Why We Must Put To Death Our Master Sins

Introduction

Opening Illustration (LOTR): In the classic work The Lord of the Rings, we might young Frodo Baggins, a hobbit from the Shire. Early on in the first, Frodo discovers that he has inherited a ring from his great uncle, Bilbo Baggins. This is a magic ring that when worn can make you disappear. But as it turns out, this isn’t just any magic ring, it is the great and ultimate ring of power, that had been lost for ages. This little ring that seemed like such a small little token for Frodo to have his fun with, as it turns out carried with it, not just a power, but a force over the owner’s life that slowly would consume that person, eat away at them, until it turned them into something different altogether, a monstrous version of themselves.

Personal: Today’s sermon is not on the Lord of the Rings, and yet Frodo’s ring is an excellent image for us to hold in our mind as we consider the topic of Master Sins, controlling mechanisms in the heart and the mind that if left unchecked become an all consuming power over one’s life. Each and every person will be prone to a variety of different types of sin. But often there is one sin that rules over the others, that often feeds the others. One sin that tends to dominate the mind and control our decision making. Perhaps even as I speak now, you are aware of the presence of a Master Sin in your own life.

Context: Today, as we continue in the Gospel of Luke, we come across a story of the Rich Young Ruler. This account of the Life of Christ is found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It begins this way.

Luke 18:18 “And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?””

Luke tells us that this man was a “ruler.” From Matthew and Mark we learn also that he was a rich, young, ruler. The point is this was a young man of great accomplishment who was looking at a bright future. And in this first question he asked Jesus the question of all questions, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” This is the the question that every religion and every philosophy has attempted to answer. And this young ruler has come to the right place, to Jesus. Rather than giving a generic answer, Jesus pinpoints his answer to this particular young man, and reveals the thing in his life that is keeping him from eternal life, his master sin. We have much to learn from this dialogue today.

Direction: I would like today to attempt to answer three questions from this text. 1) How might we discover Master Sins? 2) How might we overcome Master Sins? 3) Why ought we labor so diligently to overcome Master Sins?

Meaning & Application

I HOW MIGHT WE DISCOVER MASTER SINS?

Let us begin with our first question. How might we discover master sins?

Luke 18:19–23 “And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ ” And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.”

Here in this text we have a young man who came to the giver of Life, Jesus Christ, and became dejected, and as Matthew told us “walked away” from Christ because of his attachment to his earthly possessions. This is a Master Sin. Now let’s trace this dialogue with Jesus and get the details in order.

“No one is good”: In verse 18, this young man addresses Jesus as “good teacher.” Jesus in turn responds “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” This phrase has caused some consternation with theologians over the years, because it could seem that Jesus was declaring that he was not “good” or in some way that he was not “God.” I think that is a forced interpretation, and what seems best suited considering the context of this passage was beginning his dialogue with this young man with a bit of a rhetorical, perhaps even satirical question, getting the young man to rethink his understanding of the word “good.” In other words, this ruler who approached Jesus was using the term “good” too flippantly. Jesus before even digging into his life, puts him on his heels a bit, and says “Let’s have a conversation about goodness.”

The 10 Commandments: Jesus answers the ruler’s question by pointing to the 10 Commandments. And interesting, Jesus only chooses five of them in his list to this young man.

Luke 18:20 “You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ ””

The 10 Commandments are what is commonly referred to as The Moral Law. They are the simple standard by which we are to live our lives. And Jesus is in one sense not lying. According to the Covenant of Works that was established with Adam in the Garden of Eden, if any man is able to perfectly follow the Moral Law of God, he will indeed earn eternal life. There is a problem however. These moral laws are far more than laws that govern our outward actions. We saw this last week in our study of the Pharisee. Each commandment is to be traced down into the heart to discover the false affections and sinful ruminations that are part of that sin. God is not just after external obedience. He is after the heart.

Do not Covet: It is also interesting which commandments of the 10 Jesus did not include in his short list. If you know the 10 Commandments. They were given on two tablets of stone. The first four, were on the first tablet, and they listed the rules concerning our relationship to God. The second six were on the second tablet, and they listed the rules for our relationships with others. All five of these commandments listed by Jesus, were on the second table (how we are to relate to others). And if you just paid attention, that means that Jesus left out one key commandments from that second table. The 10th commandment. That prickly little commandment that is not so easily measured by external measurements. “Do not covet!”

