“THE SAD CONSEQUENCES OF FORGIVEN SINS”
(Preached by Pastor Paul Fedena on 10/24/99)
(Preached by Pastor Paul Fedena on 10/24/99)
TEXT: 1 John 1:9
THESIS: To show that though our sins may be forgiven, there may be consequences.
INTRO: A. God promises to wipe away the sins of any sinner who repents and trusts in the shed blood of our resurrected Savior. Praise the Lord for 1 John 1:9 and its assurance of the forgiveness of sins for the believer. The good news is that we can confess our sins and claim the promise in the text that we are forgiven and cleansed. The bad news is that even forgiven sins may have sad consequences.
ILLUS: Suppose a Christian is caught stealing something in a department store. He realizes that what he did was sin, but he may still be prosecuted. He is cleansed from that sin and forgiven after confession, but he may have to pay a fine or go to jail!
Suppose a Christian is involved with the wrong crowd and gets into a fight and he is stabbed. He may later repent, confess his sin and be forgiven, but will carry the scar to his death.
B. David sinned with Bathsheba and though he confessed his sin and was forgiven, he forfeited the life of the child of his adulterous relationship. He continued to reap what he had sown in his home and among his children. There is a price tag on our sin – even when it is forgiven. Broken Hopes, Broken Hearts and Broken Homes often result…
I. BROKEN HOPES: 1 Cor. 9:23-27
ILLUS: Let me first speak to those of you who may have surrendered to serve the Lord full time. I am speaking to Christian teachers, assistant pastors, and young people who are looking forward to a ministry as a preacher, teacher, missionary… I am also speaking to those young people who may one day desire to serve as a deacon, children’s church leader, bus captain, bus director, or in some other capacity.
A. Beware Loss of Position!
ILLUS: I had an uncle who was unfaithful to his wife and contracted a venereal disease. He later had a child with his wife and the child was born mentally handicapped. He had to live with that the rest of his life. Every time he looked at his son, he had a stark reminder of “THE SAD CONSEQUENCES OF FORGIVEN SINS.”
4. The position God has called you to in the future may be forfeited by some sin you commit now.
ILLUS: I am thinking of a young man who surrendered to be a missionary in Bible college. He married outside the will of God, later divorced and remarried. Today he lives in luxury, but also lives in frustration because, though his sins and indiscretions were forgiven, he can no longer serve God where God called him. He has been “put on a shelf” or has become a “castaway” (lit: disapproved or disqualified) for that service. Churches are filled with frustrated servants who cannot serve because of some forgiven sin! Churches also lose their best potential servants who become frustrated and bitter because, though forgiven, they are disqualified.
I hasten to add that not all sins will disqualify a person for full-time or even specific areas of service, but some sins will do so. Example: the qualifications for a pastor or deacon in 1 Timothy 3 reveal that there must be a higher standard for these offices.
B. Beware Loss Of Reward! (text)
ILLUS: Some lose their testimony thru sin in this life and that is tragic and brings reproach not only upon them but also upon the ministry. But how more tragic to heaven apparently successful ministry here and lose all reward later! Many have their sins exposed, others live secret lives of sinful activity and will only be exposed at the Judgment Seat of Christ. 1 Cor.3:13-15
II. BROKEN HEARTS: Ps. 106:15
NOTE: The text alludes to an event in Israel’s life where they grew tired of God’s provision of manna and began to lust after the flesh of Egypt. God sent them all the flesh they could eat, till it came out their “nostrils”!
Numbers 11:18-20
And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat. Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days; But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the LORD which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?
A. Beware Trading Manna For Quail!
ILLUS: My sister says I have “addictive personality disorder” i.e., I like something and get in a rut and that’s all I want. (What she sees as addiction, I see as good taste.) For example, I like chicken parmesan and I order it a lot when I go out to eat. Often I don’t even look at a menu. I know what I want. But I can tell you that I don’t want chicken parmesan every day for a month!
ILLUS: God has given you the gift of your children. Something happens at church. You yank your family out instead of dealing with the problem. You take the problem with you wherever you go because you refused to deal with it. You just traded manna for quail and you will be sorry! In later years you may look at your children and see the results of your sin in their lives. How sad! Oh, “THE SAD CONSEQUENCES OF FORGIVEN SINS!”
I have people tell me that they get the best preaching and teaching from God’s Word here, but some petty thing drives them elsewhere and they settle for quail when
they were eating manna!
B. Beware Trading Blessing For Leanness!
*Israel traded heavenly food for earthly delicacies.
*They traded God’s provision for worldly pleasures.
