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Respectable Sins - Part 1 — Transcript

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0:04Good morning.
0:05It's good to see you here this morning.
0:07Let me uh go ahead and open us with a
0:09word of prayer.
0:11Lord, we are thankful to be here this
0:13morning. Thankful that we have your word
0:15and that it tells us the truth.
0:17And we we can believe and trust
0:19everything that your word says. We pray
0:21you'll help us to have ears to hear what
0:23you have to say and that we would have
0:26hearts that are humble enough to receive
0:28it and to examine in our own lives
0:31in light of it. So, we commit this time
0:33to you and we're thankful for all that
0:35you've given us in Jesus' name. Amen.
0:39All right, we're starting a new series
0:40today based on a book called Respectable
0:44Sins. Uh we do have a few copies in the
0:47book nook. If you'd like to uh buy it,
0:50written by Jerry Bridges. You might be
0:52familiar with that name. Respectable
0:54Sins. And I really like the subtitle
0:57uh
0:58Confronting the Sins we tolerate.
1:03Yeah, tolerating sin is never a good
1:05idea.
1:07Uh
1:08and but we but we do it. And that's the
1:11thing that we're going to deal with here
1:12in this class. We do tend to tolerate
1:14certain sins
1:17uh that we let hang around and we like
1:19to play with them and we think that
1:22that's okay. Hey, we cannot please God
1:25if we're tolerating some sin in our
1:27life.
1:29That that's just how how serious it is.
1:32And uh I'm very excited about this
1:35because of of the importance of the
1:37subject, not because I'm going to be
1:39teaching it cuz I'm I'm not.
1:41Uh I'm excited to hear it hear about it.
1:44Uh and you know, sin anytime you talk
1:46about sin, I mean how I can't be an
1:48exciting subject to talk about.
1:51But talking about confronting the sins
1:53we tolerate, that is extremely
1:55important. So, I'm looking forward to
1:57it. And our teacher today to kick this
2:00off is a a man you might have heard
2:02about.
2:03Uh the man, the myth, the legend. Uh
2:06Pastor Josh, come on up here.
2:11Wow.
2:12What a title. There you go. All right.
2:14Well, we are going to go ahead and start
2:15then with a question. So, uh for you to
2:17discuss at your groups, let's let's have
2:19this be our opening question. If you
2:21were to uh
2:22if if sins were things that you could
2:24put in a box, if you could organize sins
2:27by box, and you had one box labeled big
2:30sins, and another box labeled small
2:33sins, what would you say typically
2:36people would put in the small sins box?
2:40What would you say people typically say
2:41these are small sins? I know not you.
2:43You're theologically informed people.
2:46You know the right answer. But other
2:48people, right? What do people other
2:49people typically put in the small sins
2:51box? So, why don't you go ahead and talk
2:52about that, and we'll sing in a few
2:54minutes.
2:58All right. Well, if you have your
2:59Bibles, let's go ahead and turn.
3:01We'll be turning to a lot of places
3:02today, but we'll start in 1 Corinthians.
3:05You can turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1
3:07is where we will begin. And as you're
3:10turning there, who could you just kind
3:11of share with me what were some of the
3:13uh what were some of the small sins that
3:15sometimes people categorize them as
3:17uh smaller sins? What did you guys talk
3:19about at your table? Go ahead, you can
3:21call them out. What's that?
3:23Complaining? Good.
3:25White lies, right? Yeah, we can even
3:27clean it up there. Oh, it's just a white
3:29lie. That's that's not too bad. Okay,
3:31what else?
3:33Gossip? Good. Or sometimes known as
3:35sharing prayer requests. Good. Uh that's
3:37helpful.
3:39Uh uh
3:40Hey, what else?
3:42Holding a grudge. Yes, not being
3:44forgiving. Yes, sir.
3:47Sarcasm. Yes, there's ways that could be
3:49rude, unkind, complaining. We dress it
3:52up as humor. There's There's a lot of
3:54these and we'll be We'll be spending
3:55some time looking at this. We We have
3:57this idea that sometimes we have smaller
3:59sins and that's really the the the point
4:02of this book. I I have an older version
4:04of this book when it first came out. It
4:06just came out 2007, Respectable Sins,
4:08Confronting the Sins We Tolerate. That's
4:10really the point that Bridges is making
4:12in this book is there is no such thing
4:16as smaller sins or lesser sins. In fact,
4:19if you have your handout there, uh the
4:20first point that we're going to talk
4:22about three things today,
4:23um
4:24the first point you could just write
4:25down is called the point of the book.
4:27That is I'm just going to kind of give
4:29you a quick overview of Bridges'
4:31argument of where he's going. It's going
4:33to help you see where we're going to go
4:34in this little series. Have any of you
4:36read this before? Who's read Respectable
4:38Sins before? How do you Have you read uh
4:40Pursuit of Holiness?
4:42Uh uh Trusting God? Any of Jerry
4:44Bridges' book? He's got a bunch of
4:45little ones. What I like about him is
4:47they're all short books. Uh they're
4:49biblical. They're very practical. So,
4:51this one is 21 chapters, 180 pages,
4:55which is less than 10 pages a chapter.
4:57That's my kind of like discipling book
4:59right there. Hey, read this in a half
5:01hour and we'll talk. Uh but anyway, you
5:02can uh you could do that and the the
5:04book really begins with the Christian's
5:07identity. It begins by talking about,
5:10well, what is a Christian? What are
5:12Christians known as? Well, who are they
5:14in Christ?
5:16And it's interesting because I had you
5:17turn to 1 Corinthians because if you are
5:20familiar with the letter of 1
5:21Corinthians, you understand that the
5:23church in Corinth is a mess. The church
5:27in Corinth is a total mess. Chapters 1
5:31through 4, he's rebuking them for uh
5:34having factions based on who their
5:36favorite preacher is. In chapter 5, he
5:39rebukes them because they have a man uh
5:41who is uh having an affair with his
5:44mother-in-law and they're like, "Wow,
5:45look how amazing grace is." Chapter 6,
5:48they're suing one another. Chapter 8, 9,
5:50and 10, they're causing people to
5:52stumble with gray areas, and this one
5:54it's meat sacrificed to idols. And
5:55chapters 12, 13, and 14, he's rebuking
5:58them because they're using their
6:00spiritual gifts to show off. They're
6:02They're playing Corinth's Got Talent at
6:03church every week, and and he's saying
6:06you're you're thinking about this whole
6:07thing wrong. So, this is not a
6:10commendable church in any sense. In one
6:12sense, people always say, "Can't we go
6:13back to the way the church was?" Well,
6:15turns out the church has always been
6:17more about the savior than than the
6:19believers.
6:20But, what's interesting about it is
6:21right here in the title,
6:23if you look at verse two, it says,
6:25"To the church of God that is in
6:28Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ
6:31Jesus, called to be saints together with
6:35all those who in every place call upon
6:37the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." He
6:39calls them saints.
6:42Isn't that interesting? Despite all the
6:44sin they have, all the issues, these
6:47believers have a title. They have an
6:49identity in the Lord, and that identity
6:51is the identity of being a saint. Now, a
6:54saint, don't think, you know, Roman
6:56Catholic, someone that's memorialized as
6:58saint. Just means holy one. It means
7:01separate one. It means one who is set
7:03apart.
7:04In fact, right there in verse two, it
7:06says, "To those sanctified in Christ
7:08Jesus called to be saints." That Greek
7:10word for sanctified is is really the
7:12same word as saint. It's hagios. It's a
7:15different
7:16version of it. You could actually
7:18translate that verse to those separated
7:20in Christ Jesus called to be separate
7:23ones. That is, we as Christians have the
7:26title of holy ones, separate ones,
7:30saints.
7:31Now, how did that happen? Take your
7:33Bible and turn if you would to 2
7:35Corinthians, just one book over, and you
7:38could go to the very end of chapter 5,
7:40because our identity, not what we're
7:42supposed to be, but who we are in God's
7:45sight. If you've trusted in Jesus, you
7:49are a saint. You are a holy one. Not a a
7:52perfect one in the sense sense of
7:54holiness as sinlessness, but holiness as
7:56separateness. I'm distinct from the
7:58world and I'm separated unto God.
8:02How did that happen? Well,
8:04I love 2 Corinthians 5:21. I think this
8:06is the gospel in one verse. 2
8:09Corinthians 5:21 it says, "For our sake
8:12he, being God, made him, being Christ,
8:16to be sin who knew no sin so that in him
8:20we might become the righteousness of
8:22God."
8:24That is God made Jesus, who was sinless,
8:28to become sin.
