Harvest Pointe Christian Church, Milford Ohio is a non-denominational Christian Church (Church of Christ) on the Eastside of Cincinnati OH

Fear of Disappointing God | Series: Fearless | 09-27-09

Fear of Disappointing God
Series:  Fearless
Jeremiah 31:34

  I. We are born with a sin weakness.
 II. We are born again with a sin weakness.
III. We are loved and accepted.
IV. We are to grow.

Full Text 

Have you ever felt like you disappointed God?  Have you ever wondered if there was a limit to His forgiveness?

Maybe for the umpteenth time you are asking God to forgive you for losing your temper.

Maybe once again you caught yourself gossiping.

Perhaps you just couldn't resist that too much food --- again.

Is there a point at which God finally says, "That was one time too many!"?  Is there any hope for us?  Why are we like that?

I. We are born with a sin weakness.

First of all, we need to have an understanding of sin.  To most people in our society sin is a vague moral thing.  Because most people no longer believe in absolutes, they twist their concept of sin to match their world view.

For instance, popular thought is that homosexual activity is OK but to say that homosexuality is wrong is considered hate speech and sinful.  In other words, sin is whatever the intellectual elitists deem it to be and it can be constantly changing.

Now, if based on the evidence, you believe the Bible is the Word of God, then you will have a different world view.  To begin with, there is an unchanging definition of sin.

I John 3:4 states, "Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness."

In the context we are talking about God's law.  Sin is breaking God's law.  And in the Bible, sin is always breaking a specific command of God.  It is not a vague, constantly changing moral thing.

Back to our illustration of how homosexuality is viewed today.  There are people today who will tell you that the New Testament does not condemn homosexuality.  That it was only condemned in the Old Testament and this is evidence of the evolution of our religion.  It never ceases to amaze me how quickly people will believe a lie without ever checking it out to see if it is true.

Romans chapter 1 gives a picture of what happens when a culture turns its back on God.  It is the same pattern my generation has watched happen in America.  After talking about how the Gospel is the power of God for salvation, Paul tells about what happens when a society turns their backs on God and rejects Him.

He begins in Verse 18 by warning, "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth…"

And he goes on to tell about how they began by rejecting God as creator of the heavens and the earth and began worshipping the creation.  This is what we see happened with the forcing of evolution and humanism upon our nation, even though the scientific evidence is simply not there.

And because these people rejected God, it says God gave them over, He turned them loose. And casual sex became the norm.  And in America, we had our sexual revolution.

And because the society continued to reject God
it says God gave them over again, He turned them loose some more.

Verse 26.  "26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion."

Then Paul gives a long list of sins, from murder to disobedience to parents.  You cannot read Romans 1 and believe homosexuality is OK according to the Bible.  Sin is not some vague, moral, constantly changing thing.  Sin is breaking one of God's commands.

So, how did we get into this sin mess?  When God created Adam and Eve they were sinless.  How cool would that be!  No sin!  Innocent!  Pure and fresh!  God had only given them 1 command:  Do not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

But you know what happened.  Adam and Eve broke that specific command of God.  Adam and Eve sinned and sin entered our world.  And along with sin came
all the suffering and garbage we face every day.

And the fact of the matter is, you and I are part of the sin problem.  After Adam and Eve sinned, every one of their descendants had what is called a "bent", an inclination to sin.

Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 53:6, "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way…" 

Each of us has at least one weakness, and, normally, more than one.  There is an area where Satan can get to us.  He's a specialist in guerilla warfare.  When you least expect it, he strikes.  He hits you in your weakness.  You start out pure and innocent.  But then Satan begins to work on you.

You are in a store.  Your mother is busy putting the groceries on the counter.  You see some candy that you know you shouldn't touch.  But Satan whispers, "It tastes so good!  Nobody is paying any attention to you.  Just pop it in your mouth!"  You eye the candy and you eye your mother. You know you shouldn't, but you yield.  You grab the candy, quietly unwrap it, and pop it in your mouth. 

That candy tasted so good, but something is wrong.  You are no longer sinless.  You have broken one of God's commands.  You have lost any hope of Heaven.  You have separated yourself from God.  What you thought was wonderful was in reality, devastating.  By all rights, you are doomed.  But that's where God's love steps in.

Let's put Isaiah 53 in context.  This whole chapter is a prophesy about Jesus.  Isaiah wrote 700 years before Jesus came.  But look at the wonderful promise.

Isaiah 53:5-6.  "5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.  6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

God sent Jesus into the world to take our punishment when He went to the cross.  When we accept Him as Lord and Savior and yield our lives to Him, His blood cleanses us of all our sins.  And when that happens,
Jesus says an exciting thing happens.

There was a man named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling body that ultimately crucified Jesus.  He was not politically correct.  He secretly respected Jesus.

One night he snuck into where Jesus was staying and began a discussion with Him.

John 3:3-6. 
"3In reply Jesus declared, 'I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.'
4'How can a man be born when he is old?' Nicodemus asked. 'Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!'
5Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.'"

When your sins are forgiven you are born again!!!  Once again you are sinless.  You are pure and innocent.

Peter said it like this in I Peter 1:23.  "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God."

You've been born again!  Everything is new!  Peter uses words like "imperishable" and "enduring".  This will last forever!  When we return to God, He welcomes us back into His family.

In Luke 15 Jesus told a parable about each of us.  He said a father had a son that demanded his inheritance before Dad was dead.  Talk about nerve!

He took everything to a distant country and squandered his entire inheritance on wild living.  A famine struck.  He was hungry.  So he took a job feeding pigs.  Pigs were detestable to the Jews.  He was so hungry he wished he could eat what he was feeding the hogs.

