Living as a Servant to Sin

Gen. 13:8-13

8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”

10 And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. 11 Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. 12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. 13 But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD.

I have never met a person who ended up buried up to their neck in sin who told me, this was my plan all along!

No friend, every sin has its birth place in a small decision.

At some point in your life you thought to yourself, that looks fun, or I will just look but wont touch!

Christian, beware lest thou think lightly of sin. Take heed lest thou fall little by little. Sin a little thing? Is it not a poison? Who knows its deadliness? Sin a little thing? Do not the little foxes spoil the grapes? Doth not the tiny coral itself build a rock which wrecks a navy? Sin a little thing? It girded the Redeemer’s head with thorns, and pierced His heart! Could you weigh the least sin in the scales of eternity, you would fly from it as from a serpent. Look upon a sin as that which crucified the Saviour, and you will see it to be exceeding sinful.—Charles Spurgeon

Sin is running rampant in the lives of people all over this country and it is because we have become relaxed in our preaching and we have lowered the bar for people because we are scared of offending them to tell them that the language that they are using is NOT PLEASING TO GOD!

BECAUSE WE HAVE MADE THE DECISION THAT CHURCH IS NOT A PRIORITY AND THAT WORK, SCHOOL, AND SPORTS, AND FUN ARE PRIORITIES AND THEN IF WE HAVE ANY EXTRA TIME, WE WILL CONSIDER GIVING IT TO GOD…BUT THEN AGAIN WE MIGHT BE A LITTLE TIRED.

AND WHAT’S WORSE? WE ARE SETTING UP OUR CHILDREN FOR FAILURE IN LIFE BECAUSE OF HOW WE IDOLIZE THEM DURING THEIR SCHOOL YEARS.

WE PUT BANNERS OF THEM IN OUR FRONT YARDS, WE SHARE THEIR HIGHLIGHTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA BUT FRIEND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY DON’T GET TO PLAY COLLEGIATE SPORTS?

THEY WAKE UP AND FEEL AS THOUGH THEY ARE FAILURES AND HAVE NO PURPOSE LEFT AND THUS THEY QUIT TRYING, THEY QUIT LIVING, THEY FALL IN TO DEPRESSION AND FALL INTO SIN!!!

Please here me, I am not telling you that we ought not to celebrate the accomplishments of our children and let them know that we are proud of them. But friends, we MUST show them that the God of Heaven is more important than anything else that we have or do on this earth.

Lot, simply looked on something that looked fun. He looked a direction that looked greener.

He made a decision that would not soon be forgotten by him or those that were close to him.

Friend, when you give into just a little sin, you have set yourself up to live as a servant of sin.

You have heard it said.

Sin will take you farther than you wanted to go.

Make you do things you never would have done.

Think things you never would have thought.

Say things that you never would have said.

AND WHEN YOU GET THERE, YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE A HARD TIME GETTING BACK.

I. Sin will lead you where you didn’t intend to Go. (vs.8)

I promise you that back in chapter 13, Lot never figured on the day where he would offer up his own daughters to the wicked men of Sodom but friend I promise you that sin will ALWAYS LEAD YOU WHERE YOU NEVER INTENDED ON GOING!

Pastor its just weed - that is the famous first words of most of the meth addicts that fill the jail house and cemetery today!

Pastor its just pictures and videos, (It spices up our relationship) - UNTIL IT DOESN’T…pornography always leads to a broken relationship!

Pastor, I will never speak to or help this person because of what they have done to me…I PROMISE THAT THIS WILL LEAD YOU TO BECOME THE BITTER PERSON WHO NEVER SEES THE BLESSING OF GOD IN ANYTHING!

WHEN YOU WALK FREELY IN SIN YOU WILL ALWAYS WALK FREELY AWAY FROM GOD!

II. Sin will Turn On You. (vs.9)

You think that the friends that you have made while you walk in your darkness give a rip about you.

So did Lot! Buddy I’m telling you that when things go bad for you because of the sin you are living in and you look up to see who is around. The ones you swore would have your back are going to be the once pouring gas on the fire!

Worse off, when you finally wake up, and you finally decide it is time to get your heart right with God, you are going to look up and see your friends are ready to destroy you!

Lot, looked up and when he decided to stand against the wicked people, those people who took him in, who had him over for dinner, who elected him as a leader to sit at the gate of the city, decided that Lot no longer stood in agreement with them and they were ready to kill him!

