MICAH 7:8
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
THE SAINTS ARE JUST THE SINNERS WHO FALL DOWN AND GET UP
In our modern day vernacular we have made the term “SAINT” synonymous with perfection.
If someone:
Lives a life above reproach we say “He is a real saint”
Dedicates their life to doing good works, such as Mother Teresa, we say “She is a real saint”
Lives a life exemplary of good morals and high standards we ascribe to them the title of saint.
We have set some pretty high standards for achieving sainthood!
The Catholic church has even set the bar higher and stiffened the requirements.
But In the New Testament, Paul refers to saints as those who are set apart for God’s service.
By the 2nd century A.D. the meaning was changed to it’s current concept:
“One who is of almost heroic stature in defending the faith, or someone who has done exceptionally meritorious deeds.”
People, churches, cities, counties—everyday names bear echoes of saints, “holy ones” believed to have conversed with God, worked miracles, and often suffered bloody deaths for the faith.
The Catholic Church has a procedure…
First off in the process is a five-year waiting period after the person has died.
Then the “cause” for sainthood must be introduced by a bishop He appoints a “promoter” to start collecting information on the candidate, such as a “heroically” virtuous life and doctrinal faithfulness.
At the Vatican, an “advocate” argues for declaring the person a saint, while the “promoter of the faith”—formerly known as the devil’s advocate—argues against.
A committee of cardinals and other church officials studies the crossfire of opinions, then discusses it before the pope.
If he finds the evidence convincing, he can declare the person “venerable,” or worthy of private devotions.
To attain the next level of “beatification,” a similar process is used to determine whether the person worked one or more miracles. This usually takes the form of healings that resist any natural explanation. The main exception is if the candidate is a martyr for the faith.
Generally, proof of a second miracle is needed in order for the person to be “canonized,” or declared a saint. That earns him or her a place on the churchwide calendar.
No one knows how long this all could take. Giorgio Frassati of Torino, Italy, died in 1925 of tuberculosis at the age of 24 working among the poor. His cause was held up for 40 years by Pope Pius XII. The reason: Frassati once went to a mountain picnic with young women. A broader-minded John Paul II beatifed Frassati in 1990.
Regardless, the Vatican is unlikely to canonize anyone by popular acclaim. It will be mainly whether the person’s own life appears to measure up to sainthood.
Wow! According to these requirements, I will never be a saint!
If I have to do all of that, I will never be able to do as David said in:
Psalm 30:4
4 Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
Psalm 31:23
23 O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.
Psalm 37:28
28 For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
Psalm 97:10
10 Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
Psalm 132:9
9 Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let thy saints shout for joy.
Psalm 149:1
Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.
If I have to do all of the things I mentioned to be a saint, I can never stand in God’s presence and:
Sing for joy
Shout with the voice of triumph
Be preserved
Be delivered
If in order to be a saint I must be:
Perfect
Beatified
Venerated
Canonized
Then I am in trouble!
But, when I read my Bible, I find a different definition of the saints of God!
According to the Word of God the saints are not the people who have been:
Perfect
Beatified
Venerated
Canonized
The saints are merely the sinners who have been saved by the grace of God!
Psalm 50:5
5 Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Ephesians 2:19
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
The saints are the ones Paul was speaking to when he said,
Once you were fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, abusers of yourselves with mankind, 1 thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers extortioners, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God!
You didn’t do anything to deserve sainthood – it was the grace of God that saved you and I!
We are just sinners who fell down and got up!
GRACE DOESN’T GIVE US A LICENSE TO SIN, HOWEVER!
Paul asked this question in Romans 6:1
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
The Bible teaches me that I must strive for perfection, I must reach for a higher plateau continually.
A,2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
PERFECT - 739 { ar’-tee-os} fresh, fitted, complete
Hebrews 13:20-21
20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
PERFECT - 675 { kat-ar-tid’-zo}
AV - perfect 2, make perfect 2, mend 2, be perfect 2, fit 1, frame 1, prepare 1, restore 1, perfectly joined together 1; 13
b.James 1:44
But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
PERFECT - 5046 { tel’-i-os} of full age
Matthew 5:48
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
PERFECT – same word 5046 { tel’-i-os}
We are to strive for completeness, or maturity – fullness of age!
The desire of Jesus for all of us is that we strive for perfection – not using grace as a license to sin!
We will make mistakes – it is inevitable!
