The Peril and Power of Porn — Shane Idleman

The message this morning is the peril and power of porn and I will let you know up front. A disclaimer I guess you could say is if you need to maybe not maybe take your children out. That's okay. I'm doing the PG version very you know the soft as I can get and we do have a side room here.

It's an overflow room. If you want to go in there or if you don't feel comfortable I completely understand. We try to post it on Facebook. We also released it in our electronic bulletin letting people know.

The Church Must Address Pornography

However I think the church needs to be the place where we talk about difficult things. We talk about challenging things and I am I think one of the things that amazes me most about this subject is that parents have no clue.

My little Johnny at 11. No. Oh yeah. If he's going to school and his friends have a phone be careful. It's that simple. And I I had to try to get all of this in in one message but I might have to break it up into two parts because I'm talking about the peril and power of it based on Proverbs.

We're doing a series of Proverbs in Proverbs so I didn't just pull this out of the hat. We're in Proverbs chapter 5. If you have your Bible you can turn to chapter 5. But I don't know if I'll get through this and I want to give people hope.

So I'm thinking about doing part 2 breaking free. Breaking free of the power of pornography and every man in this room should be signed up to go to December on December 1st we're having a men's gathering right here free no excuses I think.

Well it's five dollars. If you want lunch we decide to put a little monetary value on that. I'm talking about the life of Samson and it's going to touch a lot on that as well. So sign up for December 1st and I'm hoping to get through a lot of this today.

But if not we'll do part 2. And I want you to think about doing something maybe you haven't done before. Grab some grab a CD on your way out and give it to a young adult or give it to somebody who you think might be suffering and challenged in this area and even share it on Facebook.

Share the share it get it out there because I will tell you this this week has been both sobering and sickening and I didn't know that was possible but when you start to look at and I didn't look at images obviously but looking at the statistics it's horrifying.

But I want to encourage hope. And if you weren't here last week make sure you listen to the message last week on hope. Even if you were here rewind it listen again. And I want to encourage you the kids young adults even adults can break free of this.

And my goal is to balance grace and hope with the seriousness of sin. See that's one of the hardest jobs of a pastor. To be honest with you is that's why you'll have certain people gravitate towards one side right.

We all know the churches we all label them including this one soft on sin. You know hard chain. And there's these churches soft you know. And trying to find that balance of grace and mercy. But the seriousness of sin and getting away from that balance will make the church either fearful and oh it's always hard and I can never measure up or so soft that you never conquer sin.

You never deal with sin. And it's hard to find that balance. So I'm going to try. So prayer pray for this service in the next. But I like what to fight. The new drug said. And I actually pulled some secular websites from this for this message.

It says we are the first generation we are the first generation to be completely bombarded with graphic sexual material every time we get online. What other time in human history has there been unlimited access to this type of stuff.

Have you ever thought about that. Just a phone and a click away. So here's some mind-blowing pornography stats. Number one porn sites. Did you know this. I didn't know any of this until I researched this.

Porn sites receive more regular traffic the Netflix Amazon and Twitter combined. I don't want to make an illustration. But if ten of you stood and four set down in six state standing that's the problem with porn in the church.

Six out of ten. And it's not just men. It's a growing trend with women. People who admit to having extra marital affairs were over three hundred percent more likely to admit consuming porn than those who have never had an affair.

This is just amazing. I don't I don't some of this. I don't even want to share. Child porn is one of the fastest growing online businesses and is hosted on servers located in all 50 states. And I'm reading this going.

Isn't this illegal. What on God's green earth is wrong with us. And let me put a number on the screen. If we have it handy what is that. 4 .6 billion 4 .6 billion hours of porn were consumed in 2016 on the world's largest porn site epidemic problem.

You think so. And I was going to share the top three searches on this website. And I don't think I'm going to because it's perversion has to do with family members relatives homosexuality. The top three searches what that is.

That means somebody goes on to it and they search for the topic that interest them. However the porn industry is simply supplying what people are demanding. No demand no supply. So I believe obviously this is going to be a problem from here on out.

But I believe that Christians can be set free. I believe the Christians can make a difference. I also believe that the greater the darkness the brighter the light. So there's tremendous hope. And that's even I even told Christine she doesn't meet you back there.

Thank you so much for all you do. And Luke and Jake all back there. But I don't want to just have that image of porn up on the screen. The whole sermon I wanted this to kind of sink in. Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.

