Always Be On Guard

Proverbs 10:1, “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.”

Sin is everywhere! I was playing my steel guitar at Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii in 2011 years ago. An attractive middle aged white couple came up and complimented my music. They saw that my neck pain was making it difficult for me to carry my equipment to the hotel where I was staying, so they kindly offered to help. We sat in the hotel lobby for awhile. All of a sudden, right in front of her husband, she started lifting up her skirt to me, asking if we could all go up to my hotel room. I carefully didn't respond, simply looking at her husband, and I pretended I hadn't seen anything. 

I realized later they were swingers, staying at a gay hotel a block north of the Queen Kapiolani Hotel where I was staying. Needless to say that made an impression in my mind. I befriended them with God's love. When they left, I kindly waved goodbye, and saw the man scolding his wife. I had told them I was a Christian at the beginning of our conversation, so I am not sure what he said to her. If I hadn't been living a life of staying right with the Lord, instinctively doing what was right, I would have gladly accepted her invite to commit adultery. Please read our text Bible verse again dear reader, Proverbs 10:1, “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.”

Sin will ALWAYS present itself to you, I don't care who you are. Life is all about making a series of decisions, each and every day. The decisions that we make today will affect tomorrow. Sin is fun, or else people wouldn't do it. What saith the Scripture? Proverbs 20:17, “Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.” I am so glad that I didn't accept her invitation to sin that day in the privacy of my hotel room; but to be honest, there is a sinful part of my soul that wishes I had. If her husband hadn't been present, it might have been a completely different story. I am single, living alone, so I have to be careful and be on guard. We all struggle with sin, in different areas. It all really comes down to how much you love God. It is indeed possible to love the Lord, and yet still commit a horrible sin in your life, simply because your priorities are wrong. Can a man truly love his wife and cheat on her? Yes, it is possible, but he does not have a perfect love for her. His personal character is tainted and corrupt. This television generation is always at the brink of sinning, weak and demoralized by the filth on TV. 

All normal healthy men struggle with sexual sins, which we read about in 1st Peter 2:11, “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;” A war is comprised of individual battles. It all starts in the mind! The lusts of the flesh are incredibly powerful temptations, for both men and women (but especially men), and the way to win the war is to prepare for each battle with the inspired Word of God. Memorize helpful Scriptures! Psalms 119:9, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.” Psalms 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” Listen to plenty of fundamental Bible preaching. Surround yourself with Christian friends who desire to think, live and do right at all times! Living right is a yoke of wood, it is frustrating; but succumbing to sin eventually brings a yoke of iron. It may not happen right away, and you may think you are getting away with sin, but judgment day is inevitable (Hebrews 9:27; Hebrews 13:4). No one can escape the judgment of God (Hebrews 4:13; Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; Romans 14:10-12). 

Nothing escapes the sight of God (Psalms 139:1-6). Ecclesiastes 8:12-13, “Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.” If you can sin without any conviction from the indwelling Holy Spirit, then you are not saved. 1st John 3:15, “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” I hate the sins that I have committed in my life. I wish I could go back and take the high road instead of the low road. I am thankful for most of the times that I chose the high path. All it takes is five minutes to destroy your entire life!!! Albeit, a person's mistakes do not define who they are.

Moreover, I thank God for the precious blood of Jesus that redeems us as sinners. 1st John 1:7b, “the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” Always be on guard against temptation rearing its ugly head. But if you have sinned, “Go and sin no more,” as Jesus told the woman caught in the act of adultery in John chapter eight. John 3:17 says Jesus did not come into the world to condemn anyone, but to save sinners! Amen! The Law of God already condemns the human race because of sin (Galatians 3:10). As with a curious child who needs to touch a hot stove, before learning not to touch things; so also do people need to be burned by sin, to learn not to play with the Devil's fire! We don't hear enough Bible preaching today against sin! That is why the altars are empty in the churches at invitation time. Sin thrills and then it kills. Sin fascinates and then it assassinates.