Sunday Sermons
Held in Honor
“Marriage is to be held in honor among all” (Hebrews 13:4)
The push for the societal acceptance that homosexuals have the right to marry each other is just one of a long history of attacks upon the honor of the marriage relationship. The prevalence of and acceptance of pornography, no fault divorce and a 50% divorce rate, religious leaders compromising and performing weddings for couples that do not have the right to remarry, all have been undermining marriage in our culture for decades now. Many heterosexuals have certainly devalued marriage, yet this is no excuse for, further devaluing by homosexuals. Yes, the phony marriage of Brittany Spears devalues marriage, but so does applying the term to a sinful relationship engaged in by two homosexuals. Both are equally disgusting to God, remember,“fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4), and this includes all fornicators, including homosexuals (Jude 7).
Hopeless?
Mona Charen wrote, “If you are like most Americans, you know that gay marriage is coming and you don’t feel that you have the power to stop it. It’s in the nature of our culture that things move very fast when the TV producers, magazine writers, screenwriters, journalists, and a handful of judges join forces” (Gay Marriage Debuts, 12-5-2003). We might feel like Micah, who said, “The godly person has perished from the land, and there is no upright person among them. Concerning evil, both hands do it well. The prince asks, also judge, for a bribe…so they weave it together” (7:2-3). The idea is that powerful and influential people want something done, “the desire of his soul”, and judges and politicians work together to implement such selfish desires into law. Yet let us remember that God rules in the kingdoms of men (Daniel 5:21), that the Ruler and Creator hears our prayers (1 Timothy 2:1-2), and nations can turn around from an evil course or downward spiral (Jeremiah 18:7-8).
What is the Harm?
Some homosexuals are arguing, “How would my ‘marriage’ hurt you?” The very simple answer is that “righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). “Here is the most searching test of policies and achievements”(Kidner p. 112). “To any people”: This truth applies to any nation, and not merely the Jewish nation in the Old Testament. Removing true religion (which includes the concept of absolute truth, morality, purity, ethics), from national politics, and domestic and foreign policy is a grave mistake. History has proven that sin leads to the deterioration of any culture. Hence, speaking out against sin, standing up for the truth, being vocal and placing your vote with the party or candidate which is concerned about truth and morality is so important. God determines how long a culture will last on the basis of the morality of its people. Sin that is openly accepted and embraced counts against our survival as a society (Genesis 15:16; Leviticus 18:25 “For the land has become defiled, therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants”; Psalm 9:17 “The wicked will return to Sheol, even all the nations who forget God”).
“A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough”
This quotation is found in 1 Corinthians 5:6 and is used as one reason why open sin cannot be tolerated in a congregation, but the same truth applies to entire cultures as well. “Partisans of same sex marriage demand to know how two gay men pledging themselves to one another can possibly hurt a ‘straight’ couple” (Charen). Yet as Justice Scalia notes, why would the principles being invoked to define gay marriage as a constitutional right exclude the right of polygamy, or incestuous unions, provided that all parties were consenting adults? Or, how does a homosexual father convince his daughter that polygamy is out of the question? Typically, people will respond either, “You are a bigot for asking”, or, “That will never happen”. The real truth is, that thirty years ago people would have said the same thing about the probability of legalized marriages between homosexuals. A little leaven has already leavened the whole lump of dough! Modern polygamists and others are already pushing for their “rights”. Fundamentalist Mormons regard plural marriage as a doctrine-revealed by God, obedience to which is necessary for their desired eternal exaltation. If you think that this is a weird or freakish notion, then remember, until very recently, that is exactly what the vast majority of Americans thought about same-sex marriage.
Make honest men out of them?
Some have argued that backing homosexual marriage actually advances a conservative position, that is, marriage is a civilizing institution, and good conservatives should welcome the fact that a new group of people would like to live within its constraints of fidelity. Yet Jesus and the apostles did not share this view. Just any relationship is not “marriage” that God endorses (Matthew 19:9; Romans 7:1-3). Jesus did not believe that a man who divorced his wife without scriptural cause and then remarried was advancing the conservative position, and neither did Paul welcome the fact that a man wanted to marry his father’s wife (1 Corinthians 5:1). The same is true in the Old Testament. Instead of welcoming such immoral “marriages”, godly men such as Nehemiah and Ezra were ashamed that such relationships were being tolerated in Israel (Ezra 9:1-6). The very existence of such sham marriages brings great guilt upon a nation! Carefully note this verse, “Shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? Would You not be angry with us to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape?” (Ezra 9:15)
The Family Research Council notes the following: While marriage between a man and a woman is a clear benefit to any society, homosexual relationships have no comparable benefit, in fact they impose substantial costs on society. The fact that AIDS is at least ten times more common among men who have sex with men than among the general population is but one example. Secondly, studies show that even homosexual men who are in ‘committed’ relationships are not sexually faithful to each other. Now while unfaithfulness is too common among heterosexuals, it does not begin to compare to the rates among homosexual men. The 1994 National Health and Social Life Survey, which remains the most comprehensive study of American’s sexual practices ever, taken, found that 75 percent of married men and 90 percent of married women had been sexually faithful to their spouse. On the other hand, a major study of homosexual men in ‘committed’ relationships found that only seven out of 156 had been sexually faithful, or 4.5 percent. A Dutch study cited above found that even homosexual men in ‘steady partnerships’ had an average of eight ‘casual’ sex partners per year. While some have argued that marriage will change the behavior of homosexuals, it is far more realistic to say that homosexuals will change people’s idea of marriage, further undermining the truth that marriage is a lifelong commitment and that sex is to be confined to marriage. The entire gay liberation movement has been but a part of a larger movement of immorality whose fundamental tenet is that anybody should be able to have sex with anybody they want anytime they want. To suggest that once homosexuals receive the ultimate stamp of approval from society (that is a marriage license), that suddenly they are going to settle down is foolishly naïve. Remember, a marriage license does not equal conversion.
“Committed Relationships?”
There has been a lot of “twisting Scripture” going on in the attempt to justify “committed homosexual relationships” especially among religious groups that want to conform to the world (Romans 12:1-2) and please men (Galatians 1:10). For some time the argument has been made that the Bible only condemns irresponsible or lustful homosexuality, but it never condemns a committed homosexual relationship. Yet, such an argument must concede that if this is the case, then neither does the Bible condemn a man who is having an affair, but who is committed to his mistress, a man who is involved in incest, but who is committed to his father’s wife. I am amazed that people are foolish enough to argue that being “committed” to a sin suddenly removes the sinfulness. Remember, the Bible condemns homosexuality along with such sins as adultery, fornication, and idolatry (1 Corinthians 6:9). An idol worshipper who is committed to his false religion is no safer from God’s judgment than a homosexual who claims that he is committed to his partner. The only commitment that matters is our commitment to God and His truths (John 14:15).
“They are good people”
I have observed that the press and media often try to support the homosexual agenda by putting in the newspaper or on television two nicely dressed and materially successful homosexuals. The problem with the above argument is that we are making a superficial judgment, rather than judging righteously, as Jesus commands (John 7:24). The fact of the matter is that God condemns the practice (1 Timothy 1:10), which means that we are in rebellion to God and virtually calling Him a liar if we insist that they are “good” (Isaiah 5:20). Yes, they can appear to be nice people, but thieves can appear to be very nice as long as they do not steal from you, drunkards can appear to be very charming when they are sober, the swindler may be a wonderful neighbor all the while cheating others, and the man with his mistress may look like a nice couple as well. Added to this, the devil himself can appear to be very charming! (2 Corinthians 11:13-14) The major problem with the above argument is that our society, as a whole, is becoming more and more afraid to stand up and make any negative moral judgments. The late Alan Bloom who wrote Closing of the American Mind found his university students two decades ago afraid to make judgments. Joel Belz when interviewing Wal Mart shoppers recently found that while people thought gay marriage was weird, they were unwilling to stand in the way if that is what homosexuals wanted. Most people surveyed, their own preferences notwithstanding, were eager to not be seen as being judgmental or standing in the way of other people’s styles and inclinations. Yet what such people need to understand is that such a non-judgmental posture will in the end lead to a compose erosion of their rights. People naively will say, “This is what I believe, but I do not want to push it upon anyone else”. The trouble is that you will be pushed out of the way. It may appear to be “loving” not to push your view that homosexual marriage is wrong, but homosexuals have no qualms about pushing their agenda upon society. Remember, when someone is pushing their supposed rights—they typically have their eye on your rights.
“Civil Rights?”
Let us remember that God is the author of all legitimate forms of government (Romans 13:1ff), this of course means that it is contradictory to argue that a sin that the Bible condemns should also be viewed as a civil right. In addition, many homosexuals have tried to argue that their “cause” is morally equal with the civil rights movement in the past. Yet the truth of the matter is that if homosexual marriage were a civil rights struggle, then the black community should be leading the fight, in contrast, polls actually show support for a homosexual marriage ban to be highest in the African-American community. Homosexuals and others who want to pervert the marriage relationship will argue “God wants me to be happy”, the truth is that God wants you to glory Him in your body (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), and the human body was not created for the purpose of engaging in fornication or homosexuality (6:13). Getting a marriage license will not bring lasting happiness to homosexual couples no more than leaving your mate for another person of the opposite sex. Real happiness is only found in serving God.
