The Spirit's Conviction of Deeply Entrenched Sin -- 4/21/13

Sunday, April 21, 2013

THE SPIRIT'S CONVICTION OF DEEPLY ENTRENCHED SIN

            The focus of our Men's Retreat was the importance of spending time alone with God in worship and prayer.  In the last session one of our men made an important observation:  "We can spend all kinds of time alone with God, but it is useless, if our heart is not right with Him."  He then read scripture to illustrate his point.  He read from Isaiah 1, a passage we heard only last Sunday, where God told the people of Judah that he was fed up with their sacrifices, offerings, and meetings because their hearts and lives were full of wickedness.  He also cited the example of the Pharisees, who loved to pray to God, but whom the Lord referred to as hypocrites.  In that context, he asked the question:  "Didn't they know how wrong they were?"  At first, we might conclude that they had to know, but let's not come to that conclusion too quickly. 

            Is it possible to be guilty of sin and not realize it?  Yes.  Is it possible to be guilty of very serious sin and not recognize it?  In answer to that question, I want to remind you of something we considered a few weeks ago -- sin always comes with blinders.  In the Bible we read of one who was referred to as "a man after God's own heart."  And who was that?  Yes, it was David.  We also read that this same man was guilty of adultery and murder.  He brought another man's wife to his house and then had that man killed on the battlefield to cover up his adultery.  Now let's read again the story of how Nathan the prophet approached him about nine months later (II Sam. 12:1-9)...

                 And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. 2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: 3 But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. 4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. 5 And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: 6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. 7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; 8 And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. 9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

            Didn't David realize his sin before Nathan came to him?  Yes and No.  If Psalm 32 is indeed the sequel to David's confession in Psalm 51, as many have believed through the centuries, then we find insight from his words in Ps. 32:3-4, "When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.  4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer."  David definitely knew what he did was wrong, as both the law and his own conscience told him so.  Nevertheless, he was able to go on with life without bringing it to God.  It wasn't until Nathan said directly to him, "You're the man" that David owned up to his sin before God.

            Yes, sin comes with blinders.  We are very familiar with Heb. 3:13, "But exhort one another daily, while it is called 'Today,' lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin."  By its very nature, sin deceives.  If sin can thrive while undetected, it is much more deadly in our lives. 

            Surely we can agree that some sins are more difficult to detect than others.  But that does not mean that those sins where are harder to identify in our lives are not just as seriously and as deadly.  Let me give you an example.  Consider the rich young ruler.  When he asked Jesus, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life," Jesus pointed him to some of the commandments -- "Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother."  He assured Jesus that he had obeyed those commandments from his youth.  Does that mean that he was without sin?  Obviously, not.  How could a sinless man be guilty of rejecting the Lord Jesus?  Though he was not without sin, his sins were not apparent; they were not easy to detect.  Both to himself and to others, he appeared to be a very righteous man.  Here is the lesson from this example:  Sin can be hidden very deeply, and it can be very deadly.

            Praise God that the believer is not without a remedy.  I remind of the words of our Lord from John 16:7-11...

                Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

            I trust that you have been thinking and praying about this issue of the Spirit convicting us of sin.  So of what sins do we especially need the Spirit to convict us?  There is a sense in which we need the Spirit to convict us of all sin.  However, there are some sins that are subtle and deceptive, so much so that we may not be aware of them.  If I commit the outward act of murder, I will know that I have murdered someone.  I may not face it squarely and confess it to God, but I will certainly know that I have done it and that it is sin against God.  On the other hand, there are other things which may be much more difficult to identify as sin.

            Let's just make up an example.  Phil. 4:8,  "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things."  Let's suppose that today you obey this command perfectly.  You do indeed think on these things.  Tomorrow you don't do quite as well.  You daydream for three minutes about an activity or incident where you make yourself the hero.  That trend continues until you are spending a great bit of time with this heroic daydreaming.  You hear a sermon from Phil. 4:8 and congratulate yourself that you don't think about ugly and base things that are so common in this wicked world.  Not only are you violating the spirit of this command by more and more thinking of yourself and how you are so great, but your pride is increasing as well. The worst part is that you don't even realize it.  It has happened gradually, and you are blind to it.

