Thank you. So if you look at your Bibles, turn to, well look at verse number four there,
1 John 3 and verse number four, the Bible reads, Whosoever commit of sin,
transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. The title for the
sermon tonight is The Destructive Nature of Sin, The Destructive Nature of Sin.
So it's important to preach on this topic because you know a lot of the Christian life,
you've got to, it's all about finding the right balance. A lot of your Christian living
is all about finding the balance. You don't want to go too extreme on one end and you don't want
to go too extreme on the other end. And when it comes to this topic of sin, there's a great
realisation that hits you hard sometimes after you're saved, after you realise you've been
delivered, is that I'm going to sin for the rest of my life. And you can kind of take,
like I said, two extreme years, maybe on one side where the believer realises, man, I've gone back
to my old sins, I once was zealous, I wanted to serve God, I wanted to do what's right,
and I'm just finding myself back in my old sins. I'm still finding pleasure in those sins that I
used to do, or maybe even newer sins that they weren't doing before. You know, they find themselves
doing it as a saved man. And one extreme position, which is incorrect, is to say, you know, woe is me,
a sinner, and oh man, how can God use me, I can't do anything for the Lord. And you just beat yourself
down and you stay in a depressed attitude, a depressed mood, and you know, you're just so
sorry for yourself, you know, and because you're in that state, you don't actually do any work for
God. Okay, that would be unbalanced, okay, because the realisation that hits you is that I'm going to
sin for the rest of my life till the day I die. And then the person over here on the other extreme
will say, well, since, you know, I'm just going to serve the Lord, praise God, I'm going to do what
God says that I'm going to do. And because I'm going to sin for the rest of my life, I'm just
going to continue in sin. And I'm just not going to give it a second thought because I just, you
know, what's the point, I'm going to sin till the day I die, I might as well just enjoy my sin,
I might as well just keep sinning, and they've got no concern about trying to change their life,
all right. They're not cast down, but they're on a different level of extreme and they don't care
about overcoming the sins in their life. Because hey, praise God, I'm saved, Jesus died for my sins,
hey, it makes no difference if I overcome sins in my life, I'm still going to heaven,
praise God, no, but here's the realisation that we need to be balanced, you know, that is extreme,
that is extreme, and we need to have a balanced view. So a lot of my sermons, I went back to look
at my sermons that I've preached over the time, you know, the months and years, and whenever I
preach on sin, I've kind of preached more about this person. And I'm like, hey, you've got to,
you know, put your past behind you, you've got to just realise that you're a sinner,
pick yourself up, go confess those sins to the Lord, and be useful for God and do something
productive. You know, I'm usually preaching to this guy here, okay. But this sermon is more about
this guy over here, the guy that's just gotten comfortable with his sins, he just says, well,
I'm saved anyway, I'm going to heaven anyway, so why should I make any effort to try to have victory
over my sins in my daily Christian life? So the sermon's for this guy, all right, and it's all
about getting you back over here, not over here, not over there, but right where God needs to be,
okay. So the destructive nature of sin, and the only way you can get away from these when you
wake up and you realise, man, sin is horrible. You know, sin is destroying my life. And as I said,
the title for the sermon tonight is the destructive nature of sin. Now when you look
at verse number four there, it says, Whosoever commit of sin transgresseth also the law,
for sin is, so it's going to define sin, for sin is the transgression of the law. Now the word
is in the English language, it's kind of like this verb. And you can almost use it when you think
about mathematics, it's kind of like the equal sign. So you could kind of say, for sin equals
the transgression of the law, okay. But you can also say it, you know, if you put it in that
sense in mathematics, you can also say it the other way around. You can also say the transgression of
the law equals sin, right. Both of those statements are true. And, you know, that's kind of like
saying, well, you know, Christian's father is Kevin. You can also say Kevin is Christian's
father, okay. Or you can use is in that sense where you can reverse it and they're both true,
okay, because it's kind of like saying this equals that. It doesn't matter which way you put it,
they're both saying the same thing. Or you might say, you know, five plus four equals nine,
all right, five plus four equals nine. Or you might say five plus four is nine, is or equals,
you know, these things can be used interchangeably. Or you could say nine is five plus four.
That would be true as well, all right, nine is five plus four. So this is important as we go
through some of these passages, because there's a few verses, and I didn't take all the passages
in the Bible, but there are many verses that say sin is something, but then you could also say it
the other way around, that is sin, okay. So this is important for you to sort of understand the
destructive nature of sin. Now, the first point that I have here is that sin makes you deserving
of hell, okay. Point number one, sin makes you deserving of hell, Romans 6 23, for the wages of
sin is death, right. And Revelation 21 eight, we know these verses so well, because we use these
often when you're preaching the gospel, Revelation 21 eight, but the fearful and unbelieving and the
abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have
their power in the lake, which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Now,
please go to John chapter three for me, go to John chapter three. One thing I want you to understand
is that sin makes you deserving of hell. But sin does not send you to hell. It just makes you
deserving of hell, okay. Because here's the thing, you still sin today, you still sin today,
and you're going to sin tomorrow. And that sin makes you deserving of hell, even if you're saved,
even if you're saved, even if you believed on Christ, your sin still makes you deserving of
hell. And this is where we get the doctrine of God's grace, because grace is unmerited
favour, okay. You deserve hell, but because of God's grace, He's not going to cast you into hell.
Because of God's grace, He sent Jesus Christ to be your substitute that He would die in your place,
so you can go free, okay. So believing on Jesus does not make you any less deserving of hell,
it just makes you saved. It takes you saved from hell. And actually look at John chapter three,
verse 18. What is it that sends someone to hell? It's John 3 18. He that believeth on him is not
condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already. Why? Because he has not believed in the
name of the only begotten Son of God. So sin makes us deserving of hell, but what sends us to hell
is not believing on Jesus Christ, okay. Look at the last verse in John three, John 3 36.
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not
see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. And there's no greater wrath of God than being
cast into hell fire for all eternity, right. So we see that it's actually not believing the gospel,
not believing on Jesus Christ, that actually sends us to hell, because we all have sinned,
and we all deserve to sin. Those that believe in Jesus deserve to go to hell. Those that don't
believe in Jesus deserve to go to hell, but we don't go to hell because we have believed on Jesus
and we've received the grace of God, okay. Undeserved favour, undeserved merit. Now another
passage that I want to turn, well actually you don't need to turn there. If you want to go to
James chapter two, go to James chapter two for me, and I'll read to you from first Corinthians 15
verse 54. Because not only does sin make you deserving of hell, but sin also determines the
severity of pain in hell. The ones that have sinned the greatest and the most, those that
have been the most wicked, those that have been reprobated before even going to hell,
are going to suffer the most in the fires of hell. This is found in first Corinthians 15 54. This is
to do with our resurrection. This has to do with our bodily resurrection, the rapture, but we may
miss, I think I've missed this point when I've covered first Corinthians 15 before, but it says
in verse 54, for when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, that's how our corruptible
bodies have our incorruptible bodies, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall
be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Now it says
this in verse number 55, oh death where is thy sting? So because we've been saved and not only
saved, we've got those new resurrected bodies, we can say to the power of death, we can say to death
where is your sting? Where is your pain? It doesn't hurt me anymore because I'm fully saved,
not just spiritually, but physically in those new bodies and I'm with Christ. So you can see
that there is a sting in death, and of course sting is a reference to something that is painful,
and then it says, oh grave where is thy victory? Verse number 56, the sting of death is sin,
okay, and the strength of sin is the law. Okay so notice that the sting of death is sin, so
how much sin you take with you to hellfire will determine how bad that sting is, and then it says
and the strength of sin is the law. So of course sin is a transgression of the law, so those that
have transgressed the law of God the most will face the harshest sting, will take the harshest
pain in the lowest hells. Okay so that's just the reality, you know, sin makes us deserving of hell
and also for those that do not believe in Christ also determines how much they're going to be in
pain in the fires of hell. Alright so sin makes you deserving of hell. Point number two, you guys
have turned to James chapter 2 verse 10, sin makes you guilty. You know sin ought to make you guilty,
you know feel guilty, yeah maybe, but so even if you don't feel guilty you are guilty, right,
I mean there are times that I've sped, right, I've broken the law and I've gotten a fine,
right, and I don't feel guilty, it's like come on it's just you know five kilometres over the
limit, but I was guilty, I did break the law, right, and this is James chapter 2 and 2 verse 10 says
for whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offending one point he is guilty of all, for he
that said do not commit adultery said also do not kill, now if thou commit no adultery yet if thou
kill thou art become a transgressor of the law. So there's the transgression of the law again,
not only have you transgressed the law but your label, your title is a transgressor of the law,
but as it's said there in verse number 10 he is guilty of all. You commit one sin, you've broken
the laws of God, the whole thing, the whole thing you failed, you failed at keeping the whole thing.
