21 Reasons Not To Sin Pt. 3
I. The Word Is Your Weapon
Praise the Lord!!!
How many in here have been enjoying this series?
I don’t know about you, but it has truly blessed me!
It has truly been a help meet to me!
And it also serves as a tool in our everyday battles
with the enemy.
See over the past few weeks we’ve covered so many
of the pitfalls that come from sin,
That the enemy doesn’t even want to try and bother
me. Amen?
You say well why is that Pastor?
It’s because he knows that He can’t contend with
the Word of God,
And over the last few weeks we’ve really gotten into
alot of scripture!
We’ve gotten so far into the Word of God,
Especially that portion of scripture which helps us
overcome the temptations of the enemy,
That he doesn’t even want a piece of it. Amen?
But how many knows that he’ll try you anyway?
He knows you’ve got the Word, but He wants to see
if you’ll use it.
Don’t never think that you’re exempt from the
tempting of the enemy.
Don’t ever be blind-sided by one of Satan’s fiery
darts,
No matter how strong you are in the Lord don’t
ever let your guard down,
Cause the cords of sin will tie up a strong man.
Amen?
Satan knows that you’re a born again, bible
believing, child of the Living God,
But he just wants to make sure. Amen?
He prides himself with the ability to lead away the
saints of God with the things of this world,
And though it’s sad, how many knows that he’s
quite often successful?
You say well Pastor I’ve got enough word in me
that I ain’t worried about the enemy.
Well let me ask you a question.
You don’t think Jesus had enough word in Him?
See Satan knew that Jesus had the word, and was
the word made flesh, but he still tried to tempt
Him. Amen?
Jesus wasn’t exempt from temptation,
but He was equipped with the weapon of spiritual
warfare,
Which is the word of God!
How many knows how to do battle with the
enemy?
It’s with the word of God. Amen?
Don’t get me wrong we need to be able to put on
the full armor of God.
We need our helmet of salvation,
And our sheild of faith,
And our breastplate of righteousness,
But all of that is part of our armor.
That means all of that is for protection. Amen?
It’s our defense system,
But we don’t engage the enemy with those things.
We don’t engage the enemy with our helmet.
We don’t run head first into battle,
We engage the enemy with prayer,
and the word of God.
As a matter of fact Ephesians says that the Word of
God is our sword,
And that is the weapon of our warfare.
See after Jesus was led by the Spirit into the
wilderness to fast for forty days,
Satan came out to tempt Him. Amen?
And he dared Jesus to make bread from stones,
But Jesus replyed with the word of God.
So Satan engaged Him again only this time he tried
to use the scriptures,
But Jesus knew from years of preparation in the
Word that Satan was distorting the scriptures.
So He countered him again with the Word of God.
Then finally Satan being exposed for what he truly
is, Said Jesus I just want you to bow down and
worship me.
If you’ll do that I’ll give you all the pleasures of this
world,
But Jesus rebuked him again with the word of God
and Satan fled.
Jesus was not only full of the Word,
But He applied the Word to His everyday battles.
I’m glad that each of you are here tonight!
And I’m glad that you’re taking notes,
But my prayer is that you’ll apply this word to your
life. Amen?
My prayer is that you’ll have a sword to swing
when the enemy attacks. Amen?
II. Encouragement For The Battle...
How many knows that temptation is inevitable?
Prepare for it! It’s gonna happen!
But Paul gives us some good news in...
1Co 10:13 He says...There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
This scripture tells me four things that I beleive we
need to take into consideration.
And this is a sermon in and of it’s self, but I’ll try
not to tarry here too long.
1) There hath no temptation taken you but such as
is common to man...
Just know that when you’re going through it that
you’re not alone. Amen?
You may feel like the enemy is just picking on you,
but the truth is no one is exempt. Amen?
Now don’t be discouraged and say well we’re all in
this ship together so we’re all going down together.
As a matter of fact you can be encouraged by that.
Because it brings to light the fact that even though
you’re not the only one who’s been there,
Even though other people had to go through what
you’re going through,
Some of them made it out, and so can you. Amen?
2) God is faithful...
