We Are All Sick With Sin

Romans 3:10-18, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

We are all sick sinners. I don't care how long you may have been a born-again Christian, you are still sick with sin, and so am I. Understanding this truth is very important to maintaining a proper Christian perspective, so we can live for God. If we always keep in mind that we are sinful, then that will compel us to stay closer to God by abiding in His Word and prayer. There is nothing worse than a saint who has forgotten that they're still a sinner by nature and choice. To be the best Christian you can possibly be, then you must live with the constant awareness that “when I would do good, evil is present with me” (Romans 7:21).

I've been saved since age 12 or 13, I cannot remember the year. I am the biggest sinner that I know. That is simply because I live with myself, and know myself better than anyone else. And if you are honest with yourself and God, then you also feel like you're the biggest sinner you know. If I foolishly looked at the sins of others to measure how good I am doing as a believer, then I would feel like a pretty good Christian. That is what many saints do, they look at tarnished professed Christians like Jim Bakker (from the infamous PTL Club), and Jimmy Swaggart (who couldn't keep his zipper closed), and Lot (who offered his two virgin daughters to be raped by sodomites).

But dear friend, you are just as sick with sin as those sinful men (and so am I). The only thing that makes me or you (if you are saved) any more righteous than infidels John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy or Judas Iscariot is the precious sin-cleansing blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus. My sin belongs to me, but my righteousness is Jesus Christ's (Romans 4:1-7, 10:3-4; Philippians 3:9). Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do. Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith. The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU. To be saved, you just need to believe that Jesus did it all for you through Calvary's cross. Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6-9).

People Equal Pain

One thing that we have all learned as Christians (and people in general) is that dealing with people will eventually cause us some grief and emotional pain. I've had people ask to borrow money and never pay me back. I let it go and never asked them for the money, because I didn't want to risk our friendship over a few hundred dollars.

In a sermon, I heard Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) say that he co-signed on numerous loans for church members, who never paid back what they owed and had promised to pay, and Brother Hyles legally had to pay $50,000 to cover those loans. Dr. Hyles said he never once mentioned the money to those people, because he valued them more as church members (so that he could continue helping them in Christ), than he did getting his money back. That is a true friend and a genuine man of God! I love and miss Dr. Hyles and look forward to seeing him again in Heaven someday. What a great guy!

As we grow older we'll all either become more bitter or better. I want to become better, not bitter. Life is not fair. People will hurt and disappoint you. People will gossip and tell you things you don't want to hear, and then one day blame you for those words. People will ask to borrow money, and then never pay you back. I'm including churchgoers. Christians are still people, and all people are sick with sin. I have been hurt by more people than I can possible remember.

Forgiveness After Divorce

If I allowed my feelings to go unchecked by God's Word, I could easily become a bitter man. If I wanted, I could hate my former wife for breaking her vows to God. She cruelly abandoned and divorced me in 2006, yet I still love and care about her. She still refuses to accept responsibility for the damage she has caused. Yet, I show Christ's love for her, voluntarily over the years giving her tens of thousands of dollars in financial help. I suffer in constant agonizing neck pain, suffering all alone.

Trying to find a woman to get remarried is next to impossible when you're suffering in horrible neck pain all the time. I don't feel like going anywhere or doing anything. So how can I have a social life? I've tried eHarmony, Christian Mingle and Match.com, which are all horrible websites with mostly fake profiles. I didn't have any luck on those websites finding someone. My former wife likes her newfound independence (an act of rebellion if you ask me), and she doesn't want to be by my side in my physical pain and suffering.

Pastor Jack Hyles said it best: “Divorce is a sin that perpetuates for a lifetime.” Yes, that is so true! My former wife doesn't want or need a husband, but I want and need a wife. I am reminded of our wonderful Savior who bled and died on a cross for my sins. Jesus didn't deserve that! The soldiers spit upon Him. They beat Jesus beyond recognition and ripped the flesh off His back with whips. Yet, our dear Savior didn't complain, He forgave them and died for their sins on the cross of Calvary. So, when I am tempted to become bitter, and sulk in my loneliness and bodily pain, I throw the cross into it.

