Coming Together Live 2023: Jesus and Wholistic Sexuality

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Coming Out Ministries

Eric Walsh

Overexposed

So we are going to jump right into this, lots of cover.

If you have your Bible, you can turn with me to the Book of Psalms, the 101st division.

And I'm going to read the third verse as our scripture reading for this talk, for our message today.

I call these sermonars, and so there's gonna be a lot of content as we go through them.

Psalm 101 and verse 3 says this, I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes.

A message this Sabbath is entitled, Overexposed, the Corrupting of a Society.

Father God, we thank you for this opportunity to study your Word.

I thank you, Father, for your goodness and for your grace.

Once again, Lord, I just ask that you make me a nail upon the wall, a rusty, sorry nail, Lord.

But upon that nail, Lord, I ask that you hang a portrait of Jesus Christ.

Instead, Father, let us hear a word from the throne room of grace.

This is our prayer in Jesus' precious and holy name.

All right, we're gonna jump to the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter 14, and we're gonna set this, the information up today with this Bible story, most intriguing of some of the New Testament stories, are found in Matthew 14.

And I'm gonna augment that 1 a little bit from Mark chapter 6.

Matthew 14 and verse 1 says this, at that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus and said unto his servants this is John the Baptist he has risen from the dead and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him when Herod heard about Jesus he began to shake in his boots He had wrongfully killed the Lord and the Lord's servant John and he was so afraid of retribution.

In order to really make this plain to the readers, the gospel writers began to explain the death of John.

And there is a lesson, a prophetic lesson, for these last days as you follow this story.

Verse 3 says this, for Herod had laid hold on John and bound him and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife.

Mark will give you more detail on that in a second, but let's keep going with Matthew.

Verse 4 says, for John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.

And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude because they counted him as a prophet." He called sexual sin by its right name.

And the consequence of doing so was a death sentence.

I want you to understand, because I'm doing a series at home on last day events and some of the feedback we've gotten, some folk have come after me to say, you Adventists are crazy to believe in a Sunday law, and that a Sunday law could transpire to the extent you say it could but what the Bible and history both teach is that when you follow God's way when you stand on principle man will come after you in this case Herod is ready to kill and it really was as we'll see his wife who wanted John the Baptist dead.

Verse 6 says this, but when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod, Wherein he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.

It was the visual, musical, and intoxicating entertainment of the night that got Herod to the point he gets to.

I want to submit to you that Satan will use this same birthday party strategy in the last days to deceive God's people out of following what is right.

Verse 7, whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.

Verse 8 says, and she being before instructed of her mother said give me her give me here John Baptist's head on a charger I mean they didn't even just want the man dead it was she wanted to make sure he was humiliated to have to be beheaded was a most ignoble way to die.

Verse 9, and the king was sorry nevertheless for the oath's sake and then would sat with him at meet he commanded it to be given her.

He goes beyond where he wanted to go and he's sorry but he's already given his word and so they do it and in verse 10 the scripture says and he sent and beheaded John in the prison and his head was brought in a charger and given to the damsel can you imagine this young girl beautiful girl her wishes for a man's head on a platter, can you imagine when they actually literally bring this head out and give it to her?

And now she has to take this and she brings it to her mother who probably gleefully accepts it because she does not, she does not want any reminder of her sin.

She thinks by annihilating John the Baptist that her guilt and sin will be washed away." Ah, for the last day church.

The commandment keeping people of God, this will be the sentiment of the world against us.

Verse 12, and his disciples came and took up the body and buried it and went and told Jesus.

Now I want just to add some color to this I want to add a little bit here and then we're going to get into the heavier part of this message.

Mark 6 19 says this, therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him.

So this is just explaining what why Herodias was really the 1 to blame here and would have killed him but she could not.

She couldn't do it because the people thought he was a prophet and her husband Pharaoh John.

Verse 20 tells us that for Herod Pharaoh John knowing that he was, look at how he describes John the Baptist, look at how his murderer describes John the Baptist, knowing that he was a just man and a holy and observed him and when he heard him he did many things and heard him gladly.

Herod's relation, some people say well the Bible contradicts itself, no it doesn't, it shows the evolution of the relationship between John the Baptist and Herod when Herod had him in a dungeon underneath the palace.

Herod would go and visit John the Baptist, listen to his words, and as he got to know John the Baptist he was moved by the Holy Spirit and Herod, similar to Nebuchadnezzar but may not have gone all the way, was moved by the Holy Ghost to understand the truth of the gospel.

And what is interesting is that the Bible makes sure that he, just as it does for Jesus in the exclamation of Pilate, that there was no sin that he found in Christ, it is the murderer of John the Baptist who declares his innocence.

Tomorrow night I'll tell you my testimony and 1 of the fascinating things was how when people, 1 of the things that never came up was that there was no 1 that I ever worked with for, no patient I'd ever taken care of, who ever said a word that I had said even an unkind word to them.

It was based solely on what I believed, because I treated people very kindly.

You'll hear about that more tomorrow night.

In Desire of Ages page 220 to 221, Herod believed John to be a prophet of God and he fully intended to set him at liberty.

But he delayed his purpose from fear of Herodias.

This should give you flashbacks to Jezebel and Ahab, right?

Herodias knew that by direct measure she could never win Herod's consent to the death of John.

I want you to follow this, what Sister White says here.

And she resolved to accomplish her purpose by stratagem.

On the king's birthday and an entertainment was, look at, you see that word Ellen White uses?

On the king's birthday and entertainment was to be given to the officers of state and the nobles of the court.

Herod would thus be thrown off his guard and might then be influenced according to her will.

I'm gonna expound on this principle on when I do my seminar Monday morning.

But there is, there is, there are those who are the enemies of the people of God who have a stratagem.

They are working to strategize the destruction of the Christian Church.

She goes on, she says, when the great day arrived and the king with his lords was feasting and drinking, Herodias sent her daughter into the banquet hall to dance with the entertainment of the guests.

Salome was in the, look at how she describes her, was in the first flush of womanhood, and her voluptuous beauty captivated the senses of the lordly revelers.

It was not customary for the ladies of the court to appear at these festivities and a flattering compliment was paid to Herod when this daughter of Israel's priests and princes danced for the amusement of his guests.

Because she was 1 who was a descendant of the very house of God.

It wasn't simply that she was voluptuous, wasn't simply that she was beautiful, it wasn't the way she moved her body solely, it was who she was supposed to be in character.

Ellen White says, last part of this, the king was dazed with what?

Passion held sway and reason was dethroned.

He saw only the hall of pleasure with its reveling guests, the banquet table and the sparkling wine, and look at what she says here, and the flashing lights.

And the young girl dancing before him in the recklessness of the moment, he desired to make some display that would exalt him before the great men of his realm.

With an oath he promised to give the daughter of Herodias whatever she might ask even to the half of his kingdom." That was some dance.

I mean, I mean, I thought he was ready to give it all up.

But it shows you the twisted sickness that had entered Israel.

We're studying it for our family worship, the Old Testament minor prophets.

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