Pleasing God, Part 2

Amen. You know, when you read the Bible in Psalm 137, it says this: If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget her skill. May my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth. If I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy, there is no prettier sight in all the world than to ascend up to the city of Jerusalem. Going through the passageway of the mountains, coming under the bypass, and then seeing Jerusalem for the very first time.

It is quite a scene to be able to see the golden dome there on Mount Moriah and to realize that everything in the world centers around what took place on Mount Calvary. 13 months from now, we're going to go to Jerusalem. We're going to go to Israel. We're going to go to Jordan. We want you to be a part of that trip with us in 2015. I know it's just 2014. But if you don't start planning now, you're not going to be ready to go in February of 2015. And so we want you to know about that right now.

And in February, we'll talk a little bit more about it, but we want you to be a part of that trip with us that you might understand what that land is all about and what God is doing in that land today. Let me pray with you.

Father, we thank you. For today, the opportunity we have to study your word. We are truly a blessed people to be able to hold in our hands the living and abiding word of God. And today we pray that you would open our hearts and minds to receive those things that you want for us this day. In Jesus' name, amen. Having just exited 2013 and entering 2014, last week we challenge you to look at Psalm 116, verse number 12.

Which says, What shall I render to the Lord for all of his benefits toward me? Having looked back on 2013, we realize that God has blessed us in incredible ways. And so, what is my response to that? What do I render to the Lord for all of his benefits toward me? Not just physical benefits, but spiritual benefits as well. All the things that God does, what do I do for him? Well, the answer is found in Revelation 4, verse number 11, because there the Bible tells us that we were created for God's pleasure.

We were created to please God. And so, if I understand what the Bible says, I realize that I was created, I exist.

To please my God, Paul understood that. So in 2 Corinthians 5:9, he says, I make it my ambition to please him who is invisible. His whole ambition in life was to please God. That should be our ambition. In fact, Galatians 1. 10 tells us that Paul was such into pleasing God that he would not seek the pleasure of man. He was not a man pleaser. He was a God pleaser. In fact, he said it this way: if I cease to please God and then seek to please man, then I for. What it means to be a bonds of Christ. I don't understand my identity.

I don't understand why I exist. I've been saved to please my God. And so his whole life was about pleasing God, honoring God, magnifying God, doing what he did for God. That should be our life as well. So, as we embark on this new year, the challenge for us is to live a life that pleases God. The Bible says in Psalms in Proverbs chapter 16, verse number 7.

If a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. That's a great verse. That's a great verse for your marriage. Did you know that? Because sometimes we look at our spouse as our enemy.

So, if a man's ways please the Lord, if you are pleasing to the Lord, you'll make even that enemy in your bedroom at peace with you because you are pleasing to the Lord. You know, we need to live a life that pleases God. The question is, how do you do that? Well, that's what we're looking at. We're going to look at it.

Today, we're going to look at it next Sunday, then next Wednesday, and then the following Sunday. This all began this past summer when I was asked to speak to our young people during a week of their camp. So I talked to them about what it means to please the Lord. And I told them that I would be talking to you, their parents, about it in the new year. So, being true to my word, that's what I'm doing. Of course, it's a little longer, a little bit more detailed than it was with them. But it all began back in June when I had a chance to talk to our young people because I wanted them to live a life that was pleasing to the Lord.

How do you do that? Number one, we told you last week, by proclaiming the message of the cross. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2, verse number 2, these words. He says, I am determined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and him crucified. Knowing the person Christ and what I am to proclaim, His crucifixion. That was his ministry. 1 Corinthians 1, verses 18 to 23, tell us that when you preach the message of the cross. It pleases God. That which is foolishness to the world is the power of God unto salvation to those who are perishing.

And so we preach the gospel. We preach the message of the cross. We told you last week, because it was determined in eternity. He was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Revel 13, verse number 8. It was delineated in prophecy. Genesis:, Genesis chapter 22, Psalm 22, Luke 24, Christ says.

To the two men on the road to Emmaus, do you not know all the things that the prophets had spoken about concerning the Christ, how he must suffer? These things and die because it was all about the cross. So that which was determined in eternity. Was delineated in prophecy and declared by deity. Mark chapter 8, Mark chapter 9, Mark chapter 10, speaking of the necessity of the cross, the certainty of the cross. The brutality of the cross, the victory of the cross. Christ came to preach the cross. The Gospel of John, seven times, he refers to that hour for which he came.