So you know you might say I'm striving to live right, I'm striving to do this and especially
as an unsaved person that's trying to live godly, you know just one lie makes them guilty of the
entire law, makes them a transgressor in the eyes of God and this is why we of course need the grace
of God and so you know understanding sin and understanding the destructive nature of sin
also helps us understand the love of God, helps us understand the grace and the mercy of God
because we've transgressed against him and when someone transgresses against me I want to see that
person get punished, I want to see that person right get the full measure of judgment for
transgressing against me and yet God is different you know he says no you know what that's something
that I don't enjoy, I'd rather see these people saved, I'm willing to send my son because I love
the world and it's just an amazing amazing love that God has you know it's beyond what we can
sort of express in ourselves you know it's so amazing to think about what Christ has done for
us. Now please go to Proverbs 21, Proverbs 21, Proverbs 21 because sin ought to make you feel
guilty you know that and if you if you if you commit sin and you don't feel guilty about it
there's something wrong with your heart you know especially as a saved person you have the holy
ghost in you, you've got the new man, when you sin there ought to be a prompting in you that says
I messed up you know I failed God once again, I'm guilty for what I did all right and here's
the situation in Proverbs 21 verse 4 and this is my third point you know sin makes you proud
you know if you're not quick to confess it if you're not quick to go and get it right with God
you're going to start just making excuses you're you're going to stop going to the Lord and confess
in those sins and you're just going to be proud. Proverbs 21 verse 4 says and high look and a proud
heart and the plowing of the wicked is sin. So remember how we can put it the other way around
sin is a high look, sin is a proud heart, sin is the plowing of the wicked. When it says that the
plowing of the wicked it's not that plowing you know plowing seeds and growing the harvest is
sinful but because these are wicked people and you see the context of of being proud in heart
and having that high look it's because someone that has sinned against the Lord a wicked person
who has no regard for the Lord when they are productive when they do go and harvest they will
account that for themselves they'll say well look what I have done and they won't acknowledge they
won't give thanksgiving to God for the seed for the rain for the soil they won't give thanks to
God they will just boast of themselves and so sin makes you proud and when you refuse to go to the
Lord and when you refuse to to be guilty before the Lord I'm talking about someone that's saved
now okay and you just want to you need to have that sweet fellowship with God you're going to
get hardened in the heart you're going to have pride in your heart and say well God I'm a sinner
anyway I'm going to sin till the day I die I'm you know so what who cares Lord and you have this
attitude of making excuses for your sins when really you should just be guilty should just lower
your eyes in a you know in the face of a righteous God and say God please help me be humble help me
to get this sin out of my life I don't want to be someone that's a wicked person that plows
and praises myself no Lord I want to be someone that if I plow and I'm productive that I'm
I'm recognizing you I'm giving you thanks because I am sinful because I am weak the only reason I
can be productive is because of your hand your hand of provision because of your hand of grace
and so sin makes you proud okay and you know don't have this attitude that I can just serve God and
I'm going to sin for the rest of my life who cares well you're going to become a very proud person
a very prideful person now I won't get you to turn here but Romans 14 verse 22
my next point sin makes you faithless sin will hurt your faith in the Lord okay sin makes you
faithless the Bible says in Romans 14 22 hast thou faith have it to thyself before God
happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth and he that doubteth
is damned if he eats because he eateth not of faith for whatsoever is not of faith is sin
so again just think about it the other way around sin is that which is not of faith whatsoever is
not a faith okay sin is whatsoever is not of faith so when you're in a state of sin and you're
you know and this is the this is the reality of sinning you have at that point in time when you've
committed that sin you've been faithless toward God you say God I know this is wrong but it gives
me enjoyment it's something that I want to do my old man wants to do it the flesh delights in it
Lord I know it's breaking your your commandments hey but I'm safe and you're lacking the faith to
acknowledge and to understand that you're trespassing against the Lord God you're the
creator of all things who's given you life who's given you salvation who's given you the word of
God who's given you the blessings on this earth and blessings in heaven and you forget that for
that brief moment of time and you say yes even though I know it's wrong I'm going to do it anyway
hey that's a lack of faith and again you continue down that road you're going to find yourself with
less and less faith you know when you read this book you're going to not be able to believe or
understand and appreciate the beautiful words of God you know which are more precious than gold
and you're not going to be able to you know receive those things in faith you know our
Christian life is all about going from faith to faith we do things faithfully following the
commandments of God knowing that if I do what God says that I need to do that I'm going to be right
with him that is going to bless me that I'm not going to destroy my life and when you lack the
faith well that's when you start to destroy your life because you don't have the faith that what
God's word says is true and you start living however you think you need to live you know faith
makes you sorry sin makes you faithless how can you pray without faith how can you go to the Lord
without faith you know you continue down that rabbit hole of sin it's going to hurt your faith
you're in you're in problems please go to psalm 51 go to psalm 51
psalm 51
one sin makes you feel dirty sin makes you feel dirty that's my next point okay I mean have you
ever been filthy and you just you just you know maybe you've you've worked hard you sweated
maybe you've gotten messy and you know you just you can't wait to get into that shower
all right I mean just today just before church I couldn't wait to just have a shower you know
just just to be clean and come to church and have a little bit of a shave and just be fresh you know
well sin makes you feel dirty like that like you do on the outside wanting that shower
