Reasoning From The Consequences

Introduction

Begin turning in your New Testaments to Romans chapter six. We’re going to be looking at a few verses there by way of introduction. What we believe about God and his word involves a number of implications. And many individuals accept something less than total surrender, complete submission, and obedience. Because of those implications. Because of the costs that they perceive. And whatever these costs are, Jesus never minimized them. He spoke plainly and clearly about the cost of being his disciple. But he also tells us, and the New Testament also instructs us, that the rewards far exceed. They are exceedingly greater than any of the costs. And in the context of 2 Corinthians 4, where Paul is talking about dying for the sake of the gospel so that he and others might live, and he talks about persecution and difficulty and trouble and trial.

He says at the end of that context in verse 17 of chapter 4, our momentary light affliction. You might call that the costs of being a disciple, of being an apostle in his case, of Jesus Christ. Our momentary light affliction. Oh, but it is producing for us. An eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. Yes, Daniel, that’s one of my favorite passages. A proper perspective involves a change of masters. That’s what choosing to do right is all about. About that total submission that I described. Coming under the reign and authority of Jesus Christ and letting him be king of our hearts and lives. What that’s really all about is a change of domain out of darkness and into his marvelous light. More than that, it is a change of masters.

And as you see, it’s quite an upgrade. And that’s really what Paul is talking about in Romans chapter 6. As he describes what our baptism into Christ means, it doesn’t mean go on sinning, live it up, grace will cover it. He’s saying we have died to sin. And now we are alive to God. And don’t go on presenting the members of your body to unrighteousness in verse 13. And then he says, and we could read the whole chapter, but in verse 16, do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey. Either of sin resulting in death or of obedience resulting in righteousness. Okay, sin resulting in death, obedience resulting in righteousness.

You make the call. Which servitude is better? Which master is better. And so he says, and having been freed from sin, well it’s verse 17. But thanks be to God, that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed. And having been freed from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness. So now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. And again, we could read more, and we may come back to this context in a moment. But the popular 21st century approach to the implications of Scripture is maybe I can find some kind of comfortable middle ground.

Maybe I can have a little bit of this and a little bit of the world too, or maybe just a little bit of this and a lot of the world, all at the same time. And yet Jesus said clearly in Matthew 6 and verse 24, no man can serve two masters. You see, the implications of the gospel are you have to choose a new master, Jesus Christ. And you cannot love God and serve mammon at the same time. You cannot be worldly and godly at the same time. You have to make a choice. That’s the very nature of it. And there’s costs involved in that choice. But understand, if you choose mammon, if you choose friendship with the world, James says the results of that choice is hostility toward God.

Having God as your enemy. And so there are implications to rejecting it as well. And so when people look at the truth and are confronted with the truth, they begin to see the implications of embracing this message or even rejecting this message. People will immediately begin to reason from the consequences. If I accept this, if I embrace this, then this is what that means. And I’ve noticed in conversations with people that this kind of reasoning happens very quickly. What’s this going to mean in my life? Reasoning from the consequences. The classic example of this in the New Testament, I think, is probably the opponents of Jesus. And they are coming to him and saying, by what authority do you do these things in Matthew 21?

They say, let me ask you a question. And I’ll give you your answers. The baptism of John. Was it from heaven or from men? And so they huddle. And they start to reason regarding the cause. If we say it’s from heaven, then why didn’t we go out to be baptized of him? But if we say it is of men, the implications of that would be the people would be against us because they perceived John to be a prophet. And so they started reasoning from the consequences and found out that they didn’t win either way. And so they wouldn’t answer. So Jesus said, Neither will I tell you. By what authority I do these things. See how people were reasoning from the consequences. And so when people are confronted with the truth, certain thoughts start coming to their mind, like, ooh, I’m going to have to admit that I was wrong.

Some people do not embrace the message of truth because of pride. Because they cannot say or want to admit that they were wrong. Pride so often interferes with an admission of truth. And just because we get over the hurdle of initial obedience, it doesn’t mean that we’re ever going to struggle again. In regard to this problem of pride and being able to admit that we are wrong. So many times, when you study with people about the truth that saves their soul, they don’t look at these passages that you are presenting and say, no, that’s not what it says. I don’t think I’ve ever had anybody in Acts 2.38 try to argue from that verse that verse is not saying, repent and be baptized for the remission of sins.

