INTRODUCTION

Have you ever traveled internationally? If you travel to other countries, it’s important to understand the currency. You want to make sure you have a right understanding of the exchange rate because you want to get the cost right. You want to make sure you understand the cost before you purchase something.

Illustration: When I was in college I spent 2 months in Ecuador South America.  I was a missions and had to do a missions internship, so I went to Ecuador and spent 2 months with a missionary family there.  But one thing you have to do when you travel internationally is figure out the exchange rate.  Ecuador uses American dollars so it was pretty easy there—no need to figure that out.  But when I was a teenager I went on a missions trip to Nova Scotia.  That was different.  They use Canadian currency so there is an exchange rate—an american dollar isn’t worth the same as a Canadian dollar. 

Key point: you need to understand the cost if you’re going to purchase something, and especially when traveling internationally. If you don’t know how to calculate the exchange rate, you may not have enough money or you may end up overpaying because you didn’t understand the true cost.

This reminds me of our spiritual lives. Scripture talks about certain things in our spiritual lives which have a cost which we must know. Scripture says that if we are to follow Christ as his disciples we must count the cost. But scripture also speaks of the cost of sin. Sin has a tremendous cost. It doesn’t cost us anything to give into sin, but when we do give into sin, there is an incredible cost.

Too many times however, we don’t we don’t really understand the cost involved. We don’t really take the time to think about the cost sin will have in our lives. We just get so accustomed to sinning that we just do it! We don’t take time to think about the broken marriage, when we go to have the affair; we don’t think about the relationship repercussions when we blow up at our spouse; we don’t think about how it will hurt when we spread gossip around; we don’t think about the ramifications at work when we’re disrespectful to our boss; we don’t consider the hole we dig when we tell a lie. We don’t consider the incredible cost it will have when we give into sin. Just like I needed to know the cost of my items I purchased out of country, so we must understand the incredible cost of sin.

And as we come to Lamentations 1 this morning, we learn of the cost of sin. We learn that sin always has a cost, and we see that cost and its effects in the life of God’s people. So as we come to Lamentations chapter 1, the big idea, and you’ve probably already guessed it, is this:

Big Idea: sin always has a cost.

If this is the only thing you get out of our message today, here’s the bottom like I want you to remember–sin always has a cost.

Transition: And from this chapter we see four effects of sin in our lives.

So let’s unpack this chapter to see what we can learn about the cost of sin in our lives.

1) Sin takes our joy (VS. 1-5)

Explanation: as we begin, we see that sin takes our joy. It takes our joy. Let’s think back and do some review here. Lamentations was written after the exile of Judah to Babylon and the destruction of the temple in in 586 B.C. You remember how that God was patient and longsuffering in waiting for Israel, His chosen people, to turn back to him and stop pursuing false gods. His patience had run out over this situation and now we see God responding with judgement for His people. This was a mournful and discouraging time for Israel where their capital city was in ruins and their people captive in a country not their own.

As Lamentations opens, we see that God’s people have become a pitiful mess. Let’s read vs. 1-5.

Lamentations 1:1–5 NASB95

How lonely sits the city That was full of people! She has become like a widow Who was once great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces Has become a forced laborer! She weeps bitterly in the night And her tears are on her cheeks; She has none to comfort her Among all her lovers. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; They have become her enemies. Judah has gone into exile under affliction And under harsh servitude; She dwells among the nations, But she has found no rest; All her pursuers have overtaken her In the midst of distress. The roads of Zion are in mourning Because no one comes to the appointed feasts. All her gates are desolate; Her priests are groaning, Her virgins are afflicted, And she herself is bitter. Her adversaries have become her masters, Her enemies prosper; For the Lord has caused her grief Because of the multitude of her transgressions; Her little ones have gone away As captives before the adversary.

Notice how horrible of a situation we have here! We open with this mournful statement how lonely sits the city that was full of people! Lonely, empty, in ruins. We see this mental picture in verse 1—she has become like a widow. The trauma of the condition in Israel is so great that it is comparable to that of a woman who has lost her husband. Boys and girls, you can draw a picture of a sad Christian.  You see the contrast here in verse 1—she has become a widow who was once great among the nations; she who was a prince among the provinces has been brought low. We see the mighty hand of God in judgment against his people. In verse 2 we see the weeping and bitterness. Notice she is described as a harlot, going after her lovers, but there is no comfort. Her friends dealt treacherously and have become her enemies. Judah is in exile (verse 3) and there is no rest. We see the reason for all of this misery in verse 5—the Lord has afflicted her because of the multitude of her transgressions.

