Greetings to you my friend. I’m Mack Lyon. The program is In Search of the Lord's Way to become a Christian and to live the very best life that’s ever been introduced to the family of man. Stay tuned and you will see.
Welcome, friend, to our Bible study program In Search of the Lord's Way. Oh say! We’re so glad you’ve joined us for our study. We pray we will both be blessed by our study together. We will study the Bible. You see, we believe the Bible is the word of God, God the Creator, God the Lord or ruler, not just a part of the world but the whole universe. No, I don’t mean “the Bible contains the word of God; I mean it is the word of God, just as much as if we had heard Him say this morning in the words audibly. It’s just as marvelous, too; well yes, even as miraculous as if we had heard Him speak the words as Moses did on Mt. Sinai.
We can know the mind of God only by reading His word. People don’t always agree with God, because they don’t read and study His word. For example, many people, even many preachers, nowadays won’t talk about “sin.” They think it’s “outdated and uncouth.” But God still talks about it. The word “sin” appears 421 times in the Bible; that is King James Version. There are also other such words as “sins,” “sinful,” “sinning,” and synonyms such as “iniquity,” and “transgression” and “wickedness” and, well, other forms of it. Phil Sanders has prepared a message for us today which he has titled, “How God Sees Sin.”
If you think you might want a free printed copy, or a CD or an audio cassette tape of it, jot down our address and mail your request to In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083 or by e-mail, searchtv@searchtv.org. I would probably if I were doing it, I would just pick up the phone and call; and if you would prefer to do that, our toll-free telephone number is 1-800-321-8633. Oh say, you may read it, or you may view it, or even hear the message again on our website at www.searchtv.org. Visit us there. We have a fresh new devotional thought there every day, and there are other items of interest, too. Ken Helterbrand’s going to lead us as we sing; then Phil Sanders will be here to read 1 John 1:6 through 10.
Hello! I’m Phil Sanders; and it is so good to be with you today and of course to be with Mack Lyon. Our reading today comes from the first epistle of John chapter 1, verses 6 through 10. “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” That is from the New King James Version. Let’s pray together. O Lord, we are grateful that in Your love You have provided a way for forgiveness through the blood of Jesus. Father, help us to recognize our sins and to give ourselves to You fully and freely. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen!
People have always thought that the concept of sin should be softened. People today don’t talk about sin, because they don’t like making judgments. One well-known preacher says that the word “sin” and “sinner” are outdated and uncouth. But the Bible uses the word “sin” and its synonyms “iniquity,” “transgression,” “wickedness,” or “error” hundreds of times. Now while we don’t like to talk about it, sin is still present in our lives.
And so we ask, “How does God see sin?” You know God created us; He is our heavenly Father; and we need to know what He thinks. The Lord often sees things differently than we do. He may not excuse or dismiss the errors of our lives so quickly. Now if God sent Jesus down to this earth to die for “sin,” He must take it very seriously. Let’s not be too quick to dismiss the concept of sin because God hasn’t.
You can only find someone saying, “I have sinned,” a handful of times throughout the Bible, and yet the Bible says in Romans 3, verse 23, that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” People don’t like being called “sinners.” They call their sin a mistake, an error in judgment, a disappointment, an inappropriate act, a problem, a disease, or an addiction. They think of it as anything but sin. We would rather downplay our sin and act like it never happened.
Others take a different approach. They blame society or parents or circumstances for their sins so they don’t have to be responsible. You’ll remember that Adam, after he ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, blamed Eve. Adam said in Genesis 3, verse 12, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” Verse 13 says: “Then the LORD God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Both Adam and Eve pointed to somebody else. God was not impressed with their excuses. That very day they were forced out of the garden. You see, blaming others for your sins doesn’t work.
You remember in 1 Samuel 15 that Samuel told Saul to go and strike the Amalekites, destroy every person and all that they have. But Saul saved King Agag and the best of the sheep and oxen for the people to offer up. Saul knew that he had not kept the command of God, but he was weak to the pressure of the people. Samuel asked Saul, “Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD?” Then Saul said to Samuel, “I did obey the voice of the LORD, and went on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and have brought back Agag, the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people (now that is who he blamed) took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God at Gilgal.” Well, Saul gave into the pressure and he blamed the people rather than accepting responsibility.
Well, what Samuel said to Saul ought to instruct us, too, about how God sees things. Samuel said in 1 Samuel chapter 15, verses 22 and 3, “Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,” Samuel says, “He has also rejected you from being king.”
My friend, God has never accepted the excuse of blaming other people. Romans 14 and verse 12 says that, “Each of us will give an account of himself to God.” Regardless of what others do, or say, or think, we are responsible for ourselves. We have got to take and learn to take responsibility for our words, our attitudes, and our behavior. You cannot disobey God and blame others. God knows who is responsible. Well, when blaming doesn’t work, people tend to rationalize away their sin. How often do we hear phrases like, "Just once won't hurt"; or "Everyone's doing it"; or "I can quit whenever I want to"; or (and this is the one that is popular these days) "Times have changed! People don’t think that way now!" I have a book in my library that is subtitled, “37 Ways Not to Handle Guilt.” It tells of all the ways that people try to justify their sins. Well, this book says clearly: that not one of these 37 ways works. Some want to change the standards and the rules of the Bible; they make rules for themselves and they expect God, the God of heaven, to follow them.
