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Deeper
A deeper conversation about Sunday’s message at FBC Powder Springs.
Deeper
Episode 1: Leaving Sin To Live Better
What if the first step back to joy is admitting where you drifted off mission? We open 2 Samuel 11–12 and get uncomfortably honest about David’s choices, the slow slide from comfort to compromise, and why “no one will know” is the most expensive lie you can buy. This isn’t theory. We map the small steps—remaining where God didn’t call, seeing what we shouldn’t entertain, inquiring when we should flee, covering what we must confess—and we name their modern forms in our phones, calendars, entertainment, and church cultures.
Together with Pastor James Wilson and Jenny Highsmith, we get practical and hopeful. You’ll hear real safeguards that reshape desire: daily Scripture that arms the mind, honest accountability that invites visibility, boundaries that protect marriages, and a mission check from Matthew 28 that helps both believers and churches stay focused on making disciples, baptizing, teaching the Word, and living in Jesus’ presence. We also explore the tension around Bathsheba—power, choice, fear of consequences—and how the fear of God reorders every decision. Most of all, we contrast David and Jesus: a good king who fell, and the faithful King who never does.
Nathan’s parable reminds us that God aims for conviction, not humiliation. Confession isn’t cheap grace; it’s the door Christ opened with his blood. When we say, “I have sinned against the Lord,” God is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse. Repentance isn’t perfection; it’s a new direction—falling less, getting up quicker, and becoming interruptible by the Spirit. If you’re tired of hiding, if your church feels like a cruise ship instead of a battleship, or if you’ve mistaken happiness for holiness, this conversation will call you back to freedom and purpose.
If this helped you take a step toward the light, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs courage, and leave a review to help others find the show. What step of repentance or safeguard are you choosing today?
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Hey, and welcome to our very first podcast with FBCPS First Baptist Church Powder Springs. I'm Chip Dean, the senior pastor, and sitting here with Pastor James Wilson, our executive pastor of ministries, and Jenny Highsmith, our executive director of communications. Thank y'all so much for just joining me here on this podcast. And we're gonna dive here and dive in just real quickly, but uh just want you to know why we're doing this is we just we feel the Spirit of God calling us to uh to take the word of God uh that was preached on Sunday and just to dive in it deeper, more practically, more theologically, more biblically, uh, because we believe that the Holy Spirit is doing just an incredible work in our culture today, in our society today, that people uh they just long for depth. And so we want to we want to dig deeper into the passage. And so we're thankful that you are on this journey with us. And uh, and and I'm just so thankful that we get to do this together because life is always better together. And uh we go, we go faster alone, but further together. So let's dive in. This this past Sunday, uh, we actually finished up our series that we called Starting Off Right, and uh just our New Year's series. And and this was the last message in the series, and it was all about leaving something behind to live in something better. And um, and so ultimately it was about leaving our sinfulness behind in order to live in in repentance. Um Pastor James, what what is something in your life that you felt like you've had to leave behind in order to live in something better?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Oh man, there's so much with that. But I I do think one, I think starting off right, right, with the sermon title, the sermon series, and I think what better way than starting off the year with that? And so for me personally, it's a lot of uh more frustration, uh, more of just uh there's some things that I've been praying for that just haven't been answered yet or delayed. Um as both of you know, I struggle a lot with my vision and some of those things. And so it's just been really just trusting God uh with the the struggles that I have with that it's it's lay leaving behind the the gap of why not now, and really receiving go do what I've called you to do, no matter what. That's good. No matter what. And I think that that's been the biggest thing for me.
SPEAKER_00:That's good, man. I just I I have a lot of uh admiration for how you you serve the Lord, man, even even with with difficulty in your life. Uh Jenny, how about you?
SPEAKER_03:Oh man, there's so many things, but I think if I could choose one, something that I've been thinking through this sermon series is just um I I tend to be so dependent on myself. And I take God out of the equation a lot. Like I'm gonna do this in my own strength, I'm gonna accomplish this in my own power or success or whatever. And I mean, so many times I'm just humbled by God, you're the one that's doing all this. Like you don't really need me, but you're using me. And I think that's just been um something recently that's just been on my heart a lot.
SPEAKER_00:So that's good. I think think what just the Lord's been doing in my heart, in my life, just thinking about um even the the sermon before. You know, so often we uh we want to do great things for God. And um and I'm I'm just I'm I'm a my personality is very driven, as y'all might know. And I know shocker. Uh and and I I I love, I'm I'm a disciplined junkie, I'm a routine junkie, and just always want to uh be disciplined in areas and and and achieve more in different areas and different things like that. And uh, and just what a reminder that I need to leave behind what I can achieve, what I can accomplish, and just draw nearer to Jesus so that he can accomplish and achieve what he wants to a part of his will through me. And uh so that that just takes obviously um intentional time with him and and with that intentionality of focusing on him.
SPEAKER_01:That's so good. Really quick, that just makes me think of like whenever you're about to go on vacation, you want to make sure you have everything, right? You're checking the list, okay. I got the toy, you know, I got the toothbrush, got all the things. Oh, what about, you know, but the the you know, my socks, oh, what about this? You just making sure you have everything so that you can go on this journey. And what and it's it's so funny to think about that because God's like, hey, hey, it it doesn't need to be come come on. That's right. I got you. Let let me let me use you, let me work through you. You don't need all that. You don't need to be perfect, you don't need to have the best day ever, you don't need to be complete, 10,000% health, you don't need to have everything all together. Let me work through you. That's awesome. Amen. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Now you see why I love working with these two because uh we just we just have these real conversations all the time, and our staff as well. And and Ginny, what we're gonna say, I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_03:I mean, so often Satan doesn't use some dramatic sin to get us, right? Like I mean, the Sermon from Sunday, it's like those little choices, and you think that it's disguised as something like, oh, that's not that bad, right? Like being prepared is not that bad, but it's like one slippery slope at a time, he turns something that didn't seem all that bad, and you've convinced yourself is okay into you not depending on God for everything, right?
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. Yeah, I've been so busy trying to prepare everything that I've taken that time instead of spending that time with Christ. Hence like Mary and Martha.
SPEAKER_03:Exactly. So Martha, man.
SPEAKER_01:That's good.
SPEAKER_00:Let's let's dive into the passage here. And and uh 2 Samuel chapter 11, verse 1, we talked about it says, in the spring of the year, the time when kings would go out to battle, that was the the best time to fight. And uh you'd have to go out to see who was coming to fight you as well. David remained at Jerusalem. You know, that is uh the beginning of the passage. David wasn't where he was supposed to be. David was getting off mission. How do y'all feel like in in our life today, in our culture today, uh where society is today? Um, how true is this of us? How true of this can be of a of a believer in Christ? How easy is is this uh even at times for a church as a whole, that we are not where we're supposed to be, not doing what we're supposed to be doing, what we're called to do, and our life is off mission. I think that's what I see most about David, his life got off mission.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:I th I think one way that Satan a lot of times with churches, even is he disguises it as you not even recognizing that you need the repentance, right? So he disguises it where you're not even recognizing that there's even a problem. And so a lot of times that's like um the first step is okay, I'm not doing anything wrong. Like, where what's the problem? Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So I remember a video, it was a guy he was doing street interviews. And so it's uh uh some gentleman was walking by and he's like, Hey, hey, man, hey, I got a question for you. Uh, you know, what what's something good that happens at night? You know, when he's trying to get like a viral moment, and then the gentleman goes, brother, nothing good happens at night.
unknown:Nothing.
SPEAKER_01:And then he said, he said, You need Jesus.
SPEAKER_03:That's like when my my dad used to say, you're either when you're hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. That's usually when the devil attacks, right? That's good. It's like nothing good. He also used to say, nothing good happens after midnight.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, to that point, it's like, yeah, you there there's there's nothing for you that is good when you're somewhere you don't need to be. There it there's nothing good will happen. Uh even though it may look enticing, it may look appealing, uh, but at the end, it's just uh, you know, it's it's a it's poison with just a pretty shiny wrapping over it.
SPEAKER_00:I think this is so true for for for Christians, so true for my life, you know, when when my life gets off mission or when I get on my mission.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's good.
SPEAKER_00:And get off of Jesus' mission.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Uh and what is Jesus' mission? To go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, uh, teaching them to observe everything that he commanded, and uh, and because he's gonna be with us. He's gonna do it through us, is what he's saying. And um that Jesus didn't give that statement to pastors, he didn't give that statement also to to to just churches, right? He gave that statement to Christians. And that is, as we are his followers, what we're called to do. That is our mission. And as a church, that is our mission. So I I think it's uh it can be easy to understand uh how a Christian can get off mission. What does what do you think it can look like when a church gets off mission? What what what are some even quote good things a church can do, but yet they're not fulfilling the mission of the gospel of Jesus?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Jenny, you're not you can go. So I heard a pastor once say that your church is either a cruise ship or a battleship. And I think one thing that churches can do really, really well is be uh very welcoming and family oriented. Um, however, at the same time, it can come across of, hey, person who's not used to being here, hey guest, uh, you're not a part of this family. Who are you? What's going on? And it can come off uh really unwelcoming and very protective and exclusive. Um again, in the inside, hey, we're family things are going great, we're praying for each other, but uh hold on, hold on, and and treat other people like a leper. Um and I think that's one of the um unfortunate things is when it turns internal without being that external, that evangelistic and welcoming as well.
SPEAKER_03:Amen. I mean, I think anytime a church is becoming self-reliant instead of dependent on God, I think anytime they're becoming comfortable instead of obedient, and I think anytime they're distracted instead of repentant. So I mean, that definitely can look like not being hospitable, not going out on mission, not serving your community, um, getting so ingrained in your own routine when you go there on Sunday, like the church as a whole, that you're not even seeing other people. Like you're just on your routine and this is what I do on Sundays. And well, what if on the way to church something God put something in your way that you were supposed to stop and encounter? And and you're just so focused on. I think churches as a whole can we tend to just get in that rhythm, get in the routine of this is what we do. And well, what if God wants to interrupt that? You know, I think it's important for churches to be interruptible in that way by the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01:Be interruptible. That's that's good. Sometime last year, Pastor Chip, you mentioned you said a statement of, and this is exactly what it looks like when a church goes off mission. You said, um, if your church had disappeared, would your community notice? And I think that is a clear distinction of if you're gone and nothing happened, nothing changed, nothing's different in the community, you're you weren't on mission.
SPEAKER_03:What are you even doing now?
SPEAKER_00:You know, as I was studying this passage uh last week and just the Spirit of God just asking the Spirit of God to speak to me, one thing that I I felt like God was saying was, you know, He blessed us so much as a church in 2025. I mean, there's just so much that He did, uh, more than we could ask or imagine, more than we planned on, more than we saw coming. I mean, it was just an unbelievable year. And and often just thinking, well, is it gonna happen again in 2026 kind of a deal? Like, you know, it does God doesn't have to do it, but we pray for him to do it. And one thing that I felt like God was just saying was in order for me to do more through you, through the church, um, it's gonna require more repentance of sin, you know, and and just what a what a calling for all of us as Christians, as the church. Uh, the way that we grow closer to Jesus is we continue to leave our sin behind so that we can live in repentance moving forward. And um, and I just, I mean, what a litmus test as we think about getting off mission that Jesus just simply said, go. So, one question I ask myself is, am I going? Jesus said, make disciples. Another question, am I am I making disciples? Um, Jesus said, baptizing them of all nations, right? So am I uh is is my life multi-ethnic, multinationality? Um, do do I see baptisms happening in my life, in our church? Um, and then thinking about, okay, are we teaching what Jesus has commanded or just teaching people life helps and principles and things like that? Are we teaching the word of God? And are we experiencing Jesus that I will be with you? Are we experiencing the presence of Jesus? I think that is a missional litmus test. Those things, Matthew 28, 19 and 20, for a Christian's life, but also for the life of a church. So it goes on to say, well, that was that was verse one. We got to pick up the face. Uh verse two. Verse two, and uh it's just the intro, baby. Um, you might be snowing in, so it's the perfect time for us to do it uh by this time. But it says it happened late one afternoon when David arose from his couch again, just very personal language. It was late one hot afternoon in Israel, and David gets up from his couch, again, not his throne. Uh, he wasn't ruling, he was resting, he was relaxing. And that's what happens for us when we get off mission, when we get off course. And he was walking on the roof of the king's house, and he saw from the roof a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful. Interesting first podcast content here. Uh, and so, you know, the the biggest thing that we see here, obviously, is when we're not where we're supposed to be, when we're not doing what we're supposed to be doing, um, man, we can we can see things that we're not supposed to be seeing. And so um obviously this is true of all of us. And and the question is, uh, even when we're doing what we're supposed to be doing, and and we even when we are the devil will still tempt us. But what are some things that that y'all have set up as safeguards in your life in order to keep from seeing what sin wants you to see so that it's not as as James one says, it doesn't give birth to sin, if you will. What are some of those safeguards that you protect yourself? And if you do see something, how do you respond? You know, when temptation hits, just give me some good practical advice for people because man, this is this is real life. Yeah, it's just real life. Like this happens to me on a daily basis, I'm sorry, not this, but temptation happens on a daily basis in some way, shape, or form. What do we do with that?
SPEAKER_03:I mean, I think it's sorry, I'll you I'm not crossed. Um I mean, I think just not even allowing it a foothold. So not even there's certain things, right? That TV and books and media that we just don't have in our house, right? And so I think just not even allowing it the offer opportunity, um, I think some safeguards with our marriage, you know, not being one-on-one with a person of the opposite sex, I'm like it can feel extreme, but not even allowing that to be an opportunity, right? That Satan could use. And I think anytime my mentor in college used to say, like, you're in God's will in the eye of a hurricane, right? And anytime you start to step outside of that, you go into the storm. And if you're unprepared, I mean, I think memorizing scripture and having that ready to go, right? So when Satan tempts you, I mean, the truth is right there in your mind. I mean, there's so many, so many good things that you can do.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, no, Jenny, I'm I'm with you a thousand percent. And I think uh for me, you know, there was a time uh earlier when I was a Christian that I viewed my quiet time with the Lord as more of a homework or as more of a checklist, like, oh man, I gotta, oh, I gotta read all about and I again, you know, throw, you know, don't throw no stones at me, okay? I'm just saying this was a long time ago. Praise the Lord. Uh however, uh it really something really started to shift in my walk with Christ from this is an obligation to this like this is thirst. Like I need this. Um, I I need this as much as I need water, I need this as much as I need food because I know what James wants to do. I know what James um thinks about, I know what James is is uh easy to fall into, and with that, I need the arm of God on me each and every day because the actions that I take, um, as you know, um they don't just affect me. They affect my family, my wife, my children, my yeah, my co-worker, like everybody, um the church, all these things. And so for me, it's it's protecting that time. And some of some people watching may have young kids. I have young kids, and I do it before everybody wakes up. So just wake up early and do it. Um and then to your point, it's it's the constant communication with an espouse, uh with close friends, it's fighting uh you know any temptation with scripture as as Christ did, and as the Bible says, that God will always give you a way out. And it's it's trusting God at His Word. He is a promise keeper, so let's take him at his word, because again, the it looks appealing, but you just remember, like if you we always talk about kids how hey, you touch the stove, it's hot it'll burn. But sometimes as adults, we keep falling into the same temptation.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and we think, oh, it's not gonna burn us this time. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And at some point, yeah, at some point you have to make a decision. You can't be loop burnt. More hurts less.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:It's it says here, and this, I think this is the Bible is just so raw, you know. And again, those people who say the Bible's boring, they've never read the Bible. Uh because you you can't even make this to a movie today that that you would even want to watch. But it just says, and she was the Bible didn't say beautiful, the Bible said she was very beautiful. And and let's just remember, Eve's temptation says that the fruit was pleasing to the eye. There is there is something about, we talked about Jesus said the eye is the lamp of the body. And what we see with our eyes can be very appeasing, can be very pleasing, can be very beautiful, can be very aesthetically attractive. And and that could be a lot of different things. Yeah. Not not just attraction to people, but attraction to, it could be a house. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, the close into the food. Now you're getting on my item. Oh, yeah. And uh you better get off on toes, James. Like a barbecue, they're gonna like the ribs and then dripping the numbers.
SPEAKER_00:He knows what he's doing. So all that to say, um, we've got to remember that sin is always in some way, shape, or form beautiful, appeasing, attractive. Um uh and so we have to remember that when we get into the word of God, 2 Timothy chapter 3, 16 and 17 says that um that the whole counsel of God's word teaches us doctrine, but it also teaches us um what sin is, right? Rebuke and correction. And so I need to be in the word of God uh so that I'm being filled with the Spirit of God so that I'm able to notice temptation.
SPEAKER_01:That's right.
SPEAKER_00:Uh, such as, like, man, the fish needs to see. Wait a second, that's not a real word. That is a piece of plastic with a hook in it. That's right, you know, and and we have to remember that, man, the devil's the fisherman and he's trying to pull us out of the lake.
SPEAKER_03:He wants to trick us, he wants to fry us, you know, exactly. He wants to devour us.
SPEAKER_00:He's the father of lies. And so, you know, we talked about just because it's beautiful. The the quote was, well, yes, she may be hot, but so is hell, right? And and for me, I have to have safeguards in my life. Like my wife has all my passwords. She can get on my phone anytime, she can get on my laptop at any time. Um, man, I want her all in my business. Uh, there are times that I'll look at my wife, and I'll be honest, especially when whenever I hear a pastor fall morally, I will typically tell her the story. Cause I I I kind of, you know, live in that world. She doesn't as much. So I tell her the story, and then I always say, babe, there's not a text message, there's not an email, there's not a phone call, there's not a meeting that you would not be comfortable with, that you would not approve of. Um And if you ever feel uncomfortable, and I told the church, if if I'm ever acting differently, you go straight to the chairman of Deacons.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And you talk to him because I don't want to be another statistic. And so we need to treat seriously our phones, our tablets, our computers, our TVs, but also we can have every filter and every safeguard in the world. And Satan still finds a way. The ultimate point is not the filter.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:The ultimate point is not the safeguard. The ultimate point is our nearness with Jesus because only He is the one that not only points out our temptation, but He is the one that He is the safeguard from our temptation. It's very personal. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:It's, you know, when we start to think it'll never happen to me. You know, and the point isn't that it will happen, you know, that you think it will happen to you to have those filters and safeguards. It's the dangerous part is you thinking that it won't ever happen to you.
SPEAKER_00:That's when you are at your most vulnerable position. But for the grace of God, David experienced God in more unbelievable ways than I have personally. Yeah. Because of what he was able to experience here in the Old Testament. You know, I mean, it's it's it's unreal. And and uh praise God, I'm I'm I'm saved by the gospel and and I've experienced Jesus. Uh, but David being the one man of all of Israel that God chooses to be king and he's able to fall.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Who do I think I am? Yeah, for sure. That I don't think I'm able to. And um verse three, David sent and he uh inquired about the woman. So he not only did he see, but he sent, he inquired. Uh today might be he he sent her a text. Today might be um that he slid into her DMs, today might be that he stopped by her cubicle, today might be that he um you've even heard people today they um they accidentally, fake accidents, in a text or an email. Oh, sorry, and it kind of starts the conversation because it seems so innocent, right?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And um, but the interesting thing is he asks his people about her, and they say, is not this Bathsheba the daughter of Elium? Elium was possibly known as one of David's greatest advisors. He knows Elium personally, the wife of Uriah. Uriah is one of David's 30 mighty men. He knows Uriah personally. They're pointing out how personal sin is. We talked about on Sunday, sin is personal to yourself. Sin is personal to the person you're sinning against or sinning with. Sin is personal to Satan because he's getting you to personally sin against Jesus, who he hates. Sin is personal against also those who are indirectly involved that it's going to affect children, spouses, family, churches. Satan loves destruction. Yeah. Um, how have you seen this play out?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So I was just, there was a long time ago, uh, when I was a kid, funny story. I wasn't doing well in believe it or not, band class, the one class that nobody should fail. No. No. Automatic A. Literally. Uh I somehow had an F. Yeah. So anyway, so I remember I got a progress report and I was like, and it had to get signed. And I'm like, man, I'm I'm not signed. I'm not getting my mom to sign this. She's gonna kill me. And so I had a, you know, very loving thought, a Christ-filled thought of let me sign this and let me not tell my mom and just turn it in, which I knew was wrong, but I'm like, you know what, I'll do it. And so I did it. And then uh, you know, of course, thought I got away with everything. Then the teacher called. And so I'm trying to cover it up. And that's usually what we do when we sin, we try to cover it up because of the shame or because we don't want the consequences that will happen from what we've done. And so then she called again. And then my mom, of course, asked, Well, who keeps calling? Nobody. Right. And then, of course, she got on the phone with the teacher. Everything I tried to cover up and hide and all that came to light. And then I had to deal with the consequences. Now, granted, it's still a little different from what David did, but at the same time, when you fall into sin, you try to do what you can to cover things up because of fear, shame, guilt, and also you don't want to face the consequences that you have to because of what you did.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. And so many times you think that the consequences are gonna be like out of this world, or you just don't see repentance happen in other people around you. So you don't know that, hey, it's gonna, it's actually gonna be okay. I think um, I mean, there's so many sins that I could talk about in my life. We're all sinful people, but I I remember this one time where I was gossiping in college about somebody, and that person found out what I said. And I think, you know, that's one of those sins that's more um subtle. You think, oh, this isn't gonna hurt. This is there isn't they're never gonna find out what I'm saying about them, or they're it's less hurtful seeming, right? Yeah. But um I think in that moment, I mean, I was just so ashamed of what happened. And that was a moment where I realized, oh wow, like even the sins that seem less um invasive or whatever, like those are extremely hurtful to people and they destroy relationships, they destroy reputation, right? They destroy all those things in your life. And um yeah, that was Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I'm thinking about two, two stories. Uh I one one man as a pastor, I was talking to him and and uh he had had an affair uh decades before and and he had gotten remarried and seemed like, you know, a happy guy and everything's good. And and he was uh on my sound team at my one of my former churches, and he looked at me in my office one day, we're just having a personal conversation. He said, Pastor Ship, I need to tell you something. He said, if you ever talk about affairs, if you ever talk about marriage, if you ever talk about um infidelity, he said, tell them it is never worth it. He said, if it was worth it for anybody, it was worth it for me because of what I was living in, what I was going through, who I had met, all this type stuff. It had just all made sense. He said, Today I'm here to tell you, tell them it is never worth it. He said, what I have gone through, the loss, the destruction that I have caused. He said, it was so much better for me to stay in the marriage as imperfect as it was. Um he said, I I should have worked on my marriage rather than finding an escape route. I talked to another man just a few months later.
SPEAKER_01:Goodness. I know, but let me let us sink in, James.
