How Spiritual Leaders Fall - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Let's pray one more time. Okay? Lord, as we open your word, we are fully aware that if you do not assist us, the purpose of this message will not succeed. You must, Lord, help us. Lord, we acknowledge that you are alive, that you're in the midst.

You promise to be where there are two or three who are gathered in your name. Now, Lord, we ask that you would speak loud and clear as though you were physically here speaking to us, Lord. We need you to be more real to us in this time. We trust in you. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. The year 2021 has already proven that it will continue what 2020 began, the trends that we are so familiar with already. And we have all felt the shakings that are affecting almost every sphere of society, and the word around town is that there are no signs of things slowing down anytime soon. And not just the world, but the evangelical world itself has experienced some alarming quakes in the past several months. We're all fully aware that news about prominent high profile Christian ministers who represent different ministries have been exposed of moral failures.

And it has reached the point now where the conversation can't be ignored. It has almost become a frequent thing, especially in the last few months, and Christians are frustrated. They're confused. They're trying to look for answers. They're trying to find some clarity of how all of this makes sense, especially when the name of a certain minister has influenced their own lives and their walks with the Lord.

And so, we're gonna take our time together to pause from our study in the book of first Timothy to discuss maybe what is an uncomfortable thing, but it's probably on everyone's mind this morning. And the purpose of this message is to do one thing, bring clarity. Bring clarity from a biblical perspective, and then hopefully that clarity will produce some kind of comfort for today and comfort for the days to come. When it comes to what we've been hearing in the past few months, news about big name Christian ministers. There's no doubt that many who have been accused have confessed to be guilty.

At the same time, others have more difficulty grasping and believing specific allegations, and specific testimonies that are coming to light. Regardless, the nature of this subject deserves us to give attention to it. No matter what your opinion is, there is the need for Christians to be equipped to know how to interpret the failures of others, and how to be prepared to face disappointment from those who are supposed to be our examples. So today, I wanna speak about one simple thing. How spiritual leaders fall.

I wanna clarify that this message is not a commentary on a specific individual. Is that clear? It's not a commentary. This message can stand alone, and apply to every single leader that has failed in the past and God forbid who might fall in the future. This is not an attack on anybody's character.

This is not me giving you what I believe happened to a certain individual or individuals. This is just Bible. No names are gonna be mentioned this morning. There's no need for that. The media is doing that.

We need to come to the word of God and look to Christ. We need to see his wisdom, see what God has to say about these things, and that is the sole purpose of this morning. I also want to say that what we're gonna hear this morning does not only apply to spiritual leaders, though that is the focus, because the same threats that overtake them are the same threats that wanna overtake you. And so we have to be careful because scripture is clear in first Corinthians ten twelve, that if anyone thinks he stands, let him take heed lest he falls. Let me give you a hint.

If you in this moment think that you stand and that you are you are invincible to these things, you're already ready to fall. According to the bible, in fact, you and I are called to not just learn the godly examples of those who are in those prominent positions. We are just as much called to learn from their failures. And that's what we wanna do. So this message is not just meant to provide clarification brothers and sisters, it's meant to produce our sanctification.

Now before we get into the reasons why a spiritual leader may fall, whether he has a small church in the countryside or he is one who has an international influence, I want us to look about how God feels about when a leader sins. I want you and I to get a glimpse of the heart of God, of how he estimates and measures the responsibility of a person who has some kind of influence over a body of people in the community of faith. And we can go to many places, but I want to go to an interesting place to see a quite fascinating text. Go to the book of Leviticus, please, in chapter four in your Bibles. Leviticus four deals with God's instructions about a specific offering that was to be given for unintentional sins committed by different categories of people within the nation of Israel.

And when you come to Leviticus chapter four, you'll see how God instructs different people with different requests. And so look here in Leviticus four verse 13. This deals with the payment in verse 13 of the whole congregation. If the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they do any one of the things that by the Lord's commandments ought not to be done, and they realize their guilt, when the sin which they have committed becomes known, the assembly shall offer a bull, remember that, from the herd of a sin offering, for a sin offering and bring it in front of the tent of meeting. So if a group of people, if the community, if a town, whatever it may be, commits a corporate sin, God says, as a group of people, you must bring a bull to cover your sin.

Now we come here and look at verse 27 of the same chapter. If any one of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any of the things that by the Lord's commandments are not to be done and realizes his guilt, or the sin which he has committed is made or known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish for his sin which he has committed. So an average common Israelite, if he has sinned, his payment is to bring a goat to the house of God to expiate his faults. But look at verse three. If it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer for the sin that he has committed a bull from the herd without blemish the Lord for a sin offering.