Friend, your sin, may feel like pleasure at the moment, it may make you feel good while you are active in it but there is going to come a day when you realize that it is trying to destroy you and guess what...

III. Sin Won’t Let You Go (vs. 16)

Even as his world was falling down around him, Lot couldn’t just drop and leave.

It had already taken his home and some of his family and yet he still had a desire to stay.

Friend, when satan puts his hooks into you it is HARD to get them out!

This is why the bible says in James 5:20 - “let him know that he who turns a sinner fro the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.”

We must be faithfully sharing the gospel, winning people to Jesus and then DISCIPLINING THEM because friend, once they get hooked into sin it is going to be difficult to pull them back and even if we do it will be with pain, take time, and leave scars that were never supposed to be there!

Story of Black Lab Puppy and Fishing Hook.

When sin gets her dirty little fingers into you:

AA cant help you, NA cant help you, the DA cant help you, your PO cant help you…THE ONLY THING THAT IS GOING TO HELP YOU WILL BE THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD GETTING A HOLD OF YOU BECAUSE HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO IS STRONG ENOUGH TO FEND OFF THE DARKNESS AND POWERS OF SATAN!

IV. Your Sin Will Be Exposed

Numbers 32:23, Moses says be sure your sins will find your out!

Maybe you have done good to hid your sin from your momma and your daddy.

Maybe you have done good to hid it from your spouse.

Maybe you have done good to hide it from your boss, or teacher or preacher but friend be sure that JESUS already knows what you have been doing and there is NOTHING THAT YOU CAN DO TO HIDE IT FROM HIM!

There was a woman who came to a well to draw some water in John Chapter 4 and she met a man named Jesus, And she tried to hid from him the life that she was living when she said “sir, I do not have a husband.”

Jesus said to her, “you have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands and the one whom you know have is not your husband; IN THAT YOU SPOKE TRULY.”

You see, she thought that she was doing a pretty good job of hiding it, she thought she had it together this time. She though but this is the one and so she thought she could just dismiss the previous sin that she had lived in but THERE IS ONLY ONE WHO CAN DISMISS THE SIN THAT YOU HAVE LIVED IN AND HIS NAME IS JESUS!

THIS WOMAN WAS AMAZED AND SHE RAN TO TOWN SHOUTING AND PRAISING GOD AND THE BIBLE SAYS THAT “MANY OF THE SAMARITANS OF THAT CITY BELIEVED ON HIM FOR THE SAYING OF THE WOMAN, WHICH TESTIFIED, HE TOLD ME ALL THAT EVER I DID!

Application

How do I fix it preacher?

Jesus told us how to do it.

John 8:1-11.

She had been caught and confronted with her sin and brought before the only person with the true authority to convict and condemn her and what does He say?

Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more!

Friend he was telling her, look you sin is exposed, it is in front of me and if you will let me give you victory over it, you do not have to walk in this sin that was trying to destroy you today!

The bible says that their is a sin that doth so easily be-set us and friend if we just be wiling to be exposed before our Savior, He would give us the victory and in his power we can go forth and no longer walk in that sin!

Friend, in Him is victory over everything that tries to trip us up!

In Him is victory over everything that desires to conquer us!

In Him is victory over everything that would desire to destroy us!

Maybe just maybe, you are tired of pretending this morning. Maybe you are ready to surrender to Him!

In late September 1864 Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest was leading his troops north from Decatur, Alabama, toward Nashville. But to make it to Nashville, Forrest would have to defeat the Union army at Athens, Alabama. When the Union commander, Colonel Wallace Campbell, refused to surrender, Forrest asked for a personal meeting, and took Campbell on an inspection of his troops. But each time they left a detachment, the Confederate soldiers simply packed up and moved to another position, artillery and all. Forrest and Campbell would then arrive at the new encampment and continue to tally up the impressive number of Confederate soldiers and weaponry. By the time they returned to the fort, Campbell was convinced he couldn’t win and surrendered unconditionally!

Satan likes to deceive the Christian into thinking he must be a slave to sin. Once he has done that the Christian surrenders unconditionally.

Would you consider coming down this morning and giving Him your life?

I mean the bible says today is the day of salvation!

would you come and surrender to what He has asked you to do?