Count Your Blessings! - Deut 2:7

Count Your Blessings

Dennis Hickerson
July 8, 2012
Deut 2:7

Introduction

• Family member recently had car accident
• The car was badly damaged. but thankfully no one was hurt
• Important to look at the blessings
• God used this situation to impact a number of lives
• Sometimes we use bad judgment, and reap the consequences
• But even then, God works to bring it to a good conclusion

God watches over us

• As the Israelites traveled through the wilderness, a hard road, God has blessed them and watched over them, despite their problems
• And he got them into their destination, the Promised Land
• Genesis 12:1-3 God's promise to Abraham included that he would be a blessing to others
• Abraham chose to be obedient to God, and not follow the ways of the world
• And we are a part of that blessing
• Romans 8:14-15
• Paul here refers to the process of adoption
• The child who was adopted lost all rights pertaining to his birth family
• But he became a full heir to all rights that came along with being a member of his or her new family
• Ephesians 1:3 - we have been blessed in the heavenly realms, with every spiritual blessing

Blessing in honoring those around us

• Ephesians 6:1-4 - blessing follows honoring our parents
• Need to both obey and honor our parents
• As parents we should care lovingly for our children, even when they are disobedient
• Our role is to honor God, honor our parents, honor our children, honor fellow Christians
• Love is what it is all about

Praise God in the midst of your trials

• David was a man after God's own heart
• He had a quick repentant heart
• When chased by king Saul, David was still quick to praise God
• Think about the blessings, don't focus on the negative thoughts that come
• Psalms is a good place to go, to reinforce this positive approach

Testimonies

The Holy Spirit - My Helper - Rom 8:26

The Holy Spirit - My Helper

July 1, 2012

Romans 8:26

Introduction

-         During the last weeks we have been examining how to be overcomers and conquerors

-         Jesus tells us in Revelation 3 that it is the overcomers who will sit with Him and reign with Him

-         It is the overcomer who will be a pillar or strong support in God’s house, the temple of God

-         Though sin wants to pull us down, we are told it is God’s intention that we master the sin, so it does not beat us down

-         Last week we looked at the role of God’s Word in overcoming

-         By filling our mind with God’s word on a particular issue, we are enabled to change that issue right at its root - our mind

-         But what is God’s role in this?

-         How does God help us to overcome?

-         Today we are going to look at the role of the Holy Spirit, in helping us to be conquerors of the issues in our lives

The Holy Spirit – our Helper

-         Before Jesus left, on the evening of the Last Supper, Jesus made us a promise

-         John 14:12, 16-17

-         Jesus promised us the Holy Spirit, who would dwell in us

-         The disciples did not have this. 

-         The Holy Spirit was with them, working through them, but He was not yet dwelling in them

-         This happened on Resurrection Day, a few days later, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit on the following Day of Pentecost

-         Let’s take a look at this word for Comforter

-         3875 parakletos {par-ak'-lay-tos} a root word; TDNT - 5:800,782; n m AV - comforter 4, advocate 1; 5

-         1. summoned, called to one's side, esp. called to one's aid 1a) one who pleads another's cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant, an advocate 1b) one who pleads another's cause with one, an intercessor 1b1) of Christ in his exaltation at God's right hand, pleading with God the Father for the pardon of our sins 1c) in the widest sense, a helper, succourer, aider, assistant 1c1) of the Holy Spirit destined to take the place of Christ with the apostles (after his ascension to the Father), to lead them to a deeper knowledge of the gospel truth, and give them divine strength needed to enable them to undergo trials and persecutions on behalf of the divine kingdom

-         So the Holy Spirit is One who comes alongside us and helps us in various ways

How does the Holy Spirit help us?

-         1. One way that the Holy Spirit helps us is that He intercedes for us

-         Eastons Bible Commentary – “Comforter the designation of the Holy Ghost (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7; R.V. marg., "or Advocate, or Helper; Gr. paracletos"). The same Greek word thus rendered is translated "Advocate" in 1 John 2:1 as applicable to Christ. It means properly "one who is summoned to the side of another" to help him in a court of justice by defending him, "one who is summoned to plead a cause." "Advocate" is the proper rendering of the word in every case where it occurs.

-         “ It is worthy of notice that although Paul nowhere uses the word paracletos, he yet presents the idea it embodies when he speaks of the "intercession" both of Christ and the Spirit (Rom.8:27, 34).”

