WEBVTT 00:00:01.290 --> 00:00:04.169 I was thinking as the Edstroms were singing how 00:00:04.169 --> 00:00:06.669 well that tied together with our memory verse 00:00:06.669 --> 00:00:10.910 this morning in Romans chapter 5 verses 3 and 00:00:10.910 --> 00:00:15.589 4. Where it says not only so, we also rejoice 00:00:15.589 --> 00:00:20.329 in our what? Our sufferings. Because we know 00:00:20.329 --> 00:00:25.269 that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance 00:00:25.269 --> 00:00:30.940 character, and character hope. And so there's 00:00:30.940 --> 00:00:34.179 reason to rejoice in our sufferings. Let's say 00:00:34.179 --> 00:00:38.840 that together, Romans 5 verses 3 and 4. Not only 00:00:38.840 --> 00:00:43.579 so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings because 00:00:43.579 --> 00:00:48.840 we know suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance 00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:53.539 character and character hope. Romans 5 verses 00:00:53.539 --> 00:00:56.880 3 and 4. Well, we're going to continue looking 00:00:56.880 --> 00:00:59.780 at Romans today, of course, and today is chapter 00:00:59.780 --> 00:01:04.659 3 again. As I was studying to prepare for the 00:01:04.659 --> 00:01:08.180 next paragraph in Romans 3, it seemed as though 00:01:08.180 --> 00:01:11.859 the Lord said to me, not yet. Go back and talk 00:01:11.859 --> 00:01:15.280 about this first part some more. And so today 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:17.620 I believe God would have us look again at chapter 00:01:17.620 --> 00:01:26.579 3 verse 9. We're particularly interested in the 00:01:26.579 --> 00:01:30.599 last three words of this verse. It more or less 00:01:30.599 --> 00:01:34.159 serves to summarize the first section of the 00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:37.719 book, chapters one through three, and what one 00:01:37.719 --> 00:01:40.680 word would summarize chapters one through three 00:01:40.680 --> 00:01:44.840 of Romans? What three -letter word? What is it? 00:01:45.480 --> 00:01:48.659 Sin, right. It starts with S and ends with N. 00:01:48.780 --> 00:01:52.079 Can you fill in the middle letter? I, right. 00:01:52.680 --> 00:01:56.599 Very good. Actually, that middle letter is the 00:01:56.599 --> 00:02:00.060 essence of sin, isn't it? It's I. It's self. 00:02:01.099 --> 00:02:03.340 Self in the place of God, self in the place of 00:02:03.340 --> 00:02:06.159 others. That's what chapters 1 through 3 talk 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:09.560 about, and it says that all are under sin. Let's 00:02:09.560 --> 00:02:12.319 look at verse 9. It says, What then are we better 00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:16.500 than they? Not at all, for we have already charged 00:02:16.500 --> 00:02:22.360 that both Jews and Greeks or Gentiles are all 00:02:22.360 --> 00:02:29.409 under sin. There seems to be a flippant, lighthearted 00:02:29.409 --> 00:02:34.710 carelessness in the world about sin. This is 00:02:34.710 --> 00:02:38.270 even carried over to some Christians. I think 00:02:38.270 --> 00:02:40.330 the reason for that is that we as Christians 00:02:40.330 --> 00:02:44.050 too often get used to the darkness around us 00:02:44.050 --> 00:02:48.150 so that it doesn't affect us or offend us like 00:02:48.150 --> 00:02:54.099 it should. We are conditioned in our day to accept 00:02:54.099 --> 00:02:57.960 certain things and to call them something less 00:02:57.960 --> 00:03:03.280 than sin so that we have essentially the same 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:05.840 kind of an attitude about some of these matters 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:10.680 as the world has. I think that this flippant 00:03:10.680 --> 00:03:18.039 attitude about sin is the result of what mankind's 00:03:18.039 --> 00:03:23.479 view of itself is. Mankind feels that it is essentially 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:28.259 good, although it may do some bad. Men are willing 00:03:28.259 --> 00:03:30.400 to admit that occasionally they do something 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:34.099 that's wrong, but by and large men see themselves 00:03:34.099 --> 00:03:38.520 as being good, doing pretty good, especially 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:40.979 when compared to others, whatever that may mean. 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:46.539 There's a feeling among many that God arbitrarily 00:03:46.539 --> 00:03:52.659 calls fun things sin. in order to make man's 00:03:52.659 --> 00:03:55.800 life miserable. They feel it's unfair for God 00:03:55.800 --> 00:04:03.599 to name as sin what gives pleasure to life, or 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:08.800 what comes naturally to man's desires. They feel 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:11.240 it's unfair for God to call that sin, that God 00:04:11.240 --> 00:04:14.639 is unfairly sending them on a guilt trip when 00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:19.709 all they're doing is being human. What man calls 00:04:19.709 --> 00:04:23.569 an accident, however God calls an abomination. 00:04:24.850 --> 00:04:30.170 What man calls a defect, God calls disease. What 00:04:30.170 --> 00:04:36.170 man calls chance, God calls choice. What man 00:04:36.170 --> 00:04:42.470 calls only error, God calls enmity. What man 00:04:42.470 --> 00:04:47.779 calls infirmity, God calls iniquity. What man 00:04:47.779 --> 00:04:52.899 calls liberty, God calls lawlessness. What man 00:04:52.899 --> 00:04:58.040 calls a mistake, God calls madness. What man 00:04:58.040 --> 00:05:04.540 calls weakness, God calls willfulness. Sin is 00:05:04.540 --> 00:05:07.800 not viewed very seriously by most men unless 00:05:07.800 --> 00:05:12.220 it harms somebody else. They say, well, what's 00:05:12.220 --> 00:05:16.019 wrong with it if nobody is harmed anyway? You 00:05:16.019 --> 00:05:18.379 see, the mistake with that kind of an idea is 00:05:18.379 --> 00:05:23.139 that people see sin, they view sin, as only affecting 00:05:23.139 --> 00:05:28.240 themselves or others. They do not perceive its 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:33.860 Godward effect. And that's what I want to talk 00:05:33.860 --> 00:05:37.839 about this morning in part. That is that all 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:43.959 sin is Godward, ultimately. Turn with me to Psalm 00:05:43.959 --> 00:05:47.709 51. where we see a verse that says precisely 00:05:47.709 --> 00:05:54.009 this. Psalm 51 was written by whom? By David. 