Let's notice a few things. Number one, what we learn from this chapter is a very clear thing. Everyone is capable of sinning. No matter what your day to day responsibility is, no matter what kind of title you hold in society, whether you're an anointed priest, whether you're a common person in the land, you have one equal opportunity, and that is to sin against God. Every single one of us share that capability.

As long as you came from Adam, you have the same potential of rebelling against God's commands as the next person. Every single person here, and even the person as we just read who is in full time service in the house of God, the person who's called to instruct the people of God with the law of the Lord and to bring their sacrifices before God so that their sins can be forgiven and assure them of forgiveness of sins, even they can come to a place of shortcoming. And so we see that no person is left. There's no person exempt. Every single one of us are human, and we have the potential of harming our testimony.

But secondly, we learn that not only is everyone capable of sinning, but God is willing to forgive anybody. So we just read here that from an encouraging standpoint, anointed priest, a community, or a common person, they all have access to the mercy of God. Even somebody who teaches about the mercy of God has access to that mercy that he teaches about when he falls. So this is this is a a blessing to let the nation know you all have access to my forgiveness. But notice that in his teaching of forgiveness through the old covenant, at least a covering of the sin, it was for unintentional sins.

Every verse we just read makes it clear that it is for sin that is not premeditated. It's not something that is intentional in terms of rebellion against God. It is not to say that God will not forgive intentional or premeditated sin. It's because here the Holy Spirit is trying to say, my mercy is not to promote a lifestyle of cheap grace. I'm not giving you this protocol so that you can just do whatever you want and then come with an offering and just move on with your life.

No. This is for those who unintentionally sin. Lest you malign my mercy, unless you are promoted to live in a way that many Christians live today. And so, even in the old testament, the blood of bulls and goats was not to be used as some kind of shield in judgment or from judgment. And in the New Testament, John echoes that sentiment when he does not point to the blood of bulls and goats, but to the blood of the Son of God.

And after describing the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus Christ, He says after that first chapter in first John, in chapter two verse one, I write these things to you, my little children, so that you may not sin. I'm not talking to you about how Christ can do, and how we can get into the deepest darkest places of your soul and wash it and make it new so you can sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And so both in old and new testament, we are hearing the heartbeat of God when it comes to understanding his willingness to pardon. But notice one more thing.

Did you see it? We read about the whole congregation, we read about the sin of the common person, and we read about the sin of the anointed priest. Did you see it? Look again at verse three. If it is the anointed priest who sins, what is he to bring?

A bull. What happens if a common person sins? You bring a goat, something less in value and size. But the anointed priest was to bring the same cost as though the whole community sinned. The failures that come from a spiritual leader in God's house have much greater price than the failures of a common person.

Not because the sin is different, but because of whom is sinning. In fact, the cost of the spiritual leaders sin in this context, as you just heard, was the same as though an entire group of people rebelling it's God. Both had to offer a bull offering. And I believe the reason why God instructed this was because the spiritual leaders fall. His shortcoming has a particular effect on the larger community than the common person does.

And so if you're an anointed priest at this time and you sinned against God, you're gonna hurt many more people with your personal decision than if the average citizen of Israel did. And so you're gonna have to pay up as though the whole community transgressed against the Lord. This is the heart of God. He, even in these instructions that we kind of just bypass, is showing us what happens when a leader falls short. Jesus said it in a different way, but it applies to all of us, but I want you to understand it from a different vantage point.

He said, you are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? You've heard that? You've read that? And he goes on to say in Matthew five thirteen, it is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. Now, if you interpret that as Jesus saying, that you can lose your salvation, congratulations we're all doomed.

Let's just go home now. What is he saying that if you being the salt of the earth has lost its taste? What is he talking about? He's not talking about your salvation, he's talking about your testimony. And one of the main ways that salt loses its flavor is when it is contaminated by other minerals.

When other things come in the mix, it overpowers or it drains its effectiveness and its influence on whatever substance it's sprinkled upon. And when a believer allows moral contamination to come into his life or her life, Depending upon the gravity of that sin, it can lead to a place where you have lost your effectiveness. And again, depending on the gravity of that transgression, it can actually lead to a point where Jesus says, it no longer can be restored. If you have a problem with this, you take it up with the Lord, not me. He said it.

It's his sermon. I'm just a messenger. It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. What is he saying? You know, there are many things that can be restored when a Christian falls, especially even if it's a big sin.

A sin that affects people's emotions and bodies and minds and the community's well-being. But there's one thing that is almost impossible to recover and that is a good name. A good name. Oh yes, you will be reconciled with fellowship with God. Oh yes, you might even be reconciled with the people of God.

