The Jesus Manifesto: Guilty as Sin?
Matthew 5:4, Psalm 51
Rev. Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
07-08-18
Do You Know How Fast You Were Going?
I was cruising along on Route 17 and was about a mile from Dwight when I saw him. But as you know, if you have seen them, they’ve already seen you. And it’s too late.
He was driving the opposite way but decided he wanted to meet me so he did a U-Turn in the middle of the road. When I looked up in the mirror, I saw him turn on his lights and I knew I was a goner.
He walked up to the car and asked a simple question, “Do you know how fast you were going?” I said, “Well, somewhere around 65?” He responded politely, “Try again. It was more like 70 mph.”
At that moment, a million excuses popped into my brain:
* I was speeding because I was hungry and wanted to get home
* I was playing air guitar to 80s rock
* I was speeding because I had been behind a car for twenty miles going 45 in a 55.
But not one of those excuses would have made a difference. I couldn’t argue with him. I was guilty. There was no way out.
Have you ever had that feeling? When you know you are guilty, without an excuse, and without any hope of rescue?
Review from Last Week
As we continue our summer sermon series on the Sermon of the Mount, let’s do a short review from last week.
The first week, I challenged you to memorize this section of verses known as the Beatitudes. Let’s see how you are doing?
“Blessed are the p_________, for theirs is the Kingdom of h___________.” (Matthew 5:3)
Remember that there are eight beatitudes. The first four focus on our relationship with God. The second four focus on our relationship with others.
They are a package deal. You cannot pick and choose.
And they are not a “to-do” list. They are a “to-be” list. It is a list of virtues, given to His disciples about what it looks like when His followers live these out in a lost and dying world.
Last week, we learned that this first Beatitude, the first of Jesus’ to-be list, had to do with the posture of our hearts before God. He calls it being “poor in spirit.”
The Greek word that Jesus uses means to “crouch or stoop.” It has the idea of bending low, of absolute and abject destitution. He is describing a person that has nothing and is totally dependent on God. It is the complete absence of pride, self-assurance, and self-reliance. It is a deep humility that leads to authenticity.
We studied the parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector in Luke 18 and discovered that God blesses us when we realize our spiritual bankruptcy before Him and live REAL lives before others:
* Relationship with God not rules made by men
* Expressing our need for forgiveness
* Admitting that we are a mess
* Living a life of freedom and grace
If we live this virtue out, individually and as a church, then we will extend grace to everyone, no matter what he or she has done, where he or she has been, or who they are.
This first beatitude is the foundation for the other eight. Once we learn that we can not hop high enough for God’s holiness, we can never be good enough, then the fact that God has extended us grace and mercy become reasons for worship and thankfulness.
But it also leads to an understanding of how much sin breaks the Father’s heart.
This morning, we will be looking at the second Beatitude, found in verse four. Let’s read it together:
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4)
Happy are the Sad?
At first glance, this seems like a strange paradox. Is Jesus really saying, “Happy are the sad?”
What does it mean to mourn and be comforted? Let’s look at what “mourning” doesn’t mean.
* The sorrow caused by death: Jesus is not talking about grieving over the loss of a loved one. The Bible is very honest about grief of this kind. Jesus wept loudly outside the tomb of his friend Lazarus in John 11. Paul told the believers in Thessalonica that it was normal and healthy to grieve but to do so with hope. (I Thess 4:13) David wrote in his journal about the comfort that God brings in times of deep sadness:
“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18)
But we know from the context that this kind of mourning is not what Jesus meant.
* The sorrow caused by the world’s pain: Jesus stood looking over Jerusalem with tear stained cheeks grieving over their rejection of Him.
“As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.’” (Luke 19:41-42)
This Beatitude is not calling on Christians to be morbid, depressed, grumpy, or like the two older guys in the balcony at the Muppet Show that always criticized everything.
So what exactly does Jesus mean when He said that those who mourn shall be comforted?
Let’s take a closer look at the verse.
It’s Good to Mourn
It is obviously from the context of these verses that Jesus is talking about our response to sin. Once we realize our poverty of spirit and our desperate need for grace, we will experience a deep sorrow for our sins.
The word for mourning that Jesus uses is the strongest Greek word for mourning. It is a passionate grief akin to when we lose a loved one. It is so powerful that it takes over a person and it becomes impossible to hide.