it that's it makes you feel dirty on the inside look at psalm 51 verse 2 psalm 51 verse number 2
this is a psalm of David which he he wrote after committing adultery with Bathsheba
but then he says in verse number 2 wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me
from my sin how did David feel after he was you know called out for the sin that he committed
of adultery he felt dirty he felt unclean this whole time all right and and now he says look
god just wash me can you clean me I need a shower I need to be washed in fact some sins that you do
in the body you may just feel like I need to have a shower all right just to feel like you've been
cleansed but it's only a bodily cleanse and you're still filthy on the inside you know the
lord you know wants you to come to him to be clean to be clean it feels so good to be clean
all right it feels so good to have a shower put on some fresh clothes you know instead of just
stinking up the place right sin makes you feel dirty it's going to have that effect on your life
look at some look at verse number seven same same psalm psalm 51 verse number seven
he says purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean wash me and I shall be whiter than snow so he
mentions it twice in this passage David's like I'm so dirty lord I can't get this off me can you
clean me can you wash me lord he's asking for forgiveness he's he's finally bringing himself
down in humility and saying god I've messed up I need to be washed I need to be clean you know
and this man's already saved this man's already saved but even as a safe person if you find
yourself constantly in sin you're going to just feel that dirty you're not gonna you're not going
to enjoy life okay you're not going to be able to appreciate life because you just have that
filthiness in you please go to John 13 John 13 verse number three and when it comes to this topic
John 13 is one of my favorite passages dealing with this topic John 13 this is of course Jesus
at the at the last supper Jesus at the last supper John 13 and verse number three
says Jesus knowing that the father had given all things into his hands and that he was come from
God and went to God he riser from supper and laid aside his garments and took a towel and girded
himself so this is the story after the supper he gets ready to wash his disciples feet all right
and don't miss the spiritual lesson in the story okay yes this is about the need to serve one
another absolutely don't forget that but at the same time there's a greater spiritual truth in
this and it says in verse number five after that he poureth water into a basin and began to wash
the disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded then cometh he to
Simon Peter and Peter said unto him Lord dost thou wash my feet Jesus answered and said unto him
what I do thou knowest not now see what he's saying is you don't get what I'm doing look if
this was just to wash his feet just to be a servant why would Jesus says look you don't
really get what I'm doing right now there's a greater spiritual truth is what Jesus is telling
Simon Peter okay what I do what I do thou knowest not now but thou shalt know hereafter so you'll
understand it in due time verse number eight Peter saith unto him thou shall never wash my feet
okay so I can understand Peter I mean if Jesus walked in these doors right now and
you know he wanted to wash your feet you'd probably like Lord why let me wash your feet
let me get down Lord and get some water and a towel and I'll wash your feet Lord you know you
it'll be uncomfortable to think you know that Jesus Christ would come and wash your feet so
I can understand Peter I can understand Peter's reaction here and then he what Jesus answered
verse number eight Jesus answered him if I wash thee not thou hast no part with me no part you
either let me wash your feet Peter or you've got I can't have anything to do with you I can't be
around you that's what Jesus is saying right verse number nine Simon Peter saith unto him Lord not my
feet only but also my hands and my head so you can see how he reacts right this is what I'm talking
about the Christian life you need a balance all right the right thing is for Jesus to wash your
feet when you're saved you need your feet washed Peter's like a little bit unbalanced going look
just wash it all from top to bottom but that's not what Jesus needed to do for him Jesus just needed
to wash his feet look at verse number 10 Jesus saith unto him he that is washed needeth not so
if you're washed you don't need to be washed again all right not save or accept to wash his
feet but he's clean every wit and ye are clean but not all for he knew who should betray him
therefore said he ye are not all clean so what's the lesson here he says like you're all clean
except one and that one of course was Judas Iscariot okay so when he says you're all clean
he's referring to the fact that they're saved do they believe on Jesus Christ
understand that but even those that are saved and believed on Jesus Christ yes they've been
washed from top to bottom but they still needed their feet cleaned they still needed their feet
washed okay so this is a picture of our lives we're clean we're washed top to bottom once saved
always saved you don't need to be cleaned again okay it's been done but our feet represent our
life we go about like our feet represent even soul winning right your soul win talks about
your beautiful feet you get out there you do the works of God hey you can you can have beautiful
feet as you serve the Lord and you preach the gospel but you can also have very filthy feet
because you're going to sin for the rest of your life you're going to sin to the day that you die
and as you go about life you're going to be accumulating more and more dirt on your feet
and if you're here and you're like well God you know I want to serve you Lord I want to go so
anyone to be in church but you have all you've gathered your feet are dirty you're filthy
with all your sins you've not confessed them you've not gone to the Lord to be cleaned
well what did Jesus say that you'll have no part with him you can't have fellowship with the Lord
you know and I don't want your faith I don't want your Christianity to be all in vain you know
where you're on the outward everyone thinks you're right with God everyone sees your work that you're
trying to serve the Lord but you've got your feet dirty your feet are dirty and you need to get them
cleaned and the reason you've not gone to confess your sins is because you're like Peter all right
what did he say again thou shall never wash my feet said Peter oh don't stay there learn the
lesson okay because if you never have your feet washed you can't have sweet fellowship with Jesus
Christ Jesus Christ can't use you for his service okay everything else that you do if you're not
if you're not doing it with Christ if you're not doing it in the new man it's just vain it's it's
