“In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
“It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, ‘Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?’ So, David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, ‘I am pregnant.’
“So, David sent word to Joab, ‘Send me Uriah the Hittite.’ And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, ‘Go down to your house and wash your feet.’ And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. When they told David, ‘Uriah did not go down to his house,’ David said to Uriah, ‘Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?’ Uriah said to David, ‘The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.’ Then David said to Uriah, ‘Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.’ So, Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.
“In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, ‘Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.’ And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting. And he instructed the messenger, ‘When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, then, if the king’s anger rises, and if he says to you, “Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?” then you shall say, “Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.”’
“So, the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. The messenger said to David, ‘The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’ David said to the messenger, ‘Thus shall you say to Joab, “Do not let this matter trouble you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.” And encourage him.’”
“When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.” [1]
The metallic ringing of the phone in my study startled me, but the message I received broke my heart. A fellow pastor was phoning to tell me that a fellow minister had fallen. Another soldier of the cross who had once stood tall for the cause of Christ, a man who had faced the adversary, a good man who had equipped his congregation with truth, encouraging them to stand firm in the face of the enemy’s attacks, had deserted the ranks. The enemy had gained a victory over one of God’s chosen servants.
Chuck Swindoll tells of a similar call he had received, and how he responded to that call. “An ancient scene flashed through my mind, a sickening scene—a battlefield in Israel called Mount Gilboa, littered with the bodies of Hebrew soldiers after a tragic day of combat against the Philistines. Among the dead lay a tall, seasoned warrior-king named Saul. How the pagans of Philistia must have gloated in their victory over the army of God! And while Saul had turned David’s life into a nightmare for more than a dozen years, David lamented the king’s death with the words, ‘How have the mighty fallen’ in battle (2 Sam. 1:20, 27).” [2]
Whenever anyone in this Family of God falls, we are all affected. However, moral failure of a leader in the assembly shakes us to the foundations. Sometimes, a congregation will never recover. Such knowledge causes me to tremble, to review my own interaction with others, to work at being gentle toward those who stumble. No, their perfidy cannot be excused, but they have revealed a weakness that should give each child of God pause. If we are not careful, we will discover that we are susceptible. We need to know what happened to David the King when he sinned so grievously against God.
The story is so well known that it is easy for us to treat it casually. Readers will often pass over the story quickly because we are certain that we know everything that can be known about it, or those who are set in opposition to the Faith will seize on it as evidence that worshippers of the True and Living God are hypocrites. However, the account of David and Bathsheba provides opportunity to warn Christians against presumptuous sin. While it is true that we must not distort the account, painting with such a broad brush that we blur the clean lines that separate righteousness from sinfulness, neither should we pass over the forthright account of this sordid affair, missing vital truth that has been included for our benefit.
Included in the pages of the Word of God are accounts of wicked sins committed by saints of the Most High God. God has not hidden or disguised the wickedness of His people; He exposes us so that we are compelled to admit that we are redeemed by grace.. We are taught that these woeful accounts have been “written down for our instruction” [1 CORINTHIANS 10:11]. The sins recorded provide instruction for the wise believer.
“Be sure your sin will find you out” [NUMBERS 32:23], stands out as a flaming warning to each believer; and the wicked sins described in the text for this day demonstrate the reality of this dreadful truth. Sin always has dreadful consequences, and the consequences of sin in the lives of followers of the Saviour are especially dreadful. God will not permit His people to sin with impunity.
A decade ago, Dr. Albert Mohler wrote an article describing a movement that was identified as “The Virgin Lips Movement.” [2] Undoubtedly, any movement bearing a name such as that will assuredly capture attention. The movement encourages those participating to hold to the view that even the act of kissing someone other than your wife or husband is an event that is reserved for what follows marriage. A news article that Dr. Mohler cites, begins with the statement, “In a culture where casual sex is the norm, some Tennesseans have taken the purity pledge to a whole new level, through a practice that some teens refer to as the ‘Virgin Lips Movement.’” Now, that is an attention-grabbing sentence!
