Same-Sex Marriage—civil Right or Punishment?

Let us turn to the Word of the Lord and look in the Letter to the Romans. I wish this sermon could be a little lighter, as I told the brothers and sisters at the nine o’clock service, but it is a necessary sermon, and it is a sermon that must be preached before the opportunity and the moment pass; and I want you to know that my desire is to bless you, edify you, and strengthen you. This morning I called this sermon a hygienic sermon,

in the sense that its purpose is to heal, cleanse, and repair us; and as is sometimes the case, hygienic things are caustic, and they sting when they heal, they hurt, they are bitter and acidic, but they also heal and kill infections. And that is often how the Word of God is: it confronts us; many times it is unpleasant for us to hear, but it reaches deep into our hearts. And my desire, precisely, is to give you the nutrients you need as your senior pastor and to bless you with the counsel of the Word of the Lord. In a moment you will see why I am giving this preamble, because the subject is somewhat difficult but necessary in the times in which we live. My desire is to bless you, and there is no intention whatsoever to criticize anyone, but simply to proclaim the counsel of the Word of God at a time when it is needed.

Romans chapter 1. We are going to begin with verse 18, and you will remember that last Sunday I spoke on the basis of verses 16 and 17. Paul then makes a transition beginning with verse 18. I will read only through verse 27, and then I will briefly discuss the rest at the end of the sermon.

Verse 18, Paul says: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and injustice of men, of humanity, who suppress the truth with justice, because what may be known of God is manifest to them”—that is, it is obvious, perceptible, understandable to them—“because God made it manifest to them. For His invisible things”—that is, the things we cannot see—His eternal power, His deity, “have been clearly visible since the creation of the world, being understood through the things that have been made”—that is, through nature—“so that they are without excuse.” That is, they do not know Him, “for although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor did they give Him thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and therefore their foolish heart was darkened”—in other words, obscured. “Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God”—a God not subject to the accidents and deterioration of ordinary nature—for the likeness of corruptible man, even of birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles, like those idols we see in Asia, in China, and elsewhere—dragons and serpents—which are spoken of as images of God. Thus, these things exchange the glory, holiness, sublime character, beauty, harmony, and symmetry of that beautiful, holy God.

It then says that for this reason God gave them over to uncleanness, to the lusts of their hearts, so that they dishonored one another—their own bodies—because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, honoring and worshiping created things rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever and ever. So look at the consequence of sin. It says that for this reason God gave them over to shameful passions, for even their women exchanged the natural use—it is speaking here about sexual use, in very clear terms—even their women exchanged the natural use of sexuality, because it is contrary to nature, contrary to God’s biological design. And likewise, the men themselves, abandoning the natural use of the woman—that is, the normal relationship between a man and a woman, for which nature designed the male and female body and biology—burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing shameful acts and receiving in themselves the retribution in life for their error.

Verse 18, and I will conclude there: “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a reprobate mind”—that is, a failed, defective, rejected mind—“to do things that are not fitting.” Father, we ask You to give us the right word, combining love with justice, truth with mercy, and the acknowledgment of our own sins, that there are things that offend You, together with the denunciation of injustice and ungodliness. As we examine ourselves, we know that we too are debtors and that all of us stand guilty and in need of the grace of Jesus Christ. Give us the Word to bless rather than condemn, to call people to repentance rather than consign them to condemnation, Father, for that is what we desire, and to heal our own lives with Your Word. May it be so; we ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen and amen.

Brothers and sisters, concerning this subject, I was saying that on a weekend like this—Memorial Day—many are thinking about going to their barbecue after this service, but the Lord has told me that this is the moment when I must preach this sermon, because things have happened in this nation over these past two or three weeks that make it important to speak about this now, while it is still fresh in the mind and sensibilities of our nation and of you yourselves.

I want to speak about a provocative subject, and listen to how I have titled this sermon: Homosexual Marriage: Civil Right or Punishment? Is marriage a civil right, as it is presented, or a punishment? So, my brothers and sisters, as I was saying, this is a hygienic sermon. From time to time, the pulpit of a nation—the pulpits of a nation—must be used to give the people specific direction in times of crisis and confusion.

