Sermon

Genesis 4:1-16 - ”Murder in the First” - Who Are We Series

Mountainview Church

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  1. good

  2. morning our Old Testament reading this

  3. morning is Genesis 4 verses 1-

    Genesis 4:1–16

  4. 16 now Adam knew Eve his wife and she

  5. conceived and bore Cain saying I have

  6. gotten a man with the help of the Lord

  7. and again she bore his brother Abel now

  8. Abel was a keeper of sheep and Cain a

  9. worker of the ground in the course of

  10. time Cain brought brought to the Lord an

  11. offering of the fruit of the ground and

  12. Abel also brought of the firstborn of

  13. his flock and of their fat portions and

  14. the Lord had regard for Abel and his

  15. offering but for Cain and his offering

  16. he had no regard so Cain was very angry

  17. and his face fell the Lord said to Cain

  18. why are you angry and why has your face

  19. Fallen if you do well will you not be

  20. accepted accepted and if you do not do

  21. well sin is crouching at the door its

  22. desire is contrary to you but you must

  23. rule over it Cain spoke to Abel his

  24. brother and when they were in the field

  25. Cain rose up against his brother Abel

  26. and killed him then the Lord said to

  27. Cain where is Abel your brother he said

  28. I do not know am I My Brother's Keeper

  29. and the Lord said what have you done the

  30. voice of your brother's blood is crying

  31. to me from the ground and now you are

  32. cursed from the ground which has opened

  33. its mouth to receive your brother's

  34. blood from your hand when you work the

  35. ground it shall no longer yield to you

  36. its strength you shall be a fugitive and

  37. a Wanderer on the earth Cain said to the

  38. Lord my punishment is greater than I can

  39. bear behold you have driven me today

  40. away from the ground and from your face

  41. I shall be hidden I shall be a fugitive

  42. and a Wanderer on the earth and whoever

  43. Finds Me will kill me then the Lord said

  44. to him not so if anyone kills Cain

  45. Vengeance shall be taken on him

  46. Sevenfold and the Lord put a mark on

  47. Cain lest any who found him should

  48. attack him then Cain went away from the

  49. present of the Lord and settled in the

  50. Land of Nod East of

  51. Eden our new testament reading from

  52. Hebrews

  53. 11 veres

  54. 1-4 now Faith is the Assurance of things

  55. hoped for the conviction of Things Not

  56. Seen for by it the people of old

  57. received their

  58. Commendation by faith we understand that

  59. the Universe was created by the word of

  60. God so that what is seen was not made

  61. out of things that are

  62. visible by faith Abel offered to God a

  63. more acceptable sacrifice than Cain

  64. through which he was commanded as

  65. righteous God commending him by

  66. accepting his gifts and through his

  67. faith though he died he still speaks

  68. this is the word of the Lord thanks be

  69. to

  70. God I got one bad habit well I got more

  71. than one

  72. but I got one really bad habit I love

  73. watching True Crime anybody else here

  74. like watching True

  75. Crime come on don't make me the own oh

  76. thank you oh I got two Sinners with me

  77. three

  78. good and that means on Friday night what

  79. gets turned on is dat line do you guys

  80. know what date line is dat line follows

  81. a situation where somebody usually gets

  82. killed sometimes it's something else and

  83. you learn pretty quickly that's

  84. formulaic they always have the

  85. spouse and then they create this other

  86. person maybe the gardener who she had an

  87. argument with it's always a spouse but

  88. they try and create like this could be

  89. these two things and then the whole

  90. formula is how do they catch him and

  91. then what does they do once they catch

  92. them okay so that's basically the story

  93. the plot of this show and I've learned a

  94. couple things number one if you're

  95. planning to kill someone don't buy life

  96. insurance a month

  97. before because apparently that's a big

  98. sign of your

  99. guilt right the other thing don't look

  100. on your computer how do I ask

  101. somebody yes I just saw an episode of

  102. that the interesting thing though about

  103. this

  104. show is I always

  105. ends with the guy or the girl who gets

  106. caught almost 90% of the time blaming

  107. the system blaming their upbringing

  108. blaming something else going

  109. on well today we're going to meet a guy

  110. who could have been on a date line

  111. episode and what does he do he

  112. blames the craziest part is what God

  113. does let's

  114. pray Heavenly Father we thank you for

