Specific Sin, Specific Grace | SERMON

[00:00:00] We'll truth, Daily This is Daily Truths with Dave Ahlman. We pray and that you forgive us and absolve us and love us and call us your very own. Our identity is rooted not in what people think of us, Heavenly Father, but in what you say about us,

[00:00:44] and what you say about us is that we are your children. And that nothing can separate us from your love. So God opened up the hearts and minds of your people today, grant that your word is proclaimed in His truth and purity,

[00:00:58] and help us to take what we learned today and put it into practice, especially basking in the sunshine of your grace. In the name of Jesus, we pray all these things. Amen. Right already read the text. And basically I want to reiterate it is this.

[00:01:16] If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God's faithful and just and forgive our sins and cleanse us from all and righteousness. You see up on the screen, the acronym S-E-A-R-S.

[00:01:35] And last week we talked about the S which stands for sin. And today we talk about the C that stands for confession. Next week we're going to talk about absolution, the following week resolution or restoration, and the week after that sanctification.

[00:01:52] But today we talk about the C which is confession. Now to help us understand that, we look at how sin began on planet Earth. And we all understand it, right? We know what happened. God said you can do anything you want to do.

[00:02:10] Go anywhere you want to go just don't eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good needful. Because if you do, your eyes will be open and you will die. Okay? Now that's exactly what they did.

[00:02:25] They ate of the fruit and as a result of that, they did three things. The first thing they did is they hid from God. Now how ridiculous is that? I can remember telling that story to my kids, one of my kids was six or seven years old,

[00:02:40] and he started laughing profusely. And I said, what do you laugh at about Timine? He said, how can you hide from God? And I said, you're right. So they tried to hide from God, right? Oh, and then finally of course God finds them. And what does God do?

[00:02:59] He comes to Adam first and he said, Adam, what have you done? And what does Adam do? Don't blame me! Blamer! Right? So I come to you, of course. This is what's so funny about it. It's so human, it's so much like us.

[00:03:16] Then he comes to you and he says, what have you done? And she says, don't blame me. It's his fault. She blamed Satan, the serpent, the snake, right? So you've got to cover up, you've got denial, and you've got blame. Cover up, denial. And blame.

[00:03:43] We don't do that, do we? Do you see yourself in the story of Adam and Eve? Sometimes when we mess up, we cover up. We try to hide from God. We think that somehow in some way doesn't see what we did.

[00:03:58] And then when we're zapped by the condemnation of his law, we've recognized, oh my goodness, I've kind of messed up. But it's not my fault. It's Satan's fault. It's the circumstances fault. It's the cultures fault. It's the way the world is. It's my signature. Oh, don't blame me.

[00:04:20] Blame the world. You see, cover up, blame and denial. This is what we do. This is who we are. But yet the word of God tells us today, if we confess our sins, this is a much better way to go. And so today we talk about confession

[00:04:40] and confession is not just making an appointment with a priest knocking on the door, going into this booth, not knowing who he is and confessing your wrongs. It goes much deeper than that. Every week we confess our sins. Every week we tell God that we're poor, miserable sinners.

[00:05:00] We say, merciful Father, I confess before you, my sinful nature. I have sinned against you by thought word and deed, but I do and leave undone. I've not loved my neighbor's myself. I have not loved you with my whole heart. And in that liturgy we just said today,

[00:05:19] I truly am a poor miserable sinner. I know I've broken your word. I know I've offended your ways and this is what confession is. It's coming bald face before the Lord with all our sin. It's coming transparently before God saying,

[00:05:35] this is who I am and it means that we bring all of it before Him. Not denying anything, not blaming anyone else, recognizing the fact that all are sin. The lust, the greed, the materialism, the arrogance, the pride, the selfishness, the ego centrism, the idolatry,

[00:05:55] the covetousness, the gossip, the anger, the wrath, the malice, the slander, the abusive speech, we bring it all before God. Because he knows it anyway, right? So why is it that we try to be like Adam and Eve,

