Oops… we did it again!

Good morning, Watermark. My name's Chris. For those of you who don't know me, I help

oversee the community groups here at Watermark Church. And today, I don't know how you feel

after reading that passage. It's pretty intense. I've struggled, I've wrestled a bit with this.

Some passages in the Bible are kind of, yeah, I really want to preach on that. Some passages

I just don't want to preach on. And this is kind of one of those passages. So I really

want to pray that God would take this and really speak to us and reveal something about what

the heart of this is about. Today, we're looking at the issue of failure. And failure is as

common to all of us as breathing. We live in a society which tells us that we should be a success

in every area of our lives. You should be a success in your exams. You should be a success in your career.

You should be a success in your family. You should be a success in every area of your life. And yet,

all of us know that deep down inside, we fail in one or many aspects of those. If we're a success in

our business, we may be a failure in our family. If we're a success in our exams or our college,

we may feel like a failure in our Christian life. Many people are driven by a fear of failure.

People try and cover up the fact that their companies are failing. They lie after lie just

to make sure that everybody sees that they are respectable and they look like they're a success,

even though deep down they all know that actually there is something wrong, something where we fail.

And personally speaking, I've had my fair share of failures in my life. A couple of failures. When

I was at university, I had to leave university for four years because I had a mental breakdown

and depression for four years. When I came back after four years, all of my peers had left. They

had got good jobs. They were married. They were having kids. And here was I, almost back at the

beginning, at square one. I felt like a failure. As a community group leader in a previous church,

I was at one point asked to step down from leading because I was so wrapped up in myself that I was

stopped stopping really caring for the people that I was supposed to be caring for. At that point,

I felt like a failure. And as a Christian, as a Jesus follower, I failed many, many times. There

are people I know I should have shared the gospel with and I didn't. There are times I should have

held my tongue and I didn't. There are times that I know I should have considered other people's

feelings and I didn't. And it seems that I do this again and again and I say, God, forgive me,

and then I seem to do it again and again and again. And this cycle kind of seems to continue

in my life. And I kind of sometimes feel like I'm just clinging on for heaven, maybe. We all fail.

But I have four friends who I'd like to talk to you about. My four friends deal with failure in

different ways. The first friend I'd like to introduce you to is Beat Yourself Up Bob.

Beat Yourself Up Bob. He has messed up his sales presentation yet again. And he comes to you and

he says, I'm hopeless. I've done it again. I'm just a waste of time. There's no point continuing. I

want to give up. What's the use? I'm not worth anything. I can never get it right. That's my friend

beat yourself up Bob. I have another friend called Defensive Diana. Defensive Diana, she forgot to

take her daughter to her piano exam. So she didn't pass her piano exam. But if you confronted her with

this problem, she would find at least 20 other culprits for why her daughter didn't get to the

piano exam. It was her husband's fault. He looked at her wrong. It was the piano teacher's fault. She

didn't remind her. It was anything. It was the war in Iraq. It could have been anything

except her. Because the moment it seems like she might have to take some responsibility,

the wars come up, the defenses come up, and you're not getting anywhere. Another nickname for her is

blame it on anyone but me, Brenda. And then you have my third friend. So beat yourself up Bob,

Defensive Diana. Then you have my third friend who is called Minimizing Martin. Now Minimizing Martin,

he forgot his wife's anniversary yet again. But so what? It's not a big deal. I mean, I remembered it

three years ago, and there's going to be another one next year. So chill out. Don't worry. It's not a big

deal, you know. And yes, I know I should have invited some of my friends to connect with people

from my community group. But you know, I've been busy. Jesus loves me. He's going to forgive me.

We can't all be perfect, can we? That's my friend Minimizing Martin. And then my final friend

is Tryhard Tracy. Now, Tryhard Tracy, she's a good Christian. She knows that she should share her faith

with her friends. But every time she comes to talk to them about the good news, she just bottles it.

She just loses courage. She can't do it. And she feels like a failure. But you know, last week,

she listened to an inspirational talk. Now she's determined. She's bought the book,

How to Convert the World in 24 Hours. She's enrolled on the course, Share Your Faith in Three Easy Steps.

