Proverbs 5, verse 22. Proverbs 5, verse 22. I
say this every time that I preach from a proverb,
and I'll say it today. If you have never read
the Proverbs, you need to read through the Proverbs.
There is some great wisdom in there. And you
may very well discover when reading through the
Proverbs that there are... There's more foolishness
in your life than you would care to admit. The
Proverbs are great. There's only 31 of them,
so you could read through them in a month, one
a day, and you could get through it in a long
month. And so I'd encourage you to read the Proverbs
if you never have. Proverbs chapter 5, verse
22, just one short little verse today. We'll
read through this verse, then we'll pray, and
then we'll get started. A wicked man's iniquities
entrap him. He is entangled in the ropes of his
own sin. Let's pray. God, we come to you today
and we thank you for this church. We thank you
for this community. We thank you for the love
that you have for us and the love that you place
in this building today. I pray, God, that you
would bless each one of us from being in your
house. I pray that... In these next few minutes
that you would help us just to get rid of the
worries and the thoughts of the world, dear Lord.
There's so much that goes on in our lives and
a lot that went on last week and a lot that will
go on next week, dear Lord. But I pray that in
these few minutes that you just would protect
us from any attacks of the enemy, dear Lord.
That we would not be drawn away, that our mind
would not wander, but that your Holy Spirit would
speak to us, dear Lord. God, there is not a good
word that I can say if it does not come from
you. So I pray, dear Lord, that it is your spirit
that does the speaking today. That you meet us
where we are, dear Lord. That you help us to
examine our lives. That you help us to seek you
for our strength as we battle sin in this world.
And I ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
month we have a a little spot of land across
from our house some of you may have seen it when
you when you pass by and it was it was all grown
up it was completely just i mean it was like
a forest like any anywhere else you see just
completely grown up and we had somebody come
in and and uh began to clean it up and had a
lot of dead trees and got those trees pushed
down and and they got it looking fantastic and
then my dad has been he had worked countless
hours on the tractor continuing to smooth things
up and and mainly what i did after all the work
was done is uh i began to go out there to the
trees that remain and there are quite a few that
are still out there and you know what it's like
you can you can get pretty close with the tractor
to a tree but there's always a bunch of junk
it's right up next to it a bunch of bushes and
a bunch of briars and and vines and all the little
stuff and there is no easy way to do it than
to do it by hand and so i had to get out there
and y 'all can feel sorry for me if you want
to it was hot it was hot i'd get out there in
the mornings and it wouldn't be unbearable but
by lunchtime it would be just unbearable and
there were lots of days that i just i just toughed
it out i just got out there in the heat and i'd
work till five or six o 'clock and i would go
around a few trees and every day i'd get a few
more done and then the next time i'd get to work
on it i'd get a few more done and i would chop
the the bushes that was big enough to chop and
and we'd eat the stuff i could weed eat and and
up the trees often you would see these little
vines that had started to grow their way up and
some as small as a toothpick and and others would
get bigger and and i would pull the vines down
until i went around and i had almost every tree
cleaned up around i was so glad to get through
with that job i pretty much finished it praise
the lord i still got a couple left if y 'all
want to know the experience i'll i'll let you
come i'll show you what it's like and so i was
almost done but but there were a few trees throughout
the project that had really big vines that had
grown up from the ground and had made their way
high into the tree they were probably almost
as big as my thumb they were they were big around
and they were thorny and almost all the ones
that i'd come across i just gave a pretty good
tug and was able to pull it down with with no
issue and I was almost finished, and I got to
this vine, and I went to the tree and began to
work on it, and I started to pull on this vine,
and I got a couple of feet of it pulled down,
and this thing was, I'm talking about it was
attached. It was holding on to something really
tight in the top of that tree, and I pulled,
and I twisted, and I tugged on it forever, and
I fought with it, and I could not get that vine
to let loose from that tree. And so I said, it
was the end of the day. I said, I'm tired. I
don't feel like fooling with this. I'll pull
this down next time. I might have to tie it to
the truck or to the golf cart or something to
pull it. Well, I went out there the next day,
and I said, you know what, I think I can get
this thing. I've got to be able to get this thing.
And I figured out a way that I could get a good
grip on it in between the thorns and grab a hold
tight so maybe my hand wouldn't slide onto a
thorn. And I began to pull, and I began to tug,
and I gave everything I got. And finally it began
to let loose. And I continued to fight, and I
continued to pull, and I continued to tug. But
it was just so, it was grown into something.
