Sin’s Deadly Ripple Effect

We really appreciate the special music and the auditory music. We really are blessed here in this congregation to have such fine musicians and people who can really sing well. It's really quite a blessing, so we appreciate that very much. I would also like to thank others who had more to do than most of us in preparing for today. I appreciate Mr. Swaney making the arrangements for us to meet in this hall and many of the halls that we meet in throughout the year.

Also, I would like to thank those who put the flower arrangement together. It's very beautiful. Those who work on the sound and do all of that to help serve us, we really appreciate all of that, and we thank you for it. Now, brethren, one of the favorite things that I like to do when I'm near a body of water, such as a pond, a river, a lake, or an ocean, is to—you probably think fish, right? I do love to fish, but I also like to skip rocks.

I'll bet some of you have skipped rocks before. My family have skipped rocks many times. We've had contests, of course, to see who can make the rocks skip the most. It's a lot of fun, and we've enjoyed that. Over the years, my wife enjoys it, so do our kids who have grown up on us.

They've always enjoyed it, too. Now, have you ever noticed what happens to the water when you skip a rock? There's a ripple effect, isn't there? There's a ripple effect that takes place. There's a series of concentric rings emanating from the rock—that's what I always think of, that series of concentric rings emanating—not really. But there really is a series of concentric rings that emanate from the rock when it hits the surface of the water.

The first ring is small, the second ring is a little bit larger, the third larger still, and the fourth even larger than that, and on it goes until there are no more rings. In a similar manner, a little physical leaven has its own physical ripple effect. It spreads, in a sense, like wildfire. A little tiny bit of yeast becomes a great big loaf of leaven bread. The yeast spreads throughout the flour, making the dough rise. And the loaf of bread becomes bigger and bigger. I couldn't help but think about that during the sermonette as well, as Mr.

Pritchard also talked about doing things that get us into larger trouble when we try to cover things up or when we lie about things, when our sins become greater, there is a ripple effect. And in the same manner, a little spiritual leaven, sin, left unchecked, also spreads dramatically. Sin, just like the physical leaven, permeates, or can permeate even a converted person's life and lead him to do things that he doesn't want to do.

In fact, we all remember what Paul said about the things that I don't want to do, I find myself doing, and the things I don't want to do, or the things that, you know how it goes. I always get that mixed up when I start saying that for some reason. The things I don't want to do are the things I do and the things I want to do and know I should do, like praying and fasting and studying and being diligent.

Those are the things that I sometimes find myself not doing so well. The Apostle Paul had the same issues. So this spiritual leaven, left unchecked, can spread dramatically. So we have to always be mindful of that fact. We need to be careful. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 5. We often read this on the first day of Unleavened Bread, so I don't want to disappoint anyone by leaving it out. So let's go to 1 Corinthians 5.

Notice verse 6, and this is to the church at Corinth, and the Corinthians were known, frankly, for their sinful lifestyle. Verse 6, Your glorying is not good. The church at Corinth was tolerating sin. Someone had been blatantly sinning within the congregation, and they were allowing it to continue. They hadn't put the person out. He says, Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? It can impact the whole congregation. And in fact, it has been doing so because you're becoming tolerant of sin. And God does not want us to become tolerant of sin.

Sin is bad. Sin destroys. The wages of sin is death. And so today we're going to talk about sin's deadly ripple effect. Sin like leaven has a deadly ripple effect. It grows, it spreads like a cancer. Today, during these days of Unleavened Bread, I'd like each of us to consider seven principles that will help each of us to stop the sinful ripple effect that takes place in our lives when we sin and when we take it too lightly. An anonymous person wrote something about the ripple effect. The person said, Each choice we make causes a ripple effect in our lives.

When things happen to us, it is the reaction we choose that can create the difference between the sorrow of our past and the joy in our future. Let me say that again. Each choice we make causes a ripple effect in our lives. And when things happen to us, it's the reaction, the reaction that we choose, because it is a choice. How we react to something is a choice that can create the difference between the sorrow of our past. So it's talking about when we sinned in the past, sorrow has followed.

Mr. Pritchard felt badly about lying, about flipping that girl. He shouldn't have done that. He realized that, he fessed up. And his father didn't appreciate it either, I'm sure. I'm sure they patched things up and showed more faithfulness in the future. That's why he's here today. So it turned into the joy that he has in his life today. And that's true with all of us. When we learn the lessons that we're supposed to learn, when we sin, whole things can happen in the future, because we'll stop sinning.

