Bryan Samms: And, uh, before, well, why, well, actually go ahead and turn there, but if, if you could also take your notebooks right now, everybody together and turn to page 51. Okay. We’re in Psalm 51, page 51, and we’re going to do this all together in unison.

Okay. All right. Everybody got the notebooks open and your Bibles.

Here’s what I want you to do. Oh, don’t get ahead of me on the count of three. I want everybody to click at the same time.

Okay.

all right you ready page 51 one two three click all right now take your notes out yeah the blank page it says nothing on it yeah now on the count of three click them back okay one two three click okay now take your notebooks and stick them in your well you don’t have a bag like i do stick them under your pew or just get rid of them for a little bit and uh or just keep clicking whatever you want to do you know if you

just want to click all throughout the service that’s fine too i that’s great.

Just click away. Please, though, I would prefer if I had a choice between your head and your heart to have your heart for the next few moments. I did not not put notes in the notebook out of rebellion.

I did it because the Lord changed my direction as I was driving from Louisiana to Kansas City on Tuesday, 10 hours by myself trying to pray and seek the Lord about this conference and what God would have. And so, God, the notes that I did have in the notebook were not what the Lord wanted, and so I asked Him to change my direction, and He did, and I praise Him for it, and now we’re about ready to go.

Before I start, I’d like to say thank you for being here. Thank you, Brother VanGeldren, for having me here. It’s quite an honor to be here.

I was thinking as I was listening to the last session and, of course, Brother Bailey’s and last night’s, I was thinking, well, what an honor to be at a place like this. And there were several things that I was reminded of, especially during the last session. I’ve been around Minutemen for a few years and have been personally involved with it.

And I remember as a college student and just right out of college, I didn’t always understand everything that maybe Minutemen and maybe this church stood for. But I want you to know this. Boy, I appreciate the heart for holiness and the love for Jesus Christ that you have here.

And it is just unsurpassed. And I know that as a 29-year-old man, I appreciate it so much more than I ever could have as a college student. And I appreciated watching these guys get up here and sing.

And you know, you can always judge a good college by its product. And I want to be where they still look nice, still sing right, still stand for something, And not every college that we’ve all been so ready to recommend of late still produces that. And so be very cautious as you watch a place.

And I just think this is a wonderful place. And I’m just thrilled to be here. I think they brought me here for comedy relief, though.

I really do. First of all, they asked me to submit notes. I thought, that’s a real joke.

I have a real hard time with that. I got off the airplane yesterday. And I got to my hotel room last night and walked on the door.

And I knew that Mr. Van Gelder had to be laughing because it said handicapped room. And I thought, oh, that’s real nice.

Thanks. And then I walked in the door and I knew, I knew it was a joke specifically on me because all of the light switches were down here. And I said, they’re picking on me because I’m short.

That’s what it is. My life verse is in Matthew chapter 6, which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature. In fact, that’s why they moved the platform down here so that you on the front row could see my face when I was preaching.

And you didn’t know that. But anyways, I’m not bitter about being short, but it’s okay. So God bless you if you’re short.

And we’ll talk and I’ll buy you some coffee later or something like that. I send greetings from Oakwood Baptist Church in Anderson, South Carolina. Thankful to be a part of a great church with a great preacher.

It’s a growing, thriving work and it’s just an honor to be there. So greetings from South Carolina and from my wife who is not here. Her name is Angie and we have a baby girl on the way.

September 20th is her due date and she’s actually going to be an adopted baby. And I am thankful, praising God for the wonderful, miraculous story that he’s led us to the child that he would have for us. And my heart is overwhelmed today.

I just tell you what, I’ve just been excited about preaching. I told my wife, I said, I don’t really know what I’m going to say when I get up there. The last two weeks I’ve been flying to Philadelphia to meet the parents of this baby.