Throughout history we have seen that the Church has been that trumpet which sounds when there is injustice in the land, when there are threats, when there is confusion and people need guidance. Pastors, both men and women, and those who proclaim the truth of God must use the pulpit with fear and trembling, with great respect and great love, to give direction. The Word says that if the trumpet does not give a sure sound, if it gives an uncertain sound, then how will people be guided by it? And this is an uncertain time, when so many things are being preached that leave people confused; there is confusion, there is crisis in the air. We are in a time of crisis and confusion, and the people need counsel, they need clarity; there is confusion and crisis on the earth. A few weeks ago, a dear sister of ours approached me with anguish written on her face and said to me, “Pastor, I do not like to bother you, but I do not know what to do at this time. Whom should I vote for? I do not know, and I need your counsel. Help me.”

I could see the anguish on her face, and it was as though God had sent me a messenger to tell me, “Roberto, you have to speak about this.” I had been debating whether I should speak about this, because there is never a suitable time to discuss subjects that should not even cast a shadow; there are so many beautiful things to preach about that it is a shame to have to devote time to these unpleasant matters, but they are necessary. And I saw her as a messenger from God, perhaps like Mordecai when he came to Esther and said to her, “Look, if you do not speak, someone else will, and you will lose the opportunity to be used by God.” And I felt that God was sending her to confirm what was already in my own heart, because many times today we pastors feel intimidated; there are pastors who are afraid to speak to their churches for fear that people will be offended. Thank God, in this church, I would say more than ninety-something percent of us are clear about certain things, but we are a diverse church. We have Americans here, people with doctorates, people from more liberal backgrounds, people who have not received Jesus; liberal theologians come here to visit us, as do politicians and others.

And in this year of definition for the Church, it is important for people to know what we believe. But, brothers and sisters, there are pastors today who do not dare to speak about these subjects in their churches because they are afraid; their people have not been clearly guided concerning these things. That is why I do not want the day to come when I am afraid to speak about the things the Word of God tells me to speak about. I want this church always to be open to the counsel of the Word of God, and I want those who are with us to know what to expect and what kind of church they belong to.

That is why this subject is not merely a matter of education; it is also a way of declaring the pastoral freedom to preach the whole truth of God. Brothers and sisters, we pastors cannot remain silent when there is uncertainty on the earth. If we do, we are being disobedient. And I do not speak about this subject because I want to—quite the contrary. As I have said, I am compelled to speak, and if I remained silent, I believe the very stones would have to speak. I think that speaking about subjects such as homosexuality, homosexual marriage, and so many others—this is one of many subjects we must address—is necessary, and any pastor who remains silent about these subjects in this urgent time must examine his own conscience. Does he do it out of discretion, or does he do it out of cowardice? Does he do it because he wants to please man, because he does not take God seriously enough, or because he thinks that simply remaining silent manifests the grace and mercy of God?

Brothers and sisters, when the chief executive of this nation, the President, publicly declares himself—as he did a couple of weeks ago—in favor of homosexual marriage, the pulpits of this nation must rise in unison and give counsel to the people, because the President of a nation is a role model. Many young people will take their direction from that model. He has great influence over the nation, and he is a highly admired man. In a sense, he is the moral leader; he ought to be the moral and spiritual leader of this nation. And when that person says something that one already suspected he believed but that, for political expediency, he had not declared, and when he finally feels emboldened to declare what has always been in his heart and come out in favor of homosexual marriage—and not only that, but if he enters his second term, should that happen, he will do everything possible to institutionalize this, contrary to what the people of this nation believe—then the truth must be spoken, and the pulpits of the nation must rise and proclaim what the Word of God says. That is what I want to do with you today.

I believe that there is a debate taking place in the nation right now. All the polls say that the American nation is divided, with 50 percent in favor of homosexuality and 50 percent opposed, but I do not believe that is so. That is dramatic in itself, because it indicates that in recent years there has been a shift toward the position of approving homosexuality. Personally, I do not believe the division is so clear. My own belief is that at least 60 percent, and possibly a little more, believe that homosexual marriage is not of God. Now, what is happening is that they are not receiving counsel; they are not receiving a clear word from their moral leaders. And we are told that if we speak about this, we are prejudiced and Pharisaical. So there is a group of people in the balance, trying to decide what to believe. Because they do not see a clear word coming from the Church, one group says this and another says that; those who believe the Word of God remain silent out of fear, and therefore people have no counsel and gradually drift away.