He came to d. He was born to live, that he might die, that he might rise again, because there needed to be a way for you to have your sins obliterated, forgiven. Your sins atone for. So the Bible says in 1 John 3:5, Jesus appeared for this purpose that he might remove your sins.

Well, how is he going to do that? He had to die as a substitutionary sacrifice for your sins and mine. 1 John 3:8 says that Jesus Christ appeared that he might destroy the works of the devil. How does he do that? He does it in fulfillment of Genesis chapter 3, verse number 15, when he crushed the serpent's head. He was the victor over sin. He was the victor over death by virtue of his death and resurrection. We proclaim the message of the cross. It was declared by deity because it was delineated in prophecy, because it was determined in eternity, and it was demonstrated at Calvary.

Mount Moriah. It was there that Christ died. In John 19:3, he says it is finished. What 's finished? The work of redemption for the whole purpose. That's why he came. He came to die. So when you proclaim the message of the cross. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verses 18 and 23 say, This is what pleases the Lord, because that's what the message that Jesus preached. He said, If any man come up to me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. That is the gospel message. So when we preach the gospel message as Christ wants us to preach it, It's pleasing to Him.

When we dilute that message, when we move away from that message, then it's not pleasing to the Lord. And so by proclaiming the message of the cross, it pleases God. Number two, by living a life of faith.

Hebrews 11:6, without faith, it is impossible to please God. It's not that you can sort of please him. It is impossible to please him. You must learn to live a life of faith. What is faith? Faith is believing in what God has already said. So, by living a life of faith, I live in obedience to what God has already declared in His Word. And so, last week we talked to you what? About. Faith's initiation or faith's inauguration. It all begins with God. 2 Peter chapter 1, verse number 1. Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 and 9.

Acts chapter 13 talks to us about the fact that faith is something that you receive. It's something that God gives you. Faith's initiation is always commenced with Christ. And then we talk to you about faith's I forgot. Expedition. Faith's expedition. Somebody was here last week. Yeah. Praise be to God. Someone was not only here, they listened and took notes. Okay, faith's expedition. That is. He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him. But we know that Romans 3 says that no man seeks after God.

But if God initiates the faith, then initiates you seeking after him. So we looked at faith's initiation. Faith's expedition, and then faith's reception. How was it received? Romans 10:1 through the revelation of Christ. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by a word about the Christ. It comes through the revelation of Christ. That's faith's reception. And then we went from there to look at faith.

What's the next one? Face conviction. Boy, this is so good. I don't have to look at my notes. I got people here who know. Face conviction. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Faith is a conviction. It is a certainty. It's a belief in what God has said. I am so assured of what He has said, I know for certain it will come to. Past. It speaks of the stability of faith. And then we looked at faith's manifestation. Hebrews 11 is all about how faith was manifested in Abel, in No.

In Abraham, in Joseph, in Moses, the work of faith, the worship of faith, the word of faith. It's all about faith and how it's manifested in our life. Faith is the root, work are the fruit. There 's always a manifestation of your faith through your life. And those people in Hebrews 11. They could hear what God said when God spoke to them. But we have this living and abiding word of God. We have what God has said in written form. We hold it in our hands. We have more. To see and more to understand than those early patriarchs ever did, and yet they lived by faith and they did not live by what they saw.

And so that's faith's manifestation. And then we looked at faith's continuation, it perseveres. You can go back to 2 Peter 1, verse number 5, or 1 Peter 1, verse number 5, which speaks we're kept by the power of God. Your faith is not fragile. It's not temporary. It is based on conviction. It endures. It perseveres all the way to the end. And so when you live a life of faith, All that pleases God because you are living in obedience to what God has already said. And that's the way we should live our lives.

So by proclaiming the message of the cross, by living a life of faith, it brings pleasure to God. Number three, by exalting Jesus Christ, the Son.

By exalting Jesus Christ. The Son. Listen to what the Bible says in the book of Matthew. If you've got your Bible, turn with me to Matthew chapter 3.

