By E L Thornton
Sermon 27
(Mat 21:42-44) “Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.”
From the beginning of creation God has always dealt with man, even to this very day God deals with man.
God dealt with Adam by “A voice” in the garden of Eden, in the cool of the day. God dealt with the Patriarch’s with dreams and visions. God dealt with the King’s by the mouth of the Prophets, while dealing with the Prophets through dreams, visions and voices. God’s closest contact with man was when He came in the form of flesh. They called His name Jesus and He move among the people doing great works, dealing with man, dealing mostly with the twelve.
After Jesus went away it seems He changed His way of dealing with man. Although God dealt with the Apostles through dreams and visions, there’s not many dreams, there’s not many visions among the people. God began to deal with man through the ministry of His word, through Preachers. (Heb. 1:7) “And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.”
You believed through the Ministry:
(1 Cor 3:5) “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?”
God called the Ministry:
(2 Cor 3:6) “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
Cannot be save without the Ministry:
(Romans 10:14) “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”
And, from the creation God has dealt with SIN. God dealt with sin on a world level, the Flood. God has dealt with sin on a national level, Egypt and many other examples. God has dealt with sin on the city level, Sodom. And God has dealt with sin on the family level, Achan. God also has, and does, deal with sin on a personal level.
I. WHAT IS SIN?:
Sin is anything that is against God. Webster defines sin “any fault or offense against religious or moral laws.” But I believe that sin is anything that is against God.
Sin’s nature:
It is a dog’s nature to bark,
It is a snake’s nature to bite,
It is a wasp’s nature to sting,
It is a lion’s nature to kill,
It’s is man’s nature to sin,
And it is sin’s nature to destroy.
It will not be a foreign power that destroys America. It will not be a threat of nuclear war that brings America down. It will not be a terrorist group, representing a rebel organization, that causes America to be brought low. But it will be America’s sin’s that will destroy her.
Before sickness can destroy some of us, it will be sin that does it. Before bankruptcy takes all away, it will be sin that takes all. For some of us it’s before old age can get us, sin will get us.
When “The Book” says (Num. 32:23) “……. be sure your sin will find you out,” you can be sure that you can’t sin and get by.
Sin, in the body, is like a black spot, on an other wise white page, that spoils the whole page. Sin is the fly in the ointment. (Eccl. 10:1) “Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour:” Sin is the one thing that God hates, yet robed Himself in human flesh to become the one thing that could set man free from sin.
Sin drives one from a paradise of peacefulness, to the field of thorns and briers of bitterness and shame.
Sin offers pleasure and in reality gives grief.
Sin offers glitter and in reality gives darkness.
Sin offers velvet and in reality give a shroud.
Sin offers the world and in reality gives hell.
Sin offers happiness and in reality gives sorrow.
Sin offers sweetness and in reality gives poisonous venom.
Samson was born to conquer but was conquered instead because of sin. He just couldn’t leave the world alone. His flirtations with sin was finally more than he could handle and sin handled him. Do something with your sin before your sin does something with you.
A praying man won’t sin and a sinning man won’t pray. That’s the way it’s always been and that’s the way it is now. It doesn’t take long for sin to get a hold on you.
The cattle ranchers were having a problem with wolfs getting the new borne. So they called in an expert. The expert made sharp blades, staked them into the ground, and placed fresh cut beef on them. As the wolf ate the beef and began to lick the blood it was unaware that it’s tongue was bleeding from cuts it received from the sharp blade. Filling his stomach, with his own blood, it was eating it’s very life away and would finally fall right there because of a lack of strength. This in the way with sin. Unaware of impending danger a sinner takes one more bite of forbidden fruit, not realizing that life is slowly slipping away.
You’re determined to hold on to your sins, and your sins are determined to hold on to you. And sin will keep you from this Book but this Book will keep you from sin.
Falling into sin doesn’t condemn anybody, but staying in it does. A visitor at a fishing dock asked an old fisherman who was sitting there, “If I were to fall into this water, would I drown?”
It was a queer way of asking how deep the water was, but the fisherman had a good answer. “Naw,” he said. “Fallin’ into the water doesn’t drown anybody. It’s staying under it that does.” And it will be you staying in sin that dooms you.
II. GOD DEALS WITH SIN WITH JUDGMENT:
You can’t hide sin:
(Isa. 3:9) “The show of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.”
(Jer, 23:24) “Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.”
(Jer. 16:17) “For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.”
(Matt. 10:26) “………. for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
God does not ignore sin:
Israel sin a great sin when they made themselves the golden calve and worshipped it as a God. Although Moses plead for God’s mercy, God said; (Exo. 32:34) “Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.”
(Rev. 2:34) “And I gave her (Jezebel) space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.”
God is long-suffering:
(2 Pet 3:9) “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
(Eccl. 8:11) “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.”
III. GOD DEALS WITH SIN WITH FORGIVENESS:
It takes repentance:
(Matt. 21:42-44) “Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken (repentance): but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.”
At repentance, sins are blotted out:
(Acts 3:19) “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;”
God cast our sins behind Him:
(Isa. 38:17) “Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.”
Yes God deals with sin in two ways, with judgment, and with forgiveness. You would be ten thousand times better off if you would repent. Standing before God in judgment, without repentance and salvation, will be like the parable of Jesus in, Matt. 22:10 “So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.”
(Matt. 12:41) “The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.”
Nineveh will be at the judgment as a witness to the sins of this nation and of you as an individual.
(Amos 4:12) “Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.”
(End)
