Facing Up to the Truth Part Deaux

III “RESPECTABLE” SINS



1. List some common “respectable” sins. Why do you think we are more inclined to tolerate them?

A real common one is over eating. As a nation we over eat. It’s what we do. I recently heard a comedian who said it’s hard to describe our way of eating to people in other countries. What’s an appetizer? It’s the meal we have before the meal. What’s dessert? Oh that’s the meal we have AFTER the meal. I have a dear friend I met online who lives in the Philippines (or did, now she’s in Africa serving as a missionary with her hubby) but when we finally met face to face Andy and I took her out to eat and she told us that our lunch portions would be two or three meals in her country. Baptist’s often joke about their “eating meetings” but the reality is that far too many of us think about the meal that comes after the service instead of the meal we should be dining on during the service.

I think the more we “do” these sins together, over eating, gossiping, worrying, being angry, sarcasm, the less we think of them as sinful and the more tolerable they become. Fear of man also plays a role in silencing us as well. Some of us may notice that something is amiss, but don’t want to seem “mean” or “unloving” so we remain silent. When in fact, by remaining silent when God has prompted your heart to speak up is both mean AND unloving.


I’d love to hear from you. What other “respectable” sins can you think of that we tolerate?



2. In Galatians 3:10, what did the apostle Paul quote to emphasize the importance of obeying God’s law? What might this reveal about the consequences of tolerating “seemingly minor sins”?



Paul says, without distinction, cursed is EVERYONE who does not continue to DO all the things that are written in the book of the Law. We know by what Paul says later that the law had a purpose. The law was added 430 years AFTER the promise was made to Abraham, SO it wasn’t the law that gave Abraham the right to inherit the promise, it was God’s Word, it was God’s promise. God did it. The law was given to show men they could.not.keep.it. Here’s how Paul says it:

“What then was the purpose of the Law? It was added [later on, after the promise, to disclose and expose to men their guilt] because of transgressions and [to make men more conscious of the sinfulness] of sin; and it was intended to be in effect until the Seed (the Descendant, the Heir) should come, to and concerning Whom the promise had been made. And it [the Law] was arranged and ordained and appointed through the instrumentality of angels [and was given] by the hand (in the person) of a go-between [Moses, an intermediary person between God and man].” Galatians 3:19



3. Even though God always makes a decisive change in every believers heart, what does every believer face when he or she seeks to live in obedience to God? (See Galatians 5:17; James 1:14)


That thing we call the flesh. Jerry mentions guerilla warfare, but how many of us really know what that means? Here’s what I found out:


“The term 'guerrilla' originates from the actions of small bands of Spanish soldiers who fought against Napolean's French army in the Peninsular War (1807-1814). The word 'guerrilla' is Spanish for "little war".The tactics employed by "guerrillas" date back to the ideas of Sun Tzu, the Chinese military strategist who lived over 2000 years ago. Sun Tzu argued that all warfare involves the employing of one's strength to exploit the weakness of the enemy.”


Basically there would be roaming bands of insurgents that would travel around an already occupied land, knowing their time was limited, knowing they would face certain death upon detection, causing trouble.

C.S. Lewis does a good job describing this attack on us from within and without in his book “Screwtape Letters” It is written from the perspective of a senior demon speaking to a junior demon giving instructions as to how to interfere with the life of a believer, and here is an excerpt:


“We can drag our patients along by continual tempting, because we design only for the table, and the more their will is interfered with the better. He can not ‘tempt’ to virtue as we do to vice. He wants them to learn to walk and must therefore take away His hand; and if only the will to walk is really there He is pleased even with their stumbles. Be not deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our enemy‘s will, looks around upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.”

That’s really what it boils down to. We MUST though at times not desiring, be always INTENDING to DO GOD’S will. This is exactly what Peter did when Jesus told him to cast his nets after he had fished all night and caught nothing. He shrugged and obeyed. God is pleased with our stumbles, because in all of it? He only sees what His Son accomplished on our behalf. The victory has already been won, at Calvary.


4. Describe the choices Peter and Paul urge every true believer to make. (See Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 4:29; I Peter 2:11)



Galatians says: “But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).”



It’s a habit, a daily, minute by minute thing that will keep you responsive to and controlled by the Holy Spirit. It is not a guarantee that you will never, ever sin. You know the verse in the Psalms (141:3) where the Psalmist asks the Lord to set a guard before their mouth? To keep the door to their lips? Well, I prayed this over and over early in my marriage and I was so proud because I thought I had done so well and I was telling Andy what I had prayed and he looked at me astonished and said, “What did you do beat him up?” The reminder again, is we have to brush off the debris of being smacked down (our pride hates it when we fail, especially when we think WE did it, and as Jerry points out, every single one of our motives are tainted) and move forward in humility and try again.


Ephesians says: “Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it.”


I think I’ll go cut out my tongue now.


Did you see that word up there? EVER. It means always continually, without ceasing. Not one of us escapes guilt here. This includes, coarse joking, sarcasm, “prayer requests” that are really just an excuse to gossip, angry outbursts, etc. I think you get the idea. The battle has been won. The guerilla warfare will come in bursts, but we have been given the tools to overcome it. II Peter 1:3 “For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue).”


Finally, I Peter tells us: “Beloved, I implore you as aliens and strangers and exiles [in this world] to abstain from the sensual urges (the evil desires, the passions of the flesh, your lower nature) that wage war against the soul.”


