Our Stand on Biblical Sexual Morality, Part 4

Today, I'm going to finish what we began three weeks ago by looking at our stand on a biblical sexual morality.

What we've covered is on the screen behind me those seven points, and I'm doing all I can to resist reviewing those for you this morning. I so desperately want to review them for you, but I'm going to discipline myself and not do so so that I can finish what we want to cover.

With the gender euphoria sweeping our country and the laws around this nation and coming to this nation about conversion therapy and not Preaching to people or teaching people how they might learn to stay the way God created them, we need to be well equipped.

So, we're trying to help you understand how you might sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, that you might be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks of the hope that lies within. 1 Peter 3, verse number 15. So important to realize that.

But you see, if someone says, Do you believe in conversion therapy? You say, Absolutely not. I don't believe in conversion therapy. They say, Oh, good. You say, I believe in conversion theology. That's what I believe in conversion theology. Why? Because God is the one who converts. And everything about God is powerful enough to do whatever He needs to do. My job is just to proclaim that.

And so, while we've covered for you these seven points, what I'm going to do to show you how fast I am is, I'm going to cover two points. Really rapidly together. Points eight and nine. So put those up there for you so you can see. Points eight and nine: the certainty of his return and the inevitability of his judgment. That's point eight and point number nine. And they both go hand in hand.

We must understand that our stand on a biblical sexual morality is rooted. In the certainty of the return of Jesus Christ our Lord, He is coming again.

We are about to partake of the Lord's table. As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, You do proclaim the Lord's death. What's the next phrase? Until he comes. We preach Christ crucified. We know he's going to come again. And we keep preaching the cross, we keep preaching the Christ. Why? Because he's going to come again. That's why in Acts 1:11, it said. To the apostles, as they stand looking up into glory as Christ would ascend from the Mount of Olives into the heavens, the angel said to them, Why do you stand gazing up into heaven? Do you not know that this same Jesus will return in the same man in which he left?

God's word is at stake when it comes to his return. He's going to come again. And when he comes again, he's going to come in judgment. So because there is the certainty of his return, there then is the inevitability of his judgment. And the two go hand in hand.

And so, when you go back to the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 22, we told you a couple of weeks ago. That this is the last invitation in the last chapter of the scriptures. We talked to you about the exclusivity of heaven.

Remember that? That heaven isn't for everybody. The only people who go are who have their robes washed in the blood of the Lamb. But in that imitation comes the certainty of Christ's return. That's why he says in verse number 20, he who testifies to these things says, Yes, I am coming quickly. In verse 7 of Revelation 22, and behold, I am coming quickly. And then again he says, Behold, I am coming quickly. Verse number 12, and my reward is with me, to render to every man according to what he has done. You see, he's going to come again. And so the last invitation that says, Whosoever is thirsty, come. Whosoever will come, the bride and the spirit say, come. Why? Because Jesus is coming again. And you must be ready for his coming.

So the Bible says in the book of Matthew these words, Matthew 24, verse number 29. But immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And he will send forth his angels and a great trumpet. And they will gather together his elect from the four winds and from one end of the sky to the other. Verse 3. But of that day and hour. No one knows. Not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark. And they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away. So will the coming of the Son of Man be. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. Everybody did that which they always did without a care in the world. Being married, being given in marriage, living as if there were no worries. But they were taken by surprise. But they were warned. They were warned in judgment. They were warned by a man named Enoch who preached and a man named Noah who preached.

Remember.

The very first prophecy in Scripture given by God to man was the promise of the first coming. Genesis 3, verse number 15. There's going to come a seed from a woman that's going to crush the serpent's head.

But the very first prophecy. From God to man, so that man would speak to man was a prophecy of the second coming. And that was Enoch. We know that because the book of Jude says this. It was about These men that Enoch and the seventh generation from Adam prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of his holy ones. to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

Enoch prophesied about the second coming. He prophesied as if it had already happened because it was so sure to come to pass. The Son of Man is going to come. He's going to execute judgment upon all the ungodly. The certainty of his return, the inevitability of his judgment, is going to happen.