Even here in the church, if you ask many of them, they do not know what to believe about this. Therefore, if one remains silent, what one is doing is allowing this nation to drift more and more each day in a direction that I believe will destroy this nation and that is opening a terrible breach through which a demonic manifestation unlike anything seen before may enter. Our sons are falling more and more each day into the trap of homosexuality; our daughters are experimenting more and more each day with that evil. The foundations of this nation are being undermined, and this nation is growing weaker. Financially, it is headed toward disaster, and morally as well. Technologically and scientifically, nations such as India, Indonesia, and Brazil are advancing much more than this nation, while this nation is moving backward. China is a sleeping giant, because when the foundations of a nation are morally undermined, financial, political, and every other kind of collapse follows as well.

Unless Jehovah builds the house, the laborers watch in vain, unless He watches over the city. So, as a watchman, I am confronted with the question from the Word: if the foundations are destroyed, what shall the righteous do? They are being undermined by the nation’s own leaders. What should we do? We must speak. I applaud the declaration by the Church of God in Christ, the largest African American church in this nation, which issued a statement opposing President Obama’s declaration. I invite you to read that statement on the internet. It is very instructive, very well phrased and composed. And I applaud it when our African American brothers and sisters go against the current and say, “No, in this we cannot support this President.” The President’s public support for homosexual marriage is a slap—I call it exactly that—in the face of every Christian who believes in the Bible as the Word of God. It shows complete disregard and contempt for the sensibilities of the Church of Jesus Christ in this nation—for those of us who believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God.

And when we add that gesture by President Obama of publicly supporting same-sex marriage—incidentally, 30 states in this nation have put before their citizens a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage, and of those 30 states, all 30 have voted against same-sex marriage; not once has it been defeated—why? Because I believe the American people know in their hearts that it is contrary to God, but there is an intellectual and political elite that often overrides that, and many times judges and politicians override what a people have decided and impose it on them anyway, as in Florida. In a supposedly democratic nation, where in the North, in the East, and in the South there is a different sentiment, even though the polls supposedly support it.

So when we add that to what is happening with the Catholic Church, there is a crisis in this nation right now. The Catholic Church is being forced by President Obama—and this is not an attack against the President; rather, it is an attack against what his policies reveal—but the Catholic Church is now being forced to pay, unless he changes his position and yields to the pressure. Catholics are going to have to pay through their insurance—the Catholic institutions, universities, hospitals, all these things—for contraceptives for their employees through their insurance, which is something utterly abhorrent to my Catholic brothers and sisters. I personally have a different view concerning contraceptives, but for Catholics, Catholic doctrine is very clear about that.

And these Catholic brothers and sisters see it as something abhorrent. Why is Obama so determined to make Catholics pay for something? And the Catholic Church has said that if we have to close all our social-service centers in the United States, we will do so, because we are not going to participate in this; it is a terrible moral and spiritual dictatorship. That makes me think that this President has in mind an open persecution against historic, biblical Christianity in this nation. Why is he so determined to do two things that are not even necessary? What is in his heart that makes him do this? Neither of those two measures is inevitable; he has done it because there is something there, isn't there? It makes me think that there is something very intense there in his spirit, and all these things make me doubt his spiritual wisdom or his long-term intentions. And that is why we have to speak clearly. Contrary to what is said today in many theological, political, and intellectual circles in this nation, the Bible is perfectly clear regarding its position on homosexuality and on what God created: God created a man and a woman. God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve; the Lord created man and woman for marriage.

And so there are many people who say, no, the Bible is not so clear about this. They have stubbornly set out to make the Bible say what it does not say, and to try to confuse us, cloud the issue, and split hairs about it. So it is important to ask: what does the Bible say about this subject? If homosexuality is rejected by God, then obviously same-sex marriage collapses as well, because same-sex marriage presupposes that homosexuality is something normal, normative, another sexual option. For that very reason, I am going to limit myself almost exclusively to speaking about the biblical perspective on homosexuality, at this time when you need to have clear points and arguments and to be strengthened in your faith and in your belief. That is why I am limiting myself to speaking about it.

