'that Sin Mold ... It Smells Like Death'

CNN writes “That mold…it smells like death”

You get used to something living in the Deep South, especially in the swampy lands around New Orleans, and the bayous near the Mississippi Gulf. You get used to the knowledge that the land around you, that nature, is slowly and constantly creeping in on you. Sneakily seeking to devour your home, it's possessions, and maybe even your slow moving pets. Vines, Weeds. Mold, Fungus.

Kudzu.

(Kudzu is a vine that when left uncontrolled will eventually grow over almost any fixed object in its proximity including other vegetation. Kudzu, over a period of several years will kill trees by blocking the sunlight).

- Mold & Fungus discolor materials and eat away at them until they are damaged and destroyed.

- Mold is caused by the environment of moisture, heat, and time

- Sin is subtle

- It creeps in with the right environment

- Worry, Materialism, Greed, Anger, Lust, Hypocrisy, Lying

NOTE THE TWO “WHAT THEN”

- Ro 6:1 Can I continue in sin after I trusted Christ?

- If I do it proves that I have not been saved

- Ro 6: 15 'Why can't I occasionally enjoy sin

- Sin is fun

- God won't reject me because of it

- I'll not go to hell because of it

- I can be forgiven because of God's grace

- Ro 6:2 - “God forbid”

RESULTS OF SIN

1. Sin Dominates (v. 16-19)

- Enslaves

- We like to think we are in control

- We are made to serve and to be controlled by forces beyond our power

- Ro 6:16 - Before we were Christians we were slaves to sin.

Genesis 6:5 (AV)

5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

John 8:34 (AV)

34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

- When you yield yourself to sin, you become the slave of sin.

- The only way to break the slavery to sin is to yield to righteousness.

Proverbs 28:13 (AV)

13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

Why can't we sin occasionally?

- Sin is not static; it moves and progresses- it is like mold.

- Sin pushes you further than you want to go

2. Sin Disgraces (19-21)

- Ro 6:21 … “whereof ye are now ashamed”…

- Sin stinks – It makes us smell

- Sin brings shame to our lives

- Look at the stories of fallen leaders

- It spreads death around you.

"I said a very nasty thing, only the other day

It was a truly vile thought, I had not meant to say.

But then, it was not really lost, when from my lips it flew;

My little children picked it up, and now they say it too."

3. Sin Destroys (vs. 21 & 23)

- This is a death that is experienced while you're alive

Charles Templeton

- Wrote “Farewell To God”

- Prominent and successful evangelist with Billy Graham in the 40's

- He hosted the weekly religion show "Look up and Live"

- Founded Youth for Christ with Billy Graham

- 1946, he was listed among those best used of God by the National Association of Evangelicals.

- Doubts began to arise about the authority of the Bible

- Like mold

- It took over his life and he abandoned everything he believed and became an agnostic

- Died 2001 with Alzheimer's

- Paul says, Before you were saved your sin was spreading death throughout your existence:

- Sin can still do the same thing now that you're saved.

- If you habitually give into sin, you will experience the by-products of death.

a.) Darkness

2 Corinthians 4:4 (AV)

4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

b.) Slavery

- As long as one clings to sin there is never freedom

- There is no delight in the things of God

- The mold of sin that eats away & destroys can only be removed by the blood of Jesus Christ

- 1 Jn, 1:7 .... the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.