Finding God When You Need Him Most - Experiencing God When You've Blown it Big Time, Part 2

Jesus is the God of second chances. Jesus is the Savior of the world. Jesus is the God that you come to and say, I want a do-over.

And Jesus is the God who says, absolutely. The question is, how do you get cleansed, forgiven, and headed back on the right track? That's today. You're not going to want to miss it. Thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Chip's our Bible teacher for this international teaching and discipleship ministry focused on helping Christians live like Christians. And today we're wrapping up our series, Finding God When You Need Him Most, with the remainder of Chip's talk, Experiencing God When You've Blown It Big Time. But before we get going, if this is your first time listening to Living on the Edge or you want to learn more about what we do, go to livingonthedge.org.

You'll find resources there on tons of topics and countless programs to enjoy. Or if you prefer, the Chip Ingram app is also a great way to get plugged in with our ministry. Well, if you have a Bible, Chip will be back in Psalm 51 today. And as you go there, he continues walking us through how a believer can be spiritually restored when they sin.

Well, let's dive in. Third step to spiritual recovery, own responsibility for your sin. And that flows out of verses three through five.

He says, for I know, it's in the emphatic position. And notice there's going to be five different times in these three little verses he's going to own his sin. For I know that my transgressions and my sin is always before me. Against you and you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. So that you're proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Do you hear what he's doing?

He owns it. You know, this is almost unheard of in our day. You know, when we sin, our first words are, well, you understand the kind of home that I came out of. Well, you understand the environment at our job and in the industry, everyone lies. And when you travel this much, everyone's going to have an affair now and then. And you'd understand my marriage really isn't very fulfilling. And I mean, you know, I have to have my needs met.

I got to be fulfilled. And surely you, you know what that does? That's just another layer of denial.

I have a good friend who somehow along the way got in a jam and didn't pay the IRS one year, then he went another year and didn't pay, and then third year, then a fourth year, and pretty soon you start not paying, then paying one year and they check your records, it gets a little bad, you know? And I remember the conversation at a restaurant. And this guy's involved in ministry and doing all kind of stuff.

It's amazing the dissonance we can live with, isn't it? You know, we can pray and lead a Bible study and have people over at our home and, you know, go to church and just be flat out lying and cheating over here. And I remember the day he decided to own his own sin, made a call to the IRS and said, if you put me in jail, you put me in jail. I've not paid a cent in five years. I want to work something out, but I know what I deserve.

Have mercy on me. They developed a payout plan. They worked it out. That guy's life with God totally changed because he got rid of the secret. He came clean. Fourth, accept God's forgiveness and cleansing.

This is critical. See, David was a man of faith. Even after the sin, the New Testament describes him as a man after God's own heart. We need to come clean with God, ask him for forgiveness, own responsibility for our sin and the consequences, by the way, which he did.

And by the way, as you read that, he wasn't blaming his mom. He was saying, my sin problem is so big, it goes all the way back to my roots. We sin as people, David alluded to, not only by choice, but by nature. We're all sinners. From the moment we walked into the world, we sin.

Adam is our father, and the apostle Paul would teach that this is a part of who we are, and that's why we need the second Adam Christ. Now he says, accept God's forgiveness and cleansing. Major shift in the Psalm in verse 6 now turns very positive. He's putting it behind him.

This is what happened. Now I want to move on with you. God, surely you desire truth in the inner parts. He's saying, God, I want a relationship with you, and here's the deal. You only have a relationship with God the second you get honest. It's not about making up for it.

It's not about trying to do good things to balance it out. The moment you get honest, see, that's what God wants. John 4, what do you say to the woman at the well?

The father is seeking worshipers who worship him in spirit and in truth. See, what I've learned is I've done some dumb things. I've done some bad things. I've done some sinful things, and I've often felt really bad for two or three weeks and tried to do good things to balance them out. Nothing helps, but the moment I've gotten honest with God, come clean and said, I blew it.

Help me. You get grace. You get grace because God is looking for truth in the innermost man. Then he goes on to say, you teach me wisdom or skill in the innermost place.

He's talking about how to live and how to be a man of God, a woman of God. And then he says, cleanse me with hyssop. It's a little herb that would dip in blood, ceremonial cleansing, and I'll be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness and let the bones you've crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Now, I want to show you something. If you have a pen, you might jot this in.

It doesn't come out in the NIV as clearly. There are four phrases here that are in the future tense. The first one here where he says, surely you desire truth in the innermost parts, literally after that it says, you will teach me wisdom in the innermost place. You will cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean. You will wash me, and I'll be whiter than snow. You will let me hear joy and gladness.

See what these really are? They're more than desires, they're affirmations. See, David is accepted. You will. He says, I know based on your character, not my sin, you will restore. You'll guide me. You'll restore me.

You'll return me. You see, he is accepting the work of God. When Nathan said, the Lord has forgiven you, David didn't go back into the palace and say, but I just can't forgive myself. I know God's forgiven me, but I just can't forgive myself. Have you ever done that?

Boy, I have. And I don't know about you, but I mean, I've had things where, you know, God, I'll never do that again, I do it. God, I'll never do that again, I do it. God, I promise never, never, never, never, I'll do that again, and I do it. Don't look at me that way. And then I felt so overwhelmed and so guilty, I feel like, why even pray?

Why ask Him again? You know, I'm a jerk. And then I know the Scripture. I know what the Bible teaches. I know it says that Christ died on the cross for all my sin. I know the moment I trusted Christ, He paid for my sin past, present, and future. I know I'm positionally right in my relationship with God, but I need to confess my sin, agree with God about it to be cleansed and restore fellowship.

But I played the game for years, but I can't forgive myself. Little sins meant be depressed two days. Big sins mean be depressed two months. Don't read your Bible, don't pray. Mopey, mopey, mopey, mopey, which usually led me to other sins, by the way.

And then I had a guy sit down with me and open the Bible. And I was expecting comfort and encouragement, and I didn't get it. I got rebuked. He said, Ingram, how arrogant can you be?

I said, what do you mean? He said, you are arrogant. I said, no, I just can't forgive myself.

And you fill it in. I just can't forgive myself. I had an abortion. I can't forgive myself. I had an affair. I can't forgive myself. I stole money and I knew better. I can't forgive myself. I was not a good father.

I'm not a good mom. He said, now let me get this right, Chip. God looks at your situation and He's taken the guilt of your sin, taken it off of you, allowed Jesus to hang on the cross who was perfect, fully God, fully man, and He placed it all on Him for the purchase price and the payment. And God has declared you innocent and declared that Christ's payment of His pure blood pays for it. And you're going to say to God, that's not quite good enough? I said, I've never looked at it quite like that. Have you? Are you willing to accept where you've blown it, but then accept the cleansing?

Can you accept? I don't understand. You are loved. You are special.

You are valued. And it's not because of who you are. It's because who God is. He doesn't love like other people. He loves you unconditionally.

Accept God's forgiveness and cleansing. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. And Chip will be back in just a minute to finish today's talk. But quickly, this program is only possible because of the generosity of listeners like you. Consider supporting us today by becoming a monthly partner.

Learn more by going to livingontheedge.org, that's livingontheedge.org. And thanks for doing whatever God leads you to do. Well, let's rejoin Chip now for the remainder of his message. Fifth, request a fresh work of grace. You know, this isn't like, you know, doing bad things and then wiping it off so you can do something else on the board. I remember a situation in my life, and I'll get myself in trouble here. I mean, I was like on the tilt, and I was just ready to sin in a very familiar area, and I was thinking, no, no, no, no, no, Holy Spirit working, and my flesh going, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, no, no, no, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And this thought came to my mind. Well, I'll go ahead and sin, and then I'll ask for forgiveness later. Did you ever think of that one? It's called presumption on the grace of God.