She's listened to Oprah Winfrey, who's just told her, you know, when failure comes,

it's a chance just to dig deep, find the potential inside of you. You know, you can make it. You've

just got to try a bit harder. And so now she's armed and dangerous. She's determined this week,

anyone who comes across her path, they're going to get it. They're going to have the full Old Testament

to New Testament, Genesis to Revelation. It doesn't matter who it is. And be careful if you're one of

her friends, because you might be in for it. I don't know how you respond to failure, whether you

respond like my friends. But as we come to the book of Ezra, and we're coming to the last in our series

of looking at the prophets, it might be slightly surprising to you that actually Ezra is not a

prophet, but he's a priest. And the book of Ezra is basically, it covers about 80 years of history,

and it's almost in the Old Testament of the Bible. It's almost in time, one of the last books that

happens in the Bible. There's Ezra, Nehemiah, Malachi are the only ones which are right at the end

of the story of the Old Testament. So the next things that happened are the New Testament with

Jesus coming. And what's happened? So we're looking after thousands of years of Israel's history,

and we've got to this point. And what's the point they're at? They're at the point where

previously, in a previous episode, thousands of Israelis have been taken as forced expats,

invaded by another country, taken into modern-day Iraq for about 67 years, where they've settled

down into the local population. And they've had to settle in with some strange people who have

strange customs, with strange gods, with strange food. And some of you may feel like that in Hong Kong.

But the original group of people who are colonized them have changed. And so now, there is a new group

of people, and they have a different policy. Their policy is, send people back to where they've come

from. And basically, they can do what they like, as long as they give us tax money, and they don't

cause any trouble. We just want money, and no trouble. And so, one group of these Jews have come back,

and about 80 years later, Ezra comes back. Ezra, who's a man who loves God's word, who loves it,

who knows what God has promised in the past, and he gets back. He's excited about being back. He's

excited about restoring what Israel has forgotten they were, and was now going to become. And so,

he gets back. He settles in. And then, you come to chapter one. Sorry, verse one of chapter nine.

He sorted a few things out, and then it says,

after these things have been done, the leaders came to me and said,

the people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have kept themselves separate

from the neighboring peoples with their detestable, have not kept themselves separate from the

neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites,

Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. They have taken some of their

daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples

around them. Ezra is devastated. But if you think about it, the crime doesn't really seem that serious.

I mean, it actually seems a little bit racist. Because what is the problem? The problem is,

you've married someone from other countries. Now, I've just got married to Fiona.

I'm from the UK. She's from Hong Kong. Imagine if we had invited Ezra to the wedding ceremony.

There's Ezra in his tuxedo at the back, and the pastor might say, does anyone know any reason why

these people can't get married? And there is Ezra running down the aisle, tearing his beard,

tearing his hair out, tearing his tux, saying, Fiona, how could you be so unfaithful to marry a guaylo?

It sounds like something that a religious extremist, maybe someone from the Taliban might do.

Is this the God that we serve who doesn't like interracial marriage? Should we suddenly get a

divorce, all of those who have married interracially? And if you're a Christian and you read these

passages, it feels a little bit embarrassing. Because it doesn't seem very kind of modern.

It doesn't seem very politically correct. It seems just a little bit racist. We want to have an open

mind. We want to be tolerant. We want to accept everyone and everything in the 21st century. And

Ezra doesn't seem to fit the bill. And I often read people who are not believers. And when they come to

the Bible, and particularly come to the Old Testament, this is some of the things they pick

up and say, how can you believe in a God who just seems to be racist, seems to be so intolerant

in all these things? And I think it sounds like a very good question. But the problem is, many of us

who struggle with this don't understand. If you want to understand the Old Testament, you've got to

understand the big story of what's going on in the Old Testament, so that you see where this fits in

with the big story. Because this is one piece of the story of what God is working out in the Bible.

And so let's just look very quickly, a couple of questions just to get through this. So first of all,

let's look at the issue. Is the Bible, Bible story against interracial marriage? Okay.

Should we all get a divorce if you are married interracially? The Bible says actually no, because

the Bible actually contains some very celebrated interracial marriages. Moses marries a black

Ethiopian. And if you read in Numbers 12, actually some people oppose him for marrying someone from

another race. And what does God do? God actually judges those people. And strangely, he turns their skin

white, which is strange that white skin in that situation was a curse. Go figure.

Particularly if you're trying to use those 24-day whitening creams. I mean...