Someone who has filed spiritual bankruptcy is now in a spiritual posture to experience deep sorrow over his or her sins. A Christian doesn’t excuse sin, belittle it, or ignore it.
J.I. Packer said it this way:
A sense of defilement before God is not morbid, neurotic, or unhealthy in any way. It is natural, realistic, and healthy, a true perception of our condition.”
Jesus lived in a world that believed, “let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”
We live in a world that is driven to distraction trying to push down any feelings of guilt or sorrow.
But Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, gives our culture a corrective:
“The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.” (Ecc 7:4)
The Greek word for mourning is in the present tense. This means that our sorrow over sin should not be just a one-time thing but will be a lifestyle.
I’m going to go so far as to make the case this morning that if you are indifferent, insensitive, or hardhearted concerning your sin, you need to consider the possibility you are not actually a Christian.
They will be Comforted
Jesus said that those who mourn over their sins would be comforted. Comforted is also a strong word in the Greek. It doesn’t mean a pat on the head with a “there, there” attitude. It comes from a compound word that means to “call for” or to invite.” It is the picture of someone who comes alongside to encourage and consol.
Four years ago this December, Kimmy Blair, a student that we had claimed as one of our own, was killed in a car wreck. It was the most traumatic experience of my entire life. I was grieving but continued to minister to everyone else.
I sat in the floor of the library at the high school for hours, listening to students weep and tell stories. Jim Wolfe, the pastor at First Baptist Church in Pontiac, asked me to step out in the hall. He told me that he had been watching me minister to everyone else but he could tell I was suffering. It was truly the case of “who pastors the pastor?” Jim wrapped his arms around me and prayed over me as I quietly cried. This was a beautiful picture of what Jesus meant by the word “comfort.”
It is in the future tense, which points to the “now and not yet” tension inherent in Jesus teaching.
Yes, we know, believe, and anticipate a time in the future when Jesus will:
“…wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
But what do we do in the meantime? When we are crushed by the reality that our sins nailed Jesus to a cross, how should we respond?
When I was in college, I had a friend that I invited to our ministry. She had a rough growing up and we knew she was struggling emotionally. Little did we know.
On a Wednesday night, when the speaker gave an opportunity to respond and surrender to Jesus, I turned around and noticed a group of girls surrounding someone. In the middle of that circle was Kristy. She was on her knees in tears as one by one these girls were praying over her. That night, she was born again. The caterpillar became a butterfly.
A couple of nights later, we were all at her apartment playing games when I noticed that she had begun crying and curled up in a ball. Finally, she shared with us what going on. She said,
“I get it. I get that God can forgive me for everything. But you don’t understand. I had an abortion last year. How can God ever forgive that? I killed my baby.” She rocked and wept.
And I opened my Bible to Psalm 51.
An “I’m Sorry” Psalm
Turn with me to Psalm 51. This is one of seven psalms of repentance that we find in the Bible. David wrote Psalm 51 as a celebration of the amazing forgiveness God had granted him.
In order to truly understand this psalm, let’s review a very ugly chapter in David’s life.
David was called a “man after God’s own heart.” (Acts 13:22) He had gone from shepherd boy to King of Israel, and somewhere along the way, he lost his spiritual bearings.
What follows could have made a great episode of Jerry Springer!
(See 2 Samuel 11 for the whole story)
David was home when he should have been out with the army. While walking on the roof of the palace, he notices a woman named Bathsheba taking a bath on her roof. He liked what he saw and commanded his servant to bring her to him. (Even the servant knew David was wrong!) She became pregnant and David undertakes a huge cover-up.
David has her husband Uriah put on the front line of battle and he is killed.
Problem solved, right?
Wrong.
Nathan the prophet confronts this heinous sin with a story about a rich man who had stolen a poor man’s only ewe lamb to make dinner for a friend. David is indignant and demands that man be executed. Nathan pointed his finger at David and said these famous words, “You are the man!” (2 Sam 12:7).
David, broken and ashamed, pulls out his journal and begins to write. Psalm 51 is written right after his encounter with Nathan and is raw in his grief over sinning against God.
David begins this Psalm with a plea for mercy:
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” (Psalm 51:1-2)
A few years later, David writes Psalm 32. He is looking back at the lessons he learned and expresses his gratitude that his guilt is gone and his peace has been restored.
What Has Become of Sin?
