Leaving the Past Behind 05

Get Rid of the Guilt

Introduction: Do the video of Monty Python. Guys whacking themselves with the boards. Is that your idea of church? Meaningless ritual followed by a whack in the head. For many that is the idea of Christianity. Something that hurts. So many live with relentless guilt. Sometimes struggling with sin that they confessed 10, or twenty or more years ago. Ill. . . Mrs. Smith, that isnt her name. Wonderful Godly woman. She and her husbands were farmers north of Katy Texas. So well thought of that they named a school after them. Raised 4 boys. Successful men. Her husband long gone. She in her late 80s. Loved her little white house and ten acres. Had peach trees. Picked peaches. Hurt her back. Into the hospital. I went to visit her. As I sat beside her bed she said, Bill, I need to tell you something that I did in the 1940s. Times were difficult. They had 4 boys. She got pregnant. By her husband. But they felt they couldnt take care of any more. So she got an abortion. 50 years later it still haunted her. I asked her if shed sought Gods forgiveness. She said yes. I told her that was enough. Forgive herself. She said, Im trying. Many of you are trying to forgive yourself. Weve been talking about leaving the past behind. Seeking reconciliation. Forgiving others. Seeking Gods forgiveness. This morning I want you to start to forgive yourself. Must deal with Guilt. First step is to determine which sort of guilt you have.

Its like the fellow I heard about. He had this weird compulsion to sling mugs of beer into bartenders faces. He entered a bar, bought a glass of beer and then immediately threw it into the bartenders face. Quickly grabbing a napkin, he helped the bartender dry his face while he apologized with great remorse. Im so sorry, he said. I have this compulsion to do this. I fight it, but I dont know what to do about it. You had better do something about your problem, the bartender replied. You can be sure Ill remember you and will never serve you another drink until you get help. It was months before the man faced the bartender again. When he asked for a beer, the bartender refused. Then the man explained that he had been seeing a psychiatrist and that his problem was solved. Convinced it was now okay to serve him, the bartender poured him a drink. The man took the glass and splashed the beer into the barkeepers astonished face. I thought you were cured, the shocked bartender screamed. I am, said the man. I still do it, but I dont feel 1 guilty about it anymore. We need to feel guilty about some things. There is a good side to guilt where the Holy Spirit quickens us to remind us that we are falling short of the glory of god. I call the good guilt, CONVICTION. John 16:7 7 "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment; 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; There is also a bad kind of guilt. SHAME. It gets its slimy grip on your throat even after you deal with the sin. You still live in its shadow. I call the bad guilt shame. 1 John 3:20 in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. How do you tell whether you have the good guilt or the bad guilt? ASK THREE QUESTIONS:

I.

Determine Which Guilt You Have

Because so many lived so long with so much guilt a new generation emerged saying, Im tired of feeling that way and Im not going to take it anymore! Get rid of the guilt. Feel good about yourself! There is just one huge problem. God does not want you to feel good about some things. You shouldnt feel good about lying, or stealing, or cheating, or any other sin. You ought to feel bad about sin!

A. First, where does it originate?

Good guilt, or conviction comes from God. Bad guilt or shame comes from Satan.

Unfinished Business, Charles Sell, Multnomah, 1989, p. 223

God wants to make us aware of the sin in our lives so that we can do something about it. Great illustration is the letter of Paul to the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 5 he deals with a man who is living with his fathers mother. The church was playing the same game as much of modern psychology. They thought the best thing was to be agents of grace and let the guy continue in sin. Paul fired a patriot missile into that scud. NO WAY! Get the guy out of the church if he is going to live like that! Deliver his body over to Satan that his spirit can be saved. Pauls letter shook that church. It created guilt in them. No self-help cheap self-esteem. His words cut to the quick. And in their sorrow, they acted. Now in 2 Corinthians 7 he highlights the results. 2 Corinthians 7: 9 I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, in order that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. 10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death. 11 For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything, you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter. Notice the phrase: godly sorrow. Thats good guilt. Conviction. It comes from the Lord. The other kind of guilt, shame, comes from your enemy.

