Repent, Confess and Forgive

Cleanse the inside by replacing inner sins with Truth

Fred R. Coulter—November 9, 2019

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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services! Today we're going to cover quite a subject. Let's look at some of the things in the Old Testament, and then the New Testament.

1-Kings 8 will prove the unity of Scripture between the Old and New Testaments. This is Solomon's prayer, and he covers many, many things in it. It's a long prayer. We can see that this is very similar to the New Testament, which we will cover later.

1-Kings 8:31: "If any man sins against his neighbor, and if an oath is laid upon him to cause him to swear, and if the oath comes before Your altar in this house, then hear in heaven, and do, and judge Your servants, to declare the wicked to be wicked, to bring his way upon his head, and to justify the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness" (vs 31-32).

That's very similar to what we have in the New Testament.

Verse 33: "When Your people Israel are crushed before the enemy because they have sinned against You, and shall turn again to You and confess Your name, and pray, and cry to You in this house, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them again into the land which You gave to their fathers" (vs 33-34).

Here we have repentance, confession and forgiveness! It's very interesting when you consider about Solomon, and you start reading how he became philosophical in the book of Ecclesiastes. Here is when he was still young, the temple was being dedication, and this is part of the prayer of dedication of the temple.

Verse 35: "When the heavens are restrained, and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, if they pray toward this place and confess Your name… [and also their sins] …and turn from their sin when You afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants, and of Your people Israel, for You shall teach them the good way in which they should walk, and give rain upon Your land, which You have given to Your people for an inheritance" (vs 35-36).

This next one is very interesting, and also very New Testament when you understand it.

Verse 37: "If there is famine in the land, if there is plague, blasting, mildew, locusts; if there are creeping locusts; if their enemy encircles them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness, any prayer, any supplication from any man of all Your people Israel, who shall each know the plague of his own heart…" (vs 37-38).

• What is the plague of his 'own soul'?
• Is that referring to just the outward plagues?

or

• Is that referring to the sinfulness of the human mind?

Trying to capture this human mind and keep it going the way that God wants is quite a challenge, indeed!

"…and shall spread forth his hands toward this house, then hear in heaven Your dwelling place and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to all his ways, whose heart You know; for You, You only, know the hearts of all the children of men" (vs 38-39).

Here Solomon had it exactly right. It was quite a thing!

Verse 46: "If they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin)… [understanding that all of sin comes short of the glory of God] …and if You are angry with them and have delivered them up before the enemy and they have been led away captive to the land of the enemy, far or near, yet, if they shall think within themselves in the land where they are carried captives, and repent, and pray to You in the land of their captors saying, 'We have sinned… [repentance] …and have done perversely… [confession] …we have done wickedly,' and so return to You with all their heart and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and if they pray to You toward their land, which You gave to their fathers, to the city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your name" (vs 46-48). This sounds an awful lot like the teachings of Jesus!

Verse 49[transcriber's correction]: "Then hear their prayer and their cry in heaven Your dwelling place, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, even all their sins which they have done against You, and give them compassion before their captors, so that they may have compassion on them" (vs 49-50)—find grace and favor in the land of their captivity!

Verse 52: "For Your eyes shall be open to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your people Israel, to hearken to them whenever they call to You."

Think about this for just a minute; think about the children of Israel today. Are they turning to God in their troubles? Maybe some few are! Think about the children of Judah in the Holy Land. Are they turning to God in their troubles? That's an interesting thing, indeed! There they are right in the land!

Verse 53: "For You have separated them from among all the people of the earth to be Your inheritance, as You spoke by the hand of Moses Your servant when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD." That goes back to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!

Verse 54: "Now, it came to pass as Solomon finished praying all this prayer and petition to the LORD, he rose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. Then he stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, 'Blessed be the LORD…'" (vs 54-56).

Think about this because just a few chapters over—that we covered during the Feast of Tabernacles—look at all the trouble that Solomon got into himself, and he started out so well! The old saying is: it's not how you start, it's how you finish, IF you finish!

Verse 56: "Bless be the LORD, Who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promises, which He promised by the hand of Moses His servant."

Think of all the history of Israel. Because they didn't chase out and go after the enemy the way that God said, He left them in the land as a thorn in the flesh to test them whether they would love God and keep His commandments or no.

