1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,440 OK, tragic news in the Christian world. 2 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:06,080 It has just been revealed that a very famous Christian author and 3 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:10,640 preacher has fallen into sin for a long period of time. 4 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:13,400 Now. I don't see any prophet in 5 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:16,160 gossiping about this going into all of the details. 6 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:20,480 But there is a warning if you are in your 60s, if you are in 7 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:24,320 your 70s, fifties, if you're later on in life, I have a 8 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:28,120 warning for you that I think every single one of you would be 9 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:31,880 wise to pay attention to. And any age that you are, we all 10 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:34,280 need to take heed to this advice. 11 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:36,440 Now, let me be totally transparent with you. 12 00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:39,080 This video is going to be very serious. 13 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:43,120 So let's just have a little bit of lightness before we go into, 14 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:45,160 you know, some of these strong warnings. 15 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:48,680 So if this is your first time on the channel, this is my Cup of 16 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:50,920 Joe podcast. And it's basically where we 17 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:53,920 study the Bible, we think about a biblical topic, and we have 18 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:56,080 coffee. Now this is the part I just sort 19 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:57,440 of want to draw your attention to. 20 00:00:57,840 --> 00:00:59,680 You can see you'll see some faces up here. 21 00:00:59,920 --> 00:01:01,640 These are people who've bought one of my mugs. 22 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:03,840 This I don't make any money from these mugs. 23 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:07,280 It's literally just the, the cost to cover the, the printing 24 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,320 and the making of the mug that that's if you want to get one of 25 00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:12,200 them. Now, I say if you want to get 26 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,800 one of these mugs, I'll put your face up here on the screen. 27 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:17,640 And a lot of people when you look at the pictures, the, the, 28 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:21,520 the mug, the, the organization I work with is called 4th wall and 29 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:25,840 they give three options. I think 11 oz, I think 16 ounce 30 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:29,240 and 22 ounce mugs, don't quote me on that. 31 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:33,240 What I've noticed is a lot of the folk who've been buying the 32 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:35,600 mugs, they're getting the really, really big ones, which 33 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:39,200 are by the way more expensive. The big 22 ounce mugs. 34 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:40,760 I think they are, they're like buckets. 35 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:42,040 I mean, you could have a bath in them. 36 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:44,360 They're so big. And I just want to say, if you 37 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:47,760 wanted to save money and get the cheapest option, go for the 11 38 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:49,600 oz one. Now, I don't know if you've 39 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:52,640 chosen the 22 ounce one for a reason, because here's something 40 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,240 else everyone keeps saying to me, because I've got this 41 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:57,040 channel called the Cup of Joe Podcast. 42 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:00,120 The like, you're British, aren't you supposed to drink tea all 43 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:02,200 day? Longwell, just to clarify, 44 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:04,560 that's a stereotype. That's British folk. 45 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:07,640 Probably most of my friends prefer coffee to tea. 46 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:10,880 You know, we're not all just drinking tea all day long, but 47 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:14,760 we do like a good cup of tea. But a stereotype we have over 48 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:16,920 here in Britain of American folk. 49 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:18,720 When I've got friends and they've gone over to America, 50 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:21,720 they're like even their grocery stores, their supermarkets, 51 00:02:21,920 --> 00:02:23,520 they're like triple the size of ours. 52 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:25,600 And, and I've got this picture in my mind, when you go to 53 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:28,440 McDonald's, you could get like a Coca-Cola, all of this big. 54 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:31,560 So tell me if that's a true stereotype, whether you do have 55 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:34,080 things like massive, everything's bigger in America, 56 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:37,400 or whether it's just a stereotype that as British folk 57 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:40,440 have got wrong about you. Anyway, either way, we're all 58 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:43,080 brothers and sisters in Christ. And I just, I love sharing 59 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:46,320 fellowship with all of you, tune in from wherever you are in the 60 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:48,960 world. I just consider it to be a huge, 61 00:02:48,960 --> 00:03:02,200 a huge privilege. OK, So what is this warning I 62 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:05,280 have for those of you who are in your 60s, seventies, 50s, you're 63 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:08,400 a bit later on in life. What's the warning for you guys? 64 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:11,600 Well, I was 24, so this is a while ago. 65 00:03:11,920 --> 00:03:14,520 And I remember another preacher I really look up to. 66 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:17,440 I remember we were on a Zoom call and we're all chatting. 67 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:20,560 It was a fellowship. And he said another one of our 68 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:25,360 friends, same age as us has gone and had an affair. 69 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:28,800 They're in their 60s. And he said, it seems the older 70 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,120 I get, the more I seem to notice more and more people in their 71 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:35,880 60s and 70s, they're having affairs that the children are 72 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:38,160 all grown up. They've lived their life living 73 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:40,120 for for the Lord Jesus, it would appear. 74 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:42,440 And yet then they are here they are. 75 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:44,320 They're having these affairs in the 60s. 76 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:49,520 And as a 24 year old, I heard that and I thought, oh, come on, 77 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,240 that, that can't be right. You know, you'd think affairs 78 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:55,720 would happen in in your 20s, more in your 30s when, you know, 79 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:58,320 the hormones are rushing. You'd think that's when these 80 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:00,640 things had happened. But as I said, it was a while 81 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:02,480 ago. And as the years have rolled on, 82 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:05,640 I've noticed a very, very similar trend. 83 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:09,880 It does seem that people later on in life, for one reason or 84 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:12,840 another, whether they've let their guard down, they seem to 85 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:16,240 be leaving their spouse for another. 