Sin is not a popular word today. We would rather talk about our “mistakes” or make excuses than call something sin. We want to blame others, just like Adam and Even did in the garden.
Look at Psalm 51 with me. We see David use four words for sin:
* Transgressions. The first word he uses is “transgressions.” Picture a “no trespassing sign.” Humans see God’s no trespassing sign but don’t think twice about climbing the fence. It is the picture of rebellion; revolt, of rejecting God’s authority. It is willful disobedience producing a gulf between God and man.
David wrote:
“Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.” (Psalm 19:13)
* Sins. The second word David uses is the common word “sins.” Picture a “bulls-eye.” In the sport of archery, the sin is the distance between the bulls-eye and the arrow is called “the sin.” It means “offense.” It is the failure to live up to God’s perfect standards.
Paul wrote:
“…for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
When the very nice police officer pulled me over, he told me that if I had been going five, or even ten, mph over the limit, he would have given me a warning. But since I was going 15 mph over, he had to give me a ticket.
God’s standard is not like that. There is no wiggle room or grey area.
God says, “Be holy, just as I am holy.” (Lev 19:2; I Peter 1:16)
Paul quotes from Deuteronomy when writing to the Galatians Christians:
“Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” (Duet 27:26; Gal 3:10)
God’s standard is perfection and we cannot hop high enough for God’s holiness.
* Iniquity. The third term David uses is “iniquity.” We all have a track record of “crooked behavior.” It is the picture of our impurity versus the absolute holiness of God.
It is easy to compare ourselves to others. We can say, “Hey I look pretty good in relation to that serial killer.” But when we compare ourselves to an utterly holy God, we start to understand just how crooked and depraved we are.
* Deceit. The fourth term David uses is “deceit.” This is the picture of a deliberate cover-up to try to make the situation look better than it is.
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Every false belief system tries to play down the fact we are desperate sinners. They will tell you that we are all basically good and even that we are getting better and better. All you have to do is turn on the evening news and watch for ten minutes and you will get the suspicion that these people are completely off base.
You are a sinner….and so am I. I know that’s not a popular thing to say but it’s certainly a Biblically thing to say.
* The Bible says are born sinners. You never have to teach a baby to be selfish.
David wrote:
“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” (Psalm 51:5)
We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners.
* The Bible says we are sinners by nature. That means that we do not have any inclination toward God. We never fear Him the way we should, never love Him as much as we ought, and never obey Him with a totally pure heart. We inherited this trait and it can be traced back directly to Adam and Eve.
David writes in Psalm 14, which is quoted by Paul in Romans 8:
“The LORD looks down from heaven on all mankind ?to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. ?All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Psalm 14:2-3)
There is no part of us that is left untouched by sin, including our minds, our wills, and our bodies. Sin is at the very core of who we are and permeates
our hearts.
“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.” (Jer 17:9)
* The Bible proclaims that we are “dead in our sins” and “objects of wrath.”
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.” (Eph 2:1-3)
* The Bible speaks of us being alienated from God. Sin separates us from God.
“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.” (Col 1:21)
* Another common picture is being “enslaved to sin.”
“When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!” (Romans 6:20-21)
* Sin produces guilt, shame, and, most of all, death:
“For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23)
* Because of sin, we were hopeless and helpless to save ourselves.
It’s as if we are treading water in the middle of the ocean and all you see is blue. There are no ships to rescue you. You cannot swim back to shore. You know you can’t tread water forever. It’s only a matter of time.
You would be quick to recognize you don’t have what it takes to save yourself. If you will be saved, it will come miraculously from an outside source.
This is really bad news! We are hopeless, helpless, and hell-bound!
Let’s look at some of the consequences of sin.
Guilty as Sin!
One of the main effects of sin is guilt. David knew this all too well.
Look at verse 3 and 4:
“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 sapped as in the heat of summer.”
When we try to hide our sins, the weight of our guilt and God’s judgment is too much. Adam and Eve found that out when they tried to play hide and seek with God in the garden.
Garrison Keillor wrote: “Guilt is the gift that keeps on giving.”
Guilt can cause physical symptoms. He said that his bones wasted away. He was feeling like a man much older than his age. David says that his strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
Guilt can cause emotional distress. The word “groaning” is the roar of a wounded animal. Guilt destroys our confidence, our relationships, can keep us stuck in the past, and keeps us from experiencing peace.
