WEBVTT 00:00:01.919 --> 00:00:09.439 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:14.480 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:18.000 Let's pray together. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:24.480 We gather today to proclaim the truth that you don't fail us. 00:00:26.399 --> 00:00:28.239 You don't make promises and break them. 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:30.640 You make promises and you keep them. 00:00:30.879 --> 00:00:32.719 And we need to be reminded of that today, Lord. 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:34.960 So we turn to the one place we can trust, your word. 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:38.640 And we pray now, Holy Spirit, that you would speak to us through your word. 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:44.240 That we would, as we've now worshipped in spirit and truth, we want to receive now in spirit and truth. 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:46.240 So Lord, we need you to speak. 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:53.679 We ask that you would help those here who have sang these words today to be affected by what we're feeling right now. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:58.479 To not just experience here and leave it, but to take it with us. 00:00:58.719 --> 00:01:00.960 Because Lord, we don't want to go where you're not going. 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:03.039 Lead the way, O King eternal. 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:07.439 Lead on, and we'll follow you, because we're your children and you're our Father. 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:10.239 So we hold on to this today. 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:15.280 You've taken hold of us, Lord, so we're going to take hold of you and go where you lead us in Jesus' name. 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:17.920 And all God's people said, Amen. 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:19.599 Well, good morning. 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:20.239 Welcome. 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:21.840 My name is Clyde Copeland. 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:29.120 I'm one of the uh pastors here, and it's my privilege to come to you today, and I want to ask you to take your Bibles and turn to Psalm 103. 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:35.760 And as you're turning, if you don't have a Bible, there's one in your pew, and I'm on page 502 in that Pew Bible. 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:38.719 We've been working through a series called Life Song. 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:44.159 And today we're going to wrap it up by looking at a psalm from there. 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:53.760 And we we call the series Life Song because there's 150 Psalms in the Bible, and all of them speak to the full range of human experience. 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:56.959 All of them speak to the full range of human emotion. 00:01:57.200 --> 00:01:59.519 So look with me here today at Psalm 103. 00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:04.000 I'm going to read verses 1 through 14 out of the ESV of David. 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:08.000 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:09.759 Bless his holy name. 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:25.840 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. 00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:29.759 The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:34.240 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:39.680 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:43.439 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:48.719 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:55.280 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. 00:02:55.840 --> 00:03:01.039 As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:07.759 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him, for he knows our frame. 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:10.159 He remembers that we are dust. 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:12.639 This is the word of God for the people of God. 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:14.240 Thanks be to God. 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:17.759 Today we're going to look at having a conversation with our souls. 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:19.520 Having a conversation with our souls. 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:26.719 One of my favorite country singers, probably one of the greatest living country singers today, although you won't hear him on the radio, is a guy named Sturgil Simpson. 00:03:26.879 --> 00:03:30.400 And uh, one of the things Sturgil said a while back is that there's two kinds of music. 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:32.560 There's soul music and there's bad music. 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:35.759 Every kind of music in the world falls into one of those two categories. 00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:42.080 I don't care if it's country, rock and roll, rap, hip-hop, bluegrass, whatever it is, it has soul or it doesn't. 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:42.639 Okay? 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:48.159 We have 150 songs in the Bible that all come from the soul. 00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:50.719 And they express what's going on in the soul. 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:54.960 Sometimes they're conversations that we have with ourselves, like the one we're going to look at today. 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:59.120 Sometimes they're conversations that our soul has with God, sometimes they're conversations with others. 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:11.039 But there's always an awareness that God is doing something, not just with my words, not just with what I think, not just with what's going on in my body, but what's going on on the inside, what's going on in my spirit or my soul. 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:17.759 So we begin here today with this first verse Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. 00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:22.160 And what that tells us is that I'm created to worship God's holy name. 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:23.839 I'm created for a purpose. 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:28.240 And that purpose is to worship a name, specifically God's holy name. 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:34.240 And this is where worship always begins, with an awareness of who God is and what he's done. 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:38.399 And when we think about that, what that does is it requires us to kind of stir ourselves up. 