00:05:54.389 --> 00:06:00.370 That's correct. And Psalm 51 is a confession 00:06:00.370 --> 00:06:05.689 on the part of David of his sin with Bathsheba, 00:06:06.370 --> 00:06:13.069 the sin of adultery. By the time he confesses 00:06:13.069 --> 00:06:17.930 this sin, He has lied to cover up the adultery. 00:06:18.790 --> 00:06:22.230 He has committed murder of Bathsheba's husband. 00:06:22.810 --> 00:06:28.850 It's gotten very, very serious. As he asks God 00:06:28.850 --> 00:06:34.110 to be gracious to him, he says, verse 2, wash 00:06:34.110 --> 00:06:37.569 me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me 00:06:37.569 --> 00:06:41.589 from my sin, for I know my transgressions and 00:06:41.589 --> 00:06:45.620 my sin is ever before me. You see, he sensed 00:06:45.620 --> 00:06:50.279 the guilt of his sin. And then notice verse four, 00:06:50.459 --> 00:06:56.519 against thee, thee only, I have sinned, and done 00:06:56.519 --> 00:07:00.259 what is evil in thy sight, so that thou art justified 00:07:00.259 --> 00:07:02.220 when thou dost speak, and blameless when thou 00:07:02.220 --> 00:07:05.959 dost judge. That part of the verse is brought 00:07:05.959 --> 00:07:08.019 into Romans chapter three, you'll recall we saw 00:07:08.019 --> 00:07:11.779 it last week. But notice he says, against thee, 00:07:11.779 --> 00:07:16.240 and thee only, I have sinned. Does that not mean 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:20.319 that he did not sin against Bathsheba? Did he 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:23.240 not sin against Uriah, her husband, when he murdered 00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:27.579 him? Of course the answer is yes, he did. But 00:07:27.579 --> 00:07:30.740 David recognized that ultimately all sin is against 00:07:30.740 --> 00:07:34.720 God. If it's taking advantage of another person 00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:39.819 as he did Bathsheba, it is against God. If it 00:07:39.819 --> 00:07:43.610 is murder, It is the striking down of a man whose 00:07:43.610 --> 00:07:46.129 life was given him by God, and so it is against 00:07:46.129 --> 00:07:50.870 God. Ultimately, all sin is directed against 00:07:50.870 --> 00:07:56.050 God. That's why sin should be viewed very, very 00:07:56.050 --> 00:08:01.350 seriously. For even though it may not harm another 00:08:01.350 --> 00:08:07.529 person, and it may not harm me, if it is sin, 00:08:08.569 --> 00:08:13.379 it is sin against God. And so rather than viewing 00:08:13.379 --> 00:08:17.319 sin from man's perspective, what we really need 00:08:17.319 --> 00:08:20.519 to do is to view sin from God's perspective, 00:08:21.720 --> 00:08:25.899 to see sin as he sees it. Now the text that we're 00:08:25.899 --> 00:08:29.939 looking at today in Romans 3 .9 and those last 00:08:29.939 --> 00:08:35.000 three words talks about that. It leads us to 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:38.299 three important insights about sin from God's 00:08:38.299 --> 00:08:44.970 perspective. First, what sin is. Secondly, what 00:08:44.970 --> 00:08:48.789 sin does from God's perspective. And thirdly, 00:08:48.990 --> 00:08:53.629 what sin, or whom sin rather, involves. Three 00:08:53.629 --> 00:08:56.350 important insights into what sin is all about 00:08:56.350 --> 00:08:59.929 from God's perspective. First, let's think about 00:08:59.929 --> 00:09:03.429 this idea of what sin is. We see that simple 00:09:03.429 --> 00:09:10.320 word S -I -N in our text. What is sin, anyway? 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:13.960 A child would perhaps simply answer, well, it's 00:09:13.960 --> 00:09:17.879 the bad things that I do. That is not an incorrect 00:09:17.879 --> 00:09:20.100 answer, but it's not a very full answer either. 00:09:21.019 --> 00:09:24.820 What is sin? Well, there are three things we 00:09:24.820 --> 00:09:27.720 might say about the nature of sin. First of all, 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:31.659 that it is a condition or it is a state of the 00:09:31.659 --> 00:09:36.620 heart. It is a condition of the heart of man. 00:09:36.990 --> 00:09:40.509 That is sin. I think we see this suggested, for 00:09:40.509 --> 00:09:44.409 example, in John chapter 1, verse 29. In these 00:09:44.409 --> 00:09:47.529 words of John the Baptist, we invite you to turn 00:09:47.529 --> 00:09:52.690 to John 1, 29, when he sees Jesus coming to him 00:09:52.690 --> 00:09:59.190 at his baptism. And he says, Behold the Lamb 00:09:59.190 --> 00:10:05.929 of God who takes away the what? The sin of the 00:10:05.929 --> 00:10:10.679 world. You see, as a prophet of God, John saw 00:10:10.679 --> 00:10:16.279 the world as God sees it, in the condition or 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:20.039 the state of sin. The Lamb of God who takes away 00:10:20.039 --> 00:10:24.120 the sin of the world. We see this again in 1 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:33.950 Corinthians 15 and verse 17. Where the apostle 00:10:33.950 --> 00:10:36.210 says we'll back up to verse 16 to get the whole 00:10:36.210 --> 00:10:39.529 sentence for if the dead are not raised Not even 00:10:39.529 --> 00:10:41.970 Christ has been raised and if Christ has not 00:10:41.970 --> 00:10:46.049 been raised your faith is worthless You are still 00:10:46.049 --> 00:10:51.850 in your what? your sins You're still in your 00:10:51.850 --> 00:10:54.389 sins. In other words, you're still