Sin — Oswald J. Smith

1 and 2 says, How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. Will you stand with me, please, as we sing the doxology?

Our loving Heavenly Father, this morning we do want to pause to give Thee thanks and to praise the name of our dear, lovely Lord. Father, we thank Thee we can gather in Thy house this morning on this beautiful summer Sunday.

We pray, Lord, that Thou wilt meet with us. We would pray today that the Spirit of God may fall upon, Lord, this place. And may the Speaker have a special anointing from Thee. Speak to hearts today. We pray that we may leave here, leaving every burden behind and having a renewal in the Christ, our God, today.

Bless us each one in Jesus' name and for His sake we pray. Amen. Would you take your songbooks, please, and turn to number 41. Number 41, as we stand together and sing one of these great songs of the Church, Great is Thy Faithfulness.

Those words echo the heartfelt response of each and every one here today. Great is Thy Faithfulness. How good God has been to each of us. Now this morning it's a great privilege to introduce two brand new voices here in the People's Church.

In the persons of Joe Stewart and Terry Tyson. They come to us from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They have appeared in the Cincinnati, Miami, and Austrian operas. And it's a great privilege to have them with us all day today here in the People's Church.

And I'm wondering now as they come, we might give them a real warm welcome to the City of Toronto and the People's Church. Thank you very much, Joe Stewart and Terry Tyson. And they're going to be back with us in just a moment.

And, of course, they'll be here in the service tonight singing more than what they, because of the time limit, what they're able to this morning. And I know you'll want to be back to hear them tonight as they give forth their message in song.

Now this morning we have several important announcements we'd like to leave with you. First of all, in the parking areas. We're still having a little problem with parking and we're about to get them straightened out, I believe.

But last Sunday, you remember, Dr. Smith, our pastor, gave a real stem-winder announcement on don't park illegally on the side streets. Now Dr. Paul met with the ratepayers on Wednesday morning and he told them that the police will be out giving tickets to those that are parking illegally.

So if you have been used to parking on the side streets, let me urge you from now on, starting with tonight's service, let me suggest that the parking lot is full that you go right over to the Bayview Plaza.

There is unlimited parking over there. We have a shuttle service going back and forth about every two minutes, both before the service and after the service. And I really believe that that's the best place we can solve this problem of parking during our construction time.

So make sure that you're parking at Bayview Plaza tonight. And if you park on a street corner this morning, don't be surprised if there's a ticket on your windshield as you go out. We hope not, but we understand that the police will be ticketing today.

Now in tonight's service at 7 p .m., we have a real triple-header going forth. First of all, Steward and Tyson will be back with us singing many times tonight. And also tonight, we're having a worldwide progress report of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, one of the great youth and college organizations in the world today.

And we're going to have in our midst the World General Secretary from Singapore with us, Chiu Wee-Hien. And he'll be taking several minutes tonight to give us an exciting worldwide report upon what I .V. and faith missions are doing around the world.

And I think that in itself will be worth your while coming. Dr. Oswald Smith, our founder, will be speaking tonight as well. And he'll be concluding his message from this morning in this morning's service.

And I'm sure he'll want to say something about that in just a few moments. Now on Tuesday night this week, our summer Bible conference is continuing. And what a great time of blessing we've been experiencing the last three Tuesdays.

Dr. Warren Wearsby has been with us from the Moody Church. And he completed in three Tuesday nights the Book of Ephesians. Now this Tuesday is a bit of a change of pace in that we're having a sacred music concert with Sherman Andrus.

Now Sherman Andrus may not mean very much to you, I don't know, unless you're a backer of contemporary gospel music. But Sherman Andrus is the leader of the Imperials Quartet. I'm sure you've all heard of the Imperials.

I suppose if I were to ask each of you who in your own mind would be the outstanding quartet in today's gospel music, most of you at least would say without any hesitation, the Imperials. Well, the lead singer of the Imperials, the one who puts it all together as far as the Imperials are concerned, is Sherman Andrus.

And he's going to be here tonight, here Tuesday night rather, at 8 p .m. And he'll be backed by a group of skilled musicians, accompaniment. So you want to be here for a great evening of music Tuesday night at 8 p .m.

