They had to break the law of the land because there was a higher law: the law of God. The only time that God says in His Word that its permissible to break mans law is when mans law conflicts with the law of God. For instance when the Apostles in the Book of Acts 5 were reprimanded for preaching the Gospel and told not to, they said, We must obey God rather than man. We cannot disobey God. We want to respect you. We mean no disrespect to you, but a higher law has spoken. We must obey that law. Why? The highest law is from God. In fact, law emanates from God. The first thing God did when He created man was what? He established law. You can eat from any tree, but that tree. Because law emanates from God, law exists as a servant of God. In the Book of Romans 13, it says that God establishes government for the purpose of punishing those who break His law. They are servants of God, Paul says. How did Iraq react to today? They passed a judgment on Saddam Hussein. Did you hear about that? Death by hanging-that is the judgment because he took hundreds of lives of innocent men, women, children and babies-infants. He is going to die. Government is to bring about justice. Only when government does not rule as Gods Word demonstrates should you and I seek to disobey that law. In fact, we should never disobey unless we have no other choice. The fact of the matter is sometimes man enacts laws, and sometimes the ways of society will have laws in place that are contrary to the laws of God. Theres no more resounding example of that than slavery, which was once legal in this country-legal by mans definition but not right in the eyes of God. Legislation did not make it right. We could pass a law today that says stealing is legal. If we passed that law, would it make it right? Some of you say, Well, that already exists. Its called the IRS. Were not going to go there. But if we said, Stealing is legal today, you would be upset if someone stole from you regardless of the law because you would know in your spirit stealing was wrong. You would feel guilt and shame if you stole from somebody because you know in your heart that stealing is wrong. So man can legislate all he wants to, but it doesnt change the law of God. Im going to speak this morning about a controversial subject because I feel like its my responsibility to do so as a pastor. Im going to talk this morning, since were talking about law, about the marriage amendment that is pending on Tuesday (November 7, 2006). I want you to hear me out. Some of you who might be voting against that amendment, I want you to listen to me. Its okay to disagree with me. We can have a dialogue. We wont argue. We can dialog. Ill respect your point of view, and I hope youll respect mine enough to listen and at least contemplate what Im saying today. Its a controversial issue. The issue before us on Tuesday is not a political issue. No matter who would try to make it so, it-to me-is a moral issue. You will never hear this church endorse a political candidate. You will never hear us endorse a political party. When I vote, I vote for a person, not a party. You may vote differently; thats your prerogative. Were not going to discuss those matters in our church. But when its an issue that emanates from the pages of this Book [the Bible], that emanates from God, we have every right; in fact, we have an obligation to speak on it. So thats what we are going to do today. Marriage is defined by God. The language says were defining marriage as…but God has already defined marriage. All we simply might do is affirm what God has already said. If a Republican tries to tell me this is a political issue, I say, No, its not. If a democrat tries to tell me that, I say, No, its not. If an organization or a union tries to tell me its political, I say, No, its not. It is a moral issue because it is addressed in Gods Word. Turn in your Bibles to the Book of Genesis 2 (Page 2-3 of Pew Bibles). When two people meet, they fall in love. First each is alone; then he or she meets someone and matches up. It works. Theres a connection there. Theres a completion there, and a wedding date is set. Have you seen the farmer commercial on TV [during election time-regarding the vote for marriage to be defined as a woman and a man] where the guy says, I dont know. It doesnt hurt me. Theyre not hurting me. Have you seen that commercial? Im voting no because theyre not hurting me. Its a good commercial from the standpoint of those who oppose the Amendment. Its well done. Im not saying I agree with it, but its effective. But I want to ask Mr. Farmer, Whats wrong with that? Anytime we, as a society, try to alter and change what God has ordained, society is hurt. When we try to bless and sanction what God has prohibited, society is hurt. The moral fiber of our country is hurt. Im going to talk about why that is so, using the Book of Genesis. So they meet, they fall in love, and a typical wedding looks like this: The father walks the bride down the aisle, and she looks lovely and radiant. The husband is waiting with anticipation. He presents her to the husband. He gives her away. Then they go before the minister, and there are witnesses there, and they express verbally their commitment to each other, that they are going to be together-that they are going to be one. During the wedding, they talk about the covenant of marriage, why its important, what it is, and what its purpose is. They are united as man and wife, and usually-not always-but usually, the woman takes part or all of the husbands name. I wanted to show you that the weddings that we experience now are a little different from the first wedding that ever took place. God created for six days; on the seventh day, he rested. But I want you to know, come Monday morning, He went back to work. What did God do when He got to work? What did He do when He was on the job again? He continued to create. He didnt create an animal or a fish or a bird. Those had already been created. Instead, God created marriage, ordained marriage and ordained the family. In Verse 22 of Genesis 2 (page 3), Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man. Here