Do You Still Grieve Over Sin?

Introduction

Numbers chapter 20. We’re going to begin in the book of Numbers, chapter 20. We are a blessed people. Amen. You see that last Sunday morning around the 11 o’clock hour, we read John chapter 14 and verse 6, where Jesus makes the extraordinary claim that I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. And as we were discussing that, we mentioned the exclusivity, excuse me, you know what word I’m going for there, of what that teaches. We know that Jesus is the way, that is that he is the only way. In Acts chapter 4, Peter makes mention that there is salvation in no one else. And that’s kind of a big deal because it’s a very narrow way of thinking.

And of course, that’s supplemented by the way that Jesus says in Matthew chapter 7, there’s going to be a wide gate that leads where? To destruction. There will be many who enter in by it. And yet there is that, yes, narrow way that leads to life, and there are few who find it. But what’s the big deal? Why is it so important to follow Jesus? Why is following God, having faith in him, such a big deal? And the truth is because we have a major problem. It is a big deal. It is an extraordinarily bad thing. And it’s because we have sinned. That is that problem. And yet sometimes our sin is a little bit mitigated, whether because we just think it’s not a big deal, other people do worse.

1. Sin Is Serious Business: Ask Moses

But I want you to look with me. It’s something I was struck by in a Bible study in Numbers chapter 20 recently. In Numbers chapter 20 and verse 2, we find the people, as usual, quarreling together. And in chapter 20 and verse 2, now there was no water for the congregation, and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people quarreled with Moses and said, Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord? Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness that we should die here, both we and our cattle? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt? Side note, where they were in bondage, resume, to bring us to this evil place.

It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink. Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Read this with me carefully, take the staff and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle. And Moses took the staff from befront from before the Lord as he commanded him. A couple points to make here. First of all, who is Moses?

Moses is essentially the elected leader of God’s people, who took them out of Egypt, yes, where they were in bondage, in captivity. Yes, in the book of Numbers, we read about this story of how the twelve spies went to the promised land. And what did they say? Well, it’s wonderful. Well, yeah, they did say the land was wonderful, but there was a problem. Ten of the spies reported that we can’t take it. There are giants there. And you think about all this time, from basically the point of Egyptian captivity, through this very current point that we’re reading in in Numbers chapter 20, the people have quarreled and complained and murmured all the time. And who are they faulting? Well, they aim at Moses, but really it’s a complaint against God.

And yet we see here that God still, through Moses and Aaron, is going to provide for his people. He never forgot them. And so he tells Moses, you’re to take this staff and speak to the rock. You are to tell the rock. So see what he does in verse 10. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, Hear now, ye rebels, shall we bring water for you out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank and their livestock. Happy story, happy ending. Not quite. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Because you did not believe in me to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.

These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy. And what we see here is that Moses didn’t obey God. And do you know what the consequence of Moses not obeying God was? Here is Moses, God’s basically chosen leader, although he made a bunch of excuses at first in Exodus chapter 3 and 4. But here is God’s leader. He is the one who has perhaps stayed the most faithful, you could make a decent case for to God. And this is Moses. This is one of the Bible figureheads. If you don’t know a lot about the Bible, you still may know who Moses is. And what’s the punishment for Moses hitting the rock rather than speaking to it?

He doesn’t get to enter the promised land. After all that time, after all that had happened, after all the land they had covered, Moses would be unable to enter the promised land. And all because of what? Because he struck the rock? Isn’t it really that big of a deal? And then I have to consider for myself, is my sin really such a big deal? And what I want to speak about this morning is how do I react to sin? And perhaps most importantly, do I still grieve over my sin? And I don’t mean getting caught up in sin and allowing myself to be permanently beaten down. That is not what the Bible teaches. That goes against the grace and the good news of the gospel of Christ, that we can be forgiven.

But our sin is not to be swept under the rug. And we can see that clearly by examining the scriptures and seeing how men of faith responded to sin. And this is going to be a real gut check. Do I sometimes wish that sin had never happened? Hopefully always. Do I sometimes pretend like it didn’t? Perhaps sometimes. That is not the Bible way. And the reason for that, of course, as you know, is that sin is serious business. Ask Moses. Do you think he wished he could go back and just undo what he did? Do you think that after all that time Moses just wished that he could enter into the promised land? That he had just spoken to the rock? Now, by the way, there is perhaps more to it than that.

If you look again with me at verse 11, not only did he strike the rock, but in verse 10, notice what he says, here now, ye rebels, shall we bring water for you out of this rock? Perhaps implying that him and Aaron had this ability and not bringing God the glory that he expected. We can examine Numbers 20. You can ascribe any number of reasons for the harsh punishment or excuses for Moses so that he shouldn’t be punished. But the fact is he disobeyed the will of the Lord and he was punished for that disobedience. That is the bottom line of sin, too, isn’t it? It doesn’t matter what it is, it matters that if we have transgressed the will of God, and we understand from 1 John chapter 3 that sin is lawlessness, then what have we earned?

