The End Of Sin
I. When God Repeats Himself...
Praise the Lord!
How many came in here to have some church
tonight?
How many come to get fed from God’s Word
tonight?
By the end of the night how many want to have a
new revelation from the Word of God?
Well I believe you’ve come to the right place.
Tonight is the last night of our "Handling My
Humanity" Series.
And being that it’s the end of our series,
Tonight’s theme will be "The End". Amen?
For those of you who haven’t been here with us,
For the past 6 weeks, despite popular opinion,
I’ve been preaching on SIN.
So tonights message will be "The End of Sin".
You say well Pastor, I see where your going with
this one tonight just by the title.
Your going to give us a classic textbook sermon on
how sin is bad,
And then tell us to put an end to sin in our lives.
Well, I wish it was that easy. Amen?
Church, if we’re ever going to put an end to the sin
in our lives it’s going to take more than me telling
you that sin is bad. Amen?
You’re going to have to see that for yourselves.
Turn with me in your Bibles this evening to:
Pro 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Pro 16:25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
How many in here have children?
And how many knows that children can sometimes
get a little out of line.
They get all hopped up on sugar and caffiene and
next thing you know you’ve got a heathen on your
hands. Amen?
And they especially like to act out in public
because they know momma or daddy won’t
discipline them in public.
They could be little angels at home, but boy you
better not take them to the grocery store. Amen?
Cause when you do you’re just asking for trouble.
And when they first begin to act out you ask them
to please calm down,
But they continue because they know that momma
won’t punish them in public,
So then instead of asking you tell them that they
better straighten up,
But when that doesn’t work we parents often find
ourselves leaning over and saying,
"Don’t make me tell you again".
How many’s been there?
And at that very moment your child knew that if
you had to call them down one more time it
wouldn’t be pretty. Amen?
Well in the same sense our Heavenly Father’s
instructions for His children are laid out in the
Bible. Amen?
All the can and can’ts, the do’s and don’ts, the thall
shalt nots and the thall shalts,
They’re all laid out for us in the word of God.
There’s no if ands or buts about it. Amen?
And there’s no loop holes in the Word of God.
If God said it he meant it and that should settle it
for His children.
But on ocassion God sees fit to have to repeat
Himself.
And that’s what He does in our scriptures tonight!
Twice in the same book two chapters apart His
Word states,
"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man,
but the end thereof are the ways of death."
How many knows when God repeats Himself it’s
time to listen?
Cause when God repeats Himself I believe He’s
trying to draw our attention to something deeper
within the passage. Amen?
II. What God Sees...
In one of the earlier sermons of this series I asked
the question "why do we sin?"
And some of us would argue several valid points as
to why we sin.
Some say we sin because sin is pleasurable.
It’s pleasures only last for a season, but
nevertheless they are pleasureable. Amen?
Some would argue that we sin because it’s a desire
of our sinful nature,
But I stand here to tell you tonight that we can
overcome the desires of the flesh.
You can resist the devil and he will flee, and you
can resist your fleshly desires as well. Amen?
But the real and only reason why we sin is because
we don’t see sin as God sees it!
We don’t have a proper perspective on sin!
We see it as pleasurable, but God sees sin as
disgusting.
We may see it as a minor mistake, but God sees it
as a terrible thing.
We see our sinful ways as being justified or right,
But God sees them as a transgression against His
law punishable by death!
And so on and so on!
So in order for us to put an end to sin then we need
see sin how God sees it. Amen?
And in order to get God’s perspective on sin I want
us to take a closer look at the Hebrew language
tonight.
See in the Semitic languages, many of the words
that have to do with direction or orientation are
derived from parts of the body.
In the scriptures when we read the phrase,
AT THE HEAD: signifies first, beginning, top.
AT THE HAND: signifies standing next to someone
(Gen 33:19)
AT THE FEET: signifies submission or worship to
someone
AT THE FACE: signifies standing before someone
AT THE BACK: usually means "that which comes
after" or the end. Amen?
And that last one is what I want to focus on
tonight.
The Back...
III. The End...
Hebrew word for "back" is "Achariyth"
and it means back, that which comes after, result,
after-effects, final consequences, ultimate
outcome, the end. Amen?
See from our ordinary human vantage point, we
cannot see that which comes after,
We cannot see the final consequences of a matter,
We have no perception of the ACHARIYTH.
We are subject to time and therefore we have to
wait for things to play out in order to see what
happenns next. Amen?