And we'll stop bringing those curses upon us. So this is real life that we're talking about today. It affects each and every one of us, so very directly. It is an important topic. We want to stop the sinful, deadly ripple effect before it causes our death. So let's talk about seven principles that we need to apply in regard to this sinful ripple effect.

Number one, realize that we need to avoid compromising thoughts, compromising influences, compromising people and situations. It is a choice that you make. Do you choose to avoid compromising thoughts? Do you choose to avoid compromising influences, people, situations? It is a choice. If you may likely be affected negatively, then you should avoid contact, even if it's just a thought, perhaps especially if it's a thought.

Just say no upfront and save yourself a lot of temptation, save yourself a lot of guilt and a lot of grief. Turn with me to James 1. And this verse, these few verses, unlike probably any other verses in the entire Bible, show the deadly effects of sin, the ripple effect that comes from sin. James 1. Blessed is a man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him.

Let no one say, when he is tempted, I am tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone. God is perfect and writes us. He is certainly not going to tempt anyone to sin. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires, when he is enticed. I suppose the people that this applies to won't mind if I mention this, but it starts very early in life that we have certain desires. And sometimes we just don't understand, we're so young, we're so little, we don't really understand what's really happening.

But there was a little boy who was given an offering, and he was so little that he did not want to put it in the offering plate. He wanted to keep it for himself. But, you know, that's how things begin in our own lives. Very early we have these certain desires and things. This little boy knew that he could get something valuable, good, something that he would like. So rather than give it away, he wanted to keep it for himself. And that's a common reaction, because we're all human in this room. And we have to grow and mature and get beyond that.

And this particular person is such a beautiful little boy that I'm confident he certainly will. But it just brings out a point for us all, that we have to be careful, even from a very early age. We have a certain desire, selfish desires, that we have to learn to deal with. We have to choose not to follow those things and not to go in that way. So getting back to James, verse 14, each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and when he is enticed.

Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. So this is the sinful, deadly impact or the effect that we have from sin. It's a ripple effect. When the desire has conceived, when we continue to dwell on that desire, or we dwell on that thought, then it will give birth to sin and we will act on it and we'll develop an attitude or a stubbornness, a lustful desire, something to that effect.

And sin, when it is full grown, in other words, when we continue to sin and we continue to go down that course, eventually it will bring forth death because the wages of sin is death. And we all have to come to repentance, and repentance is a gift that God gives us. But God begins to teach us very early on about sin and about temptation. God is not the one who tempts us, however.

Satan is the accuser of the brethren. He will tempt us to sin, and when we follow his direction and his lead, he accuses us before God. So we do have to be aware that Satan is a devouring lion. He is a roaring lion. He is seeking whom he may devour. So what about recurring sin? Do you have any recurring sin in your life? Do you have any sin that easily besets you?

As Mr. Pritchard said, there are certain things that continue to come up, and sometimes we don't make the progress that we should. So what about a recurring sin in your life? When you sin, do you stop to analyze why it happened? Why did you do what you did? Where did you go wrong? Why did you lose your temper? Why did you gossip? Why did you allow lust to grow? How did it happen?

How did I ever get started down this path? And why did I stay on that path? What was I thinking? What were the circumstances that led up to a particular sin in your life? What were you not thinking about? What should you have been thinking about? Had you prayed that morning? Were you close to God? Had you been studying your Bible, or had you gotten away from that? Did you pray specifically for God to help you with a particular sin that does easily beset you personally?

Did you read God's word for spiritual guidance that morning? Or that evening? Have you been fasting regularly? These are questions you should ask yourself. If you find yourself sinning and you're not getting a grip on a sin in your life, there's a reason for that. You have a choice to make. Will you continue in that sin, or will you come out of it? Will you do something about it? Will you put the leaven out, or will you continue to tolerate that leaven in your life? Have you been spiritually focused?

Ask yourself that when you sin. Have you been getting enough physical rest? Even that's important. Exercise is important. It affects our minds. It affects how we think. So all of these things are very important for us. There is indeed a spiritual war going on. There is spiritual warfare going on in your life right now. In 2 Corinthians 10, Paul talks about the spiritual warfare. 2 Corinthians 10. Let's begin in verse 3 of 2 Corinthians 10. For though we walk in the flesh, yes, we are all flesh.

We're fleshly human beings. We walk in the flesh, but we do not war according to the flesh. Paul wants us to realize that we dare not battle spiritually in a physical way. We can't do that. We have to fight back spiritually. So though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. We have to have a different response. We have to have a spiritual response. Because if we respond physically, we will be walking in the flesh. We have to respond spiritually. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal or fleshly, but they're mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. What is a stronghold? A stronghold is a sin that easily besets you.