But there is something that happens to the flavor of that person that can almost never be fully recovered and that is a reputation. And the greater the person's influence, the greater the person's breadth of ministry, the greater the impact is when their witness is lost. And that is why you know it. You know it, don't you? That when a big name falls, their ministry almost never recovers fully to what it was before.

Right? That's what Jesus is talking about. That's what Jesus is talking about. They lose their following, they lose credibility, there's so much that is lost, assaultiness can no longer be restored. Yes, they still have heaven.

Yes, they still have God. But there's something about their testimony that suffers greatly. And then what happens? Well, what happens when somebody falls? People trample on them.

The media salivates for another evangelical leader to fall because they can't, they can't wait to write another tabloid. They can't wait to cover it. The atheists out there, oh, they're longing and yearning for somebody to lose their saltiness. Because what? What do they do?

Do they show mercy? No, they trample on people. And unfortunately, you have Christians trampling on people who fall too. We are so good at shooting the wounded, it's unbelievable. When those who are spiritual are called to restore them and cover their sins.

Oh, we are so quick to just further the pain in somebody's life or in their family's life. But Jesus made it clear. This is why it is extremely serious to hear what is about to be said, not just for our leaders, but for our own lives. And so I want us to now come to that point where we look at some reasons why a spiritual leader might fall. And the first one I have here might be shocking to you, and it is this.

Number one, they weren't really safe to begin with. They weren't really born again to begin with. Now I bring the most extreme example because it's still a possibility. As extreme as it may be, we cannot exclude the reality of it. Now, the reason this might be so difficult to grasp is because we look at somebody who seem to have a grand following, who seem to have the gift to explain theological truths, who had a speaking ability that they seem to have dedicated for the name of Christ, and just their whole lives pretty much.

And then to try to come to this conclusion that maybe they weren't really born again is just a shattering thought. It's almost inconceivable. Now before we move on, let me say this again, just as a fresh reminder. This is not a personal commentary on any person in particular. Every point that is going to be shared can apply to any person.

But let me ask you this, if it's so difficult to grasp, let's take it a step further. What would you do if you saw a minister and you lived in a lifetime of a minister who had miraculous abilities, who had supernatural authority to cast out demons, who did great signs and wonders in the name of Christ, only for you to find out that they weren't really born again. Would that shock you more? You remember the words of Jesus. Right?

Matthew seven, verse 22. He tells us, On that day, many, on that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? We're not talking about gifts that can be explained in the natural. We're not talking about things that you can do in the business world as a speaker and as a compelling order. We're talking about the supernatural.

Things that can only be pointed to the spiritual realm. Jesus chooses to look at that and to draw that as he prophesies what is going to happen on that final day. Did he say few? Did he say, by the way, there's gonna be a fringe out there that are gonna do, you know, these signs and wonders, and they're gonna come up and they're not gonna really be saved. He said many.

Now if I say to you that many in this room, fill in the blank, what comes to your mind if I say many? It's not two or three. Jesus said many. And the description of these many is what? That they were extremely active in ministry.

They were extremely devoted to religious work. They've exhausted and they have surrendered their lives in some sense to ministry. Heavily engaged, and so impressive were their accomplishments that they thought that presenting their resume to God would be the basis for them being worthy of eternal life. That's how impressed they were by their own works. That when they come before the Lord, they go, here Lord, what are we doing in this place?

We're not supposed to be judged by you. Aren't you supposed to be giving us a parade into the kingdom? Here's my works. Look what I did in your name. And they brought it in the form of great respect.

Lord. Lord. Did we not? And Jesus doesn't correct what some would say were lies. He didn't even say that you're exaggerating, or else he would have pointed out that what they were saying was in fact false.

He completely bypasses what could be very well true of their lives on earth, and he goes straight for the main reason why they will not have eternal life. And he says here in verse 23, and then I will declare to them, I never knew you. I never knew you. He didn't say, I never saw you. He didn't say, I didn't realize that you did these things.

I was fully aware. I'm telling you that you and I don't know each other. You want a shattering thought this morning? Many people who serve God are not known by God. I didn't say it.

Many on that day will say Now, if Jesus is talking about those who are doing things in the name of Christ, what about those who are just so worldly and can profess Christ? I mean, think about it. No. No. No.

He's talking about those who are active. Those who are doing something. Those who are making an impact. And no matter how much their ministries even brought deliverance for people or bless them in their walk with the Lord, Jesus said, that doesn't matter because you are workers of lawlessness. You are workers of lawlessness.

