The Only Right Way to Get Over Your Guilt
1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:1-2
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Series: The First Epistle of John
(Prepared November 11, 2023)
MESSAGE:
*Travis Moore preached a message on these verses called, "Cancel Your Guilt Trip," and I like that title. Guilt trips: Most of us could say we've been on them before. And if you have never been on a guilt trip, if you have never felt godly sorrow for your sin, then you probably need to be on a guilt trip right now.
*Why do we go on guilt trips? There are several reasons. Certainly, personality is a factor. And sometimes other people try to put us on guilt trips with unjustified criticism or complaints. But the biggest reason why we go on guilt trips is because sometimes we are guilty.
*Thank God there is something Christians can do about it. And these verses show us the only right way to get over our guilt.
1. FIRST: WE MUST RECOGNIZE OUR NEED FOR CONFESSION.
*Christians: We must recognize our need to confess our sins to God. That's what John stressed in vs. 8-10, where he said:
8. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
*God calls us to confession in these verses, but what does it take for us to confess our sins?
[1] FIRST, WE HAVE TO SEE THE TRUTH ABOUT OUR SINS.
*We will never really confess our sins to God, until we see the truth about our sins. So, again in vs. 8 John said, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Being able to see our sins is crucial to confession. That's why John echoed this truth in vs. 10 where he said, "If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us."
*We must see the truth about our sinfulness to confess it, but the problem is that many people don't. Many people don't, and it's worse in our society today than ever before.
*I used to think that everybody knew that they sinned. In my first 20 years, I only met one person who claimed he had never sinned. Back then, I was very foolish, and as lost as could be. Then I met another young man who declared that he had never sinned a single time in his whole life. That astounded me in 1970. This other young man actually thought that he had lived a perfect life. I just assumed that he had some emotional problems, and he probably did.
*But, you see, even though I was an atheist who surely didn't believe in Jesus, I still recognized the basic difference between right and wrong. I never gave the Lord credit for spelling it out in His Word. I just took it for granted that everybody realized basic things like "don't lie," "don't steal," "don't murder," and "be a good neighbor" were the right way to live.
*Almost everybody in American society felt the same way. But in 1962 and 1963, the Supreme Court made the awful rulings that teaching the Bible and having prayer in public schools were unconstitutional. This was done in total disregard of our history as a Christian nation, and now we are suffering the consequences. All kinds of godless poison began to spread through our society.
*We don't recognize it as much around here, because we live in the heart of the Bible belt. But a terrible transformation began in our country, because the Supreme Court turned away from God.
*In the decades leading up to that decision, philosophers like French author Jacques Derrida began promoting the warped view that there is no such thing as absolute truth. This so-called "post-modern" view has spread like cancer through our elite institutions. That's why some people tragically believe that gender is a "social construct," there are 32 genders (or more), and you can choose whichever gender you want.
*Tragically, many millions of people have been deceived to believe that there is no such thing as objective truth. You can have your truth, and I can have mine. They are much more likely to base their "truth" on feelings rather than facts. And they are growing ever more detached from reality.
*How bad has it gotten? In October 2018, the Christian Institute of England reported on a survey by the Coalition for Marriage. Among the 2,000 people asked, 32 percent supported self-definition of race. Nineteen percent thought it was okay for people to choose their age. They think if I get up in the morning and decide I want to be 43, I can! But for that matter, why stop there? I'll be 23.
*Ten percent of those people also said it was okay for you to choose your own species. In other words: If I get up tomorrow and decide I want to be a horse, that's what I will be. (1)
*This is the kind of nonsense people can believe when they reject the reality of truth, -- especially when they reject the greatest Truth of all: our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
*And Isaiah 5:20-21 says:
20. Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
*Thankfully, many of the people we will meet are aware of their sinfulness. But a lot of people have hardened themselves to the ugly reality of their own sin. And the Apostle John said, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
*Now, it's easy for us to say as Christians, "Thank God, I'm not like that!" And surely, that is true. But that's just where we get into trouble, because remember that John was talking to Christians here. And we too can get blinded to our own sin.
*Dietrich Bonhoeffer was one of the great Christian heroes of the 20th Century. Born in Germany in 1904, Bonhoeffer grew up to become a devoted Christian, scholar, author, professor, musician, and pastor. Bonhoeffer's opposition to the Nazis made him a leader in the Confessing Church, and an advocate on behalf of the Jews. In the Spring of 1943, he was arrested and put into prison for the crime of trying to help a group of Jews escape to Switzerland. Bonhoeffer was hanged in the concentration camp at Flossenbürg on April 9, 1945, one of four members of his immediate family to die at the hands of the Nazis.
*Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a tremendous Christian, but listen to what he wrote about his own sinfulness. Bonhoeffer said, "If my sinfulness appears to me to be in any way smaller or less detestable in comparison with the sins of others, I am still not recognizing my sinfulness at all." (2)
*So, how can we recognize our own sinfulness? How can we see the darkness of it all? Verse 8 says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Church: The obvious answer is that we have got to get the truth in us. And vs. 10 reminds us that the truth is the Word of God, because "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and His word is not in us."