This also tells us something very important: How important to God is it concerning our own individual choices? He gives choices to us! In the recent Church at Home {churchathome.org} The Delusion of Drugs, there's a clip that shows someone who has been on drugs a long time. The whole family is there and they keep talking to him and saying:

 'You can recover. Why don't you come with us and we'll help you?' NO! then the mother would say, 'Look, I can help you so much, and these people here, we're all going to help you. Why don't you come?' NO! Then someone else says, 'We'll be able to do this, that and the other, why don't you stop the drugs and come?' NO!

He said at least seven or eight times and finally it showed the whole family group—must have been about a dozen—and he stood up and walked out! Quite a thing! So, whatever we choose today, if it is good, that's fine. But:

• What are we going to choose tomorrow?
• What do we do when we make bad choices?
• Or do things that are not right?

Verse 57: "May the LORD our God be with us as He was with our fathers. Let Him not leave us nor forsake us."

In the New Testament—Heb. 13—and God says, 'I will not ever, no, not ever leave you.' That's quite a thing! Actually in the Hebrew there are five negatives that:

• He's not going to leave you
• He's won't forsake you
• He won't turn His back on you

Verse 58: "To incline our hearts…" How do you incline your heart to God? By knowing that:

• everything we have comes from God
• be thankful for what God has given
• use what God has given, whether much or little

It's the attitude in how you use it!

"…to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments which He commanded our fathers. And let these my words, with which I have made supplications before the LORD, be near the LORD our God day and night…" (vs 58-59).

Here we have it written for us! This is in about 1000B.C. Here we are 3,000 years later reading the same words, and it tells you that human nature is exactly the same today as it was back then.

"…so that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel at all times as the matter requires, that all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no other" (vs 59-60).

Think about how the world would have been completely different IF from this time forward Solomon would have kept this attitude and helped the people of Israel keep this attitude, and then the successor kings that came along.

Verse 61: "And let your heart be perfect with the LORD our God… [New Testament doctrine] …to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day." That's quite a thing!

Psa. 74 is written by Asaph, one of the priests. This is just before they went into captivity. This is when the temple was being destroyed in 536B.C.

Psalm 74:1: "O God, why have You cast us off forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture? Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, the rod of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed; this Mount Zion in which You have dwelt. Lift up Your feet unto the perpetual ruins; all this destruction the enemy has done in the sanctuary" (vs 1-3). Here he's seeing everything being destroyed.

Verse 4: "Your enemies roar in the midst of Your congregation; they set up their own banners for signs. They seem like men who lifted up their axes against the thick trees" (vs 4-5).

Verse 7: "They burned Your sanctuary to the ground… [v 8]: They said in their hearts, 'Together let us rage against them'; they have burned up all God's meeting places in the land." All the synagogues were destroyed!

Verse 9: "We did not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet; neither is there among us any who knows how long." How long is this going to be?

Think about this prayer, because there is something that is really missing here.

Verse 11: "Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand? Draw it out of Your bosom and consume them, for God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth, You divide the sea…" (vs 11-13).

Verse 14: "You crushed the heads of leviathan in pieces… [v 15]: You break open the fountain and the flood…"

Verse 16: "The day is Yours, the night also is Yours; You have established the light and the sun. You have set all the boundaries of the earth…" (vs 16-17).

Verse 18: "Remember this—that the enemy has reproached, O LORD, and the foolish people have blasphemed Your name." Quite a prayer! Very earnest!

What is missing? This is the same way that the Jews look at enemies today, but what is missing?

Verse 19: "O deliver not the life of Your turtledove unto the wild beasts; forget not the lives of Your afflicted people forever. Have respect unto the covenant; for the dark places of the earth are full of the houses of cruelty" (vs 19-20).

What was the covenant with God? Deut. 28; Lev. 26!

Verse 21: "Oh, let not the oppressed ones return ashamed; let the poor and needy praise Your name. Arise, O God, plead Your own cause; remember how the foolish man reproaches You daily. Forget not the voice of Your enemies; the noise of those who rise up against You increases continually" (vs 21-23).

What is missing? Nothing about confession of sin and repentance!

You can rage against the enemy all you want. You can cry out to God all you want to come and kill the enemy. But unless there's repentance, it isn't going to be! Same way with today.

