WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.339 Okay, I'm going to read some verses from Paul's first letter to Corinthians, so 1 Corinthians 00:00:08.339 --> 00:00:09.040 chapter 6. 00:00:09.140 --> 00:00:12.640 If you have a Bible and want to turn those verses up, that would be great. 00:00:13.660 --> 00:00:15.880 And then keep that passage open if you can. 00:00:18.420 --> 00:00:26.960 So 1 Corinthians chapter 6, and I'm going to read from verse 9. 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:32.859 I'm reading here from the ESV, the English Standard Version, so it may be slightly different 00:00:32.859 --> 00:00:35.340 to the version that you have in front of you. 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:39.100 This is what Paul writes. 00:00:41.700 --> 00:00:45.939 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? 00:00:47.040 --> 00:00:54.439 Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who 00:00:54.439 --> 00:01:01.320 practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers 00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:03.399 will inherit the kingdom of God. 00:01:04.259 --> 00:01:05.900 And such were some of you. 00:01:06.679 --> 00:01:07.939 But you were washed. 00:01:08.679 --> 00:01:09.679 You were sanctified. 00:01:10.379 --> 00:01:17.079 You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 00:01:17.079 --> 00:01:28.000 Well, I think it's true to say that over the last 50 years or so, there has been a dramatic 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:33.739 shift in attitudes towards homosexuality and same-sex relationships. 00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:39.719 So it's no longer the taboo that it used to be for someone now to come out and say, 00:01:39.719 --> 00:01:42.640 I'm gay, I'm a lesbian, I'm bi. 00:01:43.179 --> 00:01:47.379 Even at school, it's not uncommon now for boys and girls in their early teens, sometimes 00:01:47.379 --> 00:01:52.920 even pre-teens, to come out and declare themselves amongst their friends to be gay, something 00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:56.180 that would not have happened certainly a generation ago. 00:01:56.960 --> 00:02:00.340 The media have helped to lead the way, of course, in this change of attitude. 00:02:00.340 --> 00:02:07.299 So on most popular TV soaps and dramas, same-sex couples feature now as a matter of course. 00:02:07.299 --> 00:02:13.139 And if you notice, gone are those outdated stereotypes of the effeminate gay man or the 00:02:13.139 --> 00:02:14.560 masculine lesbian woman. 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:20.039 Most gay characters on TV now are portrayed as being really just the ordinary man or woman 00:02:20.039 --> 00:02:26.340 next door with nothing particularly to mark out the fact that they're gay in their appearance 00:02:26.340 --> 00:02:27.280 or their mannerisms. 00:02:28.340 --> 00:02:33.319 It's often said that the soaps merely reflect what's going on in the real world. 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:34.759 I'm not quite sure about that. 00:02:34.759 --> 00:02:37.139 I wonder which one drives which sometimes. 00:02:37.300 --> 00:02:41.920 But certainly over recent years, it's true that people have become less and less shocked 00:02:41.920 --> 00:02:48.900 when a celebrity or a sports personality or a politician admits to being gay or bi. 00:02:49.460 --> 00:02:56.040 Most recently, you may have heard the story of a Puerto Rican boxer, Orlando Cruz, who declared 00:02:56.040 --> 00:02:57.420 himself to be gay. 00:02:58.060 --> 00:03:03.500 And when a boxer is able to publicly come out in that way and then goes on to comfortably 00:03:03.500 --> 00:03:08.719 win his next fight, by the way, well, we're left in no doubt, are we, as to the fact that 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:10.759 attitudes have changed dramatically. 00:03:10.919 --> 00:03:14.240 A boxer able to come out and say that he's gay. 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:19.439 The law has changed too, of course, with various countries having introduced civil partnership 00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:24.680 legislation which gives to same-sex couples many of the rights and responsibilities which 00:03:24.680 --> 00:03:28.860 were previously reserved for heterosexual couples in marriage. 00:03:28.860 --> 00:03:34.760 And, of course, several governments now, including Canada, Argentina, Norway, Denmark, Spain, have 00:03:34.760 --> 00:03:38.900 already passed laws to allow for full same-sex marriage. 00:03:38.900 --> 00:03:45.020 So, with this cultural shift, it's no surprise to us, I'm sure, that in this kind of culture 00:03:45.020 --> 00:03:49.939 where popular attitudes have changed so dramatically, it's no surprise to us that the church and the 00:03:49.939 --> 00:03:56.460 Bible are perceived to be, well, at best, out of date, out of touch with reality. 00:03:57.040 --> 00:04:01.200 At worst, some would say, homophobic or anti-gay. 00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:08.339 Well, as we think about how to relate and respond to gay people with grace and truth, 00:04:08.419 --> 00:04:13.199 or indeed how to support Christians who struggle with same-sex attraction, 00:04:13.299 --> 00:04:19.079 and there are many Christians within the church often quietly and secretly struggling in this way 00:04:19.079 --> 00:04:23.399 and feeling, sadly, fearful to be able to admit that struggle to other Christians. 00:04:24.099 --> 00:04:28.279 But as we think about it, I want to focus our thoughts in a moment around this passage that I read 00:04:28.279 --> 00:04:33.799 from 1 Corinthians chapter 6. But before we dive into what Paul writes, I just think it might be 00:04:33.799 --> 00:04:38.459 helpful right at the outset to explain that I'm not teaching on this subject in some sort of 00:04:38.459 --> 00:04:46.199 theological vacuum. This is a passage which has, in fact, intensely personal implications for my life. 00:04:46.579 --> 00:04:53.319 As I said, I was converted to faith in Christ at age 24, and at that time, I myself was involved 00:04:53.319 --> 00:04:58.259 in a long-term committed same-sex relationship. I spoke to Johnny earlier about how 00:04:58.279 --> 00:05:04.919 I began to rebel, really, going to church and towards God when I was in my teenage years, 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:10.019 around about the age of 11, 12, 13. And one of the big reasons for that was because I was 00:05:10.019 --> 00:05:14.799 beginning to experience attractions to some of my male friends rather than my female friends. 