1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:07,080 You are listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin Smith of Open The Bible. 2 00:00:07,080 –> 00:00:14,880 To contact us, call us at 1-877-OPEN-365 or visit our website openthebible.org. 3 00:00:14,880 –> 00:00:17,780 Let’s get to the message. 4 00:00:17,780 –> 00:00:18,780 Here is Pastor Colin. 5 00:00:18,780 –> 00:00:24,860 It was almost six months ago that I sketched out some ideas for a series of sermons on 6 00:00:24,860 –> 00:00:26,600 the subject of repentance. 7 00:00:26,600 –> 00:00:31,100 At that time I wrote down some questions. 8 00:00:31,100 –> 00:00:36,820 Is it enough to say sorry, when you know you have done something that is seriously wrong? 9 00:00:36,820 –> 00:00:42,459 What is the appropriate course of action for a person who’s committed a serious offense? 10 00:00:42,459 –> 00:00:47,080 How can we know when another person’s repentance is sincere? 11 00:00:47,080 –> 00:00:52,540 I want us to come to this passage of scripture over these next weeks, not only with national 12 00:00:53,459 –> 00:00:57,500 and perhaps not even primarily with them in our mind. 13 00:00:57,500 –> 00:01:00,340 Because sin affects all of us in at least two ways. 14 00:01:00,340 –> 00:01:04,540 The first is obviously that all of us sin, and if we believe the Bible then we must take 15 00:01:04,540 –> 00:01:06,300 that for granted. 16 00:01:06,300 –> 00:01:10,199 And therefore because all of us sin, all of us must know how to repent. 17 00:01:10,199 –> 00:01:14,580 We need to know how to do that and what it means. 18 00:01:14,580 –> 00:01:19,919 The second is that because we live in a fallen world all of us in different ways are sinned 19 00:01:19,919 –> 00:01:21,860 against. 20 00:01:21,860 –> 00:01:29,339 Other people’s mistakes, sins, evils affect us in deep ways and we need to know how to 21 00:01:29,339 –> 00:01:34,260 recognize genuine repentance in another person. 22 00:01:34,260 –> 00:01:39,099 So, over these next three weeks we’re going to be in the doctor’s surgery. 23 00:01:39,099 –> 00:01:44,660 We’re going to have our three characters to help us as we move through the process 24 00:01:44,660 –> 00:01:50,699 that takes us from being terribly wrong, back to the position where we are right and healthy 25 00:01:50,699 –> 00:01:53,000 again. 26 00:01:53,000 –> 00:01:58,419 And this morning, we’re going to begin by looking at the subject of diagnosis because 27 00:01:58,419 –> 00:02:05,139 it’s quite clear that before we can ever begin to talk meaningfully about cure we have to 28 00:02:05,139 –> 00:02:11,240 have a proper understanding of what the problem is that we’re actually dealing with. 29 00:02:11,240 –> 00:02:17,520 And as long as we are like characters who want to avoid full diagnosis, we will never 30 00:02:17,600 –> 00:02:23,320 begin on the pathway of recovery. 31 00:02:23,320 –> 00:02:27,759 So I’d like to invite you to open your Bibles this morning at Psalm 51, which is going to 32 00:02:27,759 –> 00:02:34,759 be our focus over these next three Sunday mornings, Psalm 51. 33 00:02:35,860 –> 00:02:40,860 And you’ll notice from the title there that there were a particular historical set of 34 00:02:41,259 –> 00:02:48,119 events out which this psalm was written. It says there that this was written by David, 35 00:02:48,119 –> 00:02:53,320 who was of course the King of Israel, and it was written when the Prophet Nathan came 36 00:02:53,320 –> 00:02:58,660 to him, after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. 37 00:02:58,660 –> 00:03:05,660 Now you can read the story of these events in 2 Samuel chapter 11 and chapter 12, but 38 00:03:06,020 –> 00:03:13,020 very simply the facts are these, David had reached the pinnacle of his success, which 39 00:03:13,779 –> 00:03:19,779 is always a dangerous time for a man or a woman. Perhaps his success had made him feel 40 00:03:19,779 –> 00:03:25,279 that the normal rules of life that apply to other people didn’t apply to him. Perhaps 41 00:03:25,279 –> 00:03:31,460 he felt he could walk on water. But he lost touch with the normal reality with which he 42 00:03:31,600 –> 00:03:33,919 had lived in the past. 43 00:03:33,919 –> 00:03:37,619 And on day when he was walking on the roof of his house, he saw a woman who gripped his 44 00:03:37,619 –> 00:03:42,479 attention. She was married to another man, a man by the name of Uriah, who served in 45 00:03:42,479 –> 00:03:49,479 David’s army. But David being attracted to her, commanded that she be brought to him. 46 00:03:49,960 –> 00:03:56,839 The Scripture tells us that he committed adultery with her. He betrayed his own wife, he sinned 47 00:03:56,960 –> 00:04:03,919 against a neighbor, and he sinned against God. There is no such thing as private sin. 48 00:04:03,919 –> 00:04:07,940 Sin always affects many other people. 49 00:04:07,940 –> 00:04:14,940 Now, the story goes on that the woman conceived a child. And so David did the thing that comes 50 00:04:15,320 –> 00:04:22,000 instinctively to sinners. He attempted a cover up. It is very interesting that when you go 51 00:04:22,200 –> 00:04:27,179 back to the very first book in the Bible and the very first sin—you remember Adam and 52 00:04:27,179 –> 00:04:30,880 Eve in the garden. They disobeyed God for the very first time. And what does Genesis 53 00:04:30,880 –> 00:04:37,880 tell us immediately after the first sin? They hid. They hid. RC Sproul calls it Eden-gate. 54 00:04:42,260 –> 00:04:49,260 Well-named, well-named. It’s instinctive. Did something wrong, I hide. 55 00:04:50,260 –> 00:04:57,260 And here we’ve got Bathcheba-gate. Because David tried to cover-up what he had done, 56 00:04:57,899 –> 00:05:03,540 his first attempted cover-up was very simple. One, bring the woman’s husband home from the 57 00:05:03,540 –> 00:05:10,540 field of battle. Two, give them extended time alone together. Three, send Uriah, the husband, 58 00:05:13,059 –> 00:05:18,220 back to the field of battle for an extended tour of duty, and when he comes back nine 59 00:05:18,660 –> 00:05:24,559 months later, nice surprise, happy family. Bathsheba knows how to keep a secret, and 60 00:05:24,559 –> 00:05:28,540 everyone will live happily ever after. No one will be any wiser. 