[00:06:12] where we run from God, where we deny what we've done and we blame other folks. We have nobody else to blame. We can't deny what we've done and we surely can't hide from God. God knows everything you've done. He sees everything. And that's a scary, perilous thought,

[00:06:35] unless we know God in a different way. And our text tells us that there is a different way. Listen to what this text says. If we say, we have no sin. We deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

[00:07:01] When you think about Peter, last week we talked about Peter, remember? Jesus had a conversation with him, remember? We talked about this last week. Jesus had a conversation with him and he said this. Before the rooster crows, you're going to deny me not once,

[00:07:14] not twice, but three times. And Peter said, oh no, if all the other disciples leave you, I never will. You can count on me on your right-hand guy and then fast forward a few hours later. And Peter is in the courtyard.

[00:07:30] Three different people accuse him of knowing Jesus, each time he denies him. All of a sudden, what happens? That's horrible. I know that's horrible in prose. Go, go, go, go! I'm not a rooster, okay? Obviously, that was really bad. Faster, okay.

[00:07:52] Okay, all of a sudden, oh my goodness, Jesus is a prophet. Jesus knows exactly what's going to happen. The rooster crows. All of a sudden, Peter looks at him. And Jesus looks at Peter. And all of a sudden, all of a sudden, Peter remembers what Jesus said.

[00:08:11] And the Bible says he went out and he wept bitterly. And we talked about this last week. That was a guttural utterance. He felt so badly about his sin. It came from the depths of his soul.

[00:08:23] And he cried out to God, how could I deny the son of God? But we do the same thing. Every time we say we love the Lord and we go the opposite direction of what he says in his word,

[00:08:40] in a way we're denying him, in a way we're rejecting him, in a way we're running away from him, in a way we're blaming and not taking responsibility and denying. It's part of our human nature.

[00:08:55] Now I think about Peter, what was it like for him the next three days? Ever thought about that? The agony, the sorrow, the contrition, the remorse, the regret, the pain, the agony, the suffering inside, the depths of his soul. How could I have done what I've done?

[00:09:23] And if Jesus really does rise from the dead like he said to me, is going to have to be really does it? I get another chance to see him. What will we say? Well, the wagon is accusing finger at me. Will he condemn me? Will he reject me?

[00:09:36] Will he cast a gate me away from his presence? Will I be restored, refreshed, renewed, reinvigorated? Or will I be cast away as one of his followers forever? The agony that I believe Peter felt the next three days. I don't think he ate. I don't think he slept.

[00:09:53] I think he was so remorseful. I think he shed tears over and over and over again because he wandered. Will Jesus ever restore me? And my friends, this is what confession is. It's contrition. It's sorrow over the wrongs of our life.

[00:10:11] And ask God out of the depths of our soul to give us his mercy and grace and forgiveness. I think of Isaiah. And by the way, if sometimes all assigned Bible readings read the story in Isaiah, Isaiah six verses one to nine.

[00:10:31] It's one of the most powerful stories in all of Scripture. Here is Isaiah the prophet who struggled with his tongue. Do any of you struggle with your tongue? You ever say stuff you shouldn't say? Do sometimes bad words come out of your mouth?

[00:10:44] Does the S word, the F bomb sometimes come out of your mouth? I would hope not. But Isaiah was there. That's who he was. He struggled with a cursing tongue. And so all of this sudden, this is incredible stuff.

[00:10:57] All of the sudden, he's brought up into the presence of God. And God is seated on the throne, get the picture. And the serfs are flying around all around the throne. And he's sing this and he's shattering in fear because he's in the presence of God.

[00:11:12] He's a sinner and God is holy. He's a transgressor and God is perfect. And he's sing God in his glory. And he feels so unworthy. And the angels are flying around and they're saying these words, holy, holy, holy by the way.