00:05:14.859 --> 00:05:18.819 It was something that was very, very confusing, something that I'd never chosen, something that 00:05:18.819 --> 00:05:25.559 I tried to resist. But around about the age of 17, really, I began to identify myself inwardly 00:05:25.560 --> 00:05:31.959 as being gay. And I got involved then in this long-term relationship with another guy of my own 00:05:31.959 --> 00:05:39.220 age that went on from age 17 through to 24. Then age 24, as I said, walked into a church within a week 00:05:39.220 --> 00:05:44.000 and become a Christian. That was very much a sense of God's calling me, if you like, out of that way of 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:50.079 life. And I'll talk a little bit more about that this evening. Now, you may be expecting me at this 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:54.399 point to introduce my wife and five children sitting on the front row. Well, you're going to 00:05:54.399 --> 00:05:57.899 be disappointed. They're not here. The reason they're not here is because they don't exist. 00:05:58.519 --> 00:06:03.819 And I think I need to stress that I've not been, quote, healed or cured of homosexuality. 00:06:03.959 --> 00:06:09.039 Nor do I think that's language that's particularly helpful in this context. And I have to say, 00:06:09.139 --> 00:06:12.299 too, that those well-meaning but otherwise Christians who over the years have attempted to 00:06:12.299 --> 00:06:17.000 deliver me from the demon of homosexuality, and there have been quite a few, let me tell you, 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:22.199 they've all been unsuccessful. It always makes me smile when I hear Christians trying to demonize 00:06:22.199 --> 00:06:27.060 homosexuality in that way and suggest that people just simply need to be delivered from it. It's 00:06:27.060 --> 00:06:30.939 probably my warped sense of humor, but I just have this image in my mind of all these camp demons 00:06:30.939 --> 00:06:36.040 floating around in the heavenlies or something. You know, Graham Norton lookalikes, and they're there 00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:40.459 with their red jumpsuits waving their rainbow flags or something. As I say, that's probably just my 00:06:40.459 --> 00:06:45.439 warped sense of humor. Don't make notes about that, please. But I'm yet to find any reference in the 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:52.279 Bible to a demon of homosexuality. Now, the reality is that my experience now is that I'm a Christian 00:06:52.279 --> 00:06:56.819 who has an ongoing struggle to one degree or another with same-sex attraction. It's not the 00:06:56.819 --> 00:07:02.519 issue that it used to be, but it's still there for me. But I want to stress that I don't now identify 00:07:02.519 --> 00:07:07.939 myself as gay. That's not a label I want to use. I don't call myself a gay Christian for lots of 00:07:07.939 --> 00:07:12.240 reasons, not least because that could be misunderstood, but mainly because actually that is not my identity. 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:17.319 My identity now is in Christ. That's really important to me. But if you push me for a 00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:21.600 description that I'm a Christian who has an ongoing struggle with same-sex attraction, God 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:27.759 hasn't taken that away. And my experience really is one of seeking to live a single, celibate, and I 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:33.060 want to stress a very fulfilled life as a single guy. So it's not a sad life, it's not a lonely life, 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:37.840 it's not a frustrating life. Although, yeah, of course, there are times of sadness and loneliness and 00:07:37.840 --> 00:07:42.040 frustration. But then that's equally true for pretty much all of my married friends and my other 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:46.300 friends who are in relationships. We all have those times of sadness, loneliness and frustration. 00:07:46.700 --> 00:07:51.220 But it's a very fulfilled life as a single guy. I want to be very honest with you this morning and 00:07:51.220 --> 00:07:55.439 this evening and say, look, I'm not claiming in the 20-odd years now that I've been a Christian that I've 00:07:55.439 --> 00:08:00.720 lived that life perfectly. The reality is that I've struggled and at times I've slipped up and fallen 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:05.240 back. In fact, there have been several seasons of my Christian life where I've genuinely feared that I could 00:08:05.240 --> 00:08:10.740 slip right back into a same-sex relationship. But really, my testimony to you this morning is of God, 00:08:10.860 --> 00:08:15.900 a God of incredible grace and mercy, much as we've been singing about and reading about this morning, 00:08:15.960 --> 00:08:19.819 a God who is slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness. And every time, really, 00:08:19.879 --> 00:08:25.500 I have made steps back in that direction, all I can say is that God very lovingly has put his hand 00:08:25.500 --> 00:08:30.540 upon me and said, no, I don't want you going back in that direction. And he kind of picked me up and put me 00:08:30.540 --> 00:08:35.259 back on the narrow road, which, remember, Jesus spoke about. The narrow road, of course, one that's 00:08:35.259 --> 00:08:40.960 hard to travel. And it is hard to travel at times. But it is the road, says Jesus, which leads to 00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:48.300 eternal life. So I hope right at the outset that a little bit more personal testimony helps to convince 00:08:48.300 --> 00:08:52.159 you if you had any doubts