the prophets were, sweeter to my taste than honey, and more precious than gold. Which Paul says is divinely powerful.

For the exposing And the contradiction and the refutation of lies, and pointing people to the truth that alone can deliver them. from their sins. You see, I know that a lot of people in our day and age want to, in the church, are speaking, and I understand where they're coming from, but they just want to narrow this down to just proclaiming the gospel on an individual basis and sticking to the gospel with individuals. That's fine as far as it goes, but these people that are advocating that don't recognize the breadth of the battle that we're engaged with. We're engaged with satanic philosophies that are designed to undermine the truth.

It's more than just an individual's salvation. We must bring the full truth of God to bear against this assault on. The way people think. And the Word of God is more than sufficient for it. I wish, in one sense, This is a denial of my love of the doctrine of providence to speak this way.

I'm far enough along in life that maybe I've got 20 good years if the Lord gives me breath. Maybe 20, maybe 25. You know what? I wish I had 50 to give to God's word in a time like this. Those of you that are in your late teens and early 20s, you've got those 50 years ahead of you.

Give yourself over to Christ. Give yourself to the teaching of God's Word. Give yourself over to the church and show yourself a lion and a warrior for truth. Because we're going to need you in days to come. This has been building up a while for the past couple of weeks, can you tell?

There's a final myth that we need to deal with. And really, this is just an introduction to the rest of the conference. Myth number five is that homosexuality is spiritually safe. You're more likely to find today. people who In the church, who believe that you can be a gay Christian, than those who would refute and contradict that notion.

A gay Christian. They assume that you can be an LGBT Christian. That's not true. That is an oxymoron. It is a contradiction.

In terms. Turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 6, and we'll close at this passage. And one more 1 Corinthians 6. And all of the scriptures that we're going to quote for the rest of the conference are contested battlegrounds. I realize that.

But you know what? God's word is Clear. It's not difficult to understand. When you let it speak for yourself. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 9.

Says, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? And notice this spirit-inspired warning. As if it were written for times just like ours. Do not be deceived. In other words, beloved, Give me your attention for just a moment.

Give me your eyes up here for just a moment, if you would. In other words, Scripture says that you are prone to deception on this very point. That's why the warning is there. If you were not subject to this deception, Scripture would not warn you against it. And so it says, as obvious as this seems, You need to be on guard so that you would not be deceived by what I am about to say.

By those who would contradict what I am about to say. Don't be deceived by it. And so the very nature of Scripture puts all of us in this room and Christians watching over the live stream puts us on notice. This is a point of vulnerability, even if we don't think so. If we're lifted up and boastful and proud, we think, oh, I could never fall for that.

Well, don't be deceived. tells us that This is a prime area for deception. What does it say? Look back at verse 9 with me. It says, do not be deceived.

neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor homosexuals Nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers. will inherit the kingdom of God. People who are marked by those Unrepentant sins will not go to heaven. And it is. A colossal Spiritual crime.

For Christians to suggest anything to the contrary. It is a cosmic treason against God to contradict what his own word says on this point, just for the sake of political correctness. Here on earth, and because we're afraid of what men will think about us by saying, no, unrepentant homosexuals will not go to heaven. It's a treason against God. to qualify that statement.

And what is more? is it is a treason against our fellow men, to offer them a false hope. That says you can be an unrepentant homosexual and not fear the judgment of God. That God will take you just like you are without repentance, without change, without you turning to Christ. You have to give up your sins.

Now look. Those of you that know anything about the homosexual culture understand that there's a sense in which. At least up until, who knows what's going to happen after this Supreme Court decision. But but their identity. The identity of many homosexuals is totally wrapped up in their sexuality in a way that's difficult for us to understand.

To tell them to forsake their homosexuality is to tell them to deny their very life. And that seems too severe. To Christians who don't trust God's word enough and think that, well, let me help God out here, I'll shave off the rough edges. But you know what? Denying yourself is exactly what Jesus said the price of discipleship was.

He said, If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross. and come follow me. There came a point where I had to deny my angry, prideful. Sinful self. And reject it all and say, that is ungodly, and I repent of it.

That's what we tell every sinner. At least we should. This is true of every sinner. It's not specific to homosexuals. The gospel message is the same.

