Recovering Redemption
Good Grief (3 of 5)
October 5, 2014 CFBC Chester, IL Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction:
A Over the last two weeks we’ve heard about the song of redemption.
1 We saw how every bucket we can draw from (ourselves, others, world, religion) comes up empty, can’t fix us . . . only the Good News of Jesus can fix us.
a Today, as we continue to recover redemption we ask ourselves...
aa How saved are we really?
bb Does our sin ever get bigger than God’s redemptive power?
cc If we struggle with sin does that mean we’ve lost the song?
b Important you know these two things:
aa Being from the south/having a grandfather who was a preacher/going to church/American doesn’t make you a Christian. (Off track thinking)
bb Can you be good enough to earn God’s favor? Of course not. Can you be bad enough to lose it? Can being “bad” make a Christian not be a Christian. (Of course not.)
2 Clarification: There’s a reason why Jesus could say that pathway to finding “rest for your souls” comes, not from doing whatever you want, but from hitching your self up to His “yoke” and taking off from there.
a Matthew 11:29-30 (NASB) 29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. 30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
aa Sin’s yoke/burden is camouflaged up and sooner or later it shows itself and it ain’t light/easy.
bb Sin NEVER does any of us any good. Sin is bad, for everyone, all the time.
b Last Sunday, someone said her testimony was she got saved young, no drugs, addiction, sleeping around, drama.
aa The assumption is that if a testimony didn’t have sex, drugs, and drama then it’s not a “testimony.”
bb The testimonies of addicts/abusers/down and outers cannot outdo the sweet goodness of God that comes shining through your G-rated, nice girl/guy salvation story.
B It was sin in our hearts (that we got from Adam, got us off tune/out of rhythm/ leading us to hell) until Jesus intervened.
1 By the gift of His righteousness, received when we believed on His name, He put a new song in our hearts, cut us a new track, leading to life/joy/blessing of following Him.
a It was faith that led us to repentance, Jesus is who brought about change.
b When most people think of the idea of repentance is in the setting of a hell-fire, street-preacher sermon, “Turn or Burn!”
aa Mark 1:14-15 (NASB) 14 Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."
bb This repenting & believing is not a one-time, one-on/one-off thing. (Sure I was saved one time, but repent & believe is so much more.)
cc Repent & believe= rinse & repeat
2 Big part of the puzzle of recovering redemption, that can help us live in freedom and not fear: being a follower of Jesus doesn’t mean we never sin.
a Proof Christianity is NOT perfection . . .it’s when your faith is continually leading you toward repentance, and Jesus is continually bringing about change.
b 1 John 1:8 (NASB) 8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
aa Being a believer means He has given us, by saving us, a heart that desires to turn back to Him. . . when we sin.
bb That’s a big deal & big difference.
c You know an apple tree is an apple tree because there are apples hanging on it: It’s an apple tree from the roots up.
aa Similarly, repentance growing up out of our hearts, when we sin is a leading indicator of genuine belief on the inside.
bb It shows us we’re His from the roots up.
cc Literally, anybody can call themselves Christians but if there is no repentance . . . they’re not.
d Repentance is the living fruit of redemption.
T.S. So, what is “repentance?” (Feeling sorry/grief for our sin? If we’ve proved anything we’re pretty good at faking repentance...we can be sorry and not really sorry all at the same time.) How can we tell if our repentance is real—the kind that truly leads to change?
I Godly Grief vs. Worldly Grief
10 For godly grief produces a repentance not to be regretted and leading to salvation, but worldly grief produces death. (Who doesn’t want to live and “not . . . regret?” Sounds awesome!) -2 Corinthians 7:10 (HCSB)
A Worldly regret makes death, so let me start by identifying four rhythms you can identify that accompany worldly regret.
1 Horizontal Grief
a You’re not sad you sinned, but your sad you got caught.
aa If you hadn’t got caught you’d probably still be doing it.
bb You stopped this time because your spouse got angry, boss called us into the office, blue lights popped up in our rearview.
b Horizontal grief is much less concerned about being broken, and more concerned about being busted.
2 Emotional Grief
a We hear a sermon, song, revival and we feel like we need to live a better a life.
aa Raw emotion doesn’t equal repentance.
bb Emotions are the bouncy-houses of the human organism.
b Once our emotions/passion is used up, peters out . . . so does our repentance.
c Emotional grief doesn’t really want to be whole, it just wants to feel better.
3 Passive Grief
a We don’t give up sin, we try to keep it in line, tame it.
aa IL. Lion on a “dog chain” being led by a trainer in Vegas. As the lion goes by the trainers girlfriend it takes a swipe at the girl and the crowd “woos” and is shocked.
bb It’s a lion, how can you be shocked when the king of the jungle/apex predator comes close to killing somebody.
b You can’t tame, train sin . . . it must be killed.
aa We can’t paper train it, stop it from shedding, teach it how to mind . . . it’s sin.
bb Sorrow comes from taking sin lightly, change comes from taking sin seriously.
4 Misplaced Grief
a This is when we blame others for causing us to sin.
aa If my wife didn’t spend so much money, Kids wouldn’t have went in the neighbors yard, job wasn’t so stressful, if my parents hadn’t been so overbearingly Amish.
bb Bottom line, nobody can make you do but you. Your ultimately responsible for you . . . and nobody else.
b It’s awesome to blame somebody else for our sin, not take responsibility . . . but all that is just pride with a sad face. . . it’s worldly and it kills.
