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I want to speak to you this morning

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about secret sins.

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And what I'm talking about is sins we hide

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and we hope no one will know about,

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or at least we hope no one who matters

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will know about.

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In a Christian, these sins -

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sins that we hide -

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painfully rub the conscience raw

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and they eventually sear the conscience

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so that it can no longer feel.

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Secret sins may be responsible

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for deflating your spiritual joy.

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Secret sins not only do that,

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but they drain our spiritual power

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for life and ministry.

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And secret sins also demolish

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our spiritual fellowship.

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It's amazing - you can 
always be in community,

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but if you're hiding something,

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you will always feel alone

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and never enjoy fellowship

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from God's people.

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Worst of all, secret sins 
separate us from God.

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In a Christian, secret sins

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separate us from the 
warmth of God's smile.

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Now there are Christians 
who stand in grace,

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but because of secret sins 
they're holding on to,

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they never really feel the warmth

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of God's love.

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And of course, there are 
many who are not Christians

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and who won't become Christians

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not because they have some religious

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or philosophical objection to Christianity

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but because they do not want to expose

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their secret sins to the light.

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As D. A. Carson put it

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many people don't come to Jesus

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not because they have some actual

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philosophical disagreement 
with Christianity,

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but because they're 
sleeping with their girlfriends.

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Worst of all, there are those

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who think they are Christians but are not.

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They live a double life.

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They're going to church.

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They're playing the game,

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but behind closed doors,

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their lives are dominated by 
secret sins in the present

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or the memory of some 
secret sin in the past.

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And I want to first of all begin

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by showing you how secret sins

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are spoken of over and over in the Bible.

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This is something that 
afflicts God's people.

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This is not something

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that is a rare occurrence 
among God's people.

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This is something that God points out

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repeatedly in His Word

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because it's something that repeatedly

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infects His people and drains their joy,

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drains their fellowship,

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and ends their effectiveness

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and their praise in the world.

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Proverbs tells us in Proverbs 28:13 -

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and I'm going to go through a lot,

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so you may jot them down,

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but you won't be able 
to get there in time.

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Proverbs 28:13,

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"Whoever conceals his transgression

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will not prosper,

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but he who confesses and forsakes them

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will obtain mercy."

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There's no good future for you

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concealing secret sin,

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but there's mercy ahead of you

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if you will forsake it.

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Secret sins we're told in Psalm 90:8

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are known to God.

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It says in Psalm 90:8,

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"You set our iniquities before You;

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our secret sins in the 
light of God's presence."

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Secret sins always catch up with us.

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Numbers 32:23 -

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this verse is haunting.

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"The Lord said to Israel,

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'Be sure your sin will find you out.'"

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There's no way to cover.

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There's nowhere in the universe

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that you can dig a hole deep enough

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that God won't know everything you've done

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and can't unearth it anytime He chooses.

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Jesus tells us in Matthew 12:36-37,

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"I tell you on the day of judgment

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people will give an account

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for every careless word they speak.

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For by your words you will be justified

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and by your words you will be condemned."

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In other words, by how we speak

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it will be proven that we 
were truly children of God.

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Or, by our words, it will be proven

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that we weren't at all.

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You might think, well, this is the Gospel.

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Under the Gospel there's no more

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dealing with secret sins,

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but actually Paul tells us in Romans 2:16

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that "according to his Gospel,

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God judges the secrets 
of men by Christ Jesus."

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Jesus does not ignore our secret sins.

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He has actually been appointed

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the end time Judge of 
all of our secret sins.

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And of course, you and I don't know

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each other's secret sins.

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You and I don't know

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who this sermon might be meant for;

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who it might point out.

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Of course, it's meant for all of us,

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because even if God has 
allowed you to come clean

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of every single secret sin in your life,

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you are to be the bed of mercy

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that those whose sins are exposed

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get to lay down on and find grace

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in their time of need.

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But we don't know each other's secret sins

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and the Bible tells us that.

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It tells us in 1 Timothy 5:24

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some people's sins are obvious,

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going before them to judgment.

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But the sins of others surface later.

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But they do always surface.

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Ananias and Sapphira's lying

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about how much they gave

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surfaced in a matter of a few hours.

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David's sin with Bathsheba surfaced

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over the course of a few months.

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Judas' stealing from 
Jesus and the Apostles

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didn't surface for years,

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but eventually it did surface.

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And we're told there's coming

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a day of judgment

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where every single thing 
that's private and hidden

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will become public and out in the open.

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So there is no secret sin in the universe

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that will not in due time be open

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and laid bare before the entire world.

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Now I want to be used this morning

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by the Holy Spirit for your good.

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I want to be used by the Holy Spirit

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to uncover secret sins.

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And I'm not going to name 
anyone's names this morning.

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It's not my job to from the pulpit

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point to someone who 
I think is keeping a secret.

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Rather, I'm going to trust 
that the Holy Spirit

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will do His work.

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You remember what we're told His work is?

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John 16:8-9, "When He comes,

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He will convict the world about sin,

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righteousness, and judgment."

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It's my hope that before

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some incident comes into your life

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that reveals something 
going on in your life,

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it's my hope that before 
the last day dawns

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and all is exposed, the Holy Spirit

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would apply a gentle and 
sweet and powerful

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upward pressure to bring 
anything inside out

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and to allow us to confess our sins,

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because when we confess our sins,

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we are told over and 
over in the Scriptures,

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we will find mercy.

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I promise you that no matter what sin

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might even be brought to your mind now

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as I've been speaking,

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bringing it out will be less painful

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than keeping it in.

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In fact, bringing it out

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will bring you a future you never thought

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could be as good as it will be

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because God meets with secret sins -

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He meets with all sins with His mercy

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and His grace.

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And I want to speak to you this morning

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about this from a very famous story -

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the story of King David, 
the king of Israel,

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and his adulterous affair with Bathsheba.

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And I'm going to tell you this story

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under five headings.

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First, David sins and scrambles.

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Second, God knows and exposes.

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Third, God forgives and disciplines.

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Fourth, David pleads and presses on.

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And finally, God restores.

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And so let's begin first with 
David sins and scrambles.

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1 Samuel 11:1,

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"In the spring of the year,

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the time when kings go out to battle,

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David sent Joab and his servant with him

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and all Israel.

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And they ravaged the Ammonites

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and besieged Rabbah,

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but David remained at Jerusalem."

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Israel was a land that was promised peace

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and victory over her enemies.

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This is going to become important
actually in my last point.

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They were promised that they would

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be able to destroy their 
enemies around them

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and have peace in the land.

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And it was the custom that in the spring -

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of course when the weather was better -

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that that's when kings went out to war.

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And notice the author points out

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that that's when "kings" went out to war.

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But the king in this story - King David -

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we're told decided he was 
going to sit this one out;

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that he'd had enough years of war,

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and he would just send a general

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to handle the skirmishes 
that were happening

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on Israel's eastern front.

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And what we have here is an instance

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that reminds us that very often

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where sin enters into our lives

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is when we're not taking our place

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on the front lines of the battlefield

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that God has placed us in.

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It's very common that the place

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sin comes into our life

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is when we're avoiding the battle

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that God has called us into.

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We're told in 1 Timothy 5:13

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that there was a bunch of widows

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who really should have gotten remarried

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sooner than they had,

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but because they refused to get remarried

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they became idlers going about

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from house to house,

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and not only idlers, but also gossips,

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busybodies, saying what they should not.

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It's amazing how much 
trouble you can get in

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when you slip back from the front lines

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of the battle God has placed you in.

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It's amazing how much trouble

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you can get yourself in

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browsing the Internet at work

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when you should be working,

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or gossiping on Marco Polo or iMessage

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when you should be washing the dishes.

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Neglecting what we are called to do

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is one of the great places

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sin will slip into our lives.

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And all of this is one more 
proof of the old expression:

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idle hands are the devil's playground.

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And so there's David.

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Not doing what he should be doing.

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Idling around on the roof of his castle.

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And in v. 2 we read,

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"It happened late one afternoon

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when David arose from his couch

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and was walking on the 
roof of the king's house,

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that he saw from the roof a woman bathing.

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And the woman was very beautiful.

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And David sent and inquired 
about the woman.

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And one said, 'Is this not Bathsheba?

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The daughter of Eliam?

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The wife of Uriah the Hittite?'

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So David sent messengers and took her

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and she came to him

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and he lay with her.

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Now she had been purifying herself

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from her uncleanness.

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Then she returned to her house."

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David must have been used to the power

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of being a king.

270
00:12:00,916 --> 00:12:02,937
When you're a king, you see, you decide,

271
00:12:02,937 --> 00:12:04,680
you speak, and things happen.

272
00:12:04,680 --> 00:12:07,407
And as you read the text you 
notice that's what goes on.

273
00:12:07,407 --> 00:12:08,357
He saw.

274
00:12:08,357 --> 00:12:09,406
He sent.

275
00:12:09,406 --> 00:12:10,546
She was taken.

276
00:12:10,546 --> 00:12:11,706
She came.

277
00:12:11,706 --> 00:12:12,847
He lay with her.

278
00:12:12,847 --> 00:12:14,565
She went home.

279
00:12:14,565 --> 00:12:16,128
As one commentator pointed out

280
00:12:16,128 --> 00:12:17,427
David is the actor.

281
00:12:17,427 --> 00:12:19,097
David is in control.

282
00:12:19,097 --> 00:12:21,136
David gets what he wants.

283
00:12:21,136 --> 00:12:23,607
And it's amazing what we can get

284
00:12:23,607 --> 00:12:28,168
from all of our control.

285
00:12:28,168 --> 00:12:31,105
It's probably important to 
notice that all David got

286
00:12:31,105 --> 00:12:35,156
was one brief moment of passion.

287
00:12:35,156 --> 00:12:38,726
Here for a moment and then gone.

288
00:12:38,726 --> 00:12:42,127
And I want to know if you are 
holding on to secret sin,

289
00:12:42,127 --> 00:12:44,096
are you getting anything more

290
00:12:44,096 --> 00:12:47,895
than a brief fleeting moment of pleasure

291
00:12:47,895 --> 00:12:50,536
from what you're holding on to.

292
00:12:50,536 --> 00:12:52,766
And if you held on to it and no one

293
00:12:52,766 --> 00:12:54,246
ever found out about it -

294
00:12:54,246 --> 00:12:58,566
in fact, if you got the 
whole world of pleasure,

295
00:12:58,566 --> 00:13:03,077
would it be anything 
compared to your soul?

296
00:13:03,077 --> 00:13:05,427
Anyway, all would have been fine

297
00:13:05,427 --> 00:13:07,805
humanly speaking if that 
was all that happened.

298
00:13:07,805 --> 00:13:09,266
Bathsheba and David might have

299
00:13:09,266 --> 00:13:10,965
run into each other later on,

300
00:13:10,965 --> 00:13:12,530
exchanged furtive glances,

301
00:13:12,530 --> 00:13:14,386
but everything would have been hidden.

302
00:13:14,386 --> 00:13:16,936
But sin has an amazing way

303
00:13:16,936 --> 00:13:21,556
of sticking its head up 
and revealing itself.

