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Proverbs 14:34
Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any
people.
Reproach -
1 : an expression of rebuke or disapproval
2 : the act or action of reproaching
or disapproving <was beyond reproach>
3 a : a cause or occasion of blame, discredit, or disgrace b :
DISCREDIT, DISGRACE
4 obsolete : one subjected to censure or scorn
Preachers today are being taught that it is old? fashioned to
preach about sin & Satan, & that people as affluent &
educated as we are today wouldn't tolerate anyone talking about
a real hell, or telling them that they're sinners & there
is a Judgment Day coming.
So they tend to preach on more agreeable subjects, such as love
& brotherhood.
They have been told, "After all, people want to be happy
& go home feeling good, thinking positive thoughts about themselves.
So stick to those kinds of sermons."
What God calls sin in the Bible isn't necessarily what they
consider to be sin now. And the idea of a real Satan is hard for
some of them to accept.
Unfortunately, others are just shrugging their shoulders &
going on preaching their pet topics, seemingly oblivious to the
needs of the people for a clear message about what God says concerning
right & wrong, good & evil, & an eternity of heaven
or hell. Sign on Beechurst Avenue "WHAT IS RIGHT AND WRONG?"
Joe Wright, minister of Central Christian Church in Wichita,
KS, was absolutely right in his prayer delivered before the Kansas
Legislature a few years ago. Just a portion of his prayer:
"Woe to those who call evil good,"
but that's exactly what we've done. We have lost our spiritual
equilibrium & inverted our values.
We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of your
Word & called it moral pluralism.
We have worshipped other gods & called it multi-culturalism.
We have endorsed perversion & called it an alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the poor & called it the lottery.
We have neglected the needy & called it self-preservation.
We have rewarded laziness & called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn & called it choice.
We have shot abortionists & called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children & called it
building esteem.
We have abused power & called it political savvy.
We have coveted our neighbors' possessions & called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity & pornography &
called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our fore-fathers
& called it enlightenment.
"Righteousness exalts a nation,
but sin is a disgrace to any people." That was true
3,000 years ago, & it's true today! In reading the Apostle
Paul's letters we find that he speaks quite clearly about our
sins & the condition of mankind.
Listen to his words in Ephesians 2:1-2,
"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions & sins,
in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world
& of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is
now at work in those who are disobedient."
(NIV)
Did you get that? Well, it might be easier to understand it the
way The Living Bible paraphrases it. Paul says:
"Once you were under God's curse, doomed
forever for your sins. You went along with the crowd & were
just like all the others, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty
prince of the power of the air, who is at work right now in the
hearts of those who are against the Lord." The
Living Bible
I. SIN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
A. But man's sin began long before the cross. It began in the
Garden of Eden. God created the Garden as a beautiful & perfect
place. Adam & Eve are in harmony with God & everything
seems to be going just fine.
Then Satan comes slithering onto the scene & he says to Eve,
"Did God really say, 'You must
not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
Eve answers, "We may eat fruit
from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat
from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, & you must
not touch it, or you will die.' 'You will not surely die,' the
serpent said to the woman." (Gen. 3:1-3)
That response by Satan is the first recorded lie, & it set
a precedent for all that followed. "You
will not surely die," he said, & as Eve &
then Adam ate of that forbidden fruit sin entered the world. Satan
was successful, & he hasn't changed his tactics - he still
lies & deceives to corrupt our lives.
B. And Satan continued his corruption of the world, until we
read in Genesis 6:5-6, "The Lord
saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, &
that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
all the time. The Lord was grieved that He had made man on the
earth, & His heart was filled with pain."
Well, you know what happened. Then came Noah & the flood
& the destruction of the world that once was ? all because
of sin.
C. Then through Noah God starts over, & soon we see Him selecting
Abraham & his descendants. He told them, "You
are my chosen people. I want you to be living testimonies of me
to the world, to be an example to them & show them my love."
But no sooner had they started than we see 10 of them selling
their brother into slavery.
And even after God raised up Moses to rescue them from their
slavery, & while He was giving them the Law to guide them,
Satan stepped in & soon they were engaging in all kinds of
perversion, dancing around a golden calf.
Family Circus Cartoon: Dolly is telling Jeffy that his socks
don't match and he says to Dolly, "Match what" A leader
was speaking and saying that something he mentioned was a sin
and a woman in the crowd asked, "According to who?"
SIN IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
A. But when you turn to the New Testament everything starts so
beautifully. There is the announcement by the angel to Mary, &
the wonderful song of praise that she sings, thanking God for
the privilege of being the mother of the Messiah.
Then there is that night in Bethlehem that still thrills &
inspires the world. We see the glorious light from heaven &
hear the angels' song. We see the shepherds rushing to the manger,
& the wise men coming, bearing their gifts. What a scene of
rejoicing as the long-awaited Messiah is born!
But soon there is the sword of Herod dripping with the blood
of infants because of his hatred & fear of the One who has
been born. We hear the cries of mothers as children are ripped
from their arms, & the cries of children being slaughtered
on the streets of Bethlehem. Again we see the power of Satan &
how it affects our lives.
B. We see it often during the ministry of Jesus - the corruption,
the thievery, the plotting one against another. It even invades
the small band of apostles that Jesus has brought together. Tempers
flare. Lies are told. One betrays & another denies.
Finally it culminates at a place called Calvary as gentiles &
Jews come together to crucify the Son of God. "Crucify Him!
Crucify Him!" they shouted. And they did.
SIN IN THE CHURCH
A. But that doesn't stop God. In fact, His program had just begun.
Jesus is resurrected from the grave, appears again & again
to the Apostles & to others, & then He ascends back into
heaven, telling them, "You will
receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; & you will
be my witnesses in Jerusalem, & in all Judea & Samaria,
& to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)
Just 10 days later, on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit
came upon them & the first Gospel sermon was preached. On
that day 3,000 were won to Christ, repented of their sins, were
buried with Him in Christian baptism, & the church was established.
And day by day, the Lord added to the church those who were being
saved.
From all appearances it seemed like everything was going to
be all right. People by the thousands were coming to Christ. Great
things were happening. And a world that was filled with sin was
being turned right side up!
B. But then came persecutions, & murmuring & dissatisfaction
& false teachers & division, & soon many in the church
began to go astray. In time, a great proportion of the church
drifted away from the pure teachings of Christ, & became a
man? made organization desirous of worldly riches & power.
C. So today the church is divided into hundreds of sects &
denominations preaching man's own creeds & doctrines - not
what the Bible teaches, but what man has devised. And the world
gets more & more confused.
I want to say it again, SIN IS A REPROACH!
The debate about what is sin and what is not sin will rage on
until Jesus Christ returns but mark this well. When we ignore
what our conscience convicts us of and continue on our way you
can be certain that the end result is going to be destruction.
RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTS
SIN REPROACHES
I have named sin time and time again from this pulpit and time
and time again it has been ignored and people have said "according
to who"! I have made lists of what the Bible calls sin and
they have been thrown in the trash. But mark this and mark this
well. "The wages of sin is death…….."
God will not ignore sin when we stand before Him. God will
be the one who be the final determination about what sin is and
what sin is not, what is right and what is wrong. God has given
us His word and His Spirit to guide us to know what is right and
what is wrong, to know what sin is and what sin is not.
We have compromised with this world so much that nobody today
hardly understands which direction to go. God is looking for a
people who will sorrow and grieve over the reproach that is being
fostered on the Church of Jesus Christ in these last days. I am
talking about the Church that was born at Pentecost. I am talking
about the Church that was born in the teaching of the Apostle
Paul and the Apostles. The Church born in the doctrine of the
Godhead of Jesus Christ. That born-again Church is under attack.
That Church is suffering reproach.
Preachers today are preaching pyramid schemes and ponzie schemes.
Whole groups of bodies jerking out of control, falling on the
floor, laughing hysterically, staggering around like drunkards,
writhing like snakes, howling like wild animals. We have evangelists
that stand and blow on people to knock them down, as if the breath
of the Holy Ghost has now incarnated him. Throws his "designer"
jacket at people and says that is the "hand of the Lord".
The reproach of downgrading depravity in the Church. Woe
unto them that call evil good and good evil - that put darkness
for light and light for darkness. They put bitter for sweet and
sweet for bitter. (Jer. 23:15).
SIN IS STILL SIN AND IN THE END IT WILL BE JUDGED NOT BY YOU
OR ME BUT BY GOD.
