Connor didn't like that, so all of a sudden Connor's standing on the chair, looks around at Jonathan and goes... So... I still don't know why we have that. It goes with the dude who's still sitting out in the foyer, our little Rasputin person, who Cameron found upstairs. He's gonna end up being Jonah on Halloween night. So that way we don't have to worry about having a person just sitting in there all evening. So why we have the foam vulture and why we have the life-size bearded dummy guy, I have no earthly idea. I guess I'm sort of happy that we do, and at the same time, little unnerved that we have these things, so we're just gonna go with it, and it's gonna be alright, so. I don't know, it might take you a while. He can take a punch now. That was the other good one, as James walked in on Wednesday for a men's Bible study, and he was sitting there, and James just stopped, not that James, little baby James, and he just stopped and looked. Kind of took a step and stopped. So I walked over. I said, he's not tough. And I just walked over and kind of kicked his foot a little bit. See, it's OK. James looked and took another little baby step. Just nodded. He said, do you want me to smack it so you'll feel better? Yeah. So I sat there and hit it a couple of times. And after a few minutes, he's like, OK. And he kind of went to plane and forgot it was there. But that was definitely an odd look. Just kind of, I'm not sure about this one. All right. Something productive for the morning. I told you we were going to start getting some breaks in John. This is one of them. We will be back to John next week. And then you will not see John again until the last Sunday of the year as we start to tackle Thanksgiving and Christmas. So this morning is fun, though. Just over 500 years ago, Martin Luther kicks off what becomes the Protestant Reformation by nailing the 95 theses to the castle door of Wittenberg. And it's probably a little bit of historical revision that he just nailed them to the door. It wasn't a big thing that he used a nail. They didn't have thumbtacks. So if you're going to put something on a board, how did you do it? You used a nail. It sounds really dramatic today. So if I've spoiled that for you, you're welcome. But in actuality what Luther was doing is he was bringing up points for debate because he was convinced that the apostate church of his day just simply didn't realize what the people on the ground were doing and that if the leadership knew what had happened that they would fix it. He was sorely mistaken. So. What we are looking at is truthfully a legacy. As Baptists, as Protestants, the Reformation is part of who we are. A recovery, not of a lost truth, but of a misplaced and abused truth by what we call a syncretistic church. In missions, in mission... Missiology is the technical term, but in the study of doing missions work, one of the terms that we use is syncretism. It is when you take two religions and you blend them together. So we actually had this conversation with one of the church planners when I had a missiology class in seminary who had come back from Haiti. And he said, we have a terrible time in Haiti because they get mad at us. And I said, well, why do you have such a terrible time in Haiti? He said, well, they don't like the Baptist. They like the Catholic priest better. Well, why do they like the priest better than you? Because we don't let them keep voodoo when the priest does. That's syncretism. What the Catholic Church was doing in that particular mission was, well, you have your voodoo god, well, that's really one of the saints that has gone on before. So they just kind of take it and merge Catholic teaching into the practice of the group, and then that's what we call syncretism. The Middle Ages church had done the same thing. Rather than a religion, though, they had merged what would later become secularism, basically. They had merged an understanding of how the government and the state was to function, and they had merged that with a church culture. So how does the world function at that time? You have a feudalistic structure. You have a king. You have his lords and the vassals and the people that owe him allegiance and to whom he owes protection. What did they develop over the course of about a thousand years in the church history? You have a pope and his bishops and his priests and the people over which they minister who owe allegiance to the church and come and bring their gifts and their tithes and it becomes the same system. Luther and the other Reformers reject this and return back to the word. That's a key thing. One of the battle cries of the Reformation is Advantis, to the sources. What is the source of truth, knowledge, and the ends of salvation? It is Scripture. So, Rather than try to give you a lovely, boring history lesson, which I know you were just all enthralled for on a Sunday morning, some of you are like, yes, yes! No, no. I put enough of you guys to sleep on a Sunday morning. I don't need to make it worse with the source material. So what we will do is we will celebrate the legacy of the reformers. Here's the other reason. If those guys knew that I would spend the majority of a Sunday morning service talking about them, they would climb out of those graves and kick me. And you know what? They would be right. So what we will do is we will honor the legacy by doing what they did. And one last story, one of my favorite stories from church history is that of John Calvin in Geneva. Shows up, William Farrell brings the gospel to Geneva, he gets Calvin to get out of the academic world and into the preaching world, installs Calvin as pastor in Geneva, Calvin begins preaching. The Genevans didn't quite know what they signed up for because Calvin was one that, this is what the word says, this is what you do. And when you don't do what the word says, well, we have a word for that, it's called sin, and I'm gonna say that out loud over and over again until you hear me. So they didn't like that. So after two years, they ran Calvin out of town. Actually, I think it was a little longer than two years. Calvin was gone for well over a year. before they decided, you know we were wrong, and that guy was really teaching the Bible, and we need that. So can we get you back? Calvin showed up between a year and two years later. When he had been booted out, he was in the middle of preaching Romans. When he showed back up, do you know what he started preaching on? The very next