Killing The Old Varmint

INTRO.- ILL.- Two snakes were out for a stroll, when one turned to the other and asked: "Are we poisonous?"

"Why no, we’re not", said the second.

Again the first snake asked, "Are you sure we’re not poisonous?" "Yes, we are definitely NOT poisonous."

Again the snake asked, "Are you sure we’re not poisonous?" "Yes, as a matter of fact, we are probably the most harmless snakes in the whole world. Why do you ask?" "I just bit my lip!!!"

Most people don’t think there is such a thing as a harmless snake. Most people consider them to be worthless and need to be killed.

ILL.- I was out fishing recently in the country and right in front of me there was a snake swimming along. He/she/it was only a few feet from me. I reached down with my fishing rod, which had a lure attached, and picked up that snake just as pretty as you please. And after I lifted it up out of the water then I wondered what I was going to do with it!

And I really thought I had the hook embedded into its body and therefore that meant I was going to have to kill that varmint to get my bait back. Fortunately for that snake, however, the hook was not embedded and he/she/it slithered right off the hook and back into the water.

Most people don’t have much love for snakes, especially, poisonous snakes. I don’t think this was a poisonous snake though. Still, snakes are not our favorite animals or pets.

If most people see a snake they either run from it or else kill the critter. Some varmints need to be killed.

And varmints, in whatever form, need to be terminated! But not all varmints are in the form of pesky animals.

ILL.- A rabbi asked a wealthy Jew for a loan of a few dollars. The Jew looked up innocently and asked, “Rabbi, didn’t you say yesterday in your sermon that to loan money on interest is the same as killing a person?”

“What?” the rabbi asked in surprise. “I do not intend to borrow on interest. I merely want a loan.”

“Oh, is that it?” the rich Jew retorted. “Then the case is even worse, for in that event I would be killing myself.”

Some things need to be killed in life. And it may be that in a certain way we need to kill ourselves!

Col. 3:5 “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature…”

What belongs to your earthly nature? Paul has quite a list for us. Here are some things that are a part of the earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed. Anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other.

Are you guilty of any of these? Have you ever been guilty? Well, yes, if we are honest about this we’re all guilty of some of these. For example, we may not impure but our dander may get out of control at times. What’s that? Anger.

What about filthy language? It depends on what you consider to be filthy. How about “do not lie to each other.” I’m pretty sure we’ve all told a few white lies. What’s that? A not-so-bad lie but still a lie!

Whatever varmint is tearing up our lives, we need to kill it or at least, put a whupping on it. How? Study. Prayer. Surrender. Service. There is not one single thing we can do to kill sin in our lives. But there are many things that we MUST do! The combination of these things will help to kill what is earthly in us. And it’s a constant work.

PROP.- In this text, there are some strong, powerful reasons for killing the earthly nature in us.

1- Because God is angry

2- Because the new has come

I. BECAUSE GOD IS ANGRY

Col. 3:5-6 “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.”

We must put to death whatever belongs to our earthly or sinful nature because God is angry at sin. His wrath is coming.

ILL.- Remember Ken Lay and the Enron scandal/swindle? "Ken" Lay (April 15, 1942 – July 5, 2006), was an American businessman, best known for his role in the widely-reported corruption scandal that led to the downfall of Enron Corporation. Lay and Enron became synonymous with corporate abuse and accounting fraud when the scandal broke in 2001. Lay was the CEO and chairman of Enron from 1986 until his resignation on January 23, 2002, except for a few months in 2001 when he was chairman and Jeffrey Skilling was CEO.

On July 7, 2004, Lay was indicted by a grand jury on 11 counts of securities fraud and related charges. On January 31, 2006, following four and a half years of preparation by government prosecutors, Lay’s and Skilling’s trial began in Houston.