What does the Bible say in this clear verse? Look, brothers and sisters, I repudiate and completely distance myself—listen to this—I completely distance myself from the conduct of that pastor who was recently caught on the Internet—I don't know how many of you know about it—speaking about homosexuals in a totally scandalous way. Because the media love to take something, put it out there, and say, “This is what the Church thinks.” No, that man is an exception. I know there are people who think that way, but the vast majority of Christians repudiate that pastor. His conduct seems utterly reprehensible and foolish to me: saying that homosexuals should be put inside an enclosure, penned in behind an electric fence, and have food dropped to them from a helicopter. That is diabolical; it does not reflect the Spirit of Jesus Christ, and at the very least it is imprudent in these times when the Church must be very careful about how it expresses itself. Besides that, the Bible is very clear: that kind of crude expression is not fitting for the pulpit and the Word of God, okay?

So understand this clearly: our position as a Church is one of profound respect for people who struggle with attraction to other people of the same sex. Respect—but the truth is the truth. If someone comes into the Church here and is of a homosexual persuasion, or is struggling against that tendency and knows that it is contrary to the will of God, this Church will always say, “Welcome; we are with you.” In fact, I would say, “Hey, welcome to the company of those of us who are struggling against our own deviations and improper inclinations before God,” because none of us is exempt from a struggle against sin, as the apostle Paul says. But the difference lies in whether you recognize that your struggle against sin is precisely that—sin—and not something merely emotional.

The only difference, I would say, between the Church and the world out there is that the Church of Jesus Christ knows that it needs the grace and mercy of God—that is all—and that our sins are sins, and that we must come before Christ daily so that He may wash us with His blood. But there is no difference. That is why, when we preach these sermons, we must do so as the apostle Paul says: first look at yourself, examining ourselves, and with profound humility and transparency, a sense of frailty before God, and respect for the people who struggle against this.

Now, I believe there is a difference between people who struggle with homosexual attractions and a person who has embraced homosexual tendencies and says, “No, this is legitimate; there is nothing wrong with it”—quite the contrary, seeking to influence others and change society to accommodate behavior that is unbiblical. That is where the Church has to stand up and say, “No, wait a moment; we do not believe that,” because what is happening today is that the militant homosexual movement is seeking to change the structures of this nation, with the cooperation of its politicians, such as the President himself, unfortunately, and seeking to structure and install within the very systems of this nation ungodliness and injustice, practices contrary to the Word of God. We cannot allow that, because otherwise they are going to paint us into a corner and shut us down so that we can never open our mouths. That is what is coming, and our children are going to be contaminated and corrupted by this conduct, which should not be allowed to spread as it is spreading.

So we repudiate that kind of behavior that demeans, insults, and mocks homosexual people; that has no place in God's pulpit. Now, what does the Bible say in a passage like this one? I could look for many passages, but to me there is no passage clearer or harder to deny than this passage. I would say that anyone who tells me that this does not say what it says is being ridiculously contradictory and obstinate, because the letters and words of this passage clearly indicate a stance and a position regarding homosexuality.

Look at what verses 16 and 17 say. Paul speaks of the grace of God, that grace which freely justifies man through faith in Jesus Christ and His Gospel. In those verses, 16 and 17, Paul says that salvation is by faith, not by works, and that God has justified man through faith. But then he says in verse 18—first he speaks of grace, but afterward he says, “and the wrath of God”; first grace, and then he says the wrath of God—“is revealed from heaven. The Bible says God is love, but He is also a consuming fire; God is mercy, but He is also justice; God is goodness and patience, but He is also truth. And from Genesis to Revelation, it speaks of the wrath of God being manifested when people stubbornly persist in resisting God's truth.

Paul is saying here that if a person wants to receive Christ by faith and by grace, that person does not have to worry about the wrath of God. But if a person resists the Word and the teaching of the Word of God, then that person is bringing that wrath and that condemnation from God upon himself. Paul establishes that those who resist are obstinate and not merely ignorant. These are people who insist on resisting God's plan for them. Look at verse 18; it says here: “The wrath of God is revealed against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress”—in reality, the word means those who resist, those who unjustly repress the truth—that is, obstinate people who insist on resisting. And you know, throughout Scripture, when people resist the Word of God, they bring wrath upon themselves. So what he is saying is that they are doing it out of obstinacy and not out of ignorance.

