Sermon Tone Analysis

Hercules was perhaps the greatest of the heros of Greek mythology.

He was the strongest man on earth.

Besides tremendous physical strength, he had great self-confidence and considered himself equal to the gods.

If you know the story of Hercules, you know that he was given twelve difficult and dangerous tasks to accomplish in order to atone for his guilt at having killed his own wife and children.

These tasks became know as The Twelve Labors of Hercules.

The hero's fifth task was to clean the Augean Stables in one day.

King Augeas, the son of the sun god Helios, had great herds of cattle whose stables had not been cleaned for over thirty years.

Hercules accomplished the task by diverting two mighty rivers and redirecting them toward the barn.

The rivers flowed through with a great rush and the barn was sparkling when he was finished.

The ancient Greek myths sometimes provide us good illustrations of biblical truths.

Hercules’ fifth labor reminds us that confession of our sin directs the rivers of God’s grace and mercy through our hearts and cleanses them of the filth that builds up.

Unconfessed sin, like the manure of the Augean Stables, builds up in the believer’s heart, layer after layer creating an unsightly mess and releasing a huge stink until it is mucked-out by our confession and repentance.

Our central text for the morning is 1 John 1:9—/“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”/

(1 John 1:9, NIV84)

John writes this passage because there were those who, though they professed to know God, were spreading some really bad theology about the nature of sin and how a believer should deal with sin.

* Some said that they were above sin and no longer sinned.

* Some said that sin didn't matter.

* Still others said that they didn't have a sin nature anymore.

John refuted all three and calls us to deal Scripturally with our sin.

He does this by addressing the nature of God as light and then calls us to walk in that light.

He then describes how to do this.

Walking in the light means regularly confessing our sins to God that we might experience his cleansing.

Three points this morning: 1) The Purpose of Confession, 2) The Power of Confession, and 3) The Promise of Confession.

!

I. THE PURPOSE OF CONFESSION —"If we confess our sins… “

#. the Apostle tells us that we cannot walk in darkness while claiming to have fellowship with God

#. if we do, we’re living a lie

#. walking in the light means that we will have a Biblical understanding about sin

#. the Apostle tells his readers that if we confess our sins ...

#. in that simple statement he is attempting to help his readers—and us—correctly deal with the sin in our lives

!! A. THE INCORRECT WAYS PEOPLE DEAL WITH SIN

#. 1ST, people deal incorrectly with sin through compartmentalized faith

* /“If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by 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, purifies us from all sin.”/ (1 John 1:6–7, NIV84)

#. one of the false teachings John is having to correct is the idea that if one knows and believes in the right things, that they have a relationship with God regardless of the way they are living

#. how does this attitude toward sin manifest itself?

#. this is the person who says, /“I’m not a bad person.

I live a pretty good life.

I believe in God, but my life is my life, and no preacher or organized religion has a right to tell me how to live.

Besides there are a lot of people who do worse things than I do.”/

* ILLUS Their motto is, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”

The problem is many Americans are living their faith this way.

When you compartmentalize your faith the slogan becomes “What happens at church, stays at church” or “What happens away from church, stays away from church.”

Many Christians are living out their faith only Sundays at church.

And when they don’t feel like being a Christian, they stuff their church selves away until Sunday when they need to be good again.

#. these folks claim to have fellowship with God, yet walk in darkness

#. are you ready for the Biblical truth?

#. if you claim to be in fellowship with God, but your life is characterized by an unregenerate walking in unrepentant sin, John says, You’re a liar—you really don’t know God despite your protests to the contrary

#. 2nd, people deal incorrectly with sin through spiritual perfectionism

* /“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”/

(1 John 1:8–9, NIV84)

#. a second false teaching the Apostle John is dealing with is the idea that once we have a right relationship with God, we will be free from all sin

#. how does this attitude toward sin manifest itself?

#. this is the person who says, /“I’ve been washed clean by the blood of the Lamb.

All my sin has been atoned for so I never worry about my sin.

I know that when I do sin, that God takes care of it.”/

* ILLUS.

Their motto is, “It’s easier to get forgiveness than permission.”

#. the problem with this incorrect view of sin is that the theology is correct, but the resulting behavior leads to the error of antinomianism—a practical disregard for the law of God and a callous lack of concern for violating it

#. the Apostle Paul had to deal with this attitude when he wrote the Christians at Rome

* /“What shall we say, then?

Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?

By no means!

We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

We 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.”/

(Romans 6:1–4, NIV84)

#. are you ready for the Biblical truth?

#. positionally, your justification in Christ has atoned for—all your sins, past, present, and future—they are indeed covered by the blood of Christ

#. practically, your sanctification in Christ requires continued repentance and confession of sin as you strive to conform your life to the life of Jesus

* /“As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”/

(1 Peter 1:14–16, NIV84)

#. the mark of being a new creature in Christ is not a rosy self-concept

#. it is brokenness for remaining sin mingled with a joyful confidence in the super-abounding grace of God in Christ

#. 3rd, people deal incorrectly with sin through sin through denial

* /"If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”/

(1 John 1:10, NIV84)

#. a third false teaching the Apostle John is dealing with is the idea we really have not sinned at all

#.

how does this attitude toward sin manifest itself?

#. this is the person who says, /“I’m not a bad person.

I live a pretty good life.

You know, there are a lot of really bad people in the world.

Compared to them, I’m a pretty good person.

When it comes right down to it, most people are pretty good at heart.”/

* ILLUS.

Their motto is, Sin?

What sin?

I ain’t got no stink’n sin.

What we’ve done is merely amended our language in regard to sin.

Many folks will admit to committing “errors of judgment” or “making mistakes” or “struggling with inner demons”, but God forbid we call it what the Bible calls it—SIN.

#. tragically, our society's reluctance to label anything as wrong, bad, or evil has resulted in a generation of adults who lack the mental categories to think ethically

#. are you ready for the Biblical truth?

#. everyone ever born is a really /bad/ person

#.

I’m a sinner

#.

You’re a sinner

#. we’re all born in original sin—meaning we are born with a fallen nature, bent toward sinfulness that manifests itself in actual “sins” very early in life

* /“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”/

(Isaiah 64:6, NIV84)

* ILLUS.