Down But Not Done

Are you guys ready to dive into God's Word today?

Yes.

Why don't you turn with me to Joshua chapter 7.

Joshua 7 · chapter mention

And we're in a series of messages that we called Unstuck.

And it really, as the Lord was really doing my heart even back in November, October of last year,

I really just began to see that I think as a nation we're stuck.

It just seems to be different days, same stuff, over and over, over again.

And also going back to the pandemic, it's like we lost our freedom to live life.

And I won't even, I'm not talking about politics, I'm not going to get into politics, it's an election year and I love everybody.

Okay, but I'm just saying that it seems to me we started living in reaction to the world,

and even in anticipation to problems, like a foreboding almost, like we expect everything to blow up,

we expect there to be problems, and it's almost like we just started living in reaction to the world,

instead of in response to the gospel.

And the gospel is always moving forward.

God is always taking territory.

The Kingdom of God is always expanding.

We see that from Genesis, through Revelation, through the Bible.

And so God is a God of now, and God is moving forward, and God has a plan, and God has a purpose.

And I want you to understand, because of what Jesus has done, and because our faith is in God,

and not a political party, our faith is in God, and not an economy,

then we need to understand God's bigger than the economy, God's bigger than Democrats, Republicans, donkeys, and elephants.

God is bigger than everything, and if God says we can move forward, we can move forward.

And if God has a plan for our life, we don't have to check that with the climate and the culture around us,

but we can walk in victory and purpose because we're the called of God. Amen?

And so to me, I just wanted to spend a few weeks talking about, hey, if you feel stuck, you don't have to be stuck.

And even talk about some of the things that keep us stuck,

but the overarching theme that I want you to understand is this is a year to move forward.

Move forward in your relationships, in your marriage, in your business, in your occupation,

in taking a promotion, whatever it is, but we can move forward because we serve God,

and I love America, but we don't serve America. Amen?

I love America, and that is something that's missing our country.

We don't love our country nearly as much as we should, but I'm just saying we are also the called of God,

and God says we can move forward. Amen?

And so I want to talk about that today, and today we're going to be in Joshua chapter 7.

Joshua 7 · chapter mention

So let me catch you up on Joshua chapter 7.

Joshua 7 · chapter mention

Here's really fast what gets us here.

Most people understand Moses led Israel out of Egypt.

They cross the Red Sea. They go into the wilderness.

God brings them to a land that was promised to Abraham 400 and something years prior,

and they say, you know, basically they don't trust the Lord.

They're giants in the land. We can't go into the land.

And so because of their disobedience, they end up stuck in the wilderness for 40 years.

And then finally Moses passes away. Joshua takes over.

They come to the promised land again. They cross the Jordan.

They go into the promised land, and they go to Jericho, and they actually defeat Jericho.

If you remember, it's the story where they marched around the walls once per day for six days on the seventh day,

seven times around.

By the way, there are a lot of people that say, well, there's no evidence of the Exodus.

There's no evidence of Jericho. There actually is archaeological evidence that actually confirms the biblical narrative.

They found scarabs, which are signet rings from pharaohs that actually are that are dated to the 15th century B.C.

So about the time 1406, 1410 is when Israel would have crossed into Canaan and defeated Jericho.

And they have archaeological proof, pottery, all those things that confirm the biblical narrative.

So if someone tells you it never happened, they probably got their theology from TikTok,

and you get your theology from the Bible.

So anyways, there's archaeological evidence of that.

But remember, they defeat Jericho soundly.

Chapter seven, though, they're going to go to a city called Ai.

It's the easiest thing in the Bible to pronounce because it's literally A-I.

It's just two letters, everybody.

And so they go to Ai, and as we're going to read, they get a little salty.

They get a little prideful.

And they're like, oh, we don't have to send our whole army.

We can just send 3,000 people, special forces.

And they're going to defeat them.

And they actually, Israel gets defeated.

Thirty-six people die. We're going to read that.

And then we're going to find out what happened because I think it's important for us to understand.

Paul says the things that happened in the Old Testament, I was really greatly concerned, I guess, would be a great word.

There was a great, I shouldn't use the word great.

There was a well-known pastor, large following, who recently said we need to unhitch,

the church needs to unhitch its wagons from the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament.

And it's a heretical statement.

I'm like, that sounds more like a demon than a pastor.

But we need to understand Jesus didn't unhitch his wagons from the Old Testament.

He quoted 27 of the 39 Old Testament books authoritatively as scripture.

We called them scripture.

So since Jesus believes in the Old Testament, I believe in the Old Testament.

But Paul also tells us that a lot of the Old Testament is an example to us.

And it gives us symbols and pictures and understanding of things that we still deal with

and that have great effect and impact on our life.

And so for that reason, God, we're in Joshua chapter 7.

Joshua 7 · chapter mention

Would you stand with me as we read God's word?

I'd love for us to stand in honor of the Word of God.

And so I talk a long time and this breaks up the sitting.

Alright, chapter 7, we'll read about 13 verses here.

It says, But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things.

Now I'll explain that in just a minute.

For Achan, the son of Carmiah, the son of Zabdiah, the son of Zerah,

of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things,

and the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.

And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Bethhavon, east of Bethel,

and said to them, Go up and spy out the land.