Identified 00:10:54.389 --> 00:10:56.809 with your sins. You're still in that condition 00:10:56.809 --> 00:11:00.409 You're still in that state of heart characterized 00:11:00.409 --> 00:11:04.000 by sins And so first of all, as we think about 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:06.740 sin and its nature, we need to see it as a condition 00:11:06.740 --> 00:11:10.179 of the heart, and it is ours by birth, isn't 00:11:10.179 --> 00:11:14.220 it? There in Psalm 51, a verse down from what 00:11:14.220 --> 00:11:18.500 we read, David said, in sin did my mother what? 00:11:19.500 --> 00:11:24.100 Conceive me. Does it mean that he was of illegitimate 00:11:24.100 --> 00:11:27.820 birth, as some people say? What it really means 00:11:27.820 --> 00:11:31.129 is, that when he was conceived within the womb 00:11:31.129 --> 00:11:35.830 of his mother, that very conception brought him 00:11:35.830 --> 00:11:40.870 a sinful nature, so that he was born as a sinner. 00:11:41.870 --> 00:11:45.529 It was a condition he was born into. And we see 00:11:45.529 --> 00:11:47.309 this throughout the Word of God. I'll just give 00:11:47.309 --> 00:11:51.490 you some other references. Isaiah 48 verse 8, 00:11:51.809 --> 00:11:56.370 Psalm 58 verse 3, and then Ephesians 2 verse 00:11:56.370 --> 00:12:01.090 3 where it says, that we are all by nature the 00:12:01.090 --> 00:12:05.389 children of wrath. In other words, sin is a nature, 00:12:05.549 --> 00:12:08.090 it is a condition, it is a state of the heart. 00:12:09.389 --> 00:12:11.850 It's something more than that, too. For this, 00:12:12.070 --> 00:12:20.690 turn to Romans, chapter 6. In verse 5 it says, 00:12:20.769 --> 00:12:24.370 For if we have become united with him in the 00:12:24.370 --> 00:12:27.340 likeness of his death, Certainly, we shall be 00:12:27.340 --> 00:12:30.419 also in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing 00:12:30.419 --> 00:12:38.440 this, that our old self or our old man was crucified 00:12:38.440 --> 00:12:43.340 with him, that our body of sin might be done 00:12:43.340 --> 00:12:47.080 away with, that we should no longer be slaves 00:12:47.080 --> 00:12:57.850 to sin. reign in your mortal body that you should 00:12:57.850 --> 00:13:03.909 obey its lusts. Verse 14, for sin shall not be 00:13:03.909 --> 00:13:06.730 master over you, for you are not under law, but 00:13:06.730 --> 00:13:10.590 under grace. And then in verse 17, but thanks 00:13:10.590 --> 00:13:13.850 be to God that though you were slaves of sin, 00:13:14.450 --> 00:13:18.070 you became obedient from the heart. And so on. 00:13:18.429 --> 00:13:21.350 And here we see a second aspect of the nature 00:13:21.350 --> 00:13:25.120 of sin, that is that it is a principle or a power 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:30.240 within us. It is a principle or it is a power 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:35.740 within us that is intent on disobeying God. We'll 00:13:35.740 --> 00:13:37.779 be talking more about that as we get over into 00:13:37.779 --> 00:13:41.279 chapter 6 of Romans and I trust that God will 00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:44.860 open this chapter to us in a fresh way. One of 00:13:44.860 --> 00:13:47.100 the reasons that I have never before in my ministry 00:13:47.100 --> 00:13:49.019 preached through Romans is that I wasn't real 00:13:49.019 --> 00:13:52.539 sure what to do with Romans chapters 6 and 7. 00:13:55.110 --> 00:13:57.710 And after a number of years of thinking about 00:13:57.710 --> 00:13:59.850 that from time to time, God has helped me to 00:13:59.850 --> 00:14:01.789 understand better what those chapters are all 00:14:01.789 --> 00:14:04.570 about. I'm anticipating getting to them. But 00:14:04.570 --> 00:14:06.710 for now, would you simply notice that the second 00:14:06.710 --> 00:14:09.250 aspect of the nature of sin is that it is a power 00:14:09.250 --> 00:14:12.429 within us. He sees it here really personified. 00:14:12.529 --> 00:14:16.570 He sees it as a person almost, a master. It is 00:14:16.570 --> 00:14:20.629 a principle that lives within us. And then there 00:14:20.629 --> 00:14:24.120 is, thirdly, As we talk about the nature of sin, 00:14:24.820 --> 00:14:27.500 that most common aspect of it, and that is the 00:14:27.500 --> 00:14:30.679 deeds that we do. It's the acts that come out 00:14:30.679 --> 00:14:35.360 of us because we are by nature sinners. We see 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:39.519 this, for example, in Acts chapter 7 verse 60. 00:14:42.879 --> 00:14:46.480 He says, Mrs. Stevens speaking here as he is 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:50.679 martyred for the faith, Lord do not hold this 00:14:50.679 --> 00:14:54.470 sin against them. And having said this, he fell 00:14:54.470 --> 00:14:58.309 asleep. And so here's an example of where sin 00:14:58.309 --> 00:15:02.429 is said to be an act or a deed. Now why did they 00:15:02.429 --> 00:15:04.309 do the deed? Because they were sinners. They 00:15:04.309 --> 00:15:07.149 were rebelling against God, rejecting Christ 00:15:07.149 --> 00:15:10.629 and his apostles. The thing I want you to notice 00:15:10.629 --> 00:15:13.750 is that thirdly, by its nature, sin is an act. 00:15:13.889 --> 00:15:16.789 And so, to summarize, it is a condition or a 00:15:16.789 --> 00:15:19.840 state of the heart. Secondly, it is a principle 00:15:19.840 --> 00:15:24.019 or it is a power within us. Thirdly, it is acts 00:15:24.019 --> 00:15:28.279 or deeds. Now let's think about some of the words 00:15:28.279 --> 00:15:32.200 for sin in the New Testament. In Romans chapter 00:15:32.200 --> 00:15:36.659 3 verse 9 where it says all under sin, that particular 00:15:36.659 --> 00:15:39.500 word is the most common word found in the New 00:15:39.500 --> 00:15:43.679 Testament for sin. It is a word that is related 00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:49.149 to archery. Have any of you ever play it around 00:15:49.149 --> 00:15:52.049 with a bow and arrow at a camp or elsewhere? 