verse in Romans. because that's what you do, you preach the word. So we will honor that legacy this morning by doing that and going to a fun source for Christian doctrine, Psalm 51. This is the repentance Psalm of David after his lovely little incident with Bathsheba. If you would like to read more about that, read 2 Samuel, it will do you good. Or is that 1 Samuel? My brain does not want to work right now. So read both Samuels, it is good for you. And as I said in Sunday school this morning, it might be like an hour and a half out of your day, so you can parse that out over the whole week, it'll be good and you'll enjoy it. Now, fun with the Old Testament. What we have in this psalm is what's called a chiastic structure. Uh-huh, exactly. A chiasm is when you actually build out a text by making a statement, making a substatement and then at some point you will get to a hinge and then you will begin repeating the points that you made going this way, going back out. As we read this you'll see it in the first nine verses and we'll actually tackle it in that manner. That will make sense as we go forward. Our goal this morning is to get through that little chiasm and then see based on what's in that beginning portion, the requests that David is making. Because believe it or not, David in this Psalm has what we would call a high Christology. A high Christology is a well-developed understanding of the work of Christ and how it relates to people. Now I say that because last time I checked, which half of the book is Psalm 51 in? The left half with the Old Testament or the right half with the New Testament? It's in the left, right? Now, is there a Jesus yet? This is a trick question. Because yes, eternal son, but has he come in his earthly form? No. So we do not have the accomplished work of Jesus yet. Yet we have in this psalm a highly developed understanding of exactly what salvation is. We just don't have all the technical terms. So my goal today is to read the verses and give you the technical terms and explain how this all works. Does that sound like fun? Alright, if we do that, we should be preaching the gospel from Psalm 51. So let's read all 19 verses Be gracious to me. Oh God according to your loving-kindness According to the greatness of your compassion blot out my transgressions wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin I For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified when you speak and blameless when you judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, you desire truth in your innermost being, and in the hidden part you will make me know wisdom. Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness. Let the bones which you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways. Sinners will be converted to you. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation. Then my tongue will joyfully sing of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips that my mouth may declare your praise. For you do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it. You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. By your favor, you do good to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem, and then you will delight in righteous sacrifices. Burnt offerings and whole burnt offering then young bulls will be offered on your altar All right. There's a lot of Christ in there believe it or not Now this is going to annoy Elena to no end, so don't try to click back and forth. We'll just stay with the run through and then we'll skip. And that will make sense in just a second. So, verse one, be gracious to me, O God, according to your loving kindness, according to the greatness of your compassion, blot out my transgressions. Did you notice the repeat in that a few verses later? If you're looking at your Bible, fast forward to verses 8 and 9. Verses 1 and 8 and 9 go together. David is asking that his sin be taken away. If you have a really simple understanding of the Old Testament, and I don't blame you for having one, people like me have done a terrible job of explaining the depth and complexity of Old Testament living to the majority of churches. If you have a simple understanding, does David get to make that request? What would he do to have his sin covered? What should he do? You go take the sacrifice, but is that the entirety of the Old Testament teaching? No, no it is not. Ezekiel 34, the Lord passed by in front of him, talking about Ezekiel and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord, I'm sorry, I said Ezekiel, goodness gracious, that's later. This is Exodus. Be helpful if I could read English, wouldn't it? Once again, quick reminder, And the back of your bulletin is where all of these are supposed to be listed. That way, when I do something stupid like that, you can read it at home later and actually get the right verse. Exodus 34, this is talking about Moses. The Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed what? The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness and truth, who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin, yet he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations. It's almost a contradiction right there, isn't it? How do you forgive iniquity, but you don't leave the guilty unpunished? See, this is part of what the sacrificial system should have been pointing to, is that there needs to be a covering. There has been sin. There has been an affront against a holy God. Death is the penalty. If you do not bear that death, then someone has to bear it on your behalf. This is what the sacrifices we're always supposed to get to, is that we need a sacrifice that covers all sin, because what am I doing every single year? I'm coming back to this altar. I'm coming back to this offering. I need something that will die in my place that will cover this once and for all. Now the companion of Psalm 51 is Psalm 32, written for the same incident around the same time. What does Psalm 32 start with? What is David declaring? Now who's already guilty? What's our one technical term for this? Who's already guilty? Everyone. Everyone is guilty. But we're thankful when? When God does not impute iniquity to us. When he does not impute unrighteousness. Well, if that's the case, it's because he has imputed a righteousness. He has imputed something that is not guilty. Where does that occur? Hint, hint, hint. This is part of our Christology. This is part of the understanding of what Christ has done. Your