TEXT: GENESIS 2:15-17; 3:1-1
TITLE: SIN – WHAT GOD SAYS VERSUS WHAT SATAN SAYS
After the Lord commanded Adam and Eve Not to Eat of the Tree Of The Knowledge of Good and Evil, and warned of the dire consequences if they choose to disobey His Word, [Genesis 2:15, 16] Satan struts into the Garden and deceives Eve into believing that God is all talk, it really doesn’t matter whether you take Him and His Word serious or not. He’s bluffing. He just wants to be God. He just wants to be a dictator. Break loose and do your own thing, don’t take the Lord seriously, don’t worry about Him. Satan said that there will be no price to pay for disobedience, so there is no need to deny yourself, go ahead and partake of all that the world has to offer you, you only go around once, so eat, drink and be merry.
The first lie Satan was able to get man to believe was that, each of us have the right to decide for ourselves what is right and wrong. We don’t need to worry about the Lord and His Word and deny ourselves what we would like to do, or have, or be, for fear of His threats of judgment for refusing to submit and be obedient to Him. There is nothing that is Sin, if you believe it’s alright for you, and there will be no judgment for refusing to live by the Lord’s will. Multitudes of Eve’s sons and daughters have swallowed that same lie from then to this very day.
One of the darkest periods in the history of the Nation of Israel was during the time of the Judges. We read that; “In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” [JUDGES 21:25] They too had rejected the Authority of the Lord and His Word over their life, and choose to be their own decider of what was right and wrong. A decision that led to their demise as God had warned.
Satan has done a masterful job in *eliminating SIN from our belief system. Someone has rightfully said that in America today the only thing that is considered to be sin any longer is to CALL SIN, SIN. The word SIN is *not even a part of our vocabulary any longer. You very seldom hear the word used, even in the Pulpits in America.
The world today no longer believes that the Word of God is to be taken seriously. There is no such thing as “Absolute Truth”, Truth is Relative, if we believe it to be alright for us, then it is alright, and no one has any business judging us, and the thought of God judging us for our Self-Willed life is ridiculous. That is the Big Lie that Satan deceived Eve into embracing which led to her fall. That has been the cause for the fall of our great Nation from her once glorious state to the decline we are now in.
That is what Satan says about SIN, but what does God say about SIN. Is there really such a thing a SIN in this world? Is there really a God that judge’s man for defying His Word? Let’s look at what the Word says about Sin and its Consequences. Then we are left with the choice of which we will believe, SATAN or the LORD JESUS. The following points are what the Lord’s Word says about SIN. Choose carefully, your eternal soul is at stake!!
I. Sin Is Transgression of the Law [Exodus 20:1-17; 1 John 3:4]
[1John 3:4] tells us that any and all Transgression of His Laws is classified by Him as SIN. His Law is not only the 10 Commandments, but is all of His Word. Even though our society refuses to do so, the Lord does still call some things as Sin. Anytime that anyone disobeys the Lord’s Word, he or she has crossed the line, over which the Lord says if a man goes, he has sinned.
Satan has been masterful at getting America to eliminate the Bible from nearly all segments of our society, from the School House to the White House. We ignore and defy the clear teaching of the Word of God without fear or shame today. The sad truth is that many young adults and school age children in America have had very little, if any exposure to the Word of God, other than the constant ridicule they hear from most of those they have received their counsel and influence from in their formative years. For instance, many of their School Teachers who believe the Bible is the Word of God feel muzzled to say anything positive about the Bible and thus remain silent about the Bible, and many more feel the liberty to castigate doubt and ridicule upon the Bible to those same children. Those they Idolize, Ball Players, Movie Stars, TV Stars, Singers, Politicians, etc., set terrible examples for them, as a matter of fact they have become Satan’s Servants in seducing and luring our young people into the clutches of Satan. All we have to do is to look around at our broken society and see that God is telling us the truth when He said: “Be not deceived, God Is Not Mocked, for whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” [Galatians 6:7]
America and the Church in America must return to believing that the Bible is the Word of God, and to disobey and defy it is SIN. The corruption from disobedience is destroying us, it is literally killing us. The STENCH of DEATH is upon our Churches and our Nation. Sin IS Transgression of the Law of God. The fruits of our disobedience are crime, corruption, callousness, break down of the Home, etc., proves that disobedience to God’s Word is Sin, and that the Lord is not indifferent to His Word or to those who disobey it. We Must have a Revival of Believing The Bible is True and Authoritative, and to disobey or ignore it is Sin, and we sin to our own peril.
