Pastor David L. Brown, Ph.D.
Sermon Delivered 10/29/06

Primary Source Material – Why Not Gay Marriage? By Glenn T. Stanton

Isaiah 5:20-25 "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! 22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: 23 Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! 24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. 25 Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still."

Introduction

Our State stands at a crossroads. Will we codify, by Constitutional Amendment, marriage as being between one man and one woman exclusively by voting "YES" on the Wisconsin Marriage Amendment, or will they leave the law vague and then allow activist judges to do what they have done in Massachusetts and New Jersey? The New Jersey Supreme Court has ordered the State either to legalize so called "gay" marriage or make a parallel law for "gay" unions that is equal to marriage. Those commercial urging people to vote "NO" on the marriage amendment because nothing will change are not telling the truth. If you vote "NO" you will be inviting law suites that will force Wisconsin to legalize "gay" marriage or the likes.

By the way, do you know who is behind the push to keep Wisconsin from making Marriage between only a man and woman law in Wisconsin? The members of an umbrella group called Fair Wisconsin -- WEAC (Wisconsin Education Association Council); ACLUW (American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin); Atheists and Agnostics of Wisconsin; NARAL – Pro Choice Wisconsin; AFL-CIO of Wisconsin; Freedom From Religion Foundation; People For The American Way; Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin; Wisconsin Medical Association; The Democratic Party of Wisconsin; The Wisconsin United Methodist Conference; Greater Milwaukee Synod of the E.L.C.A.; Wisconsin Conference of the United Church of Christ; just to name a few.

This list should tell you right away, if they are pushing to vote "NO" on the Marriage Amendment, we should Vote "YES."

Here is how the amendment reads – "Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized in this state." When you vote "Yes," you vote to add this to our State Constitution.

• Focus On Gay Marriage

There is an all out culture war going on over the definition of marriage. Biblically and historically marriage has always been understood to be a man and a woman making a covenant between each of them to live as husband and wife seeking to have children. As Pastor Darrow so clearly showed us last week that marriage was instituted in Eden when man was in innocence (Genesis 2:18-24). The original charter of marriage is clearly seen in this passage. This was clearly confirmed by our Lord Jesus Christ and has served as the basis on which all regulations are to be framed (Matthew 19:4, 5). It is evident that monogamy was the original law of marriage (Mattew 19:5).

Gay marriage is not marriage at all. They cannot procreate! That is an important purpose in marriage.

The opponents of true marriage, like Stephen Fisher of Human Right Campaign told Time - "We’re not going to win at the ballot box until we start winning at the water cooler and in the church pews." (Time Magazine; Dec 20, 2004). Liberal groups like this one are hammering away at average, every day people. They frame their arguments around the plea for tolerance to try to win supporters. However, tolerance is NOT really what they want. Even if it were just about tolerance I remind you that there are things that we must NOT tolerate and same sex marriage is one of those things (Ephesians 5:11; Romans 12:9).

The Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, calls homosexuality "vile affection." Turn to Romans 1:24-28 "Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;"

• How Will Same Sex Marriage Hurt Us?

First, if "YES" votes do not win, passing the constitutional ban on same sex marriage, I believe it will bring God’s judgment on this State. We have been studying Proverbs 1 in the College class. I believe Proverbs 1:26-31 tells us what will happen if our State does not affirm the Marriage Amendment -- "I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; 27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. 28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: 29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: 30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. 31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices."

Second, if same sex marriage is allowed, this opens "Pandora’s Box." If we say marriage is not about a man and a wife, a male father and a female mother, where will the redefinition stop? Homosexual writer Andrew Sullivan said, "The right to marry whomsoever you wish is a fundamental civil right." Is that so? NO! Our founding fathers never had any other idea than marriage between one man and one woman! But there’s more. You need to know where the homosexual are going with this. The first couple to get a same-sex marriage license on May 17, 2004 in Provincetown, Massachusetts was John Yarbrough and Cody Rogahn. Did they want to be monogamous? Absolutely not! Yarbrough said about their perverted relationship – "I think it’s possible to love more than one person and have more than one partner…."

Moving away from traditional marriage is a slippery slope into the grossest debauchery. As I said, it "Pandora’s Box" and all kinds of evil relationships spew out – polygamy, polyamory, bigamy, harems, and even human-animal perversions. Believe me, the homosexual crowd is already making plans down this line.

Third, same sex marriage is NOT about TOLERANCE. It’s about forcing people to accept their perversions. In fact if same sex marriage is legalized you can expect that the crowd of perverts will lobby for new hate-speech laws. Statements like "Children need a mother and father" could be deemed hate speech. You might be thinking, "Preacher, that far fetched, isn’t it? No! The Boston Globe newspaper complained "Governor Romney is denigrating families, practicing divisive, mean spirited politics…by insisting that every child ‘has the right to a mother and father."

Only a few months after same-sex marriage became legal in some parts of Canada, the legislature passed a law that carries a maximum two-year jail sentence for saying certain things about homosexuality. And, a Canadian pastor was arrested for reading Romans 1 and his remarks on homosexuality.

Believe me when I tell you that if same-sex marriage is legalized homosexual activists will do all in their power to forced churches to accept practicing homosexuals into membership and perform same-sex marriages. Acceptance of this perversion will become fully mandatory!

• Why is traditional marriage the backbone of society?

Scholars have long recognized that a society’s most serious problem is the unattached male. Marriage socializes men by channeling male energies in a productive direction, toward the wife and family. (It did that for me). See 1 Corinthians 7:33

Traditional Marriage Regulates Sexuality

Biblically and historically marriage has established standards for sexual behavior. 1 Corinthians 7:1-2 "Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. 2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband."

Traditional Marriage Protects Women Form Exploitive Males

Research shows that abuse of women by their partners or strangers is lowest in married homes and highest in cohabiting and dating situations."

Traditional Marriage Provides Biological Mothers and Fathers for Children

There are mounds of research that show the most healthy and well adjusted children come from families where a biological mother and father are present. Same-sex marriage does not provide the stability needed for a healthy family. Child Trends says, "An extensive body of research tells us that children do best when they grow up with both biological parents…Thus, it is not simply the presence of two parents, as some have assumed, but the presence of two biological parents that seem to support children’s development."

Same-sex marriage will greatly harm our society. Further, it will bring God’s hand of judgment on our Nation. I pray that a majority of voters will vote "YES" to add the Marriage Amendment to our Constitution.