Good morning, Watermark. My name's Chris. For those of you who don't know me, I help
oversee the community groups here at Watermark Church. And today, I don't know how you feel
after reading that passage. It's pretty intense. I've struggled, I've wrestled a bit with this.
Some passages in the Bible are kind of, yeah, I really want to preach on that. Some passages
I just don't want to preach on. And this is kind of one of those passages. So I really
want to pray that God would take this and really speak to us and reveal something about what
the heart of this is about. Today, we're looking at the issue of failure. And failure is as
common to all of us as breathing. We live in a society which tells us that we should be a success
in every area of our lives. You should be a success in your exams. You should be a success in your career.
You should be a success in your family. You should be a success in every area of your life. And yet,
all of us know that deep down inside, we fail in one or many aspects of those. If we're a success in
our business, we may be a failure in our family. If we're a success in our exams or our college,
we may feel like a failure in our Christian life. Many people are driven by a fear of failure.
People try and cover up the fact that their companies are failing. They lie after lie just
to make sure that everybody sees that they are respectable and they look like they're a success,
even though deep down they all know that actually there is something wrong, something where we fail.
And personally speaking, I've had my fair share of failures in my life. A couple of failures. When
I was at university, I had to leave university for four years because I had a mental breakdown
and depression for four years. When I came back after four years, all of my peers had left. They
had got good jobs. They were married. They were having kids. And here was I, almost back at the
beginning, at square one. I felt like a failure. As a community group leader in a previous church,
I was at one point asked to step down from leading because I was so wrapped up in myself that I was
stopped stopping really caring for the people that I was supposed to be caring for. At that point,
I felt like a failure. And as a Christian, as a Jesus follower, I failed many, many times. There
are people I know I should have shared the gospel with and I didn't. There are times I should have
held my tongue and I didn't. There are times that I know I should have considered other people's
feelings and I didn't. And it seems that I do this again and again and I say, God, forgive me,
and then I seem to do it again and again and again. And this cycle kind of seems to continue
in my life. And I kind of sometimes feel like I'm just clinging on for heaven, maybe. We all fail.
But I have four friends who I'd like to talk to you about. My four friends deal with failure in
different ways. The first friend I'd like to introduce you to is Beat Yourself Up Bob.
Beat Yourself Up Bob. He has messed up his sales presentation yet again. And he comes to you and
he says, I'm hopeless. I've done it again. I'm just a waste of time. There's no point continuing. I
want to give up. What's the use? I'm not worth anything. I can never get it right. That's my friend
beat yourself up Bob. I have another friend called Defensive Diana. Defensive Diana, she forgot to
take her daughter to her piano exam. So she didn't pass her piano exam. But if you confronted her with
this problem, she would find at least 20 other culprits for why her daughter didn't get to the
piano exam. It was her husband's fault. He looked at her wrong. It was the piano teacher's fault. She
didn't remind her. It was anything. It was the war in Iraq. It could have been anything
except her. Because the moment it seems like she might have to take some responsibility,
the wars come up, the defenses come up, and you're not getting anywhere. Another nickname for her is
blame it on anyone but me, Brenda. And then you have my third friend. So beat yourself up Bob,
Defensive Diana. Then you have my third friend who is called Minimizing Martin. Now Minimizing Martin,
he forgot his wife's anniversary yet again. But so what? It's not a big deal. I mean, I remembered it
three years ago, and there's going to be another one next year. So chill out. Don't worry. It's not a big
deal, you know. And yes, I know I should have invited some of my friends to connect with people
from my community group. But you know, I've been busy. Jesus loves me. He's going to forgive me.
We can't all be perfect, can we? That's my friend Minimizing Martin. And then my final friend
is Tryhard Tracy. Now, Tryhard Tracy, she's a good Christian. She knows that she should share her faith
with her friends. But every time she comes to talk to them about the good news, she just bottles it.
She just loses courage. She can't do it. And she feels like a failure. But you know, last week,
she listened to an inspirational talk. Now she's determined. She's bought the book,
How to Convert the World in 24 Hours. She's enrolled on the course, Share Your Faith in Three Easy Steps.