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:45.120 I don't know about you, but I don't show up to church all the time ready to go as soon as I walk in those doors. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:46.240 Naturally. 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:46.720 Okay? 00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:51.120 Now, if you do, then you are special and more power to you. 00:04:51.279 --> 00:05:01.920 But for the rest of us common folk, it takes a little bit of sitting down on the inside before you come in those doors and remind yourselves of what you're expecting when you come into this room on Sundays, right? 00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:22.560 Reminding yourselves that God's going to speak from this thing, that you're going to hear something here you can't hear anywhere else, and that you're going to sing songs that are going to say things that are rising up in you that you probably don't always get to do when you're singing at a football game or listening to the radio and singing along to whatever it is you listen on the radio. 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:28.160 So David, who wrote this, he was a man who understood how to have a conversation with his soul. 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:32.959 And you see this not just here, uh, but all throughout the Bible when he writes a psalm. 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:36.240 Psalm 42, he says, Why am I downcast, O my soul? 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:38.720 It says, Find your rest in God, my soul. 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:40.480 Wait in silence, O my soul. 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:42.720 Praise the Lord, O my soul. 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:48.240 This is a man, he's aware of what, not just what he thinks, but what he feels. 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:52.639 We need to be aware of what we feel, not just what we think. 00:05:53.360 --> 00:05:59.040 He's aware of how he needs to talk to himself and how he needs to talk to God because of what rises up in his soul. 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:00.319 And this isn't just in the Old Testament. 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:02.079 With David, we see this in the New Testament. 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:11.439 Jesus, he says to the woman at the well that true worshipers, they don't just worship in truth and knowledge and what they know, but they worship in spirit. 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:13.279 They worship out of the soul. 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:15.519 Jesus felt things in his own soul. 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:22.160 Right before Judas betrayed him, it said Jesus' soul was disturbed within him because he knew what was coming. 00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:28.319 Paul, his soul got provoked when he saw idols in a city he was going to preach at in Acts. 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:35.519 The Bible assumes this, and we all need to understand this, that we are supposed to be able to have a conversation with our souls. 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:37.360 We need to be able to think spiritually. 00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:40.319 But what it also assumes is that this isn't easy. 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:42.560 This isn't natural to us. 00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:48.959 We feel spiritually dull a lot of the time because we're not having a conversation with our soul. 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:54.639 We might go through the motions, we might go to church, we might sing the songs, hear the sermon, but we remain unaffected. 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:59.839 And a lot of that's because we haven't begun to take that and talk to ourselves about it. 00:06:59.920 --> 00:07:06.079 And I'm not saying you need to become a crazy person hearing voices in your head and talking to yourself in that way. 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:10.000 No, I'm saying do what David did and ask yourself questions. 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:22.319 Take a second, take the pastor hat off of whoever's standing on the stage, and put the pastor hat on yourself and pastor yourself because that's what the Bible teaches us to do, to be able to have that conversation with ourselves. 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:24.560 Just like a knife needs a whetstone. 00:07:25.199 --> 00:07:27.199 Our souls need spiritual conversation. 00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:33.279 Um, we feel spiritually alert and aware of what's going on when we're doing that, and we're able to do what David says here. 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:37.040 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:42.959 There's no area of our life that God isn't Lord over, that He hasn't created, that He doesn't have a purpose for. 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:50.079 And this includes our soul, but it also includes our hands, our knees, our voices, all these things. 00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:54.959 This is what it means when he says, all that is within me, our soul plus everything else. 00:07:55.199 --> 00:07:57.600 Everything blessing God's holy name. 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:05.839 And so when we start looking at the conversation, what happens is the focus of this conversation begins with the name of the Lord. 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:07.040 The name of the Lord. 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:10.160 Last part of verse 1 it says, Bless his holy name. 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:14.639 Now the Bible is in one way you can look at it as a story of two kinds of people. 00:08:14.879 --> 00:08:22.240 Those that are worried about blessing the name of God, and those that are blessing any other name, their own name, somebody else's name. 00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:25.360 And this, we see this in Genesis chapter 4. 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:27.439 We know the story of Cain and Abel. 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:31.360 Cain murders his brother Abel, and Cain gets banished by God. 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:39.759 He goes out and he gets, he has a wife, and he starts having children, and they have grandchildren, and it gets all the way down to a man named Lammock. 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:44.080 And Lammock also kills, just like his great-great-great-grandfather Cain did. 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:46.480 And it's interesting what Lammock says. 