SINS OF SILENCE

LEVITICUS 5:1

A. "AND IF A SOUL SIN, AND HEAR THE VOICE OF SWEARING, AND IS A WITNESS, WHETHER HE HATH SEEN OR KNOWN OF IT; IF HE DO NOT UTTER IT, THEN HE SHALL BEAR HIS INIQUITY."
  1. The reading of this text brings to light that nothing can be hid from the eyes or ears of the Lord:
    1. "Thou God seest me" - Gen. 16:13; Ps. 139:1-16
    2. All things are like an open book before the Lord - Ps. 90:8
  2. This Mosaic law deserves careful and prayerful study:
    1. It shows that sin is sin, be it committed in secret or in the open; whether we or others recognize it or not, it is still sin.
    2. It is sin because God calls it sin. This makes sin more odious and sinful.
B. THERE ARE THREE FORCES IN LIFE, THE ACTION OF WHICH IS ILLUSTRATED BY OUR OPENING TEXT
  1. The first is influence:
    1. That intangible personal atmosphere which clothes every man with an invisible belt of magnetism - 2 Cor. 2:14-16
    2. "For none of us liveth to himself and no man dieth to himself" - Rom. 14:7 ILLUSTRATIONS -
      1. Peter said, "I go fishing" and his words became magnetic, "We also go with thee" was the response of his brethren - John 21:3
      2. Said the woman of Samaria, "Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw" - John 4:1-29
      3. Paul and his fellow travelers - Acts 27:35
      4. Other examples - Acts 9:36-39; 1 Ki. 16:30. Who can rightly estimate the power of influence?
  2. The second force is example:
    1. Every person sets an example for someone else -
      1. We think of Dorcas - Acts 9:36-39
      2. Paul was forceful - Acts 27:35-39
      3. Even Ahab, that wicked king, had many follow his example - 1 Ki. 16:30
  3. Then comes a personal responsibility:
    1. One might as easily evade the force of gravitation as to evade responsibility, even of a secret sin - Ps. 139:1-16
    2. All are recorded in the books of heaven - Rev. 20:10-12
C. LET US NOTE, BRIEFLY, HOW THE FORCES WE HAVE MENTIONED OPERATE
  1. It is utterly impossible for any one of us to live in this world without affecting someone else with our lives:
    1. "If any man hear the voice of swearing"; if he even knows of it, he is obligated to God and man
    2. The tragic aspect of sin is that at times we share it with others - Josh. 7:1-16, 26
    3. We have involved others in our guilt - Acts 5:1-11
  2. How then can we be free from the guilt of the sin of silence?
    1. Pray as the Psalmist did, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts" - Ps. 139:23
    2. "Cleanse thou me from secret faults" - Ps. 19:12
    3. Confess every known sin - 1 John 1:7-9
    4. Clear ourselves before God and men of every wrong known to us - Luke 19:1-10
  3. There is but one hiding place of sin which will silence it:
    1. Not of our own choosing - Matt. 15:4, 5; 27:24
    2. Place sin under the blood of Christ - Ps. 32:1; 1 Pet. 1:18, 19
    3. Leave it there!


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