If you have problems with alcohol, that is a sin that easily besets you. If you have a tendency toward drunkenness, toward drinking too much, that is a sin that easily besets you. You may be addicted to alcohol. That is a stronghold that you've allowed Satan to set up in your life.

And now is the time to do something about it, if there's anyone in here that has an issue with alcohol. Now is the time to take control in your life and tolerate it no longer. Whatever it might be, whatever kind of addiction, whether it be pornography, because that's very fleshly, and it can be very addictive, and eventually it will lead to death. If you continue to cozy up to that sin in your life, it can destroy you. It has destroyed marriages, it has destroyed people's lives. Now is the time to come out of that. Any type of addiction, any type of stronghold that you've allowed Satan to set up, and you have allowed it to happen, and you have to take responsibility for it. No one else. It has to be you. You have to know that you are the one responsible for what you do, and whatever action it is that you're taking that is contrary to the ways of God. So these weapons of our warfare must not be fleshly, but they must be mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. Only if we battle spiritually will we be able to win the battle against the flesh. You can't do it on your own. You can't do it physically. Verse 5, we must cast down arguments in every high thing that exalts itself. Again, Satan is a powerful spirit, an evil spirit, and he wants to destroy you, so he will give you certain arguments as to why you should continue in what you're doing. You have to fight against that. You must not let that control your lives, because it will exalt itself against the knowledge of God. You know better!

You know what God's Word tells you. You know what your conscience is telling you.

So you have to fight back faithfully, powerfully, in a spiritual way, bringing every thought into captivity. And, brethren, that is the key. You have to bring every thought, because every sin begins with a thought. And if you can stop it right away, if you can see that thought as a physical carnal fleshly thought that has no business in your mind, because what are you told to do? Are you not told to put the mind... whose mind are you supposed to put on? Put on the mind of Christ. Philippians 2 verse 5. You are to put on the mind of Christ, who is completely blameless, who never sinned, who never went down that path. Now, he was tempted in that Satan tried to tempt him to sin, but he would never go down there. He would never allow those thoughts to continue. He stamped them out immediately. He did not allow them to take root. And that's what you and I have to do in our lives, if we're going to overcome these sins that do easily, and I mean easily, and you know that, they easily beset us. So we bring these thoughts into captivity. That means we take them prisoner. We put them in an ironclad cage, and we don't let them out. Because Satan will bring them out again and again, so we have to keep putting them back behind the bars. And we must not allow them to take root in our lives. To the obedience of Christ, that is the goal. To be obedient as our Savior, Jesus Christ, that wonderful Savior that we heard sung about, the one who laid his life down for us, the perfect sacrifice for us. We honor him when we bring these thoughts into captivity and obey as he obeyed.

And being ready to punish all disobedience. In other words, we're not going to let leaven to grow if we've cleaned ourselves up. But if we haven't, then it's much easier, isn't it, to be tolerant of sin? If you're steeped in sin, isn't it much easier to allow someone else to go on in sin, and think not nearly as much of it? Because you're stuck in the same thing. You're doing exactly the same thing, so we all have to come out of sin so we can all see clearly to help each other. That's what God wants us to do. He wants us to take sin seriously, put it out of our lives, and help one another become pure. That is a high and a holy calling.

It's not something which we should take lightly for one second.

So these are spiritual battles that we must fight, and we have to fight spiritually.

So avoid wrong actions by monitoring and disciplining your thought processes. What are you thinking about?

If you don't throw the rock in, then you're not going to make even one ripple.

There's an analogy here. Don't throw that first rock in. In other words, don't let that thought give it any kind of... just imprison it, and don't let it go far. If you throw it in, there's going to be a ripple effect. And if you throw a big rock in, you're going to make bigger and bigger ripples. And if you have a problem with alcohol, taking one drink, one little drink, is a big rock. And you must not allow that to go on. In Proverbs 22, verses 24 through 25, the Scripture tells us also to make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man, do not go, lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul. Now, sometimes we grow up with angry people, don't we? We grow up with parents who are angry, who set a bad example for us, and that's tough. You know, that's hard to overcome. So we as parents must be very careful how we interact with our children.

Self-control is one of the disciplines of God's Holy Spirit. It's one of the fruits of His Spirit.

So be careful, and don't let anger get the best of you. That is a sin.