And the men went up and spied.

And they returned to Joshua and said, We don't need all the people to go.

Just two or three thousand men will go and attack Ai.

Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few.

So about three thousand men went up from there, from the people.

But they fled before the men of Ai,

killed thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gates as far as Sheberim,

and struck them at the descent.

That means they beat them soundly, I think one version says.

And the hearts of the people melted and became like water.

In other words, they were fearful and discouraged.

And then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face

before the ark of the Lord until the evening.

And the elders of Israel, and they put dust on their heads.

And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord God,

why have you brought this people over from the Jordan at all?

To give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us?

Would that we have been content to dwell in the Jordan?

O Lord, what can I say?

When Israel has turned their backs before their enemies,

that means they ran off because they were defeated.

For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it

and will surround us and cut off your name from the earth.

In other words, they are going to destroy us all.

And what would that do for your name?

Or what would that do for your great name?

Verse 10, the Lord said to Joshua, get up.

Has anybody else ever had a pity party with the Lord?

That's one party the Lord won't attend is your pity party.

Like, get up.

Because Joshua, listen real quick,

Joshua is doing what I've been guilty of and sometimes we are all guilty.

Let's just be honest.

We call it prayer, but really it's a pity party.

And what was the Lord's response?

I love this.

Get up.

Why have you fallen on your face?

Israel has sinned.

They have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them

and they have taken some of the devoted things and they have stolen and lied

and put them among their own belongings.

Therefore, the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies.

They turn their backs before their enemies

because they have become devoted for destruction.

I will be with them no more unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.

And then verse 13, he goes on to tell them we are going to consecrate ourselves

and we are going to deal with the problem.

I want to talk for just a few moments.

I called this message down but not done.

Down but not done.

Let's pray.

Father, thank you so much for the word of God.

Thank you for the Old Testament and the New Testament

because it is all inspired of you.

It comes from your breath, Lord.

I just pray as we open it, Lord, since it is your breath,

as Paul tells Timothy, Lord, breathe in us

and help us to receive God the truth of it, the revelation of it,

the power of it so that God, we could live the lives you've called and created us for.

In Jesus' name.

And everybody said, Amen.

You may be seated.

So let's talk about what's going on here because

so they defeat Jericho and then they come to Ai

and they are soundly defeated and Joshua falls on his face

and he's crying out to the Lord and he's saying, God, what is wrong?

Like, you called us, you promised us, you chose us.

And I don't know if anybody's ever felt that way.

Have you ever felt like, man, life's just not working?

Like, I thought God promised me something and I feel farther away from it.

I feel like God promised to do something, but I don't think he did it.

God told me to do this and it didn't work out.

Now, when we talk about those things, there could be a lot of factors involved.

So let me say that there could be a lot of factors involved.

But as we zoom in on this text, we find one of the things that keeps us stuck is sin.

You see, because when they went into Jericho, God gave them instructions

and the instructions were the gold and the silver of Jericho are to be brought

basically to God's house, if you will.

They're to be brought to the treasury of the Lord.

Now you say, well, what does that matter?

Why did God want all the gold and the silver of Jericho?

Well, we've taught this before, but just a review that the first belongs to God.

There's a principle that runs all the way through the Bible and it's the first.

The first always had to be dedicated or consecrated to the Lord

or the first had to be given to the Lord.

And so Jericho is the first city in the promised land.

It's the first victory.

So God says, well, then the gold and the silver are mine because that's the first city.

This is why we bring the tithe to God.

The tithe is the first, 10%.

That is the part that is holy that belongs to Him.

And when we give that part, the blessing comes on everything else.

So God is saying, hey, it's the first. It belongs to me.

So the gold and silver of Jericho belong to me.

But there was a man named Achan.

And Achan got greedy and he took some of the gold and some of the silver

and buried it in his tent, but he didn't tell anyone.

And so then they go to battle Ai again, the Amorites,

and they're going to go up to the city of Ai and they get soundly defeated.

And then Joshua is laying on his face and he's saying, God, you've abandoned us.

And God says, no, I didn't abandon you.

You abandoned me.

My dad years ago preached from this text.

I'll never forget. I was a kid at the time, but most of you know,

dad was a pastor for many years.

But I'll never forget he preached on this text and the title he gave the message

was, There's Sin in the Camp.

And what the message was about, and I'm not going to exactly preach his message at all,

but what the message was about, even though it was a great one,

was the idea that sometimes when life isn't working,

it's because we don't need to blame God.

We don't need to have a pity party.

We need to look and say, hey, have I been unfaithful to the Lord?

Have I disobeyed? Is there sin in my life? Is there transgression?

Is there something that I've done that would prohibit the blessing of God on my life?

And ultimately that's where I want us to look today because what we see in this text

and even in Israel's wanderings in the wilderness for 40 years,

what we see very simply is this, and you can write this down, a very simple phrase,

but sin keeps you stuck.

Sin keeps you stuck. It keeps you from the promise of God.

It keeps you from the provision of God.

It keeps you from the blessing of God.

It keeps you from the calling of God.

It keeps you from the purpose of God.

