Snake Eggs

Snake Eggs (Isaiah 59:1-10)

Intro: There are some things that strike terror in the hearts of most of us. For most of us a poisonous snake causes our bodies to shake with fear. Can you imagine being trapped in a small room with 1000 deadly vipers? That is not a very pleasant thought, but we as humans let Satan sow snake eggs in our mind. Each time the devil comes to us with evil thought, he’s sowing snake eggs. We can crush them by rejecting the evil thoughts or we can let them hatch into deadly vipers that will eventually destroy our minds. The choice is ours.

Text: Isaiah 59:1-10

59 Surely the LORD’s power is enough to save you.

He can hear you when you ask him for help.

2 It is your evil that has separated

You from your God.

Your sins cause him to turn away from you,

So he does not hear you.

3 With your hands you have killed others,

And with your fingers you have done wrong.

With your lips you have lied,

And with your tongue you say evil things.

4 People take each other to court unfairly,

And no one tells the truth in arguing his case.

They accuse each other falsely and tell lies.

They cause trouble and create more evil.

5 They hatch evil like eggs from poisonous snakes.

If you eat one of those eggs, you will die,

And if you break one open, a poisonous snake comes out.

People tell lies, as they would spin a spider’s web.

6 The webs they make cannot be used for clothes;

you can’t cover yourself with those webs.

The things they do are evil,

and they use their hands to hurt others.

7 They eagerly run to do evil,

and they are always ready to kill innocent people.

They think evil thoughts.

Everywhere they go they cause ruin and destruction.

8 They don’t know how to live in peace,

and there is no fairness in their lives.

They are dishonest.

Anyone who lives as they live will never have peace.

they ask of Me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God" (Isaiah 58:2). But their prayers were not getting through, and their fasting was in vain. They came to the conclusion that all their sacrificing, all their praying, all their seeking after God was not paying off. And in fact, God was hiding His face from them. "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear" (Isaiah 59:2).

There was a good reason for God's anger. His people were going through all the motions; they were consistently in His house. They said all the right words: "We want to hear from God and do what He tells us." They seemed so obedient; they looked so religious. But their hearts were divided; they loved God with their mouths only.

What sin caused God to withdraw His presence? It was the sin of "hatching snake eggs" and "weaving spider's webs" (Isaiah 59:5). The mind is the womb of the heart, and thoughts are seed. Evil thoughts are serpents seeds, which will become eggs if the seed is not immediately destroyed. God looks at what is going on inside the womb of the mind. He judges not by outward appearances; He considers the heart. God's people were worshipping with lip service. They cried a loud amen to every call to holiness; they appeared to be devout lovers of truth. But their minds were snake dens. They were nests filled with serpent eggs, and they were sitting in God's presence, hatching evil thoughts. Their minds were poisoned; they were thinking of idols. They were weaving spider webs with flimsy excuses to indulge in forbidden things. They were fasting, praying, calling on God, doing religious things, but their minds were not cleansed. Thoughts and wild imaginations were not brought into captivity.

1. What is the problem?

a. Why are our prayers not answered?

1) Sin is in the way

a)God is Holy

b) We are to be a Holy people

(1) separated

(2) Not isolated

2) We are going thru the motions

3) We love with the mouth not the heart

4) We have evil thoughts and don’t reject them

There is nothing harmless or innocent about evil thoughts. If they are not cast down immediately they can poison the soul.

Some Christians let the enemy sow evil thoughts in their minds, and then let the thoughts linger, doing nothing about them, not realizing the danger. Jesus compared these evil thoughts to tares or weeds, and "the enemy that sowed them is the devil..." (Matthew 13:39). Christians are to cast down such thoughts as soon as they appear. Christian life involves "casting down imaginations, and every proud thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" Evil thoughts become strongholds. Satan plants the thought, and he is determined to keep it alive and protect it until it conceives and becomes a full grown serpent. To coddle and put up with evil thoughts is to hatch a snake. God says pull it down, cast it out, bring every single thought into captivity. Let not a single evil thought be allowed to roam at will. Go after that thought, capture it, and kill it.