  115. your amazing grace to us and we ask you

  116. to be with us and fill us with your

  117. spirit opening our eyes and our ears

  118. amen now Adam knew Eve his wife yeah

  119. that's what it means and she conceived

  120. and bore Cain saying and here's your

  121. first hint things aren't going well I

  122. have gotten a man with the help of the

  123. Lord remember how they fall they've

  124. already fallen by saying I can be like

  125. God now she's putting herself in a

  126. Divine place that well God help but I

  127. put this together and again she bore her

  128. brother Abel breath that's not a good

  129. sign Cain means to acquire breath means

  130. Abel means breath it's not a sign and

  131. names mattered now Abel was a keeper of

  132. the sheep and Cain a worker of the

  133. ground in the course of time Cain

  134. brought to the Lord an offering of the

  135. fruit of the ground and Abel also

  136. brought the firstborn of his flock and

  137. the fat portions and the Lord had regard

  138. it says for Abel's offering but not for

  139. Cain's we don't know why because if it's

  140. according to the sacrificial system

  141. they're the same later it's because one

  142. brings it with

  143. faith but for Cain his offering he had

  144. no regard so here we go Cain was very

  145. very

  146. angry and his face

  147. fell now this is the interesting part

  148. we've got jealousy we've got motive as

  149. they would tell

  150. you and the Lord said to Cain why are

  151. you angry why has your face Fallen he's

  152. asking him he's trying to help them do

  153. you see look at what's really going on

  154. if you do well will you not be accepted

  155. and if you do not do well sin is

  156. crouching at the door this is a

  157. fascinating picture this picture they

  158. used to believe that there were these

  159. things called door demons seems strange

  160. but this is the exact language sin is

  161. like a door demon waiting for you to

  162. walk in the room so he can pounce on you

  163. and control you it's fascinating in like

  164. an animal sin is seen as the

  165. ultimate Evil that wants to

  166. destroy think of that in our world where

  167. people celebrate

  168. sin the biblical truth is it's out there

  169. to get you it's out there to destroy

  170. you so it's sitting there crouching at

  171. the dark its desire is contrary to you

  172. but you must rule over it you must can

  173. not let this thing in your heart that's

  174. you motive of he's already a murderer

  175. isn't he cuz he's

  176. angry what does Jesus say in Matthew

  177. 6 I don't say to you just not murder but

  178. do not be

  179. angry but he's already angry he's going

  180. to do it Cain spoke with Abel his

  181. brother probably luring him out into the

  182. field and when they're in the field Cain

  183. rose up against his brother Abel and he

  184. kills him Abel's gone he's just done a

  185. bit player in this whole story we know

  186. nothing about him

  187. and he killed him because he was jealous

  188. because God said I honor this for

  189. whatever reason we don't know why he

  190. honored that

  191. gift later on as we read in Hebrews 11

  192. it's because it was given in faith not

  193. just given to get I could do a whole

  194. sermon a whole 10 sermons on why you

  195. should never give because you think you

  196. can get something out of it but I'm

  197. going to tell you right now it's

  198. interesting Cain's name is to

  199. acquire so why did he

  200. give I'll leave that with

  201. you whatever Abel did he gave from his

  202. heart and now he's dead because his

  203. brother is jealous this is always about

  204. him Cain spoke to Abel's brother and he

  205. killed him and then we move on and then

  206. the Lord said to Cain where is Abel your

  207. brother and he says what he lies

  208. remember when the Lord walked in and

  209. they had just eaten the

  210. Apple it's not an apple but from the

  211. Tree of the good and wisdom what does he

  212. see where are you the Lord's always

  213. seeking us out isn't

  214. he they tell the truth you can see the

  215. increase in destruction because he lies

  216. he says I do not know which is

  217. fascinating because that fruit of tree

  218. of good and evil or sorry of the wisdom

  219. and the knowledge of Good and Evil right

  220. they're supposed to know but what does

  221. he say I don't know they have access to

  222. it but they don't know how to use it and

  223. I think that's why that's put in there I

  224. do not

  225. know because I've already tried to assur

  226. you God I don't even know what good from

  227. Evil is and thus I do

  228. this I'm I My Brother's Keeper oh that

