WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.939 Great. Let me pray for us as we start. Let me pray. Father, we want to ask for your help now as we come and look at your word together. 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:21.440 We are conscious that it is the end of a busy Sunday. And yet, Lord, these are important truths. We don't want to rush over these. And we want to give them our due care and attention. 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:33.880 But we also recognize that we are sinful people and we need your help. And so we pray that you might bless us and be at work in us by your spirit. In Jesus name. Amen. 00:00:36.140 --> 00:00:46.719 Now, on Sunday evenings, we've been working our way through the Baptist confession of 1689 and looking at how it answers some of the questions that we have today. 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:51.359 We have not worked our way all the way through it, but we have covered quite a lot of ground. 00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:58.000 In fact, we have covered so much ground in the 1689 Baptist confession that I got a phone call from the Baptist. 00:00:58.479 --> 00:01:07.539 So the Grace Baptist publications people asking how it was going, which I said it was brilliant. 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:13.439 I'll ask them to ring you guys next time and you can tell you can tell them the truth. 00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:22.879 But anyway, there you go. You might remember way back in March that we discussed free will and what the 1689 boys had to say about that. 00:01:22.879 --> 00:01:26.359 And in tonight's session, we're going to cover a little bit about that again. 00:01:26.980 --> 00:01:34.319 But chapter six, which is where we're up to the next chapter, is all about the fall of humanity, sin and its punishment. 00:01:34.579 --> 00:01:36.659 And so that's where we're going to spend our time this evening. 00:01:36.659 --> 00:01:42.019 But before we dive in in detail, I want you to ask the person sat next to you the answer to this question. 00:01:42.659 --> 00:01:45.200 What do people think is wrong with the world? 00:01:45.399 --> 00:01:50.379 Now, I'm not asking for you to ask the person next to you what they think is wrong with the world. 00:01:50.539 --> 00:01:58.780 I'm asking you to think, you know, the imaginary person on the bus or the person that you bump into in the street, you say, what do you think is wrong with the world? 00:01:58.879 --> 00:02:01.299 There's obviously something wrong with the world. Not everything is perfect. 00:02:01.299 --> 00:02:08.319 But what do you think is wrong with the world? What do you think are the answers that they are going to give you to that question of what is wrong with the world? 00:02:08.759 --> 00:02:12.740 Have a little go at that. See what you come up with just for a minute or so. 00:02:17.460 --> 00:02:20.740 OK, let's just feed back some of those answers. 00:02:20.740 --> 00:02:26.259 What do people think? What would people say is wrong with the world? 00:02:26.259 --> 00:02:31.979 Billionaires. The problem is the rich. 00:02:33.859 --> 00:02:36.979 Wow. Well, we all feel exonerated. 00:02:37.699 --> 00:02:39.799 Yeah, that's right. Anything else? 00:02:43.939 --> 00:02:46.419 OK, yeah. So they might blame a certain group of people. 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:49.120 Anything but myself. Yeah, yeah. 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:51.359 Yeah, yeah. 00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:57.820 They blame a group of people or a nation or a political policy or something like that. 00:02:57.960 --> 00:02:58.080 Yeah. 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:01.560 Yes. Migration. 00:03:02.660 --> 00:03:02.840 Yeah. 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:08.700 Yes. An absence of love. People are very unloving and kindness. 00:03:09.180 --> 00:03:09.340 Yeah. 00:03:11.260 --> 00:03:11.660 Poverty. 00:03:12.660 --> 00:03:14.600 Maybe lack of education. 00:03:15.720 --> 00:03:17.000 Lack of job opportunities. 00:03:18.580 --> 00:03:19.760 Eating the wrong food. 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:20.759 Climate change. 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:21.539 Climate change. 00:03:21.679 --> 00:03:23.139 You see, there's a whole list of things. 00:03:24.620 --> 00:03:27.959 Robert Strivens, in his book on the Baptist Confession of Faith, 00:03:28.060 --> 00:03:34.340 gives you six things that the Baptist Confession says are wrong as a result of the fall of humanity. 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:39.259 And we're going to work through a sort of adapted list of those because I've changed the wording of them slightly. 00:03:40.039 --> 00:03:40.840 So let me take you through. 00:03:40.899 --> 00:03:45.159 The first thing that the Baptist Confession will tell you is wrong with the world is that this is no longer Eden. 00:03:45.620 --> 00:03:47.180 Now, in a sense, that is obvious, right? 00:03:47.180 --> 00:03:48.719 We don't live in the Garden of Eden. 00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:50.259 This is not paradise. 00:03:50.500 --> 00:03:52.379 But that's not really what the confession means. 00:03:52.500 --> 00:03:58.759 It means that you and I no longer live with the privileges of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. 00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:01.379 In other words, they were in a unique position. 00:04:01.379 --> 00:04:04.620 They fell from a unique position. 00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:10.159 And in them, all of humanity were exiled from Eden and lost its privileges. 00:04:11.159 --> 00:04:13.939 Chapter six, paragraph one starts like this. 00:04:13.939 --> 00:04:17.699 God created man upright and perfect. 