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The Enormity of Sin-Radio Sermon #16
OR the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So reads the last verse of Romans 6. How far- reaching the influence of sin; how horrible the anticipation of its payday. Its implications are clear cut; to recognize it is difficult task, yet to its damning, ruinous ans infamous nature the mind of man seems blinded.
1 John 3:4 defines sin thus: "Whoso sinneth, transgresseth also the law for sin is the transgression of the law." That the law referred to here is the law of God, no thinking person will doubt. The transgressions that bring our souls into jeopardy may be in thought, in word or in action. Whatever the offence, the result is death. Therein is represented the wages paid to the transgressor. The enormity of sin cab hardly be realized, which fact accounts for the attitude manifested by the sinner. If our eyes could behold the untold misery of broken homes, broken hearts and broken lives, we would arise against the tyrant "sin" and take from him his dominion and power. If, then, we could add to that scene the horrors of a devil's hell, prepared not for man, yet to be shared by those of us who unwittingly place ourselves under his command, this discourse would be of greater effect.
The very word itself has a sinister sound. It has in it the hiss of the serpent and the sting of the devil. The wages of sin is death. Death here, as in other places. Means separation. A person is said to be dead when his spirit leaves his body. Man was dead in trespasses and sin when, by reason of his transgression, he was driven from the presence of his maker. What thought of death could be more impressive than that suggested in the fact that Adam was separated from the God who made him and that because he had sinned.
Concerning the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God has said, "Thou mayest not eat, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." The devil, the father of liars and the instigator of all sin, said, "God knows that yo shall not die, but that you shall be as God himself, knowing good from evil." This is not the last case in which the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life have taken their toll. But when our mother, Eve, observed that the fruit of the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eye and that it was a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. Gen. 3:6
God walked in the garden in the cool of the day and faced his creation with a question, "Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, 'the woman whom thou gavest to be with me , she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.' And the Lord God said unto the woman, 'what is this that thou hast done?' And the woman said, 'the serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.' And the Lord God said unto the serpent, 'because thou hast hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.' Unto the woman he said, 'I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.' And unto Adam he said, ' because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife and hast eaten of the tree of which I command thee, saying, thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorn also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread, til thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.'" Nor is that all. In that day man was driven from the beautiful garden. No longer could he talk with God face to face. Isaiah's prophetic statement is in point here: "Behold the Lord's hand is not shortened that he cannot save; neither is his ear heavy that he cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have his his face from you that he will not hear." Isa. 59:2
Note the result. Thorns, thistles, briers, sickness, disease and trouble of every description have since plagued the human race. Time and chance happeneth to them all until after a while the weary body decays and dies. Can there be any doubt that sin is here? Read the death notices in the newspapers. Every community has its burial plot in which it has placed the mortal remains of those held dear. Why in every sizeable community is there a jail or a prison house? Think then of the tortured minds and bodies of those who are kept in chains because of mental illness. Not one thing of an untoward nature can be sighted but that has come in the wake of sin.
But thanks be to God for his unspeakable gifts. He has not left us without hope. The most dreaded penalty of sin is eternal death. We cannot hope to escape the death of the body, but by his grace we may be rescued from eternal damnation. By the offering of Jesus upon the cross, provision was made which, if accepted into the heart and life of the sinner, will enable him to attain heaven and miss hell.
