THE EFFECTS OF SIN THAT CAUSES CONVICTION AND GIVES FORGIVENESS PS 32:1-2
Some years ago, two teenagers with a long history of crime and misbehavior robbed a YMCA on the lowest East Side of New York City. On the way out they saw a young man at the telephone switchboard. They were frightened and assumed that the man must be calling the police. They held and beat him violently with brass knuckles and a black jack. They thought he was dead; they hid him behind the swimming pool and escaped. Later that evening, a woman who came to swim, was walking by the pool. She slipped in the man’s blood, screamed, and then found Donald Tippet’s body. He lived, but one eye was so badly damaged that it could not be saved. Meanwhile, the two teenagers were seized and brought to trial. Their past records assured that both would get long sentences. Donald Tippet did an amazing thing when he called for that the judge allows the two young men to be paroled to his charge. He wanted to give them another chance. He believed they could change. One of the boys committed another crime, was caught, and sent to jail. The other boy was receptive to Tippet’s kindness. He went to college and then to medical school. He became one of our nation’s leading eye surgeons. A reporter, writing about Donald Tippet’s amazing story of forgiveness, said of the surgeon’s deeds: “I wonder if he ever performs one of those delicate eye operations without thinking of that night in the YMCA and the young man whose forgiveness changed his life!”
FORGIVENESS is a word that we use quite often, but many have a difficulty in understanding what it means to be forgiven. Maybe one of the reasons we don’t understood forgiveness is because we really don’t know what it’s like to be lost.
Some think they are Christians because they were brought up in the church. They had Christian parents. They were raised in a godly home. They heard the gospel all their lives. They did miss not Sunday worship. At an early age, they knew every song by heart. They could pray the same prayer that others prayed because they heard the words which was mostly the same. So they did not know what it means to be lost and apart from God.
I did not have that experience and when I heard the gospel I knew I was lost. None of my family went to church. Luke mentioned something about this last week when he said he could make up excuses for not wanting to go to church. Two excuses I remember were “It starts too early and there are hypocrites that attend church. I found one more. By the time Ted arrived at the football game, the first quarter was almost over. "Why are you so late?" his friend asked. "I had to toss a coin to decide between going to church and coming to the game." "Why did it take you so long?” "Well, I had to toss it 14 times."
When I found church, I have never made an excuse for not going. One Wednesday evening we were to have what they called prayer meeting. My dad said I could not use the car so I took off to walk two or three miles to go to church. I once was in a church that I went to when the doors were opened and the preacher was not a great preacher. He would stand up to preach and argue with himself whether he should preach what he had in his sermon. I know Jesus would meet me in church and that was my desire to be there. My three children grew up in a Christian home and a preacher’s home. Two of them became Christians at an early age as they knew they were lost and in sin. The other one knew all about playing the part of a Christian but did not really come to Christ until she was at college. She wrote home saying I knew all the churchy stuff and I found I needed to change my life to being a believer.
So I ask the question do you know what it’s like to be lost and away from God.
We find that David was a man who understood forgiveness because he knew what it was like to sin. We find from the Bible that he was a man chosen by God to be the king of Israel. The Bible says he was a man “after God’s own heart.” He was loved by God and protected by Him when he was chased by King Saul who was out to kill him. He did become king and because he thought, he was above everyone else he could do as he pleased. As he was on the rooftop of the palace one day he saw a woman bathing and had her come to his room in which he committed adultery, which lead him to lie and then trying to cover up his sin, he also had a man killed. Here are three specific sins that he needed to confess. I have the belief that we know when we sin and if we claim to be a follower of Christ, His Holy Spirit will convict us. Conviction means the proving of guilt.
When David writes, “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven and whose sins are covered and not counted against him by the Lord,” he’s talking about himself. David knew what it was like to be lost, but he also knew what it was like to be convicted and be forgiven.
I. How sin affects us. Psalm 32:3-4 ““My bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.”
A. When David “kept silent about his sin it affected him physically. He did not want to admit his sin. This happens to all when they get caught up in sin and don’t want to confess it. We allow ourselves not to think about it. When we take time to think about our sins then we are forced to do something. If we choose to put our sins, back into the recesses of our minds and not think on them, we believe we can live with ourselves and life will be OK.