all vanity it's just vain attending church it's got no purpose there's there's no reason it doesn't
help you unless you you've got clean feet unless you've got a clean heart so that's why I'm saying
it's so important yeah you know yeah I want to serve God but whatever who cares my sins I just
you know I'm just going to put up I'm going to keep sinning because I know never overcome it
it's a wrong attitude to have because then you have no part with Jesus Christ and I know the
reason you want to serve God is because you want to be with Christ because you want to be with the
Lord you want to fellowship with God and so it's so important that you realize what sin does to
your life yes we know about the unsaved and they're deserving of hell and you're not going
to go to hell praise God but while you live this earth these 70 80 90 100 years that you have I
want you to be with Jesus Christ I want you to be in fellowship with Christ I want you to be as
productive as you can as you serve God in your life and so you have to understand just how
filthy sin is even in our day-to-day life how Jesus says look I've got to wash your feet
and look Jesus was willing to wash his feet praise God that we have a God who's willing to do that
it's amazing to think that we can go to to God and say God please forgive me
please cleanse me please wash me it's so important to preach this I don't know why a lot
of churches don't preach on this I don't get it it's so important you miss this part you're kind
of just spinning your wheels for the Lord you know it's so important that you go and you confess your
sins to the Lord now please go to our I'll get you to turn to Galatians chapter 6 go to Galatians
chapter 6 what else does sin do for you to your life you know sin leaves lasting consequences
you're going to have consequences of your sins now when it comes to maybe the smaller sins maybe not
so much but significant serious sins you know fornication adultery I mean even drunkenness
and addiction to hard drugs and things like that can have significant lasting consequences in your
life and the Bible says in Psalm 51 remember this is the same Psalm that David wrote about Bathsheba
and asking God for forgiveness but in verse number three he says for I acknowledge my transgressions
and my sin is ever before me he goes it's it's like it's not he's not saying that God won't
forgive him of course God will forgive him but it says look the consequences of this
and we know that the Lord punished him for that great sin and he's you know his his children
died certain deaths and the kingdom was split and all those kinds of things because of his sin and
but then he says this yeah he says and my sin is ever before me there are lasting consequences to
your sins you know and you've got to be careful go to in Galatians Galatians chapter 6 Galatians
chapter 6 and verse number 7 Galatians chapter 6 verse number 7 be not deceived God is not mocked
for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap for he that soweth to the flesh
soweth sorry flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the spirit
shall the spirit reap life everlasting be not deceived God is not mocked when you sin God
knows all about it I don't know about it your family might not know about it your friends may
not know about it you may think I got away with it nobody found out nobody knows God is not mocked
and he's going to bring it up and you pay the consequences for it you're going to reap what
you sow what they say for he that soweth to the to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption
sin has a lasting consequence on this earth it can hurt you mentally it can hurt you
emotionally it leaves scars you can be you can be leaving scars in the lives of other people
that love you and that care for you say what do I do pastor Kevin I keep sinning well just
understand how serious let's start there let's just understand how serious sin is you're
transgressed in the law of God you know you you every sin you know even when you've sinned against
a brother in the Lord yes you've sinned against them but you've sinned against the Lord as well
any sin you've committed you've transgressed against the Lord you know you've been an offense
toward the Lord God start there and just realize God I've messed up I've messed up Lord and we know
God we know he's full of wrath we know he's got that hand of chastisement and and we know that
you know he has to set things right he has to be a righteous judge okay but you don't want to be
stuck in your sins and just wait for the hand of God to bring chastisement in your life I mean
that's a scary thought to just think aren't God how long is it going to take just go and confess
it just go and get your feet washed just go and beg for the mercy of God for the long suffering
that God has the great love that he has for you so the chastisement can be a lot lighter okay and
you can still learn the lesson because what's the chest what's chastisement about it's about
profiting you it's so you can learn so you can grow so you can change but if a lot of the growth
and change has already happened Lord that was wrong please forgive me then his channel chastisement
does not have to be as severe it's when you're full of pride and your heart into the Lord and
you don't go to the Lord you're ashamed to even face him then expect his chastisement to be a lot
harder a lot harder because you've hardened yourself toward the Lord and that leads me to
my next point in Numbers 32 verse 23 you don't need to turn there it says but if you will not
do so behold ye have sinned against the Lord and be sure your sin will find you out this is
100 sure okay be sure your sin will find you out listen you can't hide it forever my point is that
sin will expose you sin one day you think you're doing fine you think you're coasting along just
fine everyone thinks that you know you're powering for the Lord and you're having victory over sin
and you've got those hidden sins in your life at some point you're going to be exposed if you don't
go and get those things right with the Lord if you don't go to the Lord and ask him for his
powerful help to overcome those sins that you have sin will expose you and I don't want you to be
we've seen it with the pastor in America didn't we how he lived his double life of prostitutes and
gambling all that okay one that what happened his sin found him out now what he's destroyed
his testimony he's destroyed his reputation okay his wife probably doesn't trust him now
like she used to right I mean there's there's destruction there's lasting consequences
but he's been exposed he's been exposed and it's just it's shameful you know it's all over the
internet these things you know it's all over the place and he'll never be able to escape that
that's part of the consequence of his sin he should have just got it right with the Lord
he should have just admitted to the Lord he should have just he just should have got right
