Taking Sin Seriously

Well, I have to tell you, I love listening to you sing.

I always do.

And so when I say let's turn in our Bibles, it is against the backdrop of the sweet, joyful singing

!

As we've thought about the Lord Jesus Christ and his word.

I want you to turn in your Bibles to first, no, we're not going there first.

I want you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 45, verse 6 and 7.

Psalms 45:6

I'm curious.

I'm curious.

I'm curious.

How many of you here really struggle with sin?

Don't wave your hand at me and say, hey, that's me.

I'm all over it, man.

I'm doing the best I can.

But how many of you find yourself on a regular basis grieved, burdened, disappointed with the sinfulness of your soul?

How many of you would like to be different?

Honestly.

Tired of struggling with the same old things over and over again.

I got good news for you.

When we get home, it's going to be great.

People ask me, how's it going?

When I say, any better than I be dead.

Because the next step is always victory and it's joyful.

And the passage that I want us to look at first this morning is a passage in Psalm 45 where the psalmist expresses joy at the character of our Savior.

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.

The scepter of your throne is a scepter of uprightness.

Now listen to this and memorize it.

Have it stick in your mind and let it be a benchmark, a measurement about where your heart needs to be.

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

Therefore, God your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.

I was driving yesterday.

You have been praying about the possibility of me serving as an interim pastor in a place.

And I was driving down the road to a place that had asked me about coming in the future to minister a little bit occasionally.

And as I was driving, I tried to call my wife.

Because there was something that I thought really desperately needed to be done.

And how many of you know that when you have a good idea, everybody else in the world should have the same good idea?

You know, it's like, what's the deal?

And I thought, my wife's on task.

I'll call her and she'll answer the phone and it's all taken care of.

So you know how it worked out from there, right?

We have a cell phone that my wife has and we have, and we also have a hard line because our cell phone...

Anyway, so I was alternating between calling her cell phone and calling her hard line, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

And so here I am driving to meet with a group of men about serving in an interim pastor eventually in the future.

And a very spiritual thing to do, you know.

And I'm driving along and my wife's not picking up her call.

How would you do on that case?

God is in control.

You know, I'm hearing Twyla Parris in the background.

Some of you don't know who that is.

But, you know, it's like, I'm...

No, that's not what's happening.

I was beginning to devolve into a kind of an attitudinal snit.

Just temporarily.

I got to tell you.

Thank the Lord.

I mean, it kind of dawned on me.

You know, Tim, who are you?

She's probably doing something important.

She was actually drying her hair, which was reasonable.

Because I wanted her to go out and make a public appearance to pick up something for me.

And finally, when she did answer the call, she was in the car on the way there.

I was just so tickled.

Particularly that I hadn't gotten angry.

And that sin hadn't entirely gotten the best of me.

I hate sin.

I struggle with it.

I don't know about you.

But it's a real bother to Tim Knoyer's life.

And the passage that we are going to look at this morning in 1 John 2 is all about sin.

I thought to myself, so Tim, since you've got five sermons left, what would you like to preach on?

Sin is my favorite topic.

And so there it is.

I get to talk on sin.

But it's in the Bible.

And we want to get to it.

And what I realized as I was in prayer and study, there's not a one of you here this morning that is not actively engaged in dealing with sin.

There are some of you here that don't know Christ.

And sin has absolutely overwhelmed your life.

And it is leading you to eternity apart from God and hell.

There are others of you here that are believers that know the blessing of his grace but still continue that struggle.

And so it is my rich privilege this morning to open the Bible and tell you that you do not have to be a captive to that problem.

That's the truth.

Chapter 2, verse 1, let me read it to you.

And I want you to follow along in your Bible while you do this.

Multitasking.

Multitasking.

Multitasking.

You are to listen to the preaching of the Word of God and you are to pray for the man who delivers it at the same time.

That's what the Scripture calls you to.

2 Thessalonians 3, verse 1 and 2.

2 Thessalonians 3:1

So you pray and listen at the same time.

So let me read it to you and you follow along here.

It says, my little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.

But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

And by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments.

Whoever says, I know him but does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.

But whoever keeps his word and in him truly the love of God is perfected, by this we know that we are in him.

