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#20250521 - The Blessing Of Forgiveness - Psalm 32 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word recorded live at Calvary
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Church in Aurora, Co. To learn more about the many
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resources available through Abounding Grace Media or to tune
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into our live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co
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dot Church or download our free Calvary Church app.
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Now let's open our Bibles and study God's Word.
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Let's turn to Psalm 32. Psalm 32 will be tonight's
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study. And the title I have for our
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message is the blessing of forgiveness.
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The blessing of forgiveness. You know, you and I, we, we live
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in a fallen world and in this world, we try to live for Jesus
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every single day, doing our very best to abide in him, to live
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for him, to bring him glory. But along the way, we are faced
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with opposition. And that opposition are the
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desires in our hearts that want to be contrary to what God wants
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to do in our life. And when we act upon those
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desires, it becomes sin. And there is just this battle
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that's constantly happening in our lives.
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The Bible tells us that sin entered the world through Adam,
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and thus it's passed on to all of us when we come into the
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world. And Paul tells us concerning
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sin, that there is none righteous, no, not one.
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There's none that seeks after God.
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There's none that does good, no, not one.
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There's No Fear of God before their eyes.
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Sin is a problem for us church. It's a problem for us as
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believers. It's detrimental to our
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relationship with Jesus. So tonight we're going to learn
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about the blessing of forgiveness that we see here in
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Psalm 32, the prescription to cleanse us from all
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unrighteousness, and the process in which we stay in fellowship
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with God because that's so important.
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It's known Psalm 32. It's known as one of the seven
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penitential psalms. These psalms are traditionally
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recognized for their expressions of sorrow for sin, repentance,
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and please for God's mercy and forgiveness.
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The most famous of these penitential psalms is Psalm 51,
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often linked to David's repentance after his sin with
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Bathsheba. Psalm 32 has been known to
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follow Psalm 51 as David expresses that blessing of
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forgiveness. And if you remember that story
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in Second Samuel Chapter 11, where King David, he had stayed
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back from going into battle, and he sends Joab and his servants
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to go fight in his place. And one evening he arose and he
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was on his rooftop. And as he was up there that
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evening, he noticed on another roof Bathsheba was bathing.
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And the Bible says that she was beautiful to behold.
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And because he saw Bathsheba, he told his servants to go get her
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and bring her to his house. And we know the story.
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He ends up being with Bathsheba. She becomes pregnant and now we
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have a problem. David's in a a pickle.
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Now what do I do? And so David trying to cover his
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sin, he orders Joab to have Uriah, who is married to
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Bathsheba when they're in battle, when it's at the the
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strongest part, the the hottest part of the battle, to pull back
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the army so that Uriah would be killed.
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And and so this is exactly what happens.
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And David feels, hey, I got away with my sin.
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I was able to cover it. Now I'm going to take Bathsheba
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as my wife and feel like I'm doing the honor honorable thing.
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But God knew and God knows, you know, we believe in a God that
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that sees everything. He's all knowing.
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He's everywhere. He's a God that can even see
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when it's dark. The Bible says that it's like
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noontime to him. Everything is naked and open
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before the Lord. David thought he was hiding his
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sin, but God knew, and God was about ready to bust him.
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And he sends Nathan the prophet. He sends him to King David and
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Nathan the prophet goes to King David and he says that there
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were two men in the city, one rich and 1 poor.
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The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds.
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The poor man had nothing except 1 little lamb, and they treated
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it like it was one of their family members.
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The poor man loved that little lamb, and a traveller came to
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the rich man's house. But the rich man refused to take
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from his flock, but instead took from the poor man his only lamb,
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killed it, and prepared it for the traveller.
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David's anger was greatly aroused against the rich man,
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and said to Nathan, As the Lord lives, the man who has done this
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shall surely die. And Nathan said to David, You
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are that man. Thus says the Lord, I anointed
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you king, delivered you from Saul, gave you your master's
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house and wives, why have you despised the commandment of the
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Lord? And David said to Nathan, I have
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sinned against the Lord. Nathan said to David, The Lord
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has put away your sin. Sin.
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It's sustained the mark of transgression and the charge of
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iniquity in our lives. It's a problem that needs to be
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addressed on a regular basis. Jesus knew this.
