How to deal with Sin?

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. And what I want us to consider this afternoon is this very important topic of how to deal with sin. Each one of us is under the reality that inside of us we have sin and we are to know how to deal with it.

Sin is going to be present within us until the moment that we are and we are in the glory with the Lord. Sin is going to be present by God's grace. Yes, we have been forgiven of our sins and the penalty of our sin has been completely paid by Christ. But we have the remnant of sin within us. So I'm going to invite you to consider with me, please, this topic of how to deal with sin.

And we're going to be reading this together, brother and sister, in chapter number one from verse five to chapter two, verse two. Let us read together. This is the word of the Lord. First John chapter one. This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaimed to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have no sin, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for hours only, but for the sins of the whole world. Amen. This is the word of the Lord.

Now, my dear brother and sister and friend, the main idea that the apostle John has here in mind is the reality of sin in the life of humans and more particularly in the life of the Christians. In verse five, if you pay attention, the apostle speaks about darkness or walking in darkness. not only four, but more than five times, the apostle is going to speak about this topic of sin in chapter one. And in the first two verses of chapter two, he continues to speak about the topic of sin. It is in light of that reality that the apostle has in mind that I ask you this.

How do you feel about your sin? What is the emotions that you experience within yourself, in your heart, when you think about your sin? What are the feelings and the affections? What is a reason within you when you think about your sin? And I'm not saying mistakes or shortcomings or errors so that our conscience will give us an excuse, but rather I'm speaking about sin.

How do you feel when you break the law of the Lord? Because sin is the transgression of the law. What are the emotions that abide in your heart when you don't do the things that you are requested or required to do by the Lord? How do you feel about your sin? And pay careful attention that I'm saying your sin.

Because many times, maybe your brother and sister or so, we are very quick and it's very easy for us to identify the sin in other people. It's very easy sometimes for us to see with our eyes what other people are doing wrong. But I'll ask you, How do you feel about your sin? When you lie and the scripture says that you shall not lie, how do you feel about that? You may say within yourself, well, by God's grace I have been rescued from lying and I don't lie anymore.

When you covet, how do you feel when you covet something that you would want to have? You may say, by God's grace, I have had victory over covetousness and I don't covet anymore. When you loot, a woman will lust. And when you commit adultery in the heart, brother, when your eyes are taken by the beauty of a woman and then you commit adultery within your heart, how do you feel about that? Then you may say, well, brother, by God's grace, I have had victory over that sin.

Also, how do you feel when you do not love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, which is the greatest of the commandments and that none of us can fulfill all the time in the way that we are required to? How do you feel about your sin, maybe your soul? Perhaps you feel indifferent. Perhaps you have come to a point in your life in which you don't even think about your sin. You don't even care about your sin.

You don't even know that you're sinning anymore. And then you just continue to live your life as if God was not there and you just simply live and live in indifference. Or perhaps you feel defeated by your sin. There's this battle that you have been fighting against Isaiah, and there's absolutely nothing that you can do. You have come before the Lord, and you have tried to repent, and you have confessed your sin, but you continue to sin and sin, and there's nothing that you can do about it, and that you feel defeated?

Oh, my dear brother and sister, perhaps you're feeling guilty because of your sin? That you have this shadow of darkness that is upon your soul, that is telling you that you have broken God's commandment? How do you feel about your sin? I'm more than asking you, my dear brother and sister, how you feel about your sin, let me ask you, how do you deal with it? How do you deal with your sin?

When your conscience testifies to you that you have broken God's law, when your conscience testifies to you that you have not done what you are supposed to do, my dear brother and sister, how do you deal with your sin? How do you deal with breaking God's law? How do you feel about it? What do you do? What are the steps and the actions?

What do you do with your sin? The reason, my dear brother and sister, that I'm asking you that very important question is because how you deal with your sin is a reflection of your relationship with God. How you deal with your sin and how you feel deep in your soul With your sin or about your sin, it is a reflection or is defined by your relationship with God. You see, in a sense, salvation is the beginning of two new relationships. When by grace the Spirit of God comes upon you and opens your eyes, the eyes of your heart, to see Jesus Christ and Him crucified, a new relationship starts.