8:30That is on the cross God treated Jesus
8:34as if he had lived the sinful life we
8:37had lived. He crushed him with the wrath
8:40of God upon the cross so that we who
8:42have trusted in Jesus might become
8:46righteous in Christ. God treated Jesus
8:49as if he lived our lives so that he
8:51could treat us as if we lived Jesus'
8:54life. That's the gospel. That's how we
8:56become holy ones and that's a that's a
8:58set reality. We are saints. It's not a a
9:01title to earn. We're not going to make
9:03it to sainthood. If you're a believing
9:04in Jesus, you are right now a saint.
9:08Now with that in mind, Bridges then puts
9:11forth two different reminders. He says,
9:13"So though we are positionally before
9:15God as if we never sinned, he says we
9:18still fight sin. That that's a reality.
9:20We haven't escaped this battle with sin.
9:22Galatians 5 talks about the deeds of the
9:25flesh. Uh 1 Peter 2 tells us to be aware
9:28of lustful passions.
9:30But what we are called to do secondly,
9:32he says, is to live out our title."
9:36Uh Bridges in the book will say
9:38Paul's letters can mostly be summarized
9:40like this. You are a saint, so now act
9:44like a saint. This is who you are
9:46realistically. Before God, you are seen
9:48as sinless, but uh, forgiven. You are in
9:51Christ. That is your title. So, now live
9:53who you are. Okay, be be who you're uh,
9:56just be yourself is really bad worldly
9:59advice. Yeah, just be yourself. But,
10:01actually for the Christian, that is what
10:02you are supposed to do. Just be
10:04yourself. Okay, you are holy, so now be
10:06holy. That's that's uh, that's the New
10:09Testament argument for holiness. We are
10:11right there in front of me, 2
10:12Corinthians 5:17, we are new creations
10:15because we're in Christ, so now we're
10:16supposed to act like new creations.
10:20Philippians 1:27 says, "Live in a manner
10:23worthy of the gospel." That's
10:25Philippians 1:27. Because we've been
10:27saved by the gospel, now we live it out.
10:32Now, what Bridges is going to say in
10:33this book, if you read it, is that we
10:35don't do this because we've not only
10:38misunderstood stood the word saint, but
10:41we've misunderstood the word sin.
10:45And it's and it's not uncommon that way
10:47or it's not surprising we do that
10:48because the idea of sin has been totally
10:50removed from our society.
10:52You guys talked about it in your groups.
10:54Like, sin is not sin anymore. We don't
10:56talk about lying, we talk about a white
10:59lie or a fib. We don't say adultery, we
11:02say they had an affair. We won't say
11:03theft, we'll say embezzlement. We won't
11:06say I got angry or I was hateful, we'll
11:08say, "Well, they made me lose my
11:10temper."
11:11And so, we've begun to reclassify sins
11:14and we've divided sins into bad sins and
11:18what Bridges calls sins we tolerate.
11:20Sins that we're okay with. Sins that you
11:23could still participate in.
11:25So, here's what he says. I'm I'm going
11:26to read you a few quotes from the book
11:28just to give you the the gist of his
11:29argument of what we're doing the next
11:30few weeks. Um, on the question if sin
11:32has disappeared in the church, right? Is
11:35sin something we don't talk about in the
11:36church? He said this. He says, "No, it
11:37has it has not disappeared, but it has,
11:41in many instances, been deflected to
11:44those outside our circles who commit
11:47flagrant sins, such as abortion,
11:49homosexuality, and murder, or the
11:52notorious white-collar crimes of
11:54high-level corporate executives.
11:56It is easy for us to condemn those
11:58obvious sins, while virtually ignoring
12:01our own sins of gossip, pride, envy,
12:05bitterness, and lust, or even our lack
12:08of those gracious qualities that Paul
12:10calls the fruit of the spirit."
12:13Same page, he says, "But on the whole,
12:16we appear to be more concerned about the
12:19sins of society than we are the sins of
12:22the saints." That's right. He's got it.
12:26There's one other one, page 16. He says,
12:28"One of our problems, however, is that
12:31we neither think of ourselves as saints,
12:34with our new states of responsibility to
12:35live as saints, nor do we think of such
12:38actions as gossip and impatience as sin.
12:41Sin is what people outside our Christian
12:43communities do. We can readily identify
12:46sin in the immoral or unethical
12:48unethical conduct of people in society
12:50at large, but we often fail to see in
12:53what I call the acceptable sins of the
12:55saints. In effect, we, like society at
12:58large, live in denial of our own sin."
13:02Some good stuff in there. I'd encourage
13:04you to read the book, grab it if you
13:05can.
13:06And so, friends, we who are saints
13:08cannot walk in sin. We cannot tolerate
13:11sin. Sin is offensive. Sin is wrong. Sin
13:13is always a big deal, and we should not
13:16tolerate sin in our own hearts. And so,
13:18what this book's going to do is not
13:20going to say, "Stop getting serious
13:22about sin in society and start getting
13:23sin about or serious about sin in know
13:25around you." It's going to say stop just
13:27focusing on society and focus on your
13:30own heart. It's about confronting you.
13:32And so what the book does is
13:34the first six chapters give the big
13:35picture. The first six chapters will
13:38talk about the gospel, we'll talk about
13:41sin, why sin is serious, how we put sin
13:43to death, how sin can be forgiven. And
13:45then chapters 7 through 20 kind of go
13:48through individual sins that we tend to
13:51tolerate. It'll go through anxiety,
13:53frustration, pride, unthankfulness,
13:55impatience, judgmentalism, envy, and
13:57some other ones that we're going to talk
13:59about over the next few weeks. So that's
14:00what we're going to do over the next few
14:01weeks.
14:03A few of us are going to address
14:04individual chapters or maybe clump some
14:06chapters together and we'll think about
14:08some of these. We won't cover all of
14:09them, but like I said, it's a really,
14:11really short book and it's it's a great
14:14one if you want to go through with
14:15somebody to do that. What I want to do
14:16this morning
14:18is I want you to take your Bible. Let's
14:19go to Genesis chapter 3.
14:21Let's go to Genesis chapter 3 because if
14:23we are going to battle sin in our own
14:25hearts, we need to make sure we view sin
14:28rightly. And if we're going to view it
14:30rightly, why not go to the place where
14:32sin first started back in Genesis
14:35chapter 3 to make sure that we have the
14:38same view about sin as the Bible has
14:41about sin. So as you're turning to
14:43Genesis chapter 3, point number two on
14:45your handout, where we'll spend most of
14:47our time, point number two, we're going
14:49to call this the sinfulness of sin. So I
14:52wanted to talk about the book and now I
14:53want to talk about the sinfulness of
14:55sin.
14:56When I was in elementary school, some of
14:58you might remember this from school or
15:00some of you might remember this when
15:01your kids were in school. When I was in
15:03like first, second, third grade,
15:06the way that
15:07behavior
15:09was monitored was on the wall, every kid
15:13had their name on the wall and they had
15:14a collection of colored cards. Does
15:17anybody remember this at all? Is this
15:19familiar with some people? So every day
15:20you'd walk in and you'd have a green
15:22card. But then, if you did something
15:25bad,
15:27like you were talking when I was like
15:28they say, "Josh,
15:30go flip your card."
15:31And you'd go and you'd have to change
15:33your card to yellow.
15:34There's nothing more demoralizing that
15:36walk. Yellow, I'm a terrible person.
15:40I'm a yellow. You know what I mean? It's
15:42just And it was And it was like, yeah,
15:44when you were young, that was a really
15:46big deal. I laugh at the idea cuz when I
15:49work with high school students here, I
15:50just laugh. Imagine if they kept doing
15:51that in high school, you know? Senior in
15:53high school, hey, turn it to you know,
15:55Sebastian, you just Hey, turn your card
15:57to yellow. You know, some high schoolers
15:58would be like, "Don't worry, Mrs.
15:59Johnson, I did it on the way in already.
16:01I knew this would be happening.
16:03We're fine. I've I identify as yellow."
16:06Anyway, so
16:08Right? Well, that's that's a little bit
16:10how sin is, right? Sin is the boogeyman
16:13that lives under our bed. When we were
16:14little, he was really scary, but as I
16:17got older, I'm not that worried. You
16:19know, my mom warned me if I crossed my
16:21eyes, my they'll get stuck that way.
16:23Well, it never did. And people warned me
16:25about sin, but my life doesn't seem all
16:27that bad. That That's how we feel about
16:28We were scared about it when we were
16:29younger, but it's not that big of a
16:31deal.
16:33And the fact is, the scripture says sin
16:34is not only a huge problem, it's our
16:37biggest problem.