There, in Matthew chapter 24, as we were just there a minute ago, he says in verse number 42: be on the alert. For you do not know which day your Lord is coming but be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason, you also must be ready. For the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not think he will. The Son of Man is coming at an hour. That you don't think he will come. And he's coming again.

And so, because of the certainty of his coming, In the inevitability of his judgment, we know the Bible says that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. We know that time is short. How short? We do not know. But we do know that our Lord Jesus is coming again. And when he does, he will enact his judgment upon the earth.

Over in 2 Peter chapter 3, 2 Peter Chapter 3, these words are spoken: words that tell us about what our Messiah is going to do. It says, Know this first of all: that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lust, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation. For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice, that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water, and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by his word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing for any to perish, but all to come to repent. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat. And the earth and its works will be burned up.

Jesus is coming again. That is the great. Hope of the believer. We are looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Paul said it this way. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, he said this in verse number 7. The Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire. G that retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. When he comes to be glorified in his saints on that day and to be marveled at among all who have believed, for our testimony to you was Believed the Lord will be revealed from heaven, and he will deal out retribution. He's going to come in flaming fire. It speaks of the wrath of the living God. In fact, the Bible does say these words. In the book of Isaiah 59, verse number 17, he puts on the clothing of judgment when he returns. Ezekiel 25, I will lay my vengeance down accordingly to my wrath and my anger. For vengeance is mine, I will repay, Romans 12:1 says. The Lord makes it very clear that vengeance is here, is his. And he will deal out retribution to all those who do not know him. And those are characterized by those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. You can't say you know him and disobey the gospel. Because if you know him, you obey the gospel, right? Christ said, If you love me, you will obey me, you will do what I say. But he's going to deal out retribution to all those who do not know the Lord. And the way you understand that you know the Lord is that you long to obey all that the Lord has said, you want to follow him. You want to serve him.

But I want you to notice what Paul says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. He says, This, we'll go back up to verse number 6. For after all, it is only just for God to rep with affliction those who afflict you. God coming in judgment is just. God coming in judgment is righteous. God's coming in judgment is holy. That's who he is.

In fact, the coming of the Messiah in judgment is the greatest revelation of his character.

Listen to what the Bible says in Psalm 9, verse number 16. The Lord has made him known. By the judgment he executes. Did you get that? The Lord makes him known. By the judgment he executes. The best way for God to make him known is through the ex of his judgment.

Remember at Calvary when Christ died on Mount Moriah? That was an execution. Of God's judgment upon your sin and mine. Christ paid the penalty. God makes Himself known through the cross, it was an execution of His Son. He passed judgment on your sin and mine by putting the penalty of your sin on the cross, on Christ Himself. And the Bible says, It is the work of his own hands by which the wicked are snared. But Psalm 9:16 makes it very clear that the Lord has made him known to the judgment he executes.

In fact, way back in the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter 7. God says to Moses, when Pharaoh does not listen to you, then I will lay my hand on Egypt. And bring out my hosts, my people, the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand on Egypt. How were the Egyptians going to know who the Lord was? It wasn't the manifestation of his love. It wasn't the manifestation of his grace. It wasn't the manifestation of his mercy. It was the manifestation of his judgment. But even in his judgment, there was mercy because he gave them ten plagues. He gave them time to repent. He gave them time to see. But it was in the execution of his judgment that he makes himself known.

That's why it's so important for us to understand that Jesus was a preacher of judgment. More so than anything else, he did. He preached on judgment. He gave, woe to the Pharisees, woe to you, Chor, woe to you, Bethsaida, woe to you, Caper. He pronounced judgment and curses upon those cities, upon the most religious elite people of his day, the Pharisees.

Even John the Baptist was a preacher of judgment.

Remember in Matthew's Gospel. In Matthew chapter 4, John says in verse number 7. When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Now, these are the religious elite people. This is not just normal Joe B walking down the street. These are the highly el religious people of the day. So the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come. Therefore bear fruit in keeping with rep, and do not supp that you can say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. The axe is already laid at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Fire! His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clear the threshing floor. And he will gather his wheat into the barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

John the Baptist was a preacher of judgment. Jesus was a preacher of judgment. The prophets of old were preachers of judgment. Why do we, as preachers today, think we shouldn't preach about judgment? It's inevitable. It's coming. Christ is going to be turned. When he returns, judgment will be enacted. We are trying to warn people to flee from the wrath that's about to come, to understand how they can not be judged by the living God.