It may be one of the most dangerous things you ever think, let alone do. See, genuine forgiveness means you're genuinely repentant. And see, what David says is, man, I've had that guilt against you and you only if I sin. Now, did he sin against Bathsheba? Yeah. Uriah? Yes. The nation?

Yes. But what he understands is every time we violate another person, ultimately it goes back to their creator, God. And so what he's going to say is, I don't want anything to do with sin.

I want a fresh start. And if you're genuinely repentant in your heart, you're not going to try and play games with God. Oh, good, thank you for forgiving that.

This is kind of easy. That's dangerous ground. You may find the high, heavy hand of the Lord when you start playing those kind of games. Notice what he says in verses 10 to 12. He says, create in me a pure heart, O God.

Great word here, by the way. It's used about two or three different times in Scripture. It's used in creation. It means to bring bara. It means to bring something out of nothing.

God speaks and creates life. David, he's asking for a miracle. He said, man, I was low. I was bad.

I've offended you. He says, God, I want you to do a new creation. I want you to do a miracle.

What is it? Create in me a pure heart and then renew a steadfast spirit. Why?

I don't know about you. When I sin, I want to give up. Give me that steadfast spirit within. And then do not cast me from your presence or take the Holy Spirit from me.

Where did he get that? Remember Saul? Saul was the king. Saul turned away from God.

Saul back slid. And in the Old Testament economy, they weren't sealed with the Spirit. It's the new covenant where we have the Spirit of God living in us. They didn't have that. The Spirit of God would come upon a prophet or a king for a special assignment. They don't have the Spirit and didn't have it like we have it. And so David saw what happened to Saul and he said, O God, don't take the Holy Spirit from me.

Please don't. Now, you don't have to worry about that. The new covenant is that I will be their God and they will be my people. Ephesians 1, 13 says you've been sealed with the Spirit. Romans 8, 28 to 38 or 39 says that nothing can separate you from the love of Christ.

But notice what he does. Create, renew, don't cast and then restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. You feel low. You feel depressed. You don't like yourself. You know what he's saying? He said, God, I want back in.

I want to experience your fellowship. I can't do it. It's not about me pulling up my bootstraps, trying harder once again and saying, I'll do, I'll do, I'll do, I'll do. No, you won't. I never did. You don't have the power.

David didn't have the power. Create, renew, restore, sustain. He's saying, God, I want to pray and feel your presence like I did before. God, I want to pray and see you work. God, I want to go into the worship with God's people and sense your love and your appreciation and your affirmation and your joy. God, I don't want to just be cleansed. I want to get filled again. Ask God to do a fresh work. Request of him to do a fresh work in your heart.

He'll do it. Some of the greatest people in all scripture are people who blew it big time. Moses, murder.

Paul, murder. You think they got forgiven? You bet. Did they experience great times with God? Yes. Was he used mildly by God? Yes. Was there baggage, hurt, pain, tough issues?

Yes. Six, resolve to use past failures for ministry. See, God wants to use the most difficult, painful, sinful thing you've done and make you a trophy of his grace where your testimony is, this is where I was and only by the grace of God, this is where I am.

He gets all the credit. Notice, in verse 13, what's he say? Then, God, when you do this new work in me, then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will turn back to you.

Hey, he says, I don't want to just have fellowship. I want to get back on the team. I want to get back on the playing floor. I want to be used by you. I want to teach other people your ways.

What ways? The ways of our forgiving, grace-filled God who takes the evil that we do and somehow forgives and turns it around for good. He goes on to say, save me from blood guilt. Oh, God, the God who saves me and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. I want people to know about what you're really like, your character. Oh, Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise.

See, he wants to be back a part of ministering to others. He's resolved. I've blown it. I deserve death. I've been forgiven.

