Scripture

Jer 2:22 "For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD."

Text

Jer 2:22 ".yet thine iniquity is marked before me ."

Explanation of the Text

God sees the marks of sin

Jer 2:22 "For though thou wash thee with nitre, Wash all you will with mild acidic solutions and take thee much soap, Scrub with Lava Soap and water yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD."

And still the Lord will see the marks of sin.

Can't remove the traces of sin

Clean with whatever you will .

Send yourself to the One Hour Martinizer.
Dip yourself in the River Ganges.
Boil yourself in a Hot Spring.

Can't cover up the marks of sin

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Jezebel

Jehu was under orders of God to clean out the Kingdom of Israel where he was to become King, so he drove his chariot furiously to Jezreel, shot an arrow into Joash, right where his suspenders crossed and came screaming into the city.

2 Ki 9:30 "And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window."
2 Ki 9:31 "And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?"
2 Ki 9:32 "And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs."
2 Ki 9:33 "And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot."

Jezebel got what was coming to her.
The wicked old woman had plotted the death of Naboth and Noboth's family and many others.
She had lived a life of an idolator.
She henpecked her weak husband Ahab,
and dominated her son Joash.
She had something on her that was not going to be washed off with soap and water.
She had something on her that all that paint she put on her face was not going to hide.
Dr. Denton Cooley could not have removed it with a scaple.
She had a boat load of sinfulness and a heart load of guilt.
It all climaxed on the pavement in Jezreel and it could not be hid from Jehu who saw through her caked on covering.

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Cain

Can't remove the traces of sin

It does not make any difference how well you wash yourself with soap or how well you wash yourself with an acid cleaner, you are not going to remove the mark that sin leaves behind.

Gen 4:3 "And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD."
Gen 4:4 "And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:"
Gen 4:5 "But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell."
Gen 4:6 "And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?"
Gen 4:7 "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him."
Gen 4:8 "And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him."
Gen 4:9 "And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?"
Gen 4:10 "And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground."
Gen 4:11 "And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;"
Gen 4:12 "When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth."
Gen 4:13 "And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear."
Gen 4:14 "Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me."
Gen 4:15 "And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him."

Cain killed his brother and felt guilt about it.
The Lord told him to repent but he wouldn't.
The Lord put a mark on Cain to designate him as a sinner and as one whom the Lord would take vengeance upon.
The mark was not going to be washed off or tattooed over or hidden by clothing or explained away as a Birthmark
If you don't believe me this morning that sin will mark you for life. Believe Cain.
But the most remarkable thing about the story of Cain, with all of his rottenness, with all of his non-caring for his brother with all of his callousness for the things of God.
Even with the mark that God put on him to show what he was, some mother's daughter married him.
It was not like she didn't know what was going on she had to be his sister or niece or cousin or etc.
But she married him any way.
What good does it do to be markedif folks will not read what they see?
What good does it do for God to show us our own sin and the sin of others if we pay no attention to the marks?

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Illustration

When I was very young, I heard my older brother tell another boy, if he didn't control his mouth that my brother would put something on his face that he wasn't going to be able to wash off.
The other fellow got control of his tongue.

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Passover

God set a mark on the door posts that could not be washed off for His people.

Exo 12:7 "And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it."

Skip down to verse 12

Exo 12:12 "For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD."
Exo 12:13 "And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt."

Thank the Lord that He has His own way of marking things.
If a person is marked like Jezebel or Cain and is Lost to Eternal Judgment Fires their mark is plain, their mark is obvious, their mark will never be removed.
But, if they would have just come to the Passover where the Lord does not look at the marks inside the house but just looks at the Blood on the door posts outside the house.
They could have been pastover
You see the marks of sin are forever in their place. The Lord just chooses not to look at that evidence but looks at the evidence of the Blood of His Son, and passes over.

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Book of Remembrances

When each of us places that Blood on the Door Posts of our Heart the Lord's Death Angel passes over and another mark is inscribed.
Not on the person, but for the person.
The Lord will write down the information for future reference.

Mal 3:16 "Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name."
Mal 3:17 "And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him."
2 Cor 1:22 "Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts."

Not only are the remembrances written down, but the souls of those same people are sealed until the Last Day.