So if the Sun sets you free you'll be free indeed focusing on the power of Scripture. But throughout Scripture. Let's be honest for a minute throughout Scripture adultery a special especially spiritual adultery.

Adultery, Idolatry, and the Gift of Sex

Adultery was a downfall of the nation and was a downfall of many many people. Now most of you know but maybe the younger adults don't know exactly adultery is God has given us the gift of sex. It's a it's a gift of God.

So let's it doesn't have to be bad. And oh you know it's it's a gift of God. And just like fire it's wonderful in the fireplace but you start that fire in the living room floor and your house is coming down.

So adultery God has given sex within the boundaries of marriage in a covenant relationship for man and woman anything outside of that. You give your heart your affections to someone outside of that covenant relationship you are committing adultery.

Adultery it's close to idolatry kind of you know in my mind I get them confused. But it's the same thing now spiritual idolatry. Adultery is giving God our heart. God's Lord of all. But then we cheat on God.

How do you do that. He who loves the world. So God I love you on Sunday. But the world has my heart Monday through Saturday. It's spiritual adultery. It's for it's seeking after other gods. God's not the burning compassion the passion the consuming fire of your heart anymore.

You'll go to church. You might even read the Bible if you're motivated. But there's cheating on God. Spiritual adultery. Adultery. Does that make sense. And here's the problem. Pornography is subtle because it appears that no one is really getting hurt.

I've talked to so many men but Shane nobody's getting hurt. You know what. I'm gonna skip ahead to this real quick. I was worshiping right there and all this just came to me and I'm just gonna write it down.

It does hurt. It will cost you a great deal. It will cost you intimacy with your spouse. It will cost you a strong devotional life. It'll cost you a vibrant prayer life. It'll cost you a deep and abiding relationship with Christ.

It will cost you a powerful filling of the Holy Spirit. It will cost you joy peace and love. It will cost you everything. There's a cost. And that's why I believe majority of the church is dead. There's no passion for God because their passions have been given elsewhere and be given to someone else.

Lust and Adultery Begin in the Heart

So a couple things before we get to Proverbs adultery. The dollar adultery begins in the heart. See we forget that we can actually cheat on our spouse up here. Shane. Well okay don't trust me. Trust Jesus.

Matthew 528 NIV. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Now throughout the message I'm gonna give some encouraging thoughts. The encouraging thought is this being tempted is not sin.

Even Jesus Hebrew says was tempted at all points like we are yet he was without sin. So being tempted you see something online say okay my mind can either go there and we'll leave it at that. You know what that means.

My mind can either go there or I can hit delete. I can flee. I can say no. I'm not going there. Yes the temptation is pulling me. But I'm not choosing to act upon it. There's there's a difference or so.

You're like oh Shane what's wrong with me. I'm being tempted. Well welcome to the world. Welcome welcome to to to this human body. So it's always what we do with temptation that tilts the scale. Now there's something interesting about sexual temptation.

The Bible says often fight the good fight. You stand you hold your ground. You fight with this. It says you get out of the room when you see Delilah. Don't have a conversation. Potiphar's wife. How close can I stay to the fire.

Oh lord I'm really struggling right now. But I'm just gonna stay and and and struggle with the sin. Right there. He says you just flee. You you you get out of the room. You flee. Sexual immorality. So in God's eyes we are committing adultery if it's happening in the mind.

And it's interesting word in the Greek we get the word actually pornography. I don't know if you know from a word pornea or pornea depending on how you want to pronounce it. It's a Greek word that means any illicit sex outside of marriage.

And that's where the word pornography comes from. So even the secular side recognizes this. I already said this earlier but let me say it again it removes intimacy from the marriage and it gives the devil a place in your home.

Without a shadow of doubt you're gonna see a lot more arguments and a lot less love because adultery is taking place up here the spirit is quenched and grieve. It robs you of joy and peace. There's barrenness and I want to make this clear.

Radical Accountability and Extreme Defense

I even I was highlighting it and want to make sure I remember this an extreme attack. I would say this is an extreme attack from the enemy. Is it not. Think about this. All the kids teenagers here's a phone with unlimited internet access and we think they're just that disciplined.

Were you. So there's an extreme attack. Here's my point. And it's extreme attack from the enemy on this will take an extreme defense. I'm just telling you up front you will have to get extreme as God is my witness.