Whoever says that he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

He's not in him.

He's not in him.

He's not in him.

He's not in him.

It would be inappropriate for me to not follow the order of the text.

And I don't think it is an accident that when John the Apostle wrote to the church,

that he put this little part at the beginning when he says, my little children.

By the way, any of you that kind of, a little Bible knowledge,

you remember how John was known early on in his apostolic development process, right?

Remember, what was he known as?

The sons of, well, remember some people were having an attitude towards Jesus and John wanted to solve it, right?

Go out there and be peace and light and throw a little bit of love around, you know, just burn them.

You know, in fact, it was, hey, can I, hey, could I call down light, you know, fire from heaven and smoke those guys?

John was a fiery man.

Now, over time, the love and work of Christ led him to be exceptionally tender.

And here he is towards the end of his life, and he writes to this church,

and he's concerned for this church's spiritual well-being.

Look at me.

I've been your shepherd, your pastor, for a number of years,

and I happen to know that as I'm struggling with sin, you guys are struggling with some of those issues.

I happen to know some of them, too.

And so I come to you and I say, my little children, there is an affection here,

and I think it's important for us to understand that John loved those that he was writing to.

He really cared about them.

The idea that those who care for the church professionally, pastors,

are there to kind of be distant instructors of righteousness really finds no support in Scripture.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

It's like kind of a guy who dispenses wisdom and stuff and says the right things and recites the Bible,

but there's no affection, there's no passion in relationship with people.

That's not the way it is.

Godly ministry always involves an affection for the people that you're engaged with.

Does that make sense to you?

By the way, we know the importance of that when you pay attention to how children interact with parents.

One of the things I've noticed over and over again is when a child is doing something wrong

and the parent corrects the child by voice, you know, it's like,

hey, Bubba, don't do that.

You know what the child immediately does?

Well, some children, I should say.

The child looks at the parent's eyes.

What is the child trying to figure out to start out with?

Well, the child's trying to figure out, do you love me?

Where am I at in this food chain?

Because that issue of the affection of the one who is ministering the Word

or ministering discipline is important.

I am reminded of the affection that John had here,

and I'm reminded of the affection that the Apostle Paul had

for the churches that he wrote to.

Remember, he says this,

I labor and travail until Christ be formed in you.

Remember, he also talked in 2 Corinthians of the burden of caring for the churches.

His concern was something that was evident.

And you stop and think about Paul.

He was a preeminent theologian,

and yet the thing that people remembered about him was not just his teaching,

but was his affection for them.

And here is John at the very beginning of dealing with a very difficult subject

in the body of Christ, namely the ongoing struggle that everyone has with sin.

He starts out and says,

Hey, listen, my little children.

I can still remember reading a portion of a book by Charles Bridges, a Puritan.

And years ago, I remember reading it early in my pastoral ministry,

and he made this comment that when people ask themselves the question,

Does Jesus love me?

One of the things that should assure them of Christ's love for them

is the love of their pastors and their teachers for them.

So let me stop here just for a moment and make this point clear.

If you are in a teaching phase or ministry of this fellowship

and your students do not understand that you love them,

you are not hitting the Bible mark of ministry.

Is that a fair statement?

Here is John at the beginning of the business of dealing with a sin problem

in the congregation, and he says,

Let's start out, and I want you to know that I love you,

my little children.

Well, with that said, can you imagine

just the impropriety in today's culture

of somebody standing at the front and saying,

Guys, I'm really concerned with your sin problem?

Hmm?

What? You are?

I mean, compared to what I see in the world around,

why are you concerned about my sin problem?

The only thing I'm dealing with is attitudes occasionally.

This is just a real confession.

I haven't had a speeding ticket in quite some time.

Thank God.

Not that I haven't deserved a couple.

But I am struggling with accepting the fact

that there are state police officers

that cherry pick on Wilson Road when I drive home.

There is a portion of Wilson Road that goes from 45 to 35.

Guess where the state police officers park

because they know that's easy picking,

and they have a quota.

And so I'm driving by there just thinking,

Yes, Lord, Romans 13 is in the Bible,

and you have put them there for me.

Oh, my.

