“The identity of sin”

Message given by Brother Gary Wright at the campmeeting in 2005.
As an opening disclaimer, this post is simply a copy of the notes I took on this message, and is only to be read as such. I may not have quoted him exactly word for word, but I did my best. Also, I’m not open to argue or debate on this post. However! Comments and feedback are greatly accepted and appreciated. Enjoy this sobering message. I hope it changes you the way it did me.
————————————————————————————-
”Authority comes from righteous living.”
We’ll never be affective in our calling, and we’ll never be able to clearly discern unless we live a life of righteousness.
“Our sin separates us from God.”
What are our vows? Did we make any? If so, what were they? We need to renew them, and live by them. Rom 7 makes mention of vows. Though it’s referring to marriage, the same principle applies. Just because you’re not immoral or living in sin, doesn’t mean you’re Godly, or acceptable to Him. God wants more than just upright living. He wants ALL of you. You can’t walk in the flesh, or live in carnality, and hope that one day in a church service, or at a meeting, that God is going to wave His magical wand over you and straighten your mess out. It didn’t work for the children of Israel. Miracle after miracle, they will not hold you beyond their season. We’ve had young people tragically killed, or taken from us. For days everybody was sober minded. Young people on the fringe started renewing their vows and darkening the doorways of the church. But after a few more days they slip right back into their complacency. Happenings don’t change people, it only lasts for a season. It must change in the heart!! We must allow God to renovate our hearts. Out of the abundance of the heart! (If I may insert, this was long before the passing of Amanda Anderson. I took this as a forewarning, that we must utilize these tragedies and realize that none of us are exempt. It’s time to wake up. Bro. Mark Anderson said in Shepherdsville, the Lord showed him the reason for the brutality of his daughter was to get our attention and wake us up. How many tragedies? How many shockwaves? How many tears? How many grievings? How much has to happen before we finally fall at His feet in total surrender and say Ok God, whatever it takes. Whatever I have to give up. Whatever I have to let go. I am wholly yours, and I’m ready to work in my calling. It’s high time to awake out of sleep!)
What use to be a conviction should STILL be a conviction. What use to be an abomination should STILL be an abomination. What used to be offensive to God, is STILL offensive to God. He hasn’t changed. People are still living by their convictions, only their convictions have changed. Sometimes we gauge blessing as approval. Blessings do not always represent approval. Search us oh God!
“When you’re walking close to God, you develop a tenderness that won’t allow you to cross His boundaries.”
Solomon said God could get angry at our words. Take this to heart!! Eccl 5:6 “Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin ; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?”
We need to ask ourselves a few questions. What is separating me from God? Why am I vacillating? See, we don’t worry about blind spots in our walk so much, but rather the obvious spots. The little things are revealed in the spirit. But the most obvious things are left in the shadows of the small things. 

FIVE WAYS SIN CAN ENTER IN: 
1. Thoughts:
“Sew a thought, reap an action.” Sin starts in our thoughts. The statement: “You’re not judged for your thoughts, only your actions” is a fabrication. Prov 24:9 The very thought of foolishness is sin. Paul said in 2 Corinth 10:5 “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” David said “Try me, and know my thoughts.”
What are we allowing to enter into our minds? What are we feeding? Is it producing the wrong fruit? If it is sin, you better deal with it immediately. Living decently, dressing decently, those things will not justify our carnal thinking. Phil 4:8.THINK ON THESE THINGS! Stop dwelling on evil surmising. Stop promoting the private issues that need to be prayed about. Build a hedge about your mind! That’s why the devil couldn’t get to Job. What was his hedge?? He feared God, he eschewed evil. Meditate! We must meditate on the law day and night. But first, we must learn it. You can’t meditate on what you don’t know. We can’t meditate on the fruits of the spirit if we don’t know them. We can’t dwell on the 7 things God hates if we don’t know them. Open the wings of the word and find out what it says, it’s life to your carnal mind and healing for your hungry soul! As a man thinketh, so is he! It takes more than guarding your thoughts, or watching your tongue, or dressing holy, or shouting and dancing. It takes the authority of the power of God to revive our minds! Awaken our convictions oh God!