guilt is placed where? Upon Christ. What is your righteousness? He is my law-keeping, ultimately. He is my source of righteousness and salvation, not in me. Now, because of that, in my trust in that, God grants me a Holy Spirit that enables me to now do what? Changing hearts, changing desires. This was Sunday school this morning. Now I walk in unison with Christ, and I follow the example that he has laid out, but I do not do that so that I will be saved. I do that because I already am saved. This is again why we stress, how many stories in the Bible? We have one big story from beginning to end. Go all the way back to the beginning, Genesis 3. The serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made and he said to the woman, I wish I had a really good voice for this but I just don't, sorry. Indeed, has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden? I always notice that just for future reference. Is that really what God said? No, it's not what God said, so it's already a twist, right? And the woman said to the serpent, from the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat, but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said you shall not eat from it, or touch it, or you will die. Now, we all know what happened. What did Eve do? She ate the fruit. And part of the curse of sin is, man, this is why women never know where they want to eat. Because the one time in human history a woman knew what she wanted to eat, she doomed all of humanity forever. But it is also funny, that's why I say it. So, now, they ate. Now, what didn't happen? As the great theologian, Mr. Chow, once said, did you die? They did not die. Should they have died? Yes. What happens in that place? Animal. Animal died. They cover with leaves. God kills the animal, makes clothes for them. The animal covers the sign of their sin, which is their nakedness. In order to get skins to make clothes from an animal, what must you do to the animal? You must kill it. Last time I checked, you know, critters don't give up their fur for your clothes willingly. Oh, you need a hat. Hold on. There you go. See, it doesn't work like that. Now, welcome to what the Reformers would have called sola gratia, grace alone. Ephesians 2, God, being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. raised us up with him seated us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus see we get hung up on law and wrath and the battles and all of the people and the sacrifices every once in a while my Sweatshirt catches on this, so let me, where'd you go? There you are. Pull that a little tighter. We get hung up on all of that, and we miss the forest for the trees, because from the very beginning, God gives the command. People violate the command, and God's grace is what should shine through. Because if you read it with new eyes for the very first time, you should get to the point where God shows up, and what should have happened? They should have been smushed, you broke the law, you die now. But they don't, and you should be asking questions, why not? See, something about God has already been revealed. That's something that David understood. Hence, why when David is confronted with his sin, he can sit there and call out to God to be what? Be gracious to me according to your loving kindness, according to the greatness of your compassion, blot out my transgression. So then he continues to verse two. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Fast forward to verse seven. Purify me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Same idea, right? Book ended. Need forgiveness, need grace of God to cover. What is that grace of God going to do? Going to wash me. Why do I need to be washed? Because sin stains you. and you need to be cleansed from it. And it must be done with extreme prejudice. You ever wonder why the law is as harsh as it is? Read your Old Testament law. Here's a good example for you. Deuteronomy chapter 17. If there is found in your midst in any of your towns, which the Lord your God is giving you a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God by transgressing his covenant. So we've got lawbreakers, right? Has gone and served other gods and worship them or the sun or the moon or of the heavenly hosts, which I have not commanded. And if it is told you and you have heard of it, then you shall inquire. So, you're told that someone is engaged in idolatry. What will you do? You will go investigate to find out if this claim is true. Behold, if it is true, and the thing certain is that is detestable, I'm sorry, I could read, we'll be all set. If it is true and the thing certain that this detestable thing that has been done in Israel, then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil deed to your gates, that is the man or the woman and you shall stone them to death. That escalated quickly, didn't it? No slapping the wrist, do not pass go, do not collect an overnight in jail, no. You engage in idolatry, we go get the heavy rocks. On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death and he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. Why? Why is this so harsh? Verse seven gives you your answer. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. See, ultimately, Israel becomes a great big object lesson. It's not their entire and only purpose, but it is part of it. They are supposed to be a redeemed, holy people of God. They have been purchased by the work of God at the Exodus, taken out of Egypt, out of slavery, brought out by the hand and power of God, given a land where they may prosper so that they may be set apart to his purposes. That's what holy means, to be set apart for the purposes of God. How will they maintain this holiness? When they find evil, what must be done? Kill it, kill it with fire or really heavy rocks, your choice. So that holiness is maintained, so that the washing from sin may be accomplished. It must be rooted out. Congratulations, this is innate in humanity. Believe it or not. By nature, overall, what's better, clean or dirty? Clean, for the most part. You walk into your house and it's full of cobwebs and dust and you're like, you gotta clean. Why? You ever ask that question? Not just because you don't want to do it. No, you don't ask that question because you just know what? That the house should be clean. You walk, you get up and you think, ooh, I should shower. Why? Because I just should. It's innate in humanity. We wish to be clean. We wish to be free of