For the carnal people in the world, God will accept something less than what's required for conversion, because they're in the world and they're unconverted.

Psalm 78:34: "When He slew them, then they sought Him…" Every time there's a great disaster, people return to God somewhat, but never under repentance and conversion.

"…and they turned back and sought after God earnestly. And they remembered that God was their Rock, and the Most High God was their Redeemer. Nevertheless, they flattered Him with their mouths, and they lied to Him with their tongues, for their heart was not steadfast with Him; either were they faithful in His covenant" (vs 34-37).

In Psa. 74 Asaph says to remember the covenant. God never forgot it! God was never slack in it! Who did the forgetting? The people! But in spite of all of that, because of His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob:

Verse 38: "But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them; yea, many times He turned His anger away and did not stir up all His wrath, for He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes away and does not come again" (vs 38-39).

That's quite a statement about Israel! IF they would have done like Solomon said, then it would have been different.

Let's look at the opposite, Dan. 9. This is quite a chapter because it is so profound that it ends up with the prophecy of the Messiah. As we read this, you will see why Daniel was one of the most righteous. Not that he necessarily did everything perfectly as far as the law is concerned. Notice the two differences:

Psa. 74—Asaph is saying, 'God, go after the enemy; look at what they're doing, see what is happening. They're destroying us They got us all bottled up! And so forth.

• Not a word of repentance!
• Not a word of the cause why all these things happen!

Remember the history of the temple, Jeremiah was called by King Zedekiah to ask what's going to happen, because the enemy was all around.

Jeremiah said, 'You're going into captivity! But you can avoid the destruction of the city and the destruction of the temple if you just surrender to Nebuchadnezzar.' Then he would have probably left him there as a vassal king.

What did Zedekiah[transcriber's correction] do? He said, 'Leave and don't tell anyone you were here. If they find out you were here, tell them thus and such' Well, Zedekiah tried to escape with his sons. Quite a lesson! If God tells you to do one thing, and you turn around and do the other thing, it isn't going to work! It wasn't successful! The troops of Nebuchadnezzar caught the king and his sons—who left by night—by a secret way out and brought them before Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar had the eyes of the king removed!

So, it's a fearful thing to go against God in whatever it is!

Daniel 9:2: "In the first year of his reign… [Darius the son of Ahasuerus (v 1)] …I, Daniel, understood by books the number of the years, which came according to the Word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years."

Notice the complete change of attitude compared to Asaph, v 3: "And I set my face toward the LORD God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed to the LORD my God and made my confession…" (vs 3-4).

What does it mean "…understood by books…"? (v 2). He probably had Jeremiah's, Isaiah's and perhaps maybe some of Ezekiel's prophecies!

Notice how Daniel approaches God. Asaph said, 'Lord, look at what they're doing to Your people.' Here's what Daniel said:

"…'O LORD, the great and awesome God, keeping the covenant and mercy to those who love Him, and to those who keep His commandments'" (v 4).

John 14:15: "If you love Me, keep the commandments—namely, My commandments."

Daniel 9:5: "We have sinned… [confessing sin] …and have committed iniquity and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, and have turned aside from Your commandments and from Your ordinances"—turned their back on them!

Verse 6: "Neither have we hearkened unto Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our rulers, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land."

He's rehearsing what went on before they went into captivity. But most of them were just like Asaph, 'O God, You're doing all of this, why don't you come and destroy the enemy.

God is waiting for them to repent! 'When are you going to repent and confess your sins? When are you going to turn to Me. I'll forgive you.

We have the promise given with Solomon. 'If they turn to You, You will forgive them.'

Verse 7: "O LORD, righteousness belongs to You, but to us confusion of face, as at this day to the men of Judah and to the people of Jerusalem, and to all Israel who are near… [those in Babylon] …and who are afar off… [wherever the Israelites were by that time] …through all the countries where You have driven them because they dealt treacherously with You."

In reading this I think about the Code of Jewish Law and all of that; how they set that in place of God's Law, though it has some of God's Laws in it. But the laws and commandments of men cannot make you right with God; it's just impossible. I think about the Protestants. If you watch TBN and you look at what these ministers do, it's quite a thing. They use the name of God over and over again, and we'll see later what Isaiah has to say about that.

