WEBVTT 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:00.380 Okay. 00:00:00.420 --> 00:00:02.880 So we're going to look, an important passage of scripture today. 00:00:02.940 --> 00:00:05.920 I told you about Psalm 51, Genesis chapter 3. 00:00:06.040 --> 00:00:13.840 What makes this story so powerful, it is enriching to the soul and it helps 00:00:13.840 --> 00:00:16.230 us to learn how we can rise from our failures. 00:00:17.180 --> 00:00:19.420 You don't have to remain a prisoner to your past. 00:00:19.660 --> 00:00:21.290 You can walk in the newness of Jesus. 00:00:21.400 --> 00:00:23.660 In fact, that's what Jesus desires for your life. 00:00:24.720 --> 00:00:30.960 So when we dive into this text today, it's going to get a little bit messy because the situation that we're talking about is messy. 00:00:30.980 --> 00:00:37.280 But it helps us understand how to navigate through the mess of life to find joy and peace and goodness. 00:00:37.620 --> 00:00:40.120 So we're here today to enrich your souls. 00:00:40.160 --> 00:00:47.260 We're going to talk about some things that are a little bit complex, a little bit difficult because it deals with our own personal challenges as people, but 00:00:47.260 --> 00:00:52.440 we want to walk away resting in the beauty of Jesus in our position on him and delighting in all the goodness that we have in Christ. 00:00:52.480 --> 00:00:53.090 That is our goal. 00:00:53.580 --> 00:01:00.700 When you think about this passage, I want you to know that this passage has done more for 00:01:00.700 --> 00:01:05.780 the enrichment of my relationship with Jesus, maybe more than any other passage. 00:01:06.380 --> 00:01:12.590 I think part of the reason is I can connect to the narrative of what's happening, in addition to learn some good theology. 00:01:13.180 --> 00:01:20.380 When you look at 1 and 2 Samuel we've gone together, one of the things that really helps me appreciate this section of scripture that we've gone over 00:01:20.380 --> 00:01:27.580 is that historians say that there has not been any character in antiquity been written 00:01:27.580 --> 00:01:30.120 about in more detail than King David. 00:01:30.580 --> 00:01:35.890 So you think about it, not just biblical literature, all literature in all of history in antiquity. 00:01:35.900 --> 00:01:41.500 There is nothing written more about any character than there is of the life of David. 00:01:42.360 --> 00:01:49.360 You get to see how this individual has grown in the Lord and the great things that have happened in his life as he's pursued God 00:01:49.360 --> 00:01:54.510 and even the challenges to his relationship with God, because what we find here in this passage is David is not perfect. 00:01:56.580 --> 00:01:58.960 What we discover as we look at ourselves is neither are we. 00:02:01.160 --> 00:02:06.060 So what do we do when we fall, when we sin, when we blow it? 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:08.360 How do we handle that? 00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:15.560 What we've seen together in the story of David is really one of the most difficult times that he goes through and the 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:17.040 results of that. 00:02:17.200 --> 00:02:23.980 We see David shockingly out of all these godly stories we've seen about him, he's a godly warrior. 00:02:24.220 --> 00:02:25.500 He's a godly king. 00:02:25.500 --> 00:02:27.520 He is a poet that wrote half of the psalms. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:29.410 David is an incredible individual. 00:02:29.900 --> 00:02:37.020 And then we see this story unfold in 2 Samuel chapter 11 and 12 where he just falls incredibly on this public 00:02:37.020 --> 00:02:38.160 platform. 00:02:38.500 --> 00:02:44.510 In chapter 11 you learn about the sin with Bathsheba and David sees at a time where kings go to war. 00:02:44.980 --> 00:02:46.300 He doesn't go to war. 00:02:46.320 --> 00:02:53.320 He sends his army out, but he goes up on his rooftop of his kingdom and he looks out and he sees Bathsheba and he has this desire 00:02:53.320 --> 00:02:54.540 for her, lust for her. 00:02:54.560 --> 00:02:55.560 She's a married woman. 00:02:55.560 --> 00:02:56.800 He brings her to her house. 00:02:56.800 --> 00:03:01.380 She gets pregnant and he tries to cover up his tracks really. 00:03:01.780 --> 00:03:07.200 He brings her husband back from battle and tries to get him to stay with her to see if that will cover up his tracks. 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:08.000 That doesn't work. 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:10.710 So her husband wants to go back to war. 00:03:10.900 --> 00:03:11.700 His name is Uriah. 00:03:12.260 --> 00:03:19.360 So David writes a letter to his general, Joab, and says, "Put Uriah at the front of the line and let Uriah die." When they put 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:24.180 Uriah at the front of the line, not only does Uriah die but all the people fighting alongside of him die. 00:03:25.140 --> 00:03:26.760 David then brings Bathsheba into his house. 00:03:26.820 --> 00:03:31.780 He tries to cover up his sin before the people around him. 00:03:31.880 --> 00:03:37.280 But what we learn in that story, chapter 11 is, one, if this can happen to David, it can happen to any of us. 00:03:38.760 --> 00:03:42.170 I mean you saw the godliness throughout the stories we talked about together. 00:03:43.260 --> 00:03:46.740 But reality is, we have this thing that we wrestle with within us called sin. 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:52.240 Sin, it can creep up on us at any moment. 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:56.460 We discussed last week that, look, there's this thing in this world called temptation. 00:03:57.140 --> 00:03:58.730 We're tempted all the time. 00:03:58.820 --> 00:04:00.760 A lot of the times, temptations don't bother us. 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:02.920 I mean you watch commercial breaks. 00:04:03.060 --> 00:04:07.340 Commercial breaks are loaded with all sorts of temptations and most of the stuff on TV you don't even care about. 00:04:07.880 --> 00:04:15.000 But it's when temptation comes with desire that sin is born, when you give in to that desire because the temptation sin is 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:15.100 born. 00:04:16.620 --> 00:04:21.220 In chapter 12, David has a friend named Nathan who confronts David and his sin. 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:22.910 The way Nathan does this is beautiful. 00:04:23.420 --> 00:04:24.440 Nathan just doesn't come in. 