5 The world grieves like this but they’re not the only ones who do, Christians can get wrapped up in these too.
a Christians can “grieve” in a way that brings about change, traction, give hope and opportunity for regret-free living.
b Christians, unlike the rest of human kind, are not limited to a kind of grief that only brings death.
aa Sin is bad, real bad, majorly bad (Sooner we get understand this, the better.)
bb We can go to Jesus and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got this sin thing that is wrecking havoc in my life.’
cc Not a one-time deal . . . in fact, the goal of Christian living is NOT to get past the point of needing to repent, but to realize that God has made us capable through Christ of doing repentance well . . . godly repentance (2 Tim. 2.25) . . . repentance that leads to real change.
2 Timothy 2:25 (NASB) 25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,
c There’s no shame and loss in repentance, there’s mercy and grace.
aa What if we stopped acting like we needed had everything all together, all the answers, invincible, pretending to be people we’re not. . .OR beating ourselves us when we do sin, thinking how disappointed God must be in us.
bb Those ideas are not “repentance,” because they don’t change us.
B Godly Grief (Good Grief)
1 Godly Grief Lets Us See Sin How God Sees Sin.
a Worldly sin puts a spin on sin (varnish), Godly grief takes the varnish off sin.
aa Psalm 36:2 (HCSB) 2 for in his own eyes he flatters himself ⌊too much⌋ to discover and hate his sin.
bb It’s the prodigal son, who never stopped being a son, who realized his sin wasn’t only against his daddy, but also “against heaven” (Luke 15.17-18).
Luke 15:17-18 (NASB) 17 "But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! 18 ~'I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight;
b The Word of God will pin us to our pews, expose our hearts, brings everything to light.
aa Don’t turn away; own it, absorb it, receive it as the sin it is.
bb Then offer it up to Him in repentance . . . He’s the only one who can restore you and He’ll root it out of you.
2 Godly grief produces sorrow.
a In Scripture, when people saw sin how God saw sin . . . it ruined them. (Left them in a heap of sorrow, regret, embarrassment)
aa Best example is the prostitute of Luke 7, who went to a church get together, knelt at Jesus’ feet to anoint his feet with high-dollar oil.
bb Church people made fun of her, judged her . . . she just kept pouring the oil, crying, and wiping His feet with her hair.
cc She couldn’t believe Jesus just kept letting someone like her clean His feet (Holy/whore; innocent/defiled) . . . all this girl knew was that she was a sinner. (Luke 7.37)
Luke 7:37 (NASB) 37 And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume,
b As soon as we’re struck by the same realization of ourselves, that’s when our first response can be the same as hers . . .faith, full release, sorrow, worship . . . knowing that His response will be the same as well: “Your sins are forgiven . . . your faith has saved you . . . go in peace.” (Luke 7.50)
Luke 7:50 (NASB) 50 And He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
3 Godly grief readily confesses
a After seeing, sorrowing over your sin . . . the worst thing you can do is keep is secret.
aa Turns out the best way to avoid being found out a fake is just not to be one . . . to be open with people about your struggles, while being equally as open in your praise of God for what He’s making you, despite of your messes & problems.
bb This is where church comes in beautifully because it’s hear people can help us carry our burdens/problems.
b We have zero chance of change in our lives if we’re habitually protecting our image, hyping our spiritual brand, putting out a vibe that we’re beyond being tempted/failing.
aa Satan can’t even accuse of things that you admit about yourself before God and others and trusting the Lord for His help with it.
bb It sounds scary, but it’s the truth. (You don’t have it altogether, own it.)
4 Godly grief causes us to blush.
2 Corinthians 7:11 (NASB) 11 For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter.
a Worldly grief can make you do some sinful things to make you happy, forget about how much of a wreck your life is. (Food, drugs, laziness, porn, whatever).
b Grief in the hands of our redeemer, propels us forward/prompts us not back into the shadows but into His presence.
aa He lifts his hand under our chins, calls us back, moves us forward to the life He meant for us to have all along.
bb Turning away from sin.
c This doesn’t mean we’re not ever tempted, drawn to sin . . .
aa Won’t feel “shame” of when we give into sin.
bb Heb. 12.2, Jesus went to the cross “despising the shame”
Hebrews 12:2 (NASB) 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
cc Part of what He endured on Calvary was the shame we fill because our “buckets” don’t fix us.
d When we feel like we’re about to draw from a bucket, we can go to God and say, “Hey, fix this, please.”
aa We can go to Him before, after we’ve sinned . . . in the middle of it and find and still find redemption.
bb God can still write a comeback story into our lives . . . but we’ve gotta turn to Him.
Conclusion:
A Please stop trying to impress God with how good you are, or making Him love you because you’re awesome/better than everybody else.
1 It gets exhausting thinking/trying to meet a “standard” of excellence or no blessing, no love from Daddy, no fruits/gifts.
a So we play, pretend we’ve got our spirits on lock.
b Heaven doesn’t rejoice when the Christian does something good, Believers deliver on their commitment. . . .
aa Luke 15:7 (NASB) 7 "I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
bb Even the struggle is something to celebrate.
2 I’m tired of thinking I have to get everything perfect in order for God to love, bless, redeem me. (Exhausting)
B Good grief!!!!
1 See sin for what it is, sorrow over my sin, confess my sin, make it change me.
2 Pray
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