Verse 8: "O Lord, confusion of face belongs to us, to our kings, to our rulers, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against You…. [that's quite a confession there] …To the LORD our God belong mercies and forgivenesses even though we have rebelled against Him" (vs 8-9).

Think about the two worst kings, one in Israel—Ahab—and God sent Elijah there to tell him that he was the most wicked man in the world and 'God is going to destroy you and the dogs are going to lick up your blood and Jezebel's blood.' What did Ahab do? He listened! The Bible says he put on sackcloth and ashes and walked 'tenderly.'

So, as Elijah was on his way going back, God said to him, 'Go back to My servant Ahab.' What's that, Lord! 'He has repented!' So, Elijah had to modify the prophecy and say, 'It's not going to happen right away, it will happen later.' Sure enough it did happen!

Then you have the king of Judah—Manasseh—who got involved in witchcraft and false spirits and demons. He built idols and had homosexual booths built around inside the temple area. The king of Nineveh came and took him away captive to Babylon, because they controlled Babylon at that time, and there he repented and came back and cleaned up the temple, tore down the idols and the booths.

So, never say that you have sinned a sin so bad that God can't forgive it. Unless you blaspheme the Holy Spirit and rebel against God and have no remorse, your sins can be forgiven.

Verse 12: "And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us by bringing upon us a great evil, for under the whole heaven it has not been done as it has been done upon Jerusalem…. [quite a confession] …As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this evil has come upon us…." (vs 12-13)—Deut. 28; Lev. 26.

Think about what's happening with us to today in America. Think about what is happening with Judah over there in Jerusalem and what is called 'the Holy Land.' They blame all the enemy! The enemy is doing this! Let's build up our fortifications! Let's detect them and catch them before they do it. But not a word of repentance and turning to God! That would change the whole picture.

How can you say you're clean from sin when you have all this abortion and drugs going on? Impossible!

"…Yet, we did not make our prayer before the LORD our God… [confession their fault] …that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your Truth" (v 13). We'll see in a minute when you turn your back on Truth!

Verse 14: "Therefore, the LORD did not hesitate concerning the evil that He brought upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in all His works, which He does, but we did not obey His voice."

There we have the three words: obey My voice! Amazing! Today we have no excuse; we've got the whole Word of God, all the voice of God, all written for us! And all the teachings of Christ written for us!

Verse 15: "And now, O LORD our God, Who has brought Your people out from the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and has made a name for Yourself, as it is this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly!" Quite a difference from Psa. 74!

Verse 16: "O LORD, I pray You, according to all Your righteousness, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your Holy mountain. Because of our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all those who are around us." Complete abject confession and repentance!

Verse 17: "And now, therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and cause Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary that is desolate for the LORD'S sake…. [quite a thing] …O my God, incline Your ear and hear. Open Your eyes and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name. For we do not present our supplications before You on account of our righteousnesses, but because of Your great mercies" (vs 17-18). Getting self completely out of it!

Verse 19: "O LORD, hear; O LORD, forgive; O LORD, hearken and do. Do not delay, for Your own sake, O my God; for Your city and Your people are called by Your name."

• Who came immediately? Gabriel!
• What did Gabriel bring? The prophecy of when the Messiah would come!
• first when the city would be built
• next when the Messiah would come
• then the gap between His crucifixion and the last seven years, which is filled in with the book of Revelation

Quite a thing! Very moving, indeed! Just think how God honors prayers when there is the right repentance, confession, then God forgives!

(go to the next track)

I want you to see the parallel between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Here's what Israel does over and over again, every generation.

Isaiah 43: 21—God says: "This people that I formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise. Yet, you have not called upon Me, O Jacob… [no, they're always interested in what they can do, how smart they are and how great they are] …much less have you troubled yourself about Me, O Israel. You have not brought Me the lamb of your burnt offerings; nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not caused you to serve with a grain offering, nor wearied you with incense. You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, nor have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices; but you have made Me serve with your sins; you have wearied Me with your iniquities" (vs 21-24).

This sounds just like TBN! What happens when people do that? The people of Israel have always known about God, always turned to God, even flattery in their troubles and difficulties. What happens when you flatter God and you don't come with real repentance and confession?