16:39Man named Ralph Venning wrote in the
16:41late 1600s a book called It's This is
16:44where I got this point from. This He
16:45wrote a book called The Sinfulness of
16:47Sin. He wrote this. He said, "Sin is the
16:50worst of evils.
16:52The evil of evils. And indeed, the only
16:56evil.
16:57Nothing is so evil as Nay, nothing is
17:01evil itself except sin."
17:06I mean, as Christians, we should never
17:07laugh at sin. We should think rightly
17:10about sin. I mean, even just this
17:12sentence, Jesus died for sin.
17:19And he didn't just die for certain sins.
17:21He had in order for us to be reconciled
17:24to God, he had to die for every sin.
17:29Because all sin should separate us from
17:31God.
17:33And in Genesis 3, we learn a bit about
17:35sin. It helps us think about it rightly.
17:37So, just for context, you're familiar
17:39with this. Genesis chapter 1, God
17:41creates everything. He creates
17:43everything out of nothing. He speaks it
17:46into existence, not only showing his
17:47power and his eternality, but really his
17:50kingship. God made it all, and therefore
17:53God owns it all. And God made man in his
17:56own image, not just to say what he's
17:58like, but here's what man's purpose is.
18:00It's to reflect him. It's to magnify
18:02God. I'm going to make you a little
18:04image bearer of me, so you might show
18:06the world how great I am, so I might
18:08fill the world with people who who
18:10display my glory.
18:12Now, what I want to do is I'm going to
18:13read these first 11 verses, and then
18:14what's Let's let's talk about it.
18:16Genesis chapter 3,
18:18uh verses 1 through 11. We're going to
18:19be reading this on Wednesday as we as a
18:20church start reading through the Torah,
18:22but let's read this together now. Verse
18:231.
18:24It says, "Now the serpent was more
18:26crafty than any other beast of the field
18:29that the Lord God had made. He said to
18:31the woman,
18:32'Did God actually say,
18:35"You shall not eat of any tree in the
18:37garden?"'
18:38And the woman said to the serpent, "Oh,
18:40we may eat of the fruit of the trees in
18:42the garden,
18:43but God said you shall not eat of the
18:44fruit of the tree that is in the midst
18:46of the garden, neither shall you touch
18:48it, lest you die."
18:50But the serpent said to the woman, "You
18:52will surely not die,
18:54for God knows that when you eat of it,
18:56your eyes will be opened, and you will
18:58be like God, knowing good and evil."
19:02So, when the woman saw that the tree was
19:03good for food, and that it was a delight
19:06to the eyes, and that the tree was to be
19:08desired to make one wise, she took of
19:10its fruit and ate. She also gave some to
19:13her husband who was with her and he ate.
19:16Then the eyes of both were opened and
19:18they knew that they were naked. And they
19:21sewed fig sewed fig leaves together and
19:23made themselves loincloths. And they
19:25heard the sound of the Lord God walking
19:27in the garden in the cool of the day.
19:29And the man and his wife hid themselves
19:31from the presence of the Lord God among
19:33the trees of the garden.
19:35But the Lord God called to the man and
19:36said to him,
19:38"Where are you?"
19:39And he said, "I heard the sound of you
19:41in the garden and I was afraid because I
19:44was naked and I hid myself."
19:47He said, "Who told you that you were
19:48naked?
19:50Have you eaten of the tree of which I
19:51commanded you not to eat?"
19:55Let's talk about this passage. The To
19:58understand it, let's let's first begin
19:59about this snake that slithers in. This
20:01is the serpent. The serpent is Satan and
20:04we've talked about it. Satan means
20:05accuser. Uh
20:07it means slanderer. And he's described
20:10here as crafty. That doesn't mean he
20:12likes doing homework projects and DIY
20:15stuff. It The word is shrewd. It's
20:17sometimes translated as prudent. So,
20:20there's there's wisdom behind it, but
20:21there's a there's a darkness to that
20:24word. If you say someone's infamous, you
20:26like yes, you're saying they're well
20:27known, but it's there's usually a
20:29negative connotation to that. When we
20:31say that he's crafty, it's the idea that
20:33he's clever. He's cunning. He's
20:36manipulative. And we find that in the
20:38rest of scripture. You could have jotted
20:40down 2 Corinthians 11. 2 Corinthians
20:4211:14 says that even Satan disguises
20:45himself as an angel of light.
20:47That's 11:14. And 2 Corinthians 11:3
20:49says that I fear that as the serpent
20:51deceived Eve by his craftiness is the
20:54idea. He's a deceiver. He He He lies and
20:58we see here how he lies. It teaches us
21:00about him and how sin even lies to us
21:02today. He says,
21:05Uh he says in verse one, "Did God
21:08actually say?" And then in verse five,
21:11he basically calls God a liar. He says,
21:13"For God knows that when you eat of it,
21:15your eyes will be opened." And I want
21:18you to notice two things here, even
21:19about his deception. He Two things to
21:22notice, these aren't the points yet on
21:23your handout. I'm just kind of
21:24introducing us to the passage now.
21:26But first, he deceives by questioning
21:28God's goodness. Right? So, in verse five
21:31there, he says, "God knows that there's
21:33something you're missing out on by not
21:35eating of the fruit. God knows that he's
21:37he's withholding something from you." He
21:40assaults God's character in doing this.
21:44Uh, let me let me explain that the
21:46church I was at before this for for a
21:47little while, we had a conference every
21:49year and because I worked in youth
21:51ministry, they
21:52we would have a a session at this
21:53conference with a bunch of youth pastors
21:55and people would ask us questions um as
21:57if I I knew more stuff than they did,
21:59which half the time I'm like, "I don't
21:59know what do you guys do?" And but
22:01anyway, I would often get this question.
22:03Uh, they would say, "Hey, how do you
22:05balance being biblical and having fun?"
22:09Like, how do you choose in youth
22:11ministry between having a fun time but
22:13but also like being really biblical?
22:16And I just think when we have that,
22:17we've made this dichotomy that doesn't
22:19exist. We've created something that
22:20says, "If we really follow the Lord,
22:23we're going to have less than the best
22:24time we could have."
22:26That's a that's a lie in God's
22:28character. That's that's us
22:29misunderstanding who he is. But believe
22:31it or not, the woman actually buys it.
22:33She she adds a little something in the
22:35end of verse three, "You should not eat
22:37it or touch it." is what she says, which
22:39is again kind of adding into this idea
22:41that God is harsh. God doesn't want me
22:43to have the best time. God's the
22:45responsible thing to do, you know? I I
22:47I'd rather have the donut than the bowl
22:49of veggies, but it's responsible, though
22:51less satisfying, to choose God. Right?
22:53So, that's how sin deceives. That's how
22:55she is deceived here. But the second
22:58thing he does is he he kindles man's
23:00pride. He kindles her pride because
23:03we have no right to question God.
23:06And yet he says there in verse one, "Has
23:09God said?"
23:11Is that right?
23:13Notice how the serpent treats God's
23:15word. He He encourages people to treat
23:19God's word as if it's something that we
23:21can evaluate.
23:24Like one commentator, Derek Kidner, he
23:26says this, he goes, "The snake's
23:27question smuggles in the assumption that
23:30God's word is subject to our judgment."
23:34That's not true, friends. We are subject
23:37to the word of God in everything. It is
23:39not subject to us what's good and what's
23:41not good here. Well, this is how
23:43deception works. This is how the devil
23:45still works. This is how sin works. We
23:47We know the rest of this story. They
23:49They listen. It says the woman is
23:51deceived. We get the idea that Adam is
23:52there and he's not doing his job,
23:54either. And then all sorts of problems
23:56happen. We have Adam blaming the woman.
23:58The woman blames the serpent. God curses
24:00all three of them. And that's the
24:02beginning of history. The first sin in
24:04history, certainly not the last sin in
24:07history.
24:08And yet from this account, we learn four
24:10things about sin. So, I think in number
24:12point number two, you have an A, B, and
24:13a C, and a D. I I want you to see four
24:16things we learn about sin in this
24:18passage. And the question for us, uh the
24:20take-home question for me, what I want
24:22the take-home question for you to be, is
24:24am I viewing sin rightly? Am I viewing
24:27all my sin rightly? Are there certain
24:29sins that I am not describing them, I'm
24:32not viewing them, I'm not evaluating
24:34them the same way the Bible does? Are we
24:37looking at our sins rightly? So, let's
24:39Let's see how the Bible describes sin.
24:42First one, letter A.
24:44Sin
24:45is
24:47treason.
24:48Sin
24:50is treason.
24:52And if it's helpful for you to apply
24:53this sermon, to write the word all in
24:55front of these, you can. you could say,
24:57all sin is treason.
25:01Sin is personal rebellion against God as
25:07king.