304
00:13:21,556 --> 00:13:24,088
You notice that Bathsheba

305
00:13:24,088 --> 00:13:26,098
sends a note to David

306
00:13:26,098 --> 00:13:28,525
saying, "I am pregnant."

307
00:13:28,525 --> 00:13:30,898
So she was going to change 
into maternity clothes

308
00:13:30,898 --> 00:13:33,015
and announce to all of Israel

309
00:13:33,015 --> 00:13:34,936
that somebody got her pregnant.

310
00:13:34,936 --> 00:13:36,996
And of course, the folks in the palace

311
00:13:36,996 --> 00:13:38,307
would begin to whisper

312
00:13:38,307 --> 00:13:41,317
about exactly who "somebody" had been.

313
00:13:41,317 --> 00:13:43,106
And that's how life works.

314
00:13:43,106 --> 00:13:44,585
A drug addiction shows up

315
00:13:44,585 --> 00:13:47,097
in the withdrawals in the bank statement.

316
00:13:47,097 --> 00:13:48,495
Embezzlement shows up

317
00:13:48,495 --> 00:13:50,836
when fresh eyes look at the books.

318
00:13:50,836 --> 00:13:53,217
Abuse shows up when someone gets a bruise

319
00:13:53,217 --> 00:13:55,055
makeup can't hide.

320
00:13:55,055 --> 00:13:57,056
Anger says, "I was here,"

321
00:13:57,056 --> 00:13:59,345
when it leaves a hole in the wall.

322
00:13:59,345 --> 00:14:01,457
Laziness and lack of self-discipline

323
00:14:01,457 --> 00:14:04,328
are exposed when the 
report card comes home.

324
00:14:04,328 --> 00:14:08,026
And of course, adultery is 
revealed by pregnancy.

325
00:14:08,026 --> 00:14:09,736
"And the woman conceived

326
00:14:09,736 --> 00:14:13,004
and she sent and told 
David, 'I am pregnant.'"

327
00:14:13,004 --> 00:14:15,566
David had sinned, and 
Bathsheba's growing belly

328
00:14:15,566 --> 00:14:19,165
was going to rat him out all over town.

329
00:14:19,165 --> 00:14:21,577
So David scrambles.

330
00:14:21,577 --> 00:14:24,805
He knows he will use that kingly authority

331
00:14:24,805 --> 00:14:26,946
that brought Bathsheba to him

332
00:14:26,946 --> 00:14:29,205
to bring Bathsheba's husband back home

333
00:14:29,205 --> 00:14:30,366
from the front lines.

334
00:14:30,366 --> 00:14:32,586
And David thinks: aha, there's a plan!

335
00:14:32,586 --> 00:14:35,646
I'll bring a soldier back home

336
00:14:35,646 --> 00:14:38,488
and that soldier will do what soldiers do

337
00:14:38,488 --> 00:14:40,355
when they get back home to their wife

338
00:14:40,355 --> 00:14:41,704
for a night of furlough.

339
00:14:41,704 --> 00:14:43,996
He'll go home to be with Bathsheba,

340
00:14:43,996 --> 00:14:45,585
and then she'll be pregnant

341
00:14:45,585 --> 00:14:46,953
and I'll be off the hook.

342
00:14:46,953 --> 00:14:48,785
They'll ask who the kid looks like.

343
00:14:48,785 --> 00:14:50,765
They'll decide: must look like Bathsheba.

344
00:14:50,765 --> 00:14:53,995
And all will be clear for David.

345
00:14:53,995 --> 00:14:57,536
His sin will stay secret.

346
00:14:57,536 --> 00:14:59,606
Verse 6, "So David sent word to Joab,

347
00:14:59,606 --> 00:15:01,306
'Send me Uriah the Hittite.'

348
00:15:01,306 --> 00:15:03,267
And Joab sent Uriah to David.

349
00:15:03,267 --> 00:15:04,704
When Uriah came to him,

350
00:15:04,704 --> 00:15:06,474
David asked how Joab was doing

351
00:15:06,474 --> 00:15:07,854
and how the people were doing

352
00:15:07,854 --> 00:15:09,296
and how the war was going..."

353
00:15:09,296 --> 00:15:10,946
A little small talk for Uriah

354
00:15:10,946 --> 00:15:12,837
like he was home as a messenger.

355
00:15:12,837 --> 00:15:14,296
"Then David said to Uriah,

356
00:15:14,296 --> 00:15:15,797
'Go down to your house

357
00:15:15,797 --> 00:15:17,336
and wash your feet.'

358
00:15:17,336 --> 00:15:19,927
And Uriah went out of the king's house

359
00:15:19,927 --> 00:15:21,496
and there followed him

360
00:15:21,496 --> 00:15:23,955
a present from the king."

361
00:15:23,955 --> 00:15:25,637
Now David, I imagine,

362
00:15:25,637 --> 00:15:28,496
felt one of two ways at this moment.

363
00:15:28,496 --> 00:15:30,966
One, he probably felt quite clever.

364
00:15:30,966 --> 00:15:32,516
He was sending the soldier home

365
00:15:32,516 --> 00:15:33,698
to be with his wife.

366
00:15:33,698 --> 00:15:35,806
All will be hidden.

367
00:15:35,806 --> 00:15:38,356
But we actually know from Psalm 32

368
00:15:38,356 --> 00:15:40,276
that he felt another way.

369
00:15:40,276 --> 00:15:43,066
Psalm 32 is a poem that David wrote

370
00:15:43,066 --> 00:15:45,185
about how horrible he felt

371
00:15:45,185 --> 00:15:48,526
during this time of hiding his sin.

372
00:15:48,526 --> 00:15:50,704
Psalm 32 says,

373
00:15:50,704 --> 00:15:52,217
"For when I kept silent

374
00:15:52,217 --> 00:15:54,307
my bones wasted away,

375
00:15:54,307 --> 00:15:57,066
through my groaning all day.

376
00:15:57,066 --> 00:15:58,295
For day and night,

377
00:15:58,295 --> 00:16:00,105
Your hand was heavy upon me.

378
00:16:00,105 --> 00:16:01,826
My strength was dried up

379
00:16:01,826 --> 00:16:04,578
as by the heat of summer."

380
00:16:04,578 --> 00:16:07,337
So here's David, clever and cunning,

381
00:16:07,337 --> 00:16:09,484
and dying on the inside.

382
00:16:09,484 --> 00:16:11,507
I wonder if there are any others here

383
00:16:11,507 --> 00:16:13,735
who feel the same way.

384
00:16:13,735 --> 00:16:15,845
But then David runs into a problem.

385
00:16:15,845 --> 00:16:18,244
Uriah is a nobler man at this point

386
00:16:18,244 --> 00:16:19,655
than David is.

387
00:16:19,655 --> 00:16:21,455
He won't go to sleep with his wife.

388
00:16:21,455 --> 00:16:23,206
He says, hey, while the ark of God,

389
00:16:23,206 --> 00:16:25,034
which was the symbol of God's presence

390
00:16:25,034 --> 00:16:26,185
is on the battlefield -

391
00:16:26,185 --> 00:16:28,006
and while my buddies from my platoon

392
00:16:28,006 --> 00:16:30,235
are risking their lives 
and sleeping in tents,

393
00:16:30,235 --> 00:16:32,116
I'm not going home to be with my wife.

394
00:16:32,116 --> 00:16:34,605
And so he sleeps on the palace floor

395
00:16:34,605 --> 00:16:38,414
and refuses to go home to Bathsheba.

396
00:16:38,414 --> 00:16:40,897
And David thinks, well, 
what am I going to do?

397
00:16:40,897 --> 00:16:42,665
So he has strategy number 2.

398
00:16:42,665 --> 00:16:45,238
He says, well, Uriah, stick 
around one more night.

399
00:16:45,238 --> 00:16:47,845
And David, this man after God's own heart

400
00:16:47,845 --> 00:16:50,404
gets Uriah drunk.

401
00:16:50,404 --> 00:16:52,805
Because if a soldier won't 
go home to his wife,

402
00:16:52,805 --> 00:16:54,787
well, I tell you one guy who will -

403
00:16:54,787 --> 00:16:59,238
a drunk soldier will go home to his wife.

404
00:16:59,238 --> 00:17:00,435
The passage says,

405
00:17:00,435 --> 00:17:02,845
"But Uriah slept at the 
door of the king's house

406
00:17:02,845 --> 00:17:04,566
with all the servants of his lord,

407
00:17:04,566 --> 00:17:07,034
and did not go down to his house.

408
00:17:07,034 --> 00:17:08,885
When they told David Uriah did not

409
00:17:08,885 --> 00:17:10,686
go down to his house,

410
00:17:10,686 --> 00:17:12,376
David said to Uriah,

411
00:17:12,376 --> 00:17:14,455
'Have you not come from a journey?

412
00:17:14,455 --> 00:17:16,366
Why did you not go down to your house?'

413
00:17:16,366 --> 00:17:18,273
(v. 11) Uriah said to David,

414
00:17:18,273 --> 00:17:20,074
'The ark and Israel and Judah

415
00:17:20,074 --> 00:17:21,694
dwell in booths (that's tents),

416
00:17:21,694 --> 00:17:24,125
and my lord Joab and 
the servants of my lord

417
00:17:24,125 --> 00:17:25,777
are camping in open field.

418
00:17:25,777 --> 00:17:27,476
Shall I then go down to my house

419
00:17:27,476 --> 00:17:29,745
to eat and to drink 
and to lie with my wife?

420
00:17:29,745 --> 00:17:32,266
As you live, as your soul lives,

421
00:17:32,266 --> 00:17:34,042
I will not do this thing.'

422
00:17:34,042 --> 00:17:36,237
Then David said to Uriah,

423
00:17:36,237 --> 00:17:37,805
'Remain here today also,

424
00:17:37,805 --> 00:17:39,845
and tomorrow I will send you back.'

425
00:17:39,845 --> 00:17:41,925
So Uriah remained in Jerusalem

426
00:17:41,925 --> 00:17:43,648
that day and the next,

427
00:17:43,648 --> 00:17:45,405
and David invited him, and he ate

428
00:17:45,405 --> 00:17:47,076
in the presence and drank

429
00:17:47,076 --> 00:17:48,834
so that he made him drunk.

430
00:17:48,834 --> 00:17:50,314
In the evening, he went out

431
00:17:50,314 --> 00:17:53,253
to lie on his couch with 
the servants of his lord,

432
00:17:53,253 --> 00:17:56,427
but he did not go down to his house."

433
00:17:56,427 --> 00:17:58,955
David had been thwarted.

434
00:17:58,955 --> 00:18:01,096
He had run up against the power

435
00:18:01,096 --> 00:18:03,567
that all men in sin hate -

436
00:18:03,567 --> 00:18:06,174
the power of a moral man.

437
00:18:06,174 --> 00:18:08,197
A man of conviction.

438
00:18:08,197 --> 00:18:10,145
A man whose heart is gripped

439
00:18:10,145 --> 00:18:12,478
by the fear of the Lord.