Virgin lips? In a culture in which “the Bachelorette” boasts of a casual sexual escapade while rudely dismissing a Christian who says he wants to save himself for his wife, the thought of avoiding even kissing seems weird! [3] We even have books published arguing that young woman who attempt to hold onto their virginity damage themselves. [4] What is apparent to anyone who observes modern society is that we are obsessed with sex. We stress the need for young men and young women to be sexually active, even teaching our children in kindergarten how to be sexually safe. We even have story hours in public libraries teaching children about how they must be accepting of aberrant behaviour and even explore their own sexuality in the process. Virgin lips, indeed. Virgin lips will definitely require the grace of God to be achieved.
During the past four decades, sexual morality has been almost totally transformed in western civilization. Sex education programs assume that children will be sexually active from earliest ages—and society seemingly condones pushing youth into situations that ensure they will be sexually active. Sexual purity, abstinence, sexual denial are rejected by the experts as unrealistic, unfair, even repressive. In response to this extreme pressure to be sexually active, some youth are taking a stand through embracing the Virgin Lips Movement. These youth have concluded that kissing is an act of physical intimacy. They see this as a sort of “gateway drug to greater physical intimacy and involvement.” They have determined that they will “stop the train before it leaves the station.”
Monogamy and purity are not diseased states—holding oneself until marriage is wise and holy. No Christian will ever regret remaining a virgin until marriage. No Christian will ever regret being faithful to his or her spouse. We would be well advised to encourage our own youth to adopt this radical view in light of the extreme position demanded by contemporary society. To the youth among us, I say, make a holy vow before the Living God to refuse to kiss another until your wedding day.
A world that was once defined by Christian values is now dystopian in the eyes of the world. The world has rushed into embracing a form of hedonism that was unknown since the dying days of the Roman Empire. Some years ago, Billy Graham quoted his wife as saying, “If God doesn’t punish America, He’ll have to apologise to Sodom and Gomorrah.” [5] What would the Evangelist or his wife say about this day if they were still alive to observe what is happening in our western world? How would they assess the moral climate of the churches? I love God’s people, but I am often grieved as I witness the manner in which the faithful are sullied and their convictions are depreciated by those who are supposed to lead them into righteousness.
To expose the dangers arising from sexual impurity, to warn followers of the Master against presuming against the Lord, to emphasise the need for purity in our relations with one another, I invite your attention as we review the sins of David, King of Israel. He sinned grievously against a woman, against that woman’s husband, against the nation, and most seriously, he sinned against the LORD God. The Bible does not attempt to mask the sins of the saints; rather, God exposes us as sinners so that we will cast ourselves on His grace. If we fail to learn from the failure of others, then we shall surely repeat those sins and suffer the consequences, just as they suffered.
SINS OF THE KING — David’s sin is a dark story, without a doubt. David was a man after God’s own heart, but no one should ever stumble into the error of thinking that means that the King of Israel was sinless. Like us, David was a sinner in need of divine mercy, in need of God’s grace. It would be normal that any of us would try to hide our sin, especially on such as David committed. Frankly, we are uncomfortable even admitting that David, someone whom we admire, could be responsible for such heinous wickedness as God exposes in this account.
Though it is likely that everyone present has at least a cursory knowledge of the story, let’s ensure that no one listening is confused about the grievous sins committed by David, King of Israel. David had ascended to the throne of the kingdom. God had chosen him, selecting him through Samuel, the prophet. David had secured the kingdom. Though there were still foes, the king no longer was required to lead his armies into battle. There were enough responsibilities in Jerusalem that he would remain in the palace to rule, leaving war to his generals.