The law required that one die for his sins. In some way beyond our poor power to comprehend, Jesus could bear the sins of us all into the garden of sorrow and to the cross of crucifixion. In some manner he could thus satisfy divine justice on behalf of every person who is willing to accept his terms of pardon. Truly it may be said, "He tasted death for every man." Heb. 2:9, and "He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for for the sins of the whole world." 1 John 2:2. But his offering, his atonement cannot benefit the person who will have nothing to do with it. Hebrews 5:9 declares, "He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." There is no hope for the person who will not submit to the gospel plan. Paul said, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For herein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith."Romans 1:16-17 And again, "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." 1 Cor. 15:1-2
In the face of these facts it would seem that no person in all the world would decline the gospel and that all would be saved. But here lies the danger. The devil is still in our midst, beguiling us with his wily suggestions. He actually has the nature of a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8), yet so often he is transformed into an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). The are two principal difficulties standing between us and the complete evangelization of the world. They are, first, the love of and pleasure derived from sin and, second, the lack of love for and devotion to the truth. Perhaps the greatest hindrance of the two is the pleasure derived from the practice of sin. Can it be, you will inquire, that there is pleasure in sin? Our own experience teaches us that it may for a brief moment be most palatable, but with the passing of time it will bring bitterness of soul and agonizing regret. In addition to our own personal experiences which testify to the pleasure of sin, the Bible affirms that it is for a time enjoyable.
In Hebrews 11, the roll call of the faithful, we find the name of Moses. Verse 24 says, "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;" It would have been pleasurable for Moses to have continued as a prince in Egypt. There was power, wealth, prestige, many of the pleasures for which men sell their souls, but Moses knew that his rightful place was among his own people. They were captive slaves. Belonging with them, it would have been sin to have refused their cries. Moses suffered rather than enjoy the pleasure of sin. Verse 26 speaks of him as "Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward." There is pleasure in sin. It is but for a moment, but nonetheless pleasant, and that is one of the reasons why it is so difficult for us to turn our backs upon it. Once, however, having sincerely tasted the kindness and mercy of God, we are enabled to say with David in Psalm 84:10, " For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." Persisting in sin, against our better judgment, and over the protests of one's conscience, is a very dangerous practice and may result disastrously. Read 2 Thess. 2: 8-12. Here the return of the Lord is anticipated at which time "... that wicked shall be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." Now who is the wicked one? We read on, "Even him whose coming is after the working of satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. And with all deceivablness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved."
Here then is introduced the second hindrance to a full acceptance of the gospel. Some who receive the truth treat it so lightly and do not give it first place in their hearts until after a while it becomes meaningless to them. They do not learn to love that truth and just as surely as they fail here prejudice and false teachings will crowd into their heart. By and by they reach the sate of mind in which all conviction dies. 2 Thessalonians 2:11 declares this to be a result of the fact that they "received not the love of the truth." Paul says, "for this cause God will send them strong delusions, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." Here again we see that there is a certain pleasure in wrongdoing against which we must ever be on guard.
In the parable of the sower, recorded in Matt. 13, it is said that some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and choked them. Our Savior's own explanation follows in verse 22, "He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful." Friends, we must flee the pleasures of sin and the prejudice which forbids the wholehearted acceptance of God's grace. Paul warns, "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices."(2 Cor. 2:11) Hear Paul again, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid " (Rom 6:12-15).
The strict nature of the law of Moses required that punishment for sin came surely and swiftly. Under the New Testament law of Jesus Christ, God's justice is tempered with mercy. The grace of God has been bestowed upon us through Christ, but this does not allow us to take advantage of that grace and to sin intentionally and carelessly. "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" (Rom 6:16).
Here we are considered as having been in bondage to sin. Then being bought by Christ from that slavery we should give ourselves entirely to the doing of his pleasure. He will not force our allegiance, however; you may even now present yourself as a servant of sin or as a servant of righteousness as you may choose. To whom ye yield yourselves as servants, his servants you are. "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you." (Rom 6:17). Paul is not thanking God that Christians had one time sinned but rather that such practices has been terminated. They, Christians, became such and were made free from sins when they obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine. From the heart means simply after serious consideration, prayerful thought and meditation. No one is freed from sins unless he wants to be and unless he conforms to the pattern presented. The doctrine delivered was the death of Jesus Christ for our sins, his burial and resurrection.
The doctrine, of course, one cannot obey. The form of it is seen in our separation from sins and sinful practices, burial in water in full faith in the atoning blood of the Savior and in imitation of his burial and resurrection. "Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness." (Rom 6:18). And again, "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life." (Rom 6:22).
"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isa 1:18).
FOR the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So reads the last verse of Romans 6. How far- reaching the influence of sin; how horrible the anticipation of its payday. Its implications are clear cut; to recognize it is difficult task, yet to its damning, ruinous ans infamous nature the mind of man seems blinded.
1 John 3:4 defines sin thus: "Whoso sinneth, transgresseth also the law for sin is the transgression of the law." That the law referred to here is the law of God, no thinking person will doubt. The transgressions that bring our souls into jeopardy may be in thought, in word or in action. Whatever the offence, the result is death. Therein is represented the wages paid to the transgressor. The enormity of sin cab hardly be realized, which fact accounts for the attitude manifested by the sinner. If our eyes could behold the untold misery of broken homes, broken hearts and broken lives, we would arise against the tyrant "sin" and take from him his dominion and power. If, then, we could add to that scene the horrors of a devil's hell, prepared not for man, yet to be shared by those of us who unwittingly place ourselves under his command, this discourse would be of greater effect.
The very word itself has a sinister sound. It has in it the hiss of the serpent and the sting of the devil. The wages of sin is death. Death here, as in other places. Means separation. A person is said to be dead when his spirit leaves his body. Man was dead in trespasses and sin when, by reason of his transgression, he was driven from the presence of his maker. What thought of death could be more impressive than that suggested in the fact that Adam was separated from the God who made him and that because he had sinned.
Concerning the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God has said, "Thou mayest not eat, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." The devil, the father of liars and the instigator of all sin, said, "God knows that yo shall not die, but that you shall be as God himself, knowing good from evil." This is not the last case in which the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life have taken their toll. But when our mother, Eve, observed that the fruit of the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eye and that it was a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. Gen. 3:6
God walked in the garden in the cool of the day and faced his creation with a question, "Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, 'the woman whom thou gavest to be with me , she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.' And the Lord God said unto the woman, 'what is this that thou hast done?' And the woman said, 'the serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.' And the Lord God said unto the serpent, 'because thou hast hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.' Unto the woman he said, 'I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.' And unto Adam he said, ' because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife and hast eaten of the tree of which I command thee, saying, thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorn also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread, til thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.'" Nor is that all. In that day man was driven from the beautiful garden. No longer could he talk with God face to face. Isaiah's prophetic statement is in point here: "Behold the Lord's hand is not shortened that he cannot save; neither is his ear heavy that he cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have his his face from you that he will not hear." Isa. 59:2
Note the result. Thorns, thistles, briers, sickness, disease and trouble of every description have since plagued the human race. Time and chance happeneth to them all until after a while the weary body decays and dies. Can there be any doubt that sin is here? Read the death notices in the newspapers. Every community has its burial plot in which it has placed the mortal remains of those held dear. Why in every sizeable community is there a jail or a prison house? Think then of the tortured minds and bodies of those who are kept in chains because of mental illness. Not one thing of an untoward nature can be sighted but that has come in the wake of sin.
But thanks be to God for his unspeakable gifts. He has not left us without hope. The most dreaded penalty of sin is eternal death. We cannot hope to escape the death of the body, but by his grace we may be rescued from eternal damnation. By the offering of Jesus upon the cross, provision was made which, if accepted into the heart and life of the sinner, will enable him to attain heaven and miss hell.