440
00:18:12,478 --> 00:18:16,217
If you find that men and 
women of deep conviction

441
00:18:16,217 --> 00:18:18,906
frustrate your plans and get in your way,

442
00:18:18,906 --> 00:18:21,476
there's a good chance you are driven

443
00:18:21,476 --> 00:18:25,086
by covering up a secret sin.

444
00:18:25,086 --> 00:18:27,975
Anyway, the scramble continues.

445
00:18:27,975 --> 00:18:29,686
And it always does.

446
00:18:29,686 --> 00:18:33,088
Sin never stays stagnant.

447
00:18:33,088 --> 00:18:35,686
You may think that you're 
just dabbling in something

448
00:18:35,686 --> 00:18:37,665
and that you control it.

449
00:18:37,665 --> 00:18:41,326
That is not the biblical 
picture of sin at all.

450
00:18:41,326 --> 00:18:43,004
If you are dabbling in something

451
00:18:43,004 --> 00:18:46,424
you have no idea how 
deep that sin will take you.

452
00:18:46,424 --> 00:18:48,224
Do you think for your life

453
00:18:48,224 --> 00:18:53,107
that David thought, 
"I'll murder this spring"?

454
00:18:53,107 --> 00:18:55,376
He just thought he was staying home.

455
00:18:55,376 --> 00:18:57,807
But once sin has got its hook in our cheek

456
00:18:57,807 --> 00:19:01,074
it can reel us in into 
the depths of depravity

457
00:19:01,074 --> 00:19:04,315
beyond what we ever thought possible.

458
00:19:04,315 --> 00:19:07,636
The Bible tells us that 
sin is progressive.

459
00:19:07,636 --> 00:19:09,614
2 Timothy 3:13,

460
00:19:09,614 --> 00:19:12,236
"Evil men (evil people) and impostors

461
00:19:12,236 --> 00:19:14,155
go from bad to worse."

462
00:19:14,155 --> 00:19:20,169
Romans 6:19 - Lawlessness 
leads to more lawlessness.

463
00:19:20,169 --> 00:19:23,675
Looking at ladies in bikinis 
leads to harder porn.

464
00:19:23,675 --> 00:19:25,437
You cuss once and you blush

465
00:19:25,437 --> 00:19:27,044
and eventually you find yourself

466
00:19:27,044 --> 00:19:29,886
swearing like a sailor without noticing.

467
00:19:29,886 --> 00:19:32,045
You don't report your tips at tax time

468
00:19:32,045 --> 00:19:33,748
and pretty soon you find yourself

469
00:19:33,748 --> 00:19:36,538
comfortable stealing from the store.

470
00:19:36,538 --> 00:19:40,267
Sin hardens and advances.

471
00:19:40,267 --> 00:19:41,943
Can I ask you this?

472
00:19:41,943 --> 00:19:43,873
If you're hiding a sin,

473
00:19:43,873 --> 00:19:48,037
have you ever had to sin more to hide it?

474
00:19:48,037 --> 00:19:49,825
And if you've hardened your heart

475
00:19:49,825 --> 00:19:50,927
to sin and to hide it,

476
00:19:50,927 --> 00:19:53,816
how do you know you'll be able to stop?

477
00:19:53,816 --> 00:19:56,827
What if you keep hardening yourself?

478
00:19:56,827 --> 00:19:59,007
Maybe you will find yourself doing things

479
00:19:59,007 --> 00:20:02,866
you never dreamed that 
you were capable of.

480
00:20:02,866 --> 00:20:04,556
Sin demands more

481
00:20:04,556 --> 00:20:07,227
and hidden sin demands 
more sin to cover it,

482
00:20:07,227 --> 00:20:10,407
and eventually, David, the 
man after God's own heart,

483
00:20:10,407 --> 00:20:14,508
arranges a murder of Uriah.

484
00:20:14,508 --> 00:20:17,027
You think David ever dreamed

485
00:20:17,027 --> 00:20:20,795
he would become a murderer?

486
00:20:20,795 --> 00:20:22,527
Verse 14,

487
00:20:22,527 --> 00:20:24,467
"In the morning David wrote a letter

488
00:20:24,467 --> 00:20:26,598
to Joab (that's the general)

489
00:20:26,598 --> 00:20:28,795
and sent it by the hand of Uriah."

490
00:20:28,795 --> 00:20:30,907
Uriah is holding in his hand

491
00:20:30,907 --> 00:20:32,347
his own death warrant.

492
00:20:32,347 --> 00:20:34,507
That's calloused.

493
00:20:34,507 --> 00:20:35,845
"In the letter he wrote,

494
00:20:35,845 --> 00:20:38,825
'Set Uriah in the forefront 
of the hardest fighting

495
00:20:38,825 --> 00:20:40,127
and then draw back from him

496
00:20:40,127 --> 00:20:42,088
that he may be struck down and die.'

497
00:20:42,088 --> 00:20:44,176
And as Joab was besieging the city,

498
00:20:44,176 --> 00:20:45,976
he assigned Uriah to the place

499
00:20:45,976 --> 00:20:47,977
where he knew were valiant men.

500
00:20:47,977 --> 00:20:49,637
And the men of the city came out

501
00:20:49,637 --> 00:20:51,259
and fought with Joab,

502
00:20:51,259 --> 00:20:54,147
and some of the servants of 
David among the people fell.

503
00:20:54,147 --> 00:20:58,117
Uriah the Hittite also died.

504
00:20:58,117 --> 00:20:59,597
Then Joab sent and told David

505
00:20:59,597 --> 00:21:01,937
all the news about the fighting."

506
00:21:01,937 --> 00:21:07,046
And David gets the 
news that Uriah is dead.

507
00:21:07,046 --> 00:21:09,838
The scramble is over.

508
00:21:09,838 --> 00:21:12,197
The deed is covered.

509
00:21:12,197 --> 00:21:15,497
David gives Bathsheba a minute to mourn

510
00:21:15,497 --> 00:21:18,105
and then he marries the poor widow.

511
00:21:18,105 --> 00:21:20,056
Verse 26,

512
00:21:20,056 --> 00:21:21,877
"When the wife of Uriah heard

513
00:21:21,877 --> 00:21:24,056
that Uriah her husband was dead,

514
00:21:24,056 --> 00:21:26,046
she lamented her husband.

515
00:21:26,046 --> 00:21:27,707
And when the mourning was over,

516
00:21:27,707 --> 00:21:30,108
David sent and brought her to his house

517
00:21:30,108 --> 00:21:32,436
and she became his wife

518
00:21:32,436 --> 00:21:34,775
and bore him a son."

519
00:21:34,775 --> 00:21:36,346
The scramble worked.

520
00:21:36,346 --> 00:21:39,637
We'll just tell people the baby 
was born a little premature.

521
00:21:39,637 --> 00:21:42,485
The conscience is still screaming,

522
00:21:42,485 --> 00:21:45,287
but at least his sin is 
not going to scream

523
00:21:45,287 --> 00:21:47,076
into the city streets

524
00:21:47,076 --> 00:21:50,657
when Bathsheba starts 
wearing maternity clothes.

525
00:21:50,657 --> 00:21:53,748
David can rest.

526
00:21:53,748 --> 00:21:57,646
Except that David had forgotten -

527
00:21:57,646 --> 00:22:00,186
or should I say suppressed

528
00:22:00,186 --> 00:22:02,617
and swept under the rug of his mind

529
00:22:02,617 --> 00:22:05,256
the fact that God knows

530
00:22:05,256 --> 00:22:08,677
and God exposes.

531
00:22:08,677 --> 00:22:11,907
Listen to this haunting last verse.

532
00:22:11,907 --> 00:22:18,236
In verse 27, last part of the verse,

533
00:22:18,236 --> 00:22:20,727
"And she became his wife

534
00:22:20,727 --> 00:22:22,556
and bore him a son

535
00:22:22,556 --> 00:22:25,145
(everything's covered),

536
00:22:25,145 --> 00:22:27,927
but the thing that David had done

537
00:22:27,927 --> 00:22:32,166
displeased the Lord."

538
00:22:32,166 --> 00:22:35,318
There is nothing more foolish in the world

539
00:22:35,318 --> 00:22:38,647
than hiding sin.

540
00:22:38,647 --> 00:22:41,047
You are hiding sin from the One

541
00:22:41,047 --> 00:22:43,737
for whom there is no darkness.

542
00:22:43,737 --> 00:22:46,076
Psalm 139 - even the darkness

543
00:22:46,076 --> 00:22:48,937
is as light to Him.

544
00:22:48,937 --> 00:22:52,077
There's no place you can hide before God.

545
00:22:52,077 --> 00:22:54,506
He knit you together in your mother's womb

546
00:22:54,506 --> 00:22:56,216
and He knows the day of your death.

547
00:22:56,216 --> 00:22:58,377
Before a word is on your mouth,

548
00:22:58,377 --> 00:23:00,107
He knows it completely.

549
00:23:00,107 --> 00:23:03,466
There's no hiding from God.

550
00:23:03,466 --> 00:23:05,086
Isaiah 29:15,

551
00:23:05,086 --> 00:23:07,006
"Woe to those who go to great depths

552
00:23:07,006 --> 00:23:08,795
to hide their plans from the Lord

553
00:23:08,795 --> 00:23:11,485
who do their work in darkness

554
00:23:11,485 --> 00:23:15,536
and think, 'Who sees us? Who will know?'"

555
00:23:15,536 --> 00:23:17,267
Proverbs 5:21,

556
00:23:17,267 --> 00:23:19,917
"Your ways are in full view of the Lord,

557
00:23:19,917 --> 00:23:23,778
and He examines all your paths."

558
00:23:23,778 --> 00:23:25,535
Hebrews 4:13,

559
00:23:25,535 --> 00:23:29,606
"Nothing in all creation is 
hidden from God's sight.

560
00:23:29,606 --> 00:23:32,186
Everything is uncovered and laid bare

561
00:23:32,186 --> 00:23:35,207
before the eyes of Him to whom

562
00:23:35,207 --> 00:23:39,249
we must give an account."

563
00:23:39,249 --> 00:23:42,835
If you fear your wife's anger so much

564
00:23:42,835 --> 00:23:45,449
that you could never 
tell her what you've done,

565
00:23:45,449 --> 00:23:50,008
then you have a super shallow view of God.

566
00:23:50,008 --> 00:23:54,099
If you legitimize not telling your wife

567
00:23:54,099 --> 00:23:55,886
about your infidelity because you

568
00:23:55,886 --> 00:23:58,456
love her so much,

569
00:23:58,456 --> 00:24:03,147
you have a terribly shallow view of God.

570
00:24:03,147 --> 00:24:06,645
If you're more worried about 
displeasing your parents

571
00:24:06,645 --> 00:24:08,307
than your God,

572
00:24:08,307 --> 00:24:10,827
then you have a very small

573
00:24:10,827 --> 00:24:14,389
and unbiblical view of God.

574
00:24:14,389 --> 00:24:16,016
If you think your boss's anger

575
00:24:16,016 --> 00:24:17,811
or losing your job is worse

576
00:24:17,811 --> 00:24:20,107
than God's discipline or God's wrath

577
00:24:20,107 --> 00:24:22,517
then you need a greater vision of God.

