All right, welcome everybody.

I want to welcome Westcove Rancho.

Man, those campuses, if you've seen me absent on the weekend, I'm usually over there, but they are busting at the seams, man.

They are just doing so well.

If you've not been there in a while, I encourage you just to check it out one weekend.

They are, of course, there may not be any room for you, but stand in the back and just cheer.

It's going fantastic.

1 Peter 2 9-12 says, We are one in all church.

We believe that the Bible is the word of God and we believe that all teaching should come from the word of God, and the word of God can transform us.

This weekend, I'm gonna ask you to lean in hard.

There's a lot I have to cover, but we have even a shorter amount of time to do it.

So I'm gonna ask you, and I know you can do it, to lean in, get everything out of your mind that you've been thinking about when you came in, except for Jesus, of course.

Leave him in.

And let's begin with the text because this is the Bible I'm about to read.

And the Bible is what God says about you.

So every line in this passage is about you, okay?

It's about you in this passage.

1 Peter 2, verse nine.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

"Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.

Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to abstain from sinful desires which wage war against your soul.

Live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day that he visits us." What's so interesting about the passage first of all Peter is writing to Gentiles primarily.

Now he does include the Jewish audience, but these are the Christians, some of the first Christians in Asia Minor who've been dispersed throughout the empire.

He is using Jewish language, using language to describe the Hebrews in the Old Testament.

He's reminding the new Christians from all the Gentile world that they too are very unique.

Now I wish we could spend an entire message on each of these, but let me just...

relate them to you, summarize them.

The Bible says, because you're Gentile in case you don't know that, the Bible says first you are a chosen people.

That is your position.

Other than the Godhead, there's no position higher than yours.

You're at the top of the ladder in God's creation based on his foreknowledge of your decision to humble yourself, admit your sins, surrender your life to Jesus Christ.

You have now been chosen by God to be part of his family.

You are heirs of everything that he's promised, not only in the world to come but in this life as well.

You're good to go.

We've seen the end of the tape.

You win the ultimate battle.

You are a winner, even you Raider fans, you are a winner.

Second, you are a royal priesthood.

That is your purpose.

You are God's ambassador of the good news as though God were making his appeal through you to the rest of the world.

You are a priest.

Set apart, because you are a priest set apart for the purposes of God in this world.

Remember there's no distinction between priest and lay person.

We are all priests.

We are the priesthood of all believers, which means you're called to live a life of distinction.

You're supposed to be different.

Your passions and pursuits are for another kingdom, not the kingdom of this world.

You're a chosen people, that's your position.

You're a royal priesthood, that's your purpose.

"Third, you're a holy nation and that's your practice.

"You have the spirit of the living God in you.

"If you truly made Jesus the Lord and Savior of your life, "you have legal standing before God because of Christ.

"His righteousness has been accredited to your account.

"You are good with God." But it also means that his power becomes your power in the fact that it is no longer you who live but Christ who lives in you.

And let me tell you something about Jesus.

He's very good at defeating sin.

Which means if his power is in you, you have been partakers of the divine nature empowered to live a holy life.

2 Peter 1:3-4 is an amazing passage.

His divine power, that is God, has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Through these, what are these?

Glory and goodness.

"Through these he has given us his very great "and precious promises, so that through them "you may participate in the divine nature, "having escaped the corruption of the world "caused by evil desires." So you have been saved, right?

You've been forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ.

You're in good standing and you've been sanctified because you've been cleansed.

The presence of God now can enter into your life and you have the Holy Spirit in you Which means you have power over sin and death.

Okay, now here's the problem.

If all of these things are true about Christ followers, why do so many Christ followers fall?

If all these things are true, then why do so many people who claim to follow Christ fall away?

This week...

Another Christian leader fell.

Another one.

You may not have heard of him, but anybody who's been to Bible college or seminary has poured their lives over the works of Phil Ganci.

Phil Ganci sold millions of books.

He is by far my favorite author.

I've read everything he's probably ever written.

One of his 30 or 40 books, his journal articles, when I see his name, I make a beeline.

Anytime pastors ask me, so I'll travel around.

I'm doing it again in March.

I'll travel and I'll train other pastors around our country.

