try to deal with this evening. Last week, I was scheduled to
have my checkup with my doctor. It was a two-year checkup with
the doctor in Cleveland. And as always, when that is happening,
I start thinking, what if it's back? I just can't help it. That's the way I think. I started
thinking, what if my cancer's back? What if I'm gonna die? And I started thinking about
death. I laid in bed that night before the throat stretching,
thinking about what if I die? I hope I came to the conclusion
that Paul did, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. But thinking about death, And
it's inevitability with all of us. And we're all making plans
Sunday night, thinking about what all is going to be going
on this week. We got this to do and that to do and this place
to go and that place to go and make sure this happens and that
happens. I realize we have all of these plans and things that
we want to see take place. But you and I are going to die. And we're going to enter eternity. And we are going to spend eternity
either in the bliss of heaven, worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ,
or we will spend eternity suffering the torments of hell. That's a sobering thought, isn't
it? I'm either going to be in the presence of Christ, worshiping
him without sin, or I'm going to be suffering the torments
of hell. Now, I've entitled this message,
The Strength of Sin is the Law. Now, what in the world does that
mean? That's not the way we naturally
think. We think of the law as being a restraint to sin and
something that keeps it in check. But Paul in our text says the
strength, the power, the dunamis, the power. Same word used for
the power of God. The power of sin is the law. Now, back to our text. In verse
56, Paul says, the sting of death is sin. And the strength of sin
is the law. First Corinthians chapter 15
verses 56. Death is presented in our text
as a scorpion with a sting. The sting of death. You know,
you think of those images in Revelation where those beasts
have power to sting with their tails and kill people. Death
is presented as a scorpion with a sting. Why is there death? You know, if you look in that church
phone book that we had done a couple of years ago, seven people and
they're dead. They've died. We've had loved ones die. We've
had people who were very important to us die. They, no more. They,
we knew them. They lived. We had a relationship
with these people. We love these people. And now
they're gone. They're dead. And it's going
to happen to us. Why is there death? Well, Romans chapter five, verse
12, the apostle Paul said, by one man, sin entered the world. and death by sin. So the death passed upon all
men in that all have sinned. Now there is why there is death. By one man's sin entered the
world and death by sin. So the death passed upon all
men. The reason you and I are going to die is because we sinned
in him. When he sinned, we sinned as
well. Now, if somebody says, I just
don't see how it could be right for me to be charged with Adam's
sin. Well, okay, let's just forget
you being charged with Adam's sin. What good would it do you
if you hadn't been charged with Adam's sin? How have you done
on your own? Let's just forget your connection
with Adam. How have you done on your own in this thing of
sinning against God? Willful, sin against God. Now, it wouldn't do you any good
or me any good at all if we weren't charged with Adam's sin. But
the fact of the matter is we were. And there's hope here.
I've said this before, because if I can be charged with somebody
else's sin, I can also be charged with somebody else's righteousness.
So there's much hope in that glorious truth. But it's still
true. By one man, sin entered the world and death by sin so
that death passed upon all men and that all have sin. Now turn
to Genesis chapter two, if you would. Verse 16. And the Lord God commanded the
man. This is a commandment saying
of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. But of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat
of it. You're forbidden to. For in the
day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Now here's
where we're introduced to death. In the day you eat thereof. Now
notice he didn't say if you eat, did he? He didn't say if you
eat. He said when you do. Could the
Lord have prevented this? Of course he could have. Did
he? No. It was all a part of his
glorious purpose to magnify and exalt his blessed son in the
salvation of sinners. You see, God brings good out
of evil. Isn't that glorious? Only God
can do that. Me and you can't do that, but
God can. He brings consummate good out
of evil. It was a good thing that Adam
fell in God's purpose. Now, it was a wicked thing. It
was an evil thing. He rebelled against God, but
God brings good out of evil. Look at the cross, the most evil
thing to ever take place, and oh, the good that came from the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, you know the story. Adam
ate, and Adam died by one man, sin entered the world by his
act of disobedience to God and death by sin. Now you and I both
know that Adam didn't die physically, but he died spiritually. The
part of him, his spirit that loved God died. His soul didn't
die at that time, his physical body didn't die, but his spirit
died. That spirit that loved God, that
spirit that trusted God, that spirit that obeyed God. It died and he no longer had
a spirit that loved God. As a matter of fact, when his
spirit died, what's the first thing he does? He runs from God's
presence. He no longer relishes God's presence
wherever God is. He wants to be away from that.
