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“You’ve been hacked” terrible words to hear for anyone living in the 21^st century. A hacker found an opening and inserted malicious code. The Bible tells a similar story involving sin.
We have been hacked by a malicious code. Here are some things about our broken code.

• This code hides within us.

• This code is hard to scrub clean.

• This code replicates itself.

• This code messes up everything.

This presents an overwhelming challenge. It is clear we cannot fix ourselves. It is clear we need someone..

• We need someone who sees our sin.

• We need someone who can clean our sin.

• We need someone who can restore us.

Jesus is the only one to offer freedom from the code of sin.

Hacked – Bad Code from Redemption Church on Vimeo.

Hacked – Bad Code

Sermon notes by Chris Fluitt

Redemption Church Plano Tx

Welcome to Redemption Church. We are here in North Dallas, in the great city of Plano Tx. We wish everyone watching us on the internet was with us here in this room. To you in the room!  I am so glad you are here.
Please get your Bibles out and turn to James 2:10. If you don’t have a book with pages then fill free to get out your smartphone and open up a bible app or simply google the scripture passage. Our scripture is James 2:10.
We do 3 things every time we gather together. We have already worshipped together. We are about to receive the Word together. And last, but never least, we will spend time talking to God together. We want everyone to spend some time in prayer.

James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.(NIV)

God still talks. He talks in ways we don’t always expect. He will often use the physical situations around us to speak to our spiritual condition.
Early this summer, Dwight walked up to me after a service and said…
You’ve been hacked
“Excuse me?  Was the sermon that bad?”  – No the Redemption website has been hacked.  There were inappropriate things showing up. It was greatly embarrassing, alarming, and overwhelming.
Computers are difficult enough.. but when you add the complexity of servers, hosting, html code, protocols, uniform resource locators and so much more… it is overwhelming. We had been hacked.
I immediately started researching how this happened and how to fix it.  I called my hosting company looking for answers. (Please don’t glaze over as I mention technical jargon.) They said..

Locate the bad code

So they ran a scan and they came up with a list of infected files. The list was long…

Scrub the bad code

So I said “Ok! How do I do that?”  They told me to open the first file on the list. It was code. Just letters, numbers, dots, and symbols.. The code went on and on for pages and somewhere within this code was something bad.

You have to get rid of all of it or else…

The worst news was this. If I cleaned all the code but missed one instance – it would all come back. Hackers are evil!  That sent my head spinning. I spent hours trying to figure out where the bad code was on a single file. I was unsure I ever really found it. It became painfully obvious to me that I could not clean all this code on my own. I needed help.
 

I called on someone who knew the code and could clean it

We hired a professional company to scan through all these files, locate malicious code, and to scrub it.
I got off the phone with this company, knowing they would look at the website and try to save it, and I sat down and started to pray.
“Lord please let them clean every virus and remove this evil code.”

Then I heard the Lord say “Let me talk to you about your code.”

You see sin is a lot like bad code that finds a way into your life and messes everything up.
Mankind has been hacked by sin in the garden of Eden. We have been trying to fix it ever since.  We were given the Word of God. We were given the 10 commandments and the law of Moses. We were given prophets, miracles, even Jesus!  But we have never been able to solve our code problem.

locate the bad code

Now when we talk about sin you may have some thoughts come to your mind. You might say that these are your sin struggle areas.  You may say they are not “big deal sins” like other people are struggling with.
The truth is that none of us have ever been able to scan ourselves and locate all of our broken code. We all have more sin problems than we are aware of.. more problems than we can count.

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?(NIV)

Romans 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.(NIV)

locate the bad code
Heavy stuff right here.  We need to locate our sin, but we can’t. We are going to need some help. Who will we turn to?

Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.(NIV)

Psalm 139:24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.(NIV)

People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. (1 Samul 16:7)
 

We must Scrub the bad code

There are things we know are sin and we need to stop doing them.  We need to repent/turn from our sin. We need to know what the Word of God says and try to abstain from sinful works.
But that is not enough. You are not able to save yourself from your sin. You are not able to remove the code on your own.
You could memorize every one of the 613 laws of moses and try to live life by them.. but it is not enough. You need to scrub the bad code… but also..

You have to get rid of all of it or else… It comes back.

Let’s look at James 2:10 again.
 

James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.(NIV)

I want you to understand how bad sin is.  One sin messes everything up. One sin brought the fall of all mankind. And one stumble in the law means you are guilty of breaking all of it.
If you are trying to clean yourself up that is some bad news. If you are trying to save yourself by good deeds that is some terrible news.
You need help scrubbing the code of sin. You need someone that will remove ALL OF YOUR SIN!  Even the sin you are not aware of.
We need someone’s help.

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.(NIV)

Acts 22:16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.'(NIV)

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.(NIV)

Jesus we need your help.
 

We are hacked

A clever hacker found an opening… a portal.  And they inserted this code.  It was placed their probably months before it showed up as something awful.  Hackers are crafty. They place that code and let become entrenched. They let the code propagate and grow until it is out of control.

Sin lies dormant and causes problems later

Cain had no idea that the resentment and anger would lead to murder.
Samson had no idea that his rebellion and lust would lead to his capture and torture.
King Saul did understand that his disobedience would cost him his crown and his life.
King David did not think that his lust for Bathsheba would bring him to kill an innocent man and to mourn the death of a child.
Ananias & Sapphira had no clue that a lie would be lying to the Holy Spirit and leave them lying on the ground dead.
Sin can actually be enjoyable, but only for a little while.  Hebrews 11:25 talks about the pleasures of sin that only last a season.
The sin you are harboring will cause you problems later. Get rid of it now. Do not play around with something that will only bring death (Romans 6:23).

We are hacked

We need someone that knows the code better than us…  Jesus knows the code. He is the very Word of God.  He came and fulfilled the law.. The code is fulfilled by Him.
Here is what Jesus does with our broken code.
 

Colossians 2:14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.(NIV)

He takes all of our rule breaking, all our lust, all our greed, all our hate, our lies and hypocrisy… He takes all of it and nails it to the cross.
Do you want to stop trying to save yourself from your sins? Do you want to trust Jesus?
Do you want to get rid of your sin today? Come pray today. Come to the one who can scrub away all your sin.