We need to remember that THIS is not our home. We are merely passing through. We are to WAGE WAR against the lower nature, our flesh. Ephesians 6 tells us to put on the FULL armor of God:


“In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides]. Put on God’s whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil. For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.Therefore put on God’s complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place]. Stand therefore [hold your ground], having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God, And having shod your feet in preparation [to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness produced by the good news] of the Gospel of peace. Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one]. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God.”



IV. HOW OUR SIN AFFECTS GOD



1. Jerry writes: “When we sin we violate the law of God in any way…we rebel against the sovereign authority and transcendent majesty of God. We commit ‘cosmic treason’. It is indeed ‘cosmic treason” . Do you agree or disagree with the idea of ‘cosmic treason’ ? Explain.



The word transgression actually means rebellion against authority. I love the Amplified because it always expands the meanings of words, it says rebellion, then has these words after it in brackets [unsubmissive, defiant attitude toward God] SO Jerry logically brings us to the fact that when we sin, we are actually in rebellion against God. He takes it deeper. When we over eat, when we have angry outbursts, when we gossip, when we lie, when we speed, when we are unkind or rude, when we………..We are in fact rebelling against God. We are committing COSMIC TREASON. Jerry also points out that when we despise Gods law (which we do when we disobey it over and over) we actually despise Him, God. Paul says we grieve the Holy Spirit. The amplified again adds to that, do not offend, do not vex, do not sadden, the Holy Spirit, BY WHOM you were sealed, marked, branded as God’s own, secured for the day of redemption through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin. Don’t, for those reasons…



2. How much do you think God knows about our sin?



Psalm 139 tells us that God is acquainted with our sitting down and our rising up. He has searched every part of us and knows us like no one else ever will. He even knows what we will say and do before we say and do it. Do you remember the movie Minority Report? In it they tried to prevent murder by arresting people on “pre-murder” charges. They had these beings called ‘precogs’ that knew the future and if you were THINKING of planning a murder the police would swoop in and arrest you before you actually committed the murder, thereby eliminating the crime of murder. That was just a movie though, and if you saw it then you saw that even in that flawed representation man was able to manipulate the truth. God however can not be fooled. He knows your every thought and you can keep nothing hidden from Him. Further in Psalm 139 it says there is no where you can go to escape God’s spirit. He is everywhere, that even the darkness hides nothing from Him, it is like daylight to Him.



I Corinthians tells us that He will bring to light the secret things that are hidden in the darkness now, and that in due time He will expose the secret motives and purposes of the hearts of men.



Yes, God is very aware of our sin. Thank goodness He has dealt with it, eternally, in Christ, but the earthly consequences of our sin still track us like a rabid mutt. Its what Paul is crying out about in Romans 7. This vicious struggle we fight with our flesh until we die, but we MUST keep fighting.



3. Read 2 Samuel 12:1-10, where Nathan the Prophet spoke God’s words to David, who had committed adultery with Bathsheba, murdered her husband, and lived in denial of his sin. What do we learn about denial? About sin in relation to God and His law?



First I want you to notice HOW Nathan came to David. He did not come at him guns blazing, as he could have, I mean look at David’s crimes. Certainly Nathan could have come to David on the basis of what he did wrong, but those of us who have rolled around in our sin a while know that when you are in the thick of your sin, you don’t see clearly. Instead Nathan chose, wisely, to stir compassion and pity and righteous anger in David’s heart at the unfairness at what he had done, only David did not recognize himself in the story. Once his indignation was aroused THEN Nathan pounced. It was then and only then that David was able to HEAR what he had done. There is not another way to approach someone who is so deep in their sin except to lay it out from a different angle. Don’t approach them as though they are a non believer, don’t come at them as though you’ve never imagined they (or you) could sin so greatly, come to them humbly with a broken heart over the sin that breaks God’s heart. THIS they will hear. This they will respond to. Denial hardens a mans heart and clouds his judgment. It causes us to justify what we are doing and how we are doing things. Mercy however, triumphs over judgment.



4. What effect does sin have on the Holy Spirit--that is God--who lives inside each believer?



Ephesians 4:30 tells us not to grieve the Holy Spirit, the Amplified says to vex or sadden Him. The reality is that every sin we commit, and Jerry says it well, “Whether it is large or small in our eyes, it is heinous in the sight of God…every sin we commit, even the subtle sin we don’t think about , was laid upon Christ as He bore the curse of God in our place.” THIS is what grieves the Holy Spirit. That the perfect was made imperfect, His perfection marred by our transgressions. Isaiah tells us, “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.”



Just remember that even in our stumbles He is pleased, so get up and keep moving. Psalm 103:4 tells us, “He knows our frame, He [earnestly] remembers and imprints [on His heart] that we are dust.” He knows when we struggle against the cords of sin, and I believe He is pleased with our struggling. Its when we give up and enjoy it, when we lay there and say, “Oh well, this is what I am, a sinner” that He is not pleased. It is then we need a brother or a sister to come along side us as Nathan did and gently expose our sins and restore us. Galatians 6:1 reminds us that if anyone of us is overtaken by a sin of any sort, those of us who are more spiritual, who are controlled by the Holy Spirit, are to set them right, to restore and reinstate them without any sense of superiority. The thing is, we cant DO that if we don’t know.


We ended our meeting last night by talking about how we can mortify the sin that still dwells in each of us, and that alone we can not do it. That’s what Hebrews 10:24 reminds us:

“And let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities…”



I’ll leave you with another song and a quote, because as the quote says:

“Music will help dissolve your perplexities and purify your character and sensibilities, and in time of care and sorrow, will keep a fountain of joy alive in you.”~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer