Cutting Out The Secret Sins In Our Life Series

INTRODUCTION

• SLIDE #1

• Today I want us to examine a delicate subject. This is a subject that if it is ignored or written off can and will come back to bite us at some point in our life.

• This issue of dealing with the “secret sins” in our life can be one that will gnaw at us like a slow moving cancer.

• The sin seems to be so small and insignificant that we think we can ignore it or that the sin is no big deal.

• Then one day we wake up only to find that the little sin we thought we could hide has us caught in a trap. WE wake up to see that the once secret sin is now exposed for everyone to see.

• What we thought was secret, what we thought was something that we had a grip on all the sudden has over taken our life.

• So-called “secret sins” can do a lot of destruction if they are not confessed and dealt with.

• Secret sins will destroy relationships with those we love and with God. These sins will stunt our spiritual growth so they need to be dealt with if we hope to grow spiritually, if we hope to grow in our relationship with Jesus.

• Today as we look at Acts 5:1-11, we will see a couple who has what we would call a “secret sin”, they have a secret sin that they believe NO ONE else knows anything about.

• In chapter four we see that folks in the church were voluntarily selling property and other possessions and giving the proceeds to the Apostles in order to help those within the church.

• Barnabas was one who was mentioned specifically for his generosity in Acts 4:36-37. This leads us into chapter five where this couple by the name of Ananias and Sapphira hatch a plan.

• They must have taken note of the praise that Barnabas and others were getting for their selfless acts of giving and they wanted in on the action also.

• Who would know what they were going to do? They had what they considered to be a secret sin that would change their lives forever.

• Today I hope we all see that one of the essential tools for spiritual living is the ability to rid ourselves of the secret sins in our lives.

• Let’s begin with Acts 5:1-3

• SLIDE #2

• Acts 5:1-3 (NET)5:1 Now a man named Ananias, together with Sapphira his wife, sold a piece of property. 5:2 He1 kept back for himself part of the proceeds with his wife’s knowledge; he brought2 only part of it and placed it at the apostles’ feet. 5:3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled3 your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back for yourself part of the proceeds from the sale of4 the land?

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

If we are going to cut out the secret sins in our life we need to understand the following:

I. The progression of sin.

• Why did this couple do this? What possessed them to concoct such a scheme?

• Why do we concoct the schemes we do? We need to have an understanding of how sin progresses from beginning to end.

• I want look at James 1:14-15 so we can get a good picture of the process.

• SLIDE #4

• James 1:14-15 (NET) 14 But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. 15 Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death.

• Let us look at three parts of the sin process.

• SLIDE #5

A. There is a knowledge of what God commands.

• To be accountable for what we do we first need to know what God’s commands are.

• There has to be an understanding of what is right and what is wrong. The word sin means “to miss the mark”. You need to know there is a mark before you can miss it.

• We can sin and not know it, but God does not hold us to the same level of accountability as He would if we knew.

• With that being said, we cannot stay willfully ignorant then hope to slide by on that.

• We understand this thought. SHOPLIFTING FOR A 2 YEAR OLD VS. A TEEN.

• We see this principle taught in Romans 2:1-16.

• By the way there are sins of omission (not doing what we know is right) and sins of commission (when we DO what is wrong).

• This why young children are innocent before God, they do not know what they do is wrong.