And that is a new relationship with God. You were the enemy of God and now you have been adopted and made a child of God by virtue only of a completed and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. But as that new relationship with God starts, a new relationship with your sin also starts. The sin that you once loved, now you don't hate. Not because you're immoral or righteous or good, but because He died upon the cross for that sin.

And He is living in you by His Holy Spirit. The sin that you were enslaved once to, you now are not given to that. Why? Because now you're a slave of Jesus Christ unto righteousness. The way that you deal with your sin and how you feel to your sin or about your sin is defined as the reflection of your relationship with God.

If someone is completely indifferent to sin, If someone does not care at all about their sin, if someone can just simply go on their lives lying and lying and lying, and their consciences are not bothered at all, how is someone going to say that that person has had a genuine encounter with God? How a person that is completely given over to sin can be said that he's given to God? We cannot say that, my dear brother and sister. If a person is utterly defeated by sin, and that person is a slave of sin, how can someone say that the Spirit of God is in that person and that that person is being conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ? Or if a person is all the time with a burden and a shadow of guilt upon their shoulders, how can we conclude that that person understands or knows the fullness of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross?

We cannot say that, my dear brother, my dear sister, my dear soul. How we feel about sin and how we deal with our sin is a reflection of our relationship with God. And I'm not asking you these questions to bring a burden upon your shoulder, my dear soul. I'm not asking you or confronting you with these questions that I'm asking myself, just to bring an uncomfortable sensation in you and just to play a guilt trap with you. Certainly I'm not doing it for that reason, but I'm doing it so that we together in these scriptures, we will be able to see the light of the Lord, who is the only one that can liberate us and give us power to overcome our sin.

Because the end of the matter is this, man cannot deal with his own sin. Only Christ Jesus is the one who can empower us and strengthen us by His Spirit to deal with our sin. If there's anyone that you're going to get out of this message, that is that there's absolutely nothing in you or in me that is powerful enough, that is good enough, that will prepare us or equip us to deal biblically with our sin. It is only Jesus Christ and the completed atoning sacrifice upon the cross, the one that can deal entirely with that sin. So once again I ask you, my dear brother and sister, How do you feel about your sin?

And more importantly, how do you deal with your sin? The Apostle John knew, of course, not only here in chapter number one, but throughout his letter, he knew that sin was a reality in the life of the Christian. And that's why the Apostle, precisely in this passage of scripture, is going to give clear instructions to the Church on how to deal with sin. If any time you are tempted or you ask yourself, how am I supposed to deal with my sin, please remember that you can come to the Bible in 1 John 1 and then the Spirit of God tells us there how we are to deal with our sin. There are three things that I want us to do from the passage that we have in front of us.

We have eight verses that we're going to be addressing from verse five in chapter one all the way to verse two in chapter two. There are three things that I want us to consider together. The first thing, my dear brother or sister, I want to present to you from verse five the warning against sin. The warning that the apostle is going to give us against sin or against darkness, as he sometimes calls it. Then from verse 6 all the way until verse 10 in chapter 1, I want us to consider how not to deal with sin.

How not to deal with sin. Once we have considered in verse 5 The warning against darkness or against sin, I want us to consider how not to deal with sin. And then finally, if the Lord gives us grace and freedom to speak, then in verse 1 and 2 of chapter 2, we are going to consider how to deal with sin. There is a warning that the apostle presents in verse 5. Then there is an example of how not to deal with sin in the rest of the chapter.

And then in chapter number two, we have how to deal with sins. Let me just start by presenting to you this warning against sin. The apostle says in verse five, this is the message we have heard from the beginning. We have heard, I'm proclaiming to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. Brother, sister, dear friend, God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

The warning that the apostle presents against him is clearly contained in that statement. God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. And we know that this is a warning that the Apostle is presenting, because everything that comes after verse 5 is going to be founded and established upon that statement, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. But please, my dear brother and sister and soul, pay attention, that the Apostle John, instead of pointing us to the dangers of sin and presenting the warning, pointing us to the dangers of sin, he's pointing us to God. Very well, the Apostle could have said, Brother and sister, please know that sin is very dangerous.

Please, brother and sister, open your eyes to the dangers of sin. Don't you know that sin spreads and permeates every aspect of your life, your mind, your heart and your affections? The Apostle could have said, brother, sister, flee from sin, because sin is indeed dangerous. The Apostle could have pointed you to the fact that sin is deceitful. That sin, once entering into the heart, or is present in the heart, is deceitful and makes your life confusing and everything is a chaos.