*The only way that we can even begin to see the sin in our hearts is to get the truth of God's Word into our hearts. That's why 1 Peter 1:23 tells Christians we are, "Born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the Word of God which lives and abides forever." The Word of God is the truth that tells us about our sin, and the more we get His Word into our hearts, the more we will see His perfect holiness up against our awful sinfulness.
[2] CONFESSION IS SEEING THE TRUTH ABOUT OUR SINS. BUT IT IS ALSO SPEAKING THE TRUTH ABOUT OUR SINS.
*Confession is admitting our sin to God, and agreeing with God about our sins. The original word we translate "confess" here has the word picture of "saying the same thing," saying the same thing about our sin that God says. That's why one of the most important things we can do is have daily conversations with God that include telling Him about our sin. Confession is a huge key to help us get over our guilt.
2. AND WE MUST RECOGNIZE OUR NEED FOR CONFESSION. BUT WE ALSO MUST RELY ON GOD'S CHARACTER.
*It wouldn't do us a bit of good to confess our sins to God, if He was cruel, mean, hateful, and unforgiving. But we see in vs. 9 that, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
[1] NOTICE THAT GOD IS FAITHFUL TO FORGIVE US OUR SINS.
*Praise the Lord, He is faithful! God is always absolutely dependable. And that is one of the best things about His sterling character. As Pastor Brian Bill said, "Friends, how faithful is our heavenly Father! We are never cut off from God's faithfulness. He is true to His character. He is reliable, trustworthy, and He can always be counted on.
*Here's a simple definition: 'God's faithfulness means that everything He says and does is certain.' He is 100 percent reliable, 100 percent of the time. He does not fail, forget, falter, change, or disappoint. He says what He means and means what He says. Therefore, He does everything He says He will do.
*Please listen to these great verses on God's faithfulness:
-Deuteronomy 7:9 says: 'Know therefore that the LORD thy God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.'
-In Psalm 36:5-7 King David wrote, 'Your mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens, And Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are a great deep; O LORD, You preserve man and beast. How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.'
-In Psalm 89:1-2 Ethan the Ezrahite declared, "I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever; With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, "Mercy shall be built up forever; Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.''
-And In Lamentations 3:21-25, the prophet Jeremiah said, 'This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion,'' says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!'' The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.'
*God's faithfulness is not some minor or secondary part of His character. To say that God is faithful goes to the very core of who He really is. If He didn't keep His Word, then He wouldn't be God." Our God is faithful! And He will never fail us! (3)
*You may have never heard of Armenia, but it's a small, Christian nation on the northeast border of Turkey. Armenia is about one fourth the size of Louisiana with 3 million people. Back in 1989, a terrible earthquake almost flattened Armenia. That earthquake killed over 30,000 people in less than 4 minutes.
*One father rushed to his son's school, and found the building flat as a pancake. Standing there in tears, he remembered a promise he had made to his son, "No matter what, I'll always be there for you!"
*It looked absolutely hopeless, but the dad got as close as he could to his son's classroom, -- and started digging in the pile of rubble. The other grieving parents tried to pull him off, saying, "It's too late! -- They're dead!" But he just kept digging for his son, stone by stone. He dug for 8 hours, then 12 hours, 24 hours, 36 hours without stopping!
*Finally, in the 38th hour, as he pulled back a boulder, he heard his son's voice. *He screamed his son's name, "ARMAND!" And a voice answered him, "Dad?" -- It's me, Dad!" Then the boy added these priceless words, "I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you'd save me. And when you saved me, they'd be saved too." He remembered his Father's promise: "No matter what, I'll always be there for you!" Fourteen children were saved that day because one father was faithful to his promise. (4)
*But how much more faithful is our Heavenly Father! Our God is faithful! -- and He always will be. In today's Scripture He is "faithful to forgive us our sins," and that is a wonderful part of God's character.
[2] BUT ALSO NOTICE THAT GOD IS JUST TO FORGIVE US OUR SINS.
*In other words, it's the right thing for Him to do. God is good, perfect, sinless, and holy. This is a central and certain part of His character. In 1 John 2:1, the Apostle calls Jesus Christ "The righteous," and He most definitely is!
*So how can it be that vs. 9 says God "is just to forgive us our sins?" It's really amazing that forgiving us is the right thing for God to do. I don't think there is anything to compare it with on our earthly level. Suppose someone broke into your house and beat and robbed you. Can you imagine them getting caught, then coming before me as a judge, and me saying, "It's alright. You are forgiven."
*You would think that I was a horrible judge, and you would be right. But God is the most righteous Judge of all. He is perfectly righteous always and forever. And God can righteously forgive our sins, because His only begotten Son Jesus Christ has already taken the punishment for our sins in full on the cross.
