The Gulf of Sin

The word golf is only used one time in scripture. It's talking about the gulf of hell. But today the subject is the gulf of sin. The parable Jesus gave about the rich man and Lazarus is where this word is used. The Bible says that the beggar died, was carried into Abraham's bosom. The rich man died and was buried. In hell, that rich man lifted up his eyes being in torments, and he saw Abram a far off and Lazarus there with Abraham. And he cried for mercy from that place of hell.

And then in verse 26, Jesus had to tell in the parable the reality of being separated from God forever. Here's how he worded it in verse 26 of Luke 16. And beside all of this, between us and you, there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which would pass from there to here cannot. Neither can they pass to us that would come from there. When Jesus used that word in that culture, it meant similar to what it would mean today, a large gaping, yawning opening, a huge chasm, an impassible place, a a yawning space. And he used the word said, "It's fixed.

There's no coming back from that place. It's not movable. The gulf's not passable. It will forever divide heaven and hell according to Jesus. In other words, they who sink there sink forever. scripture uses in the book of Revelation. And I was thinking it was only one time that it was used. But when I made the search, the words bottomless pit are repeated seven times in the book of Revelation. And Revelation talks about falling into that bottomless pit. and think of an accidental or horrible or high fall.

Maybe you've experienced one, maybe not, and if not, I hope not, from any place. And there is that fear of falling that comes upon us. There's been times that we've stepped off of a curb unexpectedly and we weren't expecting the drop off and our heart kind of does a double beat. Or have you ever been dreaming and dreamed that you were falling and you might have kicked somebody, jumped yourself or awakened yourself. There's that fear of falling with nothing underneath us. Just nothingness. Nothing to put your feet upon. no base.

And in hell, according to scripture, there will always be darkness. And so falling is one thing, but falling in darkness, you know, they have those rides at theme parks and sometimes they save the biggest drop for the darkest spot. He talks about that falling. And in fact, the scripture talks about when it talks about being cast into hell, it it has the idea of being thrown quickly or suddenly. Scripture just gives us a few descriptions of hell. Several really to be honest, but there's enough to warn me and warn you. We don't want to go there.

A golf can be deceptive. We visited the cliffs of Moore in Ireland some years ago, a great drop off, high scenic. They had a rail there and there was a temptation to get the better picture to step over the edge of the rail because there was ground in between the rail and the cliff. But I don't think there were any of us brave enough and maybe I should add all of us were wise enough. But there's something about the magnetism because of the beauty, maybe the scenery, because of how yawning and deep and its expanse that calls us to the edge.

Our natural self has that built-in curiosity. The golf can look so appealing and inviting, but it can also be so deadly. If we get engrossed in the beauty, it's easy to ignore the danger. The sip of sin tastes so good. The wicked appeal of a vulgar sexual reel. Or maybe it's just a mindless scroll. Or the innocent seemingly second look at the other sex. or the illicit lyric or the off-color conversation or the vengeful thoughts or juicy gossip seems to taste so good, but it's killing you.

And the difficulty is that a dying person can rarely tell the difference. It was a fatal deception to Adam and Eve. Think about this. The precise second before they partook of that tree, they resembled God more than they ever would again. Made in his image like that one moment, called to his purpose in that moment. But everything changed instantly as the taste of that fruit filled their mouth. Webster's dictionary defined sin as any voluntary transgression of a religious law or a moral principle. It had other synonyms there.

An offense, a transgression, a moral depravity. The most important though and the most correct is the Bible's definition of sin. It literally is in Romans 3 and 23, missing the mark. What do you mean, Paul and Holy Ghost? Well, missing God's mark. Sin is missing the mark of righteousness. Missing the mark of his word and his will. When I read that phrase again, and I've heard it hundreds of times in churches and in Bible lessons, but this came to me missing the mark. It doesn't give a measure of whether it was an eighth of an inch or a mile.

One can be so close and yet still miss the mark. Webster defines it. God defines it. The world has a view of sin also. And today I sense the warning of getting too close to the edge of the cliff because society calls it an alternative lifestyle. Society calls it a ro a woman's right for abortion. Scholars would label it as ignorance. Some might call it a sickness. Others could say weakness, mistake, or selfishness. And to some degree, all of those may fit. Man calls it an accident, but God calls it an abomination.