The Apostle John could have pointed you to the fact that sin hardens your heart. And once your heart is hardened because of sin, there's going to be separation from God. Or, simply, the Apostle could have said, don't you know, brother and sister, that the wages of sin is death? The Apostle could have pointed you to the dangers of sin, but instead of doing that, the Apostle is pointing you to the righteousness and the holiness of God. We are not to be fearful of sin because of sin in and of itself, but rather because of what sin does in our relationship with God.

The conclusion of the Apostle in verse 5 is very simple. God, who is light, cannot coexist with sin that is darkness. God cannot coexist with sin. God who is righteous cannot abide in the same place with that which is sin or that which is unrighteous. And that is what should make us fearful of our sin.

Not so much that the wages of sin is dead, but that there is God, the one that is going to bring final judgment upon those who died on their sins. God cannot co-exist with sin. He is holy, He is righteous, and He is perfect. And because of His perfections, He cannot co-exist with sin. That is darkness.

And you know what is the most terrifying thing, my dear brother and sister, is that God, Light, who is God, Light exposes darkness. There is going to be one day in which the Light of God is going to fully expose the darkness of sin. There is going to be one day in that which is secret, and that which is contained by unrighteousness and by sin, is going to be fully exposed. There is going to be one day in which the darkness that we have kept inside of us, reminds our heart, are going to be fully exposed by the one who knows the secrets of the heart of man, and who himself is light. Please pay careful attention, my dear brother and sister, that this message that God is light and in Him is not darkness at all, this message that we should be fearful of darkness, not so much because of darkness itself, but because it cannot coexist with God, is a message that was central to the gospel of the Apostle John.

That's why he says in verse five, this is the message that we have heard from the beginning or that we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in Him is not darkness at all. the beloved of the Savior, had received a message from the Lord Jesus Christ, telling him that God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. If someone says, I don't know the light, and I'm walking in darkness, he says in verse six, that person is a liar. Because the one who is in darkness, or the one that is walking in darkness, cannot coexist with God, who is light. And this message was central to the message of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

God is light, and there is no darkness in him. And this was not only the intention, or the intention of the Lord Jesus Christ was not only to pass that message to the disciples. He wanted that the church will have clarity on this message. This is the message that we proclaim to you. The apostle John says there in verse five, this is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is not darkness at all.

Central to the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. that the God who is righteous and holy cannot co-exist with the darkness that is unrighteousness and that is sin. Certainly not a message that is very easily accepted by the flesh and by the mind. Certainly something that is not very popular. Who is going to want to create this chasm of separation between darkness that is so natural to humans and the light of God, my dear brother and sister?

Yet, it is very important that we will stand in the truth of the Scriptures and proclaim with the same faith and certainty that the Apostle had, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we come and we reinvent or create a God that is light and coexists with darkness, a God that is okay with darkness, a God that is okay with hypocrisy or lies, then we are not proclaiming and we are not preaching the Bible, because God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. Because when a person comes to the genuine conclusion and his eyes or her eyes are genuinely open to the fact that I'm darkness and there's nothing in me that can be accepted before God, That is when the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ takes meaning, and then we know that it is only through Christ Jesus that a person can enter into the presence of God. For He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through the Lord Jesus Christ, God's light, and in Him is no darkness at all. We are to be fearful, brethren, of our sin and what it can do within us.

And the reason why sometimes we're not fearful of our sins and the things that we do is because in our flesh sometimes we just grow very used to the things that are unrighteous. Brother and sister and dear soul, please know this, that God is holy and that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. Now, someone might say, yes, brother. Yes, my dear friend who is speaking from the pulpit. I know that that is right and there is sin within me.

I know that that is right and there is guilt within me. I know that there is right and there is my conscience that is pointing me to my sin. What can I do? Where can I go? How can I solve this problem?

That now I know that I'm in darkness, that I'm walking in darkness, that perhaps I'm just pretending to be something that I am not. What can I do? Someone might be asking themselves in their question, in their hearts or in their minds. Well, the answer to that is going to be given to us in chapter two. But before I tell you how to deal with sin, let me please point you to how not to deal with sin.

How not to deal with our darkness. How not to deal with the unrighteousness that is within us. How to avoid the temptations that are natural to the flesh when it comes to dealing with our sin. And the apostle is going to address that from verse six to verse 10. But there is something very important that we need to consider before we get into that text.

So I'm going to invite you to please come to chapter three. There's something very important that we need to consider before we get into our passage from verse six to 10. Dear brother, dear sister, I just want to speak to you how not to deal with our sin. How not to deal with our sin. The Apostle John knows that sin is an issue in the context of the church.

And in chapter three, in verse eight, the Apostle John is going to give us insight into the nature of the practice of sin. There's only one thing that I'm going to show you from verse 8. In verse 8, once again, my dear brother and sister and soul, the Apostle is going to give us insight into the nature of the practice of sin. We all sin. And I want us to have an insight into the nature of the practice of our sin.

Pay attention to verse 8 in chapter 3 of 1 John. Whoever makes a practice of sin That is, the sinner, whoever makes a practice of sinning, is of the devil. Who is the devil there, brother and sister? Who is the devil? Satan, right?

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil. For the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. Now, there are many things that could be said about this verse, but I'll just call your attention to this. I just want to show you an aspect of the nature of sinning or the practice of sinning.

The Apostle tells us in verse 8 that the practice of sinning at its core is a satanic practice. And the reason why it's a satanic practice is because it's of the devil. And perhaps to this point, you may say, yes, brother, but verse eight in chapter three is not speaking about Christians. It's speaking about those who are the sons of the devil, those who are outside of Christ. And the answer to that is yes, of course, brothers and sisters.

I have mentioned that before from this pulpit. But as long as we have a heart within us, As long as we have our fallen nature within us, as long as we're still alive and we have not been taken up to glory, there are aspects of our heart and aspects of our nature that are still shared with our old men. Jesus Christ will come and he will take us up to glory and we will be fully glorified in his presence when the fullness of redemption is accomplished. But up to that point within us, there's still sin, the remnant of sin. So there are many things that we can learn from here.

The first thing that I want you to notice is that the practice of sin is, at its core, a satanic practice, a practice that comes from Satan himself. The Apostle says there in verse 8, because he has been sinning from the beginning, and that's why Jesus Christ came, to destroy the works of Satan, who has been sinning from the beginning. Now, the Apostle, in 1 John, does not take his theology from the air. He's actually building upon what he has written in his Gospel of John. So I'm going to invite you now to come to John chapter 8, because in John chapter 8, the apostle explains in further detail a little bit more this nature of sin that is rooted in Satan.

So come with me, please, to John chapter 8. John chapter 8. At its core, at its core, the practice of singing. Up to this point, my dear soul, my dear brother, my dear sister, whoever is within the sounds of my voice, my desire has been to speak to you about with sin. In verse 5 I presented to you this warning that comes from on high about sin.

If for some reason you are indifferent to sin, then you should check your soul and your heart. Because God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. And within us there is darkness. And the only solution for our darkness is finding the person of Jesus Christ. Now I am going to show you the way that we should not deal with our sin.

Your flesh, my dear brother and sister, is going to tempt you to deal with your sin in a way that is fleshly and carnal and that is not biblical. Your flesh, your children, your boy and girl and friend that's here with us, your flesh is going to tempt you to deal with your sin in a way that is not the biblical way. Your flesh, your heart, the natural heart that you have, the heart that you have received when you were begotten from your parents, your heart is going to tempt you to deal with your sin in a way that is not according to the ways of the Lord. And the first thing that I have said is that in order for us to identify that unbiblical way of dealing with sin, we need to get a little bit into the nature of sin. So, I called your attention to 1 John 3, and I said that the first thing that I want you to have in your mind is that the practice of sinning is satanic.

Yes, we are guilty for our sins, and we are to take responsibility for our sins, and we are going to be judged for our sins, but Satan has been sinning from the beginning. The works of Satan are sinful works, and for the theology of the Apostle John, this is vital to understand the passage that we have in 1 John. Now, I have called your attention to John chapter 8. Here, I'm going to show you a further detail, which is actually what the Apostle has in mind when he is writing 1 John chapter 1. You remember that the Jews were coming and asking, or were questioning the Lord Jesus Christ.