It’s sort of hard to get around what it’s plainly saying. Or baptism doth also now save you. 1 Peter 3 and verse 21, or Saul Tarsus was told, arise and be baptized and wash away your sins, or Colossians 2 and verse 12, whatever the passage is. You show people those passages, and you say, Well, you can even ask them what do these passages say. And they’ll tell you. But then they will immediately do what? We’ll go somewhere else. Go to some other verse that they think is saying something different to protect their theology or what they presently believe. And if you do that, if you let them do that, what they’re saying is, I’m putting the Bible in conflict with itself, and that’s okay because this passage over here fits my theology.

But they’re inevitably going to do that. You’ve got to make them stay in those verses and admit what those verses are saying, and then say, whatever those other verses are saying, it’s got to mesh or harmonize, it’s the law of harmony. It’s got to harmonize with this message of truth. But so many are already thinking, if I acknowledge what I see in that verse, and what I’ve read in that verse, and what I know it’s saying, if I acknowledge that, then I will also have to say that I have been wrong. And the place where I worship teaches it wrong. And people that I love and respect teach it wrong. We need to be able to say when we’re wrong. I was wrong. So, since we need to be able to do that, husbands, I want you to look at your wives right now and say it, I was wrong.

Now I don’t know what it’s about, but you’ve been wrong. And you need to practice saying it because occasions will occur if they haven’t already, and I know they have, where you’re going to have to look at her and say, I was wrong. Good practice.

Reasoning from the consequence. I’ll tell you what else goes with that. Not only do they have to say I was wrong, but the gospel calls us to change. Or repentance. And that’s often the rub of people. A vice that must be surrendered, a sin that must be jettisoned. A practice that must be stopped. A belief that must be changed. All of these reasons. People start thinking immediately, wow, these are the implications of embracing it. I’m going to have to change. And some of these changes are quite significant. They’re not going to be understood by people that are close to me.

And this business of commitment. If you understand what Jesus is calling you to do and to be, and for how long?

It’s not just for a day. It’s not just for a year. I mean, anybody could be a Christian for a day. It’s a lifelong commitment and loyalty to Jesus. And the price of commitment is steep. As we saw last week, they did not love their lives. Even to death. It may cost them their lifeblood, their commitment to Jesus. And along with the things that I’ve already said, well, you know, if I embrace this passage and what you’re saying it says and what I’ve seen that it says, then that means this beloved relative. I’m condemning them. Because they didn’t believe this and they’ve already died, so their fate is sealed. So they didn’t believe this. If I believe it, then I’m saying that they’re lost. I’m assigning them to a lost state.

Well, let me just say about that particular implication or reasoning. That your decision about what this book is saying does not change just because of the implications regarding someone in your family, it doesn’t change the truthfulness of what you read. It is what you read, it is what you saw. Regardless of how that might filter down in implications in regard to your family. And it does not change the status or the behavior of the beloved person. If it’s not measuring up, if it didn’t measure up, what you decide to believe or not believe about the truth doesn’t change that. It is what it is. And the character of God has not changed. The love of God, the mercy of God, the justice and equity of God.

And that’s what I tell people. Here’s what I know. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? In the day of judgment, God is going to be fair. He’s going to be fair with your beloved grandmother or your aunt or your uncle or your parent that you’re so concerned about because they didn’t see what you’re now seeing in the scripture. God is going to be imminently fair with them because that’s his character. And then this.

Whatever state they’re in, you’re choosing to stay with them. And if we learn anything from the story of the rich man and Lazarus, it is the rich man being in torment and saying, Go send Lazarus. He didn’t even ask for himself to go. Go send Lazarus to tell my five brothers to not come to this place. If your beloved family member is lost, I guarantee you they do not want you to join them there. And they would do anything for you to come to your senses and remember Abraham’s response in that discussion, that story that Jesus told.

1. The "Negative" Side Effects of Obedience to the Lord

Just for that. He says, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. We have the New Testament. We need to hear this. Don’t start reasoning from the consequences. But I want to examine with you tonight three areas. One where we might struggle in reasoning from the consequences. And two positive areas where we need to reason regarding the consequences. And so the first point that I want to make tonight has to do with the negative side effects of obedience to the Lord. And this comes out of our class that Mike is teaching us. I got this idea a few weeks ago. We went down this vein. I know you can’t remember it’s been so long ago, and we’ve gone down so many other veins since then.

What are some of the things that are potentially lost by your decision to obey the Lord? Here are a couple of the things we talked about. The surrender of a relationship or a friendship. When you choose to serve the Lord, it could well have an impact on your relationship with others. Like Jesus said in Matthew 10, a man’s foes will be they of his own household. And he talked about all those relationships where I came not to bring peace but a sword. Oh, yes, he wants everyone to embrace his peace and to be at peace with him and peace with each other. But the facts are that some people are going to reject, most people are going to reject, and because they do, it’s going to bring fractures to relationships, even within our families at times.