And my life has been consumed in finding out nine weeks before the baby was going to be born that I was going to be her dad. And that’s quite a bit different than most of you who had nine months to prepare. And so you can imagine what kind of life we’ve been living for the last two weeks.

But I tell you what, there’s nothing greater in all the world than loving Jesus Christ, being saved, following him, and then doing what he had you to do. That’s what I’m about to do right now. Psalm 51.

Verse 1. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness, according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightst be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest. In other words, Lord, you’re right for telling me I’m wrong.

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts. In other words, Lord, I don’t want just me on the outside to look right.

I want to be right all the way through all the way inside my heart you see you can have the outside without the inside but you can’t have the inside without the outside you know I know where I’m preaching I know who I’m preaching to and like brother Michael said here just a few minutes ago I know many of you aren’t breaking into places and doing all kinds of overtly obvious wicked things but you know what I guarantee every single person in this room whether you’re

a preacher or a teenager or an adult sponsor, we all need to grow.

We all need to change. And it’s just a matter of this morning of deciding where is it and what is it? Because God, I know that I’m not what you want me to be.

And whatever it is, I want to be it. That’s what David’s saying here. We’re going to learn this morning, this afternoon, if by God’s help what it means to have the blessing of confession in my life.

The blessing of confession. Let’s pray together. Lord, I pray asking for your help.

Lord, I’ve asked you in private. Now, ask in public to meet with us. And Lord, there’s no doubt that this is the text of the hour.

And this is your leading in your direction. And I just pray that I don’t mess it up.

and Lord I can stand here and preach the truth all day long until I’m sweating and I’m turning red in the face and Lord I can try to be clever in application and humorous in illustration but there’s no doubt Lord if you don’t change lives I will waste the next few moments and Lord if these young people and adults they don’t have their hearts open to you then they will waste these next few moments I pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to be upon

this preaching I pray that you would undertake for me Lord and that you would do what I cannot do and that is change lives and in these next few moments we would see sin for what it is and we’d understand that without confession of sin we might as well pack up our bags and go home because we will not have revival in Jesus name Amen.

Well, May 25th, 1997, I had my first exposure to confession of sin. In a Sunday school classroom in Nitro, West Virginia, I bowed my heart and my head before Jesus Christ and claimed Him as my Lord and Savior. I didn’t know all the sin that I had in my life, but I knew I was a sinner.

And whatever I did know that was there, I knew that I needed to get it right. And I’m thankful for the pardoning blood of Jesus Christ that on that day God found someone that wasn’t looking for Him. And by His amazing and wonderful grace, He saved me that day and He changed my life forever.

I’ll never forget my first semester of college. I went to every revival meeting that was going on in Greenville, South Carolina. I heard every evangelist.

I had their tapes. I had their CDs. And I went to Morningside Baptist Church and listened to Ron Comfort for his two-week revival meeting.

One of the first times I’d ever heard him preach. He preached a message one night on Zacchaeus. And I mean, I was still at the stage where all the Bible stories were new to me.

I didn’t grow up hearing about David and Goliath. And I didn’t grow up hearing about Zacchaeus. And I didn’t grow up hearing about Jonah in the well.

I didn’t know any of that. So everything was new for me. I still thought you pronounced Job Job.

I mean, man, I didn’t know what was going on. But he talked about how Zacchaeus went up in the tree. And the Lord came to his house.

And that when he got saved, he looked at the Lord and said, Lord, whatever I have stolen, I will repay. I remember hustling up to Dr. Comfort after that service.

I’d been saved about four months. I walked up to him. I said, sir, I just got saved back in May of this year.

I’ve only been saved for four months. Do you mean to tell me that anything I had stolen before I was saved, I need to go back and make it right with those people? And I’ll never forget in his own way.

I wouldn’t even try to imitate how he talks, but I’ll never forget he looked me right in the face. And he said, son, that’s exactly what I’m saying. I had round two with confession.