86 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:20,680 And I want to give you 3 examples of three very, very 87 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:23,200 famous preachers. Again, I don't see any prophet 88 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:25,320 in naming names. I just think it draws more 89 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:27,800 attention. And these people have already 90 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:30,200 been, they've left their ministries, they've already, 91 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:32,600 their content has been taken off the Internet. 92 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:34,480 So it's not a case of Mark and Avoid. 93 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:37,120 These guys have already removed themselves from the ministry. 94 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:39,440 So I don't see the prophet in naming names. 95 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:42,040 But I do want you to think about these people because they were 96 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:44,800 all later on in life. So I'm going to give you a few 97 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:47,480 details that we can perhaps learn from. 98 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:51,400 OK, our first case study is the one that recently has been all 99 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:54,320 over social media and has recently really rocked the 100 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:57,520 Christian world. From my understanding, this man 101 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:01,880 started this sin, this affair in his mid 60s. 102 00:05:02,280 --> 00:05:07,040 He let it last for 8-9 years, nearly a decade he was with this 103 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:09,960 person. And then it transpired that he 104 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:13,880 wasn't very well at all. And I don't know when he told 105 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:17,520 his wife, but at some point he told his wife what had happened 106 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:21,240 because he had this terrible illness that he needed, you 107 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:26,400 know, round the clock care. And his wife decided in love and 108 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:29,560 Christine love to stay with him even though he'd done all of 109 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:31,880 that. Now I just want to pause for a 110 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:35,400 minute and just let's, you don't need to know the name of the 111 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:38,680 wife, but let's all remember to pray for this lady because what 112 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:42,640 tremendous grace, what tremendous Christine love when 113 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:44,240 her husband has gone and done that. 114 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:47,560 And yet she's willing to say, I will stand and I will be 115 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:48,680 counted. I will. 116 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:51,880 I've got my eye on the judge. I've got my eye on the Saviour 117 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:54,320 and I will have a reward in heaven for this. 118 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:56,720 She's building her treasures in heaven, not on earth. 119 00:05:56,720 --> 00:06:00,360 When everyone else would say leave him at the home, stitch 120 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:02,960 him, clean your hands of him. You've got every right to. 121 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:07,160 Why would you do that after he's been so deceitful, unfaithful, 122 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:10,800 so wicked to you and yet she's decided to stay. 123 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,480 But let me draw your attention to a verse because what was the 124 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,160 root of this man? When we look at his story, we 125 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:18,200 can't. We don't know for sure. 126 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:19,680 Only God knows what's in the heart. 127 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:22,680 But it does seem there are clues of each of these preachers. 128 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:26,800 So just turn to Jude and verse 4 right at the end of the Bible. 129 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:29,480 We're in the the book of Jude and verse 4. 130 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:34,400 For certain men have crept in unnoticed who long ago were 131 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:36,480 marked out for this condemnation. 132 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:43,040 Ungodly men who turned the grace of our God into lewdness and 133 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:46,720 deny the only God and our Lord Jesus Christ. 134 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:50,880 So what this preacher was very well known for is he was known 135 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:54,160 to have a very, very strong emphasis on grace. 136 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:58,760 You could argue an overemphasis on grace, grace, grace, grace, 137 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:00,520 grace. And I've talked about this 138 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:03,440 before where we talk about the Earl of Oxford who believed the 139 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:05,960 greatest gift a man could ever receive was something called 140 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:09,040 cubicle thinking. Now, what is cubicle thinking? 141 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:11,840 Well, just like a cube has many different sides to it. 142 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:15,680 Well, so a truth, so a doctrine, so life, if you like it, should 143 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:18,800 have many different sides to it. And if you're only looking at 144 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:21,560 one side of the truth, if you're just thinking grace, grace, 145 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:26,160 grace, suddenly you're going to miss the other sides of the 146 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:28,200 cube. And there are other sides to the 147 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:30,000 Lord. There are other sides to, to the 148 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:31,600 Bible. There are other attributes of 149 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:37,480 God like the wrath of God, like holiness, like fighting against 150 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:39,360 sin, all of these different sides. 151 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:42,840 And I think there's an issue when it's all we do is just 152 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:46,040 pray, preach love of God, grace of God. 153 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:49,520 You know, even some people, I don't know where you are on the 154 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:53,160 Reform spectrum on Calvinism, but you know, sometimes this, 155 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:55,520 this idea of once saved, always saved. 156 00:07:56,640 --> 00:07:58,720 And, and then if you go in the other direction, you can lose 157 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:01,040 your salvation. Both if you take either of those 158 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:03,720 and you go too far with it, it can, it can mess you up. 159 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:06,680 If you go into the, you can lose your salvation, suddenly you're 160 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:09,200 getting into workspace salvation where you're trying to keep 161 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:11,600 yourself saved. And if I do this, I might be in 162 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:14,080 danger of losing my salvation. I need to be the one who's 163 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:16,680 holding on to God. Otherwise, you know, I'm, I'm 164 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:19,680 going to, you know, lose my salvation. 165 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:22,480 But on the other side, if you go to the other extreme, we've once 166 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:24,760 saved, always saved. And there's literally a full 167 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:26,840 entire movement all over YouTube. 