You know, I was thinking this week, a kind of a philosophical question,

not that I'm really a philosophical guy,

but I thought, and I wanted to ask you because I would like for us

to consider it together, I guess, but the question is, does sin really matter?

Does sin really matter?

Because we live in a culture that I don't necessarily think they think sin really matters.

And I'm talking about church culture. I'm not talking about people outside the church.

Because today we know enough of the grace of God, and I love the grace of God,

but we know enough about the grace of God to be very, very dangerous.

Because we say, well, Jesus paid for my sin. Jesus paid for all sin.

So I'm going to heaven. That's based on the grace of God and the goodness of God.

So does it matter what I really do?

And it almost feels like we've embraced some, some, maybe some,

have embraced an attitude towards sin where it's not like a viper in diapers.

We've kind of embraced an attitude towards sin where it's, I don't know, is it a big deal?

I don't know, is it that big a deal?

But we know there are some sins that matter, like murder, especially if you're the one that's murdered.

That really matters.

But what about some of the other sins?

What about rage or anger or some of the things we say or some of the mean things we say,

maybe some of the things we post?

The gold rule of social media, you know,

post unto others as you'd have them post unto you. Amen.

But does sin really matter? Because Jesus paid it all, right?

Jesus took care of it.

And really the truth of the matter is what we're going to look at today,

because I don't necessarily think I need to tell you that sin is bad.

I think probably you're in church wearing the belt buckle of the Bible belt.

I think most people know, yeah, you shouldn't sin.

But we know that, but do we live that?

Like, yeah, sin's bad, you know.

We shouldn't do sin, right? Sin's not a good thing.

But sin's fun.

Sin is fun.

I mean, if you don't think sin's fun, you're not doing it right.

I say it this way, sin's fun until it's not, right?

Sin's fun until it's not. Sin's fun until you're broken.

Sin's fun until you're lonely.

Sin's fun until your heart's broken or ripped in two.

Sin's fun until there's damage, there's hurt.

There's broken relationship. There's all those things.

But sin is fun for a while.

I guess what I'm saying is it would be nice if we just said sin bad, Jesus good.

Let's all pray and go home.

But I want to explore it a little bit more than that,

because I want us to understand if sin really matters, why it matters,

and why it matters maybe to God, but even today I really want to talk about why it matters,

ultimately, even in your life.

Now, when the Bible talks about sin,

it can be a little confusing, because the Bible will talk about sin as a noun,

as an adjective, and as a verb.

Paul does this a lot in his writings.

He uses the word hemarteneo from the Greek.

It's the word where we get hermartar-eology, hermardiology.

That's a fun word. That's the doctrine of sins, if that matters to you.

Just like anthropology is the doctrine of man.

Theology proper is the doctrine of God.

If you like theological things.

But the reason we get hermardiology is from the Greek, hermarteneo.

And Paul uses it, Romans uses it more than anything,

which Romans is an incredible exposition on the grace of God,

but also the understanding of salvation and justification by faith

and all those things is incredible.

He uses the word for sin, hemarteneo, in Romans more than any other book,

like some 48 times, but he uses it in different forms.

He uses it as a noun, and then he uses it as an adjective,

and then he uses it as a verb.

A lot of times when we think of sin, we think of verb.

Like sin is something you do.

But Paul says sin is this thing.

It's this thing that has come into the world.

We're going to read this in just a minute.

But it's also not just a thing, but it can be an adjective.

In other words, he says Christ died for us sinners.

Now he's kind of using it descriptively.

And then also he says should we go on sinning,

which is to say the activity of sin.

So it can be a little confusing.

Theologically, when we understand sin in the Bible,

we kind of categorically put it this way,

that sin, there's the presence of sin, the power of sin,

and the penalty of sin.

And ultimately what we understand is Christ, He died,

number one, to free us from the penalty of sin.

Ultimately, He will deliver us from the presence of sin

after all the days here are complete and there's a new creation,

we'll be free from the presence of sin.

But here's where our lives are today.

We are in this struggle with the power of sin.

So if we've come to Christ, you need to understand,

this is the great thing about grace.

It's so powerful, but yet so amazing.

Paul told the Thessalonians we have been delivered

from the wrath that is to come.

He's specifically talking about the penalty of sin.

In other words, because Christ died on the cross,

and I believe and trust in Him for salvation,

He took the penalty for all sin, my sin, your sin, and the world's sin.

So all sin in the world has been paid for.

The difference is some people have trusted in Christ,

the provision of Christ, and some people have yet to trust in Christ.

But He paid for the penalty of sin,

meaning I will never pay.

God will not hold me to the penalty for my own sin

because Jesus paid for my sin.

So I'm free from the penalty of sin.

I will not experience death and destruction and damnation

and the things that come with not accepting Christ

because Christ has paid for the penalty of my sin.

Christ one day will deliver me from the presence of sin,

but also Christ has delivered me from the power of sin.

But this is where the struggle is and this is where we live.

I can show you these three things in one verse.

Romans 5-12, it says, Therefore just as sin, this is a noun,

Therefore just as sin, that's the noun, came into the world.

Well, he's not saying bad behavior came into the world.

No, he's saying sin. He's talking about the presence of sin.

So therefore just as sin came into the world through one man

and death through sin, there is the power of sin.