61 00:05:28,540 –> 00:05:33,940 Well, the plan didn’t work for one simple reason. Uriah was a noble man, and it got 62 00:05:33,940 –> 00:05:39,399 to his conscience that he was being given this unexpected vacation while his colleagues 63 00:05:39,399 –> 00:05:44,880 were out camping in the fields in fear of their lives. And Uriah feels he just can’t 64 00:05:44,940 –> 00:05:49,260 go back to his wife while his own colleagues are under these circumstances. So he comes 65 00:05:49,260 –> 00:05:54,119 back to Jerusalem, but he does not enjoy the life of home. 66 00:05:54,119 –> 00:05:59,480 And when he returns to the field, no, time has been spent together, and so David has 67 00:05:59,480 –> 00:06:01,100 to come up with another plan. 68 00:06:01,100 –> 00:06:07,100 It’s very interesting as you follow the story, nothing makes a man lose his judgment 69 00:06:07,100 –> 00:06:14,100 more than a guilty conscience, and as a bad conscience begins to gain its grip in David’s 70 00:06:14,359 –> 00:06:21,359 heart and in his mind, his actions become more and more wide of the mark, more and more extreme, 71 00:06:21,619 –> 00:06:24,119 as he attempts his cover up. 72 00:06:24,119 –> 00:06:26,260 Sin is never an isolated event. 73 00:06:26,260 –> 00:06:30,279 See, sometimes we think that if we do something wrong, it’s like walking along a road and 74 00:06:30,279 –> 00:06:33,500 you kind of trip over a stone, and all you need to do is you get up and shake yourself 75 00:06:33,500 –> 00:06:36,380 down, leave it behind. 76 00:06:36,380 –> 00:06:41,700 But actually, the Bible teaches us that sin is more like a quicksand. 77 00:06:41,760 –> 00:06:47,200 Once you begin to tread into it, it has its own power of sucking you down, pulling you 78 00:06:47,200 –> 00:06:49,100 in. 79 00:06:49,100 –> 00:06:52,459 This is what David was beginning to experience. 80 00:06:52,459 –> 00:06:55,359 Cover-up plan 2 went as follows. 81 00:06:55,359 –> 00:06:56,359 1. 82 00:06:56,359 –> 00:07:03,359 Arrange with the army commander that Uriah should be placed in the front lines of battle, 83 00:07:03,359 –> 00:07:10,359 making his death almost inevitable, assuming that he be duly killed in action, after a 84 00:07:11,059 –> 00:07:12,019 suitable period. 85 00:07:12,019 –> 00:07:12,700 2. 86 00:07:12,700 –> 00:07:15,000 Marry the grieving widow. 87 00:07:15,000 –> 00:07:16,079 3. 88 00:07:16,079 –> 00:07:21,859 In due course, adopt her unborn child into the royal household, a fitting tribute to 89 00:07:21,859 –> 00:07:26,640 a brave soldier who was killed in the line of duty. 90 00:07:26,640 –> 00:07:29,000 The Bible goes on to describe the story very simply. 91 00:07:29,000 –> 00:07:31,040 The plan worked. 92 00:07:31,040 –> 00:07:36,779 It all panned out exactly as David had planned in scenario number 2. 93 00:07:36,779 –> 00:07:41,000 So that David, at the end of this, with Uriah tragically killed in the field of battle, 94 00:07:41,000 –> 00:07:45,619 the grieving widow wonderfully taken up into the royal household and becoming part of David’s 95 00:07:45,619 –> 00:07:48,220 family and the son adopted. 96 00:07:48,220 –> 00:07:56,000 David thinks it’s all signed, sealed, delivered, and suitably buried in the past. 97 00:07:56,000 –> 00:07:57,399 Except for one thing. 98 00:07:58,339 –> 00:08:06,119 Two Samuel 11 and verse 27 tells us this, that the thing that David did displeased 99 00:08:06,119 –> 00:08:08,140 the Lord. 100 00:08:09,799 –> 00:08:21,279 God knew, and so because God loved David, God took an initiative so that it would not 101 00:08:21,279 –> 00:08:27,359 remain buried in the past until the day of judgment. 102 00:08:27,399 –> 00:08:28,700 And what God did was this. 103 00:08:28,700 –> 00:08:32,619 He sent a prophet whose name was Nathan. 104 00:08:32,619 –> 00:08:38,000 David was very happy to receive Nathan at the palace, and Nathan knew something that’s 105 00:08:38,000 –> 00:08:43,940 true of all of us, that we see the sins of other people much more clearly than we see 106 00:08:43,940 –> 00:08:45,559 our own sins. 107 00:08:45,559 –> 00:08:51,739 And so Nathan, wanting to communicate to David his own sinfulness, did it in a very subtle 108 00:08:51,739 –> 00:08:52,739 way. 109 00:08:52,739 –> 00:08:56,960 He told a report of another person’s sin. 110 00:08:56,960 –> 00:08:57,960 And it went like this. 111 00:08:57,960 –> 00:08:59,880 He came to the palace. 112 00:08:59,880 –> 00:09:03,640 David, no doubt, says, nice to see you. 113 00:09:03,640 –> 00:09:08,039 Good to have a prophet around the palace. 114 00:09:08,039 –> 00:09:10,599 What have you got to say today? 115 00:09:10,599 –> 00:09:15,440 Says Nathan, I’ve got to tell you, there’s been a terrible miscarriage of justice in 116 00:09:15,440 –> 00:09:18,719 one of our towns. 117 00:09:18,719 –> 00:09:22,520 Really has people talking, and frankly King, if we don’t do something about this, we’re 118 00:09:22,520 –> 00:09:25,080 going to have some social unrest if this sort of thing carries on. 119 00:09:25,080 –> 00:09:26,719 Oh, tell me, what’s the problem? 120 00:09:27,479 –> 00:09:30,099 Well, says Nathan, it concerns two neighbors. 