Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP210030S
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00:01 Hello, friends,
00:02 this week on 3ABN Sabbath School Panel, 00:04 we're continuing our study 00:06 on this quarterly's lesson entitled Rest in Christ. 00:09 And we're in week four, 00:10 and this week we're going to be talking 00:12 about the Cost of Rest. 00:13 And you know what? 00:15 You may be new to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel, 00:16 and you may want to join us in our study, 00:19 and may not have a copy of the quarterly. 00:21 And so we want to tell you 00:22 how you can get a copy of that study right now. 00:24 There's a couple of ways you can do that. 00:26 We always want to encourage you 00:27 to go to your local Seventh-day Adventist Church 00:29 where you can engage in personal Bible study, 00:32 in person Bible study with brothers and sisters 00:35 in Christ who are like-minded. 00:37 And, of course, if you can't do that, 00:38 then you can simply go online 00:40 to ABSG.Adventist.org 00:44 Again, that's ABSG.Adventist.org 00:48 So buckle up and get ready 00:50 because we're going to be diving 00:51 deep into the Bible 00:52 to learn more about how we can rest in Christ. 01:25 Hello, friends, and welcome back 01:26 to another edition of 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 01:29 And, as always, we're so thankful 01:30 that you are joining us, 01:32 because each and every week we break open the Bible, 01:35 we take on a new lesson, and we learn so much. 01:38 And so, my name is Ryan Day. 01:39 And I would like to take the opportunity 01:41 to introduce the rest of our family panel. 01:44 And then we'll get right into our lesson. 01:45 To my direct left is Pastor John Lomacang. 01:47 Always a blessing to have you, Brother. 01:49 Good to be here. 01:50 We've been enjoying this lesson about rest 01:51 and been learning that 01:53 rest is something that's found in various ways. 01:55 So it's good to be a part of this one too. 01:57 Just stay tuned. 01:58 God has something in store for you. 02:00 Amen. Praise the Lord. 02:01 And then we have Miss Shelley Quinn 02:02 next to you. 02:04 How are you, Sister? I'm doing very well. 02:05 Thank you. And I'm very excited to be here. 02:07 Amen. Praise the Lord. 02:08 And then Miss Jill Morikone. 02:09 Always a blessing and we know you have 02:11 a special list for us today. 02:13 Today we have seven experiences after confession. 02:16 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Thank you. 02:18 And way down there at the end of the table, 02:20 but certainly not last. 02:21 Brother Kenny Shelton, 02:23 it's always a blessing to have you, Brother. 02:24 Blessing to be here and share God's Word. 02:26 Praise the Lord. Thank you. 02:27 Amen. Praise the Lord. 02:29 This week lesson number four in our study on Rest in Christ. 02:34 We're going to be talking about the cost of rest. 02:36 There is a cost associated 02:38 for having that special spiritual rest 02:41 in Jesus Christ. 02:42 But before we get into our study, 02:44 we always need to invite the Holy Spirit 02:45 to lead and guide us in this study. 02:47 And so, Sister Shelley, would you have a prayer for us? 02:49 Absolutely. 02:51 Our glorious Heavenly Father, 02:52 how we praise You and thank You 02:54 for Your plan of salvation by grace, 02:57 for Jesus Christ, 02:58 for Your Holy Spirit and Your Word. 03:00 And, Lord, now as we open Your Word, 03:03 we pray for Your anointing on us, 03:04 on our minds 03:06 that You would speak through us. 03:08 And, Lord, give us all ears to hear 03:10 what the Holy Spirit has to say in Jesus' name. 03:14 Amen. Amen. 03:15 Amen. Thank you so much. 03:17 So I'm going to jump right into our memory text, 03:19 which to me, it's one of my favorite texts. 03:22 In fact, it's one of my favorite 03:23 scripture songs to sing. 03:24 And, of course, that's Psalm 51:10. 03:28 Of course, this is those powerful words 03:29 coming from the repentant heart of King David 03:33 as he speaks out and says. 03:34 Again, Psalm 51:10, he says, 03:36 "Create in me a clean heart, O God, 03:39 and renew a right spirit 03:41 or a steadfast spirit within me." 03:45 And so, I always like to find a little bit of a nugget, 03:48 something that you can find within the study itself 03:51 without having to read the entire study. 03:52 But every once in a while, 03:54 there's something just so profound 03:55 and so nice in there 03:57 that I just have to just read it word for word. 03:58 And I always like to take that, to do that 04:01 because the writers work so hard 04:02 to produce these lessons, 04:04 and I enjoyed reading the beginning part 04:06 of Sabbath afternoon study, 04:09 because it has this to say. 04:10 It says, 04:11 "Many people seem desperate to find 04:13 a little peace and quiet. 04:15 They are willing to pay for it, too. 04:18 In many big cities there are internet-free rooms, 04:21 which can be hired by the hour. 04:23 The rules are strict, no noise, no visitors. 04:27 People are willing to pay to be able to sit quietly 04:30 and just think or nap. 04:32 There are sleep pods that can be hired in airports, 04:35 and noise-reducing earphones are popular items. 04:39 There are even canvas hoods, or collapsible privacy shields 04:43 that you can buy to pull over your head and torso 04:46 for a quick workplace break. 04:50 And as I was reading through that list, 04:52 a couple of them I've heard of, 04:53 but a few of those 04:55 I've never heard of these things, 04:56 and apparently people will do a lot these days 04:58 just for a little peace and quiet. 05:01 And as the lesson brings out, 05:02 sometimes you have to pay for these things, 05:04 because oftentimes rest comes at a cost. 05:08 And that certainly is the same concept 05:10 as we look into how to rest in Christ. 05:13 It comes at a cost. 05:15 And we're going to talk about that today in our lesson. 05:17 I want to go right directly into Sunday's lesson, 05:20 because this actually helps 05:21 to set the framework, the groundwork 05:25 for what we're going to be talking today. 05:26 King David is a primary example 05:29 of how we can have rest in Christ. 05:31 But sometimes, you know, something can happen 05:34 that can cause that rest to cease, 05:37 in which we now have to go back 05:38 and we have to plead at the throne of grace and say, 05:41 "Lord, I want to be in Your rest. 05:43 I want to restore that rest in You." 05:45 That was certainly the truth in King David's situation. 05:49 And so what I want to do is 05:51 I want to go directly to the scripture. 05:52 So let's find ourselves in 2 Samuel Chapter 11. 05:55 In fact, the bulk of what I'm going to be studying today 05:58 or reading from is 2 Samuel Chapter 11. 06:01 We're going to start at the very beginning. 06:02 This is a story that many of us have probably heard many times, 06:05 but I suspect that 06:07 there's someone watching at home right now 06:08 that may have never heard the story before. 06:10 And there are certain, certainly some lessons 06:11 we can learn from this. 06:14 And so, 2 Samuel 11:1-5, the Bible says, 06:19 "It happened in the spring of the year, 06:21 at the time when kings go out to battle," 06:24 notice that, 06:25 when kings go out to battle, right? 06:27 "That David sent Joab and his servants with him, 06:30 and all Israel, 06:32 and they destroyed the people of Ammon 06:35 and besieged Rabbah. 06:37 But David remained at Jerusalem." 06:40 So I just want to, 06:41 just highlight that for a moment. 06:42 This is, the Bible's bringing out 06:44 that this is usually a time of the year 06:45 when kings go out to battle. 