578
00:24:22,517 --> 00:24:24,455
David had forgotten God.

579
00:24:24,455 --> 00:24:26,627
God had seen and God was displeased.

580
00:24:26,627 --> 00:24:27,987
That is all that matters.

581
00:24:27,987 --> 00:24:31,418
Immanuel, if we are not a people

582
00:24:31,418 --> 00:24:34,727
who deal before the face of God,

583
00:24:34,727 --> 00:24:38,786
then we are not God's people.

584
00:24:38,786 --> 00:24:41,379
If we are not a people who understand

585
00:24:41,379 --> 00:24:45,277
that all we do and have done and will do

586
00:24:45,277 --> 00:24:47,807
happens before the face of God,

587
00:24:47,807 --> 00:24:50,500
and the most important thing in our lives

588
00:24:50,500 --> 00:24:54,259
is to deal with that God in integrity

589
00:24:54,259 --> 00:24:56,648
and truth and openness,

590
00:24:56,648 --> 00:24:59,218
then we are not the people of God.

591
00:24:59,218 --> 00:25:04,358
We are simply one more 
dead church on the corner.

592
00:25:04,358 --> 00:25:08,737
Now what God does to David is amazing.

593
00:25:08,737 --> 00:25:14,787
He does not strike him dead.

594
00:25:14,787 --> 00:25:18,477
Both adultery and murder

595
00:25:18,477 --> 00:25:21,069
were worthy of capital punishment,

596
00:25:21,069 --> 00:25:22,848
of the death penalty

597
00:25:22,848 --> 00:25:26,406
in Old Testament Israel.

598
00:25:26,406 --> 00:25:30,007
But instead of striking David dead,

599
00:25:30,007 --> 00:25:34,348
God begins to pursue him with mercy.

600
00:25:34,348 --> 00:25:36,939
He sends his most powerful weapon

601
00:25:36,939 --> 00:25:39,485
to slice open David's heart

602
00:25:39,485 --> 00:25:42,918
and to surgically expose and remove

603
00:25:42,918 --> 00:25:44,277
the secret sin.

604
00:25:44,277 --> 00:25:46,206
God sends His Word.

605
00:25:46,206 --> 00:25:47,777
He sent it through a man -

606
00:25:47,777 --> 00:25:49,287
a prophet named Nathan.

607
00:25:49,287 --> 00:25:51,518
He sent Nathan to tell a story -

608
00:25:51,518 --> 00:25:54,697
a story that would draw out David's heart

609
00:25:54,697 --> 00:25:58,558
and in the process expose David's sin.

610
00:25:58,558 --> 00:26:01,337
2 Samuel 12:1,

611
00:26:01,337 --> 00:26:05,516
"And the Lord sent Nathan to David."

612
00:26:05,516 --> 00:26:09,807
David did not choose 
to expose his own sin.

613
00:26:09,807 --> 00:26:13,986
God came to get him out of mercy.

614
00:26:13,986 --> 00:26:16,606
"He came to him and said to him,

615
00:26:16,606 --> 00:26:20,055
'There were two men in a certain city.

616
00:26:20,055 --> 00:26:25,415
The one rich and the other poor.

617
00:26:25,415 --> 00:26:29,206
The rich man had very 
many flocks and herds,

618
00:26:29,206 --> 00:26:30,711
but the poor man had nothing

619
00:26:30,711 --> 00:26:34,775
but one little ewe lamb

620
00:26:34,775 --> 00:26:36,534
which he had bought.

621
00:26:36,534 --> 00:26:38,546
And he brought it up and it grew up

622
00:26:38,546 --> 00:26:41,715
with him and with his children.

623
00:26:41,715 --> 00:26:43,746
It used to eat of his morsel,

624
00:26:43,746 --> 00:26:45,708
drink from his cup,

625
00:26:45,708 --> 00:26:47,456
and lie in his arms.

626
00:26:47,456 --> 00:26:49,628
It was like a daughter to him."

627
00:26:49,628 --> 00:26:51,067
Now, I'm not usually a fan

628
00:26:51,067 --> 00:26:53,108
of giving your pets your last name,

629
00:26:53,108 --> 00:26:56,057
but it does look like 
that's what happened here.

630
00:26:56,057 --> 00:27:01,426
This was like a daughter to this man.

631
00:27:01,426 --> 00:27:05,807
His one little ewe lamb.

632
00:27:05,807 --> 00:27:08,277
"Now there came a 
traveler to the rich man,

633
00:27:08,277 --> 00:27:10,046
and he was unwilling to take

634
00:27:10,046 --> 00:27:12,647
one of his own flock or herd

635
00:27:12,647 --> 00:27:14,977
to prepare for the guest 
who had come to him,

636
00:27:14,977 --> 00:27:17,286
but he took the poor man's lamb

637
00:27:17,286 --> 00:27:20,189
and prepared it for the 
man who had come to him."

638
00:27:20,189 --> 00:27:22,627
You know, you've got to 
keep your resources secure.

639
00:27:22,627 --> 00:27:25,089
You can't be draining away your assets.

640
00:27:25,089 --> 00:27:27,130
I know, I'll just abscond this man's

641
00:27:27,130 --> 00:27:29,808
one poor little lamb.

642
00:27:29,808 --> 00:27:33,507
And he turns this daughter 
of a lamb into lamb chops

643
00:27:33,507 --> 00:27:36,719
and cooks it for his rich friend.

644
00:27:36,719 --> 00:27:41,716
"Then David's anger was greatly kindled

645
00:27:41,716 --> 00:27:43,506
against the man.

646
00:27:43,506 --> 00:27:45,007
And he said to Nathan,

647
00:27:45,007 --> 00:27:46,590
'As the Lord lives,

648
00:27:46,590 --> 00:27:49,576
the man who has done this deserves to die,

649
00:27:49,576 --> 00:27:52,008
and he shall restore the lamb fourfold

650
00:27:52,008 --> 00:27:53,507
because he did this thing

651
00:27:53,507 --> 00:27:56,254
and because he has had no pity.'"

652
00:27:56,254 --> 00:27:58,387
Nathan's story has worked

653
00:27:58,387 --> 00:28:00,249
like a Trojan horse.

654
00:28:00,249 --> 00:28:03,716
He has snuck in to convict David.

655
00:28:03,716 --> 00:28:05,548
If he had come into the room of man

656
00:28:05,548 --> 00:28:08,028
who is now an adulterer, 
a liar, and a murderer,

657
00:28:08,028 --> 00:28:09,857
and he had just said, "You're a liar,

658
00:28:09,857 --> 00:28:11,316
a murderer, and an adulterer,"

659
00:28:11,316 --> 00:28:12,508
his words would probably

660
00:28:12,508 --> 00:28:15,616
have bounced off of David's 
heart and conscience.

661
00:28:15,616 --> 00:28:17,527
But he came with a story

662
00:28:17,527 --> 00:28:22,077
that ignited all of David's 
old righteous passions.

663
00:28:22,077 --> 00:28:23,476
David knew that a rich man

664
00:28:23,476 --> 00:28:26,057
who takes a poor man's only treasure

665
00:28:26,057 --> 00:28:27,957
is an evil man.

666
00:28:27,957 --> 00:28:31,266
So now Nathan on behalf of God

667
00:28:31,266 --> 00:28:34,106
pulls the line in to set the hook.

668
00:28:34,106 --> 00:28:36,777
He says in v. 7,

669
00:28:36,777 --> 00:28:38,278
"Nathan said to David,

670
00:28:38,278 --> 00:28:41,837
'You are the man.'

671
00:28:41,837 --> 00:28:43,789
Thus says the Lord the God of Israel,

672
00:28:43,789 --> 00:28:45,355
'I anointed you king over Israel

673
00:28:45,355 --> 00:28:47,905
and I delivered you 
out of the hand of Saul

674
00:28:47,905 --> 00:28:49,567
and I gave you your master's house

675
00:28:49,567 --> 00:28:51,477
and your master's wives into your arms,

676
00:28:51,477 --> 00:28:54,118
and gave you the house 
of Israel and of Judah.

677
00:28:54,118 --> 00:28:55,547
And if this were too little,

678
00:28:55,547 --> 00:28:57,646
I would add to you as much more.

679
00:28:57,646 --> 00:28:59,856
Why have you despised

680
00:28:59,856 --> 00:29:02,267
the Word of the Lord

681
00:29:02,267 --> 00:29:04,604
to do what is evil in His sight?

682
00:29:04,604 --> 00:29:06,658
You have struck down Uriah the Hittite

683
00:29:06,658 --> 00:29:07,756
with the sword

684
00:29:07,756 --> 00:29:09,817
and taken his wife to be your wife

685
00:29:09,817 --> 00:29:11,979
and have killed him with the sword

686
00:29:11,979 --> 00:29:14,007
of the Ammonites.'"

687
00:29:14,007 --> 00:29:15,495
Now I realize as I read that

688
00:29:15,495 --> 00:29:17,248
you might be troubled by the idea

689
00:29:17,248 --> 00:29:19,277
of God giving David a harem.

690
00:29:19,277 --> 00:29:21,237
And I can't get into that in this sermon,

691
00:29:21,237 --> 00:29:23,898
but I'll just refer you to the 
sermons on Deuteronomy

692
00:29:23,898 --> 00:29:27,016
which reminds us how much God overlooked

693
00:29:27,016 --> 00:29:29,047
the hardness of heart in Israel

694
00:29:29,047 --> 00:29:31,450
even as He was getting to the main point

695
00:29:31,450 --> 00:29:33,757
of His salvation.

696
00:29:33,757 --> 00:29:35,788
But what you see here is that God

697
00:29:35,788 --> 00:29:38,457
mounts up the accusation against David.

698
00:29:38,457 --> 00:29:40,609
I had given you everything.

699
00:29:40,609 --> 00:29:42,969
I had treated you like gold.

700
00:29:42,969 --> 00:29:45,697
And now you have hated My Word

701
00:29:45,697 --> 00:29:47,288
and you have despised Me.

702
00:29:47,288 --> 00:29:49,375
He doesn't say that David 
had a hard moment

703
00:29:49,375 --> 00:29:53,238
and He understands the 
pressures of being king.

704
00:29:53,238 --> 00:29:57,507
Sin is the despising of God's Word.

705
00:29:57,507 --> 00:30:00,778
Sin is when we ignore God

706
00:30:00,778 --> 00:30:03,238
and rebel against Him.

707
00:30:03,238 --> 00:30:05,607
Now, let me mention just a few things here

708
00:30:05,607 --> 00:30:07,458
before we move on in this story.

709
00:30:07,458 --> 00:30:10,817
First, it is a great act of love

710
00:30:10,817 --> 00:30:13,147
when God exposes sin.

711
00:30:13,147 --> 00:30:16,747
It almost never feels like 
that when it's happening.

712
00:30:16,747 --> 00:30:18,590
Not to me. Not to you.

713
00:30:18,590 --> 00:30:21,288
But it is a great act of love

714
00:30:21,288 --> 00:30:22,755
when God exposes sin.