00:04:18.379 --> 00:04:25.980 He gave them a righteous law that would have led to life if they had kept it, but threatened death if they broke it. 00:04:25.980 --> 00:04:29.780 Yet they did not remain for long in this position of honor. 00:04:30.759 --> 00:04:32.340 Paragraph two carries on. 00:04:32.759 --> 00:04:39.140 By this sin, our first parents fell from their original righteousness and communion with God. 00:04:39.139 --> 00:04:44.060 We fell in them and through this death came upon all. 00:04:44.919 --> 00:04:52.139 All became dead in sin and completely defiled in all the capabilities and parts of soul and body. 00:04:52.139 --> 00:04:56.099 Now, really, they are just quoting, aren't they? 00:04:56.319 --> 00:04:58.139 Romans 5, 1 Corinthians 15. 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:02.699 Adam in the Garden has all of humanity on his shoulders. 00:05:03.659 --> 00:05:07.419 Humanity, if you like, is on probation in the Garden with Adam. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:11.139 He is there with a privilege that we no longer have. 00:05:12.279 --> 00:05:15.439 He is there with a relationship with God that we don't have by nature. 00:05:15.899 --> 00:05:18.479 Adam was righteous in a way that we are not. 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:23.840 He was without sin and was in a relationship with God with whom he walked and talked. 00:05:24.580 --> 00:05:27.520 And he has a freedom that you and I don't have, right? 00:05:27.580 --> 00:05:31.900 So he has a freedom to choose sin or righteousness. 00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:34.400 Whereas now we sin by nature. 00:05:34.540 --> 00:05:35.879 And we'll talk more about that in a moment. 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:37.620 But Adam didn't have to. 00:05:38.180 --> 00:05:40.360 Two futures lay before Adam. 00:05:40.360 --> 00:05:44.400 And he sinned and all is lost. 00:05:44.620 --> 00:05:46.720 And humanity is excluded from the Garden. 00:05:47.520 --> 00:05:51.139 Righteousness and communion with God fell with them. 00:05:51.300 --> 00:05:53.240 We lost the privileges of Eden. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:55.600 Now, this is significant, isn't it? 00:05:55.620 --> 00:05:56.520 And really important. 00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:02.560 It means that every single human being is in trouble from day one. 00:06:03.400 --> 00:06:06.980 Regardless of who they are, where they were born or what they are like. 00:06:06.980 --> 00:06:10.300 And that trouble is not just of our own making. 00:06:10.640 --> 00:06:11.980 It is our inheritance. 00:06:13.140 --> 00:06:15.480 We are not, says the Bible, we're not blank sheets of paper. 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:19.560 Everybody born is not born as a new Adam or a new Eve. 00:06:20.259 --> 00:06:24.100 Our relationship to sin is not the same as Adam and Eve in the Garden. 00:06:24.300 --> 00:06:25.879 Our privileges are not the same. 00:06:26.400 --> 00:06:31.759 We are counted in a lost humanity, having fallen from Eden. 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:34.700 So we've lost the privileges of Eden. 00:06:34.759 --> 00:06:35.680 That's the first thing. 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:38.860 The second thing that the confession points out is that we die. 00:06:39.560 --> 00:06:41.759 Again, that is in paragraph two. 00:06:41.939 --> 00:06:43.759 Death came upon all. 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:49.660 But the point is not just that Adam and Eve died physically in the way that we also will 00:06:49.660 --> 00:06:51.220 one day die physically. 00:06:51.720 --> 00:06:59.120 Rather, the point is that spiritually they died to God and we are born dead to God. 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:00.519 So paragraph two again. 00:07:00.519 --> 00:07:08.840 All became dead in sin and completely defiled in all the capabilities and parts of soul and body. 00:07:09.560 --> 00:07:11.759 It's just exactly what God promised would happen. 00:07:11.959 --> 00:07:13.500 Genesis 2.17. 00:07:13.500 --> 00:07:20.959 But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for when you eat from it, you will certainly die. 00:07:21.720 --> 00:07:23.639 Separated from the God of life. 00:07:23.639 --> 00:07:28.560 And so you will die spiritually and inevitably also die physically. 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:31.860 Paul picks up the idea in Ephesians 2. 00:07:31.860 --> 00:07:45.939 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of the world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 00:07:45.939 --> 00:07:51.939 We are dead in sin, says Paul. 00:07:52.600 --> 00:07:58.240 Just like Adam and Eve died in the garden, so we too are born dead in sin. 00:07:58.620 --> 00:08:05.159 That's why Jesus says to Nicodemus that he must be born again because by nature he is dead in his sin. 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:09.939 The problem with all humanity stemming back from the fall is that we're born dead to God. 00:08:10.659 --> 00:08:13.720 Now that doesn't mean, does it, that everyone is as bad as they could be. 00:08:13.720 --> 00:08:15.480 That is not what the point is. 00:08:15.939 --> 00:08:21.879 It means that we are incapable of responding to God on our own. 00:08:22.500 --> 00:08:25.000 We do not hear the call of God to follow him. 00:08:25.420 --> 00:08:28.040 We are completely unresponsive on our own. 00:08:28.579 --> 00:08:31.620 It doesn't mean that we don't ever have any thought of the divine. 00:08:31.939 --> 00:08:35.320 And it doesn't mean that we are incapable of doing anything that is morally good. 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:39.039 But the point is that we are unable to follow the Lord. 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:41.179 There is nothing that we can do. 00:08:41.179 --> 00:08:44.440 We're no longer capable of the righteousness of pre-fall Adam. 00:08:44.440 --> 00:08:53.380 And so it's right, isn't it, that we understand that everybody that we meet, ourselves outside of Christ, are not neutral to God. 00:08:53.940 --> 00:08:59.180 We are dead to him spiritually and we are dying physically. 00:08:59.720 --> 00:09:00.720 We are dead to God. 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:04.840 Thirdly, we are guilty. 00:09:06.100 --> 00:09:09.379 Paragraph three of the confession, which is on your handout, puts it like this. 00:09:10.180 --> 00:09:15.899 By God's appointment, they were the roots and representatives of all mankind. 00:09:16.160 --> 00:09:17.340 That's what we were saying before, isn't it? 00:09:17.340 --> 00:09:19.980 Humanity is on their shoulders. 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:24.759 They're in probation in the garden or humanity is in probation in the garden in there. 00:09:24.759 --> 00:09:37.759 Because of this, the guilt of their sin was accounted and their corrupt nature passed on to all their offspring who descended from them by ordinary procreation. 00:09:37.759 --> 00:09:56.120 Their descendants are now conceived in sin and are by nature children of wrath, the servants of sin and partakers of death and all other miseries, spiritual, temporal and eternal, unless the Lord Jesus sets them free. 00:09:57.500 --> 00:09:59.580 It's hard stuff, isn't it? 00:09:59.580 --> 00:10:00.939 But it's true. 00:10:01.399 --> 00:10:06.019 And they are representing what Paul is saying in Ephesians 2 as well. 00:10:06.019 --> 00:10:14.579 And Robert Striven, again in his book, just has this really helpful paragraph about guilt that we assume guilt is essentially a feeling, right? 00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:20.139 So we imagine guilt is that sort of sinking feeling that we have in our mind. 00:10:20.220 --> 00:10:24.720 I don't know whether you, you know, I sit on my bed at night thinking, oh, I can't believe I said that. 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:25.720 Are you like that? 00:10:25.819 --> 00:10:27.879 That's what we sort of imagine guilt to be like, right? 00:10:28.379 --> 00:10:35.259 But actually, we feel that guilt is like that because of our kind of modern way of thinking about it. 00:10:35.259 --> 00:10:38.860 But he says, because of this, the answer is said to lie in therapy. 00:10:39.539 --> 00:10:45.399 We are to deal with feelings of guilt by talking through the possible underlying causes and trying to unpick them and do away with it. 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:50.360 This is not the way in which the confession or more importantly, the Bible speaks of guilt. 00:10:51.019 --> 00:10:53.879 Guilt in the confession and in the Bible is objective. 00:10:54.740 --> 00:10:58.879 It's not a matter of feelings, but of judicial condemnation by God. 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:01.740 So here it is. 00:11:02.039 --> 00:11:07.600 In the fall, through Adam, all of humanity might not feel guilty, but are guilty. 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:13.299 And we are objects of wrath because we are all in Adam guilty of turning away from God. 00:11:14.779 --> 00:11:17.480 We will, if you like, maybe this would work as an illustration. 00:11:17.659 --> 00:11:22.759 We have been born onto a spiritual Titanic that is condemned to sink. 00:11:22.759 --> 00:11:25.240 And we are all on it. 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:27.159 Now, perhaps you bulk at that, right? 00:11:27.179 --> 00:11:29.840 Maybe you're sitting there thinking, well, how goodness me, this seems a little unfair. 00:11:30.740 --> 00:11:34.860 I accept that I might be morally guilty for my own sin. 00:11:35.379 --> 00:11:39.799 But why would I be guilty of Adam's sin when Adam performed it, not me? 00:11:39.879 --> 00:11:41.939 And I wasn't there in the garden. 00:11:42.899 --> 00:11:48.399 Now, I think the Bible would give you perhaps three answers to that or three suggestions of answers to that. 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:50.600 You could maybe shout out something else if you've got something better. 00:11:51.699 --> 00:11:55.500 One that it would say is that essentially you are no better than Adam, right? 00:11:55.579 --> 00:12:02.799 So don't imagine, you know, oh, if only I was in the garden, I would have performed way better, right? 00:12:03.299 --> 00:12:03.860 Don't think that. 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:06.459 I don't think the Bible gives us any indication that we would have done. 00:12:07.439 --> 00:12:09.980 But really, judgment as well. 00:12:10.039 --> 00:12:13.740 The second answer is that judgment in the Bible does take into account what we do, right? 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:15.539 Divine justice is justice. 00:12:15.539 --> 00:12:17.799 It does bear a correlation to our actions. 00:12:18.740 --> 00:12:20.839 It's just by nature we're all condemned. 00:12:21.799 --> 00:12:26.059 You know, on your speed awareness course that you may or may not have ever been on, 00:12:26.579 --> 00:12:30.500 you are all speeders on your speed awareness course, aren't you? 00:12:30.539 --> 00:12:33.639 Some of you are worse than others, but you are all alike like that. 00:12:34.179 --> 00:12:36.319 And so we are all guilty before God. 00:12:36.579 --> 00:12:39.559 Some of us will be guilty of things that others are not guilty of, 00:12:39.959 --> 00:12:41.719 and that will be reflected in divine justice. 00:12:41.719 --> 00:12:44.439 But we are all in the guilty camp. 00:12:45.539 --> 00:12:50.039 And the third thing that I think the Bible would say is that this condemnation is received 00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:53.500 in the same way in which salvation is received. 00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:58.500 So if you object to this manner in which condemnation is received, 00:12:58.779 --> 00:13:01.860 you also object to the way in which salvation is received, right? 00:13:01.939 --> 00:13:09.779 So we are counted in Adam's guilt in the same manner in which we are counted with Christ's righteousness. 