-         So, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us

-         He is a continual connection between God and us

-         When we pray, He is the one who communicates our prayers to the Father, through Jesus

-         Romans 8:26-27

-         When we don’t know how to pray about a particular issue, the Holy Spirit knows the right way to intercede so that the prayer is in accordance with God’s will

-         And when we pray according to God’s will, we will receive what we ask for

-         John14:13-14, 1 John 5:14

-         This means we want to have a close relationship with the Holy Spirit

-         2. Another way the Holy Spirit helps us is by teaching us

-         John 14:13 – he will guide you into all truth

-         The Holy Spirit is the one who is our instructor in God’s ways.

-         This can be seen as the one who gives us Bible knowledge

-         But it is a broader meaning than that – he will lead us into all truth

-         He communicates truth to us, when we are confronted with lies in our thinking

-         So he tells us, there is a better way to deal with the issue, than believing the lies the devil throws at us

-         We replace the lie with the truth the Holy Spirit gives us, and are then enabled to stand against the issue

-         3. He gives us the tools to live the Christian walk

-         God does not leave us without the tools to overcome

-         2Peter 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

-         Galatians 5:22- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control

-         As the Holy Spirit dwells in us, these fruits will be evident in our lives

-         How can we express love, joy and peace, and yet be subject to issues like anger

-         This means we have the ability to overcome these issues, because the Holy Spirit has given us that ability!

-         He then helps us to stand against the issue and overcome the trial

-         1 Cor 10:13

-         It does require us exerting effort

-         We are expected to stand up to the trial (translate issue) and go on to victory

-         But God watches over us so that we will not be tempted beyond what we are able to bear.

Conclusion

-         God intends for us to be conquerors

-         We are already conquerors, in the sense that we have conquered death through Jesus dwelling in us. 

-         We have eternal life, through God’s presence

-         We are also expected to overcome sin, just as Jesus did

-         Hebrews 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

-         Jesus understands where we are at, and he will help us on to victory

Living in Victory! - Heb 13:2

Living in Victory

June 24, 2012

Hebrews 13:2

Introduction

-         Last week we started the message we will be continuing today

-         We saw that the process of sin is outlined in James 1:13-15

-         Sin starts as a thought, which we dwell upon and which finally becomes an action

-         So the way to deal with sin, is not in concentrating on not doing certain activities

-         The way to deal with deeply ingrained weaknesses, is to go back to the root of the matter, our mind

-         But how do we do this?

When did the problem start?

-         Let’s take an example

-         John was the nicest guy possible

-         But John had one weakness

-         His weakness was that if he saw money lying around, he would take it for himself

-         John knew he was stealing, and he hated himself for doing it

-         But somehow it seemed so hard to not take the money lying right there in front of him

-         How should John deal with this?

-         In John’s case, the problem started when he was eight

-         John remembered the time

-         He was living in a family where there never seemed to be enough money

-         He did not recognize it at the time, but looking back, he recognized that his family was poor

-         His parents weren’t able to buy the new clothes a growing youngster needed

-         He grew up with the idea that he was less than the kids around him

-         He felt a need to show others he was as good as they were

-         He did notr want to feel poor

Identify the wrong thought

-         The next step John should take is to examine his thoughts

-         Psalm 139:23 – search me and know my thoughts

-         God is able to show us the source of the problem

-         So we test our thoughts, are they according to God’s word?

-         John doesn’t know what is wrong, but God does

-         So John asks God to show him where he is going wrong

-         He recognizes that there is a lie in his thinking

-         I am not good enough

-         I am poor

-         I can’t trust God to take care of me

-         As he asks God to help him see where he is going wrong a verse keeps popping into his mind – “Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be given to you as well”

-         He recognizes this verse – Matthew 6:33

-         Then he remembers another verse – “My God will supply all your need” – Phil 4:19

Study what God’s word says

-         As John continues thinking about what God spoke to him, he starts studying the subject of God supplying our needs in the Bible

-         He takes a Bible Concordance and looks up various words related to this

-         He lists these verses, and writes them out

-         He asks someone who knows the Bible well, to help him find these verses, and others

-         Gradually he builds up a considerable list which defined the subject, based on the Bible