the condemnation. We wish to be free of the muck and the mire of God, of the world. And this has been given as a common grace by God. Now, this is pointing to something because who is the one who ultimately and finally does this? Cleanses from iniquity and washes sin away. Revelation 7 Then one of the elders answered saying to me, these who are clothed in white robes, who are they and where have they come from? I said to him, my Lord, you know. And he said to me, these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. By the way, don't take that as laundry advice. If you wash your white sheets in blood, they will not be clean, just FYI. For this reason they are before the throne of God. They serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them. They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore, nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat. For the lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of water of life, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes. That's ultimate cleansing. That's sin, death, reproach, gone. Why? Because the final sacrifice has been given. The final covering has taken place. Excuse me. So, verse three. For I know my transgression and my sin is ever before me. Verse five, behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me. This is a duh, right? Who's guilty in humanity? Everyone, because who is sinless? Other than Jonathan, right? Oh, just a reminder, we did remember to give you your mark this morning. You had a good mark, so just thought I'd remind you that. David recognizes what about himself? That he is a sinner. Duh. Psalm 53, the fool is said in his heart there is no God. They are corrupt and have committed abominable injustice. There is no one who does good. Psalm 10, for the wicked boasts of his heart's desire and the greedy man curses and spurns the Lord. The wicked in his haughtiness of his countenance does not seek him. All his thoughts are there is no God. We sin, all of us, most of the time. We get that. Verse four, against you, you only I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you are justified when you speak and blameless when you judge. You can connect this with verse six. Behold, you desire truth in the innermost being and in the hidden part you will make me no wisdom. Did you catch the exaltation of God in those two verses? How is God described? He is wise, and he is also what? He is judge. Now, walk into the courtroom, and what, when it comes to the guilty person, will the wise judge do? Does the wise judge go, well, you know, I like that suit, so, eh, 20 bucks, let's call it even. Is that a wise judge? No, that's a crooked judge. Do we want that guy staying on the bench for any length of time? No, we want him gone. What does the wise judge do? I'll help you out, Ecclesiastes chapter 12. The conclusion when all has been heard is, fear God and keep his commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. The wise judge brings out the truth and then rules accordingly to what is righteous. That is what God should do and will do as wise judge. But is that the totality of the description of God? Wise judge? Does this wise judge leave his people in their sin? Here, watch this. Hint. Hint. Hint. Hint. Now, while God is a wise judge, he is also the wise judge who will redeem and rescue his people who are guilty, Romans chapter four. The promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified. This is what the Reformers would have called sola fide, by faith alone. How is the sola gratia, the grace of God, accessed? Ultimately through Christ, but that access to Christ is given through what? Your faith. See, do you earn grace? If you earned grace, we don't call it grace, we call it a wage. This is part of the argument that Paul makes. When you go to work, and you put in a full day's work, at the end of the day, does your boss, just out of the goodness of his heart, give you money? No! Before you went to work, what did you know? Whoa. We just fast-forwarded to the end of the service, was that a hint? All right, amen, let's pray now. You know it's bad when the computer's like, all right, buddy, let's get on with this. Before you even started that work, what was already negotiated? I'm going to do X, you're going to pay me Y. Because that's what we do. It's a wage. I didn't, you weren't giving me this money. I earned it. Well, when God forgives you by his grace, it is because by definition you have not earned it. This is why faith is required. Because if we want something to do so that God will give us grace, what are we really asking for? We're asking for a wage. You tell me what I'll do, I'll do it, and then you give me what we've agreed to. No. This is why faith is required, not faith that God is there. We already know this Romans 1, Psalm 14, Psalm 53, Genesis 1. You know that he exists. You know who he is and what he is doing. Your trust is in what He has promised, and the replete description of God from beginning to end is that He is gracious, loving, and patient, and seeking to rescue His people from their sin. That is what your faith, your trust is placed in, that He has promised that that work will cover, and that He has promised that that work is good. And this is why the reformers phrase it the way they did sola gratia grace alone sola fide faith alone solus christus in christ alone sola scriptura as shown to me in the scripture alone sola deo gloria for the glory of god alone This is something we've been over every week just not with those technical terms. What is the point of your existence? that she would worship and praise God. Why? Because of who he is. Well, who is he? He's gracious and loving. And because of what he has done. What has he done? He has taken our reproach upon himself and offered us life if we will trust him. That's what the reformers brought out. That's what they showed to the people by going back to the source of the word. And that is what continues on. We recognize this because we stand here as God's justified people looking back, trusting that the work has been done and that God will be faithful to continue it. When you're reading things like Psalm 51, what you are reading is David, at this point, somewhere in the ballpark of 3,000 years ago, 1,000 years before Christ, saying, God will do this work, and I am of his people because I trust that. And what David is asking is that this work would be applied to him, because what does he know about himself? I