A megachurch pastor from Tennessee warned his congregation in an April 3 sermon that Christians face a great threat in secret sins.
The Christian Post featured the sermon of LifePoint Church Pastor RC Ford entitled, "Courage To Confess." The sermon delved into the communal consequences of sin, which would always find its way of bringing ruin to a person who tries to hide it instead of correcting it. Ford cited the Bible's Achan, who is mentioned in Joshua 7. A rich man from Israel, Achan's sin gravely affected him and his family. Achan was stoned to death.
"When I sin, my sin can bring ruin on my family. When you sin, it's never you sinning alone. Don't ever buy the lie that your secret sin ain't touching anyone," Ford said.
"Everything in Achan's life was awesome. He was living the dream and then boom; one day he loses it all. That's what secret sin does. It can destroy and ruin everything in your path. Just because you haven't been exposed today, doesn't mean that your sin will not find you out. Because your sin will find you out. Eventually, it will happen," he explained.
Ford stressed that one can not play hide-and-seek with God for God knows and sees everything. He highlighted that anyone who knows God knows that God knows what one does and the sins one commits. He emphasized that God is everywhere and one can not hide from him no matter where one goes. He then likened God to oxygen, which is practically everywhere and which one can not hide from.
According to Ford, sin can also have generational consequences that damage entire families. Ford said sin trickles from the parents to their children, whose sins similarly affect the family, too. The pastor addressed the children in his congregation and helped them understand that their sins affect the members of their families. He elaborated that sin brings suffering and pain to everyone because it has communal and societal implications. This is the reason why each one must fight their sins.
The pastor cited Paul who in Romans 8:13 spoke of the Holy Spirit's power to help each one conquer sin, especially those that one does not acknowledge as sin or those that one has been calloused in committing. The secret to winning over sin is having a wartime mentality, he stressed, when putting the deeds of the body to death.
The pastor then went on to identify the possible ways one could equip oneself in becoming strong against sin. The first step, he said, is to bring one's sin to light by confessing the sin. He underscored that one can not fight sin if it is in the dark. It would be best then to have anything hidden in one's life to be brought out already.
In addition, knowing God more intimately is necessary for this battle. This then is supported by actually confessing one's sins to others. He pointed out that having an accountability partner is important in overcoming habitual or deeply-rooted sins such as those caused by the sins of lust. He praised those who strive to fight the sin of pornography by blocking such websites from their phones.
In concluding, the pastor acknowledged that confessing one's sins is really hard to do. He noted that doing so may even involve some suffering and pain. But he said it would be much better to address the sin voluntarily before one's sins "find them out" as the Book of Numbers (32:23) spoke of.
"But you know there's one thing that's worse than confessing your sin, and that is your sin confronting you. I think that's more terrifying. So, this idea of confession is not just to get rid of the bad. The Scriptures point out that confession brings freedom and healing to us. That's the invitation here: clean conscience. God's going with us. Freedom and healing," Ford said.