As I walked back home, or not from South Carolina, but as I was back home and I walked into my pastor’s office, Pastor Bill Egerdahl, and I said, Sir, I know I’m on staff here this summer, but there is something that I’ve got to do.

I’m asking for the day off, and I literally remember going to every single store I can ever remember, taking any one thing from and walking and saying, Sir, you don’t know me from anybody, But I know that I walked in here as a teenager and I took something I shouldn’t have taken. And it took me an entire 10 hour work day to do it. You say, was it humbling?

You bet it was humbling. But I want you to know this. It made me right with God.

Now what I’m talking about here this afternoon is very simply this. There are times in our lives where we need to do not one other single blessed thing. other than get on our face before God and say, God, I’m wrong, you’re right, it is sin, and I’m ready to get it right.

That’s what confession is. If you notice at the beginning of the Psalms, it many times will tell us the circumstances surrounding the Psalms. This copy of the Word of God that I have says to the chief musician, a Psalm of David, notice this, when Nathan the prophet came unto him after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

Now, you and I know this story very well. It’s one of the saddest stories in the entire Bible. Now, you know that God called David a man after his own heart, not because David was perfect, but because when David did do something wrong, and he was confronted with it, he did not harden his heart against God.

He did exactly what God wanted him to do. By the way, God knows we’re not perfect. God knows that we’re going to sin and mess up.

And the difference between you being a teenager with a heart for God. It’s not perfection. It’s what you do when you mess up.

So David, after at least one year, we know it was nine months later after his sin with Bathsheba because the baby had already been born. Perhaps this was as much as a year after David slept with Bathsheba. He goes and he has his own mighty man.

You go read 2 Samuel 23 and you find out that Uriah was not an ordinary soldier. He was one of David’s close comrades. So he knew who Bathsheba was.

He knew who Uriah was. He knew full well what he was doing when he did it. He had the man murdered.

He goes about his kingly business for the next year. He still had to go to the temple and worship. He still had to be the king of Israel.

He still had to lead in battle. But oh, what a messed up situation you’re in when you still have to go through the motions of living for God. and looking at mom and dad in the face and going to church and singing in the choir and going soul winning and doing all the things that you’re supposed to do and yet you don’t have your heart right with God.

And that’s where some of you live today. In chapter number 12 or 13 of 1 and 2 Samuel, the prophet Nathan is sent from God to the palace to confront David about his sin. And of course you know how the story goes.

He walks in and he tells David an illustration, which I think is great proof of why we should use illustration when we preach. He walks in, gives David an illustration, and then he brings the application home. And when David was emotionally caught up in the moment of the story, he brought the application down and stuck it right on his plate.

And he said, actually David, you’re the man. And he said, because the Lord God had said, and he went through and rehearsed what he did, And so God was fully aware of David’s sin. And in 2 Samuel chapter 13, you find that before God, David breaks and he gets right with God.

And I’d like to share with you two simple points this morning. Number one, I’d like to share with you what are the basics of confession. And we’re not going to turn there, but I’m going to walk through these.

If you confess your sin and get it right with God, what do you actually do? Well, I think it’s very clear, first of all, that if any young person in this room is going to have revival and you’re going to confess your sin, number one, you are going to have to call sin what sin is. In fact, the word confession, the Old Testament word that we use to translate confession means acknowledgement.

Someone said this, it is the act that places one in harmony with others. Listen very carefully to this. It is uniting in a statement that has been previously made by someone else.

Let me say that again. Confession is uniting in a statement that has been previously made by someone else. You know what the Bible basically is saying?

The first step to confession is saying what someone else already said. And namely, for our purposes today, we are suggesting that we need to say about sin what God has already said about sin. And in Psalm 51, he gives us several different descriptions of what his sin was.

I mean, David did not try to rename it. He did not try to rationalize it. He did not try to explain it away.

He did not try to shift the blame and say it was someone else’s fault. No, David gets right down to the nitty gritty and he says, this is what I did and this is what it was. For instance, verse number two, he says, wash me throughly.

For mine iniquity, which simply means crooked or perversity. It means to bend or to err or to go astray. The idea of iniquity, young person, is this.

It doesn’t line up with what I’m supposed to be. Here I’m the king of Israel. And not only am I the King of Israel, I’m a child of God.

And as a child of God and a person in leadership, what I did was not consistent with my profession. And boy, isn’t that true? Isn’t that what sin is?

It’s never consistent with our profession. Never forget that if you’re saved, you have a standing that is greater than any plaque you could ever receive in your office. It’s greater than any degree you’d ever get from a college.

It’s greater than any job you’d ever take one day. greater than any honor anyone can ever reward you. Hear me, friend.

You are a child of the King and a representative of Him on this earth. And when I sin and do wrong, it is iniquity. It doesn’t line up with what I am.

Notice what else he says. Cleanse me from my sin. Of course, you know what sin means.

Miss the mark. Sin means I fell short of God’s expectations. And I think it’s clear from the text back in 2 Samuel where David actually sinned that he missed three specific marks.

Now I want you to write these down. Again, this is all introduction here. But number one, David sinned in that he ignored his biblical responsibilities.

The Bible says in 2 Samuel 11 verse 1, It came to pass at a time when kings go forth to battle. Let me ask you a question. Who was David?

He was the what of Israel? The king. Now let me ask you a second question.

If David was king of Israel and kings were going forth to battle, was it right or wrong for David to stay at home in Israel? Well, the answer is wrong. By the way, if I ask you to answer me, feel free to do it.

And if you want to say amen, that’s okay too. I’m used to it. But you don’t just have to stone face me.

I’m used to people talking to me when I preach. So let me ask you again. If David is the king of Israel and kings are going to fight, Was it wrong or right for David to be in Israel?

Wrong. So what did he do? He ignored a biblical responsibility.

He forgot or neglected to do something that was clearly spelled out for him by God to be doing. May I remind you of something? The Bible says, For him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

So yes, you may not be strung out on drugs. And yes, you may not be burying yourself in a case of alcohol. And yes, you may not be immoral physically in your body.

But may I say this, to not do your biblical responsibilities like reading God’s Word every day. Don’t call it anything else. Don’t call it I’m too busy.

Don’t call it I’ve got other things to do. Don’t call it I’m wrapped up in my schoolwork. Call it what it is.

It’s sin. And when I don’t spend time praying because I’m too occupied in everything else that I’m doing, hey, don’t call it that I’m too tired to do it. Don’t call it that I’ve got extra ball practices.

Don’t call it that the Christian school is demanding on me. Don’t call it because my violin practice is taking too much time. Call it what it is.

It’s sin. And for any preacher or teenager in the room who neglects the first business of being a soul winner, for whatever excuse you want to call it, Say it’s because of your theology. We’ll try to prove that one.

Say it’s because I’m scared to do it. Call it whatever you want to, but to neglect a basic responsibility from God is nothing more than sin. And that’s what David did.

He neglected his responsibility. Secondly, he ignored a biblical warning. Do you remember when David went and inquired of the woman who was bathing outside of the palace?

Do you remember what happened there? Well, in case your mind’s fuzzy on what happened, one of David’s servants spoke up and said exactly this, Is not this Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? You want to know what that was?

It was a big red flag in David’s face. It was somebody telling David, I believe, a direct message from God, telling David, David, you better not go there. You better not get involved in that.

It is as clear as the daylight. It would be sin for you to do this. This is a married woman and you are the king and you have no business being involved in adultery.

And you know what David did? He ignored the warning. He sent the servant and brought her to his chamber and he went ahead and fornicated in his chamber.

And there he ignored the warning and therefore committed sin. You want to know what bothers me, folks? I’ve got to be honest with you.

There are young people in this room right here today. You’re listening to me preach and you have heard more Bible sermons than I’ve heard. You ever thought about that?

You are privileged among the privileged to be in a fundamental, independent Baptist church where your pastor believes the Bible, preaches the Bible, teaches the Bible, and then draws the lines of application and says we’re not just going to share what the Bible says, We’re going to draw the application and says, therefore, because of what God says, this is how we should live.

And I want you to know, young person, there is not one lick of excuse in a young person’s life in this room, coming from these churches, to have a life filled with sin, to be making unwise, unbiblical choices, when Sunday after Sunday, your youth pastor, who worked just as hard on his sermon as he did on his youth activity, got up in the pulpit and sweated and screamed a little bit and talked to you about what you need to do.

And some of us are just walking right on along in our path ignoring the clear warning from God. Many of you need to come with me to camp one summer. And you need to sit down beside of me in a counseling room where I talk to several teenagers who don’t have half the privileges that you have.

where I sat beside Robert just a few weeks ago on the front porch of Southland Christian Camp in Ringo, Louisiana and watched Robert stare almost blankly out into the lake where we were on the front porch. As I tried to talk to him about Christ, he acted as if he wasn’t even listening. You see, Robert’s daddy’s in prison.

And as a nine-year-old boy, he sat and watched his mom’s tomb or casket be lowered into the ground as she died. I’m thankful to tell you by Friday night, thank God, Robert broke and embraced the love of Jesus Christ. And accepted Him as his personal Savior.

And things are different now for Robert. But I’m talking about young people that don’t come from the homes that some of you come from. Who don’t have a mom that even so much as cares what they do.

Who in other cases actually have parents who make provisions for them to do things they shouldn’t do. And some of you have moms and dads that love you and they care for you and they lead you down the right path and they’re encouraging you along the way. And boy, when you do wrong, they’re there to pick you up.

And whenever you’re starting to ask questions, they’re there to help you. And some of you, although you’re from the best churches and the best homes in the country, inside your heart, there’s welling up and ignoring a biblical warning and you’re turning into a rebel. He ignored his responsibilities.

He ignored all the warnings in his life. And then he went ahead and forsook biblical morality as he got himself involved. It was sin.

Not only did he call it sin, notice number three, he called it iniquity, he called it sin. Go to verse number one. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my…

What’s the next word? Transgressions. The prefix there, trans, means to go against.

The word transgression most literally has the idea of going against an established boundary. David was king, right? He was one who knew the law like the back of his hand.

In fact, he was one used by God to be an inspired writer of the Word of God. God gave him revelation and he wrote it down from God. David knew exactly what God said.

He knew the Word of God. He knew the expectations on his life and to transgress meant that it was all full right out rebellion. And you know what, young person?

We need to call our sin iniquity. We need to call our sin sin. And we need to call it transgression.

Because I hardly doubt there’s anybody in this room who knows very little about what God expects for you in your life. So the first step of confession is let’s call it what it is. And then number two, you’ve got to take full responsibility for it.

Notice what he says in verse 1. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my friend’s transgressions. No.

Look at verse 2. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. You want to know what the second step to you confessing and getting your sin right?

Number one, call it what it is. Don’t rename it. Don’t try to justify it.

Call it exactly what it is. If you’re disrespectful to your parents, don’t say it’s because they’re old-fashioned. Call it sin.

That’s what it is. And then you take personal responsibility for what you have done. Boy, if there’s ever a problem in this generation, you want to know what it is?

In many cases, our parents have not taught us to take full responsibility for our own actions. From what I understand, some of the older preachers in the room would know this better than me. From what I understand, when there ever used to be a disagreement between child and youth pastor, or child and preacher, or child and Christian school teacher, guess who was always right, no matter what the circumstances are?

Guess who it used to be? Teacher, preacher, youth pastor. Guess who it is now?

Snotty-headed, rebellious teenager. That’s who. And you are being taught right now that there’s always a reason for your bad actions.

There’s always an excuse for what you have done. I’ll never forget as long as I live, and I hope I’ll use this story till I die. A young man had signed a contract to work at our camp this summer.

