Welcome to the Emmaus Bible Hour. This is a program for you and your family, a time to open the Bible and see what God has to say to us through His Word. Again today we'll consider another lesson in the course What the Bible teaches. Today's session brings us to lesson number four. You'll notice on page thirteen of the manual that the subject dealt with is sin. That's an ugly word, isn't it? You can almost hear the hiss of the serpent as you pronounce the word sin. Now the Bible has a great deal to say about sin and the lesson on pages fourteen rather thirteen, fourteen and fifteen, presents the subject in capsule form. There are a number of headings here that promise to be very profitable. What is sin? Then the origin of sin. In the third place we look at some of the black results of sin, and then move on to the penalty of sin, and finally touch on the remedy for sin. However, our main concern today is to examine briefly what the Word of God has to say on this very sobering subject. Now, I trust that you're keeping up on your exams. You'll notice that there's an exam covering our present lesson on pages forty-nine and fifty. And so we'll want to go over the material in this lesson, looking up every Scripture reference, and then do our best to make the highest possible grade. Now, shall we turn to... First John chapter three. There are two verses here in the third chapter of first John that illuminate this subject tremendously. I'm referring to verses four and five. This is first John chapter three, verses four and five. I shall read. Whosoever commiteth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. think it's helpful to read this same passage in the American Standard Version. It makes a significant change or two. For example, verse four in the American Standard reads like this. Everyone that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And ye know that he was manifested to take away sins, and in him is no sin. Now these two verses very satisfactorily answer four very important questions. These questions are as follows. First, what is sin? Second, who commits it? And then, third, was there any exception to this? And finally, four, what has God done about the problem? Now the answers to these four questions are found embedded right in these two verses. What is sin after all? If you were given a blank sheet of paper and asked to write your definition of sin, I wonder what kind of an answer you would provide. It's a big question. There are various aspects of sin. Sometimes the Scriptures use the word transgression or iniquity or offenses, but they are all very closely related. But in answer to the question, what is sin, John states in this first epistle of his, chapter three and verse four, Sin is the transgression of the law. I'm sure that the American Standard Version more accurately translates the original Greek expression. It's not exactly that sin is the transgression of the law for the simple reason. There can be sin without a law. Actually transgression is stepping over a given boundary. Sin is something deeper, something more subtle than that. And The revised accurately translates, sin is lawlessness. Now think about that for a minute. Sin is lawlessness. What does it mean? It simply means that the creature is doing according to his own will and carrying out the desires of his own heart and fallen nature. Sin is a casting off of restraint. Sin is ignoring or a violating of the divine will. Now our Lord, in Mark chapter seven, verses twenty to twenty-three, really X-rays man's fallen heart. I'm reading Mark chapter seven, verse twenty. And Jesus said, That which cometh out of the man, that defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile the man." So looking down into the deep, dark recesses of the human heart, Jesus Christ declared that the heart is a jungle of wild beasts, and man is a lawless creature because his lusts cause him to carry out these evil desires regardless of the will of God. How did he get that way? Well, the story is a very, very old one. The origin goes right back to Eden. There we read the testimony, or we have confirmed the testimony, Romans five, nineteen. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners. Did you ever stop to think that in Eden sin struck suddenly in four directions. First of all, sin struck upward. Secondly, sin struck inward. Thirdly, sin struck onward. And finally, sin struck downward. I'll repeat that. Sin struck upward at the throne of God, declaring war upon God, and affronting His will, disregarding and disobeying His will. Sin struck upward at God. And then sin struck inward, constituting man a sinner. Furthermore, sin struck onward, affecting all of Adam's children. That's how we became what we are. And finally, sin struck downward at the very earth itself. Yes, in an essence, sin is lawlessness. It's the carrying out of the human desires in utter opposition to the will of God. Sin is lawlessness. Now the second question is, who commits it? Well, the answer is quite easy. John says in our text, Whoso commiteth sin transgresseth the law, or better still, everyone that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness. That includes every single one of us. All of Adam's children are guilty of sin. Now the third question. Was there any exception to this? Has an exception to this ever appeared on this planet? The answer is a glorious yes. We read in verse five of first John three, Ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. Here is the one great exception. In him is no sin. We are face to face with one who is a moral miracle, the sinless, spotless Christ of God, into whose mind there never came a sinful thought. And from whose lips there never came a sinful word. And from whose hands there never came a sinful act, or whose feet never took him down a doubtful path. In him is no sin. And finally, what has God done about the problem? Well, again, we refer to our text. Verse five. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins. And of course this brings us face to face with His sacrificial death on the cross of Calvary, when we realize that Christ came into the world for the express purpose of settling forever the sin question to heaven's eternal satisfaction. Now returning for a moment to the essence of sin, let's remember that sin does not come merely by ignorance. Therefore it cannot be removed by knowledge. Sin never came merely by environment. Therefore, of course, it can't be expelled or removed by circumstances. Sin wasn't a result of poverty, therefore it cannot be removed by economic changes. There is only one remedy for sin, and that's found in the sacrifice of our Savior. Let us then never entertain like thoughts about sin. Sin has made man a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth. It is filled the earth with disaster and heartbreak, and it was that which caused our Savior to groan and to bleed upon the cross. Someone has put it like this. The worst of all diseases is light compared with sin. On every part it seizes, but rages most within. Tis palsy, dropsy, fever, and madness all combined, and none but the believer the least relief can find. How very true this is. Well, how good it is to know that God has provided in Jesus Christ, his Son, a remedy for sin's penalty, and also for the breaking of sin's power. That will be necessary for us to go over this lesson carefully. You'll notice that there is a paragraph here, paragraph four on the penalty of sin, something of its far-reaching effect. And then we'll say more about the remedy as we progress with our studies. Well, let's turn to our manual now and do our exam. And may God bless you as you apply yourselves to the answers. Have you any room for Jesus? As in our fantastic vision, either will you let him in. and now His word for pleasure, room for business, but for Christ the crucified, not a place by which he can room for Jesus is the glory. the open. Thank you. Oh.