121 00:09:30,099 –> 00:09:36,840 A very wealthy man and very poor family who live actually immediately next door. 122 00:09:36,840 –> 00:09:41,280 Wealthy man has a large acreage and many flocks of sheep, but the poor family next door, they 123 00:09:41,280 –> 00:09:46,119 just have a fenced-off yard and very little. 124 00:09:46,119 –> 00:09:49,520 You need to know that that family some years ago bought one little lamb. 125 00:09:49,520 –> 00:09:51,119 It was the kid’s pet. 126 00:09:51,119 –> 00:09:55,760 They fed it out a bottle, played with it for years. 127 00:09:56,679 –> 00:09:58,380 Go on. 128 00:09:58,380 –> 00:10:04,760 Well, one day the rich neighbour, he had guests coming, and he wanted to put on roast lamb 129 00:10:04,760 –> 00:10:07,580 for dinner. 130 00:10:07,580 –> 00:10:08,559 And you know what he did? 131 00:10:08,559 –> 00:10:16,320 He’s got all these flocks outside, but he jumps right over the fence, grabs the children’s 132 00:10:16,320 –> 00:10:23,700 lamb, takes it, slaughters it, cooks it for dinner. 133 00:10:23,840 –> 00:10:27,419 Can you imagine it? 134 00:10:27,419 –> 00:10:33,780 He just went straight into their garden, and he took the lamb. 135 00:10:33,780 –> 00:10:40,940 And the Bible says that David burned with anger, and this is what he said, the man who 136 00:10:40,940 –> 00:10:46,299 did that must die. 137 00:10:46,299 –> 00:10:50,059 And in one of the most dramatic moments in the Bible, Nathan no doubt looking the King 138 00:10:50,299 –> 00:10:57,219 straight in the eyes says to Him, you are that man. 139 00:10:57,219 –> 00:11:01,400 You are that man. 140 00:11:01,400 –> 00:11:05,840 You are the man, David, who saw something you wanted. 141 00:11:05,840 –> 00:11:13,619 Wasn’t yours, but just because you wanted it, you went and took it. 142 00:11:13,640 –> 00:11:20,640 And at that moment, it was as if a shaft of God’s truth light just came through David’s 143 00:11:20,640 –> 00:11:25,400 whole being, his whole soul. 144 00:11:25,400 –> 00:11:33,099 And he knew that God knew, and he knew that it mattered. 145 00:11:33,099 –> 00:11:37,419 And it’s out of that, the Bible tells us that David penned this Psalm that we’re going 146 00:11:37,419 –> 00:11:40,700 to look at over these three Sunday mornings. 147 00:11:40,700 –> 00:11:49,840 It was that discovery of himself that led to this magnificent roadmap of the highway 148 00:11:49,840 –> 00:11:53,419 of repentance that we’re going to look at. 149 00:11:53,419 –> 00:11:57,940 Now, this morning, as I said, we’re going to focus in on the subject of diagnosis. 150 00:11:57,940 –> 00:11:59,520 What is the problem? 151 00:11:59,520 –> 00:12:02,679 Isn’t it interesting that you read through this Psalm and there’s no mention of adultery 152 00:12:02,679 –> 00:12:05,760 and there’s no mention of murder? 153 00:12:05,760 –> 00:12:07,719 Why? 154 00:12:07,739 –> 00:12:14,260 Because David is now going deeper than the particular sins. 155 00:12:14,260 –> 00:12:19,200 He’s grappling with the core of the problem. 156 00:12:19,200 –> 00:12:26,000 He’s not only looking at the immediate pain that is felt, he’s beginning to grapple with 157 00:12:26,000 –> 00:12:28,820 the very source of it. 158 00:12:28,820 –> 00:12:33,140 Now, as we go through this diagnosis, will you follow me with your Bible open, please. 159 00:12:33,400 –> 00:12:39,159 We’re going to look at the terms that he uses that begin to explain and open up for us just 160 00:12:39,159 –> 00:12:42,520 what the problem with the human condition really is. 161 00:12:42,520 –> 00:12:51,340 And I want you to notice first of all in verse 1 there that he speaks of my transgressions. 162 00:12:51,340 –> 00:12:56,260 Verse 1, have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love, according to your 163 00:12:56,260 –> 00:13:01,239 great compassion, blot out my transgressions. 164 00:13:02,239 –> 00:13:10,239 Now, to transgress is to step over a boundary line. 165 00:13:10,239 –> 00:13:18,539 It always makes me recall a sign that was posted outside of a convent. 166 00:13:18,539 –> 00:13:23,520 There was this building and grounds around it and a kind of perimeter fence and on the 167 00:13:23,520 –> 00:13:28,000 fence of the convent was this sign. 168 00:13:28,880 –> 00:13:34,020 will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. 169 00:13:34,020 –> 00:13:34,760 And then underneath it 170 00:13:34,760 –> 00:13:36,159 had signed, 171 00:13:36,159 –> 00:13:38,359 the sisters of mercy. 172 00:13:38,359 –> 00:13:41,320 I always rather enjoyed that. 173 00:13:41,320 –> 00:13:43,520 But that’s the meaning of transgression. 174 00:13:43,520 –> 00:13:44,500 There is a boundary. 175 00:13:44,500 –> 00:13:47,260 You go across it, you’re in trouble. 176 00:13:47,260 –> 00:13:53,700 And very simply the Bible gives to us boundary lines that God has set for us in 177 00:13:53,700 –> 00:13:55,719 human behavior. 178 00:13:55,780 –> 00:14:01,320 And to transgress or to trespass is to cut across these boundaries. 179 00:14:01,320 –> 00:14:02,219 God has said, 180 00:14:02,219 –> 00:14:06,460 you shall not commit adultery. 181 00:14:06,460 –> 00:14:08,179 And if you read the teaching of Jesus, 182 00:14:08,179 –> 00:14:11,080 you’ll find that that does not include just specific acts, 183 00:14:11,080 –> 00:14:18,760 but it includes the whole area of sexual sin in the mind as well as in the body. 184 00:14:20,000 –> 00:14:21,960 You shall not kill, 185 00:14:21,960 –> 00:14:23,640 but if you read the teaching of Jesus, 186 00:14:23,979 –> 00:14:29,979 you will find very clearly that that includes the whole area of the abuse of other people, 187 00:14:29,979 –> 00:14:32,739 including our words, 188 00:14:32,739 –> 00:14:38,840 including the ways in which we suppress other personalities. 