And he actually blames God for his fall. The woman that you
gave me, she gave me of the fruit and I didn't. It's your fault
if you wouldn't have set me up for failure like this, it would
have never happened. He no longer loved God as a matter
of fact. And this is a, this is a hard
thing to say. You know, I've heard people say
this almost flippantly, God haters, you know, you're a God hater.
And I wouldn't be careful when I say that, but Adam became one
who hated God. One who had no love at all for
the living God. Now there are three types of
death for men. There is spiritual death, what
I've just been talking about. It's what total depravity comes
from. When you're spiritually dead, you can't perform the functions
of spiritual life. You can't love God. You can't
repent. You can't believe. You can't love your brother.
You can have natural love, but not the spiritual love that only
comes from being born of God. The natural man who's spiritually
dead can do none of those things. Then there's physical death. It's right around the corner
for all of us, when we're going to stand before God in judgment.
We're not going to breathe anymore. Our hearts are not going to pump.
They're going to lay our bodies down dead and lifeless. Oh, what is important in light
of that? You think about all the things
that we're troubled about. What is important in light of
that? And the third kind of death is
what John calls the second death. That's talking about the eternal
torments of the damned in hell. Now, what does Paul mean when
he says the sting of death is sin? Death's got a sting. What does he mean, the sting
of death is sin? Well, first of all, if there
were no sin, there'd be no death. Did you know that? If there were
no sin, there would be no death. Sin is what causes death to be
terrifying. Now, here's what I'm thinking
of when I'm thinking of dying. I'm thinking, what if I'm not
saved? So I always think about when
I think about death. Somebody says, I never have a doubt. Well,
congratulations. But as soon as I start thinking
about death, I start thinking, what if I'm not saved? What if
I don't know the Lord? What if I have to stand before
God and be judged for my sin? That's what makes me afraid of
death. When the Lord gives me full assurance that my sins are
forgiven, that they're put away, that I stand before God accepted,
I'm not afraid of death. Not afraid of it, but what makes
us fear death is sin. The sting of death is sin. Sin is the reason behind the
anxiety of death. Now, what is sin? Well, simply,
Adam disobeyed God. He just didn't do what God said
to do. Listen to these scriptures. 1 John 3, 4 says, sin is the
transgression of the law. Any want of conformity to God's
holy law. 1 John 5.17 says all unrighteousness
is sin. Romans 3.23 says all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. Do you know that's a crime?
Punishable by death to come short of the glory of God. Proverbs
24.9 says the thought of foolishness is sin. James 2.9 says the respect
of persons showing favoritism because of somebody's position
or who they are to you. The respect of persons is sin. Romans 14, 23 says whatsoever
is not of faith is sin. James 14, 17 says to him that
knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. And Proverbs 21, 4 says the plowing of the wicked is sin. I cannot
think of a more wholesome activity, plowing, going out and plowing
up a garden, maybe to feed the poor, to be productive. And yet
the scripture says the plowing, what we would consider about
the most wholesome back to roots action, scripture says it's sin
because of who does it. You see, if I do it because of
a sinful nature, if I do it, no matter what it is, it is sin
because I did it. The plowing of the wicked is
sin. Now, all of the vast catalog
of sins that are in the world, the darkness and the depravity
of them find their birth out of this sin. By one man, sin
entered the world and death by Sin. And me and you are going
to die. It's inevitable. Me and you are going to die.
Now, look what he says next, back to 1 Corinthians 15. The sting of death is sin and
the strength, the power of sin is the law. Now, that statement,
I believe, runs clean contrary to what we naturally think. The
strength, the power of sin is the law. Well, we think that
the law would weaken sin and prevent sin and keep it in check
and make people at least afraid to sin. So what does Paul mean
when he says the very strength of sin is the law? Now, the first
thing I want to talk about is how powerful sin is. Sin. is very, very powerful to the
point that you and I cannot prevent it. That's how powerful it is. Paul said in Romans chapter five,
verse 21, that sin had reigned unto death. Now I want to ask
you a question. How much power do you have to prevent death?
You can take care of yourself. You can exercise every day. You
can eat nothing but organic foods. You can get in a germ-free environment.
