The Exceeding Sinfulness of Sin

The Exceeding Sinfulness of Sin


By William Lee Parsons (Now present with the Lord)


If  men  are  going  to  be  saved  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  they must  be  brought  into  a  lively  awareness  of  the  exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin.    It  was  for  this  purpose  that  the  Law  of  Moses was  given.    It  was  given  with  a  divine  objective,  and  that  objective  was  much  nobler and loftier than merely providing men with  a  standard  of  living  for  the  time  that  they  spend  in  this world.    It  would  and  has  become  thee  effectual  means  for  unequivocally  showing  men  that  they  “come  short  of  the  glory  of God” (Rom. 3:23).  It would have the ministry of stopping selfjustifying  mouths,  and  making  men “guilty before God” (Rom. 3:19).      Yea,  it  would  and  has  become  the  means,  even  the “schoolmaster”  (Gal.  3:24-25),  for  readying  men  for  the  Savior from  sin,  which  God  has  provided  in  His  beloved  Son.    And this  was  to  the  end  that  men  might  be  justified  by  their  faith  in Christ,  that  God  might  be  glorified  through  His  Son.

Without  the  Law  Sin Was Dead. “For I was alive  without  the  law  once:  but  when  the  commandment  came,  sin  revived,  and  I  died.  And  the  commandment,  which  was ordained  to  life,  I  found  to  be  unto  death.  For  sin,  taking  occasion  by  the  commandment,  deceived  me,  and  by  it  slew me.  Wherefore  the  law  is  holy,  and  the  commandment  holy, and  just,  and  good.  Was  then  that  which  is  good  made  death unto  me?  God forbid.  But  sin,  that  it  might  appear  sin,  working  death  in  me  by  that  which  is  good;  that  sin  by  the  commandment  might  become  exceeding  sinful”  (Rom.  7:9-13).


The  Law  Was  Our  Schoolmaster. The  Law  brought men  into  experiential  bondage,  like  unto  that  of  the  children of  Israel  in  Egypt,  cultivating  in  men  an  earnest  desire  for  the liberty  that  only  Jesus  can  bring.    The  Law  was  a  “ministration  of  condemnation”  (II  Cor.  3:9),  effectually  readying  men for  the  justification  that  is  only  found  in  believing  on  the  Son of  God.    The  Law  proved  to  be  a  “ministration  of  death”  (II Cor.  3:7),  preparing  men  to  earnestly  savour  “the  Living Bread”  and  “the  Living  Water”  (Jn.  4:10;  7:38)  that  is  found only  in  “Christ,  who  is  our  Life”  (Col.  3:4).


“Is  the  law  then  against  the  promises  of  God?  God  forbid: for  if  there  had  been  a  law  given  which  could  have  given  life, verily  righteousness  should  have  been  by  the  law.  But  the scripture  hath  concluded  all  under  sin,  that  the  promise  by faith  of  Jesus  Christ  might  be  given  to  them  that  believe.  But before  faith  came,  we  were  kept  under  the  law,  shut  up  unto the  faith  which  should  afterwards  be  revealed.  Wherefore  the law  was  our  schoolmaster  to  bring  us  unto  Christ,  that  we might  be  justified  by  faith.  But  after  that  faith  is  come,  we are  no  longer  under  a  schoolmaster.  For  ye  are  all  the  children of  God  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus.  For  as  many  of  you  as  have been  baptized  into  Christ  have  put  on  Christ.  There  is  neither Jew  nor  Greek,  there  is  neither  bond  nor  free,  there  is  neither male  nor  female:  for  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus. And  if  ye be  Christ’s,  then  are  ye Abraham’s  seed,  and  heirs  according to  the  promise”  (Gal.  3:21-29).

Christ, the great Illuminator of, and Remedy for, Moral Darkness

Christ is the great Illuminator of, and divinely appointed Remedy for, the moral darkness caused by the entrance of sin into the world, both making manifest and dispelling the darkness. As He Himself declared, "I am the Light of the world. He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (Jn. 8:12).

The Evil Day in Which We Live

 

The Evil Day in which We Live

By Al Stoner

“The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come” (Isa. 57:1).  “Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment” (Isa. 59:15).

To anyone today with enough courage to speak a word in behalf of the LORD and His Christ, the increasingly common response of those of this wicked generation is that which was summarized by the Prophet Isaiah: “Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us” (Isa. 30:11).  Jesus said, on the eve of His betrayal and crucifixion, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you” (Jn. 15:18).  And John, echoing the words of the Master, wrote, “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (I Jn. 3:13).  Those who are in Christ are not to be seeking the world’s hatred as proof of their association with Him.  Rather, all who are faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ will eventually find themselves becoming the objects of the world’s scorn and hatred, because they belong to Christ. 

The love for righteousness and the hatred of iniquity are at the very center and core of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, because of who Christ is in His essential Person.  He uncompromisingly loves righteousness and hates iniquity, and those whom He is reconciling to God have, in their measure, the same mind that He does with regard to good and evil.  Therefore, marvel not, if the world hate you. (Any purported “christ” that minimizes the issues pertaining to righteousness and unrighteousness, good and evil, is a false christ.)

Evil Men are Waxing Worse and Worse. “The Psalmist lamented, “I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree” (Ps. 37:35).  This is an exceedingly grievous phenomenon that is witnessed in every generation, except where the grace of God has taken hold of men, and turned them from darkness unto light, setting them on the upward pathway to glory. 

Spreading himself like a green bay tree.  Like a tree planted in its native soil.  The wicked, in their brazen disregard for, and hatred of, the LORD, and His Christ, often seek to extend their evil influence over other men while they are here in the shortened time alloted to them.  But let righeous men and women take heart and be of good courage.  The meek shall indeed inherit the earth.  And of the poor in spirit, and to those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, the blessed Savior made this pronouncement: “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  Let the righteous take courage, knowing that “the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment” (Job 20:5).

Men Declaring their Sin as Sodom. The indictment brought by the Lord against Jerusalem, and Judah, in Isaiah’s day is equally applicable to today’s evil generation. “The show of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves” (Isa. 3:9; see Gen. 19:1-29).  The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are indelibly associated with base lewdness that is shamefully loathesome to speak about.  “It is a shame to speak of those things which are done of them in secret” (Eph. 5:12).  To those engaged in such shameful acts, someone must rise up and boldly declare to them, “How can ye escape the damnation of hell?”

Perilous Times are Now Upon Us. The assaults against those “which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 12:17) are multilayered and multifaceted.  Some are deceptive and underhanded, while others are straightforward in their intent.  But all are proceeding from “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world” (Rev. 12:9).

Some Current Day Examples of this Peril.  The present day phenomenon of evil men seeking legal acceptance among fellow men, with all the rights and privilege associated therewith, is a jeopardy to good men, and particularly to those who are living by faith in Christ. Wherever “mischief” or wickedness becomes framed by the laws of the land (see Ps. 94:20), this creates a circumstance of trial and proving for those who “will live godly in Christ Jesus” (II Tim. 3:12). The law, which they once considered to be protecting them, has now, in many instances, become contrary to everything that they have believed and stood for.  Laws written by men in the present day are seeking to redefine what is morally right and wrong, even to the point of legalizing that which is against nature, and contrary to nature: yes, even legalizing that which at one time was universally regarding as criminal, and against the law.

There are also assaults against those professing faith in Christ which are very apparent.  In many parts of the world those professing faith in Jesus are being persecuted, even mercilessly put to death, simply because of their faith in Jesus.  This past week in Kenya at least 147 people, mostly university students, were executed because of their faith in Christ. Their murderers asked them, “Are you a Christian?” If they answered “yes”, they were put to death.  If they said they were Muslim, they were let go.

The Church, the Pillar and the Ground of the Truth.  The church (that the Scripture speaks of) is “the pillar and ground of the truth” (I Tim. 3:15). We are speaking here of the truth of God, truth that is the faithful representation of all things, and the truth, which gives expression to God’s eternal purpose in Christ.  The truth faithfully represents the things which God loves, and the things that He hates.  The world is certainly not that pillar, but rather is bereft of the truth, except where God has left an indelible witness.  If the world is going to hear the truth, it must hear it from the church.

Wherever “the truth of Christ” (II Cor. 11:10) is proclaimed in the power of the Holy Spirit, methinks, that shockwaves reverberate throughout the kingdom of darkness, putting them in mind once again that they have but a short time.  When the Savior was yet here in the world “in the days of His flesh”, it will be recalled that the demons “cried out, saying, What have we to do with Thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art Thou come hither to torment us before the time?” (Mt. 8:28-29).

Apart from faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who Himself is the embodiment of the truth (cf. Jn. 14:6), men have no moral compass with which to navigate safely through this present evil world.  The real issues of life have not to do with wealth or poverty, sickness or health, education or lack of education, but rather they have to do with “good and evil” (Heb. 5:14), and particularly, the issue of acceptance with God through the means which He Himself has provided in His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  The real issues were well expressed by John Wesley, when he said, “This one thing would I know: how to get to heaven, and how to make it safely to that happy shore.”  “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still” (Rev. 22:11).

Leaven

I closed my eyes in prayer this morning as I sat in my garden and prayed for the people in my building. I could hear a chorus of little birds singing and thought of St. Francis who preached the gospel to all creatures. He looked at a little bird and said, “It has nothing, yet hear how it sings to God. Just a few berries and it praises God with its song.”

Then I thought of how sad it would be if the birds stopped singing. So it is on the Island of Guam. Some brown snakes who are not native to Guam were imported – no one knows how for sure – and they had no predators on Guam. Soon they multiplied by the millions and devoured every singing bird on the island. Their sweet singing is heard no more.

The snakes are everywhere on Guam and there is nothing that can control them. They are around the children’s feet as they play in their yards. They are in the kitchens where women are cooking, in the living rooms under the chairs and in the sofas. They are on the floors where babies crawl. They are everywhere in the houses, cities, and countryside. They hang from trees, and fences surrounding the airport where people try valiantly to keep them from spreading to other countries—like ours--by hitchhiking on an airplane. I hope they do not come to our borders.

So it is with sin. Like one small pair of breeding snakes, sin enters the life of someone who lets it in. Soon it fills the life and destroys every good and beautiful song of praise.
Leaven represents sin. The Bible give examples of boasting and hypocrisy as examples of “leaven.” “Your boasting is not good.” (Matt. 6:11a) “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” (Luke 12:1)

Leaven also represents false teaching. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (Matthew 6:11b-12)
If you let sin and false teaching into your life, it multiplies like yeast until it fills you body, mind and soul. Your whole being becomes ungodly.

What will happen to ungodly sinners? The Bible is clear: “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.
Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 iBut these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction . . .” (2 Peter 2:9-12)

What can a person in this horrible state do? Only one thing: turn to Jesus.
Do you think your sins are so small that God will not destroy you? Do not be deceived. “Do you not know a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (I Cor. 5:5-8)

Come. Come as you are. Come now. Christ died for the ungodly. That means he died for me and for you. Receive Him by faith and follow on to know Him more day by day.

Say to God, “Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love! Grant me grace to seek Your face every day. Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation! Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path.”