25:09Remember what's been very clear in
25:10Genesis 1 is the the lordship of God,
25:13that he owns everything. He reigns over
25:16everything. He has authority over
25:19everything. And remember, he made a good
25:21creation. He's a gracious and kind God
25:24who gives good gifts to his children at
25:26the beginning. When he saw something
25:28that was not good, that man should be
25:30alone, he addressed it and gave them a
25:32good thing, marriage.
25:35But in sinning,
25:36Adam and Eve did not submit to God as
25:39king.
25:40They chose their own authority uh
25:42instead of listening to God. In fact,
25:44they listened to the serpent. Cuz right
25:47there when you see verse 4, the woman
25:48says, "You will not die. For God knows
25:50that you will He defies God and right
25:53off the bat puts forward towards Eve and
25:55Adam as well, you have a choice. You can
25:57either listen to God or you can listen
25:59to me."
26:00Well, they don't listen to God's
26:01authority. They listen to the serpent.
26:04And so here you have people created in
26:06God's image, meant to live for his
26:08glory, his authority, his greatness,
26:11and they reject him.
26:13Well, one author says it like this, "The
26:15flagrant rebellion against the divine
26:17word by the pinnacle of creation, which
26:21has just been invested with the divine
26:23rule, is a heinous crime against the
26:26cosmos and its creator."
26:29Sin is rebellion against God as king.
26:33Let me show you a few other verses that
26:34address this. Take your Bible, let's go
26:35to the Psalms. Let's go to the Psalms.
26:37You thought you were done with the
26:38Psalms. Come on, we're never done with
26:40the So We love the Psalms. Let's go to
26:42Psalm chapter 2.
26:45And let's see again how the sinfulness
26:50of man is described. Psalm chapter 2
26:54verse 1.
26:56Psalm chapter 2 verse 1 it says, "Why do
26:58the nations rage
26:59and the peoples plot in vain?
27:02The kings of the earth set themselves
27:05and the rulers take counsel together
27:07against the Lord and against his
27:09anointed saying, "Let us burst their
27:11bonds apart and cast away their cords
27:14from us."
27:15What you have pictured here is this
27:18the this defiance this this saying, "I
27:20am not going to submit to God. We're not
27:24going to let this man rule over us.
27:26We're not going to let him have the
27:28crown and and yield authority over us."
27:30And that that is what happens when we
27:32sin.
27:33When we sin, we are saying we pledge
27:35allegiance to another country. We pledge
27:37allegiance to another kingdom. We have
27:40our own declaration of independence
27:42every time we decide we want to do
27:44something outside the will of God.
27:48And we see this makes God very angry.
27:51God hates sin. Why? Because sin is
27:53against him.
27:55I mean, I have this later in my notes
27:56but you should just write this down. God
27:58takes sin personal.
28:01Because all sin is against God.
28:04So, if I get pulled over for speeding if
28:06I if I get pulled over because I you
28:08know jump into the carpool lane when I'm
28:09not supposed to, you know, once since
28:11I'm talking to the police officer, I
28:12might say I'm sorry.
28:13But the police officer wasn't personally
28:15offended. Like he didn't write the
28:17rules. The laws of the road weren't made
28:20for him based on his character.
28:23But that's different than God's
28:24commands. They came from him as a
28:27reflection of him because he rules over
28:29us. And when we sin, we say we will not
28:32have him rule over us. That's why he's
28:34angry with sin. Psalm 5
28:36verse 4 it says, "For you are not a God
28:38who delights in wickedness. Evil may not
28:41dwell with you. The boastful shall not
28:43stand before your eyes. You hate all
28:46evildoers.
28:48You destroy those who speak lies. The
28:49Lord abhors, hates the bloodthirsty and
28:52deceitful man.
28:54You know, we've often said, well, God
28:56hates the sin but loves the sinner.
28:58That's not true in Psalm 5. He is angry.
29:01In fact, Psalm 7:11
29:03says, "God is a righteous judge and a
29:06God who feels indignation every day." He
29:10is angry with sin. He's angry with
29:13sinners. Why? Because sinners have
29:15chosen to rebel against him.
29:18And all sin is against him personally.
29:22Turn if you would to Psalm 51.
29:25Psalm 51.
29:32Uh this is a famous Psalm. You many of
29:33you are familiar with this. This is when
29:35David has sinned by taking Bathsheba
29:39uh when her husband Uriah was off at the
29:41battlefield. He uh commits adultery with
29:44her. Uh this is after he's been
29:46confronted and he's repenting of his
29:47sin. And he says here, Psalm 51:4,
29:51uh we'll look at verse three. He says,
29:52verse three, "For I know my
29:53transgressions, my sin is ever before
29:56me.
29:57Against you,
29:59you only have I sinned
30:02and done what is evil in your sight."
30:07Now, there's something theological here
30:09that's important for us. David sinned
30:10against a lot of people.
30:12He sinned against Uriah. He sinned
30:14against Bathsheba. He sinned against the
30:16nation.
30:17But because David is finally seeing sin
30:20rightly,
30:21and because we know that sin is
30:23ultimately always against God, David is
30:25saying poetically but accurately, "My
30:28sin is against you and you alone, God."
30:33So, when I when I talk to people in a
30:35way that's not kind, when I'm harsh with
30:38people, my sin is first and foremost
30:41against God.
30:43He's the one that's offended by every
30:46sin we commit.
30:48Let's go to to one more on this. Go to
30:50James chapter 2.
30:52James chapter 2. And as you're turning
30:54there, I would wonder if we classify all
30:57our sin as treason. If we think of sin
31:00as rebellion.
31:04Because we'll say things like, "Well, I
31:06wasn't hateful. I just lost my temper."
31:08Uh I wasn't jealous. It's just an unfair
31:12situation. And you know, sorry. I'm just
31:15a worrier. You know, it's a habit I
31:17have. I chew my pens, I snore, and I'm a
31:19worrier. I have all sorts of bad habits.
31:21That's That's not biblical. That's Sin
31:25is rebellious against God. Listen to
31:26James chapter 2.
31:28Um look at verse 10.
31:31James writes,
31:33"For whoever keeps the whole law,
31:36but fails in one point, has become
31:39guilty
31:40of all of it." Whoever keeps the whole
31:42law, fails in one point, has become
31:45guilty of all of it. We might say, "How?
31:49How is that? That seems like an unfair
31:52standard, right? I mean, that's
31:54That's like you're telling me if I got a
31:5599% on the math test, I get an F." Is
31:59what James is saying there. "Oh, you
32:00missed one little part. Sorry, the whole
32:02thing is off." Right? Well, one sense we
32:05can under- understand this, you know, I
32:07think about the 2007 Patriots. They went
32:0916 and 0, but then lost. So, what were
32:12they? Losers. But anyway,
32:15I digress.
32:16Well, how How is this fair? Guilty of
32:19all. How can they be guilty of all?
32:21Well, here's why. Verse 11.
32:24They're guilty of all for he who said,
32:28"Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do
32:32not murder." And so, if you do not
32:35commit adultery, but do murder, you will
32:37become a transgressor of the law.
32:39You keep the whole law, but stumble on
32:41one point,
32:42you're guilty of all. Why? Because the
32:44same God who said do not murder, do not
32:46lie, do not commit adultery, it's all
32:48against him.
32:50It's all personalized. It all goes back
32:52to rebellion, not just against some
32:54code, but against God.
32:57And so that's why all of sin is equally
33:00wrong. Yes, we can talk about how
33:02different sins have different
33:05consequences with them. And there is a
33:07difference between lust that happens in
33:10the heart and when somebody does commit
33:13adultery. There there are different
33:14consequences, different steps that
33:16happen, but judicially, legally, before
33:19God, all of them are equally wicked. Is
33:21that making sense there? There there
33:23there's a rebellion because it's against
33:25him. God takes sin personal. And so we
33:28need to make sure that we don't with any
33:31of our sins lighten them, soften them,
33:34color them nicely. We want to view them
33:36rightly. Here's the second one. Letter
33:38B, sin is idolatry.
33:40Sin is idolatry. Let's go back to we'll
33:42we'll come back actually to James a
33:43little bit, but I'm going to flip back
33:44to Genesis chapter 3.
33:47Sin is idolatry. One of the things
33:49that's interesting is the the sort of
33:51half-truths of the serpent here that
33:53happens. So in verse 5,
33:56he says God knows that when you eat of
33:59it, your eyes will be opened and you
34:02will be like God, knowing good and evil.
34:05So he promises them three things. He
34:07tells them about your eyes being opened,
34:09you're going to be like God, and you're
34:11going to know good and evil. There's
34:12three things he promises. Well, well,
34:14two of them end up kind of coming true.