That is his main reason why. So so what's the understanding? The understanding is simply this, that no matter what kind of praise you receive on earth, no matter how many people you deceived, no matter how much even production was provided through your efforts, If there is no concern for personal holiness, if there is no hunger for righteousness, if there is no heart desire to be conformed to the character of Christ, not only is your service in vain, but your soul is in danger of damnation. Because these men come and say, Lord Lord, did we not? And Jesus said, in Luke six, listen to this, verse 46.

Why do you call me Lord Lord and do not do what I tell you? Why do you call me Lord Lord? Matthew seven, Lord Lord. Luke six, why do you call me Lord Lord and don't do what I tell you? Well, I thought they were doing what?

Prophesying and casting out devils and doing ministry? What is Christ concerned with? Holiness. A heart that has been transformed by the grace of God that makes it your top priority in life to live with godly fruit. Are we saved by works?

No. Be reminded of that. But can you be saved without proving works according to the Bible? Absolutely not. So how do we know as Christians if a spiritual leader is somebody that is not truly saved?

I'm very very careful to deem somebody saved or unsaved. People are very quick to do that, especially when somebody falls. But for the discerning, Jesus made it very clear before these instructions here, or this prophecy rather, what is to come on the final day, that in Matthew seven twenty, thus you will recognize them by their fruits. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits, and that's in the context of false prophets. Apart from their doctrine being false and clearly contradicting the word of God, Jesus said there's an attitude and there are actions that can be discerned for you to get an idea if this person is sincere or not.

But what about if they live a double life? What about if they're hidden in their sin? What about if they they present themselves one way, but in reality, there's something else? Well, Jesus made another promise and you can call it prophecy that anything that is said or done in the dark will come to the light. You can't hide it.

You can't hide it. If you were to personally ask me, we'll get to that point in a moment. Sit tight, it might be a long one this morning. If you were to ask me, brother, can you can you testify to the reality of God that God actually is real and and experiential and tangible in this life? I would give you one of my top answers is his ability to uncover what man tries to cover.

It's scary. It's scary. And I've I've seen it, and it makes me tremble. A helpful indicator of where someone stands in their salvation is how they relate to their own sin. If you say you have a relationship with Christ, you will also say in the same breath that you have a different relationship with your sin.

And even if a person who is genuinely saved in that place of leadership and influence, even if they do genuinely sin, based on how they respond to that exposure will say a lot about who they really are. Do they repent? Do they prove it by not continuing in that sin? Or are they defensive? And do they try to deceive people and think that they're not really the one that fell into it?

The church needs discernment. But I would say this, we cannot exclude the possibility that many, even in our day, who have powerful ministries, who have the ability to woo the crowds, and even influence people's walk with the Lord might not even be saved themselves. Now, once we are finished with that extreme example and possibility, let's move on to other points. Because to to think, which is a dangerous thought, that any spiritual leader who falls is automatically a sign that they are unsaved is totally unfair. It's totally unfair, it is imbalanced, and it does not consider the other possibilities of somebody who is genuinely walking with the Lord, but has slipped off the path.

When it comes to the sins of spiritual leaders, you can categorize the three main things that they are magnetized through, the three main manifestations in the following ways. Spiritual abuse, spiritual abuse, the power got to their heads. The misuse of funds or sexual immorality. Sometimes it includes all those things, sometimes one triumphs over the others. Nonetheless, no matter what the sin is that disqualifies a man from ministry, they all rooted in the same malady.

There is the absence of a trembling and a fear of God, which is my second point. How do ministers fall? They have lost the fear of the Lord. They've lost it, if they ever had it to begin with. You know, what's interesting is this term, the fear of God, is found throughout our bibles.

It's not just old testament, it's it's actually there in the new testament, and it's a call for believers to imitate that attitude. But what's amazing is the first mention of the term, the phrase the fear of God, does not appear to us in the form of a command. It does not come in the package of a proverb. It actually comes to us by means of observation. And the first time in our Bibles that the term the fear of God appears is in the first book of the Bible, and you would turn there please, in Genesis chapter 20.

In Genesis chapter 20 verse 11, the Holy Spirit, in his wisdom, chose to reveal the phrase, fear of God for the first time in Abraham's explanation toward a pagan king to why he had lied about his wife actually being his sister. And we are told here, Abraham said, I did it because I thought. There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife. Abraham's confession before Abimelech was that the citizens of his city were probably so void of any sense of the holiness of God, that out of the impulses of their lust, they were willing to kill him to have her. He clearly had a sense of that for him to come to that kind of conclusion, or else he wouldn't have lied.

If he felt safe, if he felt like he could have neighbors that were trustworthy, I don't think Abraham, this man of faith, would have come to this point. And Abraham did fall for lying. It's it's kind of funny how the man who was criticizing a pagan people for not fearing God, himself was not fearing God. He wasn't trusting God. He was fearing man.

But it's quite fascinating that the Holy Spirit introduces the subject of the fear of God in the context and in relation to the apparent and potential lack of self control in the area of sex. That's how we are introduced to it. Coincidence? No. Because you cannot separate those two things.

When there is no fear of God in society or an individual, anything is possible. Anything is possible in terms of perversion, in terms of loose living, in terms of being animalistic with your desires. The fear of God is a great deterrent. You lose that, you will invite things that you had wished you would never see or experience in your own life. And if there is one thing for certain, the real diagnosis, the real diagnosis, the real diagnosis of the massive bondage of pornography in the church.

Fifty percent of pastors, statistically, say are addicted to porn. Fifty percent. And much more amongst laymen. And what seems to be a growing highlight reel of men of influence falling in that same sin, the real diagnosis is that there is no fear of God. They don't believe God is watching them.

They don't believe God is recording them. You ready for this? They don't believe God will expose them. Have you ever seen a child under five try to hide something from their parents? It's really cute.

There's evidence all over them, chocolate on their mouths, the toilet is overflowing, and you ask them, what did you do? And they said, nothing. I was just playing with my toys. Funny, right? And here we are, puny little humans thinking that we can hide from the omniscient God.

Oh, God won't see me, I'm gonna I'm gonna close the curtains. Oh, God won't see me, we're in the car together. Oh, God won't see me, I'm just gonna put it, and I'm gonna do it through technology, and nobody's gonna be able to see the transaction that I'm making to benefit myself. You're a fool. There is no fear of God.

There is no trembling. There's no reality that he is in fact in the midst. And many people have argued this, and many people still argue this today and understand where they're coming from, but they often point to the need of accountability and transparent relationships, which is important, but let me tell you, it is not the solution. It may layer of protection, and it may prevent somebody's actions from going further and being greater than what they could have been, but if you don't fear God, you can have as many people as you want. You can meet with three people, three different times a week and tell them about how your week went.

You need to tremble. You need to learn how to tremble. No. We need accountability. We need these leaders to be having their phones and their travels and all these things out in the open.

Did Joseph have an accountability partner? He wasn't near his home. He didn't have anybody around him that believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He didn't have WhatsApp. He didn't have social media to connect with people back No.

No. No. He was in a pagan home with a pagan ruler, in a pagan society, with a woman, in a room with no one else that was willing to throw herself at him on a daily basis. And he didn't budge. He didn't budge.

You know why? Because he had the law of Moses. Right? He heard the stories about how God had come on Mount Sinai, and and how he had given the law, that's why he trembled. The law of Moses wasn't given yet.

Oh, because because he had access to something that the new covenant offers, and that's the indwelling empowerment of the Holy Spirit. He didn't know a thing of it. You know what he had? What many Christians don't have? An awareness of the omniscient God.

How can I do this great evil against God? How can I do this against my Lord? He sees me. He hears me. We can do this and Potiphar won't know and my father won't know and nobody else will know, but God knows.

And that's enough for me to say, back off. Throw me in jail. I'd rather be thrown in jail for a false accusation than satisfy my fantasies with you, crazy lady. I said it before and I'll say it again. Your greatest accountability partner is the fear of God.

Your greatest accountability partner is the fear of God. And And we are trying to offer everything else except that. We are trying to offer everybody everything. Why? Because people don't wanna hear about the fear of God anymore.

They don't like that. Don't tell me. Every other religion, people are afraid of their God. We need to talk about love and mercy, absolutely. But if you really love and you really understand mercy, you will fear.

You will fear. You will tremble. You have a blurred vision of the cross, when you don't fear God. You will tremble before sin, when you understand and your vision is clear about Calvary. And you realize the price was paid, it'll be much more difficult, much more difficult to satisfy the desires of the flesh.

To which someone might reply, no, no brother, we need to be practical with this. You're being too spiritual, you're being too theoretical, you're being too poetic. We need to teach people how to avoid walking into tempting situations, and we need to know how to minimize the appearance of evil. We need to be really practical, which I would agree with. And I would say, so you think we need wisdom.

Right? Yes. We need we need to understand and teach people how to be wise and thoughtful and taking preventive measures. So we need we need understanding. Right?

Yes. We do. We need understanding. We really really need to plan this thing out. Well, let me encourage you with this.

The beginning of wisdom is what? Fear of the Lord. Be as practical as you want. If you build any principle or any program on any other foundation except the fear of God, it's like building any building without the right core. It's bound to fall.