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:53.360 If you kind of read through it, it's one of those things you might skim over, but it's important to understand for everything we're reading today. 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:58.080 Lammock says, Cain killed a man and his revenge is sevenfold. 00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:00.960 Lammock is killed, and his revenge is seventyfold. 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:05.679 He's saying, My name is even more important than my father before me. 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:08.960 And here I am, I'm going to make a statement about my name. 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:17.440 And then what's interesting, Moses, who wrote Genesis, he just kind of goes along and he goes back to Adam and Eve, and he says, Adam and Eve had another son. 00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:19.039 His name was Seth. 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:21.519 And Seth had a son, his name was Enosh. 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:27.440 And it was at the time that Enosh was born that men began to call on the name of the Lord. 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:29.759 And the Bible just kind of splits at that point. 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:32.960 And you have two kinds of people that we can track through the story of the Bible. 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:41.360 Those who are concerned with raising God's name, making it known, and those who are concerned with their own name or the name of another. 00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:44.240 But it's not just a name, it's actually a holy name. 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:46.240 We see here, bless his holy name. 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:49.840 We worship God's name for his holiness, not just for the benefits. 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:53.200 As we read earlier, we're going to get to the part where it says, forget not his benefits. 00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:57.440 But before we get there, we need to focus on what we sang earlier, which was just amazing. 00:09:57.679 --> 00:10:02.799 Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, celebrating him just for his holiness. 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:09.679 I was reminded of this the other day because my oldest daughter, Evie Kate, I was taking her to a friend's house, and she's about three years old. 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:11.759 She was really excited to go see this friend. 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:12.159 I could tell. 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:14.799 And I said, Evie Kate, are you excited to go see your friend? 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:16.320 Yeah, she has a frozen book. 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:18.960 And I said, Well, are you excited to go see your friend? 00:10:19.039 --> 00:10:20.320 Yeah, she has a frozen book. 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:25.360 Now, if there's any parents or grandparents here with kids under 10, you know what frozen is. 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:27.759 And you either love it or you hate it. 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:35.440 I'm still undecided, but uh it's like a free babysitter when I turn it on, you know, my kids are taken care of. 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:40.080 So uh pray for me that I learn how to get away from the habit of frozen. 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:47.200 Uh but I said to her, I said, Well, are you excited to go see your friend or excited to go see your frozen book? 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:48.559 Well, both. 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:50.000 Oh, okay. 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:53.039 Uh and we can kind of see what's going on there with our kids. 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:54.000 We do they do this all the time. 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:56.720 They're like machiaveli, you know, they they want your stuff. 00:10:56.960 --> 00:10:59.519 They don't necessarily want you, but they want what you can give them. 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:00.960 And that's natural. 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:03.840 We're raising little sinners, they're not little angels. 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:07.039 Uh but you and I are the same way. 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:10.240 And if we're not careful, we're that exact same way with God. 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:20.000 And I think David begins here kind of having a conversation with himself for our benefit as well, to remind us that God's name is holy. 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:26.960 And we don't approach his name out of just this sense of closeness and and intimacy that we have with God, because we do. 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:30.000 But we also approach a name that's holy. 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:35.440 And it's the kind of name that is on Mount Sinai and says, if anybody touches this mountain, I'll kill them. 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:38.720 Because I'm that holy, I'm that separate from sin. 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:46.879 And so we begin there by just reminding ourselves that we can worship God today just because he's holy, not because he has to do anything for you or me. 00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:53.600 He doesn't have to heal our diseases, he doesn't have to forgive our sin, but he's still worthy of being worshipped because he's holy. 00:11:54.159 --> 00:12:01.360 Because what's in this name, this holy name, it carries this history, this reputation, this story that's behind it. 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:12.000 And when we acknowledge that God's holy and all that for who he is, our our framework and our view of worship, it just gets less small and a lot bigger. 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:19.600 And that's the purpose of Psalm 103, to kind of remind us why this holy name of God matters to us, which leads us to the second thing. 00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:23.519 Verse 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:25.519 Don't forget what God has done for you. 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:27.440 Forgetting is the opposite of worship. 00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:28.720 Let me explain what I mean. 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:30.000 And I'm going to turn to Deuteronomy. 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:31.519 You don't have to turn there, it'll be up on the screen. 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:33.279 Deuteronomy chapter 8. 