A Right Response to Sin

Tonight is going to be just a one-off message, not a part of a series in any way. Next week, we have business meeting. The week after that, we have a deacon ordination. The week after that, I will be taking my beautiful bride out for dinner, because that day is her birthday. So I didn’t want to start a series tonight, and then not do the second message of it until October 6. I’ll start a new series that night.

Opening

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I’m just terrible. This morning in my message, I spoke “hypothetically” about holding a grudge against my wife for some real or imagined slight. While I wasn’t thinking of any one situation in particular, that scenario has certainly been a reality at times in our 28 years of marriage. And even though I spoke this morning about applying the Gospel to that scenario, I cannot say that I have always succeeded in doing so. Unfortunately, we sometimes don’t respond particularly well to our sin. We may hold on to it, we may beat ourselves up about it, we may just try to ignore it, we might try to hide it from God… but these are not the biblical way of dealing with our sin.

We would do well to take a lesson from Josiah’s playbook.

Josiah was one of a long line of kings of Judah. In fact, he was the greatest king that Judah ever had, at least as far as his dedication to the Lord was concerned, according to .

Josiah’s story is written in and in . At the age of 8, Josiah became king, and began to follow the Lord. At age 16, he really started pursuing God actively, and he started cleaning up Judah’s pagan society. But when he was 26 is when things really changed for Josiah and for Judah.

While getting ready to repair the temple at Josiah’s command (the temple having been neglected for some time), Hilkiah the priest finds the “Book of the Law”:

Deuteronomy 31:24–26 CSB

24 When Moses had finished writing down on a scroll every single word of this law, 25 he commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the Lord’s covenant, 26 “Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God so that it may remain there as a witness against you.

2 Chronicles 34:14–15 CSB

2 chr 34:14-1

This “Book of the Law” is believed to be at least some, but probably most, of the book of Deuteronomy, in keeping with what Moses had done in

Deuteronomy 31:24–26 CSB

That had been in the tabernacle, so we aren’t sure if perhaps the tradition had been continued, or if the copy had ended up somewhere on the temple grounds. Regardless, it was found.

2 Chronicles 34:16–19 CSB

16 Shaphan took the book to the king, and also reported, “Your servants are doing all that was placed in their hands. 17 They have emptied out the silver that was found in the Lord’s temple and have given it to the overseers and to those doing the work.” 18 Then the court secretary Shaphan told the king, “The priest Hilkiah gave me a book,” and Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king. 19 When the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes.

2 Chronicles 34:14–19 CSB

14 When they brought out the silver that had been deposited in the Lord’s temple, the priest Hilkiah found the book of the law of the Lord written by the hand of Moses. 15 Consequently, Hilkiah told the court secretary Shaphan, “I have found the book of the law in the Lord’s temple,” and he gave the book to Shaphan. 16 Shaphan took the book to the king, and also reported, “Your servants are doing all that was placed in their hands. 17 They have emptied out the silver that was found in the Lord’s temple and have given it to the overseers and to those doing the work.” 18 Then the court secretary Shaphan told the king, “The priest Hilkiah gave me a book,” and Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king. 19 When the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes.

This is the first place where we are going to take a lesson from Josiah.

Point 1: Realize it.

Josiah realizes just how sinful Judah had really become. He hears of the covenant between God and His people, and sees how his father Amon, and grandfather, Manasseh, had not followed it. He tears his robes in mourning. He hadn’t been completely blind. He knew there were issues, or he wouldn’t have been making the reforms that he had been making to that point. But in hearing the word of the law, the covenant that God had made with His people, he comes to a full realization of how sinful the people of Judah were. The blinders are removed, and suddenly he can see clearly.

We are blind to our sin sometimes, too… especially when we have the sins of others so readily available to look at. We’re often like the Pharisees in . Jesus had healed a man who had been born blind. He inadvertently schools them on whether or not Jesus is from God, and they kick him out of their presence.

John 9:35–41 CSB

35 Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, and when he found him, he asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 “Who is he, Sir, that I may believe in him?” he asked. 37 Jesus answered, “You have seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” 38 “I believe, Lord!” he said, and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, in order that those who do not see will see and those who do see will become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and asked him, “We aren’t blind too, are we?” 41 “If you were blind,” Jesus told them, “you wouldn’t have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

John 9:38–41 CSB

38 “I believe, Lord!” he said, and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, in order that those who do not see will see and those who do see will become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and asked him, “We aren’t blind too, are we?” 41 “If you were blind,” Jesus told them, “you wouldn’t have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

When we claim to be sinless, even though we know better, we show ourselves to be deceived and sinful.