And every time they ask me, Pastor Jeff, what books should we be reading?

My answer is always the same.

Ravi Zacharias, Phil Yancey, and Tim Keller.

After that, and the Bible of course is number one, I don't care what you read.

No, I do.

It's just a statement for emphasis.

Anything and everything that they've read or written.

Ravi Zacharias, Phil Yancey, Tim Keller.

And here we are, Phil Yancey, fantastic spiritual insights, a deep and impactful writer, well-read and well-versed in history, not only the early church history but world history.

And then it comes out this week in his confession he's been having an affair for over eight years with a married woman.

Now how is this possible?

You know, at YA on Tuesday nights, I think we've said this numerous times, there's a huge crowd in here, man, and there is a buzz.

And it's not an alcohol one.

They are drunk with the spirit.

It's exciting.

This week at Clatch, a young person recognized me because sometimes I'll be seated over here and they'll introduce me.

He said, I reckon you're the pastor at One and All.

Now, here's the conversation I had with this young man.

He said...

Do you really think all those people that come to that church, because I was there.

He said, I've been there a few times.

Do you really think everyone there is experiencing something significant?

I said, yes, I do.

He goes, well, I happen to know many of them and I can tell you they're not the same people out there that they are in here.

I said, how many do you know?

He said, I know two at least.

Okay, you know two.

He said, I don't see any other distinction with them.

than I do my other friends.

Now, okay, maybe he has a bad relationship with two people.

Maybe he's been burned by two people.

To say that about the majority of the crowd is unfair and judgmental.

However, the question still comes, why is there such a lack of distinction if we are the priesthood of all believers, a chosen people, a holy nation?

Why are so many Christ followers?

Why do they lack a distinction?

Why do they lack a distinction Why do their lives seem to be the same pursuits and the same lack of holiness and the same struggles as the rest of the world?

James chapter 1 verse 12 says, "Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial." And this isn't a Greek word that means the trial of suffering.

This is the Greek word that means pressure, that means temptation.

Having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

So evidently in our faith, it's not how you start.

It's how you finish.

And many are not finishing well.

What really bothers me is you'll have a very difficult time if you just go on YouTube and listen to preachers.

You'll have a very difficult time finding a sermon about sin.

and repentance.

You'll find a lot about love and forgiveness, but not many about sin and repentance and living a holy life.

And some of the, one of the things I've been asking, because most of you know that I was mentored by Ravi Zacharias.

So my mentors are all falling.

The people that I looked up to and respected are falling.

Why?

And then many of my friends who started out in ministry are no longer in ministry.

I believe there are four statements that are becoming popular in Christianity that are in direct opposition to Jesus, and it's hurting our testimony with the world.

As my father-in-law often says, if people in the church are no different than people in the world, why would people in the world want to come into the church?

Here are those four statements quickly, and then I'll make a beeline for where we're going here.

Number one, I'm not going to belabor this, but you've heard me say it numerous times.

I hear far too many Christians say truth is subjective, that truth should be left up to the individual to decide for himself or herself.

This is wrong on so many levels.

First of all, it violates philosophy, the law of non-contradiction that is as old as Plato and Aristotle.

Two statements made about the same thing that diametrically oppose one another cannot both possibly be true.

If I tell you that my wife is pregnant, ten minutes later I'll tell you that she's not.

Both those statements cannot be true.

So if one person says this is wrong, the other person says it's right, who's accurate?

There's no way to determine unless there is objective truth.

The problem is our generation is claiming that truth is subjective, that it's based on feeling.

And whatever feeling you have, that's the determination of what is right and what is wrong.

But can I tell you something?

I was raised in the racist South.

And I can tell you the KKK truly believed they were eradicating evil.

They truly, sincerely believed they were right.

The Third Reich truly believed that they were preserving humanity by getting rid of the corrosion of the Jewish race.

If truth is subjective...

Life becomes unlivable.

What do you say to someone who says, I have a natural inclination toward underage girls.

God made me like this, therefore it's right.

When objective moral law says that murdering people based on the color of their skin or eradicating a people group based on their ethnicity or violating young girls because you believe you're entitled without objective morality, holding someone accountable for any violation becomes indefensible.

On what basis do we judge bad behavior and bad laws?