The book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 2 says this. Verse number nine: For when the earth experiences your judgments, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. You don't learn righteousness without God's judgments. We want people to be righteous, right? We want them to understand how they can be clothed in the robes of righteousness. Well, you can't learn about righteousness unless you understand about God's judgment. So important.

I'm afraid that in today's modern vern of gospel presentation, we have left out God's judgment altogether. But the prophets of old, John the Baptist, the last Old Testament prophet, the first New Testament preacher, was the preacher of judgment. Jesus, a preacher of judgment. Why? Because he's coming again in judgment. That's why.

All the way back to Genesis chapter five. When Enoch preached the coming of the Son of Man to pour out his judgment upon all the ungodly for all their ungodly acts. It's a warning that God is going to judge a sinner because of his sin. Therefore, you need to repent. Now is the time of salvation. Today is the day of repent.

And interestingly, it's important to know. That all those judgments are completely and absolutely right. They're not unholy, and they're not even unkind. It's a holy God enacting his judgment upon those who will not obey the gospel. Because they will not know him.

We told you before, we said it for many weeks, Romans 1, they refuse to acknowledge God any long. Romans 1 is God's wrath upon our nation. That's where our nation is, Romans chapter 1. It's all a warning to the coming of the ultimate judgment upon the entire earth.

But listen to this: Revelation chapter 6. Verse number 12, with the breaking of the sixth seal during the tribulation. I looked when he broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as the fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it was rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Then the kings of the earth And the great men of the commanders, and the rich, and the strong, every slave and freeman, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us From the presence of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?

How do they know that? Because the Lord is known by the judgment He executes. So when the sixth seal is broken in the tribulation and everything around them is falling apart, they know. It's coming from the Lamb that sits on the throne.

How do they know that? They refuse to recognize God any longer. But how do they know? Because God makes him clearly known by the judgments he enacts upon man. It 's unmistakable. And that's why all the judgments are just.

If you go on and you read in Revelation chapter 15, you read these words. They sing the song of Moses. The song of Moses is the song of the Lamb. The song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb is the new song. And the new song is a song about the Redeemer. And this is what is being sung: Great and marvelous are your works, O Lord God of the Almighty. Righteous and true are your ways, King of the nations. Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. For all the nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed. That's the new song. What are the righteous acts that are being revealed? They're the acts of judgment upon an earth that refuses to repent of their sins. And follow Antich instead of follow the Christ. That's the judgment.

And then you move over to Revelation 16, and it says these words. Revelation chapter 16, verse number 4. These are when the bowls of wrath are being poured out.

Remember, there are seven seals. Upon the breaking of the seventh seal, Blow seven trumpets, and at the blowing of the seventh trumpet there are seven bowls of wrath that are pour poured out upon the earth, and they happen in rapid succession at the end of the tribulation, right before the king comes. And this is what it said. Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the water saying, Righteous are you. Who are and who were, O Holy One, because you judged these things. For they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve it. And I heard the altar saying Yes, O Lord God the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments. Revelation 18, verse number 20. Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her. This is the destruction of Babylon. Babylon the harlot, and God has brought it down to destruction, and God's works are our righteous works. Revelation 19, verse number 2. Hallelujah. Salvation and glory and power belong to our God because his judgments are true and righteous, for he has judged the great harlot. Who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his bonds on her. And then, of course, in Revelation 19, he comes again and enacts his judgment.

Now, friends, why do we take a stand on biblical sexual morality simply because Jesus is coming again? He's coming soon. It's for certain. As certain as he came the first time, it's as certain he'll come the second time. And when he comes, the inevitability of his judgment on those who do not know him. And those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

But The last reason we have a stand on biblical sexual morality is simply because of point number 10, the availability of his grace. The availability of his grace.

Remember Revelation 22? The last invitation. The very last verse of the Bible says this: The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. The book about judgment, the book of Revelation, begins, Revelation 1, verse number 4, and ends with grace. Grace are the booke of judgment. It begins with grace, it ends with grace, and everything in between is all about the judgment of God.