There's another famous book in the Bible called Ruth. Ruth is an amazing story. It's a story about a

Jordanian woman, a Moabite, who comes to marry an Israelite. She's a foreigner. She's outcast, but she

comes in to the Israelite community. She turns to their God. And this guy, Boaz, he shows her incredible

kindness. And he brings her into the family, marries her. And actually, as you look through the story,

you find in Jesus' family tree, Ruth and Boaz are right there in Jesus' family tree.

Because the issue here is actually

we need to understand what is God doing. We need to understand the story.

Because what's happening in that story of Ruth is actually a little sneak preview

of what God had always intended for Israel to be.

Back in Genesis, if any of you were here for the Genesis series, we looked at God giving a promise

to Abraham. And this is critical. If you want to understand the Old Testament, you've got to

understand this promise to Abraham. You will miss much of the Old Testament if you don't get it.

He promises three things. He promises Abraham and his children. You will have a land,

a place where you're going to live. You will have

a people, a people who are my own

special people, a people who are going to be

specially for God and God alone.

So he promises a land, he promises a people, and then he promises

blessing. He says, you will get

blessing beyond your wildest dreams

if you make me the center of your life.

And actually, that blessing is not just for you. That blessing is to go to

all the nations all around you. It's meant to touch all the other nations.

And the story of Ruth is just giving you a glimpse of what's going on there.

And what is meant to happen is, for Israel, people are meant to see

Israel, God is at the center of their community, and all the other nations are meant to look at them

and say, wow, there's something different about you. I don't know what it is.

How can you be so generous? How can you forgive people so unconditionally?

How can you love the poor? How can you not exploit your workers but give them fair wages?

How can you be a community where your families just work so well, where everything seems to flourish so well?

And the Israelites were meant to say, well, do you know what?

It's because we serve an amazing God.

And you need to come and serve him too.

And you want to know that blessing too.

That's what Israel were meant to be.

They're meant to be holy, different, set apart,

so that when people looked at them, they would go, I want some of that.

And they would come to know

the God of Israel

and come to know his blessing.

So the issue here is

not a question

in Ezra.

It's not a question of race.

It's actually a question

of religion and practice.

If you look in

verse 1, verse 11, verse 14,

you will see these three words.

The nations,

their detestable practices.

That's the problem.

Because each nation

had their own set of gods.

And if you read what these gods are like,

and you can go and research it online,

you read what these gods are like,

these gods are brutal.

They are sex addicted.

They are exploitative.

They use humans

as slaves.

In their stories

of these tribes,

that's what their gods were like.

And what your god is like

is always reflected

in the practice

of what the people are like.

And so it's not surprising

that these people

exploited the poor.

And you can read about this.

They had widespread

ritual prostitution

in the heart

of their religion.

They had abusive relationships.

They had even

child sacrifice.

And God says,

you are not to be like that.

You are to be

totally different

from that.

So his reason for saying

don't marry

these other nations

is

because I want you

to be different

and I want you to be

a blessing to these people.

I don't want you to just

go in and be

exactly like them.

Because the history of Israel

showed that whenever

they married

people from other nations,

what happened?

They became

just like them.

They followed

everything they did.

Their society

became corrupt.

They started

exploiting people,

abusing people.

That's terrible.

So,

you may have

another question here.

Well, okay,

if it's not about race

but it's about

religion of practice,

does that mean

Christians should divorce

their non-Christian spouses?

And,

the Bible is very clear.

1 Corinthians 7

says no.

Christians should be

a witness

to your partners

of how amazing God is.

This command

was for Israel

at a particular time

in a particular place.

And God has said

in the New Testament

he tells us

you're to be a witness

to your partners.

But he does say

don't enter into a marriage

if you're going to be

spiritually not on the same page

because you're always

going to be

pulling each other apart

and pulling away

and feeling the tension

of what it is

to not walk with God.

There's always going to be

a tension point.

But isn't God against

divorce?

Because what happens

is the people here

they end up

actually ends up

with divorcing

their wives.

And isn't God

against divorce?

Because that seems

pretty hard.

And the Bible says

very clearly

in the book of Malachi

Malachi 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

it says yeah

God hates divorce.

He hates divorce.

But it seems

that here

divorcing

the women

was the lesser

of two evils.

And this is really

I find this really tough.