The day had begun much as any day would have begun for the king. It was springtime. A busy morning had passed with the king attending to the demands presented by affairs of state. There had been an audience with a delegation seeking some favour or another. There was a meeting with officials seeking input from the king so they could address some pressing matters. There were the ubiquitous official documents needing to be reviewed and orders that had to be given in order to care for the matters arising from what was presented in the documents. Then there had been a working lunch with some of his advisors and a retinue of select petitioners who were always present. At last, after lunch, the king had laid down for a brief nap.
It was late in the afternoon when David arose from his couch and went up onto the roof. There would be more meetings in the evening, more affairs of state to be addressed, more petitioners to hear, but for the moment he was refreshed. For a few moments, the king would walk on his roof, enjoying the cooling zephyrs that always refresh during the evening. While walking, David glanced down. What he saw captured his attention—a woman was bathing.
Houses in that day did not have showers, as would be common in our day, nor were there bathtubs in the homes of that day. To bathe, an individual would remove her clothing and wash, using a damp cloth to wipe the dirt, the grime, and the sweat from the body. If a cloth was not used, then a wooden scraper would be used to scrape the dirt once the skin was dampened. It wouldn’t have been that unusual that someone would go up on the roof to bathe. After all, it afforded a measure of privacy; the woman wouldn’t expect anyone would be watching her. Moreover, in the coolness of the afternoon, the gentle breeze would help quickly dry the damp skin, refreshing her.
Much as a man perusing the internet in this day might stumble across a porn site, David just happened to see her bathing. The sight of a naked body displayed on the screen is meant to capture attention, and that one viewing the display will be tempted until that the gaze is transformed into leering, into ogling. If a man is not careful, he will find himself drawn to click for the next image, for the next video, filling his mind with the images which can never really be erased. Something similar happened to the king that afternoon. He saw the naked form and recognised that this was a beautiful woman. He didn’t avert his gaze, he stared, drinking in the scene. He was no longer gazing; he was beginning to fantasise.
Calling his attendants, the king asked, “Who is the woman who lives just over there? You know the house that lies just south of the palace?” One of the attendants, familiar with the environs around the palace, responded, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite” [2 SAMUEL 11:3b]?
Such pedestrian events set in motion the destruction of a kingdom. It is a truism that small choices can destroy a nation, can destroy a church, can destroy a life. How you choose to act, what you choose to fill your mind, where you allow your eyes to rest, determine what will happen in your life. Martin Luther was correct when he said that he could not keep the birds from flying overhead, but he would not allow them to nest in his hair. You may not be able to keep the innocent glance from occurring, but you don’t have to gaze upon the scene. If you are not careful, the glance can become a gaze, and the gaze can transform into leering.
EXPOSING THE SINS OF THE SAINTS — Do not imagine that God will permit you to cover your sin if you are His child. We are commanded, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” [1 PETER 1:14-16]. I know that God will expose my secret sin if I presume to attempt to serve Him while harbouring that sin.
I am not suggesting that anyone now listening is guilty of adultery, or guilty of lascivious behaviour, or guilty of harbouring salacious thoughts, or even guilty of murder. Nevertheless, each of us has hidden in the closets of our mind actions and/or thoughts for which we are ashamed. We each have made statements that we wish we had never spoken. Indiscretions, faux pas, blunders—whatever you may call them, litter the darkened recesses of our minds. No one knows of many of these flaws, save for us. These blots against our character often rise to the level of sins, and we are careful to keep them out of view because we are painfully aware that we have sinned against God and against others. If the secrets of the heart were displayed so that everyone could see, each of us would have to provide uncomfortable explanations.
The wonderful thing about grace is that God has removed our sin. Among the Psalms is one which comforts the anguished soul who struggles, wondering whether sins she has committed have been forgiven, or whether she must still stand accused before the Lord God for past sin. We should be comforted by one great truth that has been recorded in the Psalms. Among the Psalms we find this promise which should be a source of great comfort for all who look to the Lord for mercy and for forgiveness.
“[The LORD] does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.”