Read these verses daily

-         John now writes out these verses, and starts reading them daily

-         Each morning, during his devotional time, he takes those verses, reads them and thinks about them

-         David did this

-         Psalm 118:147-148 – meditate

-         David thinks about what he reads in God’s word

-         As we read these words, they are soaking into our thinking

-         They become part of our memory bank

-         John 14:26 – The Holy Spirit will bring all things to remembrance

These verses tell the truth

-         Jesus tells us in John 17, “Thy Word is truth”

-         The Bible defines truth

-         The verses John has written out are now becoming a part of his thinking

-         He sees that if he puts God first in his life, God will provide for his needs

-         As he is obedient to God’s financial laws, God promises to bless him

-         God promises to supply all his need

-         On top of that, God has made John his child

-         He is no less than the person next to him

-         In fact, one of the verses he wrote out, is that “he would be the head and not the tail” – Deut 28:13

-         He starts to see that he is a person of value to God

The result

-         One day, John sees some cash lying on the counter at work

-         He immediately is reminded of a verse he wrote out – “Steal no longer” – rather have something to share with those in need – Ephesians 4:28

-         Verses start coming back to him

-         “Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” – Romans 12:21

-         John’s heart has changed

-         He doesn’t need that cash on the counter

-         Instead, when he hears of someone in need, he becomes generous and helps them in their time of need!

-         He has moved beyond the tight fisted person he used to be, into someone who is generous and giving, just as God is to him

Summary

-         So the way to deal with these issues is:

-         1. When did the problem start?

-         2. Identify the lie

-         3. Find the truth in God’s Word

-         4. Make the truth a part of your thinking

-         5. Overcome evil with good

Conclusion

-         Each of us can deal with our deep-seated issues in this way

-         It doesn’t matter what the issue, this method of using God’s word will work

-         God’s word will not return to him void – Isaiah 55:11

Next week we will look at the role of the Holy Spirit in our overcoming

Food For Thought - Romans 12:2

Food for thought!
June 17, 2012
Romans 12:2

Father's Day!

• I am sure that all dads sitting here today, woke up this morning feeling special
• Because dads are special
• We leave a lasting imprint on the people we touch, but not just now, but for generations to come!
• Video clip - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7g0PcT9f7s

Introduction

• As a dad, and as a mom and as a teenager, we don’t always conduct ourselves the way we should
• We do things that don’t match the image that we have of how we should be
• Perhaps yesterday we fell down on the job in some way
• We had to ask our wife or our child to forgive us, because we messed up
• It may have lasting implications
• How do we go about changing our tendency to sin?
• Today we are going to examine how to tackle sin in our lives

The process of sin

• This action did not occur in an instant
• This action was the result of a process
• James 1:13-15
• The process of sin starts in our mind, when our own evil desires tempt us
• Our mind is the battleground where the battle is fought
• Our actions are merely the end result of that process
• So,
• We may want to conquer a particular sin
• Let’s say, we become angry really quickly
• We have a temper
• At what point do we try to overcome this tendency
• If we start at the end of the process, it will be very hard to stop ourselves from seeing red
• That is not going to work
• Yet that is so often how we try to overcome sin

How to defeat sin

• A better place to start would be in dealing with the temptation
• If we deal with the temptation, we automatically deal with the sin
• For example, if I have a problem dealing with pornography, the answer is not in putting a reporting program on my computer, though that would be a good additional deterrent
• A better way to deal with pornography is to get to the temptation itself, by finding ways to avoid porn sites
• 1 Cor 6:18
• We could make our spouse the administrator on our computer, and she could then set the settings to the safest possible level.
• If we now enter the computer as a guest, not as an administrator, we would be limited as to the sites we could visit
• But even then, I am still trying to deal with sin on a surface level
• I have not really changed inside

What we need is to change inside

• Romans 12:1-2
• God has called us to be a living sacrifice
• A sacrifice is complete, we do not sacrifice half a sheep, bull or goat
• So God’s intention for us is that we be wholeheartedly surrendered to Him
• This means that we deal with sin at its deepest level, in our minds.
• But how do we do that, you may ask
• How can I transform my mind?
• My mind is evil from the get-go
• Jer 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” – NIV
• “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? – KJV
• So what hope have I got?

