INTRO.- ILL.- I like what Chuck Swindoll wrote many years ago in His book, “Seasons of Life.” He wrote: Comic caveman B.C. leans on a boulder. The rock is inscribed, “Trivia Test.” And B.C. is administering the exam to one of his deadpan prehistoric buddies.
He says, “Here’s one from the Bible. What were the last words uttered by Lot’s wife?” Without a moment’s hesitation his skin-clad friend replied, “The heck with your fanatical beliefs, I’m going to take one last look!”
Swindoll wrote: “She may not have said it, but that’s what she was thinking or worse.” And we know what happened to Mrs. Lot when she took that one last look. Genesis 19:24 She became a pillar of salt. SHE WAS NO MORE IN THE FLESH!
Swindoll said, “The bottom line of Mrs. Lot’s philosophy could have been etched on her salt-block gravestone: THERE’S NO NEED TO TAKE GOD SERIOUSLY.”
Swindoll wrote, “I know of no philosophy more popular today.” And it’s that thinking and doing that gets people into trouble in life and even more so, in trouble with God!
We all need to take God seriously, which also means we should take His word very seriously! There are many people, even many Christian people who refuse to listen to the Word of God and obey His commands just like water off a duck’s back. And when it comes to sin, we need to take God seriously, because it is our sin that separates us from God on an ongoing basis and for some, it will separate them eternally. They prefer to enjoy the pleasures of sin in this life, but suffer for it in the next life and often, they know better but they don’t want to do better. They don’t want to repent and seek the Lord.
In our text, of course, Paul was writing to Christian people and he asks the pertinent question, “Shall we go on sinning?” As in “Shall we go on sinning now that we are in Christ?”
PROP.- Paul answers the question of “shall we go on sinning?” Here is how he answers that question.
1- No to sin - Because we died to sin
2- No to sin - Because we live with Christ
3- No to sin - Because we are liberated
I. NO TO SIN - BECAUSE WE DIED TO SIN
1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
ILL.- A man, reading about an "eat-all-you-want" diet, said to a friend: "I knew there'd be a catch to it. You have to run seven hundred miles a day!"
That’s sort of like sin. Eat-all-you-want, do-all-you-want, do anything you want, BUT THERE’S A CATCH TO IT. You can’t outrun sin or out-distance yourself from your sins except through the Lord Jesus Christ! He is the only escape there is.
Romans 6:23 stands true for eternity. “The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Our only hope, our only escape from sin is found in Jesus. But I have a dilemma! Since trusting Christ as my savior and surrendering to Him in faith and obedience, I have discovered that I still sin. OH NO! OH YES!
ILL.- C. S. Lewis: "If conversion to Christianity makes no improvement in a man's outward actions - if he continues to be just as snobbish or spiteful or envious or ambitious as he was before - then I think we must suspect that his 'conversion' was largely imaginary."
A missionary friend in Germany, read this quote on my facebook page and wrote, “kill the old man.” And he’s right.
ILL.- It’s like the old story about the African convert to Christianity. He was given a position of trust by the missionary but he violated that trust and stole something. The missionary asked, “Why did you take something that didn’t belong to you?” The native replied, “It wasn’t I who stole. It was grandfather in the bones!”
That was his way of saying it was his old sinful nature. In time, however, that native grew stronger in his faith. When asked, “How is grandfather in the bones?” He would reply, “Well, grandfather isn’t dead yet, but he doesn’t get around like he used to.”
Hopefully, this is true for you as well. As we yield to Christ and walk with Him on a daily basis, grandfather in the bones will get weaker and weaker and we’ll do better in life.
ILL.- Winter was coming on and a hunter went out into the forest to shoot a bear, out of which he planned to make a warm coat. By and by he saw a big bear coming toward him and raised his gun and took aim.
“Wait,” said the bear, “why do you want to shoot me?” “Because I am cold,” said the hunter, “and I need a coat.” “But I am hungry,” the bear replied, “so maybe if we just talk this over a little, we could come to a compromise.”
So the hunter sat down beside the bear and began to talk over the pros and cons. In the end, the hunter was well enveloped with the bear’s fur and the bear had eaten his dinner.
Brothers and sisters, there can be no compromise when it comes to sin. We must say “no” to sin because we died to sin. When?
4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Whether we realized it or not, we died in baptism when we surrendered to Christ. When we said “yes” to Jesus and were willing to obey Him in repentance and baptism we died to sin. We need to remember our vows and remember that we died to sin and self and live like it!
ILL.- Billy Sunday, the baseball evangelist and reformer, had the right idea and formula. He preached Christ as the only answer to man’s needs until his death in 1935. “I’m against sin,” he said. “I’ll kick it as long as I’ve got a foot, and I’ll fight it as long as I’ve got a fist. I’ll butt it as long as I’ve got a head. I’ll bite it as long as I’ve got a tooth. When I’m old and fistless and footless and toothless, I’ll gum it till I go home to Glory and it goes home to perdition.”
The idea is that we must fight sin as long as we are alive. Sin will raise its ugly head time and time again, and time and time again, we must go to the Lord and seek His mercy and grace for power to overcome and combat the evil in our lives.
