Kerwin Baptist Church Daily Sermon Broadcast

Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world so that all may know Christ. Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church located in Kernersville, North Carolina. Have you ever failed spiritually?

Am I the only one? Have you ever failed? In Psalm 51, it's very important, I know many of you know this, but let me just explain. David, King David, you know the story, but let me just, there might be some here that don't, so let me explain. King David was at war and David should have been at battle, but David was at war. So David was at home as the king when the king should have been on the battlefield. And there was a man in his army whose wife was at home. And that man was out at war where King David should have been. And that man's wife was named Bathsheba. And while David was at home where he shouldn't have been, the Bible says that on her rooftop he saw her bathing and began to lust after her and he, being the king, decided he wanted her. And he did that, which is obviously not right, she got pregnant. And when that happened he decided he was going to try to find some way to hide that, so he called his right-hand man, Joab, and he said, I want you to go to the battle, get her husband, bring him back, and when he comes back, send him home.

Thinking that if he's been at battle, he goes home, that if she ends up pregnant, everybody would think it's his child. But he was such an honorable man that when he came home knowing that his friends were at battle, he never went to a battle. He never went to his wife, he slept at the king's door to guard him. So now David's little excuse, his little plan didn't work, so he sent him to the battlefield and had him killed. So years transpire and different things have happened, and all of a sudden the man of God comes to David one day, his name was Nathan the prophet. And when Nathan comes in he begins to tell David this story about a man that had a lamb and raised the lamb, but a rich ruler came in and stole that lamb out right from his hands. And David heard this story and he began, and for the sake of time I'm not going to tell you the entire story, but when David heard it, David looked at him and he said, Nathan, the man of God, the prophet, he said, you tell me who that is and I'm going to punish him. And Nathan the prophet looked and he put that finger right in his face. He said, David, thou art the man. For the first time, David was slapped in the face with the fact that everybody knew. And by the way, God knows everything that we do. Nathan looked at David and he said, God said that you are going to restore that lamb.

In other words, you're going to pay for this fourfold. And that baby, that Bathsheba had, it died. That was the first thing he had to pay for. Then David had a daughter who was raped by her brother.

And that was the second thing. And as you go through David's life, you see all the way up to the culmination when Absalom was killed, his own son that came after him as David, his whole life restored this fourfold. And in Psalm 51, this is David's repentance at what he had done. Nathan had just come in and told him, God knows what you've done, you're the man that did this and you will answer for it.

And in Psalm 51, this is David's repentance. Now let me ask you again, have you ever failed spiritually? You say, well, I haven't done that. Well, why don't we just talk about what we have done? Any of us like to bring it up? I don't know about you. I have some secrets and I want to keep them that way. Some of you do too.

Nobody has secrets with God. What do you do when you fail? You say, well, I guess I just have to give up. I've done wrong. I failed.

So what do you do? Well, it's wonderful that the Bible teaches a doctrine and it's called the doctrine of repentance. And that's when you are faced with the fact that I've done wrong, I've sinned. Now, what is your reaction to that going to be? You know, when the man of God points a finger figuratively at some people and says, you're the sinner, I'm the sinner, you've done wrong.

And they're faced with the truth of God's word. Some people rebel against that. This thing keeps rubbing. I don't know what's going on. But it's distracting me.

I know it's distracting you. Some people rebel. Some people say, well, I'm not going back to that church. And by the way, we have churches nowadays that don't ever preach against sin and they don't ever talk about doing wrong. And they don't ever mention the fact that you have to face what you've done. And there is there is an answering and there is a punishment for sin. They don't want to talk about that because they don't want people to be offended and they want everybody to just love coming to church and have a wonderful time and never feel bad, never feel guilty. But can I tell you something, dear friend, we are responsible by God to teach what God's word says.

Now, why is this important? Well, before I read the passages, I want to let you know the interesting thing about this passage. The first 13 verses is what I'm going to deal with this morning and I'll be brief, but I've separated them into three things. I have read Psalm 51.

I don't know how many times, but I dug and dug and dug and dug in this chapter, especially this week. And I find three different areas. And I'll tell you why it's so interesting to me in verses one through five. It deals with our conscience versus six through 10. It deals with our heart. And then in verse 10 through 13, it deals with our spirit.

Now you say, why is that important? Look up here at me. Let me explain this. The Bible says that you and I were created in the image of God. Can I tell you something? You and I don't look like God.