That’s self explanatory!
He always has been, and He always will be faithful.
And if God is faithful that means you can count on
Him to keep His promises,
And how many knows that His word is filled with
His promises.
And Even though times are tough His Word
promises victory to the beleiver. Amen?
3) God will not suffer you to be tempted above that
ye are able...
No matter what may come your way you are more
than able to overcome through Christ who
strengthens you. Amen?
4) God will make a way to escape...
If you will just seek God in prayer,
If you will just apply the Word,
He will provide your way out. Amen?
III. Reasons Not To Sin...
So tonight I want to give you some more word that
will help you to overcome the sins in your life,
Or to overcome the temptation to invite sin into
your life.
And I’m going to start by giving you a recap of the
past few weeks.
We are going to start on number 8 of the 21
Reasons not to sin tonight,
But first let’s look real quick at the first seven and
be encouraged by them to steer free from
temptation. Amen?
1. Sin Does Not Satisfy
Sin can bring real pleasure,
BUT THERE IS NO LASTING SATISFACTION IN SIN!
2. Sin Leads to More Sin
Proverbs 27:20 - The eyes of man are never satisfied.
3. Sin Leads to Worse Sins
4. Sin Enslaves
5. Sin Degrades and Humiliates
6. Sin Steals Joy
7. Sin Steals Our Confidence
And that brings us to Number 8 which is one of the
more convincing reasons not to sin.
And that is...
8. The Wages of Sin is Death
You know earlier we read in 1 Corinthians where
Paul said God is faithful.
Well sin is faithful too.
But there is only one way in which sin is faithful -
its reward is always death.
Sin won’t let you down in that aspect.
If you sin you die. Amen?
Unfortunately, sin never shares this secret with
you!
Instead, sin promises riches, fame, pleasure,
fulfillment and power.
And while you may experience some of these along
the way, they are only fleeting, lasting at best just a
few decades.
And then the real payday comes, and the results
are always the same - DEATH, both natural and
spiritual. Amen?
IN ALL ACTUALITY, SIN BRINGS DEATH RIGHT
FROM THE START
It always kills something in us when we transgress.
It assaults our sensitivity, trashes our conscience,
mauls our willpower, and defiles our soul.
You could almost say that every time we sin,
something in us dies.
Then, at the end of the road, sin pays up with
eternal death.
We often times fail to realize that sin brings about
death because it doesn’t appear to be immediate.
We think that because God doesn’t strike us down
with a lightning bolt everything’s going to be fine.
But it’s not.
That’s a tool of the enemy.
He’ll tell you that sin doesn’t cause death, but it
causes death and so much more. Amen?
The Serpent beguiled Eve in the Garden of Eden
and told her that she wouldn’t die if she disobeyed
God, And how many knows that that was a lie.
When Adam and Eve first sinned against God they
died spiritually and they began to die physically
right there at that very moment.
Why? Because sin deserves to be punished. Amen?
9. Sin Will Not Go Unpunished
Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
God has established unchangeable laws of sowing
and reaping, so that everything we do has
consequences for better or for worse.
We reap what we sow! That’s what His Word says.
And that’s in every area of life!
God wants you to prosper and be of good health,
but if you don’t pursue God’s promise,
If you let sin take precedence in your life you’re
going to be rewarded by your sins instead of God.
And not only with death, but your actions here on
Earth also bring about reward here on Earth.
Smoking leads to lung cancer ...
alcoholism leads to cirrhosis of the liver ...
promiscuity leads to STDs ...
obesity leads to heart disease and diabetes ...
the consequences alone should keep us from sin!
There are lots of consequences to our sins, like
prison sentences, broken homes and sick bodies ...
but all those pale in comparison with God’s holy
judgment.
See God Himself judges sinners as well.
And the Bible says they will be cut down and cast
into the fire!
And that punishment is enescapable unless you call
upon the Name of the Lord and are saved!
God’s judgement is a righteous judgement so who
can stand when his gavel falls?
You say well why would a loving God do such a thing?
Well that brings us to number 10...
10. Sin Hurts the Lord
Maybe the image of an angry, vengeful God doesn’t
mean much to you - after all, you call yourself a
Christian!
Hell’s flames don’t scare you because you’re saved
from all of that!
But sometimes you still struggle with sin.
Maybe this will encourage you not to sin.
Everytime we sin, we wound our Savior and spit in
His face, making a mockery of His love.
This image alone should stop us from sinning!
Can’t you feel God’s pain?
John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim’s Progress, the
second most read book in the world next to the
Bible said this.
"Sin is the dare of God’s justice, the rape of His
mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His
power, and the contempt of His love."
Sin hurts God.
Ray Boltz who was an anointed gospel singer,
Gave us songs like "The Anchor Holds", and
"Thank You".
He sold 4.5 million Christian albums.
But in September of last year (08) just before he
was scheduled to perform in several Metropolitan
Community Churches,
And if you don’t know what the MCC is it is a
church built just for for lesbians, gays, bi-sexuals,
and transgender men and women.
But just before he was scheduled to perform he
came out of the closet in a magazine article.
In His song "Feel The Nails" which was released in
1994 he sang...
"Does He still feel the nails every time I fail? Can
He hear the crowd cry ’Crucify!’ again? Am I
causing Him pain? Then I know I’ve got to change.
I just can’t bear the thought of hurting Him."
But then in 2008 in an article for The Washington
Blade, which is a magazine published by and for
gay and lesbian readers, he sings an oh so different
tune.
He says....“This is what it really comes down to, If
this is the way God made me, then this is the way
I’m going to live.
It’s not like God made me this way and he’ll send
me to hell if I am who he created me to be … I
really feel closer to God because I no longer hate
myself.”
There’s no more singing of change and the pain his
sin causes God.
Instead I hear the sound of compromise with sin.
He said God won’t send him to Hell so long as he is
who God created him to be,
But I got news for Ray Boltz and Pastor JB and Sis.
Ann, and every person that’s here tonight,
Or listening via tape or CD.
God did not create you to be homosexual.
God did not create you to be an adulterer,
Or a fornicator, or a liar, or a cheat, or a thief.
That’s who we allow ourselves to become when we
let sin enter in.
And I assure you that every time we sin,
Everytime we fornicate, or adulterate.
Everytime we transgress God’s law we hurt God!
He can still feel the pain!
He can still feel the nails!
He can still feel the hurt,
but He’s not the only one sin hurts.
11. Sin Hurts the Sinner
The fact that sin hurts the Lord might help you to
resist temptation when you’re feeling spiritual.
But what about when you’re feeling natural?
What about those times when spiritual thoughts
don’t motivate you in the least?
That’s when you need to remember that SIN
HURTS YOU TOO!
Sin messes everything up.
Sin begins to tear your life apart piece by piece.
And it tears apart the lives of those who are around
you as well. Amen?
12. Sin Hurts Your Family and Friends
Sin never stops with the sinner alone.
There are always wider consequences.
Parents, you can literally make or break your
family by your lifestyle and conduct,
You set an example for your children,
But if it’s not the right one you can sabotage
their lives as well.
You can put them through years of grief,
Or you can point them to a solid Rock.
You can show your family and friends that there
really is a living God just by living for Him,
Or you can live opposite of what your church
preaches, and opposite of what the Bible teaches
and your actions can and will steer them away from
the one true God.
You say well Pastor JB could my example really
influence someone else to backslide?
Well let me tell you this.
Sin is highly infectious!
13. Sin Brings Reproach (to the Sinner, to the Church, and to the name of the Lord)
How many knows that When a Christian sins in
public, it makes the Church as a whole look bad,
It’s just like when a fanatical Muslim blows himself
up to kill others, he makes Islam as a whole look
monstrous.
Our foolishness, our compromise, our hypocrisy,
our worldliness, and our sin make the Church look
bad.
Our sin makes JESUS look bad!
He’s the only man that ever walked the face of the
Earth and not sin yet now, because of some of His
followers, He’s associated with sex scandals, greed,
Racism, and the list just goes on and on. Amen?
Jesus lived a sin-free life on this earth,
but we can dirty His perfect reputation by our sin.