For the Christ follower, it is not on the basis of feeling.

It's on the basis of the word of God.

In John 14, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me.

And if you're a Christ follower, you believe that the Bible is the word of God.

In Matthew chapter 24, Jesus said, Jesus said, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Culture may change, opinions may change, feelings may change, but the word of God is the same yesterday, today, and forever because Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

And in John 17, God the Son said to God the Father, your word is truth.

In 2 Timothy 3, all scriptures God breathed.

and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Now you say, Pastor Jeff, I don't believe the Bible is the word of God.

That's another sermon and that would take another two or three sermons.

But the Christ follower understands the validity of scripture and how it stands on a plateau all by itself in literary antiquity and that you can trust what you're reading today is an accurate reflection of that which was originally written.

It's not an art, it is a science and all scriptures God breathed.

Our objective morality, we discover what is objectively true in the words of God.

And where are the words of God discovered?

In the teachings of Jesus revealed in the scripture, whereas then the truth discovered in Christ and in Christ alone.

Here's the second statement that I hear, all sins are equal.

Really?

Then why did Jesus say in John 19 11, When he spoke to Pilate, you would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.

Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.

Hmm, those who knew Jesus' identity and still handed him over in order that they could keep their power and positions.

The ones who knew the truth and violated it, Jesus said are guilty of a greater sin than those who were uncertain about his identity.

Hmm?

Now be careful, both the Romans and the Jews were guilty because they condemned an innocent man.

But the Jewish leaders were guilty of a greater sin because they knew Jesus was an innocent man and still handed him over to be crucified.

The unrighteous always tend to suppress inconvenient truths.

All sins are not equal because sins have different impact and ramifications.

If you lie, you're probably not going to go to prison.

If you murder, you probably will.

To accuse God of bringing the same type of temporal judgment on someone who cheats on their income taxes, as someone who sells young girls into the sex slave trade is preposterous.

But Pastor Jeff, I've heard all my life that all sins are equal.

Perhaps.

But you've misunderstood the intention.

All sin is equal in the sense that we are all condemned before God in need of a Savior.

No one is righteous.

No not one.

All sins condemn equally, but are not equally evil.

No sin is too small to eliminate the need for grace and forgiveness.

However, all sins are not equally harmful, blameworthy, or serious.

In fact, the Bible is clear.

It places sexual sin, which is why pastors talk about it a lot, as an especially harmful and damaging category.

Did you know that?

Let me read it to you, 1 Corinthians 6.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?

Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute?

Never.

Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body?

For it is said the two will become one flesh.

But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

Flee from sexual immorality.

All other sins a person commits are outside the body.

2 Corinthians 6.

"But whoever sins sexually sins against their own body.

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples "of the Holy Spirit who is in you, "whom you have received from God?" So Paul says to the Corinthian church who were somewhat cavalier about sexual sins, "Your body is the place where Jesus Christ resides.

"It is the temple of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit." Would you bring sexual sin into the temple of God?

So while all sins separate us from God in unique ways, sexual sin has an added dimension of profaning the body that houses the spirit of God leading to internal destruction and spiritual ruin.

Now what does that mean?

It means that the two cannot live together.

Either the spirit will be totally quenched, which means guilt and shame will depart and you'll no longer be able to distinguish between good and bad and right and wrong.

Because you have silenced the voice of Jesus in conviction.

Or, you will repent and stop inviting sexual sin into the house of God.

It's either or, not both and.

And that is the reason the Bible says flee.

Beautiful Greek word.

Quite aggressive.

Run as fast as you can.

The picture is Joseph.

If you know the Old Testament story.

Run.

Flee sexual immorality, fornication, adultery, homosexuality immediately before the demon is in too deep.

The Bible says that conviction and shame are designed to lead us to repentance.

They are gifts from God.

These things come from the Holy Spirit living inside us.

But if you quench the Holy Spirit, the fire, by rationalizing what you're doing, the shame and conviction will dissipate.

Darkness encroaches and eventually you'll no longer be able to distinguish between good and evil.

Do you know the Bible tells you that?

You will begin to call what is evil, good.

How on earth does a guy like Ravi Zacharias who had an incredible ministry, the apologist of our time, the Christian philosopher of our time, he will not be remembered for his Christian legacy?

