OceanSide church of Christ

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PROFIT OF THE WICKED

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.    “For the wages of sin is death…” (Rom. 6:23).

1.        The definition of “wages.”

a.       Strong (3800):  stipend or pay

b.      Thayer:  allowance, hire

c.       Vine:  wages

2.       A wage is something that is earned.

a.       It is one’s compensation.

b.      It is something that one deserves.

3.       Paul tells us that the wages of sin is death.

a.       Sin is the transgression of the law of God (I John 3:4).

b.      Those who engage in sin earn death, that is, spiritual death or condemnation.

4.       This verse summarizes the ultimate profit of the wicked.

 

B.      There are other profits that the wicked earn as well.  In this lesson, let’s look at “The Profit of the Wicked.”  (NOTE:  Even God’s people can be involved in wickedness at times.  They, too, earn the profits of their wickedness).

 

I.             REVERSAL OF CIRCUMSTANCES

 

A.    Let’s begin with the example from the book of Esther.

1.        Haman’s hatred of Mordecai led him to accept the counsel of his friends and family and build a gallows upon which to hang the rebellious Jew (Est. 5:14).

2.       Haman’s evil plan to kill all of the Jews, including Esther, was revealed to the king.  The king ordered Haman to be hanged on his own gallows (Est. 7:10).

 

So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai.

 

B.      The brothers of Joseph

1.        The brothers of Joseph hated him because of the favor his father showed to him and because of his dreams.

2.       They subdued him when in the field, cast him into a pit, and sold him into slavery (Gen. 37:27-28).

3.       A famine brought his brothers into Egypt.  Eventually, they bowed before him and lived under his rule and authority (Gen. 42:5-6).

 

And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came:  for the famine was in the land of Canaan.  And Joseph was governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land:  and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the ground.

 

II.           NATURAL CONSEQUENCES

 

A.    There are times when the consequences of evil behavior involve natural consequences.  God does not directly intervene in the punishment.  The consequence is merely a result of the evil behavior.

 

B.      Two examples:

1.        The children of Israel fought against the Philistines.  Instead of relying upon God for the victory, they put their trust in the ark of the covenant, bringing it to the battlefield.  The consequences that were suffered were three-fold in nature (I Sam. 4:10-11).

 

And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.  And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

 

2.       Asa failed to pray to God and died with a disease in his feet that afflicted him greatly (2 Chron. 16:12).

 

And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great:  yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians. 

 

III.         OSTRACIZED

 

A.    Another type of profit the wicked can receive is to be ostracized from the camp of God’s people.

 

B.      Two examples:

1.        Miriam rebelled against Moses and was smitten with leprosy.  Moses prayed for her recover, but she was still set forth from the camp for seven days (Num. 12:14b).

 

…let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.

 

2.       The fornicator in Corinth (1 Cor. 5:5)

 

To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

 

IV.        TARNISHED REPUTATION

 

A.    The wise man of old said that a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches (Prov. 22:1).

 

B.      Sin, however, can quickly tarnish one’s reputation.

1.        We all remember Cain, one of the sons of Adam and Eve, who slew his brother Abel (Gen. 4:8).

2.       After this event, Cain is never mentioned favorably in the pages of God’s Word.  We read about him three times in the New Testament.

a.       In Hebrews 11:4, he is put in contrast with Abel who offered unto God a more acceptable sacrifice.

b.      In I John 3:12, he is said to have been “of the wicked one.”

c.       Then, in Jude 11, the inspired penman pronounces a woe on the false teachers about which he wrote, saying that they had “gone in the way of Cain.”

 

C.     Even good men like David, carry tarnished reputations due to sin.  David will always be remembered for the adultery and murder he committed.

 

V.          LOSS OF POSITION

 

A.    The angels of heaven

1.        I cannot imagine being one of the angels of heaven.

a.       Wise and strong

b.      Blessed to be in the presence of God

c.       Blessed to carry out the will of God

2.       Yes, when they sinned they were cast down, bound with chains, and are reserved unto the judgment (II Pet. 2:4).

 

For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.

 

B.      King Saul

1.        Saul allowed his pride to lift him up.  This led to rebellion against the commands of God. 

2.       Because of this he was rejected from being king.  The kingly lineage did not pass on to his family (I Sam. 15:26).

 

And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee:  for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.

 

C.     Judas (Acts 1:25)

 

That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.

 

VI.        PUNISHMENT FROM GOD

 

A.    The list of examples of those who received punishment from God is extremely lengthy.

 

B.      One of the most unique is the punishment of the arrogant king named Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 5:20-21).

 

But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:  and he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses:  they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whosoever he will.

 

VII.      PHYSICAL DEATH

 

A.    In Scripture, we find several wicked individuals who ultimately had to face death because of their wickedness.

 

B.      Two examples:

1.        The wicked queen Jezebel (2 King 9:35-37).

 

And they went to bury her:  but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.  Wherefore they came again, and told him.  And he said, This is the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel:  and the carcass of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

 

2.       Herod (Acts 12:23)

 

And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory:  and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.    We have learned that wickedness pays wages to those engaged therein.

 

B.      Sometimes a person may experience only one of the profits.

At other times, he may experience more than one of the wages.

 

C.     Some may not get a pay day in this life at all.

D.    But, a payday is coming.  The ultimate payday is the one we mentioned at the outset of the lesson.  Paul tells us:  “For the wages of sin is death…”

1.        This is the second death.

2.       This is eternal death in the lake of fire and brimstone (See Rev. 20:14-15).

 

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.  This is the second death.  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

 

E.      Here is an interesting thought:  “Wickedness pays its wages, but those wages always come with a cost.”