06:46 But in this particular case in, 06:48 I don't think anyone's going to argue 06:49 that King David 06:50 is one of the great military minds 06:53 in God's kingdom and God's people, 06:54 especially his nation. 06:56 And so it goes on to say 06:57 that David remained in Jerusalem during this time 07:00 when perhaps maybe he would have normally 07:02 been out with his men battling in this case. 07:06 But it goes on to say in verse 2, 07:07 "Then it happened one evening 07:09 that David arose from his bed 07:11 and walked on the roof of the king's house. 07:13 And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, 07:16 and the woman was very beautiful to behold. 07:18 So David sent and inquired about the woman. 07:21 And someone said, 07:23 'Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, 07:26 and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?' 07:28 Then David sent messengers, and took her, 07:32 and she came to him, and he lay with her, 07:34 for she was cleansed from her impurity, 07:37 and she returned to her house. 07:39 And the woman conceived, so she sent and told David, 07:43 and said, 'I am with child.'" 07:46 So, I have to just say, again, 07:49 this is one of those stories, 07:50 you just have, you read it and you can't help 07:52 but just say this is one twisted story. 07:54 But yet it is often in these twisted stories 07:57 that we read that we learn so many incredible lessons. 07:59 And in this case, David as the Bible describes 08:01 was a man after God's own heart. 08:03 And even though he falls into this dreadful sin, 08:05 which we're going to talk about in further detail. 08:08 We're going to see that that man after God's own heart, 08:11 he saw his sin, he repented of that sin, 08:13 and he was able to restore that rest in Christ. 08:15 But I just have to make mention here 08:17 that again, the cost of rest here, 08:20 I don't think that may be the lesson, 08:22 the person who wrote the lesson intended for this to be so 08:24 or maybe they did. 08:26 But the idea would be here that I caught from this is that 08:28 there's a time, you know, the Bible talks about 08:30 there's a time for this, and there's a time for that, 08:31 and there's a season for this. 08:33 In this case, there's a time 08:34 when king should be out to battle, 08:35 and there's a time when king should be at rest. 08:37 And this time was probably a time 08:38 when David should not have been at rest, 08:40 because he found himself atop of this roof. 08:42 And he found himself 08:43 obviously making the wrong choice, 08:45 which would cause a domino effect, 08:47 a snowball effect of things that I'm sure 08:49 obviously looking back on, he would have done differently, 08:52 obviously, if it had not had been done that way. 08:54 So that being said, let's go on in the scripture, 08:56 verse 6, we're continuing the story here. 08:58 It says, 08:59 "Then David sent to Joab, saying, 09:01 'Send me Uriah the Hittite.'" 09:03 Again, Uriah is the husband of Bathsheba. 09:06 And so he says, Joab, sent for him. 09:07 "And Joab sent Uriah to David. 09:09 When Uriah had come to him, David asked how Joab was doing, 09:13 and how the people were doing, and how the war prospered. 09:15 And David said to Uriah, 09:17 'Go down to your house and wash your feet.' 09:19 So Uriah departed from the king's house, 09:21 and a gift of food from the king followed him.'" 09:25 Now you could just imagine in this story, 09:26 you can just imagine, 09:27 David has stepped out of grace at this moment. 09:29 He's not really thinking straight, 09:31 because he's already been tempted 09:32 and conceived that thought, that idea, 09:35 and he has acted upon it, and now he's committed sin. 09:37 And so in this case, you know, he's not thinking clearly 09:40 and so much so that 09:42 now he begins to plan and to plot 09:44 how he can somehow get out of this. 09:46 And a part of his plan is, you know what? 09:47 I'm gonna bring Uriah back here. 09:48 I'm gonna say, 09:50 "Hey, brother, I know you've been working hard. 09:51 You've been out there doing a good job. 09:53 Get on back to your house, rest up 09:55 and let me send you some goodies back with you. 09:57 You've been a good boy, right? 09:59 And so, it didn't actually 10:00 turn out the way David was hoping. 10:02 Notice what the Bible says in verse 9. 10:03 "But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house 10:06 with all the servants of his lord, 10:08 and did not go down to his house. 10:10 So when they told David, saying, 10:11 'Uriah did not go down to his house,' 10:13 David said to Uriah, 10:15 'Did you not come from a journey? 10:17 Why did you not go down to your house?' 10:20 And Uriah said to David, 10:21 'Look, the ark and Israel and Judah 10:23 are dwelling in tents, 10:24 and my lord Joab and his servants of my lord 10:26 are encamped in the open fields. 10:28 Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, 10:31 and to lie with my wife? 10:32 As you live, and as your soul lives, 10:34 I will not do this thing.'" 10:35 So Uriah takes the honorable route. 10:37 He says, 10:38 "Look, you know, the Ark of God's Covenant, 10:40 it's over there in the tent. 10:41 My brothers are in the field fighting a battle, 10:43 and they're all sleeping on the ground in the fields. 10:45 How can I in my right mind, 10:47 you know, just go back home 10:48 and lay with my wife, 10:50 and it was act like everything's not going on. 10:51 That's happening, we're in battle, we're in war. 10:53 I'm going to sleep at the Lord's house. 10:55 And so, that was number two, right? 10:57 Or that was actually number one. 10:58 Now he's gonna try his attempt number two. 11:00 Notice verse 12. 11:01 It says, 11:03 "Then David said to Uriah, 'Wait here today also, 11:05 and tomorrow I will let you depart.' 11:06 So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 11:10 Now when David called him, he ate, he drank before him, 11:14 and he made him drunk." 11:15 So get this, I'm going to make him drunk. 11:17 "And at evening he went out to lie on his bed 11:19 with the servants of his lord, 11:20 but he did not go down to his house." 11:23 So I'm going to try to make this brother drunk. 11:25 This is going to be his second attempt here now 11:28 to try to cause Uriah to fall back, 11:31 you know, and so he can kind of just brush over the sin. 11:34 Again, David's not thinking right. Why? 11:36 Because he's no longer resting 11:38 in that gracious relationship with God. 11:41 He has succumbed to sin. 11:42 And so now we go into verse 14, it says, 11:44 "In the morning it happened 11:46 that David wrote a letter to Joab 11:47 and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 11:50 And he wrote in the letter, saying, 11:52 'Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, 11:55 and retreat from him, 11:56 that he may be struck down and die.' 11:59 So it was that while Joab besieged the city, 12:01 that he assigned Uriah 12:03 to a place where he knew there were valiant men. 12:06 And when the men of the city came out and fought with Joab. 12:09 And some of the people of the servants of David fell, 12:12 and Uriah the Hittite died also." 12:15 So when you think this story 12:16 could get any more twisted, right? 12:18 David's like, look, you know, I'm gonna send a letter 12:19 and he sends the letter 12:21 by the very person that he's plotting against. 12:23 This brother's carrying his death sentence, 12:25 and doesn't realize it. 12:26 But again, this is the idea, my friends, 12:28 this is what sin does to you, when you entertain sin, 12:33 and you entertain the temptations of the enemy. 12:36 This is exactly, even powerful men, 12:38 mighty men or righteous men, 12:40 and in this case of David can fall in this case, 12:43 and that's exactly what we're seeing here. 12:45 And so the Bible goes on to say in verse 18, 12:47 actually let's going down to verse 22. 