Application: Notice with me how sin takes our joy. One of the costs of sin is the price of joy. Do you see that here in this text? There is no joy. There is no happiness. This was God’s chosen people! They’re the ones who enjoyed a covenant relationship with God! They were supposed to be the happiest people around! Now their joy has gone. Notice that the things that they used to have joy in have don’t satisfy any longer. Verse 2 says she has none to comfort her among all her lovers. What an incredible picture of the cost of sin! The things God’s people had pursued instead of God—the things they thought would bring joy and satisfaction and happiness, now they don’t even bring that anymore. We see sin has left them completely broken and empty!

It’s the same way in our lives, you know. Sin steals our joy! You have to wonder, why in our world today do we not see all too many joyful Christians? Why aren’t believers excited about coming to church? Singing to God? Hearing the Word? Fellowshipping with believers? Why don’t we go through life with joy? Could it be because of sin?

Illustration: I think the prophet Jeremiah gave a good object lesson of what this looks like many times in our own lives, and this was true of God’s people here. In Jeremiah 2, God speaks through the prophet Jeremiah and says “my people have committed two evils, they’ve left me, the fountain of living water, and have hewed or cut out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” A cistern was a manmade basin or reservoir built to hold water. And we get this imagery here. In Bible times they didn’t have city water. They didn’t have faucets and water heaters and water softeners. They had rivers and wells and they had cisterns. Rivers were the main source of water during the rainy season, but cisterns were created to collect pools of water in case, as would often happen, the river or stream would dry up in the dry season. They would then use the cistern which had been collecting rainwater during the rainy season and hopefully had enough water to last until the next rainy season. But get the picture here—they have a spring—a fountain of living water that never will run out. You don’t need a cistern when you have an endless supply of water. But God says his people leave that, and instead dig other cisterns, but they are broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Application: that’s the picture of sin! Sin leaves us empty! Sin is always a 2 step process, we leave God, and pursue other things, and what we find in Jeremiah 2 holds absolutely true for God’s people in Lamentations 1, and it holds true for us today. Sin takes our joy! Lamentations 1 serves as a reality check for our lives; sin always has a cost! Don’t forget that! Don’t be so quick to live life how you want—to build the broken cisterns, that you forget the cost sin will have in your life! It robs us of our joy!

2) Sin takes our integrity (VS. 6-9)

Explanation: Continuing on in our passage, we see that sin takes our integrity. It takes our integrity. Consider vs. 6-9:

Lamentations 1:6–9 NASB95

All her majesty Has departed from the daughter of Zion; Her princes have become like deer That have found no pasture; And they have fled without strength Before the pursuer. In the days of her affliction and homelessness Jerusalem remembers all her precious things That were from the days of old, When her people fell into the hand of the adversary And no one helped her. The adversaries saw her, They mocked at her ruin. Jerusalem sinned greatly, Therefore she has become an unclean thing. All who honored her despise her Because they have seen her nakedness; Even she herself groans and turns away. Her uncleanness was in her skirts; She did not consider her future. Therefore she has fallen astonishingly; She has no comforter. “See, O Lord, my affliction, For the enemy has magnified himself!”

You see the loss of integrity here. The majesty has departed. Imagine how hard that must have been for God to see! Boys and girls, you can draw Israel’s enemies.  Look at the description here—her princes are like deer with no pasture; they have fled without strength before their pursuer. Their adversaries saw her and mocked her ruin. Notice the effect it has on Jerusalem in verse 8—they are become like an unclean thing. They’re the type of people that everyone wants to avoid!  Unfortunately sometimes Christians are like that! We see that those who honored God’s people now despise them. There is loss of integrity here! Because they have seen her nakedness. This is an idiomatic expression probably referring to her dirty reputation. I mean, do you really realize what is going on here? God’s people are so sinful that even unbelievers recognize their sin and turn away! Any reputation they once had for God is completely lost! This is the cost of sin—it takes our integrity!

Illustration: yet how many believers are like this in our world today? They’ve lost their integrity with the unsaved world because of sin. The interesting thing about being a Christian is that generally speaking unbelievers know how you are to act, and they’re more than happy to hold you to that standard. I remember one time when I working construction years ago before I was married. I was coming over to a circle of 5 or so construction workers and one of the men Bob was just starting what I could tell was an inappropriate story or joke. Now Bob had a dirty mouth, and an even filthier mind. He was a hardened construction worker through and through with a bad temper on top of it and he wasn’t afraid to give you a piece of his mind. If you’re lucky you’d only get a small piece. But I had learned to be around him and expect some things I didn’t care for. But I walked over into this group and he was just about to start a story or joke or something, and one of the other guys looked over at me, and looked at Bob and put his finger over his mouth and gestured to me as if to say “you probably shouldn’t tell this story around Jared, he’s a Christian.” The unbelieving world knows how a believer should act.