Man calls it a defect, and God calls it disobedience. Man calls it an infirmity, but God calls it iniquity. Men call it weakness, but God calls it wickedness. We have the option. We can see sin as God sees it. I want to see him. But I also want to see sin the way he sees it. We can see it as God sees it or we can deny it, rename it, or falsify the data. But God spares no truth when he names sin.

1 Corinthians chapter 6, he says, "These shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Those with fornication, which is illicit sexual activity, idoltors, those that put things before God. He talks about marital unfaithfulness and homosexual behavior and conduct and abusing oneself, cutting and drugs and drinking and smoking and all of those things would fit under that umbrella. This is what God says and his definition of being barred from inheriting the kingdom of God.

stealing and coveting and drinking and revilers, he said, and extortion, unjust, dishonest financial practices. In the Old Testament, it's a very powerful statement. These six things does the Lord hate. They are an abomination unto him. God, thank you for not decorating sin. Thank you preachers of the gospel. Thank you church for not trying to rename or reclassify sin. God says I hate it. God says it's abomination. One translation says it's an abomination to his soul, to the depth of God. That's how deep he takes sin.

He goes on to list pride and lying and murder and hearts that devise wicked imaginations, evil thoughts, motives and intentions. Feet that are swift and running to mischief creating trouble and misery and difficulty for others. These are things that God hates. A false witness. One speaking lies. Sowing discord among brethren. gossip, ill motive speech, uh lies and misreput misrepresentations to make men's mind evil affected toward someone else. Those are just a few of God's descriptions of sin.

Romans 1:32 after he lists some sins, he says, "Someone may not be committing some of those sins, but he adds a phrase that we must be careful about, but have pleasure in them that do them." The little subline here in my notes I will share with you. Be careful what you watch. Be careful what you read. Be careful what you associate with. You and I may not be committing those sins, but it's not hard to find them in the movies. It's not hard to find them in the sitcoms. It's not hard to find them in reading materials.

It's not hard to find them on the reals. And then the definition that God gave to James to one therefore to him that knows to do good. I just pause here for a moment. Know to do good and they are not doing it. The Lord said through James to him that is sin. Here's what we are up against in our culture as a believer, someone trying to live holy, someone trying to obey the word of God. It's called the normalization of sin. The devil's very clever. The flesh is too. And I'm not going to blame everything on the devil today.

Our flesh, our carnality is very shrewd as well. One of the disguises of sin is used to normalize sin. It normalizes sin and it calls righteousness extreme. It says that oh that should be okay. The sinful behavior that one generation tolerates the next generation normalizes. And that's why we're seeing the normalization of sin in our culture. That's why I want to pause and say, "Thank God for holy people. Thank God for a holy book. Thank God for a pastor that preaches and teaches the holiness of God.

Sin, in all honesty, is just being made to look normal. It's being made to look helpful. kill the little baby because it may help the mother. It It's made to look helpful and sensible. And then that same view makes alignment with the word of God and holiness and the supernatural. And by the way, I do feel the supernatural in this room today. You can be healed. And I know this is not a healing message, but we're not going to limit the power of God. You can be healed while the word of God is going on. I want us to push back today, church.

I want us to push back on this push of culture that says holiness and the word of God and preaching like I'm doing and others are doing is extreme. No, we still believe in the supernatural power of God. We still believe and we hold dear holiness unto the Lord. We're living some of those and some of these were written way back in the Old Testament, but we're seeing it. Scriptures like Isaiah 5 and 20, woe unto them that call evil good. I'll just pick on myself for a minute. I've got to be careful. I do enjoy the news.

I do listen and watch, but got to be careful because Steve's spirit starts taking over. And I get angry and I get mad. And I can call it righteous dignation all I want to, but it ain't. It's flesh. There may be a tinge of give me a little break. Give me a little chance here. They put darkness for light and light for darkness. And they put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter, he said. In other words, they make bitter what should taste sweet. They don't want us to hear preaching like this.