He will be remembered for the young women all around the world that he groomed so that when he traveled, he was able to go to a massage parlor of some young woman that he had groomed and received sexual favors.

That's how he'll be remembered.

How is it possible?

How can you speak all around the world about the danger of living a duplicitous life, while at the same time living a duplicitous life?

When you don't flee sexual sin, you become blinded to the truth because you have suppressed the spirit of the living God.

You have brought the prostitute into the temple.

Do you know that Ravi told those women that they were gifts of God?

That God had sent him these young women because of all the good work he had done in his life.

I think at the end, he really believed it.

If you tell yourself a lie often enough, if you rationalize your sin often enough, it becomes the truth to you.

Third, I hear people say interpretation of the Bible is individualistic.

I remember being in a debate in Honolulu with this history professor from a university there Every statement I made, every statement he'd say, well, that's your interpretation.

He would never give me his understanding.

He would just say, well, that's your interpretation.

And what I've learned, I was young then, and what I've learned over time is when someone consistently uses this, well, that's your interpretation, to dismiss the Bible's direction, they are using a form of moral relativism to avoid accountability.

The truth is, they've not studied the passage and have no intention of doing so.

They know the truth of what the scripture teaches and are suppressing it because it doesn't match up with the way they feel or the way they think God or the world should be.

And my question often is this, can you please take me to the passage that we're talking about and explain to me why you believe the Bible teaches your particular view or position?

And when I ask them that question, that's just your interpretation.

They never take me to the text.

In fact, they seldom know where it is.

And sometimes I'll say, what school or biblical interpretation do you subscribe to?

And again, that usually highlights the reality that their interpretation is based on a personal preference rather than consistent scholarly methods.

Ignorance by suppression does not excuse the violation of God's precepts.

Did you hear that?

Ignorance by suppression does not excuse "does not excuse the violation of God's precepts." And then fourth and finally, grace is opposed to effort.

This is my favorite one.

This is the most popular one.

"Pastor Jeff, I am saved by grace through faith, "therefore I live the best I can "and depend upon God for the rest." Which would be a good definition if by the best I can is you pursuing the kingdom of God so that it becomes a reality in your life, you pursuing holiness "through spiritual disciplines, forgetting past failures, "and living your life for a purpose greater than yourself." Well, okay.

But it usually means no pursuit, no response to conviction, a cavalier lackadaisical attitude toward holiness.

Dallas Willard once again says, "Grace is not opposed to effort, "it's opposed to earning, earning." Dallas Willard again says, "Grace does not just have to do with forgiveness of sins alone." Oh, now we're getting to the bottom of it here.

See you and I, we see grace as simply something that is merciful to put us in a right standing with God.

That's true but that's only half the story.

Do you remember the great song, great hymn writer wrote the story or the hymn rather Rock of Ages?

He goes like this, "Rock of ages cleft for me.

Let me hide myself in thee.

Let the water and the blood from thy riven side which flowed, be of sin the double cure.

Save me from its guilt and power.

Grace not only has to do with forgiveness of sins, but the power of the Spirit coming on the inside empowered you to overcome sin and death.

But you know what?

You have the power and the will to say no to sin, but you've got to say no.

Do you know how I know that?

Yeah, because there are times in my life I've said yes.

Pastor Jeff, are you telling me that you've never come to a crossroads and had to decide between sin and righteousness and chose sin?

That's exactly what I'm not telling you.

What I'm telling you is that as you get older, you should have the wisdom to know that if you choose the wrong road, it never ends well.

I now know that when I say yes to sin, I say yes to alienation from God, which I hate.

Or I say yes to clouded thinking toward what is right and wrong, which is what I fear most.

The more I sin, the more darkness comes in.

the easier it is, and the less I can hear the voice of the Spirit of God.

Am I after perfection?

Yeah.

Will I ever achieve it?

No.

Do I want to?

Yes.

The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10, no temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind, and God is faithful.

He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.

But man, are we very good at rationalizing.

God understands I'm weak.

God understands I just can't win the battle over this.

No, he doesn't.

No, he doesn't.