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:25.040 He's a prophet. 00:04:25.080 --> 00:04:27.900 He doesn't just come in and say, "David," and just condemn David. 00:04:27.900 --> 00:04:28.580 "David, you're awful. 00:04:28.580 --> 00:04:29.140 You're horrible. 00:04:29.320 --> 00:04:29.820 You're done. 00:04:29.860 --> 00:04:32.220 God hates you." No, he doesn't say that to David at all. 00:04:32.260 --> 00:04:37.180 In chapter 12, he starts off with a story about these weird sheep and this guy that likes to sleep with his sheep. 00:04:37.440 --> 00:04:42.970 He tells the story about sheep and sleeping with sleep and feeding his sheep and a guy that sits the sheep at his table. 00:04:43.160 --> 00:04:46.380 He is the extreme dog lover of dog lovers, this guy, only it's with a sheep. 00:04:47.420 --> 00:04:51.360 He finds out in the story from Nathan that someone comes and steals his sheep. 00:04:51.420 --> 00:04:54.000 The person that steals his sheep is a rich person with lots of sheep. 00:04:54.200 --> 00:04:55.540 So David is furious about it. 00:04:55.560 --> 00:04:56.480 But what's Nathan doing? 00:04:57.740 --> 00:05:04.740 Well, Nathan in a roundabout way, he's beginning to speak into David's life and to his heart because he knows David 00:05:04.740 --> 00:05:08.560 is in a very precarious place and he cares about David. 00:05:10.340 --> 00:05:17.800 We talked about in our own life the need for Nathans and not just people that will just tell you what they want you to hear or tell 00:05:17.800 --> 00:05:18.880 you what they think you should do. 00:05:18.920 --> 00:05:25.960 We're talking about godly people that love the Lord, that want to see God's best in your life, because sometimes we're 00:05:25.960 --> 00:05:27.600 blind to our own failures. 00:05:29.980 --> 00:05:31.740 We don't see the things that we should. 00:05:33.860 --> 00:05:37.560 We need a place to invite Nathans into our life. 00:05:38.180 --> 00:05:40.360 God creates community for a reason. 00:05:40.400 --> 00:05:42.780 That's one of the just difficult things of this year. 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:46.080 It's ripped community apart, but God's people thrive in community. 00:05:47.160 --> 00:05:47.820 We need community. 00:05:48.020 --> 00:05:52.320 We need godly community and godly people around us to encourage us towards the Lord. 00:05:52.740 --> 00:05:57.500 We talked about last week, how do you invite those Nathans to speak in your life? 00:05:57.560 --> 00:06:00.880 We just said this, "You can ask one question." Don't do this for everybody, but one question. 00:06:01.740 --> 00:06:04.240 If you were me, what would you do differently? 00:06:06.700 --> 00:06:10.280 Beautiful thought from chapter 11 and 12, but here comes the big question then for us. 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:19.700 God certainly uses Nathans, but we still need to ask how do we move forward after 00:06:19.700 --> 00:06:20.460 sin and failure? 00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:27.980 Nathans are certainly tools in the hands of God that help our hearts begin to transform. 00:06:29.740 --> 00:06:37.240 But even if you have a friend like Nathan, if our heart is not in a godly place, you 00:06:37.240 --> 00:06:39.110 won't respond in a godly way. 00:06:41.060 --> 00:06:45.260 So how do we rise from our failures? 00:06:47.180 --> 00:06:51.640 Right before we look at Psalm 51, I want to start in Genesis chapter 3. 00:06:51.780 --> 00:06:59.160 The reason why I want to do that is because it just gives me a quick snapshot of the three unhealthy ways we tend to respond 00:06:59.160 --> 00:07:00.000 in failure. 00:07:00.360 --> 00:07:03.580 I want to look at all three, but I want to tell you one thing that unifies all of them. 00:07:03.580 --> 00:07:05.150 Let me talk about these three ways. 00:07:05.300 --> 00:07:09.340 In Genesis chapter 3, you're familiar with this story, right? 00:07:09.340 --> 00:07:11.900 The eating of the fruit in the Garden. 00:07:11.900 --> 00:07:13.540 Some think it's an apple, but I don't know. 00:07:13.540 --> 00:07:18.760 Whatever it is, they eat of the fruit in the Garden after God tells them not to and sin takes place. 00:07:18.860 --> 00:07:20.740 That's Genesis chapter 3. 00:07:20.900 --> 00:07:26.520 In 3:7-12, you see Adam and Eve's response. 00:07:26.520 --> 00:07:30.300 I want you to know that the way they respond is not healthy. 00:07:30.840 --> 00:07:34.150 They do three different things here and not one of them is good. 00:07:34.960 --> 00:07:37.360 But what you see in verse 7, it tells us verse 7. 00:07:37.420 --> 00:07:39.040 Look at this, maybe. 00:07:39.700 --> 00:07:41.060 Chapter 3, there we go. 00:07:41.340 --> 00:07:48.980 "Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waist coverings." 00:07:49.860 --> 00:07:55.760 So what it's saying, 3:7, Adam and Eve realize they sinned and the first thing that they want to do is create religion. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:56.460 That's what they do. 00:07:56.900 --> 00:07:57.920 They cover it up. 00:07:58.900 --> 00:07:59.860 They want to cover it up. 00:07:59.880 --> 00:08:00.600 They want to hide it. 00:08:01.020 --> 00:08:01.780 They don't want people to be... 00:08:01.820 --> 00:08:03.640 They certainly don't want God to be aware of it. 00:08:03.980 --> 00:08:04.990 So they run. 00:08:05.100 --> 00:08:05.580 They hide. 00:08:05.580 --> 00:08:08.180 They create the first manmade religion and they cover it up. 00:08:09.280 --> 00:08:14.900 So first thing we tend to do as people when we realize we've messed up is we want to sort of make ourselves look... 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:16.010 We put on the mask. 00:08:16.220 --> 00:08:17.640 We want to hide from it. 00:08:17.700 --> 00:08:21.370 We want to put on this outward appearance that everyone else might find acceptable. 00:08:21.640 --> 00:08:22.920 Just ignore this. 00:08:22.920 --> 00:08:26.440 Let's put this in the closet and look at the façade that I put on you. 00:08:26.460 --> 00:08:27.900 That's what religion teaches you to do. 00:08:28.600 --> 00:08:32.760 You just perform, perform, perform, and hopefully God looks at that and just completely just misses. 00:08:33.179 --> 00:08:36.980 God's not even aware of the other stuff that might be hiding. 00:08:36.980 --> 00:08:39.190 You just pretend to be this. 00:08:40.220 --> 00:08:45.440 Reality is we know there's no good that you can do that will just remove bad. 00:08:46.700 --> 00:08:49.080 Religion leads to two things, pride or despair. 