00:15:52.809 --> 00:15:55.149 Yeah, many of you have. I have as well. I've 00:15:55.149 --> 00:15:56.649 done nothing more than play around with it, and 00:15:56.649 --> 00:16:00.409 that was probably dangerous. But I have learned 00:16:00.409 --> 00:16:04.309 how difficult it is to take that arrow, to put 00:16:04.309 --> 00:16:07.710 it in the bow, and to hit the target. And it's 00:16:07.710 --> 00:16:11.629 especially difficult if the arrow is in some 00:16:11.629 --> 00:16:16.210 way warped. What happens when the arrow is warped? 00:16:17.710 --> 00:16:20.429 Right. It will go in one direction or another 00:16:20.429 --> 00:16:22.129 depending upon the way that it's shot and where 00:16:22.129 --> 00:16:24.730 the warp is in the arrow. It will not go straight. 00:16:25.769 --> 00:16:28.129 The word that is used here for sin literally 00:16:28.129 --> 00:16:32.629 means missing the target or missing the mark. 00:16:33.710 --> 00:16:38.070 And the idea is that God has set before us a 00:16:38.070 --> 00:16:43.009 moral target that is a target of righteousness 00:16:43.009 --> 00:16:47.070 and that we have all missed the mark. We've missed 00:16:47.070 --> 00:16:50.710 the target and why? Because as an arrow is warped, 00:16:50.850 --> 00:16:55.470 so we are warped by sin. We are twisted so that 00:16:55.470 --> 00:16:59.529 we cannot hit the target. One of the most common 00:16:59.529 --> 00:17:03.610 mistakes in archery is for the archer to draw 00:17:03.610 --> 00:17:06.630 back and for the arrow to fall short because 00:17:06.630 --> 00:17:08.789 of not putting enough power into it or the poor 00:17:08.789 --> 00:17:16.619 aim. It means to miss the target. You and I are 00:17:16.619 --> 00:17:19.839 like arrows that cannot hit the target of God's 00:17:19.839 --> 00:17:23.720 standard for righteousness. Someone has compared 00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:29.460 this to athletes who go to a beach and their 00:17:29.460 --> 00:17:33.220 purpose there is that they might be able to jump 00:17:33.220 --> 00:17:37.559 the ocean. Can you imagine that? They go down 00:17:37.559 --> 00:17:40.000 to the beach, they get themselves warmed up, 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:42.619 they run back and forth a little bit until they're 00:17:42.619 --> 00:17:45.650 nice and limber. and then they back up as far 00:17:45.650 --> 00:17:48.170 as they can, they run toward the water, they 00:17:48.170 --> 00:17:52.250 take a flying leap, and they come short of the 00:17:52.250 --> 00:17:55.009 other shore by only a few hundred or thousand 00:17:55.009 --> 00:17:57.789 miles depending upon where they're jumping. Now 00:17:57.789 --> 00:17:59.869 one person may jump further than another into 00:17:59.869 --> 00:18:02.730 the water, but no difference, they have all come 00:18:02.730 --> 00:18:06.309 short of the goal. We see that illustrates what 00:18:06.309 --> 00:18:09.750 God is saying here in this word sin. It means 00:18:09.750 --> 00:18:13.059 we've all come short. We've all missed the target 00:18:13.059 --> 00:18:17.559 that He set for us. And there are two very similar 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:20.400 words that are used in the original language, 00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:25.059 which mean to go over, or to go aside, or beyond 00:18:25.059 --> 00:18:28.680 something. This is the word that is often translated 00:18:28.680 --> 00:18:32.200 transgression, and we see it here in Romans. 00:18:32.220 --> 00:18:35.059 In fact, we have already seen it in chapter 2, 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:39.829 verse 23. This particular word is used. where 00:18:39.829 --> 00:18:43.769 it says, you who boast in the law, through your 00:18:43.769 --> 00:18:48.549 breaking the law, do you dishonor God? That verb 00:18:48.549 --> 00:18:51.210 breaking there is this word transgression. It 00:18:51.210 --> 00:18:56.049 means to overstep a boundary. You see, this was 00:18:56.049 --> 00:19:00.170 Adam's sin, if we were to define it carefully. 00:19:01.849 --> 00:19:04.710 God gave to Adam tremendous authority over the 00:19:04.710 --> 00:19:08.259 earth. And yet there was one way in which God 00:19:08.259 --> 00:19:15.000 drew the line. God set a limitation, and that 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:19.359 limitation was to express Adam's dependence upon 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:24.619 the Lord God. Adam sinned because he crossed 00:19:24.619 --> 00:19:28.140 that line, didn't he? He transgressed the limitation 00:19:28.140 --> 00:19:30.960 that God had set for him, and he ate of that 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:35.269 fruit and sinned. That is the idea here. It means 00:19:35.269 --> 00:19:39.410 to cross over the line that is set. This last 00:19:39.410 --> 00:19:41.289 week in another city here in Minnesota, there 00:19:41.289 --> 00:19:44.329 was a child who was left playing in the backyard 00:19:44.329 --> 00:19:50.349 by the parent. And the parent told the child, 00:19:50.670 --> 00:19:55.130 don't go out of the yard. That's the limit. But 00:19:55.130 --> 00:19:57.589 as children are sometimes want to do, the child 00:19:57.589 --> 00:20:01.099 wanted to explore beyond the yard. and that little 00:20:01.099 --> 00:20:03.880 five -year -old was out in the cold all night 00:20:03.880 --> 00:20:07.859 long while searchers sought desperately for him. 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:11.039 He was found the next morning unharmed. But you 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:13.059 see, he illustrates what God is saying here about 00:20:13.059 --> 00:20:17.460 us, that he sets the limitation here and we cross 00:20:17.460 --> 00:20:21.660 over that boundary. We rebel against the limits 00:20:21.660 --> 00:20:26.900 that God gives. We transgress. Then there's another 00:20:26.900 --> 00:20:30.809 interesting word which God uses to describe sin, 00:20:30.970 --> 00:20:35.109 and that is the word crooked. This is found in 00:20:35.109 --> 00:20:39.309 Philippians chapter 2 verse 15, where he calls 00:20:39.309 --> 00:20:42.289 the generation that we live in a crooked and 00:20:42.289 --> 00:20:46.789 perverse generation. He says, do all things without 00:20:46.789 --> 00:20:49.650 grumbling or disputing that you may prove yourselves 00:20:49.650 --> 00:20:52.650 to be blameless and innocent, children of God 00:20:52.650 --> 00:20:57.109 above reproach in the midst of a crooked and 00:20:57.109 --> 00:21:01.299 perverse generation. generation. What does it 00:21:01.299 --> 00:21:06.220 mean to be crooked? Well, the Greek word is scolios. 