715
00:30:22,755 --> 00:30:25,757
He could have let David go in his sin.

716
00:30:25,757 --> 00:30:28,048
That is what God did with King Saul.

717
00:30:28,048 --> 00:30:30,616
When King Saul sinned against God,

718
00:30:30,616 --> 00:30:33,776
God said, "I'm done 
with you. That was it."

719
00:30:33,776 --> 00:30:37,104
But He told David in 2 Samuel 7,

720
00:30:37,104 --> 00:30:39,749
"My steadfast love will 
not depart from you

721
00:30:39,749 --> 00:30:41,445
as it did to Saul."

722
00:30:41,445 --> 00:30:43,057
And now when David sins,

723
00:30:43,057 --> 00:30:45,586
God doesn't reject him and throw him away.

724
00:30:45,586 --> 00:30:50,748
He comes after him to expose his sin.

725
00:30:50,748 --> 00:30:54,127
Judas betrayed Jesus

726
00:30:54,127 --> 00:30:56,657
and Jesus let Judas go.

727
00:30:56,657 --> 00:30:59,329
But Peter betrayed Jesus as well,

728
00:30:59,329 --> 00:31:01,961
and Jesus wouldn't let Peter go.

729
00:31:01,961 --> 00:31:04,848
He came along and exposed Peter's sins.

730
00:31:04,848 --> 00:31:06,960
That's what He does 
with all of His people.

731
00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:09,256
That's what He does with 
His covenant children,

732
00:31:09,256 --> 00:31:10,988
His chosen ones, His elect -

733
00:31:10,988 --> 00:31:12,396
is even if they fall

734
00:31:12,396 --> 00:31:14,546
and they sin against His grace,

735
00:31:14,546 --> 00:31:17,048
He comes and gets them in grace

736
00:31:17,048 --> 00:31:19,375
to bring them back to Himself

737
00:31:19,375 --> 00:31:22,389
even in the midst of their hidden sin.

738
00:31:22,389 --> 00:31:24,517
He wants to expose you

739
00:31:24,517 --> 00:31:26,578
so He can restore you.

740
00:31:26,578 --> 00:31:29,008
He wants to lead you to repentance, yes,

741
00:31:29,008 --> 00:31:30,659
but to faith too.

742
00:31:30,659 --> 00:31:33,418
He wants to show you that 
you have displeased Him,

743
00:31:33,418 --> 00:31:37,156
yes, but so He can please 
you with His grace.

744
00:31:37,156 --> 00:31:41,868
Let that truth overwhelm any desire

745
00:31:41,868 --> 00:31:45,007
to go on in hidden sin.

746
00:31:45,007 --> 00:31:47,388
All of the promises you may make yourself

747
00:31:47,388 --> 00:31:51,250
that hiding your sin will 
be better for you are lies

748
00:31:51,250 --> 00:31:53,827
and they are utterly, utterly foolish

749
00:31:53,827 --> 00:31:56,787
compared to God's promises to do you good

750
00:31:56,787 --> 00:31:59,107
if you come clean.

751
00:31:59,107 --> 00:32:01,319
Secondly, notice that God can

752
00:32:01,319 --> 00:32:03,248
literally move mountains

753
00:32:03,248 --> 00:32:05,134
to expose our sins.

754
00:32:05,134 --> 00:32:07,866
David had covered this thing up.

755
00:32:07,866 --> 00:32:09,585
It was done. He had done it.

756
00:32:09,585 --> 00:32:11,399
He'd fixed it.

757
00:32:11,399 --> 00:32:12,646
The only people who knew

758
00:32:12,646 --> 00:32:14,624
were the servants of the royal throneroom

759
00:32:14,624 --> 00:32:17,748
and they could be easily 
disposed of if need be.

760
00:32:17,748 --> 00:32:20,476
But God had other resources.

761
00:32:20,476 --> 00:32:22,475
He still does.

762
00:32:22,475 --> 00:32:23,966
In the New Testament church

763
00:32:23,966 --> 00:32:26,397
when Ananias and Sapphira were lying

764
00:32:26,397 --> 00:32:28,619
about how generous they were to the church

765
00:32:28,619 --> 00:32:30,996
God gave a prophetic word to Peter

766
00:32:30,996 --> 00:32:32,956
so he knew they were lying

767
00:32:32,956 --> 00:32:34,717
and He exposed them.

768
00:32:34,717 --> 00:32:36,918
We're told in 1 Corinthians that sometimes

769
00:32:36,918 --> 00:32:39,859
unbelievers would come 
into the church gatherings

770
00:32:39,859 --> 00:32:42,299
and God would give prophetic words

771
00:32:42,299 --> 00:32:45,628
that would expose even the 
sins of those unbelievers.

772
00:32:45,628 --> 00:32:48,400
We're told an unbeliever, 
outsider, enters.

773
00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:50,730
Then he is convicted by all.

774
00:32:50,730 --> 00:32:52,348
He is called to account by all.

775
00:32:52,348 --> 00:32:55,058
All the secrets of his heart are disclosed

776
00:32:55,058 --> 00:32:56,678
and so falling on his face,

777
00:32:56,678 --> 00:32:58,918
he will worship God and declare

778
00:32:58,918 --> 00:33:01,254
that God is really among you.

779
00:33:01,254 --> 00:33:05,006
God has everything at His disposal.

780
00:33:05,006 --> 00:33:07,457
I heard of a pastor once 
who was in an affair

781
00:33:07,457 --> 00:33:09,136
and while hugging his lover,

782
00:33:09,136 --> 00:33:11,186
he pocket-dialed his wife

783
00:33:11,186 --> 00:33:13,544
and she heard him talking to his lover.

784
00:33:13,544 --> 00:33:16,787
God moved circumstances to expose him.

785
00:33:16,787 --> 00:33:19,647
I know a pastor who was stealing sermons,

786
00:33:19,647 --> 00:33:21,586
but one week when he was preaching them,

787
00:33:21,586 --> 00:33:22,798
a man who had been there

788
00:33:22,798 --> 00:33:25,346
when those original sermons 
were originally preached,

789
00:33:25,346 --> 00:33:28,859
that man was there watching 
the pastor steal sermons

790
00:33:28,859 --> 00:33:31,337
and he showed up and he knew

791
00:33:31,337 --> 00:33:32,866
and he said something.

792
00:33:32,866 --> 00:33:35,057
What are the chances?

793
00:33:35,057 --> 00:33:37,656
How many men were cheating on their wives

794
00:33:37,656 --> 00:33:39,696
thinking no one would ever know

795
00:33:39,696 --> 00:33:42,577
when the Ashley Madison website got hacked

796
00:33:42,577 --> 00:33:45,517
and all of those names 
were printed publicly?

797
00:33:45,517 --> 00:33:48,828
Don't think you can hide from God.

798
00:33:48,828 --> 00:33:50,747
And don't think He can't expose you.

799
00:33:50,747 --> 00:33:54,506
Even if it's true that 
no one knows your sin,

800
00:33:54,506 --> 00:33:56,838
God can give a prophetic word to someone

801
00:33:56,838 --> 00:33:58,436
to expose that sin.

802
00:33:58,436 --> 00:34:03,727
There is no possible way 
in the universe to hide.

803
00:34:03,727 --> 00:34:05,716
But even if you did hide

804
00:34:05,716 --> 00:34:08,436
until the day of your death,

805
00:34:08,436 --> 00:34:10,603
God has planned a day where He will bring

806
00:34:10,603 --> 00:34:12,508
all things to light.

807
00:34:12,508 --> 00:34:15,547
And there will be no hiding then.

808
00:34:15,547 --> 00:34:17,757
And why get caught then?

809
00:34:17,757 --> 00:34:20,409
When it's too late?

810
00:34:20,409 --> 00:34:22,287
When the judgment day has been sealed?

811
00:34:22,287 --> 00:34:26,008
When your destiny in hell is sealed?

812
00:34:26,008 --> 00:34:28,345
When you could come clean now?

813
00:34:28,345 --> 00:34:31,438
And receive mercy and grace in this life

814
00:34:31,438 --> 00:34:33,989
and for eternity?

815
00:34:33,989 --> 00:34:36,888
If you look like a fool 
and a wicked sinner

816
00:34:36,888 --> 00:34:38,548
for the rest of your life,

817
00:34:38,548 --> 00:34:40,177
wouldn't it be worth it if you

818
00:34:40,177 --> 00:34:45,697
were counted righteous in eternity?

819
00:34:45,697 --> 00:34:47,609
In fact, why not model

820
00:34:47,609 --> 00:34:51,298
your response to God's 
exposure after David's?

821
00:34:51,298 --> 00:34:53,777
Look at chapter 12:13,

822
00:34:53,777 --> 00:34:55,587
"David said to Nathan,

823
00:34:55,587 --> 00:35:01,197
'I have sinned against the Lord.'"

824
00:35:01,197 --> 00:35:03,177
Verse 13 of chapter 12.

825
00:35:03,177 --> 00:35:04,687
"David said to Nathan,

826
00:35:04,687 --> 00:35:08,187
'I have sinned against the Lord.'"

827
00:35:08,187 --> 00:35:11,147
No if's. No and's. No but's.

828
00:35:11,147 --> 00:35:12,929
No excuses.

829
00:35:12,929 --> 00:35:14,906
Just a simple confession:

830
00:35:14,906 --> 00:35:19,748
Yes, I agree with what I 
have been accused of.

831
00:35:19,748 --> 00:35:23,618
I have sinned against the Lord.

832
00:35:23,618 --> 00:35:27,359
It is a miracle when 
anyone says those words.

833
00:35:27,359 --> 00:35:29,867
It is an absolute miracle 
of the Holy Spirit

834
00:35:29,867 --> 00:35:31,648
when anyone says those words.

835
00:35:31,648 --> 00:35:33,587
And the only words more miraculous

836
00:35:33,587 --> 00:35:36,556
than those words are 
then the following words:

837
00:35:36,556 --> 00:35:37,976
"And Nathan said to David,

838
00:35:37,976 --> 00:35:40,988
'The Lord also has put away your sin.

839
00:35:40,988 --> 00:35:43,087
You shall not die.'"

840
00:35:43,087 --> 00:35:45,746
Christian, that is what is 
over your whole life.

841
00:35:45,746 --> 00:35:47,818
The Lord has put away your sin.

842
00:35:47,818 --> 00:35:50,857
You shall not die.

843
00:35:50,857 --> 00:35:53,466
But if you hold on to your sin and hide it

844
00:35:53,466 --> 00:35:56,587
how do you even know you're a Christian?

845
00:35:56,587 --> 00:35:59,339
The mark of a Christian 
is that they come clean.

846
00:35:59,339 --> 00:36:00,746
If we say we have no sin,

847
00:36:00,746 --> 00:36:02,446
we deceive ourselves

848
00:36:02,446 --> 00:36:05,127
and the truth is not in us.

849
00:36:05,127 --> 00:36:07,007
But if we confess our sins,

850
00:36:07,007 --> 00:36:11,097
He is faithful and just 
to forgive us our sins

851
00:36:11,097 --> 00:36:17,219
and to cleanse us from 
all unrighteousness.