In fact Paul says it like this in Romans 7:18
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Romans 7:21
21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Sounds pretty hopeless, Paul! You’re the one writing so much about perfection, yet you admit you still make mistakes and stumble!
You admit that you still fail in your effort to do the right thing!
So, how do you, forget about the mistakes of yesterday, and live for God today?
Philippians 3:12-13
12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Paul said, “I have discovered a wonderful truth….”
I strive to be perfect and blameless as Jesus directed me to,
But, sometimes in my journey I:
Stumble and fall
Make mistakes
Have wrong attitudes
Say the wrong thing
Outright sin!
But, when I do fall,
I have learned to get right back up and keep going!
I’ve learned that I just can’t lay there and:
Bemoan the fact that I’ve fallen
Beat myself up because I’m not perfect
Dwell on the past
I fall down, I get up! I fall down, I get up! I fall down, I get up!
Proverbs 24:16
16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.
I don’t care how many times I fall – I’ll just keep getting back up!
Our text this morning Micah 7;8
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy, when I fall I shall arise!
I’ve discovered that the saints, are just the sinners who fall down and get up!
WHEN I THINK OF SAINTS I THINK OF PEOPLE LIKE:
David – a man after God’s own heart.
Was David perfect?
Without fault?
A candidate for sainthood by the standards we have discussed?
Psalm 51:1-3
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
David said…
God I have made a horrible mistake. I’ve violated Your law and sinned against you!
NOT THE PROFILE OF A FAULTLESS MAN!
But then, David turns around and says, “I may have fallen, but I am not going to lay here and die!”
Psalm 51:10
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
God, I have fallen, but I refuse to:
Die in my dilemma
Flounder in my failure
Remain in my ruin
I’m going to get right back up, dust myself off, get under Calvary’s flow and keep right on going!
Abraham – Friend of God
Went into Egypt after God had promised him the land between Bethel and Hai. There he had to lie about his wife to save his own life.
SOUND LIKE A FAULTLESS MAN?
It is the picture of a man, who, like many of us just got impatient and decided to make things happen on his own. He just lost sight of God’s plan, lost faith in God’s Word and went his own way.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
But, when Abraham came to himself and realized his mistake, he said:
I may have fallen, but I refuse to expire in Egypt!
I refuse to let my dilemma become my demise!
Genesis 13:3-4
And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai; 4 Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
Abraham said, “I’m getting up and going back to the altar. I’ll go on from there, but I refuse to let this mistake destroy me!”
The prodigal son
Luke 15:11-24
And he said, A certain man had two sons:
And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
A young man with a royal heritage, who stood to inherit a fortune. Got impatient and wanted it all right now. Took his portion and squandered it on riotous living. Found himself in a pigpen trying to fill his belly with husks.
But, it was while he was in the pigpen that the Bible says, “He came to himself…”
He woke up and said, “Man, I’ve really blown it! I’ve made a horrible mistake! I’ve fallen as low as I can go!”
But, something welled up in that boy and he said,
I refuse to die in the slop and filth of this pig-pen!
I refuse to sit here and starve to death!
Luke 15:18
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
He said, “I may have fallen, but I refuse to lay here and die! I’m getting up and going back to the place where I can start again! I’m going back to the Father’s house!
THESE ARE THE PEOPLE I THINK ABOUT WHEN I THINK OF SAINTS!
Not people who were perfect, but honest people who were not afraid to say:
I’ve sinned!
I’ve fallen!
I’ve made a mistake!
But I refuse to lay here and die! I’m getting up and going on!
I’ll go back to the altar!
I’ll go back to Father’s House!
I’ll renew my commitment, but I’m going on!
Psalm 37:23-24
23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. 24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.
Even good people fall sometimes, but the difference is –
WE DON’T STAY DOWN!
WE FALL DOWN – WE GET UP!
WE FALL DOWN – WE GET UP!
THE SAINTS ARE JUST THE SINNERS WHO FALL DOWN AND GET UP!
I wonder if there is anyone today who would like to come to this altar and get up!
Prayer
Dear God, I know that Jesus is your son and that He died on the cross and was raised from the dead.
Because I have sinned and need forgiveness, I ask Jesus to come into my heart, I am willing to change the direction of my life by acknowledging Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and by turning away from my sin. Thank you for giving me forgiveness, eternal life, and hope, In Jesus name Amen.