So step one in determining which kind of guilt you have is to ask yourself, where is it coming from? B. Second: What is the guilt saying?
Good guilt or conviction is specific. Bad guilt is general. Good guilt or conviction says here is the problem deal with this one thing. Bad guilt or shame says there is not specific problem you should just feel bad. I often hear people say, I dont know why I feel this way. Last year Andrew hurt his ankle playing football. After the game I examined him. Grabbed the leg and started squeezing things. Ouch! Andrew writhed in pain. Sorry Andrew but I have to find the spot. By the time I was finished his foot hurt all over and I had no idea where the injury was. We went to see Billy Newsom. Billy is the trainer for the high school football team. He is trained in sports injuries. Billy carefully got on the floor and gently started the exam. Asking questions. Probing for responses. Tracing each tendon. Finally he isolated it. What about right there? Andrew flinched in pain. Billy did some other things just to make sure and when he was finished he looked up and said, Here it is. The tendon that runs down the outside of the leg wraps under the anklebone and attaches to the side of the foot. Strained it. Not a sprain but a strained tendon. That is how good guilt or conviction works. It points to a specific thing. Isolates the problem. Shame is general. Like my examination just makes it hurt worse.

Bad guilt, or shame, comes form the enemy.

The Bible says we have an enemy who wants to steal kill and destroy you. His strategy is accusation. Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night. He is the accuser of the brethren.

C. Third: What can I do to get rid of it?

Good guilt offers a solution. There is no cure for shame. Once Billy got to the point of the problem he told us exactly what to do to fix it. Ice it today. Keep it wrapped. Stay off it. If it isnt better in a couple of days lets talk again. That is how good guilt works. There is a cure. Do this and you will feel better. Shame doesnt offer a cure. Because shame doesnt want you to get better. Shame is like a fog that settles in and refuses to leave. When you determine which kind of guilt you have the next step is to get rid of it.

II.

Determine To Get Rid of Your Guilt

1) Propitiation.
That means that Jesus died in our place and took the full punishment of our sin. 1 John 4:9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Because of propitiation I am deeply loved by God.

Once you determine the kind of guilt you have you must deal with it. The answer to all guilt is grace. Gods unmerited favor. Forgiveness poured out at the cross. But the grace is applied differently depending on the kind of guilt you have.

A. If Your Guilt is COVICTION: REPENT and seek grace.

Get Rid of Good Guilt through Repentance. When God quickens your spirit because of some sin you must respond by repenting. There is no other cure. Psalm 32:3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. 5 I acknowledged my sin to Thee, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"; And Thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin. Selah. 1 John 1: 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. The only thing to do with conviction is repent. Confess and turn around. Go the other way. So how are you dealing with guilt this morning? Living under the cloud. Past is poisoning your life. Or are you willing to do something about it. Determine which kind of guilt you have. Determine to get rid of the guilt through Grace.

2) Reconciliation.
Colossians 1:21 21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach Reconciled means to be back in a right relationship with God. Because of reconciliation I am totally accepted by God.

3) Regeneration
Regeneration is the renewing work of the Holy Spirit. John 3:3,5 Jesus said that we are born again in the spirit. Hebrews 10:14 says that he has perfected you for all time. Because of regeneration you are perfect like God. And when you come to terms with that, you come to terms with grace. And when you come to terms with grace. You get rid of SHAME! Dont miss this. You must not Live with Guilt. So what is it going to take for you to deal with it this morning?

B. If Your Guilt is SHAME: RESIST IT through grace.

Remember, 1 John 3:20 in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. God needs to be greater than your heart. If you have already asked gods forgiveness and been cleansed of the sin but you still struggle beneath the cloud of shame you need to resist those feelings through grace. Let God be greater than your heart. Three powerful words will help you get a hold of grace. These powerful principles come from the insights of Robert McGee in the Search for Significance.