The solution

• The solution is to be transformed in our mind
• This is no easy process, no quick fix
• But it is something that is part of the transforming work that happens in our mind
• Jesus is the one who changes us
• But we can sit back and just wait for it to happen.
• Do you think that is what God intends?
• No, he works in partnership with us
• What we are seeking is to think the way he does
• He has expressed this in his word, the Bible
• Each word written in this book is there to show us how to think like he does
• The bad examples were for our learning and the good examples show us how He thinks
• So the way to conquer sin, is to go right to the root of the matter

Conclusion

• Next week we will take a look at how to work our way through the process of defeating temptations
• It is possible to put down sin
• We do not have to be a helpless victim, time after time
• There is a way to cut right to the heart of the tree
• Next week, we will go deeper into this subject, and see how we can do this, in practical steps

Baptism in Water - Acts 8:38

Baptism in water!

June 3, 2012

Acts 8:38

Introduction

-        Some weeks ago we started a series about drawing closer to God

-        We started a journey pictured in the structure of the tabernacle

-        Paul tells us in Heb 8:5 that the physical tabernacle is a copy and a foreshadowing of God’s residence in heaven

-        So we enter the tabernacle through the gate of grace

-        We are then cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, offered on the altar

-        Today we will look at the symbolism attached to the next aspect of the tabernacle, as we continue our journey

-        This implement in the tablernacle, is the laver

What is a laver?

-        A laver is a place where you lave yourself, a place where you wash yourself clean

-        Why would priests need a place to wash themselves clean?

-        Because priests sinned just like the rest of the people

-        All men have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God – Rom 3:23

-        If we want to experience the glory of God, we will need to remove the problem of sin

-        The problem of sin started the day that Adam and Eve took for themselves from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil

-        They set in motion a curse on mankind, which is our human carnal nature

-        Romans 8:7 – The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so

-        This is what we call the Depravity of man

-        This sin is atoned for by the blood of the lamb, which was offered on the altar

-        The priest would offer up a sin offering for his sins, and he would be forgiven

-        When we accept Jesus, he forgives our sins. 

-        All our sins

-        We may have killed someone.  That is now under the blood of Jesus. 

-        We may have been unfaithful.  That has now been covered.

-        We may have lied or stolen or sold drugs to teenagers or committed all kinds of sexual sin

-        We may have fantasized about all kinds of things.  But what is forgiven, is forgiven.  It is past.

-        It is as far from us now, as the east is from the west

-        Ps 103:8-14

-        We are clean

So why is the priest washed?

-        He is washed as a physical representation of forgiveness

-         The past sin has been washed away

-        Rev 1:5 - Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood (KJV)

-        Hebrews 10:22 – bodies washed with pure water

-         1Corinthians 6:9-11 – washed, sanctified, justified

-        The physical ritual of washing was a picture of the cleansing received through Jesus’ forgiveness

What about baptism?

-        Just like the priest, when we come to God’s throne of grace and ask for forgiveness, it is granted, immediately

-        No need for penance, we are saved by grace alone

-        Eph 2:8-9

-        1 Jn 1:9 – if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins, and purify us from all unrighteousness

-        When we accept Jesus, having repented and asked for forgiveness, all sin has been forgiven

-        But Jesus set us an example of being baptized

Jesus example – Matt 3:13-17

-        The Jews would baptize a person, when they wanted to leave their past religion and follow the God of Israel

-        They would take them to a body of water, in the presence of witnesses, and totally immerse them

-        As they came out of the water, they would declare that the person was now born again

-        Jesus did not need to be told he was now born again, because he was the son of the Father, and had never sinned

-        This is what John the Baptist meant when he tried to stop Jesus being baptized

-        But Jesus’ response was that they needed to do this to fulfil all righteousness, in other words, for the sake of those who would follow

The Picture of baptism

-        Rom 6:3-7

-        When we go down into the water, it pictures us burying our old sins, the past we would rather forget

-        Asw we come out of the water, it pictures us rising to new life!  A new life has begun

-        We are born again.  This is why we usually baptize as soon as possible after a person receives Jesus

-        The baptism and what happens in the person’s heart, are part of the same experience

-        Just like the priest, forgiven by the sin offering and then cleansed in the water of the laver

Sometimes we accepted Jesus and then fell away for a time

-        We come back to Jesus, and ask for forgiveness and rededicate our lives to him

-        He forgives us, no sin is too big to be forgiven.