Other Marks

But there are other kinds of Marks that people receive because of sin.

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Mark of the Beast

Rev 13:11 "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon."
Rev 13:12 "And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed."
Rev 13:13 "And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,"
Rev 13:14 "And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live."
Rev 13:15 "And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed."
Rev 13:16 "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:"
Rev 13:17 "And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."
Rev 13:18 "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six."

Those that worship the beast will have 666 put on their hand or forehead.
Because of sin they will get a mark that cannot be washed off.
Some will say .
but I will hide it, I will not let people see the mark that sin leaves.

Listen to the Scriptures .

Num 32:22 "And the land be subdued before the LORD: then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless before the LORD, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD."
Num 32:23 "But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out."

Everyone in continuous sin thinks they are not known and that there will be no answering for their sin.
But sin leaves a mark and God knows and everyone else will know as well.
Try to wash it off, try to cover it up, try to explain it away, the mark will still be there.

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Joseph's brothers

Joseph's brothers lived many years fearful of being found out and they were.
Their mark never left them.
Maybe it could not be seen with the eyes, but any wary on-looker would have know.

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God sees all

Psa 90:8 "Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance."

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How does sin leave its mark?

What does sin do to show itself?
How does sin go about marking its victims?
What are the Tell-Tale signs?
This is what sin does .

Sin puts a bitterness on the heart and after a while the face will show sin's bitterness. Then .
Sin will put criticism on the tongue.
Sin will put a guiltiness on the heart.
Sin will put a fear in the feet.
Sin will put a wringing in the hands.
Sin will put wrinkles in the face.
Sin will put uneasiness in the voice.
Sin will put the fidgets in the fingers.
Sin will put deafness in the ears.
Sin will put stubbornness in the mind.
Sin will put a buckling in the knees.
Sin will put jello in the spine.
Sin will put yellow on the back.
Sin will put shame in the soul.
Sin will put a beam in the eye.
Sin will put retreat in the charge.
Sin will tie the tongue of our prayers.
Sin will cause the right hand of fellowship to wither up.

Sin is even able to effect the things we own.

Sin puts holes in the purse which others will follow and pick up our coins.
Sin puts cracks in the Cistern, which will cause everyone to wonder why we are so dry.
Sin puts rocks in the well.
Sin puts blight on the crop.
Sin will put despair in our children.
Sin will put hopelessness in our wife.

Sin has other ways of showing itself so that everyone will know.

If sin was a horse, he would point his ears and put his lower lip between his front two hoofs and put you in the dirt.
If sin was a dog he would growl at the kids and bite the hand of his master.
If sin was a pencil it would do all in its power to keep its eraser from being used.
If sin was a cow it would give curdled milk.
If sin was your furnace if would break down on the coldest Saturday night of the year while your blankets are at the cleaners, and you just washed your hair.
If sin was your car it would break down after 5 O'Clock on a dark lonely road after just seeing some signs that say "trespassers will be shot on sight" and it will be exactly 24 hours after your warranty expired.
That is the way sin is, it will mark you with something you are not going to wash off then slap your face, embarrass you to no end, take your money, discourage your family, get you fired and let your mother-in-law be the first to know.
Sin is not your friend.

But, if sin was your friend

He would owe you money.
He would have borrowed and broke your new rifle.
He would let you down when you needed him.
He would talk about you behind your back.
He would tell your secrets to others.
He would be the one that is smiling, but holding a knife behind his back and he would be named Brutus.

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What should be done?

The mark will never go away, but .

if you come to Jesus Christ, The Father will not look at the mark of sin, He will look at the Blood, He will look at the mark of the blood of Christ.
And when it is time for Judgment, He will pass over you.

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How does a person get the Blood of Jesus on the door posts of his house?

Frist

Realize you have the Mark of Sin.

Second

Realize that God is not going to over look that mark.

Prov 28:13 "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy."

Third

Rom 5:8 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

While we were yet marked, Christ died for the sins that put the marks there.

Fourth

Rom 10:13 "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Wanting the marks removed will not remove them.
Christ dying to save us will not remove them.
They will never be removed in this life.
But calling on Christ as Savior will put the Blood on the Door Posts and the Judgment will pass over you.