RIP TIDE
5. No Swimming
(Should We Stay on the Beach?)
With all this talk about the danger of Rip Tides,
you might be thinking,
“I think I’ll just stay out of the water!”
But the water represents life.
Chris and Sarah went to their family’s river house
a few weeks ago,
and they brought back some crabs they caught there
and made us some crab melts!
I’m telling you, good things come out of the water!
The water is beautiful and fun to play in,
many good things come out of the water,
so don’t be afraid to live life.
There’s a lot of fun to be had in the water,
so have fun in the water
because that’s where everyone is!
As you probably remember,
I just needed to be a life guard for a few weeks
and warn you about the danger of the riptide.
I needed to make you aware of the pull of sin,
and how you should react to it.
God says that’s why He gave us the law
in the Old Testament.
He didn’t give us the law for us to be a slave to it,
but the law helps us to recognize sin.
Look with me at Romans 3:20
“Therefore no one will be declared righteous
in his sight by observing the law;
rather, through the law
we become conscious of sin.”
And then He goes on to say
that once we compare our lives with the law,
we will realize how much sin is out there,
and even how much we have in our own lives.
The good news is, that while sin increases,
so does the grace of God.
You can never sin so much
that the grace of God can’t cover it.
You can never fall so low,
that the grace of God won’t pick you up.
Romans 5:20
“The law was added
so that the trespass might increase.
But where sin increased,
grace increased all the more,
Now I really like this next part.
This sounds like something
one of our teens would say.
What shall we say, then?
Or in modern language, “So…………”
Shall we go on sinning
so that grace may increase?”
God’s answer? “NO.”
Shall we go on sinning
so that grace may increase?”
Romans 6:2
“By no means! We died to sin;
how can we live in it any longer?”
Don’t you just love it?
People always try to find the easy way out,
don’t they?
They say “If God’s grace grows with the sin,
let’s see how much grace we can get!”
But that’s not the way it works.
This isn’t a game,
and we don’t know how or when our life will end.
Now is the time to make things right.
God said, “Now is the accepted time.
Behold now is the time for salvation.”
Christ was crucified on the cross for us.
He died so we could experience freedom
from the rip tide of sin.
Romans 6:6-7
“For we know that our old self
was crucified with him
so that the body of sin might be done away with,
that we should no longer be slaves to sin—
because anyone who has died
has been freed from sin.”
Did you see that?
It said, “anyone who has died
has been freed from sin.”
This doesn’t mean a literal death.
It means we die to ourselves
and our own lustful desires.
It means we give of our time, money and talents
to help others.
It means we take care of other people,
and let God take care of us.
It means living your life
doing the things God created you to do.
Literally living on purpose for Him.
Romans 6:10-17
“The death he died, he died to sin once for all;
but the life he lives, he lives to God.
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin
but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Therefore do not let sin reign
in your mortal body
so that you obey it’s evil desires.
Do not offer the parts of your body to sin,
as instruments of wickedness,
but rather offer yourselves to God,
as those who have been brought from death
to life;
and offer the parts of your body to him
as instruments of righteousness.
For sin shall not be your master,
because you are not under law,
but under grace.”
What’s He saying here?
Leave the old way of life behind.
Remember, to get out of the rip tide,
you have to free yourself
from what is keeping you there,
then swim perpendicular to the pull.
This is our last message
in the sermon series Rip Tide.
I believe that each one of us
understands the concept
of the pull of sin in our lives.
I believe we know how to escape
from pull of the rip tide of sin
the question is, Will we do it?
I want to take a moment
and recap the last few weeks for you.
Recap
RIP TIDE
(Sin)
Week 1: Swim at Your Own Risk
un•der•tow - A strong sea-ward bottom current
(sin)that can suck you under the water.
Rip Current (RipTide) –
more subtle, but strong current (sin)
flowing outward from a shore
that won’t suck you under the water,
but will carry you out to sea.
To get out of the flow of the current:
Swim perpendicular, not parallel with it.
Who is in Danger of Being Caught Up
in a Rip Tide?
Everyone.
The Current of a Spiritual Riptide:
~ Temptation ~
~Desire ~
~Sin ~
~Death ~
“Do not be deceived”
Week 2: Life Guard On Duty
Lifeguards are placed
to warn us of impending danger.
They warn people publicly
so others will be warned as well.
• If they do not do their job
and warn people of the danger,
they will be held accountable
for those people.
• If they do their job
and warn people of danger,
but the people don’t heed their warning,
the people will be held accountable
for their own actions.
• If you have read the Bible,
sat under a man of God,
or had a straight-talking Christian friend, you have been warned.
Lifeguards must be careful
when trying to help someone
that they don’t put their own lives in danger.
Righteousness will not keep you out of a rip tide.
• If a righteous man
gets caught in the rip tide,
his good deeds are forgotten.
Wickedness will not keep you in a rip tide.
• If a wicked man gets out of the rip tide, his wicked deeds are forgotten.
Stay out of the Rip Tide!
Week 3: Danger Strong Current
(Leading Someone Else into a Riptide)
Don’t do anything that will cause someone else
to get caught in the pull of a Rip Tide.
Don’t be the reason
someone else finds themselves
in the pull of the Rip Tide.
The effects of the Rip Tide are:
• lack of food and water
• people will be appalled
at the sight of others in the riptide
• people will waste away
because of their sin
Stay away from the Rip Tide!
WEEK 4: HELP!
(Realizing you are in a Rip Tide)
If you had not been warned,
you would not be responsible.
But since you heard the message,
you have been warned and are responsible.
• If you live in Christ,
you won’t keep on sinning.
• If you are happy living in the Rip Tide,
then you have never really
accepted Christ.
2 Possible Responses when you find yourself
in a Rip Tide
1. Give in to the pull
• go with the flow
• do nothing
• take the easy way out
2. Fight against the pull
• Remove anything from your life
that is keeping you there
• Look around at your support
• Swim perpendicular
• Fill the voids with good things
In the Rip Tide – slave to sin
Out of the Rip Tide – slave to righteousness
Week 5: No Swimming
(Should We Stay on the Beach?)
Water is life.
Water is beautiful.
Water is fun.
Good things come from the water!
You can never sin so much
that the grace of God can’t cover it.
Should we sin more so we can have more grace? NO!
If you have been caught
in the current of the Rip Tide…
• Count yourselves dead to sin
but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
• Do not let sin reign
in your mortal body
so that you obey its evil desires.
• Do not offer the parts of your body to sin,
as instruments of wickedness.
• Offer yourselves to God,
as those who have been brought
from death to life;
• Offer the parts of your body
to Him
as instruments of righteousness.
Let’s pray
