1997-01B

SERMON NOTES

TITLE: A NEW BEGINNING - A REBIRTH, A RESTORATION, A RENEWAL, AND A REFILLING.

INTRODUCTION: In Christ, we can begin over in 4 areas which I want to mention to you; one is a rebirth, which we have already covered; another this morning is the fact we can be restored, and two more in coming weeks. We can be reborn, we can be restored, we can be renewed, and we can be refilled. We will take them one at a time and see what we can learn. This began as one sermon, but each point has so much that needs to be said on it that I will preach this as 4 sermons. This morning's sermon is on the subject of restoration.

Now most of us think we know what it means to be restored. To be sure, let's look and see what the dictionary says the words "restore" and "restoration" mean.

The dictionary says "restore" means "to give back something taken away; make restitution; to bring back to a former or normal condition; to put a person back in a place, position, or rank; to bring back to health or strength; to bring back into being; reestablish." "Restoration" is "a restoring or being restored; reinstatement in a former rank or position; restitution for loss or damage; a putting or bringing back into a former normal or unimpaired state or condition; a representation or reconstruction of the original form or structure."

You can see that these words cover a lot of ground; they cover much more than we usually think about when we used one of them.

2 Sam 12:13 Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. (NIV)

You all know the story of the sin of David and Bathsheba. Now his guilt in this was certainly much greater than hers. He was the one in authority and who was the instigator of this wrong. How did he come to do this?

1. David was in the wrong place. His army was out fighting, and for the first time since he became king, David did not accompany them. Rather, he stayed at home, taking it easy while they did the fighting for him.

2. David was looking in the wrong place. Now he was king, a smart man, who knew how things were done in his city in that day. He knew that women took baths on the rooftops during hot weather; it is possible that his being there was no accident.

3. David did not control himself. Rather than acting like a king, and controlling his wrong impulses, he was more like a school boy with a crush on a girl. He just went out and did what seemed like it would please him.

4. David abused his authority. He did this in several ways. He first did it by taking Bathsheba and having an affair with her. When she was found pregnant, he worsened his sin by having Uriah sent into the thick of the battle, and then ordering that the other troops pull back and allow him to die. He followed this by taking her into his home as his wife, and in a few months they had a son.

5. David thought he had hidden all of his sins. But I wonder if he had not read in the Scripture that our sins will find us out.

6. David deserved to die under the law, which specified death as the punishment for at least two of the sins he committed, adultery and murder.

Now David finds himself in a bad spot. However, the spot is worse than even he imagines, for though his sins may be hidden from most of the people, they are certainly not hidden from God.

Today, you may find yourself in a bad place. If so, it is more than likely that some, if not all, of the blame for it can be laid at your door. How did you get there? Now to get where you are, like David, you may have been in the wrong place, looking where you had no business to look. You may not have exercised self control; you may have abused your position of authority, and you may think your sins are hidden.

Now today, for most of the sins which we commit, there is not a death penalty as far as the physical body goes. But be sure that sin caused spiritual death, which is far worse.

Going back to our story, we see the mercy of God being extended. As we read this, you may feel that God's mercy seems more like judgment. However, it is really mercy extended to David.

We are told in 2 Samuel 12:1-19 that: The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. "Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him." David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity." Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.' "This is what the LORD says: 'Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.'" Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, the son born to you will die." After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and he became ill. David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them. On the seventh day the child died. David's servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, "While the child was still living, we spoke to David but he would not listen to us. How can we tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate." David noticed that his servants were whispering among themselves and he realized the child was dead. "Is the child dead?" he asked. "Yes," they replied, "he is dead." (NIV)

Now this story is enough to make the most even tempered among us mad. Most of us do not like to see a person take advantage of another, especially a rich man abusing a poor man. So in this sense, David's response was what we would expect.

However, like all people who have done wrong, and who are putting on a front, David is self-righteous and judgmental in his attitude. Listen to him as he declares, "Such a man deserves to die." Isn't it amazing that if we are convinced it is not our own conduct, but that of another we are judging, how we instinctively become judgmental. It is also interesting that it takes only a slight covering or changing of our sins to make them appear to be those of another. And how we can condemn our own sins when they appear in another.

An old Scotch saying goes like this: "Oh would some Power the gift give us, To see ourselves as others see us! It would from many a blunder free us."

But doesn't the Lord know how to take us from our self-righteous positions, and put us in our proper place. Here, all God did was have Nathan, David's good friend, place his finger in David's face and let him know that there was accountability, even though he was the king. "You are the man" were his words.