II. Sin Is Transgression Against the Lord [Psalms 51:4]
Sin is also seen as a personal affront to the Lord Himself. [Psalms 51:5] tells us that King David came to realize that when he took another man’s wife into his bed, he had not only sinned against her husband, but ultimately he had sinned against the Lord Himself. What made David feel that way? Why did David say that in taking another man’s wife that he had insulted the Lord? That he had offended and defied the Lord Himself? He did so because he knew that in the 10 Commandments the Lord had said:
[Exodus 20:17] “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife…” (Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery) It was the Lord Himself that had given those commands to man, they were His Commandments and to disobey them was to disobey the Lord Himself, it was a Sin against the Lord Himself.
America may pull down the 10 Commandments from off of the Walls of our Schools and Court Houses, in an attempt to rid our society from any of their restraints, but the fact remains; [Psalms 12:6,7 ] “The Words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried (tested) in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt Preserve them from this Generation forever.” For generations the Foes of the Word had constantly attacked it, and its Friends have often been apathetic to it, yet the Word lives on. When its foes have bit the dust the Lord has stirred the hearts of His people to rise up and blow the dust from the Word and once again Preach it and Practice it. If the Lord tarries His Coming, this God Defying Generation will return to the dust from whence they came and the worms will eat their rotten corpse, and then the Truth that has fallen in the streets and been trampled on by this generation, will find in the next Generation the Lord will have His Faithful Few who will pick it up, clean it off, and once again place it back on those same Walls from where their forefathers had taken them down. They will put it back in their lives, their homes, their pulpits, and Jesus will once again be lifted up, and the WORD OF GOD WILL LIVE ON!!! DO IT NOW LORD JESUS, DO IT NOW!!
III. Sin Is Transgression Against the Land [Psalms 10:16; Numbers 35:33, 34 ; Deuteronomy 5:33]
Sin is not only Transgression against the Law and the Lord, but also against our Land. The Lord had given Israel a land flowing with milk and honey, but it was also a land filled with pollution and practices of the vile, perverted pagans who had inhabited the land. The Lord told His people to destroy these pagans and to rid the land of the pagans and their practices, and for the most part they did so. When they had conquered and settled the land they had a wonderful and pure place to live and to raise their children, free from filth and vice. The Lord had ordered them not to disobey His Word and Sin, because in doing so they would once again pollute and defile their land. Sadly, they did not heed the Lord’s warning, and in later years the land once again became a cesspool of iniquity. They had sinned against the land as had the pagans that had inhabited the land before them. This sin would cause the Lord to shut up the heavens and cut off the former and latter rains, creating droughts and barren land, where there had once been green pastures and bountiful crops. This sin would bring disease and plagues where there once had been health and longevity of life. This sin would bring war and the land would be forced to drink the blood of its people as well as it foreign foes. They had sinned against their land.
When a people Sin, they Sin against their Land. We bring poverty where there has been plenty. We bring natural disasters where there had once been the smile of heaven. We bring war and blood where there had once been peace and prosperity. We bring disease in where there had once been health, we fill our cities and streets with crime and vice in the place of wholesome and peaceful neighborhoods. We transgress against our land.
This is what has happened to our Land. I grew up in an America that is nothing like the America we have today. AIDS was never heard of. Terrorist Attacks on our mainland was thought to be impossible. Wars were always fought on foreign soil, not upon ours. Our women and children could walk our streets at night without fear of being mugged or maimed. We were a Nation that offered the American Dream for all who would apply themselves. We were the land of opportunity and plenty, but that day has long since passed us by.
Now our children are inheriting an American Nightmare. They are growing up in a land where they are not even safe in their own homes. They never know when some drug crazed addict will attack or kill them for the money in their pockets to get another fix. They have to fear catching a deadly STD, they have to fear for their lives when they go to school. They never know if they are going to be a victim of a terrorist attack in our own cities. They cannot even turn on the television without being exposed to filth and vulgarity. They cannot take a drive on our highways without having to worry about the dozens of drunk drivers they will meet on the road. They now have a land of poverty and debt. They now have a national debt that has increased from 200 Billion in 1984 to 14 Trillion in 2011. We have sinned against our land and are now living in the midst of a moral cesspool, streets that look more like a jungle after dark than civilization.