Then next Sunday, next Lord's Day, Don Loney, the inimitable Don Loney, will be speaking both in the morning and the evening service. We have Don Loney at least once a year and how we enjoy him as he comes.

And he'll be speaking both at 11 o 'clock and 7 p .m. next Sunday. And along with Don Loney will be the Freedman Quartet. And they're a new quartet, I believe, here in the People's Church. Is that right?

From Moody Bible Institute. And we're looking forward to their singing ministry with us all day next Sunday, both morning and evening. Now, please jot these Tuesday evenings down. As you know, our Summer Bible Conference continues throughout the summer.

One week from this coming Tuesday on July the 6th, Bill McKee, who like Don Loney, is an outstanding youth speaker. And Bill McKee has not been here for several years. He'll be speaking one week from this coming Tuesday.

He's become quite an authority on prophecy. I don't know what he'll be speaking on, but I know if you'll make your plans to be here, you'll be blessed for having done so. On July the 13th, the Continentals will be here.

35 or 40 college-age singers giving a music concert. And along with that, we need billeting from you, our people here, to put them up for the one night that they are here and breakfast the next morning.

We need billeting for about 35 or 40 of them. And if you can help us out, we would greatly appreciate it if you could see right after the morning service, Keith Whitaker in the lobby. And he'll take down the necessary information from you.

But we need many, many volunteers to help us in this regard. And I hope you'll see Mr. Whitaker this morning before you leave. On Tuesday, July the 20th, the pastor of the world's largest church from Hammond, Indiana, Dr. Jack Hiles, will be preaching.

I was just there for a minister's conference just a few weeks ago. And they are now averaging 23 ,000 people every Sunday morning for Sunday school and church. Can you picture that many? 23 ,000 people.

I don't know where they put them all, but they jam them in. And Dr. Jack Hiles, in my opinion, is the most exciting preacher on the American pulpit platform today. And you'll want to note that on July the 20th.

On the 27th, a change from your Bible conference schedule. Instead of Bruce Dunn, we're having a film. It will be a world premiere film about Bob Harrington. Bob Harrington's new film entitled A Day with Harrington.

And that will be on July 27th. And that promises some unusual excitement and enjoyment, I'm sure. July 27th, change that on your brochure so you'll be able to be here. And I believe that's all the announcements we have at this time we're going to make.

The Congregation’s Prayer for Healing and Provision

But we do want to ask the ushers to come forward at this time. We want to give you two very important prayer requests. Two people that are in need of special God's touch just now. Marlin Sebastian, who for many years has been a member of the choir, is critically ill in Scarborough Centenary Hospital.

And unless God sees to work a miracle in her life, her time is short. We want to pray for Marlin, for her husband, and for her mother, particularly at this time of difficulty. And then a name that most of us know here in the People's Church, our superintendent of the adult department, Mr. Alec Fisher, had a very serious accident in moving into his new home last Wednesday evening.

And as a result, he's in intensive care at Sunnybrook Hospital. And we want to pray for Mr. Fisher and his dear wife, Ruth, and family at this time that God will undertake for them. These and other requests, let's remember as we go to prayer just now.

Our loving Heavenly Father, now we come to Thee. Through the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the name that is above every name. Thou hast said, let us enter boldly into Thy very presence through the throne of grace.

Now, Father, we do that as the people here in the congregation of the People's Church join together in the hands of those who need Thy touch just now. We think of Marlin Sebastian. We think of our friend Alec Fisher.

God, we pray that Thou would minister to their bodies, that Thou would heal them and touch them, we pray, for Thy glory. And have Thy perfect will done in their lives. And now, Father, as we give to Thy work here this morning, we would pray that Thou would bless our gifts and multiply them for Thy glory, we pray.

In Jesus' name, amen. Boy, they get up here and ballad up and they're finished before you know it. That was great. Thank you so much. And they'll be with us tonight, service, singing more times than what they've been able to this morning.

I wonder just before Dr. Smith comes to bring the message for us, it's a real privilege to have our founder with us. He hasn't been in the pulpit for some time now, and we counted a real rarity and a real privilege for him to join us this morning.

Now let's take our hymn books, if you will, and turn to number 116. Number 116, as we sing three stanzas of that Calvary. Years I spent in vanity and pride, caring not, my Lord was crucified. Shall we stand together and say, please.

W .R. Newell, one of the greatest Bible teachers of this generation.

Dr. D .B. Towner, a man with whom I studied in the early days of my life in Chicago. Both those men were intimate friends of mine. I'll never, never forget them. Now this morning, I'm going to ask you, if you will, to turn to the third chapter of Paul's epistle to the Romans.

The Universal Guilt of Sin

Paul's epistle to the Romans, the third chapter. I look upon this epistle of one of the greatest letters that the Apostle Paul ever wrote. And we're going to study a little bit of it this morning. If you will look at the third chapter of Romans, the last part of the ninth verse, you'll find these words.

They are all under sin. They are all under sin, according to the entire world, Jews and Gentiles alike. And then the next verse, the tenth verse. There is none righteous, no, not one. Now anyone can ever claim to be righteous and to be sinless.

In view of what the Apostle Paul has to say, I cannot for the life of me understand. There is none righteous, no, not one. Now look at the nineteenth verse, if you will. Now we know that whatever things the law said, it said to them who are under the law.

I want to say something about that tonight. Something very special and very important. That every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.

The Law Reveals Sin but Cannot Justify

No one can be saved by the deeds of the law. That's why the law has to be set aside. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. Now notice these words. For by the law is the knowledge of sin.

By the law is the knowledge of sin. There's just one word that I want to emphasize this morning. That one word is the word sin. Only three letters. And I is the central letter in that word. For sin is summed up in the word I.

S-I-N. Sin. And I'm going to say five things about the word sin this morning. And I trust that you'll apply what I have to say to your own heart if the Holy Spirit so directs you. First of all, let me say this.

Sin Originated with Satan

Sin originated with Satan. Naturally, that's the first question we ask. Where did sin come from? How did sin come into this world? Where did it originate? Sin originated with Satan. Not with man, but with Satan.

Satan was one of the great angels of God, a created angel. For the angels, as you know, were created. They were not always angels. And Satan held a very high rank among the angels of God. He was one of the most influential of all the angels created by God.

Now, it was with Satan, this great angel, that sin originated. Let me read just two verses from Isaiah, the 14th chapter, verses 12 to 14. Now, there are other verses in the Bible in regard to Satan as the author of sin, but this one verse will suffice because it's so plain, it's so clear, it's so unmistakable.

And this is what it says, Isaiah chapter 14, verses 12 to 14. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer? And Satan here is designated Lucifer. How art thou fallen from heaven? Satan fell. He didn't retain his first estate.

He was one of the highest of the angels, one of the most influential of the angels. And God says in speaking of him, how art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? That's the way he was designated, son of the morning.

How art thou cast down to the ground? Now listen, four times it is said of Satan that he said, I will, I will, I will, I will. Know that if you will, for thou hast said in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven.

He wasn't satisfied with the place God had placed him. He wanted to ascend into heaven where God was. And so he says here in the first, I will, he says, I will ascend into heaven. Second, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.

He wasn't satisfied with the throne that God had given him. And he said, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will. Now in the third place, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. He wanted to get higher.

And he said, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. And last of all, I will be like the Most High. I will be like the Most High, God himself. Now that's where sin originated. I will, I will, I will, and I will.

Satan was not satisfied with the place God had assigned him. He wanted a greater position. He even wanted to be on an equality with God himself. And he said, I will ascend on high. I will be like the Most High.

I will be like God. Equality with God himself. That's where sin originated. Not on earth, not with man, but with Satan. Satan was the originator of sin when he said, I will. Not what God wanted, but what he wanted.

I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High. That's where sin came from. Sin originated with Satan.

That's something we should know, we should understand, we should always remember. Sin originated with Satan. Now then, the question arises, how did sin get into this world? How did sin get into the heart of man?

Adam Introduced Sin into the Human Race

How is it that men became sinners? And that's my second point this morning. For sin entered this world through one man. Sin entered this world through Adam. That's how sin got into the world. Through one man.