And what's going to happen to you? You're going to die. There's no stopping it. There's
nothing you can do to prevent it. Death reigns. You can't say, I'm not going
to let it come take me. You don't have any choice. You
can't prevent it. Death reigns. And we have no
more power to stop sinning than we do to prevent death. That's
how strong it is. Now, how is the law the power
of this monster sin? I mean, that's what he says.
The strength of sin is the law. How? How can the law be said
to be the strength of sin? Well, first of all, Because if
there were no law, there would be no sin. Let me back that up
with scripture, turn to Romans chapter four. The law, God's requirement of perfection,
the thou shalt and the thou shalt not of scripture. Because the
law worketh wrath for where no law is, there's no transgression. Now, if there were no law, there
would be no sin. There would be no transgression.
Look in Romans 5, 13. For until the law, sin was in
the world, but sin is not imputed where there is no law. Romans 7, 7. What should we say then? Is the
law of sin? Is the law a bad thing? God forbid. Nay, I'd not
known sin, but by the law. For I'd not known lust, except
the law had said, thou shalt not covet. I thought I was fine.
I thought I was doing well. I was alive without the law once.
But when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. You see, there is law, moral
absolute law. Moral absolute, I don't even
know if that's the right word to use. I can't even come up with the
right word because I don't even know how to use the word morality
with reference to God. God's not moral, God's God and
he's holy. And I don't even know the right
word to use, but I know this because God is. There are moral
absolutes. His law is in effect whether
anybody sees it or not. I love that passage of scripture
in Romans chapter two. Let's turn over there real quick.
Romans chapter two. Verse 14. For when the Gentiles,
which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in
the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves.
They've never seen a copy of the Bible or the Ten Commandments,
which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their
conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile,
accusing or excusing one another. That's all they do. They either
feel guilty and their conscience condemns them, or they come up
with an excuse. in the day when God shall judge
the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel." Now,
God's law, the Ten Commandments, the thou shouts, and the thou
shouts not, all the law does is expose sin. That's it. Doesn't do anything else. It
exposes sin. Someone said, isn't the law a
guide for us to live by? Go to, go for it. Go for it. Can you follow the guide? Somebody
says the law is our rule of life. You're in trouble then because
you, you've blown it. You've already flunked. If the
law, and I love God's law. I'm not saying in any way that
I'm excusing sin in any way, but, but if, if the laws, your
rule of life and my rule of life, we failed. We failed utterly. All God's holy law does is expose
sin. It has no power to prevent sin.
It never stops sin, nor does it give us power over it. It
only exposes sin. That's all God's law does, is
it exposes to me what I am. Now, people who seem to like
to be under the law, they've never really understood it. They've
never seen what it says to them. And people who are under the
law And that's our role of life. That's our code of conduct. Or
always, with that exception, they're always trying to expose
other people's sin. It's because the work of the
law has never really been done with them. They've never seen
what they are before God. Therefore, they're looking at
what other people are. You know, the law makes people
mean. It makes people judgmental. It
makes people critical. And the problem's not the law,
but with fallen man who has no understanding of the law. Now
let me show you when the law's done its work. Look in Romans
chapter three. I've not really seen the law until I'm right
here. Verse 19 of Romans chapter three.
Now we know that what things, soever the law say. Now let me
say this before I go on reading this. The law doesn't tell other
people what to do. The law tells you what to do. God's word does not tell other
people what to do. It tells you what to do. It speaks to you personally. Don't need to worry about anybody
else. What does God's law say to me? Verse 19, now we know
that what thing soever the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law that every mouth may be stopped. And all the world
may become guilty before God. Has my mouth been stopped? The
strength of sin is the law. It actually stirs up and excites
sin. All I got to do is say, don't
do it. That's what you want to do. That's what I want to do. All I got to do is draw a line
in the sand and that's the line you're going to want to walk
over. That's the way we respond to law. All law does is excite
and promote sin. Look in Romans chapter seven.
Let me show you this. Verse seven. What should we say then? Is the
law sin? Is the law cause of our sin?