I thought I was going to pull the top of the
tree out. I was pulling as hard as I could, and
I'm 30 foot away from the tree with this vine,
and the whole top of the tree, I mean, it looks
like something from a Looney Tunes cartoon. It's
all bent over, and this thing has just grabbed
a hold in there, and finally it begins to break
loose some more. And I pull, and I tug, and finally.
I get this thorny vine down out of the tree,
and it was kind of ugly. Just one simple little
vine at the bottom, but when it had gotten to
the top of the tree, it had grown into tons of
green vines that were wrapped all in that tree.
I measured it. It was so long. I said, how long
is this thing? I measured it. It was 63 foot
long that this vine had grown up into this tree.
And when I pulled that vine out, I thought to
myself, This is kind of like what sin is like
in our life. As this verse talks about our wickedness
and our sin that entraps us, that ensnares us.
It's like a rope or like cords, your translations
may use different words there, that are wrapped
around us. And so many times the sin in our life,
it springs up. And that vine that I had to give
all my effort to be able to pull out, at one
time that thing probably wasn't as big as a toothpick.
And it worked its way out of the ground and it
worked its way up that tree and it no doubt had
been working up that tree for years at this point.
And from the ground it didn't look like it was
going to be much. It just looked like a little
vine. But that little vine had sprouted into
something that had really took hold in that tree.
And that's what sin does in our life. There's
sin in our life that sometimes it begins to grow.
And we don't pay much attention to it because
it's small. We see it sprout up and we may not
even realize it. We may not even notice that
it's having an effect on us. But it's important
for us to begin to look at our lives and to look
at our hearts and to look at the Word of God
and see what God's Word calls sin and see if
there's anything. like that in our life that's
beginning to sprout up. Because if we don't deal
with our sin, what happens is it grows into the
very fabric of our heart and our being and who
we are, and it begins to take a hold of us more
than we ever realize. And we are entangled in
that. We are ensnared in that sin. Hebrews chapter
12 verse 1 says this, Therefore, since we also
have a large crowd of witnesses surrounding us,
let us lay aside every weight and the sin that
so easily ensnares. And there's sin in your life
and there's sin in my life and maybe the sin
that ensnares you and entraps you is different
from the sin that ensnares me and entraps me.
But there's some sin in our lives and we need
to recognize those things when they begin to
pop up. That sin that so easily ensnares us.
That thing that tempts you and you don't really
want to do it and you say time and time again
that you won't give in to the temptation and
you won't sin and then more times then you want
to admit you find yourself just ensnared with
that sin. And the book of Hebrews in that beautiful
verse is such a good verse for us that we need
to lay aside those weights, those burdens of
sin that weighs us down, that sin that ensnares
us because we may not realize it, but the sin
in our life, it has an effect on us. It has an
effect on us physically and mentally and spiritually.
Our sin is tangled up in us. And maybe the sin
in our life is the cause of some of our problems.
And we don't even realize it. Maybe the answer
to our problem is not more pills or not more
this or not more that. Maybe the answer to some
of our problems in our life is repentance. To
get that sin out, and we cannot get the sin out,
but we have to start the process by realizing
that there's sin there and seeking the one who
can remove the sin. So we want to lay aside the
weight and the sin that so easily ensnares, and
the end of that verse says, let us run with endurance
the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes
on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
And so in this journey that is life, it is tough.
And the temptations come. And sometimes we're
able to overcome them and sometimes we're not.
And that's when sin is born. But how do we overcome
our sin? We overcome our sin by looking to Jesus
Christ. He is the one who is going to free us
of that sin. He is the one who is going to clean
our wicked heart. Now in Proverbs chapter 5 it
talks about the wicked man. And we might not
like to think of ourselves as wicked men and
women, but we are. Because our sin is ever before
us. And our sin is entangled within us and it's
grabbing a hold of us. And it's got some of us
really hard this morning. We are not as good
maybe as we think we are. We're not as good as
we want to be. We are wicked. Jeremiah chapter
17 verse 9 says, The heart is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked. Desperately
wicked. So we have to check our heart and what
we desire because oftentimes what we feel like
our heart telling us is really just what we want
to hear. It's really what we desire. And we have
to check ourselves because our heart is deceitful.
It's deceitful above all things. And so sometimes
we'll say stuff like, oh, I just really feel
in my heart that this is what I'm supposed to
do. I really feel in my heart that this is the
way things are supposed to be. Well, maybe that's
right or maybe it's not. You better check that
heart because if that heart is not being guided
by God, if it's being guided by your own thoughts
and your own desires, then your heart is going
to lead you astray. Your heart is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked. and desperately
wicked. That's bad news for us. And that's what
sin does to us. Sin begins to sprout in our life,
and it begins to grow in our life, and sin, left
unchecked, will grow into our heart, and it will
be in there like that vine was in that tree.
And it is hard. Sin is hard. There are so many
things in our life, so many sins that we say,
man, I shouldn't do this thing that I do. I shouldn't
say this thing that I say. I shouldn't be acting
the way that I'm acting. I shouldn't be watching
the thing I'm watching, listening to the thing
I'm listening to. I shouldn't have an attitude
like this. I shouldn't be this way. And we know
these sins are there, and they're just hard to
deal with. And we start, and we're going to do
good, and we're going to avoid those temptations,
and we're going to avoid those sins, and we're
going to overcome them. And we start, and sometimes
we do pretty good, and then we give up because
it gets hard. It's kind of like when you make
your New Year's resolution. You're going to exercise
every day. You're going to eat right. And that
lasts for about a week because it's hard. Because
you've got to get up early and go to the gym,
or you've got to go late after you get off, and
you're tired, and you don't want to cook, and
you've cooked for a week, and you say, I don't
want to cook today. I'll just go get a double
Baconator. That's a lot easier. But I'll get
back on track tomorrow. But you don't. Because
the moment that we start to have to put a little
work into something, it's just too hard for us.
And sin is the same way. We really have to seek
the strength of God to fight against our sin.
It's like when I pulled that vine down, I gave
up because it was too hard. And the harder I
pulled, the harder it got. But over time, eventually,
it got a little easier. The more I pulled, the
easier it got. The more I pulled, the more it
began to loosen up. But I had to pull, and I
had to tug, and I had to fight, and I had to
give it everything that I had. And sometimes
that needs to be what our struggle with sin looks
like. There are some things in your life that
are hard for you today. Some things that you
have struggled with for months or maybe even
years. And you know they shouldn't be there and
you don't want them to be there and you've tried
to stop and you've fought and you've tugged and
you've given up. But you need to fight hard against
that sin today. You need to say, God, I'm not
going to live in this sin. I'm going to repent
of this sin. And God, the temptation is going
to come. It is going to come. You can rest assured.
You can have all the resolve in the world today
that you're going to overcome that sin. And that
temptation is going to come. But you're going
to have to fight. And you're going to have to
give everything that you've got. And when that
temptation comes, you have to seek the Lord.
Because He is the one who's going to free you
from that sin. He is the one who's going to forgive
you of that sin. Now, we can't forgive ourselves
of our sins, but we do play a part in it. We
have to acknowledge that sin. We have to repent
of that sin. We have to fight against those temptations
as hard as it may be. And it may be really hard
sometimes because there are things in our life
that are there, and they are just in there deep.
And they don't want to come out, and it is hard
for us to fight against some of those temptations
to sin. And the answer to that, the way that
we are freed from that is through Jesus Christ.
It's like when you find an old log. We talked
about this Wednesday night. This will be a repeat
for some of you. But it's like when you find
an old log, or you've got a piece of tin laying
around, and you pick it up, you see all these
critters under there, and they instantly flee.
when they see the light because they don't like
the light they don't they want to stay in the
darkness And that's how it is for our sin that
lives in the darkest parts of our heart, the
stuff that we don't even want to acknowledge
and want to admit, the stuff that when we read
Scripture that convicts us of it, that we just
cringe because we know it's there and we don't
like the light to expose our sin. But that's
the only way that we can be made free is through
the light of Jesus Christ coming into our life
and just cleansing us of the darkness that's
there. And that's our only hope in our battle
with sin is Jesus Christ. But we have to decide
today, are we ready to repent of our sin? Are
we ready to say, whatever it takes, God. I'll
give it my all, dear Lord. I will seek you, but
I'm tired of living this way. I'm tired of feeling
this way. I'm tired of giving in to this sin.
I'm tired of being a slave to this sin. Lord
Jesus, I just want freedom. And for some of us,
that's what we desire. We sin and we sin and
we regret it and we're ashamed of it and we don't
want to keep giving in to it. But we've become
a slave to that sin. But I want to tell you today,
you don't have to be a slave to your sin. That
Jesus Christ has given his life on a cross. He
was crucified and resurrected and he has victory
over sin. And it is the Lord who will give you
the strength. But you've got to be willing to
start that process. You've got to be willing
to say, Lord Jesus, I repent. Would you forgive
me? Would you give me the strength? Because Jesus,
I've tried time and time again, and I've fought,
and I've pulled, and I've tugged against this
sin, and I just can't overcome it. But the Scripture
says that Jesus Christ will help us to be overcomers.