2. Ask Simon About the Seriousness of Sin

Well, we know in Romans the wages of sin is death. But consider with me another story in Acts chapter 8. Will you turn there with me? In the New Testament, in Acts chapter 8, there was this man named Simon. Ask Simon about the seriousness of sin. Is it really a big deal? In Acts chapter 8, in verse 9, but there was a man named Simon who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the power of God that is called great. And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.

But then something changes. Do you see it? But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed. And after being baptized, he continued with Philip, and seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed. So this is wonderful. Simon has been converted. Now, sometimes, let’s pause and make a note. There is this idea that, well, there’s a one saved always saved. And the way around that, when you see someone who’s been a faithful Christian for so many years, is that they were never really saved to begin with. But will you look at verse 13? Notice the designation of Simon here. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized, he continued with Philip.

Now I want to use the words of Jesus and pair them with the words of Luke here. What did Jesus say in Mark chapter 16? He who believes and is baptized shall be saved. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized, he continued with Philip. Simon is the perfect example this morning. Not only to make that point that I want to make him passing, but to consider the primary gist of this lesson is for those of us who are Christians, who have put on Christ in baptism. You see, if you haven’t obeyed God this morning, if you haven’t believed, repented and confessed, and been baptized, having your sins washed away, you are stuck in your sins. And we need to be obeying God now, not tomorrow, not some future time.

We need to trust and have faith that works in God today. But for me, I have that same problem if I sin and don’t treat it right. Because I too, even though I am a Christian, may be stuck in my sins if I don’t take the right attitude towards it, if I don’t follow the Bible’s prescription for my sin. So pick up the reading again with me in verse 14. Now, when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Spirit. For he had not fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

Now pay attention here. Is this a horrible, awful sin that Simon commits? Now, when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I may lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. Now that doesn’t sound like the good attitude, does it? That’s not necessarily the point of the Spirit being in you. Certainly not trying to buy it with money. And if you link that back to what he was doing in verses 9 through 11, you can see that Simon’s heart wasn’t necessarily right here. But read with me what Peter says to him. Yes, yes, what Simon did was bad. But certainly, we’re about to talk about David.

Certainly, David, who is an adulterous murderer. Now that’s someone who needs the prescription for sin. But what about Simon? Will you see with me in verse 20? But Peter said to him, May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money. You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours. And pray to the Lord that if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. Whoa. I know Simon’s heart wasn’t right because Peter says so. But he tried to buy the gift of the Spirit with money.

He didn’t murder mass people. He didn’t break up a family unit. He didn’t destroy a church. He just was off. He was just being greedy. He was just being selfish. His heart wasn’t right. Is this really such a big deal? But Peter’s words ring strong. I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. Sin is serious business. And Simon learned that lesson. Can you imagine? If you were at home and with your children or with your spouse or with a friend at the church building, you said or did something out of a quick temper or out of anger, or out of not giving it full thought, and you did something that was sinful. Can you imagine if someone was standing at your door and say, You need to repent.

3. Sin Is Serious Business: Ask David

You are in great wickedness. You are in the bonds of iniquity. You’d be like, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up. It’s really not that big of a deal. It happens all the time. Oh. Self-incrimination there, right? We have to be careful about allowing sin to permeate our lives to where it becomes a normal occurrence. Sin is lawlessness. The wages of sin is death. Sin is serious business. Ask David. You remember in 2 Samuel chapter 11? Not only did he commit adultery with Asheba, he tried to get Uriah to cover the sin by going and sleeping with his wife. And when that didn’t work, he arranged for Uriah to be killed in battle. David was essentially an adulterous murderer. And in 2 Samuel chapter 12, Nathan comes to him, gives him the story, and he points to him and says, You are the man.

Sin was on David. And you know what happened because of David’s sin?

A son died. David had a child. Life taken from him. Now that one we kind of get. I mean, that’s harsh. And we don’t like that a little child was involved. But he wasn’t a murderer. He did commit adultery, and then when he couldn’t cover it, commit that murder we speak of. Sin is serious business. Not because we might lose a child. Not because an apostle may come and get mad at us. And not even because we won’t enjoy all the physical blessings that obeying God brings. And by that I mean the happiness and the ease of life, not that obeying God is going to lead to some sort of wealth fountain. But we need to obey God because he is to be obeyed. God is to be feared.

