SERMON: AVOIDING SIN

28 February 2016

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Proverbs 4:13-15

Proverbs 4:13-15 (NIV)

13 Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.

14 Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men.

15 Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way.

            -- since the start of this new year, we have not really been following a sermon series per se, but we have been on somewhat of a sermon trajectory discussing sin in our lives and how we might be victorious over sin in this new year -- it wasn’t even intentional on my part, but looking back, that’s exactly what has happened

            -- we started off the new year by talking about the hand on the table -- referencing Jesus’ comment in the Upper Room to His disciples that the one who would betray Him was the one who had their hand on the table with Him -- calling to mind that all of us are prone to temptation and sin -- as the hymn, “Come Thou Fount,” says, all of us are “prone to wonder” and “prone to leave the Lord I love”

            -- we followed up this message with a discussion on original sin and the sin nature with which we are all born -- it was this sin nature that Jesus came to destroy on the cross -- He didn’t die just to offer us forgiveness for the sins we had already committed, but He destroyed the power of that sin nature in our lives so that we might be able to actually overcome temptation and sin for the first time

            -- then we looked at 1 John 2:1, which points out that sin is a choice in the life of a Christian -- and that we are no longer condemned to give in to temptation and sin -- just as Jesus told the adulterous woman to “go and sin no more,” we now have the ability to choose to do the same

            -- we talked about how the power to choose not to sin was solely dependent on the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit in our lives -- as we read in Jude 24, God has the power to keep us from falling -- that means that choosing to not sin is an act of faith in God’s power and ability to overcome our natural bent to sin

            -- apart from the work of Christ in our lives, we have no power over temptation or sin, but it is by grace, through faith, relying on His power and His alone, that we begin to see victory over sin

            -- last week we talked about how we can begin to incorporate the power of the Holy Spirit into our lives by being broken and poured out -- just as Christ was broken and poured out for us on the cross, He commands us through the sacrament of Holy Communion to go forth and do likewise -- to be broken and poured out for Him

            -- to be broken before God means admitting that we cannot take care of our sin on our own -- that we need more than just to have our sins forgiven -- that we need Him to give us the power to overcome temptation and sin in our lives once and for all -- it is at that point that we are broken before him, surrendered and submitted to him, and available to be poured out in his name for this world.

            -- so the progression of belief that is necessary in order to overcome temptation and sin in our lives is as follows:

            1.  Admit that you are capable of sin and that the natural direction in our lives is not towards God, but away from God

            2.  Recognize the source of sin in your life is your sin nature -- the original sin you were born with -- everyone has this -- it is common to all mankind

            3.  Believe that the power of our sin nature -- our flesh -- our “old man” -- has been destroyed by Christ on the cross and now we can choose to not sin through Him

            4.  Be broken before God by submitting to His sanctifying power in our lives -- stop trying to overcome sin through our own strength and will-power -- instead, recognize that we are still powerless before sin, and the only way we can overcome sin is through God’s power in our lives

II.  Scripture Lesson

            -- This morning we’re going to talk about application -- about putting all this together and applying it in our lives -- in other words, how can we put our faith into practice to better overcome temptation and sin?

            -- which brings us to the Book of Proverbs and the passage we opened up with -- Proverbs 4:13-15 -- in this passage, we see some very practical tips on dealing with temptation and sin in our lives -- let’s look back at this passage again

            -- verse 13

13 Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.

            -- “hold on to instruction” -- what instruction is Solomon referring to in this verse? -- primarily, of course, he’s talking about the word of God

            -- in order to overcome temptation and sin, we first have to know what sin is -- and we find that primarily in God’s word -- it is in the Bible that we learn what God wants us to do and what He does not want us to do

            -- several times over in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul gave us lists of what to avoid and what to choose -- for instance, over in Colossians Chapter 3, Paul tells us, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry” and to clothe ourselves “with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.”

            -- the Bible is filled with this type of instruction -- that’s a good place to start -- which brings up an important point -- you have to be in the Bible -- you have to actually read God’s word -- to know what God’s word says -- I can’t emphasize that enough -- it is not enough to just hear the Bible read on Sunday morning -- you have to make it part of your life if you want to get serious about defeating sin

            -- Psalm 119:11 says, “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” -- we need to hide God’s word in our heart -- Solomon calls it “holding on to instruction” in this verse -- that means you have to be reading God’s word daily -- immerse yourself into it and hold on to its teachings

            -- the thing to remember, though, is that the Bible gives us the principles of God -- it won’t cover every situation -- but by knowing the types of things God tells us to get rid of, it provides guidance to help us make right choices in this modern age

            -- and, of course, we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us -- giving us His power and His counsel and guidance in situations -- as you submit to Him and trust through faith in His power working within you, you will come to know and hear His voice guiding you and instructing you in what is right and what is not -- Isaiah 30:21 says, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “this is the way; walk in it.”

            -- power over temptation and sin begins with knowing what is right and what is not and holding on to this knowledge in your life -- hiding it deep in your heart so you will not sin against God

            -- verse 14

14 Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men.

            -- in other words, be careful with whom you associate -- don’t follow the pattern of other people who are not walking with God

            -- it has been said that you are the sum of your five closest friends -- in other words, you will begin to look like the people you surround yourself with -- in action and attitude and belief

            -- if you spend all your time with people who aren’t following God’s word or trying to choose not to sin, then you’re going to start acting like them -- as the Life Application Bible says, “even friends can make you fall” -- it’s just too easy to go with the crowd and begin doing what they are doing, often without you even knowing it

            -- I’ve seen this lived out in real life at my work place -- a few years ago, we got a new commander who cussed a lot, even in meetings -- honestly, I think he did it because he thought it would make him look tough and manly -- and, it wasn’t long after he got there that I noticed that a lot of the younger military men and women began using the same language -- because their boss was doing it, they began to do it -- you’d hear them cussing in conversations in the hall or around water cooler or out on the jobsite

            -- but when this commander was replaced with another commander who was more professional in his choice of words in meetings and conversation, the overall communication in the squadron improved -- people stopped cussing like sailors in the hallway and in meetings and they started acting more respectful to those around them

            -- it points out what Solomon is saying here -- friends can make you fall, because you will start acting like they act

            -- this is especially hard for young people, who are subjected to so much peer pressure and who are around a lot of people who are not godly individuals -- it’s hard for someone in that situation to confront or criticize their friends because they’re doing wrong things -- and it can be hard to choose to do the right thing and walk away when everyone else is doing something wrong -- that’s where you have to make a hard choice and really depend on the Holy Spirit to give you His power and strength

            -- I heard an interview on Focus on the Family one time with a young man who had started a Bible club at his school -- the person interviewing him asked him how he handled the peer pressure -- how was he able to continue to do what was right while everyone else was pressuring him to do wrong? -- and I loved his response -- he told the interviewer, “In my school, I am the peer pressure” -- in other words, rather than letting the world influence him, he was actively influencing them to the point where they were choosing to follow his lead rather than vice versa -- choose who you are going to be and don’t let anyone negatively influence you

            -- Solomon’s recommendation here is that if your friends are causing you to walk down wicked paths or are causing you to make wrong choices, you need to get away from them and find better friends -- and that goes for all of us

            -- if you are so influenced by the people you are surrounded with, then you need to be very careful who you allow into your life -- you don’t want just anybody to influence you -- and that goes for your attitudes and beliefs, as well as for the things you do

            -- Verse 15

15 Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way.

