January 7, 2025 – Sin is an Inside Job
Matthew 5:20-22
Sermon: 1674 It’s What’s Inside That Counts
Pray Over This
“For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.”
Matthew 5:20-22
Ponder This
Sin is an inside job. You can take a crooked log out of the forest, put it in the sawmill, lop off the sides to make it perfectly straight, but if you look at it from the end, the heart is still crooked. The Pharisees’ lives looked straight on the outside, but on the inside their hearts were still crooked. They had not confessed the sin issues in their hearts.
Years ago, I was working in a Billy Graham crusade as a counselor. After the service, a girl came forward, and as we were meeting, it became clear that her mother was mortified her daughter had come down there with the rest of “those sinners” to give her heart to Christ. She was embarrassed that her daughter needed to be saved. She kept saying “Sweetheart, you don’t need this. You’re a good girl.” And I will never forget what that teenage girl said as she looked in her mother’s face. She said, “You can’t see my heart.”
This girl knew she was a sinner. It’s what’s inside that is the problem. A man is not a sinner because he sins. He sins because he's a sinner. Our hearts are sick, and only God can deal with the sin inside.
- Where do you need God to deal with the sin inside you?
- When have you tried to fix your habits without seeking God to heal your heart? Why won’t this work?
Practice This
Confess before God any ways you have been wrestling with sin.
For more from Love Worth Finding and Pastor Adrian Rogers, please visit www.lwf.org.
You can also listen to Adrian Rogers at OnePlace.com.
