defeating sin

1. HACK AGAG TO PIECES
1 Sam. 15:33 "And Samuel hacked Agag in
pieces before the Lord in Gilgal."
Saul was not totally obedient, and Samuel was
sent by the Lord to rebuke him
Saul was told that his kingship would be taken
from him and given to another
There are many lessons we can learn from this
Bible narrative
Another great lesson we can learn from 1 Sam.
15 is, as Saul was commanded to utterly destroy
the Amalekites, Christians are commanded to put
to death certain things

2. COL. 3:5-10
• Fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil
desire
• "God doesn't want me to be unhappy."
• Since God doesn't want me to be unhappy
I can do whatever I want
• Thus, they seek to justify themselves in
doing the very thing God hates
• Mal. 2:14-16

3. Covetousness, which is idolatry. This is another
Agag which must be hacked to pieces
• "Idolatry" is
– the religious worship of idols
– excessive admiration or devotion to any
person, place, or thing.
– Thus, when one devotes his interest, time, or
attention to something other than God, it is
idolatry
– We are to flee from covetousness just as we
are to flee from fornication and the worship of
idols 1 Tim. 6:9-11

4. Anger, wrath, malice. These are other Agags
which must be killed.
• Often in our anger we say or do things
which are sinful.
– James 1:19-20
• The one who holds his peace, though
angry, is the one who is to be admired
– Prov. 29:11

5. Blasphemy, filthy language out
of your mouth
• Filthy, off-color jokes are to be avoided
– Eph. 5:3-5
• To take the Lord's name in vain is a very
serious matter
– Ex. 20:7
• God commanded that they stone to death
the boy who blasphemed God and cursed.
Lev. 24:11-16

6. THE SINFUL DEEDS OF THE BODY MUST BE
HACKED TO PIECES. Rom. 6:6-11
• When we were buried with Christ in
baptism, we crucified, destroyed and
buried that old type of life
• It is the power of sin at work in our bodies
that must be destroyed. John 8:34
• People overlook the fact that the way out
is "up."

7. THE WHOLE SELF MUST BE HACKED TO
PIECES. Col. 3:3; 2:20; Gal. 2:20
• A basic, fundamental principle of
Christianity is the denial of self. Luke 9:23
– "When self-denial goes out of fashion, self-
fulfillment takes its place."
• If we lose ourselves for Jesus' sake, we
will save ourselves. Mark 8:34-37
• All those who are self-seeking will be lost.
Rom. 2:8-9

8. Agag came to a terrible fate
• A prophet, in obedience to God, literally cut him in
pieces.
• If we do not put to death certain evils in our lives,
we, too, will suffer a terrible fate at the hands of
God
• Sin must be dealt with ruthlessly and unmercifully
• The battle between us and sin will never end, but
the key is that we must continually be engaged in
combat
• If we do not commit ourselves to relentlessly war
against sin, it will destroy us.