2. Words:
Our mouth gets us in more trouble than anything else. Any quandary you‘ve ever found yourself in has probably been a result of your tongue. Prov. 10:19 In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: But he that refrained his lips is wise.
Matt 12:36 Behold every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account in their day of judgment.
Idle: Unfruitful. Unproductive. Unnecessary All starting with “U“. Idle words are words that are all about you. Verse 37: For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Also. Eph 4:29: Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. When we speak idle talk or corrupt communications towards our brother, we’re just tearing down! It’s our job to minister grace to the hearer. Make them desire the things of God. Eccl 5:1 “More hearing than speaking.” They that can’t listen offer a sacrifice of fools. God never forgets our vows. Tie this verse in with Prov 20:25. Sometimes we make spontaneous vows in the emotion of the spirit, but when that zeal dissipates, so does our commitment. Don’t live in emotions. God isn’t looking for an emotionally driven people who make vows out of lip service. We are failing as a body in this area. Not because we don’t understand doctrine. Not because we don’t believe standards. Not because we’re unsure of this truth. Not because we question the order. But because we’re harnessing our energy towards getting more revelations rather than cleaning up our conduct. Instead of begging for more truths, God wants us to live the truth we already have! When we stop trying to impress with our knowledge, and get our lives holy, He’ll give us more revelations.
 “Righteousness is what we do, Holiness is who we are.”
The spirit speaks to the church in EVERY service, but we can’t hear it!! Paul said I’d like to give you more but you can’t bear it! They weren’t babies, they were established saints. Heb 5:11-12 When the time come that you should be teachers, you need to be taught yourselves. You’re dull of hearing. We justify our actions with our words. In Joshua 7 you’ll find Joshua lamenting with God, questioning Him on their lack of victory. He tells him there’s sin in the camp. After following the Lords direction, he uncovers the lot of Achan, who had stolen Babylonian garments, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold and buried it beneath his tent. Sin destroys the whole camp. How much Babylon do we wear? How many treasures of the enemy our buried beneath our foundation? When the ark of God was transported on milk cows, God lifted Himself. When sin enters the camp, the covering of God leaves! We need to step up, live in purity! Live in holiness! We have to keep sin out of the camp!! The day of saying “God has to work with us because we are the body” is over. He’s not so limited that He has to keep dragging us along. He’s requiring something of us, and the day we’ve heard about, is here. It’s today. We MUST live this. Maybe we need the Lord to take us behind the woodshed, and whoop us in love. He requires much more out of us than what we’re giving. James 1:26 Study James 3. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. He that keepeth his tongue, keepeth his soul. When you watch your tongue, it prevents your soul from being influenced.

3. Deeds:
Our actions. Just because we don’t follow through with sin, or perform certain mistakes, doesn’t mean we’re safe or sinless. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Our deeds start with the thoughts and words. (Gal chapter 5 deals with the 17 works of the flesh, we‘ll go over those later in this article.) “Sew an action, reap a habit.”
Col 3 lists a few more works of the flesh. I encourage you to study them. I love the start of that chapter. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things of the earth. Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Among the many attributes, it names concupiscence. This defines a habit that is out of control. It drives us, it consumes us, and it owns us. As the Holy Ghost gave direction and conviction back then, we need it to do the same right now. It’s not an opinion, but it’s a necessity. Our deeds are often pretentious because our mind is far from where it should be. Deliver us from our concupiscence, oh God. “Lord let my thoughts, my words and my deeds, bring glory to You…”

4. Motives:
The intent. Why do we do the things we do? Is there deceit? Is there guile? Or hypocrisy? We can not cover our evil intents with holiness.
His strength is made perfect in our weakness. When we realize that without Him our motives are fueling us for damnation, we’ll fall at the feet of Jesus Christ and plead for help. People who have this vision, can still be lost. People don’t go blind over night. Scales fall a little at a time. Saints can know the teachings, and the songs, and the doctrine, and still lose their way. We can slip to the point where we become a reprobate. Don’t think that it can’t happen to you. Rom. 1 wasn’t written to the world, it’s referencing the church! Jude said in 1:4 there were men who were once ordained to the condemnation, now ungodly men, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness.
Paul said shun vain and profane babblings. Profane means surface relationship. Those that APPEAR Godly. Any one of us can fall into this condition. It starts in obvious areas. Our standards drop, we reveal more and more flesh, our attitudes become foul, these are a few indicators. Things that used to be preached against are made comfortable! We allow modern attributes of flesh to creep into the church, and we don’t say anything about it. STAND! We wonder why we don’t have healings and outpourings! We need a ministry who will go beyond living for this, and start dying for this! Preach the word! When Jacob walked away from the angel he wrestled, he had a limp! He walked different. We need an experience with God that makes us walk different. I’m bothered by girls that wear unnecessary outfits to church. Or guys that come way underdressed. And what baffles me, are the parents that drove them to church. We need to raise the bar of Holiness and take this seriously. We’re kidding ourselves by thinking we’re doing the people a favor by making them comfortable in their flesh. We don’t dictate or demand, we want to see you saved! Show us Lord! We want to be clean, holy temples for your power and glory!
SHOW US the beauty in holiness! We’ve gotten so lazy in the church.
Bro. Patton said “People who don’t come to church in the midweek, won’t make the bride.” He said it jokingly, but we somehow think it’s not important to be dedicated. We come to church, not because of what we can give or receive. But because we need church.

