Well, good morning, everyone. Good morning and welcome to Old Providence Associate Reform Presbyterian Church. What a blessing it is to be here together today. And I welcome you, especially our visitors and also especially the cottons who are sitting right down front here. I'll say more about them in just a couple of minutes. It's so great to be together today, especially on such a beautiful spring day, right? It's very nice outside. But the Lord has brought us here to worship him and worship we shall. But first, let me just point you to your bulletin because there's all sorts of stuff going on like youth group tonight. There's a deacon's meeting immediately following the worship service, a very short meeting. I'll be next door in Providence Hall. There's an announcement about the upcoming ark encounter trip. You'll see a VBS flyer y'all vacation Bible school It's gonna be here before we know it just around the corner and we still need volunteers I would say see my wife, but maybe you notice she's not fluttering around here today. She and Isabella are both homesick. So nevertheless, pray for them if you will remember to do so. But if you want to volunteer, then please let me know and Lord willing, she'll be back here next week. You'll see a financial statement in our bulletin as well. Now, there are other things going on, but I'm going to let you find those. Today, we are so pleased to have Reverend Sam Cotton with us and his wife, Martha Margaret. Sam and Martha Margaret have been missions, or been in our missions agency, World Witness, since back in 2019, I believe. But they've been serving the Lord for many years, most recently. Sam and Martha Margaret have started on sort of a joint venture with a group called Seed Ministry, which is a ministry in Rwanda and Pakistan to train ministers. between them and Erskine Theological Seminary where Martha Margaret works. That's actually my alma mater down in South Carolina. And y'all, I don't wanna steal anything or I don't know everything you're gonna talk about, but in terms of needed ministry, this is such a needed ministry, especially in Africa and Pakistan. So we're delighted about how the Lord has called you both to work and what the Lord has done and will do through you both. Martha Margaret's actually going to come up in just a second here and offer a minute for missions. Later, Sam is going to be preaching and kids. He's going to be doing the children's sermon, so don't be frightened if he's down front instead of me. But I'll go ahead and ask Martha Margaret. Thank you. Good morning. I am Martha Margaret Cotton. I like to say my name a couple of times because it's long and complicated. Double name. But I do direct the global theological education program at Erskine Theological Seminary. My husband and I are also world witness missionaries with our missions agency for the ARP and our field is seed ministry. So Erskine's global diploma program, it is an exciting new partnership between world witness and Erskine Seminary. And as Reverend Malthus said, we offer theological education to church leaders in Rwanda and in Pakistan. So Erskine provides the academic accountability, and World Witness provides the missionary pastors that go and teach the classes. So Erskine's global diploma, it provides these students Through a scholarship, the way it is provided for these students is through a scholarship called the Carson Scholarship. And so people can give to the Carson Scholarship at Erskine Seminary. Churches, individuals can donate to this scholarship. And it provides these global students with the education that they need. You can even request, as an individual or as a church, you can even request to have a specific church leader that you want to sponsor so that you can kind of follow their journey and you can pray for them. That's a great way to partner with us. Because, you know, accessing good, quality, reformed theological education is very difficult for church leaders in the Global South. You know, most church leaders are economically removed. They don't have the money for it. They're also geographically removed. they actually cannot access the education that they need to lead their churches. We sort of take that education for granted here, don't we? I mean, you can turn on a YouTube video and hear a sermon any time you want to. You get to come here every single week and hear an educated person who's leading your church, and they don't have access to that there. So at Earth Day World Witness, we're focused on serving the Global South Church by implementing this top-notch diploma for them from the respected school of Earthen Seminary. So since 1981, the majority of Christians now live in the Global South. That's surprising. The majority of Christians today in the world live in the Global South. They're not here in America. They're not in Western Europe. They're in the Global South now. So today, if you want to imagine the average Christian in the world today, instead of imagining like a white man, you would imagine an African woman. That's the average Christian today in the world. And so because the Global South has exploded with this growth, with evangelism, what they really, really need is theological education. So that's why my husband and I have decided to kind of give our lives to this, to theological education. And these pastors and church leaders are so grateful. They're so grateful. They'll walk for two hours to come to classes that we're offering. So, you know, bad theology leads to legalism, but good theology leads to the grace of Christ Jesus. And so that's what we want to do today. Thank you so much for having us. We're just really happy to be here and to meet you guys. Thank you so much, Martha, Margo. What a startling realization that may be to you as you consider the average Christian in today's world. I've heard it put one way that when you really pay attention to the trending growth, should the Lord not intervene and bring revival in Ireland, it will be Africa that is sending missionaries to your great-grandchildren, your great-great-grandchildren. Training is of such importance, and it's one of those things that is a controversial subject even in the United States, but really and truly all, training ensures that Christianity is not a mile wide and a half an inch deep, and can be combined with all sorts of false religions and false doctrines. And so it's a wonderful opportunity that we have. Maybe you remember it was not this past summer, it was the summer before Lee Shelnut and Alex Pettit came, but Lee came and spoke about, I don't know if it was called seed ministry at the time, I think it's a different name now, but nevertheless. He talked about this and the unique opportunity we especially have in Rwanda and the connections that we have there. So the Lord is working, even in a denomination our size, and he's using folks like the Cottons to do so many good things for the kingdom. And we are very grateful. Now, all of that being said, we already have calls for worship, but let's prepare our hearts now as we come into this time. Our call to worship is one that may sound familiar to you, and for good reason. It's Psalm 100, and it says, shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us and we are His. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture. And I want to stop for just a moment because something really interesting is introduced here in the 100th Psalm. We sing it and we talk about it quite often, but there's a principle that is revealed. After giving the command to come and worship the Lord, we're then told to know that the Lord is God. It's He who made us and we are His. But it's that knowing that the Lord is God. And then verse four, enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name for the Lord is good. and His love endures forever. His faithfulness continues through all generations. And I love the 100th Psalm because it's a wonderful mix of both telling us to praise the Lord, but also giving us reasons. And at the core of why we praise the Lord is our theology. It's knowing, it's what we know about God, observing His faithfulness, but what we believe from His word. And what you find here is theology ought to inspire doxology. In other words, what you know, the conviction of your heart about God in this word should inspire your praise. Yet another reason that training is so very important for Christians around the world. But let us come into this time with thanksgiving, with gladness of heart, as God's word has said. Let's go to our Lord now in prayer, after which we'll pray the Lord's prayer and confess the Apostle's Creed. Both are on the screen if you need them. Let's go to the Lord. What a blessing it is to have this time together today to enter into your courts. And we pray that we would do so with thanksgiving, with glad hearts for all the ways that you have worked, for all the gifts you have given, the protection you have offered, things we see, things that we don't. You are so faithful. And as evidence of that, we are here right now. And so would you work in our hearts now, would you guide us by your Holy Spirit in this time of worship, that it would be pleasing to you, that your name would be lifted up and glorified. For there's none besides you, Father. Please be with us in this time. We pray it all in Christ's name and we also pray as he taught us to pray by saying, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Amen indeed. And now as we say the Apostles Creed together, let me ask you, Christian, what is it that you believe? I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From this he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen indeed now let's continue our worship by taking our hymnals the words are on the screen of course as we sing hymn number 379 and pay attention to the words as we sing them come thou fount of every blessing hymn 379 stand with me ♪ I will sing thy praise. ♪ ♪ Strings of mercy never ceasing, ♪ ♪ Offer songs of valiant praise. ♪ ♪ I'll raise my heavenly song ♪ ♪ In the quiet I know I'm home ♪ ♪ And I hope I find good pleasure ♪ ♪ Safely to arrive at home ♪ ♪ Jesus love me when I'm stranger ♪ ♪ Let that grace now like a feather ♪ ♪ Bind my wandering heart to Thee ♪ ♪ Come to wonder, Lord, I feel it ♪ ♪ Come to Thee, the God I love ♪ ♪ Here's my heart, O take and seal it ♪ And you may be seated, but children, join Reverend Cotton right down here. Come on, guys. You might notice I have this fishing pole right here, right? Good looking bunch. I know it's your first time hearing me. So, raise your hand if you've heard of that. And then, Pakistan. Rwanda and Pakistan are two places that we go to. Now, who knows the continent we're on right now? North America, right? I know y'all know that. You're just a little shy from the media. But, North America's pretty big, right? Well, Africa's actually really a lot bigger. But Rwanda is a tiny, little nation. You can actually put three Rwandas in the state of South Carolina. It's that small. It's a big continent, small place. Pretty neat. So, I listened to the children's message last week, and Pastor Raffles was talking about some of the ways Satan tempts us to sin, right? And he was reminding us as well of the blessing of obedience, that obedience is happiness. And when he was sharing that, it reminded me, without listening, of a line of Scripture in 1 John 2, and we'll use the sermon as well, where the Apostle John says, I write these things to you so that you might not sin. But if anyone does sin, he says, we have an advocate with the Father, which is Jesus. He says, don't sin. There's a blessing, there's a happiness, and holiness, right? But then he says, if you do sin, don't stay there. We have an advocate. But you know that you might be thinking, why did Pastor Cotton do the fishing pole? A lot of people think that once they're forgiven, that's kind of the sum total of the Christian life. Jesus said, follow me and I'll make you fishes of men. So I was thinking about fishing rods. We're made for God, right? We are made for God. Made for His glory. To share in His mission by being fishers of men. So my garage has some dark corners. And I was looking around and I saw this. Now this looks like a brand new fishing rod, right? Guess what it's not. It's like seven or eight years old. Somebody gave this to me and I never used it. I put it in a corner. somewhere in my garage and I saw it and I said oh my goodness look at this fishing rod and I pulled it out and it had the tags on it from like 7 or 8 years ago. You believe that? It was dusty. I had to clean it off to bring it here to show you guys, because I would be embarrassed because it was never used. But then I thought, this is a perfect illustration of the way many of us lead our lives. Come to Christ, we experience the cleansing and the grace of the gospel. And then Jesus says, follow me in making you fishers of men. And we take that calling, and we put it in our garage, and we never use it. Right? So, I want you to think about your life. I want you to