"SINNING AGAINST GOD"
Potiphar put Joseph in charge of all of his household. He trusted him with everything he owned. The Lord blessed greatly the house of Potiphar for Joseph's sake. Potiphar did not have to worry about anything that he had because Joseph was so capable. Now Joseph was well built and handsome, and Potiphar's wife sought to entice him to go to bed with her. He refused her advances telling her that he had been entrusted with everything her husband owned, and he was greater than any other of the household staff. That nothing had been held back from him except her because she was his wife. How could I possibly do such a wicked thing and sin against God?
I. ALL SIN IS AGAINST GOD.
A. We many times think that our sin is against people.
1. I am prone to think that I have sinned against the person I I have stolen from.
2. Or the person I lied to.
3. Other people may suffer as the result of my sin, but all sin is against God.
B. You see, God is the One who has made the rules.
1. It is God's law that I have violated.
2. I am guilty before God.
3. In the Psalm we read this morning David declared, against You and You only have I sinned and done this great wickedness in Your sight.
4. This means that God is the One that I will have to answer to for my sins.
C. If I think that I am sinning against a person, I might seek to justify myself.
1. I might justify my taking some tool from the job saying: "They were not paying me enough, I am worth a lot more than they gave me, so I have a right to it."
2. He has been cheating me, and I only took what was coming to me.
D. If I think that I am only sinning against other people, I might think that I got away with my sin, nobody knows but me, no one has ever found out.
1. But you cannot hide your sin from God, And your sin is against Him.
2. David said to his son Solomon:
1CH 28:9 Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts: if you seek him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off for ever.
3. David had thought that he got by with his sin with Bathsheba, he figured that had covered his trail so that no one suspected him. But the prophet of God came to him and rebuked him for what he had done.
4. The Bible says: "You can be sure your sins will find you out."
E. Sin can have very adverse effects upon your life.
1. It leaves it's mark upon your life.
2. It can cause you to become bitter and hardened.
3. It can make you self centered and miserable.
F. Sin can have an adverse effect upon those around you.
1. It can be that your family suffers greatly because of your sin.
2. It can bring pain and sorrow to those who love you most.
G. But most of all, sin effects your relationship with God who loves you.
1. God cried to the nation of Israel to turn from their sin, for God asked, "Why will you die? I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked."
2. The prophet Isaiah said, "God's hand is not short that He cannot save, neither is His ear heavy that He cannot hear, but your sins have separated you from God."
3. I think that one of the worst feelings in the world is to be separated from the ones you love. I think that it is a taste of hell.
4. In contrast, one of the greatest joys in all the world is to surrounded by those you love, and that is a taste of heaven.
5. I could not bear the thought of being separated from God for all eternity.
II. THE NATURE OF SIN.
A. It is very attractive and enticing.
1. It is ridiculous to try to deny that.
2. As ministers we are often prone to speak of the ugliness of sin. That is because we usually see the ugly consequences of sin. We see it from the other side. We deal with the broken hearts and broken lives. We often see the consequences of sin.
3. But on the surface sin is very alluring.
4. I would imagine that the wife of Potiphar was very attractive.
5. Her invitation to go to bed with her was very tempting.
6. Joseph is just a young man, and he is far away from home, and who would know the difference?
B. Sin is very blinding.
1. When a person starts to get involved, it seems that they become very blind to what is happening to them.
2. They think that they are covering themselves very well, no one suspicions what is truly going on in their lives.
3. They think that they can beat the odds and get by with their evil.
4. They are deceived into thinking that they are in control and can stop any time they wish.
5. I know a fellow who because of his lung problems, quit smoking 27 times last year.
C. Sin is very blinding.
1. It is amazing what a hold it can get on a persons life.
2. I would imagine that had Joseph yielded to her desires and went to bed with her that first time, it would only have been the beginning of an illicit relationship. It rarely stops at one time only. The fact of matter is that the second time you have much less resistance, and the third time even less, until it becomes a matter of course, then you find you cannot stop.
3. I see what tangled webs people get caught in when they begin to give in to temptation.
4. The spider and the fly.
D. Sin is always deadly.
1. God's first warning to Adam concerning sin, was "If you do it, you will surely die."
2. Years later Paul wrote, "The soul that sinneth shall surely die."
3. He then said, "By one man sin entered into the world and death by sin, so that death passed unto all men, for all sinned."
4. The Bible has two definitions for death. One refers to physical death, the separation of your consciousness from your body, and the other spiritual death which is the separation of your consciousness from God.
5. Barring the rapture of the church we all have an appointment with physical death. "It is appointed unto man once to die." That, however, is not the end as some may think.
6. "After that, the judgment."
7. Because your sin is against God, you must face the court of God's justice. The scene is described for us in the book of Revelation.
REV 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
REV 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
REV 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
REV 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
REV 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
8. Two books, the one has the record of every time you broke the law of God, the other, the names of those who have been forgiven their infractions.
9. Two books, two destinies for all mankind. This brings us to the most important verse in all the Bible, the heart of the gospel. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believes in Him is not condemned, but he that does not believe is condemned already."
Verse-Reference
Square — [Jhn 1:1 KJV]
Abbreviate Books
Use SBL Abbrev.
