The Sands of Sodom

Paul wrote to the Corinthian church these powerfully revealing words. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived?

And I read the list earlier. Fornicators, idolaters, homosexuals, thieves, swindlers. Such were some of you.

He writes to the church in Corinth. Not such are some of you, but such were some of you. Paul goes on to say, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our God. It's true that there is forgiveness from sin available in Jesus. And we as believers have been washed clean. But much of the world lives in bondage to sin. How does it make you feel when you learn that someone lied to you? We don't like being deceived, but sin is a deceiver.

It promises one thing and delivers another. The deception of sin can appear in both our culture and in our churches. So we need to be careful. Today on Wisdom for the Heart, we've come to a passage that deals with a culturally controversial issue, homosexuality. We need to understand what God's Word says about this issue.

So stay with us as Stephen Davey takes us to God's Word with this important lesson. Ultimately, when a society rejects God's order of nature, nature first finds equality with mankind and ultimately sovereignty over mankind. Secondly, there was the unbridled defilement of one another for personal pleasure.

Another consequence was defilement. Human beings become objects to be manipulated and mistreated and abused. We treat animals like human beings. We treat human beings then like animals, whether it is for physical pleasure or material pleasure, where graft and corruption are commonplace in order to mistreat and close the deal, along, of course, with sexual immorality, which is nothing more than people seeking to use other people's bodies to meet their own selfish desires.

But the sands of the desert do not stop there within any culture that has abandoned God. For our study today, we have the third consequence, and it is the abandonment of nature's order within human relationships. Paul goes on to say, under the inspiring influence of the Spirit of God, for this reason, verse 26, God gave them over to degrading passions, for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural. And in the same way also, the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire to ward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their persons the due penalty of their error.

Now, don't miss the connection. When the God of nature is abandoned, the order of nature is abandoned. The passage that I have just read to you has become in our culture perhaps one of the most controversial passages in the entire Bible and undoubtedly the most politically incorrect. Since we seek to uphold political correctness, I'll skip the paragraph and move forward.

No, we do not. Although it is not easy at times to preach the truth, this culture desperately needs to hear the truth. There is not only chaos in our culture over this issue, there is unfortunately, and here's where I want to have as impetus to deliver this message, there is confusion in the church. I expect society to do what society does.

I expect evil men to do what evil men do, evil women to do what evil women do, whatever the forms may take. They are lost and in need of the Savior. What troubles me is that it has basically infiltrated the thinking of the church.

And it is our role as a church to uphold the truth of scripture and defend it. One of my staff sent me, I had already heard it and he sent me the AP news about the Presbyterian Church USA who just voted to overturn the ban on allowing active homosexuals and lesbians into the ministry. So the sixth largest Protestant denomination has now voted overwhelmingly to ordain active homosexuals to the role of clergy.

It has been creeping inward for some time. One of the first official documents to embrace homosexuality was the religious friends report towards a Quaker view of sex, which seems ironic to me. 1963, it included the statements, quote, one should no more deplore homosexuality than left handedness. And surely it is the nature and quality of a relationship that matters.

In other words, let's beg the issue. Let's simply talk about whether there is love. If we can prove there is love, then it must be all right. In 1979, the Methodists came on board with their division of social responsibility. They gave a report called a Christian understanding of human sexuality. It obviously wasn't a biblical understanding, but a Christian, they said, quote, homosexual activities are not intrinsically wrong for homosexual men and women in permanent relationships characterized by love can be an appropriate and Christian way of expressing their sexuality. Then in 1999, only recently, the biblical recorder, which is North Carolina's Baptist paper, simply told how the University of Richmond, a Baptist affiliated university had lifted its ban on sexual orientation. One trustee who went on record named Clint Hopkins, a retired Baptist pastor, voted for this new policy, stating, quote, Jesus never made sexual habits an issue with his followers, and we want to be as much like Jesus as possible.

We do. You remember when the woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus? Did he seem to care about her sexual activity? He said, Go and sin what? Not go and sin some more, but go and sin no more.

In other words, go and stop adulterating. Clint Hopkins, this retired Southern Baptist pastor went on to say, it isn't proper for us to give too much attention to sex and deciding who's in and out of the kingdom. Then was Paul improper in spending so much time on it? He wrote under the influence of the spirit of God, do not be deceived. First Corinthians six, nine and 10, neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor feminine. That is the man playing the female role in homosexual activity, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. Four out of the six lifestyles he mentioned had something to do with sexual relations. Again to Timothy, he wrote for some men straying from these things have turned aside the fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.

