Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Abortion . . . after the Fact │ Msg 24

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Abortion . . . after the Fact │ Msg 24 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: Sometimes the sins we commit are public for all to see.
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  Speaker 2: At other times, our transgressions are private. But be sure
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  Speaker 2: of this, God sees. God sees it all. And we
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  Speaker 2: carry a guilt and often shame that we feel at
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  Speaker 2: times is so heavy, we believe that will never leave us.
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  Speaker 2: Throughout my more than 50 years in ministry, I have
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  Speaker 2: seen fewer sins cause more humiliation and pain than abortion.
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  Speaker 2: But I'm here to tell you that nothing shocks our God,
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  Speaker 2: and He is a God of grace. In Christ, there
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  Speaker 2: is always forgiveness. There is healing.
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  Speaker 1: There is hope and a future. In my message today,
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  Speaker 1: we will examine a number of significant passages on this
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  Speaker 1: very subject. But I'd like to read for you ahead
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  Speaker 1: of time one selection of scripture from the pen of
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  Speaker 1: King David. He was one who had sinned sexually, who
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  Speaker 1: bore the weight of his guilt, and who experienced the
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  Speaker 1: grace of God. My Bible is open, and I hope
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  Speaker 1: yours is too, to Psalm 51. I'm reading David's words
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  Speaker 1: from verses 1 through 4 and 15 through 17. where
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  Speaker 1: David writes, Have mercy on me, O God, because of
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  Speaker 1: your unfailing love, because of your great compassion. Blot out
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  Speaker 1: the stain of my sin. Wash me clean from my guilt.
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  Speaker 1: Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion.
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  Speaker 1: It haunts me.
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  Speaker 2: Day and night.
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  Speaker 1: Against you and you alone have I sinned.
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  Speaker 2: I have done what is evil in your sight. Unseal
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  Speaker 2: my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you.
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  Speaker 2: You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
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  Speaker 2: You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice you
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  Speaker 2: desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a
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  Speaker 2: broken spirit. and repentant heart, O God. It is easy
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  Speaker 2: for us to wonder how anyone could want to have
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  Speaker 2: an abortion after hearing something like we have heard earlier
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  Speaker 2: regarding the scriptural facts and the sheer logic of doing
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  Speaker 2: away with life. However, it isn't quite so mysterious or
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  Speaker 2: strange when you realize that Most of us, when we
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  Speaker 2: move away from one another and that sense of feeling
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  Speaker 2: in the majority, which only takes place in the gathering
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  Speaker 2: of God's people, it is easy for us to forget
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  Speaker 2: that when all alone or when seized by panic or
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  Speaker 2: in some way convinced in the illogic of what I
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  Speaker 2: have often called temporary insanity, following sin, disobedience. Easy to
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  Speaker 2: forget that we can do things that simply lack sense.
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  Speaker 2: And when you think about it, there really are occasions
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  Speaker 2: where we could talk ourselves into an abortion. I'm thinking
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  Speaker 2: of the 27 year old young career woman who has
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  Speaker 2: been offered her long awaited dream in life. in business,
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  Speaker 2: in management, really a fast track to the top. And
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  Speaker 2: she's sexually active, but she is not married. And she
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  Speaker 2: finds out two days after the offer that she is pregnant.
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  Speaker 2: She's not ready for marriage, and she's certainly not ready
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  Speaker 2: for a child. A maternity leave would be sounding the
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  Speaker 2: death knell to her career. And the father of the
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  Speaker 2: child adds to her dilemma by saying, rather matter-of-factly, we
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  Speaker 2: can take care of the problem. Translated, get an abortion.
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  Speaker 2: Her whole future is on the line, and she's all alone,
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  Speaker 2: away from her family, and actually no one would ever know.
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  Speaker 2: And so she makes that decision. Another case would be
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  Speaker 2: the 17-year-old high school senior who lets her passions get
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  Speaker 2: away from her the night of the prom, and she
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  Speaker 2: discovers only months before graduation that she's going to have
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  Speaker 2: a baby. Her parents will never understand. Her boyfriend thinks
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  Speaker 2: that there is a way that he can scrape up
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  Speaker 2: enough money to help her with this problem. She thinks
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  Speaker 2: of trying to be a mother at 17 or living
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  Speaker 2: with the stigma of an illegitimate child, or even if
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  Speaker 2: she escaped to some home to have the baby away
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  Speaker 2: from her familiar surroundings. None of that seems to fit.
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  Speaker 2: How quick, and she thinks how easy it would be
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  Speaker 2: to simply have an abortion. Or what about the 39-year-old
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  Speaker 2: mother of five? whose husband has recently left. And in
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  Speaker 2: a night of foolish passion with a friend, she gets pregnant.
