Jesus and LGBTQ

The brilliant message of the good news of Jesus Christ is that God not only created you, but God loves you, God cares for you, and has sent His Son into this world to die on the cross for our sins. And that God, who is so magnificent in His grace and His goodness, as we've been reflecting on, that God has a plan for your life. So this means that every aspect of our life, including our sexuality, is to be brought under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Today we continue the series as we've been going through the Gospel of Matthew and have been looking at Matthew chapter 19. And we've been reflecting on what Jesus is saying regarding marriage, regarding divorce. Last week we thought of the gay debate, and today we think of Jesus and LGBTQ+.

Now as we approach this subject, let's not forget what we've seen before. In fact, before I began speaking on Jesus' teaching on marriage and gender, we reflected on the importance of the Word of God, that this book is the living Word of God. And what is important on this subject and any other subject is not what you think or I think or in a sense what Calvary Church thinks, but what God has said. I find it interesting as we approach this subject that today people talk about a sexual orientation. It used to be people talked about a sexual preference, which then was a choice.

But the language has been changed, the semantics have been changed, so that now people talk about a sexual orientation, that means this is the way I am. And in this view, you must accept me for who I am and for what I do. In this view, my main commitment in life is to myself, is to my own feelings. A Canadian philosopher has called this philosophy which is prevalent today as expressive individualism.

It's all about my view, my feelings, and you cannot dispute what I am feeling. When I attended Edinburgh University in Scotland many, many years ago, as a follower of Christ and a seeking to witness on the campus at Edinburgh University, I was confronted, as were my Christian friends, with a lot of opposition. The Marxists were very dominant in Edinburgh at that time with the studies of Herbert Mercuse, interestingly that they resurfaced, and so we were taught that we had to defend our faith, we had to interact with people, but now it appears that on some university campuses opposing views are being shut down.

Have you noticed that? And to disagree with someone now, to disagree with some 18 or 19 year old who is presumably at a university to be educated, that that view is shut down because it may cause psychological harm to this individual if he or she hears an opposing view. And so people are posing themselves as victims, and students have to go to a safe place. We didn't have any safe places at Edinburgh University when we were shouted down.

But now, on some university campuses, there is a safe place where students can go, not to be challenged, not to be confronted with another view, which I would have thought is part of education for any student, but rather to be reassured. What has happened in our culture before our very eyes, self reigns supreme. And we've already established from Scripture that our good God, you can argue with it, you can dispute it, but that our good God that we've been singing about, our wise God, Almighty God created two distinct human beings, two sexually distinct human beings. He created male and female. Therefore, what's happening in our society with the blurring of the differences between male and female is contrary to God's design. Your sexual function has been defined by God, not as male-male female, not as female-female, but as male-female. And lastly, we thought generally of the subject of Jesus and the gay debate, but we're going to look at some particular Scriptures dealing with same-sex conduct as we think of this subject of Jesus and LGBTQ+. So let's open our Bibles, and this one you can all find because it's the first book of the Bible, and it's Genesis.

We're going to think of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19. Genesis 19 then, verse 1, the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth and said, my Lord, please turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet.

Then you may rise up early and go on your way. They said, no, we will spend the night in the town square. But he pressed them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house.

He made them a feast, baked unleavened bread, and they ate. But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young men and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot, where are the men who came to you tonight?

Bring them out to us that we may know them. That we may know them is a euphemism, that we may have sex with them. In fact, the New International Version translates this, that we may have sex with them. Men wanting to have sex with men in ancient Sodom. Verse 14, so Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, up, get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city.

But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting. As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city. But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him. And they brought him out and set him outside the city. And as they brought them out, one said, escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley.

Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away. Verse 23, the sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord, notice it's the Lord, the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah, sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven.

Does that surprise you? It does in our modern culture, doesn't it? To think of judgment. People say, well, this is that hellfire stuff. People no longer believe it. Well, you may not believe it, but the reality is that God — yes, this God of love, this God of grace that we're singing about — that for those who refuse His love, for those who don't listen to His message, judgment comes.

And here's an example of it. Verse 25, He overthrew these cities and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground. But Lot's wife looked behind, she looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Verse 29, so it was when God destroyed the cities of the valley.

Couple of points I want you to know. This is the judgment of God. The judgment comes from heaven. It's not that Abraham and Lot were angry and brought some punishment themselves. No, the judgment came from the Lord and the judgment was on wickedness. This was a historical event.

You say you don't believe it. Well, it was referred to by Jesus in Luke chapter 17, verse 29. Jesus says, but on that day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. God destroyed these cities. You say, well, why did God destroy these cities?