Nothing Is “Fair” In Life

Dear reader, life is not fair! People are not fair! The U.S. government has poisoned marriage, by allowing divorce. They have poisoned marriage by making it so risky for men to get married nowadays, that fewer and fewer men each year are willing to ever get married. You cannot reasonably blame the MGTOW (men going their own way) movement in lieu of the feminist controlled court system today in America! Why would a young man get married, knowing that his wife can divorce him (for no reason at all), and the court take half of everything he has brought into the marriage, and force him into becoming a weekend father? This is all Satan!

Albeit, God is always fair and just. God makes no mistakes! No matter what happens in life, I refuse to put God on trial. I admit that I have sometimes become angry at God, voicing my frustrations; but the Lord knows that I always apologize later and thank Him for His patience and understanding. The Lord sees how hard I work on my website ministry, and I know that He appreciates my effort (1st Corinthians 15:58).

We Get On Each Other's Nerves

I just go to church and try to mind my own business, but it's impossible. We are sick with sin folks. I admit that people sometimes get on my nerves. People at church get on my nerves. I have to constantly be on guard against people wanting to gossip under the pretense of, “We need to pray for our friends.” And then it is gossip, gossip, gossip about some couple's marriage problems and consequent divorce and everything else. I just don't want to hear it.

I came to church a few months ago when it got cold outside. The church was having a special function with food and drinks. So I walked over to get some lemonade (I love lemonade). All I said to a woman standing next to me was, “It's getting nippy out there.” She replied, “Yep, we're always complaining, never happy about anything.” The Lord knows I wasn't complaining at all. I actually love the cold weather, the colder the better. She assumed that I was complaining, which hurt my feelings. This is just the way people are. My response for all these many years has just been to love the hell out of people. We're all sick with sin, so we have to learn to have a Christlike spirit to look beyond someone's faults to see their needs. That's not always easy to do, but something that we should ask God to help us with.

People are going to do what sinners do, sin. They are behaving the way that they are supposed to. I admit that I am not much of a people person. That is why after spending eight years at Hyles-Anderson College to get my degree in Pastoral Theology, I chose not to become a pastor. My internet ministry allows me to labor for Christ behind the scenes, which is important missionary work. For several million Americans, their sole source of religious guidance is the internet. God knows that the Devil has enough websites promoting lies and a false gospel. By God's grace, I do what I can for Christ in His strength to help others. I give God all the praise and credit for anything good accomplished through my ministry labors. Jesus is precious!!!

It is our differences as human beings that cause conflict. We look at things differently. To make matters worse and complicated, I suffer in constant chronic neck pain (since 2004). I got rear-ended by a church bus (of all things...lol) in 1992, and then fell down a large package slide at work in 2005. I suffer in perpetual misery. I can tell people a hundred times that my pain adversely affects me, but they don't allow me any consideration or slack if I offend them. When you are suffering in pain (which is right next to my head) 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, a person gets irritated easily. It is easy to lack patience. You get frustrated more easily. Sadly, less than 5% of people are understanding, and they can be cruel.

What usually happens once someone is offended is that they won't say anything, but they'll hold a permanent grudge. It ought not be that way but it sadly is—once people become offended and feelings are hurt, it's over. I have experienced that dilemma too many times not to know that it is horribly true. Those are carnal people! What saith the Scripture? Ephesians 4:31-32, “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.” Less than 5% of Christians today obey this commandment from God to love one another. They won't even allow me to attend Campus Church at Pensacola Christian College, because PCC's leaders are sinfully holding a grudge. That is what wicked heathens do, not God's children who walk in sweet fellowship with the Lord (1st John 1:6).

We are sick with sin. Get that into your thinking dear friend. Psalms 106:6, “We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.” David had a proper attitude toward himself as a sinner. The psalmist said, “We have sinned.” A shallow Christian says, “He has sinned” or “She has sinned,” but the mature believer says, “We have sinned!” Galatians 6:1-2, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” The Bible teaches that I am not supposed to look down my look Pharisaical nose upon you when you sin. No, I am supposed to push you up from the bottom. That is, I am supposed to view myself as being a bigger sinner than you! Philippians 2:3, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” If I look down on others when they sin or annoy me, I am not esteeming them as being better than myself. Boy, this is good stuff!

We live in a selfish world. It is so easy to only think about our self. I heard a great needful sermon today by Pastor Jack Hyles titled: "What You See Is What You Get." Everyone should hear this sermon. It will change your life.