My little children,

I am writing these things to you

so that you may not sin.

Question.

How serious are you about sin?

I remember a couple years ago,

we had a norovirus epidemic here at church.

How many remember that?

It's one of the moments of our history

that it should be chronicled in our annuals somewhere.

But there was a person who got sick

right at the end of the service,

and happened to,

I don't know what the word is appropriate for this moment,

but they happened to discharge out in the lobby.

And then the entire congregation waded through the mist.

And we actually had 96 or 90,

do you remember?

It was in the 90s.

We ended up having the health department come here

and use us as a test case.

And norovirus.

How many people die from norovirus?

Not that many.

But it was really kind of interesting

to hear people going apoplectic about norovirus.

I mean, they were really serious.

I'm not going to get sick.

You know, it's like,

what happened to Christian charity

and kindness and concern for one another?

I mean, do you know what happened

when during the Middle Ages,

Christians were in communities that had the plague?

Huh?

Does anybody know?

Christians developed church,

I mean, hospitals,

and took care of the sick.

Well, my point is,

is when that norovirus thing swept through here,

it was really interesting.

Norovirus is like a panic state for people.

I don't want to,

you know, it's like,

oh, norovirus.

I don't see anybody acting that way towards their sin.

And sin is far more dangerous to you

than norovirus is.

So I want you to understand when John says this,

I am writing these things to you

so that you may not sin.

And I want you to etch that into your thinking.

The Holy Spirit is interested in you not sinning.

Can I say that again slowly?

Because I don't think you believe it.

The Holy Spirit is interested in you not sinning.

He's interested in me not sinning.

Why is that?

Well, for the unbeliever,

sin is just the way it is.

Am I right?

I think about the passage,

and I think it's Isaiah, Jeremiah,

where it says, you know,

can the Nubian change his skin

or the leopard change his spots?

It says, you've got no chance.

You're going to do what you do.

Unbelievers are snared,

are trapped by sin.

And you have to face that.

You know, sometimes we as believers act,

I can't believe they did that.

Well, they're just,

they're being where they are.

Give them a break and give them Jesus

and hope that he redeems them

from the fall and the curse

and changes their hearts

until people have a change of heart.

They're really not going to do anything but sin.

But believers,

we're not slaves anymore.

Is that right?

How many of you agree?

We're not slaves.

We're not slaves.

We don't have to.

I like that.

But I'm still struggling with it.

Why is sin such a bother?

Well, sin is terrible in so many ways.

And let's take some time to think through,

why is John concerned?

Well, for one,

sin un-God's God.

Every sin is an affront,

offense,

to his holiness,

to his wisdom,

to his goodness,

to his moral purity.

Every time we sin,

we tell God

that he is not

the one who counts.

I mean,

I'll go back to the illustration

of having called my wife

six or seven or eight times

and hoping that she'd pick up the phone

because I was really,

really intent

on her picking up

some rolled rubber

for our porch.

And when she didn't pick it up,

my first thought,

how many of you know this,

whatsoever thoughts are pure,

whatsoever things are good,

da-da-da-da,

my first thought was not,

you know what?

She's probably cooking

my favorite meal.

I didn't think that.

You know,

she's probably doing my laundry

and folding it

like she always does,

and I'm amazed.

It just happens.

And it's like,

I didn't think that either.

But at the heart of it,

what I was really doing

was I was displacing

my sovereign God

who was absolutely in control

whether or not

I get rubber roofing

on Saturday.

I thought my agenda

was more important

than his agenda.

Any time you sin,

you un-God.

God.

Secondly,

sin is a denial

of the power

of the gospel.

Write that down, please,

and have it stick.

Sin is a denial

of the gospel.

When believers sin,

the believer is saying

that Christ's sacrifice

for us

is insignificant

in comparison

to our momentary lust

or anger

or greed.

furthermore,

we say that

the power of the gospel

to deliver us

from bondage to sin

is practically ineffective.

In other words,

it really doesn't work.

Yesterday morning

as two of us

were bringing oatmeal

to different people,

one of the things

I enjoy about doing that

is I have opportunities

when the door is open

to tell people

that I know

the only one

who can change

their messy lives.