And when you sign a contract, I believe you’ve already prayed about it. You’ve already asked God what to do. You’re signing a contract.

Not a wishful thought. Not a I think I’ll pray about it kind of deal. But yes, I’m coming, right?

Got a contract from a bigger, brighter, better camp. And had his dad call and tell us why he wasn’t coming. Now if you don’t have a problem with that, maybe you’ll figure it out in about 30 minutes.

You know who should have called? He should have called. He should have the guts to say, yes, I’m not coming, and this is exactly why I’m coming, but I believe he didn’t just want to get honest enough about it to say, I had a better opportunity, and I know I committed to you, but I’m not going to commit to you.

And he didn’t want to say that, so you know what he did? He had daddy call and try to make an excuse for him. A young person, if you ever want to be right with God, it’s time for you to take your finger and point it right down your spiritual face and say, I’m wrong.

God’s right so he called sin what it was he took full responsibility and then number three this is really hard for us to see sometimes he had to understand that he deserved judgment and therefore pled for the mercy of God notice verse number one have mercy upon me oh God according to thy loving kindness according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions you know what young person when you cry out for mercy, this is exactly what you are saying.

You are saying, I deserve to be judged. Let me ask you a question. Do you think that your bad attitude is bad enough for God’s judgment?

Do you think gossiping about your ex-boyfriend or ex-friend that you used to hang out with all the time is bad enough for God to be upset with you? Do you think bitterness is bad enough for God to be at judgment against you? Do you think that a short temper and a bad attitude and losing your cool and having an angry spirit, do you think that’s bad enough for God to be upset?

The answer is, there are no sins, small sins in the eyes of God. He is a big, holy, magnificent God. And what you may think is small and insignificant has offended God and you need His mercy.

and mercy is me not getting from something God that I rightly deserve and I need to get to a place in my Christian life where I say God I’m so filthy I’m so dirty I am so wicked God I deserve everything that I would have coming to me but I fall on your mercy and then finally he desired and committed to change and I’m not going to take the time to read it But if you’d start in verse 10 and read all the way through the

end of the chapter, you see David saying, now once I get right, then I’ll do this.

If once I get right, then I’m going to start changing. God, if you’ll just create in me a clean heart, if you’ll renew a right spirit within me, I’m going to follow you. I’m going to sing your praises.

I’m going to get to writing psalms again. I’m going to get to serving you again. And isn’t that the missing link in so many people’s false confessions?

They are not to the point where they’re so sick of their sin that they’re ready to change. Man, back in April, I stepped on the scale at my house, and it said, one at a time, please. I thought, what in the world does that mean?

No, but in all seriousness, I said, Brian, this is absolutely ridiculous. And I looked at myself and I said, I’m so sick and tired of doing this. And went on a regimen over the last three months, and I’m not saying this to puff me up, I’m using it for an illustration, have lost 30 pounds over the last three months.

And I’ll tell you, want to know when it all started? It all started when I got sick and tired of myself. And because I got sick of what I was, I made a decision to change.

And when I knew I wanted to change, it disciplined me and changed my lifestyle and caused me to make a positive directional change. Hey, listen, you’re never going to change your attitude until you’re sick of it. You’re never going to change your rotten attitude and relationship with your parents until you’re sick of it.

You’re never going to get rid of your internet pornography until you are sick and tired of looking at it. You’re never going to quit going behind your parents’ backs and going on MySpace and opening up yourself to a pseudo world with a false identity and creating this crazy world in which you don’t even live, trying to escape the realities of who you are until you’re sick and tired of running from God to other places of pleasure and satisfaction.

Hey, you’re never going to quit running from the call of God on your life to preach until you’re sick of running. You’re never going to stop watching that show that you started justifying the one cuss word and the one time God’s name was taken in vain until you are sick and tired of living in sin. And it is only then that you will get right with God.

