 Let's begin reading at verse 1 here in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and We're going to be looking at Chapter 6 verses 1 through 11 beginning at verse 1 1 Corinthians chapter 6 Paul writes, dare any of you having a matter against another go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life? If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life Do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? I say this to your shame Is it so that there's not a wise man among you? Not even one Who'll be able to judge between his brethren, but brother goes to law against brother And that before unbelievers Now therefore it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be defrauded know you yourselves do wrong and Defraud and you do these things to your brethren Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor homosexuals or Sodomites nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God and Such were some of you But you were washed But you were sanctified But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God Actually, it starts out rough, but the last verse is worth it all. That's what you were But that's not what you are now. That's what you were But God has done a work in you and we will be closing with that happy note as we go through this chapter But as we do so let me remind you of a couple of things things that we've already looked at to lay a context So that we can look at chapter 6 with some clarity We need to remember that in chapter 5 Paul has been writing and addressing a sin that was there in the fellowship at Corinth It was a sin of sexual impurity a man had been sleeping with his father's wife and This is one of those sins that wasn't even spoken of by the Greeks. It was repugnant to those who weren't even believers He said in verse 5 of rather verse 1 of chapter 5 this sin isn't even named among Gentiles and The thing that is so grieving to the Apostle Paul is the response of the body of Christ the response of the fellowship Instead of them being broken and instead of them grieving over the sin instead of them seen as being something that is really to be Really ashamed about as as a as a congregation rather than having those kinds of actual real sentiments And their their response was one of arrogance even pride. They actually had resisted dealing with the sin They didn't really appreciate its severity Let's been said no sin is small No grain of sand is small in the mechanism of a watch There's no sin that is small. So Paul's concern was their attitude their attitude of acceptance of sin Because an acceptance of sin if you have sin in the fellowship that goes without being dealt with it goes without being repented of Eventually what it does is it destroys the fabric of the entire body there the church actually goes down you see the body of Christ is really the pure bride of Jesus Christ and As the pure bride of Jesus Christ were to have lives that really reflect our relationship with God and The transformation that faith in Christ actually produces and the lifestyle change That occurs because we have come into contact with the holy God God is holy. He expects that his children will pursue him in that and also become holy as we pursue him as it says In 1st Peter 1 15 and 16 Just as he who called you is holy So be holy and all you do because it is written be holy because I am holy So as the bread of Christ we are going to be united with him and therefore we Prepare ourselves for the day that we're gonna see him and be with him And even as I was sharing today in our morning study 1st John chapter 3 verses 2 and 3 We have this sense of anticipation of being with the Lord and therefore we prepare ourselves to be with him And that's what John was saying in 1st John 3 2 and 3 when he said beloved now We we are the sons of God and it does not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear We shall be like him for we shall see him as he is and every man who has his hope in him Purifies himself even as he is pure so to intentionally disregard and ignore sin is To ignore the purpose of the death of Jesus Christ Because Titus 2 14 says that Jesus gave himself for us to redeem us From all wickedness and to purify for himself of people that is there are his very own Eager to do what is good That's what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to be eager to do that was good because at one time We were eager to do that which was evil. That was our lifestyle when I first got saved I actually took my old form of life in one sense and Transferred it to my new life in my old form of life If there was a party somewhere we'd get in a car and drive as long as we had to too We could get to the party and then I'd enjoy myself at the party when I got saved Instead of saying there's a party now in La Habra Somebody would say there's a Bible study in La Habra and bang we get into the car and we drive there to do the same kinds of things in the sense of dedicating ourselves to a night And yet the night was entirely different because whereas before we were going to do some things that we ought not to do I was now learning to do the things that I was supposed to do and you have that heart to do that So you don't tolerate evil especially in yourself Paul is dealing with sin in the fellowship and He had to deal with it in a way that he separated this individual from the rest of the church Because he needed to be in a place to realize his sin and to repent and to return To the Lord so he's been dealing with this and now in chapter 6 he continues and he's dealing with problems once again in the church Now here this is a sad thing that he's dealing with at the beginning of chapter 6 He's dealing with the problem of Christians who are actually taking other Christians to court to taking them to law They're suing them For them Christianity is one thing, but business is another and so he's dealing with that you see the carnal fruit of this is division It's