Matthew chapter 3. In Matthew chapter 3, you have the record of the baptism of Christ. This commences his ministry. John the Baptist has already been on the scene proclaiming the kingdom of God. And it says in Matthew 3, verse number 13: Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan. Coming to John to be baptized. But John tried to prevent him, saying, I have need to be baptized by you. And do you come to me? But Jesus answering said to him, Perm it at this time, for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill our righteousness.

Then he permitted him. And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water. And behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove. And coming upon him, and behold, the voice out of the heaven saying, This is my bel Son, in whom I am well pleased. God the Father says, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. If God the Father is pleased with his Son, when you exalt that Son, You please the Father. The Bible says in John's Gospel, John 5, verse number 23: He who does not honor the Son.

Does not honor the Father who sent the Son. He who does not honor the Son He who does not elevate the Son, he who does not exalt the Son, He who does not glorify the Son, does not elevate, glorify the Father who sent the Son. Because the Father and the Son are one. In fact, over in the book of Colossians, if you've got your Bible, turn there with me if you would, please. The book of Colossians, the first chapter, it says this in verse number 15.

And he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. He is the prototypeos. It speaks of position, it speaks of preeminence. It does not speak of the fact that he was, of all the people created, he was the first one created.

No, Prototeco does not deal with that. It deals with pre, the one who has the right to the inheritance. And it says, for by him all Things were created both in the heavens and on earth, visible and inv, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things have been created by him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church, and he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he him might come to have first place in everything.

For it was the Father's good pleasure. For all the fullness to dwell in him. It was the Father's pleasure that all the fullness of the God would dwell. In the pre one, in the pre-existent one, in the all-powerful one, Jesus Christ Himself. So, when we exalt Christ, when we lift Him up, when we elevate Him as the pre one, when we glorify His name, when we give glory to Him, we bring pleasure to God. So the question comes: How do I give glory to God? I give glory to God, first of all, when I'm born again, when I'm saved.

When I'm saved from my sin, listen to what it says over in the book of Ephesians, the first chapter, Ephesians chapter 1, verse number 4.

Just as He chose us in Him. before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to him, according to the kind intention of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace. We were predetermined in eternity past. We were chosen by God in Him in eternity past to the praise of His glory. So, whenever we are born again, when we are saved, when we give our life to Christ, it gives glory to God. Why? Because remember, He is the one who initiates the faith.

He initiates the faith. We follow him in obedience. When we do that, we are magnifying his name. We are giving glory to him. We are showing that he is the all-powerful one. Remember, when you're saved, You're transferred from the kingdom of darkness, Colossians 1, 13 and 14. You're transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son. There's a salvation from my idolatry. Listen, when you're saved, you are saved from your idolatry. You're an idol worshiper. When we think of idolatry, we think of those people in Boga Bog land who bow before altars and bow before pagan idols.

Listen, covetousness is idolatry, according to Ephesians chapter 5. So, if you covet another man's wife, you're an idol worshiper. If you covet someone else's clothes or car or income or family, you're an idol worshiper. Okay, and so you've got to be careful about that. So, salvation, when we're saved, we are transferred from the kingdom of darkness where we worship Satan and all that he has. Into the kingdom of God's dear Son, where now we worship the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Himself. That's why it says in 1 Thessalonians 1:10 that the Thessalonian church, that when they were saved, they turned.

To God from idol to serve the true and living God. That 's what salvation does. It transfers you from a kingdom of idol worship. To the kingdom of true worship, the worship of the one true God. That gives praise to God, it gives glory to God. So, whenever there is salvation from your idolatry, It pleases God. The Son is exalted because of his finished work at Calvary. Number two, when there's been a confession of my iniquity.

It gives praise and glory to God. It exalts the Son. It exalts the Father who exalts the Son because they are one. It exalts the Son. Turn with your Bible to Joshua chapter 7. Joshua chapter 7. Remember that Israel had just marched around Jericho. And defeated that, which was commonly called an impregnable city. They penetrated the city, they did all that God had designed. The walls came tumbling down. It was a great victory for Israel as they embarked on the land of Canaan. As soon as they crossed over Jordan, if you've been to Israel with us, you know where the Jordan River is.

You know where Jericho is in conjunction with the Jordan River. When they crossed over the Jordan, the very first city they encountered was Jericho.