Is it pretty harsh of God? Well, both Jews and Christians have always regarded Genesis 19 as dealing with the judgment of God on homosexuality. Because of the repeated immorality and perversion in the practice of homosexuality, God judged the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. In fact, the very word Sodom is another word for homosexuality, and it derives its meaning from Sodom.

So a Sodomite is someone who practiced what the man of Sodom did, namely homosexuality. It is clearly contrary to the Word of God. You say, well, that was written a long time ago. What did the Mosaic Law say about this?

Let's read it. Turn over a few pages to Leviticus. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus. Leviticus 18, we're coming into what is called the Mosaic Law. Many years after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Moses, you'll recall, received the Law from God, and here it is on this subject, Leviticus 18, verse 22.

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. Some translations say it is detestable. It is something repugnant to God. It goes directly against God's created order. In the previous messages, I've emphasized what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 19, that from the beginning, right from creation, this is God's order. God created male and female. Chapter 20, Leviticus 20, verse 13. If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. There it is. It's a detestable thing. They shall surely be put to death.

Their blood is upon them. Now these commands have no qualifications or exceptions. They are not ceremonial prohibitions, but they are reflection of God's moral standards. They are consistent with what God does in the beginning.

When He made us in His image, He made us male and female. And Leviticus 18 is in a chapter in the Bible prohibiting incest, adultery, child sacrifice, and bestiality. All commands which apply not only to ancient Israel, but to all nations. Serious breaches of God's law, serious violations of God's created order. So God is saying a man must not take on the role of a woman in sexual intercourse because God created distinct sexes, male and female. Homosexual conduct then is contrary to God's created order. Oh, but you say, John, you're in the Old Testament.

Things have moved on. I'm a believer in the New Testament. Well, let's look at the New Testament.

Let's go over to Romans. Thousands of years later after the law, here is Paul. I would emphasize writing under the inspiration of the Holy Scripture, he's writing about the subject in Romans chapter 1.

I'm going to say that the biblical condemnation of homosexuality, of same-sex relationships is not confined to the Old Testament. It is in fact also in the New Testament. Verse 1, I'm going to read verses 26 and 27. A few years ago, I preached through Romans, so if you want to get the full background of Romans chapter 1, you can go online, CalvaryChurch.com, and you'll get the message or messages on Romans 1.

I can't remember how many I preached. Verse 26, notice, for this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions, for their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature. Notice Paul's words. And the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. Now Paul's argument in Romans chapter 1, which I don't have time to develop, but his argument in Romans chapter 1 is that homosexuality, lesbianism are acts of unbelief. They stem from a rejection of God's truth. They stem from a rejection of God's good design for those He created. God created us.

He could have created us any way He wanted, but in His infinite wisdom and in His sovereign purposes, He made us male and female, two distinct sexes. And Paul is saying that in the breakdown of society, as he describes in Romans chapter 1, as God gives them over to their sins, one of the characteristics of the breakdown of a society is this, the distinction in male-female relationships is blurred and confused. Now do you think that here in the United States, or we think of Western Europe the same, do you think, if you're thinking as a follower of Jesus Christ, is our society getting better or worse? Are we more godly people than we were 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, 40 years ago, 50 years ago?

I don't know how old you are, right? I think of my native Scotland, it is decidedly worse than it was when I was a boy. In the time I've been here in the United States, in fact, in the 15 years I've been as a pastor of Calvary Church, it seems to me, and I am not making a political point, please hear me, the problem is not so much a political problem, it's a spiritual problem, that we as a nation, as a city, as families, as individuals, we can't point a finger at others, can we? That we are turning from God. That we are forgetting God. And one of the results when people turn from God, when people close this book, throw the book away, or in some churches give lip service to it, when the Word of God is not read and proclaimed and followed as is happening in our society, one of the results is that God's order, God's created order in marriage, in our sexuality, is blurred, confused, and we see it right in front of our eyes.

So that next week, I'm going to preach on a subject I would never have thought of preaching on even when I came here 15 years ago, that Jesus and transgenderism. We are living out, in my view, Romans chapter 1, a breakdown of society and one of the results is this, the confusion between male and female. Paul is also saying, as we read, that these acts are contrary to nature.

Have we forgotten that we have a very skillful, a very devious enemy who attacks us? He attacks what God has said. God gives us marriage, He attacks marriage. God gives us our sexuality, He attacks the sexuality. God gives us the church, He attacks the church.

