Hidden Sin - Part 1
The sermon emphasizes the importance of honesty and confession in leadership, and warns against the consequences of hidden sin.
This sermon emphasizes the importance of complete honesty and transparency before God, using the example of David's confession of sin in 2 Samuel 24:17. The speaker highlights the need for sin to be exposed and confessed, as where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is light and sin cannot be hidden. The consequences of hiding sin without confession or exposure are discussed, pointing to either instant retribution or disastrous outcomes.
Full Transcript
The one true living and loving Saviour, we are not worthy to the name, your holy name, the name of Jesus. But in our unworthiness, we come before you. Some of us and most of us must needs cry, unclean, unclean, unclean.
Who is worthy to tread your court? We humble ourselves before you. Draw near to us and speak to us. In Jesus' holy name.
Amen. Please be seated, my dear friends. Now, if you will please turn to 2 Samuel.
And the 24th chapter, and the 17th verse. And David spoke unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people and said, Lord, I have sinned. I have done wickedly.
But these sheep, what have they done? Let thine hand, I pray you, be against me and against my father's house. My dear friends, that is leadership. Complete honesty.
Complete honesty. You know, folks, in the beginnings of this work, when we were seeing revival on every hand, you know, we felt that we could not keep anything hidden or in the shadows. We could not hide anything.
Sin would come out. You know, people would say, who went and told Brother Joe or the preacher? Somebody certainly told him about me. Totally strangers would come to the meetings or come to see me.
They would be so shocked that somebody had actually told them about what they were doing. Now, that is a very simple thing. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is a light.
And sin cannot be hidden. Now, my dear friends, it has given me great sorrow whenever for any length of time sin was found hidden without confession or exposure. When sin was found hidden without confession or exposure, I would be so sad.
Why now can sin be hidden for so many weeks, so many months? Why now can sin be hidden for so many weeks, so many months? You will see that in the scriptures, either there was an instant reward for presumption and hiding of sin. Or there was a plague amongst the people. There was a disastrous outcome.
Today, if any preacher dares to say, well, this tragedy or this calamity, natural calamity, is God's intervention or God's reward, there is a hue and cry. One governor of one of the states of the United States happened to say in some speech, this is a Christian nation. And there was a huge outcry.
Now, there are fellows who have imported idols from many parts of the world into the U.S. and the world. I have already mentioned the dollar hunters. I can't say that people went there with a missionary heart.
Can you say your son went there with a missionary heart? I say, nobody should go to America without a missionary heart. If he does, he will be corrupted. The outsourcing of jobs into India and the booming economy in China and India
Sermon Outline
- I. Introduction to the concept of hidden sin
- A. The unworthiness of humanity and the need for confession
- B. The importance of honesty in leadership
- II. The consequences of hidden sin
- A. Instant reward or plague in scripture
- B. Disastrous outcomes in personal and national life
- III. The role of the Holy Spirit in revealing sin
- A. The light of the Spirit exposes hidden sin
- B. The danger of presumption and hiding sin
- IV. The importance of confession and exposure
- A. The need for immediate confession and exposure
- B. The consequences of delayed confession and exposure
Key Quotes
“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is a light.” — Joshua Daniel
“Sin would come out. You know, people would say, who went and told Brother Joe or the preacher?” — Joshua Daniel
“If he does, he will be corrupted.” — Joshua Daniel
Application Points
- We must be honest and confess our sins immediately to avoid the consequences of hidden sin.
- The Holy Spirit is the light that exposes hidden sin, and helps us to see our need for confession and exposure.
- We must not presume that we can hide our sin and avoid its consequences, but rather seek the light of the Spirit and confess our sins.