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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/william-lavery/sin-pleasures-punishment-putting-away/
Now, if you have your Bible with you tonight, we're going to read in three places in the book of Hebrews, and the first one is in chapter 11, Hebrews chapter 11, and we'll commence reading at verse number 23, Hebrews 11 and verse 23.
By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because they saw that he was a proper or a goodly child, and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. By faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.
Now, turn please to chapter 10 and verse 26, for if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
Now, chapter 9 please, verse 24, for Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us, nor yet that he should offer himself often as a high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others, for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world.
But now in the end of the world, or the end of the age, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Now we know that God will bless the reading of his precious word. Now maybe you have gathered from these three places that we have read in the book of Hebrews that we're going to speak about sin. And in Hebrews chapter 11 we read about the pleasures of sin.
Moses refused the pleasures of sin, he said, which are for a season. And then we read in chapter 10 about the punishment of sin, of those who willfully turn away from the gospel and turn away from the Lord Jesus.
There's only a certain fearful looking for of judgment and a fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. But thank God we could read in Hebrews chapter 9 about the putting away of sin. So we have the pleasures of sin and the punishment of sin and the putting away of sin.
Now, the greatest problem in the world today isn't the war in Iraq or the war in Afghanistan or the fact that Iran has nuclear weapons or that North Korea is dabbling in nuclear weapons as well. The greatest problem in the world today is sin.
That's what causes every difficulty. In the world today, it's sin. You say, what is sin? Our brother has brought some of those things in the Scriptures that tell us what sin is. I want you just simply to think of one that John writes in his epistle.
What does he say? He says, sin is lawlessness. In other words, sin is one going their own way. Doesn't matter what way it is. Maybe the way of pleasure, maybe the way of religion. It may be the way of entertainment or riches, whatever it is.
It's something that's taking a person away from God. They're going their own way. Now this man Moses, we could say to bring this story into New Testament language, he was brought up in a Christian home.
He had a father and mother that would teach him the things of God, just like some here in this meeting tonight. You've been taught the things of God from you were young. You can recite Scriptures, and I used to be able to quote chapters from the Bible long before God ever saved me.
But there came a time in the life of Moses when he had to make a choice. Now salvation isn't a choice. It's not a decision, but before anyone is ever saved, they must make a choice. And the choice is this, I'm going to go in for salvation.
And Moses was taken from his parents, and he was taken into the palace of Pharaoh. And there he could have every pleasure that was devised under the sun, and likely he engaged himself in some of these things.
But there was a day when he made a choice, and he could see that the pleasures of sin are only for a season. I would never try to convince anyone that there's no pleasure in sin. Sad to say, I know that from experience.
Some of you here would know that I was saved when I was 33 years of age. And I'm not going into details, but I'll tell you, I knew something about the pleasures of sin. But there was a time in my life when I had to make a choice.
And the choice was this, I could see what I'm looking for in the world, and these pleasures that I'm enjoying, they're only here for a season. They're only here for a little while, and maybe there's some in here, even though you're still young, you're thinking when I get older, and I'll get away from parental restraint, I'll get into the pleasures of the world, and then everything will be fine.
No one will be able to curb me, and I'll be able to do my own thing, and go my own way. And no one will be able to try and stop me. Well, I'm glad that we read that Moses, when he became of years, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.
You say, what a choice that was. I'll tell you. Here's a man in the palace with everything that his heart could desire. And here on the other hand, there's a group of slaves that are in hard labor, but he said they're God's people, and I would rather be numbered with God's people than be numbered with the pleasure seekers of the world.
Have you ever come to that place in your experience? I'm glad that I did, and I could see there must be something more in life than what I'm getting out of it. No matter how I'm getting along in the world, and I made a little bit of progress, had a fairly good job in an export office.
I ran an export office in the city of Detroit, and all the shipping agents were all looking for our business. So they wined you, and they dined you, and they did a lot of other things, and I thought this is a life for an Irishman.
I found out it's all empty. Woe to God that you would find that out, and if you're young and you haven't gotten into these things, it'd be a good thing if you could realize this thing now. Solomon was the wisest man that ever lived, and what did he say?
All is vanity in the vexation of spirit. It's all empty. So don't get your sights set on the things of the world, for the pleasures of the world are only for a little while. But I'll tell you what the psalmist said.