They had to defeat it. It was a huge city, many people. And God won the victory. When you come to Joshua chapter 7, they have to encounter another city, a city called Ai, which was not nearly as big as Jericho. It's a small city. And when you pick up the narrative in verse number one of chapter seven, but the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban.

What is that? Well, if you go back to Joshua chapter 6, God says in verse number 17, and the city shall be under the band.

A band was a tribute belonging to God for his purposes. In this case, it was for destruction. And so in the city who shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the Lord. Only Rah, the harlot, and all who are with her in the house shall live. Because she hid the messengers whom we sent. But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things under the ban, lest you covet them and take some of the things under the ban, so you would make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it.

But all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the Lord. They shall go into the treasury of the Lord. So when you come to verse number one of chapter seven, it says, But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban.

Now that very first sentence sets the tone for the entire chapter. Because the battle with AI is not about winning the battle on the outside, it's about winning the battle on the inside. We forget that. And so Israel acted unfaithfully in regards to things under the ban. Now, when you read the story, it's only one man. But he says that Israel acted unfaithfully in regards to the things Under the ban. That's the tone for the entire chapter and the effects of one person's sin in the commun. So let's read it together.

For Achan, oh by the way, Achan's name means trouble, for those of you who don't know that, or work with us in our study of Joshua, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zad, the son of Zerah from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban. Therefore, the anger of the Lord burned against the sons of who? Israel. One man took something under the ban, and the anger of the Lord burned against Israel. Let me tell you something.

When you go home today and you sin, the anger of the Lord burns against Christ's community church as a whole. Now, we don't think of it that way. We don't want to think of it that way. But you need to understand the effects of it. You need to understand the effects of one person's sin. So let's read on. Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Avon, east of Beth, and said to them, Go up and spy out the land. So the men went up and spied out Ai. And they returned to Joshua and said to him, Do not let all the people go up.

Only about two or three thousand men need go up to Ai. Do not make all the people toil up there, for they are Few. Now that was a problem because when you go to chapter eight, verse number one.

Now the Lord said to Joshua, Do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you and arise. God wants everybody involved, not certain people involved. But the effect of one man's sin affected the council of the spies. We don't need everybody involved, just a few people involved, because the city is not very big anyway. We can take them. So it says, but they fled. So about in verse 4, so about 3,000 men from the people went up there, but they fled from the men of Ai. And the men of Ai struck down about thirty of their men, and pursued them from the gate as far as Shib, and struck them down on the descent.

So the hearts of the people melted and became as water. Now, I want you to think about this for a moment. Of the seven years of Joshua's conquest in the land of Canaan. There is only one biblical record of a defeat. This is it. Only one. Because one man ch to sin, it affected everybody. Read on. Then Joshua tore his clothes, fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord, which is represented in the presence of God. Until this evening, both he and the elders of Israel, and they put dust on their heads.

And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord God, why didst thou ever bring this people over the Jordan only to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been willing to dwell beyond the Jordan. Oh Lord, what can I say since Israel has turned their back before their enemies? For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what wilt thou do for thy great name? Lord, your name is at stake. What has happened here?

And the Lord responds. Verse 10. The Lord said to Joshua, get up. Rise up. Rise up, Joshua. Why is it that you have fallen on your face? Is has sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban, and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own Things. Therefore, the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become acc.

I will not be with you any more unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst. Wow, did you get that? It says, Israel has sinned away. I thought Achan sinned. He says, Israel sinned. They have transgressed. They, who's they? That's Israel. How is Israel responsible for Achan's sin? They have taken some of the things under that. What do you mean they? I didn't take it. They didn't take it. A took it. Now, no one knows that yet. But you see, we have forgotten that nobody ever sins solo.

We have forgotten that in the church of Jesus Christ today. We have forgotten that. And therefore, it's imperative that we understand the effects of our sin. You think that when you sinned this past week and you were alone, it didn't affect anybody else. But it does. It affects your family. It affects your church family. Well, read on. Verse 13, rise up, consecrate the people, and say, Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow. For thus the Lord the God of Israel has said, There are things under the ban in your midst, O Israel.

You cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst. In the morning, then you shall come near by your tribes, and it shall be that the tribe which the Lord takes by lot Shall come near by families, and the family which the Lord takes shall come near by households, and the household which the Lord takes shall come near man by man. And it shall be That the one who was taken from the things under the ban. Shall be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord and because he has committed a disgraceful Disgraceful thing in Israel.

In other words, you're going to bring everybody out. We're going to cast lots and we're going to bring it down from the whole tribe of Israel. To one particular tribe in Israel. And then we're going to parry it down even further than that to a certain segment of that tribe, then to a certain family of that tribe to figure out who is at fault. So, everybody comes out because everybody's got to find out what's going on. Everybody has to know why we lost. How do we lose the game? How do we lose the battle?

How does this happen when God has called us to be here? How do we lose? You got to know how we lost. Somebody sinned. So we've got to figure out what happened. And so, verse 16: Joshua arose early in the morning and brought Israel near by tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken. And he brought the family of Judah near, and he took the family of the Zarah, and he brought the family of the Zarah near, man by man, and Zab was He brought his house so near, man by man, and Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zab, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, was taken.

Then Joshua said to Achan, My son, I implore you, give gl to the L. Exalt the Lord. Give glory to his name. The God of Israel. And give praise to him. And tell me now what you have done. Confession of iniquity exalts and glorifies the name of Christ. Tell me now what you have done. Give glory to God. Praise to him. So Achan answered and said, Andrew Joshua said, Truly, I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. And this is what I did. When I saw among the spoil of a beautiful mantle from Shin, and 200 shekels of silver and a bar of gold, 50 shekels in weight, then I coveted them.

and took them, and behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent, with the silver under it. This is what I did. I mean, he couldn't get around it. It was all pared down to one man. And God in His sovereignty demonstrated it. Now, here comes the point: How is God glorified through all this? Let's read on. So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and behold, it was concealed in this tent, and silver underneath it. And they took them from inside the tent, and brought them to Joshua and to all the sons of Israel, and they poured them out before the Lord.

Then Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver of the mantle, the bar of gold, his sons. his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that belonged to him, and they brought them up to the valley of Ach. And Joshua said, Why have you troubled us? Remember, Aga's name means trouble. Ach means trouble. So he who troubled Israel will be troubled in the valley of trouble. He says, The Lord will trouble you this day. And all Israel stoned them with stones, and they burned them with fire.

After they had stoned them with stones. I mean, okay, once is enough, right? You stone them and then you burn them. And they raised over him a great heap of stones, that stands to this day. And the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Ac to this very day. Confess your sin. Give glory to God. How is God se in His confession? Well, number one is omniscience.

God knew exactly who it was. Israel didn't, but God knew. His justice. For the wage of sin is de, his wrath Also, his long-suffering is seen in his mercy. Because the moment Ach took things under the ban, he did not die, he lived. Maybe if he would have come and confessed his sin before all this took place, he would have lived. We don't know that. Because that's not how the story unfolds before us. But the story in Joshua chapter 7 is a story of the battle within. Because unless you win the battle within, you're never going to win the battle without.

Can't. It's the battle of dealing with your own sin. And Israel was at fault because one man sinned. The effect of one man affected everybody else. Now, think about it this way. Ach didn't murder anybody. He didn't commit adultery. He didn't commit immorality, homosexuality. He didn't do any of the biggies. He just took something under the ban. I mean, after all, there was so much stuff there anyway. Who would know? God knew. It's all account. And God said, Don't take what's under the ban that belongs to me.

Don 't take it. And He did. And everything in Israel's life was affected. Have you ever thought that the reason your business is failing is because of sin in the camp of your business? Did you ever think about that? A family member has sinned and it's not been dealt with? Maybe if Achan's wife would have spoken up, maybe his sons or his daughters. Did they know? We don't know. If they did, and they did not speak up, that would mean that they were compliant in the sin. And because they did not condemn the sin, they condoned the sin.

Listen, when it comes to sin, you come up on one side or the other: condemnation. Or condoning. If you do not condemn it, you automatically condone it. You must remember that. You are in agreement with their sin. And that's exactly what happened in Aiken's family. Because they did not condemn it, they condoned it. They did not speak against it, they did not deal with it. It affected everybody. You see, God had a lesson for Israel. You're going to war for me. You're going to represent me in the land of Canaan.