            That is one example, but perhaps that seems rather fictional to you.  That isn't something with which you struggle.  So please all me to share to areas of sin that afflict most, if not all, of us.

I.  Fear of Man

            By "fear of man," I am not talking about fearing that some person is going to kill you or do you bodily harm.  Rather, I am referring to a fear of what people will do or think, if we act in a certain way.  Perhaps you are afraid to say anything about Jesus, because you fear how that person will react.  That is fear of man.

            Make no mistake about it, fear of man is sin.  Gal. 1:10, "For do I now persuade men, or God?  Or do I seek to please men?  For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ."  That is a very strong statement.  Consider it in light of Peter's life.  You remember that he boldly said he would die with Jesus before he would deny him.  But when a young lady suggested that he was a follower of Jesus, he flatly denied it.  Why?  Because of the fear of man (or woman, in this case!).  He was afraid of the consequences of being identified with Jesus.  You say, "But that was before the Holy Spirit came to dwell in him and the other disciples. That is certainly true.  So now let's read what Paul has to say about Peter in Gal. 2:11-13...

                Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; 12 for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. 13 And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.

            This is the same Peter who boldly stood before thousands on the Day of Pentecost and accused them of crucifying the One who was both Lord and Messiah.  But here in Galatians 2 he demonstrates fear of men.  Peter, being a Jew, was persuaded that it was right for him to eat with Gentiles because they were now one in Christ.  But when some of the leading Jewish Christians came from Jerusalem, he quickly moved away from that table.  He didn't want to be seen eating with Gentiles.  Why?  Because he "feared" those Jewish Christians, who insisted on maintaining the distinction between Jew and Gentile.  Even spiritual giants like Peter and Barnabas were afflicted with the fear of man.

            We might ask the question, "Does that mean that Peter was not the servant of Christ?"  Isn't that what Paul said:  "If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ"?  Perhaps we could say, "To the degree I fear men, to that degree I am not the servant of Christ."  Fearing man hinders my service to Christ.

            This sin can be very subtle.  We can fear man without fully realizing it or being aware of it at all.  How we need the Holy Spirit to convict us of this sin, to show us how we fear men.  Do have a great desire for people to like you?  Beware of the fear of man.  Do you find it extremely difficult to say "No" to people?  Watch out for the fear of man.  Do you shade the truth in certain situations?  The fear of man is a strong and deceptive force in our lives.  Yes, we need the Holy Spirit to reveal this sin in our lives.

II.  Self-Confidence, Self-Sufficiency, Self-Dependence

            Though this sin takes many forms, we might define it like this:  "Depending on my own wisdom and abilities rather than depending upon the Lord."  While this is a form of pride, it is not the form we most often identify.  When most of us think about pride, we think about being puffed up and arrogant, about a person thinking he is great, etc.  No, a person can be self-sufficient, while appearing to be very humble.  We should also note that there are varying degrees of this sin.  Some people will struggle with it more than others.  It is often most troublesome for those who are most capable, those who are leaders and who appear to be doing very well.  But it is also extremely subtle and deceptive.

            Let me give you an example of how deceptive self-confidence is.  I have been thinking about this for a while and of scriptures that deal with it.  After a while, I decided to get on the internet and see if there were other scriptures that might be helpful.  So I typed the term "self-confidence in the Bible" into the Google search engine.  The first four cites listed spoke of self-confidence as a positive virtue.  They focused on how God wants to build our self-confidence.  While we might try to give them the benefit of the doubt and try to somehow define self-confidence as confidence in God, the truth is that scripture clearly identifies self-confidence as sin.

            Jeremiah 17:5,  "Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the LORD."  Luke 18:9... "Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others."  (And then Jesus told the parable about the Pharisee and the publican).  But perhaps the clearest word comes from Paul in Phil. 3:2-3,  "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."  There were false teachers who were trying to get the Galatians to go back to trusting in their ability to keep the law for a right standing before God.  They actively tried to get the males to be circumcised.  Paul responds by saying, "We are the circumcision, we are the true Jews, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." 

            Paul makes it clear that it is a good thing to have no confidence in self.  He goes on in this passage to say that he has every reason, humanly speaking, to trust in himself, listing all of his advantages and achievements.  But then he says, "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ."  Paul deliberately refused to trust in himself, to put any confidence in his own wisdom and natural abilities.  This theme is echoed in his other letters.             

            Rather than putting confidence in the flesh, what are we to do?  Prov. 3:5-6, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."  Ps. 118:8-9, " It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in man.  9 It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in princes."  We know this, and we know it well.  We want to trust the Lord instead of putting confidence in ourselves, but it is not always difficult to discern the difference.  Sometimes we can trust in ourselves, while we think that we are depending on the Lord.

            Let me give you a rather personal example.  What about preaching the gospel?  Can a man preach the gospel in his own strength?  And going back to the fear of man, can a man preach the gospel in order to please men?  But surely if I am preaching the gospel, that means I am pleasing God.  Not necessarily.  I know well that I can do outward things which appear godly, but they are polluted because of self-sufficiency and self-confidence.  Brothers and sisters, how we need the Spirit of God to convict us of sins that are deeply entrenched, sins which we do not see clearly, sins which greatly hinder us from glorifying our wonderful Lord.

Conclusion

            Please hear me.  Talking about conviction of sin is not a negative thing.  Perhaps you have heard this little statement:  "Satan builds a man up in order to tear him down.  God tears a man down in order to build him up."  How true it is.  When God called Jeremiah to be His prophet, He spoke these words to him:  "See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant" (Jer. 1:10).  Notice that before he could build up there had to be a tearing down.  He uses four terms to speak of this tearing down, followed by two terms which describe a building up.  There is nothing more positive that deliverance from the fear of man and from self-sufficiency.  This is a vital part of being conformed to the image of Christ.  And the conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit tears down that which destroys us and drives us to the God who builds us up in Christ.

            Come back to David, the man after God's own heart.  He was certainly aware that his adultery and murder were sinful, that they were very displeasing in the sight of God.  He found it hard to live with himself for nine months.  But when God sent Nathan with that little story and he said, "Thou art the man,"  David was convicted in a way that he hadn't been before.  I see this as an illustration of what the Spirit does in our lives.  Not only does the Spirit identify sin, but He is able to point it out with such convincing power that we are motivated to face it and bring it to God.  Praise God for the convicting  power of the Spirit.

            What I have said this morning isn't new to many of you.  You are well aware that we battle sins which are very deceptive, sins which can be hard to identify and deal with.  That knowledge is good, but the question is:  What do we do about it?  Jesus said that the Spirit would convict of sin, righteousness, and judgment.  So if He is going to do it, then it is His work and we don't need to be concerned about it.  No, that is not true.  God has promised to conform us to the image of His Son.  Does that mean that we just drift along, waiting for Him to do it.  No.  We pray that He will indeed conform us to Christ's image.  In the same way, let us pray that the Spirit will convict us of sin, that He will reveal even those sins which deceive us and lie deep within.

            Please allow me to suggest four things we can do in response to this truth...

    1.  Believe it -- The Spirit can and will convict us of sin, even things like self-confidence and the fear of man.

    2.  Pray -- Pray that the Spirit will be about this work, assuring our Lord that we welcome His convicting power.  Pray that simple pray of David:  "Search me, O God, and know my heart.  Try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Ps. 139:23-24)

     3.  Be in the Word -- II Tim. 3:16-17,  "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."  The Spirit's tool of conviction is the Word of God.

    4.  When the Spirit convicts, respond immediately with joyful obedience.  Confess your sin.  Repent of that sin.  Thank God for the convicting work of His Spirit.