You know, we are descendants of Abraham and the Lord Jesus Christ is saying, if you are a descendant of Abraham, you will believe in me. You are not of my father, but you rather are of your father, the devil. Pay attention to verse 44. He says in verse 44, you are, speaking to these Jews, you are of your father, the devil. And your will is to do your Father's desire.

He was a murderer from the beginning. He speaks out of his own character. Why? For he, who is the he here? Satan, the devil.

For he is a liar. And who is he? He is the father of lies. I'm not going to take it any deeper because I'm not sure if you're still with me, but please pay attention to this. Satan has no truth in him.

And he is the father of lies. And he has been sinning from the beginning. And those who are in the practice of sinning, 1 John 3, verse 8, have the nature of Satan in themselves. This is the passage that John has in mind. How we should not deal, or what is the way not to deal with our sins?

With lies. Your flesh, your heart is going to tempt you to lie when it comes to your sin. Your flesh and your heart is going to tempt you to lie when it comes to the conviction that comes upon you when it's about your sin. If you return to 1 John 1, you will see that that is entirely the idea that the apostle has in mind. Which he says in verse 6, if we say that we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, lie, and do not practice the truth.

John chapter 8, Satan is the father of lies. There is no truth in him. There is no truth in Satan. Verse 7, but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. In the blood of Jesus, he cleanses us from all sin.

Verse 8, if we say that we have no sin, we lie to ourselves. We deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us. If we confess or if we are truthful about our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have no sin, we make Him a liar and the Word is not in us.

How not to deal with sin? We are not to deal with sin with lies. Once again, your heart, your mind is going to tempt you to lie about the reality of the sin that you have committed. Why? Self-protection.

Your flesh, your heart, your soul is going to tempt you to lie about it. And that's what Satan wants. An enemy wants to destroy you. And the enemy does not want that you know the way to kill it. Otherwise, you will be killed.

So your sin that causes lies and covetousness and whatever other thing is also going to deceive you into lying about the existence of that sin. And the apostle is presenting three ways in which we lie and we should not follow. These are ways that we should not deal with our sin. There are three ways that the apostle has in mind. I'm going to present them to you.

First, the first way that we should not follow when we are dealing with our sin is hypocrisy. Hypocrisy. Pay attention to verse 6. If we say, here the words that Apostle uses, if we let everyone know, if we proclaim, in other words, if we say that we have fellowship with God while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. Hypocrisy, to put a mask, to pretend to be something that I am not.

I am okay when everyone sees the things that I want them to see, but in the secret, I walk in darkness. Brother, sister, Are you walking in hypocrisy? Are you okay just with others seeing and others perceiving things of you, but beep, beep, beep, you know that you are walking in darkness? That is lying. Because you see, and you know that the reality is that you're walking in darkness, but you are okay to create any mechanism outside of you so that others will think that my proclamation and my profession that I have fellowship with God is true.

Hypocrisy is not a way that we should deal with our sin. Who cares that people think that I'm holy if I'm walking in darkness as he knows? There's no value in that. Who cares that people will have an opinion of me when secretly I'm doing these things in my mind or in my heart or with my eyes or with my hands? Who cares if the one who is light is going to reveal all things in the end of the day?

If he's going to open the books and he's going to take an account? Why am I one to please? others and the eyes of others instead of pleasing the One who is looking and seeing absolutely all things. My heart is going to tempt you to deal with your sin with hypocrisy. I'm going to deal with the consequences of my sin.

And I'm only just going to make sure that nobody knows and that nobody sees. I'm going to say, I have fellowship with Him. while I'm okay walking in the secret in darkness. Hypocrisy. Second, verse eight.

Second way that we can lie in this satanic way of 1 John chapter three or John chapter eight, when we deny our sin. Verse eight. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. When a person is confronted and then denied, They're deceiving themselves. They're denying the sin that is still in them, lying to themselves.

I just choose to believe this because this makes me feel comfortable. I'm just going to convince myself that this is not a sin. I'm just going to convince myself that this is not against God. I'm just going to tell myself sufficiently and many times so that I will be okay and I will say, I don't have any sin. The person who does that, my dear brother and sister, is deceiving, lying to themselves.