[00:11:31] This is where the term Holy cow came from, right? Holy, holy, holy, why three Holies, try and God. Father, Son of Holy Spirit, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. He feels unworthy. He feels repent. He feels remorseful.

[00:11:57] And he says these words in a powerful confession before God. What am I? I'm a man of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips. And yet I've seen the Lord, God Almighty. I'm going to pick up that story in just a minute.

[00:12:20] But let's go back to Peter. After Jesus rose from the dead, the angel in Mark 16 sat on top of the rock of the empty tomb of Jesus. The empty tomb of Jesus. And says basically to the disciples and to the women who are there.

[00:12:45] Why do you seek the living among the dead? You seek Jesus of Nazareth. He's not here. Go and tell us to this. Go and tell us to disciples and Peter. Then I'll meet them in Galilee. Why did that angel pick out Peter? Because you think about it,

[00:13:04] you think about Thomas or our thawling you or Nathaniel or John or Andrew? Who is it that felt the most guilt and remorse about the crucifixion of the Son of God? It had to be Peter.

[00:13:18] And we talked about last week what a must have been like when Jesus restored Peter when Jesus meets Peter. What kind of word did he have? I almost would bet the bottom dollar my life on the fact that it wasn't these words. I told you so.

[00:13:34] I knew you'd mess up. Did I not predict it? Did I not tell you in the rooster crows? You denied me three times. Shame on you. Feel guilty, Peter. You screwed up.

[00:13:51] Now, if you come before God today and you say the same words that we said in that confession. If I say, I'm sinner through and through and I've messed up and I've broken God's commands and I've not obeyed His ways and I've not followed His will

[00:14:06] and I've not done what He's asked me to do. The good things He wants me to do, I don't do and the bad things He wants me to avoid is a very thing. I find myself doing that's us. And God knows it.

[00:14:20] And somehow in some way Peter was restored. And we go back to Isaiah chapter six and I say, is in the presence of God? He says, well to me, I'm a man of unclean lips living among the people of unclean lips.

[00:14:31] And yet I've seen the Lord God Almighty and what did the Father do? The Father dispatch one of the angels. And on the altar that was there and God above the altar are burning embers.

[00:14:46] And one of the angels takes a tongue kind of like on my Weber grill, okay? Takes a tongue and grabs one of the embers and seers not his eyes, not his ears, not his feet, not his hands. But his lips then says he's words.

[00:15:14] Now your guilt is atone for and your sin is gone. You see the last half of that verse, first John chapter one verse eight says this. But if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just. That means he's trustworthy, he's reliable. He's a just God.

[00:15:54] If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just. And we'll cleanse us of our sins and purify us from all in righteousness. Wherever you've sinned in your life, whatever you struggle with, whether it's ears that listen to things you shouldn't listen at,

[00:16:09] whether it's eyes that look at things you shouldn't see, whether it's a cursing tongue, feet that go air in ways, hands that do wrongful things, minds that are filled with anger and resentment, bitterness and all the things that are so wrong in the eyes of God.

[00:16:26] Do you know what God does to you personally? He comes to that particular sin in your life and the hot embers of God's burning love for you. Cleans as you of that sin, but not just that sin. All of them. All of them. Why?

[00:16:50] Because Jesus Christ went to the cross and died for you. And He experienced the wrath of God in our place. And He became sin for us. God demonstrated His own love for us in this.

[00:17:07] While we got our lives together Christ died for us, is that what it says? When we finally fixed our life, Christ died for us. When we got our stuff together, it started to be in God. Christ died for us. No, is that what it says? No.

[00:17:20] While we're still sinners. Christ died for us. Very rarely will anyone die for a good man though for a good man. One might possibly dare to even die. But God demonstrated His own love for us in this. While we're still sinners, Christ died for us.

[00:17:38] I'm talking about that on Wednesday. I'm talking about looking for love. The love of God and all the wrong places. And I've talked about that before. I'm going to reiterate it on Wednesday. So please come back. But the marvelous thing is, you're forgiven child of God.