34:17Look at verse 7. It says, "Then the eyes
34:20of both were opened."
34:23And they knew.
34:26So he did promise opening and knowing.
34:27There is opening and knowing, but they
34:29did not get what they bargained for.
34:32Because they begin to know wait a
34:33second, I now know that I'm
34:35I'm naked. The idea there is is loss of
34:37innocence, loss of transparency,
34:40immediately guilt and shame for what
34:42they've done.
34:44The other way he deceives them is,
34:46remember he says you'll be like God?
34:48You know what's interesting?
34:50Genesis 1, they're already like God.
34:53They're already created in God's image.
34:56I mean, Satan pulls off the impossible
34:58here. He he attempts to sell water to a
35:00fish. And and and he gets away with it,
35:03right? Because he offers them something
35:05they already have, but they bite. Why is
35:08that?
35:10Well, I think what it teaches us is that
35:11the heart of every sin
35:14is choosing to worship something other
35:17than God.
35:18It choosing to make something else most
35:21important.
35:22Uh to to give something else the highest
35:24place in our heart.
35:27Uh we'll we'll see this uh you could you
35:29could turn to James chapter 4. We'll see
35:30this, but but think about the way that
35:34you will sin with your mouth sometimes.
35:37And you'll do that because, well, I
35:38don't want to seem like a a fuddy-duddy
35:40at work.
35:42I I value how people view me
35:46more than obedience to the Lord.
35:50Or I'm anxious over money. Because at
35:53the end of the day, I value the security
35:56that comes from that
35:58more than the security that comes from
36:01the Lord.
36:02Or I I will maybe commit adultery or
36:05commit adultery in my mind because I
36:07feel like that would satisfy me more
36:10than God satisfies me.
36:13See, sin in one sense is saying God is
36:15not enough. He he's not as great as he
36:18claims to be. And so when we sin, we
36:21worship the approval of others. Uh we
36:23worship uh how we'd like to be our own
36:26selves, we ultimately end up worshipping
36:28us.
36:29Um we won't look there, but listen to
36:31Romans 1
36:32uh Romans 1:21-23.
36:34It says, "For even though they knew God,
36:36they did not glorify him as God, or give
36:38thanks, but they became feudal in their
36:40thoughts, and their foolish heart was
36:43darkened. Professing to be wise, they
36:45became fools, and exchanged the glory of
36:48the incorruptible God for an image in
36:50the likeness of corruptible man, and of
36:51birds, and four-footed animals, and
36:53crawling creatures." It's I they sin
36:55because they worship other things. They
36:57reject God and put other things as most
37:00important, most glorious, most worthy of
37:02praise. Uh are we in James? James, look
37:04at James chapter 4. James chapter 4.
37:07This is a a really helpful
37:09uh passage about sin.
37:11He says, "What causes quarrels?
37:14And what causes fights among you?"
37:16I mean, that's a good question, right?
37:18You know, some of you you if you've got
37:20little kids, sometimes you're wondering
37:21like, "Why are you people fighting?
37:22What's going on back there?" And or
37:25sometimes you reflect and you know,
37:26you've got an upcoming family event,
37:28maybe at Christmas time or Thanksgiving
37:30or someone's birthday, and you're like,
37:31you're you're dreading it because
37:33so-and-so disagrees with so-and-so, and
37:35things aren't right with you and this
37:36person, you're going,
37:37yeah, wait, why are things off? Why are
37:40we feuding? Why are we get Why why are
37:42we all texting about each other behind
37:43everyone else's back?
37:45Well, James tells us.
37:47Is it not this,
37:49that your passions are at war within
37:51you?
37:52You desire and do not have, so you
37:55murder.
37:57You covet and cannot obtain, so you
37:59fight and quarrel.
38:01He says, "Your sin is because there's
38:04something that you want, something
38:06that's ultimate, something that's
38:07highest of priority, and you're not
38:09getting it.
38:11And so because of that, you lash out.
38:14And so
38:15uh we we uh we lie because we idolize a
38:19reputation that we feel might be
38:21slipping away or we we argue because we
38:25love being right and I wouldn't want
38:26them to think I'm not as right as I
38:28think I am. So, I'm going to kind of
38:30argue and put them down. Or sometimes
38:33parents, I'm I'm sure none of us ever do
38:34this, but we get angry with our kids.
38:37Why? Because we have this righteous zeal
38:39for them to be godly? No, we just really
38:41love things being under our control and
38:43seems like things are kind of getting
38:44away and I need to put my foot down now.
38:47See, there's something else we've made
38:49ultimate of most important and it causes
38:51us to sin.
38:54And if we take most of the small sins in
38:56our life, I think what we'll see at
38:57their root is this idol of self, this
39:00idol of comfort, this idol of
39:01reputation.
39:03Take your Bible, let's let's go to one
39:04other passage before we go back to
39:06Genesis. Let's go to Ezekiel chapter 6.
39:09Ezekiel chapter 6 because I want to I
39:11want to connect these first two points
39:13of sin as idolatry and as of God taking
39:16sin personal as God seeing sin as
39:18treason, rebellion against him.
39:22Let's Let's think about this idolatry
39:24again. Ezekiel chapter 6 is where we're
39:26going. As we turn there, I'm reminded
39:28that, you know, John Calvin wrote that
39:29the heart is a factory of idols.
39:32That our our proclivity is to idolize,
39:35to worship, to treasure things more than
39:37the Lord.
39:39In Ezekiel chapter 6, this is during the
39:40exilic period. This was when most of
39:43Israel is in Babylon, but not all of
39:45them. The city of Jerusalem uh still has
39:47people there. There's still Jews there
39:49and uh Ezekiel is prophesying to the
39:52exiles in Babylon saying, "Hey, don't
39:54think that God's going to spare
39:55Jerusalem."
39:57Do Don't think that this judgment that's
39:58happened on all the other cities isn't
40:00coming to Jerusalem at all. You have
40:01been an idolatrous people who have many
40:04idols, who have brought idols into the
40:06temple, who worshiped the sun with your
40:08back towards the temple. God is going to
40:11bring judgment. Jerusalem is not safe.
40:14And so, this is a this is a prophecy
40:16here uh where God talks about the
40:18judgment that's coming on Jerusalem. And
40:20I want you to see this combination again
40:22of idolatry and treason and how God
40:24responds to it. Look at verse 4.
40:26He tells them, "Your altars shall become
40:29desolate, and your incense altars shall
40:31be broken. And I will cast down your
40:33slain before your idols.
40:36And I will lay the dead bodies of the
40:37people of Israel before their idols, and
40:40I will scatter your bones around your
40:41altars. Wherever you dwell, the cities
40:44shall be waste and the high places
40:46ruined, so that your altars will be
40:48waste and ruined, your idols broken and
40:51destroyed, your incense altars cut down,
40:53and your works wiped out.
40:56And the slain shall fall in your midst,
40:58and you shall know that I am the Lord.
41:00Yet I will leave some of you alive. When
41:02you when you have among the nations some
41:05who escaped the sword, and when you are
41:07scattered through the countries, then
41:09those of you who escape will remember me
41:12among the nations where they are carried
41:14captive, how I have been broken over
41:17their whoring heart that has departed
41:19from me and over their eyes that go
41:21whoring after their idols.
41:24They will be loathsome in their own
41:25sight for their evil so they have
41:26committed for all their abominations.
41:30You know what kind of word when you put
41:33idolatry
41:34and treason together?
41:36This isn't a point of mine, but the word
41:37that God uses is the language of
41:39adultery.
41:41That's not one of my points, but I think
41:42you could put it as a side point. Kind
41:44of A and B together is God views sin as
41:47adultery.
41:49It's how could you reject my authority
41:52and our relationship?
41:56Oh, God does not tolerate sins, friends.
41:59There are no small sins in God's eyes.
42:03Sin is treason.
42:05Sin is idolatry.
42:07Let's go back to Genesis chapter 3.
42:09Here's point C on your handout.
42:11Let's talk about how sin is
42:13contagious.
42:15Sin is
42:17contagious.
42:20Again, this is another lesson from
42:21Genesis 3, but this is going to help us
42:23understand
42:26the world around us. And as we look at
42:28Genesis 3, what we see is that sin
42:32corrupts everything.
42:34It corrupts all people. It also corrupts
42:38nature itself.
42:41So, verse 17, this is after the curse
42:43that's on the serpent and a curse that's
42:45on the woman.
42:47It's interesting. He says, "Into Adam he
42:48said, because you have listened to the
42:50voice of your wife, and have eaten of
42:52the tree of which I commanded you, you
42:53shall not eat of it,
42:55cursed
42:56is the ground because of you.