189 00:14:38,840 –> 00:14:40,099 You shall not steal, 190 00:14:40,099 –> 00:14:43,400 you shall not covet. 191 00:14:43,400 –> 00:14:49,200 It includes that craving to be in another person’s position. 192 00:14:49,200 –> 00:14:52,119 You shall not give false testimony, 193 00:14:52,119 –> 00:14:54,780 including the whole area of the masks that we wear, 194 00:14:54,780 –> 00:15:00,260 the images that we knowingly and falsely present. 195 00:15:00,260 –> 00:15:01,260 Now David says, 196 00:15:01,260 –> 00:15:03,419 I’ve stepped over the line, God, 197 00:15:03,419 –> 00:15:09,380 and I’m worried about my transgression. 198 00:15:09,380 –> 00:15:12,659 But it doesn’t stop there. 199 00:15:12,659 –> 00:15:15,900 Notice verse 2, he talks about my sin. 200 00:15:16,219 –> 00:15:20,820 Because of Your mercy, blot out my transgression 201 00:15:20,820 –> 00:15:24,559 and cleanse me from my sin. 202 00:15:24,559 –> 00:15:26,559 The word sin in the Bible, 203 00:15:26,559 –> 00:15:28,080 slightly different range of meaning. 204 00:15:28,080 –> 00:15:32,679 It means to come up short of the mark. 205 00:15:32,679 –> 00:15:34,719 I always remember one occasion back in London 206 00:15:34,719 –> 00:15:36,119 a few years ago now, 207 00:15:36,119 –> 00:15:39,359 when a friend of mine, who was a missionary in Africa 208 00:15:39,359 –> 00:15:43,700 had brought back a genuine African hunter’s bow and arrow. 209 00:15:44,619 –> 00:15:47,419 It was a magnificent thing, four feet long, 210 00:15:47,419 –> 00:15:49,280 it seemed to weigh a ton, 211 00:15:49,280 –> 00:15:51,419 and he gave me this demonstration. 212 00:15:51,419 –> 00:15:53,380 He kind of stands there, puts this arrow in, 213 00:15:53,380 –> 00:15:56,000 holds this thing, looks absolutely magnificent. 214 00:15:56,000 –> 00:15:59,419 There were fields way, way, way behind their house 215 00:15:59,419 –> 00:16:01,460 and he shoots for the sun 216 00:16:01,460 –> 00:16:04,820 and this thing flies through the air gliding beautifully. 217 00:16:06,099 –> 00:16:07,460 He says to me, have a turn. 218 00:16:08,940 –> 00:16:12,260 Well just before my inaugural experience of archery, 219 00:16:12,619 –> 00:16:14,900 he said to me, noticing that just about 220 00:16:14,900 –> 00:16:17,760 where the sound desk is there, about 10 feet away, 221 00:16:17,760 –> 00:16:19,760 the children had a rabbit hutch, 222 00:16:20,659 –> 00:16:22,239 and he said, just before you try, 223 00:16:22,239 –> 00:16:24,140 I’m gonna take the rabbit out. 224 00:16:24,140 –> 00:16:26,119 That’s rather insulting. 225 00:16:26,119 –> 00:16:27,200 And. 226 00:16:27,200 –> 00:16:30,619 But I tell you, I’ve never in all my life 227 00:16:30,619 –> 00:16:35,619 been so thankful for the prevention of disaster. 228 00:16:36,020 –> 00:16:39,799 I took this thing and, aiming for the sun as best i could, 229 00:16:39,799 –> 00:16:42,159 it kinda slid off at the optimum moment 230 00:16:42,159 –> 00:16:43,880 and skated along the path 231 00:16:43,880 –> 00:16:46,880 and landed up just in front of the rabbit hutch. 232 00:16:46,880 –> 00:16:48,960 Unbelievably embarrassing. 233 00:16:48,960 –> 00:16:51,359 Well if you can get that picture in your mind, 234 00:16:51,359 –> 00:16:53,840 that arrow sinned. 235 00:16:54,979 –> 00:16:57,239 It was destined to, 236 00:16:58,520 –> 00:17:00,080 shoot for the sky. 237 00:17:01,700 –> 00:17:05,760 But the reality was it skated limply along the ground. 238 00:17:06,920 –> 00:17:11,300 Sin is literally, missing the mark, 239 00:17:11,300 –> 00:17:13,040 but missing the mark by a mile. 240 00:17:14,219 –> 00:17:16,040 That’s what the word means. 241 00:17:16,040 –> 00:17:17,260 You say, well what is the target? 242 00:17:17,260 –> 00:17:18,180 What is the mark? 243 00:17:18,180 –> 00:17:19,699 Jesus said it out very simply. 244 00:17:19,699 –> 00:17:21,339 He said, you love the Lord your God 245 00:17:21,339 –> 00:17:23,459 with all your heart, soul, and mind, and strength, 246 00:17:23,459 –> 00:17:25,000 and love your neighbor as yourself. 247 00:17:25,000 –> 00:17:28,939 You are made by God to fly in love for God 248 00:17:28,939 –> 00:17:30,579 and in love for your neighbor. 249 00:17:32,060 –> 00:17:33,339 I look at my life, 250 00:17:33,339 –> 00:17:35,640 I love God, I love my neighbor, 251 00:17:35,640 –> 00:17:37,520 but to love God with all my heart, 252 00:17:37,520 –> 00:17:39,979 all my soul, all my mind, and all my strength 253 00:17:40,020 –> 00:17:42,619 has there been one day in my life when I’ve done that? 254 00:17:45,180 –> 00:17:47,579 David says, it’s not just that I’m worried 255 00:17:47,579 –> 00:17:50,640 about the places where I broke in your law. 256 00:17:51,979 –> 00:17:55,540 I’m worried also about the fact that there is my sin. 257 00:17:55,540 –> 00:17:58,719 I just am miserably short of everything 258 00:17:58,719 –> 00:18:00,160 you’ve called me to be, God. 259 00:18:02,219 –> 00:18:04,020 Then he uses a third word. 260 00:18:04,020 –> 00:18:05,219 In verse two again. 261 00:18:05,219 –> 00:18:08,479 Notice how he speaks there about my iniquity. 262 00:18:09,459 –> 00:18:13,199 Now, iniquity literally means twistedness. 263 00:18:13,199 –> 00:18:16,040 If you think of a piece of shrapnel the remains 264 00:18:16,040 –> 00:18:20,900 of a bomb case after an explosion has taken place, 265 00:18:20,900 –> 00:18:24,380 have you ever held a piece of shrapnel in your hand? 266 00:18:24,380 –> 00:18:25,439 I mean, you wonder how it could 267 00:18:25,439 –> 00:18:27,199 ever have been a flat piece of metal. 268 00:18:27,199 –> 00:18:31,099 It is so clinkered, twisted, in every dimension. 269 00:18:32,400 –> 00:18:35,180 That’s what the word iniquity means. 270 00:18:35,180 –> 00:18:38,839 He says there is something within me that is twisted. 271 00:18:40,520 –> 00:18:43,359 So, God, here’s the problem I’m beginning to diagnose 272 00:18:43,359 –> 00:18:44,599 and bring before you. 273 00:18:44,599 –> 00:18:46,719 I’ve transgressed your law, 274 00:18:46,719 –> 00:18:48,880 I have come up short of your calling. 275 00:18:48,880 –> 00:18:49,920 And the reason is 276 00:18:49,920 –> 00:18:52,680 that there is something twisted in my very nature. 277 00:18:54,719 –> 00:18:56,000 Now, try and follow this for a moment. 278 00:18:56,000 –> 00:18:59,099 The Bible’s teaching is primarily 279 00:19:00,060 –> 00:19:03,400 not that we are sinners 280 00:19:03,400 –> 00:19:05,079 because we sin, 281 00:19:06,560 –> 00:19:11,239 but that we sin because we are sinners. 282 00:19:13,180 –> 00:19:14,079 Let me say that again. 283 00:19:14,079 –> 00:19:16,760 The Bible’s teaching at its heart on this subject 284 00:19:16,760 –> 00:19:20,319 is not that we are sinners because we sin. 285 00:19:20,319 –> 00:19:21,479 In other words, some people think, 286 00:19:21,479 –> 00:19:22,900 that we’re all going along very nicely, 287 00:19:22,900 –> 00:19:24,319 basically good people at heart, 288 00:19:24,319 –> 00:19:26,339 and occasionally we stumble over the odd break, 289 00:19:26,339 –> 00:19:28,520 we make a mistake and that makes us sinners. 290 00:19:28,520 –> 00:19:30,560 No, that is not what the Bible is saying to us, 291 00:19:30,560 –> 00:19:32,079 it’s saying it the other way around. 292 00:19:32,079 –> 00:19:37,079 It is saying the reason we sin is because we are sinners. 293 00:19:38,020 –> 00:19:41,640 The reason that there is bad fruit in our lives 294 00:19:41,640 –> 00:19:44,599 is that there’s something wrong with the tree. 295 00:19:44,599 –> 00:19:47,400 The reason, David is now beginning to diagnose 296 00:19:47,400 –> 00:19:50,660 that there are these symptoms of actions 297 00:19:50,660 –> 00:19:52,680 that are foul in God’s sight, 298 00:19:52,680 –> 00:19:54,520 my transgressions and my sin, 299 00:19:54,520 –> 00:19:57,199 it arises from the fact that there’s something twisted 300 00:19:57,199 –> 00:19:58,880 that goes to the very core of me. 301 00:20:02,839 –> 00:20:05,219 The problem is not only what I did. 302 00:20:06,739 –> 00:20:09,099 The problem is the reason I did it. 303 00:20:10,619 –> 00:20:11,939 It’s a hard problem. 304 00:20:13,719 –> 00:20:17,040 And if my idea of repentance is just that I say sorry, 305 00:20:17,040 –> 00:20:18,079 what on earth will stop me 306 00:20:18,079 –> 00:20:20,119 from doing exactly the same thing again? 307 00:20:22,160 –> 00:20:24,640 Being sorry is hardly an adequate defense 308 00:20:24,640 –> 00:20:26,479 against the pool of the quicksand. 309 00:20:28,079 –> 00:20:29,319 I’m sorry, I started it. 310 00:20:30,000 –> 00:20:32,000 David’s beginning to diagnose the issue. 311 00:20:32,000 –> 00:20:33,359 You’re getting the feel? 312 00:20:33,359 –> 00:20:34,959 I transgressed your law, 313 00:20:34,959 –> 00:20:36,319 gone over the boundary lines. 314 00:20:36,319 –> 00:20:37,800 I admit that. 315 00:20:37,800 –> 00:20:39,959 But I’ve also fallen short. 316 00:20:39,959 –> 00:20:41,239 The reason for these things, 317 00:20:41,239 –> 00:20:43,119 there’s something twisted within me. 318 00:20:43,119 –> 00:20:44,199 Next question whoever, 319 00:20:44,199 –> 00:20:45,439 if there’s something twisted within you, 320 00:20:45,439 –> 00:20:46,400 when did that begin? 321 00:20:48,180 –> 00:20:50,719 Notice how he answered that question in verse five. 322 00:20:51,680 –> 00:20:56,000 Surely I have been a sinner from birth, 323 00:20:56,119 –> 00:20:58,099 a sinner from birth, 324 00:20:58,099 –> 00:21:01,839 sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 325 00:21:03,199 –> 00:21:04,800 Isn’t that a fascinating statement? 326 00:21:05,640 –> 00:21:07,439 He’s not saying of course that he was born 327 00:21:07,439 –> 00:21:09,599 as the result of a sinful relationship 328 00:21:09,599 –> 00:21:11,239 that his mother once had, 329 00:21:11,239 –> 00:21:13,040 but what he is saying is that the problem 330 00:21:13,040 –> 00:21:14,920 of this sinful nature, 331 00:21:14,920 –> 00:21:16,959 this inner twistedness, 332 00:21:16,959 –> 00:21:20,380 has its origin as far back as his very conception. 333 00:21:21,400 –> 00:21:23,920 In other words the twistedness of my nature 334 00:21:23,920 –> 00:21:25,680 is not the result of some bad things 335 00:21:25,760 –> 00:21:27,140 that have happened in my life, 336 00:21:27,140 –> 00:21:28,939 it was there from the very beginning. 337 00:21:31,040 –> 00:21:32,160 Very significant verse, 338 00:21:32,160 –> 00:21:36,920 it is not only telling us about human life in the womb, 339 00:21:36,920 –> 00:21:38,140 that’s very important, 340 00:21:39,579 –> 00:21:44,579 but it’s also telling us about fallen life in the womb. 341 00:21:45,739 –> 00:21:46,699 Think about that. 342 00:21:49,040 –> 00:21:50,920 I find it hard to think of any point 343 00:21:50,920 –> 00:21:53,020 at which the Bible and our culture 344 00:21:53,420 –> 00:21:57,280 are in quite such obvious disagreement. 345 00:21:58,640 –> 00:22:03,119 Our culture proclaims the goodness of people at the core. 346 00:22:04,020 –> 00:22:05,479 Problems are around the edges, maybe, 347 00:22:05,479 –> 00:22:07,199 but basically we’re good, 348 00:22:07,199 –> 00:22:09,900 unless something happens to make us go terribly wrong. 349 00:22:12,280 –> 00:22:14,800 The Bible says that is completely false. 350 00:22:17,359 –> 00:22:19,160 The problem of the sinful nature 351 00:22:19,160 –> 00:22:21,020 is they’re right in conception. 352 00:22:23,939 –> 00:22:25,319 And it’s right at the heart. 353 00:22:27,439 –> 00:22:30,180 There is no-one righteous, says Paul in Romans 3. 