12:49 It says, "So the messenger went, 12:50 and came and told David 12:52 all that Joab had sent by him." 12:54 So they returned to give him the report." 12:56 And the messenger said to David, 12:58 'Surely the men prevailed against us 12:59 and came out to us in the field, 13:01 but we drove them back 13:02 as far as the entrance of the gate. 13:04 The archers shot from the wall at your servants, 13:06 and some of the king's servants are dead, 13:08 and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.'" 13:13 And it's interesting David's response, again, 13:15 not thinking clearly. 13:17 He's almost like he gives him like this pat on the back, 13:19 says, there, there, everything's gonna be okay 13:21 because he responds with in verse 25, 13:23 "Thus you shall say to Joab: 13:25 'Do not let this thing displease you, 13:27 for the sword devours one as well as another. 13:29 Strengthen your attack against the city, 13:31 and overthrow it.' 13:32 So encourage him.'" 13:34 We look through all of this and we see 13:36 that because David was, again, 13:39 not in the field where he should have been, 13:41 but he was resting back home. 13:43 It caused him to fall from the spiritual rest 13:46 that he had in Christ. 13:47 And now he has committed this horrible sin, 13:49 again, just created this snowball effect, 13:51 one thing after another of David not thinking clearly, 13:54 and him making decisions 13:56 that would ultimately cost him to a great degree. 14:00 And so in this case, 14:01 and I love a note that I made here. 14:03 It says, 14:04 "Oftentimes our rest can lead to decisions and behaviors 14:07 that displeases the Lord and sometimes. 14:09 Let us always remain connected to the vine, 14:11 examining ourselves in the Lord, 14:13 and make sure that we know when it is time to rest." 14:17 In this case, we need to make sure 14:18 we're always resting in Jesus Christ. 14:20 So how is David going to bring himself back 14:23 in harmony with Jesus Christ? 14:25 Well, the rest of the story is going to come, 14:27 and I'm going to kick it 14:28 to Pastor Lomacang at this time. 14:30 Well, you lay the foundation beautifully. 14:31 This is an amazing story, 14:32 a heart wrenching story about David. 14:34 The man that God called that fell into sin, 14:37 tried to cover his transgression, 14:39 and then now he feels no one knows about it, 14:42 but God always has some way to get our attention. 14:45 Mine is entitled, Wake-Up Call. 14:49 And we go to 2 Samuel Chapter 12, 14:53 beginning with verse 1. 14:54 "Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. 14:57 And he came to him, and said to him: 14:59 'There were two men in one city.'" 15:00 And this is talking about how to communicate 15:02 in a parabolic way, 15:03 how to find a back door to a person's heart 15:06 that's full of authority, 15:08 because you can't come straight out and say to, 15:09 I know what you did. 15:11 Nathan knew David well. 15:13 He knew how to speak to David. 15:15 And the Lord gave him the skill of a man 15:18 who is familiar with David's heart, 15:20 but the fortitude and the integrity of a prophet 15:23 who had to tell David exactly what God wanted him to know. 15:26 So he used a parable, 15:27 and let's go and look at the parable that he uses. 15:30 "There were two men in one city," 15:32 I'm in 2 Samuel 12:1, 15:35 "one rich and the other poor." 15:36 Verse 2, 15:38 "The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. 15:39 But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb 15:43 which he had bought and nourished, 15:45 and it grew up together with him 15:46 and with his children. 15:48 It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup 15:51 and lay in his bosom, 15:53 and it was like a daughter to him. 15:54 And a traveler came to the rich man, 15:56 who refused to take from his own flock 15:58 and from his own herd 16:00 to prepare one of the wayfaring man 16:02 who had come to him, 16:03 but he took the poor man's lamb and presented it, 16:06 and prepared it 16:08 for the man who had come to him. 16:09 So David's anger was greatly aroused 16:12 against the man, 16:13 and he said to Nathan, 16:14 'As the Lord lives, 16:16 the man who has done this shall surely die! 16:18 And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb.'" 16:20 I could hear David now telling, 16:21 man, this is something terrible. 16:23 He is becoming righteous now by trying to cover his sin. 16:27 "Because he did this thing and because he had no pity. 16:30 Then Nathan said to David, boom, 16:33 'You are the man! 16:35 Thus says the Lord God of Israel: 16:37 'I anointed you king over Israel, 16:39 I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 16:41 I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 16:43 I gave you your master's house and your master's wives 16:47 into your keeping, 16:48 and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. 16:50 And if that had been too little, 16:52 I also would have given you much more! 16:55 Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, 16:58 to do evil in His sight?'" 17:01 And then he repeats what, 17:02 what Ryan brought out very carefully. 17:04 He plotted the death of Uriah, Bathsheba's husband, 17:10 and it didn't, you know, you didn't get to this part. 17:12 But if you look at 2 Samuel 11:26, it says, 17:16 "When the wife of Uriah heard 17:18 that Uriah her husband was dead, 17:20 she mourned for her husband." 17:22 What did David do? 17:24 Verse 27, 17:25 "And when her mourning was over, 17:27 David sent and brought her to his house, 17:28 and she became his wife and bore him a son. 17:31 But the thing that David had done 17:33 displeased the Lord." 17:34 That's right. Yes. 17:35 You know, there is sin, and there's reckoning. 17:38 And we're going to now begin to look at 17:40 not only what happened, 17:43 but what happened to David prior, 17:47 and what happened to David afterward. 17:48 Now, David was a man 17:50 who sought to hide his own transgression. 17:52 He sought to do it legitimately. 17:54 He sought to do it legislatively. 17:57 He sought to do it with power in his hand, 17:59 but there's one mightier than all of us, 18:02 who brings us to accountability. 18:04 And this is so vitally important 18:05 because you know that 18:07 the precursors to any kind of repentance 18:11 is you've got to really be sorrowful for that sin. 18:15 You can't find deliverance from sin by saying, 18:18 you know, Shelley, I apologize. 18:20 Hope that's good enough. 18:21 And some people say things like, 18:24 well, if I offended you, I'm really sorry that I did. 18:28 David had no corner, 18:29 God had taken all the corners in his life 18:32 and lit them up. 18:33 And he had to now come to accountability. 18:35 This is where now we go to Psalm Chapter 51. 18:39 I want to bring out three points 18:40 before we go to Psalm 51 18:42 about sin, what sin does. 18:44 Because you notice what Nathan said, 18:46 Nathan talked about 18:47 not just the taking of Uriah's life, 18:50 and the stealing of Uriah's wife 18:51 and impregnating her 18:53 but he said, this thing displeased the Lord. 18:57 First and foremost, all sin is a sin against God. 19:03 Go back to Joseph, what he said? 19:05 How can I do this great wickedness 19:07 and sin against God? 19:08 Why is all sin a sin against God? 19:12 Because the commandments are the commandments of God. 19:15 And when we violate the commandments of God, 19:17 we're transgressing against the character of God, 19:20 the standard set by God, 19:22 even though it injures individuals, 19:25 the one that is being offended directly 19:28 is the Lord who establishes the standard. 