(Text Only)
Title: The River
I find it very interesting today that the world seems to be very interested in the pursuit of truth, but also simultaneously against any discussion of sin.
Look at what John writes at the end of Chapter one.
(Read passage)
- Without an accurate understanding of our present sin,
we cannot obtain the Truth
v.8
Verse eight seems rather simple. For the mature Christian, it certainly is. Part of the truth is knowing your own depravity. More of truth is knowing the extent of that depravity when measured against a holy and perfect God. Even more truth is revealed when we begin to understand just how wretched our sin is to our God.
Why doesn’t the world like to talk about sin? (Take answers)
Why have so many churches stopped talking about sin? (Take answers)
Why is it not just necessary, but essential that we talk about sin?
We must know how desperately we are in need of a Jesus Christ if ever we are to turn our lives fully and completely over to him.
Bill Null and the Assault Rifle.
Bill, if I were to offer to sell you an AK-47 right now, on a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you want to buy my AK-47?
What if I took you shooting at a range, and you discovered that you rather liked that gun, what would your number be now?
What if, as you were examining the gun, there was a clasp of thunder in the sky, and Aliens descended onto our streets and starting shooting people with lasers? Would your number change? Why? (The need for such an instrument is now paramount.)
I think it’s so funny that the world searches for “truth.” What need does the world have for truth? None, really.
But if the world understands sin, then the need for truth, that becomes something much more important than merely being an intellectual hobby, doesn’t it?
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.
If we minimize our life’s sin, we deceive ourselves.
If we, as I have often done, think we have a particular sin “liked” or “beaten” and then underestimate not only it’s power to lure us back, but also the damage that can do, we deceive ourselves.
Show of hands: Anyone in this room WANT to be delusional?
Then be real about your sin.
Be real about how serious it is.
Be real about the lure of sin.
Be real about the power of sin.
Mostly, be real about the consequence of sin.
I can’t definitively judge whether another person is saved. But I get very nervous about people, pastors, and churches that call themselves “Christian” and don’t teach intensely about the reality of sin.
You want to know where someone stands? Ask them this: What is sin?
II. Without an accurate understanding of confession, we cannot obtain cleansing.
V. 9
Thank God, there is a verse nine!
If we ended the discussion only with the reality of our sin, it would leave ample rope for hanging ourselves. But, fortunately, and to the Glory of God, John goes on to remind us that despite the wicked reality of sin, God is faithful to forgive those who confess.
Again, how can the world confess to God what they do not believe is wrong?
Why then, has all talk of sin left our evangelical outreach? Why are we all about getting people in and making them feel good, when there is nothing for them to feel good about.
Let’s say you and I are standing on the bank of a great river. Let’s say that I told you, I swim in this river all the time.
And you respond, “Really? That river has an incredible strong current. I know several people who have drown swimming in that river, please reconsider jumping in!”
And then let’s suppose I jumped in anyway. And to my surprise I struggled against that current and soon found myself drowning. If you don’t throw me a life preserver because you don’t want to offend me, I die, because of your courtesy. Thanks.
Or if you throw me a fishing line, and on the end of it, was a nice warm latte. I die, because of your desire to be warm and fuzzy, instead of telling me the truth.
Sometimes we even throw the life jacket, we throw the truth, we share the message, but there’s no rope on the end of that line. If we are left to kick to the shore, most of the time we don’t make it. Oh sure, we live, and given time and circumstance, we may find ourselves on the shore, but when we get there, are we happy with the person who threw us a jacket and tied to it no line? No.
We’re mad. “Hey, I appreciate that you saved my life, but couldn’t you have also tied a rope and pulled me in to solid ground, so that I could walk on solid ground with you? You made me feel like saving my life was more important than establishing me, so that I could have the opportunity to save others.”
Now look at your feet. Look at them. We are all at the river. Some of us are drowning, and some of us are on the shore. My question is this: if you are drowning, are you too prideful to ask for a line? And if you on the shore watching people swim, knowing they are about to drown, are you, too afraid, or too intimated, to give them what is needed to save their lives?
1. Explain the reality of Sin.
2. Explain the reality of confession.
3. Remember your past
III. Without an accurate understanding of our past, we cannot claim we know the Word.
V. 10
Some of us have been on the shore so long, we forget that we were once drowning ourselves. How many people here came to Christ because one or more others led you to him? (Show of hands)
How many of you came to Christ the first time you were told what Truth was?
John outwardly rejects the notion that we are, or were ever, without sin. We are not innocent, we are saved. If we are made innocent, it isn’t by our own action, it isn’t even by our own choosing, lest we should boast. It is exclusively, rather, ONLY, by the grace of God.
You know who the most ineffective fishers of men are?
The one’s who don’t want to get anywhere near the river.
Yes we see them drowning, and we say, “Swim, swim here, to this shore and I’ll help pull you out. But make sure you come to my shore, and not that other shore, or not the shore a few feet down river, because those people like to get too wet.
I’m all about forgiving people of their pasts.
And the old Biblical saying, “Forgive and forget” can anyone tell me where that is in scripture? Anyone? (Keys to my car?)
It’s not there. I agree with half of it.
Three reasons to forgive others their past:
1. The Lord did.
2. You want them to forgive your past.
3. We are judged not by merit, but by faith.
Three reasons to remember your own past:
1. It glorifies God when you know what you were brought from.
2. It humbles you to be reminded of how quickly your past can take hold of you.
3. It causes you to have an ability to relate to others who come from similar pasts.
If you will oblige me one more river analogy. Let’s say I’m drowning, and I have a choice. There are two people calling to me, attempting to save me from drowning. One is a nice looking person, they mean well, perhaps they can help you.
But then lets say the other person if Michael Phelps. With a life jacket. And a rowboat. And SCUBA gear. Who are you choosing?
The one that you believe has been in the water.
We are not called to be whitewashed tombs. I hate my sin. I hate it. But God has used even the tragedy of my addiction to save others. Sometimes I feel like I drown daily, yet even that, under the auspices of a Sovereign Lord, has a purpose.
Let us pray.