You know that. If you want to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ, you know that the devil harasses you and tempts you and seeks to devour you. Romans 1, incidentally, is the only place in the Bible where lesbianism is mentioned. It's described, did you read? Please hear me, students, singles, married women, sisters in Christ, listen, it is dishonorable passions.

It's described as contrary to nature. Here is a breakdown of the biblically defined instruction of male-female relationships. The men are also said, did you know this is Paul's terms? To be consumed with passion for one another. They are committing shameless acts.

We see it on their screens, we see it on their television. Things that would never have been even spoken about are now not only practiced but are applauded, not only applauded but they're put right in front of us. Shameless acts. You see, sin distorts the good desires that God gives us. God makes us as sexual beings, that's good. That's a wonderful gift of God.

The devil comes and sin comes and distorts it. And God made us in the beginning, to say the obvious, in such a way that our anatomy fits male to female. Not female to female, but male to male. In the sexual act, the male is the initiator and the female is the receiver. Only male to female can procreate. Isn't that true?

Isn't that obvious? Same-sex relationships, then, are not just a violation of some cultural norm, as people say. Well, it's time we grew up, people once believed that, but we're now changing, we're now sophisticated. No, it's against God's created order. Turn over a few pages to 1 Corinthians 6. You say, John, this is kind of tough to hear.

It may be. You know, as I've prayed about this message, I thought our society, our schools, our educational system, our media, our politicians, our courts, they are very strong in their view, aren't they? Why are we so silent when we have the truth? Why should I apologize, and I don't, for proclaiming God's truth?

It needs to be heard on this subject. First Corinthians 6. What kind of city was Corinth? It was just like Charlotte. Ancient Corinth was like Charlotte in October 2021. It was a wicked city.

It was an immortal city. And then the church at Corinth, there was all kinds of people. There was a lot of problems at the church at Corinth.

There was a lot of problem people. And there were those who, prior to their conversion, had committed the very sins that we're going to read of. This is a wonderful passage. First Corinthians 6. He says in verse 9, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Don't be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who practice homosexuality nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkers nor revilers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. But notice verse 11. Isn't this a wonderful verse in our Bibles? And such were, past tense, 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. Here is wicked Corinth, and into that wicked Corinth, God sends a man.

Well, this is the kind of man God is calling you to be. Paul goes to wicked Corinth, and he says I've only one message. I'm not going to debate your current Jewish philosophy, although I could do that. And you may think it's foolishness if you're a Greek.

And if you're a Jew, you're going to think it's scandal, and it's going to be nonsense. But here's my one message. I determined to preach to you Christ crucified. And so Paul, can you picture him? That apostle of God who believed that the gospel was the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believed.

Here are all these wicked people. He names them the sexually immoral and the swindlers and the drunkards and the homosexuals and all of the perverts that were in ancient Corinth, and to that wicked city comes Paul. And he preaches Christ crucified. And in the grace of God and in the mercy of God, some of these people, with all of their sins as I've read, come to Christ.

And they're washed, and they're sanctified, and they're justified, and they are totally changed. Isn't it wonderful to know incidentally, in a couple of weeks I'm going to go back to this verse and expound it a little, a little more, but isn't it wonderful before I move on to know this, that people are not trapped in their sin. And that the gospel is so powerful that it can penetrate the hardest heart, and whatever sin you're in, as we were singing, God's grace is greater. And however much sin there is in you, there is more grace in our Lord Jesus Christ.

So that whoever you are, don't believe the lie of the devil that you're trapped and you're paralyzed and this is just the way you are, and you can't change. Yes, by your own efforts, and by the efforts of a therapist you may not change, but the power of God is so great that whoever you are, young man, young woman, whoever you are, God knows you, loves you, wants Christ to come. And you can say as some of these ancient Corinthians can say, this is what I once was. I once was this, but now I'm washed, I'm justified, I'm sanctified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you know any greater message than that? The power of God unto salvation. So that Paul is going to say in the second episode to the Corinthians, that if anyone is in Christ, do you know what he is?

You know, sometimes you can buy a car and it was an old car and they've kind of tuned it up a little bit, but it's still the same old car. When God in His grace saves you, He doesn't just tune you up a little bit. If anyone is in Christ, he's what? He is a new creation, the old is past, the new has come. That you are not trapped in that lifestyle, that you're not trapped in that particular sin. Whatever it is, God's power, the power of the gospel, forgives that sin, breaks these chains that we're singing about. That we are now, here's our new identity, I'm now in Christ. So what am I saying? I'm saying that human sexuality is expressed in marriage, that marriage is a divine institution as we have said. That our wise God made everything.