00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:35.440 The people of Israel have come out of Egypt. 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:39.360 God's rescued them, he's brought them through the wilderness, they're getting ready to go into the promised land. 00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:40.639 This is what he says to them. 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:48.559 Take care, lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes which I command you today. 00:12:48.960 --> 00:13:06.159 Lest when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, that your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:11.120 In other words, God's saying, Hey, you were born on third base, don't think you hit a triple. 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:11.679 Okay? 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:33.679 The people of Israel, God knows his people, he knows where they're going, and one of the things that he's already done for them is he knew that there were going to be Canaanites in the land, he knew that there were gonna be people that were there that needed to be kicked out, and yet God is so sovereign and orchestrates things so well that these people have already built wine presses, they've built houses, they've built walls, they've built a kingdom ready for them to go in and take. 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:34.639 Because guess what? 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:36.159 God doesn't do anything on accident. 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:38.159 God has a purpose in everything he does. 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:48.799 But he also knows our hearts, and he knew their hearts, and he said, You're gonna go in there thinking that you did all this, and this all came by your hand, because you're gonna forget. 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:52.399 You're gonna forget that I helped you cross the Red Sea. 00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:58.799 You're gonna forget the manna in the wilderness, and you're gonna forget how gracious and patient I was with you. 00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:02.960 This is a solemn warning right from the get-go, not to forget. 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:04.639 Excuse me. 00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:06.320 And and we do this today. 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:16.399 We we easily forget all the treasures that we have now and that we've had in the past of things that have happened, and we can remember the garbage and just go, what's going on here, God? 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:18.879 What what what about me? 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:21.679 Um, we experience this forgetfulness in our marriages. 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:27.279 How many of you have been married for more than 30 years and you wake up next to that person and you're like, Who are you? 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:29.120 Who did I marry? 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:33.440 You know, it's like we're glorified roommates with benefits, you know? 00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:36.799 And I'm I've been married seven years and I've experienced that. 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:39.039 I know my wife has experienced it. 00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:42.159 Because we forget. 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:46.399 And I'm not just saying we forget the early lovey-dubby stages of marriage. 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:48.720 No, this is why marriages fall apart. 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:54.159 Because we forget, we forget the covenants that we made before God and man, right? 00:14:54.559 --> 00:14:59.200 This is why we see this is such a solemn thing not to forget in the Bible. 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:04.559 A little bit later in the book of Judges, Israel has gone into the promised land, right? 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:11.440 And they've they've started kicking everybody out, they're kicking out the Canaanites and all these Amorites, and what happens? 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:16.960 Joshua dies, and it says a generation was raised up that did not know what the Lord has done. 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:23.279 Because their parents forgot to teach them what the Lord has done, which parents is something for all of us to take away. 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:28.320 How are you bringing the Bible to bear on your story, your family's history? 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:42.480 Not just sending your kids to Bible study or sending them to camp, which is all great, we want to do that, but but the responsibility really for dads and moms is how are you teaching your family how the Bible has affected your history? 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:46.480 What are the big things, the big victories that you get to celebrate as a family? 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:50.399 What are the losses and the failures that you've learned from? 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:54.159 Because a lot of times what we do with our kids is we hide those failures. 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:55.120 We don't talk about them. 00:15:55.279 --> 00:16:01.120 And then what happens is our kids find out maybe when they're 20, 30 years old, and we're going, why didn't my parents trust me with that? 00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:04.320 And if I can't trust them, can I trust my heavenly father? 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:11.679 It's so important to teach your kids how to remember what God's been doing through your victories and through your failures. 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:12.399 Because guess what? 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:14.240 Your story doesn't end with your failure. 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:16.559 So it's not something you have to hide. 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:24.559 Forgetting is a pretty solemn charge because this risk is just too great to forget. 00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:26.879 So let's look at what he tells us not to forget. 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:30.399 Starting in verse 3, it begins with this first thing. 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:32.559 He forgives all your iniquity. 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:35.679 Iniquity is one of those words we use that just describes our sin. 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:38.399 God forgives all your sin. 