with the Lord as soon as that temptation came his way okay I don't want you to be like that
pastor you probably won't you probably won't be exposed to that level of course pastors
they've got a greater condemnation if they really mess things up so you know I'm preaching to myself
as much as you guys because I don't want to you know destroy my reputation where all these sins
come out and look I'm a sinner you're a sinner we sin and the most important part again brethren is
that you go and you get it right with the Lord all right now the next point that I have if you
can please go to James chapter four go to James chapter four in your bibles
is that sin makes God seem distant okay if you're right now saying to me I just God just seems so
far away I just feel like he's not I don't know where he is then it's it's sin it's it's personal
sin that you have at the moment that's causing you to feel that way in Psalm 51 verse 11 it says
cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me King David felt like man
this sin of Bathsheba I'm so far away from where is the presence of the Lord is he going to take
away the Holy Spirit I mean he feels so far from the Lord and that's what sin does okay because
what did Jesus says you have you have no part with me if you don't let me wash your feet so this is
the consequence here King David feeling that way you're in James chapter four and verse number
eight James chapter four and verse number eight says draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to
you hey that's beautiful beautiful okay we often preach about that draw nigh to God and God will
be closer to you but if that's true then the opposite will be true all right if you distance
this distance yourself from God if you don't draw an eye to God all he's gonna be very distant from
you right I mean if you want God to be nigh to you near to you you've got to go near to him
but if you're not going near to him you go in the opposite direction or God will feel very very far
from from you and yeah his presence may not be felt you may feel like that you're praying to
your ceiling you know your ceilings hit the roof and they bounce back down they're not reaching
the Lord you can't see the hand of God's blessing your life it's probably because you have unconfessed
sin you've got some issue but look at look at the end of verse number eight cleanse your hands
you sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded
so it's impossible for me to overcome this sin that I have then why does it say cleanse your
hands you sinners purify your hearts why is it there if it's impossible to overcome that
habitual sin that you've got in your life listen I'm not I'm not preaching sinless perfection here
I'm not saying that you'll never ever you can get to a point where you'll never sin again
until you know you die or you're the rapture or whatever right I'm not saying that
but you must understand just how serious sin is and God wants you to cleanse your hands he wants
your your your your hearts to be purified double-minded you know this is talking about
where we sin we can sin with our hands we can sin in our body all right we can sin in our hearts we
can sin in our minds these are all different places that we can commit sin and of course the
sins of the mind in the heart they're the most sneaky ones because no one sees them at least the
ones in your body people can sort of find out about it but the ones that are deep down you know
and buried well only God can see them and God can see them that doesn't mean that's still God can
still expose you you know you're still going to to reap what you sowed even with those sinful things
that you have in your heart in your mind um you got to get those things right you've got to want
to be able to overcome sin uh and please go to uh please go to Romans chapter wait let me think
about this let me actually go to Proverbs go to Proverbs I don't want to turn to every reference
but uh if you go to Proverbs I'm going to read to you from Romans chapter 8 verse 7
this kind of ties into the point that I mentioned before where we have no part with God where your
service for God can be in vain but the next point that I have here is that sin will cause your
worship to be in vain sin will cause your worship to be in vain in Romans chapter 8 verse 7 it says
because the carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God
neither indeed can be so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God
you know I've preached this before and even especially if you're a preacher if you come
up here behind the pulpit and you have an opportunity to preach if you come in the flesh
you're not going to please God cannot please God okay you come with that carnal mind you come with
that enmity that sin against the Lord you haven't set those things right well you're not going to
what's the point why you why are you preaching them all right it's so important and uh you know
part of the thing you know I want you know preachers I've said let's start using our
ties you know we didn't start with our tires and and come dress nice you know come because I want
that to be a reflection of the inside when you put your tie on in the mirror you come to preach
or you come to song lead you know you look at yourself in the mirror you say well I look
presentable on the outside I want that to be a reminder sharp reminder I better be right on the
inside hey before I get behind the pulpit before I suddenly before I preach God can you please
forgive me for what I've done today I want to I want to get into the house of God with a clean
heart you know please help me to be a service to the brethren I don't want my worship I don't want
my service to be in vain for you I want you to have maximum treasures in heaven I want you to
have more I want everything you do in this church anytime you serve the brethren for God to lay up
another gold brick up up there right I don't want it to be just a waste you know just and the outward
outward show just to please man no we should desire to please God now did I get to turn to
Proverbs Proverbs okay go to Proverbs 24 verse number 9 Proverbs 29 sorry 24 verse 9
because sin will cause you to lose wisdom okay you might be wise right now you get into some
heavy sins you're going to start finding yourself become very stupid okay you'll cause you to lack
wisdom Proverbs 24 verse 9 the thought of foolishness is sin and the scorner is an
abomination to men but I want you to think about that again the thought of foolishness is sin
that's correct but wouldn't it just be as correct to say sin is the thought of foolishness so what
I'm trying to say to you brethren is when you sin you are doing foolishly that's not wisdom when you
break God's commandments that's not being wise that's being foolish that's being stupid you're
not going you're not listening to the Lord you're not doing what he says when you sin hey it's a