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When the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, can you teach us
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how to pray? Jesus said, yeah, I'm going to
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teach you. I want you to pray in this
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manner. And as he was teaching them the
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prayer, he included forgive us our sins.
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He taught the disciples that they needed to pray to the
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Father to ask for forgiveness. That's how important forgiveness
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is in our lives. It's important for our spiritual
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health, as breathing is to our bodies, to be clean and in right
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standing before our God. When we do this, we become like
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those mentioned in Romans 1. Excuse me.
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If we do not do this, if we don't ask for forgiveness, if we
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try to hide it like David, we become like those in Romans, one
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who suppress the truth. They hear it, they know the
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truth, God's Word speaks to them, but they just suppress it.
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I don't want to listen to it. I don't want to hear it.
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And the Bible says that their hearts become darkened.
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As we turn to Psalm 32 tonight, we're going to turn to it for a
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little help. And David's going to teach us
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something tonight as we read it together.
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It starts off by being called A contemplation, but it better
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translated instruction. And David's going to instruct
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us. He's going to teach us that
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blessing of forgiveness. And so if you're taking notes,
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I'm going to share with you 7 things, 7 takeaways from this
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section of scripture that will help us in our walk with the
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Lord that David is trying to encourage us.
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And I'm just going to share with them the seven points #1 the
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state of joy from forgiveness, the state of joy from
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forgiveness. And that's in verses one and
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two. Number two is the physical
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consequence of unconfessed sin. The physical consequence of
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unconfessed sin. Verses 3 and 4 #3 the process by
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which we are forgiven, the process by which we are
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forgiven. Verses 6:00 and 7:00 #5 the
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promise of the Father in forgiveness.
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The promise of the Father in forgiveness.
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And that's verse 8, 6, the warning of a stubborn heart, the
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warning of a stubborn heart. And that's verses 9 and 10.
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And the last point is the rejoicing of an upright heart.
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The rejoicing of an upright heart.
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Verse 11. So let's begin by reading Psalm
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32 together. And we're going to read verses
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one through 11 together. Verse one.
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Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose
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sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
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Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no
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deceit. When I kept silent, my bones
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grew old through my groaning all the day long, for day and night
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your hand was heavy upon me. My vitality was turned into the
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drought of summer. I acknowledge my sin to you, and
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my iniquity I have not hidden. I said.
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I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the
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iniquity of my sin. For this cause everyone who is
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godly shall pray to you in a time when you may be found
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surely in a flood of great waters.
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They shall not come near him. You are my hiding place.
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You shall preserve me from trouble.
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You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.
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I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.
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I will guide you with my eye. Do not be like the horse, or
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like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be
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harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near
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you. Many sorrows shall be to the
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wicked, but he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him.
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Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice you righteous, and shout for joy
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all you upright in heart. To that we say Amen.
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So the word blessed, just to start off here, the word blessed
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at the very beginning, the word describes a state of joy or
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happiness. It's a state of joy.
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It's not just an emotion, it's just a deep seated confidence
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that brings about that joy, that brings about that happiness.
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It's different than just an emotion.
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It's one that bestows favor upon the one that's receiving that
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grace, His grace to you and me. It's like standing on the beach
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of an ocean. If you ever seen an ocean and
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just the magnitude of it, and then you would just see wave
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upon wave upon wave. That's what God's grace is for
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US, church, wave upon wave. This is the kind of love that
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God has for us, and this is the kind of grace that King David
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opens up this lesson to talk about.
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And who is the one that experiences this kind of grace,
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this kind of joy? What we see here in the section
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of scription, the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose
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sin is covered, blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not
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impute iniquity. So we're going to take a moment.
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We're going to break down these 3 words here, these three words
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of offense. Transgression is willful
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rebellion against God and his commands, having a rebellious
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heart. I remember when I was a kid, I
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was probably, I don't know, 5 or 6.
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And we were in downtown LA, very busy.
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It's like being here in downtown Denver, lots of cars and lots of
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hustle, lots of bustle going on. And I was walking with my mom
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and we were at a a signal. And I remember holding her hand,
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but the light turned green and I pulled my hand away from her
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because I wanted to do it on my own.
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I wanted to show that I can walk this street on my own.
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And my mom looked at me like, are you crazy?
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What is wrong with you? Like you, I'm just going to take
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care of you right here in front of everybody.