division over material well Their concern over their own rights took precedence over their love for other people But the Bible tells us in Ephesians 4 2 and 3 be completely humble and gentle be patient Bearing with one another in love and then he goes on to say make every effort To keep the unity of the spirit to the bond of peace You see before they were saved their old manner of life was just Taking people to court they sued one another over the most trivial things as a matter of fact argument and litigation was their way of life One ancient writer wrote in a manner of speaking every Athenian was a lawyer So the Corinthians had taken this selfish attitude into their Christian lives and they were hanging their dirty laundry out for everyone to see and Paul says this is completely unacceptable and it is isn't it? It's totally unacceptable when you read even to this day that a believer is suing another believer And I read it in the newspaper occasionally it breaks my heart And that's what Paul is dealing with he had to deal with that two thousand years ago in the church But it's something that even today is still being dealt with you see for a centuries The Jews had settled all their disputes either privately or in what would be called a synagogue court They refused to dispute before a pagan court because they believed that to do so would imply that God Through his own people using scriptural principles was not able to solve their problems And so the Jews would refuse to go before Gentile courts They took care of it themselves in the synagogue before wise individuals in order that they might not bring God's name Into disrepute amongst the non-believers So Paul is dealing with this notice verse one how he begins He says in chapter 6 dare any of you having a matter against another go to law before the unrighteous and not saved If you could see his face as he was writing this You'd see a man who was shocked and a man who was filled with sorrow He's saying why are you doing this? Why are you bringing your legal problems before unsaved people? Why are you so carnal as to not respect the authority of the body of Christ? Don't you realize that you are saints? When he says in verse 2 do you not know that the saints will judge the world that word saints is a Greek word hagias it means to be the separated ones and He's saying don't you realize that you have been settled away from the world and settled unto God You have been taken out of the world and you've been placed in the kingdom of God And don't you understand that you can actually deal with this because you've been set apart You're holy unto God and being led by the Holy Spirit instructed by God's word You should be able to render proper judgments without having to go to court and deal with it in that fashion So he's asking them can't you settle your own disputes without shaming the work of Jesus Christ? Christians are not to take other Christians before worldly courts In doing so we demonstrate more concern with worldly gain and our own pride And that's why he asks in verses two and three. Don't you know that the saints will judge the world? Saints are going to judge the world by the fact that our presence is with the Lord Jesus Christ because we believed his message And the angels who fell are going to be actually looked at by what we have done and realized that they have fallen and As they have fallen we have the right to because we have believed the message be present with God Where they no longer have access to him our presence in heaven is going to validate the message of salvation One of these days and it's not that long and I Have to be honest with you when I first got saved at the age of 20. I thought well, it's a long time 41 years later One of these days and not too long from now all of us in this room It's not that long We'll see God face to face We'll see him We'll see him We will see him and I Think the longer you walk with Jesus the more real that becomes the longer you walk with the Lord Well, the journey before you was a lot shorter than the one behind you The days in front of you are a lot less than the ones that you've already lived And so for me, I'm beginning to realize that and by the way, I don't look at that like oh, no I'm getting old. You know help me up sit down the stool. I don't I don't feel that way. I Don't feel that way at all. I don't think my generation even understands what it means to be getting older to be honest with you And so fact is it's not that kind of thing that motivates these words What's motivating my words to you is 41 years of walking with Jesus Christ realizing that each day that I live is one Day closer to seeing him and I want to be ready. I want to live a life that is prepared to see him face to face I want to have this attitude that when I see him I can say I did it for you. I really did live for you I really was born again. I really walked with you. I had a relationship I want to have that with all sincerity There are some who will say oh, yeah I've got a relationship with God and they go out and do whatever it is that they want because they use grace as an excuse to Continue in sin. I don't want to be that way been that way Been that way learned about grace. Oh, you mean I'm going to heaven. Yes You mean it's no good that I do is going to cause me to be any better understanding of God and that's right It's all that he's done for you. It's all his love for you Oh really and I use that as an extension into my life of continuing in sin because after all God is so filled with grace and Then I began to understand what it cost God When I began to understand what it cost him to save me when I began to understand That my Jesus my Jesus was beaten his face became a bloody pulp. His his beard was pulled out of his face He was struck in the head with with a reed He had a crown of thorns of thorns that were an inch long that were pressed into his scalp To his head was swollen his back was lacerated open it