Mark 4:11: "And He [Christ] said to them [the disciples]…"

Now, here's something that a lot of the Protestants always bring up to us:

What gives you the right to be right? We're good people and we're out here doing this, why don't you come to our Christmas party and see what a good time we have.

Here's what Jesus says to us; "…'To you it has been given… [whatever knowledge we have comes from God] …to know the mystery of the Kingdom of God…" (v 11).

How does God do that to His Church, but not to the world?

"…but to those who are without, all things are done in parables; so that in seeing they may see, and not perceive; and in hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them" (vs 11-12). That's quite a statement!

Without the knowledge of the second resurrection, you would think that is really a terrible, terrible thing that Jesus is doing. But it's actually a good thing that they become blinded. It is a spiritual blindness! They can look at the words, read the words, and they always jump over it.

Let's see how it is with Bible knowledge. It's not given to them to understand. God does not want half-heartedness in anything, so He blinds them so they can be converted later.

Isaiah 29:9: "Be stunned and amazed! Blind your eyes and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink, for the LORD has poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep…" (vs 9-10).

In other words, it doesn't matter who you are, if you never turn to God you are spiritually blinded! You may see, but you don't see the Truth! You may hear, but it doesn't make any sense to you!

"…and has closed your eyes…[that's an amazing thing] …He has covered the prophets and your rulers, and the seers. And the vision of all has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which they give to one who is learned saying, 'Please read this,' and he says, 'I cannot, for it is sealed.' And the book is delivered to him who is not learned…" (vs 10-12).

Of course those who are learned! There was a man who wrote me an e-mail that he had three theology degrees. I wrote back and said that that 'may be part of your problem.' What do you do? You get the interpretation from the blind! It's like leading a man to an elephant and he doesn't know it's an elephant because he's blind.

Take one blind man and put him at the head, take another blind man an put him on the side, and take another one and put him by the rear legs, and have them feel and touch and say, 'What is this?' The guy in front will say, 'This feels kind of like a funny snake.' The guy on the side says, 'I don't know what it is, maybe it's a whale.' The guy on the backside feels it and says, 'I don't know what this is, but those are sure some legs.' It's an elephant!

"…which they give to one who is learned saying, 'Please read this,' and he says, 'I cannot, for it is sealed.' And the book is delivered to him who is not learned… [like the preachers out back] …saying, 'Please read this,' and he says, 'I am not learned'" (vs 11-12)—but I sure know how to handle rattlesnakes! Have you ever seen the special on handling rattlesnakes?

Verse 13: "And the LORD said, 'Because this people draws near Me with their mouth… [say all the right things] …and with their lips honor Me, but their worship of Me is made up of the traditions of men learned by rote…'"

They do real good in between the holidays. I got a magazine, a religious magazine, and it's advertising things for Christmas. They're advertising a nice little shopping bag, which says, Christmas begins with Christ.  They think that's a wonderful thing!

Someone will say, Maybe it's pagan, but at least the name of Christ is getting out there.' Because they want to it their way!

"'…and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandments of men; therefore, behold, I will proceed to do again a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder, for the wisdom of their wise ones shall perish, and the wisdom of their intelligent ones shall vanish.' Woe to those who go deep to hide their purpose from the LORD!…. [sounds like the 'deep state'] …And their works are in the dark, and they say, 'Who sees us? And who knows us?' Surely, you have turned things upside down!…." (vs 13-16).

In other words, if God is God, and He's all powerful, Almighty all knowing, all forgiving, all understanding, why then do people come to tell God what they're going to do for Him! How much can a person do for God? Compare that to what God can do for you! That's what God wants us to learn.

"…Shall the potter be regarded as the potter's clay…" (v 16). When they choose Sunday, isn't that what they're doing? We know better! When they choose Christmas, Easter and all the holidays over the Holy Days of God, they know better. They put Christ's name in it and then Christ serves with their sins, and they think they're doing wonderful things.

• there's no repentance
• there's no confession
• there's absolutely no forgiveness

"…for shall the work say of him who made it, 'He did not make me?'…." (v 16). 'We evolved, I'm my own person; I'm going to do what I want.' That's the whole thing with abortion. 'I'm my own person, I'm my own body, I will choose what I want to do.' Now we have all of these murderers killing the next generation.

"…Or shall the thing formed say to him who formed it, 'He had no understanding?' Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field…" (vs 16-17). Then Isaiah goes on showing the coming of the Kingdom of God!