That man was Adam. Listen, if you will, to Romans, the fifth chapter and the twelfth verse. By one man, sin entered into the world. I'm quoting literally. By one man, sin entered into the world. That one man was Adam, created by God himself.

The first man who ever lived. Through him, sin got into the world. For Satan tempted Adam and used Adam in order to introduce sin into this world of ours. He had to use a man. The man he used was the man God created.

The man who was created without sin. The man who was absolutely sinless. Satan got into that man. And through that man, sin entered the world. And that's where sin came from. Now, I do not know when Satan rebelled against God.

I do not know how far back in history you and I can trace sin. I know not when it started, when it commenced, how many millenniums ago sin originated. I don't know. The Bible doesn't state it. There isn't a single word in the Bible that tells us the time that sin entered the world.

But we do know that it came into the world through Adam. For Satan, the originator of sin, was the one who used Adam, God's creation, to introduce sin into this world of ours. And that's how it got here.

That's why sin is here today. That's why men are sinful. Because Adam introduced sin into the human race. And as a result, all men are born in sin. That's the second fact we should keep in mind. Sin originated with Satan.

Sin entered the world through Adam. And then this is the third great fact that we must keep in mind. Sin was, and sin is, universal. No one can escape. The only one who never sinned, who walked the dirt roads of this earth, was the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Universality of Sin and Christ’s Sinlessness

He is the only one who became man, and became man without sin. He had no sinful nature. Jesus was born of woman. He was not born of man. Sin came down through man. And since Jesus had no earthly father, therefore Jesus did not inherit a sinful nature.

He was born not of man, but of woman. If he had been born of man, he would have had a sinful nature, just like every other man. But because he was not born of man, but born of woman, therefore he did not have a sinful nature.

Sin is transmitted through man. And Jesus was not born of man. But sin was, and sin is, universal. Apart from Jesus Christ, no other man was so born. Every other man was born of Adam. I was born of Adam.

You were born of Adam. Every man on the face of this earth was born of Adam. And therefore every man has partaken of the Adamic nature. And the Adamic nature is a nature of sin. And thus we're all sinners.

Every last one of us. Because we were born of Adam. And through Adam came sin. Think of Romans, the third chapter, in the twenty-third verse. All have sinned. All, A-L-L. All have sinned. No one has escaped.

Not one individual on the face of this earth. All have sinned. But what about Jesus Christ? What does it say in 1 Peter, the second chapter? In the twenty-second verse it says this. In speaking of Christ, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.

The only one who was not born with a sinful nature, and the only one in the entire world who lived upon this earth without a sinful nature, and who was not a sinner, who did no sin, practiced no sin, you cannot accuse Jesus Christ of one single sin.

Examine his life as minutely as you want to, and you'll never find a single sin of which he was guilty. Jesus was absolutely and totally sinless, who did no sin. Neither was guile found in his mouth. Jesus was sinless.

You cannot say that. I cannot say that. You have sinned. I have sinned. Everyone in this congregation has sinned. We're all guilty. Every last one of us, we're all guilty before God, for we have all sinned, and we have all been born with a sinful nature.

Physical and Spiritual Death as Sin’s Penalty

Now in the fourth place, what penalty does sin incur? What is the result of sin? Sin incurs the penalties of both physical and spiritual death. Those are the penalties of sin. Spiritual death and physical death.

What do you say? Would there never have been any death in the world if it had not been for sin? Never. Would no one have ever died if it had not been for sin? No one. The only reason there is death in the world, the only reason there are undertakers, the only reason there are funeral parlors, the only reason there are graveyards, is because of sin.

It was not God's plan. God did not originally plan for sin to be in this world of ours. That was not His plan. His plan was that you and I should have lived and lived forever. There should have been no sorrow because of sin, no death because of sin, no funerals because of sin.

It's only because of sin that there are funerals in this world of ours today. Sin incurs the penalties of both physical and spiritual death. Think, if you will, of Genesis, the second chapter and the seventeenth verse.

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. The one commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden was that they should not partake of the fruit of the tree of life.