So first we have the presence of sin, sin came into the world,

death through sin, the power of sin,

death spread to all because all sin, the penalty of sin.

So Paul, this is what he's talking about.

So we have to understand that in our Christian life,

what we deal with, and Paul talks about this a lot in Romans,

but in his other eyes, Galatians, etc.,

what we deal with is there is this power of sin.

It was greatly at work in our bodies and then we came to accept Christ.

Even though we've accepted Christ, sometimes we still struggle with sin.

Anybody else struggle with sin sometimes?

Okay, just me and four honest people.

But for the rest of you holy people, we'll just explore it

just in case you might fit categorically with us.

But the point is that we deal with the power of sin,

and when we're talking about the power of sin,

this becomes the condition of sin, if you will,

but it also becomes the practice of sin.

In other words, the sins that we commit.

And the question is, does sin really matter?

I don't know. Well, let's answer that question together.

And so I really just have two things.

You can write these down. Very simple. Very elementary.

But remember, I want us to move forward. I want you to move forward.

And sin keeps us stuck. So let's talk about it.

Number one, what are the consequences of sin?

Sin has consequences. Write that down.

Sin has consequences.

I think it's important that we understand, listen to me,

I think it's important we understand that Jesus has freed us

from the penalty of sin,

but He has not freed us from the consequence of sin.

And I think a lot of times we don't understand that distinction,

because we're like, well, I'm going to heaven, I'm not going to hell,

I'm free from the penalty of sin.

Yes, but you're not free from the consequences of sin.

According to the Bible, and I'll use one that's kind of fun,

but according to the Bible, gluttony would be a sin.

Well, if I go home today and I eat 47 packages of Oreos,

which, by the way, if you're going to eat Oreos,

let me explain how this is done.

There's probably some rookies in here, probably some rookies,

and welcome to the big leagues, people.

But anyways, if you take the Oreo,

and it needs to be a double stuffed Oreo, first of all.

Thank you. Obviously, this is the people that are saved.

And it needs to be a double stuffed Oreo,

but you get that Oreo and you get you some milk,

and you get a jar of peanut butter.

And let me just say, peanut butter Oreos, they're weird.

This is better, okay, that's weird.

If you like peanut butter Oreos, that's fine.

I mean, tomato, tomato.

But I don't like peanut butter Oreos,

but I love peanut butter on my Oreos.

So I'm just saying today, I don't know how, I'm very hungry now.

But you get you some double stuffed Oreos,

and you just dip them in the peanut butter

and chase them with that cold milk.

And you're going to hear baby angels.

And you're going to think the coming of the Lord is not.

Anyways, the point of it is that they're, you know,

gluttony technically, according to the Bible, is a sin.

Gluttony is a sin.

And here's the thing, now, if I go today

and I eat 100 packages of Oreos

and a lot of peanut butter and all that,

well, yes, that's gluttony, and I'm not going to go to hell

because I overate today.

But I might gain some weight.

I might end up with a heart problem, right?

My body may not be healthy.

Well, wait a second, Jesus freed me from the penalty of sin.

Yes, but not the consequence of sin.

And we need to understand, because the biggest lie of the enemy,

I think, is that the enemy tries to convince you

that there's no real consequence for sin.

And he tries to convince you that it's okay.

And then he'll say sin is localized.

We're going to talk about this in just a minute.

Essentially, that your sin doesn't affect anyone else.

And so it's okay if nobody knows.

It's just kind of your thing.

It's how you live.

But to me, his greatest work is he's convinced so many people

there's no consequence.

Listen, if someone went today,

a married person went today and had an affair,

how many know that's sin? Very clear in the Bible.

Well, we know that Jesus in his grace has covered that sin.

Jesus took the penalty for that affair to the cross.

But he didn't take the consequence.

That person still could lose their family.

They could lose their marriage. They could suffer.

There's brokenness. There's pain.

There's all these things to work with. Why?

Because Jesus did free them from the penalty of sin.

But that doesn't mean we're free from the consequence of sin.

So sin has consequences.

When you look at Joshua 7,

what you see, really, if you think about it,

you see spiritual consequences and collateral consequences

and personal consequences to sin.

So let's talk about that.

So in Joshua 7, the first thing that happens,

God said, hey, I'm not with you.

I've got to take a step back. Why?

Because you've been unfaithful, really,

is the word he uses there describing the sin.

You've been unfaithful to me.

It's a word we would use in terms of an adulterous situation.

So God didn't say you've had bad behavior.

He said, you haven't been faithful to me.

And so God takes a step back.

What we have to understand, number one, is sin separates us from God.

Even if we're believers, right? Please hear me this.

Even if we're believers, sin hurts our relationship to God.

Isaiah talks about this when he says,

your iniquities have separated you from God,

and your prayers are now not heard.

Isaiah talks about it, but we also see it in other places,

in the Bible. John said it this way,

if our heart, and I'm going to say it,

and then I'll say it a different way,

but the scripture says, if our heart does not condemn us,

we have confidence towards God.

Well, what could we also say then?

If my heart does condemn me,

I do not have confidence towards God.

Do you see what we're talking about?

And so sin hurts my relationship with God.