Don't let it get the best of you. Make no friendship with an angry man, and don't allow yourselves to be angry.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 33, Paul says, Do not be deceived, evil company corrupts good habits. It is important what we do, and it starts with our thoughts. If we cozy up to wrong thoughts and we make them our friends, then we're going to pay a price for that.

Evil company corrupts good habits. Awake to righteousness, and do not sin. That's what God's telling us to do. He says, Awake to righteousness. That's why you've been called now, and judgment has begun on the house of God. Judgment is on you. God has called you. He expects something better from you. So don't be deceived. Evil company corrupts good habits. Awake to righteousness, and do not sin. For some do not have the knowledge of God, and some are not yielding to the knowledge of God in their lives. God has opened our minds to knowledge and truth and understanding, but we have to put it into practice in our lives. We have to honor it. We have to be so grateful for God's truth. The truth will certainly make us free. It will free us from sin if we learn to live by it.

During the days of Unleavened Bread, your home should be a safe haven from leaven.

Hopefully you've done your job, and you've gotten the leaven out.

And you've been diligent in putting the leaven out, and you're not going to come home tonight and find a big bag of pretzels sitting right there on the kitchen table.

Now, you've probably gotten rid of the big leaven, but there might be some little stuff that slipped by. You know, it's hard to say. Sometimes we find some little things that we did not expect.

Sneaked it snuck up on us, you might say. But your home should be a safe haven from leaven.

If you could just stay in your home and let no one in, you would be safe this week.

If you didn't have to go to work, wouldn't it be a lot easier to stay away from leaven?

If you just stayed right in your house, and if your house is clean, then you're not going to have to worry about taking up leaven. But of course, God doesn't want us to live that way.

He hasn't called us to live that way. We're still in the world. We rub shoulders with the world.

And in a sense, that's a good thing, because God wants us to learn to overcome these temptations and the wrong influences and the things around us.

So, ideally, every member of the family should be working together in a united fashion to help each other grow spiritually, starting in the home. Mom and Dad and the kids, all working together. They all got together, they put the leaven out, and they're keeping it out.

We don't want our son to bring a bag of pretzels in during the days of 11 bread.

We want everyone to work together so that we can keep our home unleavened.

So that we can keep our home unleavened. So Dad, Mom, and the kids all contribute to the spiritual peace and the unity of the family. When one is gone or isn't doing his part, the family suffers.

Each individual suffers. So each member should encourage and build each other up.

Dad and Mom are there to love, to teach, and to discipline their children. And frankly, there are too many broken families in the world, and even in the Church. It's had a big impact on us, hasn't it? It's had a huge impact. This world has had a huge impact on us.

We must not use that as an excuse, but we must make the best of whatever situation we now find ourselves in today. And we should all work together to go forward in faith. From this point forward, doing the very best that we can possibly do. There's a website called The State of Our Unions. The State of Our Unions. And every year they come out with different things about the state of the family in the United States. Now, here were some findings, going back to 2005, about 10 years ago. At that time, only 63% of American children grew up with both biological parents, the lowest percentage among Western nations. The U.S. divorce rate has declined over the past 25 years, but that is offset by the even greater decline in marriages.

Instead of marriage, couples are now living together. And that is the trend that we've all seen. And some of you young men and women, that's what your friends are doing. Friends that are not a part of God's church, they're living together. They're cohabiting. Yet, cohabiting couples have twice the breakup rate of married couples. This is not a godly solution, obviously.

Yes, divorce is a huge problem, but living together obviously isn't the solution to divorce.

Faithfulness is the solution. We all need to be faithful in our marriages.

We need to be faithful in all that we do.

The co-author of this study, David Popano, said, cohabitation is here to stay. I don't think it's good news, especially for children.

As society shifts from marriage to cohabitation, which is what's happening, you have an increase in family instability.

According to Popano, the result of that instability is that the United States, the U.S., has the weakest families in the Western world.

So that's too bad, but it's a reality here in the United States.

It's not getting any better. This was an article, this came from an article written that was entitled, wedding bells aren't ringing, but neither are phones of divorce lawyers.

So the first point again, brethren, that I'm bringing out in order to stop this ripple effect of sin, avoid compromising thoughts, compromising influences, compromising people, compromising situations. Just don't go there. Say no early.

And do yourself a favor.

Secondly, when it's not possible to avoid compromising people in situations, because we rub shoulders with compromising people, we rub shoulders at times with situations that go on around us, we can't help it.

So we have to always be on guard.

So when it's not possible to avoid these people in situations, be on guard.

Be vigilant. Be spiritually strong. Be prepared.

First Corinthians chapter 5, if we'll go back there for a moment, we read a little bit in First Corinthians 5.

Verse 9 and 10 now, Paul says, I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people.

Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous or extortioners or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. So what he's saying is, I understand that these types of things will happen within the church.

There will be sexual immorality. There will be things that will happen within the church, but you need to be very diligent and vigilant. Don't keep company with sexually immoral people.

If you know that someone's being sexually immoral, then go to your brother.

Go to them. That's what we've been talking about.

Go to them and let them know that you're aware of what they're doing, and it's going to hurt them.

They need to repent, and if they don't listen, then bring someone else that may know them as well. Go to them and plead with them to put that sin out of their lives.

And then if that doesn't work, that's the time to bring the ministry in.

Because a person like that needs to be put out of the church.

They're not to continue setting that type of an example within the body of Christ.

It's that serious.

That's what the scripture tells us.

He says, I did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world or with the covetous or extortioners or idolaters. Since then, you would need to go out of the world.

But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother who is sexually immoral or covetous or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or an extortioner not even to eat with such a person.

That's what the Bible tells you to do.

He says, for what have I to do with judging those also who are outside?

Do you not judge those who are inside?

We are to discern whether someone is sinning, and if they are sinning, then we do have a responsibility as brothers and sisters to go to them and to help them out of that sin. But again, you need to get that plank out of your own eye so that they will listen to you. I mean, if you have an equally huge sin in your life and you go to them, what are they going to do? They're going to throw it right back at you. Well, who are you to come to me and talk to me about a drinking problem when I know what you're up to? So we all need to fight against sin in our lives from what we might call big sins to smaller sins. Of course, we handle things differently, depending on the magnitude of the sin.

We know we can't stay at home this week. None of us can. Well, there might be a few that actually could pull that off, but the vast majority of us won't be able to do that. We have to get out.

God doesn't want us to take the complete isolationist approach. We're not going to be learning the things that we need to learn with that approach either.

Back in Oklahoma, there was a gas station called Mitch's. It was just two miles from where I lived.

And I would stop there on a fairly regular basis. I would get some gas. Sometimes I would go in and buy an ice cream sandwich. I like ice cream sandwiches. Well, one day I was tempted to buy one, and I drove in there. I guess I'd been thinking about an ice cream sandwich. As I was driving by, I think the thought just hit me immediately. Maybe I'd been getting gas. I don't exactly remember the situation, but I know this. I bought an ice cream sandwich, and I took a bite of it. One bite. As I was driving away, I realized it's the days of unleavened bread. Or unleavened ice cream, in this case. It was a little piece of bread or cake over the ice cream that had leavening in it. And I was so disgusted that I threw it out the window. And I don't litter. I typically don't litter, but it struck me immediately, and I just tossed it out the window. And that is the reaction we have to have if we find ourselves in some kind of sin. If leaven has crept in, then we need to react violently to put the sin out of our lives.

So, even though I had transgressed, and I had slipped, and I had allowed my thoughts to go unchecked during the days of unleavened bread, I could learn from that. I could make that a lesson.

I can share it with all of you. Be aware of ice cream sandwiches this week.

Don't think about them. Now, that's all you're going to think about this week. Ice cream sandwiches. No, don't think about ice cream sandwiches this week. And if you have a habit of going to a donut shop, you know, I think some of you have your car on automatic pilot. It goes to a donut shop every morning. You have a cup of coffee and a donut. And if you're not careful, if you have that routine embedded in your life, you could easily steer your way in there some morning.

Especially if you haven't prayed and made yourself mindful that these are still the days of unleavened bread, and you could sink your teeth into a nice, big, thick, juicy donut.

Don't do that. Now, if you slip up, you haven't committed the unpardonable sin, for sure.

But you should repent of that. You weren't thinking as you need to think. You were not being as mindful, as vigilant as you need to be. And when it comes to sin, if you are committed, you will seek repentance, and you will be determined not to slip up again. You will be determined to stop that and to put it out of your life. So the second principle in not allowing a ripple effect of sin to grow, when it's not possible to avoid compromising people or situations, be vigilant. Be on guard. Don't let things slip up on you. Be spiritually strong. Be prepared.

Make sure you're praying. Make sure you're reading your Bible. You're studying. You're drawing near to God. You're meditating on God's way and truth. That's what helps keep me pure during the days of Unleavened Bread. I'm trying to constantly meditate on God's ways, and that helps keep me mindful of these days. Let's go on to a third principle. A third principle of putting or not allowing these ripple effects to grow in our lives. When it becomes necessary, number three, when it becomes necessary and possible, remove the offending person or the circumstance. I talked about that a little bit already, but there comes a time when you have to actually remove whatever it is. If it's tempting to you, then remove it. Get rid of it. Whatever it might be.

