John 5
14 Afterward Jesus finds him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, you are made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto you.
The Lord had spoken this word to a man who had been paralysed for 38 years. This man could not enter when the water was stirred, but now he met the very Fountain of Life.
Jesus said to him, “sin no more, lest a worse thing come to you”. What could be worse than being paralysed for 38 years?
We take sin as a small mishap but look at the Lord Jesus and what it cost Him.
You might confess sin and then go straight back to it like a dog returning to his vomit.
There is no worse disease than sin.
Sickness kills the body but cannot do anything to the soul but sin kills the soul. There is no greater tragedy that can happen to you than that you fall into sin. Even if your child or children should be killed in an accident it is far worse if you sin.
Job went through terrible losses, even losing his 10 children at once but sin is still worse.
Sin is the worst thing you can imagine. The Son of God had to die on the cross because of your sin.
We speak about small and big sin, but before God, even a small sin in our eyes, is big.
Someone might say I haven’t committed adultery or murder or sorcery. But only with regards to adultery Jesus said that lustful thoughts and desires towards another woman is as good as adultery.
There is no small sin before God. Even criticism in your heart towards your brother is a terrible sin before God.
A certain European said to me you can preach about purity and holiness in Africa but not in Europe where one sees nudity every day on TV etc. Well if you bring the devil’s vision into your living room what do you expect? Unfortunately these days Africa is becoming like Europe.
These evil things almost become culture these days but certainly not for us who belong to the Lord.
Take heed how you dress. Don’t allow the devil to trick you.
Someone said to me, “how can Jesus say to him sin no more”, for we all are sinners. I asked him, “well what sin do you intend doing then?” He answered that he realised that one should stop with the big sins, adultery, murder, theft etc. But how can one stop from the small ones, irritability, anger, criticism etc. Well how is it that you trust God to deliver you from the big sins in your eyes and not the small ones. We read in Rom 7 and 8 how Paul struggles with the same thought but then he finds victory in the complete work of Christ. Jesus removes the heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh.
Romans 8
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
You cannot change your own heart, God does that, but you must repent and turn from your evil ways in obedience to God.
Do you desire to be filled with God’s Spirit? Well He cannot fill you while you harbour sin in your heart. You might pray for the fullness of the Spirit of God and receive another spirit if your heart is not prepared. Do not put the cart before the horse. First cleanse your life then He can fill you with His Spirit.
“Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runs out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:17).
If God should fill you with His Spirit and it’s old wine skins in your heart then sooner or later the wine skins will burst and the wine spilt.
We must be ruthless with even the small sins in our eyes, irritability, anger, criticism etc.
Jesus said rather cut off your hand or pluck out your eye than commit sin.
Jesus said to the man who was paralysed for 38 years that he should not sin again lest something worse should happen to him.
A certain young man was healed from epilepsy. One day while we went out for services he went out too, got drunk and returned to his room. Then he got a fit. Eventually we took him to hospital, but he passed away.
Do not sin lest something worse happen to you.
A certain European young man got involved in drugs and brought much heartache to his dad. His dad was very rich and said to him that in such a state he cannot let him inherit anything. He came to the mission and was helped. He stayed for awhile to get stronger in the Lord and then returned. There in Europe, after awhile he used drugs once again and they found him dead on a bench.
What would the testimony of these two lost lives be if they should speak to us today?
Sin no more lest a worse thing should happen to you.