We know that the law is good realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching. He says, there are some who stray from this truth and they have all of these discussions and he says in effect, they are immoral men. To the Ephesians, Paul made sexuality and evidence of salvation. He went as far to say that it proves in effect whether or not you are in or out of the kingdom. Now he isn't saying you can't be forgiven of any sin.

He is saying that you cannot remain unrepentant and at the same time say that Christ embraces you and simply covers his eyes and says, that's okay. There are deceived people in the church involved in sexual immorality, I believe probably in this auditorium here today listening to me speak, who are deceived. He writes to them, do not let immorality or any impurity be named among you. He writes to the Ephesian church for this, you know, with certainty that no immoral or impure person that is those who practice impurity, those who practice immorality has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Let no one deceive you with empty words. In other words, the Clint Hopkins and the committees and the mainline Protestant denominations are simply, he would say deceived and in the process of deceiving others by condoning immorality. How anyone can say that the Bible doesn't address issues of sexuality is beyond me, yet they do. The author of Hebrews said very plainly, let marriage be held in honor among all and let the marriage bed beyond defiled but fornicators, that's sort of a broad categorical term for sexual immorality, the word porneo, which gives us our word pornography. For fornicators and he throws in adulterers, God will judge. God is most intolerant of sin.

It must be forgiven. In spite of that, one religious author has written, quote, sexuality as we understand it today is not addressed in the Bible. All those verses I just read. It is a modern concept.

In this field, we must look to the ongoing revelation of science and of newly emerging voices of experience. That summarizes the confusion that exists within the church. God's revelation is simply set aside. It is irrelevant. It's out of date. It really doesn't address issues of modern sexual relationships.

And it does repeatedly. In spite of that, one author, John McNeil wrote the scriptures are limited. Biblical judgments against homosexuality are not relevant to today's debate. Marty Nissen and adds, Paul's arguments were simply based on Jewish moral codes. In fact, Paul may have needed sexual therapy himself. Was Paul out of date? Was Paul under some sort of naive impression of sexuality, including homosexuality? Was he was he uninformed? Was is this a modern issue? No. Anybody who studies history will know.

Far from it. Paul was surrounded by sexual immorality of all forms. He lived in a day when homosexual love was by some philosophers treated as the highest form of love. Bisexuality within the Roman Empire was considered the norm and straight heterosexual relationships were considered prudish and fearful.

Many highborn Greeks maintain male concubines along with their wives. In Rome, it wasn't any different. In fact, 14 of the first 15 Roman emperors were homosexuals. In fact, the emperor who was living during the time of Paul's writing to the believers in Rome, his name was what?

Nero. Nero was already infamous for his open marriage to a man and his private baths with young boys. This isn't a modern concept.

It isn't unique to the 20th or 21st century. Paul was surrounded by it and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, he condemned it and every other sinful activity outside of marriage. Now what I want to do with that as my introduction is just raise a number of issues that you will hear. By the way, I have a couple of books here with me and I have read through a number of resources.

These are two excellent ones. This one's simply called Homosexuality by James B. DeYoung. This one by John Stott called Same Sex Partnerships, an excellent treatment if you would like to dig a little further and understand some of the issues a little better as it relates to biblical texts. Let me just very briefly address some of the arguments as we seek to protect the church from confusion emanating from our unbelieving society.

One argument is this. The Bible doesn't condemn homosexuality. Only homosexuals who act selfishly. They state in the words of one, the men of Sodom were not punished in the Old Testament for their homosexuality but their inhospitality.

Well let's go back and look at the record. Turn to Genesis chapter 19 verse 1. This of course is the well-known story of the doom of Sodom, the city's name that gives us the name for sexual activity between homosexual men.

Genesis 19 one. Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. You may remember prior to this of course Sodom is going to be destroyed and these angels are sent to rescue Lot. When Lot saw them he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground and he said, Now behold my lords, please turn aside into your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet.

Then you may rise early and go on your way. They said, However, no, but we shall spend the night in the square that is out in the open marketplace. Yet he urged them strongly. So they turned aside to him and entered his house and he prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread and they ate. Before they lay down the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house both young and old, all the people from every quarter, and they called a lot and said to him, Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them. The NASB says, Have relations with them. But Lot went out to them at the doorway and shut the door behind them and said, Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly.

Now behold, I have two daughters who have not had relations with man. Please let me bring them out to you and do to them whatever you like. Only do nothing to these men in as much as they have come under the shelter of my roof. But they said, Stand aside. Furthermore, they said, This one referring to Lot came in as an outsider, and already he is acting like a judge.

Now we will treat you worse than them. So they pressed hard against Lot and came near to break the door. But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway.

This wasn't in hospitality. It was unrestrained lust and perversion. In fact, these men so craved to sodomize the angels that even after they were blinded, their lust continued to drive them not to find the doctor, but to find the doorway.

They would prefer to remain blind. One homosexual author says in his book, There is no reason to believe that sexual relations was any part of this picture. You read it at face value, and he says, There's nothing in here related to sexual activity. And he says the word for no, Yadah, in verse five, Bring them out that we may know them, has nothing to do anything other than getting acquainted with them.

We want to get to know them, meet them. The trouble is the very same word, Yadah, appears in verse eight, where Lot says, Let me bring my daughters out. They have never known a man. Same word, Yadah.

By the way, I wonder if those girls ever recovered. The New Testament book of Jude provides additional commentary to back up this interpretation of it being sexual immorality. Jude writes, Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality, not gross inhospitality, but gross immorality, and when after flesh, strange flesh are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

Another argument is this. A homosexual was born that way and cannot change. This, of course, is a key issue in the debate, because if you can't change, then it isn't a choice. And then it isn't sin.

You simply can't help it. A man or woman, by the way, from a very early age will have a propensity towards sin, maybe this sin. In fact, Paul indicates, or the writer of Hebrews does, when he refers to our struggle as that besetting sin that so easily entangles us.

He seems to imply that all of us are tempted in a variety of different ways that seeks to ensnare and entangle us, and this could be one of those temptations. But a person is no more born a homosexual than he is an adulterer or a rapist or a pornographer or a polygamist. A person chooses to rape, chooses to lie, chooses to marry more than one woman, chooses to commit adultery. All sin is a choice. However, in a way, this argument is true when it says they were born that way. There's a sense of truth in that, in that we are all born sinners, are we not? We all are born with a struggle for sinful urges and temptations, and none of us can change.

That's true. None of us can change unless the redemptive power of Christ invades our life, sweeps out the sand of the desert, and we submit to the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. The Bible never refers to homosexuality as a sickness or a genetic issue. It always refers to it as sin.

And let me tell you why that's good news. It's wonderful news because some sicknesses cannot be cured. Some genetic issues will never be resolved, but sin has a cure. Sin has a remedy. When we confess 1 John 1.9, our sin to him, not our excuses, not our justifications, but our sin, then he is faithful just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Paul wrote to the Corinthian church these powerfully revealing words, Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God, do not be deceived?

And I read the list earlier. Fornicators, idolaters, homosexuals, thieves, swindlers. Such were some of you, he writes to the church in Corinth.

Not such are some of you, but such were some of you. You don't design a church around any one of these particular sins. You confess them. They have developed an entire network of homosexual churches. Can you imagine doing that with any number of these lists, sins listed here? Can you imagine a church designed for swindlers so that we can understand the language of the swindler? Can you imagine taking an offering in that church and never make it to the front?

Well, what happened to them? Paul said, such were some of you. Paul goes on to say, but you were washed. You were sanctified.

You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our God. The Bible, ladies and gentlemen, never tells us to accept each other's behavior when it violates scripture. In fact, it tells us to hold each other accountable, to confess and repent of those sins and experience the forgiveness and power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Another prevalent statement is this one. Jesus never uttered one word against homosexuality, so he isn't against it.

The first part of that statement again is true. Jesus Christ never uttered one word against homosexuality, but he also never uttered one word against rape, incest, bestiality, pedophilia. Are we to suppose then he would approve of those? Jesus Christ does not promise you freedom in sin. He promises you freedom from sin. He accepts the homosexual who comes to him in repentance and confession of sin, just as he accepts any sinner, the rapist, the greedy, the gossip, the arrogant. But he doesn't then say, now that I have accepted you, go back into that lifestyle and continue. No, he says, go and sin no more.

Another argument is this. A homosexual is simply doing what comes naturally. Thus, it could be considered an alternative lifestyle. Now the attempt, if you go back to Romans 1, is to take that passage and turn it around in such a way that you have Paul condemning only those who are not naturally homosexual. For them, it would be unnatural, and they are the ones condemned.