What is Jesus Doing?: What is Jesus doing here? Is he toying with this man? No, Jesus is the master physician of the heart. He is carefully working this conversation so that the punchline will have its fullest effect on the ruler. He’s leading the ruler into a trap, in order to catch him and to reveal the real issue at hand.

“All these I have kept”: The ruler responds

Luke 18:21 “And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.””

This man, in that short little phrase has revealed his complete ignorance of the law. This young man is so full of darkness and he doesn’t know it. He knows nothing about God or His law, and he knows nothing about his own heart. When we read the law of God, we are to see it as a mirror revealing our sin. If we look into the perfect law of God, and walk away like this ruler saying “I’m good, I’ve kept it all.” We have fully misunderstood the teachings of Scripture, and failed to understand the corruption of our heart, and our need of a Savior.

The Test (22): So Jesus, puts him to the test. He’s testing his “goodness.” This test is designed to reveal something about this ruler. It’s Christ’s way of saying, “Let me take the ridiculous blinders off that you have been wearing whenever you look into the mirror that is the law of God. Let’s look at you accurately.”

Luke 18:22 “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.””

Master Sin: And we’re told that this ruler became very sad. Why did he become sad? It is because Jesus pushed on something very near and dear to his heart. He pushed on his ‘Master Sin.’ There was in this man, like every other man, all kinds of sins in his life. The truth was that he had broken all ten of the commandments regularly, just as we saw with that Pharisee last week, and just as we see with ourselves if we are willing to be honest. But in order to get to the heart of matter, in one full sweep, Christ pushes on his ‘Master Sin.’ That sin that had most taken hold of his life. That sin that had most creeped into his inner longings and desires. That sin that commanded various others sins of life, that dictated the direction of life, that consumed his quiet thoughts when he alone. For this man, it was his desire for and attachment to wealth. And we know it was a Master Sin in his life, because even when looking Christ in the face, he could not walk away from it.

The Chief Way to Recognize: There are a handful of mechanisms to determine if a sin is becoming or has become a Master Sin in your life.

Despondency: First, when our chief sin is pushed upon, it causes us to have one of two reactions. Either like this man we become despondent because we are aware how deeply attached to our heart, this sin has become. Or we become angry, and labor to justify and excuse the sin. This was the case in the story of John the Bapist with Herod. Herod gladly heard John the Baptist preach. But when John preached that Herod should not have his brother’s wife, he recoiled, and lashed out in anger. Why? Because it was his Master Sin. As one pastor has said so well, “Sinners always shrink when touched in the sore place.”

Excuses: Second, you can discover Master Sins in your life by their excuses. We are excellent excuse makers for sin in our life. We have our darling lusts, but we excuse it, we justify it, we make up some reason why it is permissible in this season of our life, or this circumstance. Joseph had every excuse in the world to make when seduced by Potiphar’s wife. He was a slave. He was in her house. She threw herself at him. But he made no excuse. He fled.

Devil’s Tempations: Third, look where the Devil most often tempts you. He is a master student of the human race. He knows your kind. See where his efforts lie. See how he bombards with opportunity to feed that sin in order to satisfy its hunger. We wrestle against a nasty opponent. If your master sin is a lustful heart, you can be sure that every time you open your phone you will be tempted in a thousand ways to satiate that concupiscence. If your Master Sin is anger, you can be sure that the Devil will throw a hundred moments in your day that might cause you to stumble again into anger. If your master sin is victimhood, he’ll rework an entire society to feed the mindset that the world is out to get you. If your Master Sin is cowardice, then every time you prepare for bold action in the Kingdom he’ll give you reason to shy away and stay quiet. If your Master sin is sloth, he’ll consume with temptations to keep the tv on, to keep scrolling. And of course, if your master sin is pride, he’ll bombard with opportunities to be filled with air, and ego. Look to your temptations.

Ruminations: Lastly, look to your ruminations. There is an old general practice that our great reformers used to say. They said, “Keep yourself busy, because when you become idle, all the sinful thoughts suddenly have room to spring to the forefront of your mind.” Is there one particular sin or vice or immoral thought that regularly springs to your mind in the quiet. When you lay in bed and have nothing to do but think, does any particular habitual sin get played over in your hand. Oftentimes Master Sins are among our first thoughts in the morning, and last thoughts in the evening.