            -- avoid temptation, avoid sin -- turn away from it in your life and don’t go near it

            -- here’s a question for you -- do you learn from your sins? -- Are you learning how to avoid sins, so the next time you’re tempted, you are better able to overcome it?

            -- sin is going to happen -- it just is -- but are you learning from your experience?

            -- thinking about this reminded me of the movie, “Groundhog Day” -- I assume if you haven’t seen the movie, at least you’re familiar with the plot -- Bill Murray gets trapped in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, on Groundhog Day and he ends up living the same day over and over again -- it’s only when he starts learning from his mistakes and starts improving himself and his life that he’s finally able to get out of this time loop

            -- that’s how we need to approach sin in our lives -- we should look at sin as more than just failure -- we should look at it as an opportunity to grow and move on -- to learn from our mistakes

            -- when you sin, think about what happened -- what were the circumstances? -- what were the particulars that led you to that temptation and that caused you to give into that sin? -- and then think about how you might avoid that situation or that feeling or that action the next time

            -- let me give you an example -- let’s say you’re walking around in your yard today and you fall in a hole -- how are you going to avoid falling in that same hole again? -- you’d probably mark it, so you would be able to walk around it, right? -- or you’d fill it in so it’s not there anymore

            -- same principle with sin -- learn from your mistakes so you can avoid that temptation and sin in the future -- and if what you tried this time didn’t work, try something else

            -- remember the quote from Einstein: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing in the same way and expecting different results” -- if what you’re doing is not working, then change what you are doing

            -- I remember when I was at ABAC, we were in a class on spraying herbicides and pesticides -- the instructor was going over safety principles we should follow to avoid getting the chemicals on us -- he asked if anyone had ever gotten contaminated with chemicals before -- one kid raised his hand and said, “Yeah, every year I end up getting chemicals all over me” -- the teacher said, “That’s just stupid -- why don’t you learn how to do it right so you won’t do it again this year?”

            -- we should learn from our mistakes -- learn from our sins -- If you know an area where you were weak, or if you know something that causes you to stumble or fall, avoid that -- Solomon says, “turn from it and go the other way” -- learn to avoid the temptations in your life

            -- I know I’ve mentioned this guy before, but it’s just such an obvious thing I have to mention it again -- I was counseling a guy who was having a problem with alcohol -- he had lost his job -- he had lost his wife -- and he spent all day drinking -- and his mother asked me to come and talk with him -- so I did and I kept dropping by and checking on him

            -- one day, he was so excited because he had found a job -- guess where? -- a liquor store -- if you have a problem with alcohol, you probably need to avoid liquor stores

            -- whatever sin is hindering you -- whatever sin and temptation in your life that is tripping you up, you need to identify it and avoid it -- the best way to stay out of trouble is to not go where trouble is in the first place

            -- trust the Holy Spirit -- He’ll guide you -- He’ll point out where you’re weak and the conditions that got you in trouble -- and trust that He’ll show you the way out

            -- 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. -- But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

            -- when you are tempted, look for the exit -- avoid the situation -- choose to follow God and the promptings of the Holy Spirit rather than giving in to temptation and sin one more time

III.  Closing

            -- I want to close by sharing with you a story about Rich Mullins -- a lot of you are familiar with the name -- Mullins was a very famous and admired Christian musician and songwriter -- he died in 1997 in a car wreck at the age of 41

            -- Mullins once confessed in a concert that he struggled with watching pornography while traveling alone -- One of his spiritual mentors told him, "It's not that you're so bad, it's just that you're not supposed to go out by yourself."

            -- So Mullins took a friend along with him on a trip to Amsterdam near its famous red-light district -- he said he was hoping his friend would fall fast asleep and start snoring so, as Mullins put it, "I thought, 'Maybe it would be fun to just take a walk and be tempted.'"

            -- so Mullins sat up all night -- he waited until 5:00 in the morning for his friend to start snoring, but he never did -- and while he was waiting -- in the midst of his temptation -- Mullins picked up a notebook and wrote the words to one of his more popular songs, 'Hold Me, Jesus':

    “And I wake up in the night and feel the dark

    It's so hot inside my soul

    I swear there must be blisters on my heart

    So hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf

    You have been King of my glory

    Won't You be my Prince of Peace"

[Source: Luke Gilkerson, "'Hold Me Jesus': A Prayer for Porn Addiction," Covenant Eyes, June 17, 2010.]

            -- you see, temptation comes on us all -- that darkness that Mullins spoke of in that song is in each of us -- from the newborn babe in Christ -- the new believer -- all the way to the mature saint and the Christian leader -- there is in all of us this natural bent to disobey God and give in to temptation and sin

            -- but the good news of the Bible is that because of Christ’s death on the cross, we are no longer bound by sin, but we have the ability to choose God over temptation and sin -- before we were Christians, we didn’t have a choice -- sin held sway in our lives -- but now, through the power of the Holy Spirit inside of us, sin has lost its grasp and we no longer have to listen to it or give into temptation and sin -- because of Jesus’ death on the cross, we can choose to do what is right

            -- Solomon gave us some practical tips in this passage to help us do just that:

                        -- hold onto the instruction of the word of God

                        -- be careful who you let influence your life

                        -- and avoid the situations and the conditions that cause you to give into temptation and sin -- as Paul put it to Timothy, “flee from these things”

           

            -- as I close, I want you to know who are you now -- you are the people of God -- you have within you the power of the risen Christ -- you are no longer a person who has no choice but to sin -- instead, Christ has given you the power to choose a better way -- a better path

            -- but it’s something you’ll have to do -- trust in the Holy Spirit’s power within you and avoid the people and places and things that cause you to stumble -- and you’ll find yourself victorious over sin more and more in your life

            -- you don’t have to sin any longer -- freedom is there -- but you have to believe and you have to choose

            -- let us pray

SERMON: BROKEN AND POURED OUT

21 February 2016

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Mark 14:1-9

Mark 14:1-9 (NIV)

1 Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him.

2 "But not during the Feast," they said, "or the people may riot."

3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, "Why this waste of perfume?

5 It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor." And they rebuked her harshly.

6 "Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.

7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.

8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.

9 I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."

-- in Today’s Christian magazine, Pediatrician David Cerqueira tells the story of a little girl in his wife's Sunday School class -- His wife had prepared a lesson on being useful and told the children that everyone can be useful in serving God -- There was a short moment of silence, and a little girl named Sarah spoke up. "Teacher, what can I do?" she said. "I don't know how to do many useful things."