looked like hamburger and he carried this cross they had these rough rough Splinters in him that that when he put it on his old one back in his wounds on his back It would have been agonizing not only that he was nailed to it And and every time he took a breath and lifted himself off that cross so he could get some some air into his lungs His back would be lacerated over and over and over and over again as it was like rough sandpaper on this open wound Well his mother's there watching him die and I I finally got hold of it. I finally realized That's what he did for me and who am I to take that? For granted you see Christianity isn't a philosophy. It is philosophic. Yes, but it is not only a philosophy Christianity is a way of life. It's a relationship with the living God who loves you and gave a son for you And we live in response to that What you have done for me is everything what I do for you is very little and therefore Be holy even as I am holy. Yes, Lord. I will be set apart for you Because one of these days and it's not that long I Will see you face-to-face Jesus said I go to prepare a place for you And if I go and prepare a place for you all come again Receive you unto myself That where I am that where I am You may be also So I think of that Philippians 1 21 through 23 Paul said it like this. He said forth to me To live is Christ and to die is gain If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me Yet, what shall I choose? I do not know I'm torn between the two. I Desired to depart and be with Christ Which is better by far? He said in 2nd Corinthians 5 8 we are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present With the Lord You close your eyes here to open them up there and you see Jesus face-to-face And so Paul is dealing with this and he's saying listen, don't you understand the position you have? Don't you understand your presence in heaven judges all those who refuse the gospel and Yet here you are going to court Look at a verse look at verse 4 if if then you have judgments and concerning Things pertaining to this life Do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? I? Say this to your shame. Is it so that there's not a wise man among you not even one Who'll be able to judge between his brethren? It's interesting how he puts it here in verse 4 He speaks of those who are least esteemed if you were to look at the original language there least least esteemed speaks of being utterly rejected The question he's making here or asking is how can you go to heathen courts and have your matters settled? You see their view of justice How can you rely on the judgments of heathens who have no righteous standards? How can you do that? All you need to do is read the newspaper and see some of the judgments that are made In in our time in our nation and and you'll understand exactly what Paul is talking about where we're a Christian teacher is Disciplined for having a Bible on her desk and other school systems Actually have set apart Places for their Muslim students to go and do their washings and give them permission to go out and do their prayers and And you start saying now wait a minute. I thought what is good for the goose is good for the gander Why are we but that's how our nation is our nation is not? Judging by righteous standards and so Paul's and that was true then so Paul is simply saying listen You need to understand these people's judgment is utterly rejected because they don't have righteous standards They don't use the word of God and they're not led by the spirit Yeah, you're trusting them in the matters and their affairs of your life. Why are you doing that? You see he's saying if you have a problem that ordinarily ends up in court What you really need and we call it this today what you really need is Christian arbitration We we offer Christian arbitration here in this fellowship many churches that I know of have Christian arbitraters What is that? Well, we have a believer a mature believer or two who meets with people who have disputations and They seek the Lord they seek scripture There's a wisdom in them and experience in them and they try to find a solution between the two parties that will be able to be Honoring to God and fair to those who are involved. It's called Christian arbitration It's been going on prior to Christian arbitration as I said earlier There was Jewish synagogue courts and they had them then even as we continue to this day You see there should be that rule in the church because of carnality and lack of accountability to the fellowship You see sometimes Christians are just not submitted to the judgment. They receive from the church Because they don't think that they're going to be treated fairly or they're not going to get what they want And so they'd rather go to court and sue somebody Sometimes for just small things Normally, it's related to money. They want more of it So that's what Paul's saying in verse 5 he says I say this to your shame Is it so that there's not a wise man among you not even one who will be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goes to law against brother and that before unbelievers They saw the laws more binding than integrity unity and a witness for Jesus Christ Now when Christian intervention is not effective sometimes you're gonna end up in court Sometimes people are gonna go through a divorce and so they go before a Judge They may have to go and get a restraining order against an abusive spouse You have to get that from Legal sources, but that's the exception. That's not the immediate rule That actually ought not to occur either, but it does he says in verses seven and eight It's already an utter failure that you're doing this and then asks the question. Why don't you rather accept wrong? Why don't you rather let yourself be defrauded in other words? Why do you take this matter into your own hands? Why don't you allow God? room to move in this Years ago. I sold a vehicle to somebody and You know it