Isaiah 57:20-21 (KJV)  But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.  [21]  There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

Isaiah 59:1-5 (KJV)  Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:  [2]  But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.  [3]  For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.  [4]  None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.  [5]  They hatch cockatrice’ eggs, and weave the spider’s web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.

Back in 1998 the late Dr Adrian Rogers– then Pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church – preached a sermon called Snake Eggs, Spider Webs, and Traffic Jams. In that sermon Dr Rogers spoke of how sin was ruining America and the American Family. That was about 20 years ago. His sermon was very prophetic. Now I don’t intend to preach Dr Rogers sermon. I am not Dr Adrian Rogers. God made me to be David Buffaloe. A fellow I know – a member of Allensville Baptist Church – visited our Church last Wednesday. He told me as he left our service “If you keep trying you’ll one day be as good at preaching as our Pastor David Ward is”. I thought to myself “What a wonderful thing to have someone brag on their Pastor. I know David is blessed to have someone to help him in ministry.” But then I also thought “I don’t want to be like Brother David Ward, as good a man as he is. ”Dear friend, I want to be used of Jesus. I want you to forget me – for I am nothing – but focus on our Lord.

Our America is in a desperate situation. Children are killing children in our public schools. What is the solution that our leaders suggest? Let the child defy authority and walk out of class. Let them skip school while leadership justifies it so that we can enact more government legislation that fixes nothing. Oh Beloved, do you not know that the sign of lunacy is to keep doing the same thing and expect a different result?What does the Lord say?

Isaiah 57:20-21 (KJV)  But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.  [21]  There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

The wicked – those who promote and do that which is SIN – are like a troubled sea. The waters cannot rest until it turns from itself and toward Christ. The wicked must stop their wickedness – not in their own power – but turn to Him Who controls the waters. Hear His Voice Who says:

Mark 4:39 (KJV) ….Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

We must turn from sin and turn back to God. Oh how God cries out to the sinner, saying:

Isaiah 30:15 (KJV)  For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

God is able to save anyone who will come to Him. In 1962 the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Engel v. Vitale removed voluntary prayer from public schools. The prayer in question was:

Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and
we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country. Amen.

Based on this ruling (from Wikipedia)“In Wallace v. Jaffree (1985), the Supreme Court ruled Alabama’s law permitting one minute for prayer or meditation was unconstitutional. In Lee v. Weisman (1992), the court prohibited clergy-led prayer at middle school graduation ceremonies. Lee v. Weisman, in turn, was a basis for Santa Fe ISD v. Doe (2000), in which the Court extended the ban to school-organized student-led prayer at high school football games.”

Young people were no longer allowed to have even student led prayers. This evil began in 1962 and expanded to where the youth of America no longer recognize God in any form whatsoever. I have heard people justify this as the Constitution “Separation of Church and State” but if you read our Constitution you will see there is no such provision there. The Constitution reads:

“CONGRESS shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The subject of the sentence is CONGRESS. CONGRESS cannot mandate a state religion, nor prohibit anyone from their freedom of religion. There was no mention of taking prayer out of schools. Young people today are playing video games where blood letting is considered fun, but in no way are being taught that there is a God Who loves everyone and Who watches our every move. Prayer is to speak to God. Students are told NOT to speak to God, but to the flesh. Is it any wonder that children are killing children.

In 1963 in the case of Abington Tp. V Schempp the Supreme Court ruled “no state law or school board may require that passages from the Bible be read or that the Lord’s Prayer be recited in the public schools of a State at the beginning of each school day — even if individual students may be excused from attending or participating in such exercises upon written request of their parents. Pp. 374 U. S. 205-227.”

Students were not to talk to God. Now God’s Word was not to speak to the students. In 1980 the Ten Commandments were removed from the walls of schools. Our children are now taught that they are ANIMALS descended from a primoral ooze, evolved from goo to you.

Is it any wonder that our children kill one another? In 1982 schools were told not to teach creationism, but only evolution. And with God removed from the child’s mind, homosexuality, promiscuity, and socialism have captured the child’s mind. Legislation that does not address the heart issues will not effect the safety of children, nor will it soften the corrosion of our society.

We must return from sin and turn toward God.

What Is This Thing Called “Sin”?

Isaiah 59:1 (KJV)  Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

God is able to save anyone who will come to Him. The Bible says:

“The Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save”

God is not getting feeble in His old age.
The Ancient of Days does not get old, nor change.
Our God is able to save for He is ALL MIGHTY.