-- Mrs. Cerqueira had not anticipated that kind of response, but she quickly looked around and spotted an empty flower vase on the windowsill -- "Sarah," she said, "you can bring in a flower and put it in the vase. That would be a useful thing."

-- Sarah frowned. "But that's not important."

-- "It is," her teacher said, "if you are helping someone."

-- Sure enough, the next Sunday Sarah brought in a dandelion and placed it in the vase – and every week after that, she continued to bring a flower – Sunday after Sunday

-- when her pastor found out about it, he put the vase in the main sanctuary next to the pulpit -- that Sunday he gave a sermon on the honor of serving others, using Sarah's vase as an example -- he congregation was touched by the message, and the week started on a good note...

-- But later that same week, Sarah's family discovered she had leukemia -- David Cerqueira was her pediatrician, and he did his best to explain to Sarah's parents that nothing could be done to save her life -- He writes, "I don't think I have ever had a more difficult conversation than the one that night."

-- Eventually, Sarah became bed-ridden – she couldn’t leave her home and she lost most of her weight – her family knew the end was near

-- one Sunday, as the pastor neared the end of his sermon, he suddenly stopped speaking -- His eyes grew wide as he stared at the back of the church, and everyone turned to see what he was looking at -- It was Sarah -- Her parents had brought her for one last visit -- She was bundled in a blanket, a dandelion in one little hand.

-- She slowly walked to the front of the church where her vase was still perched by the pulpit -- She put her flower in the vase and a piece of paper beside it -- Then she returned to her parents.

-- Four days later, Sarah died -- At the funeral, the pastor showed Dr. Cerqueira the note Sarah had left -- It said, "Dear God, This vase has been the biggest honor of my life. Sarah."

            -- As you may know, we are in the season of Lent -- this is the 40-day period between Ash Wednesday and Easter when Christians historically have prepared themselves for a closer relationship with Christ

– for new believers, Lent was a time of education -- of learning about Christ and what it means to be a Christian prior to baptism on Easter morning

-- for the faithful -- for those who had already received Jesus as their Lord and Savior -- it was a season of soul-searching and repentance -- a time of reflection on their relationship with Christ – a time to repent of their sins and to rededicate their lives to Christ at Easter

-- so Lent is a season of commitment – a time to honestly examine where you are in your relationship with Jesus, and to make a commitment to Him with your life

            -- last week we talked about true biblical repentance -- about turning from our sins and relying on the power of God to help us repent and live a life of victory through him – we talked about how we cannot repent in our own strength, but how repentance is a surrender of ourselves to God and a reliance on God’s power in us through faith

            -- This week, we will consider the next step after repentance -- namely, giving ourselves fully over to Christ and living a life of service for Him

            -- so let’s look at this passage together and see what we can learn from this story that we might apply to our own lives and our own relationship with Him

II.  Broken and Poured Out (Mark 14:1-9)

           

            -- look back at verse 3-4

3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, "Why this waste of perfume?

-- in this passage from Mark, we read about the anointing of Jesus at Bethany -- I don’t want you to get confused because there are actually two anointings of Jesus recorded in the Bible

-- in the book of Luke, we read of an earlier anointing of Jesus by a prostitute, but that is not the same event that Mark is talking about here -- in Luke’s account of this earlier anointing, a prostitute anointed Jesus with her tears and washed His feet with her hair -- in this account, the woman breaks a jar and pours aromatic oil or perfume over Jesus’ head and then wipes His feet with her hair -- in the first anointing, there was no perfume, but here there is

-- also, these are different women -- the first woman was a prostitute -- but the woman who anoints Jesus here in Mark 14 is not a prostitute -- John tells us in John 12 that this woman is Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus – in John’s account of this event in his gospel, John gives us more information and tells us that Lazarus was at the dinner with Jesus, reclining at the table— and that Martha was assisting in serving the meal

            -- one more difference -- the anointing here in Mark 14 takes place at the end of Jesus’ ministry on earth -- two days before the Passover -- this would have taken place during holy week, shortly after Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday – and Mark tells us this anointing took place at the home of Simon the Leper

-- the other anointing occurred early in Jesus’ ministry at the home of Simon the Pharisee, not Simon the Leper -- similar names, but different people -- different places -- different times -- different actions with different meanings

-- so even though the names and actions are similar, they are not accounts of the same event -- I just wanted to make sure you didn’t mix up the two stories in your head as we looked at this

-- So we read in this account that Mary came to the supper at Simon the Leper’s home and brought with her an alabaster jar of a very expensive perfume -- more than likely this was actually an oil that would’ve been put on the skin for cooling as well as for aromatic purposes

-- it was very common in the hot and dusty climates of the world, such as the Middle East of Jesus’s day, to anoint travelers with oil because the oil keeps the skin cool and it also provides perfume to help mask the sweat from the day’s travels -- this is still a common practice in much of the Middle East and India today

-- typically, in Jesus’ day, the host of a meal would provide these oils to his guests, but in this case Simon the leper had evidently not given Jesus or the other guests any anointing oil or provided water so they could wash their feet

-- Mary must’ve noticed this, and so she took it upon herself to anoint Jesus -- remember that Mary lived in Bethany where this meal was taking place, and it is not unlikely that when she saw that Jesus was not being honored as He should have been, she went home and retrieved her most precious possession, the alabaster jar containing a very expensive perfume

-- Mark tells us that Mary came into the meal and broke the jar and then poured the perfume on his head -- John expands on this in John 12 and tells us that after she anointed Him with the oil, she wiped His feet clean with her hair

-- why did Mary do this? -- why did Mary anoint Jesus in such an extravagant way? -- what is the meaning behind her actions?

            -- She was making a statement about her commitment to him and about His value to her -- she desired to see him honored above all -- and when he was not honored as he should of been, Mary took it upon herself to honor him in the only way she could at the time -- she honored Him by giving Him her very best

-- she gave all she had to Jesus -- in all truth, she gave more than the oil to Him -- she gave herself -- not caring what the others thought of her, she went into a meal that was only for men -- breaking the social conventions of her day -- and humbled herself before Jesus, anointing him and wiping his feet with her own hair like a slave

-- remember, this is not a prostitute doing this -- this is a woman of means -- a woman of wealth in her community -- the oil she possessed wasn’t just a common, anointing oil, but, as Mark says, it was a very expensive perfume that wouldn’t have been owned by the poor or the common people in that day

-- but Mary did not consider her reputation or standing in the community to be anything of value -- by this act, Mary was demonstrating that Jesus meant more to her than her own reputation -- Jesus meant more to her than anything she possessed -- to Mary, nothing in the world was as valuable to her as Jesus -- to the point that she broke the jar and poured out the perfume on Him and then humbled herself in the presence of her family and friends and took on the persona of a slave just to serve Him

-- the people who witnessed her act complained that the pouring out of the oil was a waste of money -- it should have been sold and given to the poor -- Mark tells us the oil was worth a year’s wage -- what is the value of that in our day? -- $20,000? -- $30,000? -- more?

-- when is the last time you offered to Jesus something that extravagant? -- when was the last time you offered yourself to Jesus in the same way Mary did?

