Sexuality and Homosexuality

Background

If we have not had the pleasure of meeting my name is John Colunga and I have the privilige of serving as lead pastor here at New Day Pasadena

I also have the privilige of bringing this weeks sermon

So if you have your Bibles, plese turn to 1 Corinthians 6:9-20

We are in our third sermon of the You Asked For It Series

We surveyed the church and of the responses, the most common ones was taken and so we are preaching through and answering these questions

Two weeks ago we talked about singleness and marriage

Last week we talked about faith in adversity and suffering

And today we will talk about sexuality and homosexuality

And today will have many different aspects of previous sermons and that is because all of scripture points to Jesus and all of scripture works together

And if you are visiting with us for the time I promise we wont leave you hanging, I am going to detail this out

Last week we read Matthew 8 where two people professed that they would follow Jesus but they never did

And that faith isn’t something we just profess, but that it is something that we must posess

And when we posess faith in Jesus Christ, It’s because Jesus Christ changes our hearts, we then profess him but we also follow it up with our actions

Our heart is changed, no longer in the ways of darkness, but we are brought into the light of Jesus Christ and because of his work on the cross

When our heart is changed we should long for the truths of God

And the world today, it’s not concerned with the truths of God

As a matter of fact its not really concerned about truth at all

And the world wants to make it seem like sexuality and homosexuality is a complex issue when it really isnt

The world wants to make it seem like loving someone means that you have to affirm and accept them for what they believe and how they live their life

And the world wants to give an allusion that we can have a eutopian enviroment - Thats to say that we can have a perfect enviroment if everyone would just keep to themself and not impose on each others life (You do what you want and I do what I want)

But the one thing this world cannot get away from, the thing that drives it nuts, is that God is in control

You see, in our society, what we are seeing today, is the attempt to reject, run, neglect, and outright curse God

And in a society that dismisses God, they then elevate themself as god because they want to believe that they are in control of their own life

Please do not think that this is anything new, what is found today is also found in scripture

And what we will be talking about today is that there is a truth, there is a design, there is a way to live on earth with peace

But this all stems from a changed heart and complete submission to God

And so, despite what what the world might say about Christianity -

Christianity, is not a religion that thinks its better than everyone else

Rather, it is a belief of humility that says, we do not have all of the answers but we know that God does

It’s a belief that says, we understand what God has done for us through Jesus

And so we submit our entire life to following Jesus and his ways

And because we believe in Jesus and we follow Jesus -

We believe that his ways are right, because we believe that Jesus is truth, and because we believe that Jesus is God

We then completely devote our life to Him

He tells us how to live - and he tells us about sexuality and homosexuality

And if you recall, in the past three weeks, 2 of our texts have come from 1 Corinthians

And todays text is from 1 Corinthians

So what you need to know is that Paul is writing this letter to a church that is really messed up

The culture is so intertwined with the church and the gospel of Jesus goes against so much of the Corinthian culture

The church at Corinth hled the temple of Aphrodite which is the goddess of sexual love and beauty

And so sexual immorality in all of its forms were present which also includes prosititution

And so our text today, directly addresses this issue of sexuality and homosexuality

And to lead into this topic - Paul first addresses the issue of the brothers and sisters suing one another

And what was likely happening is that there were desputes among the church and the church members that were not being resolved within the church

And Paul isn’t telling them not to sue eachother because they want to sweep things under the rug

Rather, Paul is telling them that to be a good witness, to show that you are set apart from the world, handle matters differently

Go seek someone wise within the church to help counsel and mediate

Dont just go to the eyes of the state where God is left out and let them try your case

Rather, trust righteous and holy brothers and Christ to help settle your disputes biblically

7 To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? 8 But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Co 6:7–8.

If you are able, I ask that you please stand and follow along as I read 1 Corinthians 6:9-20

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13 “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Co 6:12–20.

This is the word of the Lord, you may now be seated.

