Overcoming Discouragement in the Face of Sin

In this part of the sermon: Martin vividly describes Satan's two-pronged deception: first, whispering that a sin is small and easily forgiven by grace, leading to willful sin; then, after repentance…

Martin illustrates Satan's deceptive tactics: first, he whispers that a sin is small and grace is abundant, leading to willful sin; then, after repentance, he whispers that the sin is too great for forgiveness, leading to crippling discouragement.

When you were contemplating that particular sin, which this morning holds you as it were in the grip of your heart, in the grip of discouragement, what was the lie of the devil to you? Oh, you're a Christian. You believe in Christ, whose grace and forgiveness is greater than any sin. That's a little sin.

13:30 - 13:50 Read in full sermon

The point: Plead the infinite worth of the blood of Christ to overcome discouragement.

The analogy of a man in a pitch-black room versus a man in a lit room looking in a mirror illustrates that discovering sin is not proof of not walking in the light, but evidence of it, as light exposes dirt.

He is not seeking to hide from God or hide anything from God. He is living under the searching exposure of the light of God's countenance, God's law, God's holiness. And in that context, sin is continually discovered. The discovery, that sin is no proof that he's not walking in the light, it's an evidence that he is.

20:32 - 20:55 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not show reticence to plunge into the fountain of Christ's blood as quickly and believingly now as you did at first, after falling into sin.

Martin uses the metaphor of a 'fountain open for sin and uncleanness' to illustrate how both self-righteous indifference (like the Pharisees) and unbelieving hesitance (believing one's sins are too great) are insults to God's grace in Christ.

And John was not at all afraid that he would overstate the virtue, the infinite worth of the blood of Christ. He was not ignorant of the fact that at that very hour in which he wrote this epistle, there in the churches to which the epistle would come, would be believers who had sinned willfully, who had sinned grievously, some who had sinned subtly, and others who had sinned in ways that caused shame even to the congregation. And yet he dared to write the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, goes on cleansing us from all sin. As surely as sinners dishonor Christ by being indifferent to His blood,...

21:33 - 22:59 Read in full sermon

The point: Confess your sins, rest in Christ's intercession, and rejoice in His covenant faithfulness to experience immediate and full cleansing and pardon.

Martin alludes to John Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's Progress,' recalling that Christian was most preserved against sin when he was contemplating his robes and the scroll, illustrating that joy in grace is a powerful preventative against sin.

Satan gains an advantage. But it's the man who is so rejoicing in the privileges of grace who realizes when temptation comes What? Shall I exchange the joy of my Father's countenance and the ambulance of conscious communion with my Savior for this little trinket of time? You see, it was when Christian was looking at his robes considering the scroll in his hand it was then that he's found himself you remember most preserved against lapses into sin. No, no, my friend. God keeps us in the way of grace. Not primarily by legal terrors but by the powerful pressure of the knowledge of the greatness o...

41:37 - 42:43 Read in full sermon