WEBVTT 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:04.520 If you've ever seen the movie Superman Returns, it came out a few years ago. 00:00:05.219 --> 00:00:07.100 Lois Lane has written an article. 00:00:07.640 --> 00:00:10.380 She's won the Pulitzer for it, and the title of the article is 00:00:10.380 --> 00:00:12.339 Why the World Doesn't Need Superman. 00:00:13.060 --> 00:00:18.339 And at one point in the film, Superman takes Lois up into the sky over the city, 00:00:18.580 --> 00:00:21.600 and once they're up there, he says, what do you hear? 00:00:22.400 --> 00:00:24.859 She listens, and she says, nothing. 00:00:25.940 --> 00:00:29.060 And Superman says, I hear everything. 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:36.100 You wrote that the world doesn't need a Savior, but every day I hear people crying out for one. 00:00:37.740 --> 00:00:45.140 We live in a society where many people have written and many people believe that we no longer need a Savior, 00:00:45.460 --> 00:00:53.719 that we have progressed, that we have evolved, that, frankly, we've outgrown the need for myths and fairy tales. 00:00:54.620 --> 00:00:57.659 And yet every day people are crying out for a Savior. 00:00:57.659 --> 00:01:07.259 As we struggle to face the coronavirus pandemic and all of the economic strain that that has created for the world, 00:01:07.260 --> 00:01:17.140 as we struggle to come to terms with racial trauma and injustice in our society and all of the pain and division that that has caused, 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:21.800 many people out there right now don't believe that they need a Savior. 00:01:22.100 --> 00:01:23.700 They say that we don't need a Savior. 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:25.219 They say we've moved beyond that. 00:01:25.960 --> 00:01:27.920 And yet every day they're crying out for a Savior. 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:34.719 And for that reason, we've been looking lately at the book of the Psalms in the Bible. 00:01:35.460 --> 00:01:40.180 Because God's people have been crying out to their Savior for thousands of years. 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:44.079 And those cries have been recorded as psalms. 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:46.900 And so we've been looking at these psalms. 00:01:46.900 --> 00:01:49.880 And last week we started looking at Psalm 32. 00:01:50.500 --> 00:01:55.719 And Psalm 32 is all about the fact that our Savior, Jesus Christ, 00:01:56.240 --> 00:02:01.360 makes it possible for us to deal with sin and brokenness once and for all. 00:02:01.620 --> 00:02:08.120 And only Jesus makes it possible for us to deal with sin and brokenness once and for all. 00:02:08.180 --> 00:02:11.200 And so last week we talked about the reality of sin. 00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:16.599 And then we talked about the difference between our attempts to cover up our sin 00:02:16.599 --> 00:02:21.139 and the blood of Jesus as the ultimate covering for sin. 00:02:21.479 --> 00:02:22.319 So that was last week. 00:02:22.379 --> 00:02:23.259 That was part one. 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:24.959 This week is part two. 00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:26.619 We're going to continue looking at this psalm. 00:02:26.780 --> 00:02:29.159 And we're going to talk about true change. 00:02:29.239 --> 00:02:32.259 Once we've come to Jesus and confessed our sin, 00:02:32.399 --> 00:02:36.439 what does a life look like where true change is possible? 00:02:36.599 --> 00:02:39.299 And so we're going to ask two questions of this psalm. 00:02:39.300 --> 00:02:41.820 First, why is change necessary? 00:02:42.020 --> 00:02:49.160 If God loves me as I am and accepts me exactly as I am when I come to him and confess to him, 00:02:49.300 --> 00:02:51.620 then why is change necessary? 00:02:51.980 --> 00:02:54.120 And then the second question is, how do we do it? 00:02:54.740 --> 00:02:57.360 So let's pray and then we'll open God's word together. 00:02:58.220 --> 00:03:00.840 Lord, we thank you for your word. 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:06.980 And we thank you that even when we say that we don't need a Savior, 00:03:06.979 --> 00:03:09.560 even when we deny that we need a Savior, Lord, 00:03:09.639 --> 00:03:12.699 that when the world was saying that, you still sent a Savior. 00:03:13.359 --> 00:03:17.399 And it's because of him and because of your promise that he's here with us now 00:03:17.399 --> 00:03:21.679 that we open your word in confidence, knowing that you can speak to us. 00:03:21.959 --> 00:03:23.919 And it's our desire not just to understand these words, 00:03:24.019 --> 00:03:25.639 but to see our Savior face to face. 00:03:26.039 --> 00:03:27.579 And it's in this hope that we pray. 00:03:27.859 --> 00:03:28.099 Amen. 00:03:28.099 --> 00:03:33.780 So first of all, why is change necessary in the Christian life? 00:03:34.280 --> 00:03:35.919 Verse 2 of this psalm says, 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:41.479 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity. 00:03:42.340 --> 00:03:47.240 The Bible has a very complex view of human nature. 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:53.400 On the one hand, the Bible says that human beings are capable of extraordinary beauty, 00:03:53.400 --> 00:03:57.260 extraordinary goodness, extraordinary creativity. 00:03:57.900 --> 00:04:02.860 And that's because we're created in the image of a God who is like that. 00:04:03.080 --> 00:04:07.340 We were made to bear his image by creating and building 00:04:07.340 --> 00:04:10.319 and bringing beauty and goodness into the world. 