August 1, 2004

Cawson St. Church of Christ

Mural Worthey

Hopewell, Virginia

Introduction

Good parents, good friends and good leaders warn people about fatal things. If you knew that something was detrimental to your family or friends, you would try to persuade them to stay away from it. There are many dangerous things in this world—chemicals, drugs, misuse of firearms, driving carelessly, misuse of food (a doctor once told a patient that he was digging his grave with his teeth), diseases, wicked people who wish us harm (we learned that from the attack on 9/11/01), accidents, etc. From this list, there are several categories—things that we do to ourselves, things that others do to harm us, and things that happen accidentally without any evil motive. This is a dangerous world; fatal things can and do happen.

One of the responsibilities of a teacher or preacher of the Gospel is to warn people of fatal things spiritually. Just as there are detrimental and fatal things physically in the world, there are likewise things that can destroy us spiritually. Paul wrote, "Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." (Col. 1:27-28.) David referred to the Law of God and the statues of God and said, "Moreover by them is thy servant warned." (Psalm 19:11.) Paul said to the Ephesian elders at Miletus, "Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears." (Acts 20:31.) The prophet Ezekiel spoke about the responsibility of the watchman in warning the people. (chapter 33) If you have heard the Gospel, you have been warned! We might ask, Warned about what? Just as there is physical death due to dangerous things in our world, there is spiritual death to the soul of man. If physical death is an enemy and undesirable, how much more is spiritual separation from God for all eternity.

Everyone should remember the words of Paul, "For the wages of sin is death." (Rom. 6:23.) "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered the world and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned." (Rom. 5:12.) "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." (Rom. 8:5-8.)

Of course, we are talking about those who refuse to acknowledge Jesus as the Savior and the One who bore our sins to the cross. For those who have accepted the Gospel of Christ, your sins have been carried away and washed away in his blood. This is what Jesus said about those who die in their sins: "I said therefore unto you, that you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins." (John 8:24.) "I go my way and you shall seek me and shall die in your sins. Whither I go, you cannot come." (8:21.)

How do we handle this sticky, lethal, explosive thing called sin? The Bible teaches that we must die to the love and practice of sin. Sin should grieve our hearts. It caused the death of Jesus on the cross. Sin cannot be taken lightly. We should have a penitent heart always concerning sin. We should humbly submit ourselves before God as Isaiah did. He said that he was a man of unclean lips and dwelt in the midst of people of unclean lips. (Isa. 6:5.) We must have our sins washed away in the precious blood of Jesus. It is the only way we can be redeemed. (1 Peter 1:18-19.)

The troubling thing about sin is that you need not commit every sin in the book in order to die spiritually. Jesus told the rich young ruler, "One thing you lack." (Luke 18:22.) One deadly poison can kill you physically. One snake bite. One car accident. One bullet. Spiritually, covetousness can kill you. Sexually immorality, continued in without repenting, can destroy you spiritually. Pride. Lying. Covetousness killed Judas. Sexually immorality almost destroyed King David. Lying killed Ananias and Sapphira.

Jesus named one deadly matter when teaching about prayer. He said in the prayer, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." Then after the prayer, he added this significant comment. He said, "For if we forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you." (Matt. 6:12, 14-15.) There will be many people lost due to this sin.

Two brothers once came to Jesus and asked him to divide their inheritance between them. Jesus replied, Who made me a judge or divider over you? (Luke 12:13-14.) That is what the Israelites said to Moses years ago when he defended them from Egyptian cruelty. Who made you a judge and a ruler over us? On this occasion, Jesus said, "Take heed and beware of covetousness. For a man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses." (Luke 12:15.) Covetousness is idolatry. (Eph. 5:5, Col. 3:5.) Invariably, when I have spoken to people about settling disputes with family members, someone will always say something like this—Well, it is not the land or the money or the stock and bonds, it is the principle of the thing! What principle are they talking about? The principle is that they want what is theirs and then some. It is not some lofty or noble principle. The problem is always the money, the land and the stocks! You can count on it!

One more deadly mistake—turning back into the corrupt sinful world. Peter wrote, "Of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought into bondage. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them that the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them." (2 Peter 2:19-21.)

The Hebrew writer was, no doubt, referring to unbelief when he said, "Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. Who for the joy that was set before him endure the cross, despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb. 12:1-2.) Unbelief is a heavy weight that so easily besets mankind. It is also fatal spiritually. One cannot begin to please God without it. "For without faith, it is impossible to please God. For he that comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Heb. 11:6.) "Now the just shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul." (Heb. 10:38-39.) If the just shall live by faith, then those without faith cannot be justified! It is impossible because there is no other plan or method of justification in Scripture.

Listen to these fatal words: "So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief." (Heb. 3:19.) "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God." (Heb. 3:12.)

"So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God." (Rom. 10:17.) But, what causes or produces unbelief?

We could say, Not hearing the Word causes unbelief. Hearing the testimony of eyewitnesses is powerful in producing faith in God and in His Son Jesus Christ. If you do not hear, you cannot believe. "How shall they hear without a preacher?" (Rom. 10:14.)

The world also tears down faith and destroys it. This is the seed planted among thorns. Faith is choked out by the cares, riches and pleasures of this life. (Luke 8:14.) Jesus said, This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19.)

Temptations and trials cause some to fall away. These are they planted in the rocky soil. (Luke 8:13.) They believe for awhile, Jesus said.

The wayside soil are those who purposefully stay over on the side-line and fail to get involved. They are not a part of the field where the crops grow and the harvest will be reaped. Satan takes the Word away immediately, because the person did not want it anyway!

Unbelief is difficult to conquer. I have known people who refuse to believe in God. There is something that I have noted about them. It is not because they just do not have the intellectual ability to understand or believe. Invariably, it is because they do not want to believe. The noted philosopher William James wrote an outstanding article titled, "The Will To Believe." We should exclaim with the father of the sick child, "Lord, I believe, but help thou my unbelief." (Mark 9:24.)

Our faith and trust must be Christ-centered. Salvation is found in none other. (Acts 4:12, 1 Cor. 3:11.) Spiritually, it is a fatal matter to trust anyone else. We must not put any of our faith for salvation in Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy, Muhammed, Siddhart Guatama, Hira Krishna, Jim Jones, the Dalla Lama, Mary, Paul, Peter, James or John. Not only is there no value in believing in them, it is detrimental to you spiritually.

We must not believe or trust in ourselves. Jesus said that the Pharisee who trusted in himself that he was righteous went down to his house not justified. (Luke 18:9-14.) He also said, "These are they which justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God." (Luke 16:15.) Years ago, Jeremiah the prophet of Israel, wrote, "Cursed is the man that trusts in man and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord." (Jeremiah 17:5.) And, "Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters and that spreads out her roots by the river." (17:7-8.) The reason that Jeremiah gave this warning is found in verse 9—"the heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked."

We must not trust in ourselves that we are righteous, because we are not. Our hearts are more wicked than we first imagined. Jeremiah said, "O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man that walks to direct his steps." (Jer. 10:23.)

Peter was right when he said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." (John 6:68.) The Samaritans from Sychar said, "Now we believe, not because of your saying. For we have heard him ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world." (John 4:42.)