I don't say messy,

but I mean,

when you're living

in a tent

and it's

five below,

I don't have to say that.

And you're living

in absolute squalor.

You know what the word squalor,

some of you

have rooms

that are messy,

but no.

I have the privilege

of saying

I know the only one

who can change

your life,

who can deliver you

from the hopelessness

of your sin

and can not only

grant you

complete forgiveness,

but can help you

stop being

who you are.

I love

the fact

of the gospel

that because

I am a child

of God,

I don't have to

stay the way

I am.

So when a believer

sins,

in practical terms,

he is saying

I deny

the power

of the gospel.

Now,

everybody smile.

You know,

we're not

into adultery.

We're good with that.

We've not

stolen a lot.

We've not

murdered anybody here.

You know,

I mean,

we're good.

We're good.

But I'll tell you

what,

we have some people

that are pretty good

at being pouty

and fussy

and gossipers

and unhappy

and malcontents.

Do you follow

what I'm saying?

Does that bother

God at all?

What do you think?

Does it bother you?

I had to mow

our lawn yesterday.

yesterday.

We have a very

small lawn

and my dog

uses it twice a day.

I don't need to go

any further than that,

right?

You understand

what I'm saying?

So one of the things

that goes with

prepping the lawn

for mowing is

understand,

do I need to go

further?

We're okay.

I have to go out

and do a little patrol

before I go out

and mow.

Oh yeah.

Oh yeah.

And then I mow

and enjoy.

But I was about

80% through

and suddenly I got

this wafting odor

of processed dog food

and I'm thinking,

ugh,

ugh,

ugh.

You know,

scamper over there

to the hose

and you know,

pfft.

You know,

it's no problem.

Dog stuff on my shoe.

I'm going inside the house

and you know,

new.

Everybody listen.

God takes our sin

far more seriously

than we do.

Sin is a denial

of the power

of the gospel.

One of the reasons

more people

have not come to faith

is frankly,

they don't see

that God changes

hearts as much

as they should.

You are either

living proof

that Jesus died

and rose again

and he can deliver

people from sin

or you are

a practical denial

of the gospel

you proclaim.

Third thing is

sin leads to

unwise

and irrational

choices.

Write that down

because we don't

believe it.

the sinner

can talk himself

into thinking

that his sin

is the best

course of action

for the moment.

I mean,

have you ever

bumped into a sinner

and said,

why did you do that?

And they immediately

say to you,

well,

that was the best

idea I had.

They never say that

after the fact.

But as they're

processing,

should I do that,

what are they thinking?

What do you think

they're thinking?

Well,

this is really

going to hurt

in the end.

this is going

to lead

to my spiritual

compromise.

It's going

to cause

heartache.

It's going

to grieve

my family.

It's going

to ruin

my testimony.

It's going

to harm

my...

No!

I think

about that

passage in

Romans chapter

one,

and we'll not

get into it

here,

but remember

Paul writes

this.

He said,

God gave

them up,

God gave

them up,

God gave

them up.

Three times

he makes

that point

that,

you know,

God lets

people have

their way,

and what

happens?

How many of you

noticed,

listen,

how many of you

noticed that

every time you

sin that you

do not deal

with that sin

and confess it

and forsake

it and repent,

it gets worse?

It gets worse?

It gets worse?

One of the

advantages of

being 69,

almost 70,

is I have

all kinds

of scar tissue

from Jesus

dealing with

me pretty

firmly about

my sin.

You get it?

And every

now and then

when I begin

messing with

an attitude

that could

take me

into the

absolute

swamp,

he kind

of touches

on an

old scar

and says,

hey Tim,

do you

remember this

one?

Yeah.

Don't mess

with me.

Remember

the story

of Jacob?

Jacob wrestled

with God

and God

did what?

Crippled

him.

I would

venture to

say,

every now

and then

when Jacob

started getting

an attitude,

God would

kind of bring

along a little

bit of hip

dysplasia.

You know,

okay,

I get it.

Get back

on the road.

You know,

I got it.

Come on.

Sin

leads

to

unwise

and

irrational

choices.

And by

the way,

sin

to

God

Satan

does

not

mind

how

small

a sin

he can

get you

to commit

so long

as you

let that

sin go

unconfessed

and

unforsaken.