They could have anything else. Whatever else they wanted was theirs. But there was one thing they could not have. There was one tree of which they might not and must not eat. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

That tree they were to avoid. Never partake of it. That was God's command. Thou shalt not eat of it. Why? For in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Now, there had been no death heretofore.

Death was unknown. They had never heard of death. But now God predicts that if they eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they'll die. They'll experience death. And Eve ate of it. And Adam ate of it.

And as a result, they died. Both of them. They didn't die instantly. But they died nevertheless. And death entered this world because of Adam's sin. The Bible clearly and unmistakably teaches that. The only reason that you are going to die, that I am going to die, is because we have a sinful nature and because we have sinned.

That's why death has reigned all down through the years. Centuries upon centuries of it. Death because of sin. Adam's sin. And that's where we are today. Enduring the penalty of sin. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it.

For in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. And you have the same statement in Ezekiel, the 18th chapter and the 4th verse. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The soul that sinneth, it shall die.

And not only physical death, but also spiritual death. We not only die physically, we die spiritually. That's why we have to be saved. That's why Jesus Christ had to come from heaven to earth. To atone for our sins.

To make it possible for us to live forever. Otherwise, we would have died and remained dead forever. Spiritually dead. Because of Adam's sin. In addition to our own sin. The wages of sin is death. Death.

Death. The wages of sin. And if you have sinned, you are going to die. Unless you can find a remedy. If I have sinned, I am going to die. And die eternally. Unless I can find a remedy. The soul that sinneth, it shall die.

The wages of sin is death. And that leads us now to the remedy. That leads us now to our hope. That leads us now to the fifth statement. In connection with sin. Is there a remedy? Is there any remedy for sin?

Must we all die spiritually? Is there no hope for us? Must we all die spiritually and also physically? Or is there hope? Thank God there is hope. There is a remedy. For Adam's sin. Your sin and my sin.

Sin has no remedy except in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. Availed by faith. There is no other remedy. I care not what you do. I care not how you live. I care not how good you may be. I care not how many good deeds you may have performed.

It doesn't matter what you do or how you live. There is no remedy for that sin of yours inherited from Adam except in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross. And that remedy is received by faith.

Now, first of all, there is no other remedy. Second, there is no way to secure that remedy except by faith. It cannot be secured by law. Law pointed forward to the death of Jesus Christ and in view of his death, which was to be, God overlooked, passed by, the sins committed by man if man brought the required sacrifice to signify his faith in the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross, even though he didn't know anything about it at the time.

Then it took place. Nineteen hundred years ago, Jesus gave his life on Calvary's cross for you and for me. God had provided that remedy from all eternity. How far back, I do not know, but God determined that man's sin should be atoned for by the sacrifice of his Son on Calvary's cross.

Nearly two thousand years ago now, Jesus Christ paid the price for your sin and for my sin on the cross of Calvary. He settled it. He settled and undid the work of Adam. But how will that avail you? How will that help you?

How can you profit by it? God says, only by faith. And there is no other way, not by works, not by your own efforts or endeavors, not by the kind of a life you live or the things you do or the things you don't do, but by faith.

A faith that will result in a life lived for God, a life lived for the Lord Jesus Christ. And only as you live that life does that remedy apply to you and to me. What have you done about it? Where are you today?

Was there ever a moment in your life when you opened your heart to Jesus Christ and received him as your own personal Savior and as a result lived for God? Oh, you may not have been perfect. You may have failed again and again.

But God has promised forgiveness every time you turn back to him and seek his mercy. No matter what you do, there is mercy if you will accept the remedy and turn back to God and confess your sin and ask him to forgive you and ask it from your heart.

So I say in closing, sin has no remedy, but in the sacrificial death of Christ there is no other. Works will not avail. Church will not avail. Good deeds will not avail. There is no other remedy except the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross.

And there is no way to obtain that remedy except by faith. No works of yours will avail. But you can open your heart this moment to Jesus Christ and receive him as your own personal Savior. I did it when I was 16 years of age.

I traveled 100 miles to do it. I didn't realize that I was going to do it when I left home, but I did it. And here in Massey Hall, in our own city, in the basement, I bowed my head and opened my heart to Jesus Christ and accepted him as my own.