And so maybe there is some sin in your life today.
And maybe this verse in Proverbs puts into perspective
really who we are. We are wicked people. And
our sins entrap us and they ensnare us and they
will destroy us. Don't mistake that. Your sin
will destroy you. For the wages of sin is death.
And apart from Jesus Christ, we are wicked and
doomed to die. But praise the Lord that Jesus
Christ sees us in our wickedness. He sees the
sin that so easily ensnares us. He sees the sin
that is wrapped so deeply around our heart, and
He says, I can forgive you of that. I can help
you to overcome that. I can give you freedom.
I can give you peace. We don't have to be slaves
to sin today. When we battle against sin, it
is not easy. I think everybody in here knows
that. It is not easy. Temptations come, and they
are not easy. But with the power and the strength
of Jesus, we can overcome our temptation and
be made free. Jesus says in John chapter 8 verse
34, I assure you, everyone who commits sin is
a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in the
household forever, but a son does remain forever.
Therefore, if the son sets you free, you really
will be free. Or some of your translations will
say, you are free indeed. I don't know what sin
you struggle with today, but I know you struggle
with sin because we all do. We are all human
today. But I can tell you the only solution,
the only answer, the only hope in our wickedness
and the only hope in our sin is Jesus Christ.
And He will give us freedom today. We do not
have to say yes to sin. We can say no. If not
by our own strength, by the strength of Jesus
Christ. There's freedom today in Jesus. There's
freedom today from our sin if we would just seek
Him and repent and let Him begin to do the work
in our heart. Let's pray. God, we come to You
today. We thank You for these good words. And
dear Lord, we don't like to think of ourselves
really as being wicked, but God, that's just
who we are in our sin, God. Apart from You, that's
who we are. wicked men and women, and we are
hopeless in our wickedness, dear Lord, apart
from you. But God, we thank you that we do not
have to live apart from you. That, dear Lord,
through Jesus Christ, you gave us a way to have
relationship with you. You gave us a way to be
made righteous in our wickedness, dear Lord.
And while the ways of sin in our life may be
wicked, dear Lord, the hope and the joy that
comes through forgiveness in Jesus Christ Beautiful
thing, dear Lord. So I pray that you would help
us, God. Maybe there's somebody in this room
today and they've never put their faith and trust
in Jesus Christ. Maybe today for the first time
they realize just how wicked their heart is.
Maybe they know that there are things there that
just shouldn't be there. Things that they don't
want to be there. God, things that they are tired
of being a slave to. I pray, God, that today...
That they would repent even now that they would
ask you to forgive them. That right now, dear
Lord, that they would ask Jesus to be their Lord
and Savior. That they would put their faith in
him, dear Lord. That they would know without
a shadow of a doubt that their sins have been
forgiven. That whatever that sin is, whatever
that temptation is, God, that you through Jesus
Christ can help them to overcome it. God, maybe
there are some here today and they are yours.
Maybe they know Jesus Christ, but... Maybe there's
some of us, God, and there's just been a little
bit of sin that sprouted up. And maybe we hadn't
dealt with it. And maybe it sprouted into something
we don't like. Maybe it's taken us down a road
to do things that we don't want to do. To act
in ways that we don't want to act. God, I pray
today that you would help us to cut that vine
loose through Jesus Christ. That today that you'd
begin to work on our heart, God. That today you'd
forgive us of our sins and you would begin the
process, God, of just pulling all that junk out,
God. That stuff that's just been entangled and
ensnared us, dear Lord. That stuff that's been
holding us back and keeping us down, dear Lord.
That you would begin to pull those things from
our heart today. That you give us strength, God,
as the temptation comes. As that sin tries to
rear its ugly head, God, that we would stand
boldly on the truth and the promises of Jesus
Christ to give us strength, to walk with us,
to forgive us, dear Lord. So I pray, God, that
if there are any today that have that sin that's
just wrapped up around them, God, that they would
find freedom today in Christ. They would know
today that they do not have to be a slave of
sin no more. God, I pray that as we sing in these
next few moments, that if there is anybody that
you've spoken to, that they would respond now.
And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.