5. Omission:
James 4: Him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
When we neglect the learned principles and boundaries of God, it becomes sin. Heb 6 is for us today. Omission is not just cutting somebody off in traffic, but rather backing up to remind them they were wrong. There are boundaries in God. We need to learn them, polish them, and abide by them. Every time we cross a boundary, we instantly become a false representative of Christ. We often blame our ignorance on God’s lack of direction. We say He doesn’t speak. Perhaps God is speaking more than we’re hearing. We need to clean out our spiritual ears and hear what God is saying to us! And we need to quit justifying the world in our church. The world, coupled with the beast, are consumed with events and traditions that are shaking the church. It’s shaking our very souls and producing vital confusion.
He is all we need! When will we get that? We don’t need all the elements that religion has to offer. God is the captain of this vessel. If we then be risen with Christ!! We should be uncomfortable. Shame on us for thinking we’re getting by. The soul that sins, dies. Ezek 18. We need to find out what all sin is.
·Rom 6:23. ·Rom 8:6. ·James 5:20. ·James 1:15
When lust is conceived. We need to know these things. This is the formula. I don’t care if you’ve been here 50 years or 5 minutes. If you have sin operating in your life, you. will. die.
Blessed is the man that endures temptation. For when he is tried he receiveth the crown of life. God tempts us with no intent to do evil. He tries us to prove us righteous.

Seven ways to identify sin:

1. Where does it lead.
What I’m doing, thinking, saying, where will it lead me? If I continue in this, will I become more spiritual? Will I have more influence? Lust breeds more lust.

2. Does it have to be kept hidden?
If it does, it’s most likely sin. When we have nothing to hide, we have nothing to fear. We need to go BOLDLY before the throne. You can’t go anywhere boldly if you’re hanging your head in guilt, shame, or defeat. Going before the throne of grace with boldness means you can march in with nothing to hide.

3. How does it affect others around me?
Does it promote charity, unity, or principle? Or worldliness, strife, and division. We are ambassadors. People are watching. Most importantly, God almighty is watching. What are we advocating?

4. What if everyone did this?
What if we all thought this way? What kind of church would it be? Would God be here? If we ever want the power of God to return as it did in the early church, we have to start by cleaning up the inside.

5. Must I go against my conscience?
If you do, it’s sin. Your conscience is formed by the word of God. If you were at one time convicted of this, then why aren’t you now? Search yourself. Find out why you’re not convicted. When you ignore convictions too long, they disappear. You then become a reprobate, twice dead. A reprobate is unsalvageable, void of judgment. Psalms 139:23 “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts.”

6. Would Jesus do this?
Would He have this motive? Would He think this way? If not, lets be willing to back up. It’s not that difficult to comprehend. If Jesus wouldn’t do it, you shouldn’t either.

7. Do we have to transgress?
Transgress: To violate or go beyond a law or command. Jam 2:10: If you offend in one point, you’re guilty of the whole law. Sin is a transgression of the law. If we have to cross it at all, we’re living in sin. 1 John 3:4 Sin is a transgression!

His fan is in His hand. He’s purging His floor. His fan is His ministry, His floor is the church! He‘s cleaning up the church with His word! The chaff will be scattered and burned with fire unquenchable, but the wheat will be gathered! Let’s eradicate this empty, unnecessary sin from our lives and become wheat in the Kingdom of God!

Advertisement