MESSAGE FOR SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 28, 2009 MESSAGE 4 OF 13: Old Time Gospel Series CHRISTIAN HOPE CHURCH OF CHRIST, PLYMOUTH, NC by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister An Old Time Gospel Message On Sin (Message 4 of 13 in The Old Time Gospel Sermon Series ) Romans 6:11-14; 23 Read Scripture Text PRAYER I N T R O D U C T I O N This morning as we continue with our Old Time Gospel sermon series I would like to preach an Old Time Gospel message on SIN. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And on the seventh day God rested from all the work He had been doing. And God saw all that He had made and that it was VERY GOOD! Oh that things could be as it was in the beginning! In the beginning there was no sickness.no pain..no suffering no disease.and no death. In the beginning there was no hate..no jealousy.no envy no bitterness no resentment..and no hostility. In the beginning there was no lying..no cheating.no stealing.. no murder no rape no robbery. In the beginning there was no adultery..no child molestations no wife abuse..no drunkeness..and no drug addiction.
In the beginning there was no disorder..no chaos no conflict.. no struggle.and no discord. And God saw all that He had made and that it was very good! Everything was GOOD! In fact everything was just PERFECT! Exactly the way God created it to be! But then one day Adam and Eve did the one thing God had forbidden them to do. They ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve SINNED against Almighty God..And the fall out from that sin continues to this very day! Sin has broken up more homes ruined more reputations.. destroyed more friendships and toppled more businesses and governments than any other force on earth. Sin is at the root of every PHYSICAL problem.every SOCIAL problem.every POLITICAL problem..every ECONOMIC problem every MORAL problem..and every SPIRITUAL problem. Every problem in this world finds its origin in SIN. Sin is NO respecter of persons It doesn t matter if you are RICH or POOR YOUNG or OLD..EDUCATED or UNEDUCATED FAMOUS or OBSCURE..UPPER CLASS, MIDDLE CLASS or LOWER CLASS...CHRISTIAN or NON-CHRISTIAN. EVERYONE FEELS THE RAVAGES OF SIN!
NOAH was a sinner! MOSES was a sinner! ABRAHAM was a sinner! KING SAUL, KING DAVID and KING SOLOMON were all sinners! PETER, ANDREW, JAMES and JOHN were sinners. THE APOSTLE PAUL called himself the worst of all sinners. YOU are a sinner! I am a sinner! ALL OF US ARE SINNERS! For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God! All our righteousness is as filthy rags! There is no one who is righteous, no not one! These are the strong indictments the BIBLE makes against all mankind! This morning/evening as we think about this MOST DESTRUCTIVE FORCE ON EARTH I want us to consider these three thoughts about sin. I. WHAT SIN IS II. WHAT SIN DOES III. WHAT SIN COST
First, let s consider. I. What Sin Is 1. The Bible uses several words for SIN. (A) One of those is the word LAWLESSNESS I John 3:4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact sin is lawlessness. Now that s not very complicated or hard to understand is it? I mean we understand what it means when someone breaks the law. When we sin we break the law of God. (B) Another term the Bible uses for sin is the word TRESPASS. Romans 5:18 Consequently, just as the result of one TRESPASS was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all me Once again, this is not hard to understand. If someone trespasses on your property trespasses on your property that means they have gone someplace they are forbidden to go, doesn t it? Any time we go somewhere God has forbidden us to go we trespass.we SIN! (C) Another term the Bible uses for SIN is the word TRANSGRESSION ROMANS 4:7 Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sin is covered. That word transgression is a legal term that simply means to violate the law. And when you violate something it means to treat something irreverently or disrespectfully. So to SIN means to treat God s law with irreverence and disrespect.
2. But the term the Bible uses for SIN most often comes from the Greek word hama or hamartia. Hama or Hamartia is an archery term meaning to miss the mark. Think of an archery target. The goal for the archer is to place an arrow right dead center in the bulls eye. To hit anywhere other than that bulls eye is to miss the mark. 3. Think of God s law as the bulls eye on a target. Any time you or I break God s law trespass on God s law or transgress against God s law we MISS THE MARK.WE SIN! ********************************** Well now that we know WHAT SIN IS, let s consider II. What Sin Does Let s turn over to PSALM 51 in the Old Testament. You notice this is referred to as a Psalm of Penitence or A Psalm of Repentance. It was written by King David after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba. In this Psalm, David reveals SEVEN consequences of SIN in his life. This is what sin does to us as well.