  229. will go on for Generations won't it

  230. right to our day and the Lord said what

  231. have you done the voice of your

  232. brother's blood blood is crying to me

  233. from the

  234. ground there's something we need to

  235. understand about

  236. God because I'm going to tell you the

  237. world doesn't think of God this way God

  238. hates when we destroy other

  239. people hates it more than you or

  240. I he absolutely hates when we mistreat

  241. people especially people made in God's

  242. image the fact that we have people

  243. walking around saying oh Jesus is just

  244. love and kindness

  245. and he is love he's the kind of love of

  246. a parent with children can you imagine

  247. how angry you would be if one of your

  248. children were

  249. killed times it by 10 times it by a

  250. thousand the voice of your brother's

  251. blood is crying to me from the ground

  252. now what what would the just thing to be

  253. it actually says in Genesis 9 if this

  254. event happens God gives a rule listen to

  255. this rule whoever sheds the blood of Man

  256. by man shall his blood be shed for God

  257. has made man in his own image that's

  258. God's standard that's God's standards

  259. folks if it came down to Justice this is

  260. what should

  261. happen all

  262. right but what actually

  263. happens and now you are cursed from the

  264. ground the ground has been cursed now

  265. he's cursed remember Adam wasn't cursed

  266. but the ground was cursed now Cain is

  267. cursed which has opened its mouth to

  268. receive your brother's blood from your

  269. hand by doing this evil he has created a

  270. world where he the world will not give

  271. him what he would have liked of it when

  272. you work the ground it shall no longer

  273. yield to you its strength you shall be a

  274. fugitive and a Wanderer on the Earth the

  275. greatest punishment besides death and

  276. Antiquity is exile back then you live

  277. together for survival exiling him he

  278. knew was the greatest but why does he

  279. Exile him and why is it a a Biblical

  280. Justice because biblical truth and

  281. goodness Is Us in the presence of

  282. God biblical goodness and Truth Is Us in

  283. the presence of our community

  284. but what does murder do to community and

  285. to God separates

  286. us he's just giving him a natural

  287. consequence of what's going to

  288. happen Cain said to the Lord my

  289. punishment is greater than I bear I want

  290. you to notice something about Cain Cain

  291. never once says I shouldn't have done it

  292. does he there's no

  293. Contrition so don't get too

  294. I don't know the

  295. word anyways don't think of Cain too

  296. highly Cain is not presented as anything

  297. but a selfish person who does not want

  298. to own what he did his only reason he's

  299. upset is he's got caught and he has to

  300. suffer the

  301. punishment My Punishment is greater than

  302. I can

  303. bear behold you have driven me today

  304. away from the ground and from your face

  305. I shall hidden this is the greatest

  306. judgment is in the ancient world and in

  307. biblical theology is not just you do bad

  308. things but you move yourself from the

  309. face of God because that's who we were

  310. created to be what's Paul's great

  311. promise in Corinthians one day we will

  312. see face to face amen whoever said that

  313. you get a gold

  314. star face to face the worst thing that

  315. can happen to all of

  316. us is to lose God's presence that my

  317. friend is

  318. hell that my friend is where everything

  319. goes

  320. off I shall be fugitive and a wander on

  321. the earth and whoever Finds Me will kill

  322. me now right away people are saying well

  323. I thought he was like the first kid well

  324. no it didn't work that way the Bible

  325. doesn't seem to have any problem with

  326. the idea that there were other humanoids

  327. that were existing it's talking about

  328. this one line and clearly there are

  329. people that live out in the outer area

  330. he is or they couldn't who would kill

  331. him

  332. right and he's genuinely concerned if he

  333. goes out there he's going to be killed

  334. because that's what you did with people

  335. in

  336. Exile and here's the incredible thing

  337. remember you should be killed if you do

  338. that I want you to remember that that's

  339. the right thing to

  340. do but listen to what the Lord says then

  341. the Lord said to him not so if anyone

  342. kills Cain Vengeance shall be taken on

  343. him

  344. Sevenfold now why that's so profound is

  345. there was a rule in the ancient world

  346. that if somebody killed somebody the

