My parents home in East Tennessee sits atop a beautiful hill that overlooks hay-fields & an old cattle barn. At the base of our driveway use to stand an Old White Oak Tree that dated back to the late 1800s. It had stood there long before my grandparents ever settled on the property. We never gave a 2nd thought to that Old Oak outliving all of us . One day my dad was burning leaves & his fire got out of control & went underneath the trunk sending the entire tree up in flames.
After the fire, my dad made an unusual discovery, “That old oak tree which had been a symbol of strength on the outside was instead weak & vulnerable on the inside. It was almost completely hollow @ the base of its huge trunk.
For years it had fooled all of us; that hollow tree still haunts me!
Mark Twain once wrote, “We’re all like the moon; we have a dark side we don’t want anyone to see”
The Bible refers to this dark side as Our SIN NATURE = battle with the flesh
Romans 8: 7 explains, “For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, & it never will.”
By our own efforts we will never be able to overcome our dark side; it’s humanly impossible!
SO This is where the HOLY SPIRIT COMES IN:
Jesus promised, “…when the Holy Spirit comes, He will convict the world of its’ sin, & of Gods’ righteousness, & the coming judgment.” John 16: 8
The Spirit’s job is to expose facts = plain truth about our dark side= sin nature that battles w-in us Holy Spirit convicts us of the precise sin (s) that may be keeping us from being intimate w-God!
Wizard of General Electric
There was an electrical genius in the early days of electrical companies & his name was Charles Steinmetz. His peers referred to him as the Wizard of Electricity.
In the early part of the 20th century, Charles Steinmetz retired. Periodically after his retirement, G.E. would call him back to help them solve a problem. Around 1919 G.E. had a very large system of complex machines that were broken down and their engineers simply didn’t know how to fix it, so they called Mr. Steinmetz.
He went down in front of the aisle of broken down machines and studied the problem, which had baffled the engineers. After a few minutes he went in front of one of one particular machine and did a couple of tests. Then he did something odd, he pulled out a piece of chalk and made a mark on the outside of the machine & then walked outside the plant.
Later the G.E. engineers disassembled the part and found that indeed this was the problem. A few days later G.E. received a bill for $10,000 for Steinmetz’s diagnostic help. Needless to say G.E. officials were not happy with this enormous bill for just a few minutes of help. They protested the bill and asked him to itemize it, for just walking around and looking.
Charles Steinmetz gladly sent them an itemized bill, 2 entries on his bill:
1) Making one chalk mark $1.00
2) Knowing where to put it $9,999.00 = $10,000
You get the point!
Only God knows where the precise breakdown is presently occurring in your life, & is able & willing to help heal the problem. So where would the Holy Spirit mark an X in your life today – what sin (s) needs attention?
Bible tells us that SIN QUENCHES the power of God’s Holy Spirit in your life!
1. (R) Ephesians 4: 30 – 32 or p. 898 in pew Bible
2. It’s possible to have indwelling of Holy Spirit w-out experiencing its power b-c of sin
3. Remember King David as he repented of his adulterous affair he prayed,
“Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me” Psalm 51: 11
So, what sin is quenching the Holy Spirit’s power in your life today? Because we all sin - - many of us justify our sins (not hating the sin ~ actually tolerating it)
So, what’s quenching God’s Spirit within you today? = Maybe it’s…
• It’s an chemical addiction ~ that you’ve just nurtured along for some time= i.e. prescription pain-meds + maybe you still smoke weed + maybe you still get drunk
• Maybe it’s pornography + maybe it’s disrespect in your marriage + maybe it’s a spending issues (leveraged in debt) + just maybe you cheat in business
• Maybe it’s anger + maybe it’s your integrity (you lie before thinking)
• Maybe you have a cyber addiction ~ if you are the average church attendee you spend (7 minutes a day w-God) compared to 4.5 hrs a day watching television & you spend (15 – 30 minutes) a week in prayer = & we wonder why life doesn’t change for the better; comparison to the unlimited hrs on the internet + smart phones.
• & maybe some live w-tremendous guilt from past decisions & actions (past is heavy)
• Romans 3: 23, “…everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”
Important to distinguish the difference between the Holy Spirit’s CONVICTION over sin and a satanic ACCUSATION
A. (R) Zechariah 3: 1 – 5 or p. 721 in pew Bible
1. We too stand guilty before God; like Jeshua – we have an adversary = he is Satan
2. Satan’s task is to accuse us; to constantly remind us of our past sins and failures; he wants us to be eaten up with guilt & to condemn us before God Himself.