168 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:30,200 If you tell someone, if I as a preacher, say repent, turn of 169 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:33,200 your sins, they will say you're a false teacher, you're a works 170 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:36,320 based teacher. So suddenly we're just getting 171 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:38,679 this idea that you can just do whatever you like. 172 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:41,760 God has forgiven us. We've got a license for sin. 173 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:44,400 Now this preacher, I don't believe he did take that 174 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:47,400 extreme. But what I'm saying is if, if we 175 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:51,320 constantly just feed it into our minds, you know, I can do 176 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:54,080 whatever I want. I'm I'm, you know, if you, if 177 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:56,960 people, I'm not a Calvinist, but if the Calvinists who are 178 00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:00,520 watching, you know, I'm elect by God, I'm chosen by him. 179 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:02,840 I'll persevere with the Saints. There's nothing. 180 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:06,560 We've got to be so careful because these things can, can 181 00:09:06,560 --> 00:09:10,200 just make us comfortable in sin. That's why, you know, there's 182 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:13,240 many, many pastors who it would appear on the surface, they've 183 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:15,640 got great doctrine. But there was a study that came 184 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:21,760 out that 65% of pastors are watching that filth on the 185 00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:24,560 Internet. And we just got to be so 186 00:09:24,560 --> 00:09:27,320 careful, haven't we? Because there are verses and I'm 187 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:30,720 going to come to me in a minute that show us when we're living 188 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:33,720 in wilful sin, we should be terrified. 189 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:36,040 Guys, I said this was a serious message. 190 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:38,320 And please, if you've got any comeback, leave it in the 191 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:40,600 comments section. But I do believe this with all 192 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:42,400 my heart. As I've looked at things, I've 193 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:46,520 looked at my own life, it is so important to to stay in the word 194 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:48,840 and to get to hold that tension there. 195 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:50,800 There's the grace of God. He loves me. 196 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:53,160 There's nothing I can do to earn my salvation. 197 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:55,320 He holds on to me. He cares about me. 198 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:57,960 But the same time there's that other side. 199 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:02,600 He is a fearful God. He's the God that the angels 200 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:07,200 that they cover their faces, they're crying outs, holy, holy, 201 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:09,520 holy. He is so holy that he cannot 202 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:12,920 stand any unclean thing. And yet we have a righteousness 203 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:15,600 of Christ that is not our own. And even when we mess up, he 204 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:17,680 still loves us. And yet at the same time, 205 00:10:17,680 --> 00:10:23,280 there's this, if any of you like, like, like he saw my mind 206 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:27,160 have gone blank there he, he, he, he sold his birthright and 207 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:30,480 he tried to, to win it back and he, he tried with tears, but he 208 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:32,360 still couldn't get it. He could find no place for 209 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:34,640 repentance. You see that there's a tension 210 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:37,080 inscription. It's there for a reason to make 211 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:40,520 us balanced as Christians, to make us be salt and light. 212 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:43,160 I mean, what good is salt if it loses its flavour? 213 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:45,800 What good is a Christian if he's just living like the rest of the 214 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:48,600 world? Let our light shine and let the 215 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:52,400 world see that we are ones who stand up for truth and 216 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:56,280 righteousness. There is something else that I 217 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:58,640 think can happen to a lot of preachers and a lot of us as 218 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:02,160 Christians and sometimes it can be a very positive thing and 219 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:05,840 it's we can mellow with age. Now this is a a nicer note. 220 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:10,400 My dad's who just say this. I'm not saying this in a 221 00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:13,200 boastful way, but my dad is one of those godly men. 222 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:16,280 I know I'm very, very privileged to to have him. 223 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:20,840 He's brought me up in one of the best ways, and I'm very grateful 224 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:23,720 for that. But my dad, when he was younger, 225 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:26,160 he was very, very strict with me. 226 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:28,640 Very strict. You know, the Lord's Day was the 227 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:30,560 Lord's Day. I couldn't do certain things. 228 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:34,440 He was my Sunday school teacher. And, and there was a kind of, 229 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:38,120 you know, not a pressure, but to know the Bible, those kind of 230 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:40,280 things. And it was, it was very strict 231 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:43,160 with me. But now he's got a grandson, my 232 00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:46,040 little boy Samuel. And when I tell Samuel off the 233 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:51,000 things that if, if I, as Billy Graham said, if I told, if I did 234 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:53,680 it when I was younger, my dad would have wailed the tar out of 235 00:11:53,680 --> 00:11:58,000 me, you know, he literally was, you know, he's very strict with 236 00:11:58,000 --> 00:11:59,920 me. But when I I tell my son off, 237 00:11:59,920 --> 00:12:02,680 he's like Joe, No, no, no, you no, don't do that. 238 00:12:02,680 --> 00:12:04,680 Oh, he's OK. Oh, let him off. 239 00:12:04,680 --> 00:12:07,400 He'll be OK. And I'm like, Dad, Dad, do you 240 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:09,520 remember? Do you remember my childhood? 241 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:12,160 You know, but it is a good thing, isn't it? 242 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,160 As we age, it can be a good thing that we mellow a bit. 243 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:18,560 And sometimes there can be legalism that's in US and that 244 00:12:18,560 --> 00:12:21,120 needs to be, it needs to Peter off. 245 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:25,960 But the same time it can be a bad thing for some preachers and 246 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:29,240 some people when they mellow with age. 247 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:31,720 It's, it's a, it's a dangerous thing. 248 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:36,160 Again, the same preacher who pointed out that a lot of, you 249 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:40,520 know, men in the 60s or women in the 60s, they, they're having 250 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:43,120 affairs. He also said this and, and I've 251 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:46,160 been struck by, he said you'll also find men and women in the 252 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:49,000 later years. And suddenly they just changed 253 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:50,960 their theology. For years and years they've 254 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:54,080 believed a certain doctrine and they've still, they've stayed 255 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:55,840 firm on it. And then all of a sudden they 256 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:58,880 just change. There was an example in some of 257 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:01,800 the circles I'm involved with, with a very well known open air 258 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:05,680 preacher, very gifted man. And all of a sudden he said that 259 00:13:05,680 --> 00:13:08,080 he didn't believe hell was eternal anymore. 