And may I say this today? It is high time that everybody in this room, adults included, we got sick of our sin. We said, I’m tired of it.

I’m tired of dishonoring God. I’m tired of desecrating his temple.

I’m tired of living in filth I’m tired of being neck deep in sin I want out God and it’s then that God’s getting ready to do something in your life that you long needed to see you see the basics of confession are we need to call sin what it is secondly we need to take full responsibility thirdly we need to understand that we deserve judgment Fourthly, we need to have a desire to change And then I want to park on this And I know I didn’t

think I was going to preach long But, you know, so long for that, I guess But the basic point of the message is What are the blessings?

I mean, some of you, you know You stand at a crossroads right now, don’t you? All of a sudden, preaching has slapped you upside the head And said, there’s something that’s not right here You can be from the most sheltered, homeschooled family In the entire room and yet you’ve still got sin in your life. And now you’re standing there going, wait a second, I’m going to be embarrassed.

I’m going to have to open up to a counselor. I’m going to have to talk to my parents. My pastor’s going to see me walk out of here in a few moments and make a decision for God.

Is it worth it? Hey, you better bet it’s worth it. Because we go now, after David confesses his sin, he opens up somewhere in the privacy of his own heart, maybe perhaps in his favorite little place to pray, and he writes down Psalm 51 and also Psalm 32.

It says, Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose iniquity is covered. And in Psalm 51, what David does is he goes through and he tells us what are the blessings of getting right with God? Number one, you will have a restoration of broken fellowship.

Oh, somebody say amen. Do you realize that the same grounds for having a relationship with God are the same grounds through which you have fellowship with God? And those grounds are found for us in verse number one.

It says, have mercy, there’s the word again, according to thy loving kindness. Do you realize today that the only way that you can ever become a son of God is through loving kindness and mercy? For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

But God commendeth His love to us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us here in His love. Not that we love God, but that He loved us and He sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the entire world. Oh, could we with ink the ocean fill?

Or were the sky a parchment made? Were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade to write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry, nor could a scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky? Hallelujah today for the love of Jesus Christ that He came to this earth and died for your sins.

And if He did not love you, you and I would all be on a one-way trip to hell today. And then in His mercy, thank God, He died upon that cross and shed His blood. And it is that blood through which we find forgiveness of sins.

And here a saved man named David comes back to God and he finds that not only a relationship, but fellowship is found upon the same terms. By the way, when you sin, you don’t lose your salvation. You lose your fellowship.

Isaiah 59 too, but your iniquities have separated between you and your God. Psalm 66 verse 18. It says, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.

You want to know what’s sad about some of us in this room right now? You’re saved and you know you’re on your way to heaven, but you’re as far away from God as could humanly possibly be. You can’t pray.

You can’t read the word of God. You can’t even pay attention for 45 minutes to a sermon. I’ll tell you why.

It’s because you’re not in fellowship with God. Isn’t it sad? Isn’t it sad that these days you could be praying?

Isn’t it sad, thank God, that some of you this week could have your whole life changed as a result of being here? How much would you pay for a sermon that would keep you out of hell? How much would you pay for a sermon that would lead you to the right mate?

How much would you pay for a sermon that would cause your life to be filled with joy and abstinence? Oh, answer is sermons like that are invaluable. How much would you pay for a sermon to teach you how to be right with God?

Well, the answer is you don’t have enough money to pay for a sermon like that. And here we are today preaching about it. And some of us don’t even have the audacity to listen to it.

I’ll tell you what your problem is. You’ve got so much sin in your life. You could send the whole world to hell.

And you just need to get right. You see, because when you do, all the floodgates of God are opened. And you are restored back into fellowship.

And not only are you restored, there’s a restoration of broken fellowship. Hear me. Number two, there is a return of a clear conscience.

Look at verse number 3. I acknowledge my transgressions. My sin is ever before me.