Jesus’s disciples asked “Who then can be saved?”He replied:

“With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
(Matthew 19:26)

God is able to save. He is able to reach anyone.

“Neither is His ear heavy that He cannot hear”
God is not getting hard of hearing.
Some of you are getting that way because of age.
That’s understandable. I have the problem sometimes, too.

An older couple are out walking together, enjoying the day. The husband says “I think I LOVE you”. The wife replies, “Well, I LOATHE you, too!”. Unperturbed he says “It’s WINDY isn’t it!” The wife says “No you idiot, it’s THURSDAY”. Her husband smiles and says “I’m THIRSTY too – let’s go home!”

God isn’t hard of hearing. He isn’t senile. He is able to hear. But we read:

Isaiah 59:2 (KJV)  But your INIQUITIES have separated between you and your God, and your SINS have hid his face from you, that HE WILL NOT HEAR. 

SIN hides God’s face from us. Why? Because when we SIN, we wander away from Him and hide ourselves from Him. In America today and in the American Family we no longer recognize what SIN is.

We take the “S” off of SIN and make it IN.

But SIN is not IN. It is OUT. It separates us from God. The Bible has several lists of what IS SIN.

Galatians 5:19-21 (NKJV) Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (NKJV) Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

1 Timothy 1:9-10 New King James Version (NKJV) … knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 10 for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine,

Sin is a “work of the flesh”. Sin sees the good that God offers and rejects it. Sin is Adam in Eden choosing the forbidden fruit instead of that which God blessed. Sin leaves us hiding from God, covered with fig leaves, ashamed and broken. Sin rejects God’s best for what we think is best.

Isaiah 59:3 (KJV) For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. 

Sin defiles us. Sin that enters into our EYES and our EARS goes into our MINDS and comes out in our HANDS. I was reading a International Mission Board fax the other day that reported on a town overseas where there was a bad sewage blockage. People were dispatched to clean the sewer out when they discovered the source of the blockage – the sewer was filled with tiny, aborted babies. How horrible that is! A child is precious to God. How does such a thing come about? They researched and found out that many of these babies belonged to mothers who were but 15 years old. Children having children. They succumb to sin – sexual immortality outside of Biblical marriage – then there is blood on their hands as they abort the child. Sin entraps, and drags all into its pit.

Sin makes us participants in its antics. Our fingers stained with iniquity, and our lips lie and our tongues speak perverse things. There is no such thing as a little sin. It is like a little poison ivy. Some people are not susceptable to poison ivy, but I am very allergic. I can let a leaf just brush my leg and that starts it. The itch grows, and if I scratch to satisfy it it speads until it consumes me. What is the solution if I get in poison ivy? Don’t scratch it. Bathe the area with soap and water, and put something on it to let it dry out. But for heaven’s sake, don’t scratch it.

Galatians 5:9 (NKJV) A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

Oh Beloved, a little leaven leavens the whole lump. A little poison ivy spreads if you let. A little sin creeps in, and consumes the life.

I am reminded of a time when

John 8:3-6 (NKJV) … the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, IN THE VERY ACT. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

This woman – according to them – was caught “IN THE VERY ACT”. If she was “IN THE VERY ACT”of sexual immorality, then they should have also cast down the MAN before Jesus. But here is sin’s deception. Sin may quote Scripture – for the devil quotes Scripture – but Sin judges one and lets another go. We will the WOMAN to Jesus but let the MAN keep his dignity. After all, he is but a man with male urges. Let him go, but let’s STONE her. The sin of self righteousnessjudges not according to God’s Law, but cherry picks what is right and wrong. So Jesus – shall we stone her or not?

(testing God, but not trusting God, those horrible horrible hypocrites!)

What did Jesus say? They did not bring her to Jesus to be saved, but brought to Jesus to be condemned, or He Himself to be condemned. But Jesus did something extraordinary. He said:

John 8:7 (NKJV) “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

The hypocrites slunk away, from the oldest to the youngest. After they were gone Jesus asked her:

John 8:10-11 (NKJV) “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.”And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

This woman was cast at Jesus’ feet by her sin. Jesus came to save sinners – not just from hell, but from the hell of sin. For sin brings with it its own hell.

The alcoholic would not be an alcoholic if he never drank.
The baby would not be aborted if the mother never committed fornication.
The murderer would not be imprisoned had he not pulled the trigger.