I just honestly

I find this very difficult.

But the choice was

either the whole nation

turns away from God

or a few families

will feel the pain

of separation.

Because actually

at the end of chapter 10

we didn't read it

there are actually

110 families

which are listed.

110 families

are listed.

And God says

don't allow sin

to remain.

You've got to be

ruthless with sin

and sometimes

that is painful.

Sometimes that is difficult.

And actually

this is not a rush decision.

They take three months.

And if you read

on chapter 10

they sit down

with every single couple

and they work

through the issues

with every single couple

and it takes three months.

But the principle

for us here is

and Jesus says it himself

be ruthless with sin.

If there's stuff

which is going to

draw you away

from God

don't hold on to it.

Don't say

it doesn't matter.

Don't say

oh but

you know

he says be ruthless

because Jesus says

if your eye

causes you to sin

what have you got to do?

He says cut it out.

That's really hard.

That's not

that's not very

kind of politically correct.

That's not

lovely and cuddly.

But actually

God says

if you want to know

what it really means

to live

to be with me

be ruthless

with sin.

So let's

just want to have

a quick look

as we go through

the rest of the chapter

because

I don't know about you

but I feel

that sense of

sometimes

I habitually

do the same things

again

and again

and again

and sometimes

I don't really want

to be particularly

ruthless

with the things

that I struggle with.

so let's just

have a quick look

at some of the things

that how Ezra

and the people

respond.

So let's look

at their response

let's look

so we've looked

at the problem here

let's look at their response

and then we'll look

at the hope

that there is.

Okay

so if you look

at Ezra's response

again

it seems really extreme.

When I heard this

verse 3

I tore my tunic

and cloak

pulled hair

from my head

and beard

and sat down

appalled

then everyone

who trembled

at the words

of the God of Israel

gathered round me

because of this

unfaithfulness

of the exiles

and I sat there

appalled

until the evening sacrifice

then at the evening sacrifice

I rose from my self-abasement

with my tunic

and cloak torn

fell on my knees

with my hands

spread out to my God

and prayed

I'm too ashamed

and disgraced

my God

to lift up my face

to you.

Ezra's pretty broken

at this point.

Ezra's pretty broken

and I don't know

if you've ever got

to that point

where you just feel

that sense of utter despair

but normally

normally I don't

when I've done something

that I know

has not pleased God

but

sometimes I do

and usually I do

because of two reasons

one because I feel

I've let myself down

you know

you kind of get that feeling

of oh no

what have I done

and it's

for me

it's often because

I've got this standard

and I feel

I haven't kind of

lived up to my standard

and I say

that's not normally me

that's not like me

I don't normally do that

and the problem is

my standards

are pretty low

to start with

so if I haven't even

reached my standards

then there's something

seriously wrong.

