Play

“The Camouflaged Hook of Sin”

Ian Boike
05/04/25 - Sun PM

The following transcription is computer-generated and may not accurately reflect the contents of the audio. Please verify the content before quoting.

(Transcribed by Congregate. Always check document for possible errors and inaccuracies in automated transcriptions.)

In 1961, the Andy Griffith Show released an episode called Opie's Hobo Friend.

And in this episode, the actor David Brown plays a hobo.

That is friends with Andy Griffith's son, Opie.

And Sheriff Andy Griffith finds out that his son has been hanging out with this hobo.

And even had lunch with him on a couple of occasions.

And Andy has unfortunately come to realize that his son has come to idolize this live by your wits individual.

And as a father, Andy tells Mr. Brown to stay away from his son.

And Mr. Brown asks Andy directly, what's the problem?

And as we go into some of the dialogue that I've pulled from this episode, David Brown starts off by saying, well, Sheriff, maybe I do look at things differently than other people.

Is that wrong?

I live by my wits.

I'm not above bending the law now and then to keep clothes on my back or food in my stomach.

I live the kind of life that other people would just love to live.

If only they had the courage.

Who's to say that the boy would be happier your way or mine?

Why not let him decide?

And Andy Taylor responds in his southern drawl, he says, no, I'm afraid it just doesn't work that way.

You can't let a young and decide for himself.

He'll grab at the first flashy thing with shiny ribbons on it.

And then when he finds out there's a hook in it, it's too late.

The wrong ideas come packaged with so much glitter, it's hard to convince him that the other things in life might be better in the long run.

And all a parent can do is say, wait, trust me, and try to keep the temptation away.

And David responds, well, you know, I've grown awful fond of that young fella.

What's wrong?

And he responds, Well, there seems to be something wrong with his thinking.

He's gotten a little twisted on things lately, like being able to tell the difference between right and wrong.

Oh, responds David, and Andy says, goes on to say, Not that that's an easy thing.

A lot of grown-ups are still struggling with that exact same problem.

But specifically, It's difficult for youngsters because things tend to rub off on them so easily.

And Sheriff Andy Taylor is exactly correct.

Many adults and youngsters still seem to deal with the issue of grabbing at the first thing that's covered in glitter.

And that's flashy.

And they don't realize that the hook is hidden in all of the glitter.

And by the time the hook's deep inside, you may not be able to, you may not be able to get it out on your own.

And that's why this evening I want to talk about sin.

In the way that Satan loves to withhold the the consequences of that sin until you're already in too deep.

In this evening I have 3 objectives that I want to cover tonight.

The first is I want us to be able to understand that sin can be a delight to the eyes.

And secondly, I want to showcase three men in the scriptures who they didn't understand the consequences of their sin until it was too late.

And then finally, I want us to understand that only with God's help can we have those hooks removed from our lives and be freed from our sin.

In this evening, of course, we're gonna start with how sin can become delightful to the eyes, and I couldn't think of a better example than the beginning of mankind, Adam and Eve.

And in Genesis chapter 3, In verses 1 and 6, we are told, now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, Did God actually say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden?

And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the tree, fruit of the trees in the garden.

But God said, you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden.

Neither shall you touch it lest you die.

But the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God.

Knowing good and evil.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes.

And that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.

And she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Now, I don't want to offend any fishermen here, but sin is a lot like a sweet treat on a hook.

And the treat can initially taste great when the fish bites into it or when the fish sees it.

Just like Eve did.

But before you can see the hook of sin, just like that, it's embedded itself into your life.

And it will drag you deeper into a life of sin.

And Satan feels a great sense of accomplishment when we allow his hooks of sin to drag us into his captivity, just like this fisherman with his grin.

And in Galatians chapter 5, verses 1617 verse 24, Paul is desperately trying to explain that the desires of the flesh are evil and sinful.

In Galatians chapter 43 verses 16 to 17, Paul says, but I say walk by the spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh, for the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things that you want to do.

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

So we can clearly see that as Christians, we are commanded to exercise self-control whenever it comes to our flesh into things that look desirable to us.

And now that we've discussed the idea that sin can become desirable to our eyes.

I want to start with my, with my three examples, I'm gonna start with David and Bathsheba.

And if you would turn over to 2 Samuel chapter 11, I'll be reading the 1st 5 verses.

2 Samuel chapter 11 verses 1 through 163.

In the spring of that of the year, the time when kings go to go out to battle, David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabba.

But David remained at Jerusalem.

It happened late one afternoon when David arose from his couch and was walking.

Walking on the roof of the king's house, and he saw from the roof a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful, and David sent and inquired about the woman, and one said, Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Ellam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her.

Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.

Then she returned to her house, and the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, I am pregnant.

And after committing adultery with Uriah's wife and getting her pregnant, David then Decides, well, I have to commit murder now.

And in 2 Samuel chapter 11 verses 14 and 17, just skipping on a few verses down, starting in verse 14 of chapter 11.

In the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

In the letter he wrote, set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting.

And then draw back from him that he may be struck down and die.

And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men.

And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell.

Uriah the Hittite also died.

And skipping down to verse 26 and 27.

And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah, her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband.

And when she, when the morning was over, David sent and brought her to his house.

And she became his wife and bore him a son.

But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

I think it's very clear to see towards the end of David and Bathsheba's story.

David did not plan for this for this situation to unfold the way that it did.

And I can only speculate as to what David was thinking after realizing that he had sunk so low.

David may have thought all I wanted to do was inquire about that beautiful woman.

Or I didn't plan on murdering one of my most loyal soldiers in order to keep my adultery quiet.

And I didn't plan disgracing the Lord to all the neighboring nations around me so that the sword may never leave my house and my first born will die.

I don't think he planned it out that way.

And the effects of sin sometimes have an unfortunate way of creeping up on us.

And sneaking up on our lives.

And only when we are confronted with the consequences of our sin, do we realize just how far we have strayed from the Lord.

The second man I want to discuss this evening was actually from our scripture reading, and that's from uh Daniel chapter 4 and verse 13 to 33, and that's King Nebuchadnezzar.

Of course, King Nebuchadnezzar did not give God the respect or the credit for all that had been given to him all the way from his crown to his victories in battle.

And I know it was just read, but I want to read it again in Daniel chapter 4 and verses 28 to 33.

All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar.

At the end of the 12 months, he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and the king answered and said, Is this not the great Babylon which I have built?

My majesty, my mighty power as a royal residence for the glory of my majesty?

While the words were still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, Oh well, King of King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken.

The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and you shall be made to eat grass like an ox.

And 7 periods of time shall pass over you until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.

And immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his till his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers and his nails like bird's claws.

Nebuchadnezzar was warned.

About what would happen to him, but he didn't heed the interpretation or the warning of his dream.

And because of his arrogance, God punished Nebuchadnezzar in the way that he was humbled before the side of the Lord.

And finally, My third and final example is Manasa, the boy king.

In 2 Kings chapter 21 and verses 1 through 103, if you would turn over there with me.

2 Kings chapter 21 and verses 1 through 22.

Manassa was 23 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 24 years in Jerusalem.

His mother's name was Hezvah, and he didn't, and he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the despicable practices of the nations of whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.

For he rebuilt the high places that that Hezekiah, his father had destroyed, and he erected the altars for Bale and made in Ashara as Ahab, king of Israel, had done and worshiped all the hosts of heaven and served them.

And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said in Jerusalem, will I put my name.

And he built altars for all the hosts of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord, and he burned his son.

As an offering and used fortune telling and omens and dealt with mediums and necromancer.

He did much evil.

In the side of the Lord provoking him to anger.

So here we can see from these short, short 24 verses, Manasseh was very evil king who made God angry with the countless atrocities that he had done against the Lord.

And of course, in 216 Chronicles chapter 21, we see where God speaks to Manasseh directly.

And warns him, Don't push me any further.

And Manasseh chose not to listen to the Lord to the Lord's warnings, and so God allowed the Assyrians to come in and take Manasse prisoner into a foreign land.

Away from God.

Now if we really want to think about it, Manassa is a lot like a mouse in a jar.

And if you put a mouse inside of a jar full of food, and as he eats, the mouse will continually sink lower and as he eats, he's gonna sink further and further to the bottom.

And while we don't normally know what mice think, Mr. Mouse was interviewed at a later date and just, this is how it went.

The interviewer begins, Well, Mr. Mouse, how did you manage to get trapped at the bottom of that jar?

And Mr. Mouse replies, well, I was about halfway through the food, the jar full of food.

And I could still see the top.

You know, I thought, you know, I could pull myself out whenever I'm ready.

But then by the time I ate my fill, I saw glass underneath my feet and I could not reach the top.

I was trapped and at that point, I confess I panicked.

And the interviewer says, so what did you do?

And Mr. Mouse replies, I couldn't do anything.

If it hadn't been for someone there to help me out, I would still be in that jar.

And the entrapment of sin is often a trap of our own creation.

And just like Mr. Mouse eating the food in the jar, we can sometimes lose the sense of just how far that we've sunk in life.

And by the time we realize our sorrowful condition, it may be impossible for us to get out on our own.

But now that we've heard 133 examples, well actually 213 examples, including Mr. Mouse's account.

I want to give us some hope this evening.

Cause even though when we get ourselves into sinful situations, God is always gonna be waiting there to redeem us and to save us.

In 210 Chronicles chapter 216 verses 10 to 20, as I referenced earlier, if you would turn over there.

This is the account of God's redemption of Manasseh.

Of course, after all, we have heard about the atrocities, and he's been led away.

Into a foreign land, we start in verse 10 of chapter 33.

The Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention.

Therefore, the Lord brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manassa with hooks.

And bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon.

And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God.

And humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.

He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom.

Then Manasa knew that the Lord was God.

And of course, we see if we continue to read past verse 20 we see that he took away as soon as he's put back into power in Jerusalem, he takes away all the foreign gods and idols from the house of the Lord.

He even goes as far to take all the altars from the mountain of the house of the Lord and threw them outside of the city.

And then finally, he restored the altar of the Lord and offers, offered sacrifices in the high place to the Lord.

And just like so many of us today must experience, unfortunately, Manasse had to experience the consequences of his sins before he realized, I need to make a change.

And he had to be led away from his home by hooks with chains of bronze before he would seek the forgiveness of the Lord.

But I want to say that I am thankful that God allowed Manasse to have a second chance.

But it's unfortunate that Manasse had to put himself through all these horrible situations.

Before realizing his foolishness.

And when we incur sin in our lives, God is able and willing to forgive us no matter the sin.

And Paul was living evidence of this fact.

And in 1 Timothy chapter 103 and verses 12 to 17, we see where Paul says, I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus, our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service.

Though formerly I was a blasphemer, a persecutor, an insolent opponent, but I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our of our Lord overflowed for me.

And with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus, the saying is trustworthy and deserving a full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I And the foremost But I received mercy for this reason that in me as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display his perfect patience.

As an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life, to the king of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, the honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

So after hearing Paul's testimony, He didn't even know he was in a jar.

When Jesus saved him.

Which only tells me that we serve a God of mercy.

And in 1 Timothy chapter 2 verses 3 and 4, we're told this is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God, our Savior, who is, who desires all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

And that was Paul.

Paul came to a knowledge of the truth, and that is what saved him from that jar that he had put himself in.

And in Hebrews chapter 4, verse 16.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help.

In time of need.

And like we mentioned earlier, both grown-ups and youngins.

Sometimes really have a hard time seeing the consequences and the camouflaged hooks that are hidden in all of the glitter.

And sometimes it can be very difficult for us to see what the consequences of our sin can be and the effects that it will have on our lives and on others.

And Paul tells us that the Lord offers a way of escape for our temptation, because no temptation is beyond what we can handle as we're told in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 in verse 13, as it says, no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.

God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.

And secondly, we must be vigilant to recognize temptation.

In Matthew chapter 10, verse 16, we are told, behold, I'm sending you out a sheep into the midst of wolves.

So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves as Jesus told his disciples.

The Lord sent his only begotten Son to this earth to die on a Roman cross because he loved the world so much that he wished that none would perish, but that all would come and find eternal everlasting life with him.

But sin has physical consequences, and I think we all understand that.

But it also always has spiritual consequences which can become eternal.

And if you're not a Christian, You have fallen prey to the spiritual consequence.

To the to the hooks hidden in the glitter.

And if this is the case, then you have been pulled away from God by these hooks deeper into sin and deeper into Satan's captivity, as we said earlier.

And just like God redeemed Manasseh, the king of Judah, who was dragged away from his home by hooks.

God wants you to be redeemed as well.

He wants to bring you back under his protection, hookless.

And in order to receive this redemption and protection.

You must fulfill the requirements in order to become a child of his.

And if you're already a Christian, Maybe you've been diligent and faithful for a very long time.

But a hunk, but a hook has sunk its barbs of sin into your life.

And you're not able to get it out.

Just because you're a Christian doesn't mean you're immune to the hooks of temptation.

And maybe this hook has a stronger hold on you than you realize.

God is willing and able to remove these hooks for you and for from your life if you will seek His forgiveness.

This evening, if you need the prayers of the congregation and you have decided You want these hooks removed from your life.

We can help with that, and God wants to do that for you.

If you are subject to the invitation this evening, please come to the front as we stand and sing.