You will have to hit this head-on and get extreme. And I've shared this before and of course it fits here. But there's something we use at home called Covenant Eyes. So every website I view every search I make is emailed to my wife once a week.

You would be amazed at how many men said bro I'm not doing that. You don't want it bad enough. Of course you're not doing it. You're playing with the devil and you enjoy it. Now you have to use wisdom.

If there's a very jealous spouse and you're struggling then you know you might need to go to somebody and get some some help. And I tell people this all the time. It's wonderful to be transparent. It's wonderful to have accountability like I just described.

But that's not the answer. There has to be a radical devotion discipline to follow Jesus Christ. That's the cure. But then these other things are definitely safeguards. There's nothing wrong with safeguards.

There's nothing wrong in the elders here. Elders here they know they have permission. They can go and ask my wife anytime how is the marriage. How is he doing in this area. Do I say oh no don't do that bring it on.

There should be full transparency because the enemy loves darkness. That's where he's gonna grow. He's gonna grow. The sin is gonna grow in that area. And I think this is what's probably most frustrating for me is so many people do not want to take extreme measures.

I think it's because they enjoy it a little bit more than they let on the repent. They're sorry I got caught. But they're not repentant because true repentance will say I'm killing this. I know people that have actually got rid of phones and went back to the old school flip phones no internet.

And they are so joy-filled they are. Oh there's Shane. Oh I don't know how I ever got trapped into that. Because see they see their trigger. They see. Why would you why would you willingly walk into the enemy's camp.

Why it's been. I don't know if I should be too transparent but I'll just I'll just throw it out there. It's been a year since I went to the gym. I went yesterday and I was like I remember why I don't go to the gym.

Now my lord it's 11 o 'clock in the afternoon. It should be slow but see are you placing yourself in areas where it's gonna fuel that extreme. Oh that guy's extreme. Yeah we live in extreme times. The enemy's after my marriage and my children.

And he's after yours. How bad do you want. He's not playing patty cake. He's not playing you know marbles and these. He's after your soul. He's after your family. He's after your testimony. I will tell you right now that I know the number one and a work of the enemy.

The number one goal without a shadow of doubt in his work against me is to take this church down. That's the devil's number one goal. I know it. Oh come on. Are you sure. Oh Lord. And I bet he's brought little minions with him.

He's not everywhere. He's not omnipresent. And and so it's. It's a demonic realm. So you have to extreme extreme defense. There's people they'll say hey just pray for me. I'm struggling right now. And it just released.

Ah the enemy you don't have me anymore. I just confessed it. I released it. But see what we try to do is no I got this. I got. Mm-hmm. I'm not telling anybody they think I'm super Christian. An extreme attack.

God has really put this in my heart. An extreme attack takes extreme defense. Shane that's nice. But you have scripture. Well let's look to Jesus again. If your right eye causes you to sin pluck it out and cast it from you.

For it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish then for your whole body to be cast into hell. Mild little Jesus said that. Well it's interesting. I looked up this word cause and it means to provoke to trigger to induce to inspire or to motivate.

If something you're doing is provoking triggering inducing inspiring or motivating you to sin. Remove it. Plain and simple. But your defense attorney within you have one of those two. Right. The defense attorney we've talked.

He's inside here. He's inside here. It's called the flesh. But Shane you don't have to get that carried away. But not that. And I asked people I tell how bad do you want it. How bad do you want it. Well Shane that seems a little extreme.

Then you're walking right into the enemy's camp. You want to do something. Well it's not real funny. But just Google what bathing suits were a hundred years ago. Bathing suits at the beach. Now we don't have to get into what's now.

Right. What are they're wearing now. And God has created us. God has created men to be visual. See it's a gift. It's a gift. You should look at your spouse and be visually attracted. It's a God-given gift.

Fire in the fireplace. But if you struggle with sin this sin. And you love going to Santa Monica Beach. Hmm. There's a lot of g-strings down there. Come on. Let's be honest. This is um this is I don't mean unplugged this morning.

Another area. I don't know if I should be transparent in. But we went as a few of us went as a church last year and I said we're not doing that again. At least I'm not going. Especially as a church. What we're exposing our kids to.

We need to be careful. You don't have to walk around go. We can never go to the beach. Of course there's. But there's better choices. There's much much better choices that we can make. So again temptation isn't sin.