These people have stubbornly set out to deny what nature and creation itself tell them about God, about His holiness and His moral harmony. But Paul says, look at creation. Creation speaks of a God of love, a God of justice, a God who is not crude or sensual. My wife and I were in Spain a couple of weeks ago, and by chance we went to a museum—the Mornemisa Museum, which I love—and there was an exhibition of the work of Mark Shagall, an incredible Jewish painter from the early twentieth century. And Mark Shagall—when you see this man's painting, though I never knew him personally, by looking at his painting I can say many things about his character: a man who loved God, loved his people; a luminosity, beautiful colors, a fear of God, a will toward hope, an appreciation for human life, love for his family, his wife, his daughter—a great many things that I can say about this man's character by looking at his painting. And in the same way, when you look at nature, you see the character of God. You see two turtledoves living together all their lives, and you say that you know God is like that, a monogamous God, in the sense that God created man—God created creatures—to live in companionship.

Even with animals, you look at the human body and see that the body has a design, sexually speaking. Man's sexuality is highly complementary to woman's; male and female anatomy themselves are complementary. The very design of human biology says that God created man and woman; it says that God created man and woman to have relations, and everything else is a violation. That is why Paul declares that it is against nature, because you look at the world and see a generous, moral God, and anything else that denies that is a contradiction of God's character. Anyone who stubbornly insists on saying, “No, God permits same-sex marriage; God permits homosexual behavior; God permits fornication; God permits promiscuity,” does not see the purity and holiness of God. And Paul says that those who resist acknowledging what nature says are obstinate, are stubborn, and bring God's justice and condemnation upon themselves.

God is offended by that distortion of His character, and the Bible then says that, as a consequence of that, He darkened their hearts. Verse 21 says: “For although they knew God,” having seen Him in His natural manifestations, “they neither glorified Him nor gave Him thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their foolish heart was darkened”—that is, it was obscured; it could not see clearly. And then that darkened heart leads them to make flawed and self-destructive judgments, and the consequence of that darkened understanding to which God consigns a rebellious humanity is the following: then that punishment from God begins to be manifested in the bodies of people who belong to that society.

Brother, again, it pains me to say these things because there are many homosexual people who are simply misguided; they are not necessarily perverted people, but they have fallen into that trap and are harming their bodies. God's punishment is manifested directly upon the offenders in their own bodies; they degrade themselves, dishonoring themselves through these shameful practices, which soil and debase them. Verse 24 says that for that reason, because they focused on their own reasoning—verse 24—“God also gave them over to uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts, so that they dishonored their own bodies among themselves.” Therein lies the terrible thing about these verses. Listen to this, my brother. For the Word of God, the supreme manifestation of divine judgment upon a hardened society is precisely homosexual behavior.

Paul says, look, the sign of a society’s complete estrangement is when homosexual behavior begins to abound, because God’s judgment has fallen upon that society. If you examine Rome, if you examine Greece, if you examine those great civilizations that fell and were brought down, you will see that it is the consequence of a process of gradual deterioration, little by little; and the same thing is happening in this nation: the luxury in which this nation lives, moral corruption, and the abandonment of the principles of Scripture have led this nation to move the boundaries little by little, becoming more and more corrupt, until today there is an abundance of filth in this nation. Watch any television program, even watch the news; look at how this nation lives, at the luxury in which this nation lives.

The Word says that Sodom’s chief sin was not homosexuality, but rather its abundance of food and its neglect of the poor. And you know, that is what happens: when a nation has plenty of food, great luxury, much leisure, and many material possessions, as this culture does, it becomes hardened and forgets God; it forgets justice, it forgets moral things, and then it falls into the trap of homosexuality, filth, and all these other things. It is a cumulative process. And what Paul is saying is that, unfortunately, the clearest manifestation of that corruption is homosexuality. When a nation celebrates it and takes it to the point of trying to institutionalize it, it has reached the point of its utmost degradation. That is what Paul is saying here.