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  Speaker 2: The last thing she wants is another child. She cannot
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  Speaker 2: already find herself seeing her way through financially with her
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  Speaker 2: own responsibilities. And now she learns that she's going to
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  Speaker 2: have a sixth child. Obviously to her, the answer is
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  Speaker 2: what we might call a quick fix. And that seems
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  Speaker 2: to be what she reads about in the literature and
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  Speaker 2: from the lips of so many who would encourage her
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  Speaker 2: not to do the foolish thing, but to simply come
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  Speaker 2: into a clinic and have someone take the tissue from
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  Speaker 2: within her. My hope in this message, though it is brief,
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  Speaker 2: is to give equal time to what I said earlier.
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  Speaker 2: My hope is to help all of us understand what
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  Speaker 2: it must be like to make a decision like I
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  Speaker 2: have just described and illustrated in a moment of panic
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  Speaker 2: and fear, only to look back on it years later
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  Speaker 2: and feel the horror of regret and the inescapable feeling
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  Speaker 2: of responsibility, or perhaps the word is irresponsibility, in making
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  Speaker 2: a decision that seemed right at the moment, but now,
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  Speaker 2: in light of the passing of years, it is not
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  Speaker 2: right at all. I want to speak to you who
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  Speaker 2: have gotten an abortion, and there are a number of you.
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  Speaker 2: I spoke with five this morning following the message that
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  Speaker 2: I brought. Two, it seemed, had worked through the whole
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  Speaker 2: lingering sad cycle of remorse and sadness and regret, and
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  Speaker 2: three have not. And even the mention of the word
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  Speaker 2: brings about a cycle of depression that these brave ladies
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  Speaker 2: who confessed to me their sorrow, they talked about how
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  Speaker 2: they find it recurring, and no matter what they do,
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  Speaker 2: they cannot put it to rest. I hope to help you.
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  Speaker 2: Or to you who have aided in an abortion medically.
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  Speaker 2: Or to you who have given advice to someone you love,
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  Speaker 2: thinking that it would help, and you realize now it
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  Speaker 2: did not. One pastor writes these words, I've talked to
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  Speaker 2: many women who say to me, Please tell the truth
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  Speaker 2: to the women of the church. Abortion is not a
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  Speaker 2: quick fix. What accompanies the quick fix may very well
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  Speaker 2: be a lifetime of regret, shadows, sinister thoughts, crippling dreams,
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  Speaker 2: and nightmares. He continues, Before I spoke on this topic,
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  Speaker 2: I received this note from a man. When I heard
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  Speaker 2: you were going to speak on the topic of abortion,
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  Speaker 2: I just knew I had to write to you. This
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  Speaker 2: topic has crippled me more than any other subject. Right
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  Speaker 2: out of high school, I got my girlfriend pregnant. I
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  Speaker 2: insisted that she get an abortion. There's a hundred reasons
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  Speaker 2: I could give why I took the actions I did,
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  Speaker 2: but they would all be lies. I settled for the
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  Speaker 2: quick fix, the easy way of avoiding the embarrassment of
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  Speaker 2: being found out. And you know what? That was a lie, too. Yes,
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  Speaker 2: it avoided some embarrassment, but it was replaced by a
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  Speaker 2: different type of pain, the pain of remorse. Each spring
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  Speaker 2: when life is starting to bloom, there is a renewed
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  Speaker 2: pain that my child could be adding another year. And
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  Speaker 2: then these other words. Through genuine repentance, anyone can receive
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  Speaker 2: forgiveness from God. It is a marvelous healing gift to
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  Speaker 2: be claimed by everyone. But in my next breath, I
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  Speaker 2: have to say that even though you are forgiven before God,
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  Speaker 2: you may still see and feel some scars. Don't buy
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  Speaker 2: the lie that a quick fix has no long-term effects.
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  Speaker 2: Little is said about the emotional trauma that accompanies an abortion,
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  Speaker 2: and seldom are warnings given about the medical complications that
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  Speaker 2: often come as a result of an abortion. Statistics show
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  Speaker 2: that after an abortion has been performed, a woman faces
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  Speaker 2: increased possibility of future miscarriages, tubal pregnancies, premature births, and sterility.
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  Speaker 2: So I want to begin with a desire for understanding.
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  Speaker 2: Let's put it that way, what I'm calling a desire
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  Speaker 2: for understanding. First, I want you to understand me. I
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  Speaker 2: am not soft on abortion. If you believe that, just
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  Speaker 2: call to mind the things you heard me say earlier.