It's bound to fall. You don't begin in the fear of God, it doesn't matter how much you have. You've skipped the ABCs. You skipped the one, two, threes. There's nothing for that to be sustained by.

You know what's amazing is that the famous verse of Jesus and his teaching on the fear of God is often quoted, and it's often related to God able to judge souls in eternal hell. Remember that? Luke 12 verse five, but I will warn you whom to fear. Fear him after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

What do you do with that Jesus? The Jesus that you think would never say fear God. But you know what's amazing is that people don't consider what Jesus said right before he started teaching in this chapter about the fear of God. People go to that part and they don't realize what he said in verse two and three, which obviously in his mind and in his thought process has a deep connection to his understanding and to our understanding of what it means to fear the Lord. You don't just fear God because he's able to judge and send people to hell.

You fear God because of what is verse two say? Nothing is covered. That will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known. Verse three. Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

Look at verse four now. What does he say? I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body and after I have nothing more than they can do. Fear God. Is Jesus giving random maxims?

Oh, oh, yeah. God's gonna uncover things. Oh, yeah. By the way, fear God. No.

There's a connection to what he is saying. He uses that as a premise to introduce the idea of fearing God. And what is the first thing that he says? Nothing will go uncovered. It will be exposed by him.

It will be exposed by him. And I believe, if people are honest in their hearts, there is a great crusade to try to eliminate the doctrine of hell, and at the same time, there is a great convincing that God is not able to do this anymore. As much as people are trying to erase hell, they're trying to erase God's ability to do this. To actually intervene in our world, in our life and go, here it is for what it is. People don't believe this anymore just like people don't believe in hell anymore.

But it's true nonetheless. Both this and hell. You know, it's amazing when Paul teaches about purity in first Thessalonians four. I read this the other day and I thought to myself, as you've experienced, I'm sure I've never seen it like that, the wording of Paul and his argument for the church to be pure. In verse three of first Thessalonians four, for this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each of you know how to control his own body and holiness and honor, verse five, not in the passion of lust like the gentiles who do not know God.

You know, what Paul could have said, he could have said that each of you know how to control his own body and holiness and honor, and not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles. He could have just stopped at the Gentiles. But he adds this point, who do not know God. And here's the connection. When a person has no concern, no grief, no fear in the area of loose sexual living.

They are proving that they don't know God. They don't really understand who he is, at least in part. They're not walking with that tender fellowship with him. Paul says, don't display what the Gentiles display in their sexual immorality. They don't know God.

That's why they do that. You know God, so live differently. They have lost the fear of the Lord. But we have another point to consider, and it's not just the loss of fear of God, but number three, pride has deceived them to make wrong decisions. Men are tempted to make other men idols.

It's our nature. Even today, we want a king Saul in the church. And leaders who are recipients of honor and prestige are able to buy into the praises of people that are continually showering them with, to the point where those praises become poison. And there is a level of recognition and respect that a man can reach that is able to destroy him, if he is not able to manage his heart as he is lifted up in the eyes of men. And this was the case of a man named Uzziah, who surprisingly started his ministry, as we're told by the spirit, in the fear of God.

We are told that early in his life, he started his ministry in the fear of God, but here was the issue, he did not remain in it. And if you go to second Chronicles in the old testament, verse eight of chapter 26, you'll notice something. Second Chronicles 26. Look here in verse eight. This is about Uzziah.

Between verse six down to verse 15, what you get is a highlight reel of Uzziah's accomplishments. His endeavors, his inventions, his his great influence, and we are told the Ammonites in verse eight paid tribute to Uzziah and his fame. His fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. His influence went beyond Israel. Let me put it this way.

His ministry for God was even impacting the unbelieving world. He even won the respect, he won the honor, he won the praise of those who don't even believe in the same God. They didn't even want to go to war with him. They paid tribute to him. So this man was extremely influential.

And you read on and you read about his agricultural accomplishments, his military accomplishments, his invention, his technological, economic advancements, and you're thinking, wow. And this man was one of the greatest kings in Israel's history. And you think to live under Uzziah's reign was one of the greatest experiences in the books for this nation, until you come to verse 16. But when he was strong, he grew proud to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and enter the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.

Notice that it did not just say that Uzziah became proud. It says he grew proud. It entered into him, and he nurtured it. He actually started believing the hype. He actually started to agree with the people when his fame spread abroad, and people were talking about his name, and he was he was there in the market square in the mouths of men, and he was there in the paper, and he was there on social media.

He began to say to himself, yeah, I think I am somebody. Pride grows. It starts in a seed form if you don't know how to manage it, every time it's sprinkled into your heart, if you don't know how to crush it, it doesn't take much time before it becomes something that will crush you. And so what began with just an emotion or maybe a thought was now a mindset. And what does he do?

