SINS OF THE HEART PART I - FRANCES SWAGGART

SINS OF THE HEART

OVERVIEW

Some people might be thinking; you talk about the grace of God yesterday and you are now talking about sin? It is an inevitable truth that today Christians do not want to hear about sin. Most Christians made it a point to believe that so long as there is grace in abundance, there is no need to talk about sin and its consequences, some also think that since they are Christians, they cannot under any circumstances end up in hell fire. Well to some extend, all this claims may be true but this morning, before we proceed to today's message, I will like to make some points clear: There is no sin that cannot be forgiven save the sin against the Holy Spirit - This is one function of the grace of God, but remember the grace of God is for the living, thus woe to you if you die in your sin. Secondly, the other function of grace is to strengthen us to overcome difficulties and Sin (talking of the Sin nature not the committed sin), if we therefore allow Sin to still reign over us, then God's grace is in vain or waste.  II Cor. 12 : 8 - 9 "For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." - The power of Christ here is that grace of God that always come when Sin and other challenges try to wrestle with us, so apostle Paul will rather glory when Sin arrives not for his carnal pleasure, but for the victory he will gain through the power of Christ. If we think there is nothing to do about Sin, we lie because God has provided a special grace to help us overcome. Today we are looking at some sins we do not pay attention to; these sins do not face the wrath of the power of God in us because we ignore them.       
It seems people clearly understand sins of the flesh such as fornication, yet are totally unaware that there are other sins which God finds just as wicked, sins that God deems just as worthy of Hell! The Lord misses nothing; He knows our motives and thoughts much better than we know our own! There are things we do and think that are wrong, but because no one on this earth catches us, we think we’re getting away with it. This is not so! God’s Word tells us that He searches the heart of man! He does not simply skim over the outer layer and call it a day! The Lord is all-knowing, my friend! “Shall not God search this out? for He knoweth the secrets of the heart.” (Ps 44:21) As you read, you will notice that many of these sins (the don’ts) constitute the exact opposite of the love of Christ and the fruit of the Spirit (the do’s) in the Word of God.

SEVEN SINS

The hidden sins

Proverbs 6:16-19 gives us a good example of some of these sins. It specifies seven of such sins which God hates: “These six things does the Lord hate: yes, seven are an abomination unto Him (the phrase, “six things, yes, seven,” is a figure of speech arresting attention and signifying that the list is not exhaustive): A proud look (pride leads the list), a lying tongue (such always follows ‘a proud look’), and hands that shed innocent blood (this pertains to murderers; however, it also pertains to those who murder someone’s character), An heart that devises wicked imaginations (the ‘heart’ of the ‘proud’ devises ‘wicked imaginations’ because the heart has not been changed), feet that be swift in running to mischief (as pride is deceptive, this sin is, therefore, cloaked; it actually believes it is doing right), A false witness that speaks lies (the difference in the ‘lying tongue’ of Verse 17 and the ‘false witness’ of Verse 19 is that the lying tongue will only tell the truth if it suits his advantage; otherwise, he will lie; the false witness premeditates lies; he concocts schemes that are made up of lies, in order to carry out a perfidious evil design), and he who sows discord among brethren (individuals who ‘sow discord’ do so for the purpose of carrying out schemes).”

LOVE!

Unfortunately, many of these sins are the type of which most church folks are guilty. If we cannot expect an unrepentant murderer to inherit the kingdom, we cannot expect an unrepentant slanderer to inherit the kingdom either. In fact, due to these sins of the heart, some have greatly hurt others in the body of Christ in order to pursue their own purposes or secure their own positions. This behavior can cause a victim of such cruelty to leave church and/or to lose heart in the things of God altogether. You never know what other circumstances might be weighing a person down in life,
and you, as a child of God, don’t want to be responsible for being that last straw that broke the camel’s back. We should always be led by the Spirit in how we treat people. Love is kind (I Cor. 13:4). Jesus said, “whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in Me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea” (Mk 9:42). And, on the other side of the coin, if you find yourself the one offended, you must realize that bitterness and unforgiveness are also sins which must be taken to the Cross. Both bitterness and being the cause of bitterness (being a stumbling block) are wrong.

ROMANS 1:29

We will be addressing the sins of Romans 1:29, giving you the Greek word for each sin listed plus the explanation in the second part of this article.

God is transforming us for His own glory

Strive to overcome sin by the power of Christ in you. Take all your burdens to the cross - Not only your needs but also the problems you have with Sin. God is transforming us from one stage of glory to the other until we are completely transformed into the image of Christ. Was He done with us, He would have come by now to take us away. So long us Christ tarries and we still have breadth, let us continue to trust the power of Christ which is more than capable to transform us completely for His own glory.

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                           ECOM! We are Family; We are One