00:08:50.220 --> 00:08:57.380 You'll get so arrogant that you really start believing what you're selling or you'll realize that no matter how hard you try you still 00:08:57.380 --> 00:09:01.600 can't fix your heart and you walk out depressed and in despair. 00:09:03.140 --> 00:09:11.520 Second thing Adam and Eve does, verse 8, it says, "Now they heard the sound of the Lord walking and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord." This 00:09:11.520 --> 00:09:14.000 is where we just try to sweep it under the rug and move away from it. 00:09:15.500 --> 00:09:22.960 The man and his wife, they hide from God and they try to move away from Him, hoping that just takes 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:23.600 care of it. 00:09:23.660 --> 00:09:27.240 But really, it just delays the inevitable because one day you will meet God. 00:09:28.660 --> 00:09:29.850 So they try to cover. 00:09:30.940 --> 00:09:31.540 They try to hide. 00:09:31.920 --> 00:09:34.480 And then the third, this is great. 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:37.180 I'll tell you, guys, this puts you on the chopping block first. 00:09:37.180 --> 00:09:37.780 But don't worry. 00:09:37.780 --> 00:09:39.080 The woman does the same thing next. 00:09:39.400 --> 00:09:46.820 It says, "Then the man said, 'The woman who you gave to be with me, she gave me some of the fruit of the tree and I ate.'" So what you find in the story is they 00:09:46.980 --> 00:09:48.040 realize they sinned. 00:09:48.380 --> 00:09:50.380 They try to cover up, then they hide. 00:09:50.380 --> 00:09:57.740 Then they hear God coming into the Garden and once God's right before them, they're like, "She did it." Then she's like, "The 00:09:57.740 --> 00:10:01.810 snake did it." The last thing that they do is they try to blame shift. 00:10:01.940 --> 00:10:03.360 They try to justify their behavior. 00:10:03.860 --> 00:10:06.360 They try to make every excuse in the world. 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:13.760 But reality is, you're still responsible for what you do because, yes, there 00:10:13.760 --> 00:10:17.680 might be some circumstances that make things difficult and things are not always ideal. 00:10:20.460 --> 00:10:22.420 But you're still responsible for you. 00:10:23.800 --> 00:10:31.140 The thing that unites all of this together, what Adam and Eve are really trying to do, and it's not necessarily an ungodly 00:10:31.140 --> 00:10:33.240 thing that they're tapping into here. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:35.360 But what they're after is their self-preservation. 00:10:37.190 --> 00:10:39.510 Self-preservation can be a good thing sometimes. 00:10:40.230 --> 00:10:42.860 It's probably protected you from a lot of dumb things in life. 00:10:43.720 --> 00:10:50.450 But what they're after here is their own self-preservation to the point that they're covering, they're hiding, and then they're blaming just to try to protect themselves. 00:10:52.680 --> 00:10:53.360 But here's the problem. 00:10:56.040 --> 00:11:00.560 Self-preservation is just an illusion in this story. 00:11:03.300 --> 00:11:07.260 The reason is it's because Adam and Eve are already dead. 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:16.140 They're trying to protect themselves as if to fabricate life before God. 00:11:18.840 --> 00:11:20.140 But the truth is God is holy. 00:11:22.800 --> 00:11:29.510 Coming before a holy God with any sin, any fight for self-preservation is not going to work because it's simply an illusion. 00:11:29.720 --> 00:11:34.100 Before a holy God, anyone that brings any sin is already dead. 00:11:37.020 --> 00:11:38.700 That's why God pursues them. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:44.120 When you read in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sin, they're running from God. 00:11:44.140 --> 00:11:44.840 But what's God doing? 00:11:46.220 --> 00:11:50.960 God's coming after them because God knows what they need. 00:11:53.620 --> 00:11:57.460 So those are the unhealthy ways we tend to respond when we fall. 00:11:57.460 --> 00:12:04.940 But what I want to look at this morning and what's more important for our souls is to discover the healthy ways we 00:12:04.940 --> 00:12:07.020 can and should respond when we fall. 00:12:08.580 --> 00:12:12.360 I'm going to give you the two answers, but I just want to elaborate on them as we look at Psalm 51. 00:12:12.360 --> 00:12:13.280 The two answers are this. 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:18.420 Number one, when we look at the life of David, David offers godly confession. 00:12:20.100 --> 00:12:23.820 Number two, David clings to God and His promises. 00:12:26.980 --> 00:12:35.160 So those are the healthy ways, godly confession, clinging to God alone, I should say, and 00:12:35.160 --> 00:12:35.680 His promises. 00:12:37.900 --> 00:12:46.200 When we think about our falls, coming back from our failures and finding our soul enriched, the 00:12:46.340 --> 00:12:48.860 problem isn't... 00:12:50.780 --> 00:12:53.080 Well, let me say, the problem is self. 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:56.100 I mean that's what we're looking at in Genesis chapter 3. 00:12:57.640 --> 00:13:03.820 Adam and Eve continue to look at themselves as the solution to the adversity that they're facing. 00:13:04.680 --> 00:13:05.970 That's why they led to self-preservation. 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:07.500 It's all on my shoulders. 00:13:08.800 --> 00:13:15.060 But reality is, when you're dead, there's nothing that you can do to fix it. 00:13:17.510 --> 00:13:18.400 So what do you need? 00:13:20.660 --> 00:13:25.580 You need a grace and a life outside of you to resuscitate you, to forgive you. 00:13:27.420 --> 00:13:32.000 So in Psalm 51, this is what we find is that David offers this godly confession. 00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:33.210 This is why it becomes a need. 00:13:33.300 --> 00:13:35.190 In Psalm 51:3, look what David says. 00:13:35.500 --> 00:13:42.200 He comes to this place where as you looked at Adam and Eve and all the ways that they wrestled and tried to fix them, David finally just says, "Look, I've tried all this. 00:13:42.500 --> 00:13:43.930 I've tried to cover up my tracks. 00:13:44.620 --> 00:13:47.400 I've tried to run and hide and God sends Nathan. 00:13:49.220 --> 00:13:50.800 I tried maybe even to blame. 00:13:51.380 --> 00:13:58.480 But here's the reality that I faced." Psalm 51:3, "For I know my wrongdoings and my sin is constantly before me." This is what he's saying. 