260 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:14,000 And very sadly, it caused quite a stir and even some division in 261 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:16,920 the circles that that he moved in. 262 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:21,320 So let's just be careful that as we age, we, we, we remember the 263 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:24,800 stuff that we really spent time, you know, wrestling with when we 264 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:26,880 were younger. And we hold firm to them 265 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:28,360 doctrines. I'm not saying you shouldn't be 266 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:31,320 open minded because sometimes truth is truth and you might be 267 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:34,040 living in a lie, but it is something that we should all be 268 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:41,760 aware of. Just turn in your Bibles, 269 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:53,880 please, to Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 13, Hebrews 3 and verse 270 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:58,560 13. We'll go for verse 12. 271 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:03,320 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of 272 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:07,360 unbelief in departing from the living God, but exhort one 273 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:12,160 another daily while it is called today, lest any of you be 274 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:15,440 hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 275 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:21,280 Now in that verse 13, there's a word used at the hardening and 276 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:24,760 it's the word scoliosis and cirrhosis. 277 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:27,960 Sorry. And if you've got multiple 278 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:30,840 cirrhosis, someone in my family is very dear to me, has multiple 279 00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:33,400 cirrhosis. Do you know what it actually is 280 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:36,560 in medical terms? It's a hardening of, of the 281 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:38,920 brain. And suddenly as the brain gets 282 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:43,320 hard and gets, the tissue gets destroyed, it means that there's 283 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:45,320 certain functions that don't work anymore. 284 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,520 You know, you, you lose sensation and there's all kinds 285 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:50,200 of things. And it's, it's a very, very 286 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:54,040 difficult illness to have. But what the Bible is saying 287 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:57,920 here is this cirrhosis that happens to you and I as 288 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:01,520 Christians, it's slow. It just slowly hardens. 289 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:05,600 We, we slowly harden and suddenly the sensitivity we once 290 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,400 had to the things of God, they're not the same anymore. 291 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:12,200 Suddenly the times where we were, we were so in love with 292 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:16,680 the Lord God, we're cold now. And the Bible's warning against 293 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:19,440 that, that sin, it has a hardening effect on us. 294 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:23,120 And over time, it'll dull your conscience where you don't feel 295 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:26,080 these things anymore. You don't have that same love 296 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:30,360 for the Lord. There's a song by Is it Casting 297 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:33,680 Crowns is the name. And it goes, it's a slow fade. 298 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:35,440 You know, people don't fall in a day. 299 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:37,760 It's a slow fade. It takes time. 300 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:41,080 People give themselves to one bit of sin and a little bit of 301 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:44,400 sin and a little bit more until eventually they're doing things 302 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:46,840 that are darker than they could ever imagine. 303 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:50,280 And if their younger self saw them, they would be totally 304 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:53,480 embarrassed. So let's never use doctrine. 305 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:56,400 Let's never use grace as a license for sin. 306 00:15:56,760 --> 00:15:59,320 And I do believe, as I said, I wanted to give you some verses. 307 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:01,480 So I know some of you write down notes. 308 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:04,120 If you have got somewhere to jot these down, maybe just have a 309 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:07,280 little study of these just to remind yourself if you do have 310 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:10,160 an overemphasis on grace, these are verses that are very 311 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:14,320 helpful. So there's a verse in Hebrews 312 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:19,240 10, verse 29 where it talks about not trampling the blood of 313 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:21,120 the Lord Jesus Christ into the floor. 314 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:24,200 In other words, Christ's blood is precious. 315 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:27,520 It's the most precious thing. It's the thing that can redeem a 316 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:29,920 Sinner, take them from death to life. 317 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:34,840 And yet some people, they use it as a a license for sin. 318 00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:38,080 They trample into the ground. They see it as worthless and the 319 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:40,520 Bible warns against that. Don't you ever do that. 320 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:44,880 That is a wicked evil thing to be living in, in wilful sin. 321 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:47,400 Just because you're saying I'm forgiven, I'm saved, I'm 322 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:51,320 righteous, I'm redeemed, I can. Do you know, we might not say it 323 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:55,560 out loud, but does our our actions speak like we believe 324 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:58,120 that? And then there's the verse in 325 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:03,080 Philippians 2 verse 12 that says work out your salvation with 326 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:06,319 fear and trembling. Now I'm preaching to myself 327 00:17:06,319 --> 00:17:07,800 here. When was the last time I sat 328 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:11,440 down and worked out my salvation with fear and trembling? 329 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:15,119 Really thought about what path would I have gone down? 330 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:19,160 Where would I be now? Christ died for me. 331 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:22,640 He's brought me from from the fires of hell for all of 332 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:25,880 eternity. I'm safe in his work it out with 333 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:28,560 fear and trembling. See see your salvation as 334 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:32,320 precious and and have a fear in you, a holy fear of this holy 335 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:34,960 righteous God. He's got his eyes on me and yet 336 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:36,960 he loves me. Incredible. 337 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:42,200 Then there's Romans one verse 28 where God gave them over to a 338 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:45,600 reprobate mind where it's basically saying there is an 339 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:49,400 invisible line you can cross without knowing it, where you 340 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:52,480 just can keep going on saying I don't want to listen to your 341 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:54,320 voice. God, you keep stiffening your 342 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:55,640 neck, you keep hardening your heart. 