OVERCOMING SIN (3)

YOUR WAR AGAINST SIN

GOD LOVES SINNERS.

Jesus Christ died for you. He sacrificed His Life for you while you were yet sinners. (Romans 5: 6 - 8), the greatest act of love ever in the universe.

Many people have heard of that sacrifice. But they fail to understand what it means and what its deep implications are. They don’t realize what it reveals about God and His plan.

Forgiveness for sin is a free gift. We cannot earn the grace of God. However, God does give us a spiritual formula to follow in order to receive it. Many people are willing to accept the blood of Jesus to cover their sins, but they don’t follow what God says in the Bible. — so they are not forgiven. Is it possible that you are among those who have made this mistake? Once God extends forgiveness, He gives responsibilities to the one He forgives. Like Christ said to the adulteress whom he forgave, “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11). This is essential to ultimately receiving eternal life.

God loves sinners — so much so that He wants to save us from sin and all its terrible effects. Sin enslaves us . Jesus said,” Whoever commits sin is a SLAVE of sin” (verse 34); see also (Romans 6: 16 2 Peter 2:19) God wants to bring you out of sin, just as He delivered the Israelites from the bondage of Egypt. He wants to purge sin from your life completely, to remove it as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12)

God wants to empower you to live SIN_FREE — a totally different God-centered way, walking in newness of life (Romans 6:4).

This is the life of a Christian. It is a life of blessings — of understanding, peace, fulfillment and joy. Bit it is not the broad, easy way. Jesus said that “narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:14). This way is full of challenges and trials. It requires learning God’s will and following it, even against temptation and self-desire. It demands struggle and sacrifice.

It is a LIFE OF OVERCOMING AND CONQUERING SIN. The Bible backs this up from the first chapters of Genesis to the final chapters of Revelation. Scripture frequently describes it as a STRUGGLE, A FIGHT, A BATTLE. Anyone who has ever stepped through that narrow gate and undertaken a journey on the difficult path to te Promised Land can identify with that description. IT IS WAR.

So, let me say something right here about conversion that most people do not understand. The repentance that is required as a condition to being truly converted by receiving God’s Holy Spirit is something far different than most people suppose. It is infinitely more than merely agreeing with certain doctrines.

Whoever you are, YOU HAVE, or you HAVE HAD, an IDOL. You have had another ’god’ before the true living Almighty God....It might have been your OWN VANITY....or your own business or your profession, or your crack cocaine or your meth, or your money. Very often it is the opinion of your friends, your family, your group or social or business contacts.

But, whatever it is, that idol must first be CRUSHED, SMASHED —it must be literally torn out of your mind, even though it hurts more than having all your teeth pulled out without anesthetic! Usually it seems like something more excruciating than the agony of death by the cruelest torture.

I was never converted until I was brought to the place where I realized my own nothingness, and God’s all-encompassing GREATNESS — until I felt completely whipped, defeated. When I came to consider myself as a worthless burned-out ’hunk of human junk’ not even worth throwing on the junk pile of human derelicts, truly remorseful for having imagined I was a’somebody’—completely and totally and bitterly SORRY for the direction I had traveled and the things I had done — relay and truly repentant.

That is a very deep repentance that most people do not understand.

I told God that I was now ready to give my SELF and my LIFE over to Him. It was worthless now to me. If He could use it, I told Him He could have it! I didn’t think, then, it was usable —even in God’s hands.

But let me say this: if God could take that completely defeated, worthless, self-confessed failure to which I had been reduced, and use that life to develop and build what He has done. HE CAN TAKE YOUR LIFE, TOO, AND USE IT IN A MANNER YOU SIMPLY CANNOT NOW DREAM - If you will give it over to HIM without reservation and leave it in His hands!

But don’t ever think that it comes easy. If a mother suffers birth pangs that her child may be born, most of us have to suffer that we may be born again of God - even in this first begettal stage we call conversion.

What I am describing here is TOTAL SURRENDER to GOD.

Conversion is a lifelong process. To BECOME CONVERTED IS TO HAVE GOD’S THOUGHTS - RATHER THAN CARNAL THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS AND DESIRES. We must think like God! That is very difficult to accomplish, and a deep subject to think on. We must constantly grow in our conversion. Baptism is only the starting point.