00:04:10.420 --> 00:04:13.379 So that's a part of what it means to be a human being. 00:04:13.939 --> 00:04:18.460 But the Bible also says, and as Paul says in Romans chapter 1, 00:04:18.459 --> 00:04:22.779 when we exchanged the worship and the glory of God 00:04:22.779 --> 00:04:27.079 for the worship and the glory of created things, 00:04:27.079 --> 00:04:30.459 when we began to worship things God made instead of God, 00:04:30.620 --> 00:04:33.699 that twisted something deep inside us. 00:04:35.399 --> 00:04:40.319 Along with our capacity for beauty and goodness and creativity, 00:04:40.599 --> 00:04:46.179 we have a brokenness, a bentness in our very nature. 00:04:46.180 --> 00:04:50.180 And this is what the Bible means by the word iniquity. 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:53.720 Iniquity is more than just doing bad things. 00:04:53.860 --> 00:04:55.639 It's more than just breaking the rules. 00:04:56.180 --> 00:04:58.720 Iniquity is something that is in our character. 00:04:59.379 --> 00:05:01.879 It's a bentness in our nature. 00:05:02.519 --> 00:05:07.500 Dorothy Sayers describes it as a deep interior dislocation 00:05:07.500 --> 00:05:10.379 at the very center of human personality. 00:05:10.379 --> 00:05:16.600 The poet W.H. Auden called it the error bred in the bone. 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:19.259 Both of these convey the same idea. 00:05:19.500 --> 00:05:21.699 The Christian understanding of human nature says 00:05:21.699 --> 00:05:26.600 that you're simultaneously a reflection of God's glory, 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:32.079 and yet there is an error that has been bred into our bones. 00:05:32.819 --> 00:05:34.259 It's a part of our nature. 00:05:34.259 --> 00:05:38.360 The philosopher Michael Ruse is a well-known atheist, 00:05:38.719 --> 00:05:40.659 and he's very open about his atheism, 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:42.360 and yet at one place he writes, 00:05:42.980 --> 00:05:46.719 I think Christianity is spot on when it comes to original sin. 00:05:48.379 --> 00:05:50.279 How could one think otherwise? 00:05:51.060 --> 00:05:52.779 And then here's what he goes on to say. 00:05:53.339 --> 00:05:55.779 How could one think otherwise when the same people 00:05:55.779 --> 00:05:59.139 who produced Beethoven or Goethe or Kant 00:05:59.139 --> 00:06:02.159 also embraced Hitler and participated in the Holocaust? 00:06:03.579 --> 00:06:06.800 Only the Christian understanding of human nature 00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:08.180 could make sense of that. 00:06:08.819 --> 00:06:12.979 I don't think any other worldview or philosophy even comes close. 00:06:14.039 --> 00:06:17.079 Consider some of our great cultural icons. 00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:19.120 Consider someone like Gandhi, for instance. 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:23.199 Gandhi is one of the most famous cultural icons 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:25.319 and leaders of our time, 00:06:25.319 --> 00:06:30.399 and he was a pioneer of passive, nonviolent civil disobedience. 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:34.500 He gave his entire life to fighting for independence in India. 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:39.860 And yet Gandhi was also blatantly racist toward black South Africans, 00:06:40.219 --> 00:06:44.800 and Gandhi repeatedly forced his teenage nieces 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:47.159 to sleep in the nude with him. 00:06:48.300 --> 00:06:50.219 And so Gandhi's a complicated figure. 00:06:51.219 --> 00:06:52.819 Consider somebody like Einstein, 00:06:52.819 --> 00:06:55.800 one of the great geniuses of our era. 00:06:56.180 --> 00:06:58.579 But he repeatedly cheated on his wife. 00:06:58.719 --> 00:07:00.060 He had an affair with his cousin 00:07:00.060 --> 00:07:01.659 and then cast her aside 00:07:01.659 --> 00:07:04.560 to have affairs with numerous other younger women. 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:06.779 And then when his son began to manifest 00:07:06.779 --> 00:07:08.920 the early signs of schizophrenia, 00:07:09.219 --> 00:07:11.860 he abandoned his son in a mental institution 00:07:11.860 --> 00:07:14.100 and never visited him once. 00:07:14.519 --> 00:07:17.939 The biography says his son died in miserable conditions. 00:07:19.420 --> 00:07:21.519 Consider someone like Martha Washington, 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:24.859 who was our nation's first lady. 00:07:24.859 --> 00:07:30.199 She set the tone for all of the first ladies in our country, 00:07:30.379 --> 00:07:34.359 but she also owned more than four times the number of slaves 00:07:34.359 --> 00:07:37.799 that George did when they were married. 00:07:38.799 --> 00:07:41.759 And you look at this list, 00:07:41.919 --> 00:07:44.639 and frankly, I could go on and on and on and on, 00:07:44.979 --> 00:07:47.039 but I don't want to distract from the point. 00:07:48.019 --> 00:07:50.500 My point is not to discredit anyone. 00:07:50.500 --> 00:07:53.639 My point is actually to discredit everyone. 00:07:54.740 --> 00:07:56.699 I want to discredit everyone. 00:07:57.399 --> 00:07:58.560 You know, right now, 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:01.019 people are tearing down monuments 00:08:01.019 --> 00:08:04.740 because we have monuments of people who are racist 00:08:04.740 --> 00:08:06.839 or were slave owners, 00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:08.439 and I totally get it. 00:08:08.540 --> 00:08:10.379 But as I've been thinking about it this week, 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:11.339 I've been wondering, 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:13.139 who should get a monument? 