was a truck Marie was driving it to Work she worked as a substitute teacher When a church first began we needed Income and so the Lord was gracious. He gave Marie a Position in Chino High School as a Spanish teacher And so she taught Spanish, you know one two and three and I thought that was just really great because she doesn't speak Spanish And at the end of the year neither did her students, but that's That's another story entirely So during the course of our early years of the church Marie would take, you know jobs as as a substitute teacher and she was driving my truck one day was the 68 Ford and And her husband had forgotten to put oil in it so it blew up on the side of the road and We had to go and tow it back to my house and we had it in front of my house for some time and Somebody said I'll buy your truck from you And I said great we could we could use it. I was still making payments on it and it's just sitting there I could I could use that and so he came and towed the truck away and Put a new engine in it and was driving it and drove it for several months But there was just one problem. He never paid for it He just decided to use it for work and he drove it for some time And so I'm still making payments on a vehicle that I'm not driving anymore But it has a new engine and and somebody else is now driving it. What am I to do? Oh, what am I to do? Rawl, would you go beat him up? No, he wouldn't do it What can I do? You know what I did I I left it in the hands of the Lord I didn't do anything. I left it in the hands of the Lord. I just said, you know Jesus You know, I need this money. You know, we don't have any You know that this is a brother and the Lord Who hasn't chosen to? To honor his agreement My option is to take him to court small claims Or to let it go I let it go Now months later. He came to my church He didn't normally come to church here He came to my church and I'll never forget him walking up to me and handing me a check Without a word of explanation without an apology. Nothing. He just handed me the check and I took it and I and I praised the Lord and I thanked him because God has a way of doing what needs to be done Rather than taking it to court and making the name of Jesus look bad. I left it in the hands of the Lord God knows my need. God knows I needed money to pay bills. God knew all of that I took my complaint to him, but the Lord said just leave it alone I've got things I'm doing in his life right now and and I see that and I get that from scripture Paul said Why don't you rather be defrauded? Why don't you let it go? Why don't you why are you making such an issue over these things? Why don't you just allow God some room to move? He says no you yourselves do wrong and defraud and you do these things to your brethren So instead of striving to let God instead of striving let God do his work Don't take matters into your own hand Now he goes on into verse 9 and he says Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? And I underlined these this phrase do not be deceived Do you not be deceived? That's my responsibility not to be deceived neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor homosexuals nor sodomites nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners Will inherit the kingdom of God do not be deceived and then he just gives a small list of a variety of sins And he says don't be deceived. They will not inherit the kingdom of God we actually have to teach this passage because There are people who are deceived Notice what he's saying here do not be deceived through vain arguments to the contrary What he's doing is he's revealing the character of the redeemed by contrasting it with the character of those who don't know God and So don't be deceived by vain argumentation You see non-christians will always argue against Christian morality All you need to do is look at how we look at these words today. You see fornicators Today are simply lovers Idolaters are Experiencing authentic worship of God in a manner consistent with their culture adulterers are Not shackled with puritanical unreasonable unnatural monogamous immaturity and stifling ignorance of avenues of valid sexual expression Homosexuals he speaks concerning homosexuals homosexuals are lit is literally a feminine It was a boy who was kept for homosexual relations with a man a male prostitute It speaks of those who have corrupted normal male female sexual expression and substituted various expressions of sexuality Which includes being a transvestite? It includes sex changes Includes active homosexuality. These are all inferred. We we are oh boy Haven't we opened in America has opened the door to that. I mean you have a woman who's running for What is it mr. Universe who's really a man? I don't even know why I called him a woman. It's a guy It's a guy. I mean, that's what yes. I mean come on. I mean he's a guy. I don't want to think about that too long But Trump was going to be sued by him We opened the door didn't we We opened the door we have athletes today by the way who are men who have had sex changes who are running track as women And the winning race is the champions The champions, you know, it's just it's unfair. It's just an unfair thing completely I mean if you get a male horse and you make him into a galding. He's still a male horse if you take the DNA sampling from These were having sex changes. There's still genetically male or female you can change the outside appearance But they remain and retain Their sexuality you can you can do all the implanting you want and you can you know Let the hair grow long and you can do the treatments to remove the beard or you can get the testosterone treatments for the woman to begin wearing the beard and They think it's outer appearance and and Unfortunate because we've opened the door to that kind of thing There's a lot of confusion and an awful lot of pain Going on because they are leaving the way that they were naturally created and the natural needs that their bodies have and they are Changing them and they'll never be satisfied. They'll never be satisfied with that. They never will be I've had more than one discussion with those who call homosexuality gay And I say the you can't really really refer to yourself as gay because if there's anybody misrule on the face of the earth It's you you know the word gay used to mean joyful used to be meaning filled with happiness I mean we used to sing songs now I don't now we don our gay apparel. I won't sing that song anymore. I Can't get me to do that Maybe when I'm home, but other than that I Mean we've changed words and and we think that by changing the words we can change nature and we can't do that And so Paul is saying don't be deceived Don't be deceived. Let me share something you already know, but it bears stating at this point We older people are looked at as being beyond they can't really change our minds. So where are they going after? They go after the youth and where did they get the youth they get them in in preschool They get them in kindergarten. They get them in first second and third grade. They get them through school curricula That teaches certain things. That's why you know this some of you are in this age group You know this you can speak to a 17 18 19 year old about issues of sexuality And they are fully brainwashed into believing that homosexuals were born homosexual They are fully brainwashed to believe in that because they've heard that since they were kindergarten or first grade And so for 13 years of their life They've been taught that and the only ignorant backwards intellectual hillbillies who who disagree are Christians See Christians are stupid. We don't have common sense. We're not sophisticated. We don't understand And we're just some backwards people. We don't even have all of our teeth You know and that's not you know, that's what we are And so I mean that has been that's just how people look at us And most of those who say things like that concerning you have never met you They haven't met a real Christian what they have done is they've allowed some straw men to be drawn for them characterized by comedians in late night TV and That's where they get their opinions That's where they get their ideas to get it from school teachers that don't know the Lord and are pushing curricula that That that presents this as fact and I have asked I have asked can you produce one? one non-biased study one That presents homosexuality as genetic. Can you give me one? Is there such a thing and the answer is no there is no such thing There's no such thing. There is no genetic study. There's no homosexual gene And I have shared with them. I have shared listen. I was born Ethnically what I am. I am a Hispanic man. I use the term Hispanic simply because it's a generic term I'm a Chicano. That's what I am. I have never seen a Hispanic make a decision to become Swedish He may call himself Sven Lopez, but he's still He's still a Mexican Many years ago. I was teaching this passage probably 20 years over 20 years ago over 20 years ago I was teaching this passage a young woman was in the church service and She had come as a lesbian with her girlfriend to church and she read this passage And she saw what it says And she went home with her girlfriend and Told her girlfriend We're in sin. I'm not living right. This is wrong Her girlfriend says to her That was his opinion. That's what he believes. He's just backwards She says to her girlfriend Read it again Read it and they read it together And as they read it she said God is not approving of my life. I'm in sin Because you see verse 11 such Were some of you Spraying out of the page you were this but you're not that now See I was an alcoholic But I'm not one now. I don't say oh, I am recovering. I've been recovered for 41 years. You know I'm not an alcoholic. I was a drug addict. Yeah Not anymore. I don't say oh, I took a 12-step to get it. No I took a one step to Jesus Christ. He transforms you see that actually still happens. It does it still happens That's still happen, right? It does. I've got a lot of people in here can testify that You were too you were a fornicator. You may have lived a homosexual life. Yeah, that's what humanities made up of sinners And he's by the way not saying this one's worse than that one. He's simply saying these are sins He's not even given the whole list just enough to convict us all in this room So she goes home and she reads the Bible And she contacts me and she tells me Pastor I want you to know I gave my heart to Jesus Christ She she stays here in this church and then she moves to Oregon And she's one of my Facebook friends to this day Married raising children serving Jesus Christ because such were some of you But you're not that now you are washed you are sanctified you are justified in Jesus Christ So he's given us a list. Yes, this list is speaking concerning sin And he's saying don't be deceived into accepting it You will always have the various comedians on TV. He's not saying that because there was no TV But you will always have people who will say these things To argue and make you feel stupid for believing God, but you're not stupid for believing God Because God can set the captive free God can change your life. You have been washed Washing speaks of regeneration. We have been renewed by the Holy Spirit We have been washed by the blood of Jesus Christ Sanctified we've been set apart by God by his word See if I didn't become a Christian. I was extremely liberal like probably every one of you Totally liberal if you'd have come in and said would you think it's wrong and named these things to me? Do you think it's wrong for someone to be a fornicator? I didn't even know what the word meant. I'd never even heard the word I heard that the first time when I was in high school and I walked up to a girl and I asked her What's a fornicator because I was reading it. She did not she was not happy when I asked