Sometimes when there's sin in our life,

and there's unrepented sin that we've kind of buried,

in fact, we maybe can get so used to sin in our lives,

we forget it's there because we've covered it up so much,

and we've covered it up so much, and we've covered it up,

and we've convinced ourselves it's not that big a deal,

and we've convinced ourselves everybody else is doing it,

and we've convinced ourselves it's not really there,

and sometimes we have, just like Achan,

we have buried sin in our tent,

and we've buried it so deep, sometimes we forget it's there,

but all of a sudden we realize,

my relationship with God isn't working.

I don't have passion for God.

I'm not reading the Word of God.

I don't want to go to the house of God.

I don't feel like my prayers ever get above the ceiling.

Well, what has happened?

Well, many times we're falling on our face,

and we're saying, God, it seems like you're not here,

and God's like, I am here,

but you've got something buried in your tent.

And that's really the problem.

And so we have to understand, listen,

first of all, there's a spiritual impact to sin

that it does hurt our relationship with God.

And listen to me, that's the most important relationship

in your life, is the relationship you have with God.

And let me tell you something else.

Every relationship in your life benefits

from your relationship with God,

and every relationship in your life also suffers

when you don't have a relationship with God.

It's the most important relationship.

And when there's sin in our life,

it hurts our relationship with God.

So there's a spiritual impact.

There's a collateral impact.

Think about AI.

I mean, 36 people died, and his whole family ends up judged

just because he buried something in his tent.

I think one of the big lives of the enemy,

listen, we all know it, your sin doesn't affect anyone else.

Listen, I know it's a political year,

so I'm not gonna get into politics,

but can I tell you what's wrong with our nation?

It's sin, sin, right?

According to Proverbs, righteousness exalts a nation,

but sin is a reproach to any people, right?

So if you want to fix America,

the way to fix America is salvation, right?

Not donkeys and elephants, right?

But we have to understand, listen,

listen to me very carefully,

you need to understand your sin,

even if no one knows about it,

your sin is affecting more than you.

That's the number one lie of the enemy,

is that sin doesn't affect anyone else,

because I've got it buried.

I'm the only one that knows it's there.

You're the only one that knows it's there,

but sin's affecting your whole family.

Sin's affecting the people you work with.

Sin's affecting your children.

Maybe it will convince you it's not, but it always does.

It always does, and that's what we see here.

There's a collateral impact of sin.

Sin opens the door to the enemy in my home,

sin opens the door to the enemy in my life,

sin will open the door to the enemy with my family.

There's always, listen to me, let's just be honest,

some people, and you understand this,

there are people in this room,

you are still dealing with the pain caused by the sin of relatives

that are removed from you one, two, and three generations.

So don't tell me sin does not have a collateral impact,

because we work with people all the time

who are trying to overcome generational iniquities and pain

from sins and from transgressions

that they had nothing to do with,

but they've impacted their family.

So there's a collateral impact of sin,

so there's a spiritual impact, there's a collateral impact,

but there's also the personal impact.

Look at what Jesus says right here, John 8.34.

Look what Jesus said.

Jesus answered and said, truly I say to you,

everyone, in fact it says truly, truly,

that's Jesus' way of saying, listen up,

about to pop off.

My daughter's having a heart attack right now,

because I used some trendy slang right there,

probably completely out of context, but anyways,

John 8.34, y'all, Jesus answered and said,

truly, truly, I say to you, look at this,

everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

Now listen, I want you to understand,

we know sin is wrong, and in life,

there are, I call them, and I hate to,

this is my terminology, it's not theological,

or you can't find it in the Bible,

well I probably could, there are sins we commit

and I call them one off sins, they're one mistake

and then we move on with our life, right?

It's like, man, that was a mistake, I said that,

I repented, I apologized, and I just never did that again.

It was sin, but then I moved on, right?

I did something wrong, but I didn't make that mistake again.

Now those are still sins, we need to repent those,

and those, until we repent, they do keep us in bondage,

but Jesus is saying very, very, very clearly here,

hey, if we continue in sin,

we're going to go and become slaves to sin.

And this is what I need you to understand,

the personal impact of sin, the number one personal impact

of sin is you become a slave to it.

You become a slave to it.

Listen to me, you can write this down,

all sin is aimed at making you a slave to it.

All sin wants you to be, whether it's anger,

lust, whatever it is, sin wants you to be a slave to it.

And what Jesus says very clearly here, listen to me,

Jesus says, hey, if you continue in sin,

you become a slave to sin.

And that means now I'm in bondage.

And listen, I don't know about, think about being in prison.

How does prison impact a person?

Well, they really can't interact with their family in a normal way.

They can't work their job, obviously, in a normal way.

They can't work a job at all.

It affects every part of your life once you become a slave to something.

And what happens with sin is at first it sounds fun.

Remember we said it's fun till it's not.

It's fun, it seems like it's a secret,

it seems like it's just hidden in my tent,

until all of a sudden sin is now telling me how to do my relationships.

And sin is telling me when I can go and when I can't go,

and what I can do and what I can't do.

And now sin is my master.

And this is what Jesus wants you to understand.

Sin is trying to enslave you.

That's the personal effect of sin.

Here's the second personal effect of sin.

Sin is deadly.

Write that down.

Sin creates bondage, but sin causes death.

Right?

Sin causes bondage.