know my transgression, my sin is ever before me. I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me. He needs the grace of God and he recognizes it, therefore he calls out for it. Thus ends this portion of the psalm. Now we can skip ahead to chapter 10 to verse 10. and we can actually see what this work of God accomplishes and how it changes the believer. So, verse 10, Create in me a clean heart, O God, renew a steadfast spirit within me. We have a theological term for this. This is regeneration. Created me a clean heart remove the heart of stone. Give me a heart of flesh renew a steadfast spirit a faithful trusting firm spirit a Couple weeks ago. We mentioned what as the world is moving back and forth. I say weeks It's probably been a month or so ago by this point as the world is being whipped back and forth What is the Christian command? What are we supposed to do? We anchor on the truth and let the world run willy nilly proclaiming, no, that is wrong and we will not follow. No, that is wrong and we will not follow. No, that is wrong, we will not follow. We will do what? We will be steadfast. Why? Because we are new creations and we recognize the follow of worldliness and the folly of sin and we do not chase after it. David is begging for this regeneration. It was promised, Ezekiel chapter 11. I told you there was an Ezekiel in here. I will give them one heart, put a new spirit within them. I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh that they may walk in my statutes, keep my ordinances and do them. Then they will be my people and I shall be their God. New heart, new motivations. Here's some fun that we've been going through in the Gospel of John. It's almost as if these people are asking for and what David is hoping for is that he would be reborn. or, since it's 2019 and it's America, that he would be born again. John 3, Jesus said, answered and said to him, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Fast forward a few verses later, the one we're all gonna know, how does that happen? How are you born again? You ready? For God so loved the world that he did what? He gave His one and only Son, that if you believe in Him, not believe that He existed, not believe that He did it, because we know that that is true, but if you believe in Him, that the work that He's promised to put into your account is good, that he who believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. That's how we access it. What John is describing is what the reformers would bring to the people. God's grace shown in Christ promised to a people who would trust him. Therefore the call to you is to trust him. Who's him? Christ is him. How do I know that? They put it in a book. And who does that book point me back to? In everything it points back to God. As we've been following Jesus' work as we've gone through the Gospel of John, who is Jesus constantly pointing back to? He's pointing back to the Father. He's pointing back to God as the people would have understood it. Now who is he also claiming to be? He's claiming that he is God because only God can rightly do these things. See this is again where good understanding of Trinity is helpful. Because they all go to the same place. So the father declares, the father initiates the work. The son follows the work to the glory of who? To the glory of the father. The father redeems a people by the work of the son in order to present them to who? The son actually. This is where you have the wedding feast of the lamb. They are given to the son. The son presents them to who? The father. Who testifies to these things to you? What's that little voice in the back of your head? What's the reminder of the law written upon your heart? It's the Holy Spirit. When we covered him a few weeks ago, what does he do? He reveals Christ, points him out in the word, so that Christ will point you to the Father, so that the Father will glorify the work of the Son, so that the Spirit's testimony will be good, pointing you back to the Son, who points you back to the Father, who points you back to the Son. Yes, exactly. And in all of this, who are we glorifying? Big fancy word, God. This is why we say three persons, one essence. It is God who is glorified. And that Trinitarian work glorifies God because every time you turn, like, I'm looking at you, well, you should be looking at him. Well, he's, you're all God. Okay, I get this, that we are all glorifying God through the work that is going on, regardless of which direction it's in. Makes sense, doesn't it? Don't lie, no it doesn't. And again, that's also good news because if I could explain God, there's a really good probability that who created him. Exactly. And I don't know about you, I don't want to live in a world ruled by a God that I made up. Just sounds dumb to say out loud, doesn't it? Welcome to the plight of the majority of humanity, because what is most of humanity worshiping? A God that they have made up. This is silly, don't do that. So, creating me a clean heart, renew a steadfast spirit within me. Verse 11, do not cast me away from your presence. Do not take your Holy Spirit from me. This is a good fear. I don't wanna be separated from God. This is good, I want God because who's the one who gives me life, breath, meaning, function, all of these things? God, to separate me from God is to separate me from all that is good, righteous, and holy in the world. Why should David not have this fear? Because he asked that question. Because he made that declaration. That's good. Never forget, people will come to me. I'm afraid I've committed the unpardonable sin. Well, you haven't. How do you know? I didn't even tell you what I did. Because you're worried. If you're worried that you have blasphemed the Spirit and God has cut you off from Him, you know what you're not going to be worried about? Whether or not God is going to cut you off. It's like that lovely commercial. Did you see the commercial for the Freedom From Religion Foundation that they aired in the Democratic debate the other day? Oh, it was great. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is Madison, Wisconsin, right down the road. They do a lovely job of suing schools and parks if you put up a cross or decide somebody's gonna pray. And that's their whole game, is you decide you're gonna have a prayer, they sue you and threaten you, and since you don't have any money to defend the law, so you just stop it. And then they win, that's the whole thing. Well, they had a commercial with Ron Reagan, Ronald Reagan, President Ronald Reagan's son, who's been an atheist forever. And the end of the commercial is, Ron Reagan, Atheist. Not afraid of burning in hell. And that's how he said it. Like, reading is fundamental. Not afraid of burning in hell. It's like, wow dude. See, there's the unpardonable sin right there. There it is in action. You want to know what a seared conscience looks like? That's it. That's the person who goes, yeah, you said God's gonna send me in hell. I don't care. I don't want to worry about it, and so I'm not going to worry about it. And this is, again, why we need to remember scripture, because what does scripture tell me? That he knows in his heart that he's lying. And that's a terrifying place. Now imagine we worry about our lives and the sin of our hearts, but that's a place where you are so darkened and so in love with this world and your sin that you are at that place. This is why we have to remember the gospel message because that is the only thing that we have that will chisel through that. We can't shine a light bright enough apart from Christ to get through that level of darkness, but the gospel does. It is a lighthouse shining on the hill going, yo, wrong way. David's repentance is proof of God's working. It is actually proof of God's spirit at work in his life, because apart from that, what is he gonna sit there and say? Yeah, I slept with Bathsheba. Yeah, I had Uriah killed. David, adulterous, murderous king, not afraid of burning in hell. But he's not saying that, he's saying what? Don't take your spirit, don't cast me away, redeem me, renew me. This is back to Colossians 1, this is what Paul was explaining. Although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, he has now reconciled you in his fleshly body through death in order to present you before him holy and blameless and beyond reproach. indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven of which I Paul was made a minister see how do I know that I'm gonna stand before God blameless because I'm still walking in that direction Well, how do I know I'm not going to stand there? Because I'm not going in that direction. But I'm trying to go that way, and I keep going this way. That's good, believe it or not, because all humanity is going that way. But I want to go. the right way. That's what David is saying here. God is at work. He is showing you the right way, and you're going, I want to go that way. This is the man at the bottom of the Mount of Transfiguration. If you believe I can do this. Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. It's like, yes, no, no, yes, yes, definitely yes, maybe, kind of, sort of, hopefully. Welcome to the human mind and regards to sin most of the time, right? This is why we have the things that we're given in scriptures because when we find ourselves there and we're doing this, what do I need more than anything? I need an anchor. What's my anchor? Christ is my anchor. Now, how does Christ work to pull me out of these waves? He gives me prayer. He gives me the word. And you know what other loving thing he gives me that I like to not listen to a lot of the time? Other believers, what do I need? I need somebody to snatch me up by the back of the neck and do what? Stop it. Stay. Breathe. Now let's go. This is why we have the one another's. This is why we have the communion of the saints, the fellowship of believers, why it is so important that your life not be built around this world. Because what are they doing? And when you get into that world, how quickly does it happen? It's like that. And all of a sudden, you're running around like a chicken with its head cut off going, I had eyes. Where did I put them? I have an anchor. I have a hope. I have a beacon and a direction that I can, should, and must follow. Most of the time, my biggest enemy is Me, because I ignore the word, I ignore my prayers, I ignore my fellow believers, I hide from them, I don't reach out to them, and then I enjoy my wind and my waves carrying me back and forth. May this never be. Recognize this and cry out, no! Ground me in who you are. Verse 12, restore to me the joy of your salvation, sustain me with a willing spirit. Whose spirit does David want to be willing? His. What's the temptation? I don't wanna anchor. I want those sins. Romans 7, wretched man that I am. I want that and I don't do that. I don't want this and I do that. Who can set me free from this? Give me a willing spirit. Ground me. You never did that when you were a kid, did you? Never got home. Yeah, I flunked math. You know what? I need a good spanking and to be sent to bed without dinner. Please do that for me. You're like, beat her, beat her. See, I'm... Like, you never did that. Like, please father, I must be beaten and punished. I have done wrong. Christian, we actually should, with that British accent. It's always better in a British accent. Everything is better with a British accent. You always remember that. It does, doesn't it? See, this is the point. I need you to change me. That's part of this regeneration. And even after you have done that, you know what I need you to do? I need you to keep doing it because I am rotten. And how do I know I'm rotten? Because I looked. See, that's what we don't do very much of. We don't actually look at me. And I don't mean you, I mean you look at you, and I look at me. You get that, right? Let's just be honest. How do we avoid that? Because what do we do? I don't want to look at my sins, so whose sin do I look at? Yours! Whoever you happen to be, like pick one. Spin the Rolodex. Ha! Ooh, that's a good one. All right, this will be fodder for a while. By paying attention to all the things you're doing wrong and solving all of your problems, what am I doing? I'm ignoring all of mine. Because I don't want to see what's wrong with me. No, Christian, we have to. We have to look behind the curtain, look inside, and go, nyeh. That's a technical theological term, nyeh. Because only then will we actually realize what we need to work on and what we need to tackle. It's like that Tupperware drawer everybody's got in their kitchen. You know the cabinet that you have. You open the door, throw it in, and close it real quick before anything else falls out. Yeah, every house has that. It's either a drawer or a cabinet. No, Christian, that is not the condition of our souls. It cannot be. We must open it, look at it, admit that it's there, and then don't close it, but actually begin to organize. Put things in their right place. Because then you know what happens when you get it organized? What happens when someone just opens the cabinet, throws it in there, shuts the door? Don't do that. I just fixed that. Put it back the right way. Now what's happening? Now my sanctification is working through. Now I'm teaching others how to organize, how to function, how to live. Now I'm actually moving in the right direction. Verse 13, then I will teach transgressors your ways. Sinners will be converted to you. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. The person who has done all this, what will they do? Oh, look at that. Sorry. What will they do as they have organized? When they see others with that same problem, what do they do? They teach. They instruct. They make disciples! Isn't this a Christian call? as I have worked on me and I see others struggling with this problem, what do I do? I take the wisdom that I have now gained from overcoming by my walking with the Holy Spirit, my being grounded in Christ, and I show you how to do it. Not with a cabinet organizer, not with something I bought on QVC, but with godly, I thought we had a dance party, sorry. But with godly principles and precepts. This is why, Alright, I'll say something that might anger some of you, but it's okay. I've probably already said three things that you're gonna be annoyed about anyway. This is why, if you come to me with a problem, you know the one place I will never send you? Across the parking lot. Never in a million years. Never in a million years. Like, you're gonna have to prove to me that you are homicidal or a danger to yourself and others before I send you to them. Because they don't have any answers! Because they don't start with scripture and they don't start with God. And if I give you all of these life plans and principles that you can create shelving and organization systems so that your life functions, what have I really done for you? There it is. I love when you guys listen. I've put air conditioning on your bus to hell. Congrats. When you get there, it's going to blow up. And then what's going to happen? Nothing. No, I need to change the heart. I want you to apply godly principles. So when you tell me, well, you know, I just keep having this problem. I'm spending money on all this stuff. OK, yes, you probably need a budget. Yes, you probably need to do this. But you know what else you need to do? You need a godly understanding of what your money is for and how you're supposed to use it. Because then, when you understand that, you know what you'll do? You'll make a budget. You'll pay people the right things. You'll do the work the right way. Then your actions will change because the heart has changed. What is inside that is wrong is set right so that what is outside that has been wrong is done right because it flows from a right source. That's disciple making. Regenerate me. Redeem me. Give me your spirit. Make me steadfast. Ground me by your word and what will I then be able to do? Teach others, and then they will do what? The exact same thing. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation. Then my tongue will joyfully sing of your righteousness. Even that sin, I mean, he literally slept with a woman and got her husband murdered. That's a rough go. Yep, that one too. This was Paul's answer to Timothy, 1 Timothy 1. It is a trustworthy statement deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate his perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in him for eternal life. This is why David's described as a man after God's own heart. Not because his life was perfect, but because his repentance was. It's an example. Because our lives are busted and broken and messed up and wallowing in sin. And God stands above going, I can free that. I can forgive that. I can solve that. I can pick you up, wash you, and set you to work so that others may have the same thing. You should become like that monkey with the cymbals, right? Yay! Dun, dun, dun, dun. Verse 15. Lord, open my lips that my mouth may declare your praise. For you do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it. You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, oh God, you will not despise. Man-made systems seek to justify a God, every single one of them. Every one of them. They will give you a series of things that you must do so that the God that you are worshiping will be appeased. Christianity doesn't do that. Biblical understanding is that God will appease himself. That the wrath of God abides upon your sin. How will the wrath of God be turned away? By what mechanism will you turn away the wrath of God? You can't. Christ will turn away the wrath of God. Who is Christ? He is God. God will satisfy himself and then invite you to himself so that you may stand in him blameless. That's a big difference between what the Bible is teaching and what every other system on planet earth will teach. Even if you take the offshoots of Christianity, take the Jehovah's Witnesses, take Mormonism, take whatever you wanna come up with, what do they always do? As soon as they get off to the side, once we abandon scripture as our platform, what do we start doing? We had rules, we had regulations, we had laws of all shapes, form, and fashion, so that now you have something that you can do so that God will be happy. God's happy, he is pleased with Christ. Therefore he is pleased with you as you abide where? Christ that's the difference that's what David is actually hitting on if there's a sacrifice I could do that would make all of these things happen I would do it but there isn't not anything that I have so what do I call upon my brokenness my contrite heart I'm humbling myself so that who can exalt me that's what James would tell you I am making myself last so that who can make me first There's the difference. I am bringing myself low, trusting that God will lift me high. And that's where verse 18 and 19 end. By your favor, do good to Zion, build the walls of Jerusalem, and then you will delight in righteous sacrifices. In burnt and whole offerings, young bulls will be offered on your altar as remembrances of God's forgiveness, of his grace, of his mercy, of his love. What does David know is gonna happen? Strangle myself here. that God will be pleased with his people, that he will provide for them a dwelling place, and that they will be secure. Does that sound like any book in the Bible that we