Here is how the Apostle Paul described it: “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:22). Many people know why we must have faith toward Jesus Christ. We must believe on and accept His sacrifice in order to be reconciled to God and to receive the Holy Spirit. But how deeply do you understand REPENTANCE TOWARD God?

There are many great examples of repentance toward God in the Bible. One of the best examples is that of David.

David had a weakness for beautiful women. This problem had been with him for some time - he had failed to overcome it. And terrible things exploded in Israel as a result of that sin. Thousands suffered and died.

Bathsheba, the wife of one of Davids top captains , happened to be bathing nude on a rooftop one day. She must have known that David could see her. Her husband was off at war, and she was displaying no great loyalty to him in his absence. David made a decision that night that was burned into his memory for the rest of his life - one for which he suffered from that point on because of what he did to all of Israel.

Bathsheba got pregnant, and David had a big problem on his hands. So he began to scheme. He sent a message to Bathsheba's husband Uriah, to come home and be with his wife. But Uriah had more character than David at this time. He wouldn’t sleep with her while his fellow soldiers were still out at battle. So, Plan A of David’s did not work.

David came up with Plan B. Some men tried to get Uriah drunk so he would then sleep with Bathsheba. but Uriah still didn’t cooperate. David was getting desperate, and further and further from God. His Plan C was the most evil yet. He instructed Uriah;’s commander to send him to the front lines of the hottest part of the battle so he would be killed. And that is just what happened.

Things seemed fine for a few months. David took Bathsheba as his wife. David thought he had gotten away with everything.

But then a prophet of God came on the scene. David was about to learn a deep lesson about repentance.

2 Samuel 12:1 says “And the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; one rich man with many lambs, and a poor man who loved his one little lamb dearly. He said that the rich man took in a traveler and instead of taking a lamb from his own flocks, he “took the poor man’s lamb and dressed it for the man that was come to him” (verse 4).

This story deeply rankled David’s emotions. “And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die (verse 5). A serious judgement! This man ought to die, he said, because he showed no pity (Verse 6). He didn’t realize that the parable Nathan had told was actually a picture of how he himself had treated Uriah, taking his precious wife for himself. In fact, David had committed sins far greater the this “rich man” he was so quick to condemn to death!

At that point, Nathan brought David’s sin out into the open. “you are the man”, he told him (verse 7).

“Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight?” Nathan asked. A hard question! “Thou has killed Uriah, the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon (@ Samuel 12:9). You did the deed, David, Nathan said, even though you didn’t raise the sword yourself. God knew all about it - every detail of David's grisly sin. Somehow, David had gotten so far from God that he didn’t think God knew.

This sin tore Bathsheba’s life apart. Her family was destroyed, and even her baby, which David had fathered, died. All Israel found out about it. Everyone had to know because David didn;t deal with the problem when he should have.

While all of this was happening, David’s son Absalom thought, Well he’s not qualified to rule. God has shown that. I will take over, And he rose up and led the Israelites after David, and 23,000 of them ended up getting killed. A;; because of Davis’s sin.

“now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house, because THOU HAST DESPISED ME, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the be thy wife” (verse 10).

Was God being overly dramatic or emotional here? You have despised me - God! He told David. Read verses 11 and 12, where God slapped him with a very hard judgement. David was the king of Israel - he was accountable to everyone. He was punished accordingly.

Now notice David’s response. “I have sinned against the Lord” (verse 13). A very interesting response. He didn’t say he had sinned against Uriah or Bathsheba or all of Israel. After all the havoc he ended up causing in so many lives, his chief concern was what he had done to God.

When you sin, do you realize you are sinning against God?

“And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to BLASPHEME, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die” (verses 13 - 14). When we sin, we give people the chance to blaspheme God. We can bring all kinds of problems into the Church. the reason is that we represent God.

Psalm 51 talks about David’s repentance of his sin.

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according unto thy loving kindness… (Psalm 51:1). David had no mercy on Uriah - and yet, he could still come before God and ask for mercy. That’s the way God is, and David knew that. How wonderful to have such a loving, kind , merciful God - even when we can be so merciless sometimes!

The verse concludes, “according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions”. There was more than one sin involved here. David had done just about everything wrong there was to do. that’s the way we are, apart from God.

“Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin” (verse 2). How often have we gone before God and asked for this cleansing and really meant it? It takes courage to ask God to show you where you’re not clean, and to ask Him to cleanse you there as well. “For I acknowledge my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me” (verse 3). David wasn’t trying to hide anything anymore. He put it right up there before God and dealt with it.

“Against thee, Thee only, have I sinned , and done this evil in thy sight; that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.” (verse 4). David could see God’s righteousness; he understood God’s lovingkindness. He was ashamed to come before God after what he had done. But God was present in David’s life in a way He had never been before.

David plainly saw his own human nature. “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my other conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom” (verses 5- 6). Do you think like God? God desires truth in the inward parts - just as He Himself has. He wants us to think like He does. It’s not enough to pretend we are thinking in the right way. It must be WHO WE ARE, to our core. This is the lesson God was teaching David. Compare yourself to others and you may think, Hey I’m not doing so bad. But compare yourself with God, and you’ll truly know repentance. The GOODNESS OF GOD LEADS US TO REPENTANCE.

David really accepted God’s correction here. “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which THOU HAST BROKEN MAR REJOICE” (verses 7-8). Here is a great attitude: you’ve broken my bones, God - now will you make them rejoice?

“Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities” (verse 9). This is true repentance toward god. David was looking at God’s goodness and was so embarrassed about his own sin that he just said, God, when I come into your presence will you just hide your face? Isaiah said that when he was in God’s presence he was a man of unclean lips (Isaiah 6:5). This is a very repentant attitude. You will never come before God this way if you are comparing yourself to other men rather than to God.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me”(verse 10). God must create a clean heart within us. David here realized that his spirit was all wrong, that God had to create and renew His Spirit within him.

David may have nearly lost the Holy Spirit during this episode. he prayed, “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit away from me” (verse 11). You certainly can commit atrocious acts and still have God’s Spirit. That is why we must remain very close to God. David let his weakness get the better of him, and it almost cost him his salvation (e.g. Psalm 73:2) If you leave a little leaven in your life, it will spread until your mind is filled with leaven (Galatians 5:9). We can never afford NOT to repent toward god.

“Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit” (verse 12). Notice - even thought David was out doing “exciting’ things like committing adultery, all his joy had gone! He was miserable because he was breaking the law of God. There is nothing exciting or joyful about that. If we violate God’s law, we lose our joy. It can only be rekindled by repenting and then staying close to god.

David really used this incident to turn things around. He went on to do great works for God. “Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee” (verse 13). David wanted to turn everyone he could to the ways of God - to teach them God’s law. And that is just what he did. In fact, he still is, bu his example and his wonderful words in this Psalm.

“deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation…(verse 14). WHAT BLOOD GUILTINESS is David talking about? THE KILLING OF JESUS CHRIST. DAVID KNEW THAT CHRIST HAD TO DIE BECAUSE OF SIN - THAT WAS THE REAL BLOOD HE WAS GUILTY OF, NOT URIAH’S.

Do you realize that you are guilty of blood? Don’t take your sins lightly - it cost the blood of Jesus Christ to pay for them!

The God whom David was praying to was the One who would eventually have to die. David recognized that! And he was moved by that. Even though that sacrifice had not yet physically happened, it was as though David was right among the Roman soldiers, taking that spear and thrusting into His side.

As he says in verse 16, God desires so much more than burnt offerings and sacrifices. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (verse 17). what really shattered David was that he began to see what he had done to God - and what his sins would put Christ through! And his broken spirit, as a result, was exactly the kind of sacrifice God was looking for in him.

David is going to be rewarded with a great position in the Kingdom of God. He will rule over the 12 tribes of Israel (Jeremiah 30:9 and Hosea 3:5). the David will teach them how to repent as he did.

Here is what true repentance really comes down to: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). Christ’s mind must be in us, so we are thinking like Him. “for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (verse 13). it is not a human effort. We may not actually want to overcome a problem. But God says that He will give us that desire. WE MUST GO TO GOD FOR THE DESIRE TO OVERCOME. If we do, He promises to give us that desire. OUR REPENTANCE WILL BE TOWARD GOD, and then we will be able to overcome any obstacle!