thought of foolishness and the problem there brethren again if you don't get things right
with God you just leave it hanging around you're going to become stupid you because foolishness
is the opposite of wisdom and God you know the Bible says the fear of God is the beginning of
wisdom it's the beginning of knowledge without the fear of God you're in a sinful place you're
hardened against God you're in a state of foolishness and you're going to pick up the Bible
and try to read it and you're not going to get it it's not going to make sense the things that
you once made sense you're going to read it again you're like why can't I get this it's because
you got foolish because because you got stupid you need the new man you need the Holy Spirit
to empower you to read this book and when you're stopping the Holy Spirit from doing that when
you're in the carnal flesh you're going to pick up this book and you go I can't I don't get what's
going on there I got it before what's going on it's because you've got unconfessed sin you've
got dirty feet you know you've gotten foolish you've lost the wisdom that God can give you
through the Holy Spirit and the new man and uh proverbs go to 15 verse 15 sorry chapter 15
proverbs chapter 15 and verse number seven proverbs chapter 15 and verse number seven
it says the lips of the wise disperse knowledge but the heart of the foolish do if not so
okay so how important like I said a preacher right you want to be right with God before you
preach because you want to be wise you want to get here open the word of God and uh disperse
knowledge you want people to learn something from the word of God you can only do it if you're right
with God if you're if you're messed up and you've got sin and you're you're not you're going to be
what the foolish right but the heart of the foolish do if not so you're not going to be
able to be a blessing to the church you're not going to be able to edify the church just some
other passages psalm 73 verse 3 says for I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity
of the wicked so this psalmist says look I'm curvature so I see how the wicked seem to flourish
in this world but then he says so he calls them foolish but then in the same psalm in verse number
22 he says so foolish was I an ignorant and I was as a beast before thee he says like I'm a dumb
animal I've become foolish I thought they were foolish and I started to covet after worldliness
and sinfulness and and living ungodly and I now realize I'm the dumb animal I'm the foolish one
that's the reality of sin it makes you a fool it makes you a stupid animal or a dumb
animal now uh if you can please go to uh psalm 16 psalm 16 actually hebrews go to hebrews 11
go to hebrews 11 I try to get you to turn to places where you're not gonna
have to turn far to another place but hebrews 11 verse 24
what I want to say here is that sin will cause you to be displeased
discomforted and unhappy displeased this discontent and unhappy hebrews chapter 11
verse 24 says by faith moses when he was come to years refused to be called the son of pharaoh's
daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of god than to enjoy the pleasures of
sin for a season all right so is there pleasure in sin absolutely that's why you see that's why I
sin because for that brief period of time it was something we wanted to do it give it gave us some
type of pleasure but is it pleasures forever more all right it's it's it's a pleasure for a season
all right so you commit the sin you got a brief moment of pleasure and now you're miserable you're
not you the pleasure is gone you're displeased you're unhappy you're discouraged that's what
sin does it tricks you it makes you think if you do it you'll be pleased yeah for a moment you are
and then it's gone and now you're displeased now you're discontented now you're unhappy
okay and again that's kind of the the extreme that I said about this guy this christian oh man
I'm such a sin I can't do anything for god he's displeased because he's sinned but he
you've got to get up though okay because you've got to live for the lord all right so he's got
some of that right attitude he realizes sin is extremely wicked right but he's unable to do
anything productive for god and um I say this because not only does sin cause you to feel that
way this consent unhappy and this without pleasure is this causes sin to be addictive
sin is addictive why because when you did it it gave you that brief moment of pleasure
and now it's gone say but I want that pleasure back so you go back to the sin
and you get that pleasure again it's gone what well you go back to that sin because that's
and then what the pleasure is gone now and well and you go back to it becomes addictive
this is like a drug addict this is like a drunkard right for a moment they take their
drugs they take their alcohol it gives them pleasure for a season and then it's gone
it's like oh man where'd that go and then they're well the only thing that gives me some pleasure
is another drink of a beer and they have another beer and for a moment makes you feel good
in a moment it gives you a bit of a buzz it gives you a bit of a high maybe you're even happy
for a brief moment of time but then it's gone yeah okay so that's how these things become
addictive sin is addictive because there is pleasure but the pleasure is short-lived and
the only way that you may feel that I can get that pleasure is again is going back to that same sin
over and over and over and over again before you're a complete drunkard before you've you
know you've destroyed your your mind mentally with drugs but even the sins that may not destroy
you physically like that is destroying you internally it's destroying you
and your relationships it's destroying your perspective of life and destroying your
your family and and your relationship with god it's it's destroying all these things
and you don't even realize because it's so addictive you keep going back
to those sins over and over again you know so sin is addictive and I'll just read you Psalm 16 11
it says that will show me the path of life in thy presence in the listen in the presence of god
in thy presence is fullness of joy and thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore
hey we're all seeking pleasure don't we want to live these lives and be happy
don't you want to go to your grave and say man I enjoyed life I'm so thankful I got to live out
this period of time you know I got to enjoy what god has laid out I got to be happy hey I might not
have been rich but I was happy I had joy that's what I want for you that's what I want for myself
but you're not going to find that in sin you're going to find pleasures forevermore
at the right hand okay of god at the in the presence of god again what did you say to peter
you don't get your feet washed you have no part in me and if you've got no part in jesus you've
got no part with god you're not going to have those pleasures forevermore okay this is an