42:59In pain you shall eat it all the days of
43:01your life. Thorns and thistles it shall
43:03bring forth for you, and you shall eat
43:05the plants of the field. By the sweat of
43:06your face you shall eat bread till you
43:08return to the ground, for of it you were
43:10taken, for you are of dust, and to dust
43:12you shall return."
43:15He He curses the ground, uh which we
43:18could talk about in a maybe another
43:19Bible class one day, but
43:21Romans 8 talks about the creation was
43:24subjected to futility. That's Romans
43:268:20. It's as if God says the whole
43:28natural order now is is corrupted, so we
43:31could see how bad sin is.
43:34How terrible It's It's God giving us an
43:37image of how bad sin is. So, when we see
43:40horrible diseases take loved ones away,
43:43when we hear of earthquakes killing
43:45thousands in a city, when we see news
43:47right now of what's happening on Maui
43:49with these fires that just destroyed so
43:50bad, what God is giving us is these
43:53little pictures of just how bad sin is.
43:56Sin is so horrible. It ruins everything.
44:00That's how sin works.
44:03It spreads through nature. It also
44:04spreads to all people.
44:07So, you start thinking, well, what, you
44:08know, sin is bad. Well, what goes on?
44:10Well, in chapter 4, we read about two
44:12brothers,
44:13Cain and Abel.
44:15And sin takes its effect. Take a look at
44:17verse 7
44:19of uh chapter 4.
44:20Chapter 4,
44:22uh we'll take a look at verse 7. It
44:24says,
44:25uh we'll look at verse 6. Then the Lord
44:26said to Cain, "Why are you so angry? Why
44:28is your face fallen? If you do well,
44:30will you not be accepted? And if you do
44:32not do well, sin is crouching at the
44:34door. Its desire is contrary to you, but
44:37you must rule over it." So, right off
44:39the bat, he's warning him, "Cain, sin
44:42wants to dominate you. Don't let it."
44:45But the message of Genesis 4 through 11
44:47is that sin is dominating every single
44:49person
44:50as Cain rises up and kills his brother.
44:54And then we get to learn about the
44:55descendants of Cain in chapter 4. And
44:57let's see how bad sin has spread. Look
44:59at uh
45:00look at verse 23. There's this man named
45:02Lamech. Lamech. And by the way, whenever
45:04you read stuff in the Bible, again, this
45:06is why you should do torology, you
45:07should read it through us. You're going
45:08to read that this is not an endorsement
45:10of what this guy is saying. Verse 23,
45:12Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and
45:14Zillah, hear my voice, you wives of
45:16Lamech. Listen to what I say.
45:18I have killed a man for wounding me, a
45:21young man for striking me. If Cain's
45:24revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is
45:26seventy-sevenfold."
45:28I mean, here's Lamech boasting about how
45:31evil he is. You know, how about how
45:33tough he is. You thought gangster rap
45:35was a new thing. Gangster rap right
45:37here. Lamech getting after it. And but
45:39it's it just shows us at the beginning,
45:41this is how corrupt everyone is.
45:44In fact, it's so corrupt that chapter 6
45:47verse 5 says, "The Lord saw the
45:49wickedness of man was great in the
45:51earth, that every intention of the
45:54thoughts of his heart was only evil
45:57continually."
45:58So, God has to wipe out the whole world
46:01and basically do a new creation.
46:03And you think, "Okay, well maybe now
46:04things will go good." Then you have Noah
46:06getting drunk, you have his son shaming
46:09him, and then chapter 11, you have all
46:12the nations who are told, "Be fruitful
46:14and multiply, spread and cover the
46:15earth." They say, "You know what we
46:16should do? We should gather in one spot
46:18and make a name for ourselves."
46:21Yeah, sin is now everywhere. Sin is in
46:24every person. This is the history of
46:27sin. This is This is what Romans 5:12
46:29says. Romans 5:12 says, "Therefore, just
46:31as through one man sin entered the world
46:33and death through sin, so death spread
46:36to all men because all sinned."
46:39Sin now becomes the reality of our
46:41world.
46:42Let's take our Bibles and go to
46:43Ephesians chapter 2.
46:45Cuz we need to we need to understand
46:48this. How How you think about sin
46:51is not only going to affect your
46:52holiness, it's it's going to really
46:53shape your shape your whole
46:54understanding of the Bible, shape your
46:56understanding of people.
46:59Because
47:01the reality of scripture is we are not
47:04sinners because we sin.
47:07Let me say that again. We're not sinners
47:09because we sin, we sin because we are
47:13sinners.
47:14It's who we are. We're turning to
47:16Ephesians 2. I would tell you that Jesus
47:19says in John 8:34, "Everyone who commits
47:21sin is a slave of sin."
47:25Again, that's John 8:34.
47:27See, here in Ephesians 2, what Paul is
47:29doing is he's saying the default
47:33uh the the default position of every
47:34person, the default nature, the the
47:36heart that they're born with is not some
47:39neutral heart. It's a heart that is bent
47:42towards sin. So, Ephesians chapter 2, it
47:45says, "And you were" This is talking to
47:48believers who have been saved. So, prior
47:50to your salvation, you were dead in the
47:54trespasses and sins in which you once
47:58walked. Says that you were spiritually
48:01dead. That means yes, though physically
48:03you looked alive on the outside, you
48:05were dead spiritually. There was no good
48:09that we could do, at least good towards
48:12God. Hebrews says without faith it's
48:14impossible to please God.
48:17Let's read what it says here cuz this
48:18helps us understand. It says you're dead
48:20in your sins and trespasses in which you
48:21once walked, following the course of
48:24this world, following the prince of the
48:26power of the air, the spirit that is now
48:28at work in the sons of disobedience. So
48:31when talk about being spiritually dead,
48:32we're talking about people who are who
48:34lived just like the world, who lived
48:36just like Satan and want them to live.
48:37They lived in their sins. They were
48:40enslaved to sins. This is sometimes some
48:43of you heard a very fancy word called
48:46depravity. You've heard like man is
48:48wicked. And what that word doesn't mean
48:50is man is all the time doing the worst
48:53thing he could do. That's not what that
48:55means. There's There's people who seem
48:57like nice, moral people. They want to be
48:59good, upstanding citizens.
49:01What that word means is that man is
49:04dominated by sin.
49:06That word spiritually dead, some of you
49:08have seen a very, very theological movie
49:10from the 1980s
49:12that where they used the phrase he's not
49:13all the way dead, he's only mostly dead.
49:16Some of you are aware of this. You know
49:17there's a difference between mostly dead
49:18and all the way dead. Mostly dead means
49:20he's somewhat alive. All the way dead
49:21means you can only go through his
49:22pockets looking for change. Anyway, we
49:24can think about that another time. This
49:26is not saying we're mostly dead. This is
49:28not saying like oh, we've got some
49:30broken spiritual bones. It says no,
49:31there's no good in us.
49:33Prior to salvation, we just live in our
49:36sins. In fact, we live in it verse
49:38three, among whom we also lived in the
49:41passions of the flesh, carrying out the
49:44desires of the body and the mind.
49:47That word there carrying out, I think in
49:48the NASB it uses the word indulging.
49:51Indulging in the desires of the flesh.
49:54This is saying all we did was sin prior
49:55to conversion and we did it cuz we
49:57wanted to.
49:58We loved it. We we we relished it. It's
50:02what made us happy was the sin as much
50:04as we could.
50:07This is how sin has spread. This is why
50:09in 1 Kings 8, this is 1 Kings 8:46,
50:12Solomon in this like epic prayer will
50:14say,
50:15"If they sin against you, for there is
50:17no one who does not sin." So, we all
50:20sin.
50:21All right, finally, let's go back to
50:22Genesis chapter 3. We'll we'll land the
50:24plane here. Genesis chapter 3. We've
50:26seen all these things. Finally, number
50:27four, what I want us to see is that sin
50:30is dangerous.
50:32Sin
50:34is dangerous.
50:36There are consequences that come with
50:39sin.
50:40Sin always has consequences.
50:44There is never a hidden sin without any
50:47sort of fallout.
50:50We begins uh with cursing.
50:54Uh there's all these cursings that
50:56happen that the man and the woman see
50:57they're
50:58uh ashamed. We we we read about curses
51:01the ground because of you. There's He
51:03curses the serpent.
51:05In chapter 4:7, there's there's cursing
51:07on a
51:09uh sorry, I think I have the verse wrong
51:10there. Well, when Abel has this curse
51:12upon him, but God protects him, but
51:13there's still this this cursing that
51:15happens on him. Genesis chapter 9, we
51:17read about Noah cursing his son. The the
51:19repeated phrase in these first 11 is
51:21cursed, cursed, cursed. That is to say
51:24sin brings judgment. Sin sin brings
51:27punishment from flooding the earth to
51:30God mixing up the languages so the
51:32people have to split
51:34um so that they can't do as much evil.