(A) First of all SIN DIRTIES the SOUL. verses 1,2 Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love; according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions. WASH AWAY all my iniquity and CLEANSE me from my sin. Keep in mind David was a king. He dressed in royal robes. he slept on silken beds.he bathed in marble tubs.. and yet he feels filthy dirty. That is what SIN did to him. Do you know if you are a Christian and you sin, you are going to feel dirty! When a pig is wallowing in a mud hole that pig doesn t say, Woe is me, I m dirty. You see the pig doesn t feel dirty because that mud hole is where he belongs. But you and I aren t pigs! We are a child of God! And if you or I are wallowing in the mud hole of sin it ought to make us feel filthy dirty because that isn t where we belong. (B) SIN also DOMINATES the MIND verse 3 For I know my transgression, and my sin is always before me. Day and night, night and day, David s mind was tormented with the thoughts of the sin he had committed. It haunted him on his bed at night and haunted him as he sat on his royal throne in the day. Do you know it is absolutely impossible for someone who is child of God to sin and ignore it. The Holy Spirit will not let you ignore it or forget it. He will press upon your conscience day and night, night and day. He will remind you of your sin while you sleep and while you are awake. No matter where you go. No matter how hard you try to forget, that SIN is going to dominate your mind.
(C) SIN also DISGRACES the LORD verse 4 Against You,, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are proved right when You speak and justified when You judge. David was a married man at the time he committed adultery. Didn t he sin against his own wives? Yes he did! And didn t he sin against Bathsheba who was a married woman? Yes he did. And didn t he sin against Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba? Yes he did! And didn t he sin against his own children? Yes he did! And didn t he sin against the nation of Israel? Yes he did! But David realized that ultimately ALL sin is a DISGRACE to GOD! You see, sometimes an unsaved person may feel badly because of what their sin does to someone else. But a saved person will feel badly because of what his or her sin does to God. SIN DIRTIES THE SOUL.SIN DOMINATES THE MIND SIN DISGRACES THE LORD
(D) SIN also DEPRESSES the HEART verse 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. What David is describing here is depression deep, dark depression. That s what SIN does to us. It robs us of joy it robs us of happiness. It takes away our song. You see the most miserable person on earth is not a lost person. The most miserable person on earth is the Christian who is out of sweet fellowship with God. And there is only one thing that can take the joy out of a Christian s heart and that is SIN! SIN DIRTIES THE SOUL SIN DOMINATES THE MIND. SIN DISGRACES THE LORD SIN DEPRESSES THE HEART. (E) SIN also DISEASES the BODY verse 8 again Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice. When David talks about the bones You have crushed he is using a figure of speech. It literally means, God you are squeezing the life out of me. David is feeling extreme pressure because of sin in his life. And when a child of God feels that kind of pressure it can and often does have an adverse effect on the physical body. The apostle Paul expounds on this truth in I Corinthians 11 when he talks about what happens to Christians who regularly partake of the Lord s Supper in an unworthily manner. vs. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick and a number of you have fallen asleep. (asleep=died!)
Is this to suggest all sickness or all disease is the result of sin in one s life? No, not at all. But quite often when a Christian persists in a life of sin, the guilt and shame puts so much pressure on the mind and heart it actually causes the body to start breaking down. SIN DIRTIES THE SOUL SIN DOMINATES THE MIND SIN DISGRACES THE LORD SIN DEPRESSES THE HEART SIN DISEASES THE BODY (F) SIN also DEFILES the SPIRIT verses 10-12 When a child of God is out of fellowship with God because of sin, they aren t a very fun person to be around. Just like bacteria sours milk, SIN sours the spirit of the Christian. SIN causes us to be irritable and cranky all the time. SIN causes us to be negative and critical and judgmental of others. SIN sours our whole outlook on life. SIN DIRTIES THE SOUL SIN DOMINATES THE MIND SIN DISGRACES THE LORD SIN DEPRESSES THE HEART SIN DISEASES THE BODY SIN DEFILES THE SPIRIT
(G) And SIN DESTROYS one s TESTIMONY verses 13-15 Satan will do everything he can to destroy our testimony and ruin our Christian witness. And what better way to do that than to entice a Christian back into a life of sin. Christian, if there is sin in your life don t be surprised if you lose your spiritual influence over your unsaved relatives and friends! Do you see now what sin does to us? SIN DIRTIES THE SOUL SIN DOMINATES THE MIND SIN DISGRACES THE LORD SIN DEPRESSES THE HEART SIN DISEASES THE BODY SIN DEFILES THE SPIRIT SIN DESTROYS THE TESTIMONY ************* Well we have looked at WHAT SIN IS. And we have looked at WHAT SIN DOES. Finally let s consider
III. What Sin Costs 1. In the midst of all this BAD NEWS about SIN there is some GOOD NEWS and that is GOD did something to deliver us from the CURSE and the CONSEQUENCES of our sins. 2. But while SALVATION is a FREE GIFT of GOD S GRACE we must understand that SALVATION IS NOT FREE. SALVATION FROM SIN COMES AT A HIGH COSTS! (A) SIN costs the Father His only begotten Son. JOHN 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. (B) SIN costs the Son the renunciation of His glory and majesty. It costs Him the humiliation of becoming a servant. And it costs Him a horrifying death on the cross. PHILIPPIANS 2:5-8 Your attitude shold be the same as that of Christ Jesus. Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death----even death on a cross! (C) SIN costs the Holy Spirit a ministry through the ages of wooing the stubborn hearts of sinful men through the call of the gospel and grieving when they resist His call. EPHESIANS 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
(D) AND SIN costs us a life of surrender and self-denial and renunciation of sin. MATTHEW 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus!