Help, I’m sick sinful!
Have you ever been desperately ill? If you or one of your loved ones has ever faced a life threatening illness, disease or experienced a devastating accident you understand why some people want nothing more than someone or something that can cure them and give them a new lease on life!

While we pray for physical health and healing whenever we encounter sickness, it’s important to recognize that underlying the physical problems we see and experience is a spiritual and moral problem called sin. When Jesus Christ lived on the earth, He intentionally sought out people who were aware that their moral choices had created a serious problem between them and God. The ultra-religious of Jesus’ day criticized Him for spending time with “sinners” but Jesus simply replied, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32)

As contemporary followers of Jesus Christ, we take our cues from His leading and look for opportunities to discuss the serious nature of our individual moral choices and the consequences of our personal failure to live up to God’s expectations. While this might not be “polite” conversation and at times creates socially awkward situations, we are compelled by God and His love to speak candidly about these critical subjects.

Suppose you had a potentially life-threatening condition such as a cancerous growth on your nose and you had a neighbor who was a physician. On a chance meeting in your neighborhood you see each other and you talk about the weather,  your jobs, your families and even some of the high-profile news of the day. The growth on your nose is very obvious and because of his medical training, the doctor recognizes that you have a serious problem. But because he doesn’t want to make you feel bad by being confrontational the doctor pretends not to notice your nose and only discusses “comfortable” subjects. In your opinion, would that doctor’s actions toward you be considered loving? If he actually cared about you, would he ignore the signs of disease he could so clearly see? Of course not!

In a similar way, when a follower of Christ tries to discuss the sin problem which has affected each of us, he or she is actually doing one of the most loving and considerate things one person can do for another. By talking about the obvious sin-sickness that each of us faces, and then offering the cure God has made available, the Christian is imitating Christ in a very practical way and obeying His parting command to “Go…and proclaim the gospel”. (Mark 16:15)

At this point, you might be thinking, “I don’t like it when people talk to me about my lifestyle and attitudes. Besides, wouldn’t more unbelievers be attracted to the church if Christians seemed accepting, positive and non-judgmental?” The fact is, many contemporary churches and televangelists take great pains to attract people to their services or programs by carefully sanitizing their language of “negative” words like “sin”, “hell”, and “judgment” so as not to offend their audience. Unfortunately, by changing the content of their message to be more appealing to the unconvinced, these “seeker friendly” churches frequently fail to deliver the “bad news” which the Bible demonstrates must be expressed to enable people to recognize the good news God offers in Christ.
An authentic presentation of the Gospel message must always occur in light of the pure and Holy character of the God who created us and has the exclusive claim on our lives. How tragic to think of those who, in Jesus words, are “on the broad road that leads to destruction” being lulled into complacency by a Man-centered church that no longer warns sinners of God’s judgment or urgently impresses them to escape from the “wrath to come”.(Matthew 7:13; Luke 3:7; 1 Thessalonians 1:10)

Why discuss subjects like sin and God’s judgment of those who practice it? Because God reveals that His “…eyes are too pure to approve evil, And He cannot look on wickedness with favor.” (Habakkuk 1:13)

While there are many today who speak only of God’s grace and mercy, the prophets of old had a more balanced message: “The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty.” (Nahum 1:3)

*Please let this fact sink into your thinking, a day is rapidly approaching when each and every one of us will be held accountable by God for our choices.“…God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:14)

In light of that terrifying and dreadful day, we urge you to prepare now by accepting God’s diagnosis of your condition.

God’s diagnosis of Mankind’s problem:

*You have a deep problem called a sinful heart. “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick.” (Jeremiah 17:9-10)
When pressed, most people will admit that they have sinned. But those same individuals sometimes downplay their moral failures by comparing themselves to others who they perceive to be more immoral than they are. The problem with that approach is the fact that God is NOT going to compare you to other sinners to determine whether you are accepted by Him. He’s already made clear that, on the basis of His law, you are a sinner and in His purity He must judge you!!!Don’t allow the baseless assurance being offered by false-teachers and Man-centered churches to cause you to foolishly believe that God in “grace” will overlook your sinful behavior.

Good News: God will rescue your from the judgment your sin deserves if you come to Him on His terms by admitting your sin-problem and turn from your rebellion and seek restoration to God through Jesus Christ.

“….God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (John 3:17-18, 36)

The Bible warns us that Jesus could return at any time. When He does the world will see the “Lord Jesus…revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)

Friend, you and I each have a sin problem that’s as plain as the nose on our face. The question is, will you do what God says to deal with that problem?

“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”  (Acts 17:30-31)