Many Church members think that SIN is limited to drinking, robbery, murder, and in our generation, drugs.

The problem that Jehovah God has dealt with in all of His dealings with man on earth is that of those WHO PROFESS to be HIS and who have committed themselves to HIS LORDSHIP.

Luke 6:46
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? (KJV)

1 John 5:1-3
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. ²By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. ³For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. (KJV)

believeth = pist-yoo'-o = to commit to; to entrust; have faith in.

know = to know absolutely by experience.

grievous = burdensome; not a heavy load.

Malachi 1:13-14
Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness [is it]! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought [that which was] torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD. ¹⁴But cursed [be] the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I [am] a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name [is] dreadful among the heathen.

weariness = what a trouble!

snuffed = turn up the nose at.

Disobedience is based on contempt - despising the Almighty God!

Malachi 1:6-7
A son honoureth [his] father, and a servant his master: if then I [be] a father, where [is] mine honour? and if I [be] a master, where [is] my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? 7 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD [is] contemptible. (KJV)

WHILE IT MAY BE THAT MOST CHURCH MEMBERS ARE NOT GUILTY OF WHAT IS COMMONLY POINTED OUT AS SINS, THERE ARE MANY SINS FOUND IN THE BODY OF CHRIST, HIS CHURCH.

The LORD is not looking to the lost world to obey Him, BUT TO HIS REDEEMED! THOSE HE HAS BOUGHT AND PAID FOR IN FULL WITH THE VERY PRECIOUS BLOOD OF HIS ONLY UNIQUELY BEGOTTEN SON!

C/f. The O.T. & God's longsuffering with Israel; These EXAMPLES are for us!

1. Failure to make JESUS CHRIST LORD in one's life who has received His great salvation and made a commitment as a member of His Body.

1. The whole Body suffers when even one member of it fails to function.
       
2. Failure in the way "members" are received. (proxy) (letters) (without any firm commitment to help carry the load). NO other organization would let such a responsibility be given to any & all without some evidence of support of it's function. do all as unto the Lord!

1. Become part owners of property.
       
2. Entitled to all privileges. (use of buildings; literature; meeting place; marriages; funerals; support in complications of life, etc). Vote on imp. matters; in calling or dismissing a Pastor, etc.

3. Failure to support ALL OF THE SERVICES; after all, you are the Church. Who is going to do these thins if each member does not?????
       
4. Failure to give GOD's Work the tenth, the tithe. EVERY NEED would be met and each Pastor would have an adequate living if all tithed! WHY should one Pastor, doing the same work, (visits-hosp. preaching, etc) receive a pittance and another $1,000-2,000 in salary & benefits????? (some denominational executives rec. as much as world pays exec.)
       
5. The great SIN of some churches in the treatment of their Pastor. A vast difference in the way they "call" and the way they "get rid of" one.

1. Withhold giving; (Does the Holy Spirit call & man assume this resp.)
       
2. Harass; phone calls;
       
3. Stay out of service until vote comes to decide the pastor's fate.
       
4. Make no provision for his interim of unemployment when dismissed.
       
5. Make no provision for his retirement. C/f. some old, retired=$200 mo.

2 Timothy 4:14-18
Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: ¹⁵Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words. Sin of other members allowing such!
¹⁶At my first answer no man stood with me, but all [men] forsook me: [I pray God] that it may not be laid to their charge. ¹⁷Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and [that] all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. ¹⁸And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve [me] unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom [be] glory for ever and ever. Amen.

II. The sins of individual members of the Church. (bring shame, reproach)

1. The AWESOME DESTRUCTION from an evil tongue.

James 3:6-8
And the tongue [is] a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. ⁷For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: ⁸But the tongue can no man tame; [it is] an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. (KJV)

Titus 3:2
To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, [but] gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men. (KJV)

2. The inward sin of unrighteous judgments.

Isaiah 55:6-7
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: ⁷Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (KJV)

James 4:11-12
Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of [his] brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. ¹²There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? (KJV)

Matthew 7:1-5
Judge not, that ye be not judged. ²For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. ³And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? ⁴Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam [is] in thine own eye? ⁵Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

3. The sin of unforgiveness & reconciliation.

Matthew 6:14-15
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: ¹⁵But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (KJV)

Matthew 18:21-22
Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? ²²Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. (KJV)

(parable given -- one forgave a small-large debt.)

Matthew 18:35
So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. (KJV)

Ephesians 4:31-32
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: ³²And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. (KJV)

Matthew 18:15-17
Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. ¹⁶But if he will not hear [thee, then] take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. ¹⁷And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell [it] unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. (KJV)

Galatians 6:1-2
Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. ²Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. (KJV)

4. The sins of neglect of prayer & Bible study. (both commanded).
       
5. The sin of failure to bear witness of the Gospel to the lost. "as you go."
       
6. The sin of partiality.

James 2:1-4
My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, [the Lord] of glory, with respect of persons. ²For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; ³And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: ⁴Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? (KJV)

7. The sin of envy-jealousy.

James 3:16
For where envying and strife [is], there [is] confusion and every evil work. (KJV)

Galatians 5:21
Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told [you] in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (KJV)

2 Corinthians 12:20
For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and [that] I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest [there be] debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:

= contentions; rivalry; heated anger; clicks; defamation; secret slander (as the magic charmer of a snake; pride (puffed up); confusion (not orderly)

3 John 9-10
I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. ¹⁰Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth [them] out of the church. (KJV)

prating = raising false accusations against Peter.

8. The sin of the lack of agape. (God's love).

1 John 4:18-21
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. ¹⁹We love him, because he first loved us. ²⁰If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? ²¹And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. (KJV)

Concl./// SIN IS A DESTRUCTIVE FORCE! It destroys fellowship & bodily health. There is a sin unto death.

There is forgiveness for repentance; & there is cleansing in His blood!