  347. family could come okay and come and they

  348. could kill the person who killed their

  349. loved one so what he's saying is if some

  350. this is what God's saying if someone

  351. does something to Cain I will enact the

  352. Vengeance what's he doing by doing that

  353. he's saying I'm Cain's family

  354. member because only a family member

  355. could enact the

  356. Justice do you know what you call that

  357. folks have you figured it out

  358. Mercy you see the funny thing about God

  359. is here is a truth that Justice is needs

  360. to be meted and he everyone who gets

  361. really into fundamentalism loves it but

  362. then they never remember that he's

  363. actually driven by

  364. Mercy even though Justice is deser

  365. deserved he gives him

  366. Mercy then Ken k Cain went away from the

  367. presence of the Lord and he send it

  368. settled in the Land of Nod East of

  369. Eden simple reality is he's gone he's

  370. killed he's done this and God has had

  371. mercy upon him but thus Begins the great

  372. destruction next week we're going to see

  373. an increase of it and there's going to

  374. be more and more till we get to Noah's

  375. Ark where everybody just lives for hate

  376. and violence vience and sexual

  377. oppression this is just a beginning

  378. family upon family but it leads to

  379. murder because he's about himself

  380. because he has given in to you can be

  381. like God knowing good from Evil he made

  382. his choice independent of God and when

  383. God told him what to do when God gave

  384. him

  385. wisdom the Beast is standing at ad door

  386. he rather went his way and he was going

  387. to see his life destroyed you

  388. see and that's the reality of

  389. scripture I tell you that because this

  390. is shocking to a lot of people in our

  391. culture the idea that sin is bad I mean

  392. what has happened to

  393. sin right when's the last time you were

  394. sitting there talking to someone about

  395. Sin I'm sure you were talking about

  396. disease maybe you were talking about

  397. some sort of mental condition right

  398. something

  399. therapeutic right that's the way the

  400. world

  401. works but sin sin isn't something we

  402. talk about because our world's bought

  403. into the idea that humanity is good so

  404. if it's good and we're not doing the

  405. right thing we just need a little

  406. therapy and we'll make him good

  407. again that's

  408. true why do you think you have

  409. psychologists and counselors do you know

  410. that the only reason those things took

  411. off was because the church Church did

  412. not promote sin and it waned the gospel

  413. so they needed help they're still messed

  414. up they're still

  415. Sinners then you get the therapeutic

  416. response Bill Maher a true atheist made

  417. this

  418. note everything that used to be a sin is

  419. now a

  420. disease right but here's the difference

  421. between sin and disease disease is I

  422. can't take any blame for it I'm just

  423. born this way I just happen to have

  424. something happen to me I have a disease

  425. please treat me sin says you have every

  426. responsibility so why do you think

  427. people like

  428. disease because they can say why blame

  429. me

  430. right but sin says it's crouching at

  431. your door to destroy you your resp

  432. responsible you have a

  433. choice whether you like it or not to not

  434. let it rule over

  435. you unfortunately we have to blame the

  436. church in

  437. this the church for so many years and I

  438. can tell you I could take you down the

  439. road to some church somewhere where

  440. they're going to tell you it's going to

  441. be like a 20-minute Ted Talk on about

  442. how you can have become a healthier

  443. human

  444. being it'll be a rock concert and a TED

  445. talk I'm telling you this is the truth

  446. and you're going to sit there and listen

  447. to about how seven steps to being nicer

  448. to your wife or your husband or some

  449. other thing some therapeutic thing to

  450. help yourself feel

  451. better here's the problem with it number

  452. one it's like Chinese food you're hungry

  453. 30 minutes

  454. later number two it doesn't

  455. work you can only pump somebody up with

  456. positive thinking so

  457. far you see what's happened is we lost

  458. the gospel because the church wanted to

  459. be more culturally

  460. relevant they wanted to be accepted by

  461. the culture they wanted more people in

  462. the pews and they forgot that we are

  463. supposed to preach about these things it

  464. started heavily in 18th century German

  465. by the mid 19th century you could go to