God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but
by the law. For I had not known lust, except
the law had said, thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion,
using as a base of operations the commandment. Here's what
sin did through the commandment. It wrought in me all manner of
evil desire. As soon as God said, do not covet,
you know what I began to do? I begin to covet, covet, covet. Don't covet! I can't help it. It comes out. I might not have
even been thinking about it, but as soon as you tell me not
to do it, that's exactly what I want to do. The law is the
strength of sin. It doesn't check sin. It doesn't
restrain sin. It excites it. It blows it up. One old preacher made this statement. He said, I preach law to my congregation
till there wasn't a sober person left there. He said, then I preach
grace. And there was, the Lord did some
things. You know, it's only through the preaching of grace that any good's done. You know,
if I preach against some sin, that's the sin that everybody's
gonna be drawn to and commit with both hands. As a matter
of fact, if you hear a preacher preaching against some sin, you
can just write it down. That's what he's doing. That's
what he's doing. All the law does is promote and
irritate and cause sin because of the wickedness
of us. If you want to have a wicked
bunch of people, preach law. This do. This do. That will just
guarantee all kinds of problems. This do. But preach. It's done. There's nothing for you to do.
Not a thing in the world. Simply trust the Lord Jesus Christ. He calls on you to simply trust
Him. Forget works. There's nothing for you to do.
Nothing for you to be. Just look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know what that's going to make? That's going to make a
bunch of people who follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Who love Him
and love one another. You preach law, and at best,
all you'll have is a bunch of liars. You know, I thought about
this, too, while I was thinking about this thing with law. We've
had people come through the church at times, what I would call law
people. Law people. And I've had this happen a lot
of times. And they ask me this question,
what do you guys do about discipline? What do you do when people sin? You need to be worried about
yourself, buddy. You're talking about, what are you going to
do about these other people? You're the problem. And you expose that
when you say something like that. I remember one time, I love this,
I called Brother Mahan. I said, what do you say to people
when they ask you about discipline? He says, we use a weed eater.
And I thought, that'll put a stop to that. Back to 1 Corinthians 15. You
know, this goes against our natural way of thinking, this thing of
the law being the strength of sin. But it is. If you want to
get a bunch of harsh, mean, judgmental, critical, wicked people just
tearing apart each other, preach law to them. And that's what's
going to take place. That's the law. That's all the law does. It's the strength of sin. But
look what Paul says in verse 57. But. Aren't you thankful for that
word? But. I mean, what if we just left
with a hopeless message? But I love that scripture. But
God. You were dead in sins. You walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom we all had our conversation
in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind. And we were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. But God, there's the gospel right
there, isn't it? But God, who is rich in mercy,
For his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were
dead in sins hath quickened us together with Christ. Don't you
love but God? And God saw the wickedness of
man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. But Noah found
grace. He was in that description, but
Noah found grace. in the eyes of the Lord. Thanks
be unto God. There's not an and. Thanks be
unto God and fill in the blank. You and I made no contribution
in this. Thanks be unto God that giveth us the victory. This is
not a cooperative effort. Oh, how I love this verse of
scripture. When he had by himself. Don't you love that? He didn't
have any help from me. He didn't have any help from
you. No one. He had no creature aid when he
had by himself purged, put away, washed away our sins. He sat down. The reason he sat
down is the work was finished. He sat down at the right hand
of the majesty on high, having finished the work. I thank God. Turn to Romans 7. You're familiar
with this passage of scripture, but I love the way he thanks
the Lord at this time. We're preaching through Romans.
I'm looking forward to getting into this a few weeks down the
road. But I never will forget one time
I was talking to this person. They said, well, we need to get
out of Romans 7 and into Romans 8. I thought, no, no, we stay
right in Romans 7 and we stay right in Romans 8. They're not
opposed to one another. They go together. But Paul is
talking about the experience of a believer. And he said in
verse 21, I find then a law, a principle, that when I would
do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law
of God after the inward man. And I do. Don't you love God's
law? I love everything God says. I love his holiness. I love the
holy requirements of his law. I delight in the law of God after
the inward man. I can say that just as truly
as Paul did. I see another law in my members
warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity,
slave to the law of sin, which is in my members, captured. Oh,
wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? I thank God. through Jesus Christ,
our Lord. So then with my mind, I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. Turn
back to 1 Corinthians 15. But thanks be unto God, which
giveth us the victory. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ, our Lord. The Lord said to the woman from
Samaria, if you knew the gift of God, the free gift of God
and who it is that saith unto thee, give me to drink, you would
have asked of him. And He would have given thee
living water. Now listen to me. If you knew
the gift, the absolute freeness of this gift, you know what you'd
do? You'd ask. You would. You wouldn't delay.