852
00:36:17,219 --> 00:36:20,879
Oh, in Psalm 32, David doesn't just say

853
00:36:20,879 --> 00:36:22,996
that his bones are drying up

854
00:36:22,996 --> 00:36:24,579
when he hides his sins.

855
00:36:24,579 --> 00:36:26,058
He also says,

856
00:36:26,058 --> 00:36:29,217
"Blessed is the one whose 
transgression is forgiven,

857
00:36:29,217 --> 00:36:31,208
whose sin is covered.

858
00:36:31,208 --> 00:36:34,317
Blessed is the man against whom 
the Lord counts no iniquity

859
00:36:34,317 --> 00:36:37,105
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

860
00:36:37,105 --> 00:36:39,447
When I kept silent, my bones wasted away

861
00:36:39,447 --> 00:36:41,805
through my groaning all day long.

862
00:36:41,805 --> 00:36:44,726
For day and night, Your 
hand was heavy upon me.

863
00:36:44,726 --> 00:36:47,378
My strength dried up as 
in the heat of summer.

864
00:36:47,378 --> 00:36:49,426
I acknowledged my sin to You.

865
00:36:49,426 --> 00:36:51,340
I did not cover my iniquity.

866
00:36:51,340 --> 00:36:55,117
I said I will confess my 
transgressions to the Lord

867
00:36:55,117 --> 00:37:01,318
and You forgave the iniquity of my sin."

868
00:37:01,318 --> 00:37:02,626
That's what God does

869
00:37:02,626 --> 00:37:05,345
primarily through His Son Jesus Christ

870
00:37:05,345 --> 00:37:08,546
who died on the cross out in the open

871
00:37:08,546 --> 00:37:12,478
to pay for all sins - even hidden sins

872
00:37:12,478 --> 00:37:14,688
that we will bring into the light

873
00:37:14,688 --> 00:37:16,647
of His presence.

874
00:37:16,647 --> 00:37:20,387
God disciplines and forgives.

875
00:37:20,387 --> 00:37:24,930
Now we would be remiss if we 
did not notice something.

876
00:37:24,930 --> 00:37:27,258
God disciplines David.

877
00:37:27,258 --> 00:37:30,206
He forgives him, yes, 
a thousand times yes.

878
00:37:30,206 --> 00:37:33,346
But there are terrible consequences.

879
00:37:33,346 --> 00:37:35,875
Verse 10 of chapter 12,

880
00:37:35,875 --> 00:37:38,751
"Now therefore, the 
sword shall never depart

881
00:37:38,751 --> 00:37:41,097
from your house because 
you have despised Me

882
00:37:41,097 --> 00:37:43,808
and taken the wife of Uriah 
the Hittite to be your wife."

883
00:37:43,808 --> 00:37:45,757
If you've ever read the Old Testament,

884
00:37:45,757 --> 00:37:48,809
man, this royal lineage 
is always fighting.

885
00:37:48,809 --> 00:37:50,728
They're always fighting

886
00:37:50,728 --> 00:37:53,877
because of the 
consequences of David's sin.

887
00:37:53,877 --> 00:37:58,605
The sword never 
departed from David's house.

888
00:37:58,605 --> 00:38:00,658
"Thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I will

889
00:38:00,658 --> 00:38:02,314
raise up evil against you

890
00:38:02,314 --> 00:38:03,758
out of your own house,

891
00:38:03,758 --> 00:38:05,909
and I will take your wives 
before your eyes

892
00:38:05,909 --> 00:38:07,477
and give them to your neighbor,

893
00:38:07,477 --> 00:38:10,269
and he shall lie with your wives 
in the sight of the sun."

894
00:38:10,269 --> 00:38:12,568
In other words, the wives 
that David has had,

895
00:38:12,568 --> 00:38:16,546
now they will be ravished in public

896
00:38:16,546 --> 00:38:20,899
all bringing shame down on David's head.

897
00:38:20,899 --> 00:38:23,217
"For you did it secretly,

898
00:38:23,217 --> 00:38:26,168
but I will do this thing before all Israel

899
00:38:26,168 --> 00:38:28,680
and before the sun."

900
00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:31,007
David's house will know war.

901
00:38:31,007 --> 00:38:33,550
David will be shamed as 
his wives are ravished

902
00:38:33,550 --> 00:38:35,677
and as other men to do David's wives

903
00:38:35,677 --> 00:38:37,926
as David did to Uriah's.

904
00:38:37,926 --> 00:38:39,517
It's going to be grim.

905
00:38:39,517 --> 00:38:41,479
And in fact, it gets worse.

906
00:38:41,479 --> 00:38:43,628
We're told, "Nevertheless,

907
00:38:43,628 --> 00:38:47,018
because by this deed you 
have utterly scorned the Lord,

908
00:38:47,018 --> 00:38:51,129
the child who is born to you shall die."

909
00:38:51,129 --> 00:38:54,688
Severe, severe discipline.

910
00:38:54,688 --> 00:38:56,245
The New Testament describes

911
00:38:56,245 --> 00:38:59,620
the discipline of the Lord as a scourging.

912
00:38:59,620 --> 00:39:02,247
It describes it as the 
hacking off of a limb

913
00:39:02,247 --> 00:39:05,125
when a tree is clipped

914
00:39:05,125 --> 00:39:07,579
of its most precious limbs.

915
00:39:07,579 --> 00:39:09,457
Now we noted that God forgives.

916
00:39:09,457 --> 00:39:12,669
Forgives so fully that David escapes death

917
00:39:12,669 --> 00:39:15,118
and brings joy to his soul.

918
00:39:15,118 --> 00:39:17,115
But there are consequences.

919
00:39:17,115 --> 00:39:19,846
I cannot tell you that if you 
come clean of your sin,

920
00:39:19,846 --> 00:39:21,857
your wife won't leave you.

921
00:39:21,857 --> 00:39:25,006
I cannot tell you that 
your kids won't hate you.

922
00:39:25,006 --> 00:39:27,723
That your boss won't fire you.

923
00:39:27,723 --> 00:39:30,288
The government won't arrest you.

924
00:39:30,288 --> 00:39:32,722
I cannot make you that promise.

925
00:39:32,722 --> 00:39:36,026
God often allows dark consequences

926
00:39:36,026 --> 00:39:38,478
to follow our sins.

927
00:39:38,478 --> 00:39:39,909
I know a man who pressed on

928
00:39:39,909 --> 00:39:41,359
for many years in pornography

929
00:39:41,359 --> 00:39:43,409
and saw his wife die.

930
00:39:43,409 --> 00:39:48,448
He felt her death was 
God's discipline for his sin.

931
00:39:48,448 --> 00:39:52,027
God may discipline you 
terribly for your sin,

932
00:39:52,027 --> 00:39:57,166
but it's still worth it to come clean.

933
00:39:57,166 --> 00:40:00,327
You may lose everything,

934
00:40:00,327 --> 00:40:04,786
but you'll have God.

935
00:40:04,786 --> 00:40:07,457
(incomplete thought)

936
00:40:07,457 --> 00:40:09,538
Second to finally,

937
00:40:09,538 --> 00:40:13,017
David pleads and presses on.

938
00:40:13,017 --> 00:40:14,946
Now what David does next is shocking.

939
00:40:14,946 --> 00:40:16,527
He fasts and prays that God

940
00:40:16,527 --> 00:40:20,566
would not inflict the fullness 
of His discipline on him.

941
00:40:20,566 --> 00:40:25,077
He fasts and prays for 
the life of his child.

942
00:40:25,077 --> 00:40:28,286
Chapter 12, verse 15,

943
00:40:28,286 --> 00:40:29,929
"And the Lord afflicted the child

944
00:40:29,929 --> 00:40:31,549
that Uriah's wife bore to David,

945
00:40:31,549 --> 00:40:33,157
and he became sick.

946
00:40:33,157 --> 00:40:35,579
David therefore sought God 
on behalf of the child

947
00:40:35,579 --> 00:40:37,348
and David fasted and went in

948
00:40:37,348 --> 00:40:38,996
and lay all night on the ground.

949
00:40:38,996 --> 00:40:41,181
And the elders of his 
house stood beside him

950
00:40:41,181 --> 00:40:43,419
to raise him from the 
ground, but he would not,

951
00:40:43,419 --> 00:40:45,627
nor did he eat food with them.

952
00:40:45,627 --> 00:40:47,759
On the seventh day, the child died,

953
00:40:47,759 --> 00:40:49,527
but the servants of David were afraid

954
00:40:49,527 --> 00:40:51,528
to tell him that the child was dead,

955
00:40:51,528 --> 00:40:54,189
for they said, 'Behold, while 
the child was yet alive,

956
00:40:54,189 --> 00:40:56,660
we spoke to him and he 
did not listen to us.

957
00:40:56,660 --> 00:40:58,966
How can we say to him the child is dead?

958
00:40:58,966 --> 00:41:00,746
He may do himself some harm.'"

959
00:41:00,746 --> 00:41:02,858
They thought David was suicidal.

960
00:41:02,858 --> 00:41:04,668
"But when David saw that his servants

961
00:41:04,668 --> 00:41:05,996
were whispering together,

962
00:41:05,996 --> 00:41:08,786
David understood that the child was dead.

963
00:41:08,786 --> 00:41:10,328
And David said to his servants,

964
00:41:10,328 --> 00:41:11,687
'Is the child dead?'

965
00:41:11,687 --> 00:41:13,109
They said, 'He is dead.'

966
00:41:13,109 --> 00:41:14,701
Then David arose from the earth

967
00:41:14,701 --> 00:41:17,048
and washed and anointed himself

968
00:41:17,048 --> 00:41:18,577
and changed his clothes.

969
00:41:18,577 --> 00:41:21,329
He went into the house of 
the Lord and worshiped.

970
00:41:21,329 --> 00:41:24,028
He then went to his 
servants who said to him,

971
00:41:24,028 --> 00:41:26,378
'What is this thing you have done?

972
00:41:26,378 --> 00:41:29,379
You fasted and wept for the 
child when he was alive,

973
00:41:29,379 --> 00:41:31,806
but when the child died, 
you arose and ate food.'

974
00:41:31,806 --> 00:41:33,607
He said, 'While the child was alive,

975
00:41:33,607 --> 00:41:34,949
I fasted and wept.

976
00:41:34,949 --> 00:41:36,848
For I said who knows whether the Lord

977
00:41:36,848 --> 00:41:38,358
will be gracious to me,

978
00:41:38,358 --> 00:41:39,959
that the child may live.

979
00:41:39,959 --> 00:41:41,418
But now he is dead.

980
00:41:41,418 --> 00:41:42,990
Why should I fast?

981
00:41:42,990 --> 00:41:44,638
Can I bring him back again?

982
00:41:44,638 --> 00:41:46,129
I shall go to him,

983
00:41:46,129 --> 00:41:48,917
but he will not return to me.'"

984
00:41:48,917 --> 00:41:51,396
David's servants were confused by David,

985
00:41:51,396 --> 00:41:53,288
and maybe you're confused by David too.

