Progressiveness Of Sin
Sin is a terrible reality and separates men from God. Men sometimes class sins as little sins and big sins. Men speak of big lies and little lies, black and white lies, of course anything a man may tell with the intention of deceiving another is a lie. The purpose of this article is to show that when a person commits one sin he will frequently commit another to cover it up, and as a result sin takes a strangle hold upon him and sin progresses in his life until it eventually destroys him.
We only need to look around us to realize that there is much sin, crime and vice of various kinds, in this world in which we live. Even in America where we are called a Christian nation, there is murder, suicide, lying, and many others. The tragic thing though is that the same sins that are going on among worldly people are going on to some extent within the borders of the kingdom. This is especially true when brethren object to the preacher condemning ungodly living and insist that he always prophesy smooth things. It is no uncommon thing for elders to warn the preacher when he preaches against sins that may be going on in the church, and of course there are preachers who will modify their preaching against sin in order to please worldly-minded members and worldly-minded elders. With the spirit of compromise in the pulpit, and worldliness in the pew, sin can progress and flourish until the church is utterly destroyed, until it loses the respect of men and the divine recognition of God.
David was a man after God's own heart yet he sinned. David was an Old Testament character and did not have the opportunity of knowing God's will as we have. Yet the thing that David did displeased the Lord. How do you suppose that God looks upon His children today when they commit the same sins that David committed? We have the perfect law of liberty or the New Testament, and the New Testament condemns the kind of sins that David committed in no uncertain terms. But even in the Old Testament we are told that the thing that David did displeased the Lord.
Let us now examine some of the things that David did. In the evening David arose from his bed and walked upon the roof of the king's house. David was supposed to have been leading the armies to battle, but he was idle upon the roof of the king's house. Men love idleness; but when men are idle they often have evil thoughts and intentions which lead them to other sins and as a result sin progresses in their lives. From the roof David saw a woman who was bathing, there was lust in his heart. So we see that sin progressed in his life. Jesus said, "that if a man looks upon a woman to lust after her he hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."
In order to carry out his lustful desire, David sent for Bathsheba the wife of Uriah the Hittite, and they took her and she came unto him, and he lay with her. So we can see how that sin progressed, first the idle moment upon the roof, the lustful look and the carrying out of the lustful desire. The New Testament condemns lust and fornication; but in spite of this there are women and girls in the church, who will have dates with married men, and such conduct is likely to lead to the sin of fornication sooner or later. Yes, there are men in the church who are guilty of fornication with other men's wives and committing, fornication. That is the way mat sin progresses in cue church, and some elders help such sins to progress by objecting to preachers' preaching against it and of course other worldly-minded members also object. There are preachers who want to be popular and hold their jobs, who modify their preaching against such sins or omit it altogether. Such conduct on the part of elders, brethren and preachers encourage members to do these things and as a result sin progresses in the church.
As a result of the fornication the woman conceived and sent and told David, and said, "I am with child." We learn by this that David's sins had found him out. Brother, be sure your sins will find you out. Some brethren sin assuming that the brethren may not know about it. The fact is, God always knows about our sins and sometimes our brethren also know about them.
When David learned that Bathsheba had conceived, he first tried to send Uriah home in an effort to cover the sin of fornication. When this effort failed he prevailed upon Uriah to tarry in Jerusalem that day and allowed him to depart on the morrow. Is it not an act of cowardice for a man to try to cover his sins or allow someone else to suffer for them? It certainly is, but is it not true that brethren sometimes do the same thing? To ask these questions is but to answer them. When an individual commits one sin he sometimes commits another to cover it up and as a result sin progresses in his life and may eventually destroy him.
David made Uriah drunk at even, but Uriah did not go to his own house. In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. The instructions in the letter were to set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle so hat he would be killed. Joab did as David told him to do and when the men fought, some of David's servants fell and Uriah was also killed. David plotted this crime and was as guilty of murder as though he had killed him with his own sword. Thus, we see that one led to another. Jesus condemns the sin of anger and hate, he said, that if a man is angry with his brother he is a murderer. It is not often that a brother in Christ plunges a literal sword into the heart of another or has someone else do it, but brethren do sin against brethren. Brethren sometimes speak evil against brethren without a reason; they sometimes grieve a brother and cause him to stumble. Are not these grievous sins? Yes, they certainly are. They may start in a way that appears harmless, but if these sins are not checked they can become very heinous sins.
We also learn that the messenger came to David and told him of the battle, that some of his servants fell and that Uriah the Hittite died also. Notice carefully David's reply: "Thou shalt say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another: make thy battle strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him." David knew he had plotted this crime against Uriah, but he pretended to know nothing about it. To pretend that we do not know a thing when we do is hypocrisy. We ought to be able to see that David was deeply entangled in sin and was pretending not to know it; this is hypocrisy. Are there any hypocrites in the church? Yes, there are some. Of course, there are more hypocrites outside the church than inside, but those on the inside do the most damage. A hypocrite in the church can do untold damage. He will deceive some people and lead them astray. Others will know that he is a hypocrite and will become discouraged as a result. I am not trying to justify those who allow hypocrites to keep them from doing the will of God. Because every man is accountable to God and he allows a few hypocrites in the church to keep him from obeying God, he will spend eternity in hell with them. One hypocrite in the church or two or three can cause sin to spread in the church and progress. Then too, if we know there are hypocrites in the church, and do not tell them so; are we not cowards? Are we not guilty in the sight of God? Are we not helping the sin to progress? If not, why not?
When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead; she mourned for her husband. When the mourning was past, David and Bathsheba married and she bare him a son. But the thing that David did displeased the Lord. We have learned how that sin progressed in the life of David and that the Lord was displeased. If God did not approve of what David did then, how do you suppose he looks upon his children now who sin? We have the New Testament to guide us. David did not have that.
Brethren, sin progresses in the lives of members if we do not guard against it. When a man is idle or becomes careless and indifferent, evil thoughts may enter into his heart which lead him to other sins which take such a hold upon him that he will fall away and be lost eternally. Brethren, sin progressing in the life of an individual is the road to apostasy, and an apostate is in a pitiable condition because his heart is so hardened that he cannot repent, and as a result will suffer eternal destruction. Men do not fall into apostasy overnight; they drift into it. The church does not go into apostasy overnight; it drifts into it. To allow sin to go unchecked, unreproved, and uncorrected in the church is to help it progress and will cause many to lose their souls.
Brethren let us watch and pray lest we enter into temptation. Let us live closer to God day by day. Let us guard against the little sins. Let us realize that we are to help our brother overcome sin. The time to prevent sin is before it happens, and if it does happen in spite of all we can do, let us deal with it as the Bible teaches us to do. If we will do this we may save many souls, and it will keep us from losing ours.