B. Do you have any secret sins? These are sins that we don’t want anybody to know about. They can vary. They can be lying, stealing when we work, cheating, and being bitter, gossip, using bad language when we get mad and many more. When we keep silent about secret sins and do not admit them we suffer like David. My bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. David is recounting how his sins and the silence of his sins have affected him physically. David’s sin, because he hadn’t confessed it to God or even admitted to himself and He was made sick by it. He cries and groans all the daylong. His body aches and his stomach is upset. He is bent over and cannot walk uprightly with his head held high. David kept his sin silent for almost a year. During that time, he lived in constant misery, agonizing over what he had done but still refusing to acknowledge it.
Have you ever allowed yourself to be caught up in sin? You refused to make it known. Then that sin keeps troubling you where it becomes hard for you to think rightly? It makes you have trouble sleeping. It causes your stomach to be sick and makes you moan even cry because what you did was so wrong, but you refused to take action to repent? If you feel that way then you have the same trouble that David had at this time in his life. We see that the refusal to acknowledge our sin will affect our life in many ways. It may cause depression, trouble at night sleeping, physical illnesses that we cannot explain, problems when we are at work and when we are at home. Sin will sap the energy out of you and make you feel weak.
We should be thankful that David did not stop here!
II. David’s CONFESSION OF SIN v. 5a.
A. David took time to stop and confess his sin to God where he could receive forgiveness.
Nathan came to David with a story to reveal his sin. David confessed his guilt and said, “I have sinned against the Lord”- II Sam 12:13. For almost a year, David had been living in misery because he kept silent about his sin. And it wasn’t until he confessed it saying, “Lord, I have sinned against you,” that his burden was lifted. The aches of his body left him. His cries turned to joy. He could straighten up and hold his head up high, because he had been restored to a right relationship from which he had walked away.
B. Do you remember a time when you were caught in sin and you kept silent about it for a while, but then you finally confessed it and how it made you feel?
It could be that you’ve done something you knew was wrong, but you made all kinds of excuses. Finally, one Sunday morning after the sermon, you came before the church and confessed what you’ve done. Luke referred to this last week when he said that he became angry when he came to church and the preacher spoke on something in his life that was wrong. He could remain angry or he could ask God to forgive him in this manner and be thankful the sin had become known in his soul. Luke said it became better in his life and brought peace when he quit being upset because he realized God was speaking to him and he needed to change.
When God speaks to us, it is called conviction because He wants us to be better than we are.
It seems that we have stopped calling sin, sin. As you listen to the news or read a newspaper do you ever hear them say that is sin? Do you know what fornication is? That is when two people have sex before marriage. Do you know what homosexuality is? That is when two people of the same sex make love together. Do you know what adultery is? That is when a married person makes love to another married person that is not the one they are married to. We in our modern times do not call it sin but change the wording. Fornication is known as being sexually active. That is why they pass out condemns to grade school children. They also teach to have safe sex if you do it. Homosexuality is now called living an alternative life style or being gay. This has even entered our school textbooks as another way of life that is OK. Adultery is now OK and called consensual sex. It is when a person finds their true love. They even have clubs or groups of people that trade husbands and wives for a month. I have also heard that some couples will meet together for the evening and choose someone else’s spouse to make love to for the night. How much different it was for Joseph in the O. T. His boss’s wife wanted him to go to bed with her. Every day she would try to woo him. One day she caught a hold of his coat, he told her he could not do what she wanted for it was sin.
III. David receives THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN. 5b-7
A. David confessed his sin to God and the Father joyfully forgave him. We need to be glad that we have a forgiving Father. We can hurt others who belong to him, we can damage His church, but when we come to Him and say, “God, I’m sorry!” and He says, “Forgiven and forgotten forever!” He delivers us from sin and destruction!
Does God ever delight in sin, never! Does God ever smile because of yours and my disobedience? No way! Is God pleased by our evilness and rebellion? Not possible! What does God delight in? Being able to “expand mercy” pleases God. Mic. 7:18 “Who is a God like unto you, that pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He keeps not his anger forever, because he delights in mercy.” God is delighted to be able to extend forgiveness to His disobedient children!