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  Speaker 2: Nothing I say in this message is designed to take
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  Speaker 2: any of the edge off of what I said in
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  Speaker 2: my first message. My hope is to bring needed balance
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  Speaker 2: between what could easily come off as uncaring and cold
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  Speaker 2: and statistical, which some might call my first message, and
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  Speaker 2: to bring the balance necessary for those who live in
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  Speaker 2: the regret of the past. My hope is to communicate
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  Speaker 2: in this message the possibility of full recovery and a
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  Speaker 2: return to a life that is productive, fruitful, and free
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  Speaker 2: of guilt. Second, as I talk about a plea or
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  Speaker 2: a desire for understanding, I want the person who had
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  Speaker 2: an abortion to have an understanding. My desire is that
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  Speaker 2: you understand God's response. We live in an imperfect world.
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  Speaker 2: Disobedience happens on a daily basis. To require perfection of
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  Speaker 2: others or of ourselves is going too far. If I
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  Speaker 2: have learned anything in the five decades I have spent
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  Speaker 2: in the pastorate is that sin happens on a regular basis.
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  Speaker 2: In others' lives and in my life, disobedience regularly occurs.
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  Speaker 2: Bad decisions are made even by good and wise people.
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  Speaker 2: Wrong takes place. And what I have discovered is the
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  Speaker 2: last person we are willing to forgive is ourselves. Most
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  Speaker 2: of us are readily willing to forgive another individual, certainly
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  Speaker 2: upon confession and repentance. But though we may confess and
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  Speaker 2: repent of wrong, we put ourselves under a cloud of
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  Speaker 2: unproductive years by refusing to forgive and to take God
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  Speaker 2: at his word. So my desire is that the person
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  Speaker 2: who has made this awful, awful mistake, this act of disobedience,
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  Speaker 2: you can go on. There is a tomorrow. Now, my
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  Speaker 2: Bible happens to be open to Psalm number 14 in
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  Speaker 2: the Word of God. If you have a copy of
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  Speaker 2: the scriptures, I invite you to turn to the same place.
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  Speaker 2: Let me give you, under what I'm calling general counsel
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  Speaker 2: from God's relevant word, four statements that you can know
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  Speaker 2: for fact, that you can rely on. Four facts, all
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  Speaker 2: based upon the scriptures. These facts are not limited to
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  Speaker 2: the sin of abortion, but they certainly would include it.
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  Speaker 2: Fact number one, sin is sin and we all commit it.
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  Speaker 2: The categories are numerous, and the reasons we do these
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  Speaker 2: sins are also numerous. However we may define sin, it
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  Speaker 2: is missing the mark. It is failing to obey the truth.
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  Speaker 2: Sin is sin, and we all commit it. Who doesn't
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  Speaker 2: know Romans 3, 23? For all have sinned and come
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  Speaker 2: short of the glory of God. Every person hearing my
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  Speaker 2: words right now knows the horror of that verse. We
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  Speaker 2: have all sinned, and the tragedy is we will continue
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  Speaker 2: to do so until we are in a glorified state
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  Speaker 2: in the presence of our Lord in eternity after death.
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  Speaker 2: As long as we have life, breath in our lungs,
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  Speaker 2: life on this earth, we will continue to disobey, every
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  Speaker 2: one of us. Psalm 14, verses 2 and 3. The
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  Speaker 2: Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of
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  Speaker 2: men to see if there are any who understand, who
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  Speaker 2: seek after God. They have all turned aside. Together they
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  Speaker 2: have become corrupt. There is no one who does good,
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  Speaker 2: not even one. If I may paraphrase it, certainly it
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  Speaker 2: would have in mind there is no one who continually
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  Speaker 2: and without interruption does only good. We all know the
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  Speaker 2: experience of failure and wrong and disobedience, and it is
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  Speaker 2: long term in our lives. Psalm number 58 verse 3.
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  Speaker 2: We've been at it all our lives. 58.3, the wicked
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  Speaker 2: are estranged, meaning estranged from God, from the womb. These
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  Speaker 2: who speak lies go astray from birth. I hold our
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  Speaker 2: precious little grandchildren in my arms and I look into
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  Speaker 2: their adorable Cupid-like faces and I remind myself each one
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  Speaker 2: is a little sinner. As a grandfather, I find it
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  Speaker 2: hard to believe until we babysit. And then I know
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  Speaker 2: each one has his or her own strong will behind
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  Speaker 2: that adorable face and that precious life is a nature
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  Speaker 2: that has gone estranged from the womb from which they
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  Speaker 2: were born. We all sin. We have, we do, we
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  Speaker 2: continue to Sin is sin, and we've all committed it.
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  Speaker 2: Fact number two. God is grieved, but never surprised or
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  Speaker 2: shocked by our disobedience. God is grieved, but he's never
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  Speaker 2: surprised or shocked by our disobedience. Same book, Psalm 103.