F.B. Meyer wrote: “Secret sin and inner peace with God can not coexist.”
Guilt can cause spiritual depression. God’s hand was heavy upon him day and night. It’s been said that God’s children can still sin after they are saved, but not well.
David was trying hard to conceal his sin but God was working on his heart.
Solomon, David’s son, taught this to his sons:
“Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, ?but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” (Prov 28:13)
Guilt isn’t always bad. Many times it can lead us right to God. Godly sorrow produces repentance. God can use guilt to get our attention.
The New Living Translation of I Cor 7:10 reads:
“For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.” (I Cor 7:10)
To know the blessing of forgiveness we need to know the burden of our guilt.
Because of all of these truths, it has been rightly said that forgiveness is the greatest need of the human heart! And that’s exactly what David was celebrating in Psalm 51.
Forgiveness
In verse one of Psalm 51, David uses three words for forgiveness!
* Forgiven. This word means to pardon or take away. It can mean to lift a heavy burden and take away. Picture a goat.
In Exodus 34, the sins of the community were place on a goat that was then taken away into the wilderness. This animal was called the “scapegoat.” It carried the sins away so the community could be forgiven.
* Covered. The word “covered” means just that – not exposed. We all fear exposure.
Noel Coward, noted author and humorist, once played a practical joke on some of the well-known people in London. He wrote ten men this note, “We know what you did. If you do not wish to be exposed, you need to leave town.” Within six months, all ten of these men had moved out of London!
[I wonder what would happen if we did the same thing in Washington D.C. or Hollywood?]
I was hoping to keep my little visit with the police officer quiet. But several people heard my name on his scanner!! It had been broadcast for the entire world to hear.
Instead of exposing our sins, God “covers” our sins. We’ll see how in just a minute.
* “does not count against them.” This is the picture of a check. We owed a debt we could never, ever pay. Imagine you owe a million dollars on your credit card but you only had about one hundred dollars to your name. The bill had to be paid and you had no way of paying it. But instead of insisting on payment from you, God accepted payment from another – His Son, Jesus.
Isaiah wrote:
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him [Jesus] the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)
Listen to how David describes God in another one of his journal entries:
“The LORD is compassionate and gracious, ?slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, ?nor will he harbor his anger forever; ?he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; ?as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12)
The prophet Micah wrote:
“You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:19)
When I was younger, I had a lot of anger toward my parents, particularly my mother. A friend encouraged me to write her a letter and put everything on the pages that I couldn’t say out loud. I took that advice and I wrote a ten page diatribe about everything she had done wrong. I folded this letter and put it in my car.
One day while I was at work, it rained and then, as was common in the Deep South, the temperature skyrocketed. My sunroof leaked and I was frustrated that my seats were wet. Then I noticed the letter. When I open it, or tried to open the pages, I couldn’t. The water plus the searing heat had effectively bonded the pages together and bleached the surface white. The only traces of handwriting left on the paper were around the edges and it was illegible.
God whispered to me that day – I have erased your sins. I have thrown them into the sea of forgetfulness. If I have done that for you, don’t you think you can do that for your mother?
I was reminded of Isaiah’s promise:
“Though your sins be like scarlet, they shall be a white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)
Remember Kristy from the beginning of the sermon? That night, she understood the depth of her sin. She truly mourned. But she also discovered a God that could forgive even “that sin.” She experienced grace, freedom, and forgiveness that night.
We’ve answered the questions:
* What is sin?
* What are the consequences of sin?
* What does forgiveness mean?
Now the question – How do we get it?
Forgiveness is only through trusting Jesus’ death on the cross. He died in our place, to pay the full payment for our sins.
How do we Get it?
We’ve established that we are all sinners and that we had no way of saving ourselves. Our sin separated us from God and leads to death. We also have seen that God, in an act of incomparable love, provided a way for our forgiveness.
But how does it work? How do we get it?
Look at verses 5-6.
“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgression to the Lord.’ And you forgave me the guilt of my sin.” (Psalm 32:5-6)
First, David acknowledged the existence of his sins. David simply “came clean.” He “confessed” his sins. This word means to “throw down” or “cast down.” It can also mean “agreement.” To confess means to throw your sin down and say the same thing as God says about it.
Augustine said, “The beginning of knowledge is to know oneself to be a sinner.” In fact, he had this Psalm inscribed on his wall before he died so he could meditate on it every day.