Finally, he came to his senses.  He thought about home and how his father's employees had food to spare.  So he decided to swallow his pride and see if Dad would give him a job.

Luke 15:20-24.  "20So he got up and went to his father.
But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. …
22…The father said,… 23'Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate."

We all have an inclination to sin.  God has offers us so much, but we don't appreciate it  We squander it.  We throw it all away through sin.

But when we come to our senses and turn back to Him,
He welcomes us with open arms and celebrates!  No matter how far from Him we travel, He is always watching and waiting to welcome us home.

But then we come to stage 2.
II. We are born again with a sin weakness.

Your sins have been forgiven and you are excited about your new life in Christ, but then shortly after,
You're being sociable, and then, you find you've drank too much.
Your car unexpectedly breaks down and before you realize it, you've taken it out on your spouse.
You're about to get in trouble.  Before you know you're doing it, you've lied.

What happened?  You were sinless and pure.  But you've blown it again.  You broke one of God's commands.  If that has happened to you, join the club.  We all have blown it.

The Bible calls Moses "the friend of God".  He led the Israelite nation out of slavery in Egypt to the borders of the land of Israel.  God gave him the 10 commandments and all the laws of the Old Testament.

But there were times Moses blew it.  Moses had a temper.  One time Moses took credit for one of God's miracles.  Moses, like you and me, blew it.  He broke specific commands of God.

The Bible calls King David a man after God's own heart.  David was the greatest king of Israel and expanded the borders.  He kept idol worship out of the land. 

But there were times when David blew it.  Murder and adultery.  David, like you and me, blew it.  He broke specific commands of God.

The Apostle Paul was awesome!  He was brilliant and athletic.  At one point he was wealthy and powerful.  But he gave up the wealth and power to serve Jesus.  He traveled the world starting Churches.  He wrote much of the New Testament.  He had the miraculous powers of the Holy Spirit.

But there were times when Paul blew it.  Paul, like you and me, broke specific commands of God AFTER he was a Christian and an apostle.

Everyone of us as Christians has a battle going on inside of us.  We love God and want to serve Him.  But we all have the inclination to sin passed down from Adam and Eve.  Listen as Paul describes it in his own life.  And as we read, see if you have ever felt this way.

Romans 7:15.  "15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.

Ever feel that way?  You love God and want to obey Him, but you just keep falling on your face!  We have an inclination to sin.

Romans 7:21. "21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members."

Have you ever had that war going on with in you? You battle to do what is right, but too often you lose?

In Verse 24 Paul cries out, 24What a wretched man I am!   Who will rescue me from this body of death?"

Who will rescue me?  I'm dying out here!  Even though we are born again, we still have an inclination to sin.  We still struggle against sin.  So, is there any hope?

Verse 25.  25Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!  …"

Our hope is still in Jesus Christ.

III. We are still loved and accepted.

Romans 8:1-2.  "1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death."

"There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!"  No Condemnation!  Once you are in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation!  You are free!!!

Our freedom in Christ was planned by God from the beginning.  Predicting the New Covenant that God would make with mankind in Jesus, Jeremiah wrote in Jeremiah 31:34, "…For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

OK.  You might be sitting back and thinking, "That's all logical and fine in my head, but how do I get that clean feeling down on a gut level?  Is there something I should do?"  Yes, there is.

I John 1:9 has the solution.  It's pretty complicated, to follow along.  "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

That's it!  When you realize you've blown it, just ask God for forgiveness.  It's that simple.  God promised He would remember our sins no more.  Believe Him!  Trust Him!  Put it behind you!

I am convinced we humans have a harder time forgiving ourselves than God does.  Do you believe Jeremiah 31:34, that God will remember your sins no more?

If you do, you won't have a problem with the question we began with.  Is there a limit to how many times God will forgive?  Will there ever be a time when He says "That last sin was one too many?"  Of course not.  God remembers your sins no more.  He is not keeping track.  He is not holding the volume against you.

I John 4:18 tells us, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."

"Perfect love drives out fear."  You don't have to be afraid of God's grace ever running out.

I John 5:13.  "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."

You may know it.  You can be certain.  Cast out your fears.

One more thought before we go.
IV. We are to grow.

There is a popular thinking today that since God accepts me as I am, I can stay the way I am.  Yes, God does accept you the way you are.  But He does not want you to stay the way you are.  Jesus Christ wants to transform your life.  He wants to make a difference in your life.

In II Peter 1:4 Peter wrote that God wants you to "…Participate in the divine nature".  That's becoming like Jesus.  You take on His nature.

And then he says God wants you to "escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.  "The more we become like Jesus the less we should sin.

Verse 5.  "5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love."

We don't give our lives to Jesus and suddenly become perfect.  It is a growing process, one step at a time, adding to your faith, goodness.  God does not expect perfection.  He knows we have an inclination to sin.  But God wants you growing and sinning less and less.

And the result of doing that is found in Verse 8.  "For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

If you want to be an effective, productive Christian, you will possess these qualities Peter says, "in increasing measure".  Again, it is a growth.

And the alternative?  Peter says in Verse 9, "But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins."

Picture yourself suddenly blind, groping around and running into things.  Imagine the pain in your shins from running into things.  Hear the cracking of your toes when you kick things.  In your mind's eye, feel the throbbing of your head from bumping into things.

If you are not growing to become more and more like Christ, you are spiritually blind and are in for a lot of pain in this life.

One last passage.  Romans 6:1-4.  "1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."

God wants you to live a new life!!

If you have never been buried with Christ in baptism and you believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and are ready to accept His forgiveness today, giving your life to Him, come forward when we sing and we'll help you confess your belief and be buried with Him in baptism.

Or if you've already done that and would like to place your membership with us, come forward as we stand and sing.