World doesn't want you to live holy and bow your knee like you're going to sometime later today or tomorrow first thing. Doesn't want you to read that word that you're going to read today or read tomorrow. I don't want but we're pushing back here. Jeremiah said in 6 and 15, this is the part that flesh kicks in on me. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No. They were not at all ashamed. Not at all ashamed. Neither could they blush. That's why it's out there so fragrantly or fluently. It's out there just in our face. Here it is.

It's not getting ready to happen. It's not that it might happen. It's happening. That golf, that edge. There are times when persons determine to get as close to the edge as possible. When a person decides to sin or even just plunge headlong into the gulf, somebody said this, "No one just falls into sin. They first have been thinking about it. Satan got too close to the edge. He moved from humility to pride, from worship of God to idolatry of self. And he moved to the edge until he was finally cast over and cast down.

I'm going to tell you that fall is a drastic fall. In fact, Jesus talked about when Satan falls, he said, "I saw it as lightning fall from heaven." He's telling us that it is quick and it is sudden. I am preaching a warning today. Be careful of how close you get to the edge. Well, it's not sin. I'm not sinning. I haven't sinned yet. If that word is used, it's the operative word because yet says, you know, it could happen. Here's what I want to preach to this church in particular and to any believer for that matter. Brother Peter, would you help me?

Pastor, would you help me? Pastor, would you stand just there? Peter, would you stand just here? Right. our youth pastor and he can represent also the entire ministry of the church. If I'm getting to that edge and I want to walk this pathway, I'm going to have to move a man of God out of my way. Thank you for what you're preaching and teaching and others are preaching and teaching on Wednesday nights. Youth pastor, there's an anointing on you. You have wonderful knowledge of the word of God, but there's more than that, kids.

And I know you love this man, but to get to the edge, you're going to have to move him out of the way. Then to get to the edge, I've got to move my pastor out of the way. He's just a man. He is a man, but he's anointed to stand in the gap. I want to get to that edge. I move the man of God out of the way. Then there's still the word of God. But I'll just move that out of the way. That's oldfashioned. They've been preaching that for years. That's old school. Stay on solid territory as close as I can to the edge. Stay alert. Little by little.

Achan can be our example. He said, "I saw it. I coveted. I wanted it. I saw others doing it. I saw others partaking. It pleased me. It made me happy to have that extra garment and that extra God does want us to be blessed. But our salvation is more important than our happiness. I coveted it and then I took it. I'm preaching to somebody that has seen it. You're thinking about it in your heart. And it's within grasp for you to take it. And then when you take it, you're going to have to hide it and be miserable and look over the shoulder.

Is anybody going to find out? But really, God already knows. Proverbs 14. Thank you, Pastor and Peter. Proverbs 14 says there's a way. I'm back here on solid ground and solid territory. There's a way that seems right. And I hear the responses. I I don't care what they say. I don't care what they preach. It just doesn't seem like that ought to be. That seems too strict. That seems too old-fashioned. A way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Here's what you will hear standing at the edge.

Oh, there's nothing wrong with that. It's too strict. You override your conscience, a holiness value, a dedication point that you have held for years. Just a little bit here and a little bit there, but it's a slippery slope. We may have seen others get dangerously close to the edge. Maybe it didn't seem like they failed or fell. But if you stay on the edges long enough, you're more vulnerable to a misstep. Because sin will take you further than you want to go. It'll keep you longer than you want to stay. And it cost you more than you want to pay.

the small steps. And I'll admit to you at 72, my balance isn't what it used to be. Zach, come help me. Pastor, come help me. We shouldn't dare leaders or dare God. But my point here is we're all needing somebody to make sure. I need my leader and I need my brother. Every once in a while, one of the men in this church when I was pastoring would come up and say to me in morning prayer, "How are you and Jesus doing?" There's nobody too big for that question. Would you let somebody ask you that question? How are you and G? It's none of your business.

That's between me and God. Oh, but if they see some danger steps, it's easier for me to get close to the edge if I lay down the message. I feel like I may be preaching to somebody not only here but at home. camera. Can you get this edge right here? I'm hanging on by my heels. I wouldn't do this. Sometimes we think we got it. I don't like to say this, but I'm preaching to somebody right now. You think you got this. You're saying, "I I don't need that word. I don't need that leader. I don't need that. I don't need that." You're on the gulf of sin.

