Often, as we come together for Sunday morning worship or Friday evening Bible study, the topics we address have to do with how to be a good Christian. I don’t mean that in a negative way ("aren’t you a good little Christian"). I mean that we consider what the Bible teaches about how to be faithful, obedient, effective followers of Jesus Christ. People whose faith affects their lives in a positive way. People who aren’t just going through the motions of being religious. People whose Christian faith guides their decisions, whose devotion to Jesus Christ makes them different than the world around them.
· So, for instance, we’ve covered topics like:
* How to improve your marriage
* How to forgive others
* How to be a person of integrity
* How to have joy
* How to trust God
* How to unlock your creative potential
· Good, positive messages. Nothing wrong with that. We need to understand what it means to follow Jesus Christ, what it means to be like him. We need to understand what God expects of us, what He requires of us as His sons and daughters.
· But there’s another side to all this. A side we don’t like to talk about, especially in our success-oriented culture. We like to focus on the positive, setting goals and achieving them, learning Biblical principles of life and applying them, always growing and learning and making forward progress. Sometimes we talk as if the Christian life is one long, uninterrupted series of victories and blessings as we progressively become less and less sinful and more and more holy. No setbacks. No reversals. No stumbles, no falls. In this idealized view, once we overcome a problem, it never again causes us any difficulty. Once we gain victory over a sin, it never tempts us again. Once we learn a lesson, we never have to repeat it. Once we attain a certain "level" of spiritual maturity, we never again are subject to the mistakes and struggles and sins that we had to deal with before.
· The problem is that that’s all bunk. There are no such "levels" in the Christian life. Yes, there is such a thing as Christian maturity, there is such a thing as spiritual growth. But the road of our spiritual journey isn’t a freeway where you just sail along at 65 miles an hour. The road of our spiritual journey is more like I-90. [Construction Zone / Detour / back roads / lost / backtrack / flat tires / not paying attention - major accident].
· So here’s the question: what do you do when you fail? Not, "how do you avoid ever failing?" But, "what do you do when you’ve done wrong?" What do you do when you’ve failed your family, your employer, yourself? What do you do when you’ve failed God?
* I’m not talking about mistakes, or errors in judgement, or misunderstandings. I’m not talking about the times when you try your best and don’t achieve your goal. I’m talking about sin. Moral failure. Wrongdoing. Unrighteousness. I’m talking about knowing the right thing to do, and yet doing the opposite. I’m talking about lying, stealing, deceitfulness, selfishness, gossip, [7 deadly sins - pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, sloth].
* I’m talking about the times when you come to your senses and realize that you’ve messed up royally. You’ve hurt people. You’ve violated your principles. You’ve intentionally disregarded the teachings of the Bible. You’ve acted in such a way as to bring dishonor to yourself and to the name of Christ. You’ve violated God’s Law.
What do you do? How do you get back on track? How do you avoid just falling farther and farther into the pit of sin that you’ve been digging for yourself? What do you do to restore your relationship with God?
This morning I’d like to give some driving directions for those who have come to realize that they are heading in the wrong direction. Consider this a road map to guide you back to the straight and narrow.
David and Nathan
[Summarize David and Bathsheba] Then God sent the prophet Nathan to David with a message:
This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: `I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD."
- 2 Samuel 12:7-10, 13 (NIV)
Before we look at David’s response, note that his sin was not exposed immediately. We know this because one of the judgements God pronounces on David is that the child which Bathsheba bore to him would die. So there had to have been at least nine months passage of time between the sin and Nathan’s prophecy.
Sin does not always come to light quickly. Your sin may be hidden, a secret known only to you and God. It may be something that happened some time ago. But that doesn’t mean that God has forgotten. It doesn’t mean you’ve gotten away with it. Sometimes God’s judgment is that He allows you to keep sinning, allows you to keep increasing your guilt
"But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.
So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices."
- Psalm 81:11-12 (NIV)
Some people respond foolishly to the fact that God’s judgment is delayed. The fact that their sin has not yet been exposed emboldens them to sin more and more. They take pride in their ability to conceal their wrongdoing, so that even those closest to them do not suspect. They become more brazen, take more risks. Their fear of being caught diminishes. They reason to themselves that their sin must not be so bad, since they are able to function and carry on with life, seemingly with no consequences. They harden their heart against God and against His Law. The more they escape exposure, the more they sin. The more they sin, the more their heart becomes hardened, and the more difficult it becomes for them to turn away from their sin. Until the day when the sin does finally come to light and everything falls to pieces.
"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows."
- Galatians 6:7 (NIV)
It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but eventually, your sin will find you out.
We can draw several lessons from David’s response to Nathan in this passage. Together, they give us a picture of true repentance.
1. David acknowledges his sin
"When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ’I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin." - Psalm 32:3-5 (NIV)
"Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge." - Psalm 51:4 (NIV)
What does David not do?
· He doesn’t deny his sin. He doesn’t shake his finger at Nathan and say, "I does not have relations with that woman, Bathsheba." He doesn’t bring out all of his cabinet ministers to tell Nathan about his fine character. He doesn’t try to get his servants to lie for him. He doesn’t pretend that Bathsheba was just bringing him pizza when she visited his bedchamber. He simply says, "I have sinned against the Lord."
· He doesn’t minimize his sin. He doesn’t pretend that his sin was of little importance. He doesn’t complain that Nathan was making a big deal out of nothing; he doesn’t accuse Nathan of hounding and harassing him. Instead, he simply calls his sin, "sin". He doesn’t call it something else. Not a "mistake", not an "error", not a "lapse in judgment", not any other nice-sounding word. He doesn’t argue about what the meaning of "is" is. Instead, he says plainly, "I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight."
By the way, if God is speaking to you about sin, the first step in repentance is to call it by it’s true name. It’s not "shading the truth" or "exaggerating," it’s lying. It’s not "sharing your concerns," it’s gossip. It’s not "admiring the beauty of the female form," it’s lust. It’s not "being a little too careful with money," it’s greed and covetousness. It’s not being "passionate," it’s being quick to anger. Is it being "laid back," or just being lazy? Is it just "appreciating your food," or is it gluttony? One of the most effective ways for sin to hide is behind euphemisms. If you aren’t willing to call a sin by its name, you won’t repent.
· He doesn’t shift the blame for his sin. He doesn’t claim that it was Bathsheba’s fault for taking a bath on her rooftop in plain view of the palace. He doesn’t claim that Bathsheba seduced him. He doesn’t accuse God of entrapment. He doesn’t make excuses; he doesn’t try to justify his actions; he doesn’t claim extenuating circumstances. Instead, he takes full responsibility for his own actions. "I have sinned against the Lord."
David’s response to having his sin exposed was immediate, clear, and simple: "I have sinned against the Lord." [When you ask someone about an area of sin, the longer and more elaborate the answer is, the more likely that they are trying to hide something.]
If God is speaking to your heart about some area of sin, I urge you to follow David’s example and freely confess it. Don’t try to hide or cover up, don’t minimize it, don’t make excuses. Simply admit your sin, without qualification and without hesitation.
2. David expresses remorse for his sin (not just sorrow at getting caught)
· Repentance isn’t just agreeing with God. It’s not a purely intellectual exercise. It involves a godly remorse and sorrow for what you have done; not only for how you have hurt other people, but more important, for how you have dishonored and offended God.
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. - Psalm 51:16-17 (NIV)
· Why does God desire to see us mourn over our sin, to see us genuinely sorrowful that we have wronged Him? Why is God pleased if we even weep over our sin? Because He is a sadist and likes to see us suffer? No. Because without some measure of genuine sorrow over sin, there is no genuine repentance. Unless the realization that we have sinned against God affects our emotions, we haven’t truly repented of sin. Unless we grieve at having grieved the Spirit of God within us, we haven’t repented. If our heart doesn’t break when we consider how badly we have treated the one who sent his son to die for us, then our repentance is superficial, and possibly not even real.
3. David seeks God’s forgiveness for his sin
· David doesn’t try to "make up" for his sin; he doesn’t try to make amends to God for his sin. He can’t. We can’t. Remember what he said in Psalm 51? "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings." His only hope is to rely on God’s grace and mercy.
· Once David confesses his sin, he doesn’t continue to rehearse over and over all the things he’s done wrong. He doesn’t wallow in self-pity or get stuck in self-condemnation. ["How could I be so stupid!" "I’m so worthless" "What an idiot!"]. Instead, he seeks and receives God’s forgiveness, and with forgiveness, he receives God’s joy and peace as well.
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
-- Psalm 51:1-2; 8-12; 14-15 (NIV)
· It is only through Christ that God’s forgiveness is offered to us (and to David)
(For an .rtf file of this and other sermons, see www.journeychurchonline.org/messages.htm)