He made you and He made me. I didn't choose to be a man, I think I would have, preferred to be a man than a woman for obvious reasons. But God, I'd be a terrible woman, wouldn't I, and with no desire. And my gender is in no way fluid, I want you to know that. But seriously, do you think God made a mistake with you?

Of course not. He made us male and female. And God's wonderful plan, and you will never, ever improve on this, is to take a man and a woman and to join them together in holy matrimony in a monogamous, permanent relationship. Isn't that what Jesus is saying in Matthew chapter 19?

We've seen it over and over again, let me remind you. Matthew chapter 19 verse 4, He answered them, have you not read, you should know your Bible Mr. Pharisee, have you not read that He who created them from the beginning, He goes right back to creation, not to the law, not to Abraham, but right to creation, He made them male and female and said therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. And marriage then between a man and a woman is the most important, the most intimate of all human relationships, they will become one flesh. Your sexuality, young man, is a beautiful gift from God. It's a treasure. It's a powerful gift. It's not only the means of reproduction, but in the goodness of God it's also pleasurable. It's not just a functional gift from God, but a delightful one from a good God and a kind God. So our sexuality finds its fulfillment and joy in this expression of unity and intimacy and communion and love in the marriage of one man and one woman.

So please, please, I plead with you, do not be brainwashed into thinking that homosexual and lesbian behavior are acceptable. For your protection, yes, for your enjoyment, for the good of society, for the good of children, God has ordained marriage, a man and a woman. And in the opening chapters of Genesis we read, and it is very good.

And those of us who are happily buried say yes, it is very good. Therefore, follow God's plan. Think of your arrogance in going against God's plan. This is your wise Creator's plan who loves you, who wants the best for you.

Oh, the devil will tempt you in all kinds of ways regarding your sexuality, but listen to the Word of God. Don't oppose God. But people say, come on John, what really matters? And isn't this what Jesus taught?

That love is all that matters. I mean, Jesus is the epitome of love. Surely He would never stop two people, two women, two men who love each other from expressing their love. I mean, Jesus was all about love. I mean, why should people who love each other not live together and if they want to marry each other, marry — let them marry each other.

Who are you to stop them? It's all about love. You heard that? You know, loving someone doesn't mean that we always affirm what they do or what they say. You know that as a parent. You love that little boy, but your love doesn't stop you saying, no, that's wrong.

Don't do that, don't do that. Loving and approving are very different. As followers of Christ, we do love those who pursue same-sex relationships. As followers of Christ, we do love those who adopt queer lifestyles.

Of course we're to love them. Scripture is very, very clear, but that is different from affirming what they do. And the issue is, not what you think, not what I think, I go back to the basic. The issue is, what does the Bible say? And if you're talking about Jesus, what did Jesus say? Because being an authentic follower of Jesus means I follow Christ's teaching. And if you're talking about love, remember Jesus says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. And that love, the most important love, is the love that we have for God, who first loved us, who sent His Son. And as, if I say I'm following Jesus Christ, if I say I love Jesus Christ, Jesus says, then obey my commandments. And loving God and loving others means humbly obeying God, seeking the best for them, and Jesus calls us into this society to be countercultural, to be light illuminating the darkness with a dark world. You're called as a follower of Jesus to be salt, permeating the corruption around us.

As our society becomes darker and darker, how important it is that you and I shine as lights for Jesus Christ. Not conformed to the world, but transformed is the teaching of Scripture very, very clearly. Well, what did Jesus teach? Some of the homosexual activists, some who claim to be Christians, they say that nowhere in the Gospels is there an explicit condemnation of homosexuality. Jesus was loving. And as we read the Gospels, Jesus loved sinners. He ate with them, and the Pharisees criticized Him for that. We don't read that Jesus went around condemning homosexuals and lesbians.

He loved the sinners. And Jesus condemned hypocrisy and the self-righteousness of the Pharisees, and all of that is very true. And we'll get to that later in our study of Matthew. We'll get to the condemnation of the Pharisees with their self-righteousness.

But what is the biblical evidence? Did Jesus know the Mosaic law? Turn to Matthew chapter 5.

I covered this in detail some time ago, but most of you have forgotten about it. Jesus did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfill it. Matthew chapter 5, do not think that I've come to abolish the law or the prophets.

I've not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, not a jot or tittle was the old King James, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Did Jesus know the Mosaic law?

Absolutely. He said, I didn't come to abolish it, I came to fulfill it. And the silence by Jesus on the subject of homosexuality would have been understood by everyone as an acceptance of Jesus of the Mosaic teaching, not a rejection of it. The Jewish law on homosexuality was a clear reflection of God's moral law, and is accepted as such by Jesus.