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  Speaker 2: this time go a little further into a great psalm
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  Speaker 2: of David. And aren't we grateful for his pen? Aren't
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  Speaker 2: we thankful he didn't stop writing, though he had failed
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  Speaker 2: God horribly in the most scandalous kind of sin of
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  Speaker 2: his day? Psalm 103, he knew whereof he wrote when
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  Speaker 2: he said this in verse 12 through verse 14. So
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  Speaker 2: far as the east is from the west, As far
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  Speaker 2: as the east is from the west, so far has
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  Speaker 2: he removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father
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  Speaker 2: has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion
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  Speaker 2: on those who fear him. For he himself, that's God
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  Speaker 2: the Father, knows our frame. He is mindful that we
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  Speaker 2: are but dust. When he holds us in his arms
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  Speaker 2: and looks into our faces and sees our tears of repentance, regret, sadness,
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  Speaker 2: and sorrow, he understands. He sees behind the beauty of
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  Speaker 2: our gifts and of our lives, and he acknowledges the sins.
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  Speaker 2: He hears our confessions. And without once winking at our
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  Speaker 2: sins or passing them off glibly, He understands our frame.
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  Speaker 2: He remembers we are mere dust. I've often thought of
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  Speaker 2: the contrast there is in gifted great lives. We hear
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  Speaker 2: beautiful music from talented and capable people who study for
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  Speaker 2: years and can play such soothing melodies or sing as well.
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  Speaker 2: And it's easy to forget that within those very same
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  Speaker 2: lives rests the same sewage of depravity. And pouring forth
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  Speaker 2: from any one of those gifted lives can come the
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  Speaker 2: most heinous crimes and acts of passion. And in fact,
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  Speaker 2: the very night when we are moved in ecstasy and
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  Speaker 2: worship with their songs, that same night the same musicians,
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  Speaker 2: can be caught in the worst kind of scandalous sins.
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  Speaker 2: God understands that. He is grieved, but He is never shocked,
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  Speaker 2: and He's never surprised. When I read this passage of
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  Speaker 2: our Father here, who has compassion on His children, I
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  Speaker 2: thought of that great.
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  Speaker 2: Section out of Hebrews 12. Would you turn there, Hebrews
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  Speaker 2: 12 and verse 5 through verse 11? Just a little
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  Speaker 2: further word from Scripture on God's dealing with us through
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  Speaker 2: an understanding. Hebrews 12 and verse 5. You have forgotten
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  Speaker 2: the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons. My son,
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  Speaker 2: do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor
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  Speaker 2: faint when you are reproved by him. Now watch this.
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  Speaker 2: This is the reason you don't regard it lightly. For
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  Speaker 2: or because those whom the Lord loves, he disciplines and
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  Speaker 2: he scourges every son whom he receives. It is for
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  Speaker 2: discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with sons.
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  Speaker 2: For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
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  Speaker 2: But if you are without discipline of which all have
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  Speaker 2: become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
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  Speaker 2: In other words, the mark of a true father with
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  Speaker 2: a true son, the mark of love is that there
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  Speaker 2: must be discipline at times. Disobedience brings it to pass
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  Speaker 2: or necessitates it. We had earthly fathers to discipline us
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  Speaker 2: and we respected them. Shall we not much rather be
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  Speaker 2: subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they
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  Speaker 2: disciplined us for a short time, as seemed best to them.
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  Speaker 2: But he disciplines us for our good, that we may
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  Speaker 2: share his holiness. The discipline of God's heavy hand upon us.
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  Speaker 2: Who doesn't remember it? Who hasn't felt it? Who hasn't
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  Speaker 2: turned on his bed through the night, sleepless? Struggling. Sad
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  Speaker 2: over wrong that has been done. Wrestling with the guilt
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  Speaker 2: that comes from the conviction of the Holy Spirit in
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  Speaker 2: the life of his God's people. Who doesn't know that?
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  Speaker 2: It's miserable. Verse 11. All discipline for the moment seems
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  Speaker 2: not to be joyful. Now that is the understatement of
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  Speaker 2: the New Testament. But sorrowful yet to those who have
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  Speaker 2: been trained by it. Now look closely. to those who
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  Speaker 2: have been trained by such. Afterwards, it yields the peaceful
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  Speaker 2: fruit of righteousness. I call this heeding God's reproofs. How
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  Speaker 2: wise when we are suddenly seized with the realization of
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  Speaker 2: why God has done this, that we might acknowledge the wrong,
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  Speaker 2: deal directly with him and with whomever we have hurt
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  Speaker 2: in the process so that we might know that peaceful
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  Speaker 2: fruit of righteousness. It is one of the ways God's
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  Speaker 2: children mature. And there is no shortcut. Sin is sin.