What a person who is deceived usually does by their own pride. He begins to make decisions that seem erratic. He starts believing theories about himself, about God, about God's laws that almost seem lunatic. Pride has this ability to make someone believe that they are exempt from God's standards for all men. There is this sense in which a person reaches a point where they are almost untouchable and invincible, where their reputation is something so great that some rules to them don't apply to them, apparently.

And after a while, when they are so consumed by those lies, they begin to even think that God will look favorably on them, even in their sin. Uzziah, as a king, had no right going into the temple. He had no right because that only belonged to the priests. And for some reason, this man thought to himself, I'm gonna go in into the temple and perform a sacrifice to the Lord that only belonged to the descendants of Aaron. What are you doing in there?

But again, when you grow proud, you go places where you think you would never go, you say things that you would never say, and you start doing things that you never thought you would do. It's almost like a spell. Because the law is already established that before destruction comes pride. Before destruction comes pride, well, you're gonna have to destroy yourself one way or another when you're proud and here's here's this man's lot. He goes into the house of God and he performs a sacrifice.

And he thinks that he's actually gonna get away with it. In fact, when he's confronted by the priest when they enter in, he gets angry with them. How do you who do you think you are to confront me? There's another sign of it. When somebody can call you out, even as a leader for something that seems to be off or is off, and you get defensive about it, and you reject them, and you isolate them.

I've heard of a minister who was married and told another married woman, not his wife, that God had told him that he was to divorce his wife and she was to divorce her husband, because God told him that she belonged to him. Pride. You start thinking weird things. Right of another man, who in his attempt to seduce woman, to perform sexual acts for him, would begin to convince him by saying, this is God's reward for me for being so faithful to him. There's another man who was exposed in the evangelical world many years ago, that when he was confronted by another minister, because the other minister knew him well enough to know that he was not spending time with the Lord, he was not observing his duty as a husband, he was neglecting his personal walk with Christ, and he was admonished, you need to stop what you're doing and spend time with God and get back to the basics.

To which the man responded, God has anointed me. God has anointed me, and you think that God is gonna shut all this down? Do you realize how much money we're bringing in in his name? He did not take heed. Within a few months, he was caught with a prostitute.

When you reach a certain level of authority and pride comes in, you start believing really wacky things. And there is almost this element where serving God has a price, obviously, there is a cost. And to some people, they convince themselves that sin, just a little liberation is okay because look Lord what I've done and I need some kind of ease and pleasure in my life. Pride deceives men to make wrong decisions. We come to a fourth and final point.

And I'm sure you have many reasons too and that you can find in the bible to prove why a certain person can fall the way they fall, but let me give you one last one. Ministry for God has replaced intimacy with God. Ministry for God has replaced intimacy with God. Ministry is a wonderful experience. It's a wonderful thing.

But if you're not careful with that privilege, our involvement in serving God can actually deceive us more than bless us. So many believe that practical service to God is what God is ultimately pleased with, and what what what will ultimately please you as as a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. If you don't believe that that is the case, then let's just retract to what those men said to Jesus when they said, Lord, did we not do this? Thinking that this is what Christ was ultimately looking for. Is service to God important?

Is bearing fruit absolutely vital? Yes. But never at the expense of fellowshipping, adoring, and loving God. Never. Because it is in that place where true holiness is formed.

It is in that place where true godliness is produced. See, if you are running, and doing, and planning, and moving without the motivation that comes from sitting at his feet, you are opening yourself up to dangerous things. And eventually, what happens is, ministry becomes so attractive, becomes so demanding that we we turn our backs on the Lord, and we come to that thinking this is what God really wants, and this is what will really please me in the end. That's why so many people ask this question. Well, if a man or woman is is in such deep sin, why don't they just leave ministry and just go live in sin?

Because they love ministry. That's why. They love it. The recognition, the the praises of men, They love sometimes to hear their own voice. They're impressing themselves.

They can't leave something that they're in love with, so they play the fool and they try to have one foot in the world and one foot in the service of the kingdom of God. Genuine godliness will never be a motivation or a possibility without opening our hearts to God and saying, please reveal yourself to me. When personal worship is abandoned, when seeking to know God in an experiential way through his word and in prayer, in the private context is ignored, for the sake even of others being served by your gifts, you've positioned yourself for a fall. Don't believe it? Look at Uzziah.

You're still there. Right? Second Chronicles chapter 26, look at verse five. This is before he fell, before he even began. He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God.

