sin

Samuel, Saul and the Witch of Endor - 1 Samuel 28

Saul had already been ‘replaced’ by David as King (although it hadn’t happened yet). In 1 Samuel 15, Saul didn’t do what God said and therefore God rejected him as King. Then in 1 Samuel 16.14, the Bible says that the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul (the Spirit of God had ‘gone’ to David). After David killed Goliath it says that Saul was jealous of David and was his enemy, trying to kill him. So Saul was in a place of real disobedience to God. Therefore God wouldn’t / couldn’t speak to Saul. The application is that we only really get God’s blessing when we obey God and only then!! So, Saul turned to mediums to ‘speak’ to him. The occult is powerful and the evil one and demons can mimic and represent dead people. (They cannot see what is going on in the future, God alone can). The evil one only has the authority that we give him – but we need the blood of Jesus covering us (eg the Passover and the angel of death flying past only doors with the blood on them). God had forbidden Israel to consult the occult and we learn Saul himself had banned it. He also set God against him by doing this, bringing a curse on himself (Leviticus 20.6). Saul most likely wanted to bring back the good old days when him and Samuel hung out. But he also deceived the woman and then - all of a sudden up pops Samuel (as you do!) The medium was totally shocked, and got a glimpse of God’s power over the occult! This was no premonition, but was actually Samuel and God allowed this to happen. Samuel re-iterated that what was happening to Saul was God’s will. We can be sure this was Samuel because he re-said God's Word(s). Saul then recognised that God had rejected him. He was desperate. He could have repented and turned back to God, but didn’t. It is likely that Samuel only appeared because God appointed it to happen for His purposes, it was not through the witch’s incantations that Samuel appeared. God’s Word stays the same and what God says will happen – God is not a man that he should lie, and he is faithful and true! Finally, Galatians 5 warns against the occult and we should never go near it, so be warned and stay clear. Seriously. God is 'bigger than the boogeyman' but don't open yourselves up to evil influences. Only let your heart and mind be exposed to God, and be obedient to him.

S e x - Ezekiel 23.35 - Health warning, for over 18s only!

I was recently in schools talking about the Bible. The students commonly used words to describe the Bible, such as 'boring' or 'irrelevant'. In Ezekiel 23, the Bible shows that both descriptions are untrue. We have 'prostitutes' and some graphic language to describe their activities. However, this is not about prostitution, this is God's description of Samaria and Jerusalem. In God's eyes, these places had become like prostitutes. They had become perverted, immoral and defiled. They had turned away from God to other nations and turned their back on purity and God's standards. So God likened them to 2 sisters who were prostitutes. God's message was, 'Since you have forgotten me and thrust me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your lewdness and prostitution.' Very strong stuff and God was faithful to his word, with the Babylonians the key to his judgement.

We can learn 3 major lessons from this Bible chapter. Firstly, God wants a people set apart to him. This is called 'holiness'. Holiness is our life, dedicated to God, his word, obeying him, keeping ourselves pure for him. God values this so much, he puts a great price on it. He has made us holy, so we need to stay holy and set apart from the world's standards, living by God's standards instead. Secondly, God does not like sexual immorality. He likens the godlessness of Jerusalem and Samaria to a prostitute sleeping around. God is not condemning those who don't know him in this chapter. He is condemning those who know him, who say they are 'Christians' but still sleep around and 'defile' (dirty) themselves. God has given the gift of s e x to man and woman to enjoy, within the security of marriage alone. If you've messed up here, it's OK, God will forgive you. But you must ask him for forgiveness and turn from this lifestlye and seek God's healing. Finally, there are consequences to our sin. We'd do well to remember that.

