Sermon Cloud

Last week in part one of the War Within we learned that Paul struggled with sin in his flesh. He knew that he had eternal salvation but, he acknowledged that a war between light and dark, good and evil raged within him.

This is a war that we all fight as true Christians.
If sin does not bother you, if you yet live in an abiding sin, if God never chastises you then, that is evidence that you are not truly saved.

In other words, if sin does not grieve you and break your heart, you are still lost and a slave to sin.
You do not simply dismiss your sin by saying, well we are only human and God is love, love, love and would never send anyone to hell.

Indeed we are only human, but if sin does not bother you….YOU ARE STILL UNDER THE WRATH OF GOD!

However if you mourn over your sin and you hate the sin in your life and you want it gone and God chastises you over sin then that is a very good evidence that you are indeed saved.

A true Christian will many times question his or her salvation. You see yourself sinning and sinning and you wonder why God would save someone like you. I have thought that many times.
But the fact that you are mourning over your sins shows that you are one of God’s children. A child of Satan would not have sorrow of his sins.

John MacArthur gives a good description of a Christian in his battle against sin in his life.

“After salvation, sin, like a deposed and exiled ruler, no longer reigns in a person’s life, but manages to survive. It no longer resides in the innermost self but finds residual dwelling in the flesh, in the unredeemed humanness that remains until a believer meets the Lord at the Rapture or death…In this life, Christians are somewhat like an unskilled artist who beholds a beautiful scene that he wants to paint. But his lack of talent prevents him from doing the scene justice.

Before we are saved we are in total bondage to sin and to Satan. Nothing about us is good. We serve sin, we love sin, sin is the only thing we know. We know not the righteousness of God nor could we since our hearts are continually in rebellion to God.

But, through the work of Christ upon the cross, we are changed. We are changed from a totally depraved creature to a creature after God’s own heart.
We are no longer chained to sin; God has broken the chains of bondage that we could never break. We cannot know the righteousness of God without God.

We have a new master, the Lord Jesus Christ and the old master, Satan has been kicked out of the throne room never to come back.
Satan may not be the king of our lives anymore but he still attacks where he can.
He is like the Taliban, sneaking up on us in our weak moments and attacking like a coward.

Although sin has been defeated in our lives, never the less, We must be ever watchful and we must keep the full armor of God on at all times, because if we let our guard down, sin can come into our lives and take a stronghold.

It does not matter how mature a Christian you are or how faithful you are, Satan will still attack and try to make sin come into your life.
And allowing sin to take a stronghold not only hurts your spiritual life, but your witness and your work for God.

As Christians we should have a deep love for the Law of God and a deep hatred for sin, and as we become more sanctified throughout our lives, we become more and more like Jesus and we will sin less and less.

(Romans 7:16 KJV)
If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.

Paul’s new nature defends the holy law of God. He proclaims that God’s law is not responsible for his sin or ours, but it merely shows us how inadequate we are in keeping he law and our need for a savior.

Paul longed to keep the law and destroy the sin in his life.
Paul explained  that when he is sinned, the law was right and he was wrong.

As redeemed blood bought Christians we should be longing to keep God’s moral law and to get rid of all our sin.

As a Christian we continually die to ourselves all our lives and one day we will be free from our sinful flesh, never to know sin or battle sin ever again. How wonderful that will be! Amen?

(Romans 7:17 KJV)
Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

Putting on the new man is a permanent change and sin can no longer rule over you.
Having cast off the old man and becoming a new creature of Christ, you do not want the sin that still resides in your flesh.
Your old self loved sin, but your new self hates sin.

Sin does not flow out from your redeemed innermost self, but from your unredeemed humanness, in other words sin comes from your carnal  flesh.

Before I was saved, I would have argued that what I did was not really sin. God understood…right? He knew I was only human and besides everyone did the same things I did, so how could God consider what I did as being wrong. After all isn’t God a loving God and if He is, he surely would see how good I was and let me into heaven.

Of course God is loving, but He is also just. I was just fooling my self. I was self-delusional to think that God would let me into Heaven whose righteousness was so filthy.

Before I was saved, I used to imagine what it might be like when Jesus returned to judge the world in righteousness.

Now, I did not know very much about the Bible or the mercy and justice of God, but in my vain imagination, when Jesus came to judge, instead of me trying to find a mountain to cover me, to try to hide from His wrath, I would walk up calmly to Jesus and He would look deep into my soul and see that inner core of goodness and send me on my way to heaven.

Jesus would punch my ticket for the greyhound bus to heaven and I would be set for eternity…swinging on the pearly gates and playing my harp on fluffy clouds.
And laughing all the while that I did not have to get “saved” to get into heaven. I could tell all my buddies how good I  was during my life and how God owed me heaven.

If you think that was funny, I used to believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.

That sounds funny, but I believed it and you would be surprised how many people believe in a god that is not real.

But, the truth is that I deserved hell, I was not good, not even a little bit. If I would have judged as an unrepentant sinner, I would have heard Jesus tell me, “Alan depart from me, I never knew you, you have only continually worked evil all your life, away with you to Hell, where you and the demons belong  and where the smoke of your torment will rise forever.”

Do not be mistaken, yes God is loving, but He is also just. He will not accept anyone who is not perfectly pure, whose righteousness is not like His Son.

Do you want heaven, then you better get right with God, because if you depend on yourself, it will only lead to Hell. You must repent and put your faith in Jesus to save you.

I want to tell you something, Satan and his minions want you to believe that God will let everyone into heaven. Satan will whisper in your ear that your sin is not really sin and you are a good person.
Church? Naw, you don’t need to be around those hypocrites.
Read the Bible…ahh come on, everyone knows that it is a book of fairytales.

Christians are bigots and haters but if you really want to be a part of religion then why not try one of the cults…they believe in a Jesus…well maybe not the same one as Christians, but hey, God is not picky. Or, why not become a Muslim? Now those people have a good time. When you die you get all these virgins for eternity…(if you happen to be a man that is).

DO NOT believe the lies of Satan, but only trust in the Bible which is God’s reveled will to us.

Do you remember what the Apostle John said?

(1 John 2:18 KJV)
Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

There are many people and religions and cults who claim they are the truth the way and the life, but they have the antichrist spirit and they lie and deceive and are doing the work of their master Satan.

There is only ONE name under heaven that can offer the truth the way and the life. There is only one way, not a million ways for you to be saved! Amen.