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:47.679 I think it's amazing that when I read the book of Mark, actually, you read it in all three of the gospels where it's Matthew, Mark, and Luke, there's this story about a paralytic. 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:53.600 And Jesus is teaching, and he's in a house, and all of a sudden it starts crumbling. 00:16:53.679 --> 00:16:57.519 You know, you got pieces of hay and wood and straw and stuff falling down. 00:16:57.759 --> 00:17:03.440 And his friends are lowering this man down, and while he's teaching, and Jesus is going along teaching, he just looks up. 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:05.440 And what is the first thing Jesus says? 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:07.039 Does he say, be healed? 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:10.480 Does he say, you know, walk over and touch him and lay his hands on him? 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:15.839 No, the first thing Jesus says is, son, your sins are forgiven. 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:17.680 Son, your sins are forgiven. 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:20.400 And David begins with the same place when he writes this. 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:22.799 He forgives all your iniquity. 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:23.519 Why? 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:27.039 Because our deepest need is a spiritual need, a forgiveness. 00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:29.440 And that's the most difficult need for any of us to get. 00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:35.599 That's why when Jesus said that, all the Pharisees got mad at him because they said, Well, who can forgive sin except God alone? 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:37.440 Because that is our greatest need. 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:40.799 That's what the sacrificial system was built around in the Old Testament. 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:43.920 That's why Jesus came and died for us in the New Testament. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:47.119 Because our greatest need is forgiveness of sin. 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:52.240 And it's also the hardest thing, which is why Jesus said, Well, which is easier? 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:56.880 To say to this man your sin is forgiven, or to tell him to stand up and walk. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:17:59.440 Well, they would say to stand up and walk, right? 00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:00.799 That'd be pretty miraculous. 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:05.519 But really, the understanding there is that the most difficult and the most important thing is what? 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:07.599 To have your sin forgiven. 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:09.599 To have your sin forgiven. 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:13.359 No doctor can forgive our sin, even though a doctor might help a person walk. 00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:15.680 We need the forgiveness of sin. 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:18.720 And we need to be aware of how much we're forgiven. 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:25.599 There's another story in Luke where Jesus has a woman there and she's washing his feet with her hair, with alabaster ointment. 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:27.920 And there's a man there with Jesus named Simon. 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:33.279 He says, if this man were a prophet, he'd know kind of what kind of woman this is washing his feet right now. 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:34.640 And Jesus knew what he was thinking. 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:36.160 He said, I'm going to tell you a story. 00:18:36.400 --> 00:18:43.039 And he told him a story about a person who had a really, really big debt that needed to be forgiven, and a person with a small debt. 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:46.400 And this master that was owed the debt forgave him both. 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:50.160 And Jesus asked him, Now, which one do you think loved that master more? 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:52.000 And he said, The one that was forgiven more. 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:53.279 And he said, Exactly. 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:55.839 And you don't get that, but she does. 00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:59.839 And I think why don't we all get that? 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:05.119 When do you find yourself most unaware of how much God's forgiven you? 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:07.920 Because if I'm honest, I forget it. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:09.599 And that's when I feel most entitled. 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:14.400 That's when I feel like, mmm, I deserve this because I've forgotten how much God's forgiven me. 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:18.000 The second thing we see today is He heals all your diseases. 00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:19.920 He heals all your diseases. 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:25.920 And I want to back up here and talk about we need to have a theology of healing, how healing works. 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:28.160 Because this is a pretty complex subject. 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:32.160 And I know there's doctors that go to our church here and people that have seen crazy things. 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:34.880 And so I want us to kind of think in uh in these three ways. 00:19:35.039 --> 00:19:37.039 First, healing works by just how our bodies work. 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:39.440 If I cut my finger, blood starts clotting, right? 00:19:39.519 --> 00:19:44.799 And a scab forms, and or if I get a virus, uh my white blood cells will attack it. 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:50.960 If our bodies are working correctly, they heal themselves, which is amazing that God has hardwired us up to work like that. 00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:53.680 But the second way is that God does miracles. 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:56.640 Jesus laid his hands on people and they were healed. 00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:58.400 Jesus said a word and they were healed. 00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:00.720 Not just Jesus, but the apostles as well. 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:02.240 And it happens today. 