The following sermon, from Albert N. Martin’s series on Psalm 51, defines sin and mercy; furthermore, it explains how to access God’s mercy and lists obstacles that block most Christians from it.
Pastor Martin is very specific in his definitions and illustrations about sin; God’s mercy; obstacles to obtaining mercy; and motivations for seeking mercy.
The biblical context is Psalm 51, and all of the 16 sermons in that series are about some aspect of dealing with sin, but this particular sermon specifically addresses the problems sin brings into the believers life: guilt and defilement.
Pastor Martin specifically explains how to view, understand and deal with these two problems.
We all know the guilt that sin brings; but maybe all have not clearly understood that unclean feeling which sometimes lingers long after we believe we have been forgiven; that is the defilement of sin.
Guilt has to do with the legal aspect of sin. God rules this universe, and a read through the Bible will familiarize you with all the times He is referred to as Judge; all the references to His courtroom…those things indicate that sin has a legal aspect. Sinning, is breaking God’s law and as a result, the Judge will pronounce a sentence upon all who appear before Him on the day of judgment….
To define guilt in one word, we could say that it is a feeling of being “wrong.”
Defilement is the word that describes the moral aspect of sin. A one-word description might be “dirty,” or a kindred word.
God does not necessarily alleviate, or grant cleansing of both of these at the same time. That is, you may be forgiven with sincere, heart-felt, biblical confession of sin; yet you may still feel unclean for some time. Martin explains that elsewhere in the series, I can’t presently remember the specific sermon, but if you want that information, then go to sermonaudio.com to listen to his entire series.
Below Martin’s mp3 sermon, I reposted Dr. Ramsey’s sermon on dealing with Guilt, for those who would like to hear each of these while visiting this post.
Dr. Ramsey on Psalm 130: How To Deal With Guilt:
RECOMMENDATION AND SUMMARY:
I highly recommend listening to pastor Albert N. Martin’s 16 part sermon series on Psalm 51. Knowing how to biblically process sin is foundational to a biblical walk with the Lord.
In my own walk, I have spent a lot of time studying basic aspects of Christianity. I listened through Martin’s 16 part series 4 dozen times at least, over a period of several years. I would take my mp3 player on dog walks with me and hear an entire sermon on any given walk. I alternated that sermon series with the series of other pastors like Dr. John MacArthur…but came back to Martin until I felt I had a good grasp of the material.
I also meditated upon it by carefully observing what happened inside me when I sinned; what I turned to for solace; how I confessed it; how I sought to escape related feelings….
Aspects of the experience of sin that I could not understand or was troubled by, I thereafter sought answers about, that I might effectively work through them.
Despite that, it took me several years to understand what the experience of mercy was like. Martin gave plenty of examples of what it wasn’t, but there are more to understand in your own walk.
The big problem, is the problem of sincerely, humbly owning the sin and seeing that you are helpless to work it off, make vows…to coax God to accept you.
You are only forgiven because of Christ’s atoning work and righteous life; but knowing that intellectually and experientially are two very different things.
You must see and quit all the things you do to earn acceptance with God. You have that in your unity to Christ.
I believe that God lets us struggle with sin to figure out many necessary things: our own depravity and helplessness; His holiness, goodness…; our evasiveness; defenses; idols….
That is, we must grow in self-knowledge and in the knowledge of God; doing those things requires abiding in His means of grace and experiencing warfare with sin.
These are foundational aspects of Christianity that require serious attention: observation, meditation, self-examination and the like.
You might think that such basic things are unnecessary, but I have to say that I have experienced that people commonly do not bother to get a good grasp of the basics in many of the fields of knowledge they deal with every day.
For example, when I worked in the field of psychology (22 years), I noticed that most employees there did not have a working understanding of the relationship between thoughts and feelings; or feelings and behaviors; abuse and subsequent feelings and conduct….
As a Christian, I am getting the impression that many professed believers do not read the Bible; it seems that very few have read through it….
You might be thinking, “What is the problem, isn’t that my pastor’s job…?”
No, all Christians are moved by the Holy Spirit to hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness, which is found in the Bible: those are Jesus’ words in the beatitudes, where He describes the characteristics of a true citizen of His kingdom.
Consider what the new church did:
Act 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Acts 2:42 is enumerating God’s appointed means of grace. Those activities are necessary for growing in Christian maturity. (See, Categories: New Christian Orientation.)
So, if you are a Christian, then you are told in the Bible to place God first.
What does that mean to you?
What do you think it entails?
Should you have a thorough understanding of the basics?
Can a 6 year old begin his schooling in high school?
That seems to be what most Christians want to do. They even go as far as designing their own curricula (hardly anyone thinks they have to know and follow the Bible, the instruction God gave mankind).
May God the Holy Spirit work the beatitude life in you.