|
BUT
ENCOURAGE
ONE ANOTHER: alla parakaleite
(2PPAM)
heautous: (Hebrews
10:24,25;
Acts 11:23;
1 Thessalonians
2:11;
4:18;
5:11;
2 Timothy 4:2)
But (alla) introduces a
contrast
to falling away from the living God. A good "antidote/preventative" to
counteract the tendency to fall away from the living God is coming alongside
the one who is wavering on the edge.
Is there someone in your life whom God
is calling you to come alongside with an encouraging word (lunch, email,
phone call, a jog on the trail, etc)? Don't ignore that "urge", for it may
well be God's invitation to join Him in His work in that person's life! What
a privilege we as believers have to be given and enabled
(Php 2:13NLT-note)
to obey this great command!
Encourage (3870)
(parakaleo
[word study] from
para = side of, alongside, beside +
kaleo [ word study]
= call) means literally
to call one alongside, to call someone to oneself, to call for, to
summon. Parakaleo can include the idea of giving help or aid but
the primary sense in the NT is to urge someone to take some action,
especially some ethical course of action. Sometimes the word means
convey the idea of comfort, sometimes of exhortation but always at the
root there is the idea of enabling a person to meet some difficult
situation with confidence and with gallantry.
Kent Hughes illustrates the root idea of parakaleo
"to come alongside and encourage" with the following example
I see this exemplified every time my
church has a roller skating party, and the parents put their little ones
on skates for the first time. Mom and Dad skate with their child, holding
on to his or her hands, sometimes with the child’s feet on the ground and
sometimes in the air. But all the time the parents are alongside
encouraging....[exhortation] is a wonderful gift, and we are to place
it at Christ’s feet and be willing to be worn out in its use.One of the Greek historians use
parakaleo to describe a Greek regiment which had lost heart and was
utterly dejected. The general sent a leader to talk to it to such purpose
that courage was reborn and a body of dispirited men became fit again for
heroic action.
Parakaleo is in the
present imperative
which is a command to continually take encourage each other. Why? Because
sin would continue to seek to deceive the readers who were in ever present danger of "falling away from the living God."
The recipients of this letter are
commanded by the writer to exhort one another not to harden their hearts by
renouncing their professed faith in Messiah and going back to the Levitical
system and sacrifices but to go on in faith in the better covenant, better
ministry, better promises and better sacrifice of the Messiah.
Here are the other 3 uses of
parakaleo in Hebrews...
Hebrews 10:25 (note)
- not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but
encouraging (parakaleo) one another; and all the more as you see the day
drawing near.
Hebrews 13:19 (note)
- And I urge (parakaleo) you all the more to do this, so that I may
be restored to you the sooner.
Hebrews 13:22 (note)
- But I urge (parakaleo) you, brethren, bear with this word of
exhortation (Paraklesis), for I have written to you briefly.
One another - The reflexive pronoun is uses here
deliberately rather than the reciprocal pronoun "each other" with the
purpose of emphasizing the close unity of the Christian body.
Believers should encourage one
another
(1) In love: Ep 3:16, 4:15, 16-notes
Ep 3:16.
4:15,
16.
1Pe 1:22-note.
(2) Unto good works - Ep 2:10-note.
Titus 3:8-note.
(3) By regular fellowship: He 10:25
(note). Ex 34:24.
1Sa 2:30. Mt 6:33
(note). Acts 2:42, 43.
(4) By avoiding willful sin: He 10:26
(note). 1Cor
6:9, 10, 11; Ga 5:21-note.
Ep 5:5-note.
Re 21:8-note,
Re 21:27-note.
(5) By maintaining confidence: He 10:35
(note).
Acts 11:23, 13:43, 14:22.
(6) With the sure hope of Christ’s coming:
1Th 4:13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18-notes
1Th 4:13;14;
15;
16;
17;18.
Titus 2:11, 12, 13, 14-Titus 2:11;12;13;14. Jas 5:7, 8. 1Jn 3:1,
2, 3. 2Pe 3:14
(note).
(7) Unto steadfastness and
perseverance: He 10:38, 39-notes. 1Co15:58.
(8) To not draw back unto
perdition: He 10:35
(note).
1Co 5:2. 1Ti 4:1. 2Pe 2:20, 21, 22-notes
2Pe 2:20;21;22
Spurgeon commenting on the text
“Encourage one another day after day“ draws two lessons.
First, hear exhortation from others; and,
secondly, practice exhortation to others.
I have known people of this kind, that if
a word is spoken to them, however gently, as to a wrong which they are
doing, their temper is up in a moment. Who are they that they should be
spoken to? Dear friend, who are you that you should not be spoken to? Are
you such an off-cast and such an outcast that your Christian brethren must
give you up? Surely you do not want to bear that character. I have even
known persons take offense because the word has been spoken from the pulpit
too pointedly. This is to take offense where we ought to show gratitude.
“Oh,” says one, “I will never hear
that man again! He is too personal.”
What kind of a man would you like to
hear? Will you give your ear to one who will please you to your ruin, and
flatter you to your destruction? Surely, you are not so foolish? Do you
choose that kind of doctor who never tells you the truth about your bodily
health? Do you trust one who falsely assured you that there was nothing the
matter with you when all the while a terrible disease was folding its cruel
arms about you? Your doctor would not hurt your feelings. He washes his
hands with invisible soap, and gives you a portion of the same. He will send
you just a little pill, and you will be all right. He would not have you
think of that painful operation which a certain surgeon has suggested to
you. He smirks and smiles, until, after a little while of him and his pills,
you say to yourself,
“I am getting worse and worse, and yet
he smiles, and smiles, and flatters and soothes me. I will have done with
him and his little pills, and go to one who will examine me honestly, and
treat me properly. He may take his soap and his smile elsewhere.”
O sirs, believe me, I would think it a
waste of time, nay, a crime like that of murder, to stand here and prophesy
smooth things to you. We must all learn to hear what we do not like.
The question is not, “Is it pleasant?”
but, “Is it true?”
We ought to be able to take a loving
exhortation from our brethren and sisters. We must do so if we are to be
preserved from the deceitfulness of sin. Another eye may see for me what
I cannot see for myself. Reproofs should be given with great tenderness; but
even if they wound us, we must bear them. “Let the righteous smite me; it
shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent oil.”
Let us be thankful that some saints love us well enough to give themselves
the pain and trouble of exhorting us.
And then let us endeavor, if the Lord
is keeping us by his grace, to “exhort one another daily.” We are not
to scold one another daily, nor to suspect one another daily, nor to pick
holes in one another's’ coats daily; but when we see a manifest fault in a
brother, we are bound to tell him of it in love; and when we do not see any
fault of commission, but the brother is evidently growing lax and cold, it
is well to stir him up to greater zeal by a loving exhortation.
Wisely said, a word may save a soul from
declension and sin. A good fire may need a little stirring. The best of
believers may grow better by the communications of his friends. Alas! we do
not care enough for the souls of our brethren. If we thought more carefully
of others, we should probably think more carefully about ourselves. “Exhort
one another daily.”
Watch over your own children, your wife,
your husband, and then do not forget your neighbors and fellow-workmen. Cry
to God to give us union of spirit with all the Lord’s chosen, and may that
union of spirit be a living and loving one! We would not be frozen together
in chill propriety, but we would be welded together at a white heat of
loving earnestness, so as to be truly one in Christ Jesus. Let us take for
our motto, “One and all.” Maintaining individuality by each one watching
against personal sin, and merging individuality in the commonwealth of
saints by each one laboring for the sanctification of his brother. (The Deceitfulness of Sin)
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Richard D Phillips writes that ...
I cannot help but recall my days as an
officer in the United States Army. Early every morning all the units would
be out doing physical fitness training, hundreds of little units running in
formation, often for long periods of time and until the men were utterly
exhausted. You could tell everything you needed to know about the morale and
the leadership and even the combat effectiveness of a unit by the way they
ran in formation. A good unit was all together, even if they had to slow the
pace a little bit. There was mutual encouragement going on. If a man fell
out—and that is the very language in Heb 4:1 (Ed: This principle is
also pictured here in He 3:13) —if a man was exhausted or dispirited and
lagged behind, a good unit would turn around to retrieve him, to exhort and
bring back his determination. Not being a particularly gifted long-distance
runner, I can remember times when I thought I could go no further, but was
virtually carried by the encouragement of my fellow soldiers until my legs
regained their strength. That is what it is like to be part of a real team.
The opposite was true of lesser outfits. In poor units you would see
soldiers straggling way behind, falling out and even quitting altogether,
while the main column went on oblivious. Soldiers who would have persevered
in more cohesive outfits fell by the wayside—they fell short (cp He 4:1).
That is what the writer of Hebrews wants us to avoid, especially since the
stakes are so much higher in the matter of salvation. A good church,
therefore, will not be defined by the size of its building, nor by the
number of people attending or the amount of money raised. Rather, by God's
standard, a quality church will be one that leaves no stragglers to lag
behind or perish in unbelief. The kind of church the writer of Hebrews is
looking for is one where the discouraged are propelled forward by
encouragement, where the weak find strength in the care of others, and those
in danger of being deceived are recalled to the truth in a spirit of love.
(from the Reformed Expository Commentary – Hebrews)
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ILLUSTRATION OF OUR NEED FOR
ENCOURAGEMENT - Years ago, a Dear Abby column ran a story by a
retired schoolteacher. One day she had her students take out two sheets of
paper and list the names of the other students in the room. Then she told
them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their
classmates and write it down by their names. She took the papers home that
weekend and compiled a list for each student of what the others had said
about him or her. On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before
long, everyone was smiling. Really? one whispered. I never knew that meant
anything to anyone. I didn't know anyone liked me that much! Years later,
the teacher went to the funeral of one of her former students, who had been
killed in Vietnam. Many who had been in that class years before were there.
After the service, the young mans parents approached the teacher and said,
We want to show you something. Mark was carrying this when he was killed.
The father pulled out of a wallet the list of all the good things Marks
classmates had said about him. Thank you so much for doing that, Marks
mother said. As you can see, Mark treasured it. A group of Marks classmates
overheard the exchange. One smiled sheepishly and said, I still have my
list. Its in my top desk drawer at home. Another said, I have mine, too. Its
in my diary. I put mine in our wedding album, said a third. I bet we all
saved them, said a fourth. I carry mine with me at all times. At that point,
the teacher sat down and cried. And, she used that assignment in every class
for the rest of her teaching career. Robert Orben said it well "A compliment
is verbal sunshine." THE LESSON: We all need encouragement, which is
"like oxygen" to our soul.
Nothing succeeds like encouragement. Who have you encouraged this week?
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KEEP ON HONKING! - Bruce Larson
illustrated the power of encouragement in his book Wind and Fire. Writing
about sand-hill cranes, he said, "These large birds, who fly great distances
across continents, have three remarkable qualities. First, they rotate
leadership. No one bird stays out in front all the time. Second, they choose
leaders who can handle turbulence. And then, all during the time one bird is
leading, the rest are honking their affirmation." Larson commented, "That's
not a bad model for the church. Certainly we need leaders who can handle
turbulence and who are aware that leadership ought to be shared. But most of
all, we need a church where we are all honking encouragement."
There's a lesson for each of us in the unique habits of the sand-hill crane.
Let's begin to offer encouragement, to support our leaders, to build one
another up. Who can tell what might happen in our church if we started
"honking encouragement." D. C. Egner
DAY AFTER DAY AS LONG AS IT IS STILL
CALLED TODAY: kath hekasten hemeran achris hou to Semeron:
Day after day - In a word
continually or constantly be mutual encouragers.
As long as - The implication is
clear - the opportunity will pass, so we must redeem the time and take
advantage of today! Don't put off encouraging until tomorrow, when you could
be encouraging someone today!
As long as it is still called today
- This statement conveys a sense of urgency that the readers give
immediate heed to the voice of God. This urgency is further emphasized by
the repetition of today. The Greek word semeron [today]
is used 7x in Hebrews with 4 uses in chapters 3-4 (Hebrews 1:5, 3:7, 3:13,
15, 4:7, 5:5, 13:8).
As one sage has written...
We should be doing all the good we can to one another while we are together,
which will be but a short and uncertain time.
Since tomorrow is none of ours, we must make the best
improvement of to-day.
If Christians do not exhort one another daily, they will be in danger of
being hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Paul writes
AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON
THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU"; behold, now is "THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,"
behold, now is "THE DAY OF SALVATION" (2Cor
6:2).
The word Today is preceded by
the definite article in the Greek text. The article points back to the
former expression in v7 and thus the idea would be...
But exhort one another daily so long as the aforementioned
Today is
being called out.
What is "Today"? For one thing,
it is the day of grace, the day in which salvation through faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ is still readily available. (See excellent sermon by Clarence
McCartney on the related idea of not delaying to do today what we can do!
Read this his convicting, hopefully motivating message -Come Before Winter.
LEST ANY ONE OF YOU BE HARDENED BY
THE DECEITFULNESS OF SIN: hina me sklerunthe (3SAPS) tis ex humon apate tes hamartias:
(Pr 28:26; Is 44:20; Ob 1:3; Ro 7:11; Ep 4:22;
Jas 1:14)
J B Phillips has a vivid
rendering...
beware that none of you becomes deaf and
blind to God through the delusive glamour of sin
Lest - This is the Greek
hina which can also be rendered so that and as such is a term of
conclusion. This introduces the reason why we are to encourage one another
daily.
Tony Evans warns us to be
careful lest we begin to travel on the road to spiritual failure one
of the chief warnings signs of which is becoming hardened or
developing spiritual insensitivity....
Insensitivity sets in when Christ
stops being real to you and you stop looking to Him for your life. When you
stop looking to Christ, unbelief sets in. And when unbelief sets in, you
become susceptible to the deceitfulness of sin. Insensitivity
means you’ve lost your ability to feel.
How do you know when you’re being
spiritually insensitive? Sin
isn’t as painful as it used to be. Before, when you sinned you were crushed.
You had failed your Savior. You had the right heart attitude about your sin.
But when spiritual
insensitivity sets in, sin isn’t that painful anymore.
After all, everybody else is doing it. What hurts the heart of God doesn’t
hurt you the way it used to. This is a dangerous condition, which is why the
author of Hebrews gives the Holy Spirit’s warning, “Do not harden your
hearts as when they provoked Me, as in the day of trial in the wilderness”
(Heb 3:8). (Evans, A. T.. Totally Saved : Understanding, Experiencing, and
Enjoying the Greatness of your Salvation. P 224. Chicago: Moody Press - See
his book for all 4 warning signs and the ultimate consequences of spiritual
failure) (Bolding added)
Hardened (4645)
(skleruno
[word study]
from skleros = dry, hard, rough) means first to make dry, stiff or
hard. In the active skleruno means to harden and in the passive
sense, to grow hard. The NT uses are only figurative (metaphorical) and mean
to cause one to become unyielding, obstinate or stubborn (carried on in an
unyielding or persistent manner)
Skleruno - 6x in NT - (Note
concentration in Hebrews 3-4 Warnings) Acts 19:9; Ro 9:18; Heb.
3:8, 13, 15; 4:7
Skleruno was a medical
technical term (first attested by Hippocrates) in Greek writings describing
something becoming hardened or thickened. Our English word "hardening" of
the arteries is known as "arteriosclerosis". This is a serious, potentially
fatal physical condition, but here in Hebrews the danger is even more
ominous, for spiritual hardening can lead to eternal death and damnation of
one's soul, not just loss of their physical life!
From the uses of skleruno in
Exodus (see below), one observes two important aspects of hardening: (1)
Man can repeatedly harden his heart, until finally God does the hardening,
with the implication that the latter is irrevocable. (2) One effect when
one's heart is hardened is not listening to God.
Regarding Ro 9:18-note
note that in
Exodus Moses speaks of God’s hardening Pharaoh's heart (see Exodus
4:21; 7:3, 9:12; 10:20, 27; 11:10) and also records that Pharaoh
hardened his own heart (see this "self produced" hardening in Ex
8:15, 32; Ex 9:34), the obstinate ruler confirming God’s act of hardening by
his own act of hardening. Such passages point out the humanly irreconcilable
tension between God’s sovereignty and man’s free will. A similar tension is
found with Esau who was rejected before he was born (and who later chose to
reject the inheritance for a pot of stew). Judas Iscariot, in a similar way,
before he was born, was appointed to betray Christ (Acts 1:16; John
6:70, 71). Both Esau and Judas chose to follow sin and unbelief.
R A Torrey
on "hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” Heb. 3:13.
INTRODUCTION.—There is not a more
solemn warning in the Bible than this. There is not a more timely warning in
the Bible than this. All around us we see men and women who are being “hardened
through the deceitfulness of sin.” Three times in this one chapter God
pleads with men, “Harden not your hearts.”
I. Indications
that one is Hardened.
1. The truth does not move us as it
once did.
2. Jest about sacred things or
listen approvingly to others when they jest about them.
3. Not deeply moved by thoughts of
God’s love.
II. Results of
being Hardened.
1. The first evil that results from
a hardened heart is a corrupt life. The hardening of the heart against the
truth and against Christ leads inevitably to sin.
2. Spiritual blindness.
3. Loss of joy.
4. Utter despair.
5. Eternal death. Ro 2:5- note.
There is no hope in the life that now is, there is no hope in the life that
is to come for the man whose heart is finally hardened against Christ. (How
to Work for Christ)
Thomas Watson...
A hard heart is a dwelling for
Satan. As God has two places He dwells in—heaven and a humble
heart; so the devil has two places he dwells
in—hell and a hard heart. (From the recommended resource
Puritan Thomas Watson on Repentance)
Spurgeon writes...
Watch over each other as well as over
yourselves. Take heed lest sin hardens you before you are aware of it; even
while you fancy that you have wiped it out by repentance, petrifaction will
remain upon your heart “through the deceitfulness of sin.”
Matthew Henry...
If Christians do not exhort one another
daily, they will be in danger of being hardened through the deceitfulness of
sin. Note,
[1.] There is a great deal of
deceitfulness in sin; it appears fair, but is filthy; it appears pleasant,
but is pernicious; it promises much, but performs nothing.
[2.] The deceitfulness of sin is of a
hardening nature to the soul; one sin allowed prepares for another; every
act of sin confirms the habit; sinning against conscience is the way to sear
the conscience; and therefore it should be the great concern of every one to
exhort himself and others to beware of sin.
Reformation Study Bible...
Sin promotes the illusion that
disobedience is more secure (Ex. 17:3) or pleasurable (He 11:25, 26; Ex.
16:3) than the pilgrimage of faith.
David's ethical outrage in
response to Nathan's parable (2Sa 12:6), while at the same time hiding his
own sin, illustrates the deceitfulness of sin.
DECEITFULNESS
OF
SIN
(Scroll Down)
To deceive means to to cause to
accept as true or valid what is false or invalid. To deceive implies the
imposition of a false idea or belief that causes ignorance, bewilderment, or
helplessness. Deceive means to mislead the mind (leading it astray from the
truth), to cause to err from the truth, to cause to believe what is false,
to cause to disbelieve what is true (!) or to delude (which implies
deceiving so thoroughly as to obscure the truth).
Sin is the ultimate
"Master of Deceit"
Vice (sin) is a monster of such
frightful mien (look, manner)
As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace!
--Alexander Pope
Steven Cole explains that in its
deceitfulness...
Sin fools us into thinking that it will
get us out of our current problems and will deliver what we want, and that
obedience to God will deprive us of what we want. When David went over to
the Philistines, Saul stopped pursuing him. (See 1Sa 27:1, 2, 3, 4) The
Philistine king gave David his own city. Instead of living from cave to
cave, David and his wives could settle down in a normal way of life. Sin
always works that way. It fools us into thinking that we’re getting what we
want. But then the bills of sin come due!
You’re single and lonely. There haven’t been any godly men calling you for a
date. Satan comes along and says, “You’ll never get what you want if you
wait on God! Here’s a nice unbeliever. Go out with him!” Or, you’re having
problems in your marriage. Your wife constantly nags you. She doesn’t meet
your needs sexually. Along comes a beautiful, sensitive, understanding woman
who offers herself to you. Satan whispers, “She will meet your needs!” Sin,
including unbelief, always deceives us. (Hebrews 3:12-19 Persevering in
Faith)
John Blanchard hits the proverbial
nail on the head observing that...
If sin was not such a pleasure it would
not be such a problem (cp He 11:25-note)...Sin
keeps us from knowing the true nature of sin...To understand the
deceitfulness of sin, compare its promises and its payments. (Source:
These quotes and several of the quotes in this section are from John
Blanchard's book which is
highly recommended as the
single best compendium of Biblically sound quotations available -
The Complete Gathered Gold: A Treasury of
Quotations) - also on
WORDsearchBible.com)
C S Lewis makes an interesting
point noting that...
Nothing can deceive unless it bears a
plausible resemblance to reality.
Stephen Olford
The most deadly sins do not leap upon us;
they creep upon us.
John Owen
Sin is never less quiet than when it
seems to be most quiet. (See his classic work
On the Nature, Power, Deceit, and Prevalence of Sin in
Believers [see
also chap 8
] - Owen's old English is sometimes
difficult to wade through but is worth the effort!)
Scott Richardson
Let's not listen for a minute to the
contemptible question, 'What harm is there in it?' There's nothing but harm
if Christ is not in it.
Richard C. Trench
Sin may be clasped so close we cannot see
its face.
Deceitfulness (539)
(apate
[word study]
from apatao =
cheat, delude, deceive, beguile) describes that which gives a false
impression, whether by appearance, statement or influence. It speaks of
ethical enticement. It is spoken of anything which is seducing (a
leading astray by persuasion or false promises). Apate is that
which seduces someone by causing them to have misleading or erroneous views
concerning the truth.
Apate - 7x in NT - Matt. 13:22;
Mk. 4:19; Eph. 4:22; Col. 2:8; 2 Thess. 2:10; Heb. 3:13; 2 Pet. 2:13
Some scholars say deception
comes from a word which means "to get you off the path" , that which leads
you down a road that goes nowhere. Webster says this word implies imposition
of a false idea or belief which results in ignorance, bewilderment, or
helplessness.
The related word enticement
(The Concise Oxford English Dictionary says it derives from O French
enticier, probably from a base meaning ‘set on fire’) is that which to
attracts and leads astray artfully or adroitly or by arousing hope or
desire.
Vine rightly points out that...
Deceitfulness is the
characteristic element of sin (Ge 3:13; Ro 7:11-note,
in which latter text sin is personified). This element tends to the
hardening of the heart. Deceit induces a person to believe that what is
false is true; it holds out as a benefit what actually proves to be an
injury.
(Vine,
W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson
or
Logos)
See Spurgeon's sermon -
Isaiah 44:20 The Deceived Heart
Richards notes
that...
Deception sometimes comes from within, as
our desires impel us to deceive. But more often in the NT, deceit is error
urged by external evil powers or by those locked into the world's way of
thinking. (Richards,
L O: Expository Dictionary of Bible Words: Regency)
Thomas Brooks...
Sin is of a very deceitful and bewitching nature. It will kiss
the soul, and look enticing to the soul—and yet betray the soul forever! It
will with Delilah smile upon us—that it may betray us into the hands of the
devil—as she did Samson into the hands of the Philistines.
Tell the bewitched soul that sin is a viper that will certainly kill;
that sin often kills secretly, insensibly, eternally—yet the bewitched soul
cannot, and will not, cease from sin.
A man bewitched with sin—had rather lose God, Christ, heaven, and his
own soul—than part with his sin! Oh, therefore, forever take heed of playing
with or nibbling at Satan's golden baits!
(Brooks "Precious
Remedies Against Satan's Devices")
Thomas Watson in
The Doctrine of Repentance characterizes
the deceitfulness of sin...
SIN is a
mere cheat. While it pretends to please us, it beguiles
us!
Sin does as
Jael did. First she brought the milk and butter to Sisera—then she
pounded the tent peg through his head! (Jdg 5:26).
Sin first courts—and then kills!
Sin is
first a fox—and then a lion!
Those locusts in Revelation 9 are fit emblems of sin: "They had gold
crowns on their heads . . .They had tails that stung like
scorpions, with power to torture people!"
Judas pleased himself with the thirty pieces of silver—but they proved
deceitful riches. Ask him now how
he likes his bargain!
Thomas Brooks describes the deceitfulness of
sin...
Sin is of a
penetrating nature. It pierces and winds itself into every corner and chink—into
our thoughts, our words, and our works.
Sin will wind itself . . .into our understandings to darken them, into our
judgments to pervert them, into our wills to poison them, into our
affections to disorder them, into our consciences to corrupt them, and into
our lives to debase them.
Sin will wind itself into every duty—and every mercy; it will wind itself
into every one of our enjoyments—and concernments. (Apples
of Gold)
Gouge said...