we see God bringing the bride down the aisle and giving her away to her husband. Its a beautiful picture. God is the matchmaker, and I bet He did a good job too. I bet He created a woman He knew Adam would really like because if Adam didnt like her, its slim pickings out there. I bet He does a good job. I bet He designs a mate that Adam thinks is wonderful. God brings her to the man; He presents her to him; He gives her away. Then the man reads a vow. He makes a promise, a commitment. He said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh… He is not saying, Shes me, because obviously she wasnt him. What he is saying is She is a part of me. We are committed to each other. We are one flesh. He verbalizes his commitment, just as we do at our weddings. Then, a name is given, …she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man. The Hebrew name for a man is ish. And she shall be called isha, for she was taken from ish. So she receives the mans name. It says, For this reason… For what reason? For the reasons above, the reasons of completion, the reason of Gods purpose and design, the reason of the fact that this is what God has established for humankind. This whole idea of oneness between a man and a woman, For this reason… Who? …a man will leave his father and mother and be united to… Who? …his wife... One man and one woman as one flesh. …and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. So there is a pronouncement of marriage. The officiate states the purpose of the marriage. It is oneness. It is completion. It is by Gods plan and by Gods design. Its hard to read that as a believer; its hard to read that as anybody, even a non-believer, and think that marriage is not found in the Scripture. To think that God did not ordain or begin the foundation of marriage in that way… Then, if we look back one chapter, Genesis 1:28, it says, God blessed them. God said, This union is good: Adam and Eve, husband and wife. This is what I want. This is my desire. God blessed them, and again, We dare not tear down what God had blessed, Mr. Farmer. When we tear down what God has ordained and sanctioned, were in trouble as a society. He said [Verse 28], Be fruitful and increase in number… Have babies. Adam says, Okay, boss, whatever you say. So they have babies. They increase. He gives them the directive here to rule over the earth, Youre in charge of the Creation, the animals, and everything Ive made. You are the stewards of that. Our environment is not a political issue. I get upset when politicians try to make clean air a political issue or water, clean water, a political issue, when they try to make the care of our environment-of our natural resources-a political issue. It is not. It is not liberal, conservative, Republican, Democrat. It is a responsibility given to us by Almighty God-as caretakers of this earth-to take care of what Hes entrusted to us. We should protect our environment. We should also protect the covenant of marriage that Hes given to us. There are some who would preach, teach, and believe, and its their right to do so, that we should sanction and bless the union of man and man or woman and woman. I disagree. I believe its against what God had designed. They say they ordain homosexual ministers, both men and women. They perform marriages for same-sex couples. When asked to justify why they would do that, they say, Well the Scriptures are ambiguous on this subject. Its hard to interpret. Its confusing; its not clear. Thats your interpretation of things. How many have heard that before? A lot of us have. Some things are confusing. Buying a TV for me was confusing. Twelve years ago when we bought a TV, we walked into the store and said, Id like to buy a TV, and they said, TVs are over there. You went over to the TVs, looked at the pictures, and you said, I like that. You made a decision based on what the pictures looked like and how expensive it was. I like that one, but I cant afford it. Thats the nicest one I can afford; Ill buy that. They were all tubes. You were happy with it, and you loved it! Now, my TV goes on the fritz, and its time to buy a new TV. I go into the store and say, I want to buy a TV, expecting the old days. Holy macarol! What kind of TV? Do you want to watch HD? Sure, that would be good. I know what that is, high definition. Absolutely! I want to cheer for my Bears, and I can see them better that way. Give me the HD! Im thinking they are going to take me to the HD section, but no. Im going to start telling you about LCDs. Now, they have a new technology called DLP, the mirrors. Then, over here youve got your plasmas. Plasmas? Im not giving you any plasma. What are you talking about, plasma? They have gas inside of it. If you tip this TV, its destroyed. Im like, WOW! TVs have gotten complicated. I better go home and do some research before I lay down some cha-ching for a television set because theyve changed. That was unclear to me. Im going to read some scriptures to you this morning, or with you, and you tell me if theyre unclear. Lets open to Leviticus 18:22 (page 115). In Leviticus 18, God is laying down some prohibitions regarding sexual relations. I will not take time to read all of them, but most of these are what you would call no-brainers. He says in Verse 22, Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable. Tell us what you really think, God. Other translations say abomination. Its a nice way of saying God doesnt approve. Verse 24 [still in Leviticus 18], Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways… Any of these ways above… …because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. This defiled the nation. If you try to bless what I have prohibited, it will not go well for you. In the Book of Leviticus 20:13, it says, If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. We are under grace, and not law. The wrath of the law of sin was put upon Christ. We are not under time of the law. This is not a law that is being carried out today, but there was a time when it was. Its very graphic; its very hard, but God feels strongly about sin. In the Book of 1 Corinthians 6, if