Beware That Sin Seriously Destroys People Easily

Brethren, The Bible will keep you from sin, or it will keep you from the Bible. To explain my point, I will tell you a short story about a grasshopper that befriended a spider. “What’s the harm?”, he thought, while ignoring the risk. So, he lingered close to the web, letting his guard down as he began to engage in conversation. With time, he found himself drawn further into the web. He tried to lift his limbs but couldn’t fly away. In a flash, the spider wrapped him up in the layers of his trap, and the grasshopper went from life and freedom–to being the spider’s meal!

No one sets out to be entangled in a trap, but sometimes, like the grasshopper, the sin in our lives entangle us and render us spiritually immobile. Remember the sin that is most destructive in your life right now is the one you are most defensive. Think of how Satan drew Eve into his own web with cunning words and lies. (Genesis 3:1-6). Think also of the great power it has over our own hearts and minds if we aren’t careful.

As a runner we are to clear our path from the traps and snares that would bind our feet and cripple our race. Seems Eve should have done the same thing before the serpent (Satan) encompassed her! Nowadays “church” loves to pay attention to the “big sins” (the list keeps changing with the times e.g. today a sexual immorality, murder etc).To God the thought of classifying transgressions into “big ones” and “little ones” is wrong, “For he who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not murder.

So if you do not commit adultery, but you murder, you are a lawbreaker”-James 2:11.The reasons we love to focus on “big sins” isn’t because we are “standing up for truth,” but instead we are guided by judgment, pride and sin itself. (Romans 2). When we are busy looking at other people, we are neglecting the myriad of ways we neglect God daily (the Pharisee and tax collector mentality-Luke 18:9-14).

SIN DESTROYS US

As a pastor, I have heard it time and time again: “My sin does not hurt anyone else.” But remember that all sins brings separation from God (Isaiah 59:1-2).Sin is “… hatreds, drunkenness and anything similar–that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21). Your sin saps your church’s spiritual power (Joshua 7:1,25). It kills you, your spiritual life, and the spiritual life of your church. It is so easy for us to critic a sinful pastor… but I wonder how our neighbors’ speak about our transgressions behind closed doors. Or our spouses. Or our kids. Sin has an expiry date called death (Romans 6:23).So, run towards Jesus to avoid expiring (John 10:10)

We are too comfortable with sin’s presence in our lives. Sin is not a pet to tame but a beast to slay ((1 Corinthians 5:1-2). And, you cannot slay it on your own. That is why God sent Jesus.

Now days we tolerate open transgressions in our churches, in the name of “private, family matter.” But Paul is giving us a word of caution towards this matter (1 Corinthians 5:9-13). Brethren, a return to God’s mission begins with repentance before God’s standard. “…Now these things became examples for us, so that we will not desire evil as they did. Don’t become idolaters as some of them were as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to play.” (1 Cor. 10:1-7).

That’s why every day you and I have to die to self and live for Christ. According to Genesis 4:7 – transgression is crouching at your door. Some are flirting with it on the front porch. Some have invited it in and are letting it live in the guest room. Some have lived with the sin so long that they cannot remember life without it.

James 1:15 “Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when it is fully grown, it gives birth to death. “SIN GROWS. It will take you further than you want to go, cost you more than you want to pay, and keep you longer than you want to stay.

In Corinth, once the Corinthians were corrected by Paul, we find him commending them for their faith and ministry in 2 Corinthians…A repentant people is God’s most powerful instrument for ministry on earth. Stop trying to convince yourself that secret sin in your life and in the church will not hinder the mission of God. Instead, live a gospel-centred, repentance-filled life.

Pastor Nathaniel