Historical Posts
Genesis 04:01-07 – Who Has Control? – Audio
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Text: Genesis 4:1-7
Two brothers each had control over their sacrifice. Abel offered unto God a sacrifice that was well-pleasing unto Him. Cain, on the other hand, offered a sacrifice that was not respected by God. As Cain became angry, the LORD said to him, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it (Genesis 4:7).” Cain was made aware of what happens to all of us: sin’s desire is for all of us. However, we should rule over it! If we allow God to be in control, to rule over us, we will rule over sin.
I. Sin’s desire is for control of you.
A. Through one man, sin entered the world (Romans 5:12).
B. Sin has spread to all men (Romans 5:12; 3:23).
C. Jesus said that whoever commits sin is a slave sin (John 8:34).
D. Paul struggled with sin, as we all do (Romans 7:13-25).
II. You should take control, with God’s help, and rule over sin.
A. Sin should not have dominion over us (Romans 6:14).
B. We should not continue in sin because we have been dead to sin through baptism (Romans 6:1-2; 11-12).
C. David prayed that sin would not have dominion over him (Psalm 19:13), as another Psalmist did (Psalm 119:133).
D. Paul told Titus to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and instead to live “soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age (Titus 2:12)…”
E. Peter encourages Christians to “abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul (1 Peter 2:11).”
F. To overcome sin, one must exercise self-control (Galatians 5:22-23; 2 Peter 1:5-6).
III. If God rules over you, you will rule over sin.
A. We are to be dead to sin but alive to God (Romans 6:11).
B. We should put on Christ, making no provision to fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Romans 13:14).
C. If we do sin, Christ is our Advocate and propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:1-2).
Does sin rule over us? We should not allow sin to rule over us, but we should rule over sin! This is only possible when we put God in control and allow God to rule over us.
Salvation: Hear - Believe - Repent - Confess - Be Baptized - Live Faithfully
Content by Richard Dillon
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Illusion of Control – audio
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I have come to believe that we really have no control of the things in this life.
Why do I say that? Let us start by looking at James 4:13-15.
“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit, yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.“
Things just get away from us.
Time slips away in the short term.
- We had our Gospel Meeting
- Then I was tired
- Then it rained
Now it has been over two weeks since I mowed the lawn or looked in the garden – where did the time go?
Time slips away in longer periods.
Kim asked me last night if I had heard about someone we knew in college having a heart attack. When did people our age start having heart attacks?
Now we are working on estate planning and I recently attended a seminar on Social Security. I told Kim she has eight years before she needs to take a look at taking Social Security.
Wow, the plans we had in college are long gone and life has just happened.
Time gets away from all of us, so what should we do?
We need to take care of the important things first.
Let’s look at Matthew 6:31-33 to see what these are.
“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Have you taken care of the important things of eternal life? Or have you let the “eating”, the “drinking” and the “wearing” get in the way?
Decide right now to be right with God.
I emphasize the now.
We could go one by one, our mist evaporating in the sun, as we read in James at the beginning.
We go all at once, without warning.
Jesus was asked a question about his coming again in Matthew 24:3 “…What will be the sign of your coming and the close of the age?”
He answered in Matthew 24:36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”
Take care of the salvation of your eternal soul.
Remove your sin from between you and God and reconcile with Him.
(See Plan of Salvation)
Content by Zachary Van Tassel
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Psalm 119:101 Self-Control – audio
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Text: Psalms 119:101
Introduction
1. Definition: Self-discipline; Temperance; To hold one’s self in
2. Galatians 5:22-23
3. Proverbs 25:28; 16:32
Body
1. Self-control is needed to keep God’s word – Psalms 119:101
A. Thinking – 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
B. Seeing – Job 31:1
C. Hearing – 2 Peter 2:7-8
D. Talking – 1 Peter 3:10
E. Behavior – 1 Corinthians 9:27
2. Biblical knowledge is needed to have self-control – Psalms 119:11
A. Thinking – Philippians 4:8
B. Seeing – Psalms 101:3
C. Hearing – James 1:22-25
D. Talking – Ephesians 4:29
E. Behavior – Romans 12:1-2
3. Notice how biblical knowledge precedes self-control – 2 Peter 1:5-6
Conclusion
Therefore, with more biblical knowledge is more self-control.
Content by Donald W. Treadway
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