You know that? God doesn't look like you. You don't look like God. So what does that mean? What it means is we were created in the image of God.

It means this. We all know that God is a trinity. And we've explained this before. In other words, the Godhead, we call it, it consists of three individuals. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

But those three individuals aren't the same person. It means this, that you say, that doesn't make sense to me. Well, there's a lot of things in the Bible that won't make sense to you, but that's what faith's all about. That means this, there's God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. God the Father is the Father.

He has been in Heaven. And God the Son, Jesus Christ, who is the Son, He came to earth to die for our sins. He became man. And yet while He was man, He was still God, but He was man also. So Jesus took on a human form, and He came and died on the cross for our sins. He was the only one of the Godhead that could.

Because God the Father is God. And God the Father cannot look on sin or God wouldn't be holy. And so therefore, Jesus the Son, the Spirit couldn't come die on the cross for our sins, because the Holy Spirit's a spirit, and He can't be a man.

He couldn't be human. And so God the Son, Jesus Christ willingly gave Himself, died on the cross for our sins. God the Father had to turn His head.

He couldn't look on the Son when Jesus died on the cross for our sins. But after Jesus died and He rose again, now Jesus purchased our pardon. He covered our sins. Now our relationship with God the Father can be restored. Now you and I have access to God the Father.

Not because of anything we've done. We're sinful people. But because Jesus died for our sins, He's purchased our redemption, now we can access the Father. But the Holy Spirit is the third member of the Godhead. And the Bible says that Jesus, when He was here on earth, looked at His believers and His disciples, and He said, I must go to heaven, but I will not leave you comfortless. So I am going to give you the comforter, the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit lives inside of our hearts, and He says, it's expedient for you that I go and leave Him. That is how wonderful the role of the Holy Spirit is. Jesus said, now that I purchased your sin, it's more important for you to have the Holy Spirit than to have me here on earth. Wow! Now is your head ready to explode yet? So when you and I were created in the image of God, that means this, you and I are a trinity.

Do you remember that? That's what it means we were created. Listen, we all have a body, a soul, and a spirit. That consists of this, we have a mind, we have a will, and we have emotions.

And those very three things, if you term them differently, that means this, we have a conscience, we have a heart, and we have a spirit. So when David here is repenting in Psalm 51, listen to me, you've got to get this. True Bible repentance involves the mind, the heart, and the spirit.

Let me illustrate. How many times, those of you that have been in church a long time, somebody preaches, God begins to move you, you feel guilty for some of the things you've done. By the way, we ought to feel guilty. For some reason in church, it's like, oh, we don't want people to feel guilty. We're supposed to feel guilty. Do you want your child to feel guilty when they steal something, and they're eight years old, don't you want them to feel guilty? I don't want them to feel bad, you know.

Well, you're going to be visiting them in jail for the next 20 years then. You want them to feel, listen, we're supposed to feel guilty because when we do wrong, that's what we're supposed to feel. But listen to me, once you get there, how many times have you been in a service, here preaching, you come to an altar, you know why? Because your conscience told you I've done wrong. How many times have you and I in an altar say, God, I'm sorry for such and such, and within three days, or sometimes within an hour, after leaving church, we're right back doing the same thing.

Let me tell you why. Because we really didn't repent. Our mind got into repentance, but our heart never did.

Do you understand? So David here had repented numerous times, but now he was serious. And true repentance always involves the conscience, the heart, and the spirit.

Now let's look at this so you can understand it, because I want you to really understand this passage. Look if you would at verse one. It says this, Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness. According unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Now listen to me, the Bible says this, that you and I, our conscience can be seared with a hot iron. It means this. You and I can get to the point we can sin so much and so often that we don't even feel bad about it anymore.

Okay? David exhibiting in these first five verses is this. His conscience was not so seared that he did not feel guilt. He felt guilt. Notice if you would, number one, in verse one, it's a call for mercy. He says this, Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.

What did David's conscience tell him? I have transgressed. I've done wrong. And can I say this? When you are faced in your mind, I've done wrong.

And you know what? I've done some things that's just not right. I am here to say that first thing, the fact that you feel guilty about it is a good sign. That means at least you still have a conscience. And the Bible here says that David had a conscience and his first reaction was this, because I feel bad. God, I need mercy.

And can I say this? When you've done wrong and when I've done wrong and when all God's children have done wrong, what we need is God's mercy. If we didn't have his mercy, we wouldn't have nothing.