eternal pleasure of course we're going to have pleasure in heaven okay forevermore is eternity
but I want it now don't you I don't want to wait till I have to go to heaven to be happy for the
rest of my life I want to be happy now I want to get things right with god and enjoy my life
and face it yes god I'm a sinner yes god I keep sitting but I need you I need you to forgive me
god because the sin nature you know all about it since adam you know I'm I'm I'm just like
anybody else you know I've got this sin nature god and I need you to keep forgiving me I need
you to give me the power to overcome these sins so in conclusion brethren I'll get you to turn
to because you're in hebrew so go to hebrew chapter 10 now go to hebrew chapter 10
so this isn't a sermon about how to overcome sin that can be from another time this is a sermon
just so you understand the seriousness of your sins I don't want you to be over here where you're
so comfortable in your sins right well who cares you know I'm gonna sin anyway that's a bad place
to be you're unbalanced you need to get over here first you start over here first you get the
balance then you'll be able to start having victory over those sins but in hebrew chapter
10 in verse number 15 it says where of the holy ghost also is a witness to us for after that
he had said before this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days save the lord
I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them and their sins
and iniquities will I remember no more so this covenant is the new covenant if you've entered
that new covenant this is true for you okay you're saved okay the new testament if you're
saved this is true for you god says I've written my laws in your hearts and in your minds okay
and we know what's in again the transgression of the law so first thing I want you to understand is
if you're in touch with the spirit of god if you're in the presence of god you're walking
the new man god doesn't even have to tell you it's written your heart you know what is sinful
in fact I'll just read another passage Romans 2 14 says for when the gentiles which have not
the law do by nature the things contained in the law these having not the law are a law unto
themselves which show the work of the law written in their hearts their conscience also bearing
witness and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another what
Romans 2 is saying is that even the unsaved gentiles have some of the law of god written
in their heart they understand they don't necessarily need the bible to understand what
certain what certain things are right and wrong but even more so as a believer someone that's in
the new covenant in that new man through the holy spirit of god you're going to know whether what
I'm doing here is sinful or whether it's righteous okay what I'm trying to say is you've got to get
in touch with your conscience you've got to get in touch with the holy spirit of god you've got
to be in the new man and so when that temptation comes it's not just this I just fall over and
I've sinned it's like the temptations then you're like what you have to understand is if I sin if I
do this sin I'm a transgressor of god and I'm going to cause him displeasure and I'm going to be
unhappy after I do this you just got to realize that you've got to just wake up before you commit
that sin when that temptation comes say am I willing to upset the lord am I willing to do
what's wrong am I willing to just go for that small season of sin hey that's where you start
just understand that god wants you you don't you don't need to be carrying your bible 24 7
and every time you're tempted you need to work out or is this right or wrong god it's actually
written in your hearts it's actually in your minds it's amazing thing okay but here's what's
beautiful about the bible okay because obviously if that law is written in our
hearts and our minds it's going to be compatible it's going to be consistent with what we see in
the word of god and in romans chapter 3 verse 20 it says therefore by the deeds of the law
there shall no flesh be justified in his sight for by the law is a knowledge of sin so for
we so by the law is a knowledge of sin so here's the thing and here's what I want you to be thinking
about uh in the coming weeks uh if you are especially struggling with this sin especially
if you're someone that struggles to get right with god when you do sin is you need to understand that
it's through the law the floor of god is going to tell you whether you are fully like understanding
the commandments and the laws of god that are written in your heart and in your mind this is
how you test it you test it through the word of god and when you realize that you're committing
certain things and you enjoy it and it doesn't upset you and you're full of pride and you don't
want to face god and you want to you don't want to be humble about it then you're out of whack
you're out of whack you need the the bible to show you where you're wrong and you already know in
your heart but if you if you're if you're not compatible in that sense you really need the
word of god to show you what that sin is okay to just clear that up in your hearts and in your mind
but that's that's basically my conclusion right now guys I just want you to understand
it's a serious thing sin is serious and I don't want to be one of these pastors that don't preach
against sin you know there are a lot of churches and a lot of pastors that just do not preach
against sin now I'm preaching about sin in general okay and you know people are left just thinking
well I can just you know I'm just always right with god and they don't see the hand of god in
their lives they don't see people getting saved they don't see knowledge growing of the bible
they don't see themselves doing anything in the local church because they think they're they're
fine they think they're right they think that they're part they're fellowshiping with jesus
and jesus says look I've gotten you're so far away from me I'm really not fellowshiping with you
all of that work that you're doing is in vain and I want you to really enjoy life I want you
to get a hold of those pleasures forever more you know generally speaking I'm pretty a happy person
generally speaking right because I realize that the pleasures are you know that's going to give
you so much joy is just being right with god just always sitting god at the right hand and when I
sin I just gotta say god I'm so sorry I just gotta bow my head and say lord I'm a pastor even I
should be sitting a better example than this and you know but the sin nature and the lord hey is
willing to forgive you he's willing to clean you of your feet and make them beautiful again to be
able to do the works of god and that's god's desire for you but the first step brethren is
for you to realize just how awful how terrible sin is so I hope you know this sermon brings
that back into your minds all right let's pray