1 John 1:8 CSB

8 If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

We actually nearly talk ourselves into believing a lie.

But it’s just a part of it to realize our sinfulness. Josiah went a step further.

2 Chronicles 34:20–21 CSB

20 Then he commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, the court secretary Shaphan, and the king’s servant Asaiah, 21 “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for those remaining in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book that was found. For great is the Lord’s wrath that is poured out on us because our ancestors have not kept the word of the Lord in order to do everything written in this book.”

2 Chronicles 34:26–28 CSB

26 Say this to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord: ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: As for the words that you heard, 27 because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and against its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before me, and you tore your clothes and wept before me, I myself have heard’—this is the Lord’s declaration. 28 ‘I will indeed gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster that I am bringing on this place and on its inhabitants.’ ” Then they reported to the king.

2 Chronicles 34:27–28 CSB

27 because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and against its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before me, and you tore your clothes and wept before me, I myself have heard’—this is the Lord’s declaration. 28 ‘I will indeed gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster that I am bringing on this place and on its inhabitants.’ ” Then they reported to the king.

The next lesson we learn from Josiah in responding to our sinfulness is this:

Point 2: Confess it.

Josiah acknowledges and agrees with God’s judgment against the sins of Judah and inquires of the Lord. Because Josiah’s response is one of contrition and humility, the Lord’s response is gracious and merciful, and Josiah learns that he will not experience what God is going to do.

Sin has a way of eating us up inside. We may realize it’s there, and we may not. But it still eats us up. Acknowledging or confessing our sin to God frees us. David wrote well about this:

Psalm 32:3–5 CSB

3 When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was drained as in the summer’s heat. Selah 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not conceal my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah

David had opened this psalm with a declaration of blessing:

Psalm 32:1–2 CSB

1 How joyful is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! 2 How joyful is a person whom the Lord does not charge with iniquity and in whose spirit is no deceit!

So Josiah has realized the sin of his people, and he has acknowledged the sin of his people. And as a result, both he and his people were blessed. Josiah was blessed because he would not see the punishment that God was going to bring. The people were blessed (perhaps without even knowing it) because as long as Josiah was on the throne, God’s punishment was delayed in coming. He wasn’t going to break His promise to Josiah.

So Josiah has realized the sin of his people, and he has acknowledged the sin of his people.

But Josiah doesn’t stop there. He goes still another step further.

Point 3: Deal with it — aggressively.

records in good detail the actions that Josiah took following this new revelation of truth:

He calls all of Judah back to God and their covenant with Him.

He cleanses the temple of anything foreign.

He wipes out the pagan priesthood.

He goes throughout Judah cleaning up idols and altars and other forms of pagan worship.

This is how we have to deal with our own sin. Jesus spoke about it this way in :

Mark 9:43–48 CSB

43 “And if your hand causes you to fall away, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and go to hell, the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to fall away, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to fall away, gouge it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

Mark 9:43–47 CSB

It’s a simple formula. If something makes you sin, get rid of it. Pretty aggressive.

The great puritan John Owen is credited with saying:

Do you mortify? Do you make it your daily work? Be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.

Closing

So to recap: what is a right response to our sin?

Realize it. Don’t walk around thinking you’re perfect, because that’s a sure-fire sign that you’re not.

Confess it. You can’t hide it from God anyway, so just bring it to Him in humility and repentance, and there you will find peace and blessing.

Deal with it — aggressively. Be killing sin, or it will be killing you.

What do you think is the main reason that we sometimes don’t even realize our own sinfulness? Pride? Self-reliance? Simple ignorance?

How well do we deal with it when someone points out our sin to us?

Have you experienced this picture of being eaten up on the inside from your sin, like David wrote about in ? How have you experienced the freedom from confession like David did?

To “mortify” as John Owen used it means “to stop a state or activity with lethal determination; conceived of as putting something to death.” How does it help to think of mortification as a “daily work?” Can we be about the business of putting our sin to death each and every day?

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