The Worm And The Butterfly

So much can be drawn, by analogy, from the butterfly.

A. Who here has never been drawn to the beauty and

grace and freedom of the butterfly?

1. Granted, they have their mortal enemies, but

if the butterfly could think and reason...what

butterfly would want to give up all that he

had to return and be a worm?

a. Probably, if you get scientific on me, the

pupae stage is not a true worm...but I

would dare say that you girls would not

want one creeping up your arm.

Every time you see a butterfly or a moth, you must know

that this winged creature used to crawl on its belly...on the

ground.

A. Only after it made some major changes could it

soar like a bird.

1. It once was ugly, but now it is beautiful.

And so it is with the soul of man.

A. In sin, our souls are so dreadful that God can’t

even bear to look at them.

Hab. 1:13 - 13 You are of purer eyes than to

behold evil,

And cannot look on wickedness.

Sin is terrible...

A. It is terrible to behold in the eyes of the Lord.

1. Our physical and spiritualy blind eyes never

...in this lifetime...will truly appreciate the

the ugliness of sin.

a. It is far worse than any slimy creature

creeping across the flesh.

B. It is terrible for what it has done to those who have

fallen for its allurement and have embraced its

wickedness.

1. It is terrible because the touch of sin is the

touch of death.

C. It is terrible because it demands the death of the

Son of God, the Creator of the universe, God,

...and most importantly...our very best friend.

1. God only has the very best in mind for us.

a. In spite of our wickedness and rebellious-

ness, He is still willing to do that which

is far beyond what we deserve or could

even imagine.

We need to leave the bondage of sin.

A. We need to leave it so that we might have life and

be able to live life...more abundantly.

1. Like the butterfly who has broken the bondage

of the pupae...we can soar in spiritual realms.

B. We need to leave it because it is killing us.

ILLUSTRATION: One of the habits of sin illustrates this

the best. Cigarette smoking. Those

caught up in it know that it is killing

them, and yet...it has such a hold on the

person that he/she has to battle and

struggle to remove it.

1. Sin is killing us just as surely...if not more

certainly than this wicked habit.

a. We need to...WE CAN...REMOVE THE

HABITS OF SIN FROM OUR LIVES!

1.) God is not calling us to do some-

thing that is impossible when He

addresses us in Romans, chapter

six.

Rom. 6:6 - 6knowing this, that our old man was crucified

with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with,

that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

Rom. 6:11-14 - 11Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to

be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our

Lord. 12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body,

that you should obey it in its lusts. 13And do not present

your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but

present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and

your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

14For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not

under law but under grace.

2.) Again, the Apostle, Paul pens

the words found in Ephesians.

Eph. 4:22-24 - 22that you put off, concerning your former

conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the

deceitful lusts, 23and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

24and that you put on the new man which was created

according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

I. We need to leave the things of the past...IN THE PAST!

A. The habits of the past need to be left behind.

1. There may be a struggle and a fight to

accomplish this...but it must be done.

B. Those things that we have called upon God to

forgive us of...we must not go back and pick them

up, once again and play with them.

1. We need to become a new person...a new

creature....these lusts, habits, weaknesses...

belong to the “old man of sin”.

II Peter 2:20-22 - 0For if, after they have escaped the

pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord

and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them

and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the

beginning. 21For it would have been better for them not to

have known the way of righteousness, than having known