So That You Will Not Sin Series

INTRO.- ILL.- A 77-year-old granny made a citizen’s arrest in Germany when she rugby-tackled a 25-year-old jay walker.

The pensioner sat on him until police arrived - because he had walked across a road before the light was green.

The woman, from Freital, near Dresden, shouted at the man as he crossed the road before the little green man flashed up.

The old lady said she became even angrier when he hit her with his rucksack as he pushed past her when he reached the other side of the road.

She grabbed his hair and managed to wrestle him to the ground where she sat on him until police, who had been called by a passer-by, came. He was taken to a local police station where he was fined for jay walking.

There are worse things that jay walking but not more embarrassing than having a 77 year old grandmother tackle you!

1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. A life without sin. How does that sound? Would you like to live without any sin at all? Is it really possible?

ILL.- That reminds me of the preacher who announced that there were 726 different sins listed in the Bible. The next week he was overcome with letters from people requesting a list of those sins. Apparently, they thought they were missing out on something.

I think perhaps many people don’t want to live a life without sin. They may think in the first place that it’s impossible. In the second place, they may want some sin in their lives. HOW COULD THIS BE? Or why would anyone?

Hebrews 11:24-25 "By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time."

Admittedly, some sins are or can be quite pleasurable. Of course, this is why some people say, "If it feels so good, how could it be so wrong?" We know the answer to that question. It’s wrong because God says it’s wrong. But some sins are pleasurable to people and this is one reason why they are not quick to give them up.

ILL.- A Sunday School teacher asked a little girl: “What are the sins of omission?” After some thought, she answered: “They’re the sins we ought to have committed, but haven’t.”

Given enough time on planet earth we will commit plenty of sins. We talk about counting our blessings and we should, but have we ever tried to count our sins? OH NO!

No, we don’t want to do that. We don’t want to be faced with our sin, but sin haunts us nevertheless. That deed done. That word said. That look. That lust. That greed. That anger. That pride.

ILL.- A man, reading about an "eat-all-you-want" diet, said to friend: "I knew there’d be a catch to it. You have to run seven hundred miles a day!"

That’s the way it is with sin. THERE’S ALWAYS A ’CATCH’ TO IT. That "catch" can be disastrous. It can wreck havoc in our daily lives and it carries eternal consequences! WHAT MUST WE DO? We must do everything we can with God’s help to overcome sin!

PROP.- John tells us what we can do to overcome sin.

1- We must accept God’s sacrifice for our sins

2- We must obey His commands

3- We must walk as Jesus walked

I. WE MUST ACCEPT GOD’S SACRIFICE FOR OUR SINS

1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Sin must be paid for. There is always a price for sinning.

ILL.- LEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) - Authorities say a 53-year-old Nebraska man whose son had been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving was arrested on the same charge after bailing out his son.

The Nebraska State Patrol said Thursday that 19-year-old Trevor Brown of Gothenburg was arrested around 2 a.m. Saturday and taken to the county jail. Brown called his dad to come bail him out.

The patrol says when Anthony Brown arrived at the jail a trooper noticed that the elder Brown seemed drunk and warned him not to drive. The patrol says a trooper then saw the Browns get into a pickup, the elder Brown behind the wheel. The trooper then arrested Anthony Brown and took him back to the jail.

It’s nice when your father bails you out of jail, but it’s not nice when your father is guilty of the same sin. However, we have a Father who has bailed us out of sin and it’s a done deal because of who our Father is and what He is! Holy, pure, undefiled, etc.