Sure we can have some idea about the future, or
some idea about the consequences of our actions,
But we can never be fully 100 percent sure until
time reveals the end result. Amen?
But God always sees the whole picture because He
is not subject to time.
In His eyes, the ACHARIYTH is always in full view.
From the very beginning He was able to see the
very end and every thing in between.
It’s kind of like a parade.
We’ve got the Azalea Festival coming up and as
part of the festivities they have a huge parade.
Now if you or I were to go to this parade and find a
good spot,
And set up chairs there to watch this parade go by,
Then we’re going to see this parade as man sees
things.
We are going to sit there and see one float go by at
a time,
Never knowing what’s next.
We’re just waiting for it to all unfold in front of us.
But if I were to rent a helicopter and go up to
watch the parade from there,
Then I would be seeing things like God sees them
because I could see the whole parade at once,
instead of having to wait for each float to pass me
by.
I could see the beginning and the ending all at the
same time,
And that’s the way God sees things.
The head and the tail are always in full view.
In God’s perspective on sin the Achariyth is aways
in sight. Amen?
Well If we want to live holy and blameless lives
acceptable unto the Lord,
it is CRUCIAL that we gain God’s perspective on
sin!
61 times in Old Testament, 11 times in the book of
Proverbs alone the word achiryth is mentioned.
God doesn’t repeat himself to hear himself speak.
God wants us to consider the achariyth of
everything that we do.
He wants us to consider the consequences and the
end results of our actions before we act,
But mans ways are to act first ask questions last.
I believe that when we seek the face of God
through prayer,
Or when we seek the will of God recorded in the
word,
He not only tells you what to do,
But He reveals to you the achariyth of your
actions.
He says tithe and I will open up the windows of
heaven and pour out a blessing.
Ask and you shall recieve. Seek & Find, Knock and
the door will be opened.
Believe and you shall be saved.
Sin and the wages of sin are death.
Here we see cause and effect.
The action and the end result.
The head and the achariyth. Amen?
God’s Word counsels us on what God’s proper
perspective is.
And He let’s us in on that insight.
The whole purpose of the book of Proverbs can be
summed up in one verse:
Pro 19:20 Hear counsel, and receive instruction,
that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end. (ACHARIYTH)
Church if we would just seek Godly counsel, and
recieve His instruction our achariyth,
Or our end result would turn out so much better.
Why? Because daddy (GOD) knows best!
You might think you know it all!
You might think you’ve got it figured out, but
Proverbs 16:25 Says...What seems right to you,
ends in death.
Everything about it seems right, but the achariyth
is death.
The cause seems good, but the effect is bad!
Why do you think that Satan is so successful in his
attempts to lead souls into captivity to sin?
It’s because he shows us the pleasure of the
moment and we never consider the end result.
We never consider the achariyth, and therefore he
never shows us it to us!
How many remember Esau in scripture?
He sold his lifelong birthright for one meal, just
because he was hungry at that moment.
But afterward, when he wanted to inherit this
blessing, he was rejected!
And though he sought it with tears his
ACHARIYTH was miserable!!
But your fallen nature just wants to think about
the here and now.
It wants you to focus on the temptation at hand
and the flesh wants to give into that temptation!
Your flesh has a desire to yield to sin, but you have
to rise above that desire.
You have to resist that flesh because yielding to
that sin will bring about death.
Yielding to that sin could bring about desease.
And it could bring about so much more than you’re
even aware of. Amen?
Before you yield to sin next time, you need to
remember how you felt after you sinned the last
time!
You need to remeber the hardships that it caused
in your life before.
You need to consider what God’s Word says the
penalty’s of sin are?
You need to consider the 21 reasons not to sin that
we just covered in this series.
And you need to only yield your members to
righteousness.
IV. The Achariyth of Sin...
Sexual immorality is one of the most common sins
in todays society.
It’s acceptable to have sex with multiple partners.
It’s acceptable to participate in homosexual
activities.
Twelve & thirteen year olds are having babies and
parents aren’t educating there children on the
standard set forth by God’s Word.
You’re a minority if you’ve slept with less than 20
people by the time you graduate high school.
And you’re an even bigger minority if you decide to
wait until marriage.
Even in the churches sexual immorality is running
rampid.
Everyones out for that temporary self satisfaction,
But nobody’s looking at the achariyth of their
decisions!
Look in...