think about using the gift that God has given you. I don't know if it's Rwanda, I don't know if it's Pakistan, it could be someplace here, but whatever God has called you to do, He's called you to be fishers of people for Him. Because we were made for God. God wants us to be a part of His mission. Let's pray. Father, I pray for all of us that Lord, you call us children. You said, follow me. I'm making fishes with men. We don't make ourselves to become fishes with men. It's your work by your spirit in our lives. And as my new young friend has reminded us so well this morning, we were made for God. That is what we were made for. So we give our lives to you. What a wonderful message. Thank you very much. That is a very good reminder to pray for the children in this church, pray for the children that are our homeschool co-op and our preschool, that the Lord would reveal His calling to them and that they would be faithful to Him and follow Him again. So thank you very much. Let's now take this time to go to our Lord in silent prayer, and then I'll lead us in the pastoral prayer. you. Eternal God and Heavenly Father, what a blessing it is again to be here together today, to have this time that you have set apart on this, your day. As we consider what we have heard from your word, what we have lifted up to you, we recognize again that you are good, that you are faithful and your faithfulness endures and that we ought to praise you. And yet, as we also lifted up in song, we are prone to wander. And yet, Father, you hang on to us. And by your Holy Spirit, you convict us and you work in our hearts and we pray that you would indeed do that now for as we are in your presence and in all of your magnificence and glory, we must admit that we have fallen short. But instead of doing what you've called us to do, often we are only concerned with our own sense of calling. Instead of doing what your word commands, Often enough, we do the opposite or leave undone the thing that we should. Indeed, Father, we are in need of forgiveness. And we pray that by the blood of Jesus Christ, you would wash away all of our sins and remind us again and again of his sacrifice. And in reminding us, spur us on in faithfulness to be the fishers of men that you have called us to be. Forgive us for reducing that task to belonging to only certain people with certain gifts. Instead, let us see that part of knowing you is boasting in Christ, testifying to your faithfulness, bearing witness to what we have seen, and being ready to give the reason for the hope that we have, that hope in Christ Jesus alone. As we think about the state of the world around us, we know that There's never been a time where this message is more fitting. For so many are lost. And now, perhaps more than in recent years, we see the product of that being lost. We see a society that in many ways is falling apart. People believe ridiculous things and it seems like there's no end to the lunacy, often enough. And yet we know that ultimately, what is needed. It's not just a political correction. It's not a financial solution. The world needs you, Father. The world needs Jesus Christ to be transformed. And you have given us the task, the responsibility, the privilege of being heralds of the good news of Jesus Christ. So let us be about your business, either directly in person, with the opportunities that you give us, or supporting those who are faithful to carry your message, as your son said, to the utmost ends of the earth. We praise you for the Cotton's, for the work that you are doing through them here and abroad, finding a way to take something as important as theological education, this safeguard, this thing that you have given to spur on towards righteousness and faithfulness. You've put them in this unique situation and given them the abilities necessary to take the education of here in the West to the global South. And we've already heard about the commitment of those that are called to preach the word, men that will walk hours one way just to hear. And yet again, we're reminded of the choices that we make. Oh, Father, we pray that you would be with the cottons and spur them on, encourage them again and again, because I know the evil one seeks to attack those who are acting in faithfulness. And I know he's doing this for them. So encourage them, use us to encourage them, but use your church abroad. And Father, please enable them to do exactly what you have called them to do. Give protection, give clarity of thought and vision as they go forward. We pray this not only for them, we pray this for all of our missionaries in their respective fields. We ask that, Father, we know that the harvest is plentiful. But we pray that the workers would increase and that their work would go well and all for your sake and for your kingdom. As we think about this calling that you have given to us, we pray also for the church, the church that in so many ways is fractured, in so many ways has become unclean and diluted. And Father, again, we need the winds of revival to blow. We need Jesus Christ. So work within our midst that your name will be lifted up and glorified. Now please be with us as we continue in this time and we pray it in Christ's name. Amen. Now let's continue our worship by taking our green Bible song book. We'll turn to number 188 as we sing under his wings, Bible song number 188. Please stand. Safe in the secret place of the Most High. He is my refuge, the Lord is my guide. Take me, Lord. ♪ Arrow that hasten to slay ♪ ♪ Fear not the pestilence ♪ ♪ Falling in darkness ♪ ♪ For the Destroyer hath wasted my day ♪ ♪ Under his wings, under his wings ♪ truth and faithfulness, no evil can be thy plea. Keep the Lord's fire, for this your revelation. Unto Jehovah, for refuge now, ♪ We will be holding your heartbeat ♪ ♪ Until night's clouding the waves shall come by ♪ ♪ Under its wings we'll fly ♪ Thus speaketh truth and faithfulness, no evil can betide thee. Of thou, O Lord, surely he will deliver. He will reign softly and answer thy call. his ways, honor his ways, safe in the refuge I keep. Thus he gives truth and faith, Let's go to our Lord. Our Father, as we just lifted up, you are so faithful. We are sheltered under the shadow of your wings. And now as we come to this portion where we return to you out of the abundance that you've given to us, we pray that you would bless the gift, that you would bless the giver, that these would be used in accordance with your will and for your kingdom. And we pray it all in Christ's name. Amen. You