First, people neglect and dishonor God; God gives them over to a twisted and confused mind, and that confused mind leads them to justify sin, and then leads them to practice things that dishonor them, cause them to shame themselves through their practices. That is what this text is saying. So what it is saying is that the practice of homosexuality is not a civil right or anything remotely like it; rather, it is a manifestation of God’s judgment, a punishment upon a nation, a society, and the individuals themselves, who, by practicing it, degrade, defile, and debase themselves. I do not want that to happen to you or to me, or to anyone we love. I know there are brothers and sisters—I tell you, I know that some of you here have a brother; there is someone here, or several of you, who have a brother, a loved one, a son, or a daughter who is practicing homosexuality—and my heart goes out to you, brothers and sisters. We want to stand with you in prayer, and I tell you: continue loving your children, your brothers and sisters, and your friends. This sermon I am preaching is for the Church of Jesus Christ, so that you may receive strength.

I ask the Lord to strengthen your lives. I am not here wanting to place a greater burden on you either. Continue praying for the Lord to change your loved ones. But life is very clear, isn’t it? And this is very different, brothers and sisters, as I said, from what is being taught today: the suggestion that same-sex marriage is a civil right and that homosexuality is merely one more option. Paul says no; rather, it is a declaration of God’s judgment upon a culture. He says that God gives them over to shameful passions, which cause them to dishonor their bodies among themselves. It all begins when God darkens the mind of a hardened society, and then they begin to think in a defective way. Today there are so many sociological, theological, and biological arguments that attempt to justify homosexuality, but they are the product of a darkened and obscured mind that God has abandoned and given over to error.

That damaged mind calls good evil and evil good. Today homosexual behavior is described as a civil right rather than as sin. And the problem is that, as Paul says, those arguments are not based on divine reasoning, but on human beings’ own reasoning. They use their own humanistic arguments, devoid of the counsel of the Word of God and the eternal boundaries, and then, because they have no eternal, biblical point of reference, they lose their way. It is humanism instead of theism. And now, as I conclude, I also want to clarify something, my brothers and sisters. After presenting his number-one exhibit of humanity’s degradation and saying that homosexuality is the main point, or at least its main manifestation, he says: “For this reason God gave them over to shameful passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature.”

That is, Paul says that women are much more chaste than men; men are sometimes more inclined than women toward filth, sexuality, and sensuality. But Paul says, you know what? Things have reached such a point that even women exchanged their natural relations for what is contrary to nature, and their men likewise burned with lust for one another. That is the ultimate manifestation. But after that, Paul says that there are also other proofs of God’s judgment upon a nation, and he says here that God gave them over to do things that are improper. Verse 29: being filled with all fornication, greed, wickedness, full of envy, murder, strife; they are gossipers and haters—there is a very long list. Be careful not to think that homosexuality is the only thing, right? There are many sins that we must confront and of which we must repent. Homosexuality is only a dramatic manifestation of a man’s, a woman’s, or a society’s estrangement, but there are also other sins that we cannot ignore.

We cannot say, well, homosexuals are the only ones. No, there are also many other people, and we here must ask ourselves, “Lord, how can I draw closer and closer to Your holiness and Your calling?” There is plenty here for all of us to deal with. And I will conclude with this. I am going to ask the musicians to come up here, and I will no longer trouble you with this teaching, but do think about it. Listen to what I am going to tell you as I bring this meditation to a close. No Christian who loves the Word of God or who is observing what is happening in this nation can remain silent in the face of what we are seeing at this time. This is not the time for the Church to be discreet or polite, or falsely merciful. We must declare it; it is time to speak God’s truth.

With sorrow and healthy fear, we must examine one another and look at ourselves, but we must also proclaim God’s truth with clarity and conviction. The health of this nation is at stake, the well-being of our children is at risk, and the salvation of millions of people is also at risk. The freedom of millions of Americans and Latinos who believe in God is being trampled underfoot at this time, and if we are not careful, before long the pulpits themselves will be unable to preach as we are preaching, because we will be forbidden to preach about these things, as is already happening in Europe and in the Anglican Church, where pastors who preach the Word of God are accused of inflammatory speech and of inciting all kinds of violence, and may even be thrown into prison. And that is coming if we are not careful.

If we remain silent for fear of offending someone who comes in from outside, we leave the rest of God’s people who are listening now, as well as the young people, without guidance. My young people, the Bible is clear that we need to be faithful to the Word of God, and we need to respect the teachings of the Word of God regarding sexuality. The Bible calls us to purity, the Bible calls us to control our appetites, and the Bible calls us to the union of a man and a woman under the bonds and blessings of marriage. That is what the Bible preaches, and that is what we need to practice. Anything else is a violation of the truth of God. And we cannot let anyone—whether a movie star, a superhero, a journalist, an athlete, a president, a senator, or anyone else, no matter how exotic they may be—lead us into believing something that is contrary to the Word of God.

Do not allow any public figure in this society—a movie actor, a journalist, an athlete, an artist, a president, a senator, not even a pastor—to make you think anything other than what the Word of God says. God is a holy God, God is a pure God, and God expects us to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of His purity and His holiness.

I want us to bow our heads for a moment, my brothers and sisters, and examine ourselves. I have to examine myself when I preach a sermon of this kind. If at this moment you are struggling in your life against some bondage, some improper practice, something you know is contrary to the will of God; if there is something in your life that you cannot control—it may be evil thoughts, pornography, homosexuality, adultery, fornication, sensuality, pride, rebellion, resentment, oppression of others, physical abuse of your wife or your children, anything you know is contrary to the will of God—you know that you should not practice it and that it is harming you and dishonoring you. I ask you right now, there in your heart, to acknowledge your sin, confess your sin, and appeal to the Lord, to the Holy Spirit. Say right now, “I acknowledge my sin, and I acknowledge that this practice does not honor You, that it harms me and harms the people I love, and I ask You to heal me right now, Father.” Renounce it, reject it, and say in your heart, “I do not want it, and I repent, and I commit myself to doing Your will.”

And ask the Holy Spirit right now to give you new strength to resist anything that contradicts the holiness of the God you serve, whatever it may be. And renew your vow, as I am doing from the pulpit right here and now, to submit to the Word of the Lord. Let all of us do so, my brothers and sisters, because the Church of Jesus Christ needs to put its life in order before we can speak about these things with greater authority. We must acknowledge our own sin so that we can then have mercy on others and speak God’s truth with authority. So this afternoon, Father, we commit ourselves as Your people. Have mercy; heal us; enlighten our political and spiritual leaders; raise up Your prophets, raise up Your apostles, raise up Your pastors and teachers, and give Your Church a respected voice. Put Your house in order, Father, however necessary, and help us put our own houses in order. And Father, we ask You to stop the deterioration of this nation, to heal our land, and to lead us to repentance, Father; work in this nation to stop the advance of ungodliness, and deal with this society.

Father, touch the land with Your power. May Your will be manifested on earth, Father, and have mercy on Your Church. Protect us and keep us; protect our children, and keep us from violating Your law, Lord. Strengthen the foundations of Your sons and daughters, those who are struggling with grave and serious temptations, Father. Strengthen their foundations and bless them. We ask You to heal the lives of every person who is trapped in homosexual behavior and to have mercy on them. There are many who are there against their will; send Your Spirit to break those bonds, Father. There are others who are so hardened that they can no longer even consider the option of leaving their behavior. Send Your power, Father, to destroy the empire of demons and bring them deliverance, and give Your Church power and authority to command the spirits.

Bless us through this meditation. Send us forth with Your blessing today, Father, and thank You for the blood of Jesus, which cleanses and washes us from every sin, and for the hope we have in Him.

Brothers and sisters, as we prepare in a moment for Holy Communion, I want to invite each of you, there in your heart—if anyone has not received Christ as Lord and Savior, confess Him now. He is a God of grace and mercy. You do not have to suffer alone. The Lord says that if you repent, He is faithful to forgive your sins. Receive Jesus and confess Him as your Lord and Savior right now. Say, “Lord Jesus, I receive You into my heart and acknowledge You as my Savior and my Lord.” Confess Him there, and commit yourself to walking from now on in the holiness befitting the house of God and the people of God. Thank You, Lord. We receive Your grace and Your blood now in the name of Jesus as we prepare for Holy Communion, so that we may partake of it in a spirit of acknowledgment, humility, and repentance in our hearts. Thank You for the blood that washes and cleanses us from every sin. Thank You for the Body of Christ; its nutrients give us strength to press on and to live as You want us to live. We partake of it with sublime reverence, and we thank You for it in the name of Jesus. Amen and amen.