-        The unpardonable sin is when a person totally rejects God and no longer wants forgiveness

-        If you want to be forgiven, grace is ready to be applied to your life!

-        If it is appropriate to be forgiven and cleansed, it would also be appropriate for you to be baptized as an expression of your rededication to God

-        So if you have taken the step of rededicating your life to God, you are welcome to be baptized with us today

How will we be remembered? - Mal 3:16

How will we be remembered?

May 27, 2012

Malachi 3:16

Memorial Day

• Down through history, there have been battles to be fought and wars to be won
• Our young men and women go out in service to their country, to fight these battles on our behalf
• On this day, memorial day, we will remember them!
• We remember them because of their patriotism,
• We remember them for their courage in fighting for their country
• We remember them for giving their lives for freedom
• We will spend a moment in silence, now, as we remember them
• TAPS

Introduction

• Those we just remembered were fighting for a flag, representing their country
• There are particular things that we remember them for
• In remembering, we do not think about negative things that may have happened in their lives
• These men and women gave their all, and that is what we remember, not their sins, or negative stuff they may have done.
• They finished well and that is what counted.
• The Christian is also in the army
• We fight battles that may be far more intense than fighting on the field of war
• Our battles are huge, because we are not fighting flesh and blood, but instead we are battling spiritual forces – 2 Cor 10:3
• As human beings we see only the material and physical things
• But there is a spiritual war going on around us
• There are casualties in this war, and there are wounds we carry around and scars we bear
• This war is real, whether we see or recognize it or not
• If we want to be on the winning side in this war, there are steps that we need to take, to ensure victory.

Repentance

• The first step we take is to repent of our old way of life
• Repent means to turn around, start going in the right direction, living in sync with our Commander’s directions
• When we repent, and ask Jesus into our lives, something extraordinary happens
• We are removed from the kingdom of darkness, and are placed into the kingdom of God
• It is as though we crossed the lines, across no-man’s land, and into the Lord’s army
• What happens then is that we become God’s children, instead of being subject to the devil and his forces.
• We now have a fresh start. Our sins are forgiven and are remembered no more
• Psalm 103:8-14
• Our guilt has been washed away
• But it requires stepping across the line, from one side to the other

Baptism

• At the same time as we take this step, into Jesus’ kingdom, we are baptized
• Acts 2:36-39
• Repentance is followed by baptism
• We need to be baptized because in the heat of battle, we can sometimes become discouraged, and we can forget or discount the thought we had of surrendering our life to God
• Baptism gives us a ceremonial reminder of the decision we made, and emphasizes to us that we now have a new allegiance
• Romans 6:3-7
• When we are baptized following Jesus example, we are immersed in water
• There is meaning to being immersed in water
• As we go down into the water, we are burying our sinful past
• Our sins are forgiven and will be remembered no more
• As jesus bore our sins when he died on the cross and then was buried in a tomb, we too bury that past in the waters of baptism
• But just as Jesus was raised from the tomb, we too arise from the waters of baptism, to live a new life, no longer under the penalty of sin
• We will be baptizing during the service, next Sunday
• If you want to be a part of that, please let me know so we can be prepared

Power for the battle

• The next step is that we need ammunition for the journey, power to defeat the enemy
• This is what Jesus promised us in Acts 1:4-8
• In our human flesh we have little power to stand against the enemy’s arrows and darts
• He is attacking us daily, and there is no way for us to stand, except to wear the armour God gives to us.
• God wants to give us power to be his witnesses, to move against the forces of darkness, and release the captives the enemy has taken.
• This baptism of the Holy Spirit is a baptism, an immersion
• Instead of having only an earnest, a deposit of the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13-14), we are now filled with the Holy Spirit, God living in us
• The book of Acts shows us that the filling with the Holy Spirit is accompanied by the gift of tongues
• It is available to you, it is not scary, it is a gift
• If you want to receive this baptism with the Holy Spirit, it will be available to you at the end of this service
• If you would like to receive Jesus into your life, today, please come forward right now and take a seat here on the front row
• If you would like to be baptized in water, please come forward and let us know
• And if you would like to receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit, please come forward now, ready to receive.

Conclusion

• Today we are remembering those who went before us
• But God too has a book of remembrance
• Mal 3:16
• God remembers those who fear him
• He remembers those who stand with him in battle
• And he rewards those who are faithful in their walk with him

The Cleansing Flood - Eph 1:7

The Cleansing Flood
May 6, 2012
Ephesians 1:7

Introduction

Have you ever done something and wondered how this could ever be set straight again?

• You did something and it seemed so bad or vile, that we could not imagine it ever being removed from our life
• Yet we know that as Dennis told us last week, when we confess our sins, he is faithful to forgive
• We are on a journey through the Old Testament tabernacle, entering into the presence of God
• Sin separates us from God
• So God first of all gave us a means to be cleansed from our sins. For the Israelites, this was through the altar
• It was on the altar that a sacrifice was laid, and was then offered up to God. Forgiveness was given to the person who had come to take care of sin in his or her life
• Today we are going to look at the process of forgiveness, how God set in motion a means to roll back the clock, on our sins

The tabernacle is a picture of what is in heaven

• Some may wonder, why is pastor teaching us old testament material?
• Rom 15:4 The OT was written for our learning
• Heb 8:5 The tabernacle was built as a copy of what is in heaven
• So there is new testament relevance to the old testament tabernacle and temple
• A person who had sinned and wanted to be forgiven, would bring an animal presecribed by the law, his sins would be transferred to the animal by his laying his hands on the animal’s head, and then the animal would be sacrificed on the altar. The person was now cleansed from sin.

Example of David

• David was chosen by God to reign as king over Israel
• David had not had a lot of training
• He was a shepherd boy, being the youngest of his brothers
• How could that prepare him to be king?
• As a shepherd, he had few distractions and a lot of time to spend with God
• I think this was the best training he could receive for being a leader, one whom people would respect and follow
• David wrote most of the psalms. Some were written while shepherding the sheep, others while he was on the run from Saul, and some were written during his time as king.
• As a king, there is a lot of pressure on you.
• Pressure not only relating to your job and responsibilities, but also because Satan wants you to fall

David’s sin

• As I talk about David, we need to be thinking about our own life
• These things were written for our learning
• 2 Sam 11:1-12:14
• David was taking t5hings easy
• Normally he would have been with his troops, doing battle.
• But the troops were out doing the dirty work, and David was at home
• One evening he couldn’t sleep, so he got up and started walking around on the patio on his roof
• He looked over the edged, and he saw the woman next door bathing.
• This may have been out in the open, but more likely David was looking through her window
• She was close enough that David could see she was very beautiful
• Why was David looking in that direction – I am sure he must have seen her before, and a lustful thought had come up in his mind.
• The enemy works this way, he plants a thought, if we let him
• James 1:13-15 the process of sin, it starts in the mind, we entertain it, we act on it and it kills us
• David fell into a trap
• You may think, how could this godly man fall into this trap
• But he did, and so could we, oh so easily
• Bathsheba becomes pregnant after this one night stand
• David tries to cover their sin up, by making it look as thought the baby is Uriah’s
• But Uriah doesn’t cooperate with David’s coverup scheme, and David arranges his death, in order to keep up his hypocrisy
• I don’t think David was very close to God during this time

His sin is uncovered

• David thought nobody knew, but God knew
• God sent Nathan the prophet to David with a message
• The game is up.
• Suddenly David sees the enormity of his actions
• And he repents before God
• He writes a song expressing his repentance
• Psalm 51
• This psalm is a classic description of repentance
• I'm sure David felt dirty after all that had happened
• V10 - He asks God to change his heart, to clean him up
• V 2 - He asks God to wash away all his iniquity and to cleanse him from his sin
• V 7 – Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean, wash me and I will be whiter than snow

God’s solution

• God knew man would sin, he knew it all ahead of time
• So before man was even created he had already agreed with the Son that he would come and die, so that our sins could be forgiven.
• Jesus would die, not an easy death in his sleep, but as the object of a bloodthirsty crowd, that beat him to a pulp, and then crucified him, hanging from a cross, his lifeblood flowing out, running down the cross, and flooding our to cover our sins
• The sacrifices of the old testament pointed forward to the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world
• Victory over sin was achieved by this precious flood, Jesus blood poured out for us so that our sins could be forgiven
• We are reminded of the enormity of what Jesus did for us each month as we take communion

Communion

• Matthew 26:26-29