The law required that one die for his sins. In some way beyond our poor power to comprehend, Jesus could bear the sins of us all into the garden of sorrow and to the cross of crucifixion. In some manner he could thus satisfy divine justice on behalf of every person who is willing to accept his terms of pardon. Truly it may be said, "He tasted death for every man." Heb. 2:9, and "He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for for the sins of the whole world." 1 John 2:2. But his offering, his atonement cannot benefit the person who will have nothing to do with it. Hebrews 5:9 declares, "He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." There is no hope for the person who will not submit to the gospel plan. Paul said, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For herein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith."Romans 1:16-17 And again, "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." 1 Cor. 15:1-2
In the face of these facts it would seem that no person in all the world would decline the gospel and that all would be saved. But here lies the danger. The devil is still in our midst, beguiling us with his wily suggestions. He actually has the nature of a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8), yet so often he is transformed into an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). The are two principal difficulties standing between us and the complete evangelization of the world. They are, first, the love of and pleasure derived from sin and, second, the lack of love for and devotion to the truth. Perhaps the greatest hindrance of the two is the pleasure derived from the practice of sin. Can it be, you will inquire, that there is pleasure in sin? Our own experience teaches us that it may for a brief moment be most palatable, but with the passing of time it will bring bitterness of soul and agonizing regret. In addition to our own personal experiences which testify to the pleasure of sin, the Bible affirms that it is for a time enjoyable.
In Hebrews 11, the roll call of the faithful, we find the name of Moses. Verse 24 says, "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;" It would have been pleasurable for Moses to have continued as a prince in Egypt. There was power, wealth, prestige, many of the pleasures for which men sell their souls, but Moses knew that his rightful place was among his own people. They were captive slaves. Belonging with them, it would have been sin to have refused their cries. Moses suffered rather than enjoy the pleasure of sin. Verse 26 speaks of him as "Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward." There is pleasure in sin. It is but for a moment, but nonetheless pleasant, and that is one of the reasons why it is so difficult for us to turn our backs upon it. Once, however, having sincerely tasted the kindness and mercy of God, we are enabled to say with David in Psalm 84:10, " For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." Persisting in sin, against our better judgment, and over the protests of one's conscience, is a very dangerous practice and may result disastrously. Read 2 Thess. 2: 8-12. Here the return of the Lord is anticipated at which time "... that wicked shall be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." Now who is the wicked one? We read on, "Even him whose coming is after the working of satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. And with all deceivablness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved."
Here then is introduced the second hindrance to a full acceptance of the gospel. Some who receive the truth treat it so lightly and do not give it first place in their hearts until after a while it becomes meaningless to them. They do not learn to love that truth and just as surely as they fail here prejudice and false teachings will crowd into their heart. By and by they reach the sate of mind in which all conviction dies. 2 Thessalonians 2:11 declares this to be a result of the fact that they "received not the love of the truth." Paul says, "for this cause God will send them strong delusions, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." Here again we see that there is a certain pleasure in wrongdoing against which we must ever be on guard.
In the parable of the sower, recorded in Matt. 13, it is said that some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and choked them. Our Savior's own explanation follows in verse 22, "He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful." Friends, we must flee the pleasures of sin and the prejudice which forbids the wholehearted acceptance of God's grace. Paul warns, "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices."(2 Cor. 2:11) Hear Paul again, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid " (Rom 6:12-15).
The strict nature of the law of Moses required that punishment for sin came surely and swiftly. Under the New Testament law of Jesus Christ, God's justice is tempered with mercy. The grace of God has been bestowed upon us through Christ, but this does not allow us to take advantage of that grace and to sin intentionally and carelessly. "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" (Rom 6:16).
Here we are considered as having been in bondage to sin. Then being bought by Christ from that slavery we should give ourselves entirely to the doing of his pleasure. He will not force our allegiance, however; you may even now present yourself as a servant of sin or as a servant of righteousness as you may choose. To whom ye yield yourselves as servants, his servants you are. "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you." (Rom 6:17). Paul is not thanking God that Christians had one time sinned but rather that such practices has been terminated. They, Christians, became such and were made free from sins when they obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine. From the heart means simply after serious consideration, prayerful thought and meditation. No one is freed from sins unless he wants to be and unless he conforms to the pattern presented. The doctrine delivered was the death of Jesus Christ for our sins, his burial and resurrection.
The doctrine, of course, one cannot obey. The form of it is seen in our separation from sins and sinful practices, burial in water in full faith in the atoning blood of the Savior and in imitation of his burial and resurrection. "Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness." (Rom 6:18). And again, "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life." (Rom 6:22).
"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isa 1:18).