Stefania Frocklevieri. I'm sure that's how you pronounce her name. She now knows that tongue piercing costs a lot more than she first expected. Just after she had a metal stud put through her tongue, a popular fashion trend among teenagers, Stefania began to experience sharp, stabbing pains in her face that lasted up to a half a minute. And it happened 20 or 30 times a day.

These sharp pains. Doctors soon diagnosed her with an ailment called trigeminal neuralgia.

Trigeminal neuralgia, a condition more commonly known as suicide disease. I guess because you're doing it to yourself, stupid. There's something you're doing. And because of the intense pain that it causes, the metal stud she had implanted was apparently rubbing up against a nerve that runs along the jaw and is connected to the trigeminal nerve. So a large nerve in our head.

Stefania's condition is just one of many complications due to tongue piercing.

Those who opt for the extra hardware in their mouth can get a tetanus infection.

They can have heart complications, they can have brain abscesses, they can have chipped teeth, and they can have receding gums. Now this doesn't always happen, I realize that.

And I didn't make this up. This is from an article entitled, Teens Tongue Piercing Linked to Pain from news.yahoo.com. So, continuing on reading this.

So how did doctors cure Mrs. Frockle of the area of her condition? They first prescribed the usual array of painkillers, then they moved on to stronger medications. Finally, they tried the solution that was seemingly the most obvious. They removed the metal stud from the girl's tongue. And in a matter of a few days, always well again. Sometimes that's all it takes.

Remove whatever is offending you, whatever is causing you pain, whatever is causing you problems, whatever is causing you to sin. Remove it. Now let's go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 5, as we spend a little more time here. Let's go back to verse 1. It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles, that a man has his father's wife, so this was his stepmother, and you are puffed up, and you have not rather mourned that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you.

For I indeed, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have already judged as though I were present, I have already judged him who has done this deed. This was a known fact.

It was something that people knew about, Paul knew about it, he had confirmed it, he knew it was the truth. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

So you are doing a person, Paul was doing this person a favor by not allowing them to think that what they were doing was acceptable to God. Again, your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump since you truly are unleavened, for indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us.

Therefore let us keep the feast, this feast of unleavened bread, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Verse 9, I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people.

Yet I certainly didn't mean with people of the world. I've read that already to you, and I read the rest of it about drunkards and idolaters and extortioners.

Again, we are to be able to judge righteous judgment. And we have a responsibility to purge the sin out of our lives and out of the midst of our church. Judgment has begun at the house of God.

I was just thinking of something. Sometimes from time to time, over the years, I've been in the church a long time. I've seen people come to Passover who I seldom see them, because they really don't go to church. And they're there at the Passover. And God is their judge.

Certainly I'm not their judge, but God is. And someone who would come to Passover, who is blatantly sinning, and is not taking their calling seriously, because God tells us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as some will do in the last days. He warns us about not doing this. And yet some people will do that, and they'll have the audacity, the audacity to come among us. Now, again, I don't judge them. I don't know what they're doing. All I know is I don't see them. And I can only wonder what is going on. Why don't I see them?

That grieves me, if indeed it's because they're not being faithful. And then they think they can come on the Passover, and everything's okay. That grieves my heart.

Brethren, we really do have to take our calling seriously. And I know you do. I know you're here.

I know this means a great deal to you. I commend you for that. That's what God wants. He looks into our hearts. He wants to see a pure heart. He wants to see a heart that is yielded, and not just yielded, but surrendered to Him. And that isn't an easy thing for a human being to do. That's something I've been working on for a long time, and I can't say I'm there yet.

Are you there? Have you totally surrendered yourself?

It's good to ask ourselves these questions during these annual Holy Days, these days I'm unleavened bread. Brethren, we do need to put sin out of our lives. Brethren, we do need to put sin out of our lives.

In Proverbs 24 verse 5, Solomon writes, Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness.

We are all to be kings and priests. Take away the wicked from before the king.

Don't allow the wicked in your life any longer. Take it away. Be done with it.

Even kings and strong men may be influenced if they are in the wrong environment.

In Deuteronomy chapter 20, let's go to verse 1. Deuteronomy chapter 20. When you go out to battle against your enemies, and you see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. So it shall be when you are on the verge of the battle that the priests shall approach and speak to the people, and he shall say to the people, today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, nor be afraid. Do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified, because of them, your enemy. Don't be terrified, for the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you. Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying, what man is there who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it. And what man is there who has planted a vineyard and has not eaten of it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man eat of it.

Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man eat of it.

And what man is there who has betrothed to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man marry her. And the officers shall speak further to the people and say, what man is there who is fearful and fainhearted? Now this is another story. This is someone who is fearful and fainhearted. Let him go and return to his house, lest the heart of his brethren faint like his heart. Brethren, we need to have the gift of faith. Pray for faith. Pray that God will give you more faith, because we need faith in God's church. Christ asks, will I see faith on the earth? When I return, am I going to see faith on the earth?

O ye of little faith! We all need to be faithful. We must not be faint-hearted, but we do need to be faithful, like Caleb, like Joshua and Caleb. They were the faithful spies who went in and said, yes, I know there are giants over there. I know we're but grasshoppers.

But we have God on our side, and we can fight this battle, because God is there to fight for us.

We just have to move forward. We have to do our part, and God will do His.

Satan is our enemy. He is a roaring lion. He wants to devour you. But you have a high priest, Jesus Christ, who died for you. Go to the Father, go to Christ, ask for help in time of need.

They will grant you that help. They will help you overcome. They will help you come out of sin.

Again, this third point is that remove whatever it is that's hurting you. If it's a faithless heart, you've got to get rid of that. You've got to fast and pray and ask God to give you more faith.

Strengthen your faith, whatever it is. Don't be fooled by your spiritual condition.

Are you really as strong spiritually as you think you are? The Bible says, take heed lest you fall. We all must work out our salvation with fear and with trembling.

We need to be careful. Perhaps you take too much pride in yourself and how humble you are, and how converted you are. These are the days of unleavened bread. It's the time to come out of that pride that was Satan's huge sin. He was filled with vanity and pride. So the third principle, again, is to put these offending people or circumstances away from you. These thoughts, these things, get rid of them. 4. Associate with people who are good influences and good examples. Hopefully that would be everyone here. Associate as much as you possibly can with people of like mind. Come to church faithfully every Sabbath. There really isn't anything more holy about the annual Holy Days. And yet some people think they can skip the weekly Sabbath on a pretty regular basis. They think coming on the high days is somehow more special. Where do you read that in the Bible?

I don't read that in the Bible. Weekly Sabbath is every bit as special and as holy, and we should all be here. So associate with people who are good influences and good examples. In Proverbs 13, 20, wisdom says, He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.

If we spend time with fools, then fools will destroy us, and we will become fools ourselves. The world is becoming less and less spiritual. Look at our country. It's becoming less and less spiritual. We're further away from God as a nation. Certainly Britain, look how far they've gone over the years. Once they were a somewhat religious people. Now, there are very few semilances of real true faith over there. We need to be careful, because these things will rub off on us. The body of Christ is to be unleavened. We are indeed the body of Christ. We are to be unleavened in our conduct and in our approach with each other. We are to help those who want to change, who desire to change, who really want to repent. We should always be here for each other. We should be a forgiving people. You know, I talked about the spirit of forgiveness. Before I talked about going to your brother. We need to be a forgiving people. But we should not condone sin, and we should not make light of sin, and we should not make light of sinners. I know that you're not a sinner.

I know we're all sinners, to a degree. But I think you understand what I'm saying. There are certain things, there are blatant sins that just must not be allowed within the body of Christ. We need to put those things out. We need to be better examples. Frankly, we've been horrible examples in so many ways in God's Church over the years. We should all be ashamed of ourselves, most likely, because we've set bad examples for each other.

Look at the history of our Church. We're like the people in Corinth. They were steeped in sin. The fourth principle, and I know I'm running out of time here. I always do this. I spend a lot of time on those first few points. They're the most important ones, right? Let's go on to a fifth principle, and that is to pray for strength. Pray for strength in the moment of temptation, and thank God for victory over sin.

Pray for strength in the moment of temptation. Set up a positive cycle of praying for help, of doing the right thing and then thanking God for delivering you from sin. It seems to me that too many people take the approach of sin first, repent later. Does that make sense? Is there true conversion in that approach? Sin first, repent later? No. Strive not to sin. Go to God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might.

Put the sin out before it's ever in. I've done that myself. I know I've played games like that. Something I wanted to do. Something that this human flesh was enticing me to do. And instead of getting on my knees and praying through it, I just did it. And yes, I was sorry afterwards. Because I don't want to be this way. And you don't want to be this way. But brethren, doesn't it make much more sense to pray before you sin?

