Sin Leads Down
The sermon warns of the danger of sin and the importance of turning back to God before judgment falls.
This sermon emphasizes the importance of heeding God's word and the consequences of disobedience and sin. It warns about the impending judgment for wickedness and the need for repentance, drawing parallels to the current state of the world. The story of Jonah fleeing from God's command is used to illustrate the futility of trying to escape from God's presence and the downward spiral of sin. It highlights the inevitability of facing the consequences of disobedience.
Full Transcript
I believe that this book, the Bible, is inspired of God. It's God's book. It's God's message to every generation.
The word of the Lord came unto Jonah. And God's word said, Jonah, arise and go to Nineveh. Cry out against Nineveh, for their wickedness has come up before me.
There comes a time when God can stand sin and wickedness no more, and judgment must come. That's the danger in America right now. That's the danger in the world right now.
Our wickedness is so great that God may allow judgment to fall unless we as a people turn back to God. And that's one of the encouraging things about this youth revival across America. Thank God that the young people are beginning to turn to Christ in great numbers.
The word of the Lord came unto Jonah. But you know, Jonah wasn't happy about it. He didn't want to be a fire and brimstone preacher in Nineveh.
There was no glamour in that. He knew he would be persecuted. He knew he wouldn't be popular.
He didn't want to have to give a message of judgment to Nineveh. So Jonah decided that he was going to flee. He was going to get away.
He was going to disobey God. And the Bible says that Jonah fled from the presence of the Lord. And he went down to Joppa and he bought a ticket for Tarshish because you see Tarshish was a great resort city.
And he thought to himself, I can go down there and lie on a beach and the Lord won't even know where I am. I can get away from it all. And that's been true all the way through the Bible.
Adam and Eve thought they could get away from God and hide in the garden and hide behind the fig leaves that they sowed after they rebelled against God. But God came walking in the garden and said, Adam, where art thou? The Bible says you can make your bed in hell and you can't get away from God. There's nowhere for you to flee from God.
And then the Bible says that he went down to Joppa, got into the ship and went down into the bottom of the ship to go asleep. So sin always leads us down. Jonah went down.
And when you sin and persist in sin, it's going to lead you down.
Sermon Outline
- Introduction to the Bible as God's book
- God's judgment on sin and wickedness
- The danger of sin in America and the world
- The story of Jonah and his disobedience
- The consequences of sin and the inability to flee from God
- The downward path of sin
Key Quotes
“The Bible says you can make your bed in hell and you can't get away from God.” — Billy Graham
“There's nowhere for you to flee from God.” — Billy Graham
“Sin always leads us down.” — Billy Graham
Application Points
- We must turn back to God before judgment falls.
- Sin always leads us down, and we must be aware of its consequences.
- There's nowhere to flee from God, and we must accept His judgment.