No matter what your sinful condition is, you need to deny yourself, repent, and put your faith in Christ if you want to be saved. We're not saying anything different to homosexuals in what we say to sinners everywhere.

Now A treat on in verse 11. My homosexual friend, here's your hope. In verse 11, As Paul writes to Christians, at the Church of Corinth two thousand years ago. He says, Such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

You were like that, past tense. You now have been reconciled, justified, declared righteous in the presence of a holy God because Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate, left the glories of heaven above and came down to earth and lived a perfect, sinless life. Which he offered up to God the Father as a sacrifice to satisfy the wrath of God against sinners just like you and me. He took the punishment so that you and I could be saved. If we would put our faith in Him, And homosexuality My friend, is not the unforgivable sin.

Being a lesbian is not the unforgivable sin. We offer you the same gospel that we offer to sinners everywhere. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. And he'll save you too if you come to him in faith. And so the Spirit of God had changed those people in Corinthians so that they were no longer homosexuals.

Change is possible. for homosexuals and for those wrestling with those powerful temptations, you're not a prisoner of your genetics. If we're going to find the truth about these matters, having looked at these five myths and refuted them. We need God's word to guide us. And that's where we're going to turn for the rest of this conference.

And let's start here and close with. this one passage in Matthew 11. Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 11. And if you're watching at home, turn your Bible to Matthew 11. Maybe you're angry.

Maybe tears of hope or involuntarily running down your cheek. But I present to you a gracious, sympathetic Savior. who will receive you Despite all of your past sins, He will receive you and save you and cleanse you. and welcome you into his family. Jesus said in Matthew 11, verse 28, Come to me.

all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Are you tired of your sin? Come to Christ. He will give you rest. Look at his promise, and he never breaks his promise.

Never once has a sinner come truly to Christ and found that he was turned away. Jesus said, Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. I want every sinner. to know that rest.

Don't you? If you're a sinner in this room and you've never come to Christ, look at the promise and take this occasion to receive him. Those of you on the live stream, it's no less true just because you're not here geographically. Christ comes to you and says, come to me and I'll give you rest. Won't you come?

Come to Christ and be saved. Let's pray together. Father We're mindful that we've just made a direct assault on the gates of hell. We ask you. To bless that, to bless those that have heard, bless your church, Father, bless Truth Community Church, bless the broader Christian community.

With courage to trust Christ in the midst of these trying times. And help us to see and understand and embrace the fact that you appointed us for precisely this hour in history. And that it is the privilege and the responsibility and the duty of your people to rise up and meet the hour. and not wish that We lived in a different era. where this problem wasn't.

at the forefront. No Lord. Make us faithful. Make us grateful. Make us strong, make us courageous, because, Father, we look to you and we look to our Christ, the sufficient source of our strength.

Father, for those that react with hostility to what's been said here tonight and what will be said for the rest of the Conference With the words of our Lord Jesus, we pray, Father, forgive them. for they don't know what they're doing. And for those Whose hearts are yearning after Christ and yearning to be delivered from sin. Father May your Spirit, as it were, come from above and descend upon them. And grant to them that repentance and faith which leads to eternal life.

We praise you and we bless you for the glory and the majesty of your word and the glory and the majesty of our Christ. It is through him alone that we approach you. and in His name alone that we pray. Amen.

Now, before we go, I just want to send an invitation to you in this brief moment here at the end of the broadcast. It is a real joy and privilege for me to Week by week, meet new people who come through the Cincinnati area and stop by for a Sunday service or even a Tuesday evening Bible study at our location on the east side of Cincinnati. And I would invite you to do that. There are a lot of attractions that bring people to our region, and people often plan their trips around the opportunity to be with us on a Sunday morning service or on a Tuesday. And so, if you would come and visit us, I would love that.

But even more, make the opportunity, I'm very accessible at our church. If you do visit us, come and introduce yourself to me. I would love to meet you, have a brief word of fellowship with you, and for us to be able to cement our relationship even more, going from the mere audio here to that which is face-to-face in person as we share in the joy of serving. And knowing our Lord Jesus Christ. You can find the address and service times at our website, thetruthpulpit.com, and we would love to see you.

Again, that website information is thetruthpulpit.com. Dot com. That's Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Thank you so much for listening to the Truth Pulpit. Join us next time for more as we continue teaching God's people God's Word.

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