Jesus Christ died on Calvary because of sin. He told that woman “neither do I comdemn you. GO AND SIN NO MORE.”I forgive You. By my blood I have saved you. Jesus is the Mediator between God and Man. He gave Himself for us.

Sin Is A Cockatrice Egg And A Spider’s Web

Isaiah 59:4-5 (KJV) None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.  [5]  They hatch cockatrice’ eggs, and weave the spider’s web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.

God wants His people to speak up about sin, and to share the Gospel that is in Christ. God likens sin to a “cockatrice egg”. You might ask “what is a cockatrice”?That’s an Old English word for a viper, a rattlesnake, or any poisonous snake. God gives us a picture of sin as if it is a snake’s egg. God says:

he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which
is crushed breaketh out into a viper

Sin looks good. It looks like it will taste good. You take it into your life. You take a bite of it, and swallow. You swallow what it says, believing what the devil and his populace says. Then swallowing you feel a burning in your stomach. The snake egg you swallowed was harmless till you took it into your life. But piercing the shell with your teeth it is now in your belly. It breaketh out into a viper. You took that sin in, and now it has destroyed you.

I have seen a Church destroyed because its members would not love one another, but carried grudges and hatred in their bellies. In time the Church died from the poison of that snake.

I have seen several good preachers – men to whom God led many to salvation – consumed by a mouthful of sin. One preacher – many times my elder, a Doctor of Theology – ruined his ministry because he swallowed the serpent egg of sexual immorality. I know another preacher that I thought God would use in mighty ways – a dear friend – now consumed of the flesh by drugs. His marriage is in tatters, his wife embittered, and he is shipwrecked.

Isaiah 59:5 (KJV) … weave the spider’s web:

Sin is a spider’s web. It is tricky, nearly invisible. It hides itself until you run into it. But once you hit it it wraps its arms around you, sticky, clinging. It holds you in its weave until the devil like a spider comes to suck your innards outward. Oh do not be deceived. Turn from sin. Do not take it lightly.

Spider webs are pretty.
They are beautful and inviting.
But they are snares, traps.
Death hides at the edge of a spider web.

The devil has entrapped many in the spider web of sin. He has used TELEVISION to ensnare our minds. Years ago what happened in the bedroom was supposed to only happen between husband and wife. The devil through television began to normalize sexual sin. If a man and woman fell in love they came together in the bedroom. I was watching a show one day – a crime show called Law and Order– when a man was killed. When the police went to that man’s home to notify his wife a man opened the door. He said “Yes, I am his wife”and began to cry, sobbing for the one he lost. My heart was pulled by that, touched by that. The spider web of sin says “It doesn’t matter what God has said – as long as they love one another”. It is a trick. Do not touch it. It is sticky, and it will grab you if you let it.

Many of you watch hours of television where your minds are fed spider webs. Yet you spend little time in God’s Word. You spend little time seeking Him Who loves you. Oh that you and I would read His Word, believe His Gospel, and seek His face daily!

Christ Is Able

For you who still – with hardened heart – still think that sin is but a pittance, I beg you to see how God sees sin.

Look at Christ on the Cross

While we continue to go our way we will not be blessed. Our way has not worked. From 1962 to today we have tried our way. What have we accomplished?

Isaiah 59:9-10 (KJV)  Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.  [10]  Wegrope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.

We can grope in darkness, or we can see Jesus. What does God think of sin? See Jesus. See Him beaten. See His flesh in tatters, like a leper’s robe. See the blood of the Lamb. See the crown of thorns on His head. See Him. See Him carrying His Cross on bleeding back. See Him fall down in the way, and another help him. See Him as He arrives at Calvary. See Him. See Him laid upon the Cross, beaten once more. See that executioner step on His wrist as another drives the nail. See Him. See His right hand, then the left hammered to the Cross. Now His feet, the most tender place on the human body, folded over, nailed through. See Him lifted up. Do you see Him? Do you see Him? Do you see Him handing there? What put Him there.

It was sin.
It was our sins.
Sin nailed Christ to the Cross.
So we do not revel in sin.
We hate it.
We confess it to God.
We turn from it.

Jesus was delivered to the Cross because of our offenses (Romans 4:25).

Jesus Christ suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust,
that He might bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18)

Repent of your sins. Come to Christ. Agree with God what is sin, and turn from it in His power. God will bring you into His Kingdom if you will but trust in Him. Reject the spider web and the snake egg, and cling to Christ Who loves you so very much.

May God touch your hearts with His Word.