GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT SIN PART 3
SIN AND FORGIVENESS
MATTHEW 12:22-34
INTRODUCTION: OVER THE LAST TWO WEEKS WE HAVE TAKEN A LOOK AT SIN. WE HAVE EXPLORED SIN AND SEEN THAT SIN IS A VIRUS, AND A MEAN ONE AT THAT. AND THIS VIRUS OF SIN HAS NO CURE THAT MAN CAN DEVISE OR CREATE. THIS VIRUS OF SIN TOOK THE INTERVENTION OF GOD HIMSELF TO PROVIDE A CURE. THAT CURE WAS HIS SON! NO ONE IS IMMUNE, EVERYONE GETS IT AND WITHOUT THE VACCINE IT IS 100% SPIRITUALLY FATAL. THE CURE FOR SIN IS REDEMPTION. LAST WEEK WE LOOKED AT THE PRACTICE OF SIN. THIS IS THE OTHER SIDE OF SIN, NOT REDEMPTIVE, BUT CONFESSION. THE FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST HAD APPLICATION TO OUR REDEMPTION, AND THE FORGIVENESS OF CHRIST HAS APPLICATION TO OUR DAILY WALK AS A BELIEVER. TO THIS END WE OBSERVED THAT A HEALTHY WALK, IE: WITH REGARD TO SIN INVOLVES HOW WE PERCEIVE AND INTERACT WITH THE WORLD SYSTEM THAT IS CONTROLLED BY SATAN AND OUR ABIDING IN JESUS. IN THE END, JOHN IN HIS FIRST LETTER DROVE HOME HOW WHAT WE DO WITH THE WORLD REVEALS WHETHER GOD WAS IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO GET TO KNOW, LOVE AND OBEY.
TRANSITION: TODAY, I WOULD LIKE TO TURN OUR ATTENTION TO THE TOPIC OF FORGIVENESS. CAN THOSE SINS WE STUMBLE INTO OR CHARGE INTO HEADFIRST BE FORGIVEN? IS THERE ANY SIN THAT CANNOT BE FORGIVEN? AND WHAT IS THE KEY TO FORGIVENESS OF SIN.
SO, LETS GET AT IT
I. SATAN AS THE AUTHOR OF SIN
a. SATAN GETS US TO REJECT REALITY
b. THE REALITY IS THAT THERE IS A MEN DEMON POSSESSED THAT IS BROUGHT TO JESUS
i. WE DO NOT KNOW WHO BROUGHT HIM – POSSIBLY THE PHARISEES
ii. THIS WAS S DIFFICULT CASE
iii. IF JESUS COULD NOT CAST OUT THIS DEMON THEN HE WOULD HAVE BEEN DECLARED A FRAUD
iv. JESUS HEALED TIS MAN AS HE HAD HEALED OTHERS.
THE PEOPLE WHO SAW THIS DONE GOT IT RIGHT – THEY TESTIFIED THAT JESUS COULD BE THE SON OF DAVID THEY HAD BEEN WAITING FOR.
THE PHARISEES WENT ANOTHER DIRECTION
c. THE PHARISEES FLIP THE NARRATIVE
i. THEY ATTRIBUTE HIS WORK TO THE DEVIL
ii. THEY ATTRIBUTE THE POWER JESUS HAS AS COMING FROM THE DEVIL
iii. THE GOAL OF THE PHARISEES IS TO GET THE PEOPLE AWAY FROM THINKING JESUS IS THE MESSIAH
iv. People make the same mistake today of rejecting reality and make an absolute mess out of their lives. Many believe they don't need the Lord and can do just fine without Him. Some do not acknowledge there is a God or that He is their Creator in spite of the evidence we find in nature. This is why the Lord calls them fools.
v. Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
vi. Psalm 14:1 The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.