Look, temptation is not wrong little bit. He said you're drawn away of your own lust enticed, but yielding to the temptation because we're all tempted. There's none of us grow beyond temptation. Now, we can put up guards and we can pray and we can have the word of God, but every one of us in this room would if we would be open and honest and admit there has been some kind of temptation to something that would not have been pleasing to God. But we don't have to yield to it. Hallelujah. And I'm going to tell you what's the wonderful truth. Stay close.

Stay close to God, pastor, and stay close to me. I never want to stiff arm you. You're younger than me, but you're my leader. And I'm going to need your voice. I do need it now. And I'm going to need your voice. And I'm going to need you to help me make sure that in my pride and in my thinking, I know my own way. And I need the people of God. Zach's representing all of you. That's why I picked a big one. And that's that's big in a good way. If I ever get big, I want to be big like you, folks. We need one another. We need one another. Yes.

I just wonder how many of you somebody just came to your mind. Let's just go back as far as just the last six or seven days this week and you didn't have any idea why they came to your mind, but you prayed for them. Thank you for praying for them. Would anybody lift their hand? Oh, I I know you will. So, that's the wrong question. Lift your hand if you're thankful for God speaking to somebody and somebody praying for you. Hallelujah. I don't want to get on the fringes of doctrine. There's still only one God and it takes the new birth. Right.

That's right. That's right. I just want to throw this in. I get I get blessed sitting right over here on this chair because I'm right across from these young people that are right here. And I'll look over and I saw some of these journals and notepads. Are y'all taking notes on my sermon today? Just kidding. Just kidding. And I get blessed when I look over there and see that hunger for the word of God. Not bored in the house of stay with it. Stay on this one God message. Preachers preach the blood. Hallelujah. Praise God.

And I don't want to get on the edge where I fall off like Satan did and I don't have the worship I once had. I used to say, I might as well say it again. Some of the most cursed words in Pentecost are, I used to. I used to. But give God your full worship. Don't get in the edge of the precipice that says all of that is unnecessary. Oh, God is a necessity to ush and worshiping him. And I thank God for a worshiping church and people that worship God. Don't ever be ashamed of it. Don't ever be ashamed of it. Praise God. When you feel like dancing, you dance.

When you feel like crying, you cry. When you feel like clapping, you clap. When you feel like leaping, you leap. Woo. Hallelujah. Where there's doctrine, where there's word of God, where there is worship, there is life. There is life. I'm glad. I don't want to I don't want to be in a worship service that feels like I just bit into a cream puff with no filling. Mom used to make those cream puffs and they'd rise up real big and she always put something in it. Usually some custard. Oh, they were good. They were good.

But if you ever been into one that was nothing in there, all you got was air. I've not been in too many services like that. But I have been in one or two. In fact, one of them I was in used to be what we are today. And I went to visit that church and it felt like I was biting into that cream puff APC. Never lose your love for God and worship to the Lord God Almighty. I'm talking about heart worship. It comes out of our mouth. But I'm talking about more than heart more than mouth worship here. Hallelujah. And I preach to you today. We have a rescuing God.

It's daring. Some years ago on Mount Hood in Oregon, some people got trapped onto the mountain and they couldn't get down because of the conditions. So they had to send a helicopter to rescue him. that God's rescue is very daring too. The shepherd went out and he left the 90 and nine in the wilderness to go after just one. And the way Jesus told the parable said he went until he found it. God's looking for somebody today and he's not going to stop till he finds you. Hear me? And you may have already fallen or you may be just slipping.

But God's not giving up on you. Oh, hear me somebody. God is not giving up on you. I'm going to tell you, his his rescue is is daring. His rescues are daring in this sense because it cost him a lot. And then think about this folks. Once he rescues us, there's no really promise that we're going to love and serve him the rest of our lives, right? But God said, "I love him anyway. I'm going till I find him, even if I have to leave the 90 and nine in the wilderness." Hallelujah. Apostle Paul, Simon Peter, David, they're all examples of a daring rescue.