00:13:09.779 --> 00:13:15.039 So the manner of our condemnation is also the manner of our salvation. 00:13:15.740 --> 00:13:18.480 And we seem to have less problem with it in our salvation. 00:13:19.019 --> 00:13:23.000 It is how God works, and it is how he is allowed to work, 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:26.199 as he works through our representative head. 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:29.439 Either Adam, in which we inherit his guilt, 00:13:29.539 --> 00:13:32.980 or Christ, in which case we inherit his righteousness. 00:13:32.980 --> 00:13:36.180 So we are guilty, number three. 00:13:36.379 --> 00:13:38.480 Fourthly, we are corrupted. 00:13:39.560 --> 00:13:41.779 Paragraph four of the confession goes like this. 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:47.519 All actual transgressions arise from this first corruption. 00:13:48.620 --> 00:13:55.139 By it, we are thoroughly biased against and disabled and antagonistic toward all that is good, 00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:59.279 and we are completely inclined toward all that is evil. 00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:02.079 Again, it's difficult to take, isn't it? 00:14:02.139 --> 00:14:07.500 But he's not saying, or they are not saying, that we are as bad as we could be. 00:14:07.980 --> 00:14:14.059 Rather, he is saying, there is no part of my life, my will, my desires, my motives, my emotions, 00:14:14.740 --> 00:14:17.159 that is unaffected by sin. 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:25.100 Sin has gotten into every part of us, and we are corrupted toward sin. 00:14:25.100 --> 00:14:31.000 You will know, if you've ever worked with children, that you do not have to teach a child how to sin. 00:14:31.620 --> 00:14:33.600 They know how to do it already. 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:40.779 All of their actions, all of our actions, motives, and desires are shaped by the corruption that is ours in Adam. 00:14:40.899 --> 00:14:45.480 We are bent in towards ourselves, turned in towards selfishness, 00:14:46.100 --> 00:14:50.840 so that everything we do, we do, essentially, because we're acting out of self-interest. 00:14:50.840 --> 00:14:56.800 And I'm going to come to sort of think about how we apply some of this personally in a moment, 00:14:56.920 --> 00:14:58.620 but I don't know whether you've ever seen that by yourself. 00:15:00.540 --> 00:15:03.920 Peter Gregg, or Grieg, I don't know quite how you say his surname, 00:15:04.019 --> 00:15:07.600 the guy from the 24-7 prayer movement posted something about this this week, 00:15:07.660 --> 00:15:08.540 I don't know whether you saw this, 00:15:09.019 --> 00:15:11.639 that he was a young Christian at the time when he was traveling in Hong Kong, 00:15:11.680 --> 00:15:15.560 when he became very conscious that almost everything that he did, 00:15:15.620 --> 00:15:17.220 he did to prop himself up, 00:15:17.720 --> 00:15:19.500 so that people would think well of him. 00:15:19.500 --> 00:15:23.659 And he just had this sort of overwhelming awareness 00:15:23.659 --> 00:15:28.379 that everything that he was doing was selfishly driven. 00:15:29.580 --> 00:15:33.100 He called it, rightly, conviction of sin. 00:15:33.779 --> 00:15:35.279 And that's it here in the confession. 00:15:36.039 --> 00:15:39.460 That realization that sin has corrupted us at a very deep level, 00:15:40.019 --> 00:15:42.139 twisting our desires and our motives. 00:15:43.259 --> 00:15:46.539 I said yesterday in a throwaway comment around our table, 00:15:46.539 --> 00:15:49.459 which was sort of haunting me this afternoon as I was preparing this. 00:15:49.959 --> 00:15:51.480 We were talking about Kayleys. 00:15:52.259 --> 00:15:53.099 Like Kayleys? 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:56.819 And I said, do you know what a Kaylee is? 00:15:57.299 --> 00:15:58.579 You don't know what a Kaylee is? 00:15:59.240 --> 00:16:00.339 You're not really missing out. 00:16:01.419 --> 00:16:05.219 It's like a dance where someone is telling you what to do, right? 00:16:05.220 --> 00:16:07.060 So they're calling out the different dance moves. 00:16:07.420 --> 00:16:07.820 And you're... 00:16:07.820 --> 00:16:08.540 Sorry? 00:16:08.940 --> 00:16:10.040 A barn dance. 00:16:10.160 --> 00:16:11.240 You might know it's a barn dance. 00:16:11.340 --> 00:16:12.820 Kind of like American line dancing. 00:16:13.720 --> 00:16:16.200 We were talking about this around our dinner table. 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:17.100 And I said... 00:16:17.100 --> 00:16:18.139 What's wrong? 00:16:18.580 --> 00:16:19.580 Steve likes Kayleys. 00:16:19.660 --> 00:16:22.379 And I said, I hate Kayleys. 00:16:23.960 --> 00:16:28.340 Because I don't like someone standing at the front telling me what to do all the time. 00:16:28.340 --> 00:16:31.379 It seemed like a perfectly reasonable thing when I said it. 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:33.580 But then I was realizing as I was looking at this this afternoon, 00:16:33.700 --> 00:16:36.019 oh my goodness, it's just because I'm selfish 00:16:36.019 --> 00:16:38.840 and I don't want someone telling me what to do all the time, isn't it? 00:16:39.399 --> 00:16:40.300 And that's it, isn't it? 00:16:40.379 --> 00:16:44.060 Our selfishness, our desire to do what we want to do 00:16:44.060 --> 00:16:46.680 has corrupted every part of who we are. 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:48.720 It's like when you... 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:49.639 Maybe you've... 00:16:49.639 --> 00:16:50.740 Maybe you don't do this. 00:16:50.740 --> 00:16:55.000 But if you work on a bicycle or a car and you get grease on your hands 00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:57.639 and then you come in and you try and wash your hands 00:16:57.639 --> 00:16:59.879 and then you try and dry your hands 00:16:59.879 --> 00:17:01.220 and all of a sudden the grease... 