986
00:41:53,288 --> 00:41:55,130
What's going on here?

987
00:41:55,130 --> 00:41:58,050
They thought he was praying 
and fasting out of grief.

988
00:41:58,050 --> 00:42:00,147
But he was not primarily fasting

989
00:42:00,147 --> 00:42:01,928
and praying out of grief.

990
00:42:01,928 --> 00:42:04,950
He was fasting and praying for mercy.

991
00:42:04,950 --> 00:42:06,799
He was hoping God would remove

992
00:42:06,799 --> 00:42:08,949
some of the consequences.

993
00:42:08,949 --> 00:42:10,786
Did you know you can do that?

994
00:42:10,786 --> 00:42:12,847
If you come clean over your sin

995
00:42:12,847 --> 00:42:14,438
and God disciplines you,

996
00:42:14,438 --> 00:42:18,427
you can ask God to suspend the discipline.

997
00:42:18,427 --> 00:42:20,076
In fact, I've seen God grant mercy

998
00:42:20,076 --> 00:42:23,369
to so many disciplined 
saints over the years.

999
00:42:23,369 --> 00:42:24,778
I remember a young woman

1000
00:42:24,778 --> 00:42:26,175
who had lied to her school.

1001
00:42:26,175 --> 00:42:27,397
If I remember correctly,

1002
00:42:27,397 --> 00:42:28,659
she had cheated on a test

1003
00:42:28,659 --> 00:42:30,649
affecting her entrance requirements.

1004
00:42:30,649 --> 00:42:32,052
And as she came to know more

1005
00:42:32,052 --> 00:42:33,646
of God's holiness and grace,

1006
00:42:33,646 --> 00:42:35,520
she came clean, but she knew

1007
00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:37,667
she might be kicked out of her school.

1008
00:42:37,667 --> 00:42:38,947
We prayed and prayed

1009
00:42:38,947 --> 00:42:40,578
and God had mercy on her.

1010
00:42:40,578 --> 00:42:42,724
And when she told the 
school administration,

1011
00:42:42,724 --> 00:42:44,762
they had mercy on her.

1012
00:42:44,762 --> 00:42:47,858
I remember a man who 
was fired for lying at work.

1013
00:42:47,858 --> 00:42:50,010
We prayed for God to be merciful to him

1014
00:42:50,010 --> 00:42:51,476
as he came clean.

1015
00:42:51,476 --> 00:42:53,047
And he was given another job

1016
00:42:53,047 --> 00:42:55,248
by a different company that day.

1017
00:42:55,248 --> 00:42:57,648
Sometimes - many times - He does that.

1018
00:42:57,648 --> 00:43:00,398
He releases us from the discipline.

1019
00:43:00,398 --> 00:43:03,390
He does not treat us as our sins deserve.

1020
00:43:03,390 --> 00:43:05,826
I knew a man who by the 
time he came to Christ

1021
00:43:05,826 --> 00:43:07,287
had such a damaged marriage

1022
00:43:07,287 --> 00:43:10,028
that it did not look like the 
marriage could be saved.

1023
00:43:10,028 --> 00:43:11,560
Yet, he prayed and prayed,

1024
00:43:11,560 --> 00:43:13,667
and he would not take 
his wedding ring off.

1025
00:43:13,667 --> 00:43:15,447
He prayed and prayed, but in the end,

1026
00:43:15,447 --> 00:43:17,207
he had to take off the wedding ring

1027
00:43:17,207 --> 00:43:19,841
because God did not restore the marriage.

1028
00:43:19,841 --> 00:43:22,518
But God still forgave his sins.

1029
00:43:22,518 --> 00:43:26,927
He was not treated as his sins deserved.

1030
00:43:26,927 --> 00:43:29,317
Can I say this to you this morning?

1031
00:43:29,317 --> 00:43:34,227
I have not been treated 
as my sins deserve.

1032
00:43:34,227 --> 00:43:37,208
And you have not been treated, believer,

1033
00:43:37,208 --> 00:43:39,048
as your sins deserve.

1034
00:43:39,048 --> 00:43:41,519
Perhaps you have confessed some secret sin

1035
00:43:41,519 --> 00:43:42,787
sometime in the past

1036
00:43:42,787 --> 00:43:45,177
and the discipline has stayed.

1037
00:43:45,177 --> 00:43:47,949
God was being merciful to you.

1038
00:43:47,949 --> 00:43:49,246
How you should praise God

1039
00:43:49,246 --> 00:43:51,157
with shouts of hallelujah this morning

1040
00:43:51,157 --> 00:43:54,447
that God didn't reject you 
and send you to hell,

1041
00:43:54,447 --> 00:43:56,217
but He kept you as His child.

1042
00:43:56,217 --> 00:43:58,726
And maybe you're here this 
morning and you're like

1043
00:43:58,726 --> 00:44:00,796
I did get myself in a pickle.

1044
00:44:00,796 --> 00:44:02,306
I should have lost my marriage.

1045
00:44:02,306 --> 00:44:03,878
I should have lost my job.

1046
00:44:03,878 --> 00:44:06,848
But instead, God sustained even those.

1047
00:44:06,848 --> 00:44:10,277
We should have shouts of 
hallelujah to the rooftops

1048
00:44:10,277 --> 00:44:12,577
for how God has preserved us

1049
00:44:12,577 --> 00:44:16,208
even in the midst of our sin.

1050
00:44:16,208 --> 00:44:20,086
Finally, God restores.

1051
00:44:20,086 --> 00:44:22,658
The last two paragraphs of this chapter

1052
00:44:22,658 --> 00:44:24,777
are fairly scandalous.

1053
00:44:24,777 --> 00:44:29,327
David is treated with 
real, practical grace.

1054
00:44:29,327 --> 00:44:31,686
These paragraphs include two instances

1055
00:44:31,686 --> 00:44:36,038
of God being super-gracious to David.

1056
00:44:36,038 --> 00:44:37,907
Treating him the way we kind of get mad

1057
00:44:37,907 --> 00:44:39,748
when we see sinners treated.

1058
00:44:39,748 --> 00:44:43,857
Treating him well and lavishly.

1059
00:44:43,857 --> 00:44:48,179
It says that God gives David Bathsheba.

1060
00:44:48,179 --> 00:44:51,387
And then personally sends a note

1061
00:44:51,387 --> 00:44:55,058
where He decides what Bathsheba's son

1062
00:44:55,058 --> 00:44:56,787
will be named.

1063
00:44:56,787 --> 00:45:00,368
You talk about divine 
intervention in your life.

1064
00:45:00,368 --> 00:45:02,528
It says in v. 24 of chapter 12,

1065
00:45:02,528 --> 00:45:04,999
"Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba

1066
00:45:04,999 --> 00:45:06,877
and went in to her and lay with her

1067
00:45:06,877 --> 00:45:08,118
and she bore a son

1068
00:45:08,118 --> 00:45:09,761
and he called his name Solomon,

1069
00:45:09,761 --> 00:45:11,427
and the Lord loved him

1070
00:45:11,427 --> 00:45:13,888
and sent a message by Nathan the prophet

1071
00:45:13,888 --> 00:45:16,698
so he called his name Jedidiah

1072
00:45:16,698 --> 00:45:17,825
because of the Lord."

1073
00:45:17,825 --> 00:45:19,319
You can imagine how much David

1074
00:45:19,319 --> 00:45:20,948
would have doubted the love of God

1075
00:45:20,948 --> 00:45:22,866
after all of God's discipline upon him.

1076
00:45:22,866 --> 00:45:24,877
And there he is standing with his new son

1077
00:45:24,877 --> 00:45:27,497
and Nathan comes - the same 
one who had convicted him -

1078
00:45:27,497 --> 00:45:28,568
and slips him a note.

1079
00:45:28,568 --> 00:45:32,185
God has decided the 
name of this new child.

1080
00:45:32,185 --> 00:45:36,187
What an assurance of God's 
involvement in David's life;

1081
00:45:36,187 --> 00:45:38,089
God's love for David.

1082
00:45:38,089 --> 00:45:39,807
Now you might get all judgy

1083
00:45:39,807 --> 00:45:41,947
about David and Bathsheba

1084
00:45:41,947 --> 00:45:43,697
getting to have a happy marriage

1085
00:45:43,697 --> 00:45:45,727
after all the mess they were in,

1086
00:45:45,727 --> 00:45:48,566
but some of you started your relationship

1087
00:45:48,566 --> 00:45:50,077
with a bunch of fornication

1088
00:45:50,077 --> 00:45:51,526
before you were married

1089
00:45:51,526 --> 00:45:54,027
and lo and behold, God 
still gave you to each other

1090
00:45:54,027 --> 00:45:55,846
and after you came clean of your sin,

1091
00:45:55,846 --> 00:45:57,762
He actually gave you a stable marriage.

1092
00:45:57,762 --> 00:45:59,785
Some of you He even gave kids.

1093
00:45:59,785 --> 00:46:02,118
Pretty amazing really.

1094
00:46:02,118 --> 00:46:04,948
And I know of people who 
should not have gotten divorced.

1095
00:46:04,948 --> 00:46:07,206
The Bible after all seldom allows divorce.

1096
00:46:07,206 --> 00:46:09,357
And they should not have gotten remarried.

1097
00:46:09,357 --> 00:46:11,607
After all, the Bible really 
speaks negatively

1098
00:46:11,607 --> 00:46:14,188
of remarriage after an unlawful divorce.

1099
00:46:14,188 --> 00:46:15,967
I know of people who have done that,

1100
00:46:15,967 --> 00:46:18,248
but lo and behold, God gave them grace

1101
00:46:18,248 --> 00:46:19,935
and sometimes even children.

1102
00:46:19,935 --> 00:46:21,987
We should not take stories like this

1103
00:46:21,987 --> 00:46:23,479
as an excuse to sin.

1104
00:46:23,479 --> 00:46:24,988
But if you've been blessed

1105
00:46:24,988 --> 00:46:27,116
after you came clean from sin,

1106
00:46:27,116 --> 00:46:28,827
then you have one more reason

1107
00:46:28,827 --> 00:46:30,708
to bless the Lord this morning,

1108
00:46:30,708 --> 00:46:32,837
and one more reason to come clean

1109
00:46:32,837 --> 00:46:35,078
if you've hidden sin in your life.

1110
00:46:35,078 --> 00:46:37,246
How can you hide sin against the God

1111
00:46:37,246 --> 00:46:41,649
who has been so gracious to you?

1112
00:46:41,649 --> 00:46:44,279
Now we won't skip 
over this last paragraph.

1113
00:46:44,279 --> 00:46:48,117
You might look at it and say 
this is just military details.

1114
00:46:48,117 --> 00:46:50,426
The chapter ends with military details.

1115
00:46:50,426 --> 00:46:52,377
Like what on earth is the Bible doing?

1116
00:46:52,377 --> 00:46:54,301
Ending the story of David and Bathsheba

1117
00:46:54,301 --> 00:46:55,590
with military details?

