How To Avoid The Effects Of Sin Series

How to Avoid the Effects of Sin

2 Kings 17:7-23

Scripture Introduction:

Please turn with me to 2 Kings 17. Have you ever noticed the effects of sin in your life; broken or damaged relationships, contention in your home, and/or health issues. In this passage this morning God provides us through the Holy Spirit the insight to what the effects of sin were to the nation of Israel in the 8th Century B.C. And since God is immutable we can learn from 2 Kings 17 what the effects of our sin may bring. If you are interested in knowing how to avoid the effects of sin, please turn with me to 2 Kings 17.

PROPOSITION: Because Christ is the only one able to provide spiritual liberty; you must turn from your evil ways and submit to Him!

Sin dominated the lives of the Israelites in the northern kingdom. It lasted about 200 years until God’s longsuffering, mercy and patience were worn out. The nation continually “did evil in the eyes of the Lord.”

So God used Assyria to conquer his people in the northern kingdom and take them out of the Promised Land and into captivity. 2 Kings 17 tells us why God brought judgment on Israel.

How can I avoid the effects of sin?

I. Godliness must be your top priority in your life. 17:7-12

Godliness is a God-centered-life.

The ultimate purpose of 1 and 2 Kings is to show that disobeying God's law inevitably brings punishment. "Whereas" the people sinned, "there fore" they have become slaves to Assyria.

2Ki 17:7 For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their

God, …and had feared other gods, 8 And walked in the statutes of the heathen, … 12 For

they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.

ILLUSTRATION

"The basic sin is that we usurp God's place at the center of our lives." David Watson

Mat 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

A. Sinners participate in the rejection of God (7-12).

Sin originates in the rejection of God.

(1) Jeroboam lead Israel into the rejection of God.

1. spiritual forgetfulness and ingratitude.

2. They feared other gods (7).

3. They adopted the customs of the pagan Canaanites (8).

4. They tried to keep their wrongdoings secret (9).

5. They covered the land with "high places" (9).

6. They set up idolatrous pillars and wooden images everywhere (10).

7. They burned incense on the "high places" (11).

8. They served idols (12).

9. They would not listen to the warnings of the prophets (13-14).

10. They became stiff-necked and rebellious (14).

11. They rejected God's statutes, His covenant, and His testimonies (15).

12. They followed idols, and thereby became idolatrous, adopting the

empty customs of pagan nations (15).

13. They disobeyed all the commandments of the Lord their God (16).

14. They made molded images of two calves (16).

15. They made a wooden image (Asherah) and worshiped "the host of

heaven"—that is, the sun, moon, and stars (16).

16. They served Baal (16).

17. They burned their children in the fire as sacrifices to Molech (17).

18. They practiced witchcraft and soothsaying (17).

19. They sold themselves to do evil (17).

20. They provoked God to anger (17).

(2) Amos (765 – 755 B.C.) describes the depth of depravity in Israel.

a. The rich were exploiting the poor.

b. Violence was running rampant.

c. Brutality was leveled against women.

d. Unwanted children were burned in the fire.

B. Saints participate in bringing glory to God.

1Co 10:31-32 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:

(1) By worshiping Him alone (Exodus 20:3-4, 7).

(2) By obeying Him without reservation.

Application:

So what? God’s desire is for Him to be glorified in everything we do.

Why? Because that was the single purpose of why He created you.

Now what? You must rearrange your schedule to be inline with His schedule for your life. When we choose our own path (daily activities) without consideration for God’s will, we are in essence rejecting the Lord just as the Israelites did in the 8th Century B.C. Although this is a small thing to most nominal Christians this is not a small thing in the eyes of God. God’s expectation and command is for all of us to “seek Him and to set our affection on things above not on the things on the earth.” We either disobey Him (reject Him) or we obey Him (bring glory to Him). There is no middle ground.