When God's People Do Bad Things

"WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE DO BAD THINGS"

TEXT: 2 CORINTHIANS 7:2-13

INTRODUCTION

In the movie Mr. Mom a business executive loses his job and stays home to take care of the house, and his wife goes back to work. He doesn’t do to well.

There is one scene in the Movie when Mr. Mom is dropping his kids off at school, and he is told by a lady that he is to enter from the North and exit from the south. Well, He broke the sacred rule for dropping off his kids AND went the wrong way -- and all of the mothers were beeping and yelling at him.

This week I found out what it was like to be a victim of such wrath. I was dropping John off at school and when I was leaving -- I went out the wrong way. I didn’t mean to, I meant no harm, BUT the lady in the jeep didn’t see it that way.... With hair standing on end, her body half out her window, with fire in her eyes --- she roared at me "WRONG WAY!!!!" If she would have had a gun she would have killed me.... I had committed the unpardonable sin in her eyes -- I was going the wrong way.

I didn’t do it on purpose, I didn’t plan on going the wrong way -- I was trying to do right, But I messed up.

Fellow Christians, as we strive to live the Christian life, as we try to stay on the straight and narrow -- it is inevitable that at some time or another we will fall, -- we will leave the path, that we ought to be on... We will be found heading in the wrong direction, We will fall short of the glory of God .. We will sin!

Even though we concentrate intently and try to do right, many times we find ourselves standing on the wrong side of the fence. None of us are perfect -- John says in his first letter, "THAT IF ANYONE SAYS HE DOES NOT SIN, HE IS A LIAR AND THE TRUTH IS NOT IN HIM."

We sin, when we do things that God says are wrong (such things as: put anything before God, sexual immorality, envy, bitterness, unforgivenss, gossip, lying, drunkenness ...etc)

And we also sin when, we do not do what God says we should (You See, Christianity is much more a relationship of the Do’s then merely a religion of the Don’ts) If you have been a Christian for any length of time, you know of many things that God tells us to do... such as : give him you best, serve in the church, love another, encourage one another, study His Word to show yourself approved, share his Gospel, be active in the body of believers (not forsaking the gathering together of the saints)....etc ....etc ... etc, When we don’t do the good we ought to do we sin....

Everyone of us here (no exception, none of us is perfect) is, has, or will be, standing on the wrong side of sin (by doing what we should not or by not doing what we should)... And when that happens, what are God’s people supposed to do, what are we to do, what are you to -- "WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE DO BAD THINGS."

The answer depends on which side of the fence you are on at the time. Today, as we look at our text II Corinthians 7:2-13, we will discover what it is, that we need to do. We will see that there is not only something the fallen need to do, but that there is something the faithful also need to do.

We will see that the "Faithful", those who at that particular time are still walking in the light, those who are still on the straight and narrow -- must respond in a certain way to the sins of the falling. We will talk about what we, (THAT’S YOU AND I) are to do when we see a brother or sister falling away from the Lord as they allow themselves to be pulled in by the currents of sin.

AND WE WILL ALSO see, as we allow God’s Word to dramatically display the 2 Kinds of sorrow that an individual can have towards their sin -- that there is only one proper response, to our personal sin.... "GODLY SORROW."

[2 CORINTHIAN 7:2-13]

I. WHEN THE "FAITHFUL" SEE A BROTHER FALLING INTO SIN -- THE FAITHFUL WILL RESPOND IN THREE WAYS.

If we are, faithful, we will respond, the way God wants us to, and GOD wants us to respond with concern, commitment and courage....

Paul is writing to the Church in Corinth. Did the Church in Corinth have a problem with sin? You mean a Church whose first preacher was the apostle Paul, a church where there were supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit, as God Spirit moved in a mighty way throughout the body (healing, prophecy and gift of languages) -- a church where many of the people had a lot of money.... You mean a church like that had a problem with sin? You bet they did.