Surrendering to it is. Shane when are you getting to Proverbs 5. Right now my son. Pay attention to my wisdom. Lend your ear to my understanding that you may preserve discretion. This is so important.

Proverbs 5 and the Allure of Immorality

Some of the people who've been around a long time. Have you ever preserved anything. Fruit. Diane. You have huh. Fruit. My mom used to do all the time. Preserves. They preserve something. They keep it fresh.

They keep it whole. So preserve discretion. Discreet. Being discreet. And your lips. Discretion here is really to know to knowledge. And your lips. Maybe you may keep the knowledge for the lips of an immoral woman.

Drip with honey. That's something you always have to remember. The lips of a immoral woman drip with honey. It doesn't say bad breath. There's a just a longing for the flesh. The immorality speaks to something inside of us.

It calls us. It tastes good. It looks good. And her mouth is smoother than oil. You know what that means. Right. That's why we always encourage people do not go to the opposite sex with your marriage problems.

Because you. If I was your spouse I would love you. I would respect you. I can't believe she doesn't cook for you every night. I would go to Frederick's a Hollywood monthly. Oh if I was your spouse see smooth.

It's alluring in her eyes. It's it's it's pulling. It's alluring. And it's hard because I have a I have a pretty strong stance in this area some of you know. But because of that I'm called arrogant unapproachable.

No I just don't want to build close relationships with people I could be attracted to and vice versa. Correct. That's just wisdom. That's that's preserving discretion. So it drips like honey. It's smoother.

Adultery will call you pornography calls. It doesn't show you the end result. It shows you it presents the enticement debate. So I'm gonna share a few things if I don't get through them or want to talk more on this.

I'll do it next week. But number one you need to go back. I need to go back to the old paths. I I'm so sure of this message as any other message I've given God just downloaded all week. And when I start crying when I start filling that just the pain of what this has caused I know that it's gonna it's gonna help a lot of people go back to the old paths.

You know this verse Jeremiah 616 I'm actually in a quote from a Bible that is a it's a paraphrase. It's called a for it's called a dynamic equivalence. It's in translations. It's an NLT. It's not a study Bible but it's just a different perspective.

Jeremiah 616 this is what the Lord says. I don't know if I have it up there not. Stop at the crossroads and look around. Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old godly way. So some of you right now I believe you're at a crossroads.

Shane I'm straight six out of ten. Come on. I'm speaking a lot of people on Facebook right now YouTube later radio later here right now a lot of people your crossroads. I've got to make some tough decisions.

I've got a I've got to make some changes in my life. Shane. So what is the answer. You go back to the old way. You go back to the godly path that God has set in motion. Walk in it travel its paths and you will find rest for your soul.

But but you reply no that's not the road we want. Jeremiah is written to God's people in this context. Let me read the context. Jeremiah 5 3. We're gonna go before this. Oh Lord. Are you are. You're not.

Are not your eyes on the truth. You have stricken them but they have not grieved. You have consumed them but they have not. They have refused to receive your correction. They have made their faces harder than rock.

They have refused to return. How shall what. How shall I pardon you for this. Your children have forsaken me and sworn by those that are what. Not gods. Here we go. You gotta love the Bible. It's this is this passage.

When I had fed them to the full then they committed adultery and they assembled themselves by troops in the harlot's houses. Here's my favorite verse out this chapter. They were like well-fed lusty stallions.

Have you ever seen a lustful horse. He's comparing the people that everyone named after his neighbor's wife. If you don't know what that is ask somebody after the service. So it's this image of God filling them blessing them with the fullness of food and and and blessings.

And from that fullness did they seek God. No they were like lustful stallions seeking after others other other wives other other spouses. And God says I am NOT pleased with that. Shall I not punish them for these things says the Lord.

And shall I not avenge myself on such a nation. Is this. So now you know the context of what we just read. So he said I'm offering hope to the people. See I love God. He doesn't just rebuke and rebuke.

He says I'm offering you hope. Here's your hope. Go back to the old path get back on the right track. And you will find rest for your soul. But the context is adultery spiritual and physical. It's amazing.

Fasting, Self-Control, and the Flesh

If you know me you know I probably couldn't leave this alone too long about fed to the full. One of the biggest things I've ever learned from fasting is this food will increase sexual appetites especially the wrong foods.