might have, you know, maybe extreme right-hand side of the book towards the end there? New heavens, new earth, city walls, light shining, no darkness, no enemies, nothing coming in, God present, river flowing, tree of life, no tears, all that good stuff at the end of Revelation, right? That's the hope. is that God will secure his people and he will. This is the heritage of scripture. This is what they were arguing about 500 years ago. And it was a good argument because if we lose what we have talked about this morning, what do we have? I mean, what have we got? We got some rules, we got some regulations, we got a really kickin' air conditioning system on that bus, baby, yeah. We are frozen, all the women are in the back under blankets, and all the guys are like, oh, this feels good. But what awaits at the end of the line? Fire. Nothing good. Instead, by clinging to these truths, we give people an actual hope. Who cares if the air conditioning's busted? We're going the right way. That's the point of the gospel. That's what was recovered. William Tyndale, English reformer. strangled because he was busy preaching and singing psalms, so they tried to burn him. So one of the things that they tried to do is they would tie it to the post, and then to make sure you couldn't get away or keep speaking, they'd put a rope around your neck. And so while the fire was getting going, if you got too loud or you got preaching and they thought you might convert somebody, they could pull on the rope a little bit, because when you rope being pulled around your neck, it's kind of hard to preach, right? Don't get any ideas. Just throwing that out there. Well, William was so determined that they ended up pulling so hard they actually strangled him before they could burn him to death. That's a determined man right there. Evangelion, that we call the gospel, is a Greek word and it signifies good, merry, glad, and joyful tidings that make a man's heart glad, makes him sing, dance, and leap for joy. the gospel, the news of Christ dying for sinners and offering his righteousness. Luther, the heart overflows with gladness, leaps and dances for the joy it has found in God. In this experience, the Holy Spirit is active and has taught us in a flash of a moment the deep secret of joy. You will have as much joy and laughter in life as you have faith in God. What if I told you every week, if your focus is upon God, what he has promised and what he will deliver, what can this world take from you? Nothing. John Wycliffe, early pre-Reformation, the morning star of the Reformation. He was the one they dug up his bones after he was dead for about 50 years and then burned him to make an example to the rest of you. Exactly trust wholly in Christ rely altogether on his sufferings Beware of seeking to be justified by any other way than by his righteousness faith in our Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient for salvation There must be atonement made for sin according to the righteousness of God and the person to make this atonement must be God and man ding ding ding ding ding John Calvin, the aforementioned pastor of Geneva. Seeing that a pilot steers the ship in which we sail, who will never allow us to perish even in the midst of shipwrecks, there is no reason why our minds should be overwhelmed with fear and overcome with weariness. Who's the pilot of your soul? Christ. Who has he failed? No one. Therefore, why should you grow weary in your labors if they are offered up unto him? When do you grow weary in your labors? When they're offered up unto you. Ulrich Zwingli, you wanna have a fun story, go look up the history of Ulrich Zwingli. Died in battle against the Catholics in the neighboring town. He was dying on the battlefield, and the priests came by to do last rites, and he was so offended that he basically cursed him and spit at him, and was like, just let me die in peace. And they realized who he was, so they cut him up into pieces. It's a nice fun story. It's a good manly story, right? Our confidence in Christ does not make us lazy, negligent, or careless. Shall we go on sinning so that grace may abound? May it never be. But on the contrary, it awakens us, urges us on, and makes us active in living righteous lives and doing good. There is no self-confidence to compare with this. As I said, or maybe as Chris Tomlin quotes Paul, if God is for us, Who's against us? And then finally Jan Hus. Jan Hus was a Bohemia, modern day Czech Republic, was famous because in his church, he had two paintings on the wall. On the back of the church, he had a painting of the Pope with his royal armor and his armies marching in tow, because that's how the Pope would come in and out of the city, because that's how kings functioned. And on the other wall, he had Christ. on a donkey riding into Jerusalem. It's a bit of a contrast there, isn't it? Yeah, he was making a point. I trust in the Lord God Almighty that he will not take away from me the cup of his redemption, but firmly hope to drink of it from it today in his kingdom. There's what they brought back. There's what they showed, there's what they taught, and by God's grace it worked because he gave them the tools He spread the message. I mean, what are the odds that all of those guys would spring up in all of those different countries right around the same time? But they did. and they have left us a legacy that we may never turn from if we follow what they gave us, which is to trust in the word, to follow it, to see it rightly proclaimed and understood in its context as pointing to God's grace, mercy, and salvation from beginning to end. That's the legacy of the Reformation that we should celebrate, not just once a year, but, as we do hopefully, every single day. Let's pray. Again, Lord, we say thank you. That your grace, your mercy, has been shown and has been poured out on your people. That as God, you have never wavered, you have not changed, you have not forsaken. and that you have secured who you are and shown us by your word, that we may see your great work, learn with confidence, understand how you have blessed your people day in and day out from the beginning, that we may cling to your word, cling to your promises, knowing that in you we are secure until the day of visitation, that you will lift up and that no one will snatch us from your hand. Lord, strengthen us to walk in that daily, that we would be your faithful people. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen.