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Scripture Reading: 24, John 8:34, 36
In the human life there are many problems. In addition to the problem of emptiness, there is the problem of sin. In a real sense, sin is the most troublesome problem in human life. In the course of our human life, we are all troubled by sin. When we consider our condition, the condition of the people and families around us, and the condition of today’s society, we realize that sin is everywhere.
The testimony of our conscience proves that the human life is full of sins. If we examine our conduct, we will see that we are full of offenses and unrighteousness in dealing with our relatives, with society, and with our country. If we consider our family members one by one, we will have to bow our heads and say that our family is not up to standard. If we broaden our scope and consider our society, we will be convinced that society is full of sinful and perverse things. Every day, whether in the newspapers or on television, nothing is suitable for the eyes. The movies in the theaters are filled with filth and lust, and all around us sinful activities, such as dancing in nightclubs and gambling in casinos, are taking place. This shows that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart is evil and corrupt (Gen. 6:5).
Nothing is more damaging to human life than the sin within man. Although it is true that diseases are dreadful and that many people are fearful of the germs that can destroy human lives, they may not see that there is something within man that is more dreadful than disease. Sin is highly contagious and can spread rapidly. If we consider the matter of sin a little further, we will realize that sin damages man more severely than disease. Many capable youths have been corrupted by sin from the beginning of their lives, and many highly educated young people with brilliant and clear minds have not only lost their dignity but also destroyed their precious lives because of the poison and contamination of sin.
Many people realize that the mass media report innumerable occurrences of people being damaged by sin in our society. Every day sin ruins many precious young souls and destroys many happy families. Due to the invasion of sin, the harmony between husband and wife is lost, and the sweetness of love deteriorates. Some parents, having been infected by sin, display all kinds of corrupt behavior in the presence of their children and thus imprint their corrupt condition into their children. It is rare to find any family in which the parents are proper patterns to their children.
Many wives like to play mah-jongg, and others like to watch movies or go dancing or window-shopping. The wives who love to play mah-jongg often leave their children to nannies or maids and return home late at night. Those who like to go dancing rarely take proper care of their children or have adequate concern for their children’s studies. Rather, they go dancing all night long. The wives who like to watch movies often abandon their housework and leave their homes in disorder in order to seek pleasure at the movie theater. If this is the condition of many wives, how can anyone expect to have a proper family or well-trained children? In addition, some husbands do shameful and disgraceful things behind the backs of their wife and children. Over time, not only the wife but also the children learn of the husband’s corruption and immorality. This leaves the wife resentful and grieved and the children unhappy and wronged. All these examples show how much more damaging sin is to the family than any kind of disease.
Sin not only corrupts individuals and damages families but also harms society and destroys countries. Hence, in order to have a safe and peaceful society and a prosperous and powerful country, we need to not only eradicate every kind of disease and germ but also to deal with every kind of sin. How much damage and destruction have been inflicted upon our society and country by criminals and evildoers! Sin has attacked and damaged every aspect of human life, including the life of the individual, the family, the society, and the country.
In addition to damaging man, sin rules over man and makes him a slave of sin. In John 8:34 the Lord Jesus said, “Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.” A slave is a person who has sold himself to a master and has thereby lost his freedom. In this sense, those who sin have sold themselves to sin. The fact that the wives who like to play mah-jongg disregard their family, abandon their husband, and neglect their children and play mah-jongg habitually shows that they have become slaves to mah-jongg. They have sold themselves along with their husband and children to mah-jongg. Sin is a fierce and cruel master, and those who sin are unconsciously enslaved by it. Although people in today’s society strongly advocate freedom, no one who sins has true freedom. Rather, all who sin are slaves of sin and are under the bondage of sin.
To obtain true freedom is to be delivered from sin (vv. 11b, 32, 36). Anyone who is free does not sin; rather, he is released from sin and transcends sin. However, who has the ability to transcend sin and to stay outside of sin? Who is not under the bondage of sin? Sin not only rules over a man while he is living but eventually sends him into death. The Bible says that “the wages of sin is death” and that “the soul who sins...shall die” (Rom. 6:23, Ezek. 18:4). Our experience testifies also that those who sin a great deal usually have a short life.