1 John 1.8-10: "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." Thank you Jesus.

People pleasing - Mark 12.12

Time and time again, we find the Pharisees (religious leaders) trying to trip up Jesus by their words and questions that they thought were very clever. Reading through Mark's Gospel recently, God showed me the amount of times that the Pharisees didn't or did do something because they feared people or the reactions of people. In Mark 12.12, Jesus had just spoken a parable against the pharisees and they knew it. However, the Bible says that '.. they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.' We know the motivation of the pharisees as we find this in Mark 12.12 and in Mark 11.18, where we learn that the pharisees wanted to kill Jesus because 'they feared him'. They feared for their own 'positions' if Jesus turned out to be who he said he was. So they wanted to get rid of him. On more than one occasion we find similar scenarios playing out through Mark. However, time and time again they didn't act because of fear of people. The question to us is whether we are doing similar things or not acting - because of our fear of man, our fear of people. For the pharisees, their slef-righteous pride and arrogance was such that they didn't want to lose their power and authority. Jesus easily revealed their true motivations and their sinful pride. Jesus has a way of doing that. But this is a challenge to you and me. Are we living in fear of people? The pharisees were lost because of their fear. Don't let this be true for you as a disciple of Jesus. Don't let the sins of being proud, or fearful - get in the way of doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord. It's hard, but Jesus will lead you, step by step. And that's a promise from God.

Mark 11.27-33 - Sinful motivation

The Bible warns us that the days are evil and that there are bad men and women out there, ready to corrupt, deceive and (like the devil), destroy. The Bible tells us to be protected and be on our guard at all times. Some people love to trick others and to try and point out their failings and cleverly turn people's witness against them. These are the intelligent students at schools who try to undermine the faith of Christian students, these are the cynical and arrogant work colleagues who think that their clever logic will make you seem foolish. As ever, Jesus had an answer for these types of people. Here in Mark, we find a situation where the Pharisees wanted to know by what authority Jesus was doing all the things he did. This was no question motivated by a search for truth. This had a hidden motivation - to undermine and criticise Jesus, because he was undermining their false 'authority'. He knew that. What he did was to turn the question back onto the Pharisees. He asked them, 'John's baptism - was it from heaven, or from men? Tell me!' The Pharisees discussed this in their little huddle. If they replied, 'from heaven' Jesus would ask them why they then didn't believe him. If they answered 'from men' they would be in trouble with the people who all thought John was a prophet. So they answered, 'we don't know' (ie. they copped out). Jesus replied, 'in that case I won't tell you by whose authority I do what I do.' So what did Jesus do? Well, he uncovered the motivation behind what the Pharisees were asking by questioning them indirectly. Be wary of some people's motivation in asking you questions. Sometimes it is wise to turn a question back to someone or to ask a rhetorical question (a question that people think about, rather than answer). On one occasion, Jesus told people that 'whoever hasn't sinned, go ahead and throw the first stone.' He turned the argument back onto people, saying, 'you can't judge, as you have many faults as well.' So when people come to you, accusing, take the model of Jesus and ask them a penetrating question back. 'So why are you a Christian then?' You could reply, 'so why are you asking when you don't want to hear the answer' or 'how come you're not a Christian then?' or 'you tell me what you believe, and I'll tell you what I believe.' It's hard, so ask God for the words. However, sometimes people don't want to hear the truth so it's best to walk away.

Rehoboam makes Israel turn against him - 1 Kings 12.1-17

Rehoboam was the son of Solomon. He was paying for the sins of his father, Solomon. In fact, we see more evidence of God's Word being fulfilled. In 1 Kings 11.9-13, the Lord appeared to Solomon because he was angry with him. He told Solomon that He would take away Solomon's kingdom, but would do this when Solomon's son was in charge. God would leave Solomon's son with just 1 of the 12 tribes of Israel. In 1 Kings 12.17, we see that Rehoboam was left with just the tribe of Judah, as God has promised. God is completely faithful. Believe.

But what of Rehoboam's sin? Well, we find that people came to see him to ask if he'd make things easier for the people. Under Solomon, they had been worked extremely hard. The people came to tell him to ease back a bit. That way they would be happy to serve him. He said he'd consider this. Rehoboam went to 2 sets of people for advice. Firstly he consulted the elders that his father, Solomon, had got counsel from. They advised - 'don't make the people work as hard as your father did.' But Rehoboam rejected this advice. Instead he asked his friends who told him, 'make the people work even harder.' As a direct result, 11 tribes of Israel rebelled and the whole of the kingdom of Israel was split. Incredibly serious stuff.

Recently I worked with someone who had fallen out with their dad big time (they were not to blame). Their friends advised leaving home for a few days and not speaking. I advised going home and at least trying to sort things. The person took my advice. Although things weren't sorted straight away, a couple days later the situation was resolved and now they are closer than before. Older people often advise wisely as they have seen things. But Rehoboam was proud, young, arrogant and greedy. All these things will lead you away from God and into trouble. See, Solomon was the wisest king ever, so his advisers must have been pretty wise. But Rehoboam ignored this. Proverbs 15.22 says, 'Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.' Just make sure you surround yourself with Godly people, young and old, and line up your decisions with the Word of God.

Don't mess with evil - 1 Chronicles 10.13-14

In this brief bit of the Bible, we learn God's reason that Saul died when he did. The Bible states that, 'Saul died because he was not faithful to the Lord and did not obey the Lord. He even went to a medium and asked her for advice, instead of asking the Lord. This is why the Lord put Saul to death and gave the kingdom to Jesse's son, David.'
Pretty serious stuff. Let's quickly look at these 3 elements:

1. Saul's sin was that he did not completely obey the Lord. We find this in 1 Samuel 14 where Saul's lack of common sense in battle meant the men were refused food and ended up eating having killed the sheep in the wrong way. A far greater mistake was made in 1 Samuel 15. In verses 2-3 we find that the prophet Samuel brought the Word of God to Saul to kill all the Amalekites and destroy everything. But in verse 9 we see Saul did not kill everyone or everything. God's response was an instant rejection of Saul as King (verse 26), something that God took time to work out in practice. We find in 1 Samuel 16.14 that 'the Lord's Spirit had left Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.' (Bet that messes with some of your theology (view about God) doesn't it!)

2. Paul went to a medium/witch for advice. Reading horoscopes, consulting palm readers, crystal balls, tarot cards, witches and even reading your 'stars' is extremely dangerous. You are messing with forces you cannot understand or control. Let's look at 1 Samuel 28 where Saul visited the Witch of Endor. Interestingly, we learn in verse 9 that Saul had forced all the mediums out of the land. But here he was consulting one who'd secretly stayed behind. We see the manifestation of the dead Samuel who repeated God's message that Saul had been rejected by God. I don't understand all the ins and outs of this but we see that the force of evil is not one to be taken lightly. And it is evil. There is no such thing as a good witch, unlike the TV programmes that would have you believe otherwise. Stay away. If you have got involved in this kind of thing, please say sorry to God, ask him to take any evil away from you. Then go talk to a wise Christian you respect as soon as possible who will help you.

3. Saul put his own opinions, advice and the advice of the witch before the Lord. He made a god of himself and others through his own pride and inquisitiveness. This is the breaking of the 1st Commandment - not having any other gods before God. Listen, we've all got stuff to deal with - me, you, everyone. But let's commit to put God first in everything from this day through the rest of our lives, 24/7. It's the only way.

Don't look back! - Genesis 19.15-29

Are there things in your life that you know you need to change from, get rid of, throw away, turn from? Are there things that God has spoken to you about asking you to change, move on and not look back? It's a real and important but hard part of being a disciple of Jesus - turning away from things we think we enjoy and want to do. Yet if God has spoken to you and asked you to do something, move on, change - then it's essential we do! Why? Cos God knows best.
In these Bible verses we head back to Sodom and Gomorrah again. This time, we find that God is going to destroy these 2 towns cos of all the evil in them. (We know these places were real centres of craziness and evil as Abraham wasn't even able to find 10 good people in the whole city! Genesis 18.32-33).
Lot was a good bloke and a couple of angels came to tell him and his family to leave their home in Sodom as the city was going to be destroyed by God. In verse 17 we find the angels warn the family to keep running and not to look back. Unfortunately in verse 26 we find that curiosity got the better of Lot's wife who decided that she knew a bit better than God's words spoken by the angels. She looked back. Because she did this she was killed and turned into a pillar of salt.
What do we learn? We find that if God speaks we should obey. We find that God is faithful (see verse 29). For our lives, we see that if we look back to the life that God has told us to turn away from their can be disaster. God won't turn us into a pillar of salt but sin (doing wrong) always brings destruction in one way or another. Think of the hurt that Lot and his daughters must have felt. Think of the fear of God that must have hit him and his cousin Abraham. When God speaks we need to obey him! Believe!