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And I stiffened up myself and I put my hands to my side in
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rebellion, total rebellion. She crossed the street and I let
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her go a little bit of a distance and I started to walk
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right behind her. See, I can do this.
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I got this. And I crossed to the other side
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of the street, and before I even stepped on the sidewalk, she let
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me have it. She just took care of business
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and, and the reason why was because she was trying to
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protect me from the cars. Isn't it interesting that when
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the kids are little, they totally hang onto your hand when
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they're really, really little? But then they get to a certain
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point and we get to a certain point.
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As we're growing, we start pulling our hands away.
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I got this. I want to do it on my own.
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And we would reach down to try to take the hand.
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And you just feel that fight kind of happening, that
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rebellious heart. This is what transgression is.
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It's just rebelling against what the standard is, what the law
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specifically says when we're thinking about our relationship
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with God. Many of us have experienced this
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in our lives, this rebellious heart, when we're we know we
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shouldn't be doing this, but we're going to go ahead and
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we're just going to push the envelope.
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We're going to do it anyway. That's what's called
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transgression. Sin, on the other hand, is
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missing the mark. Sin is something that you can do
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intentionally or unintentional. The word itself is used to
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describe when an Archer is shooting at his target and
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misses the target off by a little bit.
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It's just called sinning. It was just a term to be used,
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but the idea is there's that standard and you're trying to
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hit it, but you miss it. That's something that you and I
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do a lot, sometimes intentionally and sometimes
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unintentionally. Paul speaks about this in Romans
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Chapter 7, verses 18 and 19, where he's saying I want to do
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the right thing. I have the desire to do the
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right thing, but instead I end up doing the wrong thing.
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And there's this battle that's going on inside me and I, I
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don't understand it. Iniquity.
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Iniquity is guilty and moral conduct in truth and in life,
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and an intent against God's law. It's an offense to God's
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holiness and is punishable. When these three exist in our
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lives, it's only fitting for a holy and a just God to pronounce
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a guilty charge upon us. We get what we deserve, but when
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God Forgives, there's a change that happens in US when we
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confess our sin and he forgives that transgression, when he
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forgives that sin, when iniquity is in charge to us.
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Pastor Chuck would say and, and, and define this, this word.
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Oh, how happy we're just, it's just, it's just joyful in our
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hearts that we've been forgiven. David goes on to say blessed is
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the one in whose spirit there is no deceit.
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Blessed is the one who's an open book.
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Here's what he's basically saying.
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He's sincere. The things that he's saying, he
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is being genuine before the Lord, finally coming clean
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before God, choosing to walk in the light as he is in the light.
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The Bible tells us that darkness again, it's something that we
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walk in when we're in sin, when we're in transgression, but God
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wants to walk in his life and that changes everything for us
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church, when we're no longer trying to hide our sin, when
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we're no longer trying to to put on a a masquerade, trying to be
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something. But inside we all know
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personally that we've sinned, that we have sinned against God.
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So it's important we just come clean before God.
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I used to lead a AA double life as well, trying to convince God
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that I loved him to be one person.
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And then inside in my heart, I was like dead man's bones.
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It was, it wasn't real, it was fake.
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Until one day somebody told me, one of the the leaders at
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church, he told me you're not fooling anybody about your sin.
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He didn't know anything that I was doing.
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But the way he said it, as if God was speaking to my heart.
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And God used this man to speak to me and say you're not fooling
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anybody. I know what's in your heart.
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I know what you've been doing. So I confess my sin.
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He forgave me and it was so freeing, folks.
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It was so free and it was just like a, a ton of bricks that
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just came off my shoulders. He forgave me.
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It's important that we practice sincerity before the Lord.
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Just be honest with him. Lord, I struggle with this.
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I, I deal with this in my life. God already knows.
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He just wants to hear it from you.
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He wants you to admit it. He wants you to come clean and
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be sincere in your prayer. The second point I'd like to
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share with you is the physical consequences of unconfessed sin.
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And in the psalmist says, the psalmist writes, when I kept
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silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day
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long for day and night your hand was heavy upon me.
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My vitality was turned into the drought of summer.
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David now gives a vivid description to us of when he
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kept silent. It can manifest in our body
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through a range of psychosomatic and stress related ailments.
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The mind and body are deeply connected.
