Smallest things make the biggest difference

The Smallest things make the biggest difference

Introduction:

Sometimes the most intricate or powerful machinery can become totally inoperative because of a missing or broken part or faulty connection. Although there still exists tremendous potential the broken machinery is good for nothing.

Enormous doors swing open and closed due to relatively small hinges. These things are mostly out of sight and unimpressive in comparison to the door, the door is unable to operate effectively without it! A unhinged door cannot function as a door, it is dependant on those hinges.

Let’s take it to the spiritual, there is something that when absent shuts down the gracious operation of the Holy Spirit and wastes the great potential of both the individual and the believer and congregation. People may have a relationship with the Lord the Bible gives us some disastrous scenarios that can occur when things become unhinged in us spiritually.

Consider the case of the Israelites. God did so much for them. He delivered them from slavery in Egypt. God gave them a leader Moses. Pharoah and his armies could do nothing to stand against the power of Jehovah. After 40 years in the desert of Sinai God gave them another leader in that of Joshua. They crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land. A promise that was fulfilled from Gen. 17. Then God continued to show Israel that He would fight for them and protect them against the Canaanite nations. Now here in the text we read that despite all this problem not long after Joshua’s death.

Judges 10:5–10 NKJV

And Jair died and was buried in Camon. Then the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the Lord and did not serve Him. So the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the people of Ammon. From that year they harassed and oppressed the children of Israel for eighteen years—all the children of Israel who were on the other side of the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, in Gilead. Moreover the people of Ammon crossed over the Jordan to fight against Judah also, against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed. And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against You, because we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals!”

Weren’t the Israelites God’s chosen people? Weren’t they in a covenant with the almighty? There is something seriously wrong with this picture.

God himself was behind the entire matter.

Judges 10:6–7 NIV

Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines. And because the Israelites forsook the Lord and no longer served him, he became angry with them. He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites,

God sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites. The Israelites forsook the Lord and no longer served Him.

Persistent, unconfessed sin was the cause of Israel’s whole mess. All through scripture we see that this is the issue and therefore must be dealt with. The Israelites did evil and God’s promises and power were short circuited by the people’s ungodly behavior.

Judges 10:10 NKJV

And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against You, because we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals!”

The recognized what they had done and they got rid of their foreign gods and served the Lord.

God’s response:

Judges 10:15–16 NKJV

And the children of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray.” So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord. And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel.

This is the great spiritual hinge that opens the door of heaven.

As soon as the Israelites confessed their sins and repented. God went from selling them into the hands of their enemies to raising up a warrior leader. Jephthah! He went over to fight the Ammonites and they were defeated. (Judges 11:29,32).

Defeat to victory

Slavery to Dominion

All hinged on sincere confession of sin.

no added soldiers or weapons - what was added was confession of sin, then God moved over to their side.

No new prophecies needed, no new promises either ---- simply get right with God by confessing from the depth of their hearts “We have sinned”.

That step needed to be taken and until it was God would oppose His own people. Why?

God Hates Sin

Dealing with sin isn’t politically correct today. It makes everyone uncomfortable. We like the warm fuzzy stuff. But we need to face there are consequences to actions of wrong doing and this must be rectified.

God’s holy nature detests every kind of sin. He is grieved and provoked by sin, we see it over and over again in the Bible.

Sin (and nothing else) separates man from God.

That is why Christ came and endured the cross and its shame and today we act like oh well we can throw that under the rug no need to put to much emphasis on dealing with that.

Unconfessed sin is a big deal! In the end God will annihilate all sin! He will not relent because it is the essence of his holy nature.

God gave us the antidote to sin - His son and the Holy spirit!

As Christians our first order of business is to deal with sin. We must by the grace of God bring all our sin to the Lord in sincere and contrite confession.

Confession of sin - important key - people & church - blessing of heaven

Once unconfessed sin festers in our hearts and lives there is absolutely no telling what sad chapters will be written even though we claim to be the people of God.