00:21:07.559 --> 00:21:11.880 Now if you've had any connection with anyone 00:21:11.880 --> 00:21:15.059 who has suffered from scoliosis, you immediately 00:21:15.059 --> 00:21:17.539 see the connection between that Greek word and 00:21:17.539 --> 00:21:20.140 our English word describing the disease called 00:21:20.140 --> 00:21:24.220 the curvature of the spine. In the curvature 00:21:24.220 --> 00:21:29.859 of the spine, For certain reasons the spine begins 00:21:29.859 --> 00:21:35.799 to turn inward until finally it can cause premature 00:21:35.799 --> 00:21:40.799 death. I recall seeing a woman in Chicago when 00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:46.279 I was in school there. She was a pitiful thing. 00:21:47.160 --> 00:21:50.000 I would judge that she must have been in her 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.509 70s. as she suffered from this disease, was completely 00:21:54.509 --> 00:21:59.150 bent over so that she could not stand up. She 00:21:59.150 --> 00:22:05.630 dressed in black. Her hair was long and unkept. 00:22:06.690 --> 00:22:09.109 It dragged upon the street as she walked around 00:22:09.109 --> 00:22:14.509 begging for money. Whenever I see this word crooked, 00:22:14.950 --> 00:22:17.289 she immediately comes to my mind because more 00:22:17.289 --> 00:22:20.690 than any other person I've ever seen, She fulfills 00:22:20.690 --> 00:22:24.630 what this word talks about. It means to be crooked, 00:22:25.369 --> 00:22:29.470 to be bent, to be curved out of shape. It's the 00:22:29.470 --> 00:22:33.230 opposite of the word orthos, which means straight, 00:22:33.730 --> 00:22:37.970 and is the basis for our word orthopedics. An 00:22:37.970 --> 00:22:40.690 orthopedic doctor is one who takes a bone to 00:22:40.690 --> 00:22:43.470 straighten it, to get it into the right position. 00:22:44.589 --> 00:22:46.769 The word here is just the opposite of that. It's 00:22:46.769 --> 00:22:49.809 that which is curved and crooked. And that's 00:22:49.809 --> 00:22:56.069 how God sees the sinner. Now in Romans, chapter 00:22:56.069 --> 00:22:58.690 1 again, we see another word that God uses to 00:22:58.690 --> 00:23:05.970 describe sin. In verse 18, for the wrath of God 00:23:05.970 --> 00:23:11.509 is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness 00:23:11.509 --> 00:23:16.509 and unrighteousness of men. And the word that 00:23:16.509 --> 00:23:19.789 I'm interested in is that second one, unrighteousness. 00:23:19.970 --> 00:23:23.650 We'll talk about ungodliness in a moment. Here 00:23:23.650 --> 00:23:28.470 is a word that is just the opposite of upright 00:23:28.470 --> 00:23:32.329 and righteous. Basically, an upright person is 00:23:32.329 --> 00:23:35.309 one who is able to stand. That's the meaning 00:23:35.309 --> 00:23:39.329 of it. An upright person is able to stand in 00:23:39.329 --> 00:23:43.910 a spiritual sense before God. But an unrighteous 00:23:43.910 --> 00:23:49.180 person literally is one who cannot stand before 00:23:49.180 --> 00:23:53.380 God. This word is used time and again in the 00:23:53.380 --> 00:23:56.799 New Testament to describe the sinner. Let's turn 00:23:56.799 --> 00:23:59.839 to the last time that is used in Revelation chapter 00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:04.359 22 and verse 11 and notice what God's warning 00:24:04.359 --> 00:24:08.920 is in this chapter. But the one who does wrong 00:24:08.920 --> 00:24:12.450 still do wrong. And let the one who is filthy 00:24:12.450 --> 00:24:15.190 still be filthy. Let the one who is righteous 00:24:15.190 --> 00:24:18.450 still practice righteousness. Let the one who 00:24:18.450 --> 00:24:22.589 is holy still keep himself holy. Let the one 00:24:22.589 --> 00:24:25.089 who does wrong still do wrong. He's talking about 00:24:25.089 --> 00:24:27.329 the end of time, no more hope for salvation, 00:24:27.869 --> 00:24:35.130 no more hope, possibility of forgiveness. To 00:24:35.130 --> 00:24:37.769 be unrighteous and to die in that state means 00:24:37.769 --> 00:24:41.650 to never to be able to stand before God, except 00:24:41.650 --> 00:24:44.470 in the judgment. What a terrible thought that 00:24:44.470 --> 00:24:49.089 is. And then to enter into eternity, into the 00:24:49.089 --> 00:24:55.190 eternal fires of hell, being unrighteous, unable 00:24:55.190 --> 00:25:00.589 to stand, is a dreadful thought. And then this 00:25:00.589 --> 00:25:06.710 word in Romans 1, 18, godly is a word that means 00:25:06.710 --> 00:25:12.990 those who have no respect or piety for God. It 00:25:12.990 --> 00:25:16.630 is the opposite of godliness, one who has respect 00:25:16.630 --> 00:25:20.190 for God. It's the attitude of disrespect for 00:25:20.190 --> 00:25:23.789 the person of God. It's a refusal to acknowledge 00:25:23.789 --> 00:25:29.730 Him, to worship Him. It describes the sinner 00:25:29.730 --> 00:25:35.440 who has no place for God in his life. ungodly. 