In a negative sense, a person who desires to have a short life and who leads a life of dissipation will eventually see the fulfillment of his desire. Man’s road to suicide is sin, and whoever lives in sin will end up in death. Actually, to sin is to commit a slow suicide. A person who plays mah-jongg every day and returns home late every night will find it difficult to adequately care for his responsibilities. In addition, he may become tempestuous, have an attitude of reproach and hatred toward others, be at odds with his family, and have an unloving attitude toward his children. Such a person will have no happiness in human relations or peace in his human life. In addition, a person who habitually plays mah-jongg is susceptible to getting angry and causing trouble. Thus, it will be difficult for him to avoid illness over time. Playing mah-jongg consumes a person’s physical and mental strength and is only one example of a sin that can lead to sickness. There are many other sinful things that lead to sickness and eventually to death. Sin rules over man and delivers man into the realm of death.
Everyone who has sinned knows the misery of sin and desires to be delivered from sin. However, deliverance from sin is not in human hands. Many who have attempted to free themselves from sin have failed. Although it is easy to be contaminated by sin, it is difficult to rid oneself of sin. Trying to rid oneself of sin is as difficult as an addict trying to give up his harmful habit. Anyone who develops a bad habit will find it difficult to get rid of such a habit.
A believer once testified of his suffering from his inability to refrain from sin. Prior to his salvation he loved to dance. He would dance from sunset until two or three o’clock in the morning. However, each time he went dancing, he developed back pains from dancing, and whenever he arrived at home, he would not care to undress but would simply fall asleep on his bed. He often regretted his going out to dance and often determined not to dance again. When morning came, he would decide not to dance that day so that he would not cause himself trouble again. His resolution not to dance would remain firm until noon. However, by the afternoon the inner voice that told him not to dance was not as loud as in the morning, and by sunset, when the neon lights on the streets were on, he would begin to dance inwardly and would inevitably walk to the entrance of a dance hall and go in to dance. This brother’s testimony describes man’s pitiful condition of helplessness in sin.
People sometimes ask whether a person can still watch movies after believing in Jesus. Preachers often find this question difficult to answer. If they answer yes, it will readily become a matter of dispute, because people might misunderstand the answer. Although many movies are proper, the improper movies greatly outnumber the proper ones, and many people prefer the improper movies to the proper ones. Hence, it is difficult to answer this question.
However, if a preacher replies that one cannot watch movies after believing in the Lord Jesus, some people would decide not to believe in the Lord Jesus because they still want to watch movies. This situation is similar to that of a child who is playing with a sharp knife. His mother may realize that it is dangerous for her child to play in this way, but she may not know how to seize the knife from her child. A clever mother would simply throw a few pieces of chocolate on the floor. When her child sees the chocolate, he will be attracted and will spontaneously drop the knife and pick up the chocolate with both hands. Once the child picks up the chocolate, he will have no desire for the knife.
Our answer to the question concerning watching movies is to apply the story of the clever mother. If a person is full of Christ within, he will spontaneously drop the “knife” of watching movies. A person loves to watch movies because he is empty and does not have the Lord within him. Because he is empty, he feels bored and needs to entertain himself. Hence, he goes to the movies to make himself happy. However, when a person has the Lord as his true satisfaction, and the Lord becomes his happiness and fills every need within him, he will testify that he no longer needs the “knives.”
In the past our answer to this question touched a lady and caused her to receive the Lord. After she was saved, she became joyful and testified in a meeting, saying, “Thank the Lord, I no longer need movies, because I have Christ within.” People who do not have the Lord are empty inside and have no satisfaction. Since they have no real hope or genuine happiness, they can only live in sin and seek the pleasures of sin. This is a basic cause of man’s sinning.
God is the source of all goodness. God is good, and without Him there is no goodness (Mark 10:18; Luke 18:19). Genuine goodness is God Himself. This is similar to the fact that electricity from the power plant is the source of light in our homes. Without the electricity, there is no light. Likewise, without God, there is no goodness. In contrast to God as the source of goodness, the devil is the source of evil. In whomever the devil is, works of evil will be manifested (John 8:44), and in whomever God is, goodness will be manifested (Eph. 2:10; 5:8-9).
God is not only the source of goodness but also the power to do good. A believer’s power to do good is God Himself. An electric fan turns continuously not by its own power but by the electric current that flows through it. A Christian can be loving, just, unbiased, and righteous in dealing with people and things, not because he has the ability in himself but because God is in him as his power to do good. Whenever God enters into a person and energizes him, he no longer needs to make up his mind to do good but spontaneously becomes a person who does good.