354 00:22:30,180 –> 00:22:31,939 Not even one. 355 00:22:31,939 –> 00:22:36,380 There is no-one who understands, no-one who seeks God. 356 00:22:41,079 –> 00:22:44,260 There’s a game that’s played, very popular in England. 357 00:22:44,260 –> 00:22:46,079 Not really seeing it here. 358 00:22:46,079 –> 00:22:47,319 It’s called crown balls. 359 00:22:48,680 –> 00:22:50,119 And I explain it very simply to you. 360 00:22:50,140 –> 00:22:53,060 it’s played on a square and very beautiful lawn. 361 00:22:54,420 –> 00:22:58,040 And what happens is you take a small white ball, 362 00:22:58,040 –> 00:23:00,239 about the size of a tennis ball, 363 00:23:00,239 –> 00:23:03,160 called the jack, and you bowl the jack 364 00:23:03,160 –> 00:23:05,500 up the other end of the lawn. 365 00:23:05,500 –> 00:23:09,459 And then the two bowlers will take bowls, rather larger, 366 00:23:09,459 –> 00:23:12,420 and the way in which a bowl is constructed 367 00:23:12,420 –> 00:23:13,699 is very interesting. 368 00:23:13,699 –> 00:23:17,060 It has a lead weight in one side. 369 00:23:17,060 –> 00:23:18,560 And the idea is that as you bowl, 370 00:23:18,599 –> 00:23:21,260 you’ve gotta get your bowl as near as possible to the jack. 371 00:23:21,260 –> 00:23:23,140 And the problem, of course, is every time 372 00:23:23,140 –> 00:23:25,319 you bowl your bowl, it always curves, 373 00:23:25,319 –> 00:23:27,180 depending on which way you hold it in your hand. 374 00:23:27,180 –> 00:23:29,719 It may curve to the left or it may curve to the right, 375 00:23:29,719 –> 00:23:31,380 but it always curves. 376 00:23:31,380 –> 00:23:34,319 It is a physical impossibility for that bowl 377 00:23:34,319 –> 00:23:35,780 to go straight up the middle. 378 00:23:37,939 –> 00:23:39,560 Now, that is what the Bible is saying 379 00:23:39,560 –> 00:23:42,020 about our human nature. 380 00:23:42,020 –> 00:23:45,239 Right from the very moment and the beginning 381 00:23:45,599 –> 00:23:48,739 of life, human nature is such that it has this bias, 382 00:23:51,959 –> 00:23:55,959 this waiting, that causes it to curve towards sin, 383 00:23:55,959 –> 00:23:59,880 that causes us to curve instinctively away from God 384 00:23:59,880 –> 00:24:01,300 and to hide from Him. 385 00:24:02,880 –> 00:24:04,880 So there’s what He did, transgression, 386 00:24:04,880 –> 00:24:06,199 there’s what He didn’t do, sin, 387 00:24:06,199 –> 00:24:08,560 there’s the nature that it flows from, iniquity, 388 00:24:08,560 –> 00:24:10,040 and there’s the problem that goes right back 389 00:24:10,040 –> 00:24:10,859 to the beginning. 390 00:24:10,859 –> 00:24:12,800 Fifthly, notice how He confesses 391 00:24:12,800 –> 00:24:14,040 that the problem with His sin 392 00:24:14,079 –> 00:24:15,439 is that it is against God. 393 00:24:15,439 –> 00:24:20,439 Verse four, against you, you only have I sinned. 394 00:24:21,699 –> 00:24:23,400 Such an important statement. 395 00:24:25,760 –> 00:24:27,959 You noticed how difficult it is to decide 396 00:24:27,959 –> 00:24:30,760 in our culture today on the standard of right and wrong? 397 00:24:31,880 –> 00:24:35,199 Who decides what a high crime or misdemeanor is? 398 00:24:35,199 –> 00:24:37,439 On what basis would they make that decision? 399 00:24:37,439 –> 00:24:40,500 How do we calibrate the seriousness of sin? 400 00:24:41,260 –> 00:24:43,800 That’s why we constantly hear phrases like, 401 00:24:43,800 –> 00:24:48,800 it’s just sex, or it’s just lies about sex. 402 00:24:50,359 –> 00:24:52,979 Who calibrates what matters? 403 00:24:56,280 –> 00:24:58,500 We see once we’ve turned our back on God, 404 00:24:58,500 –> 00:25:02,160 we’re left floundering around in the sea of relativism 405 00:25:02,160 –> 00:25:04,560 in which every man makes up his own moral values. 406 00:25:06,699 –> 00:25:09,280 See, this is the great difference between repentance 407 00:25:09,540 –> 00:25:11,459 between repentance and remorse. 408 00:25:11,459 –> 00:25:13,900 Remorse is that we’re sorry. 409 00:25:13,900 –> 00:25:15,819 And there’s lots of reasons why we can be sad 410 00:25:15,819 –> 00:25:17,300 for something that we did. 411 00:25:18,420 –> 00:25:22,500 But repentance comes when I see that I have offended God 412 00:25:23,859 –> 00:25:25,339 and I want to turn back to Him. 413 00:25:25,339 –> 00:25:27,180 And this is where David is coming to. 414 00:25:28,520 –> 00:25:33,260 The real issue here, beyond all that I have done, 415 00:25:33,260 –> 00:25:35,839 God, I’ve offended you. 416 00:25:37,219 –> 00:25:38,680 And it’s not just that I’m struggling 417 00:25:38,699 –> 00:25:39,939 with some guilt feelings. 418 00:25:39,939 –> 00:25:44,079 There is actually my record in Heaven. 419 00:25:44,079 –> 00:25:46,260 That is a breach in this relationship. 420 00:25:47,839 –> 00:25:49,199 How is it to be dealt with? 421 00:25:52,719 –> 00:25:54,119 God thinks it’s serious. 422 00:25:57,160 –> 00:25:59,199 And then look, this is lastly, that 423 00:26:00,339 –> 00:26:03,239 David makes no excuses, verse four. 424 00:26:03,239 –> 00:26:06,099 You are proved right when you speak 425 00:26:06,979 –> 00:26:10,540 and justified when you judge. 426 00:26:13,479 –> 00:26:14,319 Now when something’s wrong, 427 00:26:14,319 –> 00:26:16,819 our first instinct is to hide, as we said. 428 00:26:18,040 –> 00:26:19,719 Second instinct is to minimize. 429 00:26:19,719 –> 00:26:20,959 Oh, it wasn’t a big deal. 430 00:26:22,459 –> 00:26:24,420 Third instinct is to blame. 431 00:26:24,420 –> 00:26:26,380 Ah, well, it was someone else’s fault. 432 00:26:27,699 –> 00:26:30,160 It was partly mine, partly someone else’s. 433 00:26:31,380 –> 00:26:32,760 Adam said it was the woman. 