00:25:36.440 --> 00:25:39.019 And then there is a word used in Acts chapter 00:25:39.019 --> 00:25:42.960 2 verse 23 that I would invite you to look at 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:47.579 that further describes sin. And here it says, 00:25:50.279 --> 00:25:55.079 This man, delivered up by the predetermined plan 00:25:55.079 --> 00:25:59.680 and foreknowledge of God, you nail to a cross 00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:07.309 by the hands of godless The word that the NAV 00:26:07.309 --> 00:26:12.430 translates godless here is actually men who are 00:26:12.430 --> 00:26:18.589 without law. That's the thought. Men who do what 00:26:18.589 --> 00:26:23.069 is forbidden, but who do it with a flagrant, 00:26:23.069 --> 00:26:28.109 defiant attitude. This is the word that is used 00:26:28.109 --> 00:26:32.359 in 1 John 3, 4. where actually a definition of 00:26:32.359 --> 00:26:36.099 sin is given by God Himself, where He says sin 00:26:36.099 --> 00:26:40.980 is the transgression of the law. But this is 00:26:40.980 --> 00:26:46.819 the word used. Sin is to be lawless, to refuse 00:26:46.819 --> 00:26:50.359 God's standard. This is the same word that describes 00:26:50.359 --> 00:26:54.900 Antichrist in 2 Thessalonians 2, the lawless 00:26:54.900 --> 00:27:02.119 one, the one who is without law. any observance 00:27:02.119 --> 00:27:06.920 of the standards which God expects, the commands 00:27:06.920 --> 00:27:11.319 which God gives. That's what the sinner is. And 00:27:11.319 --> 00:27:13.420 then there's one final word I invite your attention 00:27:13.420 --> 00:27:17.119 to and that is in Romans chapter 5 verse 20. 00:27:20.420 --> 00:27:28.579 Romans 5 20. And the law came in that the transgression 00:27:29.000 --> 00:27:35.640 or the offense might increase. What that particular 00:27:35.640 --> 00:27:38.039 word is, is different than the other word transgression 00:27:38.039 --> 00:27:41.539 that we saw, but technically here what this means 00:27:41.539 --> 00:27:48.539 is a deliberate act of unfaithfulness. And it 00:27:48.539 --> 00:27:51.720 refers primarily back to Adam's sin, when he 00:27:51.720 --> 00:27:55.299 deliberately and willfully sinned against God. 00:27:56.220 --> 00:28:00.400 The law came in that that transgression, that 00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:05.380 spirit of deliberate unfaithfulness to God might 00:28:05.380 --> 00:28:08.059 increase. That is, that it might be seen more 00:28:08.059 --> 00:28:12.519 clearly. It is not used often in the New Testament. 00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:15.539 Only in a couple of places is this particular 00:28:15.539 --> 00:28:19.940 word used. But when the Greeks translated the 00:28:19.940 --> 00:28:23.200 Hebrew Old Testament into their language in the 00:28:23.200 --> 00:28:25.920 book that is called the Septuagint, This is a 00:28:25.920 --> 00:28:28.380 word that they use fairly frequently in the Old 00:28:28.380 --> 00:28:32.259 Testament as they describe sin. It's especially 00:28:32.259 --> 00:28:35.539 common in the book of Ezekiel. In the Septuagint 00:28:35.539 --> 00:28:40.779 they use this word for a deliberate act of unfaithfulness. 00:28:41.079 --> 00:28:46.200 It is a willful carelessness against God. So 00:28:46.200 --> 00:28:48.700 those are some of the words in the Bible which 00:28:48.700 --> 00:28:51.900 describe sin. What does it mean then if we were 00:28:51.900 --> 00:28:54.599 to summarize all of this? Well, it means that 00:28:54.599 --> 00:28:58.880 sin is any lack of conformity to God's will. 00:28:59.579 --> 00:29:03.119 It is a refusal to acknowledge Him and to worship 00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:07.480 Him. It is a transgression of the limit that 00:29:07.480 --> 00:29:12.559 He sets. It means to miss the mark that He has 00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:15.880 established of righteousness. That's what sin 00:29:15.880 --> 00:29:21.160 is. W .S. Griffith Thomas in his devotional commentary 00:29:21.160 --> 00:29:27.819 talks about some of these. Interestingly, he 00:29:27.819 --> 00:29:30.660 goes into some of the root origins of the words 00:29:30.660 --> 00:29:34.180 that the Bible uses for sin, as we have done 00:29:34.180 --> 00:29:37.339 in part this morning. He goes on to say that 00:29:37.339 --> 00:29:41.779 it means falling instead of standing. Sin means 00:29:41.779 --> 00:29:46.079 being ignorant instead of knowing. It is diminishing 00:29:46.079 --> 00:29:49.880 what should be rendered in full. It is to disobey 00:29:49.880 --> 00:29:54.200 a voice. So all of those things describe what 00:29:54.200 --> 00:29:58.859 sin is. Now let's think about what sin does. 00:30:01.660 --> 00:30:03.740 In those three words, the key word is the middle 00:30:03.740 --> 00:30:10.079 one. All under sin. What does sin do? Well, the 00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:13.900 world has the idea that sin liberates. If you 00:30:13.900 --> 00:30:19.960 want to really be free, then you should flaunt 00:30:19.960 --> 00:30:24.539 God's standards. Disobey them, for God is only 00:30:24.539 --> 00:30:27.500 interested in restricting. Of course, that's 00:30:27.500 --> 00:30:30.599 the same basic idea that Satan tried to communicate 00:30:30.599 --> 00:30:34.079 to Eve. God knows if you eat of this fruit that 00:30:34.079 --> 00:30:38.240 you'll be like him. God's keeping something from 00:30:38.240 --> 00:30:42.240 you. The world has maintained that attitude about 00:30:42.240 --> 00:30:46.599 sin. It gives me freedom. I can express myself. 00:30:46.980 --> 00:30:53.359 I can be me. I can do it my way. But God says 00:30:53.359 --> 00:30:58.720 that what sin does is to put us under its power. 