  466. most churches and hear about nice things

  467. about you and why Jesus is there for you

  468. to be more

  469. fulfilled well H reinold

  470. neber and he got a lot of trouble for

  471. this quote said that the church is this

  472. a god without wrath brought human beings

  473. without sin into a kingdom without

  474. judgment through the ministrations of a

  475. Christ without a

  476. cross because it was all about

  477. us there was no sin so there needed not

  478. be a cross let alone Jesus Jesus

  479. actually became a glorified

  480. psychoanalysis

  481. person am I in trouble for saying

  482. this and we wondered why we had so many

  483. people sitting in pews listening to this

  484. but so few people living it in the

  485. world because sin is always there and we

  486. can't get rid of it through a TED

  487. Talk motivational speech does not cure

  488. this this thing that's deep within

  489. us so now I'm going to sound like a 19th

  490. century preacher so you're going to have

  491. to hold

  492. on I'm going to talk about the reality

  493. of

  494. sin I feel like I should put on like

  495. those robes you know they had pound

  496. it sin is really

  497. bad sin that comes within us has one

  498. goal to destroy

  499. us sin sin has one goal and that is to

  500. destroy who you are to take your

  501. humanity and lessen it and lessen it and

  502. lessen it until you are exiled from the

  503. presence of God forever that's its

  504. goal it's not a joke I remember my uncle

  505. saying to me well I'd rather go to hell

  506. with all my friends in the parties than

  507. go to heaven and play a

  508. harp well first of all just so you guys

  509. know that's not the escaton you're not

  510. going to be sitting in heaven playing a

  511. harp with Philadelphia cream cheese that

  512. is

  513. paganism but see what he misunderstood

  514. is all those friends he wanted to go and

  515. party with what their lives were doing

  516. was destroying their very

  517. Soul Oswald Chambers remember what sin

  518. is the fundamental independence of God

  519. the thing in me that says I can do

  520. without God God I don't need him and

  521. then we make choices like

  522. Cain we no longer listen to God who says

  523. don't do it we no longer listen for our

  524. own good because we're too smart for our

  525. own good sexual proclivity I can do this

  526. I'm born that

  527. way and to God they

  528. ignore anger

  529. greed well like I can handle it and sin

  530. sits there at the door and

  531. destroys I knew a gentleman very well in

  532. our neighborhood growing up and he had a

  533. problem with gambling by the way I don't

  534. think you guys realize how damaging the

  535. addiction of gambling is we don't talk

  536. about

  537. it and here he was with his four kids

  538. and he said and my dad actually said to

  539. him at some point I don't know if you

  540. should

  541. Gamble but he kept gambling because he

  542. knew

  543. better and I watched as his house was

  544. taken his kids were taken and he was

  545. left stuck in an apartment and he

  546. eventually committed

  547. suicide sin is sitting there and it

  548. wants us to destroy

  549. us and sin comes in and I love this

  550. analogy because man has been created in

  551. God's image sin is not natural I want

  552. you to understand that it's not natural

  553. remember the first two chapters in

  554. Genesis where we were made in God's

  555. image to be a priest and King and all

  556. those good things it comes in because we

  557. welcome it

  558. in and it's not natural sin is the def

  559. de deformation of

  560. man it is a cancer it is a sickness

  561. under death which has inflicted

  562. man it wants to destroy

  563. you it's known not just that you have a

  564. little bit of a

  565. disease it's not just that you have a

  566. little bit of something that oh that

  567. darn part of me I'm Just Being Human no

  568. it wasn't way you were created and it's

  569. there to destroy

  570. you and

  571. me and I can tell you the

  572. truth Genesis doesn't give us by the end

  573. good news on

  574. it the Old

  575. Testament gives us hints of what God

  576. might do but there's no

  577. hope but I get to sit here and preach to

  578. you about somebody who gave us

  579. hope I want you to know without Jesus

  580. Christ you will be destroyed and away

  581. from God

  582. forever because of sin all of you

  583. including me I know some I'm not such a

  584. bad person

  585. H well I've studied humanity and you're

  586. part of it do you remember how they

  587. dealt with with the toilet paper about 5

  588. years ago

  589. H I read 60% of people would happily