What God understands is he's given you the power of the spirit and when you appropriate the spiritual disciplines and the word of God into your life, you can overcome.

That's what he understands.

And you may never completely overcome, but you'll die trying.

You'll never give up.

Because you and I are a chosen people, that is our position, a royal priesthood, that is our purpose, and a holy nation, that is our practice.

Our will and intention have been transformed by the Spirit of God who lives in us.

It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us.

We're a holy people given the grace to save us from and the grace to empower us to overcome sin.

When a person says, and I hear this all the time, especially from you millennials and Gen Zs, I love you, but you gotta hear me.

Listen to the old guy.

Since we are all sinners, you say, and saved by grace, no sin is worse than any other sin, and God would not punish anyone for sinning.

I have a few questions for you.

Are you saying that all sins are equally damaging to the body and to the body of Christ?

That's preposterous.

Are you saying that if a person continues in sin without repentance, that such an act of willful sin, continual willful sin is understandable and the person will not be held accountable?

How so?

Because it usually means you got something in your life you don't want to attack.

So you're going to make excuses for somebody else who's not attacking it to make yourself feel better.

How do I know that?

Been there, done that.

Let's take some realistic examples.

I'm not married, but I live with my girlfriend.

Two kinds of Christ followers here.

One is not following Christ at all.

The first says, I know I'm in direct violation of the word of God no matter how I feel or what excuses I make.

Feelings are not objective.

The word of God is, I gotta repent.

I gotta make a change.

That's a Christ follower.

Another person says, well, this is my sin and God will forgive me.

Wow.

So you're just gonna keep going with no commitment?

No pursuit of holy, wait a minute, you're a holy nation.

You can call yourself a Christ follower and make no effort whatsoever to live a holy life?

So you're saying that you're not making any effort toward repentance.

This is called in the book of Hebrews, willful sin.

Sinning without repentance is defiant and leads to deep spiritual consequences.

Well, listen now.

While continual repentance, even for repeated sins, signifies a heart change and a desire to follow God, though it involves struggle and real-life effects.

You see the difference?

One is still fighting, still sinning, but not giving up.

Still struggling, but not giving up.

The other gave up a long time ago.

The key distinction is the heart's orientation.

Unrepentant sin is a deliberate rejection of Christ's Lordship.

If you can willfully continue in sexual sin without shame, without guilt, without repentance, what does that say about you?

At the very least it says you've quenched the fire of the Spirit and in danger of living in darkness.

I know what you're thinking.

You want Pastor Jeff to say, Pastor Jeff, can I lose my salvation?

Can I lose my salvation?

I can't judge that for anybody.

I can only tell you that if you've got a habitual, willful practice in your life that you're making no effort whatsoever, it means that you've quenched the fire of the spirit, that you're moving more and more toward darkness.

And where there's darkness, there is ultimate death and destruction.

The truth is, if you say, you know what?

This is my sin and God will forgive me.

You're not following Jesus.

You're walking in darkness.

Another example, I'm addicted to pornography, which according to the national stats, two thirds of you young men are.

If it's true, I'm addicted to pornography, but I am filled with guilt and shame and want to stop, but don't know how I got to seek counsel.

That's a Christ follower.

Got it?

Well, on the other hand, I'm addicted to pornography, but the guilt and shame have dissipated because I have grieved the spirit and can no longer hear his voice.

I'm unrepentant, but believe I'm still saved by grace.

And in your mind, grace means no effort.

Well, you're a grace abuser.

I'm having same-sex attraction, and I'm thinking about acting on it.

In fact, I have already.

I know it's wrong, and the guilt and the shame are present.

I will fight this battle to honor God and his plan for me.

I may fail from time to time, but I will never stop repenting and pursuing God's will.

That's a Christ follower.

Then there's the other person.

I'm having same-sex attractions and have acted on it numerous times, and although I know it violates the truth of Scripture, that's actually an interpretation that is outdated.

And so I feel that God made me this way, and therefore I'm free to engage in this sin without guilt, shame, and remorse.

And my Christian friends tell me that I'm saved by grace anyway, and I shouldn't worry about it because everybody sins.

I'm embezzling money from the company.

I'm feeling deep shame and remorse.

And I'm fighting this temptation with everything I have.