Excuse the expression. It's not grammatically correct, but it's biblically correct. We wouldn't have anything if it wasn't for his mercy. So first thing David says, God, your lovingkindness, which means this. It's a lovingkindness.

It means it extends further than it should have to. And God, your multitude of mercies, God, you're a merciful God. And by the way, David knew that God was a holy God.

He just got told he'd have to answer for his sin. But he said, I know that you're holy and I know that you're just, but I also know that you're merciful. And God, I need mercy. Second, verse two, he has a call for forgiveness.

Look at verse two. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin.

Can I say this? That when you and I are faced with the fact, I have failed spiritually. We immediately need to ask for God's mercy. And then we immediately, second, need to ask God to forgive us. God, cleanse me from my sin. God, please forgive me. I've done wrong. This is still the conscience, folks. Because how many times have we gotten down to the altar and we say, God, I'm sorry. I need mercy. Please forgive me.

And then we went right back home and did the same thing. So we're still in the conscience state. It still is conscience.

It's still the mind we're dealing with. And David says, God, I need forgiveness. I need your mercy.

Please forgive me. Notice this, verse three through five. There's a call for mercy, a call for forgiveness, but now we see him coming clean.

Notice verse three. For I acknowledge my transgressions. Can I tell you what's hard for an individual sometimes? They just won't admit that they've done it. As soon as they're faced with what they've done, you know what you and I often do?

We try to blame somebody for it. Hey, you treated your wife like a dog. Well, it's because she, no. It doesn't matter what she or anybody. You treated her like a dog, it's your fault. Yeah, but she tried to shoot me.

Who cares? I'm just picking. You do that, you need to get away.

Or get a bulletproof vest, something. Listen to me. What is our immediate reaction many times? Is we're going to give you a reason why we did wrong, and it's not my fault, and it's because of my childhood.

Isn't that big nowadays? You know, it's because of the way I was raised and I had a dysfunctional family. I would love to see a functional family one time. I've never seen a dysfunctional family. Functional family must be a bunch of robots because we're humans. We all had dysfunctional family. Yes, some are worse than others, and yes, some of you experienced things that we couldn't even mention this morning. I'm not talking about that.

I'm saying that we can't keep blaming everybody else. David said, I acknowledge my transgressions. Not somebody else's, not my parents, not my wife's, not my family. Well, you cheated on Bathsheba. Well, it's because my wife just wasn't good to me at home.

Well, she didn't meet my needs. David didn't blame his wife. He didn't blame anybody. He said, my transgressions.

Get quiet. Notice this, that he acknowledged his sin. Notice, if you would, verse three, he said, my sin is ever before me.

This is great. I don't know if you've ever seen this in this passage. David said, I acknowledge my transgressions, and he said this, my sin is ever before me, which means this, I'm never gonna be able to get away from the memory of this sin. Now, can I say this, that when we sin, God forgives us, but can I say part of the penalty of sin is we can't forget it. It's always there, but let me tell you the best thing about this passage. David said, my sin is ever before me.

He didn't say it's ever before God. You see, it's nice to know, hey, I can't forget some things, but David said, it's always before me, but it's not always before God, because God wipes the slate clean. As far as God's concerned, you've been forgiven. As far as God's concerned, that sin is as far as the east is from the west, and while you might not ever be able to get it out of your mind, aren't you glad it's out of the mind of God? You're forgiven.

You're cleansed. We find here he acknowledged his sin, but notice, if you would, verse four. He says, against thee, the only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest. This is what David said, God, I want you to know I know I've sinned against you, and I know I did you wrong, so when it comes time for you to judge me, and when it comes time for you to give the sentence, he said, God, I want you to know I understand, because I did it to you.

You have a right to judge me. So we find not only that he acknowledges sin, but second, he acknowledged his sentence. He said, all right, God, you can speak to me and you can judge me, because I've done wrong to you. He's saying this, God, you have all the right in the world to sentence me.

And can I say this? God has all the right in the world to sentence us. Notice, if you would, thirdly, that he acknowledged his sinful nature. Look, if you would, at verse five, he said, behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and the sinned in my mother conceived me. David said, God, I've been a sinner since I was born.

Do you know that you and I have a sinful nature? I was talking with Phil this week, and Phil was talking about Levi, and Levi was one of the best babies I've ever seen. And, you know, he's just good natured, but they're already dealing with things. And Phil was saying that, you know, Levi was playing in the floor or something, and Phil had told him no, no, and handed him a toy. He's like, don't do this. And he said, Levi, just grab that thing and throw it in the floor. And he's just, who had to teach him to do that? Nobody.