Some of you have experienced a fracture within your family because of truth. People who do not understand your decision to be obedient to the Lord. Or the firm stand that we have to take at times. When people within our family and people that are close to us become unfaithful to the Lord, and we’re called upon, no, not to associate with such a one. 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 11. So the cost of our obedience to the Lord can sometimes be the surrender of a relationship or a friendship. It could come at the cost of your reputation. Remember the story in Daniel 6, when they could not find any evidence, people were so jealous of Daniel’s status in the kingdom of Persia. This is the second administration that Daniel has had a position in, and people were jealous of his position.

And they cannot find any grounds of corruption in him, it says in Daniel chapter 6, verses 2 and 3, except what? In relation to his faith. In relation to his belief about God, and that’s what ultimately, they ultimately get him thrown into the lion’s den, and good thing for us, a great miracle unfolds in a great story. That bolsters our faith in Daniel chapter 6. But his reputation took a hit. And the fact is, when you stand for what is right, someone may well malign you. They may gossip about you and slander about you and try to belittle you to others so that they will not think highly of you. And sometimes.

Jealousy and envy are rampant sins.

Don’t get carried away about accolades that we may receive or accolades that we don’t receive. God is not unjust to forget our work and labor of love. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. I don’t care what position I get in God’s presence, just as long as I get one. When you do the right thing and stand for the right things, somebody’s going to hate you for it. I can’t tell you how many times in 30 years of preaching my wife has quoted the verse to me. Woe to you when all men speak well of you. Luke 6 and verse 26. For some reason she thinks I need to be reminded about that verse.

When I’m getting discouraged about things people are saying. Income in advancement. You think it’s possible some people in the body of Christ don’t get promotions, don’t get raises, even lose their jobs, get overlooked because of their faith, because of their morality, because they won’t social drink with everyone else in the organization, because they won’t lie for their employers.

But you will take a hit in the religious world. It may cost you some income, an advancement. What about these negative side effects? One of the implications of serving the Lord is there’s no exit from the marriage relationship. Well, I know, I know there’s one cause. But Jesus talks about in Matthew chapter 19. Even if that one cause is not present. I have responsibilities. Regardless of my mate’s behavior, good or bad. And that’s really what 1 Peter 2 and 3 are all about. The man who has the harsh master in chapter 2. That’s a difficult circumstance. But he’s still supposed to do right, even if his master is harsh. And then that filters down in that context of the example of Christ and what he endured for us when he was reviled, he reviled not in return.

That’s that same context. And then in chapter 3, it’s the believing wife married to the unbeliever, and how she must try to win him with her behavior or conversation, her matter of life. And all three of those things in that context are about. These relationships are not ideal. But we must endure. And what about when something that we would like to continue doing, we discover in our spiritual maturity that we probably need to stop? Perhaps something we did as we first became Christians and really understand everything the New Testament was teaching us about holiness and the way we ought to think and live. And then we come to the understanding, you know, maybe I need to cease this practice. This puts me in harm’s way spiritually.

This doesn’t present a good example of Jesus Christ to the people. And you see further behavior modification that needs to take place, further change in your heart and life. What are you going to do? More behavior that has to be jettisoned and changed.

Yes, that will happen. What if the example of Jesus calls me to even more that I want to give? Okay. Why have I called those negative side effects? I want you to notice that the word negative is in quotes. And why did I do that? I put the word negative in quotes. Because in regard to the value of what you have to lose versus what you gain, it’s not negative. It’s actually quite positive. I count all things to be lost, Paul said in Philippians chapter 3, to know Christ Jesus, my Lord. The fact that I am now an imitator of God as beloved children, Ephesians 5 and verse 2. That’s positive, regardless of the cost that it took to get there. The fact that my character is enriched.

That I’m a better person. I’m a light in the world. I’m imitating Jesus. My character is being refined after his image. All of those things. That’s positive, regardless of the cost. And don’t forget the reward that’s promised. Oh, yes. That’s very positive, isn’t it? And I want to help us with this to not look at this so negative. What we have to give up, the cost of serving the Lord. What do you think about the cross? First of all, none of us have shed blood in our strivings against sin, at least not that I know of. Jesus did. And that’s the point in Hebrews 12 and verse 4. He endured the cross and despised the shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

And you look at dying on the cross, and there might be some negatives that we see there. I’m sure you wouldn’t just want to volunteer to exit the world that way, considering the awful pain of such an exit. I don’t think we can begin to appreciate the excruciating agony of crucifixion. Not to mention the humiliation. On top of that, being stripped almost bare, displayed for the whole community or any passerby to see being mocked by everyone. In Jesus’ case, there was the feelings of extreme loneliness. That’s one of the things I get out of, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? I don’t understand everything about what happened as Jesus bore the curse of sin and what that meant in regard to his relationship with God.

But I think he was saying, when he said, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? You want to know how I feel? That’s the way David felt in Psalm 22, that’s the way I’m feeling here. And he felt really alone. He maintained his faith. He continued to pray and appeal to God, the Father, but there was a loneliness there. And then there are the ties that are severed. Earthly ties. He has to tell his mother. Behold your son to the beloved disciple. Behold your mother. Those earthly ties. And I think of John chapter 11, Mary and Martha and Lazarus. When Jesus finally gets there, he knows what he’s going to do. But he finally gets there, and they say, if you had been here, our brother would not have died.

You could have done something. You could have prevented this. There are ties severed, ties lost. And we might look at those as the negatives of such a death. But in regard to what you give up and what is lost, what is gained? Look at the results of Jesus’ death on the cross. No one else has ever done this. Conquered the power of Satan. That’s pretty big. A pretty big event. Not only that, he did no sin. He completed a life perfectly, in perfect purity, and thus made it possible for our purification. Aren’t you thankful for that? We talk about the positive don’t when we talk about the cross. He left us an example in the way that he died, in the way that he lived. He left us an example, a model, a pattern that we can imitate and follow.

How positive is that? I needed that example. And then, though there was the utter humiliation.

2. Consequences of Succumbing to Temptation Versus Overcoming

The result of his resurrection was ultimate exaltation in a name that is above every name. He who humbles himself shall be exalted. It’s not taught any better than in what happened to Jesus. He descended to the uttermost, and now he has ascended to the uttermost. So are we going to focus on the negatives or the positives? Now, as we get into that vein, two more points quickly, and the lesson is yours. Let’s talk about. Here we’re confronted with the message of truth and what it’s compelling us to do, and we start reasoning about the consequences. We need to think about the results or the consequences of succumbing to temptation and stumbling and sinning versus overcoming. Now, again, it’s October 13, 10.13. And so our verse for today is 1 Corinthians 10 13.

With each temptation, God has provided a way of escape. Now, why would he do that unless that’s not in our ultimate best interest? Isn’t it always in our ultimate best interest to refuse temptation? Absolutely, yes. And let me tell you why that is so. Let me tell you what temptation does. It comes along and says, I can give you something right now. And that’s why we do it. We were talking about that in Bible class this morning. When each person is deceived and carried away with his own lusts or enticed. Look, I can have pleasure. Immediate gratification now. Fun. Perhaps it’s just escape from the rigors of life. Whatever it is, I’m getting something right now. It’s no big deal. I can be forgiven later. In the gospel, great.

Let me tell you the problem if we start thinking like that. Big warning, let me issue it here. You still have to repent to receive forgiveness. And if your attitude is, well, I can be forgiven later, that’s sort of lack of regard for the seriousness of sin. Repentance involves godly sorrow that then emanates in a change of thinking and a change of behavior and a loathing of the sin that we did commit.

Don’t start thinking I can be forgiven later in the gospel. Great. Because you may not repent of that wrongdoing. And we start reasoning like, well, others have done the same thing or worse. And I’ll just say, if you start thinking like that, you’re reasoning about your conduct, and I’m going to succumb to temptation. I know others in the local church have done this. I’m not alone here. Guess what? You’re right. Others have done the same thing or worse. But this is still very dangerous.

Let me issue this warning. And it comes from Hebrews chapter 6. Those who have once been enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, partakers of the Holy Spirit, and the good things of the age to come in Hebrews chapter 6. And then they do what? It says, they fall away. And he says, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance as they crucify the Lord afresh and put him to an open shed. Now he’s writing that to believers. That’s what believers are capable of doing. And then in verse 26 of chapter 10, if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice of sins. If you don’t appropriate Jesus’ forgiveness through the way that he is prescribed in his word, listen, there’s not anything else.

There’s no other means of salvation. There’s no other thing that you can look to give you what you need more than anything else. How much severer punishment do you think he will receive? Who is trampled underfoot the Son of God and considered unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and has insulted the Spirit of grace? You know, sometimes Christians do that. That’s where they find themselves. They go down a certain path not realizing where it’s going to take them. They consider unclean the blood of the covenant, they trample underfoot the Son of God, they crucify him afresh, Hebrews 6 says, and they insult the Spirit of grace. And then he says, it’s a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Listen. The reason why you should not succumb to temptation and always take it seriously, always, is sin by its very nature, is deceiving and enslaving and destructive. It’s never good. And once you’ve been deceived and enslaved, like Romans chapter 6, that first passage we were talking about, then it gets its hooks in you. And if you’re not careful, you never get out. You become imprisoned again. And that last entanglement is worse than the first. Peter says in 2 Peter chapter 2, verses 19 through 21, by what a man is overcome. By this he is enslaved. Look, if you dabble in this, you’re asking for it. Because the very nature of sin is that it deceives and tricks you. It offers you something in the moment, but it can grip you for a lifetime.

And that’s why we talk so much about addicted kinds of behaviors. The alcoholic started with that first drink. And then he started a pattern of drinking that began to dominate his life. Some recover from that, most don’t.

There are all kinds of chemical addictions like nicotine and alcohol. That can control you. But I’ll tell you, we’re even getting to where behavioral addictions are what we talk about. Gambling can become, and it’s not like a drug like alcohol or nicotine, but it works like a drug because your mind is getting certain impulses and feelings that it likes. And they get that rush. And so they gamble. They look at pornography. And those things can deceive and entrap and enslave us to them. And we never had any tension. It was just one moment where we were weak and we succumbed. Look. That one moment of succumbing can lead to a lifelong series of consequences that we never recover from.

Consider the potential consequences. Beyond a single sin. To the potential pattern of conduct that can be your spiritual undoing. And consider this. Not just the impact that it has on you, and that could be severe. But the impact your sinfulness can have upon others. You need to reason about the consequences. There are people watching me. There are people influenced by the things that I say and do. The way that I operate and interact among brethren. That influences other people. The way that I act in my home, the way that I act in the community. The things that come forth from my mouth. Those things have an impact upon others. And we need to think about that carefully before we act.

3. The Outcome of Rejecting God's Righteousness

And the final point the outcome of rejecting God’s righteousness. Jeremiah chapter 5. Woeful times for God’s people. Babylonian destruction is certain. Even the weeping prophet can’t get them back on course. The prophet of doom, Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 5 an appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land. The prophets prophesy falsely. And the priests rule on their own authority. And my people love it so.

What benefit was in those things? And why are you tempted to go back to those things? For the outcome of those things is death.

You derive your benefit, your sanctification. And the outcome, eternal life, for the wages, and don’t miss that word, the wages of sin. Can you believe that? Go away. I’m right in the middle of this here. The wages of sin is death.

But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. You know, I don’t want to sound like a broken record, young people, and I know you’re young, and you have your whole life out in front of you. And I know, I wish, I know you’re probably thinking, I wish they would quit talking about how turmoil it always is. How quickly, look. I was 18 years old. I know it’s hard for you to believe, and it was just yesterday. It goes that quickly. I’ve been gone from Eastside in Baytown seven and a half years, and I have done over half a dozen funerals.

In that time. Since I got back from Auburn. Did one this week. Probably going to be doing another one soon. It’s just not very long. Somebody, Sherry was saying how old Jane Fonday is this week. Really? Jane Fonda is that old? Yeah, she is. Lord, make me to know my end and how transient I am, David said. And what always gets to me about that verse is that David has been gone from this earth for 3,000 years. That’s a long time. Lord, make me to know my end and how transient I am, how short lived I am, and the extent of my days. Surely every man at his best is a mere breath. They make an uproar for a nothing. He amasses riches and does not know who will gather them.

You reject the Lord, I’m going to guarantee you, this is your life. It’s right there. In Psalm 39, 6. It’s an uproar for nothing. Oh, there’s be some great moments. It’s an uproar, alright. But what are you going to do at the end of it?

Conclusion

Whenever you say no to God’s will, the more you shut that down, a hardness develops. The evil days come. That’s what Solomon talked about in Ecclesiastes 12 and verse 1. That’s why he said, Remember your creator in the day of the days of your ears. The more you shut that down and go your own way, the more you tune that out. A hardness develops. The evil days come when you shall say, I have no pleasure in them. So here’s the call of the gospel, folks. Jesus said, If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to myself. That’s the draw. That’s a powerful draw. Jesus at Calvary. That’s his only draw. And that draw demands a decision from you and from me. It demands conformity to his will, and there are costs involved in that, which I would not deny for a second.

Jesus spoke of those costs. But the promises are unrivaled. And that’s why Paul said, Whatever was gained to me, I counted as loss for sake of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. So, reasoning from the consequences, it can be bad or it can be good. And so you need to consider the implications of your decisions while there’s time and opportunity. Let’s stand and sing.