Preached Mar 28, 1999 at Faith Baptist Church
By Pastor Steven E. Mays

Sin Is Killing Us!

Proverbs 14:34

Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach (shame) to any people.

Marry that passage to this one..

James 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

America is not the country it once was! WE don't have the influence we once had! We are going the way of England, we are going the way of the old Roman Empire! We love pleasure, and sin, we don't have the work ethic and the integity we once had! We are in Trouble! Sin has conceived and it's bringing death! It's killing our Country.. but it's been killing our Churches a lot longer!

Time and time again I hear people say, "Church is full Hypocrites!" They are no different than us! If that's religion or Christianity I don't need it!

The church is the same way! We are not far from our country. We are following the same trends…

We're so guilty, don't bother my Pet sin. By the way if I don't hit your pet sin, write it on a piece of paper and put it in the offering, and I'll try and get to it soon.

Purity = Power "No purity, no power!" This is true of fuel, it's true of the Christian life… most church's are full of average, nominal Christians, who are not at all marked by the Gospel and the Bible. As a result they have no power with God so they also have no power with man… "No purity, no power!"

Tonight I want to look at some of the major sins I see in our land that are also in our churches…

I. I See The Blight of Booze!

Condemned by God..

Proverbs 23:29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again. (It will get control of you!)

It's brought even the best to Disgrace

Genesis 9:21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.

It's led to incest; and all manner of fornication

Genesis 19:31 And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth:
32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
33 And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
34 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
35 And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
36 Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.

Do you have enough problems? Do you want somemore? Get place to this wicked sin and you'll have problems!

Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.

Cursed for selling it! It's an agent of immoratlity

Habakkuk 2:16 Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the LORD'S right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory.

It's participants are always considered lost in the Bible! -- Noah wasn't lost - and he got drunk but you'll never see him ever using it again.

1 Corinthians 6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

II. I See the Iniquity of Immodesty!

The world is full of immodesty why? It Breeds lust!

1 Timothy 2:9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;

Breeds sensuality! -- Notice how they dress to the dance!

If you're letting your daughter out in immodest clothes you should be ashamed!

If she's a girl let be a girl. If he's a boy let her be a boy! Read Deut. 22:5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.

Your clothes mark you! -- Amish! Hell's Angels! Marked by their closthes!

Cross Dressing! When it gets more and more acceptable you'll be expected to shut up! You'll be called a trouble maker and old fashioned…. Will you shut up?

If I worked in a place where they would not allow me to Honor my God and His Church, I sure be asking God to help me outa there! Life is to short, and those around us are watching to close. I'd put the Lord first! I'd honor God and ask HIM to Honor ME. I believe He would do it! Put a dollar value on God!

Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh! You won't do that laying out of Church, you won't do that laying aside your bible…

III. I See the Filth of Fornication!

Prov. 6: 32 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
33 A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.

1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

How do you keep away from Fornication? 1 Corinthians 7:2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.

On the TV! Get you thinking on it, Get you doing it! I've got a TV, I've got a telephone, I've got a car, I've got a credit card, I've even got a wife and kids, and they can all get out of control, and get me in trouble! They need to be governed by the Word of God!

In the Whore-House, I mean White House! It's wicked, but so is the average youth Group! Let's get back to bible standard… I Cor. 7: says "It's better for a man not to touch a woman!" Church houses look like movie houses! We come here to worship not Mate!

Laurens Co. leads SC in teen pregnancy, SC leads America, America leads the world… Somebody better speak up!

IV. Wickedness of Worldliness!

James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

John 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

For a ship to any good it needs to be in the Water.. but the water can't be in the ship! That's how the Believer must be.. When the ship gets full of water it'll sink! That's what's happening to the old ship of Zion!~

V. I See The Horror of our Bad Habits

Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, (that's that crowd that says the church is full of hypocrits) let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

I really don't believe we have a long time to run the race: We ain't got time to fool around; We need to shed the excess habits and sins that are hindering us from running as we should!

Smoking-dipping-chewing Cussing
Laziness! Putting off bible reading..
Temper missing Sunday School

Do you love your kids? For the love of God and your children, YOU BETTER KICK YOUR BAD HABITS! They'll have every one of them!

Sin will do everything from "A to Z" in your life: It'll make you: