Hebrews chapter 3. Verse 12 to 13.
Take care Brothers. Lester be in any of you.
An evil unbelieving heart. Leading you to fall away from
the Living God. but exhort one another every day, as long as it
is called today, That none of you may be hardened by the
deceitfulness of sin. Growing up in Canada when we
move to a new house in Middle School.
Part of one of the advantages of that was that we could now walk
to our school. But with that came, a whole new
level of Parental Guidance knowing that we were going to be
walking back and forth. Every single day, my parents
exhorted us. My parents warned us and maybe
you've heard These Warnings to if you've ever walked somewhere,
even if it was just a block son, make sure that before you cross
the street, you look both ways. Sun, even though it's a red
light and you have the right of way to walk, make sure you look
both ways before you walk son, make sure that if there's
anybody even if it's somebody from school, a parent from
school, they see you walking. And they pull over to the side
and say, get in my car and come with me.
You never do it. Maybe you've heard these
exhortations as well. But with those exhortations was
the fact that we heard it almost every single day, it was a
repeated warning and it almost became annoying, but here's the
reality, it worked. It worked.
Now, why would any parent warn their children in such a manner,
why would any parent take it to themselves to warn and to exhort
everyday for the safety of their children?
Very simple. Because love warns.
Love warns. True.
Love warns. And in the same way, the Bible
rather parents warned their children out of love of the
dangers, outside of the Four Walls of the home.
In the same way, our heavenly father through the scriptures
warned his children of the dangers of this very world
because love warns Paul says in Colossians 128 him, we Proclaim
warning everyone and teaching everyone that we may present
everyone mature in Christ. Iced warning and teaching.
Why? Because love warns.
And the Bible itself does not just warn us directly.
The Bible tells us in Hebrews to 3313 that we are to exhort one
another. To exhort means to strongly
urge. Or to strongly encourage someone
to perform a certain action. An exhortation can take a form
of warning or encouragement or Comfort or reproof depending on
what circumstances being addressed.
And so it's saying here that we ought to exhort one another.
Why should we exhort one another?
Well, firstly tells us to do it every single day.
That we are to encourage and exhort one another day by day
night by night. You think that's exhaustive but
it's because of the second part of the verse, that explains why
we are to exhort one another every day because sin attempts
to deceive us every single day, every single day sin is on a
mission to deceive. The people of God sin is on a
mission to bring war against the people of God.
That's why Peter says in First Peter 2:11 beloved, I urge you
as sojourners and exiles. To abstain from the passions of
the flesh, which war against your soul. whether you and I
want to believe it or not the passions of the flesh are at war
with us every single day and because of that the author of
Hebrews says exhorted exhort one another every single day lest
sin deceives, you and so one of the remedies of being mastered
over sin, Is walking alongside with Brothers and Sisters in
Christ that are willing to speak into our lives, so that our
hearts can remain soft towards Jesus.
That's why you don't miss church.
It is so important to meet with one.
Another, the Gathering of the Brethren is vital for the
purpose of our sanctification. You hear excuses all the time.
All these people that think they're so spiritual?
Well, I don't need to go to church.
Oh, really? Okay, let's go with that.
Train of logic. You might not want to go to
church. You might not feel like going to
church because you feel like you don't need it because you read
your Bible every single day because you watch so many
YouTube sermons. Okay, that's fine.
But what if somebody in the church needs you It's so selfish
to think that, you know, I don't need to go to church because I
mean, but what if somebody in church needs you?
What if somebody's encouraged by your presence?
What if somebody is encouraged by your words of wisdom?
What if somebody's encouraged by your prayers and your worship to
God? We cannot miss the Gathering of
the brethren for this purpose because it keeps our hearts
soft. And that's the very purpose of
this short message today, to lovingly warn of one specific
thing, the deceitfulness of sin, The purpose of this short
message is this is that if there is any sin creeping in your
life, that through the word of God, it would put it in the
spotlight. To lead us to repentance the
goal of this. Very short text is to bring us
to a place to identify the things that might be.
Seducing us into a certain lifestyle and by the grace of
God, we would cut it off before it leads us away from the Living
God. How does sin deceive us?
If sin had a voice, what would it say to you?
Number one, sin deceives people by convincing them.
That they can keep it in the dark.
Sin deceives people by convincing them that they can
keep it in the dark sin, has this subtle way of trying to
enter into your heart and cinch eyes to Mesmerize you to bring
it in a place where it resides in your heart.
Long enough, where you become hardened Where you're not soft
towards the things of God and where you're not convicted about
the things of God anymore, where you have no urgency for the
things of God anymore sin. Very rarely comes in a very
obvious way. No, no, it comes in a friendly
way, and it tries to convince you that you can actually hide
it from people. It convinces you to say you can
be one way in church and you can be a completely different person
at one in the morning in your bedroom and you could be a
completely different person at work.
And you can keep those different Lifestyles and their respective
circumstances and environments and nobody will know about it,
send deceives you and saying, yeah, you can look at that on
your phone because you can just delete the history.
Yeah, you can look at that on your computer because you have
the ability to just delete off your browser.
Oh yeah. You can talk like that about
somebody because it's just between you and another person
sin deceives, you and convincing you.
That you can keep it in the dark.
But here's the reality. You may be able to fool your
friends. You may be able to fool your
husband, you may be able to fool your wife, you may be able to
fool, even your spiritual leaders, but there's one person
you cannot fool, and his name is Jesus Christ.
Oh, you can't fool him because he sees everything and he hears
everything. You better believe it.
When you're in your car by yourself, you know who's in the
car with you. Jesus Christ, when you're on the
phone with somebody you know who's on the phone with you.
Jesus Christ, when you're talking in that room when nobody
else is in the room, you know, who's in that room?
Jesus Christ. It was Joseph.
Who said in Genesis, 39 9. When Potiphar's wife was
seducing him and he could have probably got away with it for a
long time. This young man had this
Revelation that so many Christians.
Do not have. How can I send?
This is exceedingly. Great wickedness against my God.
Joseph knew that though. There might have not been
anybody else in that house. There was somebody in the house
God almighty. And the Numbers Chapter 12, we
see Miriam and Aaron speaking against their brother speaking
against his wife and speaking against his ministry.
And at the end of verse 2, there are these four crucial words
that changed the whole scenario as they're gossiping as they're
speaking against the man of God. It says this and the Lord heard
it, five words. And the Lord heard it.
And so this is a truth that you and I must rehearse every single
day. God sees me and God hears me.
Send deceives by trying to convince even Christians that
they can keep it in the dark. Secondly, sin deceives by
attempting to convince people that it has no consequences.
There's a story of this circus trainer who for years, would
entertain people by bringing a line into a cage and walking
into that cage with it and doing all these tricks and arousing it
and getting it to Roar and to stand up and to move its paws.
He's been doing it for years, it's all.
Although this thing was a lion is as though it was his friend.
It's co-worker. And people would come in by the
droves to watch this man. Perform these tricks with this
lion. And day in and day out.
This is how he made his money day in and day out.
It would perform well. Until one day at the age of 35.
This circus trainer comes in just like any other night.
And he performs these tricks with this lion and all for a
sudden without any warning, this line that he has trained with
for years on end suddenly pounces upon this circus trainer
and grabs him by the neck and dragged him around that cage,
until he lost all his blood. What he thought that he could
tame eventually turned on him. And so many people treat their
sin the same way, they think that if they can just tame it if
they can train it that it won't get out of control and they can
just go on with their life without any consequences.
But you better believe. That the wages of sin is death.
You better understand. That though you might have had
that habit in your life. I'm talking about his habitual,
so we're not talking about stumbling.
So we're talking about habitual sin, you might have kept that
sin in your life for a long time and not have seen any
consequences, but it's coming. Oh, it's coming.
You just give it time and it will bring the price.
So many people who are habitual liars and because they've told
white lies our whole life think that they can continue to lie
without any problem and get away with it.
And I myself have heard stories of people who have brought that
lying habit into their workplace.
And when they brought it to the workplace and attempted to use
it, they've been exposed by high-profile bosses and almost
lost their jobs because they thought they can get away with a
certain responsibility by lying. There are those who gossip even
within the church and they come with their little gossip group
and spread their venom in their poison to one another.
And they think that, as long as it stays within the group, it
doesn't affect the entire Community.
But what they don't realize is, they're only building
themselves, a reputation of others to see how untrustworthy
they are. And here's a just a little side
note. If the people you talk to gossip
with you, they most likely gossip about you.
Just keep that in mind next time.
And there are those. Who are married?
Married man, and married woman. We're entertaining thoughts and
moving towards flirting. And being inappropriate with the
opposite gender, because they want to try to fulfill a little
fantasy in their minds. When they don't realize that
they're being unfaithful. And here's a strong Godly
warning. That little fantasy that you
want to try to see come to pass, will turn into a nightmare
before you know it. Bible says in Hebrews 13:4, let
marriage be held in honor among all and the marriage bed be
undefiled for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous
Sin has its consequences. But sin tries to deceive you
thinking, there's no consequences in fact.
It tries to convince people that the pleasure it offers its
better and worth the consequences.
No, this people of God, the consequences of sin last way
longer than the pleasure it offers in the moment.
Lastly. Sin deceives people and
convincing them that they cannot have power over it.
There are genuine people with a genuine sin in their life and
they have given up on trying to fight that sin because they feel
and they've been convinced that sin has too much power over them
and people even verbalize this and said, you know what, I think
this is just a part of who I am. This is just something that I'm
just going to have to live with. I'm not going to pursue Purity
anymore as a single young, man. I'm not going to pursue
faithfulness anymore. I'm not.
