“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil;
cling to what is good.” Romans 12:9
“When you have finished committing sin, sin is not finished with you. The first cost is high, but it is only the down payment. You keep paying in your conscience, in your body, in the suffering you produce for your family, your friends, and your community. — Ruth Copeland
**Do you know why most diets don’t work?
Because on that diet you are asked to GO WITHOUT things that you really enjoy...or at least you severely limit your consumption of those things.
***For quite a few years I have been “on and off” a “protein diet” because it frees you to eat ALL THE PROTEIN you want...but severely restricts all carbohydrates.
-SO… “sugars” and “starches” are a No-no.
-Breads, cookies, cakes, rice, pasta, etc. are to be almost completely avoided.
-Even fruit and other "no fat" items are greatly reduced.
***This is NOT AN ENDORSEMENT of this diet (I’ve been lectured plenty...trust me!) But it really makes a point...SO FOLLOW THIS THOUGHT as it relates to our struggle with sin.
On the PROTEIN DIET…
-If I want to eat a POUND of BACON and a DOZEN EGGS for breakfast: “Yes!”
-If I try to eat a WHOLE HAM for dinner… “No problem!”
-Grab a SPOON and a can of shortning for a little snack during TV… “OK!”
BUT...in a fairly short amount of time...all those things that I LOVE (except the shortning!) begin to lose their appeal. The diet says I can have as much as I want...but you KNOW what I want, don’t you?
-I want a doughnut.
-I want a bowl of cereal.
-I want a piece of toast.
I personally really love "starch"!
And as with any diet: Over time, what REALLY sounds GOOD is what you are NOT SUPPOSED to have!
***Your diet plan says- “use your human will-power to avoid eating things you really enjoy.” BUT...maybe the true KEY to dieting is understanding WHY certain foods are unhealthy and learning to "hate" all the foods that are bad for you!!!
***Let me ask you a QUESTION (a strange one, but it helps make this point): If I were to ask you this morning to make a SOLEMN COMMITMENT to NOT KNOWINGLY EAT ANY INSECTS for an entire year...how many of you could sincerely raise your hand and say “Pastor...unless someone slips me one that I don’t know is there...I will eat NO INSECTS in the coming year! No more flies! No more spiders! I’m laying off on the ants! Not even one more cockroach!
Show of hands?
WHY, with confidence and enthusiasm, could you make that commitment?
—Because YOU DON’T WANT to eat insects!!! You don’t like them! The thought of eating them makes you feel ill!!!
SO HERE’S THE QUESTION: Why is it so hard to follow through on our spiritual CONVICTIONS and COMMITMENTS to stop a particular sinful behavior? Why do we have certain patterns of failure and weakness that plague us for years???
BECAUSE:
-We don’t hate sin. In fact, we LIKE sin...we ENJOY sin...we CRAVE sinful pleasure.
Like the dieter who is waiting for a SECRET MOMENT” to sneak a handful of potato chips or a piece of chocolate cake from a pantry filled with ALL THE WRONG THINGS...we find ourselves surrounded by temptation and don’t know how to handle it.
***There are some “human strategies” that may work with chocolate cake...but “human strategies” won’t work with the temptation to sin. Here are some examples:
These don’t give you victory over sin:
-IGNORE it...pretend it doesn’t exist. (occupying same space...trying to resist.)
-COMPROMISE...make a deal with it. (“just this once…” or "just once more...")
-BAD MOUTH it...talk “tough” about sin and its consequences. (“pastor, you need to preach a sermon on this..." Sometimes we all talk the toughest about the thing we struggle most with!!)
***There are some specific strategies the Bible gives us for dealing with sin...but I just want to talk about ONE of them this morning. I don’t know if this is the most “radical” or not but this has been a special challenge to me ever since my brother-in-law gave me a copy of a Puritan message entitled “Directions For Hating Sin”. It was a 32 point message...but let me share just a few of them with you:
Some practical steps to LEARN to hate sin:
1.) KNOW God better.
(Psalm 97:1-7, 10) The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side. His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the LORD , before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory. All who worship images are put to shame, those who boast in idols- worship him, all you gods! Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Let’s be honest...we tend to “pick and choose” the facets of God’s character we dwell on. We contemplate His LOVE and MERCY...we focus on His GRACE and PATIENCE (and these are a wonderful part of God’s nature!!)
