07052015TheSupremeCourtRulingOnSameSexMarriageDonRuhl

The Supreme Court Ruling on Same-Sex Marriage 

First Corinthians 6.9–11

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • July 5, In the year of our Lord, 2015

  1. It is written,

    8 The wicked prowl on every side,
    When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
    (Psa 12.8)
  2. You have heard plenty on how the recent Supreme Court ruling 
    1. on same-sex marriage violates the Constitutional guarantee
    2. of the state’s rights to a republican form of government, and so on.
      1. I do not want to say much on the politics, but
      2. I did download the entire opinion of the Supreme Court,
        1. including the opinions of the five who favored this ruling, and
        2. the four judges who dissented from the ruling.
  3. Justice Kennedy gave an inkling of what moved the favorable decision,

    “Judicial opinions…reflect the more general, societal discussion of same-sex marriage and its meaning that has occurred over the past decades” (Page 23 of the Court’s Opinion).

    1. The shifting opinions of Americans have prompted their decision.
    2. That frightens me,

      2 You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice (Exo 23.2).
  4. Will some president or court or Congress 
    1. decide that declaring what the Bible says on homosexuality
    2. is a hate crime, or something of that nature?
    3. After all societal discussion is leaning in that direction.
  5. Social media shows the vast support the recent Supreme Court decision has. 
    1. My initial reaction was to back away from such people, but
    2. that is not what Jesus and the apostles did.
      1. Jesus was known for being a friend of sinners.
      2. Think about what Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church.
        1. Some of them had been involved in same-sex relationships.
        2. Yet, somehow they came into contact with him, or vice versa,

          9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God (1Co 6.9–11).
  6. Therefore, look at this issue with the eyes of Christ, 
    1. with the eyes of a Christian first,
    2. then with the eyes of an American.
      1. America did not give us Christianity,
      2. Christianity gave us America.
  7. We can’t be selective on which sins to speak against. 
    1. Yes, the Supreme Court disappointed us, and
    2. yes, it baffles us as to how we arrived at this point, but
      1. do we have the same thoughts toward other sins?
        1. What about abortion?
        2. What about gambling?
        3. What about living together?
      2. These are legal now, but
        1. at one time they were not.
        2. The truth is, we get used to sin.
      3. How would you react to:
        1. Neighbors on one side of you who are heterosexuals living together without the benefit of marriage?
        2. Neighbors on the other side who are homosexuals living together with the benefit of marriage?
  8. We do not know how to deal with issues like this, because 
    1. churches in America have been trained to refute other churches.
      1. We are comfortable refuting each other and
      2. “converting” people from other churches.
    2. All the while, the homosexual movement worked zealously and tirelessly
      1. to convert people to their position, and
      2. we had no idea what was going on, and
        1. we woke up one day, wondering what happened to our country.
        2. We do not know how to operate in a hostile environment.
    3. You have heard me say more than once, and
      1. I will say it again.
      2. Put 5 people, two of whom are homosexuals and three their supporters,
        1. in a room with a speaker,
        2. who tells them what they need to do,
          1. how much money they need to give,
          2. how much time they need to donate, and so on,
            1. to get society to accept their way of life, and
            2. they will out do
      3. 100 Christians who in a room with a speaker
        1. who tells them what they need to do,
          1. how much money they need to give,
          2. how much time they need to donate, and so on,
        2. to get society to accept their way of life!
  9. The Supreme Court has—
    1. with the same-sex marriage ruling on June 26, 2015,
    2. with the legalization of abortion on January 22, 1973,
    3. with the prohibition of Bible reading in schools on June 17, 1963,
    4. with the prohibition of school prayer on June 25, 1962, and
    5. with many other things it has done—
      1. declared that we no longer wish to be
        1. one nation under God, but
        2. one nation above God!
      2. When we needed Him in our early history,
        1. we were willing to be under Him and His care, but now
        2. we think we know better than He does.
          1. He is not going to tell us what to do,
          2. we are going to tell Him what we are going to do.
    6. American society, and
      1. the Court has sanctioned it,
      2. has spit in the face of God.
        1. From where did marriage come?
        2. Genesis tells us one of the first things God did for man,

          24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh (Gen 2.24).
    7. First Corinthians 6 tells us not to be deceived,

      9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God (1Co 6.9–10).

      1. Why did the Holy Spirit move Paul to write, “Do not be deceived”?
      2. The Spirit knows that someone will try to deceive us and
        1. persuade us that living in the sins he listed,
        2. will not prevent us from inheriting the kingdom of God.
  10. Evolution is no help. 
    1. Some people deny that we have been created,
      1. concluding that God does not exist,
      2. believing that frees them to do as they please.
    2. Listen, evolution also denies same-sex marriage.
      1. How does same-sex marriage promote evolution? It stops SSM.
      2. How does natural selection give us same-sex marriage?
        1. They better be careful,
        2. for they may not like the implications.
          1. Since homosexuals cannot reproduce among themselves,
          2. is this nature’s way, as they would say it, of deselecting them?
      3. How does same-sex marriage come from survival of the fittest?
  11. Is the Lord separating the men from the boys? 
    1. When I went out for high school football,
      1. the first week we did not wear gear,
      2. so we did no hitting.
        1. Then the coach announced that we would start practicing with gear.
        2. He said that we would spill a little blood and
          1. separate the men from the boys;
          2. separate the seriously devoted from those just playing around.
    2. The Lord allows certain things to happen in our lives—
      1. in this case, national life—
      2. that He might separate the men from the boys;
        1. separate those who take their Christianity seriously
        2. from those who just play around at being a Christian.
      3. Consider when He told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac,

        1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Gen 22.1–2).

        12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me” (Gen 22.12).