Brother and sister Wright, would you mind standing back there? Brother Bob and Sister Regina, would you mind standing? God saved them. And I don't even know all the details and I don't feel free today to express them. They've told some of those details. Hallelujah. But it was a messed up existence. God had no guarantee. Now he knows everything, but he wasn't going to interfere with your choice. That on that February of 1983, over 42 half and a half years ago, that you would still be serving him 42 and a half years later.

And not only you, but many of your family members. And I know family members of yours that are not saved, but they are being covered by prayer by that couple. Here it is. It was God's daring rescue. He took a chance on all of us, folks. Really, I didn't deserve I didn't deserve the daring rescue of the Lord. He's willing to take a chance. Brother Mike, would you stand? Brother Mike Morgan. I thank God. What' you say? 10 years, Mike. Yeah. Back to God. 10 years away from God in some of that interim. But he never lost a heart for God.

And I wasn't even I wasn't even thinking about this message, but I was just scrolling looking in some notes and all the way back. So 10 years ago was 215, but back 1999, here comes Mike bringing a Thanksgiving gift card for others in the church. And I'm not saying that buys or bought his salvation, but what it was, there was something in his heart. And a grandmother that was praying. And 2000, another one. And 2001, another one. And 2002, another one. And I was thinking in my mind, Sister B, I was thinking, God, he's not very far away.

And we would try to encourage him whenever he would come and and let him know, but he at that point he was still kind of on the precipice. But in 2015, pray. Come up here with me, Mike, just a minute. God, hallelujah. I know you love this. Hallelujah. Thank God he got on solid ground. He got on solid ground. That's where you are right now. If you're serving God, loving him, you're on solid ground. This family had a praying praying grandmother, Sister Retha Wallace. And she would pray and she was very low-key.

And on earth on earth on earth you would say, not much reward coming to. But I'm gonna tell you what, she was faithful. She'd have to walk across gravy. That in itself was a daring feat. But she made it Tuesday prayer meeting, Wednesday service. Before that Tuesday and Thursday service, she was praying. It worked. Michael. Yes, sir. I called his brother David who attends one of our churches just across the river. David also got away from God. ended up in the penitentiary. Stay here for just a minute. Mike, I went to visit David.

I asked his permission to tell this. I went to visit him in the penitentiary. I feel the burden, the intercession. Somebody, it's on the precipice today. Maybe just some early thoughts. I went to visit him. He was so kind and cordial and very open to my visit. You could say, "Well, no wonder. No wonder he's in Jeff City, the penitentiary." No, there was something else at work. Here's what he told me. His own words without any prompting.

He said, "Pastor, I can tell you when it started." And this wasn't the only thing, but this is what came to David so strong. He said, "I started moving back a row. I used to sit up close to the front and really get engaged." And he said, "Just a little bit more. A little disengagement. A little more disengagement. A little more disengagement. And then he said, "Pastor, I ended up on the back row." And I remember when he said that in my mind's eye of seeing him sit seated on that back row.

He said, "I just slowly disengaged." I want to say to everybody today, as a word from the Lord, stay as engaged, involved. Don't let anybody or anything pull you away and out. Don't let anything pull you away. Brother Chris, would you mind standing? Thank you, Michael. That was a daring marriage rescue the Lord did. There were very likely many of us that said don't know don't know if that's going to work because of happenings in the life that caused to get closer and closer. But God, he took a chance, Chris, like he did on all of us.

But God is a daring rescuer. Don't say you're not worthy. Don't say he thinks you're worthy. He thinks you're worth it. He thinks he loves you. In fact, that's one of the reasons I just get to be the bearer of this message today. But I just want to tell you, it's the goodness of God. You know what? He could have chosen another type of message, and if he would have chosen it, it would have been right. But he chose this one today because of how much he loves us. I'm going to ask you in just a minute to stand.

But as you stand, would you let there be a praise that stands up with you for the grace and mercy of the Lord? Would you stand together and let's let a crescendo of love? And I thank you, Jesus. I thank you for the daring rescue. I thank you for every hint of warning, every guard rail that you have ever put up. I thank you for every word and every preached word. I thank you, oh Lord. I thank you. I thank you. That's it. Thank him. Let it flow out. Go ahead. Go ahead. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yes.