-- which brings me to my next point -- I think this passage is about more than the simple act of anointing Jesus -- I think the intent of this passage and the importance of Mary’s actions revolve around the two phrases in this passage: broken and poured out

-- when Mary broke the alabaster jar, it was irretrievably broken -- it could never be used again -- having been broken, it was given completely to Jesus, and could never be given to anyone else again -- it was offered up to Him and Him alone

-- By breaking the jar, Mary was demonstrating her total and full commitment to Jesus -- she was giving herself solely to him, regardless of what the world thought of her -- by humbling herself before him in this way, she was presenting herself to Him as a broken vessel

-- in doing so, she poured out her life to Jesus, dying to self, and served him with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength -- this is a progression in Mary’s spiritual life -- where before we saw her reclining at Jesus’ feet, learning from him in Lazarus’s home, now we see her giving herself completely and wholly to him -- where before she was content to learn about Jesus, now we see her broken and poured out for him and for his service -- piety has been replaced with a sanctified life ready for action in service to Christ

            -- I don’t think it’s happenstance that this account of the anointing of Jesus by Mary is juxtaposed right next to the story of the Last Supper in the Upper Room

            -- all of us here have participated in Holy Communion before -- and as we tell the story of Jesus and his sharing of the bread and the wine with his disciples in the upper room on that last night, what words do we always share together?

            -- “This is my body, broken for you -- this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the remission of sins” -- you see what Jesus says there? -- This is my body, broken -- this is my blood, poured out for you -- broken and poured out -- the same words that Mark uses to describe Mary’s anointing of Jesus

            -- and when we share communion together, we always remember Jesus’s command to His disciples: “do this in remembrance of Me -- as often as you take it, do this in remembrance of Me”

            -- do what in remembrance of him? -- Is Jesus only referring to the act of taking the bread and the wine or is he referring to something more when he tells us to do this in remembrance of him?

            -- I think Jesus is referring to more than our participating in this sacrament -- when Jesus tells us to “do this” in remembrance of Him, I believe He is telling us to be broken and poured out for Him just as He was broken and poured out for us -- while the sharing of Holy Communion is a means of grace whereby we join together with Christ and each other spiritually, I believe Jesus intends for us to use this sacrament as a catalyst for action -- to rise from His table and to be broken and poured out for others in His name, empowered by His grace and His Spirit

            -- just as Mary demonstrated the breaking of her life by humbling herself before others in his presence and pouring out herself in service to him, we are called to go and do the same in remembrance of Him -- in honor to Him -- as a commitment to Him

-- I believe this passage in Mark is a call to serve Jesus by being broken -- by dying to self -- by submitting our lives to Him -- and to serve Him by pouring ourselves out for others in His name

III.  Closing

            -- broken and poured out -- this is the essence of the Christian life -- Paul indicated as much when he wrote in 2 Timothy 4:6, “I am being poured out as a drink offering…”

-- we are called to do more than to come to church on Sundays and to share the sacrament of Holy Communion together -- we are called to empty ourselves of our self -- to die to self -- to take up our cross -- to be filled with God’s Holy Spirit -- and to go forth in Jesus name, carrying the good news of Christ to this world.

-- We do this by serving others in Jesus’s name -- by giving ourselves extravagantly to him -- by living for him with our whole life, and by pouring out ourselves for others through service in His name, so that they may come to know him as we know him.

-- as we continue on in this Lenten season of reflection and repentance and recommitment to Christ, I want you to spend some time thinking about this concept of being broken and poured out for Jesus

-- we’re going to close by sharing in Holy Communion -- and as we take of the bread and the wine, I pray that you leave His table and you go forth to be broken and poured out in His name for this world

-- so let’s close in prayer, and then we’ll share communion together

-- let us pray

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1 David Cerqueira, "Sarah's Vase," Today's Christian, March/April 2008, adapted from Evangel magazine, December 2005. From a sermon by C. Philip Green, We Want To See Jesus, 4/14/2011

SERMON: OVERCOMING SIN

14 February 2016

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 5:22-24

1 Thessalonians 5:22-24 (NIV)

22 Avoid every kind of evil.

23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

            -- hold your place right there and either turn with me or listen as I read Jude 24 -- Jude is the little book right before the Book of Revelation -- Jude 24

Jude 1:24-25 (NIV)

24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy--

25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

            -- not many people today are familiar with the name of Amy Carmichael -- in fact when people mention ministries and outreach to the poor in India, her name is not the one that pops into our minds -- we think of Mother Theresa -- but it was Amy Carmichael who paved the way for Christian evangelism and ministry in India and whose legacy and faith inspired Mother Theresa to devote her life to the mission field

            -- Amy Carmichael was born in Ireland in 1867 and was called by God to be a missionary at the age of 25 -- at first she was led to Japan, but her ministry there was short-lived -- God called again and Amy found herself alone in India in 1895, where she remained until her death 56 years later -- never once taking a furlough -- never once returning home to her beloved Ireland -- the work was too great, she said, the need never-ending

            -- Amy spent her career reaching out to the children who were being sold into prostitution in the temples in India, beginning first with girls, later with boys, and eventually opening an orphanage for both children and infants -- the children there called her "Amma" -- "mother" in Tamil -- and she fought tirelessly to rescue them from the bonds of forced prostitution and to protect them from those who sought to gain from their servitude

            -- how was this ordinary girl from Ireland -- without any formal seminary or Bible college training -- able to survive in a hostile country and make a significant difference in the lives of thousands of boys and girls while influencing untold others to devote their lives to Christ?

            -- in Amy's own words, it occurred when she was ushered into a life of faith -- for Amy this life of faith came after conversion -- it occurred when she finally trusted God for all -- when her fledgling faith became real and she truly believed in a God who could do all

            -- in September 1886, Amy had been struggling with the problem of how to live a holy life, and she found the answer at a series of evangelical meetings in Glasgow -- it was not the message of the speakers that God used to reach her, but the closing prayer of the chairman -- in his prayer he paraphrased Jude 24, which we just read together -- "To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy"

            -- when Amy heard the promise of God's faithfulness and providence in those words, she realized that God loved her and would lead her down new paths of faith and victory if she would quit trying to live her faith on her own but trust Him instead -- thus started a life of faith that touched others for eternity¹

II.  The Problem of Sin in the Life of a Believer

            -- this morning, I wanted us to use Amy Carmichael’s story as a basis for a discussion on living the victorious life in Christ -- a couple of weeks ago, we talked about original sin and how we are all born with this sin nature within us that does two things

            -- first, it makes us all sinners in need of a Savior -- we are born corrupted -- we are born into sin and need to be saved from this great infection inherited from Adam and Eve

            -- secondly, this sin nature within us is what causes us to choose sin over God -- it is this sin nature -- our flesh -- the old man, as Paul put it -- that leads us to choose to disobey God and do wrong things in our lives

            -- this is why Jesus came to earth -- He came to defeat this sin nature in our lives and to offer forgiveness for the sins that this sin nature had led us to commit -- that is the gospel message in a nutshell -- this is the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ

            -- not only that our sins have been forgiven, but that this sin nature within us has been defeated so that we no longer have to live in bondage to sin in our lives, but we have the capability to choose to say no to sin

            -- that’s what John means when he wrote in 1 John 2:1, “I write this to you so that you will not sin” -- because of Jesus’ death and resurrection and His power in us through the Holy Spirit, we can choose not to sin any longer

            -- but, for most of us, our lives are similar to that of Amy Carmichael’s early life -- when she received Jesus as her Lord and Savior and put her trust in His finished work on the cross, she was forgiven of her sins -- she became a Christian and tried to follow Jesus

            -- but she ran into problems -- she found she couldn’t live a holy life -- she found out that when she tried to live like Jesus and tried to not sin, she kept giving in to sin over and over again and just couldn’t live a holy life -- sound familiar? -- yeah, it sounds like us -- it sounds like most of the church today

            -- that’s the problem that I want to talk about this morning -- the problem of continuing sin in the life of a believer and why it happens -- I’ll confess to you -- I sin -- I sin a lot -- I know I’m not supposed to -- I know the Bible tells me I should choose not to sin, but it seems like that no matter what I do, I’m not able to turn away from temptation and not sin -- and, if you’re honest with yourself, you’ll probably admit that you’re just like that, too

            -- there are times in my life when I do pretty good -- I’ll sin and I’ll repent of my sin and then I’ll go days, weeks, even months, without sinning in that way again -- I’m really doing my best to live a holy life -- but, all of a sudden, temptation comes on me and there I go again -- before I even know it, I’ve given in again and I’m right back at the start -- does that happen to anyone else or is it just me?

            -- I think that’s the experience of most of the church today -- you’ve heard the statistics -- if you look at our sins in the church compared to the sins outside the church, we’re no better than the world -- almost the same number of Christians get divorced and have affairs and cheat on our taxes and steal and lie and do all the other things that the unbelievers do -- there’s really not a difference in the way we live our lives versus the way the world lives its life -- but that’s not the way it should be

            -- remember, Christ came to destroy that sin nature and to make it possible for us to choose not to sin but to choose to live holy lives in His name -- so what’s the problem? -- why do we continue to live in sin?

            -- I think it comes down to a lack of faith and to a lack of understanding about how we are supposed to live this Christian life

            -- to get to the bottom of this, let’s back up and think first about salvation -- how are saved in the beginning? -- when someone first comes to believe in Jesus, how do they get saved? -- they get saved through faith, right? -- we tell people, “you can’t be saved through your works -- your works are like filthy rags in the eyes of God -- you can’t buy salvation -- you can’t be saved by trying to do good things -- it is only through grace that you are saved -- it is the gift of God”

            -- we point them to Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved -- through faith -- and this not of yourself -- it is the gift of God, not by works, lest any man should boast”

            -- and as it says in Romans 10:9-10 (NIV), “That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. -- For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”

            -- that’s the plan of salvation, right? -- believe in Jesus -- put your trust and faith in Him and ask Him to forgive you of your sins and you will be saved -- everybody good, right?

            -- now, what happens next? -- when someone comes to God in faith and becomes a Christian, what’s the next step? -- they have to live it out -- they start living a holy life -- they start following Jesus and trying to live like He lived -- and that’s where we get in trouble -- because before we know it, we find ourselves giving in to temptation and falling back into sin just like we did before we got saved

            -- that was exactly what happened in Amy Carmichael’s life -- she didn’t understand how to live a holy life, and every time she tried to be holy and not sin, she kept finding herself falling back into sin over and over again, even though she was a believer

            -- so, what's the problem? -- why does this happen? -- it happens because we’re not told how to live this Christian life -- we’re simply told to “just say no” to sin and to be holy as Jesus is holy -- we’re told that if we sin, we should just repent of our sin and try again -- and what happens is we try to live this Christian life on our own -- in our own strength and through our own power -- and we fail

            -- it's really kind of funny, when you think about it -- we tell unbelievers that there is nothing they can do about their sin -- they can't work their way to heaven -- they can't buy their way to heaven -- only God can forgive them through His grace because of Christ's atoning death on the cross -- only God can deal with their sin

            -- but, once someone becomes a believer, we give them the idea that it is their responsibility to live holy lives -- now that they are a believer, they are supposed to repent and stop sinning and become holy all on their own -- we kind of get the idea that it is our job to deal with any sin in our life once and for all

            -- do you see what we're telling people? -- to the unbeliever we say, "Trust God to take care of your sin" -- to the believer we say, "you have to take care of your own sin -- sure, God will forgive you if you fall, but it's your responsibility to repent and not do it again"

            -- here's a truth we need to get deep in our hearts -- and this is critical when it comes to living a Christian life -- we can't do anything about our sin

            -- we couldn't do anything about it before we came to Christ, and we can't do anything about it now -- just like we need the power of the Cross to bring us to salvation, we need the power of the Cross to defeat sin in our life once and for all -- we can't do it on our own, and that's where these scriptures we opened with come into play -- look at what they say

            -- look back at 1 Thessalonians 5:22-24

1 Thessalonians 5:22-24 (NIV)

22 Avoid every kind of evil.

23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

            -- in other words, Paul is saying, “don’t sin” -- that’s what we tell people when they get saved, right? -- “you’re a Christian now, so avoid evil -- don’t sin -- don’t give into temptation -- choose to not sin”

            -- and that’s all good advice -- that is what we are supposed to do -- but it brings up the question, “Yes, but how? -- I couldn’t choose not to sin before I became a Christian -- how do I do it now?”

            -- verse 23

23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

            -- how do I avoid every kind of evil? -- how do I choose not to sin? -- through faith -- by believing that God will do it through me -- Paul says here God will sanctify you -- your whole body, soul, and spirit will be kept blameless -- how? -- Paul says, “the One who calls you is faithful and He will do it” -- not that we will do it, God will do it with us

            -- when we’re talking about living the Christian life, we are talking about becoming holy as God is holy -- about becoming sanctified -- and in the church, we talk about three types of grace, right? -- prevenient grace -- the grace that comes before -- the grace that leads us to the cross -- there’s justifying grace -- the grace of the cross -- the grace of salvation -- the grace that forgives us of our sins and overcomes our sin nature and makes it just as if I never sinned -- but, finally, there’s sanctifying grace -- the grace of God that makes us holy

            -- the problem is that we have turned sanctification from an act of faith and a reliance on God’s grace to an act of works -- when Paul tells us to avoid every kind of evil, we march off and try to do it as an act of our own will -- we forget God’s grace -- instead of living the Christian life in faith, we live it in our own power

            -- but we can’t do it -- our lives show that -- we can’t live a sinless life on our own -- it is impossible -- but Paul says here that God can do it through us -- God is the One who sanctifies us -- God is the one who keeps our body, soul, and spirit blameless -- not us, but God within us

            -- Jude said the same thing -- Jude 24 and 25 -- “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy -- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!”