BUT what about His HOLINESS and WRATH. What about His promise to JUDGE and to PUNISH SIN. These also flow out of God’s nature.
**To know God’s NATURE and to realize that we are COMPLETELY KNOWN by Him should change our attitude toward sin.
2.) Remember the PRICE of sin.
(Romans 6:23) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Remember that our sin cost Jesus His life. In our communion services...we have the table set with the BREAD that reminds us that Jesus took the punishment for our sin in His body...that it was bruised and beaten and broken in our place. The cup reminds us that “without the shedding of blood there is no way for the stain of sin to be removed from our souls”. So we proclaim that sin is so SERIOUS and the penalty so DEADLY that “the wages of sin is death.” Don’t MINIMIZE the seriousness of sin.
3.) Remember that God’s Spirit LIVES IN YOU.
(1 Corinthians 6:15-20) Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
Paul uses a very graphic temptation to make this point. The believers in Corinth were being tempted to go into the pagan temples where immorality with prostitutes was a part of the “worship”. Paul makes it clear that they drag their Savior into that immorality with them because His Spirit is IN them. The SAME is true for us...
-Everywhere you go...He goes
-Everything you see...He sees
-Every secret place...you take HIM too.
-Every relationship...you put HIM right in the middle of it.
(Proverbs 5:21)
21 For a man’s ways are in full view of the LORD , and he examines all his paths.
***Let’s make this very practical (in an impractical way): If you and I were “Duct-taped” together for a week so that wherever YOU went...I had to go… Are there any places that you currently go that you would avoid for a week? Any FLIRTATIONS you would cool off? Any CONVERSATIONS you would skip? Any ENTERTAINMENT you would change?
If you would say “YES”…then my question is “WHY??” I’m nobody. I’m just a man...not the Holy God. Why would you change things for my sake...yet do it in the sight of God???
4.) Recognize the RESULTS of sin as they really are.
(Hebrews 11:24-25) By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.
-See the confused children and the bitterness of divorce...rather than dwelling on the thrill of getting attention from someone other than your spouse.
-See the WALLS go up and the TRUST CRUMBLE to the ground as a result of an angry outburst RATHER THAN enjoying the momentary pleasure of “speaking your mind” and “putting that person in their place.”
-Look into the eyes of a man sitting in the service at the local shelter or mission– a man eating a donated meal and sleeping in a borrowed bed because of alcohol and abuse RATHER THAN enjoying all the ways the beer commercials are the funniest and the liquor commercials are the sexiest.
The PURITAN WRITER said- “Look upon sickness, poverty, shame, despair, rottenness, and death...these will help you understand what sin really is.
SIN IS A COCKROACH...NOT A COOKIE!!!
Sin advertises itself as FUN, FRIENDSHIP, EXCITEMENT, ADVENTURE...as something you’ve EARNED or DESERVE...but sin always leads to PAIN, CONSEQUENCES and even DEATH
(James 1:15-16) but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers.
A few of the other Puritan directions for hating sin:
-View these moments, these choices, these actions as words as though they were YOUR LAST. Is this what you would want to be THINKING or SAYING or DOING at the moment that Christ COMES back to earth or CALLS you to be in His presence???
-Consider the reality of HELL. What is the TRUTH about sin if its DESERVED penalty is eternal separation from God in a place of such torment???
-Stay far away from the TEMPTATIONS that move you toward the sins you want to hate. Every sin has STEPS and PROGRESSIONS that lead to them. RARELY does a person find themselves in the middle of a huge sin without knowing how they got there...they take small steps...they give themselves little-by-little to it. (Frog in a kettle)
-Be aware of your desire to be EASY on yourself. We all tend to be most understanding and forgiving of our own passions and prides. When we take offense at another persons attitude or behavior...if you really allow God to search your heart...you will often find that you have that same struggle, but forgive it in yourself.
CONCLUSION: Back some time ago...I made a decision to have a change of attitude about dieting. I determined that I would NO LONGER consider myself a person “on” this diet or that.
I view myself as someone who will have a different attitude and approach to certain foods for the rest of my life.
Friends...we need a change of attitude regarding sin. I hope there has been some practical help for you in this message.
The reality is this: If you LOVE God...the reverse side of that relationship is learning to HATE sin.
I want to PRAY with you for the attitude that God says is right and pleasing to Him in regard to our minds...our bodies...our holiness: (Pray this passage with the congregation)
(Romans 12:1-2) Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