51:36Sin brings punishment.
51:40I also want you to see sin early on.
51:41Look at Look at Genesis chapter 5.
51:44You know, we're you're going to see this
51:45as we go through uh the book of Genesis
51:48and as we read through the Torah, the
51:50first five books of the Bible, you're
51:52going to see all these genealogies. And
51:54some of you when you when you get to
51:55genealogies, you're going to be like,
51:56"Oh, no. What do I do with this?" Like,
51:58what Oh, goodness. You Are you telling
52:01me that this Friday all I'm going to do
52:03is read a bunch of names and stuff? And
52:05you're like, "Well, what I would say is
52:06when you read those, what you need to
52:08ask yourself is why did the author put
52:10them there?" It's always a good question
52:12to ask when you're reading your Bible.
52:13And it's not because you got a word
52:14count to hit. Uh and it's not because
52:17he's just like, "Well, we just got to
52:17tell what happens next, so here we go."
52:19No. Listen to the phrase, okay?
52:22We'll start in verse four.
52:25It says, "The days of Adam
52:27after his father Seth, after he fathered
52:29Seth were 800 years. He had other sons
52:32and daughters. Thus all the days that
52:33Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.
52:37Verse eight. Thus all the days of Seth,
52:39912 years, and he died.
52:42Uh verse 11. All the days of Enosh, 905
52:44years, and he died. Cainan, verse 11,
52:47910 years, died. Jared, 830 years, uh
52:51sorry, Mahalalel, uh 895 years, died.
52:54Jared, died. Enoch, taken up with God,
52:58Methuselah, died. Lamech, died. Died.
53:01Died. Died. Died. And the point being
53:04sin brings death.
53:08This is not how things were supposed to
53:09be.
53:11And sin ruins everything. Sin will kill
53:13you in this life. We have We have seen
53:17examples of that. And sin will kill your
53:20soul for eternity.
53:23The other reason sin is dangerous is sin
53:26always makes some sort of gap with you
53:28in your relationship with God.
53:31Uh prior to being converted, we were
53:33enemies of God. This It's so interesting
53:36in Genesis 3. God makes man in his
53:39image.
53:40And in verse eight it says, "And they
53:42heard the sound of the Lord God walking
53:45in the garden in the cool of the day,
53:46and the man and his wife hid
53:49themselves."
53:50Why? Because that's the natural response
53:54when we've sinned and realize I cannot
53:56be close to a holy God in light of my
53:59sin.
54:03Genesis 22 to 24, look at this. Genesis
54:063:22 to 24. The Lord God said, "Behold,
54:08the man has become like one of us in
54:10knowing good and evil. Now lest he reach
54:12out his hand to take also the tree of
54:13life and eat and live forever.
54:15Therefore, the Lord God sent him out
54:17from the garden of Eden to work from the
54:19ground from which he was taken. He drove
54:22out the man. And at the east of the
54:24garden of Eden he placed the cherubim
54:27and a flaming sword that turned every
54:29way to guard the way to the tree of
54:30life." Hey, not only can you no longer
54:32be in God's presence, but we're going to
54:33put some warrior angels at the front of
54:35the garden so you can't come back in.
54:38Cuz you're sinful.
54:39Sin never makes our relationship with
54:41God better. It always makes it worse.
54:45Listen to these verses. Isaiah 59:2.
54:48Isaiah 59:2 says, "Your iniquities have
54:51made a separation between you and your
54:53God, and your sins have hidden his face
54:55from you so that he does not hear you."
54:58Colossians 1:21. "And although you were
55:00formerly alienated and enemies in mind
55:04and in evil deeds." That is, we were we
55:06were not close with God.
55:08Okay, people use before used the
55:10adoption analogy like God saw us and he
55:12saw we were struggling and he had pity
55:15on us and he rescued us. And that's
55:16true. God has adopted us.
55:19But prior to being saved, we were not
55:21cute little orphans.
55:24We were rebels who wanted nothing to do
55:27with him. And God saved us despite that.
55:30That's Romans 5:8. That while we were
55:32while we were still in our sins, while
55:34we were still enemies, Christ died for
55:37us.
55:39Friends, you you've known that in your
55:40own sins when you've allowed certain
55:42sins to be in your life and you're like,
55:43"Man, I just I just don't feel close to
55:46God."
55:47Right? And you go like, "Does God love
55:49me less in that time?" Well, I think I
55:52think the answer to that is like if
55:53you're married and you sin against your
55:56spouse, are you less married once you've
56:00sinned against your spouse? The answer
56:01to that is no, you're still covenantally
56:04in relationship with your you're still a
56:06husband, you're still a wife. But now
56:08there's a
56:09there is a relational barrier.
56:12You know, James says, "Draw near to God
56:14and he will draw near to you."
56:16Uh the opposite is true. When we sin,
56:18there's a we've we've made a divide
56:20between us and God, not judicially as
56:22Christians, but we're not walking close
56:24with him anymore. And we're not enjoying
56:26the the freedom of that relationship
56:28that we've been given in him. Sin will
56:30always have a consequence.
56:33I I mean, man, I'm just coming to my
56:34mind right now about about 1 Peter 3:7,
56:36even the sin of a husband not living
56:39with his wife in an understanding way,
56:42Peter warns against it that God won't
56:44want to talk to you if you do that. Hey,
56:46don't treat your wife well, lest your
56:47prayers be hindered.
56:49Hey, you're still my son, but our
56:51relationship's off if you don't fix that
56:53relationship.
56:55There we do see that pattern in
56:57scripture.
56:58So, just to recap, sin is treason, sin
57:00is idolatry, sin is contagious, sin is
57:02dangerous. It's not a boogeyman, it's
57:05not merely a diet recommendation,
57:07there's no overstatement here. Sin is
57:09the biggest problem in our life. And the
57:12question we need to ask is are we
57:13treating sin like sin? And that's what
57:16we're going to do the next few weeks, is
57:17that we're going to look at some of
57:18these sins and ask, are we viewing these
57:20as sinful in the way that the Bible
57:23calls them? Now, I have a third point on
57:24your handout and and this is just a
57:26quick one, just a few takeaways. Let me
57:27give you number three. Number three, I I
57:30talk about some re- the reasons for
57:31clarity.
57:32Let's talk about the reasons for
57:34clarity. Why do we want to be clear on
57:37this? The world would say, "What are you
57:39doing to people? Don't you know the
57:40psychological damage you're doing to
57:42people by talking about this? Don't you
57:44know this you know, anyone's self-esteem
57:46really boosted this morning from this
57:48talk?" I didn't I didn't think so,
57:49right? Mine neither. Like, you all
57:51right, this isn't an uplifting thing.
57:52Why why do we need to do this? Why do we
57:54need to see it rightly? Well, I've got
57:56four quick reasons
57:58for that and they'll be quick. They're
57:59in first one Two of them are in first
58:00Peter and then the last one's in first
58:02John. So, let's let's go to first Peter
58:04chapter 1 and then we'll look at first
58:06John and then we'll we'll wrap this up.
58:08Four reasons why we need clarity on
58:10this. Why do we need to think of sin
58:13rightly? In light of what all that we
58:15just talked about, let's just kind of
58:17give four takeaways and maybe these are
58:19four things for us to pray for as we as
58:21we look at this series over the next few
58:22weeks. The first one is this, letter A
58:24on your handout is holiness.
58:27We need clarity on sin
58:29so that we would live holy.
58:31First Peter chapter 1
58:33verse 14. Peter writes,
58:37"As obedient children, do not be
58:39conformed to the passions of your
58:41ignorance, but as he who called you is
58:43holy, you also be holy in all your
58:47conduct."
58:49So, we need to know that God calls us to
58:51be holy. We're not supposed to be
58:53conformed to our passions, our our
58:55former sins, but we're to walk in
58:57holiness in the way of verse 16, "Since
59:00it is written, you shall be holy for I
59:02am holy."
59:04Listen to this. I love this from
59:05Bridges. This is this is in the second
59:07chapter. He says, "In fact, the paradox,
59:11this is a paradox, he says, is that
59:12those whose lives most reflect the fruit
59:16of the Spirit
59:18are usually those who are most keenly
59:22aware of
59:23and groaned inwardly over these
59:27so-called acceptable sins in their
59:29lives.
