Week One Transcript For Life Plan Discipleship Sunday School
LifePlan week 1 - Sin is our Greatest Danger
Begin by reviewing page 11 and the six discipleship points that lead us to our preferred future. Then look at the 6 pathways for accomplishing these things at the bottom of the page.
I am sometimes surprised by how some people will disagree with the statement, ‘Sin is Our Greatest Danger’. Let me give you two examples.
First Illustration: When Ray Haas was pastoring at Family Church he had a sign up in front of the building that said, “Sin Is Our Greatest Danger’. One day when I was on FaceBook and a group of Christians were struggling with those words. Some of them strongly disagreed with those words and they debated with others about the these things. (This was not a lot of unbelievers who were thinking this phrase was wrong- but Christians!)
In a few weeks James is going to have to convince some Jewish Christians that sin is a great danger. They don’t think it is because they haven’t murdered anyone. They haven’t committed adultery. But they had judged others and committed the sin of partiality. James says this will receive the judgment of God. Sin is our greatest danger! (James 2:1-13)
Second Illustration: Recently I had a young man tell me that the LifePlan is legalistic and a danger to people because it makes statements like, “Sin is our greatest danger”. I told him that this discipleship program is an entire plan that has many parts which include the importance of the gospel, living out the grace of God, knowing the milk of the Word of God, and also the meat of the Word pertaining to righteousness. I invited him to attend these Sunday School class so that he could see these things but he refused the offer. Apparently, the phrase, ‘sin is our greatest danger’, is controversial.
I would like to ask you, “Do you think that sin is our greatest danger? If not, why not? If so, why do you believe that statement is true?”
We are going through the Book of James and we have seen that James believed that sin is our greatest danger. James has taught us that if a Christian does not take sin seriously it will cause great harm, destruction and death. James is writing to Christians when he writes these words, “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (James 1:13-15)
Let’s look at a scripture that will show us that sin is our greatest danger and how God has provided a way of escape from sin which always leads to death. Text: Psalm 90
Psalm 90 is the oldest psalm in the Psalter and it was written by Moses. In this Psalm Moses contemplates sin and death. Moses considers how these two things are related to each other and what, if anything, can be done about it. Since this is the oldest psalm in the Psalter we should appreciate that the statement, “Sin is our greatest danger”, is not a new truth. This should also make us appreciate the hope this psalm gives to us regarding these things is nothing new either!
Let’s read verses 1-2,
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
In these opening verses, which we will consider more in just a bit, we see some important facts about God… (What important things about God do you see in this text?)
God is eternal and the creator of all things
God is from everlasting to everlasting
He is Lord and God
These are important considerations because one of the objections that people will often make is how could a sovereign, all powerful, and good God allow sin and death to be a reality for those that He has made?
Moses then says in verse 3, “You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!” These are shocking and sobering words by Moses.
Moses wrote the book of Genesis and in Genesis 2:7 he wrote, “...the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”
The LORD had intended for His special creation, who was fashioned in His own image, to have life. We read in Genesis 1:31, “And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” He made man and breathed His life into Him so we are eternal beings.
After these things we know that something went terribly wrong! In Genesis 216:-17 we read, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’”
In Genesis 3:1-13 we read about that fateful day when the crafty and deceptive serpent came and tempted Adam and Eve to eat of the forbidden tree. The LORD speaks to Adam in Genesis 3:19 and says, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
This brings us back to Psalm 90:3-6 where Moses writes, “You return man to dust and (You) say, ‘Return, O children of man!’ For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.”
Moses is being very clear in the language that he is using here. It is the LORD who returns man to the dust when He says, “Return, O children of man!” Adam was warned about this in Genesis 2:17. Moses also says that the LORD sweeps them away as a flood (speaks of judgment: Noah’s flood, parting of the Red Sea, parting of the Jordan River, etc.). The lives of all mankind are made to be like a dream that is soon forgotten or like grass that fades and withers at the end of the day.
It seems so unfair that the sin of this one man Adam causes us such harm but we are also really and truly sinners by our own right. Moses will tell us next why does the LORD does these things? In verses 7-11 we begin to see what the problem is, “For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?”
In these verses Moses begins to show us why sin is our greatest danger. Sin brings us to an end, leaves us dismayed, our sins are before God and they have caused God to be angry with us. Moses tells us that sin causes death, consumes our strength and causes toil and trouble.
Next we see that there are so few who want to consider these things. There are so few who want to consider that sin is our greatest danger. Moses ends by asking, “Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?” (This is why the statement, “Sin is your greatest danger”, is controversial. Because of sin we want to ignore these obvious signs of a problem. Plus we have an enemy who blinds the hearts of men so that they won’t consider these things.)
So few do think about these things. In Psalm 90:1 Moses spoke of people in every generation who must have confessed their sin and then they sought shelter in the LORD when he wrote, “Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.”
