WEBVTT - Grace and Restoration 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:04.360 Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. 0:00:04.720 --> 0:00:08.080 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:00:08.760 --> 0:00:12.360 You know, kids will put you on the spot and 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:13.680 ask you questions. 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:16.040 Can't wait for that. I'm excited. 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:20.240 Wait till your little girl starts asking you questions. Yes, 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:23.919 some of them. They start simple, but they get complex 0:00:23.920 --> 0:00:25.480 real quick. Yeah. 0:00:26.120 --> 0:00:27.920 I'm scared. Do you have an example? 0:00:27.960 --> 0:00:29.400 And the whys and the whys and the whys? 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:30.840 Don't stop. You can share. 0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:34.360 Why? Oh, I have many examples, but recently I was 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:37.600 just yesterday I was talking with, you know, car rides 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:39.760 are great for conversations with kids. And I'm in that 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:41.279 stage where I spend a lot of time in the 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:44.000 car with my kids. I was shuttling them from one 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:46.640 place to the other, and for some reason, my daughter 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:51.559 had a ton of questions about marriage. Just marriage in general. What? 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:55.880 What kind of thing? Like, what is love? What is 0:00:56.160 --> 0:00:56.600 just like. 0:00:56.720 --> 0:00:57.360 Good question. 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:01.660 Philosophical questions. And then she started asking about, like, things 0:01:01.660 --> 0:01:06.220 that cause a marriage to go wrong. And so she 0:01:06.220 --> 0:01:09.580 started asking about, like, adultery and all these questions. And 0:01:09.580 --> 0:01:12.580 I'm like, where is this coming from? Where is this going? 0:01:12.900 --> 0:01:16.220 But the thing that that that was interesting is because, 0:01:16.260 --> 0:01:19.619 you know, she's she's still young. She was like, how 0:01:19.620 --> 0:01:23.780 in the world could someone do something like that to 0:01:23.819 --> 0:01:26.459 someone who they really love? 0:01:26.500 --> 0:01:26.900 Yeah. 0:01:27.180 --> 0:01:30.740 How could someone do something like that? And of course, 0:01:30.780 --> 0:01:33.300 if you don't have to live a lot more of 0:01:33.300 --> 0:01:37.860 life to realize that people do all kinds of things. 0:01:37.900 --> 0:01:38.540 Totally. 0:01:38.900 --> 0:01:41.980 That you kind of go. How? 0:01:42.620 --> 0:01:46.260 Yeah. That doesn't that doesn't compute in my brain, whatever 0:01:46.260 --> 0:01:47.980 the action may be. It doesn't make any sense how 0:01:47.980 --> 0:01:49.340 you could get yourself there. 0:01:49.340 --> 0:01:51.180 But then at the same time, you look at your 0:01:51.180 --> 0:01:55.700 own life and maybe you haven't committed adultery, but guaranteed 0:01:55.700 --> 0:01:58.450 there's been some point in time in your life where 0:01:58.450 --> 0:02:01.570 you did something, where you look back and go, how 0:02:01.570 --> 0:02:02.570 did I do that? 0:02:02.610 --> 0:02:05.570 Yeah. How did I get down that road and why? 0:02:05.890 --> 0:02:08.530 How? How did I miss it that bad? 0:02:08.570 --> 0:02:09.010 Yeah. 0:02:09.690 --> 0:02:13.970 And you realize the funny thing about life, especially walking 0:02:13.970 --> 0:02:18.049 with the Lord, is the closer you get to to God, actually, 0:02:18.090 --> 0:02:22.210 the more aware you become of how desperately you need 0:02:22.210 --> 0:02:25.850 him to not blow it in some major area. No 0:02:25.850 --> 0:02:28.930 doubt your level of sort of self confidence like, I 0:02:28.970 --> 0:02:32.169 got this. I could never do that. Look at that 0:02:32.169 --> 0:02:36.169 person over there. Wrecking their life, wrecking their marriage, not 0:02:36.169 --> 0:02:41.049 being nice to their kid. I could never really. 0:02:41.090 --> 0:02:42.530 Be very careful about that. 0:02:43.410 --> 0:02:47.570 Be careful. The closer you walk with the Lord, the 0:02:47.570 --> 0:02:50.970 more you realize that old statement. But for the grace 0:02:50.970 --> 0:02:53.570 of God, there go I. 0:02:53.810 --> 0:02:54.690 Absolutely. 0:02:54.730 --> 0:02:57.870 So the truth is, how do people do the things 0:02:58.389 --> 0:03:01.630 that they do to other people? Sin. 0:03:02.070 --> 0:03:02.470 Sin. 0:03:03.150 --> 0:03:07.470 Because of sin, this sin sickness that we are all 0:03:07.470 --> 0:03:11.989 infected with from the very beginning and absolutely need the 0:03:12.030 --> 0:03:15.430 saving power of Jesus Christ. And even then, we're still 0:03:15.470 --> 0:03:17.989 going to miss it. Even as we grow in our 0:03:17.990 --> 0:03:21.269 sanctification process, there's still going to be ways that we 0:03:21.270 --> 0:03:25.390 miss it. Coming up, we cannot have a week about 0:03:25.389 --> 0:03:30.590 David and not address the biggest area where he absolutely 0:03:30.590 --> 0:03:35.510 blew it. The sin of David that had such far 0:03:35.550 --> 0:03:42.070 reaching consequence. Was he absolutely forgiven and restored? Yep. But boy, 0:03:42.310 --> 0:03:46.870 the fallout was great. How do you recover from this 0:03:46.870 --> 0:03:50.350 kind of sin? Let's talk about it coming up. 0:03:52.030 --> 0:03:55.220 Get to know the team behind the scenes follow cast 0:03:55.220 --> 0:03:57.380 and crew on Facebook and Instagram. 