Pray before you sin, so that you won't sin. Pray for strength in the moment of temptation, and then thank God for victory. Set up that cycle in your life. Make it happen in your life. Make no longer excuses for your weakness. In Matthew 6, we know the prayer. It's the model prayer. I'm not going to read it. It says, Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

That's a prayer that we should be making continually. Do not lead us into temptation, God, but deliver us from the evil one. Don't let us go there. Protect us. Give me strength. Help me overcome. Don't let me go back into the vomit. Don't let me wallow in the vomit again. Help me come out of it. The sixth principle, Don't try to justify or make excuses for your sins. Don't try to justify. That doesn't cut it. God knows your heart. You can't justify your sin. You can't make excuses for your sin. If you've sinned, you've sinned. Admit it. That's the only thing that works. Otherwise, you're just continuing your sins. In Romans 7, and you can go and read it later, Apostle Paul readily admits that he was a sinner, and that he sinned, and that he found himself doing things he didn't want to do, and he wouldn't do certain things that he knew he ought to do.

I'm glad that's in here. I'm glad it's in the Bible, because otherwise I don't know that I would be here today, because I probably would have become discouraged by my own carnality, by my own human flesh, by the weakness of my flesh. I'm glad Paul put it in there, because I know he and I fight the same battles.

You fight the same battles. So admit it when you sinned. Don't make excuses for your sins. You're an open book before God. You don't fool him for one second. Remember, in 1 John 1, chapter 1, 8-10, and also in chapter 2, verses 1 and 2, it basically says, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth isn't in us. We're all sinners. We all have to come out of our sins. Sometimes it's just the spirit of the law. That's so important to learn to walk in the spirit.

God doesn't want us to walk in the flesh any longer. He doesn't want us to walk in the letter. He wants us to go way beyond that and become spiritually minded. That's when we can help each other. So don't justify or make excuses for your sins. And then the last principle. Principle number seven, when you do sin, and of course we all will, quickly seek repentance. React violently.

Throw it out the window. Have nothing to do with it any longer. Quickly seek repentance. If you need to, fast more often. If you're not making good progress, you're probably not fasting enough. You're not drawing close enough to God. This is a spiritual power tool that will help you overcome sin. Fasting once a year really isn't near enough. Christ said His disciples would fast. When He was taken, when He was crucified and then resurrected and is at the right hand of God, My disciples will fast.

Because some things don't happen except by prayer and fasting. And we need that strength. So seek repentance and change through prayer and fasting. Pray about your sins. Again, ask yourself, what were you thinking? Why did you allow yourself to do what you just did? Take these sins seriously in your life. It really is time to seek the Lord with all of our heart. In Hosea 10, verse 12, it says it's time to seek the Lord till He comes and reigns righteousness on us.

You know, I'm looking forward to having righteousness rain down on me. I'd hate this flesh. I want to get rid of it. I want to be done with it. I mean, I like it in a way. I mean, it's the best I've got right now, as far as physically. I'm glad I can get up here and do what I do and all that. But I really want to get rid of this flesh and have something that will last forever.

So seek God now till He comes and reigns righteousness on you. When you'll no longer be subject to sin, you'll be perfect. Born into the family of God. We're all in this together. We have the same calling. We have the same wonderful kingdom that's coming, that's in store for each and every one of us. So, brethren, and remember too in Deuteronomy 4, it says, If you shall seek the Lord, you shall find Him. There's no doubt. Old Testament, New Testament, God's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Christ is the same. It's throughout the entire Word of God. If you seek God, you will find Him.

But you have to seek Him with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your might, with your mind, with everything that's in you. So as we continue during these days of Unleavened Bread, let's be sure to keep the physical leaven out of our homes. Let's not take any physical leaven back into our homes. Let's not forget and eat leaven. But more importantly, let's continue to focus on putting the spiritual leaven. The sin out of our lives this week and throughout the entire year, let's remember these seven principles. Let's apply them in our lives.

Leaven and sin do have a ripple effect. Sin grows. It's puffed up. These seven principles will help us to become more unleavened. When these principles are applied, then this deadly ripple effect will not come upon us. We won't die, but we will live forever. We will have stopped that deadly, spiritual, sinful ripple effect in our lives.

We will put sin out of our lives. So remember, each choice we make causes a ripple effect in our lives. Every choice that you make, when things happen to us, it is the reaction that we choose that can create the difference between the sorrow of our past and the joy in our future.

I won't see a lot of you on the last day of Unleavened Bread since I'll be in Lawton, so I wish you all a very wonderful days of Unleavened Bread. Be faithful.