343 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:59,600 God keeps warning you constantly like that verse says he was is 344 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:03,800 reproved many times. He's warned many times and yet 345 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:06,440 hardens his neck. He will be broken without 346 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:09,000 remedy. There comes a point where God 347 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:10,680 says I've given you so much grace. 348 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:13,840 I've I've been patient for so I'm so long-suffering and he is 349 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:17,000 long-suffering, but you continue to disobey me, right? 350 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:21,520 I give you over to that sin. So maybe write that verse down. 351 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:27,560 And then there's also Ephesians 5 that says, let no one deceive 352 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:30,960 you with empty words. In Ephesians 5, you'll see a 353 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:34,400 great list of people who will not make it into the Kingdom of 354 00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:39,680 God, people who are having affairs, people who are laughing 355 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:44,160 at rude things, people who are are idolatrous, who are greedy, 356 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:45,840 all these all these different sins. 357 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:49,120 Read it for yourself and it says, it then says let no one 358 00:18:49,120 --> 00:18:51,520 deceive you of empty words and you'll get that. 359 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:54,400 People will say it's OK you you've forgiven, or they'll use 360 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:56,000 examples and they'll say it's fine. 361 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:57,720 You can continue in that sin, you're fine. 362 00:18:57,720 --> 00:18:59,720 Don't worry, there are people who will do that. 363 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:02,840 And the Bible saying don't let anyone deceive you of empty 364 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:05,440 words. Because of these things, the 365 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:07,960 wrath of God falls upon the unrighteous. 366 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:11,760 So guys, these are these are warnings that should wake us up, 367 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:15,240 that should stir in us. Now at the same time, if we have 368 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:19,000 committed these things, there's also another list in Corinthians 369 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:22,560 that lists all of these people and it says, and so were some of 370 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:25,320 you, but now you've been washed, you've been cleansed, you've 371 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:27,680 been forgiven. And some of us, we've lived in 372 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:29,160 these sins, we've done these things. 373 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:31,320 But if you've repented, if you've turned from that, if 374 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:33,520 you've sought God with forgiveness, don't anyone 375 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:35,800 misunderstand me right now. There is forgiveness, There is 376 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:39,280 total peace, a new beginning, a new start for anyone who'll turn 377 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:41,600 from this. But this is a warning for anyone 378 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:45,840 who is dwelling in these things, who is taking the grace of God 379 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:49,520 as a license for sin, who's trampling the blood of Christ 380 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:52,840 and seeing it not as precious. They're seeing it as worthless. 381 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:56,480 Even though they'd never say this, their actions speak louder 382 00:19:56,480 --> 00:19:59,480 than words. Hey #2 and #3 aren't as long as 383 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:04,280 #1 but this guy was in his 70s. And I actually met this 384 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:07,400 preacher, and I'll say this, I've said it before, I'm not 385 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:10,880 going to name names, but this preacher was hands down the 386 00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:13,240 greatest preacher I've ever listened to. 387 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:17,480 He had power in his voice. It really felt like the Holy 388 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:19,800 Spirit was there. And I believe he did have an 389 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:23,240 anointing on his life. He was tremendously convicting, 390 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:26,400 tremendously effective in his preaching. 391 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:30,000 But there are two things I remember about this preacher and 392 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:33,600 these two things actually, when I've dwelt on them after 393 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:36,640 everything's come out, after he actually had an affair. 394 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:39,760 He was in a very long marriage. As I said, he was in his 70s 395 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:43,440 when he did this, and he went for a younger lady who was in 396 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:46,280 her 20s. And some things have kind of, as 397 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:49,120 I've dwelt on it, as I've sort of mulled these things over in 398 00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:51,480 my mind, I thought, oh, it is interesting. 399 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:54,200 It is interesting. I never thought about that at 400 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:59,120 the time. The first thing I noticed about 401 00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:03,800 him is he loved to talk about preachers and preaching. 402 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:07,200 Now there's nothing wrong with being fascinated with the 403 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,600 technique of preaching and and as preachers, we should be 404 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:12,000 working all the time. So it's a better our craft. 405 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:14,560 But it almost seemed like an idol. 406 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:18,520 He'd name this preacher and say, this man always incredible, 407 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:21,480 always a machine. And, and this preacher here, 408 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:24,680 he's always, he's so you know, the way he just sees it and he 409 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:27,480 dots it all out. And he just kept naming all the 410 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:31,760 names, like all these big names. And and this man, this preacher 411 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:35,720 came up to me who's a very well known preacher, more famous than 412 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:38,840 than him, and said he ran up to me, up to me at the end of a 413 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:42,080 service after he heard me preach and said, I can't preach like 414 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:43,560 you. You need to show me how to 415 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:45,400 preach like you. How do I do it? 416 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:48,000 And, you know, he was almost rattled, the preacher said, but 417 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:52,000 when he saw how I was preaching really was, you know, making 418 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:56,000 almost an idol, idol of it. Then the other thing he said he 419 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:59,520 compared himself to one of his friends who was a very well 420 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:03,080 known preacher. And he said, I'm not as big as 421 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,320 that preacher. So I need to travel around. 422 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:09,680 I need to, you know, go around the country, but I'm just not as 423 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:12,360 well known as him. And I just thought it was a bit 424 00:22:12,360 --> 00:22:14,600 of a strange thing to be comparing yourself. 425 00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:17,880 I don't know, maybe I'm maybe I'm overthinking it, but I 426 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:19,760 thought it was a bit of a strange thing to be comparing 427 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:23,240 yourself to one of your close friends who was also a preacher. 