All the
devices of sin are as fair baits whereby dangerous hooks are covered over to
entice silly fish to snap at them, so as they are taken and made a prey to
the fisher (Quoted by A W Pink)
William Sprague...
How insidious is sin! From small and almost imperceptible beginnings,
it gradually makes its way, until it reduces the whole man to its dominion,
and brings into captivity every affection and faculty of the soul. Sin first
throws out the bait of pleasure, and flatters its victim on to forbidden
ground; then it makes him the sport of temptation; and does not give him
over until he is fast bound in the chains of eternal death!
In its very nature, sin is deceitful; its very element is the region of
false appearances, and lying promises, and fatal snares. When it addresses
itself to the unwary youth, it puts on a smiling countenance, and makes fair
pretensions, and takes care to conceal its hideous features, until, like a
serpent, it has entwined him with its deadly coils, and rendered his escape
impossible!
You may venture into the path of vice with that most foolish of all
notions—that you shall retreat early enough to save your soul. Alas, I fear
you have not yet learned the slippery and insidious nature of vice! As well
might you think to take the deadly viper into your bosom, and render him
harmless by flattering words; or as well might you drink down the fatal
poison, and expect to stop its progress in your system, when the blood had
curdled at your heart! (Lectures
to Young People)
George Swinnock on "The
deceitfulness of sin"...
Sin goes in a disguise--and thence is welcome.
Like Judas, it kisses--and kills!
Like Joab, it salutes--and slays!
A W Pink...
This deceitfulness of sin should serve as
a strong inducement to make us doubly watchful against it, and that because
of our foolish disposition and proneness of nature to yield to every
temptation. Sin presents itself in another dress than its own. It lyingly
offers fair advantages. It insensibly bewitches our mind. It accommodates.
itself to each individual’s particular temperament and circumstances. It
clothes its hideousness by assuming an attractive garb. It deludes us into a
false estimate of ourselves. One great reason why God has mercifully given
us His Word is to expose the real character of sin. (Pink, A. W.. An
Exposition of Hebrews).
Solomon writes (a truth he
experienced when he married foreign wives!) that...
An evil man is held captive by his own
sins. They are ropes that catch and hold him. (Pr 5:22-note)
SIN
IS LIKE
A BOA CONSTRICTOR!
Are you being deceived
by sin and tolerating it like a pet? If you are, then you need to
remember the fate of the man with the pet boa constrictor (Do a
Google search - use the following three words in your search keeping the
quotation marks
as written >> "pet boa" killed). After 15 years of living with his
owner, one day the "pet boa" would not let its "owner" out of its grip
resulting in the owner's tragic death. Wild animals remain wild and so does
Sin.
Do not be deceived (Stop being deceived)!
No Small Deviations in God's Economy! - In St.
Louis there is a railroad switchyard. One particular switch begins with just
the thinnest piece of steel to direct a train away from one main track to
another. If you were to follow those two tracks, however, you would find
that one ends in San Francisco, the other in New York. Sin is like that.
Just a small deviation from God’s standards can place us far afield from our
intended destination. Don't be deceived by
the
world,
the
flesh
and the
devil
who whisper
"It's no big deal!" Wrong! Sin is a
VERY BIG DEAL! (Sin seeks
to rule over us and to kill us = Ps 19:13-note,
[See also
Spurgeon's comments] Ps 119:133-note,
1Jn 5:16)
Entanglement by the Cords of one's
own Sin - Not long after a wealthy contractor had finished building the
Tombs prison in New York, he was found guilty of forgery and sentenced to
several years in the prison he had built! As he was escorted into a cell of
his own making, the contractor said, “I never dreamed when I built this
prison that I would be an inmate one day.” (cp Nu 32:23, Pr 5:22 -
See Captured by Iniquity and Held by
Cords of one's own Sin - A Study)
Sin will take you further
than you ever wanted to stray!
Cost you more than you ever dreamed you would pay!
Keep you longer than you ever thought you would stay!
Sin (266)
(hamartia
[word study]) in simple terms is missing the mark, specifically missing
God's will for us, a will which is good and acceptable and perfect
(Ro 12:2b-note).
Sin is what you do when you obey your fallen
flesh,
instead of obeying the Holy Spirit (cp Gal 5:16-note,
Gal 5:17-note).
The apostle John has a
good "working" definition of sin writing that sin is lawlessness
(anomia > a = without + nomos = law - behaving as if one had no supreme,
divine law ruling their
flesh,
cp Jdg 21:25-note) (1John 3:4
= practices is
present tense
= as one's lifestyle -
something a truly born again person cannot do habitually - 1Jn
3:9, 10). In Romans 5
and 6 Paul explains that
Sin
refers to the inherent
propensity to commit specific sins a propensity that entered the human
heart of Adam and as a result constituted or made him a sinner by nature.
Adam then passed the inherent sinful nature (the "sin virus") he possessed
to all of his offspring (which is every person ever born) (Ro 5:12-note,
Ge 5:3 = "in his own likeness", not God's as in Ge 1:26!). This same
"Adamic" nature which always seeks to satisfy self will (cp
"lovers of self" -2Ti 3:2-note) rather than
God's
will is present in every person at the moment of conception when the "sin
virus" is passed to the fertilized ovum (Ps 51:5-note,
Ps 58:3-note,
Job 25:4).
Hamartia - 173x in NT - Matt.
1:21; 3:6; 9:2, 5f; 12:31; 26:28; Mk. 1:4f; 2:5, 7, 9f; Lk. 1:77; 3:3;
5:20f, 23f; 7:47, 48, 49; 11:4; 24:47; Jn. 1:29; 8:21, 24, 34, 46; 9:34, 41;
15:22, 24; 16:8f; 19:11; 20:23; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 7:60; 10:43; 13:38;
22:16; 26:18; Ro 3:9, 20; 4:7f; 5:12f, 20f; 6:1f, 6f, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17,
18, 20, 22f; 7:5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13f, 17, 20, 23, 25; 8:2f, 10; 11:27; 14:23;
1 Co. 15:3, 17, 56; 2 Co. 5:21; 11:7; Gal. 1:4; 2:17; 3:22; Eph. 2:1; Col.
1:14; 1Th 2:16; 1Ti 5:22, 24; 2Ti 3:6; Heb. 1:3; 2:17; 3:13; 4:15; 5:1, 3;
7:27; 8:12; 9:26, 28; 10:2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 11f, 17f, 26; 11:25; 12:1, 4; 13:11;
Jas 1:15; 2:9; 4:17; 5:15f, 20; 1Pe 2:22, 24; 3:18; 4:1, 8; 2 Pet. 1:9;
2:14; 1Jn. 1:7, 8, 9; 2:2, 12; 3:4f, 8f; 4:10; 5:16f; Rev. 1:5; 18:4, 5
This sin nature which is still
present in believers (some subtle, "snake-like" teachers falsely teach
that the sin nature is no longer present in believers! Wrong!) is
personified as an active power which continually seeks to seduce,
deceive, delude and destroy (our fellowship with God).
Sin appears to be fair ("you
deserve this little treat"!), but is in fact filthy. It appears pleasant
("it will make you feel so good"), but belies its
pernicious character and finally it promises much pleasure ("you'll be better for
having done this", cp "passing pleasures" He 11:25-note), but performs nothing good,
in the end bringing only death (to our fellowship with God if we are
believers, eternal death/separation if unbelievers).
Paul alluded to the crafty
character of sin in Romans 7 writing that...
sin, taking opportunity through
the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. (see
note
Romans 7:11;
James 1:14, 15-note,
Jas 1:16-note
).
Paul speaking of the character and
activity of the Antichrist in the end times declared that he will come...
with all the deception of wickedness
for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so
as to be saved (2Thes 2:10)
(Note that they perish not because they were deceived but because they made
the conscious choice to refuse the truth of the gospel of salvation. And the
divine punishment for their rejection is that they will receive a deluding
influence which causes them to believe what is false.)
James makes it clear that God
never tempts one to do evil...
But each one is tempted when he is
carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it
gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do
not be deceived, my beloved brethren. (James 1:14, 15-note,
Jas 1:16-note)
Some commentators have state that the
definite article preceding the word “sin,” identifies a specific sin
which in context is the sin of apostasy or falling away from the truth of
the gospel.
Sin promotes the illusion that disobedience is more secure (Ex 17:3) or
pleasurable (see notes
Hebrews 11:25;
26; Ex 16:3) than the
life of faithful obedience.
The terrible danger of sin lies
in the deceptive ease with which it slowly but surely hardens one's heart,
ever gradually weakening one's will’s power to resist evil temptations. Paul
gives us a command that is good "preventative maintenance" which serves to
minimize our vulnerability to the deceptive temptations of sin...
Even so
consider
(present
imperative
= command to continually
take spiritual inventory of what we have and we now are in Christ. Why?
Because we are continually vulnerable/susceptible to being deceived if we
let go of our grasp of the truth of this affirmation. Speaking this truth
does not make it true, but it does remind us that it is true, so that this
truth like a shield might be readily recalled in time of need!) yourselves
to be dead to sin (separated from, no longer subject to the power of
Sin),
but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Ro 6:11-note)
Alexander Maclaren...in his
sermon
What Sin Does to Men
(Isaiah 1:30, 31)...
Sin withers. We see the picture of a
blasted tree in the woods, while all around are in full leaf, with tiny
leaves half developed and all brown at the edges. The prophet draws another
picture, that of a garden not irrigated, and therefore, in the burning East,
given over to barrenness. Sin makes men fruitless and withered. It involves
separation from God, the source of all fruitfulness (Ps. 1).
Think of how many pure desires and
innocent susceptibilities die out of a sinful soul. Think of how many
capacities for good disappear. Think of how dry and seared the heart
becomes.
Think of how conscience is stifled. All
sin, any sin, does this.
Not only gross, open transgressions, but
any piece of godless living will do it.
Whatever a man does against his
conscience—neglect of duty, habitual unveracity, idleness—in a word, his
besetting sin withers him up.
And all the while the evil thing that is
drawing his life-blood is growing like a poisonous, blotched fungus in a
wine-cask. (Read full sermon -
Isaiah 1:30, 31 What Sin Does to Men)
Spurgeon writes that...
Sin slyly insinuates itself and by slow
degrees prevails, therefore must we carefully guard against it.
As someone has written...
[1.] There is a great deal of
deceitfulness in sin; it appears fair, but is filthy; it appears pleasant,
but is pernicious; it promises much, but performs nothing.
[2.] The deceitfulness of sin is of a
hardening nature to the soul; one sin allowed prepares for another; every
act of sin confirms the habit; sinning against conscience is the way to sear
the conscience; and therefore it should be the great concern of every one to
exhort himself and others to beware of sin.
ILLUSTRATION OF THE DECEITFUL
CORRUPTING EFFECT OF SIN:
What happened to the great city of Ephesus?
Often mentioned in the New Testament, it was one of the cultural and
commercial centers of its day. Located at the mouth of the Cayster River, it
was noted for its bustling harbors, its broad avenues, its gymnasiums, its
baths, its huge amphitheater, and especially its magnificent Temple of
Diana. What happened to bring
about its gradual decline until its harbor was no longer crowded with ships
and the city was no longer a flourishing metropolis? Was it smitten by
plagues, destroyed by enemies, or demolished by earthquakes?
No, silt was the reason for its downfall—silent and non-violent silt. Over
the years, fine sedimentary particles slowly filled up the harbor,
separating the city from the economic life of the sea traders. Little evil
practices, little acts of disobedience may seem harmless. (Song 2:15) But
let the silt of sin gradually accumulate, and we will find ourselves far
from God. Life will become a spiritual ruin. In the book of Hebrews we are
warned of the danger of “the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb 3:13). James said
that the attractive pleasures of sin are really a mask covering death (Jas
1:15-note).God
forbid that we let the "silt of sin" accumulate in our lives!
Barnhouse on "Deceitfulness of
Sin"...
The natural man does not receive the
things of the Spirit. Among the things of the Spirit to which the natural
man is most averse is God's estimate of sin, which is difficult even for a
Christian to accept and appreciate. This is why believers are to exhort each
other daily, "lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin"
(Heb. 3:13). Now if sin can deceive a believer, how much more deceitful is
it to an unbeliever? If a man with 20-20 vision cannot discern an object at
which he is gazing, how shall one born blind see it? Because of the
deceitful nature of sin, the unregenerate world cannot comprehend it. Sin
originated in Lucifer who became Satan, and in his fall his very nature
became deceit. The Lord Jesus Christ said to the unbelievers of His day,
"You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do.
He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because
there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own:
for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44). We understand,
therefore, that sin is deceitful because it proceeds from the devil, the
father of lies, who uses falsehood to suit his purpose and even teaches that
he does not exist. Thus his dominion can more easily be extended, and sin
can be cloaked by the claim that it is unreal, an error of mortal mind.
(Barnhouse Romans - Expositions of Bible Doctrines Taking the Epistle to the
Romans As a Point of Departure – Volume 6: God's Freedom)
J Knap writes that...
All know how this hardening takes place.
It begins by permitting sin, in particular the secret sin, to which we
cleave so closely with all the senses of our heart. If this sin be not
opposed bravely in God’s power, we will sink away in it deeper and deeper,
while our conscience will register less and less opposition to it on a daily
basis. In sin there is a numbing power, that makes even the conscience to be
senseless, so that even she no longer raises her warning voice as loudly,—it
is as if a thief creeps into our home and cuts first the cable of our alarm
to disable any warning signal beforehand. And, of course, once the
protesting inward voice has been brought to silence, the surrender to the
sin becomes easier by the day and it even loses its humiliating character of
evil to our soul’s sense, it can even get so far, that we enjoy it. (!!!)
Oh, it is such a slow but certain process
with the hardening of the heart,—a steadily callousing of the once so tender
hand, or, like someone said strikingly, the freezing over of a water
surface, that initially is covered with a skin thin layer that is even
punctured by a needle falling upon it, but soon hardens to a heavy floor of
ice, upon which we can travel with clanging sleighs.
This progress in hardening is, according
to Scripture, to be blamed on the deceitfulness of sin. Sin acts in
these rebellious ones like a seducer. She knows how to allure and how to
whisper with a flattering voice, to convince us to make the present day of
grace to pass by aimlessly. Only once more to enjoy,—and then we shall
convert ourselves. To day we shall still sin,—and to morrow we shall become
a saint. After all, God is good, He forgives manifoldly, is it not written
in Scripture that He is of infinite mercy,—behold the language of the sly
and unholy seducer.
Away with such deceitful language,
and with such pretentious piety, and with such sly prostitution
of the Scriptures! Rather let every one be exhorted, yes admonished daily,
to be alert for the initial hardening, to listen respectfully to the
callings of God to hear His voice presently, and to guard the tenderness of
the conscience. (The Loins Girded. Ontario, Canada: Martien C. Vanderspek)
In his book
The Vanishing Conscience (which I
highly recommend - click the link and read the reviews - all gave it 5/5
stars!) John MacArthur observed in a chapter entitled "Hardened by
the Deceitfulness of Sin" that...
The most ominous aspect of our culture’s
moral slide is that the problem tends to feed itself. Sin denied dulls the
conscience. The writer of Hebrews warned about the danger of being “hardened
by the deceitfulness of sin” (3:13). Sin defies and deceives the human
conscience, and thereby hardens the human heart. A sin-hardened heart grows
ever more susceptible to temptation, pride, and every kind of evil.
Unconfessed sin therefore becomes a cycle that desensitizes and corrupts the
conscience and drags people deeper and deeper into bondage.
On the cultural level, for example, we
can see that as conviction of sin is silenced and the community
conscience vanishes, society becomes more corrupt and more tolerant of
worse debauchery. The rapid erosion of social standards regarding obscenity
and moral propriety provides abundant evidence of this phenomenon. What was
shocking and unacceptable only a decade ago is now standard fare on network
television. Lewd humor that would have been judged inappropriate outside the
locker room not so long ago is now the main attraction in children’s
entertainment. And things are steadily growing worse. Just when “The
Simpsons” seemed to be plumbing the depths of moral nihilism in animated
cartoons, MTV introduced a couple of characters who make Bart Simpson look
like a choirboy. Beavis, and his friend whose name is too crude to mention,
epitomize the degeneracy of modern culture (Ed: Remember this book
was published in 1996! Beavis is now the "choirboy" relative to the trash
talk that pollutes not just shows during the "family hours" but even crude,
off color, sexual innuendo-laden commercials not just for beer but even for
candy and burgers!). Everything that is vulgar, disrespectful, or
illegal, they consider “cool”—and all that is good or sacred, they ridicule.
Beavis and his buddy are the heroes of the next generation. That is an
appalling thought. How low can the culture sink? Evidence of serious moral
decline is all around. (MacArthur,
J., F., Jr. The Vanishing Conscience. pp 57–58. Dallas: Word Pub)
(Bolding added)
C H Spurgeon...
THE PRICK OF A PIN AND A HEAVY BLOW
- “The prick of a pin maketh a man start, but a heavy blow stunneth him.
David, when he cut off the lap of Saul’s garment, his heart smote him; but
when he fell into adultery and blood, he was like one in a swoon.”
Thus it is that a slight departure from
right will startle the unsophisticated conscience, while a gross sin may
stun it into a horrible insensibility. Much serious thought is suggested by
this most striking simile. Among other things it teaches us to dread a
benumbed or swooning conscience, for it may have been brought into that
condition by a terrible sin. Better far to be morbidly sensitive, and
condemn one’s self needlessly, than to be hardened through the
deceitfulness of sin. A quick and tender conscience is among the best
gifts of grace; let those who have it guard its delicacy with jealous care.
Lord, let my conscience be as tender as
the apple of my eye. As well-balanced scales are tremulous at the fall of a
single grain of dust, so let the minutest sin set me on the move. Never, I
beseech thee, permit me to become heavy with the intoxication caused by a
deep draught of evil: “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me.” (Flowers from a Puritan's garden,
distilled and dispensed).
Sin slyly insinuates itself and by slow
degrees prevails,
Therefore must we carefully guard against it.
--Spurgeon
John Owen...
There are three false notions whereby the
deceitfulness of sin deludes the souls of men:
1. That it is one sin alone wherein
alone they would be indulged. Let them be spared in this one thing, and
in all others they will be exact enough....
One sin willingly lived in is as able to
destroy a man’s soul as a thousand.
2. They judge that although they
cannot shake off their sin, yet they will continue still to love God and
abound in the duties of His worship. . . .
Where God is not loved above all, He is
not loved at all.
3. They determine that at such or such
a season or time, after such satisfaction given unto their lusts or
pleasures, they will utterly give over, so as that iniquity shall not be
their ruin....
He that will not now give over, say what
he will and pretend what he will,
never intends to give over, nor is it probable, in an ordinary way, that
ever he will do so.
><>><>><>
Puritan Thomas Watson (from his excellent
treatise on
Repentance)...
Sin is like
oil, and God's wrath is like fire. As long as the damned continue
sinning—so long will the fire continue scorching! "They cursed the God
of heaven for their pains and sores. But they refused to repent
of all their evil deeds!" Revelation 16:11 But men question the truth of
this, and are like impious Devonax who, being threatened with hell for
his villainies, mocked at it and said, "I will believe there is a hell
when I come there—and not before!" We cannot make hell enter into
men—until they enter into hell. If, for all this, men will persist in
sin and are resolved upon a voyage to hell—who can hinder their
damnation? They have been told what a soul-damning rock sin is—but if
they will voluntarily run upon it and damn themselves—their blood is
upon their own head!...
Sin is a mere cheat. While it pretends to please us, it beguiles us! Sin
does as Jael did. First she brought the milk and butter to Sisera,
then she pounded the tent peg through his head! (Jdg 5:26). Sin
first courts, and then kills! It is first a fox—and then a lion. Whoever
sin betrays—it kills! Those locusts in Revelation are fit emblems of
sin: "They had gold crowns on their heads . . . They had tails that
stung like scorpions, with power to torture people" (Revelation 9:7, 8,
9, 10). Judas pleased himself with the thirty pieces of silver—but they
proved deceitful riches (Mk 4:19, Pr23:5; Eccl 5:13; Lk 18:24; 1Ti
6:9,10,17; cp Acts 5:1-10). Ask him now how he likes his bargain!...
Sin is
worse than hell. Torment has its epitome in hell—yet nothing in hell is
as bad as sin. Hell is of God's making—but sin is not of God's making.
Sin is the devil's creature. The torments of hell are a burden only to
the sinner—but sin is a burden to God. In the torments of hell, there is
something which is good, namely, the execution of divine justice. There
is justice to be found in hell—but sin is a piece of the highest
injustice. Sin would rob God of his glory, Christ of his purchase, the
soul of its happiness. Sin is the most hateful thing—for it is worse
than the torments of hell....
"The wicked
know no shame." Zephaniah 3:5 - Many have sinned away shame. It is a
great shame, not to be ashamed. "Are they ashamed of their loathsome
conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how
to blush!" (Je 6:15). The devil has stolen shame from men. When men have
hearts of stone and foreheads of brass—it is a sign that the devil has
taken full possession of them!
There is no creature capable of shame but man. The brute beasts are
capable of fear and pain—but not of shame. You cannot make a beast
blush. Those who cannot blush for sin, do too much resemble the beasts.
There are some so far from this holy blushing, that they are proud of
their sins. They are so far from being ashamed of sin, that they glory
in their sins! They look on sin as a piece of gallantry. The swearer
thinks his speech most graceful when it is interlarded with oaths. The
drunkard counts it a glory that he is mighty to drink. But when men
shall be cast into the fiery furnace, heated seven times hotter by the
breath of the Almighty—then let them boast of sin! (From the
recommended resource
Puritan Thomas Watson on Repentance)
><>><>><>
Alexander
Maclaren addresses "How Men May Deceive Themselves About Their
Condition" noting first that this could also be entitled...
the self-illusions and compromises
of sin. These convictions will never, by themselves, keep a man from
evil, but they may lead men to try to compromise, just as Balaam did. He
would go, but he would not, for the life of him, curse; and he evidently
thought that he was a hero in firmness and a martyr to duty.
He would not curse in words, but he
did it in another way, by means of Baal-peer.
So we find men making compromises
between duty and inclination; keeping the letter and breaking the
spirit; obeying in some respects and indemnifying themselves for their
obedience by their disobedience in others; very devout, attentive to all
religious observances, and yet sinning on. And we find such men playing
tricks upon themselves, and really deluding themselves into the idea
that they are very good men!
This is the great characteristic of sin, its deceitfulness. It always
comes as an ‘angel of light,’ like some of those weird stories in which
we read about a strange guest at a banquet who discloses a skeleton
below the wedding garment!
‘Father of lies.’ ‘Nihil imbecillius
denudate diabolo.’ The more one sins, the less capable he becomes of
discerning evil. Conscience becomes "sophisticated", and it
is always possible to refine away its judgments.
‘By reason of use have their senses
exercised to discern.’ ‘Take heed lest any of you be hardened through
the deceitfulness of sin.’ (See Maclaren's full sermon =
Numbers 22:6 "Balaam")
In another sermon
Maclaren writes that...
The deceitfulness ‘of sin’
tells lies about the bait:—lies about the hook that it
hides; lies about the criminality of the act to which she would
draw us; and, lastly, lies about the possibilities of
deliverance. Let me touch on each of these in order. (I
highly recommend reading Maclaren's excellent exposition entitled
The Lies of the Temptress)
In his article "Pastoral
Counseling: Biblical Foundations and Framework" Noel Due
writes...
The noetic (= relating to mental
activity or the intellect) effects of sin are real. Not only must hearts
and minds be illuminated by the Holy Spirit to give entrance to God’s
Word, but even once the process of new birth is accomplished, sin’s
abiding presence affects the heart and mind until the end. As long as we
are in this body we will suffer from the inbuilt deceitfulness of sin.
We will be tempted, seduced, led astray and willingly subject to the
wiles of world, flesh and devil. (Footnote #10 = The
deceitfulness of sin is well recognized in the case of ministerial
adultery, where pastors who have been caught up in such a sin will often
declare that the love they have for the other person is so deep, and the
return of affection so fulfilling that it patently must be God’s will
for this relationship to exist.)
Sin is anemia, irrational and
unpredictable. It is not subject to reason or controlled by our mere
willpower. Indeed the doctrines of original sin and total depravity
indicate that every function of a person’s mind and heart is affected by
sin. The mind, emotions, will and conscience are alike subject to the
deleterious affects of sin. Minds must be informed, with patient
instruction and much love, and shaped according to the renewal of the
Spirit through the Word. Emotions must be disciplined by faith to refuse
the contemporary axiom, “I feel, therefore I am,” and wills must be
aligned to the command of God rather than the demands of the world.
