The Smell of Sin
[Title inspired by the book: The Smell of Sin by
B. Everts]
Introduction:
Hardly anyone talks about sin
these days. But Jesus did! A lot! He was serious
about it. Let’s listen to what Jesus said. But it
won’t be comfortable.
Body:
I.
How Serious Is Sin?
·
Matthew
5:29-30
“If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and
cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that
one of your members perish, than for your whole body to
be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to
sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more
profitable for you that one of your members perish, that
for your whole body to be cast into hell.”
NKJV
Don’t pass over this too quickly. I know it’s a
disturbing image, isn’t it? Almost gory! It is a
wakeup call. We must take sin seriously.
Matthew 18:8-9
“If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and
cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into
life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two
feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your
eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from
you. It is better for you to enter into life with one
eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell
fire.”
NKJV
We should choose to lose an eye or a hand rather than
sin. Sin, left unforgiven, leads to Gehenna.
·
So what is sin?
Sin is missing the mark. But what is the mark, the
target? Are the edges blurry and fuzzy, or clear and
well-defined? Paul describes sin in
Colossians 3:5-8. “Therefore put to death your members
which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness,
passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is
idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is
coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you
yourselves once walked when you lived in them. But now
you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath,
malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.”
NKJV
This is what missing the mark looks like.
·
The apostle John
described sin as lawlessness. (I
John 3:4)
“Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin
is lawlessness.”
NKJV
Sin is the breaking or violating of God’s law by
transgression or neglect, being unrestrained and
unregulated by His command.
·
Jesus spent a lot
of time not only trying to get across to His followers
what sin was, but what it was like to sin – to miss the
target, to transgress God’s law. Knowing how it would
feel to miss the target could make all the difference in
the world. Being deceived about how it would feel could
prove fatal.
II.
What Is It Like to Sin?
·
Some believe sin is
like a list of classroom rules that the teacher
arbitrarily made up. They believe the forbidden things
are all the good things in life. Missing out on all the
fun. This is how Satan deceived Eve. (Genesis
3:4-6)
Righteousness is boring. Some feel sin is like fresh
air – a release from oppression. Now they are free to
have fun.
·
Sin is actually
like an insult and rebellion by a child against a loving
parent. (Luke
15:11-12)
Sin is like walking up to your mother and spitting in
her face! Example: Peter’s betrayal (Matthew
26:69-75)
Later, Jesus asked Peter “Do you love me?” (John
21:15-17)
God is hurt when we sin.
·
Sin is turning from
the only source of spiritual life and starving
yourself. (John
15:4)
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear
fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither
can you, unless you abide in Me.”
NKJV
It’s like eating rocks and dirt when you could have
steak and potatoes. Why would anyone do that? (Luke
14:16-18a) To lie, to gossip, to
be arrogant is like taking your hands and choking your
neck and squeezing the life out of yourself. Lose a
hand or let it choke you to death? When I decide to
give into temptation and sin, it’s like deciding to
drink a glass of Clorox bleach. It’s suicide!
·
To sin is to build
your life on the sand. (Luke
6:49)
“But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who
built a house on the earth without a foundation, against
which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it
fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
NKJV
It is to do the easy thing instead of the right thing.
When I put anything above God [entertainment, sports,
money, my opinions . . .] I’m just waiting for disaster
to happen.
·
To sin is to be in
bondage. (John
8:33-34)
“They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants, and
have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say,
You will be made free?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Most
assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave
of sin.”
NKJV
It
would be like being in a dungeon with hands and feet
shackled. Sin is the shackles. The rich young ruler
was shackled by his possessions. (Mark
10:22)
To be free, he had to let them go.
III.
What Can We Do about Sin?
·
Realize what it
is. (Mark
7:14-23)
(Mark
7:15)
“There is nothing that enters a man from outside which
can defile him; but the things which come out of him;
those are the things that defile a man.”
NKJV
·
A sinner must truly
see the condition of his heart, mourn over his sins, and
cry out for help.
·
Understand that
Jesus calls for drastic action.
Invitation:
Read
Hebrews 12:1-2.
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great
a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and
the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with
endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the
joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the
throne of God.”
NKJV
Bobby Stafford
June 7, 2015
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