428 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:26,480 And almost as if it was a competition of who was who was 429 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:30,880 bigger in in in the ministry. Turning your Bibles to John 430 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:42,200 chapter 12 and verse 43. For they loved the praise of men 431 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:47,840 more than the praise of God. Guys, whether you're a preacher 432 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:52,040 or whether you're not, do you care about the opinions of men? 433 00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:55,680 Do you care about the things of this world, about the praise of 434 00:22:55,680 --> 00:23:00,200 men more than the praise of God? Because eventually this will 435 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:04,040 come to light when there comes a decision where God can see what 436 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:06,480 you're doing behind closed doors, but men can't. 437 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:10,360 Who's the God then? Is it the praise of men do do 438 00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:13,000 you only like to to be showing that you're super spiritual, 439 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:15,360 super Christian in front of people, whether it's stacking 440 00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:17,360 the chairs at church, doing the dishes at church? 441 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:19,160 Do you love the praise of men there? 442 00:23:19,360 --> 00:23:23,760 But when it's you alone with your husband or your wife, how 443 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:26,480 do you treat them then when the eyes of God are on you? 444 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:30,040 But the men at men don't see it. Do you live a double life? 445 00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:33,440 I guess that's what I'm saying. What foundation is your life 446 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:36,400 built on? You see, when the applause fades 447 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:39,200 and this is what I think happens to many of these preachers, I 448 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:40,760 think they do love the praise of men. 449 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:43,720 I think they've they've become accustomed to it, dare I say, 450 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:47,240 groomed by the praise of men. And they sort of live their life 451 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:49,560 enjoying this. And then suddenly what happens 452 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:53,640 as they get older into life, Suddenly the younger model comes 453 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:57,280 in, the younger preacher happens to every, every preacher comes 454 00:23:57,280 --> 00:23:58,360 forward. You know, you get a young 455 00:23:58,360 --> 00:24:02,360 preacher and he's really gifted. And suddenly the audience, like 456 00:24:02,360 --> 00:24:05,000 we do with a car, like we do in, in all kinds of things. 457 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:08,520 We want a newer house as human beings, which is so fickle. 458 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:11,240 They all leave that the the older man who they've listened 459 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:14,040 to for years and they start listening to the younger guy. 460 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:20,040 And as the limelight fades away, suddenly the novelty, the 461 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:23,320 novelty of being a preacher, it all seemed like, what was it 462 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:24,880 built on? What was the foundation it was 463 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:26,520 built on? Was it all about you and your 464 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:29,240 name? Or would you be preaching if no 465 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:31,960 one was listening? I mean, another thing I asked 466 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:35,000 this preacher, I said to him, would you ever preach at a 467 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:40,480 Church of just 30 people or so? And I was asking him for this 468 00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:42,560 reason. I wanted to know because he was 469 00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:45,200 such a passionate preacher. And my audience still to this 470 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:47,680 day, I preach in churches with just 30 or so. 471 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:49,680 And that's where I actually believe it or not feel most 472 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:51,720 comfortable. I get nervous with too many 473 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:53,320 people. People never believe me when I 474 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:55,000 say that. But honestly, when it gets to 475 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:58,160 more than 50 or so, I'm, I'm, I'm sweating buckets. 476 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:01,520 Anyway, I was asking him this because I wanted to know when 477 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:04,960 I'm preaching in front of 20-30 people, should I just go for it? 478 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:07,760 You know, should I really amp it up and be really passionate 479 00:25:08,360 --> 00:25:10,480 because I thought, you know, with 30 people, should it be 480 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:12,200 more calm? And then as it's bigger, when 481 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:14,960 you get into hundreds, you think that's when you have the, the 482 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:17,560 higher energy. And he misunderstood me and he 483 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:22,280 said he went, I wouldn't, I don't preach to people of just 484 00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:24,440 30 or so. And he said because I'm at the 485 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:29,440 very end of my life and my time is so precious that, you know, I 486 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:31,920 can't afford to do it. I need to be in front of 487 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:34,960 hundreds of people because I need to make sure my message 488 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:37,000 goes out to as many people as possible. 489 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:41,520 And again as as well on that. I'm not sure what I make of 490 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:43,120 that. Maybe you can let me know what 491 00:25:43,120 --> 00:25:45,760 you think. But obviously, Jesus Christ, he 492 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:47,440 had even he knew his time was up. 493 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,960 He knew his hours late and he still made time for, for the 494 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:55,480 ones and twos. So again, as you get older, if 495 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,440 you're not a preacher, I think a danger can be this. 496 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:03,080 You might want to feel desired again and a younger person comes 497 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:05,760 up, someone who's younger than you and they make you feel young 498 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:08,320 again. Perhaps in your marriage things 499 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:12,080 have got stale and it's difficult and maybe your spouse 500 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:15,080 just it might feel like they they don't desire you anymore. 501 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:19,040 And when a younger person comes up and they make you feel young 502 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:22,360 again and it's exciting and there's a new novelty, there's a 503 00:26:22,360 --> 00:26:23,960 new. Just beware of that. 504 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:29,200 Guys, men and women alike, let's all be be aware of that and be 505 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:32,640 aware of not wanting this sense of importance thinking were very 506 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:34,840 important. And as if some, for some reason, 507 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:37,840 the rules are different for us. And that leads us to our third 508 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:41,360 preacher of someone who it almost felt like the rules felt 509 00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:43,320 different for him. He was different. 510 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:51,280 All right, so #3 our last and final preacher, in my opinion, 511 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:54,160 when I look at the preachers that we've had in the last 100 512 00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:58,680 years or so, I would say this preacher out of all of them was 513 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:01,280 probably the most famous after Billy Graham. 514 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:04,360 Now, Billy Graham, as you know, I'm a big fan of, and praise 515 00:27:04,360 --> 00:27:07,680 God, he finished well. But this preacher was, you know, 516 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:09,400 nearly as famous as Billy Graham. 517 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:12,200 And yet very sadly, he didn't finish well. 518 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:16,360 And again, I don't know the full details, but it seems certainly 519 00:27:16,360 --> 00:27:21,040 in his 60s, in his 70s a little bit, I think, and in his 50s, 520 00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:23,000 and perhaps we don't know what's gone on for years. 521 00:27:23,360 --> 00:27:27,040 He was doing some things that as the Bible says, it's shameful 522 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:30,320 even to speak of what the the wicked do in, in, in the 523 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:32,240 private. Sorry, I've not said that well, 524 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:36,400 but it's shameful to to bring to light what these wicked people, 525 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:38,800 these disobedient are doing in the dark. 526 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:42,280 So I'm not going to go into details, but let's just say it 527 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:48,200 was edging on being criminal. And he was very, very smart, so 528 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,240 smart, so manipulative, too smart. 529 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:55,600 And he he really did wrap people around his finger and and there 530 00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:59,400 was multiple people involved, multiple over a long period of 531 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:02,800 time. So if you've got a Bible there, 532 00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:05,840 this really is a verse that describes this gentleman. 533 00:28:07,120 --> 00:28:11,440 And it's Second Timothy 3 verses six to seven. 534 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:16,480 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make 535 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:22,360 captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, LED away 536 00:28:22,360 --> 00:28:27,320 by various lusts, always learning and never able to come 537 00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:33,920 to the knowledge of the truth. You see, this preacher, he very 538 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:39,360 much he took advantage of women who I don't know what the word 539 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:41,560 is. You could say vulnerable women, 540 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:46,720 women who he he he, he use the Bible at points if you read the 541 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:49,760 article and it's not pleasant and I wouldn't, I wouldn't 542 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:52,920 recommend it to be honest, but you can see use the Bible and he 543 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:56,360 twisted the Bible as if to say what we're doing is permissible. 544 00:28:56,560 --> 00:29:00,920 You know, he even prayed to God over the sin as if like God was 545 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:04,080 going to anoint the sin, as if God was going to bless the sin. 546 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:08,720 He was so crafty. And yet his whole message, his 547 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:13,000 whole, and if you like, his whole ministry was based on, you 548 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:17,560 know, making the Bible more applicable, more easy for for 549 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:20,520 atheists to be able to swallow the pill, you know, you know, 550 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:23,680 taking the rough edges off it. He, he was so good at 551 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:27,240 communicating. He was so good at speaking and 552 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:30,440 he spent his whole life, you know, kind of making it 553 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:32,680 acceptable. Something else he did that 554 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:38,040 really wasn't helpful is he was he unified people who hold, who 555 00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:41,400 held completely on biblical doctrines, who held views that 556 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:45,280 were completely alien to the Bible, and he praised them and 557 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:47,240 didn't make it clear that there was a big difference. 558 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:51,560 Now, I'm not saying if you go to a church that's unbiblical or to 559 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:55,440 a place that's unbiblical, you could go there, but when you go, 560 00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:57,960 you better give them a message that shows them the truth and 561 00:29:57,960 --> 00:29:59,560 shows them that we are very different. 562 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:01,520 But he didn't do that. He praised them. 563 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,880 He he was like the verse says, always learning. 564 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:07,480 There was always that idea of always learning, but never 565 00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:11,040 getting knowledge of the truth, never getting that that that 566 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:13,320 mature meat that we need as believers. 567 00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:17,360 It was always just milk all the time, making it all so easy and 568 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:20,480 everyone could just listen to me and it was all about him. 569 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:22,920 If you've been in Christianity for a few years, you'll know 570 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:27,040 that there are three things that that preachers fall from fame, 571 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:33,200 females or finance, or I think the other one is gold, glory and 572 00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:35,040 girls. There's different ways of people 573 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:37,440 putting it. And this preacher, he had all of 574 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:39,240 them. As I said, he had lots of fame. 575 00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:44,040 He was unifying people on biblical groups and he was he 576 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:46,720 wasn't standing for truth. He was always trying to appease 577 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:51,880 people and make everyone happy. And his fame just grew, grew so 578 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:55,840 much. And then females, one of his 579 00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:58,680 biggest issues was he was not accountable. 580 00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:01,160 Again, you can read about what he did. 581 00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:04,960 He he, he literally went to Thailand for months upon end 582 00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:07,960 away from his family and said, I'm going to write. 583 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:11,320 I'm going to write some books Now I'm going, I need some time 584 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:12,600 away. I need some space away. 585 00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:15,480 I'm just going to write and, and be away from America and just 586 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:18,680 write all of all of my books in peace. 587 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:22,400 And of course, what was he doing in Thailand on his own? 588 00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:25,280 And it shows us that we need accountability. 589 00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:29,480 It shows us that our family members are nearest and dearest. 590 00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:33,240 You can manipulate them if you want to, if it's inside of you, 591 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:36,120 if you've got that evilness. Now you need to put places. 592 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:38,240 You need people who are not going to be yes man, who are 593 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:40,200 going to say, what are you doing in Thailand now? 594 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:42,560 I'm coming to Thailand with you for a couple of weeks. 