And if you're going to represent me, You've got to represent my holiness. You've got to represent my purity because that's who I am. And if you allow unholiness to exist in your community, you misrepresent me. I am a holy God, and I must be represented by holy people. And that is an absolute imperative for the church of Jesus Christ. You got understand that. But see, we don't look at our sin as that big a deal.

We don't. You know, if you steal something from the office at work, it's not that big a deal. If we tell a little white lie, it's not that big a deal. But when Jesus Christ died for your sins, He died for every sin, not just the big deal sins. That for all of them, because all of them are a symbol of your unbelief and a symbol of your idolatry. So, therefore, you must live a life of confession. Confessing my iniquity before God. It gives glory to Him, it puts Him on display. It says, Lord, I have sinned against you.

I have sinned against your holiness. I have done that which is evil in your sight. Lord, I am wrong. Please forgive me of my sins. We're about to partake of the Lord's table. In 1 Corinthians 11, it says, Let a man examine himself. Because, Paul says, some of you are eating and drinking in an unworthy manner. That is, you haven't dealt with your sin. And some of you are sick, and some of you have died because you do not deal with your sin. Sin is ser b. And that's why God deals with it in a serious kind of way in Joshua chapter 7.

That's just Old Testament stuff. Have you read Acts 5? That's New Testament stuff. About Ananias and Sapphira, when they were struck dead in church because they just didn't tell how much they sold the property for. See, we forget. You know, maybe your family is as bad as it is because you've condoned sin in your family for so long. Maybe your family's falling apart all around you because you're allowing sin to continue without confronting it and condemning it. And taking a stand on the holiness and righteousness of God.

Maybe you're failing in your business because you're willing to compromise your integrity to keep your job. It's affecting everything you do. You see, we forget about the effects of sin. We think because we don't experience immediate consequences that we can sin and we get away with it, that we can get away with it again and again and again. And the Bible says, be sure your sins will find you out.

The Bible says, What a man sows, that shall he also reap. We forget about that. And so, when we do a little sin here or a little sin there, maybe it's a sin of attitude. Maybe it's a sin of unthankfulness. Maybe it's a sin of. Of grumbling and murmuring, and you're just a chronic complainer. You complain about everything. And you forget about how that affects everybody around you. One sinner, Ecclesiastes 9:18 says, destroys much good. One sinner destroys much good. That's why in 1 Corinthians 5, when there was a man who had committed incest, Paul says, take out the leaven.

Get rid of it. It's affecting your whole church. The whole church is infected with his sin. You've got to deal with it. You see, sin infects. It infects everybody involved. And when we are unwilling to confess it, when we are unwilling to repent. From it, when we are unwilling to come before God and ask His forgiveness and say the same thing about my sin that He says about it, that's what confession means. Then I just allow the effects of that sin to cont. We're going to partake of the Lord's table.

And the Bible says, let a man examine himself. I think it would do well for every one of us to examine our own personal lives. And see what effect my life has had on those around me negatively. Maybe you're a student today, a child, and you dishonored your mother and father. You live a life of dishonor instead of honor. And the Bible says, honor your mother and father.

And you've dishonored them. The dishonoring of your mother and father affects everything in your family. You have to understand those things. You have to learn to deal with the sin because if you don't, everything around you is infected and is compromised. We m go to God and seek His forgiveness. He who confesses a sin shall find mercy. But he who hides a sin, he who will not deal with the sin, will not find the compassion he needs from God. And so we need to forsake it, we need to confess it, and when we do, we are able to experience God's mercy, God's compassion.

And so when Jesus Christ came, he came to die for our sins, every one of them. And every s, no matter how small you might think it is, is big enough to keep you out of heaven. That's why you go to the cross, you ask forgiveness, and you commit your life to Christ. He saves you from your sins. And then we live a life wanting to confess it because we transgressed the holiness of our God. And we want to represent him to everybody we come in contact with. And so we go to him. And confess our sins. It exalts Christ.

It gives glory to His name. Let me pray with you. Father, we thank you for today. And our prayer, Lord, is that you would deal with each of us as you see fit. And that as we examine our lives in light of your word, we would live a life. That's committed to purity. In Jesus' name, amen.