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Church unconfessed sin is like a snowball effect in our lives.
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It compounds. And ultimately causes anxiety,
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depression, physical ailments like fatigue, digestive issues,
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headaches and migraines, sleep disorders.
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All of this stuff affects us. David's explaining this when he
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says my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long.
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My vitality was turned into the drought of summer.
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All of this because of the unnecessary burden of sin.
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David also recognized, now, looking back, that God's hand
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was also heavy upon him, adding just the right amount of
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pressure to cause him to surrender.
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And before I became a Christian, God's hand was heavy upon my
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life. He used all that negative and
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destructive choices that I had made in my life to cause me to
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look up to seek Him. Failed relationships, poor
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choices, sin that would not go away but just compounded.
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The Bible says that it's His kindness that leads us to
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repentance, but sometimes that kindness is in the form of a
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heavy hand upon our life because He loves us and He doesn't want
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us to continue on so that we become disconnected from Him.
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He wants to forgive you. He wants to forgive me.
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He wants to free us from that burden, to free us from every
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weight and every sin that easily ensnares us.
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The question I have for you tonight, as a few I might pose
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to you, is, will you let Him do that tonight?
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Will you let Him free you of that sin and that weight #3 the
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process by which we are forgiven?
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The process. David says, I acknowledge my sin
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to you and my iniquity I have not hidden.
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David has now come to this place of surrender.
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He acknowledged the sin and confessed his iniquity.
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True confession of sin is not just with the lips, Church.
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There must be a broken heart and a surrendered will.
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When we confess our sins, we acknowledge, well, God is
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already determined to be sin. Psalm 51 gives us some insight
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into David's confession. I'd like for us to turn there so
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that we can read a little bit of what that looks like.
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So turn with me to Psalm 51. Psalm 51.
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We're just going to read a few verses, verses one through 4 and
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verse 7, Psalm 51. Here David writes, Have mercy
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upon me, O God, according to your loving kindness, according
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to the multitude of your tender mercies.
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Blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
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and cleanse me from my sin, for I acknowledge my transgressions,
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and my sin is always before me and against You.
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You only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight, that
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you may be found just when you speak, and blameless when you
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judge. Verse 7 Purge me with hyssop,
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and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter
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than snow. This is David pouring out his
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heart broken before the Lord. He said I will confess my
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transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my
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sin. So I'd like to just focus on
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this part really quickly here in Psalm 32 when he says I will
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confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the
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iniquity of my sin. The idea here in Hebrew is that
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David, even before he finished with that confession, God had
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already forgiven him. And it speaks to us of how
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quickly God wants to forgive us of our sins.
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He's ready, He's willing. He just wants to hear our hearts
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when we confess our sin. So immediately He can wash us,
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immediately He can cleanse us. How quickly God is ready to
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forgive us our sins if we only humble our hearts and run to the
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Father #4 the security we experience in forgiveness.
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The security we experience in forgiveness.
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David goes on to say. For this cause everyone who is
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godly shall pray to you in a time when you may be found
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surely in a flood of great waters.
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They shall not come near him. You are my hiding place.
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You shall preserve me from trouble.
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You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.
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David now expresses the blessing of security we have in
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forgiveness. We have access to the Father,
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protection from overwhelming circumstances, a place of
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refuge, preservation, and a deliverance that produces a song
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in our heart. Psalm 3119 declares you are my
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refuge and fortress. Psalm one 19114 says You are my
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hiding place and my shield. When we're forgiven and in right
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standing with the Lord as a child of God, we experience this
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overwhelming sense of His presence in our lives, that
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blessing of having a consciousness of God in our
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minds. This makes way for confidence,
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for courage and strength to develop as we place our trust in
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Him. Paul would write to the Romans.
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What can separate us from the love of Christ?
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Shall tribulation, distress, or persecution, or famine, or
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nakedness, or peril, or sword? In all these things we are more
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than conquerors through Him who loved us.
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For I'm persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
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principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to
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come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created things, shall
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be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
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Jesus our Lord. And again to that I say, Amen.
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What a wonderful promise. I'd like to point out two more
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things before we move on. David says for this cause or for
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this reason, everyone who is godly shall pray.