Application: Here in our story, the sin of God’s people was so great that they had lost their integrity with those around them. Instead of coming to them to know about God, they were avoiding God’s people because of their wickedness! How awful is that! Now before you point the finger at Judah, look at yourself. What is your integrity like? So many times we want to look at stories like we see in Lamentations and think of ourselves as the kind of innocent 3rd party. We have God, and Israel, and we want to sit on the side line and say “na-uh Israel, you can’t do that! God’s gonna judge you!” But you know, the truth of the matter is, we are Israel. We are not the innocent third party in this story! We are aligned right up next to Israel because we do the same thing! I mean come on, let’s be real here! And so many times this is why unbelievers reject religion and reject coming to church—because they’ve seen too many bad things from those who claim to be believers. People know how believers are supposed to act and they know if believers aren’t acting that way.  And sometimes God has to send a reality check. You don’t want God to give you this type of reality check! Sin has a cost, and Lamentations 1 reminds us of this! Often times suffering is that reality check. Suffering reminds us that sin always has a cost. Sin takes our joy and our integrity.

3) Sin takes our focus (VS. 9-11)

Explanation: continuing on in our text we see that it takes our focus. Sin steals our focus.  Boys and girls, you can draw a wrong focus. Look at vs. 9-11.

Lamentations 1:9–11 NASB95

Her uncleanness was in her skirts; She did not consider her future. Therefore she has fallen astonishingly; She has no comforter. “See, O Lord, my affliction, For the enemy has magnified himself!” The adversary has stretched out his hand Over all her precious things, For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, The ones whom You commanded That they should not enter into Your congregation. All her people groan seeking bread; They have given their precious things for food To restore their lives themselves. “See, O Lord, and look, For I am despised.”

Notice the writer says her uncleanness is under her skirts. The idea here is that it sticks to her. Again further creating this imagery of harlotry. Notice where sin has caused Israel to lose focus in verse 9—she did not consider her future, therefore she has fallen astonishingly. There was the loss of focus on the future. God’s people sacrificed the future for the immediate. Instead of looking ahead and living for the future they lived for the now. See the result? Verse 10—She has no comforter. There is no comfort for her; no one to comfort her. What a scary place for a follower of God to be! No comfort! So Jeremiah cries out “O Lord, see my affliction!”

We see further loss of focus in verse 11—the people are hungry, groaning for bread, and they have given their precious things for food to restore themselves. Sin is coming around full circle here. They pursued other things, those things stole their joy and didn’t satisfy, now they are selling those things just to survive! But notice what we don’t see here—the people are hungry and groaning for bread so they turn to God. The people are hungry so they repent and seek the Lord. No! I don’t think this giving their precious things for bread is them relinquishing their idolatry here and getting rid of things that took their focus off of God. No! Sin has blinded them so much that even in their misery instead of turning to God they’re turning back to themselves—“I will sell my earthly treasures for food before I repent and turn back to God!” What a comment to make! Sin has stolen their focus. They sacrificed the future for what they wanted now and the result is they have to give those things away in order to just survive, but they do so without even turning to God! And Jeremiah closes verse 11 with the plea—“See, oh Lord and look!”

Illustration: sin works in our lives the same way. It causes us to lose our focus. It blinds us—it makes us forget about the future and live for the present. I cannot help but think of the Biblical account of Abraham and Lot. Here you have the story of two men, each made a choice, one was for the immediate and one was for the future. Abraham and his nephew Lot had lived together and shared land, but they’re flocks and workers had become too big for the land where they were at. So Abraham decided they should split up and separate to that each had ample property to live on. Abraham gave Lot the first choice, and he chose, the more fertile ground that would be better for his flocks. The problem, was, this fertile ground bordered the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Eventually Lot started to watch what was going on in the cities and eventually was attracted to live in them and play a role in the wickedness that was going on there. He had gone from a humble existence with his uncle Abraham to living in some of the most wicked cities we could imagine! Sin took his focus. We see in the end of the story the cost of sin in his life was the molestation of his own daughters and the death of his wife. Lot understood the cost of sin—sin took his focus.