Some think God is subject to a vote or to opinion polls. God and His will do not change. Some react to the firmness of God by getting angry. You know, it is often easier to get angry at God than it is to change our lives and repent. They get angry and they charge God with being unfair or unloving. But God is no fool; He is loving to us; and He knows how sin hurts. He opposes sin because it ruins lives and it ruins families. When God makes a law, it is always for the good of His people. When people violate that law, they end up hurting themselves or hurting others. It is an arrogant thing to think that we know more about right and wrong than God does.
So, there are times when people lie to themselves about sin! The Bible says in Galatians 6, verses 7 and 8, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” People can’t continue to live fleshly lives and still please God. Some people want to look at the sins that they don’t practice and then condemn them; and they don’t realize that one sin is just as evil in God’s eyes as another.
Other people deceive themselves by thinking they can work around sin and not be affected. Many years ago a man who had quit drinking told my dad that he could walk into a bar and never take a drink. It didn’t matter he said that others were drinking or that he would smell the liquor; he was sure that he could stay sober. I remember my dad said, “You can’t walk through the mud and not get muddy.” The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 33, "Do not be deceived: Bad company corrupts good morals." I tell you, associating with evil will corrupt you, even if you have the best of intentions.
You see, sin, sin always hurts. Sometimes the pain is physical. A man who regularly gets drunk will damage his heart and liver, his flesh; and many diseases are the result of sexual immorality. A man who commits violent crimes opens himself up to violence or even imprisonment. Sometimes the pain of sin is emotional. The straying spouse may find himself or herself despised by the whole family. The compulsive gambler may bankrupt his family. The person who lies will find that no one trusts him or her. A person who sins has to live with the reality of his sin and live with himself.
God doesn’t look on sin the way that we do, you and I. What seems insignificant to us is not insignificant to God. Perhaps you remember Uzzah who tried to steady the ark of the covenant when the oxcart was nearly upset. You remember that God struck him dead. Well, people wonder why? Didn’t Uzzah have good intentions? Well, the priests were to carry the ark in a prescribed manner, not the oxcart; and Uzzah, and he knew this, was never to touch the ark. Now, this may seem insignificant to us; but you see, touching the ark was irreverent and very offensive to God (2 Sam. 6 and verse 7).
Well, why is God offended by sin? Well, think with me. Now, if you are the victim of a crime, your attitude is going to be very different than the one who committed the crime. How would you feel if someone robbed you at gunpoint? Well, the robber might laugh, but you aren’t laughing. You see, the gun is pointing at you. The money he takes is your money; and the life he threatens is your life. It is a big deal to you. Well, all sin is crime against God. If you sin against your brother, you also sin against God. John said in 1 John chapter 4, verses 20 and 21 that, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and yet hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.” How we treat people is how we treat God; and this is why all sin is offensive to and a crime against God.
One of the Ten Commandments says in Exodus 20, verses 3 to 6, “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Some think God has no feelings, but God grieves when we sin. I tell you, it breaks His heart.
God created us; and you know what, He won’t give us up to an idol or to serve Satan. He is a jealous God; and I mean that in a positive sense of being unwilling to share what is rightfully His. You know, I feel the same way about my loving wife. I won’t share her with anyone. Sin separates us from God, so we should not be surprised that God hates sin. God often calls sin an abomination. Solomon said in Proverbs 6, verses 16 to 19, “There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers.”
Romans 6, verse 23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The word death means separation. Physical death is when our bodies are separated from our spirits. Spiritual death is when we become separated from the love and the grace of God. Isaiah said in Isaiah 59, verses 1 and 2, “ Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” Romans 8 and verse 12 and 13 says, “So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 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.” The Hebrew writer said in Hebrews chapter 3, verses 12 and 13, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”
Now, while the Lord hates sin, He still loves the sinner and He sent His son Jesus to die for them. God hates sin but He loves you. He hates sin and what it does to you and to everyone He loves, because sin grieves the Lord. Ezekiel 33, verse 11 says, “As I live, declares the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked should turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?” My friend, sin will keep you out of heaven, and that is why you need the blood of Jesus to cleanse you. To become a Christian, you must believe with all your heart that Jesus is the Christ; and out of love for God, you got to turn away from the sin that offends Him in repentance. Repentance takes place when you hate the sin too and hunger to be righteous, and to follow the Lord. With that faith and repentance, confess the Name of Jesus and be baptized into Christ; and when you are baptized, the Lord will wash away your sins; and He will add you to His church, and He will let you walk in that newness of life. Sometimes Christians get caught up in sin, and overcome. My friend, give up that sin. Live as you ought to live. Come back to God and love Him. God doesn’t want anyone to be lost. Let’s pray together. O Lord, may each one see sin as You see sin and come to love You with all their hearts. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
Thank you, brother Phil Sanders for helping us to an understanding of God’s attitude toward sin. God is not just disappointed by our sins; He is greatly offended by them, friend. Yet He is gracious enough to extend to us sinners a way by which we can be forgiven and be reconciled to Him; and that is a great thought. Of course, it is! We must believe in Him and accept His way in His Son Jesus Christ; and certainly we can’t continue in our sin. Is it too much of God to ask us to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, who died for us, for the remission of our sins as we’re taught in Acts 2:38? Oh no, it isn’t, friend! We hope you will do that today!
If you would like a free copy of this message, you may have it in printed form or on a CD or audio cassette tape by addressing your request for it to In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083 or by e-mail to searchtv@searchtv.org; or by visiting our website at www.searchtv.org.
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