I never normally

do that

that's one way

how I normally respond

the second way

that I might feel despair

is at the consequences

oh no

my wife's going to

find out

what are other people

going to think about me

if they hear

that I'm struggling

with pornography

what are they going to

think about me

if they know

that my business

is failing

or that I

am struggling

in my marriage

what are they going to

think

oh no

and

Ezra's response

is not

oops

oh dear

oh dear

Ezra's response

is oh no

and

I don't know

if you remember

the story

that Alistair

shared last week

about

his friend

who had had

an affair

and he came back

to his wife

he felt remorse

and he came back

and he confessed

his sin

to his wife

imagine

if at that moment

when he confessed

that he'd

he cheated

on his wife

imagine

if he'd said

sorry love

you know

I've cheated

on you

and I feel

so terrible

about it

because I've

broken the

seventh commandment

and you know

I've been doing

so well up till then

I've done all the

other nine

really well

but you know

this seventh one

oh I just

messed it up

and maybe God's

not going to

bless my marriage

now

how's his wife

going to feel

about that

because

maybe he's not

met the standard

but actually

that's not the issue

there

the issue

is a relational

issue

that's what makes

it so painful

it's not because

you've broken

a rule

it's actually

because

there's something

relationally wrong

in that setting

that's why Ezra

is just

oh

because there's

a relational

problem

and

it's very

interesting

I'm not going

to spend time

on this

but if you

look

Ezra

Ezra's actually

not the one

who's done

something wrong

here

did you notice

that

but do you

notice what

he says

he says

we

have sinned

we

us

our

sin

our

failings

do you

notice that

very

interesting

because you

see

Ezra's got

this idea

that he's

part of

God's people

and God's

got this

amazing plan

for his

people

and if

one

person

if one

group

of people

are not

living the

way God

wants

that means

the whole

of the

people of

God

are not

living

as God

wants them

to be

and it

breaks

his heart

and so

he repents

and says

we

have not

done

what you

wanted

and I

wonder

when

how often

when you

see

other people

even in

Watermark

in your

community

group

doing things

which you

know

are not

right

healthy

do you

ever come

to the

point

of saying

not just

them

their

problem

but actually

say

we have

an issue

it's a

family

issue

because

actually

we are

not

living

we need

to repent

we need

to say

God

change

us

to be

the

people

you

want

us

to be

God

but

again

this

seems

very

heavy

in many

ways

but

if you

look

at

verse

8

to

10

you

see

that

actually

Ezra's

not

there

thinking

God

is

this

condemning

judge

who

is

there

just

to

beat

us

around

the

head

with

a

stick

because

actually

look

at

8

to

10

and

he

says

I'm

so

cut

to

the

heart

because

look

at

this

for a

brief

moment

the

Lord

our

God

has

been

gracious

in

leaving

us

a

remnant

he's

been

faithful

and

giving

us

a

firm

place

in

his

sanctuary

and

so

our

God

gives

light

to

our

eyes

and

a

little

relief

in

our

bondage

though

we're

slaves

our

God

has

not

forsaken

us

he's

shown

us

kindness

he's

granted

us

new

life

to

rebuild

the

house

of

God

repair

its

ruins

he's

been

giving

us

so

many

things

he's

been

so

gracious

we've

messed

up

again

and

again

and

again

and

yet

God

again

and

again

and

again

he

hasn't

discarded

us

he hasn't

thrown

us

on the

scrap

heave

of

life

he's

picked

us

up

again

and

again

and

again

and

his

goodness

is

just

amazing

and

he

keeps

providing

he

keeps

giving

us

more

than

good

to

us

look

at

what

we've

done

how

can

we

do

it

again

after

you're

so

faithful

to

us

and

the

story

of

the

old

testament

is

really

the

story

of

a

self

sin

addicted

adulterous

people

who

just

have

an

incredibly

faithful

husband

who

just

chases

after

them

again

and

again

and

again

and

yet

the

people

again

and

again

and

again

just

go

back

in

this

cycle

of

going

away

from

him

that

is

the

story

of

the

old

testament

and

it's

like

they've

got

an

addiction

an

addiction

they just

can't

break

out

of

and

I

have

a

friend

who

was

a

drug

addict

we'll

call

him

Jim

I

first

met

him

he

was

homeless

and

got

to

know

him

over

a

number

of

months

and

eventually

invited

him

just

to

stay

a

week

or so

in

our

house

while

we

found him

some

alternative

accommodation

he stayed

there

we found him

somewhere to live

he moved to

my friend's

place

and I thought

great

this is good

he's going to get back on his feet

everything's going to be great

next morning I get a phone call from my friend

slightly distressed

saying

you know your friend Jim

he's just taken

he's just taken the equivalent of 6,000 Hong Kong dollars from a new colleague who was staying with me

