The Confrontation Of Sin - Be Careful Of The Stones You Throw

John 8:1-11; 9:1-3; Acts 28:21; Matthew 7:1-6; Gal 6:1-10;

3 examples of how people throw stones…

John 8 1Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. 2And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. 3And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 4They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 5Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? 6This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. 7So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 8And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. 9And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

John 9 1And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 2And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 3Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. 4I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Acts 28 1And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. 2And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. 3And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 4And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. 5And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. 6Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.

An example of how we hurt those with sin…

Matthew 7 1Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. 6Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

An example of how we should treat those overtaken…

Galatians 6 1Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. 2Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. 3For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. 4But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5For every man shall bear his own burden. 6Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. 7Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 10As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

 

INTRO: Have we not heard the saying? "People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." How true this is. However we often throw them anyway. We see sin and attack it. Well, that is when it is someone else's. We are all guilty of this. We all have our own things that really set us off. We have our own pet peeves. And… we must be honest, we have our own hidden dirty sins. Bit, today I am not going to talk about the hidden sins, but the ones that are exposed. The ones that are found in all the people we see everyday. The sins that people do catch our attention. The ones that we get the chance to talk about. But remember we may be guilty of just as much. We may be guilty of even more.

I am not here today, to say we should overlook sin, or that we should downplay the importance of heralding truth. I want us to look at how we treat the sinner, not the sin.

 

 If we are not careful, we often will pick up and throw…

Stones of judgment - even when we are warned not to do so.

Stones of self-righteousness - We overlook our own failures

Stones of accusation - we become the ones who find fault

Stones of prejudice - we assume the worst

Stones of violence - even to the point we hurt them

Stones of rejection - we reject their chance to look to God

Stones of convenience - easy to condemn others (there are so many to condemn)

 

The "stones" we throw can cause…

Attitude of worthlessness compared to others (although without Him we are)

Attitude of our superiority

Attitude of our self-righteousness

Attitude of their helplessness

Attitude of resentment

 

In contrast to how we often are, we see the Lord as He spoke …

Words of truth - 2

Words of training - 2

Words of silence - 6

Words of prayer? - 6

Words of understanding - 7

Words of forgiveness - 11 "neither do I condemn…"

Words of hope - 11 "neither do I condemn…"

Words of opportunity - 11 "neither do I condemn…"

Words of avoidance - "…go, and sin no more.."

 

When the Attitude displayed by the Lord is used, often people will…

Look closer at what He offers

Listen to the Holy Spirit's biding

Lay aside their sinful life

Let Him be Lord of their life

 

Lest we think, sin is overlooked, I want to examine methods God uses to confront sin…

Through His Word

Through His Spirit

Through the conscience

Through our changed lives

Through judgment before eternity

1 John 3:20-22 20For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 21Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. 22And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

Hebrews 4:11-16 11Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. 12For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. 14Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 9:27,28 27And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Gary Marcum - New Beginnings Church - 051505am