ILLUS: Christians move because of a job change or because the climate is better or -? But they fail to check first to where they are going for a good church and end up trading blessing for leanness! They have more financially, but less spiritually. Their children were active in the church here, but there is no opportunity there to serve the Lord, so they drop out of church and end up in the world. Not a good trade-off! They are sorry now and God has no doubt forgiven them,
😢but oh, “THE SAD CONSEQUENCES OF FORGIVEN SINS!”
III. BROKEN HOMES: Prov. 6:23-35
A. Beware The Suicide Of Adultery!
Matt. 5:27-28
27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
ILLUS: Teens tinkering on the internet, or with dirty magazines, indulging in masturbation (mental adultery) are heading for a life of misery and disqualification from service and possibly even a broken home after they marry. Adults renting dirty videos (all) and engaging in sexual innuendo at work and flirting and lusting are about to be burned and commit sexual suicide!
B. Beware The Homicide Of Unfaithfulness!
1. Sexual sin, like all other sin, may be forgiven, but there will be consequences
2. You not only commit sexual suicide but may commit homicide by destroying another home and family! Beware!
CONCL: If Moses lost his ticket to the holy land by his (comparatively) simple sin, even though forgiven, perhaps we had better consider carefully and prayerfully ‘THE SAD CONSEQUENCES OF FORGIVEN SINS” in our lives!
Thank God for eternal security, but let’s not commit presumptuous sins! For all sins – forgiven and unforgiven – there are consequences. But some folks assume that as long as they confess their sins and are forgiven and cleansed, everything is O.K. Not so!
THESIS: To show that though our sins may be forgiven, there may be consequences.
INTRO: A. God promises to wipe away the sins of any sinner who repents and trusts in the shed blood of our resurrected Savior. Praise the Lord for 1 John 1:9 and its assurance of the forgiveness of sins for the believer. The good news is that we can confess our sins and claim the promise in the text that we are forgiven and cleansed. The bad news is that even forgiven sins may have sad consequences.
ILLUS: Suppose a Christian is caught stealing something in a department store. He realizes that what he did was sin, but he may still be prosecuted. He is cleansed from that sin and forgiven after confession, but he may have to pay a fine or go to jail!
Suppose a Christian is involved with the wrong crowd and gets into a fight and he is stabbed. He may later repent, confess his sin and be forgiven, but will carry the scar to his death.
B. David sinned with Bathsheba and though he confessed his sin and was forgiven, he forfeited the life of the child of his adulterous relationship. He continued to reap what he had sown in his home and among his children. There is a price tag on our sin – even when it is forgiven. Broken Hopes, Broken Hearts and Broken Homes often result…
I. BROKEN HOPES: 1 Cor. 9:23-27
ILLUS: Let me first speak to those of you who may have surrendered to serve the Lord full time. I am speaking to Christian teachers, assistant pastors, and young people who are looking forward to a ministry as a preacher, teacher, missionary… I am also speaking to those young people who may one day desire to serve as a deacon, children’s church leader, bus captain, bus director, or in some other capacity.
A. Beware Loss of Position!
- God may want to use you later, but if so, you must be careful NOW!
- We not only reap what we sow, but more than we sow and LATER than we sow!
- The consequences of sin, even forgiven sin, may only show up later.
ILLUS: I had an uncle who was unfaithful to his wife and contracted a venereal disease. He later had a child with his wife and the child was born mentally handicapped. He had to live with that the rest of his life. Every time he looked at his son, he had a stark reminder of “THE SAD CONSEQUENCES OF FORGIVEN SINS.”
4. The position God has called you to in the future may be forfeited by some sin you commit now.
ILLUS: I am thinking of a young man who surrendered to be a missionary in Bible college. He married outside the will of God, later divorced and remarried. Today he lives in luxury, but also lives in frustration because, though his sins and indiscretions were forgiven, he can no longer serve God where God called him. He has been “put on a shelf” or has become a “castaway” (lit: disapproved or disqualified) for that service. Churches are filled with frustrated servants who cannot serve because of some forgiven sin! Churches also lose their best potential servants who become frustrated and bitter because, though forgiven, they are disqualified.
I hasten to add that not all sins will disqualify a person for full-time or even specific areas of service, but some sins will do so. Example: the qualifications for a pastor or deacon in 1 Timothy 3 reveal that there must be a higher standard for these offices.
B. Beware Loss Of Reward! (text)
- Not only may a person lose position but he or she may also lose future rewards.
