Captive To Sin

I have had many people who come to me right after coming out of prison, after serving time, looking for some help. They begin with good intentions, they want to start life over , they need a job , a place to stay , and a chance to start life over.

In the weeks just following, some of the same people come up to me and say , Pastor Mike, forgive me , because I’m going to go and commit a crime .

I have to go get myself arrested, thrown in jail because I just can’t make it out here, it is too hard. I’m not good enough to find a job or a place to stay.

Sounds pretty tragic, doesn’t it. We think that type of punishment is reserved for those who don’t know any better, or that lack the proper morals or upbringing

Today you will find out that this behavior isn’t so rare, but effects many people that you know , your family , friends , neighbors , and even yourselves.

Even more people, have people told me I can’t handle the Christian life . It is too hard, I can do it for a little while, but I’ll never be good enough , I need to go back into the world, and you know what , I never see them again.

The reason for this is sin. Sin is a battle, it is an all out war , that is launched on believers. And we all know what happens war, people get hurt, people get robbed, some people lose everything.

This is the one area where Christians and the church have it all backwards, when they see someone fall, when they see someone fail , they treat them like the enemy , the instinct is to run away, and leave them on their own .

Now what would happen in the army if a soldier saw another under attack on the battlefield, wounded , and ran away and left him on his own ? He would be labeled a coward, a deserter a traitor, He would be kicked out of the military.

Israel had 6 cities that were called cities of refuge where people who made an accidental crime could run to for shelter.

Isn’t that what the church should be , a place where people can run to when they need forgiveness ?

Mark 2:17 And hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

That’s why Jesus said It’s not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick .

Sin is the evidence of a battle raging on a believer; a person under attack by Satan, and then what do most Christians, Avoid them, distance from them , and desert them.

When this happens , the person is now being attacked on all fronts, Satan is attacking them on one front, and the church is attacking them on the other.

You know why you feel so bad when you sin? it’s not that complicated, it’s because you lost a battle, you have been defeated. But take heart the all is not lost , it’s not over yet , you will come back , you will saher in the victory .

1 Peter 2:11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.

When I hear of a believer that has fallen into sin the first feeling is heart break. The wounds of sin cut so deep, they penetrate the soul , and believers find themselves in the spiritual war of their life .

Then Sin turns into bondage, sin holds people prisoners.

Peter calls us foreigners and exiles. That we are in a foreign land.

Remember when Israel was in a foreign land, they were in Egypt held captive by Pharaoh

We all know how they got there, there was a great famine in the land, life was extremely tough .

What Egypt promised was relief from troubles, Egypt had everything needed , grain, fields and water fruits . But just a short time things took a change for the worse. The king had died , the Jews outnumbered the Egyptians and the Egyptians felt threatened

Exodus 2: 23Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God.

Israel got trapped in a bad situation, stuck in bondage, slaves to the world.

You ask yourself, why don’t people just turn and walk away from sin? Just stop and leave that bad world and that bad behavior behind?