may be seated. Yeah. ♪ For ev'ry place in the universe ♪ ♪ That I have held and seen ♪ ♪ Has heaven and earth surrounded me ♪ ♪ O night immeasurable ♪ ♪ When the twilight's deep ♪ He turns and steals the answer, and the pride that made him grow. He turns and steals the answer, and the pride that made him grow. He's the answer, He's the answer for your soul. And no song can take you to Him, with Him the lost will flee. I know He knows and still we answer, He's always been and always will be. ♪ So give thanks to him as angels do ♪ ♪ And all the peace of mind ♪ ♪ For with the dawn of peace today ♪ ♪ His wills are tried to find ♪ ♪ Now his will is mine ♪ ♪ The Prince of Peace will rule ♪ ♪ Who can save me from this ♪ ♪ Jesus is still the answer ♪ ♪ And the dying angels call ♪ ♪ Jesus is still the answer ♪ ♪ He's the answer for us all ♪ ♪ On this day he has appeared ♪ ♪ Where men were all afraid ♪ ♪ A new kingdom's rigidly entered ♪ ♪ Here's the answer ♪ Thank you very much. Good morning. What a blessing it is to be with you in God's house. I was struck writing up the beauty of the Lord in that which he has made as he has declared his beauty out in front of your building and all around in his creation. How it's impossible to even walk outside of this building without being struck by the beauty of Jesus Christ. But our text this morning is Psalm 32, so I would ask you to turn there with me this morning. We're gonna look at the beauty of the Lord, not just as he ride up and leave and that which he has made, but also in his word, in his gospel, as he has surely set forth his beauty and his splendor, that which he has said. So read with me Psalm 32. This is God's word. Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night, your hand was heavy upon me. My strength was dried up as by the heat of summer, Salah. I acknowledge my sins to you. I did not cover my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord. You forgave the iniquity for my sins, Salah. Therefore, let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found. Surely in the rush of great waters they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me. You preserve me from trouble. You surround me with shouts of deliverance." I will instruct you in teaching the way you should go. I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you. Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart. That's the reading of God's inerrant, inspired, infallible word. Let's pray. Father, would you come and, Holy Spirit, write The words of the Son of God upon our hearts. We pray that our affections and our thoughts and our lives would match that for which you called us. And Lord, that those areas of our lives that we tend to hide from you and from others, you would gently expose that we might experience your grace and be lifted. So good morning once again, really glad to be here. We are missionaries with world witness and it's a thrill to be sent by the ARP church and so I'm hoping to share some things this morning to stir our hearts. what I said about the fishing rod that's left unused many times is true of all of us. None of us are above receiving a calling and a gift and then finding ourselves at some later point having not used it. And the question comes, what do we do? How do we recover? We know we should be here. We're not there. How do we get there? Psalm 32. So I know last week you've been looking at Ezra. concentrating on the reality of spiritual warfare. And the pastor said last week, the devil wants to corrupt your relationship with God to destroy that which is good in your life in order that he might steal God's glory by wrecking you and us because we are God's temple. So I want to pick up on those ideas in two ways. One, The Rwandan genocide was so bad in 1994, and I'll talk more specifically about the genocide later, but even today, people in Rwanda explain the genocide by saying it was the days the devil ruled Rwanda. The days the devil ruled Rwanda. What made it so bad is that Rwanda was a Christian nation. And I wanna quickly pivot, however, to you and me. What does that have to do with us? Again, you learned last week, the devil's not just working somewhere in Africa. He's not just working in the global south among pagans. He wants to steal and kill and destroy you and me. Because together we are God's temple. So how do you beat the devil? Number one, don't sin, right? These things are written so that you might not sin. Don't sin. Answer two. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father of Jesus Christ, the righteous. Don't sin. If you do, when you do, don't stay there. Quickly get up and return. Step one, step two. But answer three, immediately establish new patterns of obedience so that you might know the joy that is in your renewed relationship with your Heavenly Father. So that's how Satan has defeated us, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel's always the answer. It's the answer Rwanda, post-genocide, 1994, and it's the answer here in this room. So I've selected text Psalm 32 today that has all three of those steps, and I wanna use the genocide to demonstrate that even the worst expressions of human depravity, one so severe we accurately say the devil ruled for 100 days, even there, Jesus is enough. Many scars, of course, remain in Rwanda, and yet the churches that we minister to, Kutu and Tutsi, sit side by side in the same pews, often having had repented to each other and forgiven for atrocities beyond imagination. Same pews, same gospel, same Christ, same Holy Spirit, same Father, same baptism, Our God is sufficient. So in Psalm 32, first of all, as we move through this text, let me give you some, I call them housekeeping things, just things to notice if the text is a room, some textual housekeeping things. Number one, notice the personal nature of the text and its oscillation between grammatical person. The text starts in third person. It's giving a principle. Blessed is the one. Blessed is the man, and it gives these principles. Well, the psalm actually ends that way too. Many are the sorrows of the wicked. Steadfast love surrounds the ones. The third person principles are on the outside. But then it quickly goes to first person, testimony form. Verse three, for when I, kept silent my bones wasted away through my groaning all the day long and then there's a mixture of second and first day in verse four day and night your hand was heavy upon me god's hand your hands heavy upon me so it starts in third then it goes to first And second, as