And at its core, the nature of it, it is of the father of lies, in whom there is no truth, who has been sinning from the beginning, and who is wanting and desiring that everyone will be OK with their sins, that everyone will be OK saying, God is lying. but I'm okay to walk in darkness. God is lying, that in Him is no darkness at all, but I'm okay to have darkness within my mind and within my heart. Hypocrisy, in denying your own sin. And then verse 10, pay attention to that, self-righteousness.

Verse 10, if we say, we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. If I say, I have not sinned, we make God a liar, And his word is not in us. Then the question that follows is, how can I make God a liar when I say that I have no sin? Brother and sister, when the Spirit of God convicts you of your sin, when the Spirit of God convicts you of your sin, is God himself telling you that you have sinned? And that is the grace of the Lord that is trying to bring you into ways of repentance and into ways of conformity to His will.

But when a person does not listen, does not pay careful attention to the voice of God that is convicting through His Spirit of the sin that has committed, but rather the person says, I have no sin. That person is saying, you Holy Spirit that are convicting me of this sin, you're a liar. You Holy Spirit that are convicting me of this sin of my eyes, You are a liar. You, Holy Spirit, that are convicting me with my God-given conscience and the Word of God that you have taught me, that are convicting me of my sin, of adultery, whatever it is, you are a liar. You're wrong.

I am right. The Apostle says here, His Word is not in us. How not to deal with sin, my dear brother and sister and soul? being tempted and following the lying ways of our flesh. Self-protection is always going to drive us and going to take us to try to lie about the reality of sin.

What a terrifying thing that is because there's going to be one day in which all the books are going to be open. We're not going to be able to hold all the truth and to keep all the truth. There's going to be one day in which all the books are going to be open and we are going to have to give an account before the One who knows all things. Why am I one Why do I want to deal with my guilt in such a way? So I ask you, my dear brother, sister and soul, if your conscience is testifying to you that there is sin in you, the best thing to do is to come to Christ.

Why would you lie to yourself? Why would you deceive yourself? Why would you try to fix things on your own strength and in your own way? Why would you choose the path of hypocrisy? Why would you choose the path of deceiving yourself and trying to make yourself believe that that is not a sin, that that is okay, it's not too bad.

I've seen other people and they're worse than me, so I'm okay. Why would you choose that path of lying to yourself? The word of the Lord testifies from within us. And the Lord is always good. That when He does it, it's for His grace.

He doesn't want to just leave us with guilt upon our shoulders. He doesn't want to point us to our sin just to say, you're guilty. You're guilty and there's nothing that you can do. There's a problem with you and nobody is going to be able to fix it. He's not like that.

We are like that. We are like that. He is not like that. If he brings grace, the grace of the Spirit that convicts us, this is what our purpose is. And you know what our purpose is?

That we confess our sin. Because that's the way that we deal with our sin. Point number three, how do we deal with our sin? Verse nine of chapter one. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Brother and sister, what is the way that we should not follow to deal with our sin? The way of lies, that is of our flesh, lying to ourselves, being hypocrites. What is the way that we should follow when it comes to dealing with our sin? The way of truth. The way of light.

the way of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the way, He's the truth, He's the life. No one comes to the Father except through the person of Jesus Christ. Why would you do that to yourself? Why would you carry the burden of guilt upon your shoulders?

Why would you try to deal with your sin on your own? Why would you try just to hide yourself within you? There is a way of freedom, and the name is Jesus Christ. And He says, if we confess our sins, literally, If we speak the same word, if the Spirit of God convicts us of our sin and says, you have lied, you have committed adultery in your heart, you have stolen, you have been captures, you have done this. If the Spirit of the Lord convicts us of our sin, the best thing that we can do and the wise men will do is, I am a sinner and I confess my sin.

I agree with what you're saying, Spirit of God. Any other response that justifies themselves, it falls into the category of lying. I have no sin. I have not committed any sin. There is no sin within me.

I'm OK to continue to do my sin, and I'm going to simply say that I know you. Any other alternative or response is a response of lying, and in essence and in nature, satanic. Because who is the father of lies? Satan. Brother and sister, confession of sin.

That which is painful for the flesh, it is refreshing for the spirit. That which is difficult for the carnality of our hearts, it is refreshing and liberating for the one who has the spirit of Christ. When a person comes to God and confess their sins, you know what is the promise? That he's just and faithful to forgive your sin and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. That's the way of truth.