Sins God hates - Proverbs 6.16-19

Proverbs 6.16-19 in The Message says this:
Here are six things GOD hates, and one more that he loathes with a passion: eyes that are arrogant, a tongue that lies, hands that murder the innocent, a heart that hatches evil plots, feet that race down a wicked track, a mouth that lies under oath, a troublemaker in the family.'

So let's take a closer look in modern language:
People who are full of themselves, all puffed up like they know it all - someone always dissing others and spreading lies and abuse like a virus - people who kill others, abuse others, take advantage of those who can't defend themselves - people who always think of evil stuff, start up bad stuff on others, those guys whose minds are full of sick, perverted trash - people who commit violence, rob, abuse, kill, rape, attack, always doing evil - someone who is a witness to something but who lies and tells false stories - someone who causes problems within families, who's like a little rat sneaking around full of malice and stirring up troubles among families.

Now take a look at yourself - 'God, I need you to help me change'. Now believe God can do it. In time and as God speaks, pray and challenge other Christian friends with love.

The sins of Sodom and Gomorrah - Genesis 18, 19 and Ezekiel 49.49-58

Some of you may have heard of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah Basically it was when God destroyed 2 evil cities in the Old Testament time by hail and rocks of fire because they were so evil. Ever wondered what the people of Sodom and Gomorrah did wrong?
Here's some clues. The story is in Genesis 18.20 - Genesis 19, see chapter 19 verses 23 to 29 for the destruction of the cities. If you read through the passage you'll see that Abraham argued the case for God not to destroy these places (intercession) and God did respond (he does today too).
However, we see that God had heard the cities were very evil. One of the sins was active sexual homosexuality which is a sin, despite what some so-called 'liberal' (I call them 'non-Biblical') scholars say. (Click here)
But.. let's take a look at Ezekiel 16.49. God is speaking against Jerusalem through his prophet Ezekiel. 'This was the sin.. of Sodom.. she was proud and had plenty of food and lived in comfort, but she did not help the poor and needy.' So God was also angry with Sodom because of her injustice, pride, selfishness in not helping the poor and the needy. What about you?

Dealing with all your sin - Read 2 Kings 12.1-3

Joash was now King over Judah. If we read through Chapter 12 we learn that Joash did many great things for God. Let's take a look.. he started work on repairing the Lord's Temple; then when he found the Priests weren't doing the work, he made them do it; he made sure all the workers were fairly paid; as a result of this we find that both workers and priests acted honestly; he protected Israel from attack by paying off the aggressor.
Thing is, we read in verse 3 that 'the places where gods were worshipped weren't removed, nor were the people stopped from making sacrifices and burning incense in these places.' So there was a problem..
The Old Testament makes it clear that God is a jealous God. The thing is, God in his grace, will actually allow us to be lukewarm towards him and have areas of our life that don't obey his Word. He won't always, but often it takes an act of will on our part to submit every area of our life to Christ. I recently felt I wanted to re-say this to God and he has constantly stretched me in new ways ever since, shaking me out of my comfort zone. You want to be mad for God? Let God rule over every area of your life today and on-going

Communion (1 Corinthians 11.23-34)

Every time they said it I would laugh. 'We will now come around the table' the vicar would say. 'Get round the table, what all 200 of us? There's only room for 5' I used to think. 'Let us now break the bread and drink the cup' the vicar would continue 'Drink the cup? It's made of glass, I might drink what's in the cup but there ain't no way I'm a drink that cup mate..'
Jesus died on the cross for you and for me. He was mocked, tortured, beaten, spat at, teased, flogged and had to carry a heavy wooden cross. He was nailed to the cross, put on display to all, right at the end even his Father God in heaven had to turn his face from his Son because God cannot look at sin. When Jesus died he 'became sin' so that through Jesus we can have access to the holy God in heaven. Don't forget it. Thank God for Jesus. Thank Jesus for his blood.