00:17:01.220 --> 00:17:02.360 It just gets everywhere, doesn't it? 00:17:02.980 --> 00:17:04.960 Or maybe you are baking 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:07.700 and you've mixed the mixture with your hands 00:17:07.700 --> 00:17:09.259 and then you try and turn the tap on 00:17:09.259 --> 00:17:10.079 and you open the drawer 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:11.480 because you need to get something out of it 00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:12.599 and then you go to the other... 00:17:12.599 --> 00:17:15.420 And then you can literally trace where you've been 00:17:15.420 --> 00:17:18.859 by seeing the marks of the things that were on your fingers, right? 00:17:20.099 --> 00:17:22.920 Or if you've got a housemate who's particularly mucky, 00:17:22.920 --> 00:17:25.740 you can trace where they've been by the muck on their hands. 00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:27.600 And it's like that with our sin. 00:17:28.180 --> 00:17:31.860 You can see its effects in everything that we do. 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:34.759 Even some of the very good things that we do. 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:39.460 You know, even the most noble things that we do, 00:17:39.539 --> 00:17:42.680 we can see how selfishness has touched and marked 00:17:42.680 --> 00:17:45.100 and corrupted all of our actions. 00:17:45.100 --> 00:17:46.759 We are corrupted by sin. 00:17:48.660 --> 00:17:50.960 Next, the confession talks to the fact that we just... 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:51.860 We do sin, right? 00:17:51.880 --> 00:17:52.960 We do stuff that's wrong. 00:17:53.059 --> 00:17:55.100 It's perhaps obvious from what has just been said 00:17:55.100 --> 00:17:55.940 and doesn't need saying. 00:17:56.039 --> 00:17:58.440 But paragraph four, if you go back to it, 00:17:58.539 --> 00:18:00.559 notices that transgressions, 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:01.940 all of our transgressions, 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:04.799 come out of this one corruption, essentially. 00:18:05.380 --> 00:18:08.340 Now, that doesn't mean that we're not morally responsible for them, 00:18:08.660 --> 00:18:10.819 but rather this corrupt nature that we have inherited 00:18:10.819 --> 00:18:14.480 becomes the source of all the other offences in the world. 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:17.440 They are the stains on the cupboards 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:19.660 and the dirty handles, if you like. 00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:21.779 And that's traced out in the Bible, isn't it? 00:18:22.460 --> 00:18:24.519 Cain kills Abel. 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:26.400 Lamech marries two women. 00:18:27.180 --> 00:18:28.140 You know, by the time of Noah, 00:18:28.360 --> 00:18:31.200 every inclination of their heart was only evil all the time. 00:18:31.700 --> 00:18:32.759 Then there's the flood. 00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:34.500 And then even after the flood, 00:18:34.620 --> 00:18:36.860 every inclination of their heart was only evil all the time. 00:18:37.400 --> 00:18:39.259 Noah gets drunk and naked. 00:18:39.259 --> 00:18:42.680 Babel, the Tower of Babel is not very far behind, 00:18:43.160 --> 00:18:47.879 as sin bears the fruit of more sin and more sin and more sin. 00:18:48.039 --> 00:18:51.099 And so it has been ever since. 00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:56.579 And finally, we keep struggling. 00:18:56.940 --> 00:18:57.740 We keep struggling. 00:18:58.740 --> 00:19:01.319 In paragraph five, the confession is clear 00:19:01.319 --> 00:19:03.000 that even for the Christian, 00:19:03.539 --> 00:19:05.180 this struggle with sin continues. 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:06.900 It says this, 00:19:06.900 --> 00:19:08.180 during this life, 00:19:08.780 --> 00:19:10.820 this corruption of nature remains 00:19:10.820 --> 00:19:13.180 in those who are regenerated, 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:16.120 even though it is pardoned 00:19:16.120 --> 00:19:18.060 and put to death through Christ. 00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:21.380 Yet, both this corruption of nature 00:19:21.380 --> 00:19:24.240 and all actions arising from it 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:26.900 are truly and actually sin. 00:19:27.800 --> 00:19:29.040 So our experience as Christians 00:19:29.040 --> 00:19:30.960 is essentially that we're given a new nature, 00:19:31.040 --> 00:19:32.660 and we'll think about that a little bit more in a moment. 00:19:33.140 --> 00:19:36.040 But we still have this old nature, 00:19:36.039 --> 00:19:37.039 though it is pardoned 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:38.339 and put to death through Christ. 00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:39.779 Yet still, 00:19:40.299 --> 00:19:41.920 we keep struggling with it. 00:19:42.259 --> 00:19:45.099 Sin and selfishness are still with us, 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:47.139 although we are saved by Christ 00:19:47.139 --> 00:19:48.639 and our sin is forgiven. 00:19:49.960 --> 00:19:52.659 Now, those six things kind of summarize, 00:19:52.839 --> 00:19:54.079 I think, what the Bible talks about 00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:55.119 when it talks about the fall 00:19:55.119 --> 00:19:56.740 and what the confession talks about 00:19:56.740 --> 00:19:57.899 when it talks about the fall. 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:00.000 So I want you to get back 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:01.779 into the group that you were in before 00:20:01.779 --> 00:20:03.519 and think about this question. 00:20:03.660 --> 00:20:04.839 How does this compare 00:20:04.839 --> 00:20:08.160 with the other diagnoses of the problem in the world? 