before this morning, and I'm sure you don't. You seem to be a grace-filled 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:56.920 church. But there are Christians who have doubts about God's attitudes towards gay people. And 00:08:56.919 --> 00:09:04.000 certainly people in the gay and lesbian community often believe that Christians seem to be hateful 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:09.120 of them or certainly anti-gay. And they believe that maybe God is anti-gay, that he hates gay 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:15.319 people. But God does not hate gay people. God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die for gay 00:09:15.319 --> 00:09:20.500 people too, so that they can have an opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus Christ and to 00:09:20.500 --> 00:09:27.379 respond and to put their trust in him. Okay, well, let's now take that testimony, if you like, 00:09:27.419 --> 00:09:32.600 into this passage of 1 Corinthians 6, 9 to 11. I hope I can help to show you that this is a passage. 00:09:32.700 --> 00:09:37.840 Yes, it comes with some warnings, but it's actually a passage that is full of hope as well for those 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:42.519 particularly who struggle in this way. But in fact, for Christians who struggle in all kinds of ways or 00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:47.899 have come from all kinds of backgrounds. Let me just say a little bit about the emerging church at 00:09:47.899 --> 00:09:53.360 Corinth, which Paul is writing. It's gained itself something of a mixed reputation, we could say. 00:09:53.419 --> 00:09:59.919 On the one hand, it is a very gifted church. And Paul opens this letter, chapter 1, verse 7, by 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:07.019 reporting how he thanks God that the Christians in Corinth are not lacking any spiritual gift. That's 00:10:07.019 --> 00:10:16.199 the phrase he uses. But their apparent spirituality and gifting is marred by various problems in this 00:10:16.200 --> 00:10:23.220 church. Problems such as divisiveness and the cult of personality. So there were some people who say, 00:10:23.320 --> 00:10:29.400 I follow Paul, I follow Apollos. There was this sort of divided community. Some were putting their hope 00:10:29.400 --> 00:10:35.379 in men rather than in God. And not least one of their other problems was that there were various forms 00:10:35.379 --> 00:10:42.360 of sexual immorality prevalent within the church. So we could say that Paul is writing to a culture, 00:10:42.360 --> 00:10:48.820 not unlike our own, in fact, where pretty much anything went sexually. Ancient Corinth was a 00:10:48.820 --> 00:10:56.519 society renowned for all kinds of sexual promiscuity, including same-sex practice. One of the great 00:10:56.519 --> 00:11:04.019 landmarks in Corinth was the Temple of Aphrodite. And that temple was reputed to be staffed by over a 00:11:04.019 --> 00:11:10.060 thousand slave prostitutes. That gives you a feel for what was going on in the city of Corinth. 00:11:10.059 --> 00:11:15.399 And what I want to do is draw out from this passage three things. Three things that I think are really 00:11:15.399 --> 00:11:22.339 important that Paul is teaching from this short passage in 1 Corinthians 6. Firstly, there is a 00:11:22.339 --> 00:11:31.119 warning. Don't be deceived, says Paul. Don't be deceived. Now that heading is lifted directly if you 00:11:31.119 --> 00:11:38.699 look from the middle of verse 9. Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, 00:11:38.700 --> 00:11:44.360 nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, 00:11:44.360 --> 00:11:51.300 will inherit the kingdom of God. So the issue Paul is addressing here is who is going to inherit 00:11:51.300 --> 00:11:57.420 the kingdom of God. It's another way of saying who's going to get into heaven. And Paul is warning, 00:11:57.980 --> 00:12:03.860 don't be deceived as to who will get into heaven. I think there's a lot of deceit in our culture, 00:12:03.860 --> 00:12:08.820 isn't there, about who's going to get into heaven. People talk in terms of, well, I hope when I die 00:12:08.820 --> 00:12:13.680 I'm going to get to heaven. Or you go to a funeral of someone who has had no signs of any belief in 00:12:13.680 --> 00:12:18.080 God and we're so thankful that that person is now at peace in heaven. There's a lot of assumptions 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:23.740 being made about who's going to get into heaven. And the general assumption for most people who are not 00:12:23.740 --> 00:12:28.659 Christians would be that it's someone who tries their best to be good. And if you try your best to be 00:12:28.659 --> 00:12:33.759 good, well, you'll be okay. You'll get into heaven. So that's what Paul is talking about here. 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:39.839 Now we need to clarify some terms from this passage. Firstly, who are the unrighteous or the wicked you 00:12:39.839 --> 00:12:46.740 may have in your translation? See, that word wicked or unrighteous suggests to many people today the idea, 00:12:46.919 --> 00:12:54.000 I think, of really bad people, people who are particularly sinful. So I think many people's minds 00:12:54.000 --> 00:13:01.159 would naturally turn to ideas of, I don't know, the murderer or the rapist or the child abuser. I don't 00:13:01.159 --> 00:13:05.159 know what it's like over here, but over in England at the moment, the whole question of paedophilia 00:13:05.159 --> 00:13:10.860 and child abuse has been massively in our news. It's just been relentless over the last few weeks with 00:13:10.860 --> 00:13:18.220 various situations that have arisen. But the biblical meaning of that word unrighteous or wicked 00:13:18.220 --> 00:13:25.660 actually strikes much closer to home and in fact should make every one of us feel uncomfortable. 00:13:25.860 --> 00:13:33.019 Because unrighteous or wicked in biblical terms, it simply means anybody and everybody who is not 00:13:33.019 --> 00:13:38.600 trusting in Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins. That's the biblical meaning of wicked. 