“Shame Off You”—A Sermon on Guilt
“Shame Off You”—A Sermon on Guilt
1 Tim. 1:12-17
A. He was a religious man, but he was also a violent man. Scripture says of him that he was
breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He gave his approval for
Christians to be killed. Whether he actually participated is unknown. He was on his way to
Damascus Syria from Jerusalem in this terrorism against Christians when he had a divine
encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. He was blinded by the Lord and was led into
Damascus by his associates. There on a street called Straight Saul met a Christian named,
Ananias. Ananias laid hands of him and he regained his sight. Then he baptized him and
God forgave Saul of all of his sins. However, his baptism didn’t erase his memory.
1. Memory is a great blessing, but it can also be a curse. All of us have things that we
would like to forget, but we can’t erase our memory and sometimes it haunts us.
2. This one who tried to destroy Christ’s Church was now preaching Christ. Don’t you know
the devil tried to remind Paul that he was unfit to serve the Christ he tried to destroy.
3. 1 Cor. 15:8-10 “and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. For I
am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the
church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not
prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with
me.” (Do you know what the key word is in that text? GRACE—3 times.)
a. Paul said he was formerly a blasphemer, persecutor, and a violent aggressor. He said
he was the chief of sinners, but he received mercy and grace from Jesus. The only
cure for guilt is grace.
4. Let’s look at guilt from two perspectives today.
I. TRUE GUILT.
A. Not all guilt is bad.
1. Video clip of Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory.
2. Guilt can be like a check engine light in your car. The Holy Spirit is convicting us about
something he wants us to deal with.
B. Guilt is a gift from God.
1. Guilt is the emotional pain we feel when we violate a law—God’s, civil, parents, own.
Guilt hurts, but it is for our healing—how did Peter feel when he denied Jesus? Wept.
a. Ps. 51:2-4 “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I
have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight.”
b. The ability to feel guilt is good because your conscience is tender not hardened.
1) In Charles Sell’s book, Unfinished Business, he tells this story. A man entered a
bar, bought a glass of beer and then immediately threw it into the bartender's face.
Quickly grabbing a napkin, he helped the bartender dry his face while he
apologized with great remorse. “I'm so sorry,” he said. “I have this compulsion to
do this. I fight it, but I don't know what to do about it.” “You had better do
something about your problem,” the bartender replied. “You can be sure I'll
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
barkeeper's astonished face. “I thought you were cured,” the shocked bartender
screamed. “I am,” said the man. “I don't feel guilty about it anymore.”
2. Heb. 3:13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ so
that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” 1 Tim. 4:2
C. [True guilt] Is easily transferred to another. (Projected)
1. One of the easiest things in the world to do is to transfer our guilt to someone else. “Adam
did you eat?” “The woman you gave me.” “Eve did you eat? “The serpent deceived me.”
2. There is a story in 2 Samuel about Amnon raping his half-sister, Tamar. She tried to resist
him but he overpowered her. 2 Sam. 13:14-15 “However, he would not listen to her; since
he was stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her. Then Amnon hated her with a
very great hatred; for the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with
which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, “Get up, go away!” (Why hate her?
Easier than hating himself.)
3. The 3 most-popular sports in America are “Shooting the breeze”, “Jumping to
conclusions” and “Passing the buck.”
4. Prov. 26:28 “Liars hate their victims.” (Why? Feel better rather than take responsibility.)
II. FALSE GUILT.
A. Not all guilt is good in fact a lot of it is bad.
1. A child that has been sexually abused will most-often blame themselves and feel guilty.
2. A woman can have a miscarriage and feel guilty. What did I do? Things happen.
3. A lot of people live under the cloud of false guilt. They feel guilty, but don’t know why.
B. [False guilt] is a trick and a trap of the devil.
1. It is a trick of the devil to make you feel guilty when you are not wrong.
2. The Greek word for the devil is “diabolos.” It means accuser.
a. Rev. 12:9-10 “And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called
the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth,
and his angels were thrown down with him. Then 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, he who accuses them before our God day and night.”
b. The devil delights in making people think they are guilty when they aren’t because
he can keep those people down and depressed! Some people don’t feel like they have
been preached to if the preacher doesn’t make them feel guilty—slap them around!
C. [False guilt] Chains you to the past.
1. From reading the New Testament, it appears that Paul’s past did not chain him down to
guilt that God had taken away.
2. 1 Tim. 1:15-16 “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason
I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect
patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.”
3. Satan delights in false guilt and making people feel condemned. He likes to resurrect our
past as if it had not been forgiven—it is his emotional blackmail.
4. False guilt keeps a person feeling bad about what they have done and about themselves.
5. It’s not hard to look behind you and find things to feel guilty about. Satan wants us to live
there. How do I escape? Believe your forgiven by God in your mind and heart. Pray.
a. 1 John 2:1-2 “My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if
anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is
Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for
our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.”
6. You know how long Israel was allowed to mourn for a deceased relative. 40 days,
C. [False guilt] Prevents healing with God and others.
1. Guilt is our way of paying for what we did. We feel like we have to pay—we don’t have
grace!! You can’t earn your way back into God’s grace.
2. We live in fear of being rejected by God—I can’t measure up.
3. That false guilt leads to anxiety, worry, and depression.
4. We have decreased energy.
5. We feel insecure, we don’t feel His love, protection.
6. It hinders our prayer life—“God won’t listen to a bad person like me.”
7. We have a sense of worthlessness. (“I’m no good” plays in our head)
8. How can you have a relationship with someone else when you feel like damaged goods?
D. One of the things we must do is learn to discern between true and false guilt.
1. Ps. 32:1-4 “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of
sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are
lived in complete honesty! When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I
groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My
strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.”
2. Jesus is in the business of taking away our guilt. Rom. 8:1 “So now there is no
condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”
The following statements are all related to guilt in some way.
The devil is the originator and master of false guilt—he is the accuser of our brethren (Rev. 12:10). He accuses Christians of not being forgiven and tries to hold the past over their head.
God forgives after one confession of sin not fifty! See 1 John 1:9, Ps. 103:8-13.
False guilt is blaming yourself for someone else’s sin(s).
You cannot make up/atone for your sins so quit trying!
Your feelings are not always a safe guide when it comes to guilt.
God is probably not anything like your earthly father—don’t compare the two.
It’s one thing to not like what you do, it’s another to not like who you are.
A sexually abused child typically transfers their abuser’s guilt to themselves.
You can’t enjoy life until you make peace with yourself.
You can’t make progress today if you are stuck in yesterday.
Forgive yourself—God already has.
Believing that God loves you unconditionally is the beginning of all healing.
“One of the most basic steps in finding freedom from unnecessary [false] guilt is to distinguish between taking responsibility for our own sins and refusing to take it for the sins done against us by other people. Research into alcoholism, wife abuse, child abuse, and sexual abuse shows there are many situations in which people are victims of victims” (Healing Grace, Dr. David Sea