Before I get into the message tonight, I have a confession to make. I sinned today doing the very thing that I’m preaching against tonight. God convicted me through my wife that what I was doing was wrong. You see, I belong to a business networking group and they sell raffle tickets and if your ticket is drawn, you get a chance to draw the winning card – the joker. They were down to six cards and the amount you could win was over $3,000. My message tonight is that Christians Don’t Make Excuses For Their Sins. When my wife asked me when I pay $5 for a chance to win $3,000, isn’t that’s gambling, I had to admit that it is. But before she asked that question and before I answered yes, I justified what I was doing.
The networking group is a non-profit group. I pointed out that this is how the networking group raises money. They donate money to Toys For Tots at Christmas time. It’s no different than when Christian organizations hold fund raisers and you can buy a raffle ticket for $25 for a chance to win a new car. I was doing exactly what my message is against tonight. I was making excuses for what I knew was wrong. I was making excuses for my sin because I wanted to win $3,000. So I asked God to forgive me from my sin and I thank God for my godly wife.
Again, the message tonight is Christians don’t make excuses for their sins. It bothers us when we sin. It grieves us when we sin against our Holy God. It breaks our hearts to break God’s heart. We don’t try to justify our sins. We don’t defend our sins. We confess and forsake them. We cry out for God to forgive us. We repent by turning away from our sins.
But I can’t count the number of times we’ve been out witnessing and people try to make excuses for their sinful lifestyles and more times than not, it’s professing Christians that are doing this! So I repeat: Christians don’t make excuses for their sins! Do you make excuses for your sins? If so and you profess to be a Christian, you need to examine yourself to see if you are in the faith.
Countless times we’ve heard things like:
“Judge not, lest ye be judged.”
“Jesus died for all of our sins.”
“God loves everybody.”
“My god wouldn’t send anyone to Hell.”
“You aren’t being very Christ-like.”
“You are doing this wrong.”
“You should love people to Jesus.”
“The Bible doesn’t say that.”
“You should read the Bible.”
“Jesus never said that.”
“Jesus turned water into wine.”
“The Bible doesn’t say that you shouldn’t drink alcohol.”
“God made marijuana.”
“Jesus died so we can sin.”
“Nobody’s perfect.”
“We are all just human.”
“We all make mistakes.”
“We’re all sinners.”
“Only God can judge me.”
People say only God can judge me like this a good thing. God is going to judge you. It’s called Judgment Day and if Jesus is not your Lord and Savior, it will not end well for you. That’s why we come out here. That’s why we are out here tonight sharing the Gospel with you. Not only can God judge you; He will judge you. Some people are already under God’s judgment. Just like America has been turned over as a nation as a whole to a reprobate mind, some of you may have individually been turned over to a reprobate mind.
Maybe God has turned you over to your sinful desires. You are bound to your sin, whether it’s drugs, alcohol, stealing or sexual immorality. Some of you may already be under God’s judgment – right now and you don’t even know it. You are running as fast and as hard as you can in your sin and you think that you are free. But you are a slave to sin. It is your master. Do not harden your heart tonight. Before Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, Pharaoh hardened his heart. Guess what? After Pharaoh hardened his heart, the Bible says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. God turned Pharaoh over to his own reprobate mind. Don’t be like Pharaoh tonight.
Again, sadly, many times, it is professing Christians that say the statements I quoted earlier. Many times, it is professing Christians that try to justify their sins. If you make excuses for your sins, you should worry tonight. How can you be saved? How can the Holy Spirit live inside of you if you love your sins? Shouldn’t the Holy Spirit convict you of sin and unrighteousness? You need to judge yourself. Ask yourself why you have never repented from your sin. How can you say that you have surrendered your life to Jesus while at the same time you’re living for the devil?
Our Lord gave His all as He suffered and died on the cross. We have to surrender our lives to Him – completely. You can’t hold back any of your sins. God knows your thoughts and your heart, as well as your actions. If you are still holding on to sin today, if you are still justifying your sin today, then you are outright rebelling against God. You are still loving the world and hating God.
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15). Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God (James 4:4). If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles (Job 11:14). Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body (1 Corinthians 6:13).
If you are a professing Christian tonight, please listen to these verses: If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: (Colossians 3:1-10).