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As we recap on all those benefits thus far in this Psalm,
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it's important not to miss out on the exhortation to be men and
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women of prayer routinely praying, making confession a
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part of our prayer life. Like I mentioned earlier when
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Jesus said when you pray, make sure you include forgive us our
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trespasses. We need to be continually
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cleansed from our sin church. There's a lot of filth in this
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world and it tends to stick. And if not treated quickly
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through confession and the cleansing forgiveness of God, we
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place ourselves right back in the mud that he pulled us out
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of. John also spoke of this to the
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early church believers and 1st John 19.
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He says if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
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forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
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unrighteousness. Early on, I put this verse to
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memorization. As a new believer, I knew I
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needed this verse in my life to run to.
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I encourage you to memorize this verse as well.
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First John 19 So when we feel like something's amiss or
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there's a disconnect with the Lord, or maybe you find yourself
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going down a road that you know you shouldn't be going down.
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Maybe you're short tempered, easily provoked, maybe you're
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hyper critical and judging someone.
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All of these are things that I used to deal with and deal with
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on a regular basis. If I don't take them to the
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cross, if I don't ask the Lord to fill me with the Spirit, I
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find that the old man wants to run back to these these sinful
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desires, these sinful activities.
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What about you? What's going on in your life?
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What is it that you see that just God has done a work and is
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he's blessed you and he's freed you.
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But then there's just these couple areas that you just don't
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want to give up and you find yourself easily going right back
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to you. You know the Lord doesn't like
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it. You know the Lord doesn't take
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pleasure in seeing this in your life, but you still allow it.
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Return to me the joy of your salvation.
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David would pray back in Psalm 51.
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Created me in that clean heart and renew a right spirit within
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me. Prayer is the agent by which we
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connect with the God who created us and loves us.
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Prayer keeps our hearts in a place of humility and dependence
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and not on ourselves. Prayer opens up the floodgates
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of grace and mercy as we confess our sins.
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The psalmist goes on to say, you shall surround me with songs of
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deliverance. Do you have a song of
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deliverance? Has God-given you a song of
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deliverance? Maybe a playlist of songs to
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deliver you, to deliver your heart, to deliver your mind?
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I do. I create them all the time on my
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Apple Music. And I choose those songs and I
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listen to them on the way to work.
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I listen to them on the way home.
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I listen to them when I'm going about and I just want to create
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this environment for my mind to just run to, to have songs of
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deliverance from the attacks of the enemy, even from my own
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tendencies to want to run to these desires that just don't
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line up with the Lord, to keep my mind fixed on him and have
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that consciousness of God in my life at all times.
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I think of the song Egypt. It's fairly recent song over the
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past couple years and it's a song that I think about the
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words, 'cause I lead worship, I'm going to sing to you if you
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guys are alright with that. I won't forget the wonder of how
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you brought Deliverance, the exodus of my heart, 'cause you
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found me, you freed me. Hail back the waters from my
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release. Oh, y'all way.
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You're the God who fights for me.
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Lord of every victory. Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
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You have torn apart the sea. You have led me through the
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deep. Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
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That's the God that we serve. He's done that work.
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He separates that sea so we can walk through and gives us that
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victory, a song of deliverance. I need that.
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I work at Costco, folks, and there's a lot of challenges
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working there in retail. As you can imagine.
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I've been working at Costco for over 37 years.
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From the time I turn 18, I started working there and God
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has helped me throughout my life to be able to deal with the
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pressures and the challenges. There's a lot of people that
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come in frustrated and then I become that point person because
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I represent Costco and unless I have Songs of Deliverance, it's
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going to be really easy for me to get in the flesh.
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Just as like I'm sure you with your work as well.
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When something is disappointing, when some attack comes your way,
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we need Songs of Deliverance. The Bible says that He will keep
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you in perfect peace whose mind is fixed on him or is stayed on
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the Lord. And that's what we use these
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songs of deliverance for. God gives us these songs.
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They become the soundtrack of our lives.
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And I encourage you folks, do it.
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Take time to get away from the secular music and allow God to
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encourage you with songs of deliverance and you'll begin to
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see how your relationship begins to grow leaps and bounds because
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you're making way for him to do that work.
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Paul writing to the Ephesians, he said be filled with the
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Spirit speaking to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual
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songs, making melody in your heart to the Lord.