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:08.799 A lot of us, we don't get to see it because either where we live or what we've experienced, but there are those who have seen. 00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:14.880 I came across a story out of England where a lady, she was married to a pastor, they go to a prayer conference. 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:19.920 Uh for the last five or ten years, she had not been able to walk at all. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:23.839 Uh she had debilitating back pain from an injury. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:30.799 And so she was receiving government benefits for disability, and things look pretty grim for the future. 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:34.720 She goes to this prayer conference, people lay her hands on her, she gets healed. 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:35.920 So what happens? 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:40.720 She starts sending these, you know, disability checks she gets back because she says, Well, I don't need them anymore. 00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:42.559 I've got healed, I'm I'm walking. 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:46.799 And the government office comes back to her and says, Well, you can't you can't send these checks back. 00:20:46.960 --> 00:20:47.599 You have to take them. 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:48.880 And she goes, but I don't need them. 00:20:48.960 --> 00:20:54.000 And they said, Well, our computer database doesn't have an allowance for miracles, so you have to keep taking these checks. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:56.880 And so they're like, Well, uh, what do we do with them? 00:20:57.039 --> 00:21:01.119 So they they they tried to give them back to the government and all that. 00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:03.599 Uh the true story, I'm not kidding. 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:05.599 You can look that up on the Daily Mail. 00:21:05.759 --> 00:21:11.839 Uh but that I think it's great that the world doesn't have a frame of reference for some kind of healing, right? 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:15.599 The third way God heals us, I mean, he uses medicine. 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:16.880 Medicine is a gift of God. 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:24.160 The knowledge that we share, that the scientists and doctors have learned as we go, that is an evidence of the grace of God, and he heals through it. 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:28.799 Uh, he heals through opening up somebody's back and reattaching nerves on their spine. 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:38.319 He he helps them by simple things like creating things like automobiles, to put people in an ambulance, to get them to the hospital so they don't die before they get there. 00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:42.640 All of these things are evidences of the way that God uses healing. 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:52.559 Now, I said this can be a complex subject earlier because I think a lot of us uh we've come across two extremes when it comes to healing, and I have a picture to represent those two extremes. 00:21:54.799 --> 00:22:03.680 So, on the one hand, we have Tiggers who are like, you know, these Loony prosperity preachers, God's going to heal now. 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:05.440 God, the kingdom is now. 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:11.440 He's going to bring your healing because Jesus came, he's conquered sin and death, and the kingdom, he's brought the kingdom down, right? 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:14.400 Yeah, because Jesus said, you know, the kingdom of God is near. 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:15.839 Repent and believe. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:17.759 And Jesus has done all that. 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:29.279 Whereas you have these other kind of folks that say, like Eeyore, well, this is my cross to bear, and uh it's not going to get much better, and you just have to deal with me being poopy. 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:33.599 I don't think Eeyore ever said that, but I'm paraphrasing. 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:37.519 You know, Tiggers are sure that God's gonna heal. 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:38.720 Everything's gonna be okay. 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:44.240 And Eeyores are sure that things are always gonna get worse, uh, and that there's little hope beyond just getting to heaven. 00:22:44.319 --> 00:22:48.000 Uh, and whereas you got Winnie the Pooh who's stuck in the middle between these two. 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:52.000 And I gotta think, that is exhausting for Winnie the Pooh. 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:57.200 Um, but I tell you that because I think for everyone here, we need to not think this. 00:22:57.279 --> 00:22:57.839 I know this. 00:22:58.079 --> 00:23:02.559 We have to work to not over-realize how God heals. 00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:05.920 And you don't want to under-realize how God heals. 00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:12.400 Just like we talk about big words like an over-realized eschatology and an under-realized eschatology. 00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:14.799 Because one of those says, well, the kingdom's already here. 00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:17.680 Another one of those says, Well, the kingdom's not yet happened. 00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:18.559 It's both. 00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:20.559 It doesn't always make sense, but it's both. 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:22.559 It's already not yet. 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:31.599 And how that plays out for us is you've got to have a big enough framework to understand how God works in his kingdom when it comes to healing. 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:36.480 Because here's the thing: it's it's right to celebrate and to say, yeah, God's got this. 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:41.519 The other night I was here uh and we were singing, you know, our God is a lion, the lion of Judah. 00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:43.599 He's roaring with power and fighting our battles. 00:23:43.680 --> 00:23:45.359 Who can stop the Lord Almighty? 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:46.160 And that's totally true. 00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:46.799 Amen. 00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:48.319 Who can stop the Lord? 00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:49.599 Nobody can. 00:23:49.920 --> 00:23:55.680 There is nothing going on behind the scenes in the spiritual warfare going on that is out of God's control. 