PASTOR JOHNSON'S 4TH SUNDAY MESSAGE 12.23.18

Posted by: Shirley Smith on Tue, Dec 25, 2018:

"THE TRAPS OF TEMPTATION AND SIN"

Pastor Johnson’s message came from Ezekiel 18:4, 24-28, 30-32, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, 1 John 5:6-11, and  1 Peter 5:6-11.. The subject was “The Traps of Temptation and Sin” with the following subtopics:

“We Belong To God”

Behold, all souls are Mine: the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die. But when the righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits sin and acts in accordance with all the repulsive things that the wicked man does, will he live? All of his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered because of the treachery that he has committed and for his sin which he has committed; for them he shall die. Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.” Hear now, O house of Israel! Is My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right? When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits sin and dies because of it, it is for his sin which he has committed that he dies. Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life. Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions which he had committed, he shall certainly live; he shall not die. Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each one in accordance with his conduct, says the Lord God. Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that sin may not become a stumbling block to you. Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why should you die O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, says the Lord God. Therefore, repent and live!

“Avoid Israel’s Mistakes”

For I do not want you to be unaware, believers, that our fathers were all under the cloud and they all passed through the Sea; An d all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea and all ate the spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not well-pleased with most of them, for they were scattered along the ground in the wilderness because their lack of self-control led to disobedience which led to death. Another lesson for us is what happened when some of sinned with other men’s wives and 23,000 fell dead in one day. And don’t try the Lord’s patience-they did and died from snake bites. And don’t murmur against God and his dealings with you as some of them did, for that is why God sent his Angel to destroy them. All these things happened to them as examples-as object lessons to us- to warn us against doing the same things; they were written down so that we could read about them and learn from them in these last days as the world nears its end. So be careful. If you are thinking, Oh, I would never behave like that- let this be a warning to you. For you too may fall into sin. But remember the wrong desires that come into your life aren’t anything new and different. Many others have faced exactly the same problems before you. And no temptation is irresistible. You can trust God to keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it, for he has promised this and will do what he says. He will show you how to escape temptation’s power so that you can bear up patiently against it.

“Admitting to Yourself”

If we admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

 “A Love that Saves”

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the appropriate time, casting all your cares on Him, for He cares about you. Be sober, be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, be firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being experienced by your brothers and sisters throughout the world. You do not suffer alone.

Read the scriptures and be blessed!


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