Jerome in 6, the wages of sin is?

Everybody knows it.

Listen, when you sin, you need to understand sin's destructive.

And when you sin, part of you dies.

There's never a time that sin doesn't produce death.

Even though we're in Christ, well I'm in Christ, yes.

Because the wages of sin is death,

but the free gift of God is eternal life.

Absolutely, absolutely.

But the wages of sin is still death.

Sin is good at paying.

Right?

And when we sin, listen, parts of our life die when we sin.

Parts of our, in fact, let me give you some things that die here.

Number one, it kills my identity.

It kills my identity.

The Bible says that I'm supposed to, Romans 8, Paul says,

that I'm supposed to be conformed to the image of God.

Conformed to the image of God.

So what is the Holy Spirit's work in my life?

To make me look like Jesus.

Right?

So my identity, this is a great word for our culture,

your identity was never supposed to come from you.

That's why our culture is so confused about identity,

because they think identity is something that I determine.

No, identity is something God determines.

He said, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.

And so identity comes from God.

And when my identity comes from me, it's fickle.

I have fickle decisions, I have our emotions, I have feelings,

I have desires, they change, they go up, they go down, they turn around.

How many know that's the truth of all of us?

So when I'm trying to find a baseline for who I am,

and I think looking inside me is the way,

it's the biggest lie of the enemy.

Look inside, what are you going to find?

You're going to find a hot mess.

That's why I don't base my identity on the fickleness of my human nature.

I base my identity on the constant who is God,

who crafted me in His image and designed me according to His person,

who created me and knew me before I was even in the womb,

and determined what my identity would be.

It comes from Him.

So that's why He says, look, here's the goal of the Christian life.

Turn into the image of Jesus.

Be conformed into the image of Jesus.

Ephesians 4, grow up into all things into Christ.

This is all Paul teaching, it's all throughout the New Testament.

And here's what you have to understand.

Let me ask you a question.

Is there any sin in Jesus?

No.

Then I can't continue in sin and be who God created me to be.

Amen.

And one of the reasons God will not wink or bless sin

is God is not going to condone you becoming something different

than who He created you to be.

And God is not going to bless sin because God is not going to enable you

to move away from Him, to stay distant from Him,

or to be conformed to any other image besides His.

So when we go down the road of sin, God, just like He did in Joshua chapter 7,

Joshua 7 · chapter mention

God says, and that's not judgment, that's grace.

Because God says, hey, I'm not going to help you move away from me.

I'm not going to help you turn into something I didn't create you to be.

And so I'm going to step back.

Your enemies are going to win because had the enemies not won,

it wouldn't have driven them back to God.

And listen, sometimes God will let you suffer defeat

because He knows it's the only way to get you to ultimate victory.

And we don't like to talk about that.

We don't like to talk about that.

But it's all through the Bible.

And there are times, just like in Joshua 7, where God's like,

if they go out there and win, they're going to leave me behind.

And if they go out there and win, sin is going to enslave them.

So I'm going to take a step back.

They're going to lose.

But it's the loss that's going to drive them right back to me.

And then when things are dealt with appropriately,

they're going to have incredible victory.

And so we have to understand, listen, when I sin, I go into bondage.

And when I sin, it kills.

And when it kills, it kills my identity.

Here's another thing it kills.

It kills my purpose.

Look what the writer of Hebrews writes, Hebrews 12 verse 1,

Hebrews 12:1

he says, therefore we also, since we're surrounded by such a great cloud

of witnesses, I don't know if you know this,

heaven's got a cheering section, and they're rooting you on today.

Right?

Think about that.

Right now, heaven's got their, you know, there are people in heaven

that have face paint on, and they got flags, right?

Because they're at football games today, it makes sense, right?

They're rah rah sis boom bah.

They are ready for you to win, all right?

I don't know, it's encouraging to me.

I'm not in it by myself.

Look what Paul says, he says, let us lay aside every weight and sin

that so easily ensnares us so we can run with the endurance,

the race that he set before us.

Here's what Paul said, there's a race set before you by God.

It's what you were created for.

It's your purpose.

You were created on purpose, for a purpose,

and God assigns that purpose to how much, it's how valuable you are.

God has given you a purpose that's different than everybody else's purpose.

He's given you a race that's different,

which is why we don't compare ourselves to other people.

They're not running your race.

They're not purposed the way that you're purposed.

So don't get on Instagram and compare your life to someone else's.

They're called for something else.

Root and cheer them on and then live your life, amen?

But the point is, he said, on this race you're running,

there's some things that trip you up, and those things that trip you up are sin.

And here's what he's saying, sin's going to kill your purpose.

It's going to keep you from living the life that I've called you to.

It's going to keep you from achieving and realizing the purpose and the destiny

that I have for you even before you were born.

Sin, we have to understand the power of sin.

And sin keeps us from the good things that God has in our lives.

It keeps us from being conformed to his image,

which is where we're going to find peace and joy and all those things.

And it keeps us from his purpose, but even still it keeps us from his blessing.

So sin is going to kill my identity and my purpose

and really the blessing of God in my life.

It kills, sin kills.

What you see, you think about Achan, they've just come into the Promised Land.

Well, they're Israel.

They were promised this promised land.