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  Speaker 2: And when it happens, God is grieved. Third fact. Some
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  Speaker 2: sins incur greater consequences than others. Some sins incur greater
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  Speaker 2: consequences than others. You know that. That isn't rocket science complicated,
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  Speaker 2: is it? Some sins are private, unknown. You deal with them,
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  Speaker 2: they impact no one else. Other sins are public and
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  Speaker 2: become known and they impact many. There are even sins
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  Speaker 2: that are criminal and illegal crimes against society, and they
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  Speaker 2: can result in financial penalty and loss of reputation and
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  Speaker 2: a sentence behind bars, along with the humiliation of the
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  Speaker 2: family and the loss of not only occupation but respect
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  Speaker 2: in the eyes of the public. Some sins are scandalous
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  Speaker 2: and shameful, hurtful to our own spirit and damaging to
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  Speaker 2: our health. Some are a mixture of all the above.
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  Speaker 2: I'm in Hebrews, and we were in Psalms. I'd invite
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  Speaker 2: you to go back with me to Proverbs, and let's
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  Speaker 2: stay there for a few moments. Psalms, Proverbs, just following
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  Speaker 2: the book of Psalms, Proverbs number 5, or the chapter
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  Speaker 2: number 5. Let me show you from this passage and
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  Speaker 2: chapter 6 as well, an example of these kind of
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  Speaker 2: sins that bear greater consequences. Proverbs 5 and verse 20.
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  Speaker 2: Why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress
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  Speaker 2: and embrace the bosom of a foreigner? For the ways
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  Speaker 2: of a man are before the eyes of the Lord
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  Speaker 2: and he watches all his paths. Now watch closely. His
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  Speaker 2: own iniquities will capture the wicked and he will be
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  Speaker 2: held with the cords. of his sin. The vivid imagery
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  Speaker 2: of the writer pictures it as though there are tentacles
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  Speaker 2: that reach around a person and hold him with the
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  Speaker 2: cords of sin. Across the page in chapter 6, verse 27,
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  Speaker 2: can a man take fire in his bosom and his
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  Speaker 2: clothes not be burned? Or can a man walk on
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  Speaker 2: hot coals and his feet not be scorched. So is
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  Speaker 2: the one who goes into his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches
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  Speaker 2: her will not go unpunished. Verse 32. The one who
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  Speaker 2: commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense. He who
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  Speaker 2: would destroy himself does it. Wounds and disgrace he will find.
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  Speaker 2: and his reproach will not be blotted out. Under the
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: general category of sexual sins or immorality, there is a
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: lingering consequence or series of consequences that is inescapable. It stays.
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: It seems as though it is in a category unto itself.
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: And by the way, I want to develop that next
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: Sunday morning, but just listen to a particular verse that
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: conveys that in 1 Corinthians 6, 18, just here. Flee immorality.
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body,
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: but the immoral man sins against his own body. Yes,
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: sin is sin. Yes, it grieves God. Though he understands,
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: never shocked, never surprised by it. But there are some
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: sins that have lingering effects that create within us and
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: within others who are impacted by it an extremely lengthy
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: and sad series of events. I'm turning now from Proverbs
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: 6 over to Psalm number 32 Verses 3 and 4.
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: This is the word of, again, of David following the
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: act of adultery with Bathsheba. God even led him to
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: record his experiences in it. I spoke earlier of the
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: sleeplessness that often follows sins that bear ramifications. He says
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: in verse 3 of Psalm 32, when I kept silent
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: all day long. For day and night, thy hand was
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: heavy upon me. My vitality was drained away. as with
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: the fever heat of summer. A couple of summers ago
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: I was engaged with our team in a summer ministry
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: and we decided following my morning message at this particular
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: Christian camp to show a film dealing with abortion. We
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: realized that there would be some who would be impacted
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: by what was presented. Our hope was that we would
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: capture the attention of the naive, as well as inform
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: those who were ignorant of the facts, and perhaps even
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: reach some who were right teetering on the edge of
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: this very decision. One young woman, after the film ended,
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: had no interest in going on to lunch. She sat
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: there dissolved in tears. And as you would guess and
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: would expect, she had had an abortion. What was interesting
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: and perhaps a bit surprising is that the abortion was
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: years ago. But the reminder of what had happened, what
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: had been done, of the life that had been taken
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: was almost more than she could bear. And she sat
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: there immobile, reliving the events of what had long since passed.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: Sin is sin. God is grieved. Some sins incur lengthy consequences.
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: Though forgiven, They still bear consequences. There is still that
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: recurring cycle of grief and depression. As Nathan said to
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: David in 2 Samuel 12, you are forgiven, but the
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: sword will never depart from your house. Think of that.
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: And indeed it didn't. David's life had moved from a
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: little shepherd lad all the way to the zenith of
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: the throne of the Hebrews. But when Bathsheba came on
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: the scene and then the following murder of Uriah and
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: the hypocrisy of those months of waiting for the birth
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: of the baby and the death of the child, from
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: that time on his life was like the It seemed
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: as though it was like the fever heat of summer.
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: Fact number four, and the most important of the four
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: as far as our subject is concerned, recovery and return
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: to a fruitful life is God's desire for all of us.
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: Recovery and a return to a fruitful life is God's
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: desire for all of us Just as there is not
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: an earthly father who desires to discipline a son and
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: leave him in a state of discipline for the rest
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: of their relationship, so our Heavenly Father, though He disciplines
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: us and brings us to brokenness, has no interest in
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: our living out our lives under the constant cloud of
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: His discipline. Discipline happens for a period of time and
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: then His grace comes to our rescue and gives us
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: fruitfulness and purpose. as we go on beyond the immobilizing
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: impact of guilt and the horror of our failure. Now,
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: the question is how? How? What is needed to go
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: on after I have committed an act that has lingering consequences?
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: Let me conclude my message by spelling that out again
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: in four ways. Number one, A full acknowledgement of the
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: wrong that was done. If we agree with God, if
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: A full acknowledgement of the wrong we have done. Now,
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: I don't want to just split through these four things
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: and and leave them with you to think about later on.
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: I want you to think about each one as I
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: go through. And if you are in the category of
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: what we are addressing tonight, a person who has gone
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: through this experience, you need to face each one directly.
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: Have you fully acknowledged the wrong that was done? No
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: more defensiveness. No more excuses. No more human reasoning or
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: logic to try to convince you, others, or God that
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: a part of what you did made sense. Rather, a
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: full and complete acknowledgement of the wrong of your act.
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: That is what I understand the word confession to mean,
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: to agree with God in every respect that sin was
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: wrong and it is without defense. Second, genuine repentance following
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: the confession. We don't say much, we don't hear much
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: about repentance. We should, and now we must. Genuine repentance
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: following confession. Listen to Proverbs 28, 13. He who conceals
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: forsakes them will find compassion. It is our tendency to
• 35:58
  Speaker 2: make lighter of sin than God does and to stop
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: merely with confession and to forget the additional statement, he
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion. A full
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: and complete forsaking of the act. A turning around in
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: the mind. A reversal of emotions. From defense to a
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: full acknowledgement. From an attempt to excuse it to an
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: absolute and unguarded realization and confession that the whole of
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: it was wrong. And a desire never to do it again.
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: Psalm 51 is of great help because it is in
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: a context of sexual failure. Psalm 51, beginning at verse 1,
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: Be gracious to me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness,
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: according to the greatness of thy compassion. Blot out my transgressions.
• 37:05
  Speaker 2: Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: my sin. For I know my transgression. My sin is
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: ever before me. Against thee, thee only, I have sinned
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: and done what is evil in thy sight so that
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: thou art justified when thou dost speak and blameless when
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: thou dost judge. There is no sense of how could
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: you do this to me, God, but rather I acknowledge
• 37:33
  Speaker 2: your right to do whatever you wish. I deserve nothing
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: but judgment and I acknowledge your right to bring it
• 37:41
  Speaker 2: upon me. I'm impressed with the attitude as well as
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: the words of the man. Sometimes I hear confessions and
• 37:50
  Speaker 2: I do wonder about the spirit of repentance. Confession is
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: a statement. Repentance is a series of acts worked out
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: in attitudes. There is an unguarded and even an admitted
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: humiliation that accompanies it. Often there are tears. There is
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: a desire to return to whomever and whatever situation to
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: make it right. In the same passage, verse 12, Restore
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: to me the joy of thy salvation. Sustain me with
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors thy ways,
• 38:27
  Speaker 2: and sinners will be converted to thee. O Lord, verse 15,
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: open my lips that my mouth may declare thy praise.
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: For thou dost delight not in sacrifice, otherwise I would
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: give it. Thou art not pleased with burnt offering. The
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and
• 38:47
  Speaker 2: a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. There's
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: a difference between remorse and repentance. Remorse is sorrow over
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: being caught. Sadness brought on by the pain of the consequences,
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: the humiliation of the loss of image, and the feeling
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: of what will people say, and the remorseful feelings of
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: knowing that you have brought reproach on the name of
• 39:22
  Speaker 2: a family, or on a church, or on your own life.
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: But genuine repentance in that we lose all concern for ourselves.
• 39:34
  Speaker 2: We accept humiliation that we deserve and accompanies our disobedience
• 39:40
  Speaker 2: and the grief we have caused others. I'll tell you,
• 39:43
  Speaker 2: it is revealed in a contrite heart. A contrite heart.
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: So my concern now is not to make anyone do penance,
• 39:56
  Speaker 2: but to make certain that a confession is accompanied by
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: genuine repentance where there is this contrite heart and we
• 40:07
  Speaker 2: are B-R-O-K-E-N, broken. And the process begins to work its
• 40:17
  Speaker 2: way out when that occurs. I don't know how, I
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: don't know why, I just know that's God's pattern. Third,
• 40:28
  Speaker 2: in the process, we claim the cleansing God offers. We've
• 40:34
  Speaker 2: seen it again and again through this passage in Psalm 51.