00:13:58.740 --> 00:14:00.320 It doesn't work. 00:14:02.160 --> 00:14:02.940 That doesn't work. 00:14:03.380 --> 00:14:09.260 I am still aware of everything and it still has an effect on me and I can't figure out how to get past this. 00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:15.680 So David offers godly confession. 00:14:15.680 --> 00:14:16.400 Look in verse 4. 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:20.520 He brings his sin to the Lord. 00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:28.800 I want you to just consider how open David's heart is, how raw he is, how transparent he is before God as you read 00:14:28.800 --> 00:14:29.220 this. 00:14:29.640 --> 00:14:30.300 He's not running. 00:14:30.540 --> 00:14:31.080 He's not hiding. 00:14:31.460 --> 00:14:32.460 He's not covering it up. 00:14:32.520 --> 00:14:33.040 But look what he says. 00:14:34.660 --> 00:14:41.760 "Against you and you only have I sinned and done what is evil 00:14:41.760 --> 00:14:48.860 in your sight so that you, God, are justified when you speak and blameless when 00:14:48.860 --> 00:14:56.000 you judge." David had said the same thing to Nathan in 2 Samuel 12:13, "Against the Lord I 00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:03.160 have sinned." When you look at this passage at first glance, what makes this so incredible is when you start to think about 00:15:03.160 --> 00:15:10.520 it, in the story that this is coming off of, you would stop and just say, "What 00:15:10.520 --> 00:15:14.500 is David talking about here?" Against you and you only have I sinned. 00:15:14.700 --> 00:15:18.880 I mean, David, do you not realize how your sin has affected so many people? 00:15:20.160 --> 00:15:27.360 Do you not realize that when you sent Uriah into battle not only did Uriah die and his family suffer the consequences of that, but the people around Uriah 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:30.700 also died and all of their families are suffering because of that? 00:15:32.920 --> 00:15:40.360 When you think about what you've done and you just simply say, "Against you and you only have I sinned," are you even considering the consequences 00:15:40.360 --> 00:15:44.230 of what has taken place and the ripple effect of relationship? 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:47.940 How in the world can you make a statement like that? 00:15:50.460 --> 00:15:54.800 Against you and you only have I sinned. 00:15:54.900 --> 00:16:01.800 Well, what's incredible about this statement is David's statement is correct. 00:16:03.480 --> 00:16:08.880 Obviously, it's the healthiest view of sin that we can hold onto. 00:16:09.640 --> 00:16:16.220 I think understanding this statement becomes the cure that our soul needs for resurrected life in Jesus. 00:16:19.110 --> 00:16:26.360 Most of the time when we think about sin and the effects of our sin, we think in terms 00:16:26.360 --> 00:16:27.570 of the consequences. 00:16:29.880 --> 00:16:32.240 We tend to think in terms of self and others. 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:41.120 When we blow it, the guilt and the difficulty that we face in that, oftentimes 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:44.340 we think horizontally. 00:16:46.460 --> 00:16:48.220 "Aw man, I can't believe that happened. 00:16:50.700 --> 00:16:51.780 It hurt others. 00:16:52.740 --> 00:16:58.380 It was an embarrassment to me." So maybe if we are godly, we include God in that. 00:16:58.400 --> 00:17:05.460 "God, I'm sorry that I hurt others and it was an embarrassment to me." We tend to think about self and we tend to think about 00:17:05.460 --> 00:17:05.859 others. 00:17:07.099 --> 00:17:14.420 What we don't oftentimes consider is how that sin originates truly as 00:17:14.420 --> 00:17:15.460 an offense against God. 00:17:16.280 --> 00:17:22.440 David could have approached the consequences of his sin here and he could have said, "Look, God, I feel so awful. 00:17:23.240 --> 00:17:30.660 I'm thinking about the families that have been impacted by this, the way the kingdom's going to be impacted by this, how embarrassing this is to me." And 00:17:30.660 --> 00:17:33.820 then David comes to God and he says, "So God, I'm sorry. 00:17:37.280 --> 00:17:44.280 Sorry." Oftentimes, when we see something like that, we would even say that maybe in biblical 00:17:44.280 --> 00:17:48.260 terms, "Yeah, David turned from his sin." We would even use the word, repented. 00:17:49.500 --> 00:17:50.500 That's what that statement is. 00:17:50.760 --> 00:17:52.820 But really, is it? 00:17:56.660 --> 00:18:04.760 Is it, if we were to say that is all that we're repenting from is the way that it affected 00:18:04.780 --> 00:18:06.110 others and ourselves? 00:18:08.280 --> 00:18:09.760 What's the motivation behind that? 00:18:09.760 --> 00:18:10.230 Is it just self-preservation? 00:18:13.400 --> 00:18:16.340 Does it really take God's perspective into account? 00:18:18.540 --> 00:18:26.120 So I think our typical way in addressing our failures only addresses the results of the problem or 00:18:26.140 --> 00:18:27.800 the consequences of the problem. 00:18:29.020 --> 00:18:32.080 It doesn't often get to the problem itself. 00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:34.580 It just treats or goes for the symptoms. 00:18:36.080 --> 00:18:43.100 But godly confession, what we find in this verse, godly confession is about first recognizing the 00:18:43.100 --> 00:18:45.020 offense against God before anything else. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:53.980 I think the most important thing or the healthiest thing to understand why consequences are the way they are is because of 00:18:53.980 --> 00:19:00.300 the way God has ordained all of life and Him being the ultimate authority in everything. 00:19:00.820 --> 00:19:03.640 In fact, if you think what exactly is sin? 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:06.140 I told you this is a little heavy in the beginning. 00:19:06.220 --> 00:19:07.740 But what exactly is sin? 00:19:08.080 --> 00:19:09.980 Well, in 1 John chapter 3, look at this passage. 00:19:10.500 --> 00:19:13.700 1 John chapter 3, it gives us just a simplistic definition of sin. 00:19:13.700 --> 00:19:14.040 Look at this. 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:21.110 "Sin is lawlessness." But here's the question to beg, whose law and what law? 00:19:23.380 --> 00:19:24.080 Whose law? 00:19:24.080 --> 00:19:24.680 Whose authority? 00:19:25.880 --> 00:19:33.500 Because oftentimes when we think about confession or turning from something or the consequences of something, we're thinking in terms not in 00:19:33.500 --> 00:19:37.690 the idea of the lawgiver, but how relationships are affected here in the horizontal. 