Everyone

will equally

lead you

to the

pit.

Sin

brings

death.

I

think

about

the

statement,

sin

is an

opportunistic

virus

that

always

destroys

its

host.

Sin

produces

infection

in our

heart

that

leads

to

incredible

heartache.

This

morning,

I was

listening

to Caleb

Perrin

teach

our

young

people.

He

was

talking

about

how

David

ended

up

in

such

a

disastrous

situation

with

the

wife

of

Uriah

the

Hittite.

It

was

a

clear

exposition

of how

David

made

the

journey

and

ended

up

being

a

murderer

and

an

adulterer.

And

I have

to tell

you,

don't

ever

think

that

David

did

not

in

the

later

time

of

his

life

have

regrets

about

his

sin.

So let

me

say

this

practically

speaking,

I wonder

this

morning

whether

you

take

sin

seriously.

Do

you

fear

it?

Do

you

honestly

fear

it?

Do

you

loathe

it?

Do

you

have

a

remember

I

talked

about

mowing

and

stepping

in

the

wrong

things

in

the

yard?

Most

of

us

don't

say

hmm

that's

nice.

It's

like

do

you

loathe

it?

Is

there

some

kind

of

visceral

reaction

to

sin

in

your

man

that

was

wrong?

I

gotta

be

honest

boy

it

sounds

like

I'm

not

honest

most

of

the

time

trying

to

do

so

now

I'm

gonna

try

it

now.

I

I

was

born

an

incredibly

moody

self

focused

arrogant

proud

stubborn

sinner

and

thankfully

Jesus

saved

me

and

I'm

hoping

that

as

I

get

older

I

get

better

at

being

less

sinful

now

being

at

the

age

I

am

I'm

watching

some

people

get

older

and

older

and

older

they

get

crotch

eater

and

crotch

eater

and

I'm

asking

myself

Lord

don't

let

that

happen

either

take

me

home

or

change

me

but

I've

asked

my

wife

to

help

me

with

that

too

I

don't

want

to

be

an

old

person

who's

grumpy

all

the

time

I

gotta

tell

you

getting

old

is

not

half

as

much

fun

as

I

thought

it

would

be

but

being

grumpy

is

not

God's

answer

to

being

old

and

I

gotta

understand

that

the

attitude

you

have

towards

sin

is

going

to

end

up

determining

!

I

want

to be

that

way

I

want

to

have

a

sincere

passion

for

what

is

right

and

I

want

to

have

a

visceral

reaction

when

I

see

sin

in

Tim

Knoyer's

life

and

if

I

were

to

plead

with

Christ

to

do

a

work

in

your

hearts

as

people

of

this

fellowship

I

would

desire

to

see

you

grow

in

your

personal

hatred

for

your

own

sin

and

how

will

you

know

that

you're

making

progress

in

that

by

how

quickly

you

confess

and

how

earnestly

you

forsake

and

how

passionate

you

are

in

dealing

with

that

in

your

life

well

I'm

really

glad

that's

not

all

the

passage

has

let's

come to

the next

part

that is

even

much

better

okay

but if

anyone

does

sin

can

you

read

the

next

part

we

have

an

advocate

with

the

father

Jesus

Christ

the

righteous

now

listen

to me

the

significance

of the

problem

of

sin

can

be

balanced

out

so you

don't

think

sin's

a big

problem

well then

you don't

need a

big

advocate

but if

sin

is a

big

problem

then you

have

the

comfort

of the

remainder

of verse

one

which says

and if

we do

sin

we have

an

advocate

with

the

father

who

is

Jesus

Christ

the

righteous

so I

want us

to think

a little

bit

about

the

blessing

of his

advocacy

you see

Paul was

dealing

with

people

in the

church

who

were

deceiving

themselves

about

their

sin

problem

some

of you

never

heard me

preach

before

and you're

going to

go home

and someone's

going to

say

what did

you hear

at church

the guy

was all

over

sin

I'm

probably

not

going

back

but you

know

it's a

little

bit

like

it's

like

a

surgical

!