Consciences must be aligned to the gospel and (in rarer cases these
days) be liberated from legalism to the freedom of grace. (Pastoral
Counseling Biblical Foundations and Framework -- By Noel Due - from
Reformation and Revival Volume 13 Number 2, Spring, 2004 page 49)
><>><>><>
Peccatum
est Deicidium
Thomas Brooks
"The deceitfulness of sin." Hebrews
3:13
Sin . . .
has its original from a deceitful subtle serpent,
is the ground of all the deceit in the world,
is the great deceiver of souls.
Sin . . .
debases the soul of man,
defiles and pollutes the soul of man,
renders the soul most unlike to God,
who is the best
and greatest;
renders the soul
most like to Satan,
who is a very sea
and sink of sin!
Sin robs
the soul of . . .
the image of God,
the holiness of God,
the beauty of God,
the glory of God,
the righteousness of God.
Sin is
peccatum est Deicidium—a killing of God!
"But they kept shouting—Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" Luke 23:21
><>><>><>
To summarize, the readers are warned
against being hardened by a trick which their sin nature may play on
them. Mark it down that sin is always a deceitful thing, in
that it promises to do that which it cannot do. Sin is always a lie. Any man
who sins, who does the forbidden thing or who takes the forbidden thing,
does so because he thinks that he will be happier for doing or taking that
thing. Sin deceives him into thinking so. But the plain fact of experience
is that an act or a possession which is the result of sin never brought
happiness to any man. Long ago, Epicurus, with his strictly utilitarian
morality, pointed out that sin can never bring happiness, because, apart
from anything else, it leaves a man with the constant fear of being found
out! Good logic from an unregenerate Gentile!
Achan is a classic example of one
deceived by sin. As Charles Simeon says...
Achan at first contemplated only the
satisfaction he should feel in possessing the Babylonish garment, and the
comforts which the gold and silver would procure for him. The ideas of shame
and remorse and misery were hid from him; or, if they glanced through his
mind, they appeared as visionary, and unworthy of any serious attention. But
O! with what different thoughts did he contemplate his gains, when
inquisition was made to discover the offender! (Simeon,
C. Horae Homileticae Vol. 2: Numbers to Joshua Page 394)
Spurgeon...
If we preach against hypocrisy,
hypocrites say, “Admirable! Admirable!” If we deal out threatenings against
secret sin, secret sinners feel a little twinge, but forget it all and say,
“An excellent discourse.” They have hardened their neck against God’s Word,
have made their brows like flints and their hearts like adamant stones, and
now they might just as well stay away from the house of God as not, for
their soul has become hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. And yet
would I have them refrain from the means of grace? No, for with God nothing
is impossible....
Man loves his own ruin. The cup is so
sweet that though he knows it will poison him, yet he must drink it. And the
harlot is so fair, that though he understands that her ways lead down to
hell, yet like a bullock he follows to the slaughter till the dart goes
through his liver. Man is fascinated and bewitched by sin.
Spurgeon rightly says...
SIN is the greatest evil in the universe.
It is the parent of all other ills. All manner of evils draw their
bitterness from this fount of wormwood and gall. If a man had every
possession mortal could desire, sin could turn every blessing into a curse;
and, on the other hand, if a man had nothing for his inheritance but
suffering, but stood clear from all sin, his afflictions, his losses, his
deprivations might each one be a gain to him. We ought not to pray so much
against sickness, or trial, or temptation, or even against death itself, as
against sin. Satan himself cannot hurt us, except as he is armed with the
poisoned arrows of sin. Lord, keep us from sin. “Lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil.” There is no evil like the evil of
sin: deliver us from it, O Lord!
Alas! we are sadly prone to sin, and evil
has great influence over us. When I say this, I refer not only to those who
are “dead in trespasses and sins,” in whom sin is the great reigning
power, for they are the servants of sin; but I refer also to the people of
God. Even we that have been born again, and are, in a measure, sanctified by
the Spirit of God; even we, I say, have a fleshly nature (see
flesh),
whose tendencies are evil, whose desires draw towards sin. How soon we slip!
How much we need to be held up! How ought we daily to cry for grace, lest we
also should be “hardened through the deceitfulness of sin”!
...If sin comes to us as sin, we are
swift to hate it, and strong to repel it, by the grace of God. When we are
walking with God, we only need to know that an action is forbidden, and
straightway we avoid it; we shun the evil thing when it is plainly evil.
But sin puts on another dress, and comes
to us speaking a language which is not its own; and so, even those who would
avoid sin as sin, may, by degrees, be tempted to evil, and deluded into
wrong. It is well when sin carries its black flag at the mast-head; for then
we know what we are dealing with.
The deceitfulness of sin is most ruinous.
We have grave cause to watch and pray against secret sins, veiled sins,
popular sins, fascinating sins, deceitful sins. May God grant that the words
which I may now utter may set us on our watch-tower, and excite all our
faculties to enquire diligently, lest we be “hardened through the
deceitfulness of sin.”
SIN'S DECEIVING POWER
...Sin Has A Singular Power To
Deceive. We have only to look back to the beginning of our race to be
sure of this. Eve, in the garden, was pure, intelligent, and filled with
good dispositions: her faculties were well balanced, for no original sin or
natural depravity had put her mind out of order. Yet that lovely woman,
without a taint upon her heart or will, perfect as she came from her Maker’s
hand, was overcome by Satan, who embodied in himself the deceitfulness of
sin. The serpent played his part right cunningly with the woman, and soon
withdrew her from her loyal obedience to the Lord God. She began to
question, to parley, to argue with rebellious suggestions, and after a while
she put forth her hand, and she took of the fruit which had been forbidden,
and she gave also to her husband with her, and he did eat. If man in his
perfectness was so readily deceived by sin, what think you of yourself,
fallen and inclined to evil as you are? Will not sin soon deceive you? I
will even go further back than the garden; for the serpent who was the
instrument of evil in the garden, was once an angel of God. Lucifer, the
light-bearer, son of the morning, once stood high in the hierarchy of
spirits; but sin entered into his heart, and the sublime angel became a
loathsome fiend. Lucifer became Satan, as prompt for evil as once he had
been swift for good. If sin overcame angels, can we fight with it? If sin
entangled in its thrice-accursed net even the pure spirits of heaven, what,
think ye, sons and daughters of fallen parents, will not ye soon be deceived
by it, unless the grace of God shall make you wise unto salvation? Since
your hearts are deceitful, and sin is deceitful, you are in peril indeed.
The deceitfulness of sin will be seen in several points, to which I call
your attention.
Its deceit may be seen in the manner
of its approaches to us. Sin does not uncover all its hideousness, nor
reveal its horrible consequences; but it comes to us in a very subtle way,
offering us advantage. Intellectually, it comes with a question, or an
inquiry. Ought we not to question and to enquire? Are we to receive
everything implicitly? The question is, however, full often the thin end of
the wedge, which Satan drives home in the form of carnal wisdom, doubt,
infidelity, and practical atheism. The practice of sin may be encouraged by
a doubt as to its penalty. “Yea, hath God said?” is the speculative
question which is meant to undermine the foundations of godly fear in the
heart. How tiny a drop of sinful distrust of God’s Word will poison all the
thoughts of the soul!
Sin frequently comes as a bare
suggestion, or an imagination; an airy thing, spun of such stuff as dreams
are made of. You do not think of committing the fault, nor even of talking
of it; but you think of it pleasantly, and view it as a thing bright and
lustrous to the imagination. The thought fascinates, and then the spell of
evil begins its deadly work: thought condenses into desire, and desire grows
to purpose, and purpose ripens into act. So slyly doth sin come into the
soul, that it is there before we are aware of it.
I have known a sin insinuate itself by
the way of the repulsion of another sin. A man has wasted his substance in
profligacy; and by way of repentance, in after days he becomes a miser —
greedy, wretched, living only for himself and his hoard. So have I seen the
publican reform and develop a Pharisee. The pendulum went sadly far in this
direction, and now, to make amends, it swings too far the other way. The
shivering fit follows upon the burning heat — it is but the same fever of
sin in diverse phases. A man will fly from pride to meanness, from
moroseness to jollity, from obstinacy to laxity. Thus the shutting of one
gate may open another, and one sin may crawl in as another creeps out. You
set all your guards to keep the northern border, and the enemies come up
from the south, taking you at unawares. You pursue a virtue till you hurry
into a vice, and shun one evil so much that you fall into a worse.
Sin has a way of adapting itself to us
and to our circumstances. One man is of a sanguine temperament, and he
is tempted to speculate, to gamble, and ultimately to become dishonest.
Another man is of a sober frame of mind, and he is tempted to be melancholy,
disputatious, peevish, rebellious against God. To the young man sin will
come with fire for passions, which are all too ready to blaze; to the old
man sin will come with the chill frost of parsimony, or the frost of sloth,
or the canker of care. Sin’s quiver has an arrow for the rich, and a dart
for the poor: it has one form of poison for the prosperous, and another for
the unsuccessful. This master fisherman in the sea of life does not use the
same bait for all sorts of fish; but he knows the creatures he would
capture. If sin find thee poor as an owlet, it will tempt thee to envy, or
to steal, or to doubt God, or to follow crooked ways of gain. If sin find
thee abounding in riches, it will follow quite another tack, and lure thee
on to self-indulgence, or to pride, or worldly fashion. Satan knows more
about us than we know about ourselves: he knows our raw places, and our weak
points, and in what joint there was a breakage in our youth. Sin, like the
north wind, finds out every cranny in the house of manhood, and comes
whistling in where we fondly dreamed that we were quite screened from its
intrusion. Sin creeps towards us as a lion stealthily draws near to his
prey, or as the Red Indian creeps towards his victim without sound of foot
or stir of twig. Beware of the sin which, like Agag, comes delicately. Watch
well against the temptation whose words are smoother than butter, but
inwardly they are drawn swords.
Next, sin is deceitful in its object,
for the object which it puts before us is not that which is its actual
result. We are not tempted to provoke our Maker, or wilfully cast off
the authority of righteousness. We are not invited to do these things for
their own sake. No, no; we are moved to do evil under the idea that some
present good will come of it. The man thinks, when he yields to sin, that he
shall enjoy an additional pleasure, or shall gain an extra profit, or at
least shall avoid a measure of evil, and escape from something which he
dreads. He does the wrong for the sake of what he hopes will come of it. In
brief, he does evil that good may come. Thus, the seeming good is dangled
before the short-sighted creature, man, as the bait before the fish. In
every case, this object is a piece of deceit. Evil does not lead to good,
nor sin promote our real profit: we are fooled if we think so. Yet, in most
cases, the man does not commit the sin with the design of breaking the law
of God, and defying his Maker, but because he fancies that something is to
be gained; and, in his judgment, he better understands what is good for him
even than the Lord God, by whose wisdom he ought to be guided. Just as in
the case of the old serpent, the argument is — God refuses you that which
would be for your advantage, and you will be wise to take it. The
arch-deceiver insinuated that God knew that if Adam and Eve ate of the
forbidden fruit their eyes would be opened, and they would be as gods; and
therefore, to keep them under subjection, he denied them the charming fruit.
Perhaps Milton’s idea is right. “See what this fruit has done for me,”
says the serpent; “I, a mere reptile, am now able to speak and argue like a
man. Go, take the fruit, and you, as men, will rise to the rank of God.”
Thus are we lured and bird-limed like the silly fowls of the air. The object
set before us is delusive: the reward of sin may glitter, but it is not
gold, and yet as gold it thrusts itself upon our erring judgment. This
deceitfulness of sin is everywhere present: the street, the house, the
private room, all come to be enchanted ground unless we dwell in God. Are we
not often caused to think that we could make at least a little gain, or do a
measure of extra good, if we might just to a small degree quit the strait
and narrow way? This is falsehood, base as hell.