Pro 5:3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
Pro 5:4 But her end (ACHARIYTH) is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
Pro 5:5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
Pro 5:6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
Pro 5:7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
Pro 5:8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
Pro 5:9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
Pro 5:10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
Pro 5:11 And thou mourn at the last (ACHARIYTH), when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
Pro 5:12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
Pro 5:13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
Pro 5:14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
No matter how good the seductive woman looks,
the consequences of associating with her will be
disastrous!
In 1984, a Long Island businessman met an
attractive young lady who offered him sex,
making arrangements with him to meet her at a
specific location another day.
But when he met here and went inside the house,
he was ambushed by several other men and
women,
then bound and gagged and brought to an
abandoned apartment building in the city.
There he was held captive in a room that had been
specially prepared for this moment,
with extra boards over the windows to muffle the
noise of his cries.
They began to torture and abuse this man,
burning him with cigarettes over his whole body,
sodomizing him with such force that some of his
internal organs were severely damaged.
They made him relieve himself in a diaper,
and for the last five days of his life, they starved
him as well.
And, even though his wife agreed to pay a ransom
for him,
they beat him to death before the money could
arrive.
IF ONLY HE COULD HAVE SEEN HIS
ACHARIYTH!
If only he could have seen himself screaming in
agony, pleading for mercy, tortured and molested,
beaten and humiliated, starved and bound!
Then lying motionless, a bloody corpse.
If he could have only seen the final consequences
of his adulterous lust,
he would have never gone near that young woman,
no matter how good-looking she was,
no matter what physical pleasures she offered him.
He would have sworn off sex for the rest of his life
rather than meet such a terrible fate.
BUT HE DIDN’T SEE HIS ACHARIYTH!
That’s why the warnings in Proverbs are so urgent!
There was a pastor who became very discouraged
and as a result completely backslid one night.
He ended up getting drunk and going to a party
where people were exchanging sexual partners
freely.
And somehow, he fell so low that he had sex with
another man.
The next day reality set in.
He agonized and grieved, repenting deeply, and
gradually getting to a place of restoration.
And then his ministry continued, as if everything
were back to normal.
But it wasn’t.
In that one night of terrible disobedience,
he had contracted AIDS, and by the time he found
out,
he had infected his wife and the last child she bore
him.
IF ONLY HE COULD HAVE SEEN HIS
ACHARIYTH!
If he could have seen his family and friends
grieving at his funeral,
If he could have seen the coffin housing his
emaciated body being lowered into the ground.
If he could have seen his wife and son gradually
withering under the onslaught of that same dread
disease.
If only he had seen the final end!
He would have never gone near that bar where he
got drunk, no matter how depressed he was.
He would have said to his wife, "Tie me to the
bedpost and lock the door!"
Anything to keep him from that disastrous end.
BUT HE DIDN’T SEE HIS ACHARIYTH!
It’s not worth it! No amount of pleasure is worth
it!
AND NONE OF US ARE EXEMPT FROM
TEMPTATION!
God shows us the traps in advance.
Satan only shows us the bait.
Pro 23:31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
Pro 23:32 At the last (Achariyth) it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
Today, on the streets of some of our major cities,
there are winos and crack addicts laying in their
own waste,
their faces bloodied from a fall on the concrete,
their lives totally destroyed - but five years ago
they were successful doctors,
or prominent lawyers, or happily married athletes.
What happened? Well, they were under a lot of
pressure, or some tragic event took place,
or one of their friends introduced them to a new
thrill.
After awhile, that fix became a daily affair, and
then it began to dominate them,
until they ended up losing their jobs, losing their
families, losing their homes, and then living on the
street.
IF ONLY THEY COULD HAVE SEEN THEIR
ACHARIYTH!
Nothing could have possibly driven them to
drinking or drugs.
BUT THEY DIDN’T SEE THEIR ACHARIYTH!
V. A Positive Achariyth...
Sin’s end result is the total opposite of what was
promised!
It offers delight but brings death!
It guarantees a high but instead it brings hell!
The Achariyth of sin is always a negative.
The end result of sin will never profit you or your
sole,
But there is a such thing as a happy ending,
And there is a such thing as a positive achariyth.
Psa 37:37 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end (ACHARIYTH) of that man is peace.
Psa 37:38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end (ACHARIYTH) of the wicked shall be cut off.
Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future!" (ACHARIYTH)
The Bible says that the ACHARIYTH of believers
will be blessed forever!
Numbers 23:10 (False Prophet Balaam)
Num 23:10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!
Everyone wants to die the DEATH of the righteous.
But to do that, you have to live the LIFE of the
righteous!