  590. have ratted on their neighbor for not

  591. wearing a

  592. mask you think we're

  593. good

  594. H I'm telling you something that these

  595. young gentlemen had to figure out or

  596. they wouldn't have been sitting

  597. here I'm a piece of

  598. garbage good news guys so am I

  599. but there was somebody who played the

  600. cost and this is the gospel until you

  601. understand sin for what it is you'll

  602. never understand the gospel if you think

  603. it's just a disease then Jesus has no

  604. real help for

  605. you at the cross God wrapped his heart

  606. in flesh and blood and let it be nailed

  607. to the cross for our

  608. Redemption sin is is that bad Sin wants

  609. to destroy you sin wants to kill you and

  610. the god of Heaven and Earth to deal with

  611. it became human and though he didn't

  612. have any of it he took that upon himself

  613. for

  614. us that's

  615. incredible there is no other way to get

  616. to God no motivational speaker no nice

  617. thoughts no

  618. psychoanalysis there is

  619. only the way of the

  620. cross the cross is the only way we deal

  621. with the fact that this sin has

  622. controlled us and it has controlled us

  623. and he came and took it upon himself

  624. that's the only reason and if you think

  625. there's any other reason then you need

  626. to go back and

  627. repent because one of the things that

  628. happens when you've been in church in a

  629. while I know this cuz it's happened to

  630. me is you start you know your first you

  631. go oh praise the Lord I've been saved

  632. God did all this and then you start

  633. thinking wow I'm pretty

  634. special I'm going to tell you you do and

  635. you might even say boy God's lucky to

  636. have

  637. me he's

  638. not here's the reality guys you're only

  639. here because of his Mercy in the

  640. cross I'm only

  641. here you see the cross does something

  642. something

  643. incredible the cross shows us how deeply

  644. this has affected us cuz we nailed them

  645. to it didn't we do you ever see The

  646. Passion of

  647. Christ there's a scene where Jesus's

  648. nails are going into his hands and I

  649. found out later that they it was Mel

  650. Gibson's hand they said why did you do

  651. that you're a director of the movie and

  652. he goes I wanted to show it was me who

  653. put him on that cross

  654. and that's the unbelievable thing about

  655. the cross is it shows us exactly our

  656. guilt how far we are like

  657. Cain but it

  658. also shows us the way

  659. out it shows us in a stunning

  660. way how we can live

  661. again don't know if you guys can read

  662. this so I'll read it am Bruner by the

  663. way good friend of bonhoff and all those

  664. great

  665. Germans only only at the Cross of Christ

  666. does man see fully what it is that

  667. separates him from God yet it is here

  668. alone that he perceives that he is no

  669. longer separated from

  670. God nowhere else does the inviable

  671. Holiness of God the impossibility of

  672. overlooking the guilt of man stand out

  673. more

  674. plainly but nowhere else does the

  675. Limitless in mercy of God which utterly

  676. transcends all human standards stand

  677. stand out more clearly and

  678. plainly I'm going to tell you something

  679. Paul said to the Corinthians I claim to

  680. know nothing but Christ

  681. crucified why because that was

  682. it that was the truth of his guilt and

  683. his

  684. forgiveness and it is for you and I as

  685. well praise God

  686. e that he did that for

  687. us or we would be right down Cane's

  688. alley but it doesn't end there does

  689. it I have some good news and some bad

  690. news you want which one do you want

  691. first I'm going to give you the bad

  692. news you're still going to

  693. sin I'm telling you guys I got baptized

  694. today you're not going to walk out of

  695. here and Float 5T off the Earth for the

  696. next 40 50 years of your

  697. life that same Beast will continue to

  698. creep we have been saved we have been

  699. given the Holy Spirit but guess what my

  700. friends and by the way if you don't

  701. believe me ask the older people who've

  702. journeyed in this Faith

  703. longer they'll be the first to tell you

  704. you're going to

  705. sin and in fact the more you spend time

  706. with

  707. God the more that sin is going to bite

  708. you because you're also going to know

  709. what your life could be like

  710. it doesn't mean you'll sin all the time

  711. and you will have

  712. Victory but it's going to be a

  713. battle it's going to be a battle you

  714. guys and here's the good news you ready