Sin is deceitful, next, in the names
it wears. It is very apt to change its title: it seldom cares for its
own true description. Fine words are often used to cover foul deeds. We
read, at times, in the newspapers, of gentlemen who have an alias, or
possibly half-a-dozen: in such cases, there is always a reason for it. Sin
has many names by which it would disguise its real character. In his “Holy
War,” Mr. Bunyan tells us that Covetousness called himself by the name of
Prudent-thrifty; Lasciviousness was named Harmless-mirth; and Anger was
known as Good-zeal. Nowadays, anger is known as “proper spirit,” and
infidelity is “Advanced Theology.” Almost every sin, nowadays, has a
pretty name to be called by on Sundays, and silver slippers to wear in fine
society. The paint-brush and the powder-box are much used upon the wrinkled
countenance of sin, to make it look fair and beautiful. The fig-leaf is not
only worn on the man’s body; but sin itself puts on the apron. To hide the
nakedness of sin is the great desire of Satan; for thus he hopes that even
the better sort may fall in love with a decent evil, though they might have
shunned an odious transgression. Alas, how sadly prone are men to call
things by false names! Even those who profess to be godly men, when they are
indulging sin, will speak of it as though it were no raven, black as night,
but a dove, with its wings covered with silver. I knew one who often drank
to excess; but he spoke of himself as obliged to “take a little for his
health.” He was not drunk, but excited; and if he shouted uproariously, it
was caused by his convivial temperament. This dear innocent only took “a
glass” or a “drop”; and yet one might not be further off the truth if he
described him as taking a barrel or a hogshead. Diminutives are names of
endearment, and men would not talk of their sins as such little things,
unless they loved them dearly. To-day, “worldliness” is “being abreast of
the age”; false doctrine is described as “advanced thought.” Indifference
to truth is liberality, heresy is breadth of view. Yet, names do not alter
things. Call garlic perfume, and it remains a rank odour. Style the fiend an
angel of light, and he is none the less a devil. Sin, call it by what names
you may, is still evil, only evil, and that continually. Hear how our God
cries concerning it: “Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate”! Lord,
save us from the wolf in the sheep’s clothing! May we have grace to see
through the mask of sin, detect its loathsome face, and turn from it with
full purpose of heart!
Sin also shows its special
deceitfulness in the argument which it uses with men. Have you never
heard its voice whispering to you, “Do not make much ado about nothing. Is
it not a little one? There is no need to boggle over so small a matter as
this. It is not right, but still it is a mere trifle, unworthy of notice. Do
it! do it!” My friends, can there be such a thing as a small sin? The point
of the rapier is small, and for that reason the more deadly. That which
grieves the Lord cannot be a little evil. To pluck the fruit from the
forbidden tree was of all actions the simplest, yet brought it death into
the world, with all its train of woe; and that which seems most trifling may
have infinite consequences following in its track.
Then will sin raise the question, and
say, “Is this really wrong? May we not be too precise? Are not the
times changed? Do not circumstances alter the command? “Sin is great at
raising difficult points of casuistry.” Are there not some points of view
in which this act may be allowable, though from more usual points of view it
must certainly be regarded as an unhallowed thing?” He that wills to do
wrong is eager to find a loophole for himself. He that has begun to seek an
excuse is on the border-land of the enemy. He that is loyal to the core and
true to his King in everything, makes short work of questions; for when he
is not sure that a thing is right he lets it alone.
The deceitfulness of sin creates in
the mind a tendency to do evil because others have done so. We have
known people so eager to excuse sin that they cry, “Look at Noah, at David,
at Peter,” and so on; as if the fault of others were an excuse for them. It
is true that these men went wrong, and were restored; but yet they suffered
greatly. That is a vile mind which eats up the sins of God’s people as men
eat bread. Arguing for the indulgence of sin because of the failings of good
men, is not only folly, but wickedness. What if a man was saved who had
taken poison, shall I therefore drink the deadly draught? Some time ago, a
person sought to blow out his brains with a pistol; he still lives; and
shall I therefore put a revolver to my forehead? Yet such detestable
arguments often suffice to mislead men, through the deceitfulness of sin.
Beware of the witchery of sin!
With feeble minds the argument is,
“Beware lest you be singular. As well be out of the world as out of the
fashion. When you are at Rome you must do as Rome does.” Weak minds are
plentiful, and to these, to be thought singular and odd, is a thing to be
dreaded and shunned: they must be in the swim, though the water should be of
the foulest. To them it would be next door to a crime or a calamity to be
out of the fashion. To some of us this is no temptation, for we prefer to
quit the crowd and walk alone; but to the bulk of people this is a mighty
argument, and yet a most deceitful one. He who has God on his side is in the
majority; and if all the world go with us on the wrong road it is not a whit
the safer.
Sin has often whispered in the vain
minds of men, “This action might be very wrong for other people, but it
will not be evil in you. Under your present circumstances, you may take
leave to overlook the command of God. True, you would severely condemn such
a sin in another; but in yourself it is quite another matter. Things must be
left to your superior discretion. You who do so much that is good, and are
such a remarkable person, you may venture where others should not.” Sin
will also plead with you that your circumstances are such that they furnish
you with an excellent justification: you cannot do otherwise than make an
exception to the general rule, under the singular conditions in which you
are now placed. It tempts you to put forth your hand unto iniquity, arguing
that it is the quick way, and the only way, out of your present
difficulties. This is specious reasoning: yet are men foolish enough to be
swayed by it.
Sin will also flatter a man with the
notion that he can go just so far, and no farther, and retreat with ease.
He can tread the verge of grime, and yet be innocent. Another person
would be in great danger; but this self-satisfied fool thinks that he has
such power over himself, and that he is so intelligent, and so experienced,
that he can stop at a safe point. This moth can play with the candle, and
not singe its wings. This child can put its finger between the bars, and yet
never burn himself. I know you, my self-contained friend, and I know your
boast that you can stand on the edge of a cliff, and look down upon the
foaming sea, and while other people’s heads grow giddy, your brain is clear,
and your foot is firm. You may try the experiment once too often. The
deceivableness of sin is such that it makes those most secure who are most
in peril. Oh, for grace to watch and pray, lest we also become “hardened
through the deceitfulness of sin”!
This deceivableness is further seen in
the excuses which it frames afterwords. It needs a great general to
cover a retreat, and conduct it to a safe conclusion. Sin knows how to
furnish a rear-guard for itself, lest it be assailed by the troops of
repentance. To screen the conscience from regret is one of the efforts of
deceitful sin. “Ah!” says the man to himself, “I did wrong; but what can
you expect of poor flesh and blood?” To hear him talk, you would think him
a pitiable victim, rather than a blameworthy offender. With a sham tear in
his eye, he lays this flattering unction to his soul — that he is weak, but
not wicked; he was compelled to do wrong; he would not have thought of it
had there not been a necessity. Beware of aptness in the making of an
excuse, and above all, beware of casting the blame of sin on providence, or
on God.
Sin will also add, “And, after all,
though you were wrong, yet you were not so bad as you might have been; and,
considering the temptation, you may wonder at your own moderation in
transgression. On the whole, you have behaved better than others would
have done.” Thus the sinner will weave a garment out of the cobwebs of his
sins. Self-righteousness is poor stuff when it can be fashioned even out of
our faults. Such is the deceivableness of sin, that it makes itself out to
be praiseworthy.
Then sin will suggest, “Well, you can
soon make up for lost time. Live nearer to God, and be more useful! and then
your little divergence will soon be made up.” It even ventures coarsely
to propose a price for pardon. “Give something extra to the good cause, and
make amends for offenses.” The old Popish idea of purchasing pardon by some
extra piece of religion comes up in many forms.
“Ah!” you say, “surely nobody hears
such deceitful talk!” Has sin never whispered all this to you? If it has
not, then it has taken another way of deceiving you; but deceive you it
will, unless Almighty grace shall keep you ever on the watch against its
devices.
The deceitfulness of sin is seen again
in its promises; for we shall not go far into sin without finding out
how greatly it lies unto us. It promises liberty, and the man who yields to
it becomes the veriest slave. It promises light, and the man gives up the
old faith to go after the new light, and before long the darkness thickens
about him into sevenfold midnight. Sin promises elevation of mind and
spirit, and before long the wretch is worldly, pleasure-loving, grovelling,
superstitious. Sin keeps none of its promises, save only to the ear.
Holiness is truth; but sin is a lie. Sin is false through and through: it
promises pleasure, and it leads to misery; it feigns a heaven, but inflicts
a real hell.
Once more, sin is deceitful in the
influence which it carries with it. At first sin cultivates a free and
easy bearing, and it says to the sinner, “Don’t think. Leave consideration
to older heads.”
’I count it one of the wisest things
To drive dull care away.’
The guilty one goes on day after day
without looking to his way. His happiness lies in carelessness. He hurries
downward to destruction, and it is enough to him that the road is easy. With
a laugh and a joke, he puts off serious things till to-morrow. He is a
free-thinker, and, to a large extent, a free actor, too: those who are near
him often find him making too free. Yes, but he is being deceived, and
by-and-by, when conscience wakes up, he will find it so. Out of his own
mouth will come the death-warrant of his jollity. In those more serious
days, what does sin say? — “You have provoked the Spirit of God, and there
is no mercy for you. Do not listen to the preacher of the gospel, it is
impossible that you should be forgiven. Your case is hopeless; you are
finally condemned, and there is no changing the verdict. As for the promises
of God, they are not for such a sinner as you are; you are given up to
despair, and you will, without doubt, perish everlastingly.” This is the
opposite pole of sin’s deceiving: for, though it has changed sides, it is
still deceiving. Despair is as much a sin as profanity: to doubt God is as
truly a crime as to take pleasure in uncleanness. Thus will sin, by any
means, by all means, endeavor to keep men under its tyranny, so as to work
their ruin. Let no man in this place think that he cannot be deceived; he is
already deluded by his pride. Let no woman dream that she has come to such a
state of perfection that she cannot be deluded by sin: she is even now in
imminent peril. We have a cunning enemy, and we have no wit of our own
wherewith to match the subtlety of the old serpent, and the deceitfulness of
sin. Unless we call in the help of him who is “the Wisdom of God,” we
shall be led as an ox to the slaughter, and perish in our folly.
SIN'S HARDENING POWER
I want you, in the second place, to
notice very carefully that This Deceitfulness Has A Hardening Power Over The
Heart: “Lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”
How does that come about?
Partly through our familiarity with
sin. We may look at hateful sin till we love it. It has the eye of a
basilisk, and its gaze is fascinating. At first you are shocked by sin; but
if you see it every day it will cease to distress you. Persons who have
never heard profane language are greatly grieved as they go down the streets
of London; and yet even good people who live in certain localities come to
hear it without horror. This is one of the sad influences of sin, it makes
the heart horny by contact with it. The lion in the fable alarmed the fox
when first he saw him, but soon he ceased to tremble at him, and at last
made him his companion. Familiarity with sin makes the conscience dull, and
at length deadens sensibility.
Security in wrong-doing leads also to
this kind of hardening. A man has been dishonest: he is found out, and
he suffers for it. I could almost thank God, for now he may cease from his
evil course. But one of the greatest curses that can happen to a man is for
him to do wrong with impunity: he will do it again, and again, and again,
and he will proceed from bad to worse. I am always glad when I hear of a
young gambler whose pocket is cleaned out at his first venture: if he has
any wit he will quit the way of destruction; at least, we hope he will. But
if he gains at first he will stake more and more, and become a confirmed
gamester. It is just so with sin: its deceitfulness is assisted by a man’s
being able to go a little further and a little further without any great
hurt appearing to come of it: for the heart grows used to the increasing
heat, and is hardened to it, till he can live in a furnace heated seven
times hotter by sin. Sinners descend by an inclined plane till they find
themselves far down in the abyss, and think it impossible to rise out of it.
Then there follows on the back of this
insensibility to sin an insensibility to the gospel. I think I could
mention some who come here who once trembled under the Word; but they do not
tremble now. They come still, because they like to pick out the few smart
bits the preacher may say, or the witty anecdotes that he may let fall; but
nothing touches their conscience or arouses their fears now. If there be a
sermon that is likely to disturb them, they play the part of the adder,
which will not hear. I think with sadness of one, who, in reply to the
remark, “What a terrible sermon we had this morning!” answered, “I never
pay any attention to that kind of thing. I only listen to him when he is
comforting us.” Hypocrites get into such a condition at last, that if all
the apostles were to preach to them, and Jesus himself were to denounce the
judgments of God, they would simply make an observation upon the style of
the address, or remark that it was a very searching discourse; but as for
being themselves moved, they are so “past feeling” that nothing comes home
to them. The devils believe and tremble; but these profess to believe every
truth, but trembling is not for them.
In time comes in the help of unbelief.
When a man begins to doubt his Bible, to doubt the atonement, to doubt the
wrath to come, and so on, there is generally a cause for it; and that cause
is not always intellectual, but moral and spiritual. “There is something
rotten in the state of Denmark”; I mean something rotten in the heart, and
this makes something rotten in the head. Very naturally a man does not like
that truth which does not like him. That which condemns him he tries to
condemn. A truth makes him uneasy, and so he tries to doubt it, and the tone
of society soon helps him to discover a stale objection which will answer
his turn, and enable him to set up in business as an unbeliever. Then he
ceases to feel the preaching; for, as a rule, we only feel under the gospel
in proportion as we believe it to be true; and if we persuade ourselves that
it is all a myth, or a fiction, we have made a pillow for our guilty heads.
One of the worst points about
hardening in sin is companionship in it. Evil men seek other evil men to
be their associates. Oh, how many are ruined by company! We do not wonder
that they get no good on Sundays, when we know where they spend their week
evenings. Who are their chosen companions when they take their pleasure?
Many a man will do, when connected with others, what he himself would never
have thought of doing. Inasmuch as others are of the same mind, he joins
hand in hand with them, and encourages himself in evil. The daring, the
looseness, the profanity, the infidelity of abler persons tempt the
weak-minded to venture where else they would have been afraid to go. So the
deceitfulness of sin which led the man to seek evil company leads to the
further hardening of his heart by that company.
O sirs! your hearts are every day either
softening or hardening. The sun that shines with vehement heat melts the
wax, but it, at the same time, hardens the clay. The effect of the
gospel is always present in some degree: it is a savor of life unto life, or
also a savor of death unto death, to all who hear it. You cannot listen to
my plain rebukes and earnest warnings without growing worse, if you do not
grow better.
Pray God to give you a lively conscience;
and when you have it, do nothing to deaden it. It is much better even to be
morbidly sensitive, and fear that you are wrong when you are right, than to
grow careless as to whether you are right or wrong, and so to go on blindly
till you fall into the ditch of open sin. “Do professing Christians ever do
this?” Do they not do it? Is not this the heart-break of pastors, the
dishonor of the church, the crucifying of our Lord afresh? O Lord, preserve
us from it, lest any one of us be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin!
FIGHTING SIN'S DECEITFULNESS
Now I conclude by a practical
observation, that This Deceitfulness Of Sin, And This Tendency To Become
Hardened, Need To Be Fought Against. How is it to be done? I will not keep
to my text just now, but enlarge the scope of my discourse by taking in the
context.
The way to keep from hardness of heart,
and from the deceitfulness of sin, is to believe. We read, “To whom sware
he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.”
Believe! — faith has saved you. Believe!
faith will save you! Believe! — faith has brought you to Christ. Believe! —
it will keep you to Christ. Believe against the present temptation. Believe
against all future deceitfulness of sin.
You shall find that, just in proportion
as faith grows strong, the deceit of sin will be baffled. Under the strong
light of a living faith you see through the sinful imposture, and you no
longer put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter; but under the half light,
the twilight, the darkness of a questioning, half-hearted faith, you cannot
see the true color of an act, and you are easily deceived.
Believe thou in the living God, and in
His righteousness, and in thy obligation to serve Him — then sin will appear
exceeding sinful.
Believe in Christ, Who took thy sin, and
bare it in His own body on the tree — then sin will be seen in its black
colors.
Believe in the Holy Ghost, by Whose power
thou canst be delivered from the deceitfulness of sin; and as thou believest,
so shall it be unto thee, and thou shalt stand fast where the half-believer
slides.
The next advice I would give is this — if
you would be saved from the deceitfulness of sin confess it honestly before
God. It is necessary to lay bare your heart before the living God. Though
sin call itself by another name, do thou call it by its right name. When
thou hast sinned, make no excuses for thyself; but with weeping and
lamentation cry, “Lord, I have sinned.”
Tell the Lord all the evil connected with
your transgression, and try therein to spy out and humbly learn the villany
of thy heart, the falseness of thy nature, the crookedness of thy
disposition, the loathsomeness of thy corruptions.
Pray that sin may appear sin: it cannot
appear in a worse light. Thus thou shalt not so readily be caught in its
traps and lures. It lays its snares in the darkness: keep thine eyes open.
It digs its pits, and covers them most cunningly: look before thou puttest
thy foot down. Tread very cautiously; for thy way is full of pitfalls.
When thou hast sinned, then confess the
great evil of thy wickedness; for this humble penitence will be not only thy
way to pardon, but to future purity. Oh, that the Spirit of God may teach
thee this!
Again, cultivate great tenderness of
heart. Do not believe that to grieve over sin is lowering to manhood;
indulge thyself largely in sweet repentance. Do not think that to yield to
the power of the Word, and to be greatly affected by it, shows thee to be
weak; think rather that this is an infirmity in which thy strength lies.
As for myself, I would be swayed by the
Word of God as the ripe corn is swayed by the summer wind. I would be by
God’s Spirit as readily moved as the leaves of the aspen by the breeze. I
would be sensitive to the gentlest breath of my Lord. God grant that we may
have a conscience quick as the apple of an eye! A conscience seared as with
a hot iron is the sure prelude of destruction. God save us from a heart over
which sin has cast a coat of callous insensibility! (The Deceitfulness of Sin)
><> ><> ><>
The slippery and insidious nature of
vice! by William Sprague from "Lectures
to Young People
"The deceitfulness of sin." Hebrews 3:13
How insidious is sin! From small and
almost imperceptible beginnings, it gradually makes its way, until it
reduces the whole man to its dominion, and brings into captivity every
affection and faculty of the soul. Sin first throws out the bait of
pleasure, and flatters its victim on to forbidden ground; then it makes him
the sport of temptation; and does not give him over until he is fast bound
in the chains of eternal death!
In its very nature, sin is deceitful; its very element is the region of
false appearances, and lying promises, and fatal snares. When it addresses
itself to the unwary youth, it puts on a smiling countenance, and makes fair
pretensions, and takes care to conceal its hideous features, until, like
aserpent, it has entwined him with its deadly coils, and rendered his escape
impossible!
You may venture into the path of vice with that most foolish of all
notions--that you shall retreat early enough to save your soul. Alas, I fear
you have not yet learned the slippery and insidious nature of vice! As well
might you think to take the deadly viper into your bosom, and render him
harmless by flattering words; or as well might you drink down the fatal
poison, and expect to stop its progress in your system, when the blood had
curdled at your heart!
><> ><> ><>
Let's Go Higher! - Author Ragnar Arlander tells about the time he and some friends scaled
Mt. Rainier. When they reached a plateau, the group decided they had gone
far enough.
Arlander, however, continued the climb to find a person who had traveled on
ahead. Eventually he found him resting, gazing at a beautiful glacier. The
man was ready to go back, but when he saw Arlander approaching, he jumped up
and exclaimed, "Since you've come, let's go higher!"
This experience makes me think of the events described in Acts 28. As the
apostle Paul was traveling to Rome, he met some fellow believers, and "when
Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage" (Acts 28:15).
What better compliment could be offered us than to have someone say,
"Talking to you has encouraged me to continue on in my spiritual walk." The
world is filled with troubled and discouraged souls who are struggling along
in the Christian life. Battle weary, they are almost ready to give up. When
they see you, what influence do you have on them? Do you inspire them to
more noble lives of service? Or does your example tend to drag them down?
May we influence others in such a way that they will take heart and say, "I
want to go higher!" —Richard De Haan (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
Oh, I would be to others
A cheering ray of light,
Inspiring them with courage
To climb some new-found height! —Bosch
The human spirit soars with hope when lifted by an encouraging word.
><> ><> ><>
ILLUSTRATIONS REGARDING
THE DECEITFULNESS OF SIN
Poisonous Mushrooms - There are a thousand or more varieties of mushrooms that are good to
eat....The most dreaded of the poisonous mushrooms are two members of the
Amanita group. One is the death cup, and the other is the fly amanita. The
death cup grows in the woods from June until fall. Its poison acts like the
venom of a rattlesnake, as it separates the corpuscles in the blood from the
serum. No antidote is known for the poison of the death cup. The only hope
for anyone who has eaten it is to clean out his stomach promptly with a
stomach pump. It is small wonder that one variety is known as the destroying
angel. The death cup has often been mistaken for the common mushroom. A
person should not make this mistake if he observes carefully. The poisonous
plant has white gills, white spores, and the fatal poison cup around the
stem. The plant that is safe to eat has pink gills, brown spores, and no
cup. Many of the mistakes come from picking it in the button stage, for it
does not show all these differences until it has grown larger.
><> ><> ><>
Charles Hodges' Outline dealing
with the Deceitfulness of Sin...
Compare the
expressions, deceitfulness of riches, of unrighteousness, of lusts. The
latter is the better sense. The subject for consideration is the
characteristic of sin as deceitful.
I. Sin is not an act but a power, a principle, something innate,
indwelling, permanent and active, an enemy of the most dangerous kind, not
only because it is within and ever on the alert and powerful, and has so
many allies, but also because it is so treacherous.
II. How is sin deceitful?
1. It deceives us as to what is sinful, as in the case of Adam. So also in
the case of thousands.
2. It deceives us as to its demands. It promises to be satisfied with a
limited indulgence. So the slothful, the negligent, the sensual, the
avaricious. It is the first step that costs.
3. It deceives as to the pleasure it promises. Adam expected to be like God.
4. It deceives us as to the true motives which determine our conduct.
Ministers, missionaries, as well as others are thus deceived.
5. It deceives us as to its effects and to the degree of impunity with which
it can be indulged.
III. The
effects of sin as thus deceitful.
1. It hardens. That is,
a. as to the will it renders it stiff and fixed. It becomes settled in evil.
b. As to the feelings it renders them obdurate. Motives cease to affect, the
conscience to warn or reprove, and the result is a reprobate mind.
2. It slays or destroys the soul.
a. In destroying its sensibility.
b. In destroying desire and hope of amendment.
c. In bringing it fully under the power of the law.
IV. Means. The preliminary conditions are;
1. A sense of danger.
2. A sense of weakness. The means are;
a. Committing ourselves to Christ and his Spirit. To be guided by his
wisdom. To regard nothing as innocent or harmless which he condemns.
b. To resist the
beginning and first suggestions.
c. In doubtful
cases always to go against what may be evil.
(Hodge, C. Sermon Outlines: Taken from Princeton Sermons Simpsonville
SC: Christian Classics Foundation)
><> ><> ><>
There is an insect that has a very close
resemblance to the bumblebee, but which is a terrible enemy to it. Because
of its likeness, it sometimes finds its way in a fraudulent manner into the
bee’s nest, and there deposits its eggs. But when these eggs are hatched the
larvae devour those of the bee. It comes in as a friend and helper, but
turns out to be a devouring enemy. Such is the secret sin harbored in the
heart. It eats away the vitals of the spiritual life, and effectually
destroys the power of growth and usefulness. It is all the more dangerous
when it comes in the likeness of a friend and helper in the work of the
Lord. Beware of the deceitfulness of sin! (AMG Bible Illustrations)
><> ><> ><>
Sin Is Like An Insect! - It was
reported recently that an enormous pine tree in the mountains of Colorado
had fallen victim to a pine beetle and died. According to locals, up to that
point the tree was thought to be indestructible. It had survived fourteen
lightning strikes and many years of Colorado winters, including avalanches
and fires. But it was eventually brought down from within by a tiny insect
that did its work silently. That's the way it is with sin in a person's
life, be they a Christian or a non-Christian. Watch over your heart with all
diligence. Pr 4:23-notes
><> ><> ><>
Rousseau's "Self-Ruse" - The
deceitfulness of sin is vividly seen in the life of the French philosopher
Rousseau. He declared, “No man can come to the throne of God and say, ‘I’m a
better man than Rousseau.’” When he knew death was close at hand, he
boasted, “Ah, how happy a thing it is to die, when one has no reason for
remorse or self-reproach.” Then he prayed, “Eternal Being, the soul that I
am going to give Thee back is as pure at this moment as it was when it
proceeded from Thee; render it a partaker of Thy felicity!”
This is an amazing statement when we
realize that Rousseau didn’t profess to be born again. In his writings he
advocated adultery and suicide, and for more than 20 years he lived in
licentiousness. Most of his children were born out of wedlock and sent to a
foundling home. He was mean, treacherous, hypocritical, and blasphemous.
(Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
><> ><> ><> Misnomers
- A newspaper columnist expressed astonishment at the way truth is
often stretched in advertising. She recalled ordering "fresh fruit salad"
from the menu in a Boston restaurant. But when the item was served, it was
anything but "fresh." The peaches, pineapples, grapes, and maraschino
cherries had spent months wallowing in their own juice in a tin can. When
the waitress was asked what happened to the "fresh" fruit salad, she
responded cheerily, "Oh, honey, that's just what they call it." Such
deception occurs not only in advertising; it happens whenever people move
away from God's principles of truth and goodness. Deception, misnomers (the
use of a wrong name), and outright lies are the tools of an immoral person's
trade. Selfish and evil people call themselves generous and good. The slaves
of sin call themselves liberated. The foolish call themselves enlightened.