- Paul speaks of a battle which rages (“…so fight I” v.26b), the strategy to be victorious (“…keep under my body” v.27a) and the cost of failure (..lest I myself should be a castaway” v.29c).
- Paul’s analogy of a runner in a race and the subsequent reward is then applied to the servant (v.24 “…so run that ye may obtain”), and compares the runner’s corruptible crown to the servant’s incorruptible crown. v.25
ILLUS: Some lose their testimony thru sin in this life and that is tragic and brings reproach not only upon them but also upon the ministry. But how more tragic to heaven apparently successful ministry here and lose all reward later! Many have their sins exposed, others live secret lives of sinful activity and will only be exposed at the Judgment Seat of Christ. 1 Cor.3:13-15
II. BROKEN HEARTS: Ps. 106:15
NOTE: The text alludes to an event in Israel’s life where they grew tired of God’s provision of manna and began to lust after the flesh of Egypt. God sent them all the flesh they could eat, till it came out their “nostrils”!
Numbers 11:18-20
And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat. Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days; But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the LORD which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?
A. Beware Trading Manna For Quail!
ILLUS: My sister says I have “addictive personality disorder” i.e., I like something and get in a rut and that’s all I want. (What she sees as addiction, I see as good taste.) For example, I like chicken parmesan and I order it a lot when I go out to eat. Often I don’t even look at a menu. I know what I want. But I can tell you that I don’t want chicken parmesan every day for a month!
- Don’t look back! Don’t long for your former life when you were unsaved! God may give it to you!
- Don’t trade in the blessings of God for the comfort of the flesh.
- Don’t offer your children on the altar of bitterness!
ILLUS: God has given you the gift of your children. Something happens at church. You yank your family out instead of dealing with the problem. You take the problem with you wherever you go because you refused to deal with it. You just traded manna for quail and you will be sorry! In later years you may look at your children and see the results of your sin in their lives. How sad! Oh, “THE SAD CONSEQUENCES OF FORGIVEN SINS!”
I have people tell me that they get the best preaching and teaching from God’s Word here, but some petty thing drives them elsewhere and they settle for quail when
they were eating manna!
B. Beware Trading Blessing For Leanness!
*Israel traded heavenly food for earthly delicacies.
*They traded God’s provision for worldly pleasures.
ILLUS: Christians move because of a job change or because the climate is better or -? But they fail to check first to where they are going for a good church and end up trading blessing for leanness! They have more financially, but less spiritually. Their children were active in the church here, but there is no opportunity there to serve the Lord, so they drop out of church and end up in the world. Not a good trade-off! They are sorry now and God has no doubt forgiven them,
😢but oh, “THE SAD CONSEQUENCES OF FORGIVEN SINS!”
III. BROKEN HOMES: Prov. 6:23-35
A. Beware The Suicide Of Adultery!
- The devil is a master in the art of seduction.
- It has never been easier to sin sexually than in our society; we are a sex-saturated society – from the office to the internet, from TV to magazines, from Hollywood to the Main Street video store, from the marketplace to the Mall sex is everywhere and it is BIG business.
Matt. 5:27-28
27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
- The text says that you can lose everything if you indulge your sexual appetites. v.25,26
- The text says you will get burned! v.27
- The text says you will lose your innocency. v.28-29
- The text says that stealing to feed a hungry family is understandable, but restitution can be made, though expensive (7-fold), but the adulterer can never make restitution; he has stolen something irreplaceable! v.30-32a, 34,35 (You may get a broken nose or get shot!!!)
- The text says that he commits sexual suicide. v.32b
- The text says that he will be wounded, dishonored and bring upon himself a reproach that can never be “wiped away!” v.33
ILLUS: Teens tinkering on the internet, or with dirty magazines, indulging in masturbation (mental adultery) are heading for a life of misery and disqualification from service and possibly even a broken home after they marry. Adults renting dirty videos (all) and engaging in sexual innuendo at work and flirting and lusting are about to be burned and commit sexual suicide!
B. Beware The Homicide Of Unfaithfulness!
1. Sexual sin, like all other sin, may be forgiven, but there will be consequences
2. You not only commit sexual suicide but may commit homicide by destroying another home and family! Beware!
CONCL: If Moses lost his ticket to the holy land by his (comparatively) simple sin, even though forgiven, perhaps we had better consider carefully and prayerfully ‘THE SAD CONSEQUENCES OF FORGIVEN SINS” in our lives!
Thank God for eternal security, but let’s not commit presumptuous sins! For all sins – forgiven and unforgiven – there are consequences. But some folks assume that as long as they confess their sins and are forgiven and cleansed, everything is O.K. Not so!