her that she got all embarrassed I didn't know what that was. I'd never even seen the word before it's not in any of the comic books I read and so fornicators idolaters. I had a clue kind of what that was kind of adulterers I Was I was more like look at if you're not happy in your marriage then find someone who makes you happy What's the big deal? Homosexuality and the rest of those things now that wasn't that wasn't something that I was in favor of frankly, I But I would have said live and let live what why make a big deal? I mean if that makes them happy, you know that floats your boat. That's kind of where my attitude was I wouldn't have made an issue with it At this age probably if I'd have been hardened for another 41 years that I probably said you know what that you know Give them a right to get married so they can divorce like other people That's kind of how I'd have thought So You know what changed my mind is the word of God rightly divided the word of God that sets you free the blood of Jesus that washes you That's what changed my mind being justified Justification is a doctrine that speaks of us standing before God without sin It's a forensic term It speaks of being without guilt as if you hadn't sinned You stand in the righteousness of Jesus Christ Which is called imputed righteousness. It's given to you He gives to you what you didn't have from his own resources So what happened is you heard the gospel? The Holy Spirit convicted you of sin righteousness and judgment You awoke to the need for Christ You said God be merciful to me. I am a sinner God poured out his grace on you washed you with his blood poured his Holy Spirit into you you became the temple of the Spirit of God Declared you to be not guilty Imputed to you his righteousness Open the doors to heaven and said this is your home and I will welcome you here Based not on the works of righteousness, which you've done But I'm gonna base this on the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Spirit of God You're gonna enter in not because you're so good You're gonna enter in because my son is so good and he took your place And God poured out his wrath on him judgment was poured out on Jesus Christ judgment That was really for me He bore the full brunt of it crying out to the father even on the cross Why have you forsaken me? Experiencing the separation that sinful man experiences without God Then he says it is finished and All of it is summed up in that moment. He bows his head Father into thy hands. I commit my spirit Dismisses his spirit at the moment when it's all satisfied is buried for three days But on the third day is raised from the dead for our Justification Demonstrating to us that our God is the God of the living and not the dead and that he gives to us life And I didn't become a Christian because my mom took me when I was Four months old to some little church called the Plaza Church by Alvaro Street Every Mexican in California. I got baptized there. How many of you were baptized at Placita? Arrest my case But it wasn't the washing of this little baby body by water It was the washing of the blood of Jesus Christ who cleansed me from all sin when I was 20 years old And I heard the gospel message that says God loves you and God can transform you God loves you He can make you brand new He can take all that sin and all that guilt And all that sorrow and all that grief and all that evil and those habits. He can take them from you And he can make you new And I was standing I was actually seated in a meeting Few years ago now Frank Pastore and I were invited to a meeting And it was an issue related to whether or not homosexuality should marriages homosexual marriages should be allowed And there were about a hundred pastors in this room And I was one of the last to speak and I said my sister Rebecca Lived a lesbian lifestyle For almost 30 years But my sister Rebecca gave her heart to Jesus Christ and has been transformed and I shared that testimony And turns out the woman who was hosting the dialogue Had an assistant pastor a woman who was a lesbian And they didn't like that for some reason they didn't like what I said And they got their faces cut frozen. They were not real happy. They were horrified that I would say something like that So some pastor in the local area Spoke after me and he says homosexuality is no big deal It's only mentioned four times in scripture And I turned and I looked at him and I said how many times does God have to tell you something until you listen God speaks once you better listen Four times he's making a point He's making a point I mean, how many times do you tell your kid come in? Four times you lost him Come in no Die they come in How many times does God have to say? He can forgive you How many times does God have to say I can wash you? How many times does God have to say I can make you brand new? How many times does God have to say I love you? How many times does God have to say I love you this much? How many times until we finally hear it and pa was just saying listen It is wrong for you to take a brother or a sister to court Why are you shaming the name of Jesus in front of the world? Why don't you have some wise believers who can use the scriptures and are led by the spirit? So that Jesus's name is not run through the mud in the community And I want to remind you of something In a society that thinks that sin is just fine I want to remind you that sin isn't it's like leaven a little leaven leavens the entire lump of dough If you allow it to go unchallenged and not doubt with It will infect the entire church Deal with it. These are some of the sins that that you used to be in bondage to Don't let anybody deceive you into thinking that they're acceptable to God because they're not You see that was your former life Not your present life. You were once these things But now you're new in Jesus Christ. So live is those who are new Now that's that's good stuff. I think Live as though you're new