Much of this has happened as a result of the “Church’s Contamination.” We have become defiled by sin and are no longer the Salt and Light to our nation. If the Church is ever to have True Revival and regain our influence and moral authority within our nation, we must first become more concerned with the Sin that is WITHIN US than the SIN that is AROUND US!!
Much of this has also happened as the result of the “Church’s Toleration.” We have not only been guilty of sin within us, but we have also been too accepting of allowing sin around us. We don’t go to the polls to vote against gambling, alcohol, lottery, or any other vice. We have had a SO WHAT attitude towards sin for so long, that sin has become like a Cancer that has went unchecked and spread through our land, putting us at death’s door. “Woe to Them That Are At Ease in Zion.” [Amos 6:1]
When we do go to the polls we often shut our eyes to a candidate’s godless lives and beliefs if he promises to make us more prosperous. These same politicians have gone to Washington and have passed evil decrees, calling evil good and good evil. They legalize homosexuality and Gay Marriage, they promote gambling for the money it brings them, using the Prostitute’s excuse for doing so; “I DO IT FOR THE MONEY, I NEED THE MONEY.”
Christians must see that to be tolerant of sin is defiling and destroying our land. [1 Corinthians 5:6] “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” For me, the Homosexual does not have the RIGHT to Marry, to Adopt Children, to Teach Our Kids, To Hold Our Offices. This defiles the land where I live; it defiles the land for which I went to War as a youth, to protect our way of life for future generations. It defiles and destroys the land my kids and grand-kids and yours, will have to grow up in.
IV. Sin Is Transgression Against Life [Deuteronomy 4:40; 5:33]
The Lord warned that to Sin would also be to Transgress Against Life. [Romans 3:23] “For the wages of sin is death.” How often have we seen this to be true? The Lord tells us not to defile our bodies, yet people ignore not only the Lord’s warning, but even the warnings on the package and smoke, and with every cigarette they smoke ,their life span is shortened by several minutes and eventually die with lung cancer, years before their time. The same could be said of alcohol and sex. Very few people would be so foolish as to put a bullet in the chamber of a hand gun and twirl that chamber and put it to his head and pull the trigger. Yet, in reality that is what a person is doing every time they choose to willfully disobey the Word of God. [ Hebrews 10:26,27,31 ] “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Sin’s penalty is not only the loss of one’s physical life, but there is a 2nd Death [Revelation 20:14] when sinners who die without Jesus will face eternal death in the Lake of Fire, separated from God for eternity. That is the cost for believing Satan’s Lies!!!
What God’s Word tells us does matter. WHO WILL YOU BELIEVE?
Let me not leave this point without giving a clear warning to the Child of God. You can sin and you may choose to sin, but you will not get away with sin either. [Hebrews 12:6, 8] “For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son He receiveth…But if ye be without chastisement, of which all are partakers, they are @#!*% (illegitimate) and Not Sons.” When you sin the Lord will never let you get by with it, and if you claim to be a Christian and have known sin in your life and the Lord is not whipping you for it, then you are NOT a Child of God. This ought to give pause to many on the rolls of our Churches today, that never show any evidence that the Lord and His Word has any place in their lives and heart.
CONCLUSION:
The question the world must ask them is; when it comes to SIN and its Consequences, who are we going to believe, Jesus or the great deceiver, Satan?
Satan would like for you to believe that you have the right to determine for yourselves what is right and wrong. You do not have to pay any attention to what the Lord has said in His Word, nor worry about the Lord’s Judgment. Millions who were deceived into believing that have went out into eternity only to find that they had been deceived and are now in H-E-L-L paying for their life of SIN and their rejection of JESUS, as the Lord and Savior from SIN and its PENALTY. If you too have believed Satan’s lie, today you have the opportunity to Repent and Turn to Jesus for Forgiveness and Salvation.
[ROMANS 6:23] “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through JESUS CHRIST our LORD.”
[ROMANS 5:8] “But God demonstrated His love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." JOHN 3:16
[ROMANS 10:13] “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord (JESUS) shall be saved.” *[Acts 4:12]
Let me urge you that have never really came to Jesus for salvation to do so TODAY, before it is everlastingly too late. [2 Corinthians 6:2; Hebrews 3:7-15]
~Jack Woodard
1 Corinthians 2:2; 2 Corinthians 4:5, 7
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Bro Woodard lives in the Jackson, Mississippi area, and is available for Revivals, Conferences, etc.
Contact Information: jackwoodard@bellsouth.net
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Sermon Contributor To: http://www.pastorlife.com
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