SPEAKER_00:Um I talked to another man just a few months later, and it was the the other end of the spectrum. He was being unfaithful to his wife, and he was being very honest and very faithful, being very um vulnerable about it, but but being very um he was just owning up to it, but he didn't care, to be honest with you. And so I'm trying to talk him out of it. And all he could talk about was he could not understand why his children were so mad at him. Because he was so unhappily married. Yeah. And they needed to understand how happy he is now. But he said all they can think about is what he's done to their mother. And I just had to look at him and say, you know, because you're living in sin. And there is something that is so critical today that Satan's target is marriages. Satan's target is the home. Satan's target is Christian, um, biblical uh marriage to where every single couple needs to take seriously how to affair proof their marriage. Because it is marriage that is the reflection of Christ in the church. It is marriage that is the clearest physical picture, the Bible says, of the gospel on earth. And uh, and so uh we every marriage deals in some way, shape, or form with uh dissatisfaction, with unhappiness, with uh um they're not living up to what we really want perfectly in our spouse. Uh, I know I don't live up to what my wife wants perfectly, uh, because I can't, uh because none of us can. But um, but Satan takes that and he makes you run with it. And and what a reminder. We talked about on Sunday. The reason you want to sin is because your sin wants you.
SPEAKER_03:Then we live in a way.
SPEAKER_00:The reason you want it. It wants to be.
SPEAKER_03:It tells us that our happiness is the goal, right? So that guy, I mean, he's seen, but I'm happy now. Like, and so that should be what what is the defining factor of the situation. And we live in a world that tells us that all the time. Well, as long as you're happy, you know, like, yeah, or as long as that's true for you. And man, what a lie that Satan twists. Because I mean, yeah, we want to feel happy, right? So that seems like such a good thing, but it's that is not, that's not what God wants.
SPEAKER_00:We have prioritized happiness over holiness. God did not say, be happy for I am happy. No, yeah. Because then we're we're we're chasing everything. Right. Be holy.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So one of the things I was thinking is just the like the way that the culture uses language for for stuff like this that kind of promotes this. So you think of Adam and Eve. Well, that's what we know is, you know, in the Bible, in the book of Genesis, but also with culture, they've taken that to make a store for adults. Or you, or the company that did uh or the company that grew really big that was really promoting the slogan was life is short, have an affair. The slogan. But to your point, you know, that's that's enticing. Oh man, that that's uh huh. You know, as you start kind of reflecting on it, um, the further you away from Christ, and you know, again, you don't have some of these things in place. Um and again, uh combating with what the culture provides is just the road for destruction for sure.
unknown:Well, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:It says in verse 4 so David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him and and he laid with her. Then she returned to his house, and the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, I am pregnant. Um obviously, this uh this was an opportunity for David to confess. We know that he went deeper into his sin. Uh but Jenny, just as I look at this, uh I there's a couple of different possibilities here in the passage that we weren't able to get into in the sermon. One is Bathsheba may not have had a quote choice in this. She may not have had a decision in this. She may have even felt forced in this situation. And we know that that is, at times it happens. And uh today, and but at the same time, um, we don't exactly know. She may have her husband's gone to war. She may have felt very lonely. Uh, this is obviously no internet, no phone calls, and she, we we don't even know who's around her. And here is the big, rich, powerful king interested in her and wants her to come to and who knows what happened, you know, what happened, um, besides what we see in the text. So, what would you say to to women that may be living on either side of that coin? You feel like you're in a situation where you're being forced into something that you don't desire, or you are desiring something that you shouldn't desire.
SPEAKER_03:Well, I mean, I think the first situation, I think we're talking about two different things, because I mean, being forced into something, maybe let's say rape, that obviously is not gonna be that person's fault. Right, right. Not their sin. Not talking about that, maybe um she felt like she had to because he was the king. I think even in that situation, you have to ask yourself, am I choosing something out of fear of the consequences more than the fear of God? And I think if you fear the the consequences more is when you're gonna say, well, they're in power. They're this person's making me do it. My friend, who's like the most popular at school, says we have to do this, right? Like I'm trying to think of situations that man would have applied to me growing up. Um I would have feared the consequences of how that made me look, right? More than I feared God. And I think that's the important distinguish distinguisher fact of the first scenario. I think the second one, I mean, it is very similar if you um maybe she wasn't, maybe it was a ch more of a choice for her. Um, I mean, anything that's gonna keep you not from depending on God for his grace and you're willing to do whatever it takes to further your life, to get ahead. Maybe it's um you cheat a little bit to get ahead in life in some way, so that you have this awesome thing that makes you look great. I mean, all of those things are you pursuing success, you pursuing image, you pursuing um for her, maybe it was the relationship with a king that would have gotten her favor. Um all of that is you not fearing God more than that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that was powerfully said. Um and in that what it comes down to, you know, as as even Ecclesiastes says, fear God and keep the commandments. And um it it we will never regret following Jesus and doing the right thing in what he says. Yeah. Never regret it. Um, because that's what his word is there for, uh, to be able to protect us in every situation, because sin will always bring destruction. Um just to put it in lightning speed, uh, just just to finish this out. Uh 2 Samuel 11, 6 says, so David sent word to Joab, send me Uriah the Hittite, and Joab sent Uriah to David. Uh Pastor James, one thing we didn't get into in the sermon was um the comparison and the contrast of King David and King Jesus. That you have King David here, who's known after a man, after God's own heart. He is, he's a shepherd, like Jesus was the good shepherd. Uh, David was anointed with the Holy Spirit to be king. Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit as a baptism to be king. Obviously, the contrast is as Jesus is fully God, uh, we see David here, he is uh he's allowing his sin to bring him into a lifestyle of unholiness. But Jesus is holy, holy, holy. He's the same uh as our kids' ministry learned last night, Wednesday night. Uh he's the same yesterday, today, and and forever. And so we see here a quote, good king who is falling into sin. But we serve a righteous, holy, eternal, divine king who does everything. He takes all of our sin. He dies for our sin so that we don't have to choose sin. And that's what we see with David. He could have confessed right there. Oh, she's pregnant. Let me bring it to the light. Let me confess, let me get forgiveness, let it end right here. No, he sends for Joab, bring, bring Uriah to me. Uriah comes back to the palace while all of uh the mighty men are off to war, all of Israel's off to war. Uh, he comes back, and and David tries to get him to go home to his wife, to sleep with his wife, uh, so that it looks like he impregnated her, but Uriah is more faithful to the king than the king is to Uriah. Today, the gospel is that our king is more faithful to us than we are to him. Verse 26, and I've got a big question for you here. Then the wife of Uriah heard uh that Uriah, her husband, was dead uh because David brought him back and then sent him back to war with a death sentence. They pulled back, we know from Uriah in battle. David had all these opportunities to confess. When the wife, when the wife of Uriah Bathsheba, heard that Uriah, her husband, was dead, she lamented over her husband. And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. David ended up looking like the good guy.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:He ended up looking like the good king. Nobody knew anything. And he was like, Let me, let me look like, as he's covering it all up, he it looks like it is over.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And now he's brought her into his palace, his castle. He marries her. He even becomes the father of her son, the child involved in the situation. And what happens in life, man, when we just continue to cover it up, cover it up, cover it up, and we think that we can make it go away. What would you tell somebody right now if they are in the middle of the cover-up of their sin?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, if you're in the middle of the cover-up, uh, I think the biggest thing you can do is uh repent, you know, and not in the the the preachers you see on the side of the road screaming and those things. But honestly, uh as Paul tells us to run the race, run, run to what God has for you. Don't run to what you want. And the more that you continue to cover it up, again, the the harder the consequences are going to be for you, the harder the consequences are gonna be for the people you love. And and honestly, um you you will lose out on what God has for you, the good plans that He has for you. And so you have to make a decision at the end of the day, because it's it's like whenever uh there was an interview door somebody was asking, uh it was a celebrity if if they're Christian, and they did anything and everything but say yes or no. Well, you know, I'm it's like, is it yes or is it no? And I think in the same way, will you stop? Yes or no? Yeah. Will you trust God? Yes or no. Is that clear? Yes. Will you give up your selfish desires and receive God's forgiveness for you to cleanse you so you can turn around, uh, turn away from that sin and move to what God has for you. And as you said, Christ is here for us, he'll never leave us nor forsake us. He hasn't called us to be sinless, he's called us to sin less. That's right. And the more that you let go of that fear, as you were talking about, Jenny, but and and really hold on to faith, and then you can really just remember the forgiveness that you have through Christ. He doesn't, God doesn't see you as completely yucky and and shame and all the things. He sees you as his child, he sees you as somebody who's been covered by the blood of Jesus. And so again, the more you want the cover up and the more you want, the harder life is going to be. Dr. Miles Monroe said, if you want a hard life, do the easy things. But if you want an easy life, do the hard things. And the hard thing is to be truthful, to say you're sorry, and to trust God.
SPEAKER_00:The more I have covered up my sin in my life, trying to make it go away, the worse it has always gotten. The worse it has always gotten. Because like like God essentially told Cain, be killing your sin, or your sin will be killing you. And the longer you wait to kill your sin, the more your sin will kill you and those around you. Because it only gets worse. Jenny, it says um, 2 Samuel 12, 1, uh that as we just finished off with, and David, what David had done displeased the Lord. David fooled everybody. Nobody knew. Um, he looked like the good guy, but you can't fool God. That's so good. And he he was able to hide the secret from everyone, but there are no secrets with God. You can't fool God. That word displeased in Hebrew, rah-a-is means, man, it was corruption, it was evil, it was wicked. It wasn't just, hey, nobody got hurt. Well, a man died, and a family's ruined, and and and and a king is is being destructive when when he is supposed to be uh ruling over his people in goodness and in grace. And so 2 Samuel 12 1, so the Lord sent Nathan, the prophet of God, to David. Um, and Nathan just tells David this story. Why do you think God led him in the route of instead of just saying, I know what you did, last year? Summer, you know, kind of a dead. I know what you did, right? And just because it happened in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas, uh, it displeased God. Why didn't God just say, You lusted, you cheated, you killed him, you covered it up, you're not the good guy, you're the bad guy. Rather, he goes into the story about that one little you lamb. And what what does that mean for us today? What do we learn from it?