You know why? We're sinners. Babies know how to sin. They know. And can I tell you this, David said, hey, I've been a sinner since birth. I've fought this battle my whole life. We're still dealing with a conscience.

Notice, if you would, secondly, we deal with a heart. Look at verse six, if you would. David said, behold thou, who is he talking to?

God. He said, behold thou desirous truth in the inward parts. And in the hidden part, thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

This is great. What David is saying, the trip down to the altar, God, I've done wrong. God, I need mercy. God, I need forgiveness. I acknowledge my sin. I acknowledge that you can judge me, and I know I have a sinful nature.

That's all on the mind, but so many times you and I get to that point, and we say, all right, we get up out of the altar, we go back to the seat, and we go home and live the same way. But David said, God, what you desire is not just for me to admit I'm a sinner, admit my sin, ask you for mercy, ask you forgiveness. David said, God, what you desire is truth in the inward parts. That's when repentance begins.

Not just I know I've done wrong, but now I'm honest with myself. David said, God, you don't just want this outward sacrifice and this outward show of coming to an altar. What you want is truth on the inside, and that's where I think you and I struggle. We still have this act.

We still have this thing. I know how I'm supposed to do it, and I know how I'm supposed to look, but it's not really us on the inside, and we make trip after trip to the altar, and we sit in the seat, and we sit at home, and we say, God, I've done wrong, and I'm sorry, and I know I've done wrong, and we think we're some great Christian because we feel wrong, and it's good that you feel wrong, but that doesn't fix it. What God wants is truth on the inside. He wants the heart to be right. Many times in our churches, our independent Baptist churches, we oftentimes worry so much on the outside, and we should, but we skip the heart.

And we're right on the outside, but our heart is cold. David said, God, you desire truth on the inside. That means this, in verse six, he says first, you desire an honest heart, an honest heart. Could I ask you, dear friend, could it be, I don't care how long you've been here, how good you look, how people think about you at this church, could it be that some of us need to come to the realization, I am a rotten sinner, and I have been sinning against God, I'm saved, and I know it, and I've been a church member for years, but my heart's not right, and I haven't had a right attitude, and I've been cold, and I haven't been faithful, and maybe you and I today need an honest heart, because that's what God wants. May God get us off our high horse and think that we're something that we're not, and let us just get right down to where the rubber meets the road and admit, I've been lying to myself, I've been lying to people, I've been putting on a show, but I'm not right with God. I've got things in my life I'm hiding, I've got sin that's there, and I'm not dealing with it.

Nothing will stop a church growth, nothing will stop invitations, nothing will stop revival, nothing will stop God moving like dishonest hearts. Notice if you would, secondly, in verse 7, he said, purge me with the hyssop, and I shall be clean, wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. He says, secondly, God, you want a holy heart. He said, purge me, make me clean, make me whiter than snow, holy. He said, God, I got a bunch of junk, a bunch of mess in that heart of mine, and God, I know you want an honest heart, and God, I know that you desire a holy heart, so God, clean me out, make me whiter than snow.

God, help me deal with some of this mess in my heart. Can I say this, that holiness has left our churches, but it hadn't left God. It's still what he desires. He desires honest hearts and he desires holy hearts. Then he says this in verse 8, make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. He said, God, you've had to judge me, and you've had to do some things to me, and you've had to break some bones, but God, if you just bring back that joy to my life so that these bones that you've broken could rejoice once again, that means this third, God wants a happy heart.

He said, David said, God, I just need that happiness back, I need that joy of serving you. My heart, can I tell you this, a heavy heart will not last long. I don't mean heavy because you've lost a loved one, I don't mean heavy because you're going through trials, I mean heavy from sin. And I'm here to say a heavy heart before long will quit coming to church, quit reading their Bible, quit singing in the choir, quit serving, quit ushering, quit everything, because sin chokes it out of you.

And David said, God, I'm tired of bearing this burden. I'm tired of having a heavy heart. I need to have a happy heart once again. I need to be able to come to church and not have all this guilt of all the things I've done this week and being a fake and acting like I'm something I'm not. God, I need to be able to come to church with a clear conscience and know that I'm serving you and I'm trying to do what's right. And that's what brings happiness to a heart.