She's listened to Oprah Winfrey, who's just told her, you know, when failure comes,
it's a chance just to dig deep, find the potential inside of you. You know, you can make it. You've
just got to try a bit harder. And so now she's armed and dangerous. She's determined this week,
anyone who comes across her path, they're going to get it. They're going to have the full Old Testament
to New Testament, Genesis to Revelation. It doesn't matter who it is. And be careful if you're one of
her friends, because you might be in for it. I don't know how you respond to failure, whether you
respond like my friends. But as we come to the book of Ezra, and we're coming to the last in our series
of looking at the prophets, it might be slightly surprising to you that actually Ezra is not a
prophet, but he's a priest. And the book of Ezra is basically, it covers about 80 years of history,
and it's almost in the Old Testament of the Bible. It's almost in time, one of the last books that
happens in the Bible. There's Ezra, Nehemiah, Malachi are the only ones which are right at the end
of the story of the Old Testament. So the next things that happened are the New Testament with
Jesus coming. And what's happened? So we're looking after thousands of years of Israel's history,
and we've got to this point. And what's the point they're at? They're at the point where
previously, in a previous episode, thousands of Israelis have been taken as forced expats,
invaded by another country, taken into modern-day Iraq for about 67 years, where they've settled
down into the local population. And they've had to settle in with some strange people who have
strange customs, with strange gods, with strange food. And some of you may feel like that in Hong Kong.
But the original group of people who are colonized them have changed. And so now, there is a new group
of people, and they have a different policy. Their policy is, send people back to where they've come
from. And basically, they can do what they like, as long as they give us tax money, and they don't
cause any trouble. We just want money, and no trouble. And so, one group of these Jews have come back,
and about 80 years later, Ezra comes back. Ezra, who's a man who loves God's word, who loves it,
who knows what God has promised in the past, and he gets back. He's excited about being back. He's
excited about restoring what Israel has forgotten they were, and was now going to become. And so,
he gets back. He settles in. And then, you come to chapter one. Sorry, verse one of chapter nine.
He sorted a few things out, and then it says,
after these things have been done, the leaders came to me and said,
the people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have kept themselves separate
from the neighboring peoples with their detestable, have not kept themselves separate from the
neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites,
Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. They have taken some of their
daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples
around them. Ezra is devastated. But if you think about it, the crime doesn't really seem that serious.
I mean, it actually seems a little bit racist. Because what is the problem? The problem is,
you've married someone from other countries. Now, I've just got married to Fiona.
I'm from the UK. She's from Hong Kong. Imagine if we had invited Ezra to the wedding ceremony.
There's Ezra in his tuxedo at the back, and the pastor might say, does anyone know any reason why
these people can't get married? And there is Ezra running down the aisle, tearing his beard,
tearing his hair out, tearing his tux, saying, Fiona, how could you be so unfaithful to marry a guaylo?
It sounds like something that a religious extremist, maybe someone from the Taliban might do.
Is this the God that we serve who doesn't like interracial marriage? Should we suddenly get a
divorce, all of those who have married interracially? And if you're a Christian and you read these
passages, it feels a little bit embarrassing. Because it doesn't seem very kind of modern.
It doesn't seem very politically correct. It seems just a little bit racist. We want to have an open
mind. We want to be tolerant. We want to accept everyone and everything in the 21st century. And
Ezra doesn't seem to fit the bill. And I often read people who are not believers. And when they come to
the Bible, and particularly come to the Old Testament, this is some of the things they pick
up and say, how can you believe in a God who just seems to be racist, seems to be so intolerant
in all these things? And I think it sounds like a very good question. But the problem is, many of us
who struggle with this don't understand. If you want to understand the Old Testament, you've got to
understand the big story of what's going on in the Old Testament, so that you see where this fits in
with the big story. Because this is one piece of the story of what God is working out in the Bible.
And so let's just look very quickly, a couple of questions just to get through this. So first of all,
let's look at the issue. Is the Bible, Bible story against interracial marriage? Okay.
Should we all get a divorce if you are married interracially? The Bible says actually no, because
the Bible actually contains some very celebrated interracial marriages. Moses marries a black
Ethiopian. And if you read in Numbers 12, actually some people oppose him for marrying someone from
another race. And what does God do? God actually judges those people. And strangely, he turns their skin
white, which is strange that white skin in that situation was a curse. Go figure.
Particularly if you're trying to use those 24-day whitening creams. I mean...
There's another famous book in the Bible called Ruth. Ruth is an amazing story. It's a story about a
Jordanian woman, a Moabite, who comes to marry an Israelite. She's a foreigner. She's outcast, but she
comes in to the Israelite community. She turns to their God. And this guy, Boaz, he shows her incredible
kindness. And he brings her into the family, marries her. And actually, as you look through the story,
you find in Jesus' family tree, Ruth and Boaz are right there in Jesus' family tree.
Because the issue here is actually
we need to understand what is God doing. We need to understand the story.
Because what's happening in that story of Ruth is actually a little sneak preview
of what God had always intended for Israel to be.
Back in Genesis, if any of you were here for the Genesis series, we looked at God giving a promise
to Abraham. And this is critical. If you want to understand the Old Testament, you've got to
understand this promise to Abraham. You will miss much of the Old Testament if you don't get it.
He promises three things. He promises Abraham and his children. You will have a land,
a place where you're going to live. You will have
a people, a people who are my own
special people, a people who are going to be
specially for God and God alone.
So he promises a land, he promises a people, and then he promises
blessing. He says, you will get
blessing beyond your wildest dreams
if you make me the center of your life.
And actually, that blessing is not just for you. That blessing is to go to
all the nations all around you. It's meant to touch all the other nations.
And the story of Ruth is just giving you a glimpse of what's going on there.
And what is meant to happen is, for Israel, people are meant to see
Israel, God is at the center of their community, and all the other nations are meant to look at them
and say, wow, there's something different about you. I don't know what it is.
How can you be so generous? How can you forgive people so unconditionally?
How can you love the poor? How can you not exploit your workers but give them fair wages?
How can you be a community where your families just work so well, where everything seems to flourish so well?
And the Israelites were meant to say, well, do you know what?
It's because we serve an amazing God.
And you need to come and serve him too.
And you want to know that blessing too.
That's what Israel were meant to be.
They're meant to be holy, different, set apart,
so that when people looked at them, they would go, I want some of that.
And they would come to know
the God of Israel
and come to know his blessing.
So the issue here is
not a question
in Ezra.
It's not a question of race.
It's actually a question
of religion and practice.
If you look in
verse 1, verse 11, verse 14,
you will see these three words.
The nations,
their detestable practices.
That's the problem.
Because each nation
had their own set of gods.
And if you read what these gods are like,
and you can go and research it online,
you read what these gods are like,
these gods are brutal.
They are sex addicted.
They are exploitative.
They use humans
as slaves.
In their stories
of these tribes,
that's what their gods were like.
And what your god is like
is always reflected
in the practice
of what the people are like.
And so it's not surprising
that these people
exploited the poor.
And you can read about this.
They had widespread
ritual prostitution
in the heart
of their religion.
They had abusive relationships.
They had even
child sacrifice.
And God says,
you are not to be like that.
You are to be
totally different
from that.
So his reason for saying
don't marry
these other nations
is
because I want you
to be different
and I want you to be
a blessing to these people.
I don't want you to just
go in and be
exactly like them.
Because the history of Israel
showed that whenever
they married
people from other nations,
what happened?
They became
just like them.
They followed
everything they did.
Their society
became corrupt.
They started
exploiting people,
abusing people.
That's terrible.
So,
you may have
another question here.
Well, okay,
if it's not about race
but it's about
religion of practice,
does that mean
Christians should divorce
their non-Christian spouses?
And,
the Bible is very clear.
1 Corinthians 7
says no.
Christians should be
a witness
to your partners
of how amazing God is.
This command
was for Israel
at a particular time
in a particular place.
And God has said
in the New Testament
he tells us
you're to be a witness
to your partners.
But he does say
don't enter into a marriage
if you're going to be
spiritually not on the same page
because you're always
going to be
pulling each other apart
and pulling away
and feeling the tension
of what it is
to not walk with God.
There's always going to be
a tension point.
But isn't God against
divorce?
Because what happens
is the people here
they end up
actually ends up
with divorcing
their wives.
And isn't God
against divorce?
Because that seems
pretty hard.
And the Bible says
very clearly
in the book of Malachi
chapter 2
it says yeah
God hates divorce.
He hates divorce.
But it seems
that here
divorcing
the women
was the lesser
of two evils.
And this is really
I find this really tough.
I just honestly
I find this very difficult.
But the choice was
either the whole nation
turns away from God
or a few families
will feel the pain
of separation.
Because actually
at the end of chapter 10
we didn't read it
there are actually
110 families
which are listed.
110 families
are listed.
And God says
don't allow sin
to remain.
You've got to be
ruthless with sin
and sometimes
that is painful.
Sometimes that is difficult.
And actually
this is not a rush decision.
They take three months.
And if you read
on chapter 10
they sit down
with every single couple
and they work
through the issues
with every single couple
and it takes three months.
But the principle
for us here is
and Jesus says it himself
be ruthless with sin.
If there's stuff
which is going to
draw you away
from God
don't hold on to it.
Don't say
it doesn't matter.
Don't say
oh but
you know
he says be ruthless
because Jesus says
if your eye
causes you to sin
what have you got to do?
He says cut it out.
That's really hard.
That's not
that's not very
kind of politically correct.
That's not
lovely and cuddly.
But actually
God says
if you want to know
what it really means
to live
to be with me
be ruthless
with sin.
So let's
just want to have
a quick look
as we go through
the rest of the chapter
because
I don't know about you
but I feel
that sense of
sometimes
I habitually
do the same things
again
and again
and sometimes
I don't really want
to be particularly
ruthless
with the things
that I struggle with.
so let's just
have a quick look
at some of the things
that how Ezra
and the people
respond.
So let's look
at their response
let's look
so we've looked
at the problem here
let's look at their response
and then we'll look
at the hope
that there is.
Okay
so if you look
at Ezra's response
again
it seems really extreme.
When I heard this
verse 3
I tore my tunic
and cloak
pulled hair
from my head
and beard
and sat down
appalled
then everyone
who trembled
at the words
of the God of Israel
gathered round me
because of this
unfaithfulness
of the exiles
and I sat there
appalled
until the evening sacrifice
then at the evening sacrifice
I rose from my self-abasement
with my tunic
and cloak torn
fell on my knees
with my hands
spread out to my God
and prayed
I'm too ashamed
and disgraced
my God
to lift up my face
to you.
Ezra's pretty broken
at this point.
Ezra's pretty broken
and I don't know
if you've ever got
to that point
where you just feel
that sense of utter despair
but normally
normally I don't
when I've done something
that I know
has not pleased God
but
sometimes I do
and usually I do
because of two reasons
one because I feel
I've let myself down
you know
you kind of get that feeling
of oh no
what have I done
and it's
for me
it's often because
I've got this standard
and I feel
I haven't kind of
lived up to my standard
and I say
that's not normally me
that's not like me
I don't normally do that
and the problem is
my standards
are pretty low
to start with
so if I haven't even
reached my standards
then there's something
seriously wrong.
