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.
Bring glory to God this week by being Christ-centered in all that you do.
I do my best in cleaning the house for His glory.
I do my best at work for His glory.
I do my best in making time to be a witness for His glory.
I do my best in rearing my children to love Him for His glory.
(spend time each day teaching them truth and worshipping Him together)
I do my best in caring for others I see in need for His glory.
How? By making godliness my top priority in life with the help of the Holy Spirit.
How can I avoid the effects of sin?
II. Righteousness must be your way of life. 17:13-16
Righteousness is the reflection of His character in my attitudes and actions.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
A. It is built on the foundation of godliness (13-16).
ILLUSTRATION
Jeroboam people rejected God, 200 years later they were burning unwanted children.
(1) Our culture is in desperate need of the Gospel message (13-14).
(2) Our culture is in desperate need of living testimonies (15-16).
B. It is made possible by the substitutionary atonement of Christ.
(1) Christ is our propitiation (Rom 5:6-12).
(2) Christ is our reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18-19).
(3) Christ is our expiation (Acts 15:9).
(4) Christ is our redemption (Romans 3:24).
How can I avoid the effects of sin?
Transitional Statement: First, godliness must be the top priority of your life; secondly righteousness must be your way of life; and finally because Christ provides liberty from the effects of sin, avoiding sin must be your practice of life …regardless of the cost.
III. Avoiding sin must be your practice of life. 17:17-23
Do it repeatedly until we become proficient at it. Sin provokes the anger of God.
2Ki 17:11 And there they burnt incense in all the high places, …and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger: …17 And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
A. Holiness is an attribute of God’s nature.
(1) God is always holy.
(2) God is not always angry.
Psa 103:8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow (long) to anger and plenteous in mercy.
B. Sinfulness is the cause of man’s desperate condition.
(1) Israel consistently sinned against God (15-17).
Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
(2) God removed His presence from them (18-23).
ILLUSTRATION
Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden and the presence of God.
1 Kings & 2 Kings the Israelites were driven out of the land that He promised to bless.
C. Mercy is extended through the prophets.
Hos 1:6-7 … And God said … I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away. 7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God…
God extends mercy to us through the scriptures.
(1) The O.T. prophets called people to repent.
Amo 5:4 For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:
Elijah, Elisha, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Isaiah, Micah
(2) The N.T. Prophet called people to repent.
Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Conclusion:
How can I avoid the effects of sin?
1) Godliness must be your top priority in your life.
2) Righteousness must be your way of life.
3) Avoiding sin must be your practice of life.
Sin has been redefined by our secular society and even some churches. Sin now belongs on the dessert menu!
So, a cookie manufacturer labels their cookies “raspberry temptations” and “sinful selections”; to entice people to buy their cookies for added pleasure while it is deemed only as an over indulgence. Sin is never considered by God as a slight mistake or over indulgence. One sin was adequate to put Christ on the cross of Calvary.
Regard sin from a biblical perspective: it is the “transgression of the Law”; it is rebellion against a holy God and it won’t be tolerated by Him. Sin always has an end result of pain, suffering and destruction. If one persists in it, it will eventually bring eternal separation from God in a place called “the lake of fire”.