0:03:58.620 --> 0:04:01.460 Spending time looking at the life of David and David 0:04:01.500 --> 0:04:04.900 got so much right in his life, so many lessons 0:04:04.900 --> 0:04:08.700 that we can glean his courage, his role as a musician, 0:04:08.700 --> 0:04:12.940 his role as a leader. But there was this one thing, 0:04:13.300 --> 0:04:16.260 and scripture even points to it. Doctor Winfred Nealy joining 0:04:16.260 --> 0:04:20.180 us right now. Share this verse. And then we'll talk 0:04:20.180 --> 0:04:23.420 about this one time in David's life where he was 0:04:23.420 --> 0:04:26.140 not he did not have a heart for God. 0:04:26.460 --> 0:04:32.460 Well, this is the spirit of God's commentary on David's life, 0:04:32.580 --> 0:04:36.140 where it says, For David's sake, the Lord his God 0:04:36.140 --> 0:04:38.500 gave him a lamp. This is another one of his 0:04:38.500 --> 0:04:45.540 descendants in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, establishing Jerusalem, 0:04:45.540 --> 0:04:49.659 because David did what was right in the eyes of 0:04:49.660 --> 0:04:55.320 the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that 0:04:55.320 --> 0:05:00.360 he commanded him all the days of his life, except 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:05.600 in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. And so, as 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:08.800 we get into this conversation, it seems to me to 0:05:08.800 --> 0:05:13.080 use this verse as a framework for it. Otherwise it 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:16.320 could be easily misunderstood. I mean, this is a massive 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:21.760 statement here. Yeah. About what God thought about David's life. 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:24.240 And would you like to have God write that on 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:26.800 your on your headstone at your grave? He did what 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:29.119 was right in the eyes of the Lord, so forth 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:32.120 and so on. And of course, here is an exception. 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:34.360 So but this is the verse that it seems to 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:37.000 me should frame what we're going to talk about next. 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:40.040 So let's talk about this now. Maybe you've heard of 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:42.479 the story of David and Bathsheba, but I'm going to 0:05:42.480 --> 0:05:45.720 assume that some of you haven't. Uriah the Hittite is 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:48.560 who's mentioned in that first? Is that first or second kings? 0:05:48.760 --> 0:05:51.790 That's first Kings, chapter 15, verse five. 0:05:51.950 --> 0:05:56.430 So he's mentioned there. He was the husband of Bathsheba. 0:05:56.870 --> 0:05:59.950 Give us the the just the summary narrative of what 0:05:59.950 --> 0:06:02.950 happens in this incident so that we can begin to 0:06:02.950 --> 0:06:03.750 unpack it. 0:06:03.910 --> 0:06:09.390 Well, it's mentioned this story is in second Samuel chapter 0:06:09.430 --> 0:06:13.510 11 and 12, where there is there's a war going 0:06:13.510 --> 0:06:17.190 on with Ammon, Amnon. And they're finishing up the job now, 0:06:17.310 --> 0:06:20.990 and David stays in Jerusalem. And it really should have 0:06:20.990 --> 0:06:24.349 been out there with his soldiers while he's walking on 0:06:24.350 --> 0:06:29.110 the palace. He happens to see a woman bathing. Then 0:06:29.110 --> 0:06:33.270 she was beautiful. And in Old Testament narratives, physical descriptions 0:06:33.270 --> 0:06:37.350 are rare. And so when we have them, that's really, 0:06:37.350 --> 0:06:41.430 really important in the narrative, right? So she's beautiful. And 0:06:41.430 --> 0:06:47.969 David inquires about her, sends for her, he takes her 0:06:48.410 --> 0:06:52.330 and lies with her, and she goes back home and 0:06:52.330 --> 0:06:55.490 you think it's all over. Okay? The narrator says. And 0:06:55.490 --> 0:06:56.650 the woman conceived. 0:06:57.050 --> 0:06:59.170 That David knew that she was the wife of one 0:06:59.170 --> 0:07:01.130 of his men out fighting wars. 0:07:01.170 --> 0:07:02.890 Oh. Good night. Yeah, sure he did. 0:07:02.930 --> 0:07:05.410 This was absolutely known to him. So he did not 0:07:05.410 --> 0:07:07.529 think that this was an available woman? 0:07:07.529 --> 0:07:09.850 No, he knew that. He knew who she was. He knew. 0:07:09.890 --> 0:07:14.570 In fact, the Scripture says, is this not Bathsheba, the 0:07:14.570 --> 0:07:19.010 daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And 0:07:19.050 --> 0:07:22.570 Eliam was one of David's mighty men, so was Uriah 0:07:22.570 --> 0:07:29.970 the Hittite and Eliam. Apparently Ilium's father was Ahithophel, David's counselor. 0:07:29.970 --> 0:07:34.010 Meaning then. Not only that, but this was the granddaughter 0:07:34.010 --> 0:07:38.250 of one of David's key counselors. I mean, these were 0:07:38.250 --> 0:07:40.770 men in his inner circle. 0:07:40.810 --> 0:07:43.090 So a betrayal on so many levels. 0:07:43.130 --> 0:07:49.350 Betrayal on so many levels because he's been caught up 0:07:49.350 --> 0:07:53.310 in capitulating to lust that was in his heart. 0:07:53.630 --> 0:07:57.230 And so then it gets worse. The woman conceived. This 0:07:57.230 --> 0:08:01.270 is now second Samuel 11 five as she sends word 0:08:01.310 --> 0:08:03.870 she and the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, 0:08:03.870 --> 0:08:07.830 I'm pregnant. So now David has a problem, because now 0:08:07.830 --> 0:08:13.030 this sin will most certainly be discovered because Bathsheba, her husband, 0:08:13.070 --> 0:08:16.350 is out fighting the war. So he's nowhere near her. 0:08:16.710 --> 0:08:19.270 So pick it up. From there, David comes up with 0:08:19.270 --> 0:08:22.470 a pretty diabolical plan to cover up his own sin. 0:08:22.510 --> 0:08:26.350 Yeah, yeah. The woman conceived. That itself is startling. This 0:08:26.350 --> 0:08:30.270 is one of the more startling conceptions in Scripture. The 0:08:30.270 --> 0:08:35.510 woman conceived, and she sends a note to David. And 0:08:35.510 --> 0:08:40.110 all she says is two words in Hebrew. I'm pregnant. 0:08:40.150 --> 0:08:43.189 This is the only time she speaks in the entire story. 0:08:43.550 --> 0:08:48.660 I'm pregnant. And after that, David comes up with a plan. Now, 0:08:48.860 --> 0:08:54.260 interestingly enough, the narrator doesn't say that David is trying 0:08:54.260 --> 0:08:57.820 to hide his sin. But that's what's very obvious by 0:08:57.820 --> 0:09:00.420 what he does, right? You see what I'm saying? Yes. So? 0:09:00.420 --> 0:09:03.860 So he. He calls Uriah. Now, keep in mind, one 0:09:03.860 --> 0:09:06.099 of the problems we have is we are so familiar 0:09:06.100 --> 0:09:10.340 with the story. So he calls Uriah. Why is he 0:09:10.380 --> 0:09:14.660 calling him? Is he calling him to say to him. Listen, brother, 0:09:14.660 --> 0:09:18.740 I blew it. I did something that was terrible. Here. 0:09:19.340 --> 0:09:22.460 He summons him back because he wants him to go 0:09:22.460 --> 0:09:27.460 back home, spend some time with his wife and it's gone. 0:09:27.620 --> 0:09:32.500 It looks like it's Uriah's baby. And that doesn't work out. 0:09:32.820 --> 0:09:37.620 So then David tries to make him drunk. It says 