"Let Marriage Be Held in Honor . . . "

Excellent sermon on the Homosexual and "same sex marriage" issue:



You can also read his sermon here.

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/let-marriage-be-held-in-honor-thinking-biblically-about-so-called-same-sex-marriage

One of the things Dr. Piper says at the beginning is asking his people in the church to pray, that is not in the typed manuscript is:

"You Pray that I would speak them in the truth of Scripture and in the tone of Scripture"  (my emphasis)  That is so good and godly and hopefully both unbelievers will be persuaded by his godly example and believers (including me) will learn from his example, in constantly praying that our tone will be God-honoring in the way we teach the truth.


Denny Burk reports on how the local Newspaper distorted Pastor Piper's sermon.

http://www.dennyburk.com/a-newspaper-misrepresents-john-piper/

Addendum:  I decided to bring my comments from the com-box up to the article also. (with some additional comments)

Piper's whole sermon was excellent, every point needs to be emphasized and discussed and fleshed out with people in discussing the issue.

Point 2 needs to be emphasized:

"2. There is no such thing as so-called same-sex marriage, and it would be wise not to call it that.

The point here is not only that so-called same-sex marriage shouldn’t exist, but that it doesn’t and it can’t. Those who believe that God has spoken to us truthfully in the Bible should not concede that the committed, life-long partnership and sexual relations of two men or two women is marriage. It isn’t. God has created and defined marriage. And what he has joined together in that creation and that definition, cannot be separated, and still called marriage in God’s eyes."  (My emphasis)

We need to stand on this and say it often when in dissuasions with people. So called "same sex marriage" does not even exist at all, even if they call it that and pass laws that approve of it in the future.

Piper's point number 3 is also very important.

Romans 8:20-21 points to Genesis 3 and God's judgment on Adam and Eve's sin and God's subjecting all of creation into futility and corruption. 

My comment:
Same sex desires are un-natural and deviant desires that are part of the corruption and futility/meaninglessness that came about as a result of sin.


Piper:

3. Same sex desires and same sex orientation are part of our broken and disordered sexuality owing to God’s subjection of the created order to futility because of man’s sin.

In Genesis 3 we read about the catastrophic moment when the first man and woman rebelled against God. The effects on them and on the world are described in chapters 3 and 4, and then illustrated in the sin-soaked and death-ridden history of the Old Testament — indeed the history of the world.

The apostle Paul sums it up like this in Romans 8:20–21:

The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God."

All of history and society and all cultures considered homosexuality as a shameful and deviant and perverted thing. Even when approved, it was underground from the general society.

Point number 4 is the only place I think Dr. Piper should probably elaborate more.

Even the homo-sexual desire and lust is sin and unnatural, even though the temptation or initial attraction may not be sin in-self, although it seems even that is a "corruption"/perversion of God's creation design.

Point number 4 needed a statement on the fact that that even the desire is wrong, but that there is a difference between a temptation and lustful fantasy, as Matthew 5:28 teaches us.

Piper:

"4. Therefore, same-sex intercourse, not same-sex desire is the focus of Paul’s condemnation when he threatens exclusion from the kingdom of God.

The clearest statement is found in 1 Corinthians 6:9–10.

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.

The words, “men who practice homosexuality” is a translation of two Greek words which refer to the passive and active partners in homosexual intercourse. See Robert A. J. Gagnon, The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics [Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2001], 306–331). The focus is not on same-sex desire, but on same sex practice. And notice that homosexual practice is not singled out but included with other ways of sinning: idolatry, adultery, stealing, greed, drunkenness, reviling, etc.

The point is not that one act of homosexual or heterosexual experimentation condemns you, but that returning to this life permanently and without repentance will condemn you. “Men who practice — who give themselves over to this life, and do not repent — will not enter the kingdom of God.” They will perish."

In my opinion, "men who practice homosexuality" should be translated, "men who practice homosexuality, both active and passive" . . . It should be more clear that there are two different Greek words.

I think Dr. Piper also needs to further elaborate so that there is no mis-understanding of point 4, in light of James 2:10. I know that Piper is NOT meaning to deny the meaning of James 2:10; it is just that people could take one of his statements above out of context and abuse his point, as the local newspaper did in Minneapolis.

"For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all." James 2:10

One sin does condemn us, and lust does also, as Matthew 5:28 shows for heterosexuality; however the point that needs to be made is the difference between a temptation and mental lust.

But even the desire of homosexuality seems to be by nature an un-natural and corruption and futility-ness of our broken world.

But we also need to say:
We who don't struggle with same-sex desires are not better than those that do; we are sinners also.

We who have gluttony and anger and greed and pride problems readily acknowledge that we have our sins/issues that we struggle with and we are not better than people who struggle with same sex attraction or temptations; but homosexuality is in itself destructive to society and children, and it is harmful to the homosexual persons themselves, even though they don't see it and don't understand why their sin bothers us - it bothers people in the same way that injustice bothers us and the way drunk drivers bothered mothers enough to found "MADD" - "Mothers Against Drunk Driving".  The way that cruelty to blacks in the south in the 1950s should bother us. The same way that cruelty to an elderly bus monitor should bother us - those 12-13 year old boys need an old fashioned whipping with a leather belt on their naked behinds - about 10 good lashes each.  That was called a "spanking" when I grew up!  Their cruelty and rebellion reminds me of the list of sins in Romans 1:28-32; I Timothy 1:8-11 and 2 Timothy 3 - lovers of self, disobedient to parents, haters of good - hatred and killing their own parents.

Point 5 needs to be emphasized also.

Approving of homosexuality in so called "same-sex marriage"  (like Rachel Held Evans; John Shelby Spong, Barry Lynn; Brian McLaren; Jack Rogers; Tony Compolo; Miley Cyrus; and Carrie Underwood), or being silent about it (like Andy Stanley, Pastor of Northpoint Community Church did) is a contradiction to love and a contradiction to the gospel.

Piper:

"5. Therefore, it would contradict love and contradict the gospel of Jesus to approve homosexual practice, whether by silence, or by endorsing so-called same-sex marriage, or by affirming the Christian ordination of practicing homosexuals.

We must not be intimidated here. The world is going to say the opposite of what is true here. They are going to say that warning people who practice homosexuality about final judgment is hateful. It is not hateful. Hate does not want people to be saved. Hate does not want people to join the family. Hate wants to destroy. And sin does destroy. If homosexual practice (and greed and idolatry and reviling and drunkenness) leads to exclusion from the kingdom of God — as the word of God says it does — then love warns. Love pleads. Love comes alongside and does all it can to help a person live — forever."

Standing against homosexuality is not hate. It is actually a loving thing to do to be against it. Amen

Points 7 and 8 are important also, as how the issue relates to Christians and pastors being involved in society and politics.  Don't miss anything in Piper's sermon, but I just wanted to make some more comments on some of his points.  More later on those points, Lord willing.