            -- who keeps us from falling? -- God -- who presents us before His glorious presence without fault? -- God

            -- it is not us -- to paraphrase Ephesians 2:8-9 to reflect what should be going on in living the Christian life, “For it is by grace that you are sanctified, through faith, and this not of yourself, it is the gift of God -- not by works -- lest any man should boast”

            -- if we couldn’t save ourselves from our sins in the beginning, what makes us think we can save ourselves from our sins now? -- what makes us think we can live a holy life in our own strength and through our own will?

            -- that’s what God showed Amy Carmichael -- when she heard Jude 24 preached, the Spirit showed her that her part was to have faith -- not to do it on her own -- and when she stopped striving in her own strength and in her own power, she began to live the victorious Christian life and God used her mightily

            -- you see, that’s why we’re failing -- we’re trying to do it on our own, apart from God, and it’s not working -- when we hear the word repentance, we have this idea it means that we are to do better -- we are to work harder -- we are to try more -- but that’s not what biblical repentance means

            -- true biblical repentance isn't about us doing something about our sin -- true biblical repentance means admitting we can't do anything about our sin, and trusting God to work with us to overcome it

            -- true biblical repentance means that we put faith in God to work in us through His Holy Spirit to overcome sin in our lives rather than trying to solve sin on our own

III.  Closing

            -- so how do we stop this cycle of continuing sin in our lives? -- how do we stop this cycle of sinning and repenting and sinning again? -- how can we start living a truly victorious life in Christ?

            -- the first step is to admit you can’t do it on your own -- to admit you’re a sinner and that you need God’s grace in order to overcome this sin

            -- the second step comes from 1 John 1:9 -- confess your sins -- what does it mean to confess? -- it basically means to admit your sins to God -- to agree with Him that you have sinned -- that you have disobeyed His word

            -- confession is a surrendering of your ideals to God's ideals -- it is saying, "I was wrong in what I was thinking -- I was wrong in what I was doing -- when I compare myself and my actions and my thoughts to your Word, it doesn't line up -- I agree that I have sinned against You"

            -- now, you need to keep in mind that confession doesn't resolve your sin -- feeling sorry about what you have done doesn't make your sin go away -- admitting our sin is an important part of the process, but words do not resolve sin

            -- confession is an alignment of the mind to God to prepare the heart for the next step

            -- the third step is remembering who we are in Christ and what He did for us -- we are not the same person that we used to be -- we are new creations in Christ -- we have new strength and new power through the very presence of the Holy Spirit within us -- that’s something we didn’t have before we trusted Jesus as our Lord and Savior -- we have to remember God with us and in us and trust in His power to sustain us

            -- we have to believe that we do not have to live with sin any longer -- those chains were broken at the Cross -- as Paul wrote, we no longer live, but Christ lives in us and He has defeated our sin through His body and His blood

            -- the final step is true biblical repentance

            -- and here's where the rubber meets the road -- we have already woken up and seen our sin -- we have confessed our sin and agreed with God that we have disobeyed Him -- and we remember the work of Christ on the Cross -- we remember who we are -- we remember grace

            -- now, when we repent, we repent through that grace and not through our own power -- we don't try to manage our own sin, but we trust in what Jesus has already done

            -- when you start to realize that repentance is not something you do but something that God does, you realize a real power over sin for the first time in your life -- the work of Jesus is for every sin, not just for the forgiveness of sin, but for the healing from those sin

            -- repentance then is trusting that Jesus has already forgiven you of your sin and believing that He will work with you to give you victory over the sins that remain -- repentance is a surrendering of yourself to God and trusting in His power to help you live a holy life

            -- when you put all these steps together, this is what your prayer will sound like:

            -- "God, here we go -- I did it again -- I made a wrong choice -- I sinned against you -- I agree with your holy Word that this was an act of disobedience

            -- God, I remember what Christ did for me on the cross -- I remember that I am a new creation because of Him and that He broke the power of sin in my life with His death and resurrection

            -- God, here is a sin I trust you to do something about -- I am convinced I cannot deal with this sin -- I trust what you did at the Cross is powerful enough, not only to bring me to heaven one day, but powerful enough that it can break this very sin's power that is now plaguing my life

            -- God, I repent of my sin and I put my trust in You and Your power to heal me of this sin -- Thank you for what you have done and what you will do through your Son in my life -- Amen"

            -- a truly victorious life in Christ is possible -- we no longer have to live in bondage to sin -- we no longer have to go through our lives bound by sin’s power -- but we can live holy lives through faith in the sanctifying grace of Christ

           

            -- let's pray

----------------------------------------------------------

¹Wiersbe, Warren W.  10 People Every Christian Should Know, Chapter 8: Amy Carmichael.

A Post-Christian America

Evidence that the U.S. is truly entering a post-Christian period is starting to show up in scientific journals.  You can read the article here.

"...belief in the United States is finally starting to mirror the pattern of declining religion in Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia."

Rather than reading this with discouragement, this should inspire Christians to truly commit to sharing the good news of Christ with their friends and family.

SERMON: THE GREAT INFECTION

24 January 2016

I.  Introduction

-- turn in Bibles to Romans 5:12-21

Romans 5:12-21 (NIV)

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned--

13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.

14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.

15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.

17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.

19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

20 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,

21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

-- last week we talked about the hand on the table -- about the time when Jesus was sharing the last supper with His disciples in the Upper Room and He told them that someone there was going to betray Him -- when they asked, “Who?”, Jesus responded by saying, “The one who will betray Me is the same one who has His hand on the table with Me”

-- and every one of them looked down and realized they all had their hand on the table and they all asked the same question, “Is it me? Am I going to betray Jesus?” -- and even though they did not betray Jesus in the same way as Judas, every single man who was there that night betrayed Him by turning away from Him and abandoning Him in the hour of His greatest need

-- the hand on the table reminds us that all of us have betrayed Jesus through sin and it reminds us that our hearts are all prone to wander away from Him all the time through the choices we make

-- this morning I wanted to carry this thought a little deeper and talk a little bit more about sin -- have you ever thought much about sin? -- you know we use this word in the church a lot -- we sing about it and we talk about it and we worry about it and, truthfully, sometimes we ignore it

-- we know that sin is the one thing that we all share -- look at the person on your left -- they’re a sinner -- look at the person on your right -- they’re a sinner, too -- look at me -- I’m a sinner -- we are all sinners -- the Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God

-- we know that sin is what separates us from God -- it is our sin that condemns us to hell -- and it is our sin that caused Jesus to come and die on the cross in our place

-- but have you ever really stopped to think about what sin is? -- did you know that in the Bible there are two distinct words that we need to consider when we talk about this subject?