the psalmist is welcoming us in, as David is welcoming us in to the experience he himself has had. So notice, first housekeeping thing, the personal nature of the text. It shows up in the use of pronouns. Second housekeeping thing, the misery. Just notice, let it sink in, the misery of sin in verses three through four. It stands out in the chapter, when I kept silent, my bones wasted away. Through my groaning all day long, day and night, your hand was heavy upon me. My strength was dried up as by the heat of summer, just the misery of sin. The opposite, if holiness is happiness, the opposite of holiness is misery. Sin is misery, and this text brings it out. So, all right, so let's build on our observations. So, the misery of sin, the psalm presupposes that we have sins, and that because of sin we are miserable. So to go back to 1 John 2, these things are written that you might not sin, It presupposes you've already messed that one up. And we're already in step two. So if I had given you three steps, don't sin, right? But if you do, don't stay there. Return to God quickly by the advocate that we have. And step three, establish new patterns. Well, the psalm starts assuming that you've messed the step one up. The psalmist is in a bad way because of his own sin. It presupposes we've sinned and we are miserable. The milk is already spilt. The toothpaste is out of the tube. The devil has already won a battle against the psalmist. Now, on one level, of course, all of us are born with the milk already spilt because we sinned in Adam. It pays to remember that. So the psalm applies there as well, however, The psalmist is struggling with something more specific, a personal failure that he's being further tempted to hide. It's one of Satan's most common attacks. All is lost, he will tell you. The toothpaste is out of the tube. You can't put it back in. All is lost. You've lost. It's too late. All you can do is run and hide. Find a bush. Find a dark room, find a cave, find a garage to hide your fishing rod in, it's too late for you. It's one of his most common tactics. And of course, it's what Adam and Eve did in the garden as well. And in that place, there's misery. And of course, in the darkness, sin grows. So that's our housekeeping. Let's do some exegesis. Let's draw out some more meaning. Starting at that first third person part. Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity and whose spirit there is no deceit. That third person principle section. What is the principle? We see it up front, blessedness. What is blessedness? It's happiness. This psalm is about how to be happy, which is amazing. But as we just saw, it's got this section that still highlights misery. Yet the pronounced theme is how to be happy. Blessed is the man, blessed is the one. How happy is this one? how to be happy, how to regain. If the presupposition of the psalm is that step one has been lost, that the toothpaste is out of the tube, the milk has been spilled, it can't be put back in, blessedness must then be restoration of that which was lost. Blessedness is not perfect maintenance and never losing something. It's a restoration of that which was completely lost. That's good news. That's the gospel. How do we gain the fellowship with God that Adam lost or that you have lost through personal failure? The central issue is happiness. Blessed is the one. Blessed is the man whose transgression, again assumed, is forgiven. What is forgiveness? Whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity. See how it's building forgiveness? being covered, and then against whom the Lord counts no iniquity. And those parallel phrases builds up the idea of what forgiveness even is. Shows what he meant in verse one. Forgiveness is covering in the sense that God does not count our sins. It's not that he doesn't know what we did. It's the opposite. He doesn't count it against us. So all blessedness, all happiness, all joy, all life, all goodness after the fall flows from forgiveness. There is no other source of blessedness after the fall than forgiveness. Then comes the kicker, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. That phrase used to confuse me. Why is it there? and in whose spirit there is no deceit. And that launches us, that's the phrase at the end of that first third-person principle section that launches us into this first-person personal testimony of misery that David is drawing us into. He says, your experience is like mine. I'm uncovering your experience of misery through this trigger phrase, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. What is that? When we hide our sin. When there was deceit in my spirit which kept me silent. There was misery in my life. When I hid my sin, when I was like Adam and Eve, when I went thinking God can't find me here. That's when there was the verse three and four misery in my life that I'm sure you and I know I have had in our lives. And yet that brings us to the glorious turning point in verse five, the turning point of confession. I acknowledged in the parallel, I said I will confess. What did he acknowledge my sin? In the parallel, he confesses his transgressions. I acknowledge my sin to you and I what I did not cover. He said God would cover. He does not cover. And in the parallel, I said I'll confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave. I don't cover my sin and you forgave my iniquity. Notice that the psalmist is immediately, as soon as he uncovers his sin, he's immediately transported by grace from the lowest place of misery to the highest place of blessedness. It's like an elevator. From the lowest place of misery to the highest place of blessedness by the grace of God in the moment of confession and faith. Here's the principle. If David covers his own sin, God will not cover it, as in forgive it. But if David uncovers his own sin, God covers and forgives it. Now verse six is the central exhortation of the psalm. Therefore, let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time where you may be found. Therefore, is the central exhortation, let everyone who is what? Godly. Now you think, how can he be called godly? Because God has not counted his sin against him. God has reckoned him righteous in the person of Jesus Christ because of the cross of Calvary. That's why. And because of that reckoning, he is godly. Not because of something we've learned. The psalm assumes he's in the low place of misery and transports him from that place. Therefore, let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you. That