You'd ask. And you know what? He would give
unto you. This gift of life. God's salvation is a free gift. And when I say that, I'm not
sure my conscience really believes that. I say it, but really? Free? No strings attached? No conditions to meet? Free? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him? What's the next word? Freely. Freely. Without a cause. Is that good news to you? That
his salvation is free. He doesn't have to have a cause
in you to give it to you. Being justified freely by his
grace. Now it says in our text, but
thanks be unto God, which giveth us the victory over death, over
hell, over sin. But thanks be unto God, which
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now that
word through is because of, by reason of, on account of, for
the sake of. Be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven
you. That's the reason. God did this,
not because you asked, not because you did anything. He did it for
Christ's sake. All God's blessings are mediated
through the Lord Jesus Christ. They're by reason of, they're
on account of him. John 3, 17, for God sent not
his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world
through him, through him, on account of him, by reason of
him, might be saved. Acts 13, 38, through this man. On account of this man, because
of this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. Acts 15, 11 says we believe that
through the grace, on account of the grace, because of the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even like them. Us Jews, we're going to be saved
like those Gentile dogs. He didn't say they're going to
be saved the way we are. He said we'll be saved the way they were. Romans 8.37 says, we're more
than conquerors through him that loved us, on account of him that
loved us. Philippians 3.8, 9, O that I may win Christ and be
found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the
law, but that which is through or on account of, by reason of
the faith of Christ. The righteousness which is of
God by faith. Colossians 1.20 says, having
made peace, through on account of the blood of the cross. And because of that piece he
made, every believer is presented holy and unblameable and unapprovable
in the very sight of God. And that's victory, isn't it?
That's victory. When I stand before God, holy
and unblameable and unapprovable, I'll know something of victory,
won't I? Hebrews 10.10 says, by the witch will, we are sanctified
through the offering of the body on account of the offering of
the body of Jesus Christ, once for all perfected forever, completely
sanctified. Thanks be unto God, which giveth
us the victory. You see, he died and took the
sting away. Now, when I see a wasp, I don't
want to get stung. I stay away from it. But what
if the wasp didn't have a stinger? Couldn't do anything to me, could
it? I might see it and be still afraid of it. When I think of
death, I can't look at death. It's unknown. And somebody says,
I have no fear of death. Well, I'm glad for you. I can't say that altogether.
I mean, I have assurance that I'm safe. I really do. But when
I start thinking of death, I start thinking, what if you're not?
If the sting is taken away, and what is the sting? Sin. If sin's
taken away, now once in the end of the world hath he appeared
to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. The sting's taken
away, and the strength of the law is taken away, because Christ
honored the law, and I'm not under the law. Doesn't the Bible say sin shall
not have dominion over you, for you're not under the law? But
under grace, that's what the Word of God says. So the love,
the strength of sin, the sting of sin has been taken away. The
strength of sin has been taken away. God's law has been honored. I stand before that law without
guilt. Think about this scripture. Paul
said in 1 Timothy 1.8, the law was not made for a righteous
man, but for the lawless and disobedient. If somebody wants
to be under law, all they prove by that is they're lawless and
disobedient. You know, if there weren't any crooks, you wouldn't
have to have locks, would you? You wouldn't have to worry about
locking your doors at night. You see, for a righteous man, you
don't need stuff like that. It's the crook, it's the thief
that needs law. Well, regarding death, I'm gonna die, and you're gonna
die, And I'm going to be singing this song, thanks be unto God,
which giveth us freely the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
He took the sting away and he removed the strength. And I stand
before God, holy, unblameable, and unreprovable. What a glorious
salvation. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you from the very depths of our beings that you took the sting of death
away by removing the sin by your precious blood when you were
made sin and put it away. And Lord, how we thank you that
we're not under law, but we're under that precious grace and
that you've made us righteous men and righteous men have no
need to fear the law. And Lord, how we thank you that
you've given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord,
deliver us from being caught up with the things of
this world, with the things of time and sense. And Lord, cause us to pass our
time here in fear, in our pilgrimage, knowing that we're pilgrims passing
through, going to a better place. thy presence. Lord, we thank
you for your gospel. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
What do you got, Dwayne? 352. 352. We'll stand and sing.
I love this hymn. Jesus, lover of my soul. Hymn
number 352. StSq3 3.30 (-0.99)"