we called the police

the police weren't that interested actually

and

so I went down to

to a place where I knew he would be

and I waited for him

and

as he came through the door he saw my face

and you should have seen the look on his face

he hung his head

he started trying to walk out of the door

I walked after him

I looked him in the eyes

I told him that we'd called the police

but then I said to him

you know

but we've forgiven you

for what you've done

because we have an amazing God

who forgives

and shows grace to you

he was blown away

because he'd never experienced anything like that

we prayed

I didn't see him again for a few weeks

I said to him actually

we will welcome you back

not because you deserve it

but because we have an amazing God

who wants to welcome you back

and wants you to know him

a few weeks later

I was cycling through

I didn't see him for a while

cycling through an area of town

which I never normally went into

cycling through this little kind of back alley

and who did I happen to see on a bench

but Jim

when he saw me

his face was the picture of just complete shock

and I went up to him

I talked to him

and he said to me

you know

I've been trying to avoid you

for the last

I don't know how long it was

month

I've been trying to avoid you

but

I came to the one place

in the city of half a million people

where I thought you would never find me

and

you found me

God must be

really on my case

we talked

he seemed to really

feel repentance

I invited him along

to come along to our church

he came along to one

gathering

of our church

and

I thought it was great

things seemed to go well

next

day

I had a phone call from a friend

saying

I've lost

$1500

we knew it was Jim

time went past

I didn't see him

for a while

again

we called the police

nothing seemed to happen

then one day

I saw Jim

again

and he came back

and he seemed to be really repentant

he seemed to have

be

totally

totally wanting to get on the right path

again

he said

you know

I want to get a job

I want to get accommodation

and stuff

and so

we

kind of reluctantly agreed

to let him stay in our

house for just

two days

while the process

of getting a new flat

was in place

and

I stupidly allowed him

to

have our key

just to get his stuff

just as he was moving

into the

his new place

that evening

I got a phone call

from my

housemate

to say that

his Xbox

all his guitar equipment

and money

had been taken

at that point

we called the police

Jim went to prison

I visited him

in prison

every day for a week

we talked about

God's grace

we talked about

how God pursues

even the people

who are the furthest away

and he seemed to really

be captivated

by the story

when he came out

he stayed with my parents

for two days

while we found him

in rehab

during those two days

he went and took

another thousand dollars

from

a neighbor

Jim went back

to prison

every month

I visited him

every month

he said to me

I'm going to go

and see the prison

chaplain

the person who

to kind of find out

more about God

every month

I went back

and he hadn't done it

18 months later

I was just about

giving up on him

we shared the gospel

with him

we told him all about

the way that God

chases after

even the most broken

people can restore them

he said

oh that's fantastic

I know

I'm a sinner

I know that I need

God's grace

and every month

nothing changed

after 18 months

I was giving up

I kind of

skipped a month

or two

didn't see him

for about three months

I hadn't seen him

and then

I got this letter

through the post

and in the letter

Jim said

do you know what

I was baptized

last week

I was like

wow

and he told me the story

he said

you know

I'd been in

I'd been put in isolation

because I'd been

brewing beer

inside

you get a picture

Jim

and when I was

in isolation

when everything else

was taken away from me

suddenly I

I got to thinking

and I got to realize

that all the grace

that I'd been shown

and all this God

that you told me about

he must be amazing

that he could even

chase after me

and I remembered

all the stuff

that I'd done

all the mess

that I'd done

and he said

at that point

I just prayed

and said

God please

save me

it happened

the next day

that actually

the prison chaplain

came around to him

and said

okay you're getting

baptized on Sunday

I hope you're ready

Jim was rather surprised

because he hadn't

talked to the chaplain

about this

and so I go

okay

great

Saturday came

the chaplain

came around

and actually said

you know

I'm sorry

I made a big mistake

it wasn't you

who was meant

to be getting baptized

it was another guy

but do you want

to get baptized anyway

and Jim said

yeah

and he stood

in front of all

his other inmates

and told him

the testimony

told them the testimony

of a God

of amazing grace

the thing with Jim

is

he's

still struggling

I invited him

to our wedding

he said he'd come

he didn't turn up

and that could be

heartbreaking

but I learnt

something

through Jim

I thought I was

pretty persistent

but I learnt

that God

doesn't give up

on people

that God

pursues

his people

even when they

again

and again

and again

and again

and again

mess up

that's the kind

of God

that I think

Ezra had a bit

of a glimpse

of

that he

pursues

us

with grace

and God

knows

God is not

kind of blind

to the depth