[PSALM 103:10-14]
God did this, not because we deserve to be forgiven, the LORD God did this because He is God and that is His nature. Though the devil may plague us, attempting to call our past into the present so that we are hindered in our walk, we have received the forgiveness of sin. It is not unheard of that a redeemed individual may continue to dig up the corpse of the past; nevertheless, we are assured on the authority of the Word that God will never dig up our past just to embarrass us. He will not, however, permit us to continue hiding that particular sin that we continue to tolerate. And that is the struggle we each face. We do not want our sin to be known; so, we attempt to cover it so that others will not know what we have done.
How tragic should we fall under the condemnation pronounced against God’s ancient people. Hosea has written the LORD’s lament over His people.
“Whenever I want to heal Israel,
the sin of Ephraim is revealed,
and the evil deeds of Samaria are exposed.
For they do what is wrong.”
[HOSEA 7:1 NET BIBLE]
The people sought to hide their sin, but God saw, and the LORD knew.
We cannot cover our sin, but God covers the sin of the whom He has forgiven. How glorious is the proclamation given in the THIRTY-SECOND PSALM! The Psalmist opens with this pronouncement of blessing.
“Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”
[PSALM 32:1-2]
Then, the Psalmist turns introspective, recalling his own journey into that blessedness.
“For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
“I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah”
[PSALM 32:3-5]
Take note of the little notation at the conclusion of VERSES FOUR and FIVE. The Hebrew word is “Selah.” It means that the reader is to pause in order to ponder what has just been said. When the Psalmist kept silent, he suffered. When the Psalmist confessed his sin, he was forgiven. You, when you attempted to hide your sin, were miserable, suffering because you attempted to hide your sin from the searching eyes of the Living God. You couldn’t hide your sin! He saw! Then, when you confessed your sin, He forgave your sin and you knew once again the blessing of the LORD. Openness with God ensured that you would be blessed, that you would again walk in glorious concourse with the Saviour. And yet, how often we imagine that we don’t need to be open and honest with God in Whom there is no falsity.
Isn’t this what we know from reading John’s words? “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” [1 JOHN 1:5-10].
THE HIGH COST OF SIN — I can’t read the final verses of this pericope without wondering how David and his paramour, Bathsheba, felt. God has directed the writer to pen these words. “When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son” [2 SAMUEL 11:26-27a].
David had engineered the death of one of the heroes of the nation. Was there no conflict in his heart? Did he not mourn over his own loss of integrity? Can any of us sin in this fashion and not be conflicted?
And what of Bathsheba? Can a woman actually know that she may have contributed to the death of her husband and feel no sorrow? Surely she grieved—actually mourned—over the death of the man with whom she had shared her life. Yet, she appears to have passed through the expected period of mourning and then rushed to become wife of the king. How callused can a woman be?
In point of fact, I suggest that the sin of these two was already being exacted—and they weren’t even aware of what was happening. David had to have known almost immediately the loss of spiritual vitality. When the announcement came that Uriah was dead, another piece of his character was destroyed. He knew that he was paying even then a high price for his sin. Taking Bathsheba to be his wife would certainly give him what he wanted, but the price would become exorbitant. From this point, David would pay, and pay, and pay. Sin is a terrible taskmaster, exacting a toll that none can afford.
I’ve pastored for many years. During those years, I’ve watched a number of people who insisted that they could play with sexual fire and not be burned. Have we never read the warnings issued by Solomon? Recall that the Wise Man has written,
“Can a man carry fire next to his chest
and his clothes not be burned?
Or can one walk on hot coals
and his feet not be scorched?”
[PROVERBS 6:27-28]
So no one will be confused by Solomon’s meaning, he appends the following explanation.
“So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
none who touches her will go unpunished.
People do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,
but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold;
he will give all the goods of his house.
He who commits adultery lacks sense;
he who does it destroys himself.”