59:31That is such a good quote. I'm going to
59:32read it again. Listen to this. He says,
59:35"The paradox is that the people whose
59:37lives most reflect the fruit of the
59:39Spirit
59:41the people who live godly lives are
59:42usually those who are most keenly aware
59:46of and who groan inwardly over these
59:50so-called acceptable sins in their
59:54lives."
59:56And if I want to be holy,
59:58holiness is I want to be devoted to God
1:00:00in every area.
1:00:03In fact, maybe one thing you could do
1:00:05is if there are certain sins in your
1:00:07life that you're going, "Man, I'm really
1:00:08dealing with these issues."
1:00:10Figure out what those smaller sins are
1:00:12that you're tolerating that are feeding
1:00:14into those.
1:00:15Kind of kind of trace back your sin and
1:00:17go, "Okay, here are these big moments
1:00:18when I sin, but if I rewind the tape on
1:00:21my day, where did that start? What What
1:00:23smaller sinful actions What What areas
1:00:25did I choose not to obey earlier that
1:00:28led to that?" Because if I'm fighting in
1:00:30the all the areas, I'm usually not going
1:00:32to have the big mistakes, the big
1:00:34blow-ups. Holiness. Here's the second
1:00:37one, witness.
1:00:38Witness. 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 12. It
1:00:43says, "Keep your conduct among the
1:00:45Gentiles honorable, so that when they
1:00:47speak against you as evildoers, they may
1:00:48see your good deeds and glorify God on
1:00:51the day of visitation." Jesus talked
1:00:53about a city on a hill. We are to show
1:00:56off what it means like to really follow
1:00:58the Lord so that people would see, "Man,
1:01:00that person's really godly."
1:01:02Hey, there are plenty of non-Christians
1:01:06who only use casual curse words and who
1:01:09are always kind.
1:01:10You know, small tolerated sin is
1:01:13something any non-Christian can find at
1:01:14a Mormon church.
1:01:16That won't save them. They need to hear
1:01:18the real gospel from people who really
1:01:21love and follow the Lord. Okay, this
1:01:23isn't saying you've got to be perfect to
1:01:24save people. God is sovereign over that.
1:01:26He'll change people's hearts, but a
1:01:28faithful testimony who really seeks to
1:01:30follow the Lord and doesn't just cover
1:01:32up little sins with apologies and oh,
1:01:34you know how we all are. That doesn't
1:01:36That's not godly. It's not That's not
1:01:39living in the way the Lord would call us
1:01:41to do. And so, we need to be holy. We
1:01:43need clarity on this so we'd be a
1:01:45witness to the world. Here's the
1:01:47letter C, forgiveness. Forgiveness.
1:01:51And go to 1 John if you would. 1 John.
1:01:53What I mean by forgiveness is the reason
1:01:55this is important is if we don't
1:01:57understand our sin rightly, we will not
1:02:00be forgiven of sin.
1:02:02And you're like, what Where are you
1:02:03getting that from? I think I'm getting
1:02:05that from 1 John 1:8-9. 1 John 1:8 says,
1:02:08"If we have no sin If we say we have no
1:02:10sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth
1:02:12is not in us." So, we say, "I don't I
1:02:14don't sin at all. What is this?" Like,
1:02:15nope. John says that's not true. And he
1:02:18says in verse 9, "If we confess our
1:02:21sins."
1:02:22Now, where the word confess is not just
1:02:24a to The The word there confess in the
1:02:27Greek is is homologo. It's same word. If
1:02:31we agree with God about our sin, if we
1:02:34talk about our sin the way that God
1:02:36talks about sin, not just in our mouths,
1:02:38but if we feel aligned with how God
1:02:41tells us to feel about our sins. You
1:02:42ready?
1:02:43It says, "He is faithful and just to
1:02:47forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
1:02:50from all unrighteousness."
1:02:53Isn't that good to know? Confessed sins
1:02:56will be forgiven.
1:02:58The opposite is also true.
1:03:01Unconfessed sins go unforgiven.
1:03:04And I don't mean that in a in like a
1:03:06Catholic way, like I need my last rites
1:03:08to say everything. I mean that I think
1:03:10in a relational way. I think this is
1:03:11written to Christians. And there's going
1:03:13to be strife between me and God
1:03:17if I've got sins that I'm not confessing
1:03:19rightly, things are not going to be
1:03:21fully the way they could be.
1:03:23So, we must be ready to confess our sins
1:03:26so we forgive them or so that God would
1:03:27forgive them. And finally, letter D on
1:03:29your handout, why do we need to view
1:03:30this rightly? Well, it's it's our
1:03:32worship.
1:03:33It's our worship.
1:03:35I'm reminded of the story a lot of you
1:03:37know the story of John Newton, author of
1:03:39Amazing Grace, former slave trader who
1:03:42was converted at the preaching of the
1:03:44gospel.
1:03:45And many of you have heard the story how
1:03:46in his last years
1:03:49he his uh memory began to fade and he he
1:03:53couldn't remember the things he used to,
1:03:55but he says this, he would often say,
1:03:57"My memory is nearly gone, but I
1:03:58remember two things, that I am a great
1:04:01sinner and that Christ is a great
1:04:04savior."
1:04:05See, the the deeper, the darker our
1:04:09understanding of our own sin,
1:04:11the greater our view of Christ becomes.
1:04:14Uh we become more amazed by what he's
1:04:17done for us. We worship him more.
1:04:21There's no reason to worship a savior
1:04:23who died for sins I didn't really do.
1:04:27But if I know that I'm a sinner,
1:04:29then I worship Christ who died for me
1:04:31when I didn't deserve it.
1:04:33You know, there's a story in Luke
1:04:34chapter 7 of a
1:04:36Jesus is at a dinner party with some
1:04:38Pharisees and a woman comes in and
1:04:40starts crying and washing his feet and
1:04:42Pharisees uh this one's name is Simon
1:04:45says, "If the Lord knew who this was
1:04:46that was touching his feet, this foot
1:04:48this adulterous woman, he he wouldn't uh
1:04:50he wouldn't speak with her."
1:04:52Jesus rebukes Simon, he talks to him
1:04:53about her and he he gives a parable and
1:04:56at the end he says of her, "Therefore, I
1:04:58tell you,
1:05:00her sins, which are many, are forgiven,
1:05:04for she loved much.
1:05:07But he who is forgiven little loves
1:05:12little.
1:05:14See, when we think we've sinned little,
1:05:17we're going to make very little of God's
1:05:19forgiveness,
1:05:21and our response to him will be little
1:05:24worship.
1:05:25Friends, we know we have sinned much,
1:05:29which means when we think of the cross,
1:05:31we know that we have been forgiven much.
1:05:35So, let us respond rightly.
1:05:37Let us love much, and worship the Lord
1:05:41who has saved us from our sins.
1:05:43So.
1:05:44Um that's our study. I think it's going
1:05:47to be a great time looking at this book.
1:05:49Uh I'll close in prayer, but we've got
1:05:51about uh we've got about 6 minutes left.
1:05:53They're talking out there. Is there Is
1:05:55there overflow right now? Is that what
1:05:56you're saying?
1:05:57All right, we'll get out there. That's
1:05:58awesome. I like the overflow at the 9:00
1:06:00a.m. So, any questions? Anything I said
1:06:02that that I could clarify, that could be
1:06:04helpful with? Anything at all that we
1:06:06need to uh
1:06:08to address?
1:06:11I like it. Yes.
1:06:17Yes, that's Luke 7:47.
1:06:21And really, the the whole section there
1:06:23is worth the read uh to get the the
1:06:25story, the parable he tells, everything.
1:06:28Okay?
1:06:30What else? Any other questions?
1:06:36Okay.
1:06:37Well, I'll go ahead and close in prayer,
1:06:38and then when when Gary gives us all the
1:06:40green light, we could bust out of here.
1:06:42I like it. So, let me pray. Father,
1:06:43thank you for this morning. Thank you
1:06:45for the reminder of how horrible sin is.
1:06:47Lord, we do ask that you would forgive
1:06:49us for sins that we have tolerated, for
1:06:51sins that we've allowed, for sins that
1:06:53we've treated casually, Lord.
1:06:55Even forgive us for sins that we've
1:06:56joked about, um and made light of.
1:06:59Lord, we know all sin is serious because
1:07:01it's against you. We know you take it
1:07:02serious because your son came to die for
1:07:05our sins.
1:07:07Lord, help us to walk in holiness. Help
1:07:09us to live in a way that's pleasing to
1:07:11you at all times.
1:07:13Uh help us, Lord, to treasure you and
1:07:15worship you rightly. I pray, Lord, as a
1:07:17result of our study in this, uh we would
1:07:19be godlier and live lives that more
1:07:21exalt you. Pray these things in your
1:07:22son's name. Amen.

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