Welcome!
Monday, January 17, 2011
Today: Stains of sin on the saints!
Passage: Ps 50
15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
16 But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to declare My statutes,
Or take My covenant in your mouth,
17 Seeing you hate instruction and cast My words behind you? (Ps 50:15-17, NKJV)
God loves to hear the voice of His saints
He will listen to the cry of repentance from a sinner
But there is one thing that God hates: the praises of the wicked-the ones who live in carnality and come to church and say “Lord, we praise you…..”
God is asking them: “What right have you to declare My statutes, Or take My covenant in your mouth, 17 Seeing you hate instruction and cast My words behind you? (Ps 50: 15-17, NKJV)
We see an instance in the book of Samuel, where King Saul was trying to hide his sins and greet Prophet Samuel, without feeling sorry for his sins at all!
13 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD.”
14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” (1 Sam 15: 13-14, NKJV)
Saul had preserved the “best of Amalekites” for himself, against the word of the Lord
When we come to Christ, he does not want us to keep anything with us that he does not like
One of the things Christ hates the most is hidden sins
When we have sin in us and we act like “I am O.K”, Christ cannot be with us
In the legal/court system, you have seen that it is better to admit your mistakes than to hide it and then have them find it out!
God’s system works in a similar way. If we confess our sins to God, he will be more than happy to forgive us. If we hide, the punishment will be severe
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. (1 John 1:8-10, NKJV)
The two groups of people (we see here) who say they have no sin are:
- People who say they have never sinned (past)
- People who say they have no sin (present)
We see these people every day or at least every Sunday
Most people born and brought up in Christian homes belong to the first category
They never felt a need for repentance! They take God for granted
The second group is those who do not feel guilty after sinning
Instead of counting it as a sin, they say “this is something most people do; so this is no sin, and cannot be sin!”
God has defined sin already. He does not wait to define sin based on how many people do it!
In a world of competition, many are caught up with “who wins?” mentality
In most cases, the devil wins
We better ask us: “What did God originally call me for?”
“What am I doing, to fulfill God’s call upon my life?”
Paul responded to God’s call like this:
15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. (Gal 1: 15-16, NIV)
Do you believe God set you apart from your mothers’ womb, for a certain purpose?
If so, what are you doing about it?
May God continue His work in you and through you
Amen!
BG