[00:17:54] And I think of that song that my wife and I listened to on the way in to church today. You're a good, good father. It's who you are. It's who you are. And I'm loved by you. It's who I am. It's who I am.

[00:18:13] Who the son says free. Oh, is free indeed. I'm a child of God. Yes, I am. I say a new that. Peter knew that. We know that today. And so when we come to communion today and in a sense, by the way, I love communion

[00:18:42] and it's so tangible. It's so textual. Is that the right word? Texture? What's better? A texture person. Is that the right word? Texture? It's so texture oriented. It's something you can taste. It's something you can touch. It's something you can feel.

[00:18:58] And the very body that was sacrificed on the cross and the very blood that we shed on the cross is given and bestowed to you in this meal. It's like God has come to you with those burning ambers saying,

[00:19:10] be of Zalb, be forgiven, be cleansed, be renewed, be pardoned, be justified. You're a child of God. This is why we come to church because I don't know. I sin seven days a week, 24, 7. And you might be sitting there saying, well, I don't know. You're not saying that.

[00:19:34] You're saying, that's me. I'm an Isaiah. I'm a Peter. And I need God's grace. You have it today through faith in Jesus Christ. I don't know, many of you saw the movie together for good,

[00:19:59] but it's a movie that a bunch of us made at peace Lutheran church many years ago. And every bit of that movie just about is true. I know that sometimes producers and directors of Bellish films,

[00:20:13] but that's a kind of an unvarnished view of my wife's life when we adopted our son. And there's a scene in there that I experienced firsthand where this young lady had come into my office. And she was pregnant outside of marriage.

[00:20:30] And she started talking about the remorse and regret that she felt because she had had an abortion before. And she recognized that it was wrong and she knew it was wrong. And she's just pouring out her heart to me.

[00:20:44] And she's literally in tears down on her hands and knees just from the very depth of her soul, just crying to God for mercy. And all I could tell her was, she's a stide for that. He died for that sin.

[00:21:07] It's almost like God was using me to take the burning embers of his love and to see her soul with the love and forgiveness it only comes from the cross of Christ. I tell you today, the love and forgiveness that comes from the cross of Christ is yours.

[00:21:31] Now I want to tell you, how does that make you feel today? Awesome. Right? Now to the story in Isaiah chapter 6 and you're probably thinking, I thought that was a good place to stay in, pastor.

[00:21:47] Just a little bit more because I got to finish this story with Isaiah. Okay? So the lips are seared and then he asked his question. Actually, the Lord asked his question, who will I send it, talking to my people?

[00:22:01] And all of a sudden Isaiah has been cleansed and purified of his sin. And the burning ember has cleansed his lips if you will. All of a sudden what's Isaiah say, hey, I'm forgiven. I'm a child of God. I'm cleansed. I'm renewed. I'm stored.

[00:22:18] The Father says, who can I send to proclaim my mercies to my people? And what does he say? Here, my. Let me go. The good news you've heard today through faith in Jesus Christ is so powerful, not because I proclaimed it.

[00:22:37] But because it's the essence of God's word. And God looks to you today and he says, there's lost people, condemned people, people wandering away from me. People not carrying out my will. People who don't know me in Boulder, Colorado. Who shall I send?

[00:22:52] Do we go or do we go? Oh, go! Send me because people need to hear in Boulder, Colorado. What we've heard and know and believe today. So we're sent on a mission. Like Peter, like Isaiah, to tell people God loves them and redeem them

[00:23:30] and forgive them through his own sons precious blood. Thank you for tuning in to Daily Truths with Dave Olman. Pastor Dave Olman is the pastor of Mount Hope Church in Boulder, Colorado. If you feel led, would you consider giving to this ministry?

[00:23:46] Your tax deductible donation helps us continue sharing the gospel with as many people as possible. Simply click the link in the description below. So come back tomorrow for your next Daily Truth.