You know what he said? He looked up into heaven. The God of heaven, he said, at thy right hand are pleasures forevermore. My, that's not pleasures that just last for a little while. It's something that lasts forevermore, and it's not something that you just gain when you get into heaven.
It's something that for right now, God's salvation is for right now. And the sooner you get God's salvation, the better for you. Maybe you'll grow up and make associations, and there will be a hindrance to you in getting to Christ for salvation.
Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Don't get your sights set on the pleasures of sin, because they're only for a season. What about the punishment of sin? I want you to look at these verses in this way.
The principle, I think, is true, if we sin willfully. When I first came from Ireland, I stayed with an aunt and uncle of my wife's, my first wife, and there was a preacher coming to town, and my uncle had to work, and he couldn't pick him up from the railroad station.
So I knew this man. I heard him preach when I was a boy in Ireland, and I said, I'll go and I'll get him. And I went and I got him, and I brought him back to Aunt Lily's, and we sat down, and he was a Scotsman, and so he liked a cup of tea, and we sat down, and I thought, that was okay, I don't mind a cup of tea.
But then he says, we'll read the Word of God. I couldn't get away, so I had to sit there. And you know what he read? He read about the prodigal son. And he said, I want to just say a few things about him.
He said about the chapter, he said, the sheep was hopelessly lost. And then he said, the silver was unconsciously lost. But he said, the prodigal was willfully lost. You know, it doesn't matter whether you'd realize it or not.
You could be like that inanimate object, the silver. You could be lost and not know it, but you're still lost. And the situation is hopeless because there's nothing that you can do to save yourself. The whole situation is hopeless.
But I thought, you know, I have heard the Word of God. I had parents that taught me the Word of God, and I heard it preached on many, many occasions. Went to Sunday school till I was about 18 years of age.
Went to a midweek meeting. Didn't want to go, but I went. And people, maybe they thought he's not such a bad young man after all, but I won't tell you some of the things I did in those days. I went to gospel meeting.
Then I went to a dance away the other side of town in the parochial hall. I found out what I always knew, be sure your sin will find you out. And my mother was showing my photograph to a group of people that she had come in contact with.
This is my son. She was proud of her son. You know how women are. And how one girl said, I know him. I dance with him on Sunday nights. And I found my sin found me out. But listen, the punishment of sin, that's something that's absolutely, we're absolutely sure of.
And you know, it touches our hearts. When we think of those that we have known, young men that I palled around with when I was a teenager and so on. And out of four of us at one time, three of us were saved by the grace of God.
And there's one has already gone out into eternity unsaved. And I'll tell you, it would break your heart. And he wouldn't listen to the gospel. The other two of my friends, I was already in this land.
They went to him and they told him what God had done for them. And he said, I didn't want it when I was well. I'm not going in for it when I'm ill. If he died the way he lived, Frank is in a place where there's weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.
I could tell you of many incidents. I have a brother-in-law that just passed away this week. Likeable man. You couldn't have met anyone more likeable. He had a good life in many ways. He played soccer in the big leagues and all that stuff.
But where is he tonight? Oh, dear friend, be wise tonight. If we sin willfully, you've heard the gospel. I had heard the gospel and I went on sinning. And the great sin of all is turning one's back on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that's what these people did. They had received the knowledge of the truth. And you're more responsible tonight than you ever were. You've heard the truth of God preached at this conference and in this gospel meeting.
And you're more responsible now than you ever were. What happens if you reject it? A certain fearful looking for or an expectation of judgment and a fierceness, fiery indignation be devoured. The fierceness of the flames of a burning hell.
The Lord Jesus himself graciously unveiled the future. And you know, I'm sure if I just mentioned Luke chapter 16, you would remember that that's where we read of a man that had everything in this life, but he had nothing for eternity.
No doubt he had heard the gospel. He was an unbeliever. But when he got out into eternity, he was a believer. I don't mean he was saved, but he could see now this is the truth. And he knew there was no way out of that awful place where he was.
He had missed salvation. And he said, go and tell my brothers, whatever they do, tell them not to come to this awful place. And whenever we preach at a funeral, even if it's someone that we've never known, someone maybe that never profess salvation, I'll tell you where we can be sure of this.
They want us to preach the gospel. And they want us to tell those that are listening, whatever you do, don't come to this awful place. The fierce fire of God's wrath against sin. You know, there's a voice from heaven in Revelation chapter 4.