00:13:39.160 --> 00:13:44.200 Anyone and everyone who is not trusting in Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins. 00:13:44.200 --> 00:13:50.800 It's the natural state, in fact, of every single human being. Every one of us here, that is our 00:13:50.800 --> 00:13:55.580 natural state. And that is whether we think we've lived a pretty good life and we've been brought up 00:13:55.580 --> 00:14:01.259 perhaps in a Christian home, or whether in fact we know we've lived a pretty rotten life and God has 00:14:01.259 --> 00:14:06.720 had to kind of drag us up from the gutter. There's no difference in biblical terms. Each of us by nature 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:13.340 are wicked or unrighteous. You see, it's all to do with the rejection of Jesus Christ 00:14:13.340 --> 00:14:20.360 as Lord. And what are the marks of people who reject Jesus Christ as Lord? Well, Paul lists them there 00:14:20.360 --> 00:14:26.980 in verses 9 and 10. We've read them through. And it's actually a very sobering list, isn't it, 00:14:27.040 --> 00:14:34.580 when you look at it. Now, I want to be very clear. Paul is not saying that anyone who has ever done 00:14:34.580 --> 00:14:42.259 these kinds of things, or indeed the Christian who struggles in these areas and sometimes slips up 00:14:42.259 --> 00:14:47.500 and falls back, he's not saying that those people have no chance of ever getting to heaven. 00:14:47.580 --> 00:14:51.680 That's not the point he's making at all. And in fact, you see this in the rest of Scripture. 00:14:52.100 --> 00:14:59.440 What Paul is teaching is that those who consistently and continuously live in these kinds of ways, 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:07.060 with no signs of repentance, that is no evidence of their behaviour being transformed over time, 00:15:07.660 --> 00:15:13.640 Paul is saying, well, they are showing by their actions that they're not truly trusting in Jesus 00:15:13.640 --> 00:15:19.780 Christ, not genuine citizens of heaven. So Paul is talking about consistency of behaviour, 00:15:19.960 --> 00:15:25.520 continuous behaviour, no evidence of repentance. That's really, really important. 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:32.340 Two other terms that we need to clarify, particularly as we think about this whole subject of being gay, 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:38.939 are the terms relating to homosexual practice. Now, I don't know what versions you have in front of you there, 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:46.620 but some versions will translate the words in the Greek as male prostitutes and homosexual offenders. 00:15:46.699 --> 00:15:51.220 So some will look at a passage like this and they will say, well, look, Paul clearly isn't talking here 00:15:51.220 --> 00:15:58.480 about loving, consensual, same-sex relationships. That's an argument that's often made when people read 1 Corinthians 6. 00:15:59.139 --> 00:16:05.660 Well, the translation here is actually a translation of two Greek words, and the original Greek words are 00:16:05.660 --> 00:16:14.000 malikos, literally the soft ones. That's what malikos literally means. You could say perhaps the effeminate ones. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:19.059 malikos, and another word, arsenokoitis, which is actually a constructed Greek word, 00:16:19.700 --> 00:16:25.120 and it's from two words, koitis, which means intercourse, and arsen, which means male. So I don't 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:30.960 really need to be more descriptive than that, I think. Now, it's true that malikos was sometimes used 00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:37.919 in the Greek of the day to refer to boy prostitutes. But it seems to me a much more natural reading of the 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:43.639 text to understand these two Greek words together, to be referring to what we might today call the passive 00:16:43.639 --> 00:16:50.220 and active partners, if you like, in same-sex acts. So I think the ESV translation that I've read from 00:16:50.220 --> 00:16:56.659 this morning goes for a very helpful paraphrase. It says men who practice homosexuality. If you're 00:16:56.659 --> 00:17:02.419 wondering about female same-sex practice, that's picked up in Romans 1. But I think that's a very 00:17:02.419 --> 00:17:07.819 helpful paraphrase, men who practice homosexuality. It's an all-inclusive phrase. But let me say, this 00:17:07.819 --> 00:17:14.480 passage is hotly debated. But even if Paul is referring here to particular forms of homosexual 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:21.859 behaviour, such as, let's say, male prostitution, let's say, even if he is, the stark truth is that 00:17:21.859 --> 00:17:28.539 there is no evidence in any of his writings that he or the Lord Jesus condones same-sex practice in 00:17:28.539 --> 00:17:34.339 any other context. Indeed, there's no positive reference anywhere in the whole of the Bible, 00:17:34.339 --> 00:17:40.579 Old or New Testaments, to same-sex practice, even when it takes place in the context of a loving 00:17:40.579 --> 00:17:45.919 same-sex relationship. You can search through the Bible. There is not one positive reference. 00:17:46.859 --> 00:17:53.159 So don't be deceived, says Paul. It's very easy, I think, with the cultural tide at the moment, 00:17:53.679 --> 00:17:59.839 for Christians to lose confidence in God's Word and to allow ourselves to be deceived. And people say, 00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:04.319 oh, well, things have changed. The culture has changed. You Christians, you need to just move 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:11.319 on and accept that actually we're in a different world now. Don't be deceived, warns Paul. People 00:18:11.319 --> 00:18:16.639 who consistently and continuously live in all of these kinds of ways are demonstrating by their 00:18:16.639 --> 00:18:23.619 actions that they're not truly trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord. Now, we know, don't we, that we don't 00:18:23.619 --> 00:18:28.559 become Christians because of anything that we've done or anything that we've not done. We become 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:37.259 Christians by grace, by faith in Jesus Christ alone. But the Bible also teaches that the evidence of a 00:18:37.259 --> 00:18:44.819 genuine faith is that actually our behaviour over time is transformed too. So James says, faith without 00:18:44.819 --> 00:18:51.719 deeds is dead. It's not real faith. And that's really the point Paul is making here. Here are marks of 00:18:51.720 --> 00:18:57.539 those who are not really trusting in Jesus Christ if these are ongoing marks of how we live and 00:18:57.539 --> 00:19:04.120 there's no evidence of transformation. But people will sometimes argue, well, look, I was born gay. 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:09.819 A lot of people say this to me. I was born gay or I was born lesbian and therefore God made me this 00:19:09.819 --> 00:19:15.799 way. Why would a God of love make somebody gay and then deny them the right to be in a loving 00:19:15.799 --> 00:19:21.500 same-sex relationship? That's a common argument that's put to me. Well, I think there are a couple of 00:19:21.500 --> 00:19:26.920 interesting assumptions being made in that kind of statement. First of all, that assumption that I 00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:32.920 was born gay. People often say that kind of thing and we maybe as Christians just sort of think, well, 00:19:32.940 --> 00:19:39.119 yeah, that's true. How could God do that? But does that statement actually stand up under the 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:45.220 scrutiny of scientific and medical research into the causation of same-sex attractions? Well, I'm going 00:19:45.220 --> 00:19:51.380 to pick this up a lot more this evening in the seminar, but the short answer for now is no. No, it 00:19:51.380 --> 00:19:58.900 doesn't. Suffice to say that no one gene or set of genes have been discovered which in and of themselves 00:19:58.900 --> 00:20:04.400 make somebody gay. And there seems to be a good measure of consensus amongst the most respected 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:10.339 experts that we need to recognise that there are many different factors that can work together 00:20:10.339 --> 00:20:16.819 to cause some people to be attracted to those of the same sex. As I say, I'll pick this up in more 00:20:16.819 --> 00:20:24.779 detail tonight. But for now, to say I was born gay just simply doesn't reflect the findings of most 00:20:24.779 --> 00:20:31.679 medical and scientific research. But let's just say for argument's sake that one day somebody discovers 00:20:31.679 --> 00:20:37.000 that it is possible to be born gay. I personally don't think for one moment that's going to happen. 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:43.759 But even if it were, let's just take that thought for a moment. Does that then mean I was born gay, 00:20:43.900 --> 00:20:50.460 therefore God made me gay? Would that be true theologically speaking, I mean? Well, I would say 00:20:50.460 --> 00:20:55.900 again clearly not. The existence of a gay gene wouldn't prove that God makes people gay. I think it would 00:20:55.900 --> 00:21:04.420 rather be a reflection of the fact that we are, if you like, born as Genesis 3 children. We're born into a 00:21:04.420 --> 00:21:11.259 fallen, sinful, broken world. So every one of us is genetically flawed. What does David the psalmist 00:21:11.259 --> 00:21:18.400 say? Even at birth, I was sinful. Sinful from the time my mother conceived me. So a gay gene, even if it 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:25.580 did exist, I would suggest to you that that would be a gene that is surely groaning and crying out for 00:21:25.579 --> 00:21:32.619 rescue and redemption, rather than a proof that God makes people gay. So don't be deceived. But 00:21:32.619 --> 00:21:37.019 secondly, just in case any of us are tempted to feel too confident and sure about ourselves, say, well, 00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:42.099 you know, this isn't my problem. I'm not gay. I'm not struggling in this area. Secondly, don't be, 00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:50.679 don't show prejudice. Don't show prejudice. Once you notice very carefully that same-sex practice 00:21:50.680 --> 00:21:55.779 is listed in these verses amongst a number of what I think many Christians, they may not say this 00:21:55.779 --> 00:22:03.039 openly, but inwardly we're kind of tempted to think these are, quote, lesser sins. Look at that list 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:10.279 again in verses 9 and 10. It's a very challenging list. So there are sins such as greed, drunkenness, 00:22:11.340 --> 00:22:20.100 theft, reviling or slandering, and they're all listed there, you notice, alongside same-sex practice. 00:22:20.099 --> 00:22:27.139 Indeed, you notice that the very first reference is to a more general sexual immorality. I want to 00:22:27.139 --> 00:22:34.059 ask you a question to think about. When did you last hear a message in church about greed? Probably 00:22:34.059 --> 00:22:38.219 somebody's going to tell me last week now. That's probably what's going to happen. Or about slandering? 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:45.359 When do you hear the church preaching out against these things, slander and greed? And yet it does seem 00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:50.759 that the church seems to be particularly focused often on homosexuality, same-sex practice. And yet 00:22:50.759 --> 00:22:58.099 Paul lists them here amongst a number of other sins. And he doesn't mark one out and say, oh, but this is 00:22:58.099 --> 00:23:03.379 the worst one. He just simply says, look, these are all marks of what it means to be someone who's not 00:23:03.380 --> 00:23:09.920 truly trusting in Jesus Christ. But unlike some Christians, the Bible doesn't major in 00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:18.760 on same-sex practice as if it's somehow in a league of the very worst sins. Some time ago, I was speaking 00:23:18.760 --> 00:23:25.280 to a group of sixth-form students in sixth-form college. And there were about 200 or so students. 