SPEAKER_03:Man, I mean, I think we all can say that God is so gracious to us when you read that and you're like, man, there are so many times in my life that God could have just smacked me across the head, right? And he didn't. Um, I think one, it speaks to he wants a relationship with us. He wouldn't have sent Nathan, even he wouldn't have sent Nathan just slap him over the head, let alone tell him a nice story to relate to him, if he didn't want relationship with us. And I think even when we think we've gotten away with sin, I know there's times in my life that I thought that I'd gotten away with something, but man, it was eating at me. Like maybe you think that you're okay and you've you've um hid it from God, but it eats at you and it eats at your relationship with him. And I know sin creates that wall between you and God, and God wants that relationship with you. So I mean, the first thing I think of is that's just his loving, gracious desire to be with us, right? And the fact that he um told a story about some other guy rather than slap him over the head. Um, I mean, there's so many times in my life that God has pulled me out of what Satan can so easily disguise things as like the condemnation is gonna be worse than what you can even imagine. And once you bring it out to the light, it's God's like, no, hey, I got you. Like, you're mine, I love you. And there's just been a lot of times in my life that God has done that where I've thought that hiding it and the punishment and all of that was gonna be the worst thing that I could ever imagine. Um and God's grace in situations like that. I had a friend as well that just pointed out, hey, like that's not what God has for you. And it was in such a loving way that um I think it just speaks to his character for us. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Isn't this exactly what Jesus did when Jesus told so many stories, told stories to his disciples, told stories to the Pharisees, and and and it was like Jesus sometimes it feels like, why don't you just get to the point? But he is he's being gracious, and he is the stories are proving the point. If he just says the point, they would probably have the the rebuttal or or the self-righteousness to be like, no, that's not true. Here's all my excuses and all my reasons. But Jesus tells all these stories because he wants them to feel what he feels. Because my sinfulness, our sinfulness, uh, we get so concerned about everybody else's sin rather than my own. Uh, Pastor Christian Henry just posted a really great post, uh, just kind of um politically, you are the man. You need to go back and read that. It was just so good. Our youth, youth and young adult pastor. But it's right, he's so true that we often get so caught up wherever we are politically and wherever we are culturally, and all that type stuff. We get so caught up about the other side that we talk about all of their sin more than we confess our own sin to God. We live in so much self-righteous anger than we live in humility and compassion and grace. And that that's what we see. I think Jesus is bringing it to light so that he doesn't just acknowledge it, he feels it. Yeah, he feels that conviction for for that that heart change. And and just here at the the end, we know that David gets mad, he hears the story of this this figurative man, and and God has to look at David and say, You're the man. And God reminds him, I anointed you, I delivered you, I gave you. And God has this really interesting line in there. And I would add to you as much more if it were too little. And there's something, James, that seems like is God saying that when we try to bless ourselves in our own sin, that we're missing out on more blessings that God has for us, and obviously his blessings are greater than us. Man, just when you hear God saying, I anointed you, I delivered you, I gave to you, I would have even given you more. But you chose to sin against me, man. How does how does that how does that resonate with you and what you've experienced?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I mean, it just reflects a lot on just even me as a parent. I've I've seen it in in my own family to where uh there was a time to where we were talking to my daughter, we were supposed to take her like to the trampoline park or something like that. Because she kept asking. I'm like, okay, you know, yes, seven times, okay, sure. And uh that week, she will we got a note from the teacher on Tuesday. And we're like, hey, pause, hold up, sweetie. Hey, you don't need to do that. Let's let's let's work on that. Okay. The next day she got another note from the teacher Wednesday, and I'm like, oh my gosh. We j do you not know what's coming up? Do you not know what what I have and again, we're talking like human helping, like, hey, uh a trampoline park. None like of all the things that God can do for us. And I'm just like, sweetie, we're gonna have a great time. We're gonna like have connection and spend quality time together. Like this is something you've wanted, but you keep doing okay, okay, okay, I'll do better. Okay, cool. Friday, she gets another message from the teacher. And I'm just like, oh my gosh. Never in her you know, six years of life has she gotten three c three messages in one week. And whose daughter is she? Yeah, praise the Lord.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Now, granted, I did talk about you know being fortunate, so don't worry about that. Yeah, we praise the Lord. Uh, but but to that point, it was like, sweetie, there's I have gifts for you. It's all paid for. You don't have to do anything except be obedient and follow the words that I'm telling you to do. You don't have to worry. It's more than and even when we get there, we were gonna get extra stuff. So we weren't gonna eat before, but it's like there were so much other things that we were gonna do, but you chose this. And as I'm explaining it, you still chose it. As I'm bringing it up again, you still chose it like three times in a row. And so I think that's just a just a real life version of something that's just a small blimp of what God can do for you and through your life if you let go of that sin. Let it go, it's not worth it. And when you do fall, uh Christ is right there to say, Lord, I'm sorry, protect me, keep me close, and help me walk toward you.
SPEAKER_00:Man, he is so good. And it's it's his kindness that Romans 2, 4. It's his kindness that leads us to repentance. So he is showing David his kindness towards him, right? Look, look what I've done for you. I I anointed you like he's anointed us with his spirit. I delivered you like he saved us out of sin. I gave to you. And this is not a moralistic, legalistic gospel. This is not, well, we just obey and then God will bless us. Uh, God graciously blesses us in our salvation and even in times in our sin.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:He's still blessing us, but I believe scripture is saying that there are extra blessings that we don't experience when we choose to live in our sin. In other words, when we choose to bless ourselves rather than uh receiving the blessing of God. And again, I think this is the most to end the passage, this is the most shocking part of the entire passage. It's all now, his sin is laid out public before David. He didn't get away with it, he didn't cover it up, he didn't make it go away. And David just simply said, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said back to David, the Lord has put away your sin. That's all he had to say. It was just the power of confession. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Jenny, it almost sounds too easy. It almost sounds like cheap grace. It almost sounds like if I just say this mantra, if I just, if I just say it, then it's all just gonna be better. What what is actually happening here?
SPEAKER_03:I mean, I think we know that it does not come from our works. And I think the point is that David did nothing to deserve that forgiveness. There was not no long speech that he made to like justify himself. There was nothing that's good. I should have said that on Sunday.
SPEAKER_02:That's good.
SPEAKER_03:You know, like he could have he could have said, Well, this is the reasons why I did that, Lord. Or like, here's the justification for what my thoughts were, how Satan tempted me, or anything. He just confessed. And I think so often we think that we have to prove why we're worthy to God or why we deserve forgiveness. And man, the point of that is we don't, right? Like, we don't deserve it. And he it is that simple because he made it that way, not because of what we did. So it's not that simple because Jesus had to go die on the cross, right? There was a lot involved in that one sentence.
