Dealing With Sin

Proverbs 28:13 NLT

People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.

Introduction

1. Have you ever cleaned your room and thought that you did a good job until your mom comes in and opens the blinds and all the dust is exposed?

or …

2. Nita Friedman is not the type of person you would imagine to be involved in a police pursuit. Still, that's what happened on U.S. highway 95 after Bonners Ferry, Idaho, police chief Mike Hutter tried to stop her for reckless driving. Hutter flipped on his lights and siren, but instead of pulling over, the 66-year-old woman pulled away.

Police chased the woman through two counties. The chase did not end until after the State Police put a spike strip in the road in front of Friedman's car. After driving over it, the woman tried to keep going, but with three flat tires escape became impossible.

What astounded law enforcement officers was that throughout the entire 15-mile chase, Friedman never went over the speed limit. Once, she even stopped behind a vehicle that was making a left turn. While running from the law, Nita Friedman was determined not to break the law.

It's like the pastor facing expulsion from her church. Rev. Irene Elizabeth Stroud vows she has not violated her denomination's trust, but acknowledges she lives with her lesbian lover.

It's like my friend who maintains the highest standards of integrity in his business relationships, yet candidly admits to filing false tax forms to the IRS.

It's like when I pray for God's will to be done and then insist on having things my own way.

It's like hiding sin in my heart while offering worship.

It's obedience while running away.

Let’s look at the Sin we conceal and what must be done about it.

Sin Must Be Exposed

Who does it? Can you expose it yourself? Some people may think so, but…

You’re not qualified!

Jeremiah 17:9 ““The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?”

a wicked heart cannot diagnose a wicked heart - Its like a smoker trying to pick out a smoker in a room

The Holy Spirit can and does

John 16:8 “And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.”

Its not your job or my job to expose sin - its our job to allow the HS to expose sin

If you are serious about your commitment to the Lord, pray this prayer:

Psalm 139:23–24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

We are to allow God to expose the sin in our lives

When it comes to sin we can see clearly others but are blinded to our own

Satan can exploit the sin in your life

cause you to give up

he uses your own sin nature against you and then accuses you

The enemy exploits

The enemy points it out to shame you not to help you

The enemy wants to bring it up over and over again

The enemy wants you to remember what you did

The enemy wants you to stay defeated

The enemy wants you to question God

The Holy Spirit exposes

The Holy Spirit points it out to bring you into right relationship

The Holy Spirit tells you its forgiven and forgotten - Hebrews 10:17 “Then he says, “I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.””

The Holy Spirit wants you to move into greener pastures - Psalm 23:2 “He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.”

The Holy Spirit says you are a conquerer - Romans 8:37 “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.”

The Holy Spirit wants you to trust God - Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.”

Martin Luther had a dream where Satan was at the foot of his bed reading a scroll that was partially opened. Satan began to read all the accusations, the sins that Martin Luther had committed in his life. After reading the long list, Martin Luther asked if that was Satan was finished. Then he said read the bottom of the scroll where it read, “Paid in Full by the Blood of Jesus Christ”

You must receive forgiveness for your sins and walk in that!

Sin Must Be Confessed

You must be specific in confessing your sins to God.

He knows all of them but its about your heart and what you're hiding

Too many times we pray something like, “God forgive me of my sins.”

When we should be praying, “God, I’m sorry for my attitude toward Johnny today.”

God, I’m sorry gossiping today with Sally

God, I’m sorry for lying today when I applied for that job and put on there I was an expert in geometry

You get the picture

Imagine one of you guys going to home to your wife and she has that look. You know the look. You did something that she did not like. And you say, “Honey, I’m sorry for whatever I did.” She says, “You know what you did.”

Well in this case you may or may not know what you did. But with God, since He is the one who exposed it to you, you know what it is. So go ahead and confess it.

Be specific

I love the way Dr. Tim Hill expressed this: He said “we like to sin retail but confess wholesale.”

You may ask, “If God knows anyway, why do I have to confess it?”

I see two reasons right off the bat

God told us to -

1 John 1:9 “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”

James 5:16 “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”

Acts 3:19 “Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.”

2. When you openly confess your sins, you are putting your sinful nature under subjection to God and also removing any hold the enemy may have - You put it under the blood

Sin Must Be Removed

Its great that the Holy Spirit shows you your sin.

Its also great that you confess your sin, but that’s not enough.

You must also forsake your sin - that means you have to repent

Repent means to turn away from it, - do a 180degree

You can say your sorry and keep doing it and not receive mercy

Think about a student cheating on his SAT and the proctor catches him. He says “I’m sorry.” He isn’t going to get a passing grade on the test. Instead he will be thrown out and be labeled “A Cheater.” He must prove by the way he lives that he is sorry. - Acts 26:20 “I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good things they do.”

People tend to be sorry when they are caught but really have no desire to change

People also do 90 degree turns instead of 180 degree turns - let me explain

When you go to the doctor and find out you have the immediate chance of having a heart attack, you tell God that you are going to quit smoking and go to church and try to live right

That is a 90 degree turn - because when the pressure is off and the doctor’s followup shows a clean bill of health, you are right back to where you started. Its a cigarette here and there and suddenly your back to a pack a day

Or maybe your child is sick and you say, “Okay God, I need you. I’m going to make you a deal. I’ll give up BLANK if you heal my child. As soon as the child is healed, you go back to your old ways.

Again, I love the way Dr. Hill says it, “Repentance born in the storm often dies in the calm.”

In John 8:1-11 Jesus was speaking to some crowds and as He was, some teachers brought a woman who was caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowds and explained that the Law of Moses said to stone her. They asked Jesus, “What do you say?”

Jesus knew they were trying to trap Him so He stooped down and wrote in the dust. They demanded an answer so He got up and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”

This is a powerful reminder that all of have sinned and should not throw stones. But that’s not the end of the story.

After each of the religious leaders left, it was just Jesus and the woman standing there. Jesus looks at the woman an says,, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you? “No, Lord, she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. God and sin no more.”

Jesus did not condemn her but he also told her to stop what she was doing.

It is not until you turn away from that sin, that you can actually receive the mercy you so desperately need.

Turn away today, let God rip of the covers of your sin and cover you with His love instead.

Altar Call