-- the first is “sins,” plural -- when the Bible speaks of sins, it is referring to our acts of disobedience -- to the times we have chosen to disobey God’s word -- whether these are the sins of commission -- our sinful acts -- the things that we do wrong -- or whether these are the sins of omission -- the times we haven’t done what we know we’re supposed to do -- sins of omission are typically the times when we choose to turn away from doing good when we know we should -- sins in the plural refers to what we do -- we’ll talk about this more in a couple of weeks

-- the second word is “sin,” in the singular -- when the Bible speaks of sin in the singular form, it is generally referring to our sin nature -- to our old flesh -- to that part of us that makes us a sinner -- this internal nature that lives inside of us and that causes us to disobey God -- it is this sin nature inside of us that we refer to as original sin -- and that is what I want to talk about today

II.   Original Sin

-- the doctrine of original sin is one of the foundational doctrines of the church -- this doctrine teaches that when Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden, sin entered the world and, as a result, all of us are born with this sin nature inside of us that causes us to sin

-- it all goes back to Genesis 2:16-17 when God told Adam that he could eat from any tree in the garden, but that he must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because if he ate of it, he would die

-- that always bothered me -- it seemed like God was setting them up for failure -- I mean, knowledge is good, right? -- it seemed like God was trying to keep Adam and Eve from getting something good by telling them they had to avoid the tree of the knowledge of good and evil

-- but I was listening to a message from Jefferson Bethke the other day, and he pointed something I hadn’t realized before -- if Adam and Eve were not supposed to get knowledge from the tree, where were they supposed to get their knowledge? -- from God! -- so the command to not eat from the fruit of that tree was really a call to intimacy with God -- it was not a “stay away” command, but a “come to Me” command -- God wanted them to turn to Him in all things and to lean on Him for their understanding and knowledge

-- but we know what happened, right? -- they were seduced by the serpent who convinced them to seek knowledge on their own apart from God, in direct violation of what God had told them to do -- in essence by taking the fruit and eating of it, they were turning their backs on God and choosing their own path

-- and, as a result, sin and death came into the world, all because of the trespass of one man

-- look back at verse 12-13a

Romans 5:12-13a (NIV)

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned--

13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world.

-- because of Adam's disobedience, sin and death -- both physical and spiritual death -- came into the world

-- Paul tells us the same thing throughout this passage

-- verse 15 -- "if the many died by the trespass of the one man"

-- verse 16 -- "the result of the one's man sin -- the judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation"

-- verse 17 -- by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man"

-- when Adam disobeyed God and chose to seek knowledge on his own by eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, sin and death came into the world -- and sin and death changed Adam and Eve -- it became a part of them -- and it became a part of who we are today

-- because of Adam’s disobedience and trespass, we all became sinners -- we are all born sinners because we all come from Adam -- to use the Biblical term for it, we are “in” Adam -- that is the doctrine of original sin

-- now this concept always caused me a problem -- you see, one of the principles that we learned in biology was that physical changes to the body were not inherited -- only genetic changes are inherited

-- there was a biologist many years ago named Heckel who proposed a theory called "hopeful monsters" -- in this theory, he said that the way the different animals came about was that a physical change happened to them and that that change was inherited by their offspring

-- for instance, the evolutionists tell us that whales came from animals who used to live on land and have legs -- Heckel would say that something happened to one of these animals who lived on land -- their legs were injured or were cut off -- and then those physical changes were inherited by their offspring -- so, if an animal or person had an accident and lost a leg, then their babies would be born missing a leg -- according to this theory, over time, whales evolved because of these inherited physical changes

-- this theory of Heckel's was quickly discounted -- we all know that if a person has an accident -- if you lose a limb or have some other physical problem -- then that physical change is not passed on to our children -- physical changes do not affect our offspring

-- so this left me confused about original sin -- how did the physical act of disobedience by Adam -- how did eating the fruit in the Garden of Eden -- cause sin to be inherited by all people?

-- this bothered me for years and years -- for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how Adam eating from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil caused me to be born a sinner -- how could a physical act done by Adam be transferred to me?

-- the only way for this to work would be if the original sin actually changed who Adam and Eve were -- not only spiritually, but physically -- and that this change in them was inherited by us -- but if it wasn’t a change to their DNA that was then inherited by us, what changed in them?

-- science tells us that some diseases -- especially some viruses -- can be passed on to us from our parents -- we inherit the disease from them

-- for instance, we now know that the AIDS virus can be transmitted from infected mothers to their children -- there are many babies born every single day infected with AIDS -- who have AIDS simply because their mother had it and transferred it to them

-- we see the same thing with rabies -- rabies can be transmitted from an infected mother to her offspring -- a few years ago I read about rabies being transmitted from a mother cat to her litter of kittens -- the kittens were not bitten by a rabid animal, but they were all infected with rabies because their mother was infected -- and it resulted in their new owners being at risk for rabies

-- this scientific principle holds the key to understanding how we have inherited our sin nature from Adam -- this explains how sin and death came into the world through him and lives on in us

-- when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the fruit, sin came into their bodies like a virus -- now understand I’m not saying sin is a virus -- I’m just saying it acted like a virus -- it infected Adam and Eve with its poison, and this sin nature became a part of who they were -- it was passed on from them to their children and then to their grandchildren and their great grandchildren until it finally passed on to us

-- it was through their infected blood that sin and death entered the world and entered each of us

-- God tells us in Leviticus 17:11 that the life of a creature is in its blood -- and, I think it follows, that the death of a creature is in its blood as well -- we are all sinners because we have within our veins the infected blood of Adam

-- Ted Dekker picked up this theme in his Christian fiction trilogy -- Black, Red, and White -- in these books, the entire world becomes infected with an airborne virus -- everyone on earth is destined to die because a virus has entered the world through the actions of one man -- this is exactly what happened in the Garden of Eden

-- everyone on earth is destined to die because of the actions of one man brought the sin virus into the world -- we are all sinners because we have inherited this great infection -- this sin nature -- from Adam

-- we are sinners -- not because of what we do -- but because of who we are -- as Watchman Nee wrote, "the trouble is in our heredity and not our behavior"

III.  The Origins of a Sinner

-- this is a Christian concept that always gave me pause -- how can someone say that a precious little baby who has just been born is a sinner? -- that little baby has done nothing wrong -- they haven't disobeyed God -- they haven't sinned their actions -- they haven't gone out and broken any of the ten commandments

-- the answer to how a baby is born a sinner lies in the great infection that we just talked about -- you are not a sinner because you sin -- you are a sinner because you are born with this infection in your blood -- you are a sinner because you have inherited this sin nature as a virus from your parents

-- its just like a baby born with AIDS -- that baby has done nothing wrong -- it hasn't had unprotected sex -- it hasn't shared needles when it did drugs -- it was just born infected with a virus because its parents were infected before it

-- Paul tells us here in this passage that sin and death entered the world -- it entered all of us and infected all of us -- because of one man's trespass -- because of Adam's disobedience, we are born infected with a sin nature that causes us to want to sin -- that causes us to want to do things that God does not want us to do

-- now this is an important concept to grasp -- you are a sinner because of who you are -- not because of what you do -- you are a sinner because you are a child of Adam -- you are “in” Adam -- you trace your heritage back to him -- and, as a result, you are infected with this great infection -- you are born with this sin nature inside of you