00:31:00.339 --> 00:31:05.460 What does sin do? It puts us into bondage. As 00:31:05.460 --> 00:31:07.720 the commentator Linden said, it means that we 00:31:07.720 --> 00:31:12.490 are under the empire of sin. I read this paragraph 00:31:12.490 --> 00:31:15.990 from Barnhouse in his commentary. To be under 00:31:15.990 --> 00:31:21.970 sin is much more than missing the mark, or overstepping 00:31:21.970 --> 00:31:25.609 a boundary, or any of the other phrases of sin 00:31:25.609 --> 00:31:30.369 which we've considered. To be under sin means 00:31:30.369 --> 00:31:34.509 to be dominated by sin, to be under its power, 00:31:34.910 --> 00:31:38.289 under its rule, under its empire, under its sway, 00:31:38.450 --> 00:31:42.650 under its control. This is our nature by birth, 00:31:43.650 --> 00:31:47.109 our condition by choice, and our position by 00:31:47.109 --> 00:31:50.690 the divine declaration of God placing us where 00:31:50.690 --> 00:31:56.829 he sees us. So what does it mean to be under 00:31:56.829 --> 00:32:02.109 sin? It means to be under the domination of sin, 00:32:02.690 --> 00:32:06.049 to be a part of sin's kingdom as it were, its 00:32:06.049 --> 00:32:10.539 domain, and to be enslaved to that. We see a 00:32:10.539 --> 00:32:13.059 very similar thought expressed in Romans chapter 00:32:13.059 --> 00:32:17.980 7 verse 14, where he says, we know that the law 00:32:17.980 --> 00:32:26.180 is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage 00:32:26.180 --> 00:32:31.460 to sin. Again, Galatians chapter 3 verse 22, 00:32:31.960 --> 00:32:40.200 the same phrase is used, all under sin. the person 00:32:40.200 --> 00:32:44.519 who is still in the condition of sin, who is 00:32:44.519 --> 00:32:47.140 controlled by that power or principle within 00:32:47.140 --> 00:32:51.059 him and therefore commits acts of sin. That person 00:32:51.059 --> 00:32:55.160 belongs to the kingdom of darkness, to Satan's 00:32:55.160 --> 00:33:00.319 kingdom. In Acts chapter 26 we have Paul relating 00:33:00.319 --> 00:33:03.559 to us his commission given to him by the Lord. 00:33:03.839 --> 00:33:06.160 I want you to notice what the Lord said to him. 00:33:07.599 --> 00:33:11.720 I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. Arise and 00:33:11.720 --> 00:33:15.059 stand on your feet. For this purpose I have appeared 00:33:15.059 --> 00:33:18.019 to you to appoint you a minister and a witness, 00:33:18.180 --> 00:33:21.099 not only to be to the things which you have seen, 00:33:21.640 --> 00:33:23.839 but also to the things in which I will appear 00:33:23.839 --> 00:33:27.279 to you, delivering you from the Jewish people 00:33:27.279 --> 00:33:30.440 and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you, 00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:34.000 to open their eyes so that they may turn from 00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:39.119 darkness to light. and from the dominion of Satan 00:33:39.119 --> 00:33:43.680 to God." This is something that the world does 00:33:43.680 --> 00:33:47.380 not recognize. For while they boast of their 00:33:47.380 --> 00:33:50.960 freedom to do their own thing, what they are 00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:55.140 doing is expressing their bondage to Satan and 00:33:55.140 --> 00:34:01.539 to his kingdom. Those poor people, the Sodomites 00:34:01.539 --> 00:34:07.119 who were down in Minneapolis, on Hennepin Avenue 00:34:07.119 --> 00:34:09.340 the other evening with their block party, boasted 00:34:09.340 --> 00:34:12.199 of the freedom they were able to get over the 00:34:12.199 --> 00:34:15.940 city council, of the victory that they had in 00:34:15.940 --> 00:34:19.139 being able to hold their block party. But my 00:34:19.139 --> 00:34:21.460 friend, those people are to be pitied because 00:34:21.460 --> 00:34:24.280 they are enslaved to sin. But no more so than 00:34:24.280 --> 00:34:29.059 the other sinner under the domination, the domain 00:34:29.059 --> 00:34:33.969 of darkness. This last Wednesday evening, Ron 00:34:33.969 --> 00:34:38.650 Carlson covered with us in our adult session, 00:34:40.889 --> 00:34:45.010 some interesting facts regarding astrology, UFO, 00:34:46.170 --> 00:34:50.329 and the worship of Satan. All of us who were 00:34:50.329 --> 00:34:52.449 present that evening were reminded afresh and 00:34:52.449 --> 00:34:56.190 anew how very real the powers of darkness are. 00:34:57.170 --> 00:35:01.469 How very subtle and deceitful are those evil 00:35:01.469 --> 00:35:05.820 beings. as they seek to increase their domination 00:35:05.820 --> 00:35:11.820 over people. He reminded us, and I'm sure many 00:35:11.820 --> 00:35:14.619 of us are aware of the fact that the game Dungeon 00:35:14.619 --> 00:35:18.659 and Dragons is one of the more modern ways in 00:35:18.659 --> 00:35:25.940 which he begins to express his complete domination 00:35:25.940 --> 00:35:29.599 over people. If you are interested in that, I 00:35:29.599 --> 00:35:31.800 encourage you to get the tape that Ron Carlson 00:35:31.800 --> 00:35:36.280 has regarding astrology, UFOs, and Satanism, 00:35:36.860 --> 00:35:38.960 and see what he has to say about that game and 00:35:38.960 --> 00:35:42.159 about some others that people commonly play. 00:35:42.760 --> 00:35:45.980 Long before that game was produced, there was 00:35:45.980 --> 00:35:49.420 the Ouija Board, which was again another way 00:35:49.420 --> 00:35:52.480 in which Satan was able to gain even greater 00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:56.199 power over people. One youth group that I had. 00:36:00.380 --> 00:36:03.260 Some of the young people got together for a party 00:36:03.260 --> 00:36:05.159 and decided that they would have some fun with 00:36:05.159 --> 00:36:09.599 an Ouija board. And so there were some girls 00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:12.719 there at a pajama party. And so they got this 00:36:12.719 --> 00:36:14.920 thing out late at night and they began to play 00:36:14.920 --> 00:36:19.139 with it. And to their amazement, this thing began 00:36:19.139 --> 00:36:22.079 to work. And it began to tell them things that 00:36:22.079 --> 00:36:27.699 were secret and unknown. And so for a lark, they 00:36:27.699 --> 00:36:30.760 thought, they began to witness to the Ouija board 00:36:30.760 --> 00:36:33.780 and to talk about Jesus Christ and the blood 00:36:33.780 --> 00:36:37.619 of Christ and that Ouija board that they had 00:36:37.619 --> 00:36:40.760 flew across the room into the wall and slammed 00:36:40.760 --> 00:36:44.800 into it. Well, needless to say, they were quite 00:36:44.800 --> 00:36:48.039 aware immediately of the influence, the powers 00:36:48.039 --> 00:36:53.469 of darkness, with the Ouija board. Let us not 00:36:53.469 --> 00:36:56.429 think lightly, dear people, of what it means 00:36:56.429 --> 00:37:01.849 to be in bondage, to be under sin, to be under 00:37:01.849 --> 00:37:05.530 the domain of Satan. The gracious news of God 00:37:05.530 --> 00:37:09.429 is that when we trust Jesus Christ, we are translated 00:37:09.429 --> 00:37:11.989 out of the kingdom of darkness and placed into 00:37:11.989 --> 00:37:14.650 the kingdom of God's dear Son, where there is 00:37:14.650 --> 00:37:18.449 true freedom. To be under sin means furthermore 00:37:18.449 --> 00:37:22.179 to be under its condemnation. God says, the soul 00:37:22.179 --> 00:37:27.860 that sins, it shall what? It shall die. Not just 00:37:27.860 --> 00:37:29.920 physical death, but he's talking about spiritual 00:37:29.920 --> 00:37:33.880 death, separation from God. To be under sin is 00:37:33.880 --> 00:37:36.480 to be under its bondage and under its condemnation. 