Sermon Central
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The End Of Sin
Contributed by James Groce on Mar 27, 2002 (message contributor)
Summary: •Why do we sin? •There is only one reason! •We do not see sin as God sees it
•Why do we sin?
•There is only one reason!
•We do not see sin as God sees it
We’ve been preaching about reasons not to sin, but tonight we want to talk about one simple truth that ties them all together.
25There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Hebrew Language
•In the Semitic languages, many prepositions or words having to dowith direction or orientation are derived from parts of the body.
•AT THE HEAD: signifies first, beginning, top (“at head of class”)
•AT THE HAND: signifies standing next to someone
•AT THE FEET: signifies submission or worship to someone
•AT THE FACE: signifies standing before someone
•AT THE BACK: means “that which comes after”
ACHARIYTH
•Hebrew word for “back”
•meaning: back, that which comes after, result, after-effects, final consequences, end, ultimate outcome
•From our ordinary human vantage point, we cannot see that which comes after, the final consequences of a matter, the ACHARIYTH.
•But God always sees the whole picture. In His eyes, the ACHARIYTH is always in full view.
•If we want to live holy lives, it is CRUCIAL that we gain God’s perspective on sin!
•65 times in Old Testament, 13 times in Proverbs – 20% of the time!
•The whole purpose of Proverbs can be summed up in one verse: Proverbs 19:20
Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end. (ACHARIYTH)
Proverbs 16:25 (TEXT)
There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof(ACHARIYTH) are the ways of death.
He never shows us the ACHARIYTH.
•Remember Esau, who sold his lifelong birthright for one meal, just because he was hungry at that moment.
•Afterward, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected, though he sought it with tears. His ACHARIYTH was miserable!!
Before I yield to sin next time, I need to remember how I felt after I sinned this time! But my fallen nature just wants to think about now.
MANY VERSES IN PROVERBS WARN ABOUT THE “ACHARIYTH” OF
SEXUAL IMMORALITY:
3 The lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil. 4 But the result (ACHARIYTH) is as bitter as poison, sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. 6 For she does not care about the path to life. She staggers down a crooked trail and
doesn’t even realize where it leads.
7 So now, my sons, listen to me. Never stray from what I am about to say:
8 Run from her! Don’t go near the door of her house! 9 If you do, you will lose your honor and hand over to merciless people everything you have achieved in life.
10 Strangers will obtain your wealth, and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor. 11 Afterward (ACHARIYTH) you will groan in anguish when disease
consumes your body,
12 and you will say, “How I hated discipline! If only I had not demanded my own way!
13 Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers? Why didn’t I pay attention to those who gave me instruction? 14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin, and
now I must face public disgrace.”
•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 goodlooking she was, no matter what physical pleasures she offered him. He would