Talking with people reading books that animalistic nature is fed the more alcohol meat it you're feeding that animalistic nature. We will crave more of what we feed. That's why I talk often about fasting.

Fasting silences the voice of the flesh. Getting ready for January. Something I've been doing. It's not. It's not hard but it is hard. I'm trying to just I'm going all day. I'm not eating until at night.

And it's been a tremendous blessing all week preparing the sermon. Just the flesh isn't as loud. It's quieted around 9 a .m. around 12 a .m. or 12 p .m. around 3 p .m. You say shut up shut up flesh. You're starved.

And there's there's a lot to this guys. And that's why I have the book out there again. Feasting and fasting. I have never seen lust increase in someone who's fasting. It decreases. It kills. The pull of the flesh the lust of the flesh.

Gordon Cove said this a missionary fasting arrests the appetite of sex. Because food feeds all desires and appetites of the flesh and fasting stars them. A luxurious diet and habitual overfeeding produce an unbalanced animalism.

My cement. That's hardcore. But it's true. I've committed to you to tell you the truth. It's true. Try a steak and a big IPA and see what happens. Versus a sweet potato and a salad. There's a big difference there.

Because you're full on the wrong things and on the cravings. Because see when we eat the things we know we shouldn't. Do you think that stars the flesh or empowers it. I don't know about you. But the more I cave into chocolate the more I cave into this wrong food the more I Panda Express in and out McDonald's car.

I'm feeding. I'm feeding this. And it's hard to control the lust of the flesh. Because you're feeding the very thing you're trying to fight. I won't give me an amen. Even though we know it's all true.

Conviction is a gift from God to return to the old paths. Conviction if you're being convicted it's a gift from God. Thank God for it. I was just talking with film carry this morning to. We people shouldn't feel here.

Leave here feeling condemned and beat up. But it's good to leave feeling convicted. A challenged. I need to change some things. I need to get back on the right path. I would love to meet any of you who's made a major change in your life without being convicted.

You just wake up. You know what for the fun of it. I'm gonna start doing this today. There's a conviction. There is there not number two. Stop. Stop making excuses. You have to see the death in it. Remember I gave this analogy a few weeks ago.

Seeing the Death of Sin and Acting Like Men

I think from Steve Schell where he was he was fasting. But there's this chocolate cake in the refrigerator. He's only. I'm not gonna have that chocolate cake. And what happens after a few hours. Come on.

We all know that. Does it call your name the maybe it's just me. But if I know my daughter makes some brownies I I wake up throughout the night. Mmm. It's like I don't wake up. Eat broccoli and marinated asparagus.

You know there's there's there's that that. So that there's something there but the chocolate cake. And. And he goes and he goes for it. But then he turns it around. It says there's been some mice poison added to the cake.

Or you could say dog. You know droppings you know was added to this cake. Oh get it out of here. Throw the throw the cake in the trash. So once was once appealing and couldn't be resisted. It's now being thrown in the trash.

Why. Because they saw the death in it. You see the death in this. You see the death in what it's going to cause. I think I'm actually gonna disconnect you two on our TV. Amen. Just this week I was watching with the kids and some girl dropped an f-bomb on YouTube.

What was that. That's not just a kids program. And I will not be the most popular person in the house that day. Stop making excuses. See the death in it. America's pornography epidemic will continue to pervert with the ultimate goal of destroying.

And what I want to say loudly and clarity to men is what the Bible says. Act. Act like men. Act like men. I'm tired of weak passive men who don't want to do anything spiritually. Do not want to fight for their families.

Do not want to fight for the relationship with Jesus Christ. The Bible says act like men. Step up. If that convicts you might need to be convicted. God's called you to lead and to guide and to die for your family if necessary.

What you need to do is kill your porn habit and tell your ungodly friends to hit the road. Jack don't come back. No more no more no more. That's a man of God. What kind of man of God compromises all the time.

No spine. No no no boldness. Just coward being pushed over friends making pornography to work. Look at this. You'll look at this. Oh yeah. Is that funny. No. You take a stand. I know it's hard. I worked in construction in a water district where they would bring magazines to work.

And after the first week then you don't even bring it to shame. Because I would just tear them apart. So don't bring me that garbage. Because you just have no love life at home. What. What what. I don't want to see that stand up.

And if you fall fall forward. I'm not telling him. I hope I'm not giving the impression that you should just walk around. Perfect. Unless you can walk on water you will not get through the rest of this life perfectly.