00:23:56.640 --> 00:24:09.759 But when everything is victory and every single disease gets healed, every single death gets reversed, what happens if you're a Christian and you believe God and yet you still have cancer? 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:15.359 Or you still lose your job, or you're still suffering, or your kid goes through whatever they go through. 00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:18.880 How does your faith inform that if God's always the lion? 00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:23.359 If he's always, if he's never the suffering sacrificial lamb? 00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:30.240 We have to see how God uses our suffering to transform our faith. 00:24:30.480 --> 00:24:32.559 Faith isn't always win-win-win. 00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:37.759 Remember earlier I said our failures don't mean that our story is over. 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:51.920 God uses failure, God uses suffering so that you can sing things like, When trials come, no longer fear, for in the pain our God draws near, to fire of faith worth more than gold, and there his faithfulness is told. 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:57.119 God's faithfulness is great, but it's even greater when you see it through the context of a fire. 00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:02.559 Third thing we see is that he redeems our life from the pit. 00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:17.359 And how he does this for us is we can look at it one way he was writing about people who got on the verge of death and God saved them from death, but even more for us, unless Jesus comes back today and we all live for a little bit longer, a lot of us are gonna die. 00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:19.039 We all face death. 00:25:19.119 --> 00:25:21.839 We understand that death is a consequence of sin. 00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:27.920 And yet for us who hope in Jesus, we have the hope of being redeemed from the pit. 00:25:28.160 --> 00:25:29.119 That's the good news. 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:30.400 That's the redemption. 00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:30.640 Why? 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:32.400 Because somebody went into the pit for us. 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:34.000 Jesus went into the pit for us. 00:25:34.079 --> 00:25:41.200 And then the fourth thing is he crowns us with steadfast love and mercy, which means he doesn't just get us out of the pit, back onto the solid ground. 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:42.559 He raises us up beyond that. 00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:48.960 Ephesians 2 says that Jesus has raised us up and seated us in the heavenly places with Christ Jesus. 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:52.880 He doesn't just leave you down here as a commoner, he raises you up to a throne. 00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:57.359 That's why we read in Revelation, it says, we have a crown waiting for us. 00:25:57.519 --> 00:26:01.279 We have a crown because we reign with Jesus Christ. 00:26:01.839 --> 00:26:04.960 The fifth thing is he satisfies us, this fifth benefit. 00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:06.880 He satisfies us with good. 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:10.960 God's going to satisfy you in ways that your Instagram feed never will. 00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:17.920 He's going to satisfy you in ways that your phone with Instagram and Facebook and scrolling through that never will. 00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:20.880 Because a lot of us are pretty easily satisfied with that. 00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:23.920 And I say that because it's like an addiction where you're satisfied. 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:26.240 You got to pull it out and check it every so often. 00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:29.200 You get like a little dopamine rush from it. 00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:30.240 I'm the only one. 00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:31.599 I don't see any nodding heads. 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:32.079 Okay. 00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:33.759 Y'all don't have phones, do you? 00:26:33.839 --> 00:26:34.880 Y'all got flip phones. 00:26:34.960 --> 00:26:36.240 All right, good for you. 00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:38.319 Um isn't it interesting? 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:42.400 The one thing we we don't use our phones for anymore is a phone. 00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:44.400 Think about it. 00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:54.480 You text a lot, might look at a lot of pictures, check your updates on your kids, but when it comes to using a phone as a phone, they're very satisfying, aren't they? 00:26:54.640 --> 00:27:01.599 And yet we turn back here, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. 00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:14.880 And I put all these up there: forgiveness, healing, redemption, crowning you, raising you up, and satisfying you because these are some of the benefits that God gives us and reminds us that this is what he created us for. 00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:19.039 To enjoy these things in the context of his holiness. 00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:22.640 And they're grounded not in what we're doing. 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:26.319 God doesn't forgive all my iniquity because I earned it. 00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:31.119 God doesn't heal me because I had enough faith or I prayed enough. 00:27:31.359 --> 00:27:32.000 Amen? 00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:39.519 God doesn't crown me or redeem me from the pit or satisfy me because I worked really hard at it. 00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:41.759 He satisfies me because that's who he is. 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:42.880 He's my father. 00:27:43.119 --> 00:27:49.039 And there's nothing more he loves than to see his children satisfied in who he is, which is the ultimate good. 00:27:49.200 --> 00:27:53.599 Which leads us to our third thing today, which God's character is always consistent. 00:27:53.839 --> 00:27:58.079 If God's character wasn't always consistent, we couldn't claim all those benefits. 00:27:58.319 --> 00:28:02.319 But since God's character is consistent, here's what it says starting in verse 8. 00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:04.640 The Lord is merciful and gracious. 00:28:04.880 --> 00:28:06.640 That's why he forgives. 00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:10.319