Changing the label on sin does not change the result of the sin. A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet. A skunk by any other name would stink just as bad.
2. Isaiah 5:20-25 Woe to those who call evil good, and
good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for
darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for
bitter! 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own
eyes, And prudent in their own sight! 22 Woe to men
mighty at drinking wine, Woe to men valiant for
mixing intoxicating drink, 23 Who justify the wicked
for a bribe, And take away justice from the righteous
man! 24 Therefore, as the fire devours the stubble,
And the flame consumes the chaff, So their root will
be as rottenness, And their blossom will ascend like
dust; Because they have rejected the law of the
LORD of hosts, And despised the word of the Holy
One of Israel. 25 Therefore the anger of the LORD is
aroused against His people; He has stretched out
His hand against them And stricken them, And the
hills trembled. Their carcasses were as refuse in the
midst of the streets. For all this His anger is not
turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.
3. LABELS
A.A rose by any other name would still smell
as sweet.
B.A skunk by any other name would stink
just as bad.
C.Changing the label on sin does not change
the result of the sin.
1. Adultery – Affair
2. Pre-marital sex – Love
3. Alcoholism – Disease
4. Homosexual – Gay/Alternative life style
5. Lying – Stretching the truth
6. Baby – Fetus (Abortion)
7. Sin – Legal
4. LABELS
D.Sin has consequences in this life and
in the next.
E. In a society where sin is legal,
Christians must be able to tell the
difference between good and evil.
5. I. WE MUST DISTINGUISH
BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL.
A.HATE GOOD AND LOVE EVIL? - Micah 3:1-12 And I said:
"Hear now, O heads of Jacob, And you rulers of the house
of Israel: Is it not for you to know justice? 2 You who hate
good and love evil; Who strip the skin from My people,
And the flesh from their bones; 3 Who also eat the flesh of
My people, Flay their skin from them, Break their bones,
And chop them in pieces Like meat for the pot, Like flesh
in the caldron." 4 Then they will cry to the LORD, But He
will not hear them; He will even hide His face from them at
that time, Because they have been evil in their deeds.
5 Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets Who
make my people stray; Who chant "Peace" While they
chew with their teeth, But who prepare war against him
Who puts nothing into their mouths: 6 "Therefore you
shall have night without vision, And you shall have
darkness without divination; The sun shall go down on
the prophets, And the day shall be dark for them >>>
6. I. WE MUST DISTINGUISH
BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL.
7 So the seers shall be ashamed, And the diviners abashed;
Indeed they shall all cover their lips; For there is no answer
from God." 8 But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the
LORD, And of justice and might, To declare to Jacob his
transgression And to Israel his sin. 9 Now hear this, You
heads of the house of Jacob And rulers of the house of
Israel, Who abhor justice And pervert all equity, 10 Who
build up Zion with bloodshed And Jerusalem with iniquity:
11 Her heads judge for a bribe, Her priests teach for pay,
And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the
LORD, and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No harm can
come upon us." 12 Therefore because of you Zion shall be
plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins,
And the mountain of the temple Like the bare hills of the
forest.
7. I. WE MUST DISTINGUISH
BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL.
B. DISCERN BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL - 1 Kings
3:9 Therefore give to Your servant an understanding
heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between
good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people
of Yours?"
C. TURN FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD - Jeremiah 18:9-12
And the instant I speak concerning a nation and
concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, (10) if it
does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice,
then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I
would benefit it. (11) "Now therefore, speak to the men of
Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, 'Thus
says the LORD: "Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and
devising a plan against you. Return now every one from
his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good."
' " (12) And they said, "That is hopeless! So we will walk
according to our own plans, and we will every one obey
the dictates of his evil heart."
8. I. WE MUST DISTINGUISH
BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL.
D. FOLLOW GOD - Isaiah 30:20-21 And though the Lord
gives you The bread of adversity and the water of
affliction, Yet your teachers will not be moved into a
corner anymore, But your eyes shall see your teachers.
(21) Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,
"This is the way, walk in it," Whenever you turn to the
right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.
E. MAN’S WAY IS NOT RIGHT
1. Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a
man, But its end is the way of death.
2. Proverbs 30:12 There is a generation that is pure in its
own eyes, Yet is not washed from its filthiness.
3. Jeremiah 10:23 O LORD, I know the way of man is not
in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own
steps.
9. II. DEPART FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD.
A. TURN FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD - 1 Peter 3:10-11 For
"He who would love life And see good days, Let him
refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking
deceit. 11 Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let
him seek peace and pursue it.
B. IT IS FOOLISH TO DO EVIL. - Jeremiah 4:22 "For My
people are foolish, They have not known Me. They are
silly children, And they have no understanding. They
are wise to do evil, But to do good they have no
knowledge."
C. SEEK GOOD NOT EVIL. - Amos 5:14-15 Seek good
and not evil, That you may live; So the LORD God of
hosts will be with you, As you have spoken. 15 Hate
evil, love good; Establish justice in the gate. It may be
that the LORD God of hosts Will be gracious to the
remnant of Joseph.
10. II. DEPART FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD.
D. DEPART FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD -
Psalm 34:14 Depart from evil and do
good; Seek peace and pursue it.
E. IMITATE GOOD NOT EVIL. - 3 John
1:11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil,
but what is good. He who does good is of
God, but he who does evil has not seen
God.
F. ABHOR EVIL CLING TO GOOD Romans
12:9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor
what is evil. Cling to what is good.
11. III. JUDGED BY DOING GOOD OR EVIL.
A. JUDGED BY WORKS - Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God will
bring every work into judgment, Including every secret
thing, Whether good or evil.
B. LIFE OR CONDEMNATION - John 5:28-29 Do not
marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who
are in the graves will hear His voice (29) and come
forth--those who have done good, to the resurrection
of life, and those who have done evil, to the
resurrection of condemnation.
C. FAVOR OR TROUBLE IN THIS LIFE - Proverbs
11:27 He who earnestly seeks good finds favor, But
trouble will come to him who seeks evil.
D. SIN WRONGS YOURSELF - Proverbs 8:33-36 Hear
instruction and be wise, And do not disdain it. (34)
Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching daily
at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors. (35) For
whoever finds me finds life, And obtains favor from the
LORD; (36) But he who sins against me wrongs his
own soul; All those who hate me love death."
12. IV. HOW DO WE DISTINGUISH
GOOD FROM EVIL?
A.Hebrews 5:12-14 For though by this time you ought to
be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the
first principles of the oracles of God; and you have
come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone
who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of
righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food
belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who
by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern
both good and evil.
B.Colossians 1:9-10 For this reason we also, since the
day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to
ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will
in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; (10) that you
may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being
fruitful in every good work and increasing in the
knowledge of God;
13. IV. HOW DO WE DISTINGUISH
GOOD FROM EVIL?
C. Exodus 15:26 and said, "If you diligently heed the
voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in
His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep
all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on
you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I
am the LORD who heals you."
D. Deuteronomy 6:17-18 You shall diligently keep the
commandments of the LORD your God, His
testimonies, and His statutes which He has
commanded you. (18) And you shall do what is
right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may
be well with you, and that you may go in and
possess the good land of which the LORD swore
to your fathers,
14. IT’S OUR CHOICE
A.OUR CHOICE BLESSING OR CURSING. - Deuteronomy
30:15-20 "See, I have set before you today life and good,
death and evil, 16 in that I command you today to love the
LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His
commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you
may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless
you in the land which you go to possess. 17 But if your
heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn
away, and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I
announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you
shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross
over the Jordan to go in and possess. 19 I call heaven and
earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before
you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose
life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that
you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His
voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and
the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land
which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, to give them."
15. IT’S OUR CHOICE
B. NOT REWARDING GOOD BRINGS EVIL. - Proverbs
17:13 Whoever rewards evil for good, Evil will not
depart from his house.
C. A lie doesn’t become truth, wrong doesn’t become
right and evil does not become good, just because
it is deemed legal by our society.
D. WE WILL BE JUDGED BY GOD’S BOOKS NOT U.S.
LAW BOOKS - Revelation 20:12-13 And I saw the
dead, small and great, standing before God, and
books were opened. And another book was
opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead
were judged according to their works, by the
things which were written in the books. (13) The
sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death
and Hades delivered up the dead who were in
them. And they were judged, each one according
to his works.