Now immediately, shame, remorse, and a God-given sense of wrong-doing hit David. The Holy Spirit was there doing His job, reproving the sinner. Note also that David takes responsibility for his own sin, for he says, "I have sinned." No excuses, no blaming it on someone else.

Now this morning, like David, you may know that you have been sinning, you have been living a lie, and covering it with a self-righteous attitude. I am here today to tell you that you are not hiding anything from God, and just as surely as He revealed David's sin, He can reveal yours. The Holy Spirit never takes a vacation from His work, but is always on duty, telling us that there is right and wrong, there is death to face, and after that the judgment. We all know that our consciences are not a totally reliable guide; God knows that as well, so He sends the Holy Spirit to do what our consciences cannot. God has a standard of righteousness which does not vary with time or place; it is constant, always the same, and it is this that the Holy Spirit applies to us.

Today, if the Holy Spirit is convicting you of something you have done, or are doing, realize that this is the grace of God being shown to you. God is not willing that any perish, so He gives us every chance He can.

What did David do?

David did some things that can serve as a pattern for us this morning.

1. David acknowledged his sin. He said, "I have sinned against God."

2. David sought the Lord for restoration. The 51st Psalm is David's prayer to the Lord in this situation. Listen to it this morning:

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (NIV)

In this prayer, David asks to have the joy of God's salvation restored to him. He asks for a willing heart to follow the Lord.

Now what did God do?

God did restore David to a right relationship with Him. He allowed him to continue to rule over the children of Israel; He did not allow him to stoned as the Law said should happen. You see, God desires much more that we repent and be restored than He does to bring judgment on us. He does not want to eternally condemn any of us.

I know that David paid for his sin, even in this life. His child died, but because of his confidence that God had restored him to the relationship they had before, David could say with confidence, "I will go to him."

This morning, we need to realize that to be restored, we must make a personal repentance, a personal calling out to God. God does not save crowds; He saves individuals as they call out to Him, and then He restores them to a right relationship with Himself and others. We must come to God for ourselves, knowing that He died for each of us, and wants us to find restoration, but only as individuals.

When we have sinned or failed, the first thing we must do is to repent, and then we will find that the word comes back from God, "I have forgiven your sin. I will restore you."

Where it says, "The Lord has taken away your sin," it could be translated, "The Lord has caused your sin to pass away." It no longer exists. This is a better picture of the completeness of our restoration. The charges, and the evidence against us no longer exist, so we can then be restored.

God allowed David to keep his throne, but things were not always well with his own household from this point on. Joab, his confidant in this sin, became a thorn in his side later. Ahithophel, David's friend, was the mastermind of Absalom's conspiracy against David, and advised him what to do against his father. It is interesting to note that he was the grandfather of Bathsheba, which surely must have led to his hatred of David.

In mercy we may have to drink what we have brewed; we may have to sleep in the beds we have made as far as outward consequences go. But on the inside it is different. There the restoration is visible. God is good, and He restores.

Do you need restoration this morning? Come to the Lord. He specializes in doing the impossible, which is making new creations out of us. He can restore your integrity this morning. He can restore your honesty. He can restore your ability to be truthful, rather than to lie. He can restore all the things that you have lost because of the influence of sin in your life. Will you allow Him to do that this morning?

He is a God of great mercy, which He delights to show to mankind. Nothing is to large or small to be dealt with according to God's mercy.

Just listen for a few moments to some other verses of Scripture which speak of being restored.

Ps 51:12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Ps 71:20 Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up.

Ps 80:19 Restore us, O LORD God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.

Ps 85:4 Restore us again, O God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us.

Isa 57:15-19 For this is what the high and lofty One says-- he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. I will not accuse forever, nor will I always be angry, for then the spirit of man would grow faint before me-- the breath of man that I have created. I was enraged by his sinful greed; I punished him, and hid my face in anger, yet he kept on in his willful ways. I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him, creating praise on the lips of the mourners in Israel. Peace, peace, to those far and near," says the LORD. "And I will heal them."

Gal 6:1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.

1 Pet 5:10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. (NIV)

(Isa 40:31 NIV) but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

This is the way to restoration: it is to trust in the Lord. They we will be restored, renewed. We will soar like eagles.

CONCLUSION: This morning, if you are unsaved, you can be reborn. If you have once known the Lord, and turned away from Him, you can be restored. If you are tired, weary, disappointed, or discouraged, you can be renewed in Spirit. If you are empty, or only partially full; if you are hungry and thirsty for more of God, you can be filled for the first time, or refilled, and that to full capacity.

Osage Gospel Lighthouse, Linn, MO 1-19-96 am