youd turn there please (page 1131). So far, is anything weve read unclear? Does it seem to you ambiguous? In 1 Corinthians 6:9, it says, Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived… That means dont be lead astray. Dont be fed a line. Dont buy into a distortion of the truth. Be wise. …Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders… Some Ive heard say, pathetically, That doesnt really refer to homosexuals. It actually does. I wonder how much Greek they studied. Ive studied quite a bit, and it does. They say, Well, thats male prostitutes. No, thatd be the word before that. Actually, in Corinth, there was a lot of temple prostitution; pagan rituals and male prostitutes were involved. Those were the passive partners in the homosexual relationship. Some of your translations will say effeminate. Thats what that word is, the passive partner. …nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. Some of you read that list and go, Uh oh. Ive done some of those things. Understand what Paul is saying here in the present act of indicative tense. It is something that you have done, are doing, and are going to continue to do. It is a lifestyle you have chosen that you are defiant concerning Gods law, that you are blatant in your opposition to Gods law, that you are living in this lifestyle unashamedly and unrepentedly. Im not talking about some of you who sin and feel bad and ask for forgiveness. Its talking about somebody who shakes their fist at God and says, I dont care what you say, Im going to continue to do what I want to do. Paul says, Know that that person has no part in the kingdom of God. That is what some of you were, but you were washed; you were sanctified; you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus by the spirit of our God. They changed from the way they had behaved in the past. One more, in the Book of Romans 1:26 (page 1113), Paul is speaking about how men suppress the truth and exchange the truth of God. He says in Verse 26, Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way, the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Is that unclear? Is it confusing? Okay. Paul uses the word natural. Im told that its natural for them. It might be unnatural for you, but its a natural behavior for them. The Word says its unnatural. So if what an argument that is in the world is saying its natural, and Gods Word says its unnatural, who are you going to believe? Do you believe this? When he says its unnatural, what Paul is saying is its not according to the plan of God. Its not according to the design of God like that which we read in Genesis 1 and 2, that a man and a woman come together, that God blesses that union; they become one flesh, and they procreate. They become fruitful and multiply and increase. That is what is natural. That is design. That is purpose. When Paul says its unnatural, thats what hes referring to. Hes saying its against the plan. When I have to make a decision, and the world is saying one thing, and people are saying another, where do I line up? So those are just some of the Scriptures that speak of this behavior? So what do we do as a body of believers? How do we respond to that situation? I think we read from John 8 and see how Jesus dealt with it. In John 8:1, a woman is caught in adultery. You say, Well, adultery is different than homosexuality. What I have found in my years of ministry, and there are many who believe this, is that when there is sexual immoral behavior-whether its adultery or fornication or homosexuality-there are some unmet love needs there. There are some unmet emotional needs, possibly some abuse that has taken place. There is no conclusive study that says people are born with an innate attraction to the opposite sex. This behavior comes when something is missing, and we seek to fill that void through those kinds of relationships. The book Im reading from is from Richard Cohen, and he writes these words. He says, Same-sex attraction has nothing to do with sex. Within the person who experiences same-sex attraction is a hurt child looking for love. The author talks about cases where once those love needs are met, they are returned to a kind of expression of love and sexuality that God had ordained in Scripture. After adolescence, emotional needs for bonding are eroticized. When you encounter a person with a same-sex attraction, regardless of his or her age, imagine them as a hurt child who is simply looking for love. If that is the case, then we would not respond in hate. Jesus does not respond in hate, and youll see that in this passage. In John 8, a woman is caught in adultery, and she is brought before Him as He teaches in the temple. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law are trying to trap Jesus. They say, This woman is caught in adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do You say? They were using this question as a trap in order to have a basis for accusing Him. This is a sting operation. The mans not present, and he should be. The reason hes not present is because they used this woman as a pawn, a setup. It just so happens, it conveniently coincides with the time that Jesus is teaching. So they bring her into the circle, and they confess her sin to the public. Not only is she embarrassed and ashamed that she has been caught in adultery, but now she is afraid that she very well could die. Shes afraid. Shes ashamed. She is hurting. If Jesus says, Let her go, then theyd say, What about the Law of Moses? We thought You believed in Moses, Jesus, and youre just a big softie. If Jesus says, Stone her, then theyll say, Oh, what about all this love and forgiveness you preach, Jesus? So Jesus is going to be attacked no matter what He does, right? Wrong. Only God could respond in this way. Watch what He does. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with His finger. The word here write is different than the word in Verse 8 when it says, He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Those two words for write are two different words. You wouldnt see that unless you looked in the Greek. The Greek word for write is normally graphien. However, the original Greek uses the word katagraphien. This is profound because any time kata is used in front of a word, it means against. In other words, Jesus was writing things against some of those in the Temple. Many scholars believe that when Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground, Hes not doodling. Hes not biding time for thinking up something to say, but Hes actually writing down sins, maybe even including names in the dirt. So their responses might have been to look at that and go, How in the world did Jesus know I did that? He stands up, and if thats the case, then what He says makes total sense because He stands up and says, He who is without sin must be the first to thrown a stone at her. Then He stooped on the ground and began to write some more. One by one, they started dropping their rocks. I dont want my name to be next. The leaders start to walk away. Maybe somebody got slapped on the back of the head, like the three stooges, Told you! Dumb idea! Wouldnt work! They walk away embarrassed and ashamed. So she stands there. The accusers are gone, and their rocks are on the ground. Jesus straightened up and asked her, Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? No one, sir, she said. She was probably rather startled and surprised. Jesus says, Well, I do, you wicked woman! Shame on you! Is that what He says? Its not what He says. Does He say, Forget about it! Hey, its just the way you are. No big deal, everybody has a vice. I wont tell anybody. He winks at her and says, Lets pretend this conversation never happened. Is that what He does? He doesnt do that either. He says, Neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared. Go now and leave your life of sin. Brilliant!! Do you see what He did here? He loves her! He offers forgiveness and restoration to her. He sees this is a hurt person who is looking for love in all the wrong places. He says, You dont have to live this way. You dont have to look in those places. From now on, leave your life of sin. How powerful is that? He acknowledges that her behavior is not right. He doesnt sanction; He doesnt condone it; He calls it for what it is, but He offers her hope and says, You dont have to continue in that way. You can have a different life. So He loves and He still stands up for whats right. Only God could come up with a solution like that in a situation like that. On Tuesday, we will have a responsibility to protect what God has begun as the foundation of our society. I want to read a quote for you. Ill do a Paul Harvey moment with you. I wont tell you who said it until Im done. The quote reads like this, For certainly no legislation can be supposed more holsum and necessary than the founding of a free self-governing commonwealth... In other words, there is no law more important than this. …than that which seeks to establish it on the basis of the idea of the family as consisting in and springing from the union for life of one man and one woman in the holy state of matrimony. Further it said that this is the sure foundation of all that is stable and knowable in our society. Do you know who stated that? It wasnt just one person. It was our Supreme Court. The year was 1885. Now, lets go to today. I want to read from what a Congressman from Wisconsin, from New Berlin, Mark Gundrum, co-sponsor of this legislation, said. He said, Wisconsin citizens now have an opportunity to vote to protect marriage from activist judges like those in Massachusetts. The amendment not only defines marriage as a union between one man and woman, but also prevents courts from legalizing same-sex marriages giving other names, such as civil union or civil covenant. Significantly, though… This is very important, because Ive heard this argument from the other side. …Significantly, though, the language does not prohibit the legislature, local governments, or private businesses from extended particular benefits to same-sex partners as those legal entities might choose to do. Whether you think those benefits should be given or not is beside the point; this amendment does not speak to that concern. He goes on further and says, Marriage is more than just eight letters used to describe it or a mechanism to secure a basket of government benefits. It is the cornerstone of our society. We cant just sit back and let four lawyers in black robes take this fundamental institution away from people. That is what this Congressman writes. If you agree with what Ive said, and its your desire to affirm the covenant of marriage as God established in the beginning, then you would vote Yes. Yes, I affirm that marriage is between a man and a woman. I hope that you will do that on Tuesday. I hope that you will educate any friends around the water cooler as they try to portray this amendment as something it isnt. It is about saying marriage is a man and a woman, not a man and man, a woman and a woman, Hugh Hefner and his Playboy Bunnies. Its more than just a contract between two people who love and care about each other. A man and a woman: our gender roles mean something. God created us that way. When somebody loses a family member who is a father, people try to come and help that family out, help provide for that family, protect that family. When theres a mother thats lost, people come by and they try to help nurture those children. We as a society dont want to deliberately create homes where there is no father, where there is no mother. This is not a knock on single-parent homes either. We have many single-parent homes in our church. God bless them. Were here to help them. But we dont want to legislate and deliberately create homes where the child isnt going to have a father or mother and say thats okay with us. God created us different, man and woman, and He did so for a reason. He established the family clearly in His Word. I hope that you will affirm what God has established. Should we choose not to, and theyre expecting our state to be the weak link, it will not change what God has designed and what God has established. Therell be consequences, but it will not change His law. Law comes from Him.