The Hard Way Or The Easy Way

Text: Proverbs 13:15 - "...but the way of transgressors is hard."

Matthew 11:28-30 - vs. 30 - "For my yoke is easy,..."

Introduction:

-What we want to this today is the contrast between living for the Lord and living a life of sin.

-Proverbs 13:15, tells us "...the way of transgressors is hard."

-A transgressor is someone who breaks a law.

-In Proverbs 13:5, transgressor means someone who breaks God’s law.

-Or simply but a sinner.

-For 1 John 3:4 - "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."

-Proverbs 13:15 tells , tells us "the way" or "the life" of the sinner is hard.

-Isaiah says about the wicked or the sinner in Isaiah 57:20-21 - "20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked."

-The life of the sinner is one of constant turmoil, no peace, always troubled.

-Just ask the family of any drunk what there life is like.

-Just ask the family of any doper what there life is like.

-As the wife of an husband who is unfaithful to her what her life is like.

-My daddy was a drunkard and let me tell my life was hard. Amen.

-The Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 9:18 - "...one sinner destroyeth much good."

-Now, contrast with the life of a person who trusts in the Lord.

-Isaiah 26:3, tells us that one who trusts in the Lord - "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."

-We want to look at a couple Bible examples of transgressors and how their lives were hard.

-LOT- The nephew of a godly man, man who was called, "the friend of God".

-I am talking about Abraham.

-One day Lot was given a choice where he and his family would live.

-We see the account of this recorded in Genesis 13:10-13.

-Lot choose the wicked city of Sodom to bring up his family.

-From that point on, Lot’s life became hard.

-Again, we are reminded that Proverbs 13:15, tells us "...the way of transgressors is hard."

-In the next Chapter of Genesis, Chapter 14, we see there is a battle.

-Notice what happens to Lot and his family in Genesis 14:11-12.

-It took Lot’s goodly uncle, Abraham to rescue him. Genesis 14:13-16.

-This is just the beginning of Lot’s trouble.

-The Lord tells Abraham that he is going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of their great wickedness.

-Then, in Genesis 19, the Lord sends two angels to warn Lot of the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

-We find that Lot has really joined up with the inhabitants of Sodom, because in Genesis 19:1, the two angels find Lot sitting in the gate of Sodom.

-Only, rulers, judges, or persons of prominence were allowed to sit in the gate of the city.

-Lot has been living in sin, and he has been a poor testimony to his family and those around him.

-I.E., When he goes to warn his son-in-laws, notice their response in Genesis 19:14 - "And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law."

-They mocked him.

-They probably said to Lot, "What’s going on? All of sudden you got religion or something." "All this talk about judgment. Beat it man.".

-In fact, the day the place was to be destroyed, we see Lot and his family lingering. Genesis 19:15-16. - "15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. 16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city."

-They bearly escaped.

-But notice Mrs. Lot what she did. Genesis 19:26 - "But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt."

-You could take Mrs. Lot out of Sodom but you could not take Sodom out of Mrs. Lot.

-We see Lot ends up drunk in a cave and commits incest with his daughters.

-See Genesis 19:30-38.

-We see as the result of this incestuous encounter that the Moabites and Ammonites future enemies of the nation of Israel have their beginning.

-Lot had a choice.

-Live a life for God or live a life of sin.