of their depravity

God's not blind

to that

he knows

everything

they've done

and the thing

is

I think

the story

of Jim

is the story

of Israel

and actually

naturally

it's the story

of all of us

we're all

addicts

to ourselves

naturally

we're addicted

to our own

ambitions

we struggle

time and time

again

with the same

things

it may be

your temper

it may be

impatience

with your kids

it may be

101 things

it may be

pornography

it may be

just angry

bitter thoughts

whatever it is

and maybe

you get to a point

where you think

I've done it again

there's no hope

maybe God

is like a

judge

kind of

looking at me

wanting to

beat me around

the head

to say

you did it again

that's another one

in my black book

and you see

Ezra gets to the

point of saying

we are guilty

we can't stand

before God

and that's the truth

but there's a hope

time's running

but I just want to

look at this

very quickly

if you look in

chapter 10

verse 2

there's this amazing

response from the

people here

it says

we have been

unfaithful to our

God

they don't deny it

they don't kind of

hide behind it

they're not doing

defensive Diana

they're not doing

beat yourself up Bob

they're not doing

try hard Tracy

they're not doing

minimizing Martin

they're not doing

any of that

they admit it

they come clean

but then

so we've been

unfaithful

but there's this

amazing thing

but in spite

of this

in spite

of this

there is still

hope

for Israel

there is still

hope

for Israel

and the thing is

the hope

is not

on the performance

of Israel

it's not on

finding their

potential

for Israel

because they'd

had thousands

of years to try

and they'd

failed every

time

their hope

was in

the character

of a God

who is like

a faithful

husband

pursuing

an unfaithful

lover

who doesn't

give up

who is

unfailing

who doesn't

cover over

the sin

and say

oh it doesn't

matter

but a God

who

ultimately

the story

leads

to Christ

and the cross

because at the cross

Ezra didn't

know this

Ezra was looking

at the faithfulness

of God

over the thousands

of years

that he'd seen

up till then

but we can look

back at the

faithfulness of God

on the cross

where he takes

all your junk

he knows

everything

there's nothing

no little skeleton

in your closet

that he doesn't

know about

but he took

every one of them

on the cross

the judge

who should have

pronounced you

guilty

says

you're not

guilty

and you can say

yeah but

but don't you

know what I've

done

and he says

yeah

but you can't

forgive me

like that

and he says

I'm not

forgiving you

because of

how good you

are

or because

you've tried

really hard

I'm forgiving

you because

of my character

and because

of what Jesus

has done

he declares

you not guilty

he says

you're free

not just

free

to then

go and

re-offend

as an

addict

who's just

caught in

this cycle

but he says

I've not

just set you

free

to be a

repeat offender

but I've

set you

free

from your

addiction

to self

you are not

a self

sin addict

any longer

if you are

a follower

of Christ

it's been

broken

you may

have

some of

the

leftover

habits

from your

addiction

from your

self

addiction

but he

says

I've

broken

it

you're

free

Jesus

says

if the

son

sets

you

free

you'll

be

free

indeed

you don't

have to

be

living

in

slavery

to a

fear

of

failure

any

longer

you

don't

have to

live

in

that

cycle

of

I've

done

it

again

I've

done

it

again

you

don't

have

to

be

any

of

my

four

characters

so I

just want

to finish

those

four

friends

respond

the way

they do

because

they

don't

know

the

God

of

the

Bible

they

don't

know

the

God

who

is

so

holy

that

none

of us

could

stand

before

him

but

is

so

gracious

that

he invites

all

of us

to

stand

before

him

how do

we

change

change

happens

when you

see the

horror of

your own

sin

normally

I'm

kind of

God

forgive

me

and then

I

carry

on

but

actually

God

wants

you

to

get

to

a

point

if

you

want

to

change

see

that

actually

it's

a

relational

thing

see

that

it's

hurtful

it's

cheating

on

your

lover

but

see

that

that's

not

to

cuss

you

that

doesn't

condemn

you

because

your

lover

is

the

most

incredible

God

be

honest

with

God

tell

him

how

messed

up

you

are

thank

God

here's

the thing

if you

feel

guilty

and

condemned

God

doesn't

want to

leave

you

like

that

if

you've

said

God

forgive

me

and

then

you

still

feel

guilty

you

are

forgiven

so

don't

keep

repenting

for

the

same

thing

don't

if

you've

said

God

forgive

me

for

this

then

thank

him

that

he's

forgiven

you

no

matter

how

you

feel

just

thank

him

because

he's

forgiven

you

and

your

feelings

will

follow

and

the

last

thing

take

active

steps

to

change

because

you

don't

have

to

change

because

you've

got

to

meet

up

to

some

performance

but

because

you

see

the

God

who

is

incredibly

gracious

who

chases

after

you

make

active

steps

to

change

you

feed

an

addiction

to

Christ

by

feeding

it

learn

specific

passages

of the

Bible

if you

struggle

with

particular

things

ask

a

person

to

be

your

accountability

partner

not

just

on

anything

but

on

a

specific

issue

pray

regularly

God

help me

to see

your