Hypocrisy vs. Living in the light
Stories!!!
Hypocrisy is terrible - Any of you like hypocrites?
I’m not pointing any fingers but after hearing these stories I decided this was too important not to address it.
1 Cor.5:11 - You must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
Is that too harsh??? Remember what’s at stake.
Mt.15:18 – We often honor God with our lips when our hearts are far from Him.
1 Jn.3:8 - 10 - “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.”
I’m not just judging - I love you too much to not be real with you.
We are called to be different, set apart.
Sin defined.
Greek word for sin: Hamartano (αμαρτανω) – “to miss the mark.”
Rom.3:23 – For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
God’s standard, His law is designed completely for our good.
When you sin, YOU lose!!!
Heb.11:25 – Sin is pleasurable for a short time.
R.C. Sproul: “Sin can be pleasurable but it never brings happiness. It seems utterly stupid for a person to do something he knows will rob him of his happiness. Yet we do it. The mystery of sin is not only that it is wicked and destructive but that it is so downright stupid.”
What is sin?
Sin includes doing things that violate God’s standard.
1 Cor.6 and Gal.5 describes the battle between the flesh and the Spirit and a few major areas of sin. They are: wickedness, sexual immorality (lust, sex or just pushing the envelop - Eph.5:3), impurity (thought life and actions motivated by the world and my flesh), debauchery (partying), drunkenness (note about drinking: Rom.14 - don’t destroy your brother, or the work of God with your freedom), idolatry (putting anything above God), stealing, witchcraft, hatred, discord (not living in harmony with each other), jealousy, fits of rage (anger), selfish ambition (pride), dissensions (arguing), factions (being divisive), slander, greed, envy and drunkenness.
Those passages conclude saying: Those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God...And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Remember: 2 Kingdoms.
Either we influence the world or the world influences us!
1 Cor.15:33 - Bad company corrupts your character.
Sin also includes not doing right: Not doing what God tells us to.
James 4:17 – “He who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”
Are pride, anger or refusing to share our faith any less sinful than adultery, stealing or violence.
All sin is sin against God that effects both me and others!
Ps.51:4 - Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
Sin is rooted in the condition of the heart not measuring up to God.
Jer.17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things.”
Mar.7:23 – Sin comes from the inside first.
James 1:14-15 – “But each on is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived it gives birth to sin and sin when it is full grown, gives birth to death.”
Mt.5:22, 27-28 – Jesus equates hate and lust with murder and adultery.
Conditions of the heart are the worst sins: Sin is sin. It all starts in my heart. Pride and arrogance, greed and selfishness, hate and anger, bitterness, lust, envy and others.
C.S Lewis: “The sins of the flesh are bad but they are the least bad of all sins. All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual…That is why a cold self-righteous prig who goes regularly to church may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute. But of course, it’s better to be neither…Of all bad men, religious bad men are the worst.”
Sin begins with the condition of the heart, and is manifest in wrong actions and inaction.
Results of sin.
You reap what you sow.
Sin is a downward spiral; all sin makes future sin inevitable.
There are natural consequences to my sin.
Ex. If you steal God will forgive you but you may spend some time doing jail ministry from the inside.
The end result...Imagine the fruit of a life of sin over a lifetime.
When the Christian sins there is a barrier formed in their fellowship with God.
Ps.66:18 – “If I regard sin in my heart the Lord will not hear me.”
Ex. Marriage analogy.
Sin hardens me: Heb.3:12-13 – Guard against a heart that will lead you away from the living God and don’t be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Eph.4:19 - Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. LAW OF DIMINISHING RETURNS!!!
Pr.26:11 - As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.
Evaluate yourself:
I can’t have it 2 ways! - no riding the fence.
1 Jn.2:15-17 - Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world.And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
James 4:4 - You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
Mr.4 - Are you good soil or not?
Mt.7:17-18 – A good tree bears good fruit, a bad tree bears bad fruit.
James 3:11 asks “Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?”
Ultimately, what do you want to hear Jesus say?
Mt.7:23 - “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
Mt.25:21 - “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
Dealing with Sin:
Heb.12:1-2 - I need to get my eyes on Christ and lay that sin aside.
1Cor.13:11 - I need to put childish things behind me.
Rom.13:10-14 - Love does no harm to its neighbor - (my sin hurts me AND those around me AND God) - Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
Ps.37:4 - I need to press into Christ?
Remember: The Sin cycle (Desire, temptation, sin, conviction) culminates in one of 2 ways:
We can run from God, hiding from Him and rationalizing our sin.
Adam and Eve (Gen.3:6-12) - Desired the fruit and its wisdom, tempted to sin against God, sinned, felt convicted and ran from God.
When we rationalize we begin believing a lie (Rom.1:28).
That results in bondage and isolation from God and others.
Or, we can run to God, confessing the sin (1 Jn.1:9).
When we walk in the light, we know the Truth.
That results in freedom (Jn.8:32) and fellowship with God and others (1 Jn.1:6-7).
I run to God by repenting - Repent. - Jesus’ most frequent command!
Not after perfection, but after the right heart!
It boils down to Lordship
Greek word for repentance: Metanoeo (Μετανοεω) – “A change of mind.”
Must start with the root – the condition of the heart.
Rom.2:4 - His kindness leads me to repentance!!!
Call a spade a spade: How evil is my sin: pride, etc.
All my sin, the incorrect conditions of my heart, wrong actions and inaction hurt me and deprive me of the abundant life He promises!
What am I willing to tolerate? A little hate, greed, lust or lack of obedience?
How much can I get away with vs. I want to be like Jesus!
Heart of repentance - Run from the temptation:
Remember Joseph’s example (Gen.39:12)
Rev.2:5,16, 21-22, 3:3, 19 - Repent be restored.
1 Cor.10:13 – For every temptation there is a way out.
If I want the way out I’ll take the way out.
Accountability is key!!! James 5:16!
The core issue: Where is your heart? Do you really love Jesus?
If we love Jesus we will obey Him!
Jn.14:15 (Jesus) – “If you love me you will obey what I command.”
1 Jn.3:18 - Love in action and in Truth, not with words and tongue.
Spiritual breathing. Remember, you don’t have to sin!
1Jn.1:9 – “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Eph.5:18 - Be filled, empowered and directed by His Holy Spirit.
Gal.5:22-23 – Fruit of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
1 Jn.1:5-7 - “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
Results of victory over sin.
The abundant life Jesus promised (Jn.10:10).
Bill Bright: There are no happy disobedient Christians and there are no unhappy obedient Christians.
Honestly, have you ever felt satisfied, joyful or fulfilled after a party?
Gal.5:1 – “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and don’t let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
An eternally significant life.
Will you press into Jesus? Make it all or nothing guys.
We love you. Make the most of this challenge.
This talk is for everyone: If you’re walking close to Him, desire and walk in integrity (doing the right thing even when no one is looking), if you’re riding the fence, decide today to repent and run to Him and if you’re searching, ask whoever you came with to tell you more about Jesus.
People here tonight want to encourage you so don’t leave without talking to someone.