II. JESUS WANTS US TO SEE THE TRUTH
a. EVIL CANNOT WORK AGAINST ITSELF
i. IT IS IRRATIONAL
ii. IT IS ILLOGICAL
iii. IT IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE
iv. AS WE HAVE ALREADY SEEN THE WAY THIS GET ACCOMPLISHED IS THAT THE DEVIL BLINDS THE EYES SO WE CANNOT SEE THE TRUTH
WE GET BLINDED BY DOUBTING GOD
WE GET BLINDED BY GETTING CAUGHT UP IN TRIVIA
WE GET BLINDED WHEN OUR ANGER, BITTERNESS AND RESENTMENT KEEP US FROM SEEING THE TRUTH
b. WHAT IS BEHIND WHAT YOU ARE DOING
i. WILLING TO ATTRIBUTE GOOD ACTS OF CHRIST TO THE DEVIL
ii. UNWILLING TO DO THE SAME WITH THEIR GOOD ACTS
iii. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN AROUND SOMEONE WHO ALWAYS MINIMIZES WHAT YOU DO AND ACCENTUATE THERE ACCOMPLISHMENTS?
iv. THIS IS THE BASIC PREMISE HERE.
c. IF IT IS THE WORK OF GOD THEN THERE IS A DECISION TO BE MADE
i. SEVERAL REASONS THE PHARISEES DID NOT WANT TO ACCEPT JESUS AND WERE TRYING TO DECEIVE THE PEOPLE
1. THIRST FOR POWER – IF JESUS WAS THE MESSIAH, THEN THEY WERE OUT OF A JOB
2. INSECURITY AND JEALOUSY – JESUS COULD DO THINGS THEY COULD NOT AND TAUGHT AS ONE WITH AUTHORITY, NOT AS A PHARISEE.
3. GREED – THEY LIKE THE PERKS OF THEIR POSITION
BEFORE WE GO ANY FURTHER, IT MIGHT BE SMART TO ASK OURSELVES IF WE ARE A MODERN DAY PHARISEE. AFTER ALL, THE PHARISEES WE WILL SEE WOULD BE GUILTY OF TREMENDOUS SIN.
OUTREACH MAGAZINE HAD AN ARTICLE ON 12 SIGNS YOU MIGHT BE A MODERN DAY PHARISEE. HERE IS WHAT THEY CONCLUDED:
1. You believe showing up for worship every Sunday makes you right with God.
2. You spend more time talking about what you are against, not what you are for.
3. You believe God actually needs you.
4. You don’t repent of sin because you believe you don’t have any “serious” sin to repent of.
5. You make every issue black and white.
6. You condone in secret what you preach against in public.
7. Your salvation is based on your works, not on Jesus.
8. You read the Bible to substantiate your convictions, not to be shaped into God’s image.
9. You believe church outsiders should conform to a certain lifestyle before they are accepted as “Christian.”
10. You don’t know the difference between a convert and a transfer.
11. All of your Christian friends look and act just like you do.
12. If someone tries to rebuke you, you get angry and offended.
IF ANY OF THESE SOUND LIKE YOU, IT IS PROBABLY A GOOD IDEA TO SPEND SOME TIME WITH GOD
III. JESUS AND THE UNPARDONABLE/UNFORGIVEABLE SIN
a. JESUS MAKES A PROFOUND STATEMENT TO THE PHARISEES
i. IF I AM DRIVING OUT DEMONS BY THE POWER OF GOD, THEN IT IS HIS KINGDOM THAT HAS COME
ii. YOU ARE EITHER WITH ME OR AGAINST ME
iii. IF YOU ARE NOT WITH ME, YOU ARE DETRIMENTAL TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD
iv. ALL BLASPHEMY CAN BE FORGIVEN EXCEPT BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE SPIRIT OF GOD
1. BLASPHEMY WAS ATTRIBUTING THE WORKS OF ONE TO ANOTHER
v. A TREE IS RECOGNIZED BY IT FRUIT
vi. THE ROOT CONDITION OF THE PHARISEES WAS EVIL AND THEY WERE NOT CAPABLE OS GOOD
1. THEIR EVIL CAME FROM THEIR HEART
b. KNOWING THEIR HEART, JESUS KNEW THEY WOULD HARBOR THIS THINKING ABOUT JESUS TO HIS DEATH