4. How Do I Respond to My Sin?

God is to be reverenced. God is to be exalted as holy, and we are to be holy, as he is holy. And so we see how some may respond. Some may try to hide it. Isn’t that exactly what King David did in 2 Samuel chapter 11? You know that after Uriah was going to find out that he had impregnated Bathsheba that this was going to go wrong. So David just had this idea. If I can just cover it up, no one has to know. Perhaps we take that attitude. Perhaps some keep on sinning. Will you look with me in Hebrews chapter 10? Will you look at me in Hebrews chapter 10, please? And verse 26. I think we have a lot of digital Bibles. I’m not hearing a lot of pages turning.

I’m going to hope that’s the case. In Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 26, what does the Hebrew writer say? For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of sin, of the truth, excuse me, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. You know, it’s pretty easy in some cases just to say, you know what? I’m going to keep on sinning. There’s a story of a man who came into one of the preacher’s office that I knew, and he told him that he was in either a marriage of some sort that he shouldn’t be in, or some sort of life pattern of sin, and he told him, if you keep doing this, you will go to hell.

And essentially the man’s answer was, that’s okay. I don’t care. There’s not much you can do with that. Right? If we go on sinningly, sinning deliberately after we see the knowledge of truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. Why is that such a big deal? Because sin is awful. Our sin is on us if we don’t come into contact with the blood of Christ. Of course, that starts first with obeying God and having faith that leads into baptism, having our sins washed away, being baptized into Christ. But it also applies to me as a Christian who has sinned. I must stop the sin. And frankly, and this is the most likely scenario for good intentioned Christians. Maybe we try to minimize it or ignore it.

Will you look at me in 1 John chapter 1? What are we to do with sin? Of course, 1 John chapter 1 doesn’t talk about minimizing or ignoring it, but it does speak of what we are to do, and it is in no way, shape, or form minimizing or ignoring the sin. In 1 John chapter 1 and verse 8, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. Yes, we are going to fall short of the glory of God even after being baptized.

But does that mean we should just keep living in it? What is the reaction? Should I be so moved by sin that it just doesn’t bother me anymore? Should I be so habitually enslaved to it even after coming to the knowledge of the truth? That it doesn’t bother me that bad if I just do a small sin, if I just do a little thing. We need to be confessing our sins. Do you see that in verse 9? If we confess our sins, he is what? Faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We need to be cleansed from our unrighteousness. This is a very basic, easy lesson. But the reminder is how do I respond to my sin? And I want to think.

I want everyone to think with me for a moment. The last time that you remember having fallen short of the glory of God. I don’t know when that is for you. I have an idea in my mind of at least one for myself. What was your reaction to it? Were you grieved? Was it kind of justified because the other person involved really had it coming? Or maybe have you forgotten because we just move on. We just don’t remember. I didn’t stop to pray and ask for forgiveness. I didn’t stop and think about the weight of my sin. But you know, the way to avoiding sin, part of that is found in the example of Joseph. Do you remember in Genesis chapter 39 and verse 9? What does he say when Potiphar’s wife has him by the garment?

I will not commit this great wickedness and sin against God. When we have sinned, even if it’s against a friend or a loved one, our sin ultimately separates us from God because of our unrighteousness. We need to have the mind that sin is unacceptable. God’s grace is wonderful. The fact that he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins is an amazing blessing, brethren. Amen. We need to amen that. Amen. God can forgive us our sins. That is wonderful. We have to have that attitude. We have to know how great the gift is. But maybe to understand that, we have to punctuate the point of how awful sin is. Do you see the problem? We get so used. We hear about God’s grace. And we know that we have to stop sinning, but we need to realize I sin.

I need forgiveness. I have unrighteousness. I must be cleansed. How should I respond to my sin? It should not be to just brush it off and say, Well, try to get them next time. That’s not what the Bible shows. Will you look at me at Psalm chapter 51? There’s an abundance of verses that speak to this topic. And frankly, I would have been okay with not using Psalm chapter 51, but if you read this and you think about the lesson subject, you can’t not look at David’s example in Psalm chapter 51. Well, you see it with me. In Psalm chapter 51 and verse 1, David writes, Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions.

David was a man of God, and yet he still needed his transgressions to be blotted out. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Do I think like that? Do I pray like that? When I have fallen short of the glory of God, do I humble myself to get on my knees and pray to God, have mercy on me, O Lord? Or is it just kind of, you know, just keep going? Maybe I’ll pray for it, but it’s just, you know, another thing in my list. I’m I’m I’m praying for a good day tomorrow. I’m praying that I’ll stop doing this bad thing. Am I aware? Am I like David in verse 4 against you?

You only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. See, in verse 7, purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Hide your face, verse 9, from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore me to the joy of your salvation and uphold me with the willing spirit. We need God badly when we have sinned. And we have to realize the weight of sin to recognize the wonderful good news that God will forgive us of our unrighteousness.