How is man going to deal with his own sin? We cannot deal with our own sinning, our own brother and sister. We can only do it in the person of Jesus Christ. He's the only one who can forgive our sins. He's the only one who can liberate us from the burden of our guilt.

He's the only one who can take away the stains of our souls. How are we going to change the color of our hearts or the color of our skin? We cannot. He can remove the guilt that is within us. That's why the apostle says, my little children, if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.

And he himself is the propitiation of our sins. And not of our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world. The way of truth is this. Come to Jesus Christ. Confess your sin in the presence of Christ.

Do not be so prideful to keep your sin on your own and try to deal with your sin on your own. Don't be so prideful to try to hide your sin, but rather, give up and surrender to the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. That He says, I am the only one who is able to deal with that sin. I am the only one who is able to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. I am the one who has conquered, and because I have conquered, I am now seated at the right hand of the Father on high, and I'm the advocate of my people.

And the Bible says here, not that He was the propitiation of our sins, but that He is the propitiation of our sins. Because He lives, we shall live tomorrow. Because He is living, and at the right hand of the Father, is that we can have certainty that we are not supposed to deal with our sins on our own. There's someone who died, and there's someone who is resurrected, and there's someone who is alive. Brother and sister, my dear soul, many times we have said this from this pulpit, and what more will be said?

The only way that we should go to seek refuge with the problem of our sin is Jesus Christ. Don't be tempted to run to your own, to your affections, to your experience, to your morality. The church is certainly not going to cleanse you from your sins. Your friends are not going to be able to help you with the problem of your sin. The world certainly will not help you with the problem of your sin.

There's only one who is able to help you with the problem of your sin, and his name is Jesus Christ. Come to him. Repent of your sin and believe that He is able to forgive you and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. What is the importance of the opinion of the man inside of your head? None.

What is the opinion of people around you when it comes to your heart? None. What really matters is if you are in terms of peace with God through the person of Jesus Christ. And He is the only one who can restore your soul to that position. What is the way that we are supposed to deal with our sin?

Only at the feet of the One who is true and who is the Lord Jesus Christ. How many times have we said this from this pulpit? Many. How many times have we said similar truths from this pulpit? Many.

This sermon is going to finish, and tonight you're going to go home and you're going to start your week, and you're going to see how many times you're going to be tempted to deal with your sin in your own strength and lying at times to yourself, brother and sister. If you believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is building up His Church through the preaching of the Word and the coming together of the saints as He has established in the Scriptures, at that moment, remind yourself that the worst thing that you can do is to lie to yourself about your sin. Do not follow the ways of hypocrisy. Do not follow the ways of denial. Do not follow the ways of self-righteousness.

But at that point, when the Spirit of God convicts you of your sin, rejoice in the grace that the Lord has given you in showing you your own righteousness, and come to the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the only way that we can have a clean conscience. That is the only one that we can rest. He provides for our souls We're not going to find that in the world, brother and sister. We're not going to find that in our work.

We're not going to find that in our bank account. We're not going to find that in the plans that we have for the future. The only way that the turmoil of our souls and the conflict of our spirits and the sadness from within, the only way that that can be solved is at the feet of Jesus Christ. You want to be the greatest theologian of all time? Just teach yourself this.

It's everything about Him and not about yourself. So, I say to you, my dear soul that is within the sound of my voice, if your conscience is testifying to you that you are a sinner, if your conscience is testifying to you that you have broken God's commandment, that you have lied, that you have stolen, that you have committed adultery, that you have looked at pornography, that you have given yourself to whatever sin, now I'm calling you and imploring you, please come to Christ, repent of your sin, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, because this is the only way that you can be forgiven and that you can be saved. And for you, my dear brother and sister, Be strong in the Lord. And the way that you're strong in the Lord is by dying to self and being weak in your own ways so that you will be able to come to Christ and to see that everything is about Him. And if there's anyone who is going to successfully deal with your sin, it is the Lord Jesus Christ.

And he always says, come to me, all who are weary and heavy-legged, and I will give you rest. Come to me, he says, come to me, and I will give you rest. and the Lord Jesus give us the grace that is needed for us to have our eyes on Him and not in us, and that only one soul within the sanctum of my bosom will rejoice in the pleasures that are found at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ when we surrender to ourselves, and we know that everything is about Christ Jesus. Amen? Amen.

Let us pray.