What does it say? Come up, hither. And for those who have gone before, and some of you likely have relatives that are at home in heaven, there's one thing they're saying. Whatever you do, make sure you come to this wonderful place.
There is no place like heaven to be satisfied. At thy right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16. We come to Psalm 17. It says, I shall be satisfied when I awaken thy likeness. My, it's a wonderful thing to be satisfied, isn't it?
Well, you can have this satisfaction tonight. You have the joy of looking forward to that day when you'll be safely home in heaven. How? Because the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world. What do we read in the book of Hebrews chapter 9?
Well, it says, Once in the end of the age hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. There are three appearances in those verses that we read, you will know. One is the appearance of the Lord in heaven as a high priest for his own to bring us through this wilderness world.
And then there's an appearance in the past to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And then there's an appearance in the future. Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
In other words, the sin question has been settled and the Lord is coming back. And while you may be young in years and think you have a long life before you, no one really knows, but you know also the Lord can come.
And we believe in the eminent return of the Lord. That's a big word that just means he could come at any moment. It's like he's hovering over, just ready to come, to call his own, to be with himself. Are you ready for his coming?
Will it be heaven for all eternity, all pleasures forevermore, or will it be hell and the lake of fire forever? Is there really a choice to make? Two roads before us lie, and each a choice must make. The one leads upward to the sky, the other downward to the lake.
You ever thought what it would be like if you missed God's salvation? Breaks one's heart just to think of some who have slipped over the deadline. Maybe you may even have thought they're far more fitted to be recipients of salvation than some of us that are saved, but that's not the point.
The big problem is sin. Why are you not on the way to heaven tonight? Sometimes people say, well, because I'm not saved. And I say, that's right, but there's a better answer. It's because of my sins. And if those sins could be put away tonight, there would be nothing that would keep you out of God's heaven.
And you can have those sins put away. We often say in Hebrews chapter 11, there's a big list of men and women, and they're people just like we ourselves are. But there's not one mention of their sins.
Why? Well, I always go back to chapter 10. Their sins and their iniquities, while I remember no more. Their sins have been put away by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. What a sacrifice. One of the big truths about a sacrifice is the cost that's involved.
And it cost the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Not just all that he had, but himself came voluntarily from the glories of heaven to be upon that middle cross there at Calvary. And especially in those hours of darkness, to bear the wrath and the judgment of God so that you could be saved.
Oh, that Jesus thus would love us. Something we can't understand. When there's nothing lovable about us, God commendeth his love toward us. And that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. For whom did Christ die?
We're glad we can tell you he died for sinners. And if there's one here in the meeting tonight that will take the sinner's place, you can leave this way, this meeting tonight, and go on your way rejoicing, knowing that my sins have been put away.
Payment. God will not twice demand. First at my blessed surety's hand, and then again at mine. And the sin question can be settled tonight. If you could just take it in that it was for me, yes, all for me.
It was because of my sins. He suffered and bled and died on the cross at Calvary. And it was a love to my soul that he bore the wrath and the judgment of God that was due to me. And if you would take that in tonight, you'd be saved by the grace of God.
May the Lord help you to see your need. And what the problem is, it's sin. And then know that the Lord Jesus came into this world to seek and to save that which was lost. Is there a lost sinner in the meeting tonight?
Is there someone dissatisfied with their life, looking for something that so far has been elusive to you? Well, we can tell you, you'll find it in Christ and nowhere else. And I can speak from experience, and every believer will say the same thing.
There's nothing like it. No greater joy than knowing Christ as one Savior, knowing that no matter what takes place or when it takes place, would be absent from the body and at home with the Lord. How about it for you tonight?
Face up to these realities. Be manly or womanly enough to face up to it. Heaven or hell for all eternity. May God make you choose wisely to go in for salvation. Don't stop until you get to Christ. You could miss it tonight and be in the blackness of darkness forever.
Now shall we pray? Our blessed God, we bow in thy presence and we do thank thee for the gospel of thy grace. What a tremendous message it is. What power there is in it. The power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.
And we do pray that the Spirit of God would have been working in our meeting tonight to bring souls under conviction of their sins and grant our Father that they would look after Calvary to the Lamb for sinners slain.
We thank thee for the Savior. We thank thee for the great love wherewith he loved us. Even when we were dead in sins, by grace are you saved. And we do ask thee, O God, to crown these conference meetings today in the salvation of a soul or of souls.
Obtain honor and glory for thyself. For we ask in the worthy name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.