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:46.740 So we fail to see that the ultimate thought of sin or what makes sin sin isn't in how it impacts others 00:19:46.740 --> 00:19:53.780 in a negative way, because it's possible to do things that are wrong that don't have that type of effect on a relationship but, rather, how it's an offense 00:19:53.780 --> 00:19:55.240 to the ultimate lawgiver. 00:19:56.360 --> 00:19:59.220 What makes sin sin isn't the way it hurts others. 00:19:59.260 --> 00:20:01.240 What makes sin sin is God Himself. 00:20:01.240 --> 00:20:01.820 Does that make sense? 00:20:02.420 --> 00:20:05.960 God is the reason behind why things are right or things are wrong. 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:09.740 So when we think about, just give you an example in life. 00:20:10.200 --> 00:20:17.340 We think in terms of the idea of maybe murder or greed or 00:20:17.340 --> 00:20:19.200 lust or even lying. 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:20.960 What makes those things wrong? 00:20:23.120 --> 00:20:30.680 This is the dilemma that people that don't believe in God have to continually wrestle with because they have no justification for arguing why 00:20:30.680 --> 00:20:33.540 everyone in this world should obey certain moral oughts. 00:20:34.680 --> 00:20:38.480 Like if there is no God, who says murder's wrong? 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:46.880 If you just morphed from a fish, who cares what you do? 00:20:49.020 --> 00:20:53.320 By the way, if you morphed from a fish, is it okay to eat fish? 00:20:55.560 --> 00:20:56.900 Those are your ancestors, right? 00:20:58.660 --> 00:21:00.960 Committing murder, but what makes murder wrong? 00:21:00.980 --> 00:21:01.480 Who cares. 00:21:01.500 --> 00:21:02.160 Eat fish. 00:21:05.500 --> 00:21:06.500 Who says lying's wrong? 00:21:08.620 --> 00:21:10.460 It should just be about survival of the fittest. 00:21:10.740 --> 00:21:11.660 You do what's best for you. 00:21:11.720 --> 00:21:14.980 If you get caught and a group of people seem to think it's wrong, maybe to them it's wrong. 00:21:15.100 --> 00:21:16.400 But to you, it doesn't have to be. 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:17.520 There's no moral ought. 00:21:18.920 --> 00:21:19.860 But you know that's not true. 00:21:22.680 --> 00:21:29.800 There's something deep within you that without even anyone ever telling you, to harm someone else 00:21:29.800 --> 00:21:30.340 affects you. 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:33.480 It affects all of us. 00:21:33.480 --> 00:21:33.820 Why? 00:21:35.940 --> 00:21:39.710 Because there's this moral law within the heart of humanity. 00:21:40.820 --> 00:21:41.920 Yes, it's depraved. 00:21:42.080 --> 00:21:43.400 Yes, we do things we shouldn't. 00:21:44.930 --> 00:21:46.020 But it's there. 00:21:48.340 --> 00:21:48.920 Where did it come from? 00:21:50.940 --> 00:21:52.340 The only answer's moral lawgiver. 00:21:55.500 --> 00:22:01.100 So when we break moral law, that's what sin is. 00:22:03.240 --> 00:22:08.520 God Himself is the one that establishes it, right from wrong, good and evil. 00:22:10.320 --> 00:22:16.720 So any time we sin, it's always, always, always... 00:22:16.760 --> 00:22:22.540 Yes, there's consequences, but it's always first an offense against God. 00:22:24.080 --> 00:22:24.780 Now, let me explain. 00:22:26.540 --> 00:22:32.320 When we murder, murdering hurts people certainly, the consequences of sin. 00:22:33.940 --> 00:22:35.660 It affects people in a negative way, certainly. 00:22:38.040 --> 00:22:43.800 But it's always first an offense against God because God is the giver of life. 00:22:45.620 --> 00:22:48.300 God made every human being in His image. 00:22:50.040 --> 00:22:57.600 So to come against someone else in a violent way is always first an attack on 00:22:57.600 --> 00:23:01.260 the creator who designed that person in God's image. 00:23:03.940 --> 00:23:05.440 That's what makes greed wrong. 00:23:07.560 --> 00:23:15.040 I mean greed, everything in this world, I know that you think that you own things, but everything in 00:23:15.040 --> 00:23:16.800 this world actually belongs to God. 00:23:18.460 --> 00:23:19.820 It all belongs to Him. 00:23:20.920 --> 00:23:24.440 All we are as human beings, we're simply stewards. 00:23:24.460 --> 00:23:29.320 God allows certain things to pass through my hands that might be different than what God allows to pass through your hands. 00:23:29.760 --> 00:23:32.520 But truthfully, it all belongs to God because God created it all. 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:41.420 So we're accountable to God for what we do with the things that we steward that ultimately belong to Him. 00:23:41.880 --> 00:23:46.500 That's why greed, greed is about honoring yourself and making it all about self. 00:23:46.580 --> 00:23:50.340 But truly, it's all about God and glorifying Him. 00:23:51.560 --> 00:23:58.520 Sexuality and what we do with our sexuality in our culture today, man, people, I don't know what... 00:23:58.820 --> 00:24:05.980 When we view our sexuality all about us, then we see its purpose for about personal gratification and 00:24:05.980 --> 00:24:07.230 what I can get and all about me. 00:24:07.400 --> 00:24:14.400 God made certainly your sexuality, He created it for a purpose for you to enjoy and delight, but the ultimate purpose for God created it was for you to 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:15.940 be able to give yourself away in it. 00:24:17.660 --> 00:24:18.160 It's a gift. 00:24:20.280 --> 00:24:27.420 Problem comes when we take possession of it as if it's ours, by our authority to do what we want, that we usurp God's 00:24:27.500 --> 00:24:28.960 authority for the reason for which He created it. 00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:35.410 We start to use sexuality as if it's about our personal glorification rather than God creating things for His own glorification. 00:24:36.100 --> 00:24:43.200 Rather than see sexuality as a gift to give to bless ultimately or most ultimately in 00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:49.040 marital relationship, we see it as a tool in order for us to give to gratify our self. 00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:54.630 So rather than be selfless as Jesus calls us to in this world to bless, we become selfish. 00:24:54.840 --> 00:25:02.060 In fact, there's studies that say, guys, when you struggle with pornography, the idea of pornography is all 00:25:02.060 --> 00:25:04.620 about using people as a tool for your own personal pleasure. 00:25:05.920 --> 00:25:13.100 Rather than see sexuality as a gift where people have to give to someone in the most intimate of forms, you start to leverage someone 00:25:13.100 --> 00:25:16.560 else not as an image bearer of God but rather a tool to serve you. 00:25:18.440 --> 00:25:18.820 And what happens? 00:25:20.040 --> 00:25:21.110 You take advantage and you destroy. 00:25:23.860 --> 00:25:31.160 Any time you use your position to glorify yourself for your power, what we ultimately do is end up 00:25:31.740 --> 00:25:32.580 pillaging this world. 00:25:37.460 --> 00:25:39.120 God created us to honor Him and bless others. 00:25:41.100 --> 00:25:43.640 Or you think in terms of something simplistic like lying. 00:25:43.960 --> 00:25:45.000 What makes lying wrong? 00:25:45.160 --> 00:25:46.110 Well, it's because it hurts people. 00:25:46.120 --> 00:25:47.260 No, that's not what makes lying wrong. 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:51.340 That's the consequences of lying, but that's not what makes lying wrong. 00:25:53.440 --> 00:25:55.780 What makes lying wrong is God is truth itself. 00:25:57.640 --> 00:25:59.220 God is a truth teller. 00:26:00.040 --> 00:26:04.180 God made you in His image to honor truth because God is truth. 00:26:04.240 --> 00:26:08.120 So when you tell a lie, it certainly can have consequences against people. 00:26:08.120 --> 00:26:13.570 But before it ever has a consequence against people, it violates the very nature of God and you being created in His image. 00:26:16.260 --> 00:26:18.620 Me too. 00:26:22.160 --> 00:26:23.920 That's what David is saying in this moment. 00:26:26.500 --> 00:26:28.640 You want to know David would say, "Why I did what I did? 00:26:31.300 --> 00:26:36.260 It's because I saw this world through my lens as king and everything was here for my purpose and my glory. 00:26:36.320 --> 00:26:37.100 So what did I do? 00:26:38.340 --> 00:26:45.500 I hurt everyone else in the wake." But now David is saying in this verse, "But now I recognize it's not me, 00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:47.660 it's God. 00:26:50.660 --> 00:26:54.900 The reason that I followed this path is I took God off His throne and I put me in His place. 00:26:58.060 --> 00:27:00.800 The consequences of that, I see. 00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:09.760 But the reality is, against God and God alone have I sinned." In 00:27:09.760 --> 00:27:14.700 Romans 5:10, it says, "While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son. 00:27:14.700 --> 00:27:18.540 Much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Here's what it says. 00:27:19.240 --> 00:27:23.580 For all of us, just like David, all of us are enemies of God. 00:27:23.760 --> 00:27:24.700 That's not fun to swallow. 00:27:26.580 --> 00:27:33.880 But all of us, all of us see things in this world for our glory, usurping the position of all things created for God's 00:27:33.880 --> 00:27:34.220 glory. 00:27:34.440 --> 00:27:35.560 It's offense to God. 00:27:35.560 --> 00:27:36.390 It's lawless. 00:27:36.400 --> 00:27:39.200 One day you're going to come before the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. 00:27:41.900 --> 00:27:43.610 But here's the good news in the rest of the verse. 00:27:43.620 --> 00:27:44.900 It doesn't just leave us there. 00:27:46.040 --> 00:27:51.800 But it wants us to recognize that, look, just like Adam and Eve in the beginning, self-preservation is the illusion. 00:27:55.710 --> 00:28:00.100 God created us to know Him, to delight in Him, and to live for His glory. 00:28:02.530 --> 00:28:09.610 If we just keep putting these roadblocks up of our performance or hiding from God or blaming others, then we'll never get to that place of 00:28:09.710 --> 00:28:15.300 just totally laying ourselves bare before God to let His healing work happen in our lives. 00:28:17.310 --> 00:28:23.290 I love to be of Christianity because what it is about is, man, finally you get to a place where you just completely die to yourself. 00:28:24.610 --> 00:28:26.210 Man, I am sick of me. 00:28:28.050 --> 00:28:35.050 Just living life for me, all about me, because here's what I find in doing that nothing truly satisfies my soul. 00:28:35.170 --> 00:28:38.390 The reason is because you weren't created for you. 00:28:40.650 --> 00:28:41.750 You were created for Him. 00:28:44.130 --> 00:28:48.160 We get to come to this place where we finally can just die to self and be like, "What have I been doing? 00:28:50.010 --> 00:28:51.510 What in the world have I made my life about? 00:28:53.010 --> 00:28:54.750 How did I get to where I am? 00:28:56.730 --> 00:29:02.850 It's just everything I do, it feels like it just produces death and continues to be nothing more than just death. 00:29:02.870 --> 00:29:09.010 For a little bit I might hold it together, but it doesn't take long before I'm off the rails." But guys, here's the great news. 00:29:11.350 --> 00:29:12.310 God meets you right there. 00:29:15.590 --> 00:29:22.610 That is the most beautiful place to be before the Lord, totally raw and 00:29:22.610 --> 00:29:29.990 open, just saying, "God, have your way in me." As you see in Romans 10, we are enemies of God. 00:29:30.030 --> 00:29:32.750 But look, we are reconciled to God through the death of His Son. 00:29:32.750 --> 00:29:33.910 It's not about what you did. 00:29:33.910 --> 00:29:34.720 It's not about your covering. 00:29:34.910 --> 00:29:36.790 It's not about how well you hid things from God. 00:29:37.210 --> 00:29:44.330 It's about how God has pursued you and how God has reconciled things with you and how God has saved your life through Him. 00:29:44.450 --> 00:29:47.390 So David moves on in the story from there. 00:29:47.590 --> 00:29:49.050 Look at the rest of this passage. 00:29:52.790 --> 00:30:00.130 What you see in Psalm 51:1, David clings 00:30:00.130 --> 00:30:01.590 to the Lord and His promises. 00:30:02.830 --> 00:30:06.940 He doesn't make excuses, but he simply just clings to the Lord and His promises. 00:30:07.970 --> 00:30:09.890 David seeks God's grace and forgiveness. 00:30:11.510 --> 00:30:19.170 When you read Psalm 51:1-2, the way David changes in this passage isn't 00:30:19.170 --> 00:30:21.110 by looking at the consequences of his sin. 00:30:22.690 --> 00:30:30.390 The way David changes in this passage isn't by just looking at the fear of punishment like, "I don't want that." Here's the danger, guys, in 00:30:30.390 --> 00:30:37.430 sharing a message like this is if I just only share what I shared in the beginning and I don't get to the second half, what we're going to feel like we're doing 00:30:37.430 --> 00:30:40.480 is avoiding the lightning bolts of God for the rest of our lives. 00:30:40.950 --> 00:30:43.610 That is an awful way to live as a follower of Jesus. 00:30:44.160 --> 00:30:45.760 No one should live like that. 00:30:46.150 --> 00:30:49.410 God doesn't want you to make your life all about not doing bad things. 00:30:49.410 --> 00:30:54.450 God created you to know Him and enjoy that and live for His glory. 00:30:54.570 --> 00:30:59.430 That should be what life's about, to be able to put the past in the past and to walk forward in the newness of life. 00:30:59.570 --> 00:31:04.070 Yes, sometimes we make decisions that have consequences on relationship and it takes time to rebuild trust. 00:31:04.250 --> 00:31:05.770 That can be true. 00:31:05.770 --> 00:31:07.870 But Jesus doesn't want you to be prisoner of your past. 00:31:07.870 --> 00:31:10.750 Jesus wants you to delight in His goodness and joy all the days of your life. 00:31:11.150 --> 00:31:12.520 That's why Jesus went to the cross. 00:31:12.870 --> 00:31:14.810 That's what Jesus did for you. 00:31:14.930 --> 00:31:22.130 But we've got to get to this place where we recognize within our spiritual lives anytime as a believer you mess up, anytime we do anything that we know that we shouldn't have done, 00:31:22.210 --> 00:31:27.470 that the first thing that we think about is not running and hiding, but running straight towards God because of His goodness and grace. 00:31:27.510 --> 00:31:29.290 That's what Psalm 51's about. 00:31:29.310 --> 00:31:29.590 Look at this. 00:31:29.890 --> 00:31:37.070 "Be gracious to me, oh God, according to your faithfulness." I love that phrase, because you know what I'm not? 00:31:37.830 --> 00:31:42.930 I'm not always faithful, but God is. 00:31:45.290 --> 00:31:49.070 Be faithful to me, God, according to your goodness and grace. 00:31:49.370 --> 00:31:52.550 According to the greatness of your compassion, wipe out my wrongdoings. 00:31:52.830 --> 00:31:56.450 Wash me thoroughly from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. 00:32:00.870 --> 00:32:04.180 David is clinging to the Lord and His promises. 00:32:05.670 --> 00:32:08.130 Guys, we have the ability to do this too. 00:32:09.510 --> 00:32:16.730 I read Romans 5:10, but if I just backed up in Romans for a moment, in Romans 5:6 it says, "For while we were 00:32:16.730 --> 00:32:22.750 still helpless at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. 00:32:24.250 --> 00:32:29.290 For one will hardly die for a righteous person, though perhaps for the good person someone would even dare to die. 00:32:29.310 --> 00:32:36.430 But God demonstrates His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." So that's the God that 00:32:36.430 --> 00:32:43.790 David became familiar with in the Old Testament, that even though people continued to fall and even though they faltered and even though difficult things happened, 00:32:43.790 --> 00:32:46.510 I mean you saw this out of the leaders in the Old Testament we talked about last week. 00:32:46.590 --> 00:32:48.290 Abraham and Moses, they weren't perfect. 00:32:50.450 --> 00:32:51.250 But God was always faithful. 00:32:53.970 --> 00:32:55.970 God pursued Adam and Eve in the Garden. 00:32:57.550 --> 00:32:59.150 That's what He's saying in Romans 8. 00:32:59.270 --> 00:33:02.410 God demonstrates His love towards you and while you're yet a sinner, Christ died. 00:33:02.950 --> 00:33:05.550 God pursued you in the darkest of moments. 00:33:05.570 --> 00:33:07.840 There is always hope in your circumstance. 00:33:08.030 --> 00:33:09.630 That's what Psalm 51 is about. 00:33:09.650 --> 00:33:11.200 There is always hope in your circumstance. 00:33:11.470 --> 00:33:18.870 You see as you read this whole psalm that David goes from this place of confession because he realizes what he's done before God to the place of rejoicing 00:33:18.870 --> 00:33:21.630 because of the goodness of God and the grace that's made known in his life. 00:33:21.710 --> 00:33:22.480 I love this. 00:33:22.610 --> 00:33:24.480 In Psalm 51:10, look what he says. 00:33:25.370 --> 00:33:32.450 He gives these final phrases here that just the beauty of this passage, what we should all be seeking after in Christ and rejoicing 00:33:32.450 --> 00:33:35.670 together when we talk out of this building because this is what you have. 00:33:35.790 --> 00:33:40.090 This is the promise of God in Jesus as you trust in Him. 00:33:40.110 --> 00:33:45.430 He says, "Create me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 00:33:45.430 --> 00:33:52.450 Do not cast me away from your presence and do not take your Holy Spirit from me." Now, in the Old Testament, I 00:33:52.450 --> 00:33:54.910 think the spirit of God didn't permanently dwell with people. 00:33:54.970 --> 00:33:57.470 In the New Testament, if you're in Jesus, you have the Spirit of God. 00:33:57.630 --> 00:33:58.310 It doesn't leave you. 00:34:00.920 --> 00:34:03.270 But here's what you see in David's heart here. 00:34:07.490 --> 00:34:15.150 David could have said, "God, please forgive me because I'm really embarrassed by my decisions." Or 00:34:15.190 --> 00:34:22.690 David could have said, "God, please forgive me because of the bad things I've seen happen now in the lives of others 00:34:22.690 --> 00:34:29.909 because of my decisions." Yes, there is reconciliation that has to happen in relationships when things go 00:34:29.909 --> 00:34:30.010 wrong. 00:34:32.659 --> 00:34:34.310 But you know what David shows us here? 00:34:34.310 --> 00:34:34.909 His pursuit. 00:34:36.850 --> 00:34:41.350 His pursuit is not about self and self-preservation in relationship in this world. 00:34:41.350 --> 00:34:42.150 That's not where he starts. 00:34:46.310 --> 00:34:55.210 David doesn't just start looking after his own interests, "God, take this away from me so I can get back to me and I can get past all the bad stuff." David, 00:34:55.350 --> 00:34:57.290 rather, makes his pursuit about the Lord. 00:34:59.370 --> 00:35:00.960 "You know what I need more than anything? 00:35:03.610 --> 00:35:04.450 I need you. 00:35:07.070 --> 00:35:07.590 I need you. 00:35:10.910 --> 00:35:12.330 You're the only one that can heal. 00:35:15.130 --> 00:35:22.150 I need you." Guys, I think that's where we get to that godly place in our life where we finally realize as we look 00:35:22.150 --> 00:35:29.830 at everything else, good and bad and everything in between, what my soul needs more 00:35:29.830 --> 00:35:33.230 than anything is just Jesus. 00:35:36.130 --> 00:35:37.270 I need Jesus. 00:35:40.070 --> 00:35:47.030 Sometimes, guys, I know when we look at a phrase like this, it's poetically beautiful. 00:35:47.050 --> 00:35:49.230 But sometimes we have this doubting within us. 00:35:49.230 --> 00:35:51.470 We wrestle with what we've done in life. 00:35:53.390 --> 00:35:55.750 Maybe like David in verse 3, it's ever in front of you. 00:35:57.910 --> 00:36:04.910 You think, "Yeah, but I still feel like in my soul I need to hide or I need to cover it up or I need to blame 00:36:04.910 --> 00:36:12.970 and justify or how could God forgive me?" Can 00:36:12.970 --> 00:36:21.770 I tell you, if you wrestle there when you fail, can I tell you think 00:36:21.770 --> 00:36:26.750 too much of yourself and think too little of God. 00:36:29.050 --> 00:36:31.390 I mean that's what Psalm 51 should say to us. 00:36:32.230 --> 00:36:36.910 You look at David's life and you consider all that's transpired in his decisions. 00:36:39.150 --> 00:36:40.260 That's a rough situation. 00:36:42.450 --> 00:36:48.630 But here's a great thought, guys, because of the greatness of God, it's not beyond His hope. 00:36:50.890 --> 00:36:55.330 It's not beyond His ability to transform and it's not beyond His grace. 00:36:57.870 --> 00:37:04.430 We struggle with things, even I think sometimes with good intentions because they're not God's intentions. 00:37:06.810 --> 00:37:07.430 God is greater. 00:37:09.910 --> 00:37:17.030 What David is showing God by talking about, "Against you and you alone have I sinned," is really how small he is in the greatness and the goodness of 00:37:17.070 --> 00:37:17.590 his God. 00:37:17.710 --> 00:37:20.470 That's why David clings to His promises. 00:37:23.750 --> 00:37:26.430 Jesus is not interested in making you a prisoner. 00:37:28.590 --> 00:37:31.430 Jesus is interested in setting you free. 00:37:33.390 --> 00:37:40.650 Learning this in the beginning of your relationship with God and learning to carry this throughout your relationship with God, I 00:37:40.650 --> 00:37:44.170 think, is invaluable to a healthy walk with the Lord. 00:37:46.110 --> 00:37:49.930 I'll give you this from one other end in John chapter 8 and we'll close here. 00:37:50.130 --> 00:37:54.570 In John 8, you know the story. 00:37:54.630 --> 00:37:57.390 It actually begins in the end of the John 7 and goes into John chapter 8. 00:37:58.190 --> 00:38:00.690 But in John 8, you find the story of the woman that's caught in adultery. 00:38:02.790 --> 00:38:06.540 She's brought out before Jesus and all these people have stones in their hand. 00:38:06.550 --> 00:38:08.670 They're ready to kill her and then Jesus says... 00:38:08.930 --> 00:38:09.830 I love how this story goes. 00:38:09.870 --> 00:38:17.190 Jesus says, "He who is without sin, cast the first stone." And then it says, "One by one, from the older to the younger, 00:38:17.270 --> 00:38:24.310 they start walking away." I love how it says that, "From the older to the younger." It's like the older people have lived life long enough to know, "I don't want people knowing what I've done, 00:38:24.530 --> 00:38:28.100 so I'm getting out of here." So from the older to the younger, they start walking away. 00:38:28.690 --> 00:38:31.470 And then Jesus gives this incredible statement in John 8:11. 00:38:31.510 --> 00:38:32.590 I love this. 00:38:32.590 --> 00:38:36.130 Jesus does something that's a paradigm shift to how we typically think. 00:38:36.670 --> 00:38:40.050 This is so powerful to how Jesus views us. 00:38:40.050 --> 00:38:43.610 He says this, "Jesus said, I do not condemn you either. 00:38:43.870 --> 00:38:44.450 Go. 00:38:44.450 --> 00:38:51.630 From now on, do not sin any longer." Let me tell you why this is such an incredible statement, because our religious way of thinking tends to say 00:38:51.630 --> 00:38:55.470 this, "Go and sin no longer and then Jesus won't condemn you. 00:38:57.430 --> 00:38:58.130 Go and perform. 00:38:58.430 --> 00:38:59.280 Put up the façade. 00:38:59.490 --> 00:39:00.010 Hide. 00:39:00.010 --> 00:39:00.330 Run. 00:39:00.330 --> 00:39:08.230 Do whatever you need to do to demonstrate how great you are so that God doesn't condemn you." But 00:39:08.230 --> 00:39:08.810 you know what Jesus says? 00:39:12.490 --> 00:39:14.150 Grace of God is bigger than that. 00:39:16.690 --> 00:39:19.090 The love of God can transform this moment. 00:39:21.310 --> 00:39:24.770 Jesus says, "I don't condemn you. 00:39:26.650 --> 00:39:32.710 Because I don't condemn you, go and sin no more." Do you know why Jesus says it that way? 00:39:35.190 --> 00:39:42.470 Because in this woman's moment, her life being spared by someone 00:39:42.470 --> 00:39:47.950 so gracious and loving towards her, the pursuit of her heart now is to love in response. 00:39:50.710 --> 00:39:51.450 You think about this. 00:39:51.810 --> 00:39:53.750 I have a friend that likes to point this out. 00:39:53.830 --> 00:40:00.870 The next time this woman gets into trouble, maybe the next time she falls, where's she going 00:40:00.870 --> 00:40:01.360 to go? 00:40:03.350 --> 00:40:05.930 Is she going to go to the individuals that wanted to stone her? 00:40:07.560 --> 00:40:08.110 No. 00:40:08.590 --> 00:40:09.410 You know where she's going? 00:40:10.690 --> 00:40:11.530 Straight to Jesus. 00:40:13.590 --> 00:40:20.610 Straight to Jesus, because He lets her be honest in her failures, but 00:40:20.670 --> 00:40:25.950 to still find life and to be able to move forward in Him. 00:40:26.130 --> 00:40:33.290 Guys, that is the goodness of God is that we get to come to the cross every day we blow it and just say, 00:40:33.430 --> 00:40:35.190 "God, here was me in my flesh. 00:40:35.470 --> 00:40:40.510 I took my place before you and I took what was rightfully yours. 00:40:40.510 --> 00:40:42.080 God, this is what I did. 00:40:42.810 --> 00:40:44.210 God, I need healing. 00:40:46.430 --> 00:40:53.650 God, thank you that in my darkest of moments, even while I live as an enemy of you, that your grace never 00:40:53.650 --> 00:41:00.750 ends and your mercy is new every morning." How do you get up 00:41:00.750 --> 00:41:01.420 from your failures? 00:41:02.690 --> 00:41:03.110 You ready? 00:41:04.650 --> 00:41:11.790 Stop thinking about you and start resting in the greatness of a God who gave His 00:41:11.790 --> 00:41:12.350 life for you. 00:41:14.870 --> 00:41:17.620 Yes, there are things to work through in relationships when you fail. 00:41:19.390 --> 00:41:21.580 Yes, rebuilding trust takes time. 00:41:22.830 --> 00:41:26.520 But God's mercy is new every morning and God doesn't want you to be a prisoner. 00:41:26.750 --> 00:41:31.830 God wants to set you free so you could live for the purpose that you're called for in Him and run.