If you are truly saved, you are a new creature in Christ. You have been redeemed. You have been forgiven for your sins, not to sin freely. You are alive in Christ. You put away the outright rebellion against God. That doesn’t mean that you are perfect. But we are to live holy lives because God is Holy. We don’t make excuses when we sin, we confess sin, repent of sin and we abhor sin. We don’t revel in it and foolishly claim that Jesus died so we can do whatever we want to. No, if you believe this tonight, you have a low view salvation and you have a low view of our mighty Lord. He is Lord – Lord of all. You need to stop mocking Jesus. You need to stop taking lightly His brutal beating and the wrath of God that was poured out upon Him.
Jesus paid an awful high price for guilty sinners. But you must repent and trust Him. You must surrender your life to Him – unconditionally. You must stop rebelling against Him. What sin do you love tonight that you don’t want to let go of? What sin do you hold on to so tightly and so dearly that you are willing to die in that sin and spend eternity in Hell over it? What sin is keeping you from eternal life? What sin is keeping you from bowing your knee and confessing with your tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord? Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name (Philippians 2:9).
When you are truly saved, you are changed. The Holy Spirit lives inside you. You are a different person. Not perfect, but different. You don’t continue reveling in the same sins you once loved. That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:22-24).
If you continue justifying your sins, making excuses for them, then you are lost. You are no different than the rebellious sinner you were before you claimed Jesus as your Savior. Oh, you might have said a little one time prayer and asked Jesus into your heart, thinking that He was going to save you, but you have never received Him as your Lord. You have not been renewed in the spirit of your mind. You are not seeking after righteousness and holiness if you continue defending your sinful lifestyle.
I just read you the verses in Ephesians 4:22-24. If you are not a changed person, you are not a saved person. This should make you tremble. This should keep you awake tonight and every night until you surrender your life to Jesus – really surrender your life to Him; fully and completely. Don’t continue rebelling against God. Don’t continue on the broad road to Hell. Repent and put your faith in Jesus tonight. Truly surrender your life to Him. Be saved. Do this tonight. Stop making excuses for your sins and your sinful desires. Christians don’t make excuses for their sins. Are you a Christian? Are you saved? If not, please repent and believe the Gospel. If you are truly saved and you have been justifying your sin, stop doing so. Confess and forsake your sin. Repent and get right with God.
(A rough version of this message was lifted up on the square in downtown Springfield, MO on July 17, 2015)
Question for you – Let’s say my company has a fund raiser for charity and there is a nice piece of jewelry you can win if “you’re lucky.”
And I like the charity. It seems I have a few options:
1. ABSTAIN completely on the basis that ANY raffle is gambling and evil and move on.
1a. DONATE through another means, like directly to the charity. So abstain & donate.
2. DONATE money to the charity. So, throw my $20 in the bucket but ask nothing in return. I may or may not make this clear to the seller so they will not think I’m gambling.
3. PLAY – but with the intention that if I win, I donate back my winnings. Hard to do with merchandise, but possible with a 50/50 raffle.
4. PLAY – but not because I want the jewelry. Play to donate the money. Be happy to lose the raffle for the sake of the donation. But also know that if I were to win the raffle, I’d happily do something godly with the winnings, like gift the jewelry to my wife.
5. Gamble to win.
My interest is what is your opinion of these and any other options you may come up with. I believe, as you do, that #5 is a problem and #1 is perfect acceptable.
But I have a hard time saying 2-4 are sin. the way I’ve presented them.
I can see rationalizations for 2-4, based on whether your heart is truly covetous in the matter. But is this rationalizing sin, or is it just thinking it through?
What do you think?
Michael, you are asking great questions. This may be one of those areas like Paul talked about in Romans 14:5:One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. Outright gambling is wrong, but is it wrong to donate to charities when there is a chance to win a prize? I can’t biblically state it is for sure one way or the other, so it may be whether God convicts or doesn’t convict a person individually.
I just had to laugh at myself that morning because I was doing exactly what I was going to preach against that Friday night. I was justifying what I was doing. So for me personally, God convicted me over numbers 3 and 4 because I was stating these type of objections to my wife and it seemed like I was justifying what I wanted to do. So God convicted me that it was wrong, even if I were willing to give away the winnings. God may not convict other Christians over this. Thanks, Dennis
Thanks for the humble and honest explanation, Dennis. I appreciate the help, brother!
Keep fighting the good fight brother.