Sermon Central
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The Consuming Power Of Sin Series
Contributed by Bobby Oliver on Jul 9, 2018 (message contributor)
Summary: Sin starts with pride, sin wants control, sin is destructive, and sin is deceptive.
The Consuming Power of Sin
- We’re continuing our study through the book of Exodus.
- As we study each passage, we’re asking the question, “What can I learn about honoring God from this text?”
- Last week, we looked at the seventh plague, the plague of hail, and how it illustrated half-hearted repentance.
- This is when a person looks like they are on the right path to repentance, but their heart is not genuine.
- Before you know it, they have second thoughts, and it becomes evident that their repentance was half-hearted.
- Today, we’re going to look at the eighth plague, the plague of locusts, and we’re going to see some ways in which it illustrates the consuming power of sin.
- When I was in High School, I went over to a friend’s house, and her mother had just made a few cheesecakes.
- They were in the refrigerator, and I asked if I could have some because I love cheesecake, and my friend said yes.
- So, I ate a huge piece.
- Well at one point, she went with her mother on an errand, and I was left at the house with her brother.
- He was upstairs playing a video game in his room or something, and I was downstairs.
- Well, as a teenager, I had a big appetite, and I remember going back to the fridge to take another piece of cheesecake, but only a small one this time, so no one would notice.
- I ate the tiny piece, then went back to the living room to watch tv, but my mind was still thinking about that cheesecake.
- So, I got up, went to the kitchen, and ate another piece of cheesecake.
- I should have stopped, because it was becoming noticeable that more of it was missing, but it tasted so good, and my mind kept thinking about it, so I kept going back for more.
- Before I knew it, most of the cheesecake was gone.
- The next day, my friend told me her mom was mad at me because when she went in the fridge to get a piece of cheesecake, most of it was gone!
- I felt really bad about it, but I let my hunger get the best of me because my mind was consumed by thoughts of delicious cheesecake.
- Sin is sort of like that…
- It seems innocent enough at first, but before you know it, the consuming power of sin has taken over your life.
- So, let’s look at four things that will help us understand a little part of the consuming power of sin.
I. Sin starts with pride- Vs 1-6
- God has sent seven plagues on Egypt, and all seven times, Pharaoh has been stubborn, and his heart has been hardened.
- Remember, he wanted to be the one with the last word, so every time he said “Okay, I’ll let your people go, Moses”, but then he’d change his mind and say, “Never mind. They belong to me.”
- Pharaoh was full of pride and he was refusing to submit to God Almighty.
- Yet once again, we find God giving him another warning…
- God sends Moses to Pharaoh to tell him He’s sending another plague, a plague of locusts.
- On top of that, He gives him a whole day to repent, by not sending the plague until the next day.
- He even tells him just how bad it’s going to be…
- Vs 5 “They will cover the face of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the earth, and they will eat the residue of what is left, every tree which grows up… vs 6 “…they’ll fill your houses…unlike anything you’ve ever seen!”
- Common sense says, “With every single other plague, God has done what He said He was going to do…this time is no different!”
- Yet Pharaoh would still refuse to submit to God.
- In vs 2, we’re told that God was allowing Pharaoh and the Egyptians to continue their resistance so that He could show His people, the Jews, His hand at work on their behalf.
- He also wanted the Jews to remember all the mighty things He did in Egypt for them, and to pass that on to their children and their grandchildren.
- That way, they would remember who God is and all He had done for them and would continue to do for them if they remained faithful.
- In vs 3, God explains another reason why Pharaoh refuses to do what He says…
- “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me?”
- So, Pharaoh wasn’t being forced against his will to harden his heart and be so stubborn…