5. First, We Need to Recognize the Sin

And so how should we respond? Well, first of all, we need to recognize the sin. We look with me in Ezra chapter 9. Ezra chapter 9, we are not going to read all of these chapters, although it’s wonderful reading. In Ezra chapter 9, we’re going to read the problem and see what Ezra’s response was to it. In Ezra chapter 9, beginning in verse 1, after these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, The people of Israel and the priests and Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken some of their daughters to be wise for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the people of the land.

And in this faithlessness, the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost. What did they do? They had intermarried. You can look at Deuteronomy chapter 7, Exodus chapter 34. This was not how God’s people were to operate. And so what is Ezra’s response? Do you see it in verse 3? I want to know. Do I even have a tenth of the passion of obeying God and abstaining from sin that Ezra has here? In verse 3. As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. First of all, ouch. Pulled hair from his head and his beard. But do you see some of those words? I tore my garment. I was appalled.

I understand this is sin on a mega level, if you will. It’s not just one little sin by one person, one time. I understand this is a nation that has really messed up what God was telling them to do. But nonetheless, look at verse 4. Then all who tremble at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the return to exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice. And at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my fasting with my garment and my cloak torn and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, saying, Oh my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.

Will I get on my knees and pray for forgiveness? Will I realize that I, me, have violated the covenant of God, even if the other person, quote unquote, deserved it. Or even if it was just a one-time brief slip. Do I care about God? Do I care about my sin enough to be moved, to be appalled? And do you see it in verse 5, excuse me, in verse 6? What two emotions did Ezra feel there? I am ashamed. I guess the second one’s not an emotion, but I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you. Am I ashamed to lift my face to God? Because I know I have transgressed his law, the God who has done everything for me, who created me, who blessed me, who gave me all that I have in this life, who most importantly offered me salvation through his son dying on the cross for my sin.

6. We Need to Have Godly Sorrow

That is him against whom I have transgressed. That it is him whom I have failed. And yes, that same God who I need to forgive me. And that’s the same God who has promised that if we will confess our sins to him, he is just and faithful to cleanse us from our unrighteousness. We need to have godly sorrow. And ultimately, if you consider the words of Peter to Simon, what does he say? He says, repent and pray. What are we to repent of? What are we to pray of? Look with me at one final passage in 2 Corinthians chapter 7. And we’ll be done for this morning’s study. In 2 Corinthians chapter 7. We’re to repent. We’re to turn from our sin. We’re to pray to God, confessing our sins and begging, pleading for the forgiveness that He has promised us that He will offer.

But do you see what’s going to really make a difference? In 2 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 9, as it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret. Whereas godly grief produces death. What is worldly grief? Worldly grief is I’m upset about that sin because it costs me physical consequences. Now it’s uncomfortable. Now I lost my job. Now I’ve said something I really dearly wish I had back. But what is godly grief? You see in verse 11, for see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment.

Conclusion

At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. Do you see the earnestness? They gave real thought and concern to this problem. Their eagerness to clear themselves, they wanted to make things right. So they did something about it. They changed. Their godly sorrow led to repentance. They turned from their evilness. In indignation, they were ashamed. And we see that’s the same feeling that Ezra had. We see the fear they knew they needed to make a change. They had a longing to be forgiven for God. And do you know what that word zeal? They took action because it mattered to them. What makes them zealous? Knowing that God is to be served, God is to be praised. This is our all to please God. And if we’re going to be in heaven with Him for eternity, we need to have a real sense of shame.

And yet a real sense of hope that if I take my shame and I repent, I confess of my wrongdoing, that I can be in heaven with God forever. Will you go to God in prayer with me at this time? Our dear God and most gracious and wonderful and loving Heavenly Father, we praise you, recognizing that you are just and that you are faithful. And we pray to you, knowing that we are imperfect beings, that is, we have sinned against you. Forgive me of my sins, dear Lord. Forgive us of when we have not done according to your will. Whether it is a large sin by our minds or a small one, help us to bring glory and honor to you, recognizing that you have shown time and again that you are a great God.

You are an awesome God. And you do expect to be obeyed. Lord, help us to exalt your will in our lives to where we are led away from sin, to where when we do fall down, that you will forgive us of our sins, but we will get back, we will change, we’ll be zealous to serve you and to never again be held down by the bonds of iniquity. Oh Lord, we know you are just and faithful to forgive us. Please help us to be moved by your just justness. Help us to be moved by your faithfulness. Lord, keep us safe while we live on this earth. But most importantly, help us to be with you for all of eternity in your salvation that you offer to us through Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life.

Lord, help us through this day to worship you and honor you as the one true and living God that you are. Help us to be pleasing in your sight, offering the sacrifices spiritually that you accept and that you desire. Keep us safe through this day, and in your Son’s name we do pray. Amen. We are now dismissed to our Bible classes.