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We need these songs in our heart church to deliver us to remain
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in Jesus. And so again I say to you, do
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you have a song playing throughout the day in your mind?
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A song to run to when the pressures of this world are
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pressing in point #5 the promise of the Father and forgiveness.
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The promise of the Father and forgiveness.
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David goes on to say, I will instruct you and teach you in
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the way you should go. I will guide you with my eye.
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Actually reverse that. It's interesting that in this
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part right here, David is writing this down, but God jumps
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in to the scene and he begins to speak.
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It's God who's speaking here in Psalm 32 at this point when he
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says I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should
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go. I will guide you with my eye.
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This change happens. It's no longer David.
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God says, I will instruct you, this can be translated.
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I will make you understand. And then he says I will teach
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you in the way or how to keep the way, and I will guide you
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with my eye. That incessant watchfulness of a
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Father Spurgeon would write this.
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This is so good. We are pardoned not to live
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after our own lusts, but to be educated in holiness and trained
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for perfection. This is where God is speaking
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directly to us tonight, folks, to let Him instruct us, to teach
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us in the way we should go, that He might guide us.
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Spurgeon would go on to say It's kind of like the master and he's
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got some servants and it only takes just a nod or a look or a
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glance to communicate that message to the servant.
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And the servant immediately responds.
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That's the kind of love, that's the kind of relationship that
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God wants to have with us. It only comes through confession
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of sin and forgiveness to have that relationship.
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We are pardoned again, not to live after our lust, but to be
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educated in holiness so important our minds no longer
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being conformed to this world, but being transformed through
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regeneration. This leads us to the 6th point.
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The 6th point, the warning of a stubborn heart.
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Do not be like the horse or like the mule, David says, Which have
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no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,
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else they will not come near you.
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The horse and the mule have no understanding, no understanding.
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They have to be moved and guided by that bit and bridle.
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It's uncomfortable. It's painful to the horse and to
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the mule. The sad thing is that many of us
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are like this and God is forced to accomplish His will in our
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lives through bit and bridle. God doesn't like a stubborn
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heart. Church or as the Bible sometimes
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defines it as being stiff necked.
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Ezekiel 37 says to God says to the prophet, The people of
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Israel are not willing to listen to you, because they are not
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willing to listen to me. For all the Israelites are
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hardened and obstinate. Zechariah 7311.
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They refused to pay attention. Stubbornly they turned their
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backs and covered their ears. They made their hearts hard as
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Flint. Psalm 8111 through 2 or 11:00
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and 12:00. But my people did not listen to
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my voice. Israel would not submit to me.
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So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their
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own counsels, Romans 25 says. But because of their
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stubbornness, your stubbornness and your unpennited heart,
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you're storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath.
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And then again in Acts 751, Stephen would charge the
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Sanhedrin at his trial. You're stiff neck people.
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Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised.
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You are just like your ancestors.
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You always resist the Holy Spirit.
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I thank God for the Holy Spirit in my life.
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He's there to come alongside. He's there to comfort, He's
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there to teach, He's there to speak to us.
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But He's also there to convict us of our sin.
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And if we didn't have that conviction, we would just be LED
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away by every desire that comes in our life.
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Well, because God loves us, the Holy Spirit convicts us and
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causes us to come back. I welcome that conviction of the
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Spirit of my life. He prevents me from being like
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that horse in that mule or like the stiff necked.
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I need to yield to that correction.
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God promises to transform our hearts when we are His.
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Ezekiel 3626 It says, God says, I will give you a new heart and
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put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your
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heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
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Jeremiah 24/7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the
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Lord. They will be my people and I
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will be their God, for they will return to me with all their
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heart. God responds to a humble heart.
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Psalm 5117 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken
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and contrite heart. Oh God, you will not despise.
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James, 46, says God opposes the proud but gives a favor to the
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humble. The stubborn heart will
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experience unnecessary pain. The stubborn heart will
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experience suffering a life filled with frustration, and it
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is all self-inflicted because there is no acknowledgement of
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sin. As we wind down to our final
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point, the rejoicing of an upright heart, we see a contrast
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that happens here. Many sorrows shall be to the
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wicked, it says. Here the Lord declares to the
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wicked, the unbeliever, that they will experience many
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sorrows. Because there is no confession
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of sin, there is no forgiveness. Because there is no forgiveness,
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there is no relationship. Because there's no relationship,
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there is no instruction on how to avoid the pain and suffering
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that accompanies a life filled with sin.