The punishment for sin is death (Romans 6.23)

Daniel was an amazing Bible character. There are many things that you can learn from his life if you read through the Bible and ask God's Holy Spirit to help you. Today, we're looking at just one area - sin. Read Daniel 9.1-19.
a. Like Daniel, we need to confess our sin (the wrong we have done). That means admitting we've done wrong, saying sorry to God and stopping it.
b. God is faithful to his promises. 1 John 1.9 says if you confess your sin, God is faithful and you'll be forgiven if you mean it.
c. Us doing wrong can, and often will, have bad consequences. Even when you say sorry to God, it can often mean things happening we won't like.
d. We have to take the blame for our sin, blaming someone else is not on.
e. We should remind ourselves of what God has done for us. Take time to think of what God's done for you - saved you, given life, health..?
f. God rescues his people. Especially when they say sorry and turn their backs on sin!
g. God should be given the credit for all that happens. Your life should be something you willingly use for God, giving God all the glory. Not you.

'When you are angry, do not sin, and be sure to stop being angry before the end of the day' (Ephesians 4.26, YB)

The Bible is your practical handbook to life. Throughout the Bible, we see all kinds of people, displaying all kinds of different emotions.
God knows that there are times when we feel angry. OK so it's not always right but there are times that we do get angry. Jesus got angry on one occasion when he saw people making money inside the Temple in Jerusalem.
Jesus was angry in a way people call 'righteous anger'. For example, you might be angry because people are starving in Africa or because children are left as orphans in Eastern Europe and no-one seems to care. It's not a hostile anger, it's a sense of injustice that wells up inside you.
God wants you to deal with uncontrolled anger and with hate. The Bible tells us to go and calm down (Psalm 4.4) and to try not to be angry (Ephesians 4.29-32). We need to ask God to take away our anger and ask God for forgiveness. We need to avoid things that make us angry.

The Blood, Hebrews 10.10-14

When you see blood or something disgusting you feel a bit ill. Be glad you weren't around at the time of Moses! A quick flick through Leviticus shows all the things the Israelites had to do to make themselves clean as well as what to do if they sinned. Believe me, the list is long, the rules complicated and some of the things they did, well...
In Exodus 12, we read of how God spared his people in slavery in Egypt from the plague of the death of the first-born. They had to smear blood from a year-old sheep or goat over the door. Then the Lord would pass over. That night, the Lord passed over them but not over the the Egyptians
Ephesians 2.13 says, ''But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away from God are brought near through the blood of Christ's death.' Be very thankful for Jesus. We don't have to follow loads of rules, we don't have to sacrifice animals but most importantly, we are brought near to God.

Throw off your sins (Hebrews 12.1). Read Romans 7.14-25

I can really relate to what Paul writes here in Romans - can you? He talks about the war that goes on inside us - it's like a good movie - good vs evil.
There are times where I sin even though I know that it is wrong, even though I hurt God. Do you know what I mean? You don't want to do something but you still do. Sometimes with me it's anger or impatience or lust. Is there something in your life that God is saying you need to deal with?
Life is a spiritual battle (Ephesians 6.10-18). Knowing this full well, Jesus pointed out to his followers there would be a price to following him (Luke 14.25-33). But there is a promise! Jesus will be with us, right until the end of this age (Matthew 28.20) and he is able to help keep us from temptation (Hebrews 2.18). Praise God for Jesus!