Pre-Marital Sex

What we find in this list is a non-exhaustive list of unrighteous acts

However, Paul puts weight behind this list by noting that unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God

The church at Corinth is professing their faith and they are asking Paul for help

So Paul is writing this letter in a way that takes their profession and assumes that they have been justified and therefore they are sanctified

That is, because their heart has changed, they now want to live in a manner that is pleasing to God

They are convicted when they do wrong and sin

And so I want to make this clear before we go further, if you are struggling with any of these -

Keep struggling, this text here is a chapter of hope and a chapter of restoration

But we have to realize that in order to be restored, we must be realistic and confronted with the ways of unrighteousness that we might be engaged in

And so yes, the Bible will confront unrighteousness but it is not to be used to condemn God’s people

Rather it is a book all about hope and restoration of God’s people

And this chapter is no different

And while we primarily focus on sexual immorality, adultery, and homosexuality -

Know that most of these sins go hand in hand

But the very first thing Paul addresses is sexual immorality

And to clear this up, sexual immorality is committing any sexual act outside of the sanctity of marriage

And God defines marriage as one man and one woman comming together and making a covenant bvetween them and God to be one

This marriage is defined in Genesis 1 and 2 -

And in Genesis 1:28 “And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.””

And I think it is important to note here that this directive comes before the fall of Adam and Eve

So at this point where man does not have a corrupt nature, he gets the full intention and design of what God plan

Man and Woman come together, become one, they have other children, and enjoy the earth that God has created for them

And we find here that relationship with God and marriage preceeds the sexual relations

God intends for you to be a virgin male and a virgin female until you get married

Sex is a beautiful thing and is a beautiful act of love

And its beuatiful when the two can tell each other that they have waited for eachother

But - we must teach and we must understand that the aim of our virginity is not for our partner but for our purity with God

You are doing this for God!

Your relationship with God always comes first, as you walk with Jesus and grow in your faith as a believer, you recognize that you are to keep your body clean and holy for him!

And this is so much easier said than done

We live in a culture that worships, elevates, and pushes sexual relations

High School sex is common for tv shows

And the temptation to be curious, the pressure and temptation to give in, the temptation of experiencing a passionate kind of love with your bf or gf is prevelant

And even more prevalent today is pornography

Pornography is a form of secual immorality

An average of 28,258 people are watching porn every second

$3,075.64 is spent every second on porn

And 1 in 5 mobile searches are for porn

51% of male students and 32% of students have watched porn before their teenage years

During Covid, pornography viewing increased by 25%

Pornography is drawing in more and more people with a promise of instant gratification of the flesh at the expense of the persons spiritual health

And for a believer to engage in pornography is to defile his or her eyes, thoughts, mind, and heart with the perverseness of sexual immorality

This perversion pulls you away from Gods design and away from righteousness

And this is why we, as believers, need to be on guard and take a stand against such things

And at times, taking a stand might mean to give up some of your liberty

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13 “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

Paul tells us that the stomach will long for food and so food satisfies the stomach

They are made for each other

But, the hunger and the stomach will one day pass away

But our bodies will be made new, and since our bodies are for the Lord, we are to protect it

Paul says that all things are lawful but not all things are helpful

Yes, it is lawful for you to watch a movie or to have friends

But is it helpful for you if the movie or your friends are pushing you to have sexual temptations?

Don’t be dominated by your friends, dont be dominated by movies, dont be dominated by sin!

Rather, flee from sexual immorality and take a stand to be obedient to God and view your body as the Lord’s

Adultery

And adultery is another form of sexual immorality

And maybe you think that adultery is something we can kind of just gloss over because it may not be as prevelant

After all, even the world would say that cheating on your spouse is morally wrong, right?

But it is a serious matter and it is a matter and is addressed many times

It is the seventh commandment given in the 10 commandments

Exodus 20:14 ““You shall not commit adultery.”

Proverbs 6:32 “He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself.”