434 00:26:33,540 –> 00:26:35,060 The woman said, 435 00:26:35,060 –> 00:26:35,979 it was the serpent, 436 00:26:37,339 –> 00:26:38,160 and someone pointed out 437 00:26:38,160 –> 00:26:39,939 the serpent didn’t have a leg to stand on. 438 00:26:45,540 –> 00:26:46,380 But you know, 439 00:26:46,380 –> 00:26:47,560 so long as a person is saying, 440 00:26:47,560 –> 00:26:49,119 well, it wasn’t wholly my fault. 441 00:26:50,599 –> 00:26:52,800 As long as we’re trying to deflect blame, 442 00:26:52,800 –> 00:26:55,020 we’re not at the place of repentance. 443 00:26:55,900 –> 00:26:58,160 Repentance comes, really, when we say, 444 00:26:59,280 –> 00:27:01,479 Lord, I’ve transgressed your law, 445 00:27:01,520 –> 00:27:03,060 I’ve fallen short of the mark. 446 00:27:03,060 –> 00:27:04,900 The problem is something that is within me. 447 00:27:04,900 –> 00:27:06,520 It goes right back from the beginning, 448 00:27:06,520 –> 00:27:07,819 my sin is against you 449 00:27:07,819 –> 00:27:10,239 and I’m not wanting to make any excuses. 450 00:27:12,199 –> 00:27:15,260 That’s the beginning of repentance. 451 00:27:17,920 –> 00:27:19,680 Two questions with which to close. 452 00:27:21,300 –> 00:27:22,199 The first is this, 453 00:27:22,199 –> 00:27:24,819 are you interested in diagnosis? 454 00:27:28,939 –> 00:27:30,640 How many of us would admit this morning 455 00:27:30,640 –> 00:27:32,479 that oh sure we’re not perfect! 456 00:27:35,280 –> 00:27:36,579 But when it really comes 457 00:27:36,579 –> 00:27:40,319 to looking at what God says about human nature 458 00:27:40,319 –> 00:27:42,199 and the extent of sin, 459 00:27:42,199 –> 00:27:45,319 this corruption that runs throughout human nature, 460 00:27:46,859 –> 00:27:48,160 we find ourselves uncomfortable. 461 00:27:48,160 –> 00:27:49,239 We don’t want to know. 462 00:27:53,020 –> 00:27:56,020 Listen, if you don’t understand the seriousness of sin, 463 00:27:56,020 –> 00:27:58,160 how will you ever appreciate the cross? 464 00:27:58,459 –> 00:28:02,060 How are you ever going to sustain a life of devotion 465 00:28:02,060 –> 00:28:07,199 to a redeemer if all that you really think 466 00:28:07,199 –> 00:28:09,880 you needed redeemed from is a few kind of surface problems 467 00:28:09,880 –> 00:28:11,880 that appeared now and again on your life? 468 00:28:14,359 –> 00:28:16,660 No, saints through the generations 469 00:28:16,660 –> 00:28:20,359 who have lived a life of devoted love to Jesus Christ 470 00:28:20,359 –> 00:28:21,880 have done so on the basis 471 00:28:21,880 –> 00:28:24,300 that they have discovered their need of Christ. 472 00:28:24,300 –> 00:28:25,939 They have sensed from the scripture 473 00:28:26,060 –> 00:28:27,880 the depth of sin within them. 474 00:28:27,880 –> 00:28:29,780 And they have come to a position of saying, 475 00:28:29,780 –> 00:28:30,959 I need a redeemer. 476 00:28:32,359 –> 00:28:35,079 And I need him every day of my life. 477 00:28:35,079 –> 00:28:39,619 And I can hardly fathom that he would love me 478 00:28:39,619 –> 00:28:41,180 and go to the cross for me. 479 00:28:41,180 –> 00:28:42,420 That is why the Bible says, 480 00:28:42,420 –> 00:28:47,420 the work of the Holy Spirit is to convince people of sin. 481 00:28:49,119 –> 00:28:51,260 How else will we ever come to Christ? 482 00:28:51,260 –> 00:28:53,780 However will we appreciate Christ. 483 00:28:54,119 –> 00:28:55,060 How will we appreciate Christ? 484 00:28:55,060 –> 00:28:58,219 However will we cling to Christ? 485 00:28:58,219 –> 00:29:02,339 He came to save his people from their sins. 486 00:29:02,339 –> 00:29:04,140 If we do not understand this issue, 487 00:29:04,140 –> 00:29:08,819 the rest of the gospel will never make any lasting sense. 488 00:29:08,819 –> 00:29:12,439 It will only seem like something for the periphery of life 489 00:29:12,439 –> 00:29:15,319 and worthy of little more than an hour on Sunday morning. 490 00:29:18,859 –> 00:29:20,459 You interested in diagnosis? 491 00:29:21,260 –> 00:29:23,280 You want to know what’s wrong with you? 492 00:29:26,500 –> 00:29:29,760 C.S. Lewis has this wonderful passage in mere Christianity. 493 00:29:29,760 –> 00:29:34,239 When I was a child, he says, I often had a toothache. 494 00:29:34,239 –> 00:29:35,839 And I knew that if I went to my mother, 495 00:29:35,839 –> 00:29:38,119 she would give me something which would deaden the pain 496 00:29:38,119 –> 00:29:41,040 for the night and let me get some sleep. 497 00:29:41,040–> 00:29:44,699 But I did not go to my mother, at least not until the pain 498 00:29:44,699 –> 00:29:46,619 became very bad. 499 00:29:46,619 –> 00:29:49,020 And the reason I did not go was this. 500 00:29:49,719 –> 00:29:53,420 I did not doubt that she would give me the aspirin, 501 00:29:53,420 –> 00:29:56,160 but I knew that she would give me something else. 502 00:29:56,160 –> 00:29:58,060 I knew that she would take me to the dentist 503 00:29:58,060 –> 00:30:00,060 the next morning. 504 00:30:00,060 –> 00:30:03,420 I could not get what I wanted out of her 505 00:30:03,420 –> 00:30:06,420 without getting something more, which I did not want. 506 00:30:09,020 –> 00:30:11,839 I wanted immediate relief from the pain, 507 00:30:12,839 –> 00:30:15,260 but I could not get it without having my teeth 508 00:30:15,260 –> 00:30:17,319 permanently set right. 509 00:30:17,339 –> 00:30:18,180 Set right. 510 00:30:19,239 –> 00:30:22,160 And I knew those dentists. 511 00:30:22,160 –> 00:30:24,199 I knew that they’d start fiddling around 512 00:30:24,199 –> 00:30:26,000 with all sorts of other teeth 513 00:30:26,000 –> 00:30:28,199 that have not yet even started to ache. 514 00:30:30,079 –> 00:30:33,439 They would not let sleeping dogs lie. 515 00:30:33,439 –> 00:30:36,780 Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile. 516 00:30:36,780 –> 00:30:40,479 Then says Lewis brilliantly, if I may put it this way, 517 00:30:41,800 –> 00:30:43,739 God is like the dentist. 