I never normally
do that
that's one way
how I normally respond
the second way
that I might feel despair
is at the consequences
oh no
my wife's going to
find out
what are other people
going to think about me
if they hear
that I'm struggling
with pornography
what are they going to
think about me
if they know
that my business
is failing
or that I
am struggling
in my marriage
what are they going to
think
oh no
and
Ezra's response
is not
oops
oh dear
Ezra's response
is oh no
and
I don't know
if you remember
the story
that Alistair
shared last week
about
his friend
who had had
an affair
and he came back
to his wife
he felt remorse
and he came back
and he confessed
his sin
to his wife
imagine
if at that moment
when he confessed
that he'd
he cheated
on his wife
imagine
if he'd said
sorry love
you know
I've cheated
on you
and I feel
so terrible
about it
because I've
broken the
seventh commandment
and you know
I've been doing
so well up till then
I've done all the
other nine
really well
but you know
this seventh one
oh I just
messed it up
and maybe God's
not going to
bless my marriage
now
how's his wife
going to feel
about that
because
maybe he's not
met the standard
but actually
that's not the issue
there
the issue
is a relational
issue
that's what makes
it so painful
it's not because
you've broken
a rule
it's actually
because
there's something
relationally wrong
in that setting
that's why Ezra
is just
oh
because there's
a relational
problem
and
it's very
interesting
I'm not going
to spend time
on this
but if you
look
Ezra
Ezra's actually
not the one
who's done
something wrong
here
did you notice
that
but do you
notice what
he says
we
have sinned
we
us
our
sin
our
failings
do you
notice that
very
interesting
because you
see
Ezra's got
this idea
that he's
part of
God's people
and God's
got this
amazing plan
for his
people
and if
one
person
if one
group
of people
are not
living the
way God
wants
that means
the whole
of the
people of
God
are not
living
as God
wants them
to be
and it
breaks
his heart
and so
he repents
and says
we
have not
done
what you
wanted
and I
wonder
when
how often
when you
see
other people
even in
Watermark
in your
community
group
doing things
which you
know
are not
right
healthy
do you
ever come
to the
point
of saying
not just
them
their
problem
but actually
say
we have
an issue
it's a
family
issue
because
actually
we are
not
living
we need
to repent
we need
to say
God
change
us
to be
the
people
you
want
us
to be
God
but
again
this
seems
very
heavy
in many
ways
but
if you
look
at
verse
8
to
10
you
see
that
actually
Ezra's
not
there
thinking
God
is
this
condemning
judge
who
is
there
just
to
beat
us
around
the
head
with
a
stick
because
actually
look
at
8
to
10
and
he
says
I'm
so
cut
to
the
heart
because
look
at
this
for a
brief
moment
the
Lord
our
God
has
been
gracious
in
leaving
us
a
remnant
he's
been
faithful
and
giving
us
a
firm
place
in
his
sanctuary
and
so
our
God
gives
light
to
our
eyes
and
a
little
relief
in
our
bondage
though
we're
slaves
our
God
has
not
forsaken
us
he's
shown
us
kindness
he's
granted
us
new
life
to
rebuild
the
house
of
God
repair
its
ruins
he's
been
giving
us
so
many
things
he's
been
so
gracious
we've
messed
up
again
and
again
and
again
and
yet
God
again
and
again
and
again
he
hasn't
discarded
us
he hasn't
thrown
us
on the
scrap
heave
of
life
he's
picked
us
up
again
and
again
and
again
and
his
goodness
is
just
amazing
and
he
keeps
providing
he
keeps
giving
us
more
than
good
to
us
look
at
what
we've
done
how
can
we
do
it
again
after
you're
so
faithful
to
us
and
the
story
of
the
old
testament
is
really
the
story
of
a
self
sin
addicted
adulterous
people
who
just
have
an
incredibly
faithful
husband
who
just
chases
after
them
again
and
again
and
again
and
yet
the
people
again
and
again
and
again
just
go
back
in
this
cycle
of
going
away
from
him
that
is
the
story
of
the
old
testament
and
it's
like
they've
got
an
addiction
an
addiction
they just
can't
break
out
of
and
I
have
a
friend
who
was
a
drug
addict
we'll
call
him
Jim
I
first
met
him
he
was
homeless
and
got
to
know
him
over
a
number
of
months
and
eventually
invited
him
just
to
stay
a
week
or so
in
our
house