SPEAKER_00:There's so much, oh my goodness. I have sinned. Sin obviously is missing the mark in the Old Testament. He is saying, I against. He didn't just do the wrong thing. It was personal to God. I have sinned against the Lord. This, you know, he um I would encourage all of our listeners go and read Psalm 51. And this is the longer account of David's confession and and uh and what he's feeling, what he is experiencing, what the Holy Spirit is doing in him. And he's he's remember, he's begging God, like, restore to me the joy of my salvation. Uh, God, against you and you only I have sinned. Now that's fascinating because he sinned against Bathsheba, he sinned against Uriah, he sinned against Eliam, he sinned against the kingdom. He said, But ultimately, God is the judge and God is the holy one, and ultimately our sin is against a holy God. And that's why God said, You might have thought you gotten away with it. I'm displeased with you in your sin. Well, how powerful is it that when we confess, God, you are right, I am wrong, and it's a confession that is an agreement with repentance. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_03:No, just that our life wants to honor him, right? I mean, man, that's Psalm just it's it's David wanting to honor God again, wanting to him to know that, like, I want to honor you with my whole life. And is that our desire? You know, like, man, that's just a great reminder. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And people, people need to hear the promise of this verse. If we confess, and that's confessing in the gospel, that's confessing, Jesus, I believe that your blood is covered over the sin. This is, I'm confessing this to you. And I think that we need to confess our sin as far as it is public, in terms of we need to, we need to confess also, the Bible says, to people that we've sinned against. James 5, 16 says, we need to confess uh to those that love us and that we love, just confess our sins to them, let them in on our secret private life that we're struggling with, people that won't condemn us, but people that will help us, disciple us, uh, so that we can get victory over our sin because that's what everybody truly wants. They think their sin will give them freedom. When Jesus isn't giving us freedom to sin, he's giving us freedom from sin. Living in righteousness and holiness is true, real biblical freedom. And here is the glorious promise that when we confess in the gospel, Jesus, you died for my sin, you rose from the dead, you give me power over my sin. I'm asking you to forgive me of all of my sin. Scripture says, the word of God says you can take it to the bank. He is faithful. God is faithful, even when we are faithless. And he's just to forgive. Psalm 103, uh, he cast our sin as far as the east is from the west. That's an eternal casting, infinite casting. He forgives us of our sins, and he cleanses us from all unrighteousness. People today live, you might be living in guilt, you might be living in shame, you might be living with uh unconfessed continual sin. You might have something buried in your past uh that you have not brought up, but yet again, it's not been dealt with. I just want to remind you that it's not when you forgive yourself, and it's not even when someone else forgives you, but if you want eternal, divine forgiveness from God, it is when you confess your sins to him. And he promises through Jesus Christ that he will forgive you and we take our sin as we make our relationship right with him. Take our sin to those we've sinned against that are aware of it, so that our relationship can be made right with him. Um in conclusion, uh, we talked about we need to experience the Holy Spirit's conviction. Sometimes we avoid conviction uh because we think it's guilt and shame. No, this is this is the opposite of guilt and shame. Guilt and shame is hide it, cover it up, make it go away. Conviction is deal with it, confess it, get forgiveness over it. Confession, God, you are right, I am wrong through the gospel of Jesus. Forgiveness, I am receiving and believing in God's forgiveness. I can, uh this is true of me. This is who I am now. Repentance is 180-degree directional turn. I am living in sin. Now I am living for Jesus, again, not in perfection, but in direction, and then living life in a worshipful obedience. I had um I had this verse that I didn't read in for Sunday sermon because I went too long. And uh though a righteous person falls seven times, he will get back up, but the wicked will stumble into ruin. The similarity in the righteous and the wicked is that we both fall. That's right. We both sin. The difference is the righteous get back up, the righteous repent. What do the wicked do? They just keep stumbling into ruin. Their sin leads to ruin because they don't deal with it, they don't do the biblical uh thing about it. Someone came up to me after the service, young man, JP, and uh mid-20s, baseball coach in the area, college student, and he said, uh, he said, What happened to King David? What happened? And uh and I got to tell him, I said, Man, JP, it's crazy. Um, God forgave him. Uh, where this happened in his life, he's probably about 50 years old. He's probably somewhere in the middle of his reign. He reigned as king another 20 years. At the end of his life, there's this narrative where it says that he's he's old, he's he's sick, he's cold, he's literally on his deathbed from what I remember. And and they brought him some young women woman to lay in bed with him to warm him. And and I told JP, and and the Bible says, and King David knew her not. He did not just experience confession and forgiveness, but he took it seriously and he lived his life in repentance. And I love that the New Testament, a thousand years after King David, still calls Jesus the son of David. Matthew 1.1. The very first verse, straight out of the chute. I love that King David was known at the end of his life and even later on, still as a man after God's own heart, that it was not his sin that labeled him or defined him. It was his relationship with God because he acted on it. He confessed and got forgiveness and got repentance and God redeemed his life. Um I'm so thankful that God has redeemed my life from all of my sin. So thankful that uh God is continuing to redeem uh all of our lives, even as a church collectively together as we continue to obey the gospel. Pastor James, any any concluding thoughts, my friend?
SPEAKER_01:Uh I'm I'm like a logical person, like black or white, and I think uh if you're in sin, repent, pick up the cross. Let's go. We got work to do.
SPEAKER_00:Let's get on mission.
SPEAKER_01:We got work to do. Uh, don't take the time for granted. Don't take the gifts God's given you for granted. Don't take your family for granted. Let's go.
SPEAKER_00:Oh man.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you, Jimmy.
SPEAKER_03:I'm a little less direct, but um I just think I just want to encourage anyone that if you are in that place where Satan has convinced you that hiding your sin and not confessing it is going to be the best for you, or that the consequences are worse. Um, just know that bringing it into the light is the best thing that you could ever do. Um, and that it is so much sweeter than you can think to confess to the Lord. It's not like confessing to an angry parent. It is sweet. And the relationship that you then restore with him is is worth all of that. So just an encouragement to Amen.
SPEAKER_00:Amen. Thank you all for being a part of this conversation uh as we all pursue Jesus together and digging deeper in in this passage in the sermon together. And and uh would love any comments that you have uh so that we can continue to learn from your experience as well. If we can answer any questions, just let us know also. But uh but we pray that this has blessed your life in Christ as we live on mission with him together.