And the lustful describe their acts as love affairs. God is not fooled by
these misnomers. In Isa 5:20, He warned against those who "call evil good,
and good evil." No matter what the world calls good or evil, let's take our
definition from the God of all truth. With Him there are no misnomers. –M R De
Haan II (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
Deceptions, twists, and outright lies
Define the words of fools;
But those who know God's Word will have
A life where wisdom rules. –Sper
We would not delight in sin if we were not deceived by sin.
If you rationalize one sin, it becomes two.
><> ><> ><> Two Florida men charted a course and drove their fishing boat out into the
Gulf of Mexico. Using the boat's compass, they headed to deep waters 60
miles offshore where they hoped to catch grouper. When they arrived at what
they thought was the right place, they turned on their depth finder and
realized they were nowhere near their target. They discovered that one of
them had laid a flashlight near the ship's compass, and the attached magnet
had affected the reading. Just as that magnet changed the compass, so our
sinful hearts can influence our thinking. Many of Jesus' countrymen, for
example, thought they were moving in the right direction by denying that He
was the promised Messiah (Jn 7:41, 422). But the real problem with these people
was the bias in their hearts. They resisted Jesus because of the threat He
seemed to pose to their religious traditions. Rather than carefully checking
all the Scriptures, which would have verified who He was, they settled for
what they preferred to believe. And they rejected Him. Because we too can be
self-deceived, we must ask the Lord to expose the inner motives that cast
shadows across our minds and dim our spiritual discernment (Ps 139:24-notes). With
His help, we can get back on course. –M R De Haan II (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
Often I have walked in my own way,
Trusting in my self-deceiving heart;
Now I realize that I must pray,
"Lord, from Your way I will not depart." –Hess
To avoid self-deception,
seek God's direction.
><> ><> ><>
Got Moles? - While cutting our
grass, I spotted rounded mounds of sandy loam on what had recently been a
smooth lawn. A family of moles had emigrated from nearby woods to take up
residence beneath our yard. The little creatures were wreaking havoc with
our lawn by burrowing into the soil and disrupting the beautiful turf.
In some ways the activity of moles illustrates the dark side of the human
heart. On the surface, we may appear polished and polite. But greed, lust,
bigotry, and addictions can work inner destruction. Sooner or later, those
sins will become apparent.
King Saul had a fatal flaw that festered beneath the surface—rebellion
against God. He had been commanded not to take any of the spoils of war from
the Amalekites (1Sa 15:3). But after a decisive victory, he let the
Israelites keep the best of the livestock for themselves (1Sa 15:9).
When the prophet Samuel confronted the king, Saul rationalized that he had
kept the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to God. But this was a mere cover for
his sinful pride, which had erupted in defiance of the God he claimed to
serve.
God's remedy for rebellion is confession and repentance. Like Saul, you may
be rationalizing your sin. Confess and forsake it before it's too
late.—Dennis Fisher (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
God wants complete
obedience—
Excuses will not do;
His Word and Spirit point the way
As we His will pursue. —Sper
One sin becomes two when it is defended.
><> ><> ><> The 19th-century pastor Henry Ward Beecher told of a mother in the wild
frontier country who was washing clothes beside a stream. Her only child was
playing nearby. Suddenly she realized he was gone. She called his name, but
there was no answer. Alarmed, the mother ran to the house, but her son was
not there. Frantically, the woman dashed out to the forest. There she found
the child, but it was too late. The youngster had been killed by a wolf.
Heartbroken, she picked up his lifeless body, drew him close to her heart,
and tenderly carried him home. Beecher concluded, "Oh, how that mother hated
wolves!"
Every Christian should have a similar hatred for evil (Ps 101:3,
4, 5, 6, 7, 8-notes).
Yet many mothers and fathers who are so careful to guard their youngsters
from physical harm don't notice the evil forces that threaten their
spiritual welfare. As a result, they leave them unprotected. They show
little concern for the kinds of friends their children make, the magazines
they read, or the TV programs they watch. But whenever these influences are
bad, they should be seen as a deadly threat, and we should protect our
children from them. It's not wrong to hate when we hate what is wrong. –R W
De Haan (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
FOR FURTHER STUDY
According to Psalm 101, what are we to hate?
How can we avoid looking at evil? (Ps101:3).
How can we please God with our speech? (Ps101:1, 5, 7).
If we do not hate evil,
we cannot love good.
><> ><> ><> Pulling weeds from my lawn can be a struggle. Whether it's unearthing a
string of ivy or digging up dandelions, it's often difficult to overcome
God's curse in the Garden of Eden (Ge 3:17, 18). When the ground is hard and
dry, weeds are highly resistant to being uprooted. But when a soaking rain
softens the soil, they yield quite readily. I've also noticed that the
youngest weeds are easier to remove and the older ones are more stubborn.
Bad habits are like that. The longer they remain, the more difficult they
are to remove. If we uproot them early, when our heart is tender toward
God's love, we will have the best chance for success.
Paul tells us of God's great love and
abundant grace to us (Ro 5:20,21-notes).
These truths can soften the soil of a hard heart. And when we understand
that Jesus died to free us from the penalty and the power of sin (Ro 6:1, 2,
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14-notes),
we will see the need to fight aggressively against sinful habits. A passive
faith won't kill a bad habit. Faith must actively apply these truths.
"Pulling weeds" is often a painful process of multi-failures followed by the
success of failing for the last time. Do you have some weeds that need
pulling? –D J De Haan (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
The sins that would entangle us
Must never be ignored;
If we do not get rid of them
They'll pierce us like a sword. –Sper
A bad habit is like a soft chair–
easy to get into but hard to get out of.
><> ><> ><>
I Was Deceived - It was dusk. My wife and I had just strolled across
the famous Charles Bridge in Prague when a man approached us with a wad of
money in his hand. "Forty-two Czech korunas for one dollar," he said. The
official rate was about 35Ks for one US dollar. So I exchanged 50 dollars
for 2,100 Czech korunas.
That evening I told my son about my good fortune. "Dad, I should have told
you," he apologized. "Never exchange money on the street." We looked at the
bills. The 100K note was a good Czech bill, but the two 1,000K bills were
worthless. They looked like Czech money but were Bulgarian notes no longer
in circulation. I had been deceived—and robbed!
Satan employs similar tactics (John 8:44). He capitalizes on the
deceitfulness of sin (Heb 3:13), using its "passing pleasures" (Hebrews
11:25-notes) to hide the pain that always follows. Sin may be attractive, even
offering something that in and of itself is good—but behind it is deception.
Our best defense against that deception is to have a growing knowledge of
God's Word. As we follow the psalmist's example, we'll keep from being
deceived by sin: "Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin
against You" (Psalm 119:11-notes)
(See
Memorizing His Word). —Dennis J. De Haan (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
Give me, O Lord, a strong desire
To look within Your Word each day;
Help me to hide it in my heart,
Lest from its truth my feet would stray. —Branon
God's truth uncovers Satan's lies.
><> ><> ><> Booster Words - Booster shots—think of the benefits! They are part of a complete program
of vaccinations that protect us against threatening diseases.
Booster words—ever heard of them? They are words we say to help others in
the fight against discouragement and despair.
In his book Secrets From The Mountain, Pat Williams tells of an experiment
with a group of students. They were told that scientists had proven that
brown-eyed children were smarter than blue-eyed ones. Immediately, the
brown-eyed students began doing better in school. A few days later, though,
the students were told that they had been misinformed, and it was the
blue-eyed youngsters who were actually smarter. Quickly, the scores of the
blue-eyed children rose above those of their brown-eyed classmates.
Lying to children is never right, but the study demonstrates that words have
the power to influence behavior. Paul recognized this, so he sent Timothy to
the church at Thessalonica to encourage the believers in their faith—and his
words did just that (1Th 3:2, 3-notes,
1Th 3:6-note).
Do we "exhort one another daily"? (Hebrews 3:13). Do we bring comfort and
encouragement to the people we know? Try using some booster words today.
—Dave Branon (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
Putting It Into Practice
Think of someone who needs encouragement.
How can you help that person today?
Make a phone call, send an e-mail, or pay a visit.
Hope can be ignited by a spark of encouragement.
><> ><> ><> The Power Of Sin - I was having lunch with a pastor-friend when the discussion sadly turned
to a mutual friend in ministry who had failed morally. As we grieved
together over this fallen comrade, now out of ministry, I wondered aloud, “I
know anyone can be tempted and anyone can stumble, but he’s a smart guy. How
could he think he could get away with it?” Without blinking, my friend
responded, “Sin makes us stupid.” It was an abrupt statement intended to get
my attention, and it worked.
I have often thought of that statement in the ensuing years, and I continue
to affirm the wisdom of those words. How else can you explain the actions of
King David, the man after God’s own heart turned adulterer and murderer? Or
the reckless choices of Samson? Or the public denials of Christ by Peter,
the most public of Jesus’ disciples? We are flawed people who are vulnerable
to temptation and to the foolishness of mind that can rationalize and
justify almost any course of action if we try hard enough.
If we are to have a measure of victory over the power of sin, it will come
only as we lean on the strength and wisdom of Christ (Ro 7:24, 25-notes). As His
grace strengthens our hearts and minds, we can overcome our own worst
inclination to make foolish choices. —Bill Crowder (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
The price of sin is very high
Though now it may seem low;
And if we let it go unchecked,
Its crippling power will grow. —Fitzhugh
God’s Spirit is your power source—
don’t let sin break the connection.
><> ><> ><> Connected Actions - My son Steve was running the best cross-country races of his life. Just a
high-school freshman, he earned a spot on the varsity team.
That's when Steve decided he wanted to go even faster—but not on foot. So he
spent a Saturday racing a dirt-track motorcycle. All went well until he
misjudged a jump and ended up with his leg under a Yamaha.
Nothing was broken, but having a banged-up calf muscle took a toll on his
cross-country season. His times got worse, and he missed making the varsity
team for the state finals.
Steve learned an important lesson: All of our actions are connected. Each
action affects other areas of our lives.
Sometimes we try to keep parts of our lives separate from our faith in
Christ. One example is thinking that watching immorality on TV does not
affect our walk with God. But the Bible says, "He who sows iniquity will
reap sorrow" (Proverbs 22:8), and "He who sows to his flesh will . . . reap
corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will . . . reap everlasting life"
(Galatians 6:8).
All elements in life are inter-related. We must make sure that each thought,
each action, and each word flows from a heart of Godliness—so that
everything we do is for God's glory, honor, and praise. —Dave Branon (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
Surer than autumn's harvests
Are harvests of thought and deed;
Like those that our hearts have planted,
The yield will be like the seed. —Harris
The best reason for doing what's right today is tomorrow.
><> ><> ><> Harmless Little Sins?
- What happened to the great city of Ephesus?
Often mentioned in the New Testament, it was one of the cultural and
commercial centers of its day. Located at the mouth of the Cayster River, it
was noted for its bustling harbors, its broad avenues, its gymnasiums, its
baths, its huge amphitheater, and especially its magnificent Temple of
Diana. What happened to bring about its gradual decline until its harbor was
no longer crowded with ships and the city was no longer a flourishing
metropolis?
Was it smitten by plagues,
destroyed by enemies, or demolished by earthquakes? No, silt was the
reason for its downfall--silent and nonviolent silt. Over the years,
fine sedimentary particles slowly filled up the harbor, separating the
city from the economic life of the sea traders. Little evil practices, little
acts of disobedience may seem harmless. But let the silt of sin
gradually accumulate, and we will find ourselves far from God. Life
will become a spiritual ruin. In the book of Hebrews we are warned of
the danger of "the deceitfulness of sin" (Heb 3:13). James said that the
attractive pleasures of sin are really a mask covering death (Jas
1:15-notes).
(Ibid)
God forbid that we let the silt
of sin accumulate in our lives! --V C Grounds (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
Christian, walk carefully,
danger is near!
On in your journey with trembling and fear;
Snares from without and temptations within
Seek to entice you once more into sin. --Anon.
Little sins add up to big
trouble.
Sin will take you farther than you ever
thought you'd stay
Keep you longer than you ever meant to
stay
And cost you more than you ever thought you'd have to pay!
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