Pursue pure speech. I'm not going to pursue this.
I'm not going to pursue Holiness because I just feel as though
this is who I am, maybe it's generational, maybe it's
something that I inherited, maybe some of them just have to
live with the rest of my life. That is a Lie from the pit of
Hell. That is a lie straight from the
mouth of Satan himself that you cannot have the power over sin.
The only way that you can not have the power over sin as if
you're not a Christian. But if you truly been born again
of the spirit of God, know this, that Jesus Christ did not just
die for the penalty of your sin. He died for you to have the
power over it. That's the gospel, that's
salvation, not that he just takes care of the consequences
of your sin. He takes care of the fact that
you can have power over it in this life.
And sin says, no, no. You're gonna have to live with
me for the rest of your days. When the Bible says, in First
Peter 2:24, he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree
that we may die to sin and live to righteousness.
By stripes we have been healed It is Romans 8:13 that we must
put this finger on and claim the promise of that those who live
according to the flesh shall die.
But by the spirit, You can put the death, the Deeds of the body
and live. By the spirit, God has given us
every resource possible to ensure consistent victory over
sin. That's a promise.
That's not something we just sing about and wish for it's
something that we can experience, don't believe the
lie of sin. Don't believe the flesh.
That tells you that you can stay the way you are.
You can stay defeated, you can stay depressed.
You can stay with those thoughts.
Believe the word of God. Saturate yourself with the
scriptures call Upon Jesus. To give you the Holy Spirit and
he'll do it. Sin deceives.
By trying to whisper to you, you know, you can keep me in the
dark, nobody needs to know about it.
Send the Seas were saying, you know, you can keep me.
You can tame me, you can train me and nothing will get out of
hand. And sin deceives by saying.
You know what you're stuck with me for the rest of your life.
But know this. That God's word, triumphs over
every lie and we cling to the word of God.
Exhort one, another daily. Lest you be deceived by sin.
Here's what we're going to do. We're going to respond right
now. If there's any area in your
life, the Holy Spirit through his word has pressed his finger
upon. Don't wait till the end of the
service. Right now.
For some of you maybe God has been warning you for a long
time. Or maybe God is warning you for
the first time? Regardless know this you must
respond. This is an extension of Mercy.
The Bible says this in Proverbs 28:13, whoever conceals, whoever
conceals his transgression will not prosper.
But he who confesses and forsakes it shall obtain Mercy.
Stop trying to hide it. Stop trying to bury it, it will
come out some way some time, but if you confess it and forsake it
know this, there is Mercy at the end of that God wants to extend
his mercy. God wants to extend forgiveness,
but it requires confession. You cannot conceal it.
You must confess it. If we confess our sin, he is
faithful and just to forgive us. Our trespasses and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. If we confess our sins, it must
be done in confession before God can move in and do something
bow. Your heads with me, please.
And just right now in your own heart, before we even have
communion today, before we even hear the second part of the
message, another message by Pastor Rafiq.
There's no rush here. Ask the Lord to do something in
your heart. Humble yourself before the
mighty hand of God and he will exalt you.
Ask the Lord to remove that sin in your life that you've been
trying to hide conceal. For the next few moments, no
music, no distractions, just between you and God.
I would encourage you to pray what David prayed in Psalms 8611
teach me to know your truth that I may walk in your ways.
O Lord and unite My Heart To Fear your name.
May we ask the Lord for the fear of God, may we ask the Lord for
forgiveness, may we ask the Lord, not just for those things,
but for the power to overcome, any sin and every sin, claim his
promises in the next few moments and seek Him, ask him to change
you before you walk out of these doors.
He's faithful to respond. Father, we pray together.
As a family as a body have you as you've instructed us to
exhort one another every day? Lest we be caught up in the
deception found in sin? Father, we pray that we would
not be deceived. You would keep our hearts soft.
We pray for the fear of the Living God in our hearts.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, there is no
wisdom apart from the fear of the Lord, as being the beginning
of it. Help us understand the fear of
the Lord is a Fountain of Life help us understand that the fear
of the Lord is the hatred of evil.
Help us understand that, those who fear the lord are to you at
the light. Give us a hatred for sin and
wickedness. Give us the ability.
To exhort one another to encourage one another to run
this race and help us understand that even in your rebukes and in
your warnings just like a loving parent.
Would you do it out of love? Because you care for us and, you
know, the dangers that come with the things that might try to
attract us. You know how we are easily
forgettable? Concerning the dangers that
await us, that there is an adversary of our souls that,
there's this flesh, that tries to convince us.
Otherwise, And so, father, we pray.
That you would have heard the confessions, in the hearts of
the people, and that you would empower the people to live holy
before a holy God. And Lord, let us leave here with
this Revelation that you are a God that sees, you are a God
that hears and we respond to that and reverence.
In your name we pray. Amen.