The Road To Hell

Scripture

If you want to find the road to hell, look for her house.

~Proverbs 7:27, LB

Quote

Sin has inevitable consequences for everyone, no exceptions.

~Ya’akov

Solomon personifies WISDOM as a lady, a beautiful woman that we should love and embrace but he also personifies SIN as a seductive female, a bold and daring prostitute who charms and flatters her victims. Solomon said, “One evening I was looking out my window and I saw this prostitute working the street corner, a young man came by and she turned on the charm. I watched as she lead him into her den of iniquity. He followed her like an ox being lead to the slaughter.” Sin on the surface is very attractive. If it were not, you and I would have no temptation. Augustine did not believe God created evil but that evil is the result of bad choices. Satan became evil when he rebelled against God’s authority. God did create knowledge but knowledge in and of itself is not evil. Eve’s desire to know all that God knew may have been evil but I believe God would have given our parents more knowledge in time but Eve would not wait. All temptation is directed toward our basic instincts and desires which God in time will fulfill but Eve refused to wait on God. Eve refused to look down the road; to view the future that she would surely inherit if she disobeyed God.

Timothy Keller says there are three keys to resisting temptation: [1] Guard your heart. Martin Luther said, “You can’t keep a bird from flying over your head but you can keep it from building a nest in your hair.” So the first step is to clean up your thoughts. [2] Remember that temptation ‘over-promises.’ It exaggerates the positive and down plays the negative. The serpent told Eve, “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The devil is very clever when it comes to mixing truth with error. Yes their eyes were opened and they knew good from evil BUT they did not become like God and they died spiritually. [3] Understand the inevitable consequences. The consequences of sin are inescapable for everyone no matter who you are or what position you hold. David was a king, a sovereign ruler with no man to hold him accountable. He simply forgot about God’s greater sovereignty. Pride gets us in trouble: it leads us to think we are an exception to the rule: THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS. Even Jesus, the perfect Son of God, suffered the inevitable consequences of sin.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said, “Though the mills of God grind slowly; Yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience He stands waiting, With exactness grinds He all.” Sin produces its own harvest: we just have to be willing to look down the road instead of acting on the moment.

Day 25 of the COVID-19 shut-down. The ADPH is reporting 41 cases in Morgan County. I think this is good news. If we wake up in the morning and it is 82, that will be bad news. The great concern is exponential growth and spread of the virus. The combination of heat and humidity are not going to be in play this week. We may have the humidity but we are not going to have the heat.

The stormed did devastating damage in Mississippi but it was South of where our friends live. I think they did a lot of damage in the Northeastern part of Alabama like Boaz. Again, I want to give the LORD praise for allowing us to congregate in the parking lot yesterday. I and my sheep enjoyed it. I got to stand at the road and greet them as they left the parking lot. I have not talked with Josh about it yet but I assume we will continue the DRIVE-IN CHURCH until they allow us to meet in the building. I don’t think it will be a problem: he loved the outdoor service yesterday.

Jesus allowed this storm to come {Covid-19} and for a reason. He is nudging us out of our COMFORT ZONE and He is teaching us to depend solely upon Him. He is also revealing to us our terrible lack of faith. He is reminding us of some very important truths: one is that the church is the people not the building. We can have church in the woods, a parking lot, in homes, etc. Baptist are bad about confusing the church with the building. The fear, panic and hoarding we see is the results of ‘Sheep without a shepherd,’ or should I say THE Shepherd.

To me the one sad note is that people are dying alone. My friend Ray was alone; Jean Smith’s brother was alone. I have a friend in Mississippi who is in the hospital and they will not even allow the children to visit. So even though I see a lot of good coming out of this storm, I am anxious and optimistic about our return to normal, only I hope we do not return to normal in every sense of the word. I hope we return better and wiser for the experience.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *