Sermon Central
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The Recovery Series
Contributed by Christian Cheong on Jan 7, 2017 (message contributor)
Summary: Take responsibility for your sin, ask for God's forgiveness, trust in God's intervention, resolve to serve God again.
We deal with sin WITH God, not apart from Him. Without God, the problem of sin can never be resolved.
• Last week we saw God initiating the move to confront David of his sin.
• Nathan enlightened David, recounted the facts and stated the consequences.
David saw the light and repented immediately. “I have sinned against the Lord.” (12:13a). No denial, no excuses, and no beating around the bush.
• Nathan’s reply was equally immediate: “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.” (12:13b)
• That was God’s ultimate purpose – not to condemn him but to restore him. He repented and God forgave him.
David expresses this reality in his Psalm 32:1-5.
• 1 “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2 Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.
• 3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. [Selah]
• 5 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.”
• 6 Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found…”
We learnt from David first-hand how to RECOVER from sin, from the prayer he made to God after Nathan’s visit, in PSALM 51.
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
4 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.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. [sinful nature]
6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
(1) TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR SIN
This is the first and most important step. Without this, there is no healing. Everything will be status quo. He ACKNOWLEDGED his sin and then…
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
* Hyssop is an herb (in the mint family) used for purification and cleansing.
(2) ASK FOR GOD’S FORGIVENESS Confess/Repent
David asks God to do what only GOD can do – cleanse, wash, and blot out.
• God alone can forgive sin, and remove sin. The only solution we have with sin is to bring it to God. Healing starts when forgiveness flows.
• Hiding sin, David says In Psalm 32 “his bones were crushed through his groaning all day along” but when he confess and receive forgiveness, “let the bones you have crushed rejoice”.
Confess and repent, and ask God to forgive you. A prayer we need to make when we sin, and God will remove the stain of sin from our lives.
• He does that through sacrifice of Jesus Christ, His Son. It is effective and it is the only way. Can we TRUST God for this? Will we repent?
To the church in Laodicea - Rev 3:19-20 “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.”
(3) BELIEVE IN GOD’S INTERVENTION Rely on God
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
You are not alone in this. It is not about rehabilitation, or reformation. It is the work of God. We cannot do this alone.
Listen to the Word of God to Ezekiel 36:25-28
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