19:31 That's why the first thing, 19:32 if you love Me, keep My commandments, 19:34 but David chose not to do it. 19:35 So therefore was an offense. 19:37 Not only that injured Uriah and his wife, 19:39 and led to his death unfortunately, 19:42 but it was an injury directly against the God 19:45 who had placed him in that position. 19:47 And now God calls David to accountability. 19:50 Sin injures the family, 19:52 as well as sin injures 19:53 also could be broadly the church, the community. 19:57 James 5:16. 19:58 The Bible says, 20:00 "Confess your trespasses to one another," 20:02 but don't just do that, 20:04 "pray for one another, that you may be healed." 20:07 This is not private prayer. 20:09 And this that James is talking about here 20:12 is come to the person that you offended. 20:15 Go to the individual 20:16 that has been injured by your sin. 20:18 Confess to that individual 20:20 that in, that individual confesses to you, 20:22 if it's, it's a dual party transgression, 20:25 and then you pray for one another, 20:27 so that both of you can experience healing. 20:29 David needed not only forgiveness, 20:32 David needed something more than that. 20:34 Right. 20:35 And that's why the Bible says, 20:37 "The effective fervent prayer 20:38 of a righteous man avails much." 20:40 But also sin drives another nail 20:42 into the hand of Jesus. 20:43 We often don't see that. 20:45 Hebrews 6:4-6, 20:47 "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, 20:49 and have tasted the heavenly gift, 20:51 and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 20:53 and have tasted the good word of God 20:55 and the powers of the age to come, 20:57 if they fall away, 20:58 to renew them again to repentance, 21:00 since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, 21:04 and put Him to an open shame." 21:06 David's sin put God to an open shame. 21:09 Going on further, number five, or number four, sin separates. 21:13 Isaiah 59:2, 21:14 "But your iniquities 21:15 have separated you from your God, 21:17 and your sins have hidden His face from you, 21:19 so that He will not hear." 21:21 I know that if David said to the Lord, 21:23 "Okay, okay, I messed up. 21:25 We've got some battles coming up. 21:26 I just need some advice." 21:27 The Lord would have said, 21:29 "I ain't talking to you. Do not talk to me. 21:31 I'm not even listening to you. Get that thing right." 21:35 That's what the iniquity. 21:36 This wasn't just a momentary sin. 21:38 David, no pun intended, 21:42 conceived the sin and the sin itself conceived, 21:45 brought forth death, as James says, 21:48 planned the death, plotted the death, 21:50 perpetrated the death, 21:52 impregnated the man's wife, killed her husband, 21:55 this was not an incidental thing. 21:57 This became a sin of his heart, 21:58 a sin that took 22:00 all the components of the strength 22:02 that God had given to him 22:04 and lead him down a path of darkness. 22:06 And, you know, sometimes 22:07 you go down this path of darkness. 22:08 And when you get down the path, you say, "How did I get here?" 22:11 And you try to cover your sin, but you cannot do it. 22:13 So what are the remedies? 22:16 Acts 2:38. 22:18 The only few remedies. 22:20 That's good. That's right. 22:21 "Then Peter said to them," 22:23 and this applies to David, 22:25 "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized 22:29 in the name of Jesus Christ." 22:30 I'm going to focus on the part repent, 22:32 because without repentance, there is no forgiveness. 22:36 You know, if we confess our sins, 22:37 He is faithful and just to forgive 22:39 and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 22:41 But let me make a point here. 22:43 Repentance is not something 22:45 that happens outside of the presence of God 22:46 in a person's life, 22:48 because admittance and repentance 22:50 are not the same thing. 22:52 You look at this, 22:54 look at the situation with Judas. 22:56 He got caught. 22:58 I have betrayed the Son of God, but did he repent? 23:00 No. No. 23:02 And there is this what you call the lights on, I'm guilty. 23:05 Okay, I did it. 23:07 That is not repentance. 23:08 God will not restore David 23:11 until he came to the point of repentance. 23:14 Look at Psalm 51:1. 23:15 Look at what he asked, 23:17 and I'm going to transition to Shelley 23:18 because this is a story that unfolds continually. 23:20 And there's so many components. 23:22 What did David ask? 23:24 Psalm 51:1, 23:25 "Have mercy upon me, O God, 23:28 according to Your loving-kindness, 23:30 according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, 23:33 blot out my transgressions. 23:37 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, 23:40 and cleanse me from my sin." 23:42 Why? 23:43 "For I acknowledge my transgressions, 23:46 and my sin is ever before me. 23:48 Against You, You only, have I sinned, 23:51 and done this evil in Your sight 23:52 that You may be found just when You speak, 23:55 and blameless when You judge." 23:57 He said, I'm guilty. 23:58 I can't even argue with what I have done. 24:00 I can't even find a way 24:02 to even justly dismiss what I've done. 24:07 But let's go to 2 Corinthians 7:9-10. 24:09 Look at this. 24:11 How did David get to the point of repentance? 24:14 Listen to this. 24:15 2 Corinthians 7:9-10, 24:17 "Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, 24:21 but that your sorrow led to repentance. 24:24 For you were made sorry in a godly manner," 24:27 he asked for that, 24:29 "that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. 24:32 For godly sorrow produces repentance 24:34 leading to salvation, 24:36 not to be regretted, 24:39 but the sorrow of the world produces death." 24:42 David could look back on a godly sorrow, 24:45 and a godly forgiveness, and a godly repentance. 24:48 And he could regret what he did. 24:50 But he can now rejoice 24:51 in the transgressions being forgiven, 24:53 and the Lord extending mercy to him. 24:55 Amen. Amen. 24:57 Thank you so much, Pastor, I appreciate that. 24:59 Folks, we're just getting started. 25:01 So we're gonna take a short break, 25:02 we'll be right back. 25:04 Amen. 25:09 Ever wish you could watch 25:11 a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again, 25:13 or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 25:16 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com 25:21 A clean design makes it easy 25:23 to find the program you're looking for. 25:25 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 25:29 so you can follow along. 25:31 Sharing is easy. 25:32 Just click share 25:33 and choose your favorite social media. 25:35 Share a link, save a life for eternity. 25:40 Hello, friends, and welcome back 25:41 to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 25:43 We're gonna kick it over to Miss Shelley Quinn 25:45 for Tuesday's lesson. 25:46 Oh, thank you. 25:47 I love my topic for Tuesday, 25:50 it is Forgiven and Forgotten. 25:54 It's good. 25:56 We're going to continue in 2 Samuel Chapter 12. 26:00 Here, Nathan has come and told the story 26:03 and you know the king could have loft off his head. 26:06 But Nathan was so bold. 26:08 So when David hears 26:10 that this little ewe lamb was taken by a rich man 26:13 and says, off with his head, basically. 26:17 Do you know when Nathan said, "You are the man?" 26:21 He got David's attention. 26:23 Now, here's what I want to point out to you. 26:26 In 2 Samuel 12:13. 26:30 When Nathan told David, 26:33 "You're the man." 26:36 David says to Nathan, 26:38 "I have sinned against the Lord." 26:42 And Nathan said to David, 26:45 "The Lord has put away your sin, 26:48 you shall not die." 26:50 I propose to you that 26:52 this is such condensed history. 