while
we
found him
some
alternative
accommodation
he stayed
there
we found him
somewhere to live
he moved to
my friend's
place
and I thought
great
this is good
he's going to get back on his feet
everything's going to be great
next morning I get a phone call from my friend
slightly distressed
saying
you know your friend Jim
he's just taken
he's just taken the equivalent of 6,000 Hong Kong dollars from a new colleague who was staying with me
we called the police
the police weren't that interested actually
and
so I went down to
to a place where I knew he would be
and I waited for him
and
as he came through the door he saw my face
and you should have seen the look on his face
he hung his head
he started trying to walk out of the door
I walked after him
I looked him in the eyes
I told him that we'd called the police
but then I said to him
you know
but we've forgiven you
for what you've done
because we have an amazing God
who forgives
and shows grace to you
he was blown away
because he'd never experienced anything like that
we prayed
I didn't see him again for a few weeks
I said to him actually
we will welcome you back
not because you deserve it
but because we have an amazing God
who wants to welcome you back
and wants you to know him
a few weeks later
I was cycling through
I didn't see him for a while
cycling through an area of town
which I never normally went into
cycling through this little kind of back alley
and who did I happen to see on a bench
but Jim
when he saw me
his face was the picture of just complete shock
and I went up to him
I talked to him
and he said to me
you know
I've been trying to avoid you
for the last
I don't know how long it was
month
I've been trying to avoid you
but
I came to the one place
in the city of half a million people
where I thought you would never find me
and
you found me
God must be
really on my case
we talked
he seemed to really
feel repentance
I invited him along
to come along to our church
he came along to one
gathering
of our church
and
I thought it was great
things seemed to go well
next
day
I had a phone call from a friend
saying
I've lost
$1500
we knew it was Jim
time went past
I didn't see him
for a while
again
we called the police
nothing seemed to happen
then one day
I saw Jim
again
and he came back
and he seemed to be really repentant
he seemed to have
be
totally
totally wanting to get on the right path
again
he said
you know
I want to get a job
I want to get accommodation
and stuff
and so
we
kind of reluctantly agreed
to let him stay in our
house for just
two days
while the process
of getting a new flat
was in place
and
I stupidly allowed him
to
have our key
just to get his stuff
just as he was moving
into the
his new place
that evening
I got a phone call
from my
housemate
to say that
his Xbox
all his guitar equipment
and money
had been taken
at that point
we called the police
Jim went to prison
I visited him
in prison
every day for a week
we talked about
God's grace
we talked about
how God pursues
even the people
who are the furthest away
and he seemed to really
be captivated
by the story
when he came out
he stayed with my parents
for two days
while we found him
in rehab
during those two days
he went and took
another thousand dollars
from
a neighbor
Jim went back
to prison
every month
I visited him
every month
he said to me
I'm going to go
and see the prison
chaplain
the person who
to kind of find out
more about God
every month
I went back
and he hadn't done it
18 months later
I was just about
giving up on him
we shared the gospel
with him
we told him all about
the way that God
chases after
even the most broken
people can restore them
he said
oh that's fantastic
I know
I'm a sinner
I know that I need
God's grace
and every month
nothing changed
after 18 months
I was giving up
I kind of
skipped a month
or two
didn't see him
for about three months
I hadn't seen him
and then
I got this letter
through the post
and in the letter
Jim said
do you know what
I was baptized
last week
I was like
wow
and he told me the story
he said
you know
I'd been in
I'd been put in isolation
because I'd been
brewing beer
inside
you get a picture
Jim
and when I was
in isolation