Brother Jesse, would you come with me just a minute as he wrote his testimony out some years ago, he talks, he goes in here, and I won't read it all. Jess, God made a daring rescue of your life. Here's what he said. I was held down by depression, anxiety, guilt, and shame. And this is his words. At first, it was a gradual use. I'm telling you, God's wanting to inform somebody. The enemy is trying to work step by step and gradually in your life. And this one little thing may not be all that wrong, but it's where it's headed. It's where it's headed.

Then he said, "I lost all control. It's like falling over the edge of the cliff and there's no control. I was at my lowest. Began searching for something. I came across the Bible. I had taken it to boot camp with me. All I could do was say, "Please." And then he says, "Jess, would you take this just a minute?" And he said, "I hugged I hugged my Bible. I felt a safety. Someone can hug the word of God today. And I'm not saying this because I'm the preacher today, but please do not discard the word of God that has come today or any other word of God.

Jess, God made a daring rescue. He took a chance. Hallelujah. I'm just going to ask Jess to remain here as a symbol of thanksgiving. And I want anybody else that's thankful that God would make a daring rescue of your life. I want you just to flood this front of this building right now with a thanksgiving. And would you come as close as you can to allow for others that are coming behind you? Every one of us uh every one of us has something to be thankful for. Oh God, that's right. Give him That's it. Let it out. That's it. Let your praise out.

Let your thanksgiving out. Hallelujah. God, we were on that hillside. We were on that dangerous precipice. Oh God, there was a great golf that if we would have sunk, we could have risen no more. But I thank you, oh Lord, for saving my mom and my dad. I thank you, oh Lord, for leading them to truth. I thank you, oh Lord. Oh yes. Oh yes. Oh yes. That's right. That's right. That's beautiful. Thanks right there. That's beautiful. Thanks right there. Oh God. Oh Jesus. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Oh. Oh, that's beautiful. That's beautiful. That's it.

I thank you, Lord. This is from the depths of our soul. We know we are undeserving. We know you took a rescuing chance. Ah, yes, you did. Oh, we could make no guarantees, but your love, your love, your love. Thank you, Lord. Yes. Yes, yes. Yes, you are. Yes, you are. You're worthy, God. God. Hallelujah. That's it. Let's ask God to plant us on solid territory right now, God. I don't want to even get near the fringes or the edges. Oh, if the majority is pushing one way, hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Jesus gave us an example.

I want to I just ask for your your honesty here for the sake of a testimony. But whenever you thought or maybe got close to the edge, have you felt the pressure that has pushed you there? Either your own or others felt that. Okay, you can look around at at other belief systems and other churches. And I'm saying this because it hap it's happened to me and not all that long ago. Are we really are we really needing to believe what we believe? At Nazareth, the crowd, the pressure took Jesus to the precipice to push him off the edge.

But he did what we can do by his power. The Bible says he didn't fight him. Bible just said he disappeared in the midst of them. Jesus said, "I'm heading back to solid ground." And when you feel that pressure, maybe it's family members, maybe it's the majority, maybe it's others that are being blessed. You feel that pressure, just ask God to help you to disappear through the press. God can see you through every temptation. God can see you through every stress.

I really I sense today that I am preaching to somebody that has felt a doctrinal pressure or a holiness or an unholiness pressure to not have to look the way we look or dress the way we dress or have the dedication points that we have. But that pressure I want us to pray right now. God, give me strength and help and your guidance. Only you can do this, Lord. Let's pray right now. Lord, we want to disappear through the midst of that pressure. And they the pressure will not even realize what has happened. But God, help us to stand fast on solid ground.

Help us to stand fast on the rock of the teachings that you have given us. Oh Lord, your word, your word that is forever settled. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Oh God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Just before I turn it to pastor, would you make a dedication to the Lord right now? Just just put an altar of dedication right where you Lord. I don't ever want to turn back from you. I want to go back to you, God. I want to go back to you, Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Help us not to flirt with the edges of anything, Lord.

This truth, your guidance, your word. Oh yes. Oh.