But we will die trying. We will die trying. Put stuff on you. Put put put put software on your computer. You ever leave your phone out. Spouse can check it whenever. Use a computer that's in the house.

Central. Avoid places. It's going to trigger it all the time. Come on. This isn't. This isn't rocket science. And I'm not a rocket scientist. This is very clear. How bad do we want it. But proverbs 5 4.

But in the end in the end an immoral woman is bitter as wormwood sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death. Her steps lay hold of hell lest you ponder her path of life. Her ways are unstable and you do not know them.

And right at this point when I wrote this down this week I remember proverbs 9. Stolen stolen water is what sweet bread eaten in secret is pleasant. But he does not know that the dead are there that her guests are in the depths of hell.

The Bible speaks pretty strongly about this area. It says here. Don't ponder. Don't contemplate. Flea. Sexual immorality. See the death in it. Beginning in nineteen. Beginning in the nineteen seventies.

Pornography, Violence, and Destruction

Ted Bundy was one of America's most brutal serial serial killers. His crime covered seven states. He escaped from jail twice before being executed by the electric chair in nineteen eighty nine. He was forty two years old he said.

I've lived in prison a long time now and I've met a lot of men who are motivated to commit violence just like me. And without exception every one of them was deeply involved in pornography. Without question without exception deeply influenced and consumed by addiction to pornography.

Why. Because it's a fire outside the fireplace. That's why many men are angry. Pornography fuels anger especially in the believer. Because you know you're in a spot you don't want to be. You know you you're somewhere where you don't want to be.

What about Ariel Castro. Do you remember him. What. Perversion. From the pits from the pit and the depth of hell. In 2013 he was. He was exposed for kidnapping three women and holding them for ten years.

He admitted that a deep addiction to God's Word pornography fed his perversion. He eventually committed suicide in prison. His I don't promise pleasure but brought death and destruction in the end. She was bitter like Wormwood.

She opened up hell opened up her mouth and swallowed widely in these these people. Going down in the depths is the picture paints. And if anybody says Shane this is too hard. I'm just what the Bible says.

The Bible doesn't paint some picture of walking through a garden and enjoying the roses. And well if you if you think about it you might want to avoid the immoral woman. But we can easily fill in here the immoral man.

Can we not. It's on both sides. For the believer this type of thing kills the fruit of the Spirit. And that's I. I want to just shoot you this the the God honest truth tell you the truth that it will kill your walk with the Lord.

You won't be filled with the Spirit of God. But again in the midst of deep darkness there's great light great hope. And like I mentioned earlier I won't be able to get through everything. So I want to close with this because I think some of you need to hear it or be reminded of it.

The Gospel, Repentance, and Hope in Christ

Some of you were here and I had the privilege of speaking at Jerry McHale's funeral yesterday memorial service and I talked about profound moments. There are profound moments in all of our lives. You know profound is right.

Life changing life altering. And I think this is that can be a profound moment in the lives of some of you. Some of you have been addicted for so long. You can't remember you've tried to quit is so much.

Actually I want to go back to that. This might help. Like we got this email this week. I listened to your revival sermon and that day God answered my prayers. God broke my addiction and gifted me with the Holy Spirit that night.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that it was not something that I could break in my own strength. I tried countless times that sound familiar and people say shame. But what about demonic attacks. Well hopefully we'll get to that maybe next week.

But he said I tried countless times but it was only through my first fast serious prayer and being broken before God that I was able to break it and see there's always it came from Nebraska. Did you see that that full surrender that brokenness.

Many times we don't surrender everything. Do we say okay God I can't do that again. We'll make these changes that Shane just listed. Oh no I don't wanna get that serious. Well then you will continue to fall and fall and fall again because God offers a solution.

It's up to us to take it anyway. Back to profound moments life changing moments. I want to talk briefly. Maybe to the person who is trapped in this and they maybe they don't know Christ. They've never been.

They've never surrendered their life. And there's life-changing moments. Paul experienced Christ on the road to Damascus. The demoniac who was filled with demons experienced Christ. The Roman Guard experienced the work of God.

You can go. How many how many examples do we have throughout the Bible of people having profound moments and experiencing the risen Savior and being changed being transformed. So number one you have to see your need.

Romans 323 all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I know we think highly of ourselves but the Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Number two you have to see the cost.