Saturday, July 19, 2014

SERMON - STOP TAKING GOD FOR GRANTED

Stop Taking God for Granted
 
 
How many times have you seen a person who claims to be Christian saying, “If I sin, God will forgive me?” Then they cite Scripture that says…”If a man sins against you forgive him seven time seven…”
 
There are also ‘supposed’ Pastors and Priests that say, “Homosexuality is no reason to fault a man/woman. Accept their lifestyle.”
 
In the past there are events that caused the sinners that committed various sins to seek forgiveness BEFORE the act of sin even took place.
 
Jude 1:4 …some Godless people have wormed their way among you, saying God’s forgiveness allows us to live immoral lives….they have turned against  our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
 
 It is written in Luke 24:47 …there is forgiveness for all who turn to Me.
 
If you recall, to turn to something is to ‘repent to’ and to ‘repent of/from’ something else.
 
If you confess to God and truly repent from a sin, why is it your thought that you can repeat that sin with some type of immunity as God will forgive you as Jesus taught, “seven times seven…”  As a Christian you must realize that this very subject is addressed in Romans.
 
Romans 6:1 Well then should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more kindness and forgiveness?
 
No! As a Christian, a true Christian you are DEAD to sin! D…E…A….D. Dead to sin!
 
Romans 6:2 Of course not! Since we died to sin how can we continue to live in it?
 
We must place God as Number One in our lives and though we sin, we must strive to eradicate sin from our lives!
 
Romans 6:12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to its lustful desires.
 
We sin, that is a known fact. We are human and not God. There is one thing we must realize, to constantly repeat a particular sin is to take that sin as our master in lieu of God as our Master.
 
Romans 6:16 Don’t you realize whatever you choose to obey becomes your master? You can choose sin which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God and receive His approval.
 
God’s approval leads to life eternal with Him in His paradise.
 
So many times Jesus Christ told us to repent from our sins. Her taught forgiveness and mercy. He taught love, love and forgiveness. What too many Christians fail to remember His calls for repentance and they are risking the loss of their eternal lives simply due to their blindness to truth. Sin cannot be constantly repeated with the sinner expecting immunity from the consequences of sin.
 
Just as Christian laymen cannot teach that repetition of sin is acceptable; neither can those of us that have been ordained by God teach our flocks to accept homosexuality as a normal way of living. We cannot teach murder as acceptable, theft as acceptable and certainly adultery must be seen as sinful. We see Pastors, Priests and other Religious Leaders saying, “They need love too.” Well, to them I say…Love the sinner but hate the sin! I also say…If the decision is made to repeat a sin, the bigger sin is to try to sell that lifestyle as acceptable. There must be repentance from every sin and there are no acceptable sins. Not any!
 
God tells us that we, as man, are not perfect. We are born to sin, we sin and we live in sin. It is our duty to do all we can to obey God, to live in His Light and to do all that we can to overcome sin.  He will forgive and He will forgive multiple times. A word to any that will hear….Do not take God’s forgiveness for granted…He is God and you are not!
 
(Closing prayer)
 
Almighty God, Abba, You sent Your Divine Son to live among us and to teach us Your ways. Father, He did and for the teachings alone we are eternally grateful. We praise You for all that we receive and for Your awesome powers. Jesus Christ was crucified for our sins and it is by His Blood that we are saved. Although we continue to sin we come to You and ask for Your forgiveness. Forgive us O Lord and strengthen us in our efforts to repent.
 
Lord we ask that You keep us ever in Your Heart and when we fall, You remind us of our duty to You.
 
Lord, do not see us as a people that take You for granted and those who only seek You in times of danger. We come to You with our love and worship. Whether we are in times of peace or strife we know that You are there for us and we rejoice in Your gift of faith that allows us to truly believe. You are our God, there is no other.
 
Please send your angels to protect our military, our elected officials and the many Christian brothers and sisters throughout the world. We ask that You open the minds and hearts of those that would do us harm and most of all Lord, open their eyes to You.
 
In Jesus’ name we pray, Who is One with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever,
 
Amen, amen and amen.

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