00:20:08.259 --> 00:20:09.220 So maybe there's some of the things 00:20:09.220 --> 00:20:10.139 that you were thinking out before. 00:20:10.619 --> 00:20:13.240 How does this compare with other diagnoses? 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:16.339 Go for that in your groups for a little moment, 00:20:16.379 --> 00:20:18.019 and then we'll feedback our answers 00:20:18.019 --> 00:20:19.899 before thinking about some more applications. 00:20:19.900 --> 00:20:25.720 Okay, what do we think? 00:20:26.080 --> 00:20:27.200 How does that compare? 00:20:31.620 --> 00:20:32.660 How does that compare? 00:20:32.940 --> 00:20:34.440 What do we think? 00:20:41.900 --> 00:20:43.800 Those are symptoms, not thoughts. 00:20:44.500 --> 00:20:45.720 And so you've sort of the symptoms. 00:20:46.180 --> 00:20:46.800 Right, okay. 00:20:46.799 --> 00:20:49.440 Yes. 00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:52.440 Okay. 00:20:55.279 --> 00:20:55.720 Yes. 00:20:56.700 --> 00:20:58.399 That's, yeah, that's really helpful, isn't it? 00:20:58.419 --> 00:20:59.680 So lots of the things that we think 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:00.539 are wrong with the world 00:21:00.539 --> 00:21:02.539 are really symptoms of a deeper problem. 00:21:02.539 --> 00:21:06.220 And you cannot educate sin out of the world. 00:21:06.859 --> 00:21:08.200 Our problem is not ignorance. 00:21:08.700 --> 00:21:08.819 Yeah. 00:21:09.940 --> 00:21:11.079 Yeah, it's really helpful. 00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:13.399 Anybody else? 00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:22.279 Well, no, don't, now's a good time to look at your feet 00:21:22.279 --> 00:21:24.440 if you don't want me to, yeah. 00:21:25.079 --> 00:21:25.559 Anybody else? 00:21:25.799 --> 00:21:26.259 Yes, Amy. 00:21:26.259 --> 00:21:28.680 And often people say the problem 00:21:28.680 --> 00:21:31.379 is the other thing to look outward 00:21:31.379 --> 00:21:33.779 and the world's absolutely clear. 00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:34.559 Yes. 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:37.319 And it's saying that it's absolutely clear. 00:21:37.400 --> 00:21:37.740 Yeah. 00:21:38.220 --> 00:21:38.819 Thanks, Amy. 00:21:39.220 --> 00:21:39.480 Yeah. 00:21:40.879 --> 00:21:43.200 When we try and diagnose the problem with the world, 00:21:43.240 --> 00:21:45.200 we're looking for problems out there. 00:21:45.539 --> 00:21:47.700 And the Bible says, no, the problem's in here. 00:21:48.700 --> 00:21:48.940 Yeah. 00:21:49.379 --> 00:21:49.539 Yeah. 00:21:51.819 --> 00:21:52.460 Anything else? 00:21:52.460 --> 00:21:53.460 Right. 00:22:08.519 --> 00:22:08.920 Yeah. 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:12.680 Yeah, so it's hard to engage people with it 00:22:12.680 --> 00:22:14.500 because it's kind of hopeless, isn't it? 00:22:14.500 --> 00:22:18.039 If you've got no solution to it, 00:22:18.100 --> 00:22:20.660 to engage with the darkness within ourselves 00:22:20.660 --> 00:22:23.019 is a really difficult thing, isn't it? 00:22:23.019 --> 00:22:24.500 Even how the Spirit convicts us 00:22:24.500 --> 00:22:26.140 and wants that comes alongside 00:22:26.140 --> 00:22:27.620 with the positive solution. 00:22:27.880 --> 00:22:28.279 Yes. 00:22:28.759 --> 00:22:28.940 Yeah. 00:22:29.380 --> 00:22:29.779 Yeah. 00:22:31.140 --> 00:22:31.540 Yes. 00:22:31.860 --> 00:22:33.720 So when the Spirit convicts us of our sin, 00:22:34.180 --> 00:22:35.940 he turns us to Christ who is the solution. 00:22:36.060 --> 00:22:37.540 We're going to come and talk about Christ 00:22:37.540 --> 00:22:38.840 as we finish. 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:41.240 Otherwise you could go through the system. 00:22:41.540 --> 00:22:41.720 Yeah. 00:22:42.259 --> 00:22:42.460 Yeah. 00:22:42.460 --> 00:22:42.460 00:22:44.460 --> 00:22:44.820 Yeah. 00:22:47.060 --> 00:22:47.460 Yes. 00:22:47.460 --> 00:22:47.900 Yes. 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:48.920 Yeah. 00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:52.200 So I think that is perhaps a really helpful place 00:22:52.200 --> 00:22:53.220 to end that little discussion 00:22:53.220 --> 00:22:56.480 is to say we need, 00:22:56.640 --> 00:22:58.660 the Spirit needs to convince people 00:22:58.660 --> 00:23:00.039 of the depth of this problem. 00:23:00.180 --> 00:23:02.200 This is not a diagnosis 00:23:02.200 --> 00:23:03.880 that people will come up with for themselves. 00:23:04.019 --> 00:23:05.980 That's why the conviction of sin 00:23:05.980 --> 00:23:07.299 that the Spirit brings 00:23:07.299 --> 00:23:10.039 is the persuasion that the problem is that deep 00:23:10.039 --> 00:23:11.100 and it's that personal. 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:13.299 And that comes along with 00:23:13.299 --> 00:23:16.079 the opening our eyes to the person of Christ. 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:18.720 Robert Strivens, again, in his book, 00:23:19.019 --> 00:23:21.919 says this about the fall 00:23:21.919 --> 00:23:23.659 and engagement with sin. 00:23:23.740 --> 00:23:23.939 He says, 00:23:24.019 --> 00:23:25.559 many of our difficulties in life 00:23:25.559 --> 00:23:27.779 stem from an inadequate grasp 00:23:27.779 --> 00:23:29.359 of this biblical teaching on sin. 00:23:30.099 --> 00:23:31.639 Because we do not see 00:23:31.639 --> 00:23:34.339 how deeply sin has gripped the human race, 00:23:34.819 --> 00:23:36.759 we misunderstand what is needed 00:23:36.759 --> 00:23:37.779 to put it right 00:23:37.779 --> 00:23:39.740 and so fail to appreciate 00:23:39.740 --> 00:23:41.679 the biblical doctrine of salvation 00:23:41.679 --> 00:23:42.759 by grace alone. 