518 00:30:44,699 –> 00:30:45,520 Think of it. 519 00:30:46,380 –> 00:30:49,300 Dozens of people, he says, go to him to be cured 520 00:30:49,300 –> 00:30:52,140 of one particular sin, which they’re ashamed of. 521 00:30:53,540 –> 00:30:55,219 And he will cure it all right. 522 00:30:56,819 –> 00:30:58,479 But he will not stop there. 523 00:30:59,760 –> 00:31:01,760 That may be all you asked. 524 00:31:03,020 –> 00:31:07,420 But once you call him in, he’ll give you the full treatment. 525 00:31:10,540 –> 00:31:12,979 You see, either we go through life 526 00:31:12,979 –> 00:31:16,239 in denial of the deep unseen problem, 527 00:31:19,140 –> 00:31:20,640 which will only get worse, 528 00:31:22,900 –> 00:31:25,180 or we call in the Great Physician. 529 00:31:27,140 –> 00:31:32,020 But call in the Great Physician, our Lord Jesus Christ, 530 00:31:32,859 –> 00:31:34,859 and he will give you the full treatment. 531 00:31:35,880 –> 00:31:38,479 And the full treatment will not take a day or a week 532 00:31:38,479 –> 00:31:40,079 or a month or a year. 533 00:31:40,900 –> 00:31:43,540 The full treatment takes a lifetime. 534 00:31:45,819 –> 00:31:47,640 Sometimes it’s painful, 535 00:31:49,500 –> 00:31:52,020 but the outcome is wonderful. 536 00:31:54,020 –> 00:31:56,119 For what the full treatment does is this, 537 00:31:56,119 –> 00:32:00,119 it raises a man or a woman from the quicksand of sin, 538 00:32:02,560 –> 00:32:05,540 and it prepares them for eternity 539 00:32:06,859 –> 00:32:09,260 in the glory of God himself. 540 00:32:10,260 –> 00:32:12,760 This is authentic Christianity. 541 00:32:14,060 –> 00:32:17,900 The Spirit of God operating on the human soul 542 00:32:18,859 –> 00:32:22,020 in this long and sometimes painful process, 543 00:32:22,020 –> 00:32:25,280 but preparing a man or a woman for nothing less 544 00:32:25,280 –> 00:32:28,060 than reflecting the image of God in all eternity, 545 00:32:28,060 –> 00:32:30,260 and David, when he thought of where he was 546 00:32:30,260 –> 00:32:34,180 and where God could take him, said, I want that. 547 00:32:35,660 –> 00:32:38,160 Do you want that this morning? 548 00:32:39,680 –> 00:32:43,839 You go into a hospital for an exploratory operation. 549 00:32:45,219 –> 00:32:48,660 You’ll be asked to sign a form. 550 00:32:48,660 –> 00:32:50,920 Basically, it’s expressing this. 551 00:32:50,920 –> 00:32:53,180 It’s saying to the doctor, 552 00:32:53,180 –> 00:32:55,920 I sense there’s something wrong, 553 00:32:56,880 –> 00:33:01,060 but I want you to find out the full extent of what it is. 554 00:33:01,979 –> 00:33:04,140 And if you find out anything in me 555 00:33:04,140 –> 00:33:06,140 that should not be there, 556 00:33:06,280 –> 00:33:08,199 it should not be there, 557 00:33:10,160 –> 00:33:11,160 take it out. 558 00:33:12,300 –> 00:33:14,560 It’s what I’m asking you to do. 559 00:33:14,560 –> 00:33:15,880 I give you my permission. 560 00:33:15,880 –> 00:33:18,079 I trust myself into your hands. 561 00:33:18,079 –> 00:33:20,140 Will you do that with a great physician, 562 00:33:20,140 –> 00:33:23,839 this first step of repentance this morning? 563 00:33:23,839 –> 00:33:24,680 Search me. 564 00:33:25,939 –> 00:33:26,780 Know me. 565 00:33:29,099 –> 00:33:32,760 Show to me and reveal the depth of the issue, 566 00:33:33,560 –> 00:33:35,219 and whatever is there 567 00:33:37,719 –> 00:33:39,739 that should not be there, 568 00:33:40,660 –> 00:33:42,400 will you take it out, 569 00:33:43,439 –> 00:33:45,859 for I want the full treatment 570 00:33:47,300 –> 00:33:50,719 and I place myself wholly into your hands. 571 00:33:52,500 –> 00:33:54,420 Shall we pray together? 572 00:33:58,380 –> 00:34:00,780 Our gracious God and our loving heavenly Father, 573 00:34:00,780 –> 00:34:04,699 how wonderful that you are the great physician, 574 00:34:07,979 –> 00:34:10,639 that you take all kinds of cases, 575 00:34:10,639 –> 00:34:12,000 some who right now know 576 00:34:12,000 –> 00:34:14,919 that they are desperately in trouble 577 00:34:16,120 –> 00:34:20,560 and others of us who scarcely are aware of symptoms 578 00:34:20,560 –> 00:34:22,139 and have not really 579 00:34:23,800 –> 00:34:25,300 come to terms with 580 00:34:26,239 –> 00:34:30,479 the radical nature of how sin really affects our lives. 581 00:34:32,360 –> 00:34:34,500 Search me, know me, O God. 582 00:34:36,000 –> 00:34:38,820 We want to attend in your surgery. 583 00:34:39,879 –> 00:34:42,139 We want the full treatment. 584 00:34:43,179 –> 00:34:47,340 We want you to deal with that disease of sin within us. 585 00:34:48,340 –> 00:34:52,320 We want you to raise us up and prepare us even for glory. 586 00:34:52,320 –> 00:34:54,659 We want you to make us anew. 587 00:34:55,959 –> 00:35:00,540 Oh God, thank you that when you saw the depth 588 00:35:00,540 –> 00:35:04,280 of the human predicament, you sent your Son. 589 00:35:06,080 –> 00:35:09,020 Thank you for the great physician. 590 00:35:09,020 –> 00:35:13,540 We bless you and place ourselves into your hands, 591 00:35:13,540 –> 00:35:15,699 not for a day and a week, 592 00:35:16,739 –> 00:35:20,340 but that you should treat us all our lives 593 00:35:20,340 –> 00:35:24,500 to make us what you want us to be, for Christ’s sake. 594 00:35:25,500 –> 00:35:26,340 Amen. 595 00:35:29,540 –> 00:35:30,919 You’ve been listening to a sermon 596 00:35:30,919 –> 00:35:33,179 with Pastor Colin Smith of Open the Bible. 597 00:35:33,179 –> 00:35:36,379 To contact us, call us at 1-877-OPEN-365 598 00:35:38,899 –> 00:35:42,239 or visit our website, openthebible.org.
