Isaiah 30:1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord, “Who take counsel, but not of Me, and who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin.”
Continuing Pastor Herk’s message: Out of the obedience of doing what the Lord says to do in His holy Word, watch God provide and take care of us in every area of our life. God hates any kind of sin. God hates sin because it opposes His very nature. Sin is a perversion of the good God created. Proverbs 8:13 says, “The [reverent] fear and worshipful awe of the Lord includes the hatred of evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way, and the perverted mouth, I hate.” God hates sin because it brings death and separation. Proverbs 8:35-36 says, “For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord; But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; All those who hate me love death.” If we cannot pursue and find forgiveness for our sins, then we are no more than “dead men and women walking”. In Matthew 7:13-14 the Lord Jesus encourages us, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
Psalm 32:5 I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Sin is defined as: The voluntary departure of a moral agent from a known rule of rectitude or duty, prescribed by God; any voluntary transgression of the divine law, or violation of a divine command; a wicked act; iniquity. Sin is either a positive act in which a known divine law is violated, or it is the voluntary neglect to obey a positive divine command, or a rule of duty clearly implied in such command. Sin comprehends not action only, but neglect of known duty, all evil thoughts purposes, words and desires, whatever is contrary to God's commands or law.
Psalm 51:2-6 “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight—that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.”
Sin can cause chaos in our perception. If we are not correct in our beliefs about God, then how can we correct about the world around us and how we fit into it? The devil (the Evil One) brings distractions, tells us lies and has ways of adding imaginative ingredients that distort our perception of reality. The word devil means “the deceiver”, and he is a great deceiver; the father of lies. This altered perception that the devil puts in front of us affects our reasoning, our emotions, and influences the things going on around us. Our hearts can become darkened, becoming corrupt in that spiritual cancer that progressively takes a little more all the time; subtly eating away at us like undetected cancer. We need to get at it (knowing where to go and what to do) as soon as possible, when we see and identify unrepented and unresolved sin within us.
1 John 1:6-8 “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
You are probably familiar with the passage in the Bible found in Hebrews 11:24-25 that speaks of the “pleasures of sin for a season” or “the passing pleasures of sin”. But, the truth is that Sin cannot help but make our lives worse, affecting not only us but those around us that you love the most. Galatians 5:16-25says, “I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves [of the flesh]. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
Because of original sin, as long as we are in the body that we have now, sin is with us wherever we go. Unfortunately, we cannot rid ourselves of this spiritual cancer on this side of Heaven. Until then, Sin is deadly and we must have the right mindset. 1 John 1:6-8 “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” By walking and living by the Spirit, we can beat it into remission. The devil will constantly work on us, trying to make us believe that this spiritual cancer makes us greater, prosperous, popular and have more fun in life. But, will destroy your relationship with God and ruin your relations with those you love.
Hebrews 3:12-14 “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,”
lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.”
Could that be true of a Believer in Jesus Christ? It is very important to know that God is very angry with sin. Habakkuk 1:13a clarifies, “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness.” Believe in and worship God alone. We need to hold each other accountable because of the deceiving influence and effect of the sinful nature of the fallen flesh desires, of the God-rejecting world system and of the devil, who’s goal is to steal, kill and destroy Christ’s flock. Christian accountability is not always easily accepted, but is vitally important as sheep tend to wonder towards shiny but destructive distractions of spiritual cancer. Sin can be beaten into remission, but be aware that it can reappear again as spiritual cancer, if we don’t live inand walk by the Holy Spirit in us.
Let's conclude Pastor Herk's message on the spiritual cancer of sin and it's cure in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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