595 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:45,440 I'm going to stay with you or I don't think you should even go 596 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:47,600 to Thailand in the 1st place. That's probably what I'd be 597 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:49,240 saying. Why can't you just, you know, 598 00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:51,760 actually what we've got a little cottage down the road, one of 599 00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:54,280 our Christian brothers in America, everyone, you know, 600 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:56,440 everyone knows someone who's got, you know, a little bit of 601 00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:59,440 land and a bit of, you know, a little area that they could go 602 00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:02,520 in, a little outbuilding, go and work there away from everything, 603 00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:05,560 you know. And he had an issue with with 604 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:07,600 females. And again, was it because he got 605 00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:11,160 lots of praise and, you know, young ladies coming up to him 606 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:12,960 and telling him, you're a wonderful preacher. 607 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:15,800 Be careful. The Bible says guard your 608 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:19,080 hearts, guard it. You need to put guard rails 609 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:22,600 around it and be so careful because from it flow all the 610 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:26,040 issues of life. And then the last one was 611 00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:29,280 finance. He was very, very wealthy, multi 612 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:32,200 millionaire. And this is the, the sad thing. 613 00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:36,360 He used money. He used money the, the, the 614 00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:40,520 givers, the people who'd worked very hard the whole life. 615 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:44,360 His his his prayer partners that laboured in their jobs. 616 00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:47,680 They'd worked so hard. And he used that money as a way 617 00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:53,000 to fund his operations. Just just wickedness. 618 00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:57,280 So all of us, whether we're preachers or not, we need to be 619 00:32:57,280 --> 00:32:59,600 wary of all of these things, whether it's fame or just 620 00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:02,760 wanting the praise of men to be liked, We need to be careful of 621 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:05,240 that. We need to be careful of the 622 00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:07,480 opposite sex. Whether you're female or male, 623 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:10,320 you need to be careful. You need to have careful. 624 00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:13,560 Your heart doesn't, you know, flirting, you know, is, is not 625 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:16,240 innocent. We need to be careful like we 626 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:19,040 always need to put these guard rails in place and just be 627 00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:21,360 careful that our heart doesn't get LED down these things. 628 00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:24,360 And then money as well. The love of money is the root of 629 00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:26,520 all evil. It's not wrong to be wealthy, 630 00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:29,200 but if you love it and you know your heart is being LED away and 631 00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:32,800 you know it's changing, you guys give some of that money away. 632 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:36,880 You need to be careful. So what do I really want to say 633 00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:41,680 as I round all this up? I know this is quite a, it's a, 634 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:44,440 it's a heavy message and it's difficult to talk about this, 635 00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:48,200 but I want to say whether you're in your 60s, whether you're in 636 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:51,200 your 70s, whether you're in your 20s, thirties, 40s, whatever age 637 00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:55,880 you are, please, please be faithful to your spouse. 638 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:59,680 Please, please, whether you're single or not, make sure you 639 00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:02,920 finish well. Fix your eyes on the Lord Jesus 640 00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:04,480 Christ. Because the truth is this. 641 00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:07,920 When you do read the accounts of these, apart from one of them 642 00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:11,920 who all came out after his death, you do realize, I don't 643 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:15,679 think, I think they would give anything to turn back the clock. 644 00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:19,120 They would buy 1000 clocks, a million clocks, in hopes that 645 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:23,360 just one of them had the power to turn back the time so the 646 00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:25,000 grass might look greener on the other side. 647 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:27,280 At first, there might be a novelty, there might be an 648 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:29,800 excitement. But once that honeymoon periods 649 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:34,159 over, you'll look that you threw away your entire life, your 650 00:34:34,159 --> 00:34:37,840 entire ministry, your entire history, all that you've worked 651 00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:40,600 for, whether you're a preacher or not, you threw it all away. 652 00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:44,480 Your family, your reputation, your children, you they're going 653 00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:47,080 to really, they're going to always bear a grudge against 654 00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:48,440 you. Again, it says in the book of 655 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:51,800 Proverbs that that the person who commits this kind of sin, 656 00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:54,760 their their approach will never be wiped away. 657 00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:57,520 In other words, people always look at him and say him. 658 00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:00,680 He's the guy who years ago he left his wife her. 659 00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:02,720 She's the one who who wasn't faithful. 660 00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:07,680 It never gets wiped away. And you would swap all that 661 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:11,040 you've worked for for a few minutes of pleasure. 662 00:35:12,480 --> 00:35:14,720 It's just, it's just not a fair deal. 663 00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:17,960 But the devil will make you think that this is all you want. 664 00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:20,720 This is all the answers. And you'll be the one person who 665 00:35:20,720 --> 00:35:22,760 gets away with it. You'll be the one person who 666 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:25,400 makes it work. But it's a lie from the pits of 667 00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:28,920 hell. Again, I just apologise if this 668 00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:31,960 was a bit too heavy. I do think sometimes these 669 00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:34,720 things need to be said. But hey now, if you are a young 670 00:35:34,720 --> 00:35:38,280 person and you're watching this, as I said, this is applicable to 671 00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:40,520 all ages. But there is a message that I 672 00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:44,080 think is very applicable on Psalm 73. 673 00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:47,520 If you're a Christian and you're tempted to look back and think 674 00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:50,360 that all of your younger, unbelieving friends are having 675 00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:52,880 way more fun than you and you feel like you're missing out, 676 00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:56,520 watch this video. I think it'll wake you up. 677 00:35:56,560 --> 00:35:58,520 It certainly helped me as a young man. 678 00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:01,120 God bless you all and thank you for watching.