I've been restored. Oh, God, I don't want to be some second-class Christian citizen who says, well, I'm a Christian, but I've been divorced. I'm a Christian, but I've had an abortion. I'm a Christian, but I had an affair. I'm a Christian, but I lied at work. I'm a Christian, but I was convicted of embezzlement. I was a Christian, but I spent some time in jail. You know what you are? You are a Christian who's forgiven of all that, and God will use those very things. Harold Bogardus was going to share part of his testimony this weekend, but he had to work.

Five to six hundred people every midweek eat here. Did you know that Harold spent some time in jail? Did you know Harold found the Lord in jail?

Hundreds, thousands of people, thousands of people have been impacted by Harold Bogardus. See, God will take wherever you've been, and he'll use it for good. If you and me can let our pride go and say, God, I'm open, I'm willing.

And then notice the little aside. You do not delight, verse 16, in sacrifice where I would bring it. You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do you hear what David learned? This is like a little aside, a little theological aside perspective. Is David saying that the Old Testament law is no longer, you know, that no burnt offerings would be given?

No, of course not. Is he saying that, what's he saying is that external religion, doing things by the book, reading your Bible more, giving, praying, getting involved in ministry, whatever ours are, what David saw was, hey, all the time he was in sin with Bathsheba, I'll guarantee he was still going to the temple. It's part of the king's role. He was still playing the game. He was still religious up to his eyeballs and God wasn't showing up in his life. You know why?

Because of this. The true sacrifices of God, prayers have meaning when they come from a broken and contrite heart. A gift of money has meaning in worship when it comes from a broken and contrite heart.

Loving other people, being involved in ministry has meaning when it comes from a broken and contrite heart. When you understand who you are and you understand who God is and you come clean, he says that's the sacrifice. And notice, I love the line, you will not despise. I don't care where you've been. I don't care what you've done.

I don't care what you're doing right now. You come to God with a broken heart. He will not turn you away. You come honestly repentant and you say you're sorry and you will be hugged by the God of the universe and he will forgive out of his character and his son's work on the cross. Finally, pray for limited fallout from your folly.

That's number seven. Notice David picks it up and he says, In your good pleasure make Zion, that's Jerusalem, prosper. Build up the walls of Jerusalem. Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you.

Then bulls will be offered on your altar. Do you hear what he's doing? I mean, he heard what Nathan said. The sword's not going to depart from your house. Well, he's the king.

Your family, your own family, out of your own family, there's going to be great embarrassment. And what David knows is, is just like us, your sin never affects just you. My sin never affects just me. And what David knew was his enemies, the last line of 2 Samuel 12, 13, the last line is now your enemies have this advantage because of what you've done.

And you know what David's basically saying? Hey, limit the fallout. Just please limit the... Please don't let my sin mess up my kids too bad. Please don't let my sin mess up my family too badly. Please don't let it... My sphere of influence as the king of Israel, don't let it mess up your... Oh God, oh God, I'm the one.

I deserve to get it. And what God would say to us is, Come clean with me. One, ask for forgiveness. Two, own responsibility for your sin. Three, accept God's forgiveness and cleansing. Four, request a fresh work of grace. Five, resolve to use past failures for ministry.

Six, and pray for limited fallout from your folly. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram and the message you just heard, experiencing God when you've blown it big time, is from our series Finding God When You Need Him Most. Chip will join us in studio to share some insights from today's talk in just a minute. It's been said adversities in life are a lot like experiencing storms on the ocean. Either you've just faced one, you're facing one now, or you're about to face one. Sounds a bit depressing, right? So how do we prepare? Well, in this series, Chip studied vital chapters in the book of Psalms and identified several tools God's given us to develop courage, strength, and hope, regardless of the circumstances. Well, let me encourage you to go back and revisit any part of this series at livingontheedge.org or through the Chip Ingram app. Chip's joined me in studio now, and Chip, we are a teaching and discipleship ministry focused on helping Christians live like Christians. But many of our listeners may not know what that means or the impactful work we're involved in. So take a minute, if you would, and share some examples of how Living on the Edge supports and encourages people everywhere.

I'd be glad to, Dave. One of the great joys of my life is the letters, e-mails, Facebook messages that I get from people literally all around the country and all around the world, and they tell me these amazing stories of how Living on the Edge has been a tool used by God to change their life. Maybe you're one of those people that have really been impacted by the ministry. I mean, I hear from people from every age, profession, background, every person imaginable, and what I hear is this same constant drumbeat of God spoke to me, I took a step of faith, now God's using me. And what I want you to know is that that's the heart of our ministry. We want to put teaching and tools and small group materials and downloadable things that we actually give away to help people not just live like Christians but be ambassadors and agents of change and grace in their homes, their schools, and their workplaces.

And if you're one of those people that God has impacted you and actually you're impacting others because of Living on the Edge, I have a very specific request. Would you consider becoming a monthly financial partner? And of course, it helps us practically, no doubt about it.

It would really help us to know that X amount of dollars are coming in from a monthly partner. But literally, even more than that, it's about a group of people saying, we want to be a part of this mission to make a difference in the crazy world that we're living in. We want to make an impact and we want to make an impact with you all.

God's spoken to us, God's changed us. We want to help you help others. And so here's my request today. Would you pray and just simply say, Lord, if this is part of your desire for me to partner with Living on the Edge on a monthly basis, will you show me and then show me what that looks like and how much? And what I will say is whatever amount that is, it's perfect, whatever God shows you.

But what I long to see is people who partner that are on the team, a part of the family, and we make a difference together each and every day. Thank you in advance for doing whatever God shows you to do. Great encouragement, Chip. Well, if you want to be a part of supporting believers all across the world, consider becoming a monthly partner. Your regular support will go places and accomplish ministry work like you wouldn't believe. So set up a monthly gift today by going to livingontheedge.org or by calling 888-333-6003. That's 888-333-6003 or visit livingontheedge.org.

App listeners, tap donate. Well, Chip, in the last couple of minutes of your teaching, you shared how we can be spiritually restored when we've blown it big time. Would you mind going over that process again? I'd be glad to, and just listen very carefully because these are the seven steps to spiritual recovery.

They're modeled for us by David, this great king who sinned badly, and God restored him and used him. Number one, come clean with God. You've got to get honest. Number two, ask God for forgiveness.

Be very specific. Ask Him specifically to forgive you for what you did. Number three, own your responsibility for your sin.

Don't blame anybody else, anything. Own your stuff. Number four, accept God's forgiveness and cleansing. It's a gift. Accept it.

You can't earn it. Thank you, God. Number five, request a fresh work of grace. You know, don't stay where you've been. God, give me fresh grace.

I want you to use me again. And then number six, resolve to use past failures for ministry. The women I know that help most people in abortions are women that have had one. The people that I know that help people going through divorce, they've been there.

The people that have helped other people with drug addictions, sex addictions, they've been there. And then number seven, pray for limited fallout from your folly. Just pray, God, I've messed up people.

Would you please not let them get too messed up? And this is one of those deals where, I mean, we're all going to blow it. We blow it big time. Many of you would say, I've blown it, but I'm not sure I'm going to say I've done it big time. But wow, you don't know my son or you don't know my boss, you don't know my, you know, that nephew of mine.

You talk about blowing it big time. If there's someone in your world that's blown it big time and you want a resource that they could read that would give them hope or something they can listen to, this series, Finding God When You Need Him the Most, is I think the best thing we have for people that are really hurting. Thanks, Chip. And if you want to go back and study those points, Chip just reviewed, go to livingontheedge.org and download his message notes.

Now, this is a great tool available for every program. It has Chip's outline, all of the scripture he references, and a few key fill-ins to help you remember what you're learning. Find them by visiting livingontheedge.org under the Broadcasts tab, App Listeners tab, fill-in notes. Well, from all of us here, I'm Dave Drury, thanking you for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge, and I hope you'll join us next time.