00:23:25.780 --> 00:23:30.820 And I was asked to speak on this subject. And I gave them a multiple choice as to how many times did 00:23:30.819 --> 00:23:36.519 they think that same-sex practice was mentioned in the Bible, homosexuality. And it ranged from 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:43.480 less than 10, 10 to 50, 50 to 100, 100 to 500, or every page of the Bible. Those are the five options. 00:23:44.439 --> 00:23:49.399 And I have to say that out of these 200 or so students, there were a good half a dozen or so 00:23:49.399 --> 00:23:54.419 who genuinely believed it was on every page of the Bible. And there were many more who were kind of in 00:23:54.419 --> 00:24:00.799 the, you know, up to 500. That was what people were feeling, that actually it was really mentioned a lot. 00:24:00.819 --> 00:24:04.859 in the Bible. And that said to me that perhaps the church is doing something wrong, if that's the 00:24:04.859 --> 00:24:09.139 impression that we're giving to young people growing up, that it's mentioned so frequently 00:24:09.139 --> 00:24:16.200 in the Bible. You know, there are actually less than 10 references, less than 10 references in the 00:24:16.200 --> 00:24:22.500 whole of the Bible, that is Old and New Testaments together, less than 10 references to same-sex 00:24:22.500 --> 00:24:29.559 practice. So it's really important that we don't get this out of proportion and we don't focus just in 00:24:29.559 --> 00:24:37.899 on one sinful action where God actually focuses on a number of sinful actions. The emphasis on the Bible 00:24:37.899 --> 00:24:47.619 is in fact on God ruling out any and all sexual activity that takes place outside of a marriage between 00:24:47.619 --> 00:24:54.259 one man and one woman. That's the emphasis in the Bible. We'll pick this up a little bit more. I'm going to do a little 00:24:54.259 --> 00:25:00.500 bit more detailed teaching this evening on how we develop, if you like, a theology of sexuality. But for 00:25:00.500 --> 00:25:05.279 now, I just want to mention that the word that is translated in the New Testament, sexual immorality, 00:25:05.740 --> 00:25:11.000 appears quite a number of times in the New Testament. And that is usually translated from a variant of the 00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:20.500 Greek word, porneia, or porneia in the plural. Now, you do not need to be a Greek scholar to work out the English word 00:25:20.500 --> 00:25:26.839 that comes from the Greek word porneia. If you're not sure, then speak to somebody at the end and I'm sure they'll explain it to you. 00:25:26.900 --> 00:25:32.359 But it is pretty obvious that we get our English word pornography from that word. And really, porneia in the Greek 00:25:32.359 --> 00:25:40.879 carries with it the meaning of any sex outside of heterosexual marriage. So porneia includes, for example, 00:25:41.419 --> 00:25:51.019 adultery, incest, prostitution, same-sex practice, lust. The key issue biblically is not actually whether 00:25:51.019 --> 00:25:56.839 it's heterosexual or homosexual sex. That's not really what concerns God the most. The key issue biblically 00:25:56.839 --> 00:26:04.519 is the special place of sex within heterosexual marriage. Sex is a good gift from God, but God, 00:26:04.619 --> 00:26:10.839 in giving this good gift, has also given good boundaries in which it's to be enjoyed. And 00:26:10.839 --> 00:26:18.319 that boundary is exclusively within heterosexual marriage between one man and one woman. So don't 00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:25.220 show prejudice. Let's not elevate sexual sins to the top of this sort of imaginary premier league 00:26:25.220 --> 00:26:35.019 of the worst sins. Really important that we don't do that. So don't be deceived, firstly. 00:26:35.680 --> 00:26:44.799 Don't show prejudice, secondly. And then thirdly, don't miss the point. Don't miss the point. 00:26:45.600 --> 00:26:51.180 What do I mean by that? Well, what is often missed, I think, from this passage, and it is sometimes 00:26:51.180 --> 00:26:56.500 used as a kind of stick with which to beat gay people over the head with 1 Corinthians 6, 00:26:56.560 --> 00:27:01.460 9 to 11, or it's sometimes used as a passage to condemn Christians who are struggling in this way. 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:09.580 But really, I think the exciting and challenging reality is that quite clearly there were members 00:27:09.580 --> 00:27:17.200 of the church in Corinth nearly 2,000 years ago who had been rescued, saved, from a background 00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:25.740 which for some included same-sex practice. In fact, it included all kinds of sexual immorality. 00:27:25.860 --> 00:27:29.460 I want you to notice what Paul writes in verse 11. He says, 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:37.279 And such were some of you. That is you Christians. Paul is writing here to the church, not to the world. 00:27:37.360 --> 00:27:41.519 He's writing to the church. And he says, And such were some of you. 00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:49.900 Or the Net Bible translates it, Some of you once lived this way. And I think that's a really helpful 00:27:49.900 --> 00:27:53.879 paraphrase again. It probably better reflect the thrust of what Paul is saying. He's not saying, 00:27:54.279 --> 00:28:00.139 Look, some of you were gay, but you were miraculously transformed and you became fully heterosexual 00:28:00.139 --> 00:28:04.259 overnight. That's not the point Paul is making. He said, Look, some of you once lived in all of these 00:28:04.259 --> 00:28:13.779 kinds of ways. But what happened? Well, clearly, they had a saving, life-changing encounter with Jesus 00:28:13.779 --> 00:28:20.779 Christ. And the implication is that although they used to live in these kinds of ways, now increasingly 00:28:20.779 --> 00:28:27.379 they don't live in these kinds of ways because of that life-changing, saving encounter with Jesus 00:28:27.379 --> 00:28:32.940 Christ. So look what he says. It's actually a verse of great hope in verse 11. 00:28:32.940 --> 00:28:41.559 You once used to live in all these kinds of ways, but, he says, but, what does he say? You 00:28:41.559 --> 00:28:54.240 were washed. That is, you were made clean, purified. You were sanctified. That is, to be made holy, 00:28:54.240 --> 00:29:02.140 to be made like Jesus, set apart from sin to God. And you were justified. 00:29:02.940 --> 00:29:08.880 That's a fantastic Christian word, to be justified. It means to be brought into a right relationship 00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:15.799 with God. It's actually a legal term. So it's really acquitted, declared to be not guilty. 00:29:16.500 --> 00:29:20.180 So he's saying to these Christians, Look, you may have lived in all these kinds of ways or some of 00:29:20.180 --> 00:29:26.279 these kinds of ways in the past, but you don't now need to be burdened by guilt and shame and 00:29:26.279 --> 00:29:33.339 embarrassment about that past because actually now you've been declared by God to be not guilty. 00:29:34.339 --> 00:29:41.039 As Johnny was saying earlier on, that condemnation, that punishment of God has been taken actually on 00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:48.519 the shoulders of the Lord Jesus Christ as he bore our sins on the cross. It's a great phrase really, 00:29:48.519 --> 00:29:54.579 a great redemptive phrase, a phrase of rescue. It's a phrase that Paul doesn't use anywhere else 00:29:54.579 --> 00:30:03.180 in any of his writings in exactly this same way. You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified. 00:30:04.700 --> 00:30:10.440 And actually that should give real hope, I think, both to people who've come perhaps from a background 00:30:10.440 --> 00:30:15.619 of same-sex practice or for Christians that we know, perhaps even some Christians here today. 00:30:15.619 --> 00:30:20.979 I don't know most of you personally, but there may be some here today who are struggling in this whole 00:30:20.979 --> 00:30:26.019 area of same-sex attraction. Not unusual for teenagers to grow up sometimes confused about 00:30:26.019 --> 00:30:31.439 their sexuality and to go through a whole kind of phase of being attracted to all kinds of people. 00:30:31.979 --> 00:30:35.639 But actually it gives great encouragement because it says that however we may have lived in the past, 00:30:35.719 --> 00:30:40.679 whatever we may have struggled with, actually we can be assured that in Christ, if we're trusting in 00:30:40.680 --> 00:30:48.560 him we've been washed and sanctified and justified, brought into that right relationship with him. 00:30:49.580 --> 00:30:55.920 Now we don't have any examples in the Gospels of Jesus encountering a gay person. There simply isn't 00:30:55.920 --> 00:31:00.180 there. In fact, in the Bible, the Bible doesn't really understand that whole idea of somebody 00:31:00.180 --> 00:31:04.320 labelling themselves according to their sexual attractions. That's one of the reasons why I don't do 00:31:04.320 --> 00:31:08.840 that. The Bible doesn't talk about gay and straight. It simply doesn't talk in those terms. 00:31:08.839 --> 00:31:15.539 What we do have are a number of examples of Jesus ministering grace and truth to people who had 00:31:15.539 --> 00:31:23.419 strayed from God's purposes for sex and marriage in a whole host of ways. The Apostle John describes 00:31:23.419 --> 00:31:33.299 Jesus in the opening chapter of his Gospel as being full of grace and truth. Full of grace and truth. I love 00:31:33.299 --> 00:31:38.699 that phrase and I think it's really important. It's hard for us to get our heads around this, but when John 00:31:38.700 --> 00:31:43.660 talks about him being full of grace and truth, our human minds might think, well that's 50% grace, 00:31:43.740 --> 00:31:48.240 50% truth. That's how you're full of something, isn't it? But in fact, it's not that at all. It is full of 00:31:48.240 --> 00:31:55.720 grace and full of truth. Jesus was completely full of grace and completely full of truth at the same 00:31:55.720 --> 00:31:59.900 time. And that's one of the reasons why, as a ministry, Truth For Him Trust, that's what we seek 00:31:59.900 --> 00:32:05.900 to aspire to by God's grace that we can respond to these issues full of grace and full of truth. 00:32:06.700 --> 00:32:11.400 And really, we see that nowhere better, I think, Jesus being full of grace and truth, than in the 00:32:11.400 --> 00:32:18.620 way that he interacts with those who have fallen and failed sexually. So think, for example, of Jesus' 00:32:18.780 --> 00:32:25.900 response to the sinful woman in Luke chapter 7, the one who wept at his feet and anointed him with 00:32:25.900 --> 00:32:33.240 expensive perfume. Probably a prostitute, certainly a woman of ill repute. But you remember, if you know 00:32:33.240 --> 00:32:39.540 that story in Luke 7, that Jesus actually rebukes not the woman, but Simon the Pharisee for failing to 00:32:39.540 --> 00:32:48.340 recognize that her extravagant act of love for Jesus actually was flowing from God's extravagant love 00:32:48.340 --> 00:32:55.060 for her in forgiving her many sins. So Jesus didn't say, look, go away and leave your life of prostitution, 00:32:55.059 --> 00:33:01.379 and then you can anoint my feet. No, no, no, he allowed her to anoint his feet. He dealt, if you 00:33:01.379 --> 00:33:08.079 like, with her sense of alienation. He showed her grace before speaking truth. Same way with the 00:33:08.079 --> 00:33:14.039 woman of Samaria. Think of the woman of Samaria in John chapter 4. I can imagine today certain 00:33:14.039 --> 00:33:20.119 evangelical Christians wanting to approach this woman carrying a banner, protesting at her adulterous 00:33:20.119 --> 00:33:25.039 lifestyle. After all, she's gone through five husbands already, and she's now, quote, living in 00:33:25.039 --> 00:33:34.159 sin with another man. That's not how Jesus deals with her at all. Again, he meets her in grace and in 00:33:34.159 --> 00:33:40.759 truth. He flies in the face of all the religious and social etiquette of his day, deals firstly with 00:33:40.759 --> 00:33:47.119 her sense of alienation and her misunderstanding about who God is and how he's to be worshipped. 