Deal with your sin

God hates sin (evil, wrong stuff we do). Not saying sorry to God about the sin in our lives puts up a barrier between us and God and damages our relationship with him. "Surely the Lord's power is enough to save you. He can hear when you ask him for help. It is your evil that has separated you from your God. Your sins cause him to turn away from you, so he does not hear you." (Isaiah 59.1-2, YB)

If we don't forgive, it comes between us and God and our relationships with others. "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you." (Ephesians 4.32, NIV). We must admit our sins to God if our relationship with Him is to be restored completely. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1.9, NIV)

The Bible promises certain things if we forgive...

- Happiness. (Psalm 32.1-2)
- God chooses not to hold our sins against us. (Isaiah 43.25)
- God removes our sin from us. (Psalm 103.12)
- We can forgive ourselves and go on with our lives.

Read Romans 12.1-3, especially verse 2

It's only when you let God change you and start to turn away from those things that are bad that God really starts to work in your life. Sometimes God will change you anyway but very often it needs us to let God help.

God has loads he wants to do for you but we need to clear out the dirt before he can use us. Think of it like this. There's a well and it's got loads of fresh water in it. Trouble is, around the edges of the well, there's mud and dirt. So much so that you can only use a small bucket to get the water out. However, if you were to lean over into the well and carefully start to remove the muck, you'd be able to get out more and more water. It would take time, risk and constant effort to keep it clean but it would be worth it.

That's what needs to happen in our lives. We need to actively get rid of all the muck and then we can access God's well of life (see Revelation 21.6). It's hard, takes time and will be an ongoing process but the rewards are great! 'God, clear out the muck from my life so I can do great things for you.'

Man and woman mess up - Genesis 3.1-7

Someone once asked me in school: 'why did Eve eat the fruit off the tree if God told her not to.' I said, 'If you walked in the room and saw a button on the wall and it had a sign above it saying, 'Don't press the button', what would you do? 'I'd press it' he replied. Exactly! Man and woman messed up and turned their backs on God. They said to God, 'We want to go our own way, do our own thing. It's not good enough here in paradise with you - we want something more.' So they had to leave...

Do you know what God said to man first of all? Genesis 2.15 says, 'The Lord God put the man in the Garden of Eden to care for it and work it.' (YB) In Genesis 1.28, God told man and woman to have kids, be the master of the earth and rule over every living thing. What happened? A snake got in the garden and tempted Eve. How did it get in? Man failed in his responsibility to look after the garden. Too many lads are turning away from God and the church. God is calling you back - to obey him - to live for him and to start taking responsibility for what you do.

Jesus was tempted but never sinned - Hebrews 4.15

Jesus was perfect. The work that he did was perfect, so were the things he said, the way he lived, his thoughts and actions. Even when he died on the cross to die so that we could be forgiven, the whole thing was perfect.

Read Luke 4.1-13. In this we read about 3 ways in which the devil tempted Jesus but in every case, Jesus resisted. In verse 13, the Youth Bible says, 'After the devil had tested Jesus in every way, he left him to wait until a better time.' He'll be waiting a very long time! Well, Jesus has never and will never be tempted. He is without sin.

So what can we learn from this? First of all, when you struggle and are tempted, take comfort from the fact that Jesus understands. Secondly, you are able to resist temptation when it strikes. The Bible says that when (that's when, not if) you are tempted, God will not let you be tempted more than you can stand, and he will give you a way out.

Sin means defeat - Read Joshua 7.1-7

Things were looking good - the Israelites had defeated the city of Jericho with God's help. But there was a problem. If you read chapter 6 verses 18 & 19, you'll see that the Israelites were commanded not to take anything for themselves from Jericho otherwise it would being problems for them and Israel. So what happens? Achan ignores God's command and takes some things he should have given to the Lord. Then Israel lost the next battle which they should have won easily.

The consequences of this disobedience to God was severe. God made all the tribes come before him and he used Joshua to discover that it was Achan who had sinned. He was publicly shamed, so was his family, he lost everything he owned (not just what he had taken) and then both him and his entire family was stoned to death in a valley. Romans 6.23 says the result of sin is death. For Achan this meant immediate death. Makes you think...