is the prayer of confession is for Christians. He's speaking to Christian people. Warning at a time where you may be found. In other words, there's a time coming where he will not be able to be appealed to in this way. These are the days of salvation. These are the days of mission. The days of mission are going to come to a close. There will come a time where with the voice of an archangel, Christ will return from heaven. And at that point, the books are closed. We pray at a time where you may be found. Surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. So, so far we've experienced the first two movements we discussed to start. These things are written to you so that you might not sin. And if anyone does sin, we have an advocate, Jesus. But we mentioned the third step immediately and intentionally by faith, establishing new patterns of obedience so that you might enjoy this life of blessedness and happiness. And verse seven through nine are about that. They say, you are a hiding place for me. You preserve me from trouble. You surround me with shouts of deliverance. I will instruct you, God says, and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule without understanding which must be curbed with bit and bridle or it will not stay near you. These verses are about establishing. In the aftermath of forgiveness, a newfound confidence in God, you are a hiding place for me, you preserve me. The tone has completely changed from my bones are crushed and I'm melting in the summer heat, I don't even know what to do, I can't even think straight or move, to you are a hiding place for me. The tone has completely changed. He has been transported to a land of blessedness by the grace of God. through confession. The tone has changed, but notice God is not done. He wants David to walk in the blessing he now has. So God says, I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule without understanding. Do you see it? In other words, intentionally, And immediately, in this blessedness, in this confidence of forgiveness that we now have, do what it takes to establish new patterns of obedience in your life in the very place you have been struggling. God promises to provide the wisdom for you. He says, I will counsel you with my eye upon you. There's a bit of a, I used to always tell the story One of my kids, his name is Joel, and Joel is a wonderful young man, loves Christ, loves the Lord. But when he was young, he was known to be stubborn. And we were known to butt heads. And it was historic, the level of head-butting that there was. And there were times where he and I almost didn't know, and I finally got to the point where I would say, son, because we believed in spanking. I would say, son, this is hurting you a lot more than it's hurting me. Let's be honest. Because I can do this all day. I'm not going to get mad. I'm not going to get sad. I love you. But I can do this as long as you can have it the easy way or the hard way. You're not torturing me with your disobedience. I'm going to be consistent. Because I finally realized if I get mad at him, it's feeding something. It's making it worse. And but if I'm just calm and patient and persistent and he realizes there's no winning, he will finally do the math and realize this isn't worth it. And he would, he would, he would realize and he would change. And there's a little bit of that here. Be not like the horse or the mule. Don't make me put a bit and bridle in your mouth. Do you want it the easy way or the hard way? David, I'm committed to you. I will put my eye upon you. I will counsel you, right? Let's do it the easy way. And that's here in this text. So step one, step two, but now step three. Let's establish patterns of walking in blessing. It's a little different for every person, James 1. If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask, and God will provide it. He doesn't find fault. And then now, let me give you a quote by Augustine. He was always good with this particular topic. He says, in his commentary on the Psalms, I will give you an understanding and set you on this road you must enter. You've made your confession, Augustine says. So now I will give you understanding so that you might not leave the road where you are beginning to walk. Here's what I want you to hear. In an attempt to regain disposal of yourself. Don't take the reins back. I will keep a firm eye on you and so confirm my loving choice of you." That's Augustine. And of course, the psalm ends with another third-person section that mirrors the opening section. Notice the attitude commended of us. Be glad in the Lord. Again, blessedness from the depths of despair to the heights of gladness in one psalm. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart. Notice as well what the forgiven are called. Righteous. Before they've had a chance to prove it. Upright. The ending is meant, of course, to match the beginning. So being glad, rejoicing, even shouting flows from the forgiveness that actually makes us righteous. Of course, this justification is the cross. At the cross, the father wiped away our sin, but he also gave us the righteousness of his son. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous. Shout for joy, all you upright in heart. So this month marks the 30th anniversary of the 1994 Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi. So raise your hand if you're 30 years of age or older. Okay. So in Rwanda, if you were Rwandese, every one of you would either be a genocidal perpetrator, a victim, or an exile, no exceptions. Every life, 30 years of age or older, affected in dramatic life-altering ways. Militant Hutus organized and systematically murdered, raped, and tortured almost a million people, primarily Tutsi. Those are two tribes, the Hutu and the Tutsi. But they also murdered moderate Hutus. Babies and children were murdered just as systematically as the adults. Thousands upon thousands of orphans were created. Now, in 1994, I was a junior at Erskine College. So I heard of the Rwandan genocide, but had no idea who the Hutu and Tutsi were, and I could not have located if I'm honest Rwanda on a map without a lot of searching. So you might be like me. This is not a guilt test. Rwanda, as I told the kids, is just over 10,000 square miles. South Carolina is just over 30,000 square miles. You could fit approximately three Rwandans in the state of South Carolina. And think about how small South Carolina is and how big Africa is. Estimates of the genocide say that close to a million people