B. When we talk about God’s forgiveness some are afraid that such talk will encourage people to be casual about sin. “It is the kindness of God that leads you toward repentance” ROM 2:4.
God can and does so does that make it OK to sin? Let us hear from Ezekiel on this matter: Ezek. 18:4 For all people are mine to judge, both parents and children alike. And this is my rule: The person who sins will be the one who dies. 20 The one who sins is the one who dies. The child will not be punished for the parent's sins, and the parent will not be punished for the child's sins. Righteous people will be rewarded for their own goodness, and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness. 21 But if wicked people turn away from all their sins and begin to obey my laws and do what is just and right, they will surely live and not die. 22 All their past sins will be forgotten, and they will live because of the righteous things they have done. 23 "Do you think, asks the Sovereign Lord, that I like to see wicked people die? Of course not! I only want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. 24 However, if righteous people turn to sinful ways and start acting like other sinners, should they be allowed to live? No, of course not! All their previous goodness will be forgotten, and they will die for their sins. 26 When righteous people turn from being good and start doing sinful things, they will die for it. Yes, they will die because of their sinful deeds. 27 And if wicked people turn away from their wickedness, obey the law, and do what is just and right, they will save their lives. 28 They will live, because after thinking it over, they decided to turn from their sins. Such people will not die 30 "Therefore, I will judge each of you, according to your actions, says the Sovereign Lord. Turn from your sins! Don't let them destroy you! 31 Put all your rebellion behind you, and get for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die? 32 I don't want you to die, says the Sovereign Lord. Turn back and live!
A good story to illustrate this comes our way. I am at the mall just hanging out with my friends. Suddenly it dawns on me that Mom loaned me the car, and I was supposed to pick her up 3 hours ago at the beauty shop and I had forgot all about it. She had said, “Your Dad’s boss is coming over for dinner tonight. I need to be home to cook dinner.” I look at my watch, it is 5:30, and dinner is at 6:00. My mom said, “Don’t be late, because I’ve got to get home and clean the house and cook dinner.” I run as fast as I can to the nearest phone to call the beauty shop. “This is Dennis, is my Mom still there?” The Beauty operator says, “No, Dennis, she said she was going to walk home, but shortly after she left it started to rain.” So I call home and my little brother answers the phone. “Is Mom there?" “Yes!” “Is she upset?” And your little brother says, “You might not want to come home at this time.” I decide to drive home any way. I am trying to think of a good story to tell mom that would sound as if you had a good excuse. But mom has taught me that lying is wrong. As I drive up in the driveway, I feel real sick and start to shake thinking of what will happen. I walk into the house and Mom is standing there. Her new hair is all wet. She has her shoes off and I can see that they are red and wrinkled from walking in the rain. The next thing I see is that she has a butcher knife in her hand and a fork in the other. As I look at her and she has a sweet grin on her face then she says, “I waited over two hours for you and then had to walk home 3 miles and as I walked it rained hard. My Mom puts down the utensils and says, “Your Dad’s boss will be her in a few minutes. Please go get cleaned up for dinner. By the way, I made your favorite desert chocolate cake. Give me a kiss and we’ll forget the whole thing.” And I am thinking, “The rain must have given her a fever! She’s confused! I can’t believe this, but I like it. She has forgiven me!” What will I say to my mother? “Kiss you!” I’ll be kissing all over her face; I’ll be KISSING her feet! I would say “Oh, Mom. I love you! I love you!” I would say I will be in cleaning out the bathroom! I’ll make the decision to be sweet and kind to her for the rest of my life. You know why? Because she’s been so good to me, and I knew I deserved to be punished but she had completely forgave me. That is the way with God. If we sin against our Father and then come to Him and say, “I’m sorry!” And God holds out his arms and says, “Come here and let me KISS YOU.” If that doesn’t humble you and make you want to serve God and live pleasing to Him I would doubt anything will change you.
Have you been convicted of sin in your life that you need to confess today? Will you quit struggling and come to Jesus right now?