• 40:37
  Speaker 2: In the process, we claim the cleansing God offers. Verse 2,
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: wash me thoroughly. Cleanse me Verse 7, purify me and
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: I shall be clean. Wash me. I shall be whiter
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: than snow. Verse 10, created me a clean heart. Look
• 41:09
  Speaker 2: at the references to cleansing, to being clean. A clean heart.
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: Verse 12, restore to me the joy of thy salvation.
• 41:22
  Speaker 2: Sustain me with a willing spirit. And then look, I
• 41:28
  Speaker 2: just read it. Then I will teach transgressors thy ways.
• 41:34
  Speaker 2: I found that God often uses individuals to assist others,
• 41:39
  Speaker 2: called here teaching transgressors thy ways. Teaching others who have
• 41:45
  Speaker 2: made the same mistakes and committed the same wrongs in
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: their lives. Who is better able to minister to those
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: who are tempted to get an abortion than those who
• 41:56
  Speaker 2: have had one? Who is better able to minister to
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: those who are dying with cancer than you who have
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: gone through the horrors of ministering to your loved one
• 42:10
  Speaker 2: who died with cancer? Or perhaps you yourself have the disease.
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: In the words of Scripture, able to teach others God's ways,
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: and who knows but what sinners will be converted. What
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: a great opportunity to minister to people when we work
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: our way through the process of full cleansing and forgiveness.
• 42:36
  Speaker 2: Maybe you've never thought of it before, but you who
• 42:39
  Speaker 2: have gone through this might be on the verge of
• 42:43
  Speaker 2: a ministry you never dreamed possible. Number four, and this
• 42:49
  Speaker 2: is so important, deliberately refuse to allow the adversary or
• 42:56
  Speaker 2: anyone else to hold you in bondage to former sins.
• 43:05
  Speaker 2: Deliberately refuse to allow the adversary or anyone else to
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: hold you in bondage to former sins. Now, to work
• 43:19
  Speaker 2: through this process, some need a counselor. Some need a
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: paid professional Christian counselor to assist them through the therapy
• 43:29
  Speaker 2: of recovery. Some need a pastor. Some most need a
• 43:34
  Speaker 2: support group of some kind. Certainly we need a friend
• 43:39
  Speaker 2: to help us talk and walk our way through so
• 43:42
  Speaker 2: that we sense God's full cleansing power and full forgiveness
• 43:46
  Speaker 2: so we're able to go on and minister beyond and
• 43:49
  Speaker 2: get away from the sinister nightmares and shadows of past wrongs.
• 43:56
  Speaker 2: It may be such that it changes your course of
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: a career. I believe there are certain sins that cause
• 44:05
  Speaker 2: a minister to forfeit the right to be in a pulpit.
• 44:08
  Speaker 2: But it doesn't mean that that person can no longer minister.
• 44:12
  Speaker 2: There are many ways to minister. beyond a place of
• 44:15
  Speaker 2: highest public profile. And some of them become excellent in
• 44:19
  Speaker 2: those areas of ministry. It may alter the direction of
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: your future, but it doesn't mean you're finished, washed up,
• 44:26
  Speaker 2: and shelved. And don't let anyone hold you under the
• 44:29
  Speaker 2: bondage of forgiven sins from which you have repented. Now,
• 44:38
  Speaker 2: a little bit of personal and compassionate counsel which I
• 44:43
  Speaker 2: have called advice to all who live with regret. You
• 44:50
  Speaker 2: cannot undo the past. Don't try. I meet up with
• 44:58
  Speaker 2: folks rather regularly who think that if they travel far
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: enough and long enough, then the travel will cause them
• 45:04
  Speaker 2: to erase the past. It won't erase the past. Drugs
• 45:10
  Speaker 2: won't do it. Alcohol won't do it. Finding a wife
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: and getting married won't necessarily remove what has been done
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: in the past. It certainly will soften the blow of
• 45:24
  Speaker 2: it as you walk with God, but you can't undo
• 45:27
  Speaker 2: what has been done. You can't unscramble an egg. It's there.
• 45:34
  Speaker 2: Don't try. Second, you may not be able to cope
• 45:40
  Speaker 2: with the present. Don't quit. You may not be able
• 45:46
  Speaker 2: to cope with the present. Some of you are having
• 45:51
  Speaker 2: a whale of a job trying to do that, and
• 45:53
  Speaker 2: I commend you for not quitting. Get help. Go back
• 46:00
  Speaker 2: to that statement I gave you under that third fact
• 46:04
  Speaker 2: regarding the process of finding full forgiveness and walk through
• 46:08
  Speaker 2: that very carefully. Have I fully acknowledged my sin before God,
• 46:13
  Speaker 2: my part of the wrong? And it might include forgiving
• 46:19
  Speaker 2: the partner who walked away. It might include avenues of
• 46:26
  Speaker 2: great pain right now in your life. Walk through the process.