were systematically murdered in the genocide beginning April 7, 1994, in only 100 days. The thing that makes the Rwandan genocide so unique is its intensity. Now, Rwanda is mountainous. I'm gonna guess that about 40% of the land is mountainous, so uninhabitable. So if you do the math, that's 164 corpses per square mile in basically three months. So let that sink in, what that would look like driving around. Now often churches became slaughterhouses. There are stories of people gathering in churches to receive the sacrament and being consecrated to go kill in God's name. I've been in churches with bloodstains still remaining on the walls where certain horrific acts that are too gross to mention explicitly in church took place over and over. I'm not saying these things were shot by you, obviously, because we have similar examples of human depravity from World War II and many other genocides and crimes in the history of the world. There was a family in AARP Church a couple years ago in Rock Hill that were murdered. Genocide against that family. So we have many such examples of this, but genocide is depravity of man writ large, writ large. And so why am I saying all of this? I'm saying this for two reasons. One, hear this one. God has given the Associate of Foreign Presbyterian Church a special door providentially in Rwanda. He really has. We have an open door that no other denomination has. I really believe that. We have a unique national partner there that we get to work through. It gives us a unique place in that nation. So I really believe that every single AARP member should know and feel at least some of the history there. And then secondly, I want to ask you a simple question. Does Psalm 32, the power of forgiveness, the gospel of the cross work even in that situation? So I want to tell some stories. One of the privileges I have of going to Rwanda so frequently is that I can tell you for sure the gospel is the only thing that works there. If it's true that all the blessedness after the fall that we can know or will ever eternally know flows from forgiveness, think about that. Know the path of blessing. Know the path of happiness, but through the low door, the forgiveness door. If you're not willing to crawl under that low door, You can't know Christ, you can't know life, you can't know happiness, you can't have anything. But if that's true, then it's true everywhere, in every situation, even in a place where the devil ruled for 100 days. So one story among many, I have a friend in Rwanda named Prote. And Prote is a pastor. And I met him, we were doing some pastoral training, and he asked me to preach the church. So I preached Psalm 32, because I thought, well, I want to preach on forgiveness, but you don't go to Rwanda as a Westerner and just start talking about genocide and Hutu and Tutsi. It would be the worst kind of imposition, the pride of it, the audacity. But you can go and preach the scripture, any part of the scripture, So I picked one about forgiveness. I wanted to see what would happen. Just preach forgiveness. And don't be specific about the genocide. Don't even mention it. So I finished and he came up to me in front of the church and said, that is my life message. That's my life message. So he brought me back to his house for lunch and told me his story. Now certain aspects of this story are even possibly theologically, I'm just gonna tell it to you the way he told it to me, okay? When genocide broke out in 1994, he's a Tootsie, and he had a wife and children, and they drugged, when the militants came by, the genociders came by, they drugged him out of his house, brought him back up to the road, separated him from his wife and his kids, and that's the last time he ever saw them, they were killed. And they take a machete, they hit him on the head, try to kill him, but it didn't kill him by God's providence. It's a glancing blow. They were killing many. They got to him and he collapses in this pile of bodies in a coma. At some point, he wakes up, miraculously survives, just scrimping and scrapping for food, looking for help out in the bush for the remainder of the genocide. Ends up, and he was so bitter, he said he would cry and every day he would pray for God to kill those who killed his family. Ends up in England in one of those navigators, Bible progression, you know, trainings. And in the lesson about forgiveness, the Holy Spirit broke through to him and he'd start to weep for hours. And the person who was working with him was freaked out, because this guy was obviously having a, And he didn't know what was, what was happening. But the Holy Spirit told him, you've got to forgive. You have to forgive the people who did these things to your family. So he goes back to Rwanda, he forgives. And in Rwanda, Rwanda's so small, they were, eventually they would start a system of jurisprudence called the Kinshasa system of jurisprudence. Because there were so many genociders that the jails were filled to the point where they occupy the number of criminals, the number of genociders. And so they came up with a system where certain levels of crime, not the big ones, but certain levels of genocidal participation could be forgiven if you would go and identify where the bodies were. I told you how many bodies were per square miles. There's still caches of bodies they find hidden underground to this day. So if you would go and say, here's where we hid the bodies, and here's who killed who, and I'm really sorry, please forgive me, to the people you did it to, your sentence could be reduced and you could actually get out of jail, and you would have community service. I'm just telling you that happened. I know you're like, is that even right? I'm just telling you what happened. So Protech, he gets back to Orlando, And he goes, the run is very small. So it's almost like a big county in terms of its size. So people know people. Now it's the most densely populated nation in Africa. It's a lot of people in a small space. And you'd be surprised how many people know other people. So you can find out where the people were who killed your people. So he went to the prison and looked these people up who had killed his wife and his kids. And when he met with them, he told me that they said, why are you here or are you here to kill us? He says, I'm here, and this is the part you're just gonna have to bear with me. He says, I'm here not to kill you. I'm here to ask you to forgive me. And they said, what are you talking about? We need you to forgive us. We're the sinners