1-John 1—let's see how this compares with the prayer that Solomon made. IF you confess your sins! Same thing with how Daniel confessed the sins. That's quite a prayer. You can hardly read that prayer and not have tears come out of your eyes when you understand the depth of that prayer, and after 70 years of captivity. Here Daniel was there in Babylon as one of the leading men for probably over 70 years. He came as a young man; he must have been 16-18-years-old. Yet, God was with him and gave him all these prophecies.

Here he is in his old age and he's wondering, 'O Lord, what's going to happen. Look at how sinful we have been.' So, here we have this:

1-John 1:6: "If we proclaim that we have fellowship with Him…" This is what it is today:

A lot of people say 'know the Lord, go to church' and everything. The difference between Protestantism and the Truth of God is that Protestantism wants you churched. God wants you converted! A vast difference!

"…but we are walking in the darkness, we are lying to ourselves…" (v 6). It's one thing to believe a lie because someone has told you a lie; it's another thing to believe your own lies! That's the worst kind, because those are the hardest to get rid of.

"…and… [when you do that] …we are not practicing the Truth" (v 6). What is the Truth?

• Your Word is the Truth
• Your commandments are the Truth
• Your statutes are the Truth
• Your Word is the Truth from the beginning

Verse 7: "However, if we walk in the Light… [the Light of Christ, which is His Word, His Spirit, His Truth] …as He is in the Light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His own Son, cleanses us from all sin."

Notice how that parallels with what Solomon had in his prayer.

Verse 8: "If we say that we do not have sin…" I've come across a few of those. 'I've been born again, I cannot sin.' If you've been born again, as Jesus said, 'You're like the wind and you can go wherever you want to go.' So, why don't you see if you can walk through a door like Jesus did when He met with the disciples? If you can't do it, you're not born again.

Born again goes back to what Christ is: the Firstborn from the dead!

Verse 7: "However, if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His own Son, cleanses us from all sin."

That means every single one. But the greatest sins we need to get rid of are not exterior behaviors, but are interior thoughts! You'll see what we need to do with that.

Verse 8: "If we say that we do not have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the Truth is not in us." So, you have v 6 with v 8; you're not practicing the Truth an:

"…we are deceiving ourselves, and the Truth is not in us. If we confess our own sins… [repentance, confession and forgiveness] …He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (v 8-9). How important that is!

Remember where we read what Solomon wrote, 'For every many knows the plague of his heart.' That's talking about all the inner sins within our mind, and how many of those are there.

Psalm 86:1—Let's see how this ties in, in parallel, with the New Testament: "Bow down Your ear, O LORD, answer me, for I am poor and needy."

Quite a difference! Remember what the young rich man said when he came to Christ? 'Lord, what do I need to do to inherit eternal life?' Don't call me 'good master,' there's only one good, and that's God. But if you will enter into life, keep the commandments!The rich man said, 'Which ones?' He named off: don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't like don't cheat, honor your father and mother, etc.! He said, 'I've done that all my life. What else do I need.' Jesus took him up on it and said, 'If you want to enter into life, sell all that you have and give to the poor.' That's was his idol, and he didn't know it!Here was a different attitude from the rich man.

Verse 2: "Preserve my soul, for I am Holy; O You my God, save Your servant who trusts in You. Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I cry unto You all day long. Rejoice the soul of Your servant, for to You, O LORD, do I lift up my soul, for You, LORD, are good and ready to forgive…" (vs 2-5).

Remember that. God is always read to forgive when there's a humble, yielded giving attitude.

"…and rich in mercy to all those who call upon You. Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer, and attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, for You will answer me" (vs 5-7).

If you don't call upon God in the day of your trouble, God is not going to answer you, and you'll continue in the trouble. What does this do? What kind of attitude does this do? It gives us a teachable, learnable attitude, because the Word of God is Spirit and in Truth, and there's so much to it!

Verse 11: "Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your Truth; unite my heart to fear Your name. I will praise You, O LORD my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forevermore, for great is Your mercy toward me; and You have delivered my soul from the depths of the grave" (vs 11-13). That's something!

An interesting study: go through all the Psalms and pick out all the verses—some are just a one shot verse—that refer to Christ, His life, crucifixion and resurrection.

If you do that, send it to me. I'm still working on the Interlinear. We're making progress but we're still quite a ways from it.

Let's see what real deep repentance is. Psa. 51 is the Psalm of David after the affair with Bathsheba and had Uriah the Hittite—her husband—killed in battle. That was a grievous sin! You need to think about that. Bathsheba was in on it, because she took her bath out on the roof of her house, which was right next to where the king would walk. So, the king was in on it, because he sent one of the servants over there to get her. She could have said no, I'm indisposed at this time, but she didn't. So, the servant brought her and one thing led to another, and then she sent a message that she was pregnant.

So, rather than repent, he turned to his own devices and figure out a scheme. Joab knew all the sins of the royal household! David told Joab to take Uriah the Hittite and put him in the forefront of battle and when it's going heavy, back the rest of the troops off. Joab knew what that was. Think of all the intrigue that went on. Then after that took place, and after a period of time, David took Bathsheba to be one of his wives.

This went on for so long that God had to send Nathan the prophet to David and he told David that this rich man came and took the little ewe lamb from this poor little man, and the rich man had plenty of his own. David said, 'What should I do to this man? I'll take care of him.' Nathan said, 'You are the man!' And Nathan told him what he did with Bathsheba and the whole thing.

David repented! Some people who would have someone who came with a message like that killed. Notice David's prayer, and what all of this involved. Repentance has to do something inside!

Psalm 51:1: "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving kindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion, blot out my transgressions"—because there was sin after sin all wrapped up in one big package!

Verse 2: "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin." That has to be from the inside out, all the scheming, all the plotting! After Uriah the Hittite was killed, he thought after a while 'I'll take Bathsheba and she'll be my wife and everything will be fine.'

• What does God know? He knows the secrets of all men!
• Are we ever going to fool God? No!

We have to be cleansed inside! That's what it is!

Verse 3: "For I acknowledge… [confess] …my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me." There are some things that come along that you have flashbacks all the time, and that's what this was.

Verse 4: "Against You, You only, have I sinned…" Even though it was against Bathsheba, against Uriah the Hittite, and Joab knew the whole thing!

"…and done evil in Your sight, that You might be justified when You speak and be in the right when You judge" (v 4). God is always right!

The biggest problem that people have with God is that somehow they come along and they think that something with God is not right, whatever that may be. Then they devise their own belief and start cutting themselves off from God.

Verse 5: "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me."

I think that's talking about not that his mother committed adultery, but the very fact of human nature is that it's sinful from conception! Why? Because it has the law of sin and death as the New Testament brings out! It's in children just as well.

Verse 6: "Behold, You desire Truth in the inward parts…" That's the only thing that's going to wash it away; replace the inner sin with Truth!

What are we promised with the New Covenant in Heb. 10:16? Write the commandments in our mind and inscribe them upon our heart! That's how you get rid of the sin within. All sin starts within!

"…and in the hidden part You shall make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop…" (vs 6-7). That's like a good ole scrub pad; some things you have to get out are very difficult to do.

"…and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones, which You have broken, may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities" (vs 7-9). Complete absolute confession!

Even though he repented, even though he turned to God with this deep repentance and everything, he still had punishment to bear for quite a while, and that was his whole household rebelled against him, beginning with Absalom and Tamar. Then the rebellion to try and unseat him by Absalom! Then Joab, a little later before David died, tried to take over being king when he heard that Solomon was going to be made king. He probably thought, 'Why did God have Solomon to be the king, when his mother was Bathsheba?'

You can use human reasoning and say that that's not right. Well, God made the choice. That also shows God's mercy and forgiveness, as well.

Verse 10: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me" (vs 10-11).

How close was he to losing it? Probably pretty close! So, this shows the kind of repentance. Not just do a deed and say, 'O Lord, forgive me.'

• What do you have in your mind that's still there?
• That's still sin?
• How much sin comes into our mind today through the boob-tube (television) through all of those ads?

Every single ad, if you look at it carefully, has some sexual overtone to it, one way or the other: by dress, action, word or implication. All of those things come into our mind!

Let's see the solution. Matt. 6 is the model of the daily prayer, and what we need every day. Our mind needs to be cleansed, and there is sin that pops into our mind all the time.

Matthew 6:5: "And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, in order that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward." They were seen!

Verse 6: "But you… [every single one] …when… [doesn't say if] …you pray… [because this is a model of a daily prayer] …enter into a private room…" It says in the KJV 'closet'!

The first time I started to pray, I had a closet. In there were my shoes and socks, and all of the perfumy things that are the result of living. So, I scattered them to the side and started praying. I about choked! So, I figure that I would get right alongside the bed and leave the closet alone. It's a private room, a private place!

"…and after shutting the door, pray to your Father Who is in secret; and your Father Who sees in secret shall reward you openly" (v 6). Many different ways!

Some things will come along that you don't know what a fantastic blessing it is, and everything comes from God. This is great!

Verse 7: "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions…"

If there something that you need to pray about continuously until there is a answer, then you repeat that every day. That is not a vain repetition, which is like the prophets of Baal with Elijah. 'O Baal, O Baal…' I don't like to listen to that one on the Messiah by Handel, because it sticks in my head, it's such a catchy tune. They jumped up and down on the sacrifice and cut themselves, shed the blood, all to make Baal hear.

But if you're sincere you will be just like Elijah. You know that God hears! You know that God answers! So, Elijah wanted to demonstrate how powerful that God actually was so that the people of Israel was the God of Israel.

He took the sacrifice and poured water on it. This is after three and a half years of drought and water was precious. So, they poured water on it three times until it was running in the little trough where they had the rocks setup for the sacrifice. Then he prayed for 21 seconds—we timed it—and said:

We know that You are God of Israel, O God. Show to these people that You are God and Baal is not!

Then fire came down and consumed everything! Then the people accepted God for a short time! Amazing!

"…as the heathen do; for they think that by multiplying their words they shall be heard. Now then, do not be like them; for your Father knows what things you have need of before you ask Him" (vs 7-8).

One person said, 'If He knows before you ask Him, why ask?' Because if you don't ask, He might take it away! Think on that!

Verse 9: "Therefore, you are to pray after this manner: 'Our Father, Who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name.'" Always the Father first! His greatness; what He has done; Christ at His right hand!

Verse 10: "Your Kingdom come… [Your rule in my life as well as the Kingdom coming back to the earth] …Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors" (vs 10-12).

We need to repent of sin every day! Sin is within! Can any of us say that our heart is absolutely clean? Our mind is free of any evils? Hatred? Unforgiveness? Whatever!

Verse 13: "And lead us not into temptation, but rescue us from the evil one…." Who comes around when your guard is down?Satan, always!

"…For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen" (v 13). Notice that you start out with the Kingdom of God and you end up with the Kingdom of God!

You're not to take this prayer and recite it just because you know the words of it. But use this as an outline and put all of the things you need to pray about in whatever order you desire. God will hear and answer. There is a catch! There is an IF that is important!

Verse 14: "For, if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you…. [this is conditional] …But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (vs 14-15). Quite a thing!

In the sermon series on Healing one of things that is important is that you hold nothing against anyone and you forgiven them. Someone asked, 'What if they're already dead? My dad/father did this or that to me, or brother, whatever, and I'll never forgive them.' Well, forgive them even if they don't know that you have forgiven them before God! You can't have that in your mind. Get rid of it in your mind by confessing to God!

I had one person that I said that to, and they did that and they said that I 'lifted a big load off my mind.' You can't have righteousness in one cubbyhole and hatred in another cubbyhole. You have to have God cleanse it!

This is what we're seeing. There are many other things that we can add to it, but this covers the whole thing. There must be repentance, confession and forgiveness!

Scriptural References:

• 1 Kings 8:31-39, 46-50, 52-61
• Psalm 74:1-5, 7-9, 11-23
• Psalm 78:34-39
• Daniel 9:2-4
• John 14:15
• Daniel 9:4-9, 12-19
• Isaiah 43:21-24
• Mark 4:11-12
• Isaiah 29:9-17
• 1 John 1:6-8, 7-9
• Psalm 86:1-7, 11-13
• Psalm 51:1-11
• Matthew 6:5-15

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Hebrews 13
• Deuteronomy 28
• Leviticus 26
• Daniel 9:1
• Hebrews 10:16

Also referenced:

• Church at Home {churchathome.org} The Delusion of Drugs
• Sermon Series: Healing

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 11/14/19

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