There's no more miserable person than a Christian that's not right with God. I want you to notice lastly what he says in verse nine, he says, hide thy face from my sins, blot out all my iniquities. He says forth, God wants an honorable heart. Honorable.

He says, you know what, God, I just, if I could just get this stuff out of my life, just blot out these iniquities. Make me honorable once again. Make me a vessel, the Bible says, unto honor. God says I can use a clean vessel. David says, I want you to use me again.

God, I haven't felt you using me. I remember the victory you gave me over Goliath and I remember the victory you gave me over the lion and over the bear and I remember all the things when Saul was trying to chase me and when Saul was trying to kill me and you kept me safe and you gave me a kingdom. And you gave me a kingdom and you made me king. You took me as a little shepherd boy and you put me in places on high. God, I remember when you used to work in my life but you can't work anymore and I've been dry and I've been cold and I have sin in my life. God, I want you to make me honorable again.

Make me a vessel you could use again. Oh dear Sunday school teacher, has God been moving in your class? I mean really? Has God been moving in your house?

Could it be that there's some sin, there's some things that aren't right in our lives and we put on a show to convince people that we're okay? But let's get honest. Let's come clean.

Let's say God, I need to get this right. I'm tired of bearing this burden. Notice as we draw to an end, look at verse 10, created me a clean what? Heart.

Oh God. We've seen the conscience. We've seen the heart. Notice if you would, the end of verse 10 is right when he swaps and he introduces the new subject. He said, created me a clean heart, oh God, finished subject and renew a right what? Spirit within me.

I want to deal with just a few minutes on the spirit and we'll be done. Look at verse 11. Cast me not away from thy presence. Take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free what? Spirit.

Then will I teach transgressors thy ways and sinners shall be converted unto me. Let me say this and I'll let you go. Listen to me. Number one, spirit, our spirit always needs acceptance. Our spirit needs acceptance.

Notice what he says first. Cast me not away from thy presence. Everything will burden a person's spirit more than rejection. And now we've left the conscience. Now we've left the heart. And when you finally get the heart right, then you realize because of all this sin in your life, your spirit's been damaged. And now I've got my heart right, I realize I haven't been wanting to serve God and I have a heavy spirit and I haven't had the joy of God and I haven't enjoyed serving him and I haven't enjoyed church. I sit there and I don't get one thing. And dear friend, listen to me, I'm here to tell you that I know I'm not a good preacher and I know there's plenty of other good pastors, but I know I've been digging in God's word and I know I'm preaching what God wants me to preach and if you're not getting anything, it might be that our heart is cold. You can only blame the preacher so far where the problem might be at your own doorstep. Why are you cold?

Well, they got a new preacher. Why are you cold? Well, I don't like this.

Why are you cold? Well, I don't like that. What are we doing? Blaming everybody else and saying, God, it's my transgression. It's my fault. It's my sin. A spirit always needs acceptance.

Can I tell you something? Nothing will discourage a teenager more than to feel rejected by his peers. Those of you that have teenagers at home, society is messed up right now. And you'll have teenagers that don't feel accepted by people and what do they do? They'll go to a boyfriend or a girlfriend for acceptance.

Mom and dad don't have time. They're busy working, trying to buy things. And they'll go find acceptance in a guy or a girl. They'll go find acceptance in a group. They'll go find acceptance in the worst possible place there is. You know why? Because our spirit needs acceptance.

There's nothing more discouraging to an individual, even an adult, than to feel rejection. Notice, second, our spirit needs fellowship. He says this, cast me not away from thy presence. Notice this, take not thy Holy Spirit from me. He said, David said, God, please don't take the Holy Spirit from me.

No, we know God won't. But David's saying this, that's the only fellowship I have is with the Holy Spirit. By the way, why does the Holy Spirit live inside of you so we can fellowship with God through the ministry of the Holy Spirit? That Holy Spirit's what gives us a conscience. That Holy Spirit's what lets us know, hey, that's not right what you're doing. There's something missing in your life.

There's something that's not quite right. That's the Holy Spirit. And listen to me, when you and I don't read our Bible, we don't pray, and we don't converse with God, we have lack of fellowship with the Spirit.

David said, don't take that away. The Spirit needs fellowship. Listen, why do you get discouraged as a Christian oftentimes? Because we haven't spent time with God.

You know why? Because the Spirit needs fellowship. Our spirit, and remember, we are body, soul, and spirit. Our spirit needs fellowship. God bless you.