II. NO TO SIN - BECAUSE WE LIVE WITH CHRIST
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. We live with Christ. We are alive with Christ. And our union with Him is what makes all the difference in the world.
ILL.- Bob Stacy. Don DeWelt. Boyce Mouton. Who are these men? They are all gospel preachers who have had an impact on my life and preaching.
Bob Stacy was my college English teacher at Ozark Bible College. He is still preaching and we still communicate daily. I read his daily devotions which are very good, which tells me he’s still a great preacher. And Bob still rises around 4 every morning. Bob said he’s been an early riser since childhood. Bob said, “When I was small I always got up because I didn’t want to miss out on anything.” But now Bob rises early because he doesn’t want to miss meeting the Lord early.
Don DeWelt was also an OBC professor and a favorite for many students at the college. Don’s message was a part of his heart and mind. He would often read his Biblical text and then take off preaching. He was very dramatic and would often walk the aisles in order to keep the people’s attention. He could make you laugh and then the next minute he would have you crying. Don also lived the faith. He was faithful when it came to meeting the Lord in prayer and study every morning. It didn’t make any difference whether he was at home or traveling. He kept the faith.
Boyce Mouton has been a preacher for over 50 years. I first met Boyce when the Fairview Christian Church of Carthage, MO, hired him as their preacher in 1965. I felt as though I learned more from Boyce’s preaching than I did in college.
We had chapel every Tuesday and Thursday. One morning President Don Earl Boatman was presiding for the chapel and he announced that the speaker for that morning did not make it. Don Earl said, “Would anyone here like to preach?” Boyce Mouton was sitting near the rear of the chapel. He stood up and said, “I will. I promised the Lord I would never turn down an opportunity to testify for him.” Boyce walked slowly to the platform and preached a short sermon from I Corinthians chapter 4 on being fools for Christ. How did I know it was short? Because I timed it. It was just over 20 minutes, but wow! What a sermon! He challenged us to step out on faith and live for Christ. I had never seen anyone do what he did.
I could give a testimony and perhaps do a brief Bible study, but I don’t think I have any sermon implanted in my mind strongly enough to do what he did.
These men and others have lifted me higher. They have made me better than I could have been myself. By listening to them teach and preach and by watching them live the Christian life I have been pulled up higher in the faith. If these men have helped me and others, then what about Christ?
Hebrews 12:1-3 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
Because of who Jesus is and what He did in life and death, we are better than we could ever be in life! He has saved us, taught us with His teaching and His life, and He has come to live in us through His Holy Spirit. BECAUSE WE LIVE WITH CHRIST EVERY DAY WE SAY “NO” TO SIN.
III. NO TO SIN - BECAUSE WE ARE LIBERATED
13 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. 14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. We are liberated by grace, by His grace.
ILL.- A man filling out a job application blank came to the question, “Have you ever been arrested?” His answer was “No.” The next question, asking “Why?” He said, “Never got caught.”
We’ve all been caught in our sin, because even if man didn’t see us, God did. Consequently, caught in sin means in trouble with God because God desires holiness and purity. He wants us to be better people than we are. He wants us to be like Himself who is completely holy.
I Peter 1:13-16 “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
Be holy in all you do. Sounds like something of a tall order for me. I am not holy in all I do and say, but I would like to be. I would like to be without fault and without sin, but first, we must be set free from the power of sin before we can grow to become what God wants.
ILL.- 75 year old Bernie Madoff was sentenced to prison for 150 years because of his ponzi crime scheme where he ripped off, stole billions of dollars (about 65 Billion) from investors. Bernie will never be liberated from his prison in Butner, NC. But his prison cell started long before that in Queens, NY, where he became enslaved to his own greed. From his prison cell he was interviewed and called his investors “greedy.” But his own heart was full of deceit, lying, and greed, from which he’ll never be liberated. And we’re all enslaved to sin, various types of sin, unless someone outside ourselves can come along and liberate us. AND HE DID!
II Corinthians 5:21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Romans 6:17-18 “But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”
Set free. Yes, set free, liberated from the penalty of sin and from the power of sin. YES! It’s a big yes in Jesus. We don’t have to sin any more because Jesus has set us free and empowered with His strength to overcome! It’s a matter of recognizing this truth and living this truth. God help us to live this way.
CONCLUSION-------------
ILL.- At a church where D. L. Moody was invited to preach, he was warned that some of the congregation usually left before the end of the sermon. When Mr. Moody rose to begin his sermon, he announced, “I am going to speak to two classes of people this morning: first to the sinners, and then to the saints.”
He proceeded to address the “sinners” for awhile, then said they could leave. For once every member of the congregation stayed to the end of the sermon.
Which shall it be, saint or sinner? We should know the answer to this question. We are saints but only because of Jesus Christ. We are saints in the eyes of God because of Jesus. We are sinners, however, in the flesh. We still sin even though our sins have been “bought and paid for” by Jesus.
Even though we still struggle with sin, we need to learn to live like saints. And that can only happen as we live in Christ and abide in Him. Only as we walk with Him daily in prayer and study of His Word.
Steve Shepherd, Cape Girardeau, MO
shepherd111@hotmail.com