00:37:37.380 --> 00:37:40.980 And close, we will, with this third word, the 00:37:40.980 --> 00:37:45.000 word all, whom sin involves. But there be no 00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:48.119 mistake about it. There's none of us that is 00:37:48.119 --> 00:37:52.119 free from sin. There is no person who has ever 00:37:52.119 --> 00:37:55.340 been born as a descendant of Adam who has been 00:37:55.340 --> 00:37:59.440 free from the condition of sin. All are born 00:37:59.440 --> 00:38:05.019 into the world as sinners. No exception of any 00:38:05.019 --> 00:38:09.380 time or any place or any person, ALL includes 00:38:09.380 --> 00:38:15.579 all. It includes you. It may be today that you 00:38:15.579 --> 00:38:19.739 have never been delivered from sin. You are under 00:38:19.739 --> 00:38:23.960 its domination. You can't control yourself. You 00:38:23.960 --> 00:38:31.059 are powerless. You miss the mark. God sets the 00:38:31.059 --> 00:38:38.960 standard. You overstep it. You are guilty. You 00:38:38.960 --> 00:38:43.159 cannot stand before God. You know that. Well, 00:38:43.159 --> 00:38:46.460 I have good news for you today. If you are under 00:38:46.460 --> 00:38:52.230 sin, God can deliver you. There is only one provision 00:38:52.230 --> 00:38:55.429 for sin, though, and that is in Jesus Christ. 00:38:56.809 --> 00:39:00.050 Neither is there salvation in any other, for 00:39:00.050 --> 00:39:02.570 there is no other name under heaven which has 00:39:02.570 --> 00:39:06.250 been given among men, whereby we must be saved. 00:39:07.530 --> 00:39:09.809 Salvation comes alone through the Lord Jesus 00:39:09.809 --> 00:39:11.909 Christ. That's why he said, if the Son shall 00:39:11.909 --> 00:39:15.909 set you free, you shall be what? Free indeed. 00:39:16.170 --> 00:39:21.949 That's true freedom. Sin is bondage, but salvation 00:39:21.949 --> 00:39:27.530 is freedom. I close with reminding you of this 00:39:27.530 --> 00:39:30.250 story in Numbers chapter 21 in the Old Testament 00:39:30.250 --> 00:39:33.369 when God's people sinned against him and he sent 00:39:33.369 --> 00:39:38.110 among them fiery serpents. The serpents bit the 00:39:38.110 --> 00:39:41.809 people and they died. The serpents represented 00:39:41.809 --> 00:39:48.860 to them their sin. The sin produced death, sure 00:39:48.860 --> 00:39:53.300 and swift. But then God made a provision for 00:39:53.300 --> 00:39:56.739 the serpent bite, didn't He? He had Moses make 00:39:56.739 --> 00:40:02.699 a brass serpent and put it upon a pole in the 00:40:02.699 --> 00:40:06.440 middle of the camp. Brass in the Bible speaks 00:40:06.440 --> 00:40:09.900 of judgment, and what that brass serpent spoke 00:40:09.900 --> 00:40:16.619 of was sin that was judged by God. And God said, 00:40:16.780 --> 00:40:19.619 if the people after they are bitten will but 00:40:19.619 --> 00:40:23.760 look at that brass serpent in the middle of the 00:40:23.760 --> 00:40:27.539 camp, they will immediately be healed of that 00:40:27.539 --> 00:40:32.420 venom. John tells us that it's a beautiful picture 00:40:32.420 --> 00:40:34.880 of the Lord Jesus Christ. For as Moses lifted 00:40:34.880 --> 00:40:37.840 up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the 00:40:37.840 --> 00:40:41.570 Son of Man be lifted up. Dear friend the Lord 00:40:41.570 --> 00:40:44.389 Jesus Christ born into this world without sin 00:40:44.389 --> 00:40:48.869 when he died on the cross became sin for you 00:40:48.869 --> 00:40:58.409 God judged your sin on Christ He was nailed to 00:40:58.409 --> 00:41:01.630 the tree and there became sin on your behalf 00:41:01.630 --> 00:41:05.489 in mine So that now if we will look to Christ 00:41:05.489 --> 00:41:09.780 in faith As the people of old looked at the brass 00:41:09.780 --> 00:41:14.960 serpent, we will be healed of sin, be forgiven 00:41:14.960 --> 00:41:17.980 of sin, and delivered from its power. Will you 00:41:17.980 --> 00:41:22.000 do that? The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us 00:41:22.000 --> 00:41:26.880 from what? How much sin? All sin. I care not 00:41:26.880 --> 00:41:29.260 how deeply you may have sinned, how dark the 00:41:29.260 --> 00:41:34.440 stain may be, how overridden your conscience 00:41:34.440 --> 00:41:37.420 is today with guilt. If you will look to the 00:41:37.420 --> 00:41:40.639 Lord Jesus Christ and receive Him, He will set 00:41:40.639 --> 00:41:48.420 you free. He has promised. Let's pray. God, I 00:41:48.420 --> 00:41:52.599 pray that you will keep all of us from thinking 00:41:52.599 --> 00:42:01.360 lightly of sin as though it were a game, as though 00:42:01.360 --> 00:42:06.119 it were liberating. Help us to see how enslaving 00:42:06.119 --> 00:42:12.219 and damning is sin. If there be some friend here 00:42:12.219 --> 00:42:16.039 today who is without Christ, only today that 00:42:16.039 --> 00:42:20.500 one receive Jesus Christ and be saved. Just as 00:42:20.500 --> 00:42:26.900 the rain washes away the dirt of pollution, so 00:42:26.900 --> 00:42:29.739 the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ cleanses forever 00:42:29.739 --> 00:42:33.739 from all sin. May someone here today believe 00:42:33.739 --> 00:42:37.840 that and be saved. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.