B. Accusation or Conviction (essential to understand)
1. Crucial to recognize the difference between satanic accusation and Holy Spirit conviction.
2. Both make us aware of sin BUT for very different reasons
3. Conviction for our sins is healthy= need to fill bad 4th grade – Sharon, threw her shoes in mud. H.S. convicted me I was wrong, needed to seek her forgiveness
C. Accusation has a different objective = Satan now acts like a prosecuting attorney
1. He desires for us to think about our past sins but not deal with our guilt
2. Satan points out Jeshua’s sin & he seems to have a good case because Joshua is wearing filthy garments.
3. Satan wants to cripple us with sin & then mocks us for limping The ole devil loves to see you wallowing in guilt over past sins.
D. Jesus is now acting as our defense attorney = (R) I John 2: 1 – 2 or p. 941 in pew Bible
1. Jesus will not justify nor defend our sins but He will defend His children!
2. Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin for the purpose of bringing cleansing / healing / and restoration = GETTING that ELEPHANT-sized guilt off your shoulders!
3. Jesus replaces our filthy robes with clean ones.
Galatians 3: 27 says, “for all of you who were baptized into Christ Jesus have clothed yourselves w/Christ.”
4. When you confess Jesus as Lord = God now sees us no longer being sin-covered but now He sees His blessed Son Jesus whose blood covers us!
So why am I camping out on this universal problem of sin = our dark side: simple = b-c old habits are hard to break & we are masters of making excuses & wallowing in same pits.
Truth is = you can’t stop lusting on your own + you can’t stop greed on your own + you can’t stop your temper on your own!
This is where the Holy Spirit comes in = (R) Acts 2: 37 – 40 or p. 831 in pew Bible
When Jesus came to live in our lives at the time of our conversion; the Spirit of God took up residence within us.
If you are a Christian ~ the Spirit of God now lives within us = we have His power, “…the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead & seated Him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 1: 19
To our detriment, the church has preached about the Gospel of sin – management how to deal w/ sin – wrong doing & its affects
Pulpits across the U.S. have tried to psychoanalyze sin:
• Why do we sin?
• How to minimize poor choices such as cursing, lusting & countless addictions
• We have created Self-help manual that help us cope w/ living in shame & guilt.
Sin management IS NOT God’s plan for your life – The Holy Spirit comes to give us a completely new kind of life = a life lived above guilt, shame, life in the Spirit!
FRESH WAYS to deal with our sin? ACT on it
A. # 1 Analyze it
1. Differentiate – is this guilt feeling an ACCUSATION from the devil; or is it an actual CONVICTION from the Holy Spirit?
2. If it is an accusation – it will drive you to despair; deflating any God-esteem that you may have
3. If it’s conviction – it will bring you to repentance and draw you closer to Jesus
B. # 2 Confess it
1. When the Holy Spirit legitimately convicts of sin, confess it.
2. I John 1: 9 says,“If we confess our sin He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
3. Pretending = being self righteousness has a high price tag!
Former mentor Tim Coop tells the story of a man living in L.A., who was stopped by a policeman for going (5) miles over the speed limit on L.A. expressway. To his surprise the officer ticketed him & was rude to top it off; no grace
That evening in the city softball league the Highway Patrol was playing in the city championship. 1st at bat was the officer who had given the ticket;
Guess who was behind the plate as the Umpire? You got it, the recipient of the traffic violation earlier that day, immediately, the officer started back peddling and saying, “I hope there are no hard feelings – I was only doing my job.
Good time to confess Umpire answered ~ No problem, but you better swing at everything
4. Biblical rule of thumb = for CONFESSING SIN
a. Quickly – don’t let the sun go down w/sin remaining
• Flush some pills
• Break off inappropriate relationship
• Cancel internet
• Cut up credit cards
• Ask family for forgiveness for your ungodly behavior
b. Specifically – call your sin by name; defusing the enemy
C. # 3 Take it to the cross = write your sin (s) on the card & literally place it at the cross
(R) Colossians 2: 11 – 15 or p. 903
• WRITE DOWN that sin or sins that may be quenching the Holy Spirit’s power: DON’T sign the card - - this is only between you and God!
( +)
• Instruct people to go to the right or left of the key-board drop your card in – be free!