Matthew 5:27-28 ““You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

We must understand that this commandment given isn’t to burden us with restrictions

Rather, it is given to safeguard God’s intent and design for marriage

It is also to safeguard the sapce of safety that is shared between a married couple

A couple is to be vulnerable with one another, trusting of one another, and supportive of one another

But when adultery occurs, this is broken and the partner that was offended experiences an extreme amount of hurt

And because God wants to protect the harmed or injured party, adultery is one of the biblical grounds for divorce

But we have to understand that adultery doesn’t just happen overnight

And that is why Jesus says it is a heart issue

Lust isn’t just an action of the eyes and hands

Rather, it starts from the mind and heart and leads to the action

So husbands and wives, you need to be on guard to protect your marriage

Homosexuality

Another form of sexual immorality is homosexuality

It is listed in our text today and it is specifically named in Romans1

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

And so the first thing we see is that homosexuality is an exchange

There is an exchange of the natural for the unatural

Remember that God has a design and an inent for his creation and even after the fall,

God’s original design and intent doesnt change

Rather, as we have seen, God instituted commandments and laws to fulfill and safeguard his design and intent

And weather or not we agree, or like this, the natural order and design of man is written on his heart

Romans 2:15-16 “They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.”

In context, God is handing out judgement and God’s judgement is just

And even those that do not believe in Jesus, those that have common grace, they know that homosexuality is unatural

Science cannot even fully explain it - which is why the majority of people do not engage in homosexual acts or behaviors

And what we find here in Romans is that God gave these particualr people up to their passions

Their spiritual death was solidified and so they engaged in all acts of unrighteousness

And at the very end, Paul says, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Can we not see that in our current generation, there is an exchange of the natural for the unatural

That what was once hidden, kept secret, not talked about, was because it was unatural

There are those in political offices or that have been in political offices that are on video saying that marriage is between a man and a woman, but now their entire belief system has changed to approve what God has said is unatural

Believers, brothers and sisters in Christ, we must not ever approve of this unrighteous and unatural exchange

And this does not mean that we condemn, cast judgement, or shun them

There is a way to love the LGBTQ+ people them without affirming their lifestyle

But to love them without affirming is a hard task that takes wisdom and discernment and that is why most Christians will wither abstain from saying anything or just go along with letting them do what they want to do as long as it doesn’t affect me

And that is the easy road to take but it is also the unbiblical road to take

Knowing what we know, and believing what we believe, we have to know that there are some in the homosexual and transgender community that are so confused and feel the shame of the unatural act, but because society is pushing it and affirming it, they stay in the ways of the unatural

And my question is, which one of you are willing to help fight for their soul and tell them the good news about Jesus

Yes, you will come across some that will be hateful and ugly towards you, but what is the cost of following Jesus and obeying his commands!?

Here is a book you should read, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Butterfield

Her journey through homosexuality and a story about a Pastor who loved her and shared the gospel with her

He did not affirm her or her actions but he took the time to read scripture with her and help interpret what it means and she came to know Christ and is now on the front lines telling her story and bringing the message of salvation to that community

And at the end of the day, If homosexuality disgusts you, I hope and pray you have that same disgust for all sexual immorality

Hope

And here is the thing, being heterosexual does not save you

Being a virgin until marriage does not save you

Never committing adultery doesnt save you

But Jesus is the only one who saves and knowing that, understanding that, believing that, our message to the world shuld always center around him and his truth

We do not compromise it

We do not need to add our own commentary

The power of the scriptures changed Rosaria Butterfield and we have to believe that the same scriptures about Jesus can change others

In the garden of Eden, we see find that Adam and Eve fail in their obedience

And they became ashamed because they disobeyed

And the same shame they felt when they sinned is the same shame that goes on today in the lives of many

There are many who have had premarital sex and feel much guilt and shame from it

There are many who have and still are watching pornography and have shame for it

There are those who have committed adultery and still carry shame from it

THere are those who has engaged in homosexual actions and have shame for it

And so if that is you today, I want you to understand the seriousness of this sin, but to also understand that there is hope and mercy for you

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Jesus willingly died for those sins to take that shame and burden away

His life was the price for your sin

And so When Jesus changes your heart, and you repent and believe in him, he does not leave you alone to live the rest of your life

Rather, He sends you the Holy Spirit to lead and to guide you

To help fight and resist temptation

He says to get into a local church, a body of other believers to help disciple, encourage, and walk with you as you follow Jesus

This world will never be a Eutopia - there will never be perfect balance, but when we trust in Jesus, the one who sees all and is over all - He promises us heaven

Have you given your life to Christ?

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Romans 15:5-6 “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”