nurse

do you

follow me

in

surgery

how many

people care

about

infection

the

people

who

are

involved

in

surgery

really

want

the

people

that

come

into

the

surgery

room

to

go

out

pretty

safe

and I'm

interested

in you

going

out

safe

so

here's

John

writing

in

John

1

he says

listen

if we

say

we

have

no

sin

we

deceive

ourselves

you're

fooling

yourself

if you

don't

think

you

have

a

problem

now

verse

chapter 2

I don't

want you

to sin

but if

you do

you have

an

advocate

what

is

an

advocate

the

Greek

word

is

used

here

is

not

a

word

that

is

easily

translated

into

English

stop

is

easy

you

get

it

stop

stop

but

the

word

that

is

used

here

is

a

word

that

if

you

were

to

compare

translations

you'd

have

advocate

you

would

have

helper

just

different

words

because

the

word

is

one

that

carries

with

it

a

lot

of

meaning

of

both

relationship

and

help

you

see

Jesus

is

the

one

who

when

we

sin

restores

our

hope

have

you

ever

felt

broken

by

the

sin

that

you've

committed

that's

it

I'm

done

you know

it's

worthless

Jesus

is

your

help

have

you

ever

found

yourself

just

kind

of

totally

discouraged

with

why

did

this

happen

again

I

mean

me

being

a

moody

person

is

like

I

don't

want

to

be

that

way

and

Jesus

is

my

comforter

he

is

the

one

who

revives

passion

he's

the

one

who

stirs

your

heart

with

a

longing

for

holiness

he's

the

one

that

leads

you

to

actually

have

a

hatred

for

sin

I

hate

it

I

hate

it

he's

the

one

that

stirs

your

desire

for

godliness

I

want you

to

understand

this

morning

that

no

believer

should

ever

feel

hopeless

and in

bondage

to

sin

and if

you're

here

this

morning

and

let me

put it

this way

if you're

here

this

morning

and

you're

not

dealing

with

sin

then

you're

either

dead

or

you're

insensitive

to

the

problem

and

if

you

are

here

and

you're

facing

the

reality

I've

got

to

struggle

with

sin

and

it's

not

something

I

like

having

I

want

to

welcome

you

to

remember

that

Jesus

is

your

advocate

and

your

ally

and

your

companion

and

your

helper

and

he

listen

to

me

he

is

actually

more

interested

in

you

having

victory

over

sin

than

you

are

why

is

that

because

he

paid

for

your

salvation

with

his

own

blood

you're

walking

advertisement

of what

he

can

do

with

a

ruined

mess

right

and

he's

all

over

that

and

so

this

morning

if

you

are

struggling

with

that

battle

with

sin

I

want

you

to

know

that

Jesus

is

your

mediator

he

is

your

advocate

he

is

your

ally

there's

something

else

that we

find

there

in

the

passage

!

verse 2

it says

he

is

the

propitiation

for

our

sins

now

I

would

not

ask

ten

of

you

to

read

that

out

to

get

that

pronunciation

right

you

know

three

years

in

seminary

and

I

got

it

he

is

the

propitiation

for

our

sins

you

got

it

what's

that

mean

well

in

broad

terms

it

means

that

Jesus

has

satisfied

the

righteous

judgment

of

God

against

my

sins

what's

the

consequence

that

and the

reality

of this

is that

when

Jesus

died

on the

cross

he

satisfied

the

debt

my

sin

had

created

and

God

poured

out

on

Jesus

the

full

measure

of

wrath

that

I

deserved

and

will

ever

deserve

I

think

about

the

words

of

the

song

it

says

my

sin

not

in

part

but

the

whole

is

nailed

to

the

cross

and

I

what

I

bear

it

no

more

I

wonder

whether

or

not

when

you

find

yourselves

struggling

with

the

shame

and

guilt

of

sin

if

you

don't

remind

yourself

that

Jesus

died

for

you

and

he

delivered

you

from

that

slavery

and

he

is

the

propitiation

he

is

the

satisfaction

for

your

sin

problem

I

have

to

confess

this

morning

that

if

I

were

to

be

given

about

four

more

weeks

these

six

verses

I

could

stay

in

without

any

problem

we

could

deal

with

who

did

Jesus

die

for

and

that

would

be