The Destructiveness of Sin

Small Things Can Be Destructive

1986 Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster was caused by one small little o-ring

VIDEO

Small things can be destructive…

I can continue...

Dripping water can create a hole in a rock…

An invisible virus can kill millions of people...

An insect the size of a mosquito is capable of carrying diseases that have killed hundreds of thousands...

A termites (bugs the size of an ant) every year in the US cause $1.5 billion in damages to homes and buildings...

I looked it up this weekend… A hurricane is cause by a small little disturbance - something the size of a dust devil...

Here’s my point:

This is true in our lives too. Small things are capable of being very destructive…

Little compromises turn into big problems if you ignore them…

The greatest challenge I think that faces us as men today is the way culture is so sexualized and seductive… we can’t get away from it… we see it everywhere we look…

How do we resist this???

we do have practical tips…

but… understand the source is deeper… the problem is the heart

Adam and Eve

Genesis 3:6–7 (CSB)

The woman saw [lusted] that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

The woman saw, she took, she ate… She did things her own way instead of God’s way and we see the destructive results…

The first destructive thing we see after the first sin was commited is not some big disaster… it was not murder… but it was a broken relationship…

the first thing sin destroyed was a relationship… it started with something small, but it turned into something big…

disobeyed God’s wisdom

broken relationship between man and wife

broken relationship between brothers

first murder

David & Bathsheba

Context to the story so far...

David is the only man in the Bible who is called ‘a man after God’s own heart’…

David was at the height of his career…

David had defeated all the enemies that surrounded Israel and the time and had given the whole nation peace...

David is the greatest king that Israel has ever had…

This point in the story that we are about to read is the turning point in David’s life…

2 Samuel 11:1–5 (CSB)

In the spring when kings march out to war, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw [lusted after] a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman. So David sent someone to inquire about her, and he said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hethite?” David sent messengers to take her, and when she came to him, he slept with her… Afterward, she returned home. The woman conceived and sent word to inform David, “I am pregnant.”

David eventually went on to try to cover up his sin… He called her husband home from the war and got him drunk hoping that he would sleep with his wife while he was home so that it would look like the child was his instead of David’s…

His plan did not work though… And David ended up devising a plan to get Uriah killed in battle… which did work…

David saw [lusted]…

he took…

he lied and tried to cover up his sin…

he murdered…

2 Samuel 12 -

David is confronted by Nathan the prophet…

God confronted David about this sin…

God saw what David tried to cover up…

It Begins In Your Heart

Matthew 5:21–22 (CSB)

“You have heard that it was said to our ancestors, Do not murder, and whoever murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you, everyone who is angry with his brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Whoever insults his brother or sister, will be subject to the court. Whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to hellfire.

Matthew 5:27–30 (CSB)

“You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery. But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

What are you looking at?

What you look at, what you watch, what you focus on has big implications for your future even though it might seem like a small thing…

Conclusions: The Destructiveness of Sin

Genesis 3 -

Eating forbidden fruit which lead to a broken relationship...

which became murder one generation later…

2 Samuel 11 -

David saw…

lusted…

took…

lied…

murdered...

Matthew 5 -

Anger became murder...

Lust becomes adultery...

What am I saying??

Small sins that you don’t think are ‘that big of a deal’ or that ‘everybody else is doing’ will actually become big issues if you don’t deal with them now while they’re small…

It may seem insignificant that you look at girls in bikinis on instagram now…

but that will eventually lead to looking at naked girls…

which will then lead to watching porn…

which will then lead to looking at girls and using them only to satisfy your sexual desire…

which will then lead to struggles with your marriage…

which will then lead to broken marriages and broken families…

Sin is destructive no matter how small it may be…

It’s unpopular to talk about sin and to tell people what they should and shouldn’t do…

I don’t want you to hear me telling you that you’re sinful and you need to stop looking at things on instagram and the internet (although that might be true)…

What I want you to hear and to see is that when you choose to do these things they will begin to erode away and destroy your life…

even if it doesn’t happen right away… it will after you give it time

even if it seems like a small thing today… it won’t stay that way

Sin does not stay small…

Sin does not only affect your life, but can also affect those around you, and generations after you…

That is where we find ourselves…

So here’s the real problem: your heart… your heart is sinful.

Because of Adam and Eve we are born with a natural tendency to sin.

We don’t naturally seek after God… we are naturally rebellious…

Our biggest issue is not that we lust after women…

Our biggest issue is not that we masturbate...

Our biggest issue is not that we have sex before marriage…

These things are all symptoms of a more foundational problem that dwells inside of our hearts… sin… rebellion…