I mean, this is what they've heard about for generations,

400 and something years they've heard about the Promised Land.

And they're finally there, the promise of God, the blessing of God.

And Achan sins, and it costs he and his family

from realizing the blessing of God and the promise of God.

It was the same thing ultimately that happened with his ancestors

who were stuck in the wilderness for 40 years

because the Bible, Hebrews 3 says,

they didn't make it into the Promised Land because they disobeyed God.

They sinned.

And I want you to understand God has good things for you.

God has blessings for you.

God has grace for you.

God loves you so much, and he does.

I'm not saying life's never going to be hard.

I think we've all lived long enough to realize

for the just and the unjust, it rains,

and for the just and the unjust, there are famines, right?

Life's hard.

But I want you to understand God has good things for you,

and he has blessings for you.

But God can't bless sin.

And so sin kills my identity and my purpose

and the blessings of God in my life.

But here's what I need you to understand.

Write this down.

It won't take us long, but write this down.

Everyone can overcome sin.

You can overcome sin.

Everyone can overcome sin.

Remember what we talked about, that God has,

or Jesus has freed us from the penalty of sin.

He will deliver us from the presence of sin.

Right now, we're overcoming the power of sin.

That's really salvation.

We've been saved from the penalty.

We will be saved from the presence of sin.

Currently, we are being saved from the power of sin.

Romans 6, I could just read the chapter,

but the whole chapter really is about the fact

that because we die in Christ,

we are free from the power of sin.

Here's what that means.

It means I now have a choice.

With every temptation that befalls a man,

there is a way of escape according to Scripture.

So now I have a choice.

Where I didn't have a choice before, I have a choice now.

And so we can win over sin.

You can win over sin.

And you say, well, how do I win over sin?

It's very simple.

Write this down.

Number one, you admit it.

You admit it.

How can you overcome sin?

Well, number one is you just have to admit it.

Maybe the first person you have to admit it to is yourself.

You have to say, you know what?

There's something buried in my tent.

Maybe you think no one else knows.

Maybe no one else but God actually knows, but you know.

And you have to admit it.

You have to say, you know what?

I have a problem.

There's a sin here that I can't get past.

There's a sin here that I keep falling into.

There's a category of sin that I spend a lot of time in.

I need to admit that to myself and say, hey, this is the problem.

When the church, we stopped defining sin as sin, and we started calling it problems

or challenges or struggles.

And I do think sin is a challenge and sin is a struggle and sin is a problem,

but sin is still sin.

It's also sin, right?

And so I need to admit that, hey, there's sin.

I've got a problem.

Second thing is admit it.

Here's the second thing.

Believe it.

And when I say believe it, there are two things I think you need to understand

and you need to believe.

Number one, you need to believe there is actually no condemnation

for those who are in Christ.

You need to believe that you are not condemned.

Jesus was condemned for your sin.

You are not condemned for your sin.

God doesn't condemn your sin.

He also doesn't condone it, but he doesn't condemn it.

But you need to understand because until condemnation is removed,

it's really hard to move forward.

And so think about Jesus when the woman caught in adultery comes to Jesus.

You know, that's the one where he writes in the dirt

and then everybody leaves and it's just he and this lady.

And he says, hey, where are your accusers?

And she said, I don't know.

They all left.

And he said, neither do I condemn you.

Now go and sin no more.

So the message here is we have to understand there's no condemnation.

That is what empowers us really to walk out of sin.

The problem with our church, not our church, but I think by and large the church,

one thing that I think has cost credibility is we typically preach it the other way.

When you stop sinning, we'll stop condemning you.

But to be free from sin, you have to believe that you're not condemned.

And then you can go and sin no more.

So admit it and then believe it.

Believe you're not condemned and also believe that Jesus really paid for you to be free from sin.

First Peter 2, 24 says, he himself bore our sins on the cross

so that we can be free from sin.

So I need to understand Jesus paid so I can be free from sin.

Jesus paid so I can get out of sin, so I can get out of the trap of sin.

Jesus paid so I don't have to be stuck in sin.

So I admit it and then I believe there's no condemnation.

And Jesus really paid for the power.

He has broken the power of sin.

That's why Paul talks about you are no longer under the power of sin in Romans 6.

He says you're no longer not under the power of sin because of what Jesus has done.

So believe it, admit it.

And then here's the seed, confess it.

Confess it.

That's what John says.

If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin

and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.

So I have to admit I have sin.

I have to believe there's no condemnation which will free me up to actually deal with it.

I have to believe that Jesus paid for the power of sin.

And then I have to confess, okay Jesus, I've got sin.

You already knew it, but now I'm coming to grips with it.

Now I want to deal with it.

Now that works in a lot of cases when there are one-off sins and those type of things.

But what about if you're in here today and you're like, pastor, you don't understand.

I am a slave to sin.

I have tried.

It's the same sin over and over and over again.

Whether it's anger, whether it's lust, pornography, some other sexual sin, whatever it is.

Habitual lying, it could be anything.

And you're like, pastor, I've talked to God and I'm stuck.

Well, this is where you need the L.

So admit it, believe it, confess it.

This comes down to the live it.

This is why you need a church, right?

It's why you need a church because the church helps you live the gospel and live it out.

Let me explain what I mean.

John says, walk in the light as he is in the light.

So he's talking about the Christian light.

Well, what does he mean exactly?

Well, see, sin thrives in darkness.

Hidden in the tent, buried under the ground.

Like if you want sin to grow, bury it in the dark.

It's like a mold or a fungus.

Right?

You get those conditions right, dark and damp and nasty, and you're going to grow stuff.

That's kind of how sin is.

But if you want to deal with it, you turn the light on it.

That's why Jesus talking to Nicodemus in John chapter 3, he said,

John 3 · chapter mention

hey, those that want to do good come to the light,

but those that want to do evil, they go to the darkness.

Well, what's he saying?

Well, John goes on to say, in 1 John, he talks about walk as children of light,

walk in the light.

So what's he saying?

Well, I've got to shine some light on it.

In other words, this is where I need the church and I need the body of Christ.

I'm stuck in sin.

Jesus has freed me from sin, but I'm still stuck in sin.

I have a sin that is repetitive, subdued.

Maybe it is pornography or alcoholism.

Maybe we define it as an addiction, but it could be something else.

It could be anger, rage, whatever.

But I'm stuck there and I can't get out of that.

Well, what do I do?

Well, this is what James says.

James says it this way.

James 5, 16 says, confess your trespass one to another

and pray for one another that you may be healed.

It's interesting he used the word healed here because, okay,

this is probably worth your trip, what I'm about to tell you.

Habitual sin is always tied to brokenness.

Habitual sin is almost every time tied to brokenness,

meaning there was a trauma, there was some brokenness,

there was an injury, and the enemy comes in to that brokenness

and he offers you typically a medication that makes you feel better.

I've talked with men who couldn't get out of rage and anger

only to find out they were abused and the only way they felt like to be safe

was to try to make themselves bigger through anger

than the situation they found themselves in.

So any times they were triggered or felt that hit them or felt scared,

they just got mad and just went psycho-billy-ninja on everybody.

And it really, what I realized is, yes, you're in bondage,

but it's because there was brokenness.

So in other words, getting out of bondage now starts with receiving healing.

That's why you have to understand there's no condemnation.

God is not condemning you.

We are not condemning you.

You are not condemned, and you have to understand that

because if you don't know that you're not condemned,

it would be hard to ever actually shine light on it

and say, hey, this is something I'm stuck in.

And I want you to understand you can be free, you can be free,

but this is why God gives us the church.

This is why God gives us life group leaders and pastors and staff and friends

and all those meaningful people, safe people in our lives,

because when I'm stuck in sin and I've done everything I can do

and I can't get out of sin, sometimes, listen to me,

sometimes sin is about deliverance, and sometimes overcoming sin is about deliverance,

and sometimes overcoming sin is about discipleship,

and sometimes overcoming sin is about both.

Meaning that sometimes I need a grace of healing and restoration in my heart,

but I also need people around me, I also need teaching, I also need prayer.

So it's deliverance or maybe it's discipleship, and sometimes it's both.

But here's what I want you to understand, you can be free from sin,

but if you have habitual sin that doesn't go away, typically it's a freedom issue

because you are in bondage, and the question is, well, how did we get in bondage?

And a lot of times it goes back to a pain, a trauma, a hurt, or some brokenness.

And until we open that up and invite other people in, safe people, right,

who aren't going to go post about it or tell anybody your business,

we invite safe people in, we can't be healed,

and until we're healed, we can't be whole, and until we're whole, we can't be free.

Are you with me?

So God has provided, and one of the ways He's provided is His grace and power to overcome sin,

and another way He's provided is the power of His body, the church, to help us,

just like James says, when I'm stuck, I can confess my sin one to another

and pray for one another, and I can be healed.

You hear what I'm saying? I want you to understand, you may be down, but you're not done.

And this is a year unlike any other that, even though I think this year is going to be chaotic in so many ways,

I can see, I just see the triumph of the believers in the church

and even Christian business leaders and all those things, I just think the provision, grace of God,

I just think there's victory this year, even in the midst of the chaos

and even in the midst of everything else that's going on, and I don't want you to be stuck.

You may be down, but you're not done. You can get up.

And I hear the Lord saying to someone just like Joshua, who's been crying out to the Lord,

and God's like, this is your year to get up.

And maybe that means inviting someone else in to your struggle, but listen, we're here to help you. Amen?

You're down, but you're not done. Amen?

Come on, can you give Jesus praise today?

Hey, Pastor Marty here from Pathway Church.

I just want to say thank you for joining us,

and I want to encourage you to get connected and stay connected.

And there's several ways you can do that.

Number one, you can download the Pathway app.

We are all the time offering resources and information on that app for you.

You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel.

And if you do, make sure you click the bell so that you never miss any life giving

and life changing content as we add it to the channel.

And then also make sure you follow us on social media, on Instagram, on Facebook.

Look, our hope and heart for you is that you walk in the purpose for which God made

and created and redeemed you for.

We love to connect people to purpose.

We thank you for giving us this opportunity.

And if you're ever at Longview or you are at Longview,

I'd love to invite you to join us in person each weekend.

Listen, I pray God's best for your life.

I believe if you follow Jesus, your best is ahead.