This is how you spot a master sin. This man’s master sin was wealth. And it very well may have killed him. Because we never here a redemption story to this young man. Church, we must be diligent about spotting sins that plague us. We cannot toy with them. We cannot let them fester unchecked, lest they become something in our life that hinders our full and free love of Christ.

II HOW MIGHT WE OVERCOME MASTER SINS?

Secondly, I want us to consider how we might overcome master sins.

Luke 18:24–27 “Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.””

The Rich Man: In this story, the young ruler’s master sin was money. And Jesus comments directly on that Master Sin. He states that money is such a prominent powerful master sin, that once it takes hold of a soul, it is nearly impossible for that soul to be saved, it would be like the largest animal known to them (a camel) going through the smallest opening known to them (the eye of a needle). We have talked in other sermons throughout this Luke series about the reason for this. We have discussed how money, perhaps even more than any other Master Sin, attempts to play the role of God in our life. Money promises to shield us from difficult seasons, to provide comfort and safety, to provide entertainment and joy. Money is not an evil in and of itself, but the love of money, is the root of all evil, because it attempts to replace God in our life.

Why is It Impossible: Why does Jesus say it is impossible for a rich man to enter into Heaven? Jesus is simply teaching that we cannot have two Gods. Master Sins are so deep that they command our worship, and can in fact be the god that we are worshipping, as is the case with this rich young ruler. When given the choice between and God and his money, he chose his money. The disciple’s response to this statement from Jesus is so helpful for us. Because this is one of those hard teachings of Christ. They cry out to Jesus almost in shock, “Then who can be saved.” What they’re expressing is a sense that Christ’s criteria are too much for any one person. Who is capable of releasing their hold on money to that degree, or to any other Master Sin?

Possible with God: But Jesus uses the moment to teach his disciples a very important lesson. On your own, it is impossible, but with God it is possible. These words should breathe life into every Christian in this room. Because the heart of a Christian is that we do truly overcome sin. Master Sins can do one of two things in your life.

Unregenerate: Master Sins will indeed hinder some from coming to Jesus at all. They will see Jesus, maybe even like this man, draw near to Jesus. But they will never fully take his invitation into their heart, because their heart is dominated already by a Master sin.

Regenerate: But the truly saved Christian can also be plauged by Master Sins. While Christ has taken the throne of their life, a Christian can so entertain sins in their heart and mind that they live a life of grieving the Holy Spirit. Essentially their sin functions like a dam, blocking the free flow of water through a canal. To both of these people, Jesus’ instruction is important. “With man it is impossible to overcome, but with God all things are possible.”

Christ’s Active Obedience: We need to look to Christ, and understand what he has accomplished for us. Jesus Christ was the sinless one. Consider the depth of what this means. Every thought, at all times, always was Godward. He never sat in idleness and let his mind wander into sin. His thoughts were for God. He was perfectly righteous. Even in the Garden of Gesthemane when he suffered before his death and cried out “Father take this cup from me, nevertheless not my will but yours be done,” There was no sin. Here we have the fully human Jesus experiencing the very real fear of death, but without sin. He wrestles with the Father mightily in prayer and from start to finish says “Your will be done.” We know that Christ’s death on the cross paid the penalty for our sin. But do we know that his actively obedient life, perfectly fulfilling the law, earned our righteousness. He satisfied the Covenant of Works, and now grants us his righteousness as a seal over our hearts. This means that you are fully forgiven, and you are counted as righteous before God.

Practical: What do we need to overcome Master Sins in our life? The primary tool we need is to deepen our grip on the Gospel of Jesus Christ that has saved us and declared us new. How might we do that?

Deepen Your Love of God & His Word: First, deepen your love of God and his word. The best way to defeat sin, is not by focusing on the sin, but filling yourself with Christ, until there is no room left for the sin to reside. If you consume yourself with God’s Word, and learn to love it, and read it, and abosrb it, and think through it. The Spirit will begin to mold your heart and your vision into alignment with His Word. Not immediately. But slowly over time, you think and feel biblically. And this is Christ working in you and through you. When it comes to Master Sins, speak passages that speak very directly into those particular areas of weakness in your life. Let the Word of God bring healing, not just generally, but specifically. Are you prone to worry, pray the passages about worry. Are you prone to lust, pray the passages about sexual temptation. Are you prone to isolation, pray the passages about community.