In this psalm Moses contemplates these things and he knows that he needs to end up at a particular place- he needs to shelter in the LORD and dwell with Him. Sometimes when we are confronted with sin, judgment, toil, trouble, and death we allow ourselves to become angry at God and flee from Him, doubt Him, be disappointed with Him, Be discouraged by Him, distrust Him, etc. This will not happen to Moses!
There are reasons why Moses is thinking about sin and death.
Moses has experienced a lot of death. He was born into a culture of death where every male child that was born was to be thrown into the Nile River.
Moses killed a man one day when the Egyptian was mistreating a Hebrew man.
Forty years later Moses saw an entire generation die in the wilderness because they sinned.
At the end of those forty years of wandering in the wilderness Moses’ sister died.
Not to long after this Moses found out that he would not be allowed to enter into the Promised Land because of sin and he to would die in the wilderness.
Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible and knew about the Fall and the horrible consequences of sin. He has seen all the genealogies and thought about the ramifications of Adam’s sin. He had seen how mankind is dying and not living as long as previous generations.
As Moses contemplated these things he began to understand that sin is our greatest danger. The sin of Adam and Eve resulted in physical and spiritual death for all of their descendants. Paul describes this in Ephesians 2:1-3, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”
Let us now look in our LifePlan book on pages 27-30 at the section that is called, “The Greatest Danger”.
In this section of the LifePlan we find that there are three divisions:
Sin is our greatest danger because it leads to death.
Sin is our greatest danger because it destroys our lives.
And we see that God has provided a prescription ad protection from this danger.
We are beginning our discipleship training by talking about sin because if we do not know that sin is our greatest danger we will not take the prescription and come to the LORD to find protection. If we do not know that sin is our greatest danger we will run away from God and make excuses for our sin.
Illustrate this with the story about Jed Haas and his prescription for his sickness.
Notice that this section of the life plan on page 28 begins with the fact that sin leads to death in three ways.
Sin leads to physical death: Romans 6:23
Sin leads to judgment: Hebrews 9:27
Sin leads to eternal death: Revelation 20:11-15
When I started learning the LifePlan I often wondered why it begins with this section and NOT the fact that sin leads to physical, emotional and relational death? (The second section on pg. 28-29) We are often more aware of the pain associated with the second section than we are aware of the three characteristics listed in the first (Psalm 90:11)
Any thoughts as to why it is good that the LifePlan emphasizes it the way that it does? (discussion)
I like the order of the life plan because it stresses these things with a gospel perspective. God has to overcome spiritual death (section 1) before the before the fruit of sin (section 2) can be overcome. (The way to receive deliverance from these things is section 3) We have a serious sin problem and it must be addressed before the fruit of sin can be changed, healed, transformed.
It is because we were born dead in our sin and trespasses that we bear the fruit of sin. These sins lead to...
Physical breakdown- Galatians 5;19-21
Emotional breakdown- Ephesians 4:31
Relational breakdown- James 4:1-2
We have seen that sin leads to physical death, judgment, and eternal death and separation from God.
We have also seen that sin leads to a lot of fruit that leads to physical, emotional and relation breakdown.
Is this depressing to you? Are you feeling helpless and hopeless to know these things?
Thinking back to Psalm 90 I wonder if contemplating sin and death led Moses to despair and hopelessness?
Answer, ‘Surprisingly, NO!’ He would have been if Moses were not thinking appropriately about these things.
Was Moses not hopeless because he looked to himself for the answer?
Was it because he looked to another person for the answer?
It was because he looked to the only person who can save us from our sins- the LORD. We see this in both ends of Psalm 90. In Psalm 90: 1-2 we read,
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. (Because Moses saw sin was a great danger He sheltered in the LORD)2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Moses knew God was the only answer because He is the Creator of all things, not dependent of anything in creation, not subjected in any way to the groaning and sin of this creation, etc. In Romans 8:18-25 we see that God is not part of this creation so the answer we need for our greatest danger of sin is only found in Him. I have found it encouraging to always remember this when I read about God’s eternal nature.
Then on the back end of Psalm 90 we see these words in verses 12-17 which says,
12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.13 Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants!14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil.16 Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children.17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!
God can overcome our ‘Greatest Danger’ by saving us by His great saving power. Having saved us we are His servants and our lives can become very fruitful. (16-17) Section 3, pages 29-30, speak of these things. Read through and discuss.
What we are to do with what we have heard from Scripture.
Recognize sin is our greatest danger, repent of our sin and believe the gospel.
Make sure we know the danger of sin and how to protect ourselves.
Daily spend our best time in the word and prayer, learning the Word of God formally and systematically.
At every opportunity use the word of God to reprove, rebuke and encourage with great patience and instruction.
Test yourself to see if you realize sin is your greatest danger:
Do you have a desire to learn and live God’s word?
If not, then you don’t see sin as your greatest danger.
Are you protecting your family and those around you by helping them know Jesus, know His Word, the Bible, and helping them obey His Word by faith in Him?
If not, you don’t acknowledge sin is your greatest danger.
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