      4. Consider the story of Job,

        9 So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” 12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord (Job 1.9–12).
      5. Jesus asked Peter,

        15 “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” (John 21.15).
    3. Did Abraham love God above love for his son?
      1. Did Job fear God or did Job fear losing everything?
      2. Did Simon love Jesus above all?
        1. Do we love our country more than we love the Lord?
        2. Does America come first or the church in our thinking?
  12. How did America get to this point? 
    1. Would the men who gave us the Supreme Court sanction same-sex marriage?
      1. Yet, what most of us believe about
        1. the Declaration and the Constitution and American history,
        2. we know from what other people say.
      2. Since we just celebrated America’s 239th birthday yesterday,
        1. why not read the Declaration during this next week?
        2. You will see that they did not call it, The Declaration of Independence.
          1. They did not give it that title, we did.
          2. They titled it, if such can be called a title,

            IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

            The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

            1. Yes, they declared independence from Great Britain, but
            2. they also declared dependence upon something.
              1. I am not going to tell you what they depended upon;
              2. you need to read it for yourself.
    2. Ezekiel 16 best pictures our arrival at the legalization of same-sex marriage,

      49 “Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50 And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit” (Eze 16.49–50).
  13. Does the church share any blame for where we have arrived as a nation? 
    1. To whom did Jesus, the Son of God, declare the following words?

      13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden… 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt 5.13–16).

      1. He did not speak those words to the government of the United States.
      2. We do not have to guess,

        1 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying… (Matt 5.1–2).
    2. Have we functioned as salt and light?
      1. We have been fighting one another.
      2. We have focused on trivial pursuits.
      3. We have focused on worldly matters.
        1. Listen to yourself and others in the church speak.
        2. I have done that on many occasions.
          1. After I was done talking with someone,
          2. I realized that my words and my thoughts did not glorify God.
    3. Yet, we have embraced man-made psychology.
      1. We accepted psychology’s initial explanation of homosexuality,
      2. that it was a psychological problem.
        1. We considered it a mental illness.
        2. We thought we had science on our side.
          1. Then psychology changed its opinion.
          2. If it was science, why did it change its opinion?
            1. Homosexuality is fornication and
            2. fornication is sin.
    4. We embraced self-esteem, but
      1. no one can show me one passage in the Bible
      2. that endorses such doctrine,
        1. although the Bible teaches all about
          1. what we are,
          2. how we should act, and
          3. how we are successful.
    5. We did not realize that these things led to political correctness,
      1. which is destroying the United States of America
      2. more than anything else, including Islam.
        1. Truly, political correctness has opened the door for
        2. the political movement known as Islam.
  14. Will teaching the Bible on homosexuality become illegal? 
    1. If you believe that this whole thing was about equality of marriage and love,
    2. you need to continue to watch what happens next.
      1. Like the teaching of evolution,
      2. the homosexual agenda has captured every segment of American society.
        1. The one barrier is the church, or at least most churches.
        2. Do you honestly believe that the same-sex movement will retire?

Exhortation: 

  1. Where do we go from here? What shall we do? 
    1. Let us rethink how we do Christianity.
      1. The church began in a hostile environment,
        1. first, from the Jews,
        2. then by the Romans.
          1. Yet, in time the church moved from rejection
          2. to full acceptance by the Roman government.
      2. The church in American started in a friendly environment, and
        1. drifts toward a hostile environment.
        2. Consequently we do not know how to behave.
          1. We think that the church cannot thrive, or even survive, unless
          2. the government is friendly and supportive toward us.
      3. The early church had none of those things.
        1. The ruling authorities wanted Jesus tortured to death!
        2. Turn to the Book of Acts and what do you find?
          1. Peter preaches a sermon on the Jewish feast day of Pentecost and
          2. three thousand people respond!
            1. Shortly thereafter Peter preaches again in Jerusalem.
            2. However, that did not please the Jewish authorities,

              1 Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening (Acts 4.1–3).
            3. Verse 18 shows what the Jewish authorities did,

              18 So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus (Acts 4.18).
            4. The apostles said they would listen to God and keep speaking.
            5. Verse 21 shows that the Jews threatened the apostles more.
        3. Sure enough the apostles continued to speak and do good works,
          1. which really angered the high priest and the Sadducees.
          2. When they brought the apostles before them,
            1. Peter took the lead and
            2. continued to declare that they would keep on preaching.
              1. That so angered the Jewish authorities
              2. that they plotted to kill the apostles.
                1. Gamaliel prevents their deaths, but
                2. the Jewish Council persecuted the preachers,
                  1. commanding them not to speak
                  2. in the name of Jesus, and beat them!
          3. Shortly after that the leaders arrested Stephen and
            1. stoned him to death.
            2. Acts 8.1 says that a great persecution arose against the church.
          4. By the time you get to the end of the Book of Acts
            1. Rome has stepped in and
            2. Rome will persecute the church badly for several centuries.
    2. Listen, brethren, in that environment, the church exploded in growth.
      1. It would be nice to continue to enjoy government friendliness, but
      2. we do not need it to grow.
        1. Let us stop thinking as American Christians and
        2. start thinking as Bible-believing Christians.
  2. Often the Lord lets His people come into seemingly losing situations, 
    1. only to do something wonderful,
    2. showing that He is alive and that He works in our world.
      1. Remember Israel at the Red Sea.
      2. Remember Gideon’s army of 300 defeating 135,000 Midianites.
      3. Remember that God told Daniel our kingdom will never be destroyed!
      4. Consider this promise,

        8 If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent perversion of justice and righteousness in a province, do not marvel at the matter; for high official watches over high official, and higher officials are over them (Ecc 5.8).