If there is unconfessed sin and clogged-up spiritual life we can recite scripture all day and claim every promise in the Bible but God is bound by His word not to answer us.

Psalm 66:18 NLT

If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

Confessing our sin leads to the greatest spiritual joy and peace we can experience as human beings.

Psalm 32:1–2 NKJV

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit.

David didn’t say “how blessed and happy is the man or woman who has never sinned”, because if he did no one would ever have the chance of blessedness in life.

In this Psalm David tells us about how he is going through a hard time and we don’t know exactly what the circumstances are, but he kept silent and this weighed heavily on him. Then we see a change in his situation because he confessed his sin and found abundant mercy and pardon waited for him.

The great danger for us is to cover up sin, lessen the seriousness of it or justify our behavior because of “special circumstances”. Satan uses these natural tendencies to keep us from the mercy of God. Open and complete confession of sin brings it to the only place it should go - TO GOD!!! He can forgive it and take it away.

Real Confession

This involves HUMILITY

Humbling ourselves and agreeing with him about the very nature of our sinfulness. To live under the blessing of heaven is to always be running toward God with out guilt and not away from him.

We renounce our sin - turn away from it - give it up with full confidence - God will act in accordance to His word.

1 John 1:9 NKJV

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Without this careful dealing with sin, our lives and our churches will become hollow and lifeless. We many continue an outward observance, a ritual, but we will be strangers to the power and blessing that have been promised by God.

Rediscovery of Biblical truths are extremely important and have been so in recent decades:

Second coming of Christ - preached on and written about more during the last 100 years than during all the proceeding centuries put together.

Importance of worship - among Christians (gathering together)

Importance of Worship - praise choruses

These things are important but cannot be compared to what God can and will do when confession of sin is brought back to its vital and rightful place among us.

God has faced the problem of unconfessed sin with his people many times. Much of the book of Hosea is about the sad plight of Israel when the people would not give up their sin no matter what God said or did for them.

The Lord loves his people dearly and expressed this over and over again as he called them back to himself.

Hosea 5:14–15 NKJV

For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, And like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue. I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

The whole point was to get the Israelites to admit and confess their sin. The emptiness God wanted to heighten among them by his going away was only to cause them to face up to their sins. Once they admitted to their guilt, a brand new channel of fellowship and blessing from God would be opened.

1 Peter 4:17 NKJV

For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?

How will unbelievers be convicted of their sin and turn to Christ if the people who are preaching the gospel deal fast and easy with their own sin? How can the Holy Spirit effectively carry out his work through a church that permits unholy things in the lives of the congregation?

The church God blesses must maintain a holy guard against the cancerous nature of sin. Sermons and exhortations cannot leave this out because it makes people feel uncomfortable.

We must remember that wonderful things happen when sin is brought out into the open and confessed.

Remember Ephesus

Acts 19:18–19 NKJV

And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver.

Was this bonfire necessary or was it a dramatic approach? or did it serve an important purpose?

Acts 19:20 NKJV

So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

When confession and carefulness about sin prevail in the church, so will God’s will prevail in the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The worst possible scenario for our churches is to be “growing” but with “members” who have no deep longing to be delivered from the power of sin.

That will fulfill the NT prophecy of:

2 Timothy 3:1–5 NKJV

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

This is easy to happen and we can attend services regularly and even read the Bible without getting to the root of the problem on which God is putting his finger.

Read steak and potato illustration from the Church God Blesses p.64-65

Psalm 32:5–6 NKJV

I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You In a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters They shall not come near him.

Fresh Blessings

When we honestly confess our sins we clear the way for fresh blessings to come upon us from the Lord.

What’s better sitting in the shadows or sitting in the sunlight of God’s favor?

Use David’s prayer

Psalm 51:1–3 NKJV

Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me.

Psalm 51:3 NKJV

For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me.

Psalm 51:12–13 NKJV

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.