00:23:42.759 --> 00:23:45.940 We do not see the gravity of our sin 00:23:45.940 --> 00:23:47.480 and so fail to understand 00:23:47.480 --> 00:23:50.400 why anyone should suffer forever in hell for it. 00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:53.220 We do not see that our plight is so bad 00:23:53.220 --> 00:23:55.099 that only Christ can save us. 00:23:55.640 --> 00:23:58.740 So we underestimate what he has done for sinners 00:23:58.740 --> 00:24:01.920 and think that we can contribute something 00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:03.220 to our own salvation. 00:24:03.920 --> 00:24:06.940 We do not understand the terrible grip 00:24:06.940 --> 00:24:08.660 that sin has on our hearts 00:24:08.660 --> 00:24:12.019 and so fail to apply with trembling hearts 00:24:12.019 --> 00:24:13.040 to the Lord 00:24:13.040 --> 00:24:15.200 for the help in, 00:24:15.340 --> 00:24:16.980 sorry, for help in temptation. 00:24:18.380 --> 00:24:20.120 I want to end 00:24:20.120 --> 00:24:21.279 just by turning our attention 00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:22.320 to the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:24:22.560 --> 00:24:25.540 I do think it is pastorally unhelpful 00:24:25.540 --> 00:24:26.400 to consider sin 00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:28.300 without considering Christ. 00:24:28.940 --> 00:24:30.120 Robert Murray McShane, 00:24:31.380 --> 00:24:34.019 the 19th century Scottish pastor, 00:24:34.360 --> 00:24:36.180 had this pastoral advice 00:24:36.180 --> 00:24:38.220 for every one look at your sin, 00:24:38.340 --> 00:24:39.840 take 10 looks at Christ. 00:24:40.440 --> 00:24:42.140 And that's helpful. 00:24:43.400 --> 00:24:45.779 And so we do need to see, 00:24:45.900 --> 00:24:46.160 don't we, 00:24:46.200 --> 00:24:48.220 that Jesus Christ takes us 00:24:48.220 --> 00:24:49.660 to a state 00:24:49.660 --> 00:24:51.700 that is even better 00:24:51.700 --> 00:24:53.440 than just winding the clock back 00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:54.220 before the fall. 00:24:54.340 --> 00:24:56.120 He takes us somewhere better 00:24:56.120 --> 00:24:57.299 than Eden. 00:24:58.000 --> 00:24:58.100 Right? 00:24:58.220 --> 00:25:00.259 So Christ in the gospel 00:25:00.259 --> 00:25:01.799 not only solves 00:25:01.799 --> 00:25:03.700 all the problems of the fall, 00:25:03.700 --> 00:25:05.840 but also brings in us 00:25:05.840 --> 00:25:07.539 a new life by the spirit 00:25:07.539 --> 00:25:09.200 that is ours in him 00:25:09.200 --> 00:25:10.460 that cannot sin, 00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:12.019 that does not want to sin 00:25:12.019 --> 00:25:13.580 and that will not sin. 00:25:14.299 --> 00:25:16.420 So that we experience God 00:25:16.420 --> 00:25:18.640 not only in the sort of 00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:19.980 righteous neutrality 00:25:19.980 --> 00:25:21.200 that Adam had in the garden, 00:25:21.640 --> 00:25:22.539 we know God 00:25:22.539 --> 00:25:25.180 as the redeemer of our sin 00:25:25.180 --> 00:25:27.340 and we want to live our lives 00:25:27.340 --> 00:25:28.840 for him eternally. 00:25:29.539 --> 00:25:30.680 And so redemption 00:25:30.680 --> 00:25:31.819 is even better 00:25:31.819 --> 00:25:33.160 than winding the clock back. 00:25:33.700 --> 00:25:34.580 So we know, don't we, 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:36.340 in Christ we've been made alive. 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:38.600 We've been given a new nature. 00:25:39.160 --> 00:25:40.180 New birth has come 00:25:40.180 --> 00:25:41.420 into our dead hearts. 00:25:41.880 --> 00:25:43.840 Our guilt has been laid on Christ. 00:25:43.980 --> 00:25:45.200 He pays the penalty 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:45.980 for our guilt 00:25:45.980 --> 00:25:47.340 on the cross. 00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:48.360 His righteousness 00:25:48.360 --> 00:25:49.880 is transferred onto us. 00:25:49.940 --> 00:25:50.559 So now, 00:25:50.660 --> 00:25:51.940 as we were guilty in Adam, 00:25:52.039 --> 00:25:53.340 we are now righteous 00:25:53.340 --> 00:25:54.920 in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:25:55.299 --> 00:25:56.319 We are no longer counted 00:25:56.319 --> 00:25:57.240 as in Adam. 00:25:57.360 --> 00:25:58.779 We are in Christ. 00:25:59.259 --> 00:26:00.220 And this new life 00:26:00.220 --> 00:26:00.940 by the spirit 00:26:00.940 --> 00:26:02.799 moves through us, 00:26:02.840 --> 00:26:03.120 doesn't it, 00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:04.919 expelling the darkness 00:26:04.919 --> 00:26:05.799 and the corruption 00:26:05.799 --> 00:26:07.500 in the corners of our hearts, 00:26:07.679 --> 00:26:08.539 transforming us 00:26:08.539 --> 00:26:09.719 bit by bit. 00:26:10.139 --> 00:26:11.919 It will not be completed 00:26:11.919 --> 00:26:14.099 until we meet the Lord, 00:26:14.199 --> 00:26:15.679 but it will definitely 00:26:15.679 --> 00:26:16.719 be completed 00:26:16.719 --> 00:26:18.179 when we meet the Lord. 00:26:18.619 --> 00:26:20.099 Every bit of darkness 00:26:20.099 --> 00:26:21.679 will be chased out of us. 00:26:22.239 --> 00:26:23.279 And one day, 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:24.719 we will be with the Lord 00:26:24.719 --> 00:26:26.199 and we will be like him 00:26:26.199 --> 00:26:27.639 for we will see him 00:26:27.639 --> 00:26:28.819 as he is. 00:26:28.819 --> 00:26:32.039 There is a day coming, 00:26:32.200 --> 00:26:33.179 Christian brother and sister, 00:26:33.379 --> 00:26:34.579 when you will no longer, 00:26:34.700 --> 00:26:35.919 when I will no longer 00:26:35.919 --> 00:26:37.179 struggle with sin. 00:26:40.379 --> 00:26:40.859 I mean, 00:26:40.899 --> 00:26:41.659 it's just incredible, 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:41.960 isn't it, 00:26:41.980 --> 00:26:42.579 to think of it? 00:26:43.139 --> 00:26:43.980 When I want to 00:26:43.980 --> 00:26:44.939 and will live 00:26:44.939 --> 00:26:46.439 wholeheartedly for Jesus. 