26:55 There's something that happened before Nathan's response. 27:00 And let me tell you why. 27:01 In 2 Samuel 12, 27:03 we're covering history in one chapter 27:06 that's about 18 months. 27:08 It goes through the first pregnancy 27:11 of Bathsheba. 27:12 It goes through the death of their child. 27:15 It goes through the second pregnancy 27:17 of Bathsheba. 27:19 And then the birth of Solomon 27:23 is announced in 2 Samuel 12:24. 27:26 So remember, this is a condensed history, 27:29 that's the thing and people miss sometimes 27:32 when they're reading the Bible. 27:34 So the repentant David from the time in 2 Samuel 12, 27:40 when he says, 27:41 "Oh, I've sinned against the Lord." 27:45 In Psalm 51:1-4, 27:50 here's the title of the song. 27:53 It says, the psalm of David, 27:56 when Nathan the prophet went to him 28:00 after he'd gone to Bathsheba. 28:03 So what I am suggesting is that David says, 28:07 "I have sinned against the Lord." 28:09 He's breathing. 28:10 He goes into Psalm 51, he repents, he's serious. 28:15 Then Nathan says to him, 28:18 "The Lord has put away your sin." 28:20 But let's read Psalm 51:1-4 again, 28:23 because, you know, 28:25 if you aren't sure how to confess your sin, 28:29 if you're feeling 28:31 kind of a separation between you and God, 28:35 I encourage you to get out your Bible 28:38 and read Psalm 51 out loud and pray it to the Lord. 28:44 And here's what he says, 28:46 "Have mercy on me, O God, 28:50 according to Your loving-kindness, 28:52 according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, 28:56 blot out my transgressions." 29:00 See, he knew that God blotted out sin, 29:05 that He covered sin with the blood of the Lamb. 29:09 David knew the plan of salvation. 29:11 Then listen to this. 29:12 He says, 29:14 "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, 29:17 and cleanse me from my sin." 29:20 He knew that that lamb at the sanctuary 29:23 represented the coming Messiah, 29:27 by whose blood we would wash away our sins. 29:32 And then he says this, 29:34 "I acknowledge my transgressions, 29:38 my sin is always before me." 29:41 You know what? Confession? 29:44 1 John 1:9, 29:46 "If you confess your sins, 29:47 He's faithful and just to forgive your sins, 29:49 and cleanse you of all unrighteousness." 29:52 Confession is a clearing house of the conscience. 29:55 And then he says in verse 4, 29:58 "Against You, You only have I sinned." 30:01 You know, doesn't that remind you of Joseph 30:04 when Potiphar's wife 30:05 was trying to get him to lie with her. 30:09 And he said, 30:10 "How can I do this sin, commit adultery? 30:13 How could I do this sin against God?" 30:15 He didn't say against Potiphar, against you, against God. 30:19 So that's what David said, 30:20 "Against You, You only, have I sinned, 30:22 and done this evil in Your sight 30:23 that You may be found just when You speak, 30:27 and blameless when You judge." 30:30 So what does it mean 30:31 that God has taken away David's sin? 30:34 Did He just wipe the slate clean? 30:36 Did He simply forget about it? 30:39 David's confession of sin was immediate. 30:43 He did not try to rationalize with God. 30:49 He didn't justify his sin. 30:51 He knew his sin was horrible. 30:55 And not only had he committed adultery, 30:58 guilty of murder, manipulation, 31:00 man, I'll tell you could probably list 31:03 about five commandments that he'd broken, 31:05 but what does James say, break one, break them all. 31:08 So he was very guilty. 31:11 And his main plea, of course, was to cleanse me. 31:16 He had wronged, don't get this. Don't get me wrong. 31:20 He had wronged Uriah. He had wronged Bathsheba. 31:25 But ultimately, his sin was against God's holy law 31:30 and therefore against God's character. 31:36 When Nathan said that Lord has put away your sin, 31:39 you shall not die. 31:40 Do you realize justice demanded David's death? 31:47 But God showed him mercy by spearing his life. 31:51 Still, God has to protect 31:56 His reputation. 31:58 So sin had to be judged. 32:02 And Bathsheba's baby, 32:04 their first union would die. 32:09 Forgiveness of sin doesn't always remove 32:12 the consequences of sin. 32:15 Only in the lifetime to come will that happen. 32:19 And since David had violently had Uriah killed, 32:25 his own house 32:27 was to continually be plagued by violence. 32:31 His son Amnon, raped his own sister, Tamar. 32:36 Absalom murdered Amnon. 32:40 Adonijah rebelled against his father. 32:43 So for David, he suffered the consequences of sin 32:47 even though he had God's love. 32:50 Now this is interesting. 32:51 In 1 Kings 14:8. 32:57 God tells the prophet 33:00 to tell the wife of Jeroboam, the king, 33:03 who is, she's come to him all clothed in disguise, 33:07 trying to find out 33:09 what's going to happen with her husband. 33:11 And in 1 Kings 14:8, 33:13 this is after, after David had died. 33:18 God says, 33:20 "Go tell Jeroboam, 33:22 you have not been like my servant, David, 33:27 who kept My commandments, 33:30 and who followed Me with all of his heart 33:34 to only do what is right in My eyes." 33:40 What? 33:41 We just got through his sin. 33:43 He's guilty of adultery, he's guilty of murder. 33:47 He's broken these commandments. 33:49 But God says, 33:51 "David did only, he kept all My commandments, 33:56 did only what was right in My eyes." 33:58 To me, this absolutely proves 34:01 that God forgets what we ask Him to forgive. 34:03 But let me explain this. 34:06 In the Bible when it says, God remembers something. 34:11 It's not that He forgot it. 34:13 And oh, yeah, I forgot about that 34:15 like in Exodus 2:24, 34:17 when He hears the cries 34:19 of the Hebrew children, it says, 34:21 "Oh, and God remembered His covenant 34:23 with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." 34:26 It didn't mean that God goes, 34:27 "Oh, yeah. 34:29 I think I made those covenant promises." 34:31 You know, see, 34:33 when the Bible says that God remembers, 34:37 it means He's going to take action. 34:39 It's good. 34:40 When the Bible says that God forgets, 34:42 it means He's not taking any action. 34:45 So He, Isaiah 43:25, God says, 34:51 "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions," 34:55 He covered it with the blood. 34:57 And He said, "I've done it for My own sake." 35:00 I don't want to think on it. 35:01 He says, "I will not remember your sins." 35:05 In other words, I'm not gonna act on it. 35:07 Now this is interesting. 35:09 In 1 Kings, just one chapter, after God has spoken this. 35:14 And you know that, boy, the scribe has, 35:16 I mean, this is exactly as God quoted it. 35:20 But now, as the author of 1 Kings 35:25 is pulling it all together and summarizing, 35:28 he says this, 35:31 "Because David did 35:32 what was right in the eyes of the Lord, 35:34 and had not turned aside 35:37 from anything that He commanded him 35:38 all the days of his life, 35:40 except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite." 35:46 See, God's not trying to cover 35:50 the record of our sin from the world. 35:53 It doesn't mean your reputation 35:54 is going to be restored right away. 35:57 But God will blot out your transgression. 36:00 Amen. Thank you so much, Shelley. 36:02 Each one of you a powerful story, 36:04 powerful lesson, 36:06 to me incredible hope that each one of us have. 36:10 We're going back to Psalm 51. 36:12 I have six verses here. 36:14 We're in Psalm 51. 36:15 We're gonna look at verses 7 through 12. 36:18 You know, if you're reading through the Book of Psalms, 36:20 and I love the Book of Psalms. 36:22 When we get to Psalm 51, 36:24 this is the fourth 36:26 and the best known of the, 36:28 what we call the penitential psalms 36:31 in the Book of Psalms. 36:32 Just meaning, this is confession of sin. 36:34 This David's confession of sin 36:37 is probably unmatched in Scripture, 36:40 if you go through and you read them. 36:43 Interestingly, this verses 7 through 12, 36:46 which is my portion, 36:47 it parallels the New Covenant experience 36:51 that we find in Ezekiel Chapter 36. 36:54 Ezekiel promises cleansing. 36:56 David asks for cleansing. 36:59 Ezekiel promises a new heart. 37:02 David asks for a pure heart. 37:05 Ezekiel promises a new spirit. 37:08 David asks for a steadfast spirit. 37:13 So I told you at the beginning, 37:14 there are seven experiences 37:17 that you and I can have as Christians 37:20 following confession. 37:21 Shelley did an incredible job 37:23 talking about that confession of sin, 37:26 repentance, asking for forgiveness, 37:29 and we have the seven experiences. 37:30 I'm going to give you the seven, 37:32 and then we'll go back and unpack them. 37:34 Number one is cleansing from sin. 37:36 Number two is assurance of forgiveness and salvation. 37:41 Number three is joy in Jesus. 37:44 Number four is recreation. 37:47 Number five is renewal. 37:50 Number six is experiencing Christ's presence. 37:54 And number seven is victory 37:56 that comes from the Holy Spirit. 37:58 So let's look at those seven. We have cleansing from sin. 38:00 We're in Psalm 51:7. 38:02 David's pouring out his heart before God. 38:05 "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean, 38:08 wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." 38:12 That word purge literally means un-sin me. 38:17 Do you want to be un-sinned? 38:18 Do you want it to be like that sin 38:21 does not exist, and that... 38:24 It's like as if you had never sinned? 38:27 Un-sin me with hyssop. 38:30 Hyssop, of course, was the plant 38:32 that they used in cleansing rituals 38:34 in the sanctuary service. 38:36 A bunch of hyssop would be dipped in blood 38:39 and applied for that sin. 38:40 It reminds me of Isaiah 1:18. 38:43 God is speaking, 38:44 "'Come now, and let us reason together,' 38:46 says the Lord. 38:48 Though your sins are like scarlet, 38:49 they shall be white as snow, 38:51 though they are red like crimson, 38:53 they shall be as wool." 38:56 The blood of Jesus cleanses our scarlet sins, 39:00 and it turns it white. 39:01 I didn't even understand that 39:03 how the red blood of Jesus 39:04 turns my red sin turns it white. 39:07 I love that. 39:08 And if you look at the Book of Hebrews, 39:10 Hebrews Chapter 9. 39:11 There's this whole concept of Hebrews 9:12-14, 39:15 "It's not the blood of goats and bulls or calves, 39:18 but with His own blood 39:21 He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, 39:24 having obtained eternal redemption. 39:28 For if the blood of bulls and goats 39:29 and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, 39:32 sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 39:35 how much more shall the blood of Christ, 39:38 who through the eternal Spirit 39:40 offered Himself without spot to God, 39:42 cleanse your conscience from dead works 39:45 to serve the living God?" 39:48 So do you want to be un-sinned? 39:50 "Purge me with hyssop, 39:51 and I shall be clean, 39:53 wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." 39:56 Experience number two 39:58 is the assurance of forgiveness and salvation. 40:02 We're in Psalm 51, 40:03 we're going to jump forward a couple verses to verse 12. 40:07 "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, 40:11 and uphold me by Your generous Spirit." 40:15 Do you have confidence in your salvation? 40:17 Do you have assurance 40:19 that if you died today, 40:22 you will be in the kingdom of heaven 40:24 when Jesus comes again? 40:26 Do you have that assurance? 40:27 I lived years of my life 40:29 not knowing would I be saved or lost? 40:32 Would I be good enough for God to accept? 40:35 I know there are many Christians 40:37 of many different denominations 40:40 who do not have assurance of salvation. 40:44 Sometimes we feel unsure because we know we're guilty. 40:47 And we clearly know that we need to be forgiven. 40:50 Sometimes we feel unsure, 40:52 because we don't understand Scripture, 40:55 or the fact that we're saved by grace through faith. 40:57 And we think somehow 40:58 we have to work harder or be better, 41:01 or do something to merit God's favor. 41:05 Sometimes that might be because 41:06 we can't point to a specific time in the past. 41:09 This is when I accepted Jesus. 41:11 And it was a gradual experience. 41:13 And so we say, maybe I'm not saved, 41:15 because I can't identify a specific moment. 41:19 Sometimes it's because we just walk by how we feel, 41:21 instead of by faith, and what the Word of God says. 41:25 What does the Word of God say? 41:26 Ephesians 2:8-9, 41:27 "By grace you have been saved through faith, 41:31 and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, 41:33 not of works, lest anyone should boast." 41:36 You see, we are saved by grace through faith. 41:39 We're not saved by works. 41:40 We're not saved by feeling. 41:43 We are saved by the blood of Jesus, 41:45 by grace exercise through that faith. 41:49 I love 1 John 5:11-13, 41:53 "This is the testimony: 41:55 that God has given us eternal life, 41:58 and this life is in His Son. 42:00 He who has the Son has life, 42:03 he who does not have the Son does not have life. 42:06 These things I have written to you 42:07 who believe in the name of the Son of God, 42:09 that you may know that you have eternal life." 42:12 What does that say? 42:14 That says to me that 42:15 God wants us to have assurance of our salvation. 42:18 Amen. Amen. That's right. 42:20 Yes. 42:21 Experience number three, joy in Jesus. 42:24 Psalm 51, we're going back to Psalm 51. 42:26 Let's look at verse 8. 42:28 Make me, David's praying. 42:30 "Make me hear joy and gladness, 42:33 that the bones You have broken may rejoice." 42:38 Joy and gladness, 42:39 that word joy in the Hebrew means exaltation, 42:43 great rejoicing. 42:46 Make me hear joy and gladness. 42:48 It's interesting to me. 42:50 David does not ask to be comforted 42:53 until he's cleansed. 42:54 Do you notice that? 42:56 The purging with hyssop happens first, 42:59 then the joy and rejoicing comes after the cleansing. 43:04 You know, so many times we want peace in our heart, 43:09 we want freedom, we want deliverance, 43:12 but we are not willing to take the steps 43:15 that are necessary to achieve that peace. 43:18 We say, "God, would You give me peace in my sin?" 43:20 That's not gonna work. No. 43:21 That is not biblical. That is not how God operates. 43:24 First we come before Him, 43:26 and we pray the prayer that Shelly talked about 43:29 with cleanse me and blot out my sin, 43:31 purge me with hyssop. 43:33 Then and only then 43:35 can the Lord Jesus bring peace to your heart 43:38 and then He can bring joy, 43:40 experience the joy of His salvation 43:43 and joy in Jesus. 43:44 Experience number four, recreation. 43:48 Psalm 51:10, first half of the verse, 43:51 "Create in me a clean heart, O God." 43:56 That word create, bara means to shape, create, 44:01 and it's used 44:02 when God is the one doing the creation. 44:06 In this particular form, 44:08 it is used of God's activity 44:10 to create something from nothing. 44:13 It's used in Genesis 1:1, 44:16 in the beginning God created, God bara, 44:18 God made something from nothing. 44:21 There was nothing and God spoke 44:23 and this world came into existence. 44:25 There is nothing in my heart, 44:27 but deadness and sin and transgression. 44:30 And God spoke and created in me again. 44:35 He bara a clean heart. 44:37 God can create something from nothing, 44:40 where your heart feels dead and empty, 44:42 the trespasses and sins. 44:44 God can create newness of life. 44:47 This word bara is used only when God is the subject. 44:51 Only God can bara. 44:53 Only God create something from nothing. 44:56 Only God creates in you and me a clean heart. 44:59 The fifth experience is renewing. 45:02 Create in me a clean heart, O God, 45:03 and renew a right spirit within me. 45:07 Renew, chadash, to renew, repair, restore. 45:11 God can restore and repair what was broken, 45:15 and make you new again. 45:16 Experience number six, experiencing Christ's presence. 45:21 Psalm 51:11, 45:23 "Do not cast me away from Your presence." 45:25 Again. 45:27 David does not ask for Christ's presence 45:29 until he is cleansed. 45:32 Experience number seven 45:33 is victory from the Holy Spirit. 45:35 Do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 45:39 Why do you and I need the Holy Spirit? 45:41 The Holy Spirit brings conviction of sin. 45:43 The Holy Spirit draws us in repentance. 45:46 The Holy Spirit teaches us and guides us into all truth. 45:49 The Holy Spirit allows Christ 45:50 to dwell in our hearts through faith. 45:52 The Holy Spirit gives us victory in the battle 45:54 between self and the spirit and the flesh. 45:58 The Holy Spirit gives us power 46:00 for obedience and sanctifies us. 46:02 The Holy Spirit intercedes for us 46:04 with groanings which cannot be uttered. 46:06 The Holy Spirit bestows spiritual gifts 46:08 in the life of the believer 46:10 and the Holy Spirit empowers you and I 46:12 to be his witnesses. 46:14 Praise the Lord. Yeah. 46:16 Amen. 46:17 You can't help but like it, you just love it, right? 46:18 Love the Word of God. 46:20 Thursday's lesson, we'll quickly get on that, 46:21 Reflections of God's Light. 46:24 Now again this continues on 46:25 with the seed that you've already planted 46:27 in the Word of God. 46:28 Now, what is a reflector? 46:30 I'm to be a reflector, 46:31 what does that really mean to be a reflector? 46:33 Webster tells us to give back an image. 46:36 That's what it does. 46:38 It's a mirror. 46:39 It's to reproduce, 46:41 to bring back a person that reflects, 46:43 I believe that we, God created us 46:45 to reflect His image, no doubt about it. 46:48 And back in Matthew 5:14, he says, 46:50 "Ye are the light of the world." 46:53 There's no doubt about that. 46:54 Thursday's lesson probably is somewhere or the other 46:57 is affected all of us probably in some form or fashion. 47:01 And sometimes we don't care to admit it. 47:03 But it's good sometimes just to be open 47:04 certainly with God. 47:06 Memories of failure. 47:08 Some of you have memories of failure, 47:09 maybe say, let me say this, you don't. 47:11 But they can be painful. 47:14 They can be embarrassing. 47:16 They can be something you wish you didn't have to face up to, 47:20 you know, the forgiveness part 47:22 is like, oh, you know, do I have to go through this, 47:25 or just simply wishing, 47:26 I wish I didn't have to go through it. 47:28 I wish I could just forget about it. 47:30 And everybody else would do, and maybe it'll go away. 47:32 It's not quite like that. 47:35 Sometime we're broken, and sometime we're broken, 47:37 we come to God and do it in the right way. 47:39 He puts the pieces back to better 47:41 than they ever were to begin with. 47:44 I don't know how He does it. 47:45 But He just says that He will. 47:46 And I've claimed that in my own heart and life. 47:48 And God's been good. 47:50 I could start with myself on this Thursday's lesson, 47:54 but I won't do it. 47:55 It'll take way too much time. 47:57 And I don't think you'd be pleased with it, 47:58 or you'd want to hear those things. 48:00 So maybe with that thought in mind, 48:02 everyone's might put ourselves in those shoes, 48:04 as you brought out very aptly that 48:06 really basically there's none good, no, not one. 48:08 That's right. Amen. 48:10 It's all about Jesus in it. 48:11 Psalms 51:13. Just look at that. 48:13 What we're gonna do is 48:14 kind of go over a few of these verses here. 48:16 Psalms 51:13- 18. 48:19 We see what David wanted to do in his painful experience. 48:23 Here's what he did. 48:24 And there's a reason for what he certainly had, 48:26 what he did 48:27 and how he's explaining it to us. 48:29 And because, you know, 48:30 we're going to go through some of those things. 48:32 Psalm 51:13, says, notice, 48:35 "Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways, 48:38 and sinners shall be converted unto Thee." 48:42 Most powerful, powerful words. 48:44 So what does David do 48:45 as he realizes what's happening, 48:47 what's taking place, he's making changes, 48:48 he promises to teach. 48:51 Maybe that's what we should all be doing. 48:52 We should promise because God has forgiven us, right? 48:54 And that we should promise to try to teach others 48:56 or maybe lead in those many experiences, 48:59 some of the things that we've went through, 49:01 and he's going to teach the transgressors God's way. 49:05 I think that's very, very important. 49:07 David had been a transgressor. 49:09 There's no doubt about it. 49:11 Now he wants to use 49:13 as we read here, his experience, as an example. 49:16 And because he found mercy with God, 49:19 and certainly when you found mercy with God, 49:20 when you've been down that road, 49:21 sometimes it's easier to explain it to other folks. 49:24 I've been there, that's happened is done, 49:26 and God's goodness to each and every one of us. 49:29 And he say simply, 49:30 if you want to know how 49:32 do it the same way that I did it, 49:33 humble yourself, confess your sin, 49:35 seek God's face. 49:37 And God is always willing. 49:38 I love that, always to take us back into the fold. 49:41 And true forgiveness 49:42 as He reaches though we never sinned, 49:44 that's been brought out. 49:45 That's, I mean, that's so wonderful. 49:47 And then the Bible says that God loves us, right? 49:49 He loves us as He loves His own Son. 49:51 I still haven't gotten my mind around that 49:53 just yet, but I love it. 49:54 I love to hear it, and I'm encouraged by that. 49:57 Psalm 51:14, he simply cries out again, 50:00 "Deliver me from blood guiltless, O God, 50:04 the God of my," what? 50:06 "Salvation. 50:07 And my tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness." 50:11 David felt the guilt of sin. 50:14 And if you've ever fallen deep enough into 50:16 and you feel the guilt of sin, 50:18 it becomes too heavy. 50:20 And there comes a time you say, I can't continue on this way, 50:23 I need God to help me. 50:24 It was... He wanted so much to be delivered 50:28 and to be set free from it. 50:29 And he prays that, you know, particular sin, 50:33 that once he had been guilty of or certainly what? 50:36 Blood, the shedding of blood, 50:38 you know, he planned it, 50:42 you know, and you think, how much worse can it get? 50:44 It wasn't accidental, it was planned. 50:45 There was a reason for why he did it. 50:48 So he now cries out simply his tears, 50:51 cries out to God for mercy. 50:53 And he cries out for deliverance. 50:56 David simply says, deliver me, 50:59 you know, I mean, how often have we said, 51:00 sometimes we don't feel like we need to be delivered maybe. 51:03 Maybe that's the problem. 51:04 I need to say, every day of my life, 51:06 O God, deliver me. 51:08 Deliver me. Why? 51:09 Because you know, sins all around, 51:11 we have to be careful, it's surrounding us, 51:12 it's trying to take us down. 51:14 David recognized God as the God of his salvation. 51:18 So maybe that's a good point for us to remember. 51:21 He's the only one is a God of our salvation. 51:23 He says, 51:24 "Lord, Thou art the God of my salvation. 51:27 Therefore, deliver me from the dominion of sin, 51:31 the handcuffs of sin. 51:34 You got to be careful with those things, right? 51:35 Only God can take those things off, 51:37 you know, when we get them on. 51:39 He goes on to say, deliver me. 51:41 And notice this, I found this. 51:43 It was thrilling and yet informative. 51:45 He said, and if you when you deliver me, 51:48 my tongue, she'll sing aloud your righteousness. 51:51 Now what had happened? 51:52 Verse 15, 51:54 "Oh, Lord, open thou my lips, 51:55 and my mouth shall show forth I praise." 51:57 What happened? 51:59 Sin came in, took over this individual. 52:01 He no longer could sing praises unto God. 52:04 He could no longer open his mouth and praise God, 52:07 the way he used to 52:09 because sin had taken dominion over him. 52:11 His mind was different. 52:12 His thinking was different. 52:14 And he said, 52:15 "Lord, Lord, help me. 52:17 And if You help me, I'll abundantly praise you." 52:19 That's right. You know, abundantly. 52:20 How could he? 52:22 How could he abundantly praise God? 52:23 He was praising God before sin. 52:26 As big as his heart was, maybe he needed a bigger heart. 52:29 Maybe we need a bigger heart, 52:31 that we might praise God more than what we've done 52:33 or what you know, maybe ever done in our life. 52:35 I think we need to do that. 52:37 Remember, the guilt had closed his lips, 52:40 they no longer, you know, 52:42 and prayer, he can no longer pray 52:44 the way that he used to pray. 52:45 What happened? 52:47 David realized his transgression, 52:48 aggression was fearful. 52:50 Oh, my, it was shameful. 52:52 And you know what? 52:54 He was too ashamed 52:55 to come into the presence of God. 52:57 Many people fall into sin, 52:58 and they no longer feel a desire 53:01 to come back to church, 53:03 they no longer want to talk to the pastor. 53:04 They don't answer his phone calls. 53:06 And they don't answer the door when you go there, you know, 53:09 not that they have to stand before an individual, 53:12 but here with David as he felt 53:14 and he realized his transgression, 53:15 how fearful that was, 53:18 he didn't feel the need to go into God's presence. 53:20 He wanted to be at, no, I can't do this. 53:22 I'm too embarrassed. I'm too ashamed. 53:24 But he changed his approach. 53:26 Praise God for that, you know, 53:28 and it's something I think we need to really look at. 53:31 I want to skip to verse 17 quickly 53:32 'cause time's going right on down. 53:34 He said, the sacrifices of God, notice this very familiar, 53:38 a broken what? 53:39 Broken spirit, right? 53:41 It's broken and a contrite heart, O God, 53:44 thou will not despise. 53:46 I like that. 53:47 God looks at the inner man. 53:50 Not look into outward like we do sometime, 53:53 whether we like what we see or not, 53:54 we make judgments or whatever, 53:55 but that's not what it is. 53:57 He looks at the inner man. 53:58 And when he sees that broken heart, 54:00 he sees that broken spirit as of repentance, 54:04 you know, it's, God looks, 54:07 I believe into the heart 54:09 that's willing to break away from sin. 54:13 There's a difference to sin, to break away from sin. 54:16 Yes, pain is going to be involved. 54:19 We've had a lot of cards and letters 54:20 and people we've talked to over and over for months on 54:22 and is making the wrong decision 54:23 and not what God would have them do. 54:25 You try to explain the way God says in His Word, 54:27 but it's just it's just too painful. 54:29 They said, I don't want to basically, 54:31 you know, we need to really be praying about that. 54:34 David was willing to break away from that pain. 54:37 Notice it, a heart must be pliable also too, right? 54:42 Pain's involved 54:43 and want to get the life squared away again, 54:45 our heart has to be pliable, 54:46 so that we would, right, cope with the Word of God, 54:49 and we have to be... 54:50 Listen, we have to be very patient 54:52 when God begins to apply the rod of correction. 54:56 Sometimes that's not easy 54:58 when the rod of correction is being applied, 54:59 we don't like it. 55:01 But yet I know it's for our own good. 55:02 I praise God for that. 55:04 Remember, it's me the broken heart 55:07 is only accessible to God. 55:09 It's only accessible through Jesus Christ, His Son, 55:13 maybe we should really think about it, 55:15 maybe in our own life 55:16 and what we're striving for right now. 55:19 As a human being, I don't know about you, 55:20 but I get tired of things always being broke 55:24 and you had to fix them. 55:25 That's usually when they call me. 55:27 Something's broke, we need you to fix it. 55:29 I get tired of it. 55:31 I'm glad, my point is, 55:32 I'm glad that God doesn't get tired of it. 55:35 'Cause I come to Him broken every day. 55:37 And He says, "Kenny, I'm going to fix you." 55:39 And He says to you, Jim, Sally, Pete, whatever it might be, 55:41 I'm going to fix you. 55:43 Don't get tired to come into, coming to Me. 55:46 I know you're broken, I know, you hurt. 55:48 I know you need help. 55:49 And I'll never leave you and I'll never forsake you. 55:53 You know, God says to you, 55:54 I love you with an everlasting love. 55:57 I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake you. 55:59 Some of the verses we learned just as a child, 56:01 and I still claim those today. 56:03 And I think today 56:05 that God looks beyond the broken heart 56:07 and a contrite heart and says you know what? 56:10 These are the people that I'm looking for, 56:11 the ones that will come and help, 56:12 you know, prepare this work 56:14 so that Jesus can come and go home with us. 56:16 Praise the Lord. Amen. 56:18 Thank you so much, Brother, for that. 56:19 Let's get right into our final thoughts. 56:21 Yes, how amazing that the son of David, 56:23 Solomon wrote a text about forgiveness. 56:27 He made it clear in Proverbs 28:13, 56:29 which I believe he learned from his father's experience. 56:32 It was something that was 56:33 not totally misunderstood by the family. 56:37 But it was clearly delineated the foundation of forgiveness. 56:40 The Bible says, 56:41 "He who covers his sins will not prosper, 56:45 but whoever confesses and forsakes them 56:48 will have mercy." 56:50 That's the first thing David asked for. 56:51 Yeah. Amen and amen. 56:53 And I just want to, 56:55 once again, encourage you 56:57 if you're feeling distanced from the Lord, 56:59 if you're feeling guilty, or condemned, 57:01 or just, you feel ashamed. 57:05 Go get your Bible. 57:07 Pray Psalm 51 to the Lord. 57:11 And then, here's what God says to you. 57:14 Isaiah 43:25. 57:16 God's response to you will be, 57:19 "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions 57:23 for My own sake, 57:25 and I will not remember your sins." 57:28 Yes. Amen. 57:29 I love God. I'm just so grateful. 57:30 Give Him a chance, open up your heart to Him. 57:32 Amen. 57:33 David fell, David got back up by the grace of God, 57:35 and he was a better man for afterward. 57:38 Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord. 57:40 Each and every day, I pray to the Lord, 57:42 create in me a clean heart, O God, 57:44 and renew a right spirit within me. 57:46 We all need the Holy Spirit 57:48 and the Holy Spirit has been leading 57:49 and guiding these studies. 57:50 We know that, that you are learning a lot, 57:52 we're learning a lot. 57:53 We want to invite you right back here next week 57:55 on 3ABN Sabbath School Panel for lesson number five 57:58 entitled, Come to Me. 58:01 So get your family together. 58:02 Get your friends together. 58:04 We'll see you right back here next week. |
Revised 2021-07-22