Sermon Central
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The Mirror Of Correction Series
Contributed by Vera Hughes on Feb 20, 2008 (message contributor)
Summary: It is easy to correct others and give advice, but hard to correct ourselves.
Self-correction – making the necessary corrections on the inside based on the Word of God.
The greatest task the believer will ever have to do is to correct ourselves.
Self correction makes us better witnesses for the Jesus Christ; enrich our lives in our home, church, fellowship with saints, and God himself.
Until we learn and conquer the art of self-correction, we cannot live a fulfilled or fruitful life.
We will look at the life of David in this lesson. This is the same David that God used to slew Goliath; great King; compared to the life of Jesus; David was a man of great stature. He had an intimate relationship with God; but David had a weakness.
What was the weakness of David? He had an unnatural lust for women.
Lust:
1. Shows up first in the thoughts of our mind.
II Samuel 11:2 - And it came to pass in an evening tide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a women washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.
2. Shows up in the words of our mouth.
And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
The thoughts of your mind and your words will turn into reality.
3. Shows up in our actions.
And David sent messengers and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.
David knew he was wrong. Doing wrong does not make you look on the inside.
God brought David face to face with himself.
David took responsibility for his actions; he knew who the sinned against.
If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Paraphrased: If you are faithful to what I have said, you are really disciples of mine; and you will have knowledge of what is true, and that very truth will make you free.
No one can correct me, but me. God cannot correct me.
Psalm 51 is David’s confession of his sin with Bath-sheba.
Behold, thou desireth truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
Most people stop at forgiveness and never what caused us to do it. God wants truth in the inward parts.
What’s on the inside that would cause me to commit sin (adultery, fornication, etc.)? Something is wrong in the thoughts of your mind.
If we don’t go from forgiveness to cleansing, we will do the sin again.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Paraphrased: If we freely admit that we have sinned, He is to be depended on, since He is just, to forgive us our sins.
Before I can correct myself, I must see myself. I must look on the INSIDE.
How Did You Miss God?
Root cause of missing God is rejecting knowledge.
Israel – type of local church; believer
Blood touching blood – church killing each other
No priest – no benefits of the covenant rights
Your children will suffer because of our unrighteousness.
For The Believer To Miss God:
1. Internal problem caused by external influence.
I cannot influence you to think ungodly unless there is something on the inside that you are lusting after. If you lust is stronger than your desire for righteousness, then you will give in to the lust.
Internal problem: what caused me to receive and act on incorrect information. This comes from a poor self-image.
When you become cleansed, you do not care what others think.
2. External influences
Society we live in where we confuse custom with scripture. I called it “historical mentality.” This mentality says, if I disagree with you, then you are my enemy. And I fight with you until you are destroyed.
The problem is that we begin to fight against those who God has called us to minister to.
You cannot fight against our enemy and make progress at the same time. We are called to minister to people so they can change.
Example: Abortionists; homosexuals; sinner, etc.
How Do I Correct Myself From External Influences?
1. Take every thought and bring it into line with Word of God.
Thoughts in our mind is not an idol thought.
Thought – a device designed to manipulate your intellect. Tightening something in your mind or loosing something. They are creating an image. They affect us either negatively or positively.