when everything else
was taken away from me
suddenly I
I got to thinking
and I got to realize
that all the grace
that I'd been shown
and all this God
that you told me about
he must be amazing
that he could even
chase after me
and I remembered
all the stuff
that I'd done
all the mess
that I'd done
and he said
at that point
I just prayed
and said
God please
save me
it happened
the next day
that actually
the prison chaplain
came around to him
and said
okay you're getting
baptized on Sunday
I hope you're ready
Jim was rather surprised
because he hadn't
talked to the chaplain
about this
and so I go
okay
great
Saturday came
the chaplain
came around
and actually said
you know
I'm sorry
I made a big mistake
it wasn't you
who was meant
to be getting baptized
it was another guy
but do you want
to get baptized anyway
and Jim said
yeah
and he stood
in front of all
his other inmates
and told him
the testimony
told them the testimony
of a God
of amazing grace
the thing with Jim
is
he's
still struggling
I invited him
to our wedding
he said he'd come
he didn't turn up
and that could be
heartbreaking
but I learnt
something
through Jim
I thought I was
pretty persistent
but I learnt
that God
doesn't give up
on people
that God
pursues
his people
even when they
again
and again
mess up
that's the kind
of God
that I think
Ezra had a bit
of a glimpse
of
that he
pursues
us
with grace
and God
knows
God is not
kind of blind
to the depth
of their depravity
God's not blind
to that
he knows
everything
they've done
and the thing
is
I think
the story
of Jim
is the story
of Israel
and actually
naturally
it's the story
of all of us
we're all
addicts
to ourselves
naturally
we're addicted
to our own
ambitions
we struggle
time and time
again
with the same
things
it may be
your temper
it may be
impatience
with your kids
it may be
101 things
it may be
pornography
it may be
just angry
bitter thoughts
whatever it is
and maybe
you get to a point
where you think
I've done it again
there's no hope
maybe God
is like a
judge
kind of
looking at me
wanting to
beat me around
the head
to say
you did it again
that's another one
in my black book
and you see
Ezra gets to the
point of saying
we are guilty
we can't stand
before God
and that's the truth
but there's a hope
time's running
but I just want to
look at this
very quickly
if you look in
chapter 10
verse 2
there's this amazing
response from the
people here
it says
we have been
unfaithful to our
God
they don't deny it
they don't kind of
hide behind it
they're not doing
defensive Diana
they're not doing
beat yourself up Bob
they're not doing
try hard Tracy
they're not doing
minimizing Martin
they're not doing
any of that
they admit it
they come clean
but then
so we've been
unfaithful
but there's this
amazing thing
but in spite
of this
in spite
of this
there is still
hope
for Israel
there is still
hope
for Israel
and the thing is
the hope
is not
on the performance
of Israel
it's not on
finding their
potential
for Israel
because they'd
had thousands
of years to try
and they'd
failed every
time
their hope
was in
the character
of a God
who is like
a faithful
husband
pursuing
an unfaithful
lover
who doesn't
give up
who is
unfailing
who doesn't
cover over
the sin
and say
oh it doesn't
matter
but a God
who
ultimately
the story
leads
to Christ
and the cross
because at the cross
Ezra didn't
know this
Ezra was looking
at the faithfulness
of God
over the thousands
of years
that he'd seen
up till then
but we can look
back at the
faithfulness of God
on the cross
where he takes
all your junk
he knows
everything
there's nothing
no little skeleton
in your closet
that he doesn't
know about
but he took
every one of them
on the cross
the judge
who should have
pronounced you
guilty
says
you're not
guilty
and you can say
yeah but
but don't you
know what I've
done
and he says
yeah
but you can't
forgive me
like that
and he says
I'm not
forgiving you
because of
how good you
are
or because
you've tried
really hard
I'm forgiving
you because
of my character
and because
of what Jesus
has done
he declares
you not guilty
he says
you're free
not just
free
to then
go and
re-offend
as an
addict
who's just
caught in