0:09:37.620 --> 0:09:41.179 he literally made him drunk. In the narrative, I just 0:09:41.179 --> 0:09:45.760 think about this. So Uriah is drunk under pressure from 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:50.560 the king, and he still goes out and sleeps with 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:52.840 the men that are there instead of going home to 0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:57.040 be with his wife. So drunk. Intoxicated. Uriah has more 0:09:57.040 --> 0:10:04.080 integrity than sober David. See, that didn't work out. So David, 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:09.400 then has Uriah come and said, I have a message 0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:13.520 in essence for Joab and the the the sealed document 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:17.120 that he gives to Uriah actually contains Darius death sentence 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:20.960 in it. And he takes this letter back to Joab. 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:23.760 Joab opens it and he says, put Uriah at the 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:26.360 front of the line, and withdraw from him. So forth 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:31.280 and so on. Now General Joab also is a smart guy. 0:10:31.880 --> 0:10:34.000 So he's going to go along with this. So think 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:37.720 about this. Now, this is David's nephew. So now he's 0:10:37.720 --> 0:10:42.670 got his nephew involved and in some kind of diabolical 0:10:42.710 --> 0:10:50.150 scheme to have someone who who has converted to Yahweh murdered. 0:10:50.470 --> 0:10:52.510 But job has got to do it in such a 0:10:52.510 --> 0:10:56.590 way so that he doesn't look culpable. So there are 0:10:56.590 --> 0:11:00.750 several men that Joab has with Uriah. So not only 0:11:00.750 --> 0:11:05.870 is Uriah murdered, several of the Israeli soldiers are also 0:11:05.910 --> 0:11:09.030 murdered as well. We don't know who they were. Their 0:11:09.030 --> 0:11:11.830 names are not mentioned. We just know that some are. 0:11:11.870 --> 0:11:16.630 Other David's servants fell as well. Right now, David decides 0:11:16.630 --> 0:11:20.670 to marry her. He takes her and they get married. 0:11:21.350 --> 0:11:24.470 And it's interesting. Humanly speaking, it looks as if David 0:11:24.510 --> 0:11:27.630 has gotten away with this. He pulled it off. But 0:11:27.630 --> 0:11:30.750 then the narrator stops the action. Kind of like a 0:11:30.750 --> 0:11:33.670 timeout in a basketball game. No, this is what this 0:11:33.670 --> 0:11:35.790 is what's happening at the end of the chapter. Kind 0:11:35.790 --> 0:11:39.770 of a timeout where it says, But the thing that 0:11:39.770 --> 0:11:43.410 David had done displeased the Lord. 0:11:43.970 --> 0:11:46.610 We're going to pause right there. Coming up, we're going 0:11:46.650 --> 0:11:49.050 to have more with Doctor Winfred Neely looking at the 0:11:49.050 --> 0:11:53.690 life of David. Wouldn't a sin like this be disqualifying? 0:11:53.730 --> 0:11:56.970 This is a man after God's own heart, even still. 0:11:57.330 --> 0:11:58.809 Let's talk more about it coming up. 0:11:59.370 --> 0:12:03.210 He was running from God, but God's love brought him home. 0:12:03.410 --> 0:12:07.250 Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on 0:12:07.290 --> 0:12:08.329 Moody Radio. 0:12:09.330 --> 0:12:13.329 It's a story in Scripture that is uncomfortable to read. 0:12:13.809 --> 0:12:16.770 You read about David, a man after God's own heart. 0:12:16.809 --> 0:12:20.290 He got so much right in his life. But this 0:12:20.290 --> 0:12:25.730 one incident with Bathsheba sees a woman on the rooftop. 0:12:26.170 --> 0:12:31.250 She's beautiful. He takes her, and then when she gets pregnant, 0:12:31.290 --> 0:12:34.890 he has her husband murdered. And that's the short summary 0:12:35.250 --> 0:12:39.920 of this horrific incident recorded in second Samuel 11 and 12. 0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:43.200 We left it off where David thinks he's gotten away 0:12:43.200 --> 0:12:47.840 with it because he has the husband killed. He marries Bathsheba. 0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:51.800 And so it's certainly to the onlooker, looks like he well, 0:12:51.840 --> 0:12:55.880 maybe he married this widow quickly. And then they conceived 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:58.920 quickly and none were the wiser. But it doesn't quite 0:12:58.920 --> 0:12:59.840 play out that way. 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:03.600 No, it doesn't quite play out that way, because God 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:06.240 loves David too much. 0:13:06.800 --> 0:13:07.640 To let him get away with. 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:09.440 It, to let him get away with this. He loves 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:12.520 him too much. Same thing for all of us as 0:13:12.520 --> 0:13:17.319 followers of Christ. He loves us too much and the Lord. 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:20.079 In the next chapter there's nothing. When you read second 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:23.480 Samuel 11 and 12, we have a tendency to separate 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:25.959 them out, when in fact, second Samuel 11 and 12 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:28.880 should be read together so that if you're reading your Bible, 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:31.360 if you have the time, you should read both of 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:34.000 them together. It's one account, not even though we have 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:40.500 two chapters. Okay, so chapter 12, the Lord, YHWH Yahweh 0:13:40.860 --> 0:13:46.020 does all of the sending. Chapter 11 David does the sending. 0:13:46.059 --> 0:13:48.980 Chapter 12 Yahweh is doing the sending, the Lord is 0:13:48.980 --> 0:13:52.939 sending the sending, and he sends Nathan to David. 0:13:52.980 --> 0:13:53.699 Nathan the prophet. 0:13:53.740 --> 0:13:57.300 Nathan, Nathan the prophet to David. And he comes in 0:13:57.300 --> 0:14:02.980 with a story. And David actually thinks the story is 0:14:02.980 --> 0:14:07.140 about somebody else, you see. And this rich guy comes 0:14:07.140 --> 0:14:10.180 in there and he takes this one little ewe lamb 0:14:10.179 --> 0:14:12.460 from this fella, then slaughters it and gives it to 0:14:12.460 --> 0:14:16.900 his friend. And David is all upset, outraged and standard. 