  715. for this he saved us on that cross he

  716. brought us back into his F into his

  717. realm and then he gave us the greatest

  718. gift of all the ability to confess

  719. sin you see it's not a oneoff is

  720. it we deal with sin on the cross he

  721. dealt with that but now how do we deal

  722. with it until we arrive he gave us this

  723. great gift that if you confess your sins

  724. you're

  725. forgiven anybody else wake up and you've

  726. had a particularly sinful go and you've

  727. wondered does God love

  728. me this is a tough crowd because I know

  729. you're

  730. lying has anyone else sat there I know I

  731. have and said I don't even know if I'm a

  732. Christian

  733. yeah you know one of those days where

  734. you get cut off in traffic

  735. H I know you're all like perfect but I

  736. can assure you there are moments and

  737. days especially when you're with your

  738. spouse and they're peeing you

  739. off and you go to bed angry and you hear

  740. that verse don't go to bed angry now

  741. you're more

  742. mad and you think if I don't go to bed

  743. angry I'll be up for four weeks

  744. we've all been

  745. there and then there's a voice that says

  746. confess your

  747. sins you know when I start these

  748. Services I do the confession why do we

  749. do everything we do here by the way some

  750. of it might be foreign to some of you

  751. what we do is our liturgy we do here

  752. whether it's prayer whether it's

  753. confession whether it's the reading of

  754. scripture is the Liturgy of your life 6

  755. days a week what you're supposed to be

  756. doing we just do it together once

  757. and when we confess our sins together

  758. I'm not a priest I don't have the power

  759. but he has proclaimed that if we do it

  760. we're

  761. forgiven and I'm trying to say to you

  762. guys good news when you're having that

  763. day then the first thing you should do

  764. is run towards them because it's going

  765. to feel like it's the last thing you

  766. should

  767. do and I'll tell you something a friend

  768. said to me as crazy emry when I confess

  769. my sins after I've blown it I feel like

  770. he's almost closer after

  771. you feel that way because you feel the

  772. distance and he's right

  773. back I'm telling you right now you

  774. should confess your sins every

  775. day John's gospel if we say we have no

  776. sin we deceive ourselves and the truth

  777. is not in us so if you're around anyone

  778. who says I'm perfect or you can be

  779. perfect the truth isn't in

  780. them okay I want you to hear that there

  781. is no place you're going to arrive

  782. outside of the Resurrection we will be

  783. groaning until that

  784. day but oh thank goodness for the

  785. bud if we confess our sins to God he is

  786. faithful and just to forgive us our

  787. sins and to cleanse us from all

  788. unrighteousness that's something you can

  789. take home to the bank that's something

  790. you can say CU there are times where

  791. you're saying I confessed my sins but

  792. did God forgive me say this to yourself

  793. he is just and faithful to cleanse us

  794. from all unrighteousness that's his

  795. promise I heard somebody say keep short

  796. accounts it's the best thing you can

  797. do unfortunately there are those who

  798. think and we all been there that somehow

  799. we're getting this Christianity thing

  800. licked we've got it down especially when

  801. you're in leadership and everyone's like

  802. oh you a pastor

  803. I've hung out with pastors too

  804. long we're all Sinners guys and the

  805. first thing we need to do is to tell

  806. people that I am a sinner that's what

  807. Paul said what did Paul say I am the

  808. chief of Sinners that's what he

  809. said think of that Paul if Paul can call

  810. him the CH self the chief of Sinners I

  811. pretty sure you're okay to say it too

  812. Carl Bart did something very profound

  813. Carl Bart during the time of the not

  814. rise of the Nazis he would go to these

  815. jails and preach to these inmates now

  816. Carl Bart I love Carl Bart because he

  817. could have been sitting in bond he was a

  818. doctor he was the most famous Theologian

  819. Bon Hofer he had taught he had done all

  820. these things he could have done these

  821. great things but he goes into these

  822. places into right into the depths of the

  823. jails the hardest

  824. inmates and here's what he said

  825. when I come before these men I do not

  826. have to explain that we are all sinners

  827. they have committed every sin there

  828. is all I have to tell them is that I too

  829. am a

  830. sinner any preacher that gets up and