The Chinese have different aspects of education — moral, intellectual, physical, and social. They also have different terms in the Chinese dictionary to describe intellectual ability or power and physical ability. However, there is no term to describe moral ability, that is, the power to be moral. In the same way that an electric fan needs electrical power in order to function, man needs moral power in order to have morality and goodness. Some people are physically strong and can lift several hundred pounds. Others are wise and have a large intellectual capacity for planning and devising strategies. However, when we consider man’s moral conduct, it is apparent that man is powerless with respect to morality. Although man may have physical and intellectual power, he does not have moral power, because he does not have God within him.
Man’s lack of God causes him to seek entertainment and pleasure in sins. Because he does not have God within, he does not have the power to do good, and when he desires to do good, he is often helpless.
God is the unique power through whom we can break away from sin. He alone is able to deliver us from sin. If we desire to overcome sin, it is meaningless and vain for us to make up our mind and determine to sin no more. The unique way to be delivered from sin is to receive God and allow Him to come into us. Just as an electric fan operates because it is switched on and allows electricity to flow through it, so we are delivered from sin to do good by contacting God and allowing Him to flow through us as our power. When God comes into our inner being and touches our inward parts, our entire being is revolutionized. Formerly, we might have been going downward, committing sins and doing evil things. However, after God touches us, our whole being is turned upward, and goodness is manifested in our conduct. God’s operating power within man is beyond man’s own ability.
Once when I was preaching the gospel in northern China, I met a friend of mine. When he saw me, he praised the Lord and told me of his experience of believing in the Lord Jesus. From his youth he was at odds with his mother. He disliked her and was resentful toward her and even ran away from home because of their poor relationship. One day he heard the gospel, repented, believed, and received the Lord Jesus as his Savior. After his salvation he did not remember the problem between himself and his mother but simply prayed to the Lord. One day after he prayed, he wept bitterly for no apparent reason. His inward being was touched by some kind of power so that he wailed and felt sorrowful concerning his relationship with his mother. Although he was far away from home, he immediately purchased a train ticket to return to his hometown on the following day. As soon as he saw his mother, he knelt before her and confessed to her. From that day onward, his mother became a person whom he loved and honored, and whenever he thought of her, he was always happy within. He testified that the power to be happy with his mother was not from himself but was Christ within him.
Another brother, prior to his believing in the Lord, offended his wife greatly and disliked her. One day, after believing in the Lord, God touched his inner being and caused him to regret his attitude toward his wife. As soon as he returned home, the first thing he did was to confess to his wife and seek her forgiveness. The power that motivated this brother to seek forgiveness and to love his wife did not originate from himself but came from God’s touch within. This kind of experience is not uncommon among believers.
Some people may say that these experiences are “superstitious” and are not for this modern age. However, many believers can testify that these experiences are not superstitious but practical. About half a century ago, when I was studying in elementary school, an elderly man stood up and said that in the future there would not only be cable telephones but also wireless telephones. People would be able to speak to one another on the telephone without any wire connections. When I heard that, I responded that it was absurd. Today, however, by means of electric waves a person who is speaking in America can be heard in Taiwan over a wireless radio. What seemed to be mysterious in the past is becoming quite ordinary today because people now know how to utilize electric waves.
God is Spirit (John 4:24). He is not physical, tangible, or visible. Electricity also is invisible. Man can see only the manifestation of electricity but not electricity itself. However, even though no one has seen electricity, some people have touched electricity. In a similar sense, even though man cannot see God, His Spirit can touch man’s inner being. If man repents to God and receives Christ as his Savior, God’s Spirit will enter into man and touch him. God is light, holiness, and goodness (1 John 1:5; Lev. 11:45). As soon as He touches man’s inner being, the darkness in man will be changed into light, the filthiness in man will be changed into holiness, and the evil within man will be changed into goodness (Eph. 5:8; Ezek. 36:25). God is the source of goodness as well as the power for doing good. When He touches a man’s inner being, that man’s entire life will be revolutionized, and there will be a motivating power for him to do good and to have an upward turn in his life.
The way to obtain God is to repent, confess, and receive Christ by believing. If we repent and confess our sins before the Lord and open our heart to receive Him as our Savior, He will come into our inner being. He will not only save us and deliver us from our sin but will also take away the record of our sins before God. By shedding His blood on the cross, the Lord accomplished redemption for us. Today He desires to enter into us to be our life and power. Once He enters, He will break sin’s authority over us and deliver us from sin. In this way we will be persons who obtain true freedom and true satisfaction.
Although man’s sins are like scarlet, once God enters into man, he will be as white as snow (Isa. 1:18). Furthermore, as many as receive the Lord Jesus, to them He gives authority to become children of God (John 1:12). As the source of all goodness and the power to do good, God desires to enter into you so that your entire life may be changed.