0:14:16.940 --> 0:14:18.500 I can just see him now standing up. The man 0:14:18.500 --> 0:14:22.380 who done this is worthy of death, and the story 0:14:22.380 --> 0:14:24.980 has done its work at that point. His defenses are 0:14:24.980 --> 0:14:29.620 down and Nathan looks at him and said, you are 0:14:29.620 --> 0:14:34.720 the man. And he begins to tell him. Nathan does 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:38.680 in the name of the Lord. He exalted you. He 0:14:38.680 --> 0:14:44.360 blessed you. He used you. Why would you despise him 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:46.400 like that? Now this is God actually speaking in the 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:49.360 first person. Why would you despise me through Nathan? He's 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:53.320 asking him these questions and highlighting to him that sin 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:58.880 is a form of insanity. It's folly. It's madness. What 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:03.400 you've done here. And you've had Uriah the Hittite killed 0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:06.280 with the sword of the enemies of God, of the 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:09.200 sons of Ammon, and taken his wife to be your wife. 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:11.880 And as a consequence of this, God says to him, 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:15.000 the sword shall never depart from your house. That's going 0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:18.400 to be a sword like experience over your house for 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:20.680 the rest of your life. And so you think about 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:22.560 all of the consequences that are going to come out 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:24.720 of this. Number one, that baby is going to die 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:28.000 on the seventh day. It says, I suspect that the 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:31.550 seven days after the baby was born. Didn't make it 0:15:31.550 --> 0:15:35.350 to the eighth day. The day of circumcision, right? The 0:15:35.350 --> 0:15:41.950 unnamed baby dies in the next chapter. Amnon, the crown prince, 0:15:42.350 --> 0:15:46.830 rapes his own sister. His half sister. He rapes her. 0:15:47.070 --> 0:15:49.750 Absalom and his own brother is going to have him 0:15:49.750 --> 0:15:53.390 murdered because David is passive. Now he's paralyzed. He can't 0:15:53.390 --> 0:15:56.310 do anything about this kind of egregious behavior within his 0:15:56.310 --> 0:15:59.670 own family. Now what? David says I have sinned against 0:15:59.670 --> 0:16:02.950 the Lord. I've sinned against the Lord. And something unexpected happens. 0:16:03.350 --> 0:16:04.830 The Lord forgives David. 0:16:05.310 --> 0:16:08.350 Yeah. And and that's when you think about the forgiveness 0:16:08.350 --> 0:16:11.230 of God. Sometimes when you think about it in your 0:16:11.230 --> 0:16:15.870 own life. Yeah. You have tremendous gratitude, of course, but 0:16:15.870 --> 0:16:18.150 but sometimes we have a tendency when we look at 0:16:18.390 --> 0:16:21.470 stories like this or even other people's lives, we don't 0:16:21.470 --> 0:16:24.990 necessarily want the forgiveness of God to be extended so freely. 0:16:24.990 --> 0:16:28.250 Sometimes when we think what's been done is too heinous. This? 0:16:28.530 --> 0:16:32.730 Yeah, well, that's the scandal of the narrative. Yeah, and 0:16:32.730 --> 0:16:38.450 it's scandalized a lot of thinkers who've dealt with this text. One, 0:16:39.290 --> 0:16:43.010 the fact that God forgave David, what he did were 0:16:43.010 --> 0:16:47.650 capital offenses in ancient Israel. They required the death penalty. 0:16:48.170 --> 0:16:52.730 The deliberate taking of a human life required the death penalty. 0:16:53.090 --> 0:16:56.530 Adultery in connection with what he's done with another man's 0:16:56.530 --> 0:17:01.730 wife required the death penalty. So no doubt David is 0:17:01.730 --> 0:17:05.650 expecting that the Lord is going to strike him down 0:17:05.690 --> 0:17:09.130 the same way that he struck down Navajo in first 0:17:09.130 --> 0:17:12.450 Samuel chapter 25. The Lord is going, it's going to 0:17:12.450 --> 0:17:18.609 strike me down. But instead God forgives David because of 0:17:18.609 --> 0:17:23.730 his confession. The Bible does say, if we confess our sins, 0:17:24.170 --> 0:17:27.480 he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:34.800 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So God does 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:41.640 forgive David, but remember, the consequences will follow him for 0:17:41.640 --> 0:17:45.120 the rest of his life. You can do something crazy, 0:17:45.160 --> 0:17:50.600 be forgiven by God, and even restored, but the consequences 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:53.320 may follow you and your family for the rest of 0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:54.159 your life. 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:56.760 So what do you. What's the. I want to give 0:17:56.760 --> 0:18:00.000 you the final word here. What's the main takeaway from 0:18:00.000 --> 0:18:04.520 from something like this? Because obviously there's the one sin 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:10.199 can have, even though forgiven can have unbelievable consequences. And 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:12.560 I think all of us in our lives have seen 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:15.840 in varying degrees, the impact of, of sin. But then 0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:20.480 there's also the scandal, the scandal of grace that we 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:22.760 are so clearly the beneficiaries of. 