00:33:47.500 --> 00:33:52.579 And oh yes, he does go on to challenge her about her sinful life. He says, go off and get your husband, 00:33:52.579 --> 00:33:57.519 knowing that that's going to actually get to the heart of the issue with this woman. But he doesn't 00:33:57.519 --> 00:34:04.679 challenge her about her sinful lifestyle until his unconditional love has won over her trust and 00:34:04.679 --> 00:34:11.659 respect. Full of grace, full of truth. And it's the same with the woman caught in adultery, John chapter 00:34:11.659 --> 00:34:17.219 8. The Pharisees, you remember, were ready to bring the full force of Old Testament law to bear, 00:34:17.219 --> 00:34:22.299 condemning her and demanding that she be stoned to death. That was what the law required. 00:34:23.099 --> 00:34:28.839 But Jesus, who ironically is the only one with any right to stand in judgment over her, he could have 00:34:28.839 --> 00:34:34.339 cast not only the first stone, but he could have cast every single stone until she was dead. He would 00:34:34.339 --> 00:34:41.359 have been completely justified. He actually says, no, I don't condemn you. He refuses to condemn her, 00:34:41.360 --> 00:34:47.079 even though he was the only one with the right to do so. Although, of course, again, he lovingly sends 00:34:47.079 --> 00:34:52.360 her on her way at the end of that account with a clear warning to leave her life of sin. But it's 00:34:52.360 --> 00:34:57.680 grace and then truth, you notice. Grace and truth. All the way through in all of these accounts, 00:34:58.120 --> 00:35:04.120 it's the same pattern each time. Grace and truth. Grace and truth. Grace and truth. Grace and truth. 00:35:04.119 --> 00:35:11.699 Jesus models for us quite perfectly, I think, what it means to speak the truth in love. And I think 00:35:11.699 --> 00:35:15.880 it's rather sad, but sometimes you do find that some evangelical Christians seem to be very, very 00:35:15.880 --> 00:35:22.599 strong on truth. So we want to speak the truth. We want to protest. We sometimes speak in ways that 00:35:22.599 --> 00:35:28.339 are quite harsh and condemning, but we sometimes seriously are deficient in grace. And I think we 00:35:28.339 --> 00:35:33.759 need to learn to reflect God's heart. It's human nature, I think, that so very often, 00:35:33.760 --> 00:35:39.640 our first reaction to the sins of others is judgment. It's just a natural human reaction. 00:35:40.240 --> 00:35:47.040 But not so with God, not so with Jesus. His first reaction is always mercy and love. And I think we need 00:35:47.040 --> 00:35:53.960 to capture that same priority as we seek to relate to and to reach out to those who have fallen and 00:35:53.960 --> 00:36:02.600 failed sexually. So I want to leave you this morning with a challenge. I want to suggest that a truly 00:36:02.599 --> 00:36:11.920 authentic gospel church will be a church, in fact, that is full of exes. So there'll be ex-adulterers, 00:36:12.799 --> 00:36:22.500 ex-swindlers, ex-greedy people, ex-slanders, ex-people who used to have sex with those of the same sex, 00:36:22.920 --> 00:36:29.639 ex-thieves, people who once used to live in all of these kinds of ways, but have now been welcomed 00:36:29.639 --> 00:36:35.059 into the community of God and are supported and encouraged because they've had that saving, 00:36:35.739 --> 00:36:40.199 life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ. To use Paul's language, they've been washed, 00:36:40.940 --> 00:36:45.799 sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. No 00:36:45.799 --> 00:36:52.420 longer alienated from God and alienated from the community of God's people, but now adopted into 00:36:52.420 --> 00:36:58.480 God's family and warmly welcomed, even with all their ongoing weaknesses and struggles and failings, 00:36:59.059 --> 00:37:06.800 welcomed into the church, supported, encouraged, helped, spurred on to increasingly live as those 00:37:06.800 --> 00:37:12.780 who will inherit the kingdom of God. And my prayer for you here at Carraghine Baptist Church is that 00:37:12.780 --> 00:37:18.059 increasingly you'll be this kind of church, shining like a beacon into a dark world, 00:37:18.059 --> 00:37:23.159 proclaiming the gospel of hope to people of whatever kind of background, whatever their 00:37:23.159 --> 00:37:27.960 sexuality, whatever their culture, whatever their particular struggle, so that many more of 00:37:27.960 --> 00:37:34.759 your neighbours, your family members, your work colleagues can be washed, sanctified and justified 00:37:34.759 --> 00:37:39.699 in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray. 00:37:39.699 --> 00:37:53.619 Father, thank you once again for the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord, 00:37:53.659 --> 00:38:00.819 that it is good news for all kinds of people from all kinds of backgrounds, with all kinds of struggles. 00:38:02.179 --> 00:38:08.239 Pray that you'd help each one of us, Lord, individually to be faithful in sharing our lives and sharing our 00:38:08.239 --> 00:38:14.579 faith indiscriminately, Lord, with those that we work with, those of our family members, 00:38:15.159 --> 00:38:21.359 those of our neighbours and friends. Father, thank you that you never write anybody off as 00:38:21.359 --> 00:38:28.059 hopeless in terms of the gospel. Forgive us, Lord, when sometimes we do exactly that and we think that 00:38:28.059 --> 00:38:34.079 perhaps this person or that person could never, ever become a Christian. Father, thank you that you're in 00:38:34.079 --> 00:38:40.900 the business of saving people that others sometimes reject and we pray, Lord, that you'd make us into 00:38:40.900 --> 00:38:47.739 that kind of people. Pray that that will be this kind of church, Lord, that we will reach out with 00:38:47.739 --> 00:38:54.199 the hope of the gospel and that increasingly over the months and years to come that many will be saved 00:38:54.199 --> 00:39:00.519 from all kinds of backgrounds. That this will be a really welcoming community, supporting and 00:39:00.519 --> 00:39:06.380 encouraging those who perhaps have ongoing struggles in these kind of areas we've thought about this 00:39:06.380 --> 00:39:13.420 morning. Father, thank you for your goodness. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you that you are in the 00:39:13.420 --> 00:39:22.420 business of bringing all kinds of people into your kingdom. Through the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.