1118
00:46:55,590 --> 00:46:57,457
I think I'm out of time to read them,

1119
00:46:57,457 --> 00:46:59,279
but I'll tell you what they say.

1120
00:46:59,279 --> 00:47:01,568
They say that David went to that war

1121
00:47:01,568 --> 00:47:04,088
that he should have 
been at in the first place

1122
00:47:04,088 --> 00:47:06,357
and he won it decisively.

1123
00:47:06,357 --> 00:47:08,991
And we shouldn't just see a won war here.

1124
00:47:08,991 --> 00:47:11,947
We should see that 
God is restoring his king

1125
00:47:11,947 --> 00:47:13,985
to the rightful place of victory.

1126
00:47:13,985 --> 00:47:16,285
God had promised Israel peace.

1127
00:47:16,285 --> 00:47:18,138
He had promised Israel victory.

1128
00:47:18,138 --> 00:47:21,498
And when the king clears 
the sin out of his life,

1129
00:47:21,498 --> 00:47:24,979
the victory returns to Israel.

1130
00:47:24,979 --> 00:47:27,636
And the same is true for God's church.

1131
00:47:27,636 --> 00:47:30,018
When we tolerate sin in our midst,

1132
00:47:30,018 --> 00:47:32,058
we lose our spiritual power.

1133
00:47:32,058 --> 00:47:34,407
We lose our spiritual effectiveness.

1134
00:47:34,407 --> 00:47:38,014
We lose God's blessing on the work we do.

1135
00:47:38,014 --> 00:47:39,607
But when we confess our sins,

1136
00:47:39,607 --> 00:47:43,242
we become useful to God again.

1137
00:47:43,242 --> 00:47:45,119
Paul told Timothy,

1138
00:47:45,119 --> 00:47:46,966
"If anyone cleanses himself

1139
00:47:46,966 --> 00:47:48,878
from what is dishonorable,

1140
00:47:48,878 --> 00:47:51,678
he will be a vessel for honorable use,

1141
00:47:51,678 --> 00:47:53,916
set apart as holy,

1142
00:47:53,916 --> 00:47:56,349
useful to the master of the house,

1143
00:47:56,349 --> 00:48:01,028
ready for every good work."

1144
00:48:01,028 --> 00:48:05,610
Beloved, we should clear 
out sin in our midst

1145
00:48:05,610 --> 00:48:07,508
because it not only affects

1146
00:48:07,508 --> 00:48:09,207
our effectiveness and our ministry

1147
00:48:09,207 --> 00:48:10,949
to our friends, our roommates,

1148
00:48:10,949 --> 00:48:12,877
our co-workers, our children,

1149
00:48:12,877 --> 00:48:15,219
and our families,

1150
00:48:15,219 --> 00:48:20,967
but it also destroys the 
work of God among us.

1151
00:48:20,967 --> 00:48:25,109
There's a story of 
D.L. Moody, the evangelist.

1152
00:48:25,109 --> 00:48:27,877
And Moody tells the story like this:

1153
00:48:27,877 --> 00:48:31,778
Moody was used to seeing 
about one person saved a day,

1154
00:48:31,778 --> 00:48:34,116
and often many people saved

1155
00:48:34,116 --> 00:48:36,969
through his evangelistic ministries.

1156
00:48:36,969 --> 00:48:41,530
And he says, "I remember one town

1157
00:48:41,530 --> 00:48:44,809
that Mr. Sankey (that 
was his worship leader) -

1158
00:48:44,809 --> 00:48:48,419
I remember one town that 
Mr. Sankey and I visited.

1159
00:48:48,419 --> 00:48:49,789
For a week, it seemed as if

1160
00:48:49,789 --> 00:48:51,047
we were beating the air.

1161
00:48:51,047 --> 00:48:53,209
There was no power in the meetings.

1162
00:48:53,209 --> 00:48:55,258
At last, one day, I said that perhaps

1163
00:48:55,258 --> 00:48:56,679
there was someone cultivating

1164
00:48:56,679 --> 00:48:58,687
the unforgiving spirit.

1165
00:48:58,687 --> 00:49:00,140
The chairman of our committee

1166
00:49:00,140 --> 00:49:01,337
was sitting next to me,

1167
00:49:01,337 --> 00:49:02,917
got up and left the meeting

1168
00:49:02,917 --> 00:49:04,937
right in view of the audience.

1169
00:49:04,937 --> 00:49:06,757
The arrow had hit the mark.

1170
00:49:06,757 --> 00:49:08,263
He had had trouble with someone

1171
00:49:08,263 --> 00:49:09,848
for about six months.

1172
00:49:09,848 --> 00:49:11,389
He at once hunted up this man

1173
00:49:11,389 --> 00:49:12,868
and asked him to forgive him.

1174
00:49:12,868 --> 00:49:14,736
He came to me with tears in his eyes

1175
00:49:14,736 --> 00:49:17,286
and said, 'I thank God 
you ever came here.'"

1176
00:49:17,286 --> 00:49:18,997
That night the inquiry room

1177
00:49:18,997 --> 00:49:20,817
where people came to be saved

1178
00:49:20,817 --> 00:49:22,778
was thronged.

1179
00:49:22,778 --> 00:49:25,388
Wouldn't it be a glorious thing

1180
00:49:25,388 --> 00:49:27,439
if every single member of Immanuel

1181
00:49:27,439 --> 00:49:29,818
that may be holding on to secret sin

1182
00:49:29,818 --> 00:49:31,816
came clean?

1183
00:49:31,816 --> 00:49:34,626
We don't always have to 
tell the whole congregation.

1184
00:49:34,626 --> 00:49:36,568
The Bible shows us that sin can be

1185
00:49:36,568 --> 00:49:38,537
limited in its confession to the people

1186
00:49:38,537 --> 00:49:40,100
who are affected.

1187
00:49:40,100 --> 00:49:43,124
But if you've sinned against someone -

1188
00:49:43,124 --> 00:49:46,397
and lust includes sinning 
against your wife -

1189
00:49:46,397 --> 00:49:48,110
if you've sinned against someone,

1190
00:49:48,110 --> 00:49:50,616
then not only does God need to know

1191
00:49:50,616 --> 00:49:52,586
and be confessed to,

1192
00:49:52,586 --> 00:49:54,626
but that someone needs to know

1193
00:49:54,626 --> 00:49:57,988
and be confessed to as well.

1194
00:49:57,988 --> 00:50:00,238
And if you confess your sins,

1195
00:50:00,238 --> 00:50:02,498
you will know a refreshing

1196
00:50:02,498 --> 00:50:05,120
and a restoration from God's power.

1197
00:50:05,120 --> 00:50:09,397
You will know a fresh 
outpouring of God's Spirit.

1198
00:50:09,397 --> 00:50:13,208
We as a people will 
know a fresh outpouring

1199
00:50:13,208 --> 00:50:16,569
of evangelistic zeal and power

1200
00:50:16,569 --> 00:50:20,988
even in our own midst.

1201
00:50:20,988 --> 00:50:25,059
I'll leave you with one 
verse from Psalm 32.

1202
00:50:25,059 --> 00:50:27,508
In Psalm 32, not only did God

1203
00:50:27,508 --> 00:50:30,407
dry up David's bones

1204
00:50:30,407 --> 00:50:33,046
when he sinned and kept it hidden;

1205
00:50:33,046 --> 00:50:36,046
and not only did God forgive David

1206
00:50:36,046 --> 00:50:37,777
and restore him to joy

1207
00:50:37,777 --> 00:50:40,218
when he came clean;

1208
00:50:40,218 --> 00:50:43,918
but David also says in Psalm 32,

1209
00:50:43,918 --> 00:50:45,518
"I acknowledged my sin to you.

1210
00:50:45,518 --> 00:50:47,726
I did not cover my iniquity.

1211
00:50:47,726 --> 00:50:50,308
I said I will confess my 
transgression to the Lord.

1212
00:50:50,308 --> 00:50:52,539
You forgave the iniquity of my sin.

1213
00:50:52,539 --> 00:50:54,816
Therefore let everyone who is godly

1214
00:50:54,816 --> 00:50:57,659
offer prayer to You at a time 
that You may be found.

1215
00:50:57,659 --> 00:51:00,529
Surely in the rush of great 
waters they shall not reach him.

1216
00:51:00,529 --> 00:51:02,317
You are a hiding place for me.

1217
00:51:02,317 --> 00:51:04,316
You preserve me from troubles.

1218
00:51:04,316 --> 00:51:06,397
You surround me with 
shouts of deliverance.

1219
00:51:06,397 --> 00:51:07,972
I will instruct you and teach you

1220
00:51:07,972 --> 00:51:09,301
in the way you should go.

1221
00:51:09,301 --> 00:51:11,738
I will counsel you with My eye upon you."

1222
00:51:11,738 --> 00:51:14,170
David says that when he was forgiven,

1223
00:51:14,170 --> 00:51:16,469
it actually resulted in him praising God

1224
00:51:16,469 --> 00:51:20,043
and calling other people to call on God.

1225
00:51:20,043 --> 00:51:21,900
That is what God will do in our midst

1226
00:51:21,900 --> 00:51:24,211
when secret sin is uprooted.

1227
00:51:24,211 --> 00:51:26,180
When it stays lodged, we're bound

1228
00:51:26,180 --> 00:51:27,822
for dryness at best,

1229
00:51:27,822 --> 00:51:29,782
and deadness at worst.

1230
00:51:29,782 --> 00:51:31,938
But when it comes out, we are promised

1231
00:51:31,938 --> 00:51:37,220
fresh, fresh springs of new life.

1232
00:51:37,220 --> 00:51:40,810
Let's pray.

1233
00:51:40,810 --> 00:51:45,650
Father, You have been good to me

1234
00:51:45,650 --> 00:51:48,173
to expose sin

1235
00:51:48,173 --> 00:51:51,205
when I've held on to it too long.

1236
00:51:51,205 --> 00:51:53,049
I have watched You over the years

1237
00:51:53,049 --> 00:51:55,122
be good to Your saints,

1238
00:51:55,122 --> 00:51:57,491
to expose their sin sometimes even

1239
00:51:57,491 --> 00:52:00,581
in very surprising ways.

1240
00:52:00,581 --> 00:52:02,281
Lord God, I want to pray that You

1241
00:52:02,281 --> 00:52:04,367
would be good to every member of Immanuel

1242
00:52:04,367 --> 00:52:06,142
and every visitor who's here,

1243
00:52:06,142 --> 00:52:08,112
to help them by the Holy Spirit

1244
00:52:08,112 --> 00:52:10,590
to expose their own sins to the light

1245
00:52:10,590 --> 00:52:13,581
and to feel your grace and mercy.

1246
00:52:13,581 --> 00:52:15,909
And then Lord God, I also pray

1247
00:52:15,909 --> 00:52:20,540
that You would make us 
who hear sins forgiven

1248
00:52:20,540 --> 00:52:22,815
to be a gracious and merciful people

1249
00:52:22,815 --> 00:52:25,978
knowing we have had 
our sins forgiven as well.

1250
00:52:25,978 --> 00:52:27,682
We pray this in Jesus' name.