Every man experiences common grace. You're here today. You've experienced common grace. You're breathing. You're living. You're walking. You're talking. You're Vert, not horizontal. That 's the grace of God, right? And that's one more day for you to respond to the truth: the availability of his grace.

So, when you look at the last invitation, when he says, Come, you are thirsty, come. The bride and the spirit say, Come. Why do they say that? Because heaven's a very exclusive place. Not everybody gets there. The exclusivity of heaven. There comes the certainty of his return. He's going to come again. Behold, I come quickly. And with that, the inevitability of his judgment. So now know about the availability and the accessibility of his grace. God's grace. For by grace are you saved through faith. It's God's gracious gift to man. The gift of eternal life can be yours. You don't have to not know him. You don't have to disobey him. You can come to him. Because of his amazing, wonderful grace.

That's why we preach Christ crucified. That's why we partake of the Lord's table, to remember his death on the cross and what he did for us. So that would motivate us to extend that gracious opportunity to those who are on their way to facing the return of the king and his judgment. Because what is God saving man from? God is saving man from Himself. He is the judge. He comes to die to save you from him as judge. Come to him as your father. Come to him as your lord. Come to him as your king. That's the grace of the living God.

We told you a couple of weeks ago about Belsh. Daniel came and gave the message of judgment to him. But he didn't repent. It was his last n, his last sermon. His last opportunity. Because everybody has one of those, right? Everybody has the last sermon, a last night, a last Sunday, a last sermon, a last everything. And then, boom, judgment. Everybody's like Belshazzar. I got time. I can do it tomorrow. I can do it next week. I can do it next month. I don't have to do it now. Yes, you do. Because you don't know about tomorrow. You just don't know.

But the amazing thing is the grace of Almighty God.

Remember Acts chapter 8? The Ethiopian eunuch.

Remember Deuteronomy 2, verse number 1? Eunuchs cannot enter the assembly of the Lord. They can't. So here's this eunuch reading. The prophet Isaiah. And Philip comes up to him and asks him, What are you reading? He tells him, Who is this? Who is this individual? And Philip, the text says, begins to explain Jesus to him. And once he explains Jesus to him, This man who is unable to enter the assembly of the righteous, according to Deuteronomy 23:1. Can only enter because of what Isaiah 56 says: that those who come to me and repent, I will forgive, and they will be able to enter the assembly of the righteous. That's the grace of God. Here's a man excluded from heaven, unable to get there because of the law of God, but when confronted with that law, And the inevitability of judgment in Isaiah 53, where that one bore his sin on Calvary's cross. Could receive the gift of grace, the eternal life of God, he repented and was saved on that day and was baptized on that day. God shows us the extent of his grace.

You see, because there's no one, no one, who is outside the grace of God. None. There's always the opportunity because there's always the availability of grace. As long as you're vertical, you're upright, you're breathing, right?

How about you? Have you embraced the Lord as your Savior? Do you know for certain if you died today, you'd go home to be with Him? Believe me, he's coming again. Maybe morning, maybe noon, maybe evening, but surely soon. He's coming again. And when he comes, he's coming in judgment to judge those who do not know him and do not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus. But there is that availability of grace that says For by grace you have been saved through faith and not of yourselves, that is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. God extends his grace to whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord.

How about you? Have you experienced the grace of God? Don't let another day go by without doing so.

Our stand on a biblical sexual morality is all rooted And what God has already said. How will you answer those who come to you and talk to you about the LGBTQ movement? How do you talk to those people who say, hey, listen, I want you to use this pronoun with me? How do you talk to those people who say, I'm not comfortable with my gender. I'm going to change my gender. What will you say? We've given you some information that will help you walk through everything that will explain the gospel to them. Because we do believe in conversion theology, that's the truth of God. That can change the soul of a man. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for today, the opportunity you give us to study your word. Truly, we are a blessed people, and we have the opportunity to bless your name. Our prayer, Lord, is that you would use your word in our lives, and that there would not be one person here today that will leave without embracing the grace that's been offered to them. Through your saving, saving work on Calvary's cross. In Jesus' name, amen.