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:27.860 Well, let me say this Two things here one, you 0:18:27.859 --> 0:18:31.780 have the birth of Solomon in the narrative. Now, we 0:18:31.780 --> 0:18:37.659 know from the chronicler that Bathsheba and chronicles Bathsheba as 0:18:37.660 --> 0:18:42.660 she's named here, had four children. Solomon was not the 0:18:42.660 --> 0:18:47.900 first child, he was the fourth one. But in this narrative, 0:18:48.220 --> 0:18:52.940 the narrator goes to the future and brings the birth 0:18:52.940 --> 0:18:57.340 of Solomon and places it right here. Wow. In the 0:18:57.340 --> 0:19:02.219 midst of this text to highlight the grace of God 0:19:02.420 --> 0:19:05.620 and some commentators, I think it was Walter Brueggemann who 0:19:05.619 --> 0:19:10.900 said that the grace extended to David seems, humanly speaking, 0:19:10.900 --> 0:19:14.659 more scandalous than what he had done. But that's the 0:19:14.660 --> 0:19:18.580 grace of God. That's the grace of God. But yet 0:19:18.580 --> 0:19:21.180 at the same time, he's going to pay a dear 0:19:21.220 --> 0:19:24.970 price for that, as I have preached this text, one 0:19:24.970 --> 0:19:27.050 of the things that I have said to my listeners 0:19:27.050 --> 0:19:31.570 is this it will cost you to walk with God, 0:19:32.130 --> 0:19:36.010 but it will cost you and your family much, much 0:19:36.010 --> 0:19:40.970 more if you do not. That's the big takeaway. It 0:19:40.970 --> 0:19:44.770 will cost you to walk with God, but will cost 0:19:44.770 --> 0:19:48.090 you and your family much, much more if you do not. 0:19:48.130 --> 0:19:53.930 Especially if you are a leader and have been entrusted 0:19:53.930 --> 0:20:00.770 with stewardship and power and authority and to to abuse, 0:20:00.770 --> 0:20:12.050 that is absolutely, absolutely devastating with massive consequences. Right. Forgiven? Yeah, sure. 0:20:12.090 --> 0:20:17.050 He was restored. He sure was. But the consequences followed 0:20:17.050 --> 0:20:18.850 him for the rest of her life, even on up 0:20:18.850 --> 0:20:22.710 into the New Testament when we're dealing with the genealogy 0:20:22.710 --> 0:20:27.230 of the Lord Jesus Christ. It says Solomon was born 0:20:27.230 --> 0:20:32.790 by her of Uriah the Hittite. All of these centuries later, 0:20:33.190 --> 0:20:37.270 that's still being brought up to remind us of the 0:20:37.310 --> 0:20:40.790 danger of saying yes to sin, and also the scandal 0:20:40.790 --> 0:20:43.350 of the grace of God. This is the family that 0:20:43.350 --> 0:20:47.030 the Lord Jesus Christ identifies himself with in Matthew. Meaning, 0:20:47.030 --> 0:20:50.669 none of us frankly deserve anything from God. All of 0:20:50.670 --> 0:20:53.230 us deserve to be in hell today. It's only by 0:20:53.230 --> 0:20:54.869 the grace of God that we're on our way to 0:20:54.910 --> 0:20:57.470 heaven as followers of Christ, and by the power of 0:20:57.470 --> 0:21:00.030 the spirit, he keeps us from our own selves. 0:21:01.190 --> 0:21:04.870 Start your day moving closer to Jesus. You're listening to 0:21:04.950 --> 0:21:06.030 Carl and crew. 0:21:07.109 --> 0:21:09.790 What? Did God love you too much to let you 0:21:09.830 --> 0:21:15.629 get away with? I'm fascinated by that statement that Doctor 0:21:15.630 --> 0:21:19.850 Neeley made about David, because it was actually the love 0:21:20.290 --> 0:21:26.689 of God that caused David to to get caught. Essentially, 0:21:26.730 --> 0:21:30.369 it was an act of mercy that his sin was exposed. 0:21:30.410 --> 0:21:31.010 No doubt. 0:21:31.050 --> 0:21:35.130 Which is the thought of being exposed in your sin 0:21:35.130 --> 0:21:36.410 is terrifying, right? 0:21:36.450 --> 0:21:38.649 No one wants that. It's not a good feeling. 0:21:39.250 --> 0:21:41.409 But it's the love of God that allows us to 0:21:41.450 --> 0:21:46.450 not continue on a path that ultimately will lead to destruction. 0:21:46.450 --> 0:21:49.409 It's worse. It's worse than having your sin made known. 0:21:49.970 --> 0:21:56.690 And for David, you know, Psalm 51 is a famous psalm, 0:21:56.690 --> 0:22:01.250 and it was written by David when Nathan goes to 0:22:01.290 --> 0:22:07.130 confront him in his sin, and David when he realizes 0:22:07.530 --> 0:22:10.490 that he's the guy that's being described in that little, 0:22:10.770 --> 0:22:11.930 that little example. 0:22:11.970 --> 0:22:12.490 Oh, it's me. 0:22:12.530 --> 0:22:12.730 It's. 0:22:12.730 --> 0:22:13.090 You. 0:22:13.810 --> 0:22:15.609 He owns it quickly. 0:22:16.010 --> 0:22:19.160 Very quickly. Once he realizes this is who we're talking about, 0:22:19.160 --> 0:22:21.840 everyone sees it. Well, at least the prophet and God did. 0:22:22.280 --> 0:22:23.840 Then he gets on his knees. 0:22:23.880 --> 0:22:26.480 I'm going to read to you Psalm 51. This was 0:22:26.480 --> 0:22:29.960 David's response. He says, have mercy on me, O God, 0:22:29.960 --> 0:22:34.120 according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy, 0:22:34.119 --> 0:22:38.639 blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, 0:22:38.640 --> 0:22:42.880 and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, 0:22:42.880 --> 0:22:45.200 and my sin is ever before me. Against you. You 0:22:45.200 --> 0:22:47.960 only have I sinned and done what is evil in 0:22:47.960 --> 0:22:50.280 your sight, so that you may be justified in your 0:22:50.280 --> 0:22:54.200 words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought 0:22:54.200 --> 0:22:57.680 forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, 0:22:57.680 --> 0:23:00.760 you delight in truth in the inward being, and you 0:23:00.760 --> 0:23:03.520 teach me wisdom in the secret heart. A couple more 0:23:03.520 --> 0:23:06.159 verses here. He says, purge me with hyssop, and I 0:23:06.160 --> 0:23:08.960 shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter 0:23:08.960 --> 0:23:12.200 than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the 0:23:12.200 --> 0:23:16.300 bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from 0:23:16.300 --> 0:23:19.900 my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Created me 0:23:19.940 --> 0:23:23.780 a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit 0:23:23.780 --> 0:23:27.020 within me. I read Psalm 51 one through ten. A 0:23:27.020 --> 0:23:30.300 couple more verses, but we'll stop there. But this one, 0:23:30.300 --> 0:23:33.459 maybe you've heard there's a song that was written, created 0:23:33.460 --> 0:23:36.140 me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right 0:23:36.140 --> 0:23:39.659 spirit within me. I remember singing it in church when 0:23:39.660 --> 0:23:41.820 I was growing up. I didn't know that it was 0:23:41.820 --> 0:23:45.699 linked to this. But when you think about David's desire 0:23:45.700 --> 0:23:49.540 to have a clean heart, to be purified, his acknowledgment 0:23:49.540 --> 0:23:53.220 that when he says, I'm against you and you only 0:23:53.220 --> 0:23:56.700 have I sinned says not to suggest that Bathsheba wasn't 0:23:56.700 --> 0:24:00.780 sinned against that Uriah wasn't sinned against. But ultimately the 0:24:00.780 --> 0:24:04.380 one that we answer to is God. Our sin is 0:24:05.540 --> 0:24:07.379 we deal with God for our sin even more than 0:24:07.380 --> 0:24:08.260 we deal with other people. 0:24:08.300 --> 0:24:11.020 Absolutely. The essence of sin, no matter what it is, 0:24:11.060 --> 0:24:13.890 always is, stands in the presence of God and is 0:24:13.890 --> 0:24:14.650 judged there. 0:24:14.690 --> 0:24:15.050 Yeah. 0:24:16.250 --> 0:24:19.970 Your spiritual pit stop to keep you going in the race. 0:24:20.170 --> 0:24:22.370 You're listening to Carl and crew. 0:24:23.130 --> 0:24:28.050 You ever been relieved that you got caught? Because carrying 0:24:28.050 --> 0:24:32.290 around whatever, whatever you'd lied about or tried to hide 0:24:32.290 --> 0:24:36.850 from your parents or your teacher? Sometimes there's relief that 0:24:36.850 --> 0:24:41.690 comes from even when you're caught. Like, oh, boy. Now 0:24:41.690 --> 0:24:43.330 I don't at least I can stop. 0:24:43.369 --> 0:24:43.929 Out there. 0:24:44.170 --> 0:24:44.810 Lying. 0:24:44.850 --> 0:24:46.250 Yeah. It's done. At least I don't have to. 0:24:46.290 --> 0:24:49.290 Carry around this weight of. Ah. Are they going to 0:24:49.290 --> 0:24:51.170 find out? Did I get away with it? 0:24:51.210 --> 0:24:51.730 Yeah. 0:24:51.770 --> 0:24:54.010 You know, and when you're. When you're younger, maybe it's 0:24:54.010 --> 0:24:58.250 you cheated on a test or you didn't. Didn't. You 0:24:58.250 --> 0:25:01.010 know the classic the kid who hides hides the report 0:25:01.010 --> 0:25:04.409 card because they don't want mom and dad to see it. 0:25:04.650 --> 0:25:07.490 It's like, are they going to find out? Are they. 0:25:07.530 --> 0:25:10.409 Are they not? You know, sometimes it's the mercy of 0:25:10.410 --> 0:25:14.110 God that allows us to have our sin exposed in 0:25:14.109 --> 0:25:18.110 some way, doesn't have to be necessarily in some public way, 0:25:18.390 --> 0:25:22.470 but allows someone to catch us and stop us and 0:25:22.470 --> 0:25:25.670 bring us to our senses. That's what happened with David. 0:25:25.869 --> 0:25:29.590 Nathan confronted him in his sin. At first, David didn't 0:25:29.590 --> 0:25:31.990 get it when he set up this scenario. So what 0:25:31.990 --> 0:25:35.870 would you say to a guy who goes and steals this? 0:25:35.869 --> 0:25:38.550 What was a the the one lamb a lamb. 0:25:38.550 --> 0:25:38.869 Yeah. 0:25:39.430 --> 0:25:44.070 And David's sense of justice. Well that's absolutely wrong. And 0:25:44.070 --> 0:25:47.310 he doesn't take him a second to realize Nathan says 0:25:47.310 --> 0:25:51.070 it's you. You're the man. He had taken the wife 0:25:51.070 --> 0:25:55.790 of Uriah. He had raped her, for lack of a 0:25:55.790 --> 0:25:57.990 better word. Let's just call it what it is. She 0:25:57.990 --> 0:26:03.709 gets pregnant. He has Uriah killed. Covers it up, marries her, 0:26:03.830 --> 0:26:07.070 and then tries to go on with life. Yeah, but 0:26:07.070 --> 0:26:10.169 the mercy of God. God loved him too much to 0:26:10.210 --> 0:26:13.570 let him get away with it. What? Did God love 0:26:13.570 --> 0:26:16.570 you too much to let you get away with? Let's 0:26:16.570 --> 0:26:19.090 go to John. First time caller from Idaho. Tell me. 0:26:21.410 --> 0:26:24.010 So God love me too much to let me get 0:26:24.010 --> 0:26:27.050 away with continuing to live as a drug addict and 0:26:27.050 --> 0:26:30.890 kill myself. I was a meth head, a deviant, got 0:26:30.930 --> 0:26:35.770 busted for manufacturing methamphetamine, went to prison where God got 0:26:35.770 --> 0:26:37.530 Ahold of my life. And this has been a couple 0:26:37.530 --> 0:26:43.250 decades ago now. And I'm. I'm married to a pastor's daughter. 0:26:43.609 --> 0:26:46.650 I have grandkids and a family and my my family 0:26:46.650 --> 0:26:49.090 that had disowned me because of my drug use and 0:26:49.090 --> 0:26:52.570 theft and craziness is now part of my life again. 0:26:52.930 --> 0:26:55.970 And I if God hadn't allowed me to go to prison, 0:26:55.970 --> 0:26:58.250 I would have died of an overdose long ago. So 0:26:58.250 --> 0:27:01.090 he was gracious enough to use prison to save me. 0:27:01.130 --> 0:27:04.570 Wow, John, first time caller from Idaho. Thank you so 0:27:04.570 --> 0:27:07.410 much for sharing your story. That's a freedom story. Let's 0:27:07.410 --> 0:27:10.240 go to Kathy. First time caller from Michigan. What? Did 0:27:10.240 --> 0:27:12.640 God love you too much to let you get away with? 0:27:12.960 --> 0:27:15.719 I was a brand new student at Moody Bible Institute 0:27:15.720 --> 0:27:18.520 and had only been a Christian for a year, and 0:27:18.520 --> 0:27:21.720 a professor asked us to do a stake take home 0:27:22.880 --> 0:27:25.600 test that we could do in our dorm room. But 0:27:25.600 --> 0:27:28.360 I didn't know the Bible well enough. And so I 0:27:28.359 --> 0:27:31.480 opened the Bible to answer the questions, and I thought, 0:27:31.480 --> 0:27:33.800 I won't get a very good grade on this, but 0:27:33.800 --> 0:27:36.720 I got an A, which made me feel very guilty. 0:27:37.640 --> 0:27:39.920 I wouldn't have gotten an A unless I opened that 0:27:39.920 --> 0:27:43.840 Bible to take the test. So a month or so later, 0:27:43.840 --> 0:27:45.920 I wrote him a note and told him that I 0:27:45.960 --> 0:27:49.239 cheated and he wrote me back and said, thank you 0:27:49.240 --> 0:27:51.840 so much for telling me. And from then on, he 0:27:51.840 --> 0:27:55.000 didn't do any more take home Bible tests for students. 0:27:55.560 --> 0:27:59.040 Wow. So, Kathy, the opening the Bible, I'm assuming was 0:27:59.040 --> 0:28:01.520 not allowed for this take home test. 0:28:02.320 --> 0:28:05.000 Yes. You were not supposed to open the Bible, but 0:28:05.000 --> 0:28:07.939 as a brand new Christian, I hardly knew anything about 0:28:07.940 --> 0:28:11.620 the Bible. So that's why I opened it. But as 0:28:11.619 --> 0:28:14.460 I continued to be a student there, then I learned 0:28:14.460 --> 0:28:16.540 more and more what was right and what was wrong. 0:28:16.540 --> 0:28:18.860 And then I realized, well, that wasn't a good choice. 0:28:18.900 --> 0:28:21.859 Oh, boy. Cathy, first time caller from Michigan. You know, 0:28:21.900 --> 0:28:26.340 it's the love of God that sometimes allows us to 0:28:26.580 --> 0:28:31.020 to have our sin exposed. God loves us too much 0:28:31.020 --> 0:28:34.820 sometimes to leave us. It's the exposure of God. Sometimes 0:28:34.820 --> 0:28:38.300 that brings hope because he doesn't leave us where we're at. 0:28:39.500 --> 0:28:43.500 Walking closer to Jesus every day. You're listening to Carl 0:28:43.500 --> 0:28:44.180 and crew. 0:28:45.060 --> 0:28:47.380 You know you can get yourself in trouble if you 0:28:47.380 --> 0:28:51.500 start to look at life based on what you think 0:28:51.500 --> 0:28:55.860 people deserve or don't deserve, or what you deserve or 0:28:55.860 --> 0:28:57.900 don't deserve. Why are you laughing? 0:28:57.940 --> 0:29:02.580 Because, uh. Okay, so I fall into this trap a 0:29:02.580 --> 0:29:06.930 little too much sometimes. especially when I'm driving, I'm driving 0:29:06.930 --> 0:29:09.850 and someone, you know, someone's just speeding or going and 0:29:09.850 --> 0:29:14.250 I'm I'm upset with how they're driving. I go, come on, man, 0:29:14.290 --> 0:29:17.050 can't you just like, calm down a little bit? And 0:29:17.050 --> 0:29:21.490 then I'm driving and sometimes maybe I'm really late for something. 0:29:21.530 --> 0:29:23.650 Or maybe I feel like I need to get somewhere 0:29:23.650 --> 0:29:27.570 and it's urgent or important or extreme, and I, you know, 0:29:27.610 --> 0:29:30.090 sometimes it has been extreme where I've needed to get 0:29:30.090 --> 0:29:32.969 somewhere quickly. And it's not a good thing if I don't. 0:29:33.010 --> 0:29:37.050 And so I, I'm driving fast and I'm cutting around 0:29:37.050 --> 0:29:39.330 people and I go, well, it's justified because I have 0:29:39.330 --> 0:29:42.090 something that I need to do. And I'm like, well, 0:29:42.210 --> 0:29:44.490 you know, everyone in their car is thinking the exact 0:29:44.490 --> 0:29:46.890 same thing. Yeah. What are you doing? Getting upset at 0:29:46.890 --> 0:29:49.010 those people. But then sometimes you're doing the same thing 0:29:49.010 --> 0:29:50.450 that you're getting upset about. 0:29:50.490 --> 0:29:52.770 Or have you ever had, like, there's like a long 0:29:52.770 --> 0:29:55.810 line where everybody's supposed to merge and everybody's kind of 0:29:55.850 --> 0:29:59.330 weaving in. Then there's that one car that just cuts, 0:29:59.370 --> 0:30:01.410 like goes on the shoulder, goes all the way to the. 0:30:01.410 --> 0:30:03.110 Front, the shoulder drivers. 0:30:03.230 --> 0:30:06.190 And then, you know, there's this, this strong sense of 0:30:06.190 --> 0:30:09.150 like justice of like, this person doesn't deserve to be 0:30:09.150 --> 0:30:09.950 let in right now. 0:30:10.150 --> 0:30:12.750 Absolutely. You're like, man, if I just saw them coming, 0:30:12.750 --> 0:30:14.270 I could have got on the shoulder and I could 0:30:14.310 --> 0:30:15.910 have blocked them from going any further. 0:30:16.270 --> 0:30:19.350 They didn't wait their turn like everybody else. Nope. Right. 0:30:19.390 --> 0:30:21.190 Like that construction, you know, it all comes down to 0:30:21.230 --> 0:30:23.430 one lane, and people just stay in that other lane 0:30:23.470 --> 0:30:25.230 as far as they can, and they cut in. But 0:30:25.230 --> 0:30:28.870 you've been sitting there and sitting there and sitting there. Yep. 0:30:29.190 --> 0:30:30.390 Get over this. 0:30:30.430 --> 0:30:33.350 Trips up my son more than anything else. 0:30:33.910 --> 0:30:34.709 He's a high justice. 0:30:34.910 --> 0:30:39.750 He is a high justice. And his sense of what's fair, 0:30:40.230 --> 0:30:45.230 what's like call balls and strikes, like there's no gray zone. 0:30:45.470 --> 0:30:47.230 And so he was in third grade and he was 0:30:47.230 --> 0:30:51.750 really struggling in PE class. He's a great student. PE 0:30:51.790 --> 0:30:55.310 class was giving him trouble not because he wasn't able 0:30:55.310 --> 0:30:57.990 to do the sports because he's a good athlete, but 0:30:57.990 --> 0:31:02.020 he couldn't get past his sense of fair. And so 0:31:02.020 --> 0:31:03.940 it kind of came to a head where he was 0:31:03.940 --> 0:31:06.420 like his PE teacher had to keep like telling him 0:31:06.420 --> 0:31:09.980 to calm down because he's freaking out, because the third 0:31:09.980 --> 0:31:12.900 grade girl in his class didn't touch the base when 0:31:12.900 --> 0:31:17.820 she's rounding the kickball bases. Therefore, how dare she not 0:31:17.820 --> 0:31:21.140 be called out? And he is losing his mind. 0:31:21.180 --> 0:31:21.940 He's got a point. 0:31:21.980 --> 0:31:27.380 Losing his mind. She did not touch the base. 0:31:27.420 --> 0:31:28.340 Can't touch second. 0:31:29.380 --> 0:31:33.340 If she's a third grade girl, she needs to touch 0:31:33.340 --> 0:31:36.620 the base. They shouldn't get the point. My team shouldn't. 0:31:36.660 --> 0:31:39.460 And they don't even let people declare winners and losers. 0:31:39.900 --> 0:31:40.420 Oh, that's. 0:31:40.420 --> 0:31:43.580 Also makes him really frustrated because. 0:31:43.620 --> 0:31:44.020 Yeah, because. 0:31:44.020 --> 0:31:46.620 He's kind of like, everybody gets to finish. 0:31:46.820 --> 0:31:47.300 Right? 0:31:47.540 --> 0:31:48.460 Drives him nuts. 0:31:48.500 --> 0:31:49.340 I'm sure it does. 0:31:49.380 --> 0:31:51.700 And it doesn't even matter if he doesn't win. He 0:31:51.700 --> 0:31:55.300 would rather lose than nobody be declared the winner. 0:31:56.020 --> 0:31:59.160 I think that's I think that's pretty Honorable. I like 0:31:59.160 --> 0:32:01.440 that one. I think on that one, I don't think 0:32:01.440 --> 0:32:02.280 he's going too far. 0:32:02.480 --> 0:32:07.120 It's it's just this idea of right is right. Wrong 0:32:07.120 --> 0:32:09.840 is wrong. Fair is fair, I deserve this. They don't 0:32:09.840 --> 0:32:12.720 deserve this. I don't deserve it. And so he will say, 0:32:12.920 --> 0:32:15.480 if I don't deserve a medal or a trophy, don't 0:32:15.480 --> 0:32:16.320 give it to me. 0:32:16.480 --> 0:32:16.960 Yeah. 0:32:17.360 --> 0:32:19.800 Don't give me the. Everybody gets it. 0:32:19.800 --> 0:32:20.840 The participation. 0:32:20.880 --> 0:32:21.360 Doesn't want. 0:32:21.360 --> 0:32:23.720 It. Yeah, yeah I don't want it fair. 0:32:24.040 --> 0:32:29.120 When we think about our life in Christ, we can 0:32:29.120 --> 0:32:34.120 fall off on two different sides of this. Okay. The 0:32:34.120 --> 0:32:37.520 high ridge Carl likes to talk about. We can start 0:32:37.520 --> 0:32:41.640 to get in our minds what we think we deserve 0:32:42.040 --> 0:32:42.840 from God. 0:32:43.080 --> 0:32:43.600 Yes. 0:32:44.080 --> 0:32:44.640 Right. 0:32:44.680 --> 0:32:45.040 Yeah. 0:32:45.560 --> 0:32:48.360 I deserve things to go this way. I've done this 0:32:48.360 --> 0:32:51.400 for you, God. Therefore you should X, y, or Z. 0:32:51.440 --> 0:32:55.120 You should reward me in this way. Or we can 0:32:55.120 --> 0:33:00.780 start to get so fixated on how messed up we are. 0:33:00.980 --> 0:33:03.900 Yeah, too fixated on how messed up we are. 0:33:04.300 --> 0:33:07.540 That we can let our idea of being so undeserving 0:33:07.540 --> 0:33:10.020 of the grace of God actually keep us from it. 0:33:10.340 --> 0:33:10.860 Yes. 0:33:11.740 --> 0:33:13.900 How could God ever want somebody like me? I don't 0:33:13.900 --> 0:33:15.300 deserve the grace of God. 0:33:15.340 --> 0:33:15.700 Yeah. 0:33:16.060 --> 0:33:19.180 True statement. None of us do. Correct. None of us 0:33:19.180 --> 0:33:22.140 deserve the grace of God. So when it comes to 0:33:23.500 --> 0:33:26.340 our relationship with God, we have to get the idea 0:33:26.340 --> 0:33:30.380 of fairness deserving out of our minds on both sides 0:33:30.380 --> 0:33:34.860 because we deserve nothing from him. But yet he still 0:33:34.860 --> 0:33:42.180 extends to us. Grace. Mercy. Forgiveness. There's no way God 0:33:42.180 --> 0:33:46.780 should have saved someone like me. But he did. Tell 0:33:46.780 --> 0:33:48.940 me your story. That's your story too. It's all of 0:33:48.940 --> 0:33:51.060 our stories. There's no way he should have saved someone 0:33:51.060 --> 0:33:55.930 like me. But he did. 805 five. Five. 55, 78, 98. 0:33:55.930 --> 0:34:02.690 But it's not fair. I'm glad it's not fair. 805 55. 7898. 0:34:02.730 --> 0:34:07.650 Grace isn't fair. Wilfred. First time caller from Florida. You 0:34:07.650 --> 0:34:11.089 did not deserve the grace of God. But you got 0:34:11.090 --> 0:34:12.410 it anyway. Tell me about it. 0:34:13.890 --> 0:34:17.450 Well, ma'am, I was given a life sentence. I wasn't 0:34:17.450 --> 0:34:25.050 a good guy. And, uh, God overturned that life sentence, and, uh, 0:34:25.050 --> 0:34:29.370 I'm out here. I have an awesome job. I'm an 0:34:29.370 --> 0:34:32.730 HVAC technician. I never thought I'd ever be anybody in 0:34:32.730 --> 0:34:36.410 my life. And God has restored my family. My daughter, 0:34:36.410 --> 0:34:42.049 my granddaughter. I you know, I that is the grace 0:34:42.050 --> 0:34:43.210 of God. That's a miracle. 0:34:43.250 --> 0:34:47.049 Yeah. Wilfred. First time caller from Florida. Thank you for 0:34:47.050 --> 0:34:49.089 your call this morning. Do you have a story, a 0:34:49.090 --> 0:34:52.129 freedom story? Uh, I'm being a little tongue in cheek here. 0:34:52.130 --> 0:34:55.070 There's there's no way we don't deserve the grace of God. 0:34:55.070 --> 0:34:57.709 The grace of God is the free gift extended to 0:34:57.750 --> 0:35:00.270 it to us. But you get it. You get where 0:35:00.270 --> 0:35:02.950 I'm going, right? We. You look at your life. You 0:35:02.950 --> 0:35:04.870 look at your story and go. There's no way God 0:35:04.870 --> 0:35:09.070 should have saved someone like me. But he did. 855 0:35:09.110 --> 0:35:10.750 five 7898. 0:35:11.590 --> 0:35:16.150 A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is 0:35:16.150 --> 0:35:19.790 in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:35:20.390 --> 0:35:25.589 The idea that we're sort of good people is one 0:35:25.590 --> 0:35:30.670 of the most dangerous lies of the enemy. This idea 0:35:30.670 --> 0:35:34.230 that I'm a mostly, I'm a pretty good person. I mean, 0:35:34.430 --> 0:35:37.109 I do more good things than I do bad things. 0:35:37.110 --> 0:35:40.669 I am, you know, I try to be charitable to people. 0:35:40.910 --> 0:35:44.350 I hear people say this when it comes to thinking 0:35:44.350 --> 0:35:47.430 about their spiritual state. Most people look at their own 0:35:48.110 --> 0:35:52.500 sense of goodness as their way to sort of prop 0:35:52.500 --> 0:35:57.020 themselves up and and make themselves okay. And the reality 0:35:57.060 --> 0:36:00.380 spiritually is that there is no one good. All of 0:36:00.380 --> 0:36:04.940 us are born into sin. We cannot meet God's perfect standard. 0:36:04.940 --> 0:36:07.459 The Bible says, for all have sinned and fall short 0:36:07.500 --> 0:36:10.100 of the glory of God. It's true of every single 0:36:10.100 --> 0:36:15.739 person who's ever lived except for one Jesus. And so 0:36:15.739 --> 0:36:18.819 the bad news is that we've all sinned and fall 0:36:18.820 --> 0:36:22.660 short of the glory of God, and that we deserve death. 0:36:23.140 --> 0:36:25.700 None of us will ever be good enough for God 0:36:25.739 --> 0:36:30.459 because perfection is unattainable for us. We are sinners. Here's 0:36:30.460 --> 0:36:34.260 the good news that because of Jesus who took our place, 0:36:34.260 --> 0:36:37.620 who took the penalty that we deserved because what we 0:36:37.660 --> 0:36:41.580 deserved was death. Jesus went to the cross. That's why 0:36:41.580 --> 0:36:45.219 he died. That's why he had to die to satisfy 0:36:45.219 --> 0:36:48.100 the wrath of God, to take that penalty so that 0:36:48.100 --> 0:36:52.000 we had the opportunity in our imperfect state to take 0:36:52.000 --> 0:36:56.320 on his perfection. So that when you or I stand 0:36:56.320 --> 0:36:59.000 before God, when we are in Christ, we stand in 0:36:59.000 --> 0:37:02.080 the righteousness of Christ. We are not going to be 0:37:02.080 --> 0:37:07.600 evaluated based on does our good outweigh our bad? That's 0:37:07.600 --> 0:37:11.399 not the question that ultimately matters. It's have I put 0:37:11.400 --> 0:37:15.680 my faith in Jesus Christ for salvation or not? That, 0:37:15.680 --> 0:37:22.840 and that alone is what our entire eternal future hinges upon. 0:37:22.840 --> 0:37:26.120 Our answer to that question have I put my faith 0:37:26.120 --> 0:37:30.480 in Jesus Christ for salvation? So today, if you're tired 0:37:30.480 --> 0:37:34.880 of trying to be a quote unquote good person, give 0:37:34.880 --> 0:37:38.480 up that fight because you never will be a good person. 0:37:39.440 --> 0:37:41.680 You can be a forgiven person. You can be a 0:37:41.680 --> 0:37:45.080 saved person. You can be a person who's perfectly righteous 0:37:45.080 --> 0:37:49.149 even because of Jesus Christ. How does this whole thing work? 0:37:49.190 --> 0:37:51.589 There's some mystery to it. But by the power of 0:37:51.590 --> 0:37:54.390 the Holy Spirit, I believe it's becoming clear to you 0:37:54.550 --> 0:37:57.549 that when you confess that you are a sinner, that 0:37:57.550 --> 0:38:02.390 you need a Savior, that that is Jesus the only way. 0:38:03.070 --> 0:38:05.870 He's the way, the truth and the life. There's no 0:38:05.870 --> 0:38:09.310 other way to peace with God except through Jesus Christ. 0:38:09.430 --> 0:38:11.870 So today, I want to invite you to put your 0:38:11.870 --> 0:38:16.430 trust and faith in him. Just confess that you're a sinner, 0:38:16.430 --> 0:38:19.549 that you need a Savior. Cry out to God, and 0:38:19.550 --> 0:38:23.070 I believe that he will save you because His word 0:38:23.070 --> 0:38:28.310 says so. If that's you, you have that honest conversation. 0:38:28.989 --> 0:38:31.549 Text the word new. We want to encourage you with 0:38:31.550 --> 0:38:37.750 some practical next steps. Text the word new to 805, 55, 7898. 0:38:37.750 --> 0:38:42.790 Just text the word new to 805, 55, 78, 98. 0:38:42.830 --> 0:38:45.149 This song I handpicked because I want you to hear 0:38:45.150 --> 0:38:46.029 this one right now.