How to Know God: Actual Sin
Notes
Transcript
Actual Sin
Actual Sin
Last week Carl took us through sin and our sin nature. From our very birth we are sinners in need of a savior.
This is because you, I’m going to tell you maybe earth shattering to your entire world—you were born to two impure sinners. I may not know much about your parents but I know for a fact that they were impure sinners. And they gave birth to a impure child, which is you.
Because of this we have a sinful nature. We have inherent sinful character, disposition, natural instincts, desires, loves and appetites for sin. How many have seen a little one who can barely talk or walk say no, or take something or be told don’t do that and then they immediately do it.
What we learned about last week is actually known as “original sin” which basically means thanks to Adam sin is now passed down from generation to generation, everyone is born a sinner because through one man, Adam, all mankind is cursed.
Now be honest, how many in here are thinking or have thought in the past, that’s not fair. We never even had a chance, I was doomed before I even took a breathe. Why am I on the hook for something Adam did thousands of years ago? Perhaps we have thought that. It doesn’t seem fair that Adam.
So I’ll make you a deal. This isn’t my deal to make, but thats okay, we can play along here. Let’s pretend that you, xxx student, was born perfect, you were not an impure sinner and you were not condemned from birth. You had a clean slate from birth and only what happens after that counts. Does that seem fair enough?
Okay, so we do people sin?
Desires, jealousy, anger, nature
Turn to Luke 6:43-45
“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Who is speaking here? Jesus
Okay so according to verse 43 can a bad tree bring forth good fruit?
According to verse 45 can an evil man bring forth good fruit?
What is Jesus comparing men to here in this passage?
Using what you know from other lessons, are men good or bad trees?
Can bad men then produce good things?
Now think about that, can bad men produce good things? Do you really believe that. How would we define bad men or bad trees? Those who don’t walk with the Lord.
So that would mean that if someone does not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ cannot produce good things.
Have you ever wrestled with that question.
What about your parent, or your grandparent, or your aunt or uncle who is not a believer, what about all the good things they have done for you?
They have loved you and cared for you and taught you things and yet they don’t know the Lord.
What about Josh Harris—does anyone know who that is? He was popular author and pastor who wrote a lot of really good things in the 90’s and 2000’s that really helped a lot of people. But turns out he doesn’t know the Lord---but what about all the good stuff he put out.
What about Pharoah? He worshipped his own God’s and did his own thing. But yet he put Joseph in charge of famine preparation and saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
You guys were born and treated by doctors and nurses who don’t walk with the Lord. Perhaps their buddist or hindu or catholic or agnostic. And yet they cared for you and nurtured you and treated you and in some cases saved people’s lives.
Think about that, let they really sink in---can bad men produce good things.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
What is mans heart? What do we know about it? What is the results of this? it is deceitful, it produces evil.
Our nature is to bring-forth evil things because we are by nature evil, sinful.
Jesus in Luke 6, ends that passage with out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks—out of the overflow of the heart. Basically the heart is overflowing with sin that what we say is just a reflection of that heart.
For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Where do these things come from? The heart, from within.
Okay so that is why we do these things, but what exactly do we do
Can someone define actual sin?
What is sin?
Turn to 1 John 3:4
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
Okay so sin is lawlessness. Well what is lawlessness
Let’s break this down
Law (rules) less (without) ness (state, condition, quality)
The state of being without rules, The condition of being without rules, being known for not having rules or following standards
Sin is anything we do that does not conform entirely to the boundaries of God’s law.
What ways do we sin? Not specific sins but what ways do we sin?
Thinking, saying, doing
Thought, word, deed
JC Ryle, “sin to speak more particularly, consists in doing, saying, thinking or imagining anything that is not in perfect conformity with the mind and law of God. Sin, in short as the scriptures says, is the transgression of the law. The slighest outward of inward departure from absolute mathematical parallelism with God’s revealed will and character constitutes a sin, and at once makes us guilty in God’s sight.”
So remember earlier when I said you started without the sin at birth, well it didn’t matter your still condemend and you still have broken the law.
Let’s work through these three areas.
First thought.
For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, but gracious words are pure.
O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you?
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
There are many more verses that talk about our thoughts, but so far what do these tell us about our thoughts?
The way you have responded to someone, the way you have thought about something, the way you desired something you have probably committed sin. Without saying anything or doing anything you are guilty.
on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
On the judgement day, all those things you thought about which you thought were secret and no one would ever know about, God will judge them. Judge them compared to the standard of Christ—who is perfect.
Second lets look at word.
I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Back to judgment day, not only will our secrets be judged but also our words. How many of us have just been running our mouths and said something we shouldn’t have.
no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
Throat=open grave
Tongues=deceive
Lips=venom
Mouth=curses and bitterness
Why do you have an open grave? Its disguesting and it smells, is rotten. Literally a rotting body decomposing. They would seal the grave as a sign of respect but more importantly to keep the smell away. Your throat is an open grave, the rotten stench is coming out.
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
What is the command here? What are we to not do? Why should we not do this? Because it is sin
If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
The tongue is such a small part of our body. And yet despite all the things you might do, more often then not we are known for what we say. People remember you for things you say. If I carry an old ladys groceries to her car—how do you think she will feel about me. Now what if on the way to the car I keep tell her how worthless and pathetic she is and how I can’t believe she can’t carry her own groceries.
Obviously a silly example—but hey, I still carried he groceries right? What’s the big deal, it just some words. The mouth can derail so many good things.
Finally lets look at Deeds
For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
This verse comes up again, out of the heart we do these things, so out of the heart is why we do them but there are literal, physical things being done here—theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness.
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;
What does the word abstain mean? restrain oneself, stay away from, not partake
Keep away from that—from sexual immorality, control your body. It doesn’t say control your mind in the thoughts you have, althought it easily could have and does in other places, it doesn’t say control your mouth in the things you say to your significant other even thought it could have and does in other places, not it says control your body.
I am not going to take time to get into sexual relations and what those should look like from biblical lense compared to what the world teaches or pushes just know this—we as a culture have accepted a standard and I would argue even in the church have accepted a standard that is short, well short, of the standard that God has set for controlling our bodies and preserving the marriage bed.
I’ll leave it at that.
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
We have another list here—things we cannot do.
Now lets combine these three things—thought word and deed, because perhaps you have done some of these things but maybe not physically but mentally. You have not physically taken something from your neighbor but perhaps you coveted it. You want your neighbors house, car, video game, ipad, bicycle, pool, etc.
Before we wrap I want to point out there are two types of sin. Sins of commission and omission.
Does anyone know what these mean?
Commission—things we do we are not supposed to do (steal, lie, anger, etc)
Omission—things we do not do that we are supposed to do (pray, obey God, worship God, love others)
We looked a several verses of things we are not supposed to do but James tells us about if we know we are supposed to do something and don’t:
So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Okay---so we sin through thought, word and deed. Which of these is most secretive to others?
Thought, obviously, even your closest friends don’t always know what your thinking
From God’s perspective are any of these less noticed then the others? NO
God knows all of our thoughts, our words, and our actions.
Okay finally, what are the consequences of our sin. I will be somewhat brief here because we have covered this a lot recently
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Okay we all know the story—there was one rule, what was it?
And what was the punishment for that rule?
Okay earlier I said we will pretend you were perfect from the start, but I’m sorry thats not true—Adam broke the rules and there was a punishment, that is that we all will now die.
Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.
What is the penalty for sin? Death
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What is the price of sin? Death
For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
What is the price for living according to the flesh? Death
Do you think this means physical death, spiritual death or eternal death?
If it was physical we would all be death as soon as we sin. It can’t be spiritual because we know we have been sinning from the very beginning so it is eternal death.
but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.
For those that follow evil, for ignore the truth and listen to unrighteousness—what is coming? Wrath and fury.
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
That is what is coming for those who do not belong to Jesus.
We will all stand before the throne.
Is everyone thrown into the lake of fire? No—those who is not found in the book of life is thrown into the lake of fire.
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
For all those not in the book of life, that is their fate.
in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
How long will this go on? Forever
Jesus himself said this.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Depart from me, you said you did all these things in my name—I never knew you.
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Do you understand what is ahead for you if you do not know Jesus Christ?
Do you fear hell?