MEETING OUR SINS AGAIN
Genesis 42:21
INTRO: Many people today have reversed their thinking about God. Once they thought of Him as almighty and just, a God who punished sin. But not all people feel that way today. God is looked upon as a soft and sentimental old grandfather, a Santa Claus ready to drop all that we want into our laps if we just think positively and pray a little.
These modern thinkers are wrong. God is the same as He has always been. He has some irrevocable laws, and if we break them we will be punished. You can sin and think God has forgotten all about it, but someday you’ll be forced to “meet them again” and pay the price He demands.
A farmer wrote this letter to the editor of a paper: “I planted my crop on Sunday; I worked it on Sunday; I gathered my harvest on Sunday. Yet my crop was just as good as those who go to church on Sunday. Now how do you account for that?” And the editor, who was a Christian, answered, “God does not always pay off on October first.” He was simply saying, “Someday we’ll meet our sins again.”
Jacob had twelve sons but loved Joseph best of all. He made a coat of many colors for him and sent him into the field to check on his brothers. In their hatred for Joseph they sold him into slavery and told Jacob he was killed. Later, during the famine, they stood before Joseph to buy food. Joseph remembered them but they didn’t recognize him. Remember the story.
I. WE ALWAYS MEET OUR SINS AGAIN.
One day Moses came upon two men who were fighting — an Egyptian and an Israelite. He killed and buried the Egyptian. The next day an Egyptian came up to him and said, “Are you going to kill us as you did the man yesterday?” Moses knew his sin had been discovered. He had to flee for his life. He went into the land of Midian, where he dwelt for forty years. He had met his sins again.
Later God called Moses to lead Israel to the Promised Land, and Moses was faithful to the task. One day God took Moses to the mountain and showed him the Promised Land. God told Moses because of his disobedience he would not have the privilege of leading Israel into it. Moses met his sins again.
Another great man, David, saw a beautiful woman whom he desired. He took her for himself and ordered her husband put to death. A baby was born out of this illicit union. David loved that baby very much, but in spite of all that could be done, the baby became sick and died. David’s heart was broken, but he knew he was meeting his sins again. David’s sons followed their father in immorality, and finally his favorite, Absalom, was killed.
Samson was God’s strong man, but he entered into sin with Delilah and gave away the secret of the source of his strength. He was captured by his enemies and put in prison. With red-hot irons they put out both of his eyes. As he ground in the mill like a common slave, the once-proud warrior must have sobbed, “I’m meeting my sins again.”
When the Israelites entered Canaan, God gave them a warning. If they forgot Him and went into idolatry, He told them that He would punish them. They did forget Him and they did go into idolatry — God kept His word. He sent cruel enemies into the land, and the Israelites were carried into captivity, where they suffered for many years.
King Herod killed James and threw Peter into prison. In his pride Herod made a speech and the people said, “He’s a god.” When Herod did not give the glory to God, in a few minutes he fell over dead and was eaten by worms. He met his sins again.
ILLUS: A man in New York City committed a crime. He fled the state and changed his name. Many years passed and he became rich. He went back to New York, bought a fine house, and settled down to enjoy life. Then one day the officers came to that home, arrested him, and took him to prison. The years had gone by and he was meeting his sins again.
II. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE MEET OUR SINS AGAIN?
1. We Remember Them Vividly. Joseph’s brothers did not expect trouble. They had money to buy grain and their future was bright. But when they were thrown into prison, their memory began to work. What did they remember? They remembered their sin and the pleas of Joseph. They said, “We remember the anguished look on his face when we left him in the pit and again when we sold him into slavery. That’s why this trouble has come upon us.”
ILLUS: A man who had been rescued from drowning said that in the last moments of consciousness before his rescue, the deeds of his life-time came trooping before him. The sins he thought he had forgotten stared him in the face once more.
Memory can curse or bless through the years.
ILLUS: An old couple sat by the fire on a wintry night. They didn’t have to talk; each knew what the other one was thinking about. They thought about how they had started out together, bow they had reared their children in Christ, and how God had been close to them all of their lives.
By contrast, an old man lay dying. He had lived for sin and the world and had rejected Christ. Memory began to work. He thought of the little girl he had seduced. He thought of the lies he had told, the shady deals he had made. All of
a sudden the room was filled with devils and the shrieks of a man going down to death without Christ. His memories were as the fires of hell.
2. Our Consciences Accuse Us of Guilt. “A guilty conscience needs no accuser.” Our consciences bring our sins before us again.
Ahab killed Naboth and took his vineyard for him-self. But later when Ahab met the prophet Elijah in the same vineyard, Ahab cried out, “Hast thou found me, oh mine enemy?” Why did he call the prophet his enemy? Hadn’t they parted as friends? When Ahab saw him, his conscience smote him.
There are people in our churches who were once faithful and active. Now they have turned to sin and worldliness. When you ask them why they quit going to church, they blame it on the preacher or someone else.
3. Our Reason Condemns Us Through the Holy Spirit. You look back over your days and you remember certain sins. Your conscience smites you, and you say, “I had it coming to me.” What did the dying thief on the cross say. He said, “We are receiving the due reward for our deeds.” The Bible tells us that every sin will be punished.
But you say, “I know men who sin and get away with it. They are not punished.” David felt the same way. He said, “The wicked prosper and nothing hap-pens to them. I live a good life and still suffer.” (Ps. 73:12-28)
III. THE ONLY REMEDY FOR SIN.
As the brothers of Joseph fell before him in confession, so we are to fall at Jesus feet and confess and forsake our sins. A physician examines a sick man and tells him that he has an incurable disease. He offers no remedy; he renders no service. But Jesus the Great Physician, offers Himself as a remedy for sin.
CONC: The Titanic was the greatest ship built in her day. Captain Smith took her out on her maiden voyage. She was a floating palace. Some of the world’s richest and most prominent people were on board. On Sunday night some icebergs were sighted, but no one was afraid. They knew the Titanic was unsinkable. The bar was open, and the passengers were drinking and dancing.
A small group of Christians was on board. At 9:30 P.M. the band stopped playing for intermission. One man went out on the dance floor and announced, “Some of us are Christians. We have with us a Bible and some songbooks. I don’t want to preach to you, but just to read a passage and sing a hymn.” A man in the crowd cried out, “To hell with all that. Get out of here.”
In a few minutes there was a crash, then came the cry, “The ship is sinking,” and the band played, “Nearer My God to Thee.” Many people who had blasphemed fell on their knees. SOME OF YOU HAVE NO PLACE FOR CHRIST IN YOUR LIFE.