Application: don’t be so proud as to think that this couldn’t happen to you! Could sin be taking your focus today? Someone has said that:

Sin will take you further than you wanted to go, cost your more than you wanted to pay, and keep you longer than you wanted to stay.

Could this be true in your life? It can happen so easily, without even realizing it. Before we know it we are further along the road to sin than we ever intended to be! Oh be careful! Watch out! Consider your life! Lamentations is a reality check for us—sin always has a cost. It takes our joy, takes our integrity, and takes our focus.

4. Sin takes our hope (VS. 12-22)

Explanation: it also takes our hope. It takes our hope.  Boys and girls, you can draw someone who is hopeless.  

There’s not much hope when you’re living in sin.  

There’s not much hope. You see this in chapter 1 verses 12-22. Notice we encounter this hopeless phrase in verse 12—Look and see if there is any pain like my pain which was severely dealt out to me, which the Lord inflicted on the day of His fierce anger. Basically he’s saying There is no pain like the pain dealt out from the Lord! This is a hopeless situation if Israel continues on the path they were heading down. We see in verse 17 that God’s people reach out and there’s no one to help them. Even their capital city, Jerusalem, has become like something unclean. We see in verse 19 I called to my lovers and they deceived me. Again, we see the hopelessness of their plight—even the things they pursued have turned away from them. Jeremiah closes this chapter by crying out to God let all their wickedness come before you . . . my groans are many and my heart is faint. We get this utterly hopeless picture of everything turned upside down because of their sin.

Application: God’s people learned the hard lesson that sin always has a cost—it takes our hope! Sin always has a cost! It will take our joy, take our integrity, take our focus, and take our hope. What might sin be taking in your life?

CONCLUSION

We opened by talking about cost. I shared my own experience traveling internationally, and we learned how that if you’re going to purchase something internationally, you need to understand the cost. The same is true in our spiritual lives. Sin takes so much from us! We need to be a people who recognize the cost of sin in our lives, and make the decisions that we are not going to let it cost us any longer. We need to be a people who recognize that the cost is too great, and commit to no longer allowing sin to take things from us. We need to see suffering and hardship as a reality check in our lives, and evaluate ourselves so we can be what God wants us to be.

As we wrap this up, I’d like to take a step back from this chapter and look at the big picture. After all of this, what hope is there for us? If we are like Israel, then what hope is there for wicked rebellious sinners like us? The hope for us lies in Jesus. The hope lies in the fact that Jesus made provision for us and our sin—even though we keep doing it! The hope is that God wants a relationship with us and to be in our lives, and though our sin costs us all of these things, it cost him more—it cost him his Son! The hope lies in the fact that God, in sending His Son, paid the ultimate cost so that we wouldn’t have to keep paying the cost. And when do, he made provision for that too. The hope, in the midst of all of this is that despite our sin, despite our rebellion, God does the very same thing to us he does to Israel. He sends reality checks our way so that he can bring us back to him, because Jesus made provision for sin—he paid the ultimate cost so that we could be free, and he covers for us when we still mess up. What wonderful news!

So what do you do this morning if sin has taken your joy? Come back to Him. What do you do this morning if sin has taken your integrity? Come back to Him. What do you do if sin has taken your focus and your hope? Come back to him? Embrace whatever reality check he might send your way, just like he sent to Israel, and come back to him!

Next Steps

What would this text look like if we lived it in our lives? If this text truly worked in and through us? We would be aware of the cost of sin. We would think about the broken marriage, when we go to have the affair; we would think about the relationship repercussions when we blow up at our spouse; we would consider how it will hurt when we spread gossip around; we would think about the ramifications at work when we’re disrespectful to our boss; we would remember the hole we dig when we tell a lie. We would consider the incredible cost it will have when we give into sin. If we truly lived this text, it would cause us to stop and think a moment before we live life for ourselves. More importantly, it would cause us to be even more mindful of the cost Jesus paid so that we could be free.

1. Consider your life—what is sin costing you right now?

Get alone with God this week and commit to not paying what sin costs any longer.

2. Get a partner

Find someone who can walk through the journey with you—ask someone to pray for your battle over the cost of sin.

3. Celebrate your freedom in Christ

Find a scripture passage that you can memorize and learn this week to give you help and hope in your struggle. Find a song that you can sing in your personal worship that helps you in your battle with sin.

Don’t be like God’s people in lamentations. Consider the cost of sin: it takes your joy, integrity, focus, and hope. Sin always has a cost! But Jesus took that cost for you, so you need to run to Him!