Now look at this. As long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper. As long, this is the equation, as long as he sought the Lord, prosperity in the soul was his future. So then you read that and then you come down, you see all his accomplishments and how God helped him. Look at verse seven, God helped him against the Philistines.

He's being assisted. He's being guided. He's being provided for. And then you come to verse 16, it's almost like there's this gap. How did you go from God helping you and moving you and inspiring you to now where you grow proud and you disobey him such How?

Well, based on verse five, we know this, that somewhere along the line, Uzziah stops seeking God. And I think that's on purpose that there is no clear indication why, because you just are consumed with his busyness. In verse six down to verse 15, all you see is what he's doing and that he's what he's receiving from God as long as he sought the Lord. Do you wanna know the great protection in your own life? Never mind leaders.

Let's speak to our own hearts. If you wanna gauge which direction you're headed into, whether that's a prosperous life in your spirituality or a path headed to self destruction, all you need to do is examine the signal of your heart in the place of pursuing God. You might be thinking, brother, this is heavy stuff. In fact, I think what you're asking from us is very unrealistic. Well, can I just ask you this simple question?

Is what we've been doing in Western Christianity, has it been working? Has it been working? Maybe we should go back and trust in God's wisdom. As long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper. Brothers and sisters, I'm sure there are many heavy hearts today, but we must look to Jesus.

Just look to him. He's perfect. He'll never fail us. He'll never disappoint us. Everything that he's done, he's done perfectly.

And everything he will do, it'll be done perfectly. He will not waiver. He will not change. He will not discourage us. But I want you to know this.

Let us not in our own hearts excuse ourselves or excuse others with this throwaway statement, well, we're all human. I get it. We are human. But I come to the word and I see that it's possible to finish well. And that should be our example.

That should be our goal, to finish well. To come to that place where he is able to keep us from falling and we can appear before his glory with great joy. That's what we should be striving for. And Friday, we talked about Samson, this past Friday. About how Samson was so convinced that he wanted a Philistine wife, and his parents were disappointed in verse three of Judges 14.

Is there not one among your relatives or or one among the nation of your people for you to go marry an uncircumcised Philistine? To go amongst the pagan, to go amongst the unbelieving? Really, do you need to go there? And then in verse four, we are told that his mother and father did not know that this was from the Lord. For he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines, because at that time the Philistines overruled Israel.

That's an amazing verse. Mom and dad that understood this heavenly call that their son had, and he was walking away from it so early on were grieved, I'm sure. And the Holy Spirit says, but they didn't know that God had a plan with this. Not that God said okay with this marriage, not that he approved it, but through his sins something of a blessing is gonna come to the totality of God's people. They didn't see it though.

You know, with all these things that we're hearing over the past few months, from different camps of ministry, from different expressions of ministry, we can almost be overwhelmed. But in the same way that there was a plan behind the failure of Samson, we can believe that there is a plan behind many of the failures that we are experiencing. You know, with recent news, one thing that I've seen in reading what I had the chance to read from people in response to this was that this common thing came up even with people who've personally messaged me. I'm fearing God. I'm trembling before God.

The fear of the Lord is more real to me now than I can last remember. If there's any blessing that has come out from what we're experiencing, if it's gonna produce and provoke a greater fear of God, then let it be so. Let it be so. May we tremble before the Lord Almighty, and may he protect us from the things that we see around us. And may he keep us humble from lifting our noses and looking down upon those looking down upon those in which we are capable of doing even worse.

Cling to him. God, if you don't keep me, I will plunge headfirst. God, if you don't hold me, I will destroy myself. God, if you do not keep your hand on my mind and my heart, I will destroy my mind and my heart. Father, in Jesus' name, we come before you, Lord, knowing that much more could have been said on this vast subject, but Lord, we believe that what you have said suffice for this morning.

We ask you, oh, Lord, that you would keep us humble and low. We ask us, oh, God. We ask you, oh, God, that you would keep us in the fear of God, that you would help us seek you because as long as we seek you, we are safe. We ask you, oh God, to revive in the land of fear of the Lord. Lord, we don't know what to do with some of the news that we're receiving, but we know one thing, that you are true.

You're perfect. You're holy. And Lord, just as we've been saying over our hearts over these past few months, that you're in control of the political realm and about governments and kings, you are in control of your church. You're fully aware and you have a plan for your body. We ask, oh God, that we would learn by your grace and through your word how to walk in a holy awe of who you are.

Give us wisdom for our own lives. Give us wisdom in this church. We have one request, father. One request today. As David said, unite my heart.

Unite my heart. Never mind leaders' hearts. Never mind conference speaker hearts. My heart. Lord, to fear your name.

Yes. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.