We are only as sick as our secrets.
He didn’t make excuses. He didn’t minimize. He didn’t blame anyone else. He owned it completely.
I learned something a long time ago from the basketball court. When a player would make a bad pass or would let his man get by him, a good player doesn’t need to say anything to his teammates. He merely looks at them and pats his chest. This is the same thing as saying, “My bad.” Then he moves on and gets back down the court.
Parents, it’s vitally important that we teach our kids to say, “My bad” when they are to blame. If they do not learn to take responsibility for their actions, life will not be fun for them.
Second, David repented. This involved recognizing you are going the wrong way and turning around. It also involved no “spirit of deceit.” (v. 2)
Steve Furtick writes that you “cannot un-sin but you can re-pent.”
True repentance involves sorrow for our sin, a desire to make things right, full disclosure to God, and a resolve not to go back there again.
David wrote in his journal:
“You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. (Psalm 51:16-17)
Freedom comes from confession. It restores our broken relationship with God.
Let me tell you some good news today. If you are one thousand miles away from God right now, it’s only one step
back. It’s never too late to make a fresh start with God. He is waiting for you with open arms.
A mother was tucking her son into bed at night and asked him if he wanted to say his prayers with her. He said, “No mommy, you can leave I’ll say my prayers alone tonight.” The mother, sensing something wasn’t right, asked if he needed to tell her anything. He responded, “No mommy, if I told you, you would ground me. I’m going to tell it to God because He will forgive me and forget it.”
John, Jesus’ best friend, wrote these amazing words:
“If you confess your sin, God is faithful and just, to forgive you of all your sin and cleanse you of all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9)
God is faithful. You can trust His promises of forgiveness.
And He’s just.
God can’t just let sin go. It must be punished. Jesus took our punishment on the cross, where He died, in our place, as our substitute, to pay the penalty for our sins.
“In Him [Jesus] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” (Eph 1:7)
No Regrets?!
I love the fact that his guilt is gone. God won’t just forgive you. He will also cleanse you of all unrighteousness.
You don’t have to be haunted be your past.
Have you ever done something that you truly regretted? Something that you would do anything to get a “do over?”
I have a friend who knows that feeling. When he was eighteen years old, he was drinking with some friends and got in a car. He never heard or saw the train. The train struck the back end of the car and the two girls in the back seat were killed instantly.
He lived. He felt guilty that he had lived. He was angry with God for letting it happen. Most of all, he could not see his way out of the depression that gripped his soul. He tried to cover it with alcohol but that made it worse. He decided he deserved to die and was planning on killing himself when someone shared the forgiveness found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
His whole life changed. The whole trajectory of his life changed. Thirty years later, Dale Petre is a Christian counselor and one of the most Godly, grace-filled men I know.
Romans 8:1 is one of my favorite verses:
“Now there is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)
Here’s something I came across while studying this week that I didn’t know.
David is mentioned fifty-seven times in the New Testament and his sin with Bathsheba is not mentioned once!
Putting in all Together
Let’s put it all together.
Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.
When I kept silent, ?my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; ?my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. ?I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” ?And you forgave the guilt of my sin.
We’ve look at nearly every word of the Psalm except the first one – blessed.
The word “blessed” is actually a plural word – “multiple joy, happiness, and peace!!” The world would say that someone with a lot of money is blessed. Or someone who had become very successful would be considered blessed. But the Bible makes it clear that blessedness comes from an understanding of our hopeless condition and the extravagant lengths that God went to rescue us.
“If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? ?But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.” (Psalm 103:4)
Again, it’s been said that forgiveness of sin is the greatest need of the human heart. And God made a way where there was no way!
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly… But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!” (Romans 5:6-9)
Do you know this joy? Do you know that your sins are forgiven and that you will spend eternity in heaven with Jesus? Do you know that you have peace with God?
We don’t truly understand how amazing God’s forgiveness is until we fully understand the burden of our sins.
You don’t have to walk an aisle, raise a hand, or sign a card to become a Christian. If fact, you don’t to do anything. You just have to trust in what Jesus has DONE on the cross.
You’ve been Re-made
I want to end the sermon part of our service today with a video by a Christian group called, “Tenth Avenue North.” The song is called, “Remade.”
Remade
By Tenth Avenue North