  831. gives you the illusion that he's her is

  832. above you should be kicked off this

  833. stage let me tell you right now I too am

  834. a

  835. sinner when I'm preaching these sermons

  836. I'm not preaching at you I'm preaching

  837. to

  838. me the first person that runs down when

  839. the altar call is me I just do it before

  840. you because I've already planned

  841. it and that's what makes the gospel so

  842. much that I keep doing this and I get

  843. cited is it says that he died for my

  844. sins and that Emory on his worst day

  845. will never be thrown out because of what

  846. he

  847. did that he washed me and he will never

  848. kick me out of his presence all I have

  849. to do is admit it that's

  850. it Cain didn't did

  851. he all I have to do is say God yeah I

  852. yelled at my wife and I'm sorry forgiven

  853. God I fingered the guy while I was

  854. driving who cut me off and you say emry

  855. you would never do that well you're

  856. you're right but I'm using some

  857. examples

  858. forgiven forgiven forgiven

  859. forgiven start living that way and you

  860. start becoming free because you're not

  861. carrying the weights of the world and

  862. then the Spirit can come alive and start

  863. transforming you

  864. inside yes I can do it because the

  865. gospel frees us to confess our sins

  866. without fear of condemnation we should

  867. be the most honest human beings on the

  868. planet because our sins have already

  869. been paid for and the fact that we try

  870. and put on errors should be one of the

  871. biggest mistakes we

  872. do because the truth is we're all

  873. sinners

  874. but there is some good news too my

  875. friends he doesn't want to just leave us

  876. there I'm not telling you that you're

  877. going to have to do every sin that

  878. challenge is still there to us sin is

  879. crouching at the door you must fight

  880. it and the good news though you'll sin

  881. the more you walk with the Lord the more

  882. you can fight it you can even begin to

  883. rule over it but not because of

  884. you because of the grace of our Lord

  885. Jesus Christ and His holy

  886. spirit so I'm going to say something to

  887. you and I'm going to end on this and the

  888. reason I want to end on this is because

  889. I think it's so

  890. important date line at the end

  891. interviews the guy who got caught he's

  892. already been charged he's going to jail

  893. and almost every time he talks about how

  894. he wish he hadn't got caught and why is

  895. it his responsibility and blah blah blah

  896. blah blah

  897. but once in a

  898. while the guy looks and says man did I

  899. blow it I was living for myself and I

  900. took a human life and there's nothing I

  901. can

  902. do I've noticed something in these

  903. episodes that the ones who refuse to

  904. confess and admit they never get

  905. connected again with

  906. Community that's the other thing cuz

  907. they lie and there are Vic

  908. victims and you don't own it

  909. yourself no one can trust

  910. you but the ones who own it and say I

  911. did this I actually see forgiveness

  912. happening that's crazy because I don't

  913. know what I would

  914. do but there's something about

  915. confession that brings us back into

  916. community and because of that we must

  917. confess because confessing also makes us

  918. real you see when you confess your sins

  919. you're now saying to everyone in this

  920. room I'm not better than

  921. you I'm exactly like

  922. you now we can be brothers

  923. again I truly believe in confession and

  924. that's why we do it

  925. here I believe it should be a discipline

  926. that we practice our whole

  927. lives the discipline of confession

  928. brings an end to

  929. pretense God is calling into being a

  930. church that can openly confess its frail

  931. humanity and know the forgiving and

  932. empowering Graces of

  933. Christ so are you going to

  934. confess I'm going to take a moment while

  935. the band comes

  936. up and I'm going to invite us not out

  937. loud but if you got something heavy on

  938. your

  939. heart I want you to take that moment and

  940. just confess it because he's here right

  941. now let's

  942. pray Heavenly Father we thank you for

  943. your Amazing Grace we come now when we

  944. lay before

  945. you our

  946. sins for

  947. amen my

  948. friends he is just and faithful to

  949. forgive you you're

  950. free you're

  951. free go and live

  952. it and the next time you feel it confess

  953. right away cuz that's when you'll start

  954. living Zoey Abundant

  955. Life amen

  956. understand