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Does this describe your life tonight?
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How long will you continue on this road to the one who lives a
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life apart from God? The Bible says you walk in
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darkness. Earlier I read that it it was
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for this reason that we should pray to the Lord while he may be
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found. It says there will come a time
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when the offer of forgiveness will no longer be available.
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The Bible tells us that man is appointed to die once and then
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the judgement. When that happens, your
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opportunity has passed. No one knows when that day will
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come. So I encourage you tonight, if
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you're here and you've been wrestling with the fact, should
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I get right with God? Should I confess my sin?
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Should I become a Christian? Tonight's the night.
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Settle that between you and God in a moment when we close, I'm
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going to give an invitation, an opportunity to settle this issue
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to receive the love of God. So now the contrast.
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But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround them.
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Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice you righteous, and shout for joy
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all you upright in heart. The Bible tells us He gives us
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promises of God that are yes and Amen.
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And when we place our trust in the Lord, mercy becomes a
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barrier around us. The Bible tells us that His
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mercies are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness.
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And when we trust in the Lord, a change happens that causes us to
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rejoice in the one who forgave us and excitement for the one
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who loved us and gave himself for us.
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At this time, if I can have the worship team go ahead and come
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on up as we close. Many years later, after this
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Psalm was written, the Bible tells us that God came to the
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earth as a man. He preached the gospel of
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forgiveness and reconciliation to the Father, went to the cross
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to die for our sins, was buried, and on the third day He rose
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again for our justification. His name is Jesus, and the Bible
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says that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
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Church, is there anyone here tonight dealing with the
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rebellious heart, an area that the Spirit has been convicting,
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but you refuse to surrender, to surrender to Him.
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How long will you continue to resist the Spirit?
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Or is there someone here that has never experienced the love
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of God and the forgiveness of sin?
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Never experienced the wonderful blessing of knowing that you're
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in right standing with God and now have the hope of heaven?
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It's time to confess your sin to the Lord.
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Jesus said, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy in
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heart, and I will give you rest for your souls.
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As we close with this last song, I would encourage you to make
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your way forward to meet with the pastors in the prayer team
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and do business with the Lord. Confess your sin to the Lord,
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ask Him to wash and to cleanse you.
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And again, we see as David was teaching us, He's ready to
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forgive. Whether it's your first time
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coming into relationship with the Lord or you've been walking
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with him for a long time, but you've been struggling with that
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rebellious heart in that one area.
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God wants to heal you of that We just need to trust and by faith
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come to Him and He'll do that work.
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Let's close in prayer, Father, we just pray that You would help
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us to turn from our evil ways, to turn back to You, to remain
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in You, Jesus, to abide, to not allow any opportunity, but that
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You would surround us with Your mercies and keep us in your
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love. And Lord, where there's those
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areas where we find rebellion, we find that sin that just
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sticks to our hearts. Lord, we confess it to You right
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now. We ask that you would forgive us
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of our sin, that You wash us and that you would cleanse us, That
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you would purify our hearts and our minds, and that you would
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fill us with Your Spirit. And You would help us to move
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forward in victory, because You have accomplished great things
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in our lives even before we confess this sin.
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But now we can have the beautiful fellowship with You,
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no longer trying to hide, but being open and sincere with you,
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with our life, with our thoughts, with our conversation.
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We want to honour you and Lord, I pray for those who are here
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tonight who have never experienced your love, your
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kindness, leading them to repentance, to a new
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relationship. The Bible says your word says
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that if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation.
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The old things that passed away, behold, all things are new.
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Father, I pray for that person that's listening on the radio.
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I pray for that person who's watching online.
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I pray for that person this evening who is here, who needs
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that relationship with you, that you would give him that strength
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and that courage to repent of their sins, to turn away and to
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turn to the one who can restore and can heal.
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To know their sins are forgiven, to know they're right with you,
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and to know they have that hope of heaven.
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God do that work. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.
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We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study,
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delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church.
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For prayer, call us at 87730 Grace that's 877-304-7223.
48:20
To listen to this message in its integrity or to join us for our
48:23
live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church
48:29
or download our free Calvary Church app.
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Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.