00:08:13.879 --> 00:08:15.839 Is there anyone out there 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:17.699 who deserves a monument to be built 00:08:17.699 --> 00:08:19.959 to celebrate their life? 00:08:19.959 --> 00:08:23.079 Because inside every cultural icon, 00:08:23.299 --> 00:08:25.180 inside every great hero, 00:08:25.359 --> 00:08:28.599 inside every saint that we celebrate in our culture, 00:08:28.680 --> 00:08:30.299 if you dig down deep enough, 00:08:30.579 --> 00:08:32.039 you will find iniquity 00:08:32.039 --> 00:08:35.039 because it's been bred into our bones. 00:08:35.819 --> 00:08:36.819 It's there. 00:08:37.500 --> 00:08:40.600 So maybe you are somebody who's passionate 00:08:40.600 --> 00:08:43.539 about caring for the poor and the vulnerable. 00:08:43.539 --> 00:08:45.779 Maybe you've given your life to that, 00:08:46.219 --> 00:08:49.419 but maybe you also ruthlessly criticize your spouse. 00:08:50.699 --> 00:08:53.419 Maybe you're someone who loves your wife 00:08:53.419 --> 00:08:55.099 and your children more than anything 00:08:55.099 --> 00:08:56.980 you would lay down in traffic for them, 00:08:57.199 --> 00:08:58.819 and yet at the same time, 00:08:58.959 --> 00:09:01.480 you regularly fantasize about having affairs. 00:09:02.939 --> 00:09:05.879 Maybe you're someone who is extremely generous 00:09:05.879 --> 00:09:07.240 with your money, 00:09:07.240 --> 00:09:09.860 and yet when somebody crosses a line with you 00:09:09.860 --> 00:09:11.180 or offends you, 00:09:11.500 --> 00:09:12.960 you refuse to forgive them. 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:17.060 Every single human being 00:09:17.060 --> 00:09:19.360 reflects both God's glory 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:21.299 and goodness and beauty 00:09:21.299 --> 00:09:24.100 and also the bentness, 00:09:24.299 --> 00:09:27.440 the twistedness of iniquity. 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:31.560 As Alexander Solzhenitsyn famously wrote, 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:33.760 the line separating good and evil 00:09:33.760 --> 00:09:35.820 passes not through states 00:09:35.820 --> 00:09:37.280 nor between classes 00:09:37.280 --> 00:09:39.800 nor between political parties either, 00:09:39.980 --> 00:09:43.340 but right through every human heart 00:09:43.340 --> 00:09:45.800 and through all human hearts. 00:09:47.140 --> 00:09:48.840 The line of good and evil 00:09:48.840 --> 00:09:51.380 passes through every human heart. 00:09:53.140 --> 00:09:55.500 So back to our original question, 00:09:55.500 --> 00:09:57.000 why is change necessary? 00:09:58.060 --> 00:09:59.880 Because you know in your heart 00:09:59.880 --> 00:10:01.700 that you were created for glory, 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:04.120 and you know that you were created 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:05.680 to bring beauty and goodness 00:10:05.680 --> 00:10:07.460 and truth into this world. 00:10:07.560 --> 00:10:08.640 You know in your bones 00:10:08.640 --> 00:10:09.880 that that's why you're here. 00:10:11.380 --> 00:10:13.840 And yet you will not be able to do that 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:16.300 if iniquity rules your heart. 00:10:17.620 --> 00:10:20.160 You will not be able to fulfill that purpose. 00:10:21.140 --> 00:10:24.520 Your heart could be compared to a garden, 00:10:24.980 --> 00:10:26.880 and if you've ever tried to garden, 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:29.000 you know that gardens have the capacity 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:31.720 to produce life and beauty 00:10:31.720 --> 00:10:33.200 and fruit and goodness. 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:35.500 That's what a garden is by design. 00:10:36.220 --> 00:10:39.100 And yet if you know anything about gardens, 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:40.200 they also have weeds. 00:10:41.100 --> 00:10:43.580 And if you leave a garden untended, 00:10:44.039 --> 00:10:45.820 over time what happens is that 00:10:45.820 --> 00:10:47.960 the weeds will slowly choke 00:10:47.960 --> 00:10:50.159 all of the life out of the garden. 00:10:50.279 --> 00:10:51.340 The weeds will take over. 00:10:51.340 --> 00:10:54.980 And it's the same with our hearts and our lives. 00:10:55.320 --> 00:10:57.740 There is no position of neutrality. 00:10:58.300 --> 00:11:01.639 You are either actively fighting against the weeds, 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:03.860 you're actually fighting against iniquity, 00:11:03.960 --> 00:11:05.680 or it is taking over. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:07.399 It's taking over your heart, 00:11:07.660 --> 00:11:08.940 it's taking over your life, 00:11:09.060 --> 00:11:10.820 and it's choking the life out of you. 00:11:10.820 --> 00:11:14.480 So that's why change is necessary. 00:11:15.480 --> 00:11:16.860 So how do we do it? 00:11:17.260 --> 00:11:18.100 Our second question. 00:11:19.540 --> 00:11:22.140 Well, the first step in any kind of change, 00:11:22.740 --> 00:11:26.280 the first step is to admit that there's a problem. 00:11:27.060 --> 00:11:29.760 The first step in Alcoholics Anonymous, 00:11:30.180 --> 00:11:31.840 the 12-step recovery program, 00:11:31.980 --> 00:11:33.820 the first step says this, 00:11:33.820 --> 00:11:36.800 we admitted that we were powerless over alcohol 00:11:36.800 --> 00:11:39.640 and that our lives had become unmanageable. 