That's clever exegesis, but it ignores the meaning of the words. Paul, in fact, in this paragraph, goes to the order of nature, and he says that females, a literal translation would be, females abandon natural inclination, that males abandon the order of nature, and they burn in their lust toward one another, which is a natural or literally against the very order of nature, not against their nature. Paul is saying it is against the order of nature. You look at that paragraph and you see the phrases, degrading passions, verse 26, exchange the natural function for that which is unnatural. Verse 27, men abandon the natural function, that is according to the order of nature, and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving the due penalty of their error. You ignore the creator of nature and you violate the order of nature and may sit down to this particular table of consequences. Now, the community would go on and say within the homosexual world that their behavior is biologically alluring to them.

It comes naturally to them, thus they're merely going along with their nature. Let me address that just a little bit further. Does the Lord ever say to heterosexual men, since lusting after women comes naturally to you, go ahead. Does he ever say to anybody, since coveting comes naturally to you, then it's okay?

I understand. No. Should a man be allowed to rape simply because it is biologically alluring to him? Aren't adulterers and adulteresses and fornicators doing what is biologically tempting to them?

None of them were forced. Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to listen to this statement. It's not original and it is very profound.

If you don't get anything else, get this. All sin comes naturally. It comes by way of our fallen nature.

Every one of us have wicked, desperately wicked hearts. The prophet said, who can know us? Left to ourselves and our own natural urges and temptations, we are guilty and capable of being guilty of every sin under heaven. We do not determine what is acceptable by what comes naturally to us. In fact, when society follows that logic and it infiltrates the church and the church buys into that deception, the desert sands simply sweep in with greater force and more incredible speed.

It isn't a matter of what you like or find natural. Paul said in Ephesians 2, you were dead in trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them, we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature children of evil, children of wrath, even as the rest. But God being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, that is even when we were consumed by our evil, he died for us and loved us and made us alive by faith with Christ, for by grace you have been saved. The church, ladies and gentlemen, is not supposed to condone evil nature, but to condemn it and reveal its evil and expose its need for redemption and then point people to the eternal remedy which is Jesus Christ alone. Let me give you three principles that emerge from our study in this series thus far.

Number one, when God's word is rejected the depravity in a person's life can be unbelievable. We are surrounded by it and it is tragic when we see it operating in our society because of its destruction. San Francisco coroner estimated that 10% of his city's homicides are related to sadomasochistic sexual relations among homosexuals. Bob Greene stated this in the Chicago Tribune in 1981.

Of course I wouldn't even be quoted in the paper today. The city government of San Francisco conducted at taxpayers expense workshops to teach homosexuals how to avoid serious bodily harm while engaging in this form of sex. Although by definition both sadism and masochism are destructive, the very purpose of both deviations is to inflict pain and harm, sadism on others and masochism on one's self. It illustrates the second principle and it's this, when God's design for relationships is refused, the destruction of a person's life will be inevitable. There is the utter loss of personal identity and self-worth, unfulfilled desire that simply craves for more unmitigated guilt and anger, deep anger, terrible personal destruction, disease, loss of personal dignity, loss of healthy relationships. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to warn you, that isn't the greatest loss.

That's temporary. The greatest loss is found in the warning of Paul that those who refuse to repent of their immorality and infidelity, Paul says, will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Unless you give the bad news about immorality, there isn't the good news of redemption. The good news that the sands of the desert are repelled by the Spirit of God, the wasteland can be replaced by an oasis of dignity and purpose and forgiveness and fellowship.

When you come to this book and accept it, and more importantly, its author, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If you've not accepted God's offer of forgiveness from sin, today is the day. The message you just heard from Stephen Davey is called The Sands of Sodom.

And it comes from his series entitled The Banquet Table of Consequences. We have one more lesson to go in this series, and that will be tomorrow. If you tuned in late, or if you want to hear this lesson again, it's posted to our website, wisdomonline.org. You'll also find it on our smartphone app. By the way, when you download and open our app, be sure and fill out the form to request our monthly magazine, Heart to Heart. The July magazine will have some helpful articles on friendship. And in August, we deal with end time prophecy. Plus, there's a daily devotional for you to use. Again, fill out that form on our app, or call us at 866-48-BIBLE. Be sure and join us tomorrow for the conclusion to this series here on Wisdom for the Heart. Thank you.