00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:48.960 But it also means, 00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:49.339 doesn't it, 00:26:49.379 --> 00:26:50.339 and this is the other application, 00:26:50.439 --> 00:26:51.259 not only does it help us 00:26:51.259 --> 00:26:52.000 see the beauty 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:53.240 and the wonder of Christ, 00:26:53.339 --> 00:26:54.639 it also helps us see 00:26:54.639 --> 00:26:55.460 the urgency 00:26:55.460 --> 00:26:56.279 of the message 00:26:56.279 --> 00:26:56.859 of the gospel, 00:26:57.200 --> 00:26:57.940 which is where Nathan 00:26:57.940 --> 00:26:58.619 was starting out 00:26:58.619 --> 00:26:59.319 with us this evening. 00:26:59.960 --> 00:27:02.240 The gospel is super urgent. 00:27:03.220 --> 00:27:04.740 People need the Lord. 00:27:05.240 --> 00:27:07.139 They are in perilous danger 00:27:07.139 --> 00:27:08.099 without the Lord 00:27:08.099 --> 00:27:09.420 and in a danger 00:27:09.420 --> 00:27:10.899 that they are largely 00:27:10.899 --> 00:27:12.980 unconscious and unaware of. 00:27:13.980 --> 00:27:15.099 A danger that is there 00:27:15.099 --> 00:27:16.339 simply by being part 00:27:16.339 --> 00:27:17.119 of the human race, 00:27:17.160 --> 00:27:18.000 which is corrupted 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:20.039 and in sin. 00:27:20.559 --> 00:27:22.660 And Jesus is the only answer 00:27:22.660 --> 00:27:23.559 because Jesus, 00:27:23.799 --> 00:27:24.399 like we were saying, 00:27:24.440 --> 00:27:25.220 is the only one 00:27:25.220 --> 00:27:26.360 who can transform us 00:27:26.360 --> 00:27:28.079 from the inside out. 00:27:28.940 --> 00:27:30.120 So with those things in mind, 00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:31.299 let us leave this evening 00:27:31.299 --> 00:27:34.059 rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ 00:27:34.059 --> 00:27:35.860 and committed to speaking 00:27:35.860 --> 00:27:37.360 of him to others. 00:27:37.640 --> 00:27:38.200 Let me pray. 00:27:38.860 --> 00:27:39.360 Second, please. 00:27:44.100 --> 00:27:44.860 Heavenly Father, 00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:47.600 we confess before you 00:27:47.600 --> 00:27:49.380 our sinfulness, 00:27:49.380 --> 00:27:53.960 that this selfish, 00:27:54.780 --> 00:27:55.960 sinful nature 00:27:55.960 --> 00:27:57.180 that we have inherited 00:27:57.180 --> 00:27:58.040 in Adam 00:27:58.040 --> 00:27:59.300 has corrupted us 00:27:59.300 --> 00:28:00.120 in every corner 00:28:00.120 --> 00:28:00.920 of our lives 00:28:00.920 --> 00:28:02.620 and that we are 00:28:02.620 --> 00:28:03.200 by nature 00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:04.400 guilty before you 00:28:04.400 --> 00:28:06.220 and just 00:28:06.220 --> 00:28:07.220 find 00:28:07.220 --> 00:28:08.800 flowing out of us 00:28:08.800 --> 00:28:10.420 sinful actions 00:28:10.420 --> 00:28:11.200 that sometimes 00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:12.780 even horrify us. 00:28:13.980 --> 00:28:15.120 And we pray 00:28:15.120 --> 00:28:15.820 and plead with you 00:28:15.820 --> 00:28:16.520 for your forgiveness 00:28:16.519 --> 00:28:18.559 and we know 00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:19.400 that your forgiveness 00:28:19.400 --> 00:28:20.539 is freely given 00:28:20.539 --> 00:28:21.779 in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:28:22.359 --> 00:28:23.220 We thank you 00:28:23.220 --> 00:28:23.859 that in him 00:28:23.859 --> 00:28:24.619 we have been given 00:28:24.619 --> 00:28:25.579 new natures. 00:28:26.279 --> 00:28:26.700 We thank you 00:28:26.700 --> 00:28:27.299 that in him 00:28:27.299 --> 00:28:28.539 we are counted righteous. 00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:29.960 We thank you 00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:30.579 that in him 00:28:30.579 --> 00:28:31.379 you are at work 00:28:31.379 --> 00:28:31.859 in us 00:28:31.859 --> 00:28:32.379 with a work 00:28:32.379 --> 00:28:33.160 that you will carry 00:28:33.160 --> 00:28:34.160 on to completion, 00:28:34.460 --> 00:28:36.299 chasing all sin 00:28:36.299 --> 00:28:37.480 and darkness 00:28:37.480 --> 00:28:38.359 out of us 00:28:38.359 --> 00:28:39.180 that one day 00:28:39.180 --> 00:28:40.259 we will be with you 00:28:40.259 --> 00:28:40.859 in something 00:28:40.859 --> 00:28:41.859 even better 00:28:41.859 --> 00:28:42.480 than Eden 00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:44.180 where our relationship 00:28:44.180 --> 00:28:44.620 with you 00:28:44.620 --> 00:28:45.400 is closer 00:28:45.400 --> 00:28:46.380 and richer 00:28:46.380 --> 00:28:48.880 and more enjoyable 00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:50.099 than even Adam 00:28:50.099 --> 00:28:50.680 and Eve's 00:28:50.680 --> 00:28:51.440 in the garden 00:28:51.440 --> 00:28:52.420 before the fall. 00:28:53.079 --> 00:28:53.319 And Lord 00:28:53.319 --> 00:28:54.259 we long for that day 00:28:54.259 --> 00:28:54.980 and we look forward 00:28:54.980 --> 00:28:55.640 to that day 00:28:55.640 --> 00:28:57.460 and we pray please 00:28:57.460 --> 00:28:58.200 that with a new 00:28:58.200 --> 00:28:59.299 sense of urgency 00:28:59.299 --> 00:29:00.299 and clarity 00:29:00.299 --> 00:29:01.279 and compassion 00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:03.019 you would help us 00:29:03.019 --> 00:29:04.279 to share this good news 00:29:04.279 --> 00:29:04.720 of the gospel 00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:05.880 with those around us 00:29:05.880 --> 00:29:07.480 knowing that we were 00:29:07.480 --> 00:29:08.299 at one point 00:29:08.299 --> 00:29:09.559 just like them 00:29:09.559 --> 00:29:11.039 and just as lost 00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:11.519 as them. 00:29:11.519 --> 00:29:13.079 So give us great compassion 00:29:13.079 --> 00:29:13.639 for the lost 00:29:13.639 --> 00:29:14.119 we pray 00:29:14.119 --> 00:29:15.519 and send us out 00:29:15.519 --> 00:29:16.099 from this place 00:29:16.099 --> 00:29:17.000 with the good news 00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:18.400 in Jesus name. 00:29:18.980 --> 00:29:19.339 Amen.