“Two Responses to Sin”
October 9, 2005
Today is a message dealing with a very uncomfortable topic. Sin has become an issue that all too often churches don’t want to address and don’t want to deal with. We like to focus on grace and mercy and forgiveness, but we fail sometimes to really look at the gravity and the severity of what sin does in our lives.
Today we are going to look at sin and the consequences that sin has in our lives. We are going to do so primarily in the context of the story of two men, Saul and David.
To begin today, let’s look at what sin is and what it isn’t.
Sin is defined as actions by which humans rebel against God and surrender to the power of evil rather than God.
“Holman’s Bible Dictionary”
Sin is not making a mistake or using bad judgment.
The key issue in the life of a follower of God is simply call sin what it is. Don’t minimize sin or its effect.
I. The Denial of Sin
Saul is the first man anointed to be king over Israel. God chose Saul and gave him the throne. Samuel, the priest is the one who anointed Saul and who God had given to Saul to guide and advise him in the spiritual affairs of the nation.
We pick up the story with Samuel telling Saul of God’s plan for an upcoming battle.
“Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one the Lord sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the Lord. This is what the Lord Almighty says: ’I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ " 1 Samuel 15:1-3 (NIV)
The instruction of God was to completely destroy everything of the Amalekites.
Saul had his own plan.
“Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt. He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs--everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.” 1 Samuel 15:7-9 (NIV)
Sin is willfully doing what God has forbidden or willfully not doing what God has commanded.
God takes sin seriously.
“Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: "I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions." Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the Lord all that night.”
1 Samuel 15:10-11 (NIV)
God sends Samuel to tell Saul that he is not pleased.
“Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, "Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal." When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions." But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?" Saul answered, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.""Stop!" Samuel said to Saul. "Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night."
"Tell me," Saul replied. Samuel said, "Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And he sent you on a mission, saying, ’Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.’] Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?"
1 Samuel 15:12-19 (NIV)
Saul is caught in his sin.
When we are caught in sin, we have two options, confession or excuses.
Saul chose to make excuses.
"But I did obey the Lord," Saul said. "I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal."
1 Samuel 15:20-21 (NIV)
Because Saul was unrepentant, he was removed from God’s hand of protection.
“But Samuel replied: "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king."
1 Samuel 15:22-23 (NIV)
Scripture says that Samuel replied to the key issue in Saul’s life: rebellion and arrogance.
Pride is at the center of all sin.
Is there sin in your life that you are waiting for someone to find out? Are you being eaten alive at the soul because of your rebellion against God?
Sin becomes a trap into our lives from which we cannot escape.
“The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast.” Proverbs 5:22 (NIV)
Don’t wait for someone to bring your sin to you.
II. The Confession of Sin
Saul is replaced by David as king over Israel. Saul dies a death by his own hand in misery and in despair because God withdrew his hand from Saul as a result of his sin.
In 2 Samuel 11-12 we see David as king dealing with his won sin.
One of the keys to this whole episode is what David was not doing.
“In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.”
2 Samuel 11:1 (NIV)
David should have been leading his army. Instead, he sends someone else and he is lounging around the palace in Jerusalem.
Sin not only attacks when we seek it out, it attacks when we do not guard against it.
The rest of the story is familiar to most of you. David sees Bathsheba and lusts after her. Even though she is another mans wife, he sends for her, commits adultery with her and then tries to cover it up. His sin not only leads to adultery but also murder and deceit.
“In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, "Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die." So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.” 2 Samuel 11:14-17 (NIV)
Uriah was a faithful man. David sent for him to try to cover his sin with Bathsheba, but Uriah was so faithful to God and to David that he would not go and spend the night with his wife. So David had him killed.
David appears to have gotten away with his sin. It seems that there are no consequences for him.
David lets us know however that his sin was not without internal consequences.
“When I kept silent, 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.” Psalm 32:4-5 (NIV)
David was dying on the inside because he knew of his sin. The time between the time David sinned and David dealt with his sin was 18 months.
Restoration with God and forgiveness from God is determined by the time that elapses between your sin and your repentance.
David’s sin finally catches up to him.
“The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. "Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him." David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity." Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ’I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ "This is what the Lord says: ’Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’ Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." Nathan replied, "The Lord has taken away your sin.” 2 Samuel 12:1-14 (NIV)
David’s response to sin was not excuses but confession.
God desires us to acknowledge our sin and repent from it. When we try to pass our sin off on others or on circumstances, it dishonors God.
The key to right relationship with God is to find Nathan before Nathan finds you.
In other words, confess your sin before it is pointed out to you.
We never get away with sin. It may not become public, but the internal strife and the spiritual consequences of sin are so damaging. It brings a death to our soul if we allow sin to go unconfessed.
“Everyone is tempted by his own desires as they lure him away and trap him. Then desire becomes pregnant and gives birth to sin. When sin grows up, it gives birth to death.” James 1:14-15 (GW)
Don’t be fooled into thinking you can get away with sin. Your sin will find you out.
“Don’t be misled. Remember that you can’t ignore God and get away with it. You will always reap what you sow! Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful desires will harvest the consequences of decay and death. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So don’t get tired of doing what is good. Don’t get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.” Galatians 6:7-9 (NLT)
“This is the message he has given us to announce to you: God is light and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness. We are not living in the truth. But if we are living in the light of God’s presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin. If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.” 1 John 1:5-10 (NLT)
Today, if sin is at work in your heart, or you are trying to hide from your sin, bring it into the light of the forgiveness of Jesus. Don’t allow Satan to fool you into thinking you can get away with sin. God’s desire for you is not condemnation, but life through forgiveness found only in Jesus Christ.
Today, we are here to pray with you, encourage you and help you be restored to forgiveness and grace in Jesus.