Jesus Himself says in John 10 verse 35, a very important verse, that Scripture cannot be broken. And so when we come to Matthew chapter 19, what does Jesus do? As they're arguing about marriage and arguing about divorce, what does our Lord Jesus do?

Have you not read? He goes right back to the creation ordinance. Jesus clearly accepted that from creation — this is so important, I want you to grasp it — from creation, there was only one type of sexual union permitted by God. And as we saw on the subject of divorce, rather than broaden the grounds of divorce and remarriage, as the Pharisees were doing, what does Jesus do? He narrows them. That's hardly consistent with the position of those who say that Jesus was tolerant of all kinds of sexual behavior.

Absolutely not. Jesus' teaching on sexuality, if you study the Gospels, was stricter than the Judaism of His day. For example, Jesus not only prohibited the act of adultery, said out in the Ten Commandments, remember that one married man, thou shalt not commit adultery. Not only did He repeat that, He widened the definition of adultery to include lust in the heart. He widened the definition of adultery to include the remarriage of divorced men and women. Therefore, to argue that Jesus would have been tolerant of homosexuality and lesbianism really means you have not studied your Bible. It doesn't conform to the biblical evidence and is certainly not consistent with our Lord Jesus Christ, who is God and who in the beginning created male and female. To suggest that Jesus, because Jesus didn't prohibit a particular conduct, He must have approved of it, is a very unfounded argument.

Jesus made it clear, as we've seen over and over again, that human sexual relationships are to be monogamous, are to be lifelong, are to be heterosexual, as ordained by God from the beginning. Did Jesus welcome sinners? Of course He did. He's welcomed me, the chiefess of sinners. He'll welcome you.

Of course He will. But Jesus, in welcoming the sinner, He never, ever, ever compromises His holy sinners. Remember the woman taken in adultery by the Pharisees as they tried to trap Jesus in John 8? What does Jesus say to her? Yeah, He forgives her.

But what does He say? He says, go and sin no more. But as we come to the Lord Jesus Christ, whoever we are, in our sin, our Lord Jesus Christ will certainly forgive us, will certainly welcome us, but if there's true repentance, we will sin no more. While every one of us is made in the image of God, we're to treat others with dignity and respect, and followers of Jesus should never use derogatory names or labels when talking to or about the LGBTQ plus community. Christ commands us to love others. Some of you have part of this community in your own home, a son, a daughter, a parent. Some of you work with people in this community. What are you to do?

To label them, absolutely not. You're to love them. You're to share the truth of God with them, and we must always be careful that we do not commit the sin of self-righteousness like the Pharisee. Remember the Pharisee standing in the temple?

He thanked God that he was not like other men. That's the sin of the Pharisee. Remember that you also, that I also am a sinner. Jesus without compromising His holiness and righteousness loves the sinner and we're to do that. In Jesus there's a perfect combination of grace and truth, of peace and righteous, of compassion and conviction.

That is our example. And they remind us that all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And in our fallen and broken world, your sexuality may be confused, it may be mixed up. Someone here struggling with same-sex attractions and conduct, thank you for coming to Calvary Church. Any single here having sex with your boyfriend, your girlfriend?

Any married people struggling with lust, having an affair? Praise God that in Jesus Christ there's forgiveness of all sins, including sexual sins. What's the gospel? As Jesus comes, repent and believe in the gospel. Isaiah says, come now and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.

Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Deep, deep sins. You're here today, you've fallen into sin. I point you to the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb of God, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He'll completely cleanse you.

One hundred percent. Totally clean. All of these sins gone and gone forever under the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only will the Lord Jesus Christ forgive you and cleanse you, He will indwell you so that now you have a new power, the power of the Holy Spirit to live a life with the glory of God. I want you today, whoever you are, to surrender to Jesus. We're going to sing all for Jesus.

Easy to sing. Whoever you are, I want you to do that. If you have never yet come to Christ, I invite you to come to the Savior. If you're a follower of Christ and sin has come into your life, whatever it is, will you turn from that? Will you ask God for forgiveness? In Jesus, there is hope for you. In Jesus, there is a new beginning.

There is always more grace in our Lord Jesus Christ than there is sin in you. Father, we come. We've heard your Word.

It's convicted us. I pray, as I prayed earlier, that we will humble ourselves under it. There are some who have never come to Christ. May they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Some are dabbling in sin. We pray that we may be clear-cut in our testimony for Jesus Christ, that we truly will say all for Jesus. Our greatest joy, our greatest fulfillment is in doing your will. May it be so for His name. Amen.