here. And he said, I need you to forgive me because I have been praying for your death. every single day since the genocide. And they wept. And they said, so the Holy Spirit moved, there was just amazing work. And so he started a ministry of reconciliation where he would bring genociders and people involved in genocide and victims together and teach the gospel to them. And oftentimes, by the end of the week, there will be this incredible move of the Holy Spirit of forgiveness and repentance, lifting of shame. And so he told me, he said, Sam, I know in the West you see this bitch-onscious system and you think, and he said, a lot of it is fake. He said, people will go and they'll just feign repentance so that they can get out of jail, get a reduced sentence. And I'm not sure what exactly the reduced sentences are. I'm just painting a big picture. You can do more research on it if you want. He said, a lot of it is feigned. He said, but I am telling you it's a move of the Holy Spirit. There is a move of grace and gospel in our nation that is restoring us. And see, that's why you go to churches and there's Hutu and Tutsi and Hutu and Tutsi. And it's true. Now, at the same time, there's still a lot of the old animus is still there, and I'm not, I don't want to paint a rosy picture. But I'm saying in the church of Jesus Christ, there's been an amazing move of God with certain people. So is the gospel enough? It was enough for prote. I'll tell you one more story, then I'll close. Most of our students are Hutu. That surprises some folks. So most of our students are pastors, and they'll come to us carrying a load of hidden shame. So Lee Shellnut, who Reverend Malthus mentioned a few moments ago, came last December. And we gathered all of our, so we have three different cohorts, three different sites in Rwanda where we do, you know, training. So each of those cohorts has its own schedule, its own courses, and they're not necessarily the same. They're the same courses, but they're not the same time. So the students in those cohorts have not met each other. So we brought them together last December for a SEED conference, and Lee came and spoke. And during the conference, one of the students who's Hutu, and you never know who's Hutu and who's Tutsi. But during Lee's teaching, one of the pastors found himself very touched in his heart regarding hidden shame he carried because of crimes his family had committed during genocide. And in Africa, what your family does, in essence, you have done, because it's a communal way of life. And so our national partner, Benjamin Musafuke, who's a genocide survivor himself, this pastor always assumed that Benjamin knew what his family did and hated it. and didn't trust him. And he carried that in his heart. But during Lee's teaching, something about it, his heart was stirred. He received faith from the Lord to go and unburden himself to Ben. And he did so. And when he did, they wept together. Ben was able to minister the freedom of the gospel to him. He walked away free from a 30-year-old shame. So I ask you, is the gospel enough? Is it enough for Kote? Is it enough for this pastor? I don't know what the future of Rwanda is. None of us can tell what's going to happen. But I know for these people, the gospel's enough. Why am I telling you this? Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. I am that man. Are you? Let's pray. Father, come to you, acknowledging that the nations are in your hand. Lord, we are ARPs, and at least right now, there's an open door in Rwanda, and it's an open door that the Holy Spirit is already there. You're already moving. We've seen two examples. God, preserve Rwanda. We wanna intercede right now, the racial animus, the tribal animus that's there, those old wounds and hatreds, wash them away by your gospel. God, we see in these lives a true move of your spirit, and God, you've given us as ARPs an open door there, and we're trying to go through, Father, with all of our might, and help us to go through that door. As long as that door is open, Lord, that there might be a gospel nation, a nation born again, a nation renewed and built up, and the church there, vibrant, and the ministers there built up. We pray for our students, God, those who, like the one I mentioned here, who had a 30-year-old shame washed away, or the leaders like Prote, who have forgiven things that we cannot even imagine, well, much like your son on the cross forgave us, actually. Lord. but I pray also for the mission, the ministry here at Old Providence. God, this is a church with a missionary calling. This is a church that your hand is heavy upon. Lord, there is a calling from you that is here specifically, that they are to pull out of the garage and dust that fishing rod off. Lord, it's a mighty calling. I pray they would put their hand to that plow. But God, I also pray for every individual here under the sound of your voice. God, that the hiddenness, the shame, the things we carry, the things we need to repent of, that we would understand that that three-step process of the gospel is open to us. These things are written that you might not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And then be not like the horse or the mule, which will not obey unless the bit is put in the mouth. I will counsel you with my eye upon you. God, forgive us for our sin. And just like you prayed with the kids, Father, we do want to be those living sacrifices and give our lives to you. But all of this is by your grace. God, the mission is no less of your grace and your enablement than the forgiveness is. It's not as if you say to us, oh, I forgive you by grace, then you better go get the mission right. God, all of it is worship. Come fill us with your Holy Spirit. Come renew us. Send us out. For it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. in light of the gospel sufficiency, in light of the calling that we have received, in light of the command to continue in Godliness. Let us now close by standing together, taking our hymnals and turning to hymn number 302, as we sing, Have Thine Own Way, Lord. Number 302, please stand. Oh. Glory to God in the highest. I'll ask Sam to come forward and offer the benediction, but Sam and Martha Margaret will be in the portico with me at the close of the service. Amen. It's been a joy to be here. What a blessing it's been for us. So let me just bless you. Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant equip you with everything good, that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.