this cycle
but he says
I've not
just set you
free
to be a
repeat offender
but I've
set you
free
from your
addiction
to self
you are not
a self
sin addict
any longer
if you are
a follower
of Christ
it's been
broken
you may
have
some of
the
leftover
habits
from your
addiction
from your
self
addiction
but he
says
I've
broken
it
you're
free
Jesus
says
if the
son
sets
you
free
you'll
be
free
indeed
you don't
have to
be
living
in
slavery
to a
fear
of
failure
any
longer
you
don't
have to
live
in
that
cycle
of
I've
done
it
again
I've
done
it
again
you
don't
have
to
be
any
of
my
four
characters
so I
just want
to finish
those
four
friends
respond
the way
they do
because
they
don't
know
the
God
of
the
Bible
they
don't
know
the
God
who
is
so
holy
that
none
of us
could
stand
before
him
but
is
so
gracious
that
he invites
all
of us
to
stand
before
him
how do
we
change
happens
when you
see the
horror of
your own
sin
normally
I'm
kind of
God
forgive
me
and then
I
carry
on
but
actually
God
wants
you
to
get
to
a
point
if
you
want
to
change
see
that
actually
it's
a
relational
thing
see
that
it's
hurtful
it's
cheating
on
your
lover
but
see
that
that's
not
to
cuss
you
that
doesn't
condemn
you
because
your
lover
is
the
most
incredible
God
be
honest
with
God
tell
him
how
messed
up
you
are
thank
God
here's
the thing
if you
feel
guilty
and
condemned
God
doesn't
want to
leave
you
like
that
if
you've
said
God
forgive
me
and
then
you
still
feel
guilty
you
are
forgiven
so
don't
keep
repenting
for
the
same
thing
don't
if
you've
said
God
forgive
me
for
this
then
thank
him
that
he's
forgiven
you
no
matter
how
you
feel
just
thank
him
because
he's
forgiven
you
and
your
feelings
will
follow
and
the
last
thing
take
active
steps
to
change
because
you
don't
have
to
change
because
you've
got
to
meet
up
to
some
performance
but
because
you
see
the
God
who
is
incredibly
gracious
who
chases
after
you
make
active
steps
to
change
you
feed
an
addiction
to
Christ
by
feeding
it
learn
specific
passages
of the
Bible
if you
struggle
with
particular
things
ask
a
person
to
be
your
accountability
partner
not
just
on
anything
but
on
a
specific
issue
pray
regularly
God
help me
to see
your
beauty
more
what I'd
like you
to do
on your
sheet
on the
back
of where
the
Bible
reading
is
you
will
see
that
there
are
three
questions
one
of them
how do
you
respond
normally
when
you
fail
second
one
if I
can
find
it
I
can't
find
it
you
can
read
those
there
what
do
you
need
to
pray
for
here
we
go
what
should
you
be
praying
for
yourself
and
also
for
watermark
church
remember
we're
a
family
we
serve
a
gracious
God
and
are
there
any
concrete
steps
you
need
to
take
in
the
light
of
God's
grace
I'm
going to
give you
a couple
of
minutes
now
we
don't
normally
do
this
but I
don't
want you
to
just
listen
and
run
away
and
then
you
just
carry
on
doing
what
we
normally
do
I
want you
to
stop
and
think
now
think
through
those
three
questions
we're
just
going
to
give
you
a
minute
to
think
if
you
want
to
write
down
any
answers
just
write
them
down
it's
a
time
for
you
just
to
come
before
God
I
don't
know
where
you
are
I
don't
know
whether
you
know
this
God
of
grace
but
here's
your
chance
to
respond
to
him
not
that
day
so
Thank you.
The doors later on and go into our weeks, we know that we're going to fail again.
Thank you.
But thank you that it's your gospel that when it's applied to our hearts, it frees us to
be brutally honest with ourselves and with you.
The assurance of your total forgiveness of all our faults, failings, sins through the
blood of Jesus means we don't have to play defensive games any longer.
We don't have to rationalize and excuse our sins.
We can say when we've told a lie instead of exaggerating it.
We can admit an unforgiving spirit instead of continue to blame our parents for our emotional
distress.
We can call sin exactly what it is, regardless of how ugly and shameful it may be, because
we know that Jesus bore that sin in his body on the cross.
Thank you for the assurance of your total forgiveness in Christ so that we have no reason to hide, no
reason to live in fear any longer.
Please help us to know you and for that to shape the way we respond to our failure.