[PROVERBS 6:29-32]
I witnessed a man destroy his second marriage. He loved pornography, more than he loved his wife. He had destroyed his first marriage through the same vile predilection. His surrender to his perverse desires led him into repeated sexual dalliances which destroyed trust. When caught, he would insist that such incidents of infidelity didn’t mean anything, because he really, really loved his wife. Cheating with his eyes led to cheating with his mind, which in turn led him into adultery. I’ve seen that man reduced to advertising for a friend—with benefits, of course. The woman who imagines that she can trust a man who has already demonstrated that he cannot be trusted is at best a fool, and at worst she is terribly deceived.
That man slunk away from his wife, slunk away from his church, slunk away from all responsibility. He began to attend another church, because he still asserts that he is a Christian. The pastor of that congregation contacted me to ask my assessment of that man. I told him that there is nothing Christian about his character. Now, his children are estranged; his stepchildren have no respect for him; his former colleagues in the Faith avoid him. The people with whom he works do not trust him. And he isn’t finished playing with sin, or with paying for sin.
Paul was correct in warning all who will hear the Word, “The wages of sin is death” [ROMANS 6:23a]. Sin, transgression of God’s righteousness, brings death. Let’s think about what this means for a moment. Here is a young man who begins to take a peek at pornography. He finds it titillating, exciting, pleasantly erotic. He wouldn’t continue to sneak a peek if it didn’t give him pleasure. However, unbeknownst to him, as he peers at the alluring images, a part of him is dying. He is growing coarse toward women, losing respect for chastity and purity. The fruit of the seed he is planting will damage the relationship he will one day want to cultivate with the wife of his youth. He will want to enjoy intimacy with her, but there is a poisoned fruit that will grow on the vine of his life.
No man has ever found himself in the arms of a woman who is not his wife and thought, “This isn’t right. This doesn’t honour God.” Perhaps after the fact that man feels remorse, but trapped by his desires, he cannot think righteously. No woman has ever found herself lying next to a man who is not her husband and thought, “This is wrong. It doesn’t glorify the Saviour.” Later, when alone with her thoughts, she may feel remorse; but consumed with her own desires at the moment, she cannot think that way. Conscientious followers of the Saviour are inevitably hit with recriminations when they dishonour their marriage vows. Why would we listen to Hollywood as they tell us that if our religion is inflexible we should change it. They certainly tell us that if we are inflexible concerning righteousness, then we are flawed. Hollywood is assured that we need to lighten up and live a little! However, it is still a fact that “The wages of sin is death.” The price demanded by wickedness has never been rolled back.
Perhaps no one will ever know of your sin if you cover it over, but you will know. If you attempt to cover over your sin, hiding it from discovery, you run the risk of searing your conscience, and that can be a disaster from which you may never recover. Writing the pastor of the Ephesian congregation, Paul provides a prophetic statement at one point when he writes, “The Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron” [1 TIMOTHY 4:1-2 NASV 95].
Perhaps many others will never know of your sin, but you know that others who were wounded through your actions know of your sin. They will lose respect for you; and should they cry out to God against you, especially if they are counted as being among the vulnerable, then know that God will hear their cry and defend them. This is the warning delivered through Moses when he writes, “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.
“If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him. If ever you take your neighbor’s cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep? And if he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate” [EXODUS 22:21-27].
Perhaps you imagine that no one will ever know of your sin, but God knows. You may imagine that no one has seen what you did, but God saw you even as you sinned. The words spoken by Moses should chill the soul of any who think they can somehow hide their sin from the Living God. Warning the tribes of Gad and Reuben against failure to fulfil their promises made before the LORD, “If you will not [fulfil your promise], behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out” [NUMBERS 32:23]. The principle applies to all people, and especially does it apply to the individual who claims to know the Lord God. The Living God does not play games, and He certainly does not ignore sin in His child.