00:11:40.379 --> 00:11:42.220 And anyone in recovery, 00:11:42.460 --> 00:11:44.360 if you ask anyone in recovery, 00:11:44.440 --> 00:11:45.580 and those of you who are in recovery, 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:46.620 you know what I'm talking about. 00:11:46.700 --> 00:11:48.180 Anyone in recovery will tell you 00:11:48.180 --> 00:11:52.500 that admitting this is the foundation for change, 00:11:53.020 --> 00:11:55.960 that there can be no real lasting change in your life 00:11:55.960 --> 00:11:58.160 without step one, without this admission. 00:11:58.400 --> 00:12:00.720 You have to admit that you have come to love 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:02.480 and depend on alcohol so much 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:03.860 that it's wrecking your life. 00:12:05.220 --> 00:12:08.879 You have to cut through all of the denial. 00:12:09.080 --> 00:12:11.440 You have to cut through all of the rationalization. 00:12:11.620 --> 00:12:13.840 You have to cut through that voice in your mind 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:15.840 that says, oh, I'm still in control. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:17.000 I can have one drink. 00:12:17.180 --> 00:12:18.540 I can keep it under control. 00:12:18.660 --> 00:12:19.660 You have to cut through all of that 00:12:19.660 --> 00:12:21.379 and realize I'm powerless over this, 00:12:21.480 --> 00:12:23.139 and it's destroying everything I love. 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:28.779 Now, this comes straight out of the Christian gospel. 00:12:28.779 --> 00:12:31.659 The first thing that needs to happen 00:12:31.659 --> 00:12:33.139 before real change is possible 00:12:33.139 --> 00:12:37.259 is that we need to admit that change is necessary. 00:12:37.419 --> 00:12:39.059 Before you can solve a problem, 00:12:39.179 --> 00:12:41.419 you have to admit that there is a problem. 00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:45.139 And the fact that we love and worship 00:12:45.139 --> 00:12:46.720 anything other than God, 00:12:47.299 --> 00:12:49.620 that fact is wrecking our life. 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:51.919 Now, you may not look around in your life right now 00:12:51.919 --> 00:12:52.959 and see any wreckage. 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:54.740 Maybe your life looks great. 00:12:54.860 --> 00:12:55.519 Maybe you're happy. 00:12:55.620 --> 00:12:56.639 Maybe you're doing very well. 00:12:56.639 --> 00:12:57.959 But that will not last. 00:12:58.779 --> 00:13:00.100 When push comes to shove, 00:13:00.759 --> 00:13:02.319 when everything is said and done, 00:13:02.980 --> 00:13:04.720 if that doesn't change, 00:13:04.779 --> 00:13:06.139 it's going to wreck your life. 00:13:06.459 --> 00:13:08.459 It's going to wreck your eternal life. 00:13:10.539 --> 00:13:13.639 So we have to make this confession. 00:13:14.179 --> 00:13:15.899 We have to admit this truth. 00:13:16.579 --> 00:13:20.120 And admitting it can be one of the hardest things that we do. 00:13:20.259 --> 00:13:23.039 Many people don't get past this first step. 00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:27.219 And the reason is what we see at the end of verse 2. 00:13:27.319 --> 00:13:29.699 The reason it's so hard, notice verse 2 says, 00:13:30.039 --> 00:13:32.659 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, 00:13:32.879 --> 00:13:35.179 and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:38.620 See, that's talking about self-deception. 00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:40.379 Self-deception. 00:13:40.379 --> 00:13:48.200 We have a whole array of advanced defenses that keep us from having to admit the depth of our sin. 00:13:48.200 --> 00:13:50.059 Just imagine each one of us. 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:55.700 Inside, we have our heart, and then we have a team of highly trained Ivy League lawyers 00:13:55.700 --> 00:14:02.000 who are ready to come out and defend us as soon as we think our ego might be under attack. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:05.299 And so there are a number of strategies that we employ. 00:14:05.799 --> 00:14:10.700 One of the ways that we hide from having to admit our iniquity is we hide behind blame, 00:14:11.080 --> 00:14:13.559 and we hide behind the sins of other people. 00:14:13.659 --> 00:14:17.360 We talked about this a little bit last week, but it's worth revisiting. 00:14:17.580 --> 00:14:20.200 I can't tell you how many times people reach out to me and say, 00:14:20.279 --> 00:14:22.279 I'd love to come in and meet for counseling. 00:14:22.379 --> 00:14:25.080 I have some things that I'd like to work through in my life. 00:14:25.100 --> 00:14:26.480 And I say, okay, and then we meet, 00:14:26.539 --> 00:14:31.919 and they spend the entire time laying out all of the reasons why all of their problems are somebody else's fault. 00:14:32.600 --> 00:14:37.419 And I find myself wondering, why am I talking to you if you have no agency in your own life? 00:14:38.620 --> 00:14:38.779 Right? 00:14:38.919 --> 00:14:45.379 So blame, a fortress of blame can be a wonderful way to hide from the truth of our iniquity. 00:14:45.480 --> 00:14:48.120 We can also hide behind self-justification. 00:14:48.120 --> 00:14:54.679 We can develop elaborate explanations and reasons why everything that we did was only from the best intentions 00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:57.659 and that we only meant it this way. 00:14:57.659 --> 00:15:02.839 And if we could just be understood and heard, it would become clear that we're not actually in the wrong. 00:15:04.259 --> 00:15:06.299 We can also hide behind self-pity. 00:15:07.079 --> 00:15:07.159 Right? 00:15:07.199 --> 00:15:10.419 As real as pain can be, it can also become an excuse 00:15:10.419 --> 00:15:15.759 that allows us to avoid taking responsibility for the choices that we've made. 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:22.679 And so these are just some of the strategies that our team of lawyers can employ. 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:24.679 And this is far easier. 00:15:24.980 --> 00:15:30.379 It's far easier for us to sit behind that team of lawyers feeling like victims 00:15:30.379 --> 00:15:36.700 than it is to actually face up to the truth about the sin in our lives and the choices that we've made. 00:15:37.100 --> 00:15:41.019 And yet, unless we do that, we will never change. 00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:43.340 We will never change. 00:15:43.340 --> 00:15:46.720 And this is why verse 7 is so important. 00:15:46.860 --> 00:15:54.960 We ask, well, how can I possibly face the reality that there may be a twisted bentness to my very nature? 00:15:55.120 --> 00:15:58.240 How could anybody possibly admit that? 00:15:58.300 --> 00:16:00.220 And the answer comes in verse 7. 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:04.620 It says, the psalmist prays to God, you are a hiding place for me. 00:16:05.780 --> 00:16:07.460 You're a hiding place for me. 00:16:08.160 --> 00:16:09.960 This is not just poetic language. 00:16:09.960 --> 00:16:12.900 This is actually pointing us to the truth of the gospel. 00:16:12.899 --> 00:16:16.919 Paul says something very similar in Colossians 3, verse 3. 00:16:17.079 --> 00:16:22.379 He says that if you're a Christian, your life is hidden with Christ in God. 00:16:22.860 --> 00:16:26.659 Your life is hidden with Christ in God. 00:16:26.959 --> 00:16:33.980 And the gospel is the truth that Jesus Christ lived the life that we should have lived. 00:16:33.980 --> 00:16:39.279 Meaning, you can look at every great cultural icon, every great cultural hero. 00:16:39.500 --> 00:16:41.680 If you dig down deep enough, you will find iniquity. 00:16:42.940 --> 00:16:44.200 Not so with Jesus. 00:16:45.139 --> 00:16:48.820 He had all of the most powerful people in the region. 00:16:49.240 --> 00:16:53.259 The Roman authorities, the religious leaders, everybody looking to discredit him. 00:16:53.500 --> 00:16:55.080 They found nothing. 00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:57.259 They found nothing. 00:16:57.259 --> 00:17:02.919 The best that they could do was to attribute his miracles to Satan. 00:17:03.500 --> 00:17:05.160 Because they couldn't find anything else. 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:07.400 And they couldn't deny the reality of the miracles. 00:17:07.740 --> 00:17:12.059 So the best they could do is say, well, these miracles must be coming from Satan. 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:16.440 Satan must be healing people and restoring sight and raising people from the dead. 00:17:16.660 --> 00:17:19.180 That argument didn't hold very much water, frankly. 00:17:19.180 --> 00:17:23.539 But Jesus Christ lived the life that we should have lived. 00:17:24.100 --> 00:17:28.620 And then the gospel says that Jesus died the death that we deserve to die because of our iniquity. 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:33.320 So that God would no longer count our iniquity against us. 00:17:33.460 --> 00:17:38.180 Because our iniquity, our sin, had been put to death with Jesus Christ on the cross. 00:17:38.940 --> 00:17:43.940 And what that means is that when we come to Jesus and we confess our sin to him. 00:17:43.940 --> 00:17:45.580 And we point to the cross. 00:17:45.660 --> 00:17:48.700 And we ask for God's forgiveness based on the cross. 00:17:49.820 --> 00:17:55.340 What happens is that Jesus not only forgives us, but our lives are joined with him. 00:17:55.460 --> 00:17:57.779 We are hidden in him. 00:17:58.019 --> 00:18:05.140 Which means we no longer have to hide behind blame or defensiveness or justification or self-pity. 00:18:05.600 --> 00:18:08.380 God becomes our hiding place. 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:15.320 That means that whenever our sin is exposed, whenever we struggle to face the reality of iniquity in our lives, 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:16.700 we can point to the cross. 00:18:16.700 --> 00:18:21.200 And we can say it was dealt with there once and for all. 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:27.299 So we have to admit the truth of our iniquity. 00:18:27.720 --> 00:18:30.220 And the courage to do that comes from the gospel. 00:18:30.620 --> 00:18:32.240 And having God as our hiding place. 00:18:32.340 --> 00:18:37.700 I can boldly and ruthlessly face the truth of my sin because I know it's been dealt with on the cross. 00:18:38.100 --> 00:18:39.660 That's the first part of change. 00:18:39.660 --> 00:18:45.680 The second part of change is that then we have to surrender our lives fully to God. 00:18:45.779 --> 00:18:52.180 It says in verse 8, and this is now the voice of God speaking back to the psalmist and the congregation. 00:18:52.180 --> 00:18:56.259 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. 00:18:56.560 --> 00:18:59.779 I will counsel you with my eye upon you. 00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:09.019 There's this old Latin phrase, quorum Deo, that refers to the idea that we live all of our lives before the face of God. 00:19:09.140 --> 00:19:11.279 That's what quorum Deo means. 00:19:11.380 --> 00:19:14.279 We live all of our lives before the face of God. 00:19:14.279 --> 00:19:18.319 In other words, there's no part of our lives that is held back. 00:19:18.619 --> 00:19:21.859 There's no part of our lives that is concealed from God. 00:19:22.019 --> 00:19:24.899 He sees everything about us. 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:27.039 He knows everything about our hearts. 00:19:27.420 --> 00:19:33.180 And so the only way to overcome iniquity, the only way to tear those weeds out of the garden, 00:19:33.500 --> 00:19:44.000 is to live all of life before the face of God and to submit in all ways to God's will. 00:19:44.279 --> 00:19:49.460 And the way that we do that is by reading and applying Scripture to our lives. 00:19:49.539 --> 00:19:56.019 Now, this is basic Christianity 101, but I tend to find that this is the thing we need to come back to 00:19:56.019 --> 00:19:59.759 more than almost anything else other than the gospel itself. 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:05.440 As you read Scripture, as you study Scripture, as you hear Scripture being taught, 00:20:05.539 --> 00:20:08.879 as you read books that expound upon Scripture, 00:20:09.259 --> 00:20:12.579 we need to constantly be looking at this not as an intellectual exercise, 00:20:12.579 --> 00:20:17.599 but as an opportunity to hold our lives up to the standard of God's Word, 00:20:18.419 --> 00:20:22.480 to allow God's Word to be like a light that illuminates sin, 00:20:22.599 --> 00:20:26.460 that helps us see the weeds amidst the fruit, 00:20:27.460 --> 00:20:30.879 and that gives us the strength to tear those weeds out. 00:20:31.919 --> 00:20:35.319 And this is the only way to identify those weeds. 00:20:35.720 --> 00:20:38.460 It's the only way to be able to zero in on them, 00:20:38.460 --> 00:20:41.460 is by submitting our lives to God's Word. 00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:44.720 And so if we take everything that we talked about last week, 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:47.180 and we take what we've talked about this week, 00:20:47.220 --> 00:20:48.279 and we put it together, 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:52.400 here's the cycle of growth in the life of Christians. 00:20:52.819 --> 00:20:54.680 It begins with the fact, 00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:56.240 it begins with the truth, 00:20:56.579 --> 00:20:58.019 that God loves you, 00:20:58.380 --> 00:21:00.200 and He gave everything 00:21:00.200 --> 00:21:02.420 to gain you as His own. 00:21:02.420 --> 00:21:04.600 And because of that love, 00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:07.360 we want to be the kind of people 00:21:07.360 --> 00:21:09.380 that God created us to be. 00:21:09.640 --> 00:21:12.440 We want to be what God made us to be. 00:21:12.900 --> 00:21:15.140 And so we submit our lives to God, 00:21:15.320 --> 00:21:17.240 and we submit our lives to God's Word, 00:21:17.580 --> 00:21:20.279 and whenever we see sin in our lives, 00:21:20.380 --> 00:21:21.740 we see that as an opportunity. 00:21:22.500 --> 00:21:26.080 We readily and joyfully confess that sin. 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:29.779 And we do that because we know that God has already forgiven us, 00:21:29.779 --> 00:21:31.980 because God is our hiding place. 00:21:32.139 --> 00:21:33.619 The cross has dealt with our sin. 00:21:34.399 --> 00:21:35.720 And then we repent, 00:21:35.899 --> 00:21:37.399 meaning we commit ourselves 00:21:37.399 --> 00:21:40.500 to resisting that sin in the future. 00:21:40.619 --> 00:21:42.500 We turn 180 degrees around, 00:21:42.519 --> 00:21:43.399 and we go the other way. 00:21:44.720 --> 00:21:46.639 And we do all of this knowing 00:21:46.639 --> 00:21:48.720 that God loves us 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:50.720 more than anything else in the world, 00:21:51.319 --> 00:21:53.180 and that no matter how much we fail, 00:21:53.180 --> 00:21:55.700 or how much we succeed in our desire to change, 00:21:55.960 --> 00:21:57.899 God will never love us any more, 00:21:57.900 --> 00:22:01.560 or any less than He loves you right at this moment. 00:22:02.560 --> 00:22:05.780 It all begins and ends with God's love. 00:22:07.160 --> 00:22:11.200 And in the middle is this cycle of confession and repentance 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:13.380 that I think for many of us, 00:22:13.480 --> 00:22:15.480 we've realized is something that we need to do 00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:17.700 every single day, 00:22:18.120 --> 00:22:19.519 confessing and repenting, 00:22:19.600 --> 00:22:20.860 and confessing and repenting, 00:22:20.900 --> 00:22:21.620 and all the while, 00:22:22.060 --> 00:22:24.320 having God's grace spoken into our lives. 00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:27.659 So the more we do this, 00:22:28.339 --> 00:22:30.960 and what you'll find is the more you do this, 00:22:31.179 --> 00:22:32.879 the more eager you will become 00:22:32.879 --> 00:22:34.639 to root out sin in your life, 00:22:34.659 --> 00:22:36.079 because it's no longer a place 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:38.059 where you feel shame and guilt. 