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: Don't hold anything back. It might include going to individuals
• 46:34
  Speaker 2: that were hurt or offended or wrong in some way,
• 46:36
  Speaker 2: in whatever area, not just the abortion area, but whatever area.
• 46:40
  Speaker 2: Don't quit. Being unable to cope simply means the process
• 46:45
  Speaker 2: isn't complete. Don't quit. And finally, you must not waste
• 46:51
  Speaker 2: the future. Don't hide. I cannot believe that God gives
• 47:02
  Speaker 2: anyone breath in his or her lungs for the purpose
• 47:05
  Speaker 2: of just existing. God has a purpose for us. He
• 47:10
  Speaker 2: is well able to take our lives. Whenever he wishes
• 47:13
  Speaker 2: it to be our last, it will be our last.
• 47:18
  Speaker 2: There is a reason to go on. Every time I
• 47:22
  Speaker 2: come back from a plane trip and our wheels hit
• 47:24
  Speaker 2: the ground and we move to a safe arrival, I go,
• 47:29
  Speaker 2: there is a future. And I go on. And there
• 47:33
  Speaker 2: are times in your life as well when you come
• 47:35
  Speaker 2: to a place and you realize you felt the hot
• 47:37
  Speaker 2: breath of death on the back of your neck. There's
• 47:40
  Speaker 2: a reason to go on. And if we're going to
• 47:43
  Speaker 2: say with full faith to people who have gone through
• 47:45
  Speaker 2: the horrors of divorce, there is a future. Then I
• 47:49
  Speaker 2: must say to you who have gone through the sin
• 47:53
  Speaker 2: and disobedience and humiliation of an abortion, there is a future.
• 47:58
  Speaker 2: God has a purpose. And it's not that you spend
• 48:00
  Speaker 2: your days in hiding. The best kept secret in most
• 48:08
  Speaker 2: churches and many a family is abortion. If you question that,
• 48:15
  Speaker 2: when is the last time you've had anyone say in
• 48:18
  Speaker 2: any sense of public gathering, I have had an abortion.
• 48:22
  Speaker 2: You probably will live your entire adult life and not
• 48:25
  Speaker 2: hear those words. But my friends, if these statistics that
• 48:30
  Speaker 2: we shared with you earlier are true, and indeed they are,
• 48:34
  Speaker 2: even in evangelical circles, it has happened often. My hope
• 48:41
  Speaker 2: is that you will be able to get beyond it
• 48:43
  Speaker 2: and stop those statistics and be a part of the answer.
• 48:50
  Speaker 2: I'd like for us to bow together for a few
• 48:53
  Speaker 2: moments of reflection and preparation. I would like to lead
• 49:02
  Speaker 2: us in a time of prayer and give you time
• 49:08
  Speaker 2: to reflect on your own life Have you dealt fully
• 49:14
  Speaker 2: and completely with the wrongs of the past? Scripture says,
• 49:20
  Speaker 2: if we would judge ourselves we would not be judged
• 49:25
  Speaker 2: have you forgiven yourself and agreed with God about the
• 49:30
  Speaker 2: forgiveness having repented and having come to terms with the
• 49:35
  Speaker 2: wrong if not do so Today can truly be the
• 49:45
  Speaker 2: first significant day of a fruitful life for you. This
• 49:52
  Speaker 2: is the time to start. This is yet another moment
• 49:56
  Speaker 2: for you to recognize the death of Jesus Christ on
• 49:59
  Speaker 2: your behalf and to turn your life over to Him.
• 50:06
  Speaker 2: Our Father, we acknowledge fully and without reservation our need
• 50:15
  Speaker 2: for forgiveness, for we have all fallen short. Not one
• 50:23
  Speaker 2: person in this place is in any realm above another.
• 50:28
  Speaker 2: We all are in the category of sinners. Most of
• 50:34
  Speaker 2: us have gone to the cross and gone beyond it
• 50:37
  Speaker 2: because of Christ's death, and we thank you for his
• 50:41
  Speaker 2: forgiveness at Calvary. Some have yet to come to that place.
• 50:46
  Speaker 2: And I pray that you will use these moments of
• 50:49
  Speaker 2: reflection to bring them to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
• 50:55
  Speaker 2: whom we worship, whose name we adore, until he returns.
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: In Jesus' name, amen.
• 51:06
  Speaker 2: The preceding message, Abortion After the Fact, was copyrighted in 1990, 2000, 2014,
• 51:13
  Speaker 2: and 2024, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2024
• 51:18
  Speaker 2: by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.
• 51:23
  Speaker 2: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.