When The Beast Gets Loose Series

KILL OR BE KILLED

Part 3-When the Beast Gets Loose

Romans 7:14-20

October 21, 2007

Pastor Brian Matherlee

Read Romans 7:14-20

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.

Ro 7:15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.

Ro 7:16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.

Ro 7:17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.

Ro 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

Ro 7:19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.

Ro 7:20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

In this passage we see the overwhelming struggle between the spiritual and the sinful. Sin desires to control us. Sin is constantly on the prowl to find an opening to dominate us.

Last week we talked about sins that feed the beast anger, pride, envy and greed. Of the seven deadly sins, the three we talk about today (lust, sloth, gluttony) are full blown control freaks. They dominate our lives like many other sins don’t. They don’t just feed the beast, the beast is totally loose. These sins take on a life all of their own and what we want to do we don’t. What we don’t want to do, that is what we do.

A. Lust

1. What is lust?

i. Mental sexual sin

ii. Desire for someone other than your spouse

iii. Inability to interact or notice others without sexual thoughts

iv. Satan’s attempt to highjack God’s beauty in the male/female relationship

2. Scriptures to learn by:

i. David and Bathsheba

a) David was where he shouldn’t have been (2 Sam.11:1, “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men…But David remained in Jerusalem.) Why was he still around? People get in trouble for being in places they shouldn’t. Too much time with the computer. Influence of racy TV, novels, & sexually saturated media. Chuck Colson has called Internet pornography “Spiritual Crack Cocaine,” because of how quickly people can become addicted to it and because of how destructive it is to the human soul.

b) David dwelled upon her as an object to be possessed. He didn’t have any knowledge of her as a person and only desired what he saw.

c) David went to great lengths to cover up his sin (tried having husband Uriah sleep with her, had Uriah murdered) …but it didn’t work. People will make heroic efforts to cover and even excuse sin.

ii. Proverbs 5:18, “May your fountain be blessed and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer—may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love. —build and work on the relationship you have. Let’s not give our spouses a chance to wander!

iii. Song of Solomon 2:7, “Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.”—For the single, we should trust in God’s timing.

iv. I Timothy 2:9, “I also want women to dress modestly.”—women have a responsibility to themselves and to men around them to not advertise!

B. Sloth

I heard about a man whose family sent him to the doctor because he constantly complained of being too sick to work. The doctor examined his patient, and then told him to get dressed and meet him in his office. When the man came into the office and sat down, he said, “Give it to me straight, Doc, don’t use any complicated, fancy sounding medical terms. My family wants the truth in plain English. What’s wrong with me? “All right,” the doctor said. “I’ll make it as plain as I can. There isn’t a thing wrong with you. You’re just lazy.”

The man sat silent for a moment, and then said, “I see. Now will you give me a complicated, fancy sounding medical term I can tell my family?”

1. What is sloth?

i. Laziness

ii. Giving the least amount to get by

iii. Procrastination

iv. Putting off critical decisions

v. Wasting time with the insignificant

vi. Chronically leaving things undone

2. Scripture to learn by:

i. Matthew 25:14-30 (Parable of the talents-read from verse 26)

ii. The master called the man wicked and lazy.