That's a Christ follower.

And then there's the other.

I am embezzling money from the company.

I felt guilt and shame at first, but now I realize that this company is so wealthy and does not pay me what I deserve.

So I will take what is rightfully mine.

After all, I'm saved by grace.

Paul says in Romans 6, this is the word of God saying, What shall we say then?

Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?

By no means.

There's no stronger rebuttal than I know of in the Greek language.

No stronger language.

By no means.

We are those who have died to sin.

How can we live in it any longer?

Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

The whole point of the passage is sin and death are related and Christ defeated both.

Therefore, you have the power in you to defeat sin and death.

Now here are the reasons why.

that we go on sinning without repentance.

Here are the reasons.

Number one, desire outweighs conviction.

You used before conviction was stronger than desire, but you gave into it so many times.

Now the desire is stronger than conviction.

Two, repeated sin weakens internal resistance.

At first you resisted And yet you gave in.

And then you gave in a little more.

And then a little more till you're at the point now you've repeated the sin so often that your resistance is weak.

Third, rationalization quiets shame and guilt.

You tell yourself, I'm saved by grace.

Everybody does this.

God understands.

Nobody's perfect.

Everyone sins.

I've been racking my brain on this whole thing for most of my life.

I'm telling you, when it came out what Ravi was doing, it was devastating for me because I put way too much stock in a man rather than the God-man, Jesus Christ.

How is it possible though?

I would just sit for hours.

How is this possible?

How can you talk so aggressively against a duplicative life while living one?

Phil Gansey, how can you travel and speak on a variety of topics without violating so many of the principles that you espouse.

How do you do that?

How do you speak about the sanctity of marriage while you're in the morning and violated in the evening?

Now, at least with Philip Yancey, and I hesitated to use names.

I want to tell you this has been a struggle.

But at least with Yancey, he did the right thing.

He came clean and resigned from preaching, speaking, and writing.

Amen.

He said, to my great shame, I confess that for eight years, I willfully engaged in a sinful affair with a married woman.

My conduct defied everything I believe about marriage.

It was also totally inconsistent with my faith and my writings and caused deep pain for her husband and both our families.

So he said, I am stepping down.

I will not be preaching, speaking or writing again.

Carl Lentz, the famous pastor in New York City, New York City Hillsong, the fastest growing church in America at one point, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, the Kardashians, Nick Jonas, Bono, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Chris Pratt, they all attended and he would stand on stage every week and most of the time would talk.

at some point about remaining sexually pure while at the same time involving himself for over seven years in inappropriate behavior with the babysitter in his wife's own house and an affair.

Many affairs actually came out later, but it included one with a jewelry designer, Ronan Kareem, in which he hid the fact that he was a preacher from her and claimed to be a sports manager.

Now here's what I'm thinking as a pastor.

How is that possible?

I know that we all are tempted.

I know that we all fall short of the glory of God.

I got it.

But to be on a stage and to speak those words and to be the shepherd of the sheep and living a duplicitous life The whole time, David, even David, when he sinned with Bathsheba.

See, make sure you understand what I'm saying.

You know, if somebody asked me, are you still going to read Yancey's books?

And the answer is yes.

If I said no, I'd never read a psalm.

David wrote the Psalms and he was a bad dude.

Sinned with Bathsheba, had her husband killed.

He was a horrible father.

See, the Spirit of God uses donkeys.

Uses donkeys.

Simple men and women.

I got that.

But we are still held accountable for the lives that we live.

David said, "When I kept silent my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long." And here's my question, here's the question: Do we not have the right to expect better from our spiritual leaders?

Do you not have the right to expect better from me?

Do you not have the right to expect me to be faithful to my wife?

Oh, I love to quote 1 Timothy 5.17.

The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.

I get double honor.

I get, right?

Ah, but James 3.1 says, not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

I get double judgment.

In the CNN article about Philip Yancey, The writer revealed his ignorance concerning the idea of grace.

Now stay with me, this will bring it together for us.

Here's what the writer, I'm not going to mention his name, in the CNN article said about Philip Yancey.

He said, there will be some who will feel sorrow and they might extend grace in some ways, hope or form.