Labor to Develop A Hatred of That Sin: Second, labor to develop a hatred of that sin. In other words, permit Christ to form your vision into his vision. You want to see that beloved sin for what it is, the thing that was laid on Christ’s shoulders on the cross as he bled and died for you. We permit Christ to change our affections, so that even when you are tempted by that sin in the future, there is this inward sense of disgust over it.

Cut the Sin Off At Its knees: Third, labor to cut Master Sins off at the knees. Elsewhere in Scripture Jesus taught exactly what to do with Master Sins. He said, “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off” (Matthew 5:30). Of course, he was using hyperbole, he was not instructing mutilation of the body. But his point was clear. When we see a motion in our heart towards that sin, cut it off at the knees by speaking God’s Word into it. Let us say that your Master Sin is wealth (like this young man today). When you see an unhealthy sense of greed operating in you, a lack of Kingdom values, have Scripture prepared. “The Word of God says I cannot serve God and money. God help me to choose you today.”

Pray Fervently to God for Victory: Fifth and finally, continue to commit this to prayer. Remember the promise in Hebrews,

Hebrews 2:18 “For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

Christ has been tempted as we are, and he overcame. And that one stands beside ready to be called in to battle for you, on your behalf because he loves you, and desires good for you. Prayer. Prayer. Prayer. Prayer. Labor in prayer, and watch what God does.

III WHY OUGHT WE LABOR SO DILIGENTLY TO OVERCOME MASTER SINS?

Third, and briefly, let us consider this last section and answer the question “Why ought we labor so diligently to overcome Master Sins?” In this question we are getting after our motivations. Because in reality, what we are describing is a challenge. This is a kind of faith that does not just sit back, its not passive. It considers our walk with God the most precious thing about us, and strives every day of our life to grow in godliness and grace and wisdom. What a counter-cultural life? Why would commit ourselves to such a thing.

Luke 18:28–30 “And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.””

Why the Question: Why did Peter ask this question. It is because he is thinking about his own life. He’s just seen a man who had the chance to come follow Jesus, and that man turned the offer down because he had an attachment to his money. Peter on the other hand, when he had been given the same opportunity, abandoned his fishing nets and his boat, and he followed Jesus.

Jesus’ Spin: And Jesus interestingly spins the conversation away from Master Sins at this moment. And he looks instead at a life that is not hindered by Master Sins. He looks at a life that is free to follow Christ wherever he is led, a life like Peters, and he speaks a blessing that life.

Peter’s Blessing: First, he says that in this life you will receive “many times more.” That’s quite an interesting statement spoken to a guy who over the next few years would experience all kinds of hardship. He would be arrested regularly. He would experience loss, hardship, persecution. Eventually Peter would be killed for his faith. And Jesus says, “In this life you’ll receive many times more…” What did Peter receive that made following Jesus unhindered worth it? He receive the greatest of all treasures one could ever behold. Fellowship with Christ. And that fellowship would endure both in this life and forevermore in the life to come, the beatific vision of seeing Christ face to face, beholding the divine.

Experiential: Here is why, you ought to labor violently to root out Master Sins in your life. Because you want more of Christ! Because you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. The primary motivation of a Christian is not obedience for the sake of obedience, it is obedience for the sake of intimacy with Christ. For the sake of removing every barrier that threatens to hinder your joy in Christ, your love of Christ, and your walk with Christ. It is to be like the Apostle Peter, who when Jesus washed his feet, realized the goodness of such an action and cried out, “Lord, not meh feet one by also my hands and my head.” Yes that is the attitude of healthy Christianity.

2 Disqualification: There is another motivation deeply attached to this first one. May we never be disqualified from opportunity for Kingdom Work because of our sin. The rich young ruler turned down the opportunity to follow Jesus because he was so attached to his stuff.

Illustration (Discipline): My wife often reminds me of a conversation we had years ago when our children were little. And they were at the age where we were beginning to need quite strict discipline in order to maintain an ordered and well managed house. And in one conversation I said, “Sara, the Bible says that Elders of a Church must manage their household well, not having disobedient children. I do not want to disqualify myself from ministry, because I was unwilling to do the hard work of properly disciplining my children.

I Wonder: I wonder what we might be turning down every day, because of our attachment to indwelling sin. I wonder we miss out on with Christ, under the foolish notion that the sin we’re holding onto is somehow worth holding onto. I wonder what great adventures Christ has stored up for us that we will miss out on because we can’t let go of some vice. I want to experience all that Christ has to offer me in this short life.

Conclusion

So Lord, may you rid me of my sin. And give me Christ!