-- this explains Romans 3:23 where Paul writes that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God -- this explains how that little baby who just took its first breath is a sinner -- this explains how that good ole boy you know -- the one who really doesn't do much wrong and tries to live a good moral life -- is still a sinner

-- it's not about what you do -- it's about who you are -- and you are a sinner because you are infected with sin

-- the important thing to remember is that “Sin is not so much the activity. That's just the evidence of the Sin nature. Sin is the nature of every man born of Adam” [Precept Bible Commentary, http://preceptaustin.org/romans_513-21.htm#5:13]

-- think about an alcoholic -- based on scientific studies, it appears that alcoholics are born that way -- they are not alcoholics because they drink and can't quit -- they are alcoholics because that is who they are -- it is part of their nature -- I am sure today that there are many alcoholics walking around who have never taken a drink in their life -- but if they ever do, then their disease kicks in and turns them into someone who drinks to excess most of the time

-- I have a friend in Tennessee just like that -- he comes from a line of alcoholics -- his father and his grandfather were both alcoholics -- they were both held in bondage to alcohol -- and my friend knows that he was probably born an alcoholic, too -- for that reason, he has chosen to never drink, for fear that he might follow in their footsteps

-- it's not about what you do -- it's about who you are

-- that's why you can't get to heaven on your own -- that's why you can't work your way to heaven -- that's why you can't be good enough to earn your way to heaven -- even if you never go out and disobey one of God's commandments, you are a sinner because you are born in sin -- as David wrote in Psalm 51:5, "I was sinful at birth -- sinful from the time my mother conceived me"

-- we have a disease -- this sin nature in our hearts -- and it is this sin nature that is keeping us from heaven

IV.  The Answer to Sin

-- so, what can we do about it? -- what is the answer to this raging infection in our souls? -- this sin nature that has become such a part of us that we are born sinners?

-- well, what would you do if you were sick and infected with a virus? -- you'd go to a doctor and get a shot -- you'd go get an antivirus -- something that would kill the virus within you and make you clean again

-- and that's exactly what we have to do with this sin infection in our life -- we have to receive an antivirus and make ourselves clean and whole again

-- we call this antivirus "grace" and it comes about through the blood of Jesus -- the blood of Jesus is our antivirus -- it is the only thing that can remove our sin -- our sin nature -- our great infection -- and offer forgiveness of our sins

-- in other words, this antivirus -- the blood of Christ -- not only forgives us of all of our wrongdoings -- of all of our disobedience -- but it also overcomes and destroys our sin nature -- that inherent part of us that causes us to be born sinners and give in to temptation

-- look at verse 15-17

15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.

17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

-- Paul tells us here that God is offering us the gift of righteousness and life through Jesus Christ -- now that's an important thought

-- God's offer is not like the trespass of Adam -- when Adam fell in the Garden of Eden and was infected with this sin nature, we all became infected, whether we wanted to or not -- we had no choice -- it became part of who we were -- and, as a result, we were born sinners

-- but the blood of Christ that washes away our sins is a gift -- it is something that we have to accept -- it is something that we have to choose in order to receive it

-- if I am sick and go to the doctor and he offers me a shot with an antivirus in it and I say, "No thanks," then I don't get the healing and protection that that shot offers -- the only way for me to get healed is to accept his offer and receive the shot

-- in the same way, if God offers us an antivirus through the blood of Jesus, the only way to be healed is to receive the treatment -- to accept God's gift and to be covered with the blood of Christ

-- there is nothing else we can do -- there is nothing else we can take -- home remedies won't work -- being extra good won't work -- living a perfect and moral life from now on won't work -- the only thing that will work to remove this infection from our lives is to receive this free gift of grace from God -- to accept the death of Jesus on the cross on our behalf

V.  Closing

-- Paul tells us here that God's gift is all sufficient and that it can lead all of us from death into life

-- God's grace is greater than our sin -- through the obedience of Christ -- through His sinless, perfect life, God's grace has overflowed to all of us and made it possible for all of us to be made righteous and clean and whole

-- the only way to erase original sin is to receive the gift of life from Christ -- we call this salvation or justification -- our bodies and our souls are made clean and we begin a new life with Christ -- we die to Adam and are born again in Christ -- we change from being people who are “in” Adam to being people who are “in” Christ -- and we inherit from Him His righteousness which cleanses us for all eternity

-- next time, I want us to talk more about the other sin word in the Bible -- sins, plural -- the things we choose to do that are not what God wants us to do and what we can do about them

-- but for now, I want to encourage you to take a moment and examine your life -- is there a moment in your life where you can remember making a personal decision to receive the gift of new life from Christ? -- a moment where you asked Him to forgive you and to be your Lord and Savior? -- a moment when you know that you were saved by Him?

-- if not, then I want to encourage you to do that right now -- to choose to receive this gift that Paul tells us about in this passage -- the gift of new life and the cleansing of our bodies and our souls and our spirits

-- let’s pray

The Symbols of Easter

So this time of the year, we see many articles and status updates on Facebook that say that the accepted symbols of Easter are nothing more than pagan elements that the Christian church has adopted into their annual worship, for instance, Easter eggs and the Easter Bunny.  So what’s the truth?

There is, without a doubt, a pagan influence in these Easter symbols.  For centuries, eggs and rabbits were associated with the worship of the pagan goddess Eostre in the spring, for the eggs represented new life and the rabbit represented fertility.  However, the traditions of painting eggs was a Christian tradition from the beginning.

According to Eastern Orthodox tradition, Mary Magdelene visited the Emperor Tiberius and showed him an egg as a way to talk about the resurrection of Jesus.  According to tradition, the egg was white to start with, and the Emperor scoffed that the resurrection was as likely as the white egg turning red.  After his words were uttered, the egg did turn red.  Another version of the story is that the egg was read to begin with, as a sign of the blood of Christ.

This tradition has been translated into Orthodox icons and historical paintings portraying Mary Magdalene holding a red egg or a flask of myrrh.  The flask of myrrh was a sign of Mary’s presence at the tomb to anoint Christ’s body for burial.  Coloring eggs red at Easter became a tradition and a symbol of the blood of Christ, and has evolved into our modern tradition of brightly coloring eggs for Easter.

The tradition of the Easter Bunny in America began with the immigration of the German people into the Pennsylvania area in the 1800s.  Their traditions, derived from the pagan worship of the goddess Eostre, included the Easter Hare, which became our Easter Bunny, an Americanized symbol tied to the Easter holiday.

The egg has continued as a symbol of the resurrection of Christ to this day.  Not only is it a symbol of new life, but many use the egg to symbolize the stone tomb and the rising of Jesus on Easter morning.  Another tradition is the rolling of eggs, which symbolizes the rolling away of the stone from Jesus’ tomb.  Dolly Madison, the wife of Pres. James Madison, introduce the most famous Easter egg roll, which still takes place annually on the White House South lawn.

So enjoy your Easter eggs and your Easter baskets this year with a guilt-free heart as you celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and His victory over sin and death and His promise of eternal life.