But in recent years, evangelicalism has been increasingly closed to expression of empathy and narrowed its definition of grace.

This is coming from a non-believer about we believers.

Right?

He's saying that we have narrowed our definition of grace.

I would strongly disagree.

I think the church is waking up to the real meaning of grace.

Because while it's true that you will always have those who are self-righteous and will shoot their own wounded, I get it.

The church as a whole has gotten better at recognizing the grace needed for the victims of high profile pastors who abuse their positions.

Let me tell you who needs grace, mercy, and compassion.

The young women Ravi groomed and abused.

The young men and women Carl Lentz manipulated, abused, and took advantage of to build his personal kingdom.

The women who worked with Bill Hybels, we haven't even talked about him, the huge church in Chicago who were placed in vernal positions and touched in inappropriate ways.

I believe the church has gotten better at true grace and true repentance resides.

Because when a pastor in America today confesses his duplicitous life and acknowledges his grievous sin and steps down off of his platform, what I've discovered is Christians tend to forgive.

And they tend to actually wish him well.

However, grace does not mean that we forget the offense and allow him to hold a position of spiritual authority over us.

Trust has been broken.

That doesn't mean that I'm not giving him grace.

I honestly wish him well.

I know temptation is strong.

We all fall, but I wish that you would go forward now and be healed from your transgression because I know God is good and gracious and will forgive you, but I'm not gonna listen to you anymore.

at least for a long season.

You're not going to teach me.

You've lost the, this platform right here is sacred.

You should be able to have confidence that although your pastors and leaders aren't perfect, that at least they're not living in a life of duplicity.

You should be able to have confidence that I'm not going to go out here tonight and look at three hours of pornography.

You shouldn't be able to have confidence that I'm going to be faithful to my wife.

And then I'm going to be a good father to my children.

But here's my ultimate question, and it's how I want to end.

Oh yeah, does God not have the right to expect more from you?

He saved you.

He sanctified you.

He's given you eternal life.

You need not fear death.

He's given you power over sin to be light in a dark world.

He's given you his word to be a light into your path, a lamp into your feet.

Does he not have the right to expect more from you?

The spirit of God is in us, and yes, we are incarcerated in the flesh.

So the struggle is there.

But does God not have the right to expect his children to struggle and fight against the sin that so easily entangles us?

Christ followers, why are you still watching pornography?

Why are you still violating the Bible's sexual ethic by sleeping with someone that you're not married to?

Why?

Why are you still engaged in inappropriate behavior?

Why are you rationalizing your sin and the sins of others?

Why are you still involved in idol worship, seeking things above and beyond your relationship with God?

Why?

Is it because you've convinced yourself that truth is subjective?

And that's only the pastor's opinion.

But other people would differ.

Is it because you've convinced yourself that all sins are equal, even though Jesus clearly teaches?

All sins condemn equally, but not all are equally evil.

That all sin ultimately destroys, but some sins destroy you ultimately.

Or is it because you've convinced yourself that you're saved by grace and grace does not require any effort?

I'm asking you, this should make us take a look at our own lives, every single one of us.

I pray God's best for Phil Yancey, for the family of Ravi Zacharias, for Bill Hobbles, wherever they are.

I pray.

I pray for their very best.

I pray that somehow in the course of this, they will find peace and the grace and the forgiveness that comes from God.

But I pray that you and I would take a good look at our lives and say, what are we doing that God has the right to expect better?

Because he's given you everything.

And I'm asking you to kickstart 2026 and to take a good look at your life and draw the line and say, enough is enough.

That's it.

That is it.

I am going to make every effort I can to struggle and defeat this sin that is entangling me.

Whatever it is.

And the Holy Spirit's brought it to your mind about 30 times already.

You know what it is.

I'm asking you to start 2026 and recognize that the Bible tells us in 1 John 1, verse 9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

I'm asking you to be like Joshua.

But it's for me and my house today, we're going to serve.

You draw a line.

For me and my house, we're going to serve the Lord.

I'm asking you to stop it.

Knock it off now.

Okay.

Okay.

Time to stop.

Time to go home.

You have to throw the computer out of the room, throw it out.

If you have to get rid of your phone, throw it out.

Jesus said it's better to cut off your arm, right?