Sin is deceptive; it promises so much and delivers so little. Sin allures, appearing to be beautiful, promising to fulfil our desires, but the reality is quite different. Like the impact of drunkenness on the body the morning after, so is the reality of sin. You will recall that alcohol, though promising so much in the ads, gives something far different:
“In the end it bites like a serpent
and stings like an adder.”
[PROVERBS 23:32]
Elsewhere, the Wise Man wrote of the snare of seeking sexual gratification outside of marriage. The passage is somewhat extended, but it is essential if we will honour the LORD God.
“Drink water from your own cistern,
flowing water from your own well.
Should your springs be scattered abroad,
streams of water in the streets?
Let them be for yourself alone,
and not for strangers with you.
Let your fountain be blessed,
and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
a lovely deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;
be intoxicated always in her love.
Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman
and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?
For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD,
and he ponders all his paths.
The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
He dies for lack of discipline,
and because of his great folly he is led astray.”
[PROVERBS 5:15-23]
Because of the moral turpitude of this day, it is necessary that the issue of sexual purity must be addressed. Young men and women need to be encouraged to remember that the Lord expects that His people will maintain sexual purity. Paul warned Timothy, “Keep away from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faithfulness, love, and peace, in company with others who call on the Lord from a pure heart” [2 TIMOTHY 2:22].
This is not the message you will hear from the world; but it is the message that you must receive if you will honour the Lord. Similar cautionary words are found in the first letter written to Thessalonian saints. There, the Apostle warned, “Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you” [1 THESSALONIANS 4:1-8].
I know the way in which the flesh urges us to gratify our own desires. I know that some younger saints may imagine that I am unaware of how they feel. I wasn’t always old; I was once young. And I’ve passed through the same waters you must pass through. As one who has witnessed many who have suffered shipwreck on the shoals of life, I want our youth to succeed. I want younger saints to enter Heaven without shame and eager to face the Lord Who redeems them. I want our youth to be able to apply the words of John, who wrote, “And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming” [1 JOHN 2:28] . Our Lord is coming soon, and I do not want any to shrink from seeing Him on that glorious day.
Among us are adults who struggle in the dark moments when they are alone with their thoughts. You made choices in the past that disquiet you today. You are haunted by what you did. Take this action and make matters right with the One who loves you and who redeems you. We are promised, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” [1 JOHN 1:9].
If you imagine that you are able to hide your sin from God, you are deceiving yourself. He knows you; and He knows your sin. And yet, He stands ready to forgive you. This is the wonderful thing about the grace of our God. Though He knows us, He accepts us as we are. We do not need to clean up our life and then seek His forgiveness; His forgiveness is extended to the one who confesses and forsakes his sin. Therefore, go to the one whom you once wronged and seek forgiveness, but first go to the Lord Jesus and receive His cleansing. Then, filled with God’s grace and in the knowledge of full forgiveness from the Lord, your confession to the one wronged will bring honour and glory to the Lord who loves you.
When David attempted to hide his sin, he was miserable, just as you are miserable while attempting to hide your sin. Whether from the past and whether currently, harboured sin ensures that we have no joy. When David confessed his sin, he found mercy and relief. David prayed, as we can pray,
“Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
“For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.”
[PSALM 51:1-12]
Seek the Lord today. Confess your sin today. Glorify His Name now. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Charles R. Swindoll, Insights on Romans, Swindoll’s New Testament Insights (Zondervan Grand Rapids, MI 2010) 60
[3] R. Albert Mohler Jr., “The Virgin Lips Movement,” Broadman Press, May 11, 2009, http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=30475, accessed 2 July, 2019
[4] See Caleb Parke, Fox News, 16 July 2019, https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/bachelorette-hannah-luke-sex-twitter-instagram-home, accessed 16 July 2019
[5] E.g. Jessica Valenti, The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women (Seal Press, 2009)
[6] Billy Graham, “My Heart Aches for America,” July 19, 2012, https://billygraham.org/story/billy-graham-my-heart-aches-for-america/, accessed 17 July 2019