00:22:38.179 --> 00:22:39.519 What you begin to realize is 00:22:39.519 --> 00:22:41.119 these become opportunities 00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:43.879 for you to experience the love of God 00:22:43.879 --> 00:22:46.299 in tangible ways in your life. 00:22:46.379 --> 00:22:47.679 Sometimes when people tell me, 00:22:47.819 --> 00:22:49.159 I feel distant from God, 00:22:49.339 --> 00:22:50.539 it's been a long time 00:22:50.539 --> 00:22:52.179 since I've felt God's presence in my life, 00:22:52.180 --> 00:22:53.660 the first thing I'll ask them is, 00:22:53.940 --> 00:22:55.740 when's the last time you got down on your knees 00:22:55.740 --> 00:22:56.779 and confessed your sin? 00:22:58.200 --> 00:22:59.740 When's the last time you repented? 00:23:01.039 --> 00:23:02.400 When's the last time you admitted 00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:05.620 that you actually need the cross in your life? 00:23:07.160 --> 00:23:09.460 One of the ways that I have most experienced this 00:23:09.460 --> 00:23:11.400 in my own life is in my marriage. 00:23:12.320 --> 00:23:14.100 You know, one of the things about marriage is, 00:23:14.200 --> 00:23:16.460 marriage is a place where your sin 00:23:16.460 --> 00:23:19.100 is pretty much regularly on display. 00:23:19.099 --> 00:23:22.619 And, you know, I used to get highly defensive 00:23:22.619 --> 00:23:24.000 in arguments. 00:23:24.279 --> 00:23:26.480 I would immediately send out the lawyers 00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:30.399 and they would mount an amazing defensive strategy 00:23:30.399 --> 00:23:32.799 and I would just hide behind the lawyers. 00:23:33.019 --> 00:23:35.939 But what I've realized over time 00:23:35.939 --> 00:23:37.659 is that when I'm doing that, 00:23:37.699 --> 00:23:39.579 I'm actually trying to be my own savior. 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:42.000 I'm trying to justify myself. 00:23:42.199 --> 00:23:45.919 I'm trying to save myself from my own sin. 00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:49.580 And I've realized how impoverished that response is. 00:23:49.880 --> 00:23:52.279 And it's really not driven by a love of God 00:23:52.279 --> 00:23:53.220 or a love of my wife. 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:54.920 It's driven by a love of myself. 00:23:56.320 --> 00:23:58.539 And what I am realizing now, 00:23:58.800 --> 00:24:00.980 what I'm realizing bit by bit, 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:04.000 is how to drop my defenses 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:07.940 and actually listen to my wife. 00:24:07.940 --> 00:24:10.960 It's a crazy idea. 00:24:11.960 --> 00:24:13.460 But what I'm learning 00:24:13.460 --> 00:24:16.960 is that as I become open to hearing 00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:18.740 and admitting my sin, 00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:20.620 as I become open to the fact 00:24:20.620 --> 00:24:23.960 that I need to hear this sometimes, 00:24:24.440 --> 00:24:26.759 what's happening is that my marriage 00:24:26.759 --> 00:24:28.519 is actually becoming a place 00:24:28.519 --> 00:24:30.980 where not only am I learning more 00:24:30.980 --> 00:24:32.660 about what it means to love my wife, 00:24:33.240 --> 00:24:35.480 but those are actually becoming moments 00:24:35.480 --> 00:24:36.740 where I'm learning more about 00:24:36.740 --> 00:24:38.579 what it means to be loved by God. 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:41.339 And I think I'm finally figuring out 00:24:41.339 --> 00:24:43.980 what it means to draw on the love of God 00:24:43.980 --> 00:24:46.980 in a way that allows us to love other people. 00:24:47.140 --> 00:24:48.740 For me, I'm finding that a lot 00:24:48.740 --> 00:24:51.480 in my willingness to listen to the truth 00:24:51.480 --> 00:24:52.700 of the ways that I've sinned 00:24:52.700 --> 00:24:55.620 and to rely on God's mercy and love and forgiveness 00:24:55.620 --> 00:24:57.799 to give me the courage to admit it. 00:24:57.799 --> 00:25:01.779 And I think that this is a pattern 00:25:01.779 --> 00:25:04.599 that plays out in all of our relationships, 00:25:04.779 --> 00:25:06.000 not just marriage. 00:25:06.079 --> 00:25:07.980 It can play out in all of our relationships. 00:25:08.619 --> 00:25:10.000 The last example I'll give, 00:25:10.099 --> 00:25:11.399 because I think it's a very timely 00:25:11.399 --> 00:25:12.399 and relevant example, 00:25:12.519 --> 00:25:14.399 is I think this very same thing 00:25:14.399 --> 00:25:15.480 needs to happen 00:25:15.480 --> 00:25:18.539 when it comes to the crisis 00:25:18.539 --> 00:25:20.399 around race in our country. 00:25:21.180 --> 00:25:22.200 And in particular, 00:25:23.240 --> 00:25:26.039 I'm talking to white Christians right now. 00:25:26.039 --> 00:25:28.119 I think one of the most important things 00:25:28.119 --> 00:25:29.960 white Christians can do right now, 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:30.619 and one of the maybe 00:25:30.619 --> 00:25:32.259 the distinctly Christian ways 00:25:32.259 --> 00:25:34.159 that we can respond to all of this, 00:25:34.339 --> 00:25:36.639 is just to stop and to listen. 00:25:38.019 --> 00:25:39.539 To stop. 00:25:39.879 --> 00:25:42.460 To stop arguing about the terminology. 00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:45.139 To stop arguing about the statistics. 00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:48.559 To stop all of the virtue signaling. 00:25:48.759 --> 00:25:49.940 And for those of us who are doing it, 00:25:49.960 --> 00:25:52.720 all of the finger wagging at other white people. 00:25:53.079 --> 00:25:54.299 We just need to stop. 00:25:54.299 --> 00:25:56.919 We just need to get off social media. 00:25:57.859 --> 00:25:59.740 We need to stop and recognize 00:25:59.740 --> 00:26:02.460 the extraordinary pain 00:26:02.460 --> 00:26:05.759 and anger felt by many people of color 00:26:05.759 --> 00:26:08.460 all around us in our society. 00:26:08.700 --> 00:26:10.859 And we need to be willing to listen 00:26:10.859 --> 00:26:12.799 and to receive that 00:26:12.799 --> 00:26:14.359 without sending out the lawyers. 00:26:15.099 --> 00:26:16.500 Without becoming defensive. 00:26:16.720 --> 00:26:18.579 Without trying to justify ourselves. 00:26:18.779 --> 00:26:20.039 We just need to listen. 00:26:20.879 --> 00:26:22.839 And then we need to pray for God 00:26:22.839 --> 00:26:24.119 to reveal to us. 00:26:24.959 --> 00:26:26.339 Pray for God to reveal to you 00:26:26.339 --> 00:26:27.339 in your own heart 00:26:27.339 --> 00:26:30.019 ways that we may need to repent, 00:26:31.199 --> 00:26:32.240 confess and repent, 00:26:32.419 --> 00:26:34.879 both individually and corporately, 00:26:35.159 --> 00:26:37.019 for sins that have been committed 00:26:37.019 --> 00:26:39.799 against people of color in our society. 00:26:40.039 --> 00:26:42.379 By our ancestors and by us. 00:26:42.619 --> 00:26:44.779 By individuals and by systems 00:26:44.779 --> 00:26:46.299 that perpetuate injustice. 00:26:46.299 --> 00:26:51.079 And I'm praying that if we can just stop and listen, 00:26:51.819 --> 00:26:56.039 I'm praying that God might actually use this present crisis 00:26:56.039 --> 00:26:57.480 and this present pain 00:26:57.480 --> 00:27:00.180 to break people's hearts in our society 00:27:00.180 --> 00:27:01.519 over their own sin. 00:27:02.279 --> 00:27:04.680 It may begin with race, 00:27:05.220 --> 00:27:07.299 but I pray that it doesn't end there. 00:27:07.399 --> 00:27:09.519 I pray that this is actually something that God uses 00:27:09.519 --> 00:27:12.480 to break our hearts over the truth of our sin 00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:14.380 in every area of our life. 00:27:15.019 --> 00:27:15.740 And in that way, 00:27:15.900 --> 00:27:16.720 it may sound crazy, 00:27:16.860 --> 00:27:18.299 I'm actually praying that this may, 00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:19.099 in some ways, 00:27:19.319 --> 00:27:21.420 lead to a spiritual revival in our country. 00:27:22.500 --> 00:27:25.420 If you look at almost every great spiritual revival 00:27:25.420 --> 00:27:26.579 in Christian history 00:27:26.579 --> 00:27:29.519 began when people started confessing their sin 00:27:29.519 --> 00:27:30.440 in mass. 00:27:31.259 --> 00:27:33.079 And I'm praying that that happens here. 00:27:34.360 --> 00:27:36.740 So true change is possible. 00:27:36.740 --> 00:27:38.940 It's extremely difficult, 00:27:39.220 --> 00:27:40.240 but it's possible. 00:27:40.359 --> 00:27:42.720 And it's only possible because of the gospel. 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:44.859 Because God is our hiding place. 00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:47.299 Because in the confidence of the cross, 00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:49.339 we can truly look at our sin, 00:27:49.539 --> 00:27:50.140 confess it, 00:27:50.519 --> 00:27:51.099 repent of it, 00:27:51.180 --> 00:27:52.599 and then seek to become 00:27:52.599 --> 00:27:53.940 more and more and more 00:27:53.940 --> 00:27:56.700 the men and women that God has created us to be. 00:27:57.299 --> 00:27:59.200 And because of the gospel, 00:27:59.960 --> 00:28:01.160 even though it's hard, 00:28:01.880 --> 00:28:03.319 and even though our sin 00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:05.480 is probably worse than we think, 00:28:05.480 --> 00:28:07.660 we also have the confidence of knowing 00:28:07.660 --> 00:28:09.980 that God's love is far greater 00:28:09.980 --> 00:28:11.440 than we ever dared imagine. 00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:13.279 Let's pray. 00:28:14.900 --> 00:28:16.759 Lord, we thank you for this. 00:28:17.079 --> 00:28:19.420 And we pray for our hearts, 00:28:20.220 --> 00:28:22.740 these mixtures of divinity and iniquity. 00:28:23.400 --> 00:28:25.440 And we pray that you would give us 00:28:25.440 --> 00:28:27.339 the strength and the grace and the courage 00:28:27.339 --> 00:28:29.599 to root out the sin in our hearts, 00:28:29.680 --> 00:28:30.720 to tear out the weeds. 00:28:31.059 --> 00:28:33.920 And we pray that we in our lives 00:28:33.920 --> 00:28:34.660 and in our hearts 00:28:34.660 --> 00:28:36.320 would experience that life 00:28:36.320 --> 00:28:37.300 and that abundance 00:28:37.300 --> 00:28:38.360 and that beauty 00:28:38.360 --> 00:28:39.480 and that goodness 00:28:39.480 --> 00:28:41.720 that comes when we do the work 00:28:41.720 --> 00:28:43.320 of tearing out those weeds. 00:28:43.660 --> 00:28:44.740 And we pray that this would 00:28:44.740 --> 00:28:46.960 not just be for our own benefit, 00:28:47.259 --> 00:28:49.200 but that it would enable us 00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:50.040 as people, 00:28:50.200 --> 00:28:50.980 as families, 00:28:51.500 --> 00:28:53.040 as friend groups, 00:28:53.200 --> 00:28:54.759 as the church, 00:28:55.120 --> 00:28:56.720 to be a part of the healing 00:28:56.720 --> 00:28:58.620 and the restoring of this world. 00:28:58.619 --> 00:29:01.559 And the repairing of the social fabric, 00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:01.879 Lord. 00:29:02.239 --> 00:29:03.539 And we pray all of this 00:29:03.539 --> 00:29:05.339 that your name would be glorified. 00:29:05.519 --> 00:29:07.279 And we do pray for a revival, 00:29:07.459 --> 00:29:08.819 a revival of the Holy Spirit 00:29:08.819 --> 00:29:11.559 that begins when we go to our knees, Lord. 00:29:11.979 --> 00:29:14.159 And we pray this all in your Son's holy name. 00:29:14.619 --> 00:29:14.859 Amen.