Surely you can cut off your computer.

Whatever you have to do.

2026.

And if you do that, I promise you it'll be one of the best years of your life.

I had a great story to tell you, but because of time, I can't.

Hey, wait a minute.

I can.

I can because these are the righteous people.

I'm going to give you the short version.

Short version.

Some of you have heard this, but let me give you the short version.

It's two minutes.

Listen.

Listen, an experience that the most overpowering experience that I've ever had in my life was going into those prisons in Rwanda after the genocide and going up on a platform where there were about 25 or 30 pastors behind me, all Rwandan pastors with my translator Anastas Abumungu.

And preparing the night before, because I thought it was all me, right?

You think, wait, I gotta do this.

I'm talking to these guys who have taken a machete and slaughtered almost a million people in 90 days and I'm going in to talk to them about forgiveness?

And I had written a sermon, I'd spent hours the night before just trying to figure out what I'm gonna say and right when I got up, now this hasn't happened to me very often and I'm not anti-study, believe me, but I remember standing on stage and looking out and there was a prison that was built for 4,000 people and there were 11,500 prisoners.

And they were stacked on top of each other.

And when I got up, it's like the Holy Spirit said, you just gotta throw away all those notes you wrote last night, I got it from here.

And I remembered a story and I told these murderers and they were murdered.

These were some of the worst violators of humanity, genocide.

And I told them the story that I had read by Ravi in a children's book, okay?

A little boy has a beautiful jar of marbles, and he loves those marbles, plays with them every day, goes out and plays with his friends.

And his little sister, I think her name is Ashti, his name is Anand, and his little sister has a jar of candy, lalis, they call them in India.

It's Indian boy, Indian girl.

And one night, Anan looks at Asti's candy and says, boy, she would like that candy.

So he goes to her and he says, hey, how about we trade?

I'll give you all the marbles.

You give me all the candy.

And she said yes, but then he started thinking, ooh, I don't have my marbles now.

He said, I'll tell you what, let's spend one more night with our treasures and then we'll trade in the morning.

So the next day comes, Anan comes to Ashti and says, you ready to trade?

She says, yeah, I'll trade.

But during the night, he had taken the jar lid off and picked out the most prized marbles and kept them.

Put the lid back on and shook it like it was still full.

But little Ashti, it's typical between men and women.

"Little Ashti gave all the candy.

"She was honest." And they traded.

That night, Anand walked the halls of his home and he couldn't sleep.

Walked the halls of his home, couldn't sleep.

And he ran into his father and his father said, "What's wrong?" He goes, "I just can't sleep because I keep wondering, "did my sister give me all the candy?" That storytelling in Africa goes a long way Now, here are these machete murderers, and they're hissing at the boy for cheating his sister out of a couple of pieces of candy.

Isn't it interesting?

But then the Spirit gave me the word, and I looked out over the crowd, and I said, but here's what I can tell you about Jesus.

If you give him all your sin, he'll give you all his forgiveness.

And over 536 prisoners came forward that day to receive Christ and repent of their sins.

Now, if machete murderers can repent of their sins, whatever it is in your life, I'm telling you, if you will give God right now today all your sin, he will give you all his forgiveness.

And it's a new start.

Now, the campus pastors are gonna come out.

They're gonna lead you through something.

But before they do, I'm gonna pray.

Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, I pray that our eyes would have been opened.

So those things in our life that have just been tearing far too long now, and now we've rationalized and convinced ourselves that what we're doing is actually okay.

We've convinced ourselves, well, we're saved by grace through faith.

There's no real damage done here.

After all, everybody sins, but we can't see that this thing is entangling us.

It's got us.

We don't have it.

It has us.

And it's robbing us of so much joy and so much life.

In so much usability, we are forfeiting our right to be an ambassador.

And because we're not living the life of distinction, we're becoming more and more useless in the kingdom of Christ.

We may be in it, but we're becoming more and more useless because of the sin, the unrepentant, willing sin in our lives of which we have no intention of battling against.

I pray that today would be the first day That we would choose to do battle.

And when we do battle, to depend on the wisdom and the power of the Holy Spirit to be more than the conquerors that we've been called to be.

In Christ's name, everybody said, amen.