TEXT: "_The wicked shall not be unpunished._"--Prov. 11:21.
There are very many passages of Scripture which ought to be read in
connection with this text; as for example, "Fools make a mock at sin"
(Proverbs 14:9), for only a fool would. Better trifle with the
pestilence and expose one's self to the plague than to discount the
blighting effects of sin. And, again, "The soul that sinneth it shall
die" (Ezekiel 18:4). From this clear statement of the word of God
there is no escape. Or, again, "Our secret sins in the light of thy
countenance" (Psalm 90:8). There is really nothing hidden from his
sight. We may conceal our sinful thoughts from men and sometimes even
our evil practices; but not from God. Or again, "Sin, when it is
finished, bringeth forth death" (James 1:15). Here is unexampled
progress indicated from which there never has been the slightest
deviation. But one of the sharpest texts in all the Word of God, and
one which men somehow in these days seem to ignore, is Paul's
expression, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: whatsoever a man
soweth, that shall he also reap" (Galatians 6:7), and if we compare
this reference in the New Testament to the text in the Old Testament
the harvest indeed seems to be sure, for "The wicked shall not be
unpunished."
There is a note of truth in all of these statements for both saint and
sinner. Jeremiah the thirtieth chapter and the eleventh verse, "For I
am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of
all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet I will not make a full
end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave
thee altogether unpunished." The old Prophet is speaking to the people
of Israel; and while he tells them that they are God's people,
nevertheless they shall not altogether go unpunished, for if they sow
to the flesh they must of the flesh reap corruption. In Deuteronomy
the fifth chapter and the ninth verse, we read, "Thou shalt not bow
down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me." It is a
solemn fact that the sins of the fathers descend upon the children unto
the third and fourth generation. It is more solemn that so blighting
is the effect of sin that the fourth generation is the last. There is
no fifth. Even though we be pardoned from sin forever, we shall not
altogether go unpunished.
Certainly it is true that if one rejects Jesus Christ, punishment for
him is absolutely certain. The other day in the city of Chicago the
following appeared in the _Inter-Ocean_ as an editorial under the title
of "Preaching for Men."
"To those who look upon men as they are it is simply astounding that so
many preachers should act as if the hope of reward alone could be
efficient to move average mankind to leave sin and follow after
righteousness. In every other relation of human life every man is
constantly confronted with the alternative: Do right and be rewarded;
do wrong and be punished. The pressure of fear as well as the pressure
of hope is continually upon him. He knows that he may conceal his
wrongdoing from the eye of man, but he is always under the fear of
discovery and punishment. But he goes to church, and in nine cases out
of ten the preacher, while insisting that he can hide nothing from the
eye of God, yet says nothing to arouse in him that fear of God which is
the beginning of wisdom. If he turn from religion to science he finds
science more positive of the certainty of punishment than of the
certainty of reward. Science cannot, for example, assure him of a long
life, even though he scrupulously obey hygienic laws. But it can
assure him of a speedy death if he wantonly violates those laws.
Precisely this fact that the consequences of sin in punishment can be
foretold more positively than the consequences of righteousness in
reward is what makes fear the strongest influence dominating and
directing human conduct. Yet many preachers deliberately abandon the
appeal to fear and then wonder why their preaching does not move men to
active righteousness. When more preachers recover from the delusion
into which so many of them have fallen such complaints will diminish.
For all human experience proves that the preaching that appeals to fear
of punishment as well as to hope of reward is the preaching that is
really effective--is the preaching of all the great preachers of the
past and the present--is the preaching that moves."
The statement of the text is exceedingly plain and the teaching is
unquestioned. It is a good thing for us to-day to understand what sin
is, for if we have a wrong conception of sin it naturally follows that
we shall have a wrong conception of the atonement. Without an
understanding of sin there is no sense of guilt, and without the sense
of guilt there is no cry for pardon. The best definitions that I have
ever found for sin are written in the word of God.
I
1. "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the
transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4). The word "transgression" means
to go across. Does your life parallel God's law or cross it? Your
answer to this question determines the measure of your sin. You have
only to read the ten commandments and try to mold your life by them to
find your answer. Better still, you have only to read these
commandments in the light of Jesus' interpretation, where the look of
lust is adultery and anger without cause is murder, to see how far
short you have come; and if this is true certainly you are a sinner,
and the text is for you. "The wicked shall not be unpunished."
2. "All unrighteousness is sin; and there is a sin not unto death" (1
John 5:17). Righteousness means right relations with God. You may
make ever so strong a claim to right living and speak ever so
vehemently concerning the good that you are accomplishing in the world,
but the first question for you to settle is this, What is your relation
to God and what have you to say with reference to your acceptance or
rejection of Jesus Christ? It is a solemn thought that whatever we do
counts for nothing if our relation to God be wrong, while the little
that we may do may count for much if we have taken the right position
before him.
3. "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him
it is sin" (James 4:17).
Omission, according to this scripture, is sin; neglected opportunity is
sin, shirking responsibility is sin, refusing to obey God is sin; and
so when I ask you about being a Christian, if it is best and right and
you acknowledge that it is, then if you are not a Christian, this very
fact is in itself sin, for when one knows the right and refuses to do
it he is a sinner, and the text is true--"The wicked shall not be
unpunished."
4. "And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of
faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23). Active
doubt is sin. If you have a doubt concerning the sinfulness of certain
things, then to do those things is sin. If I have the least doubt
concerning the amusements which may be questionable, or the position
which may be doubtful, so long as a doubt or a question remains these
things are sin; and the Bible states the fact that "The wicked shall
not be unpunished."
5. "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16:8). Unbelief is the chiefest
of sins. It is to reject Jesus Christ, it is to close in our own faces
the door of hope, it is to trample the blood of the Son of God under
our feet, and it means also to insult the spirit of grace.
One morning in the city of New York a man dashed down the street and
past three men standing on the pier. They could not tell how old he
was, nor how he was dressed, but they saw him jump upon the bulkhead
near by, strip off his overcoat, coat and hat, and, before they could
stir to save him, plunge off the end of the pier. There was a short
rope lying near by, and seizing this a man ran with his companions to
the point from which the man had jumped. They threw the rope toward
the struggling figure that they could just make out below them. The
rope fell a foot and a half too short. Then they ran back to the gas
plant and got a longer rope. The ice was running so thick in the river
that the man's head and shoulders were still to be seen above the water
when they returned. Taking careful aim they threw the rope squarely
across the struggling form, shouting, "Catch it and we'll pull you
in." The unknown man, however, making a last effort, threw the rope
aside and shouted back: "Oh, to h--- with it! I'm through!" Then he
sank out of sight. That is a picture of the man who, having offered to
him mercy and grace in Jesus Christ, spurns all that God offers, and is
therefore hopeless.
Sin separates us from God.
Sin separates us from each other.
Sin pollutes us and we become impure.
Sin deceives us and we are in danger and know it not.
A friend of mine walking along the streets of Cincinnati early one
morning saw a young girl standing upon the very edge of the roof of one
of the highest office buildings. She was carefully balancing herself
and every moment it seemed as if she would fall. The elevator was not
running, but he made his way hurriedly to the roof of the building,
walked carefully across it, seized her by the hand, drew her back and
found that she had risen in her sleep and all unconsciously was
standing on the very brink of eternity. This is what sin does for us,
and it is a solemn thought that for all such the text is true, "The
wicked shall not be unpunished."