*2 Corinthians 5:21 even says, "He (that is, God the Father) made Him (Jesus Christ) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." And John 2:2, tells us that Jesus "is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."
*That word "propitiation" is sometimes translated as "atoning sacrifice." The NIV Bible calls this the sacrifice of atonement, but the most literal translation is "Mercy Seat." That makes sense, because propitiation has to do with the place of God's mercy.
*Here John points us back to the Old Testament in the days of the tabernacle and the temple. There the Ark of the Covenant sat in the Holy of Holies. And the Mercy Seat was the 2-foot by 4-foot gold covered lid of that box. It was a very special box, because it held the actual Ten Commandments, a pot of miraculous manna, and Aaron's dead, wooden rod that budded and grew almonds in Numbers 17:8.
*But mostly, the Ark was special because that's where the glory of God came down and rested, -- on the Mercy Seat. And the one time a year that the high priest could go into the Holy of Holies, that was where he sprinkled the blood. And the people's sins were symbolically covered by the blood on the mercy seat.
*But now we don't need the mercy seat, because our crucified and risen Savior Jesus Christ is our place of mercy! Jesus is our Mercy Seat. He is the true Lamb of God who gave His blood on the cross to pay for our sins. And it gets us to the fact that God loves us so much He sent His Son to be the sacrifice for our sins. His loving sacrifice was the only thing that made God's mercy for our sins possible. His loving death was the only thing that could take away the righteous wrath of God.
*If you are ever tempted to doubt God's love for you, look back to the cross, where Jesus suffered and died for us. Jesus did that because there was no other way for us to be saved. And He did it for love. This means that Jesus has fully turned away God's anger and wrath, for all who will turn to Him. So when we trust in Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross, God can rightfully forgive us.
*And if you have never trusted in Jesus, put your faith in Him today. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. And that is the biggest key to getting over our guilt.
3. WE MUST RELY ON GOD'S CHARACTER. AND WE MUST RESPOND TO GOD'S CLEANSING.
*It's the cleansing John speaks of in vs. 9 where he said, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
[1] HERE GOD'S CLEANSING IS COMPLETE.
*Our gracious, merciful God is able and willing "to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness." Praise the Lord! On top of that, we have in Jesus Christ a Heavenly Advocate for our cleansing.
*In 1 John 2:1, John said this to all Christians, "My little children. . ." (Not really John's little children, but God's little children.) "My little children, these things I write to you, that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." Christians: Jesus didn't stop helping us when He went back to Heaven. He is there right now as our Advocate or lawyer, pleading His blood over our sins.
[2] THAT'S WHY GOD'S CLEANSING IS COMPLETE. BUT IT IS ALSO COMPELLING.
*That's the first part of vs. 1 where John said, "My little children, these things I write to you, that you may not sin." In the KJV John says, "These things write I unto you, that you sin not." Why? Because of God's gracious willingness to forgive, and because of the amazing sacrifice of the cross. God's gracious forgiveness is never an open door for us to go on sinning. Instead, it should compel us to be more like Jesus every day!
CONCLUSION:
*But how will you respond to Jesus Christ? We all respond to things hundreds of times a day. For most people, it starts with the alarm clock every morning. Then we respond to text messages, phone calls, email, and all kinds of conversation. We respond to heat, cold, hunger and pain. We respond to humor, anger, love, respect, and fear. We respond to victories, setbacks, and defeats. But how we respond makes a big difference. Chuck Swindoll once said, "I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me, and 90 percent how I react to it." (5)
*How will you respond to Jesus Christ? Now is the time to respond the right way by opening your heart to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Believe in His death on the cross for your sins. Believe in His resurrection from the dead. Trust in Jesus to forgive all of your sins and give you His eternal life. Then start following the Lord and learn to live in obedience to Him. Call on Jesus to save you right now, as we go back to God in prayer.
(1) "The Christian Institute" - Wilberforce House 4 Park Road, Gosforth Business Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE12 8DG - The Christian Institute is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England as a charity. Company No. 263 4440 Charity No. 100 4774. A charity registered in Scotland. Charity No. SC039220. - Copyright The Christian Institute.
(2) SermonCentral illustration contributed by Jim Luthy
(3) Adapted from SermonCentral sermon "Our Faithful God" by Brian Bill - Lamentations 3:22-25
(4) Sources:
-SermonCentral sermon "Our Faithful God" by Brian Bill - Lamentations 3:22-25
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_Armenian_earthquake
-"Earthquakes wreak havoc in Armenia" by History.com Editors - November 13, 2009
-https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/earthquakes-wreak-havoc-in-armenia
-https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/earthquakes-wreak-havoc-in-armenia
-Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL - Source: Sermonillustrations.com - Father's Day 2002
(5) Charles R. Swindoll quote - thinkexist.com/quotes/charles_r._swindoll