You know what David said? Every time I turn around, all I can think about is my sin. Every time I see a mom playing with her son out in the streets of Jerusalem, I keep remembering that there was a son that died because of my sin.

Every time he saw his armies marching back with their spoils, he was missing a spot on the front row.

every time he heard the prophet stand up in the temple and thunder God’s word conviction literally chilled him from the bottom of his foot to the top of his head do you ever get sick and tired of having to endure preaching because you’re not right with God yes I’m not talking to everybody in here tonight because everybody’s not ready for what I’m saying I’m talking to those who are sick and tired of not being right with God you ever get tired of feeling like your youth

pastor is thundering at you every Sunday?

You ever get tired of your pastor when he stands up and you feel like your sin is on his top five list every single week? Well, the answer is, confess your sin to God and walk out of here today with a clear conscience that can say, there’s nothing between my soul and the Savior. Herein do I exercise myself to have a conscience void of offense toward God and toward man.

Do you have a clear conscience? Are you right with God? I was standing in a church parking lot in Georgia.

We were in rural Georgia. It was in a little tiny town called Danielsville. You probably never heard of Danielsville.

In fact, I had never heard of Danielsville, nor would I have ever found it unless they asked me to come and preach there. It was a farm community. I was standing in the parking lot talking to the pastor.

He has five children. Three of them are in college. Two of them are still in high school and elementary school.

And as I was standing there talking, all of a sudden, one of the worst stenches I had ever smelled came across my nostrils. I mean, it almost knocked me down. And I mean, I’m in the middle of a conversation, and it didn’t appear that it was affecting anybody but me.

And I think everybody noticed that I was a little bothered by this. I mean, I’m in the middle of a sentence, and all of a sudden my nostrils are curling, and my eyebrows are raising, and I’m kind of trying to catch my breath. And the pastor’s 16-year-old daughter spoke up and said, Ah, that’s the chicken slaughterhouse.

And I thought, Oh, that’s exactly what it smells like. It smells like a chicken slaughterhouse. She said, I used to work there.

And then I’ll never forget it. Her face turned. She said, those people are mean.

I said, what do you mean they’re mean? She said, my manager used to walk around with two items in his hand. One was a five-gallon bucket and the other was a five-iron golf club.

Don’t get ahead of me now. He’d walk around with his five-gallon bucket and with his golf club and he’d whack the little chickens that weren’t going to make it. The ones that had broken limbs and the ones that couldn’t peg.

I mean, it was like survival of the fittest. I mean, it was unbelievable. When ones wouldn’t make it, he would just knock them down, scoop them up with the edge of his golf club, drop them in the book.

She said, I couldn’t let him do it all day long. He’d take them to this flesh grinder. And their bodies would become fertilizer.

And she said, that’s what you smell. I thought, that’s gross.

and this is exactly what she said my wife was standing there this is a dead quote Brian it just doesn’t bother me anymore do you remember the first time you accidentally stumbled upon something so wicked like American Idol or Desperate Housewives and you were shocked at the language you were shocked at the music and now it doesn’t stink anymore does it in fact there’s Christian college students today who are cheering on one of the biggest rebels that ever came out of the college I attended on

American Idol in the final 11 hey I don’t think that’s cool I think that’s sick and he says the only regret I have is that I didn’t do more Elton John well he’s a queer excuse me and the only thing that he could think of is I didn’t want to do more of his music that’s bad folks there are young people in this room you watched it, laughed at it, enjoyed it you know why?

it doesn’t stink anymore that’s why the first time you ever said something that was off color to your parents or something that wasn’t appropriate first time you ever rolled your eyes first time you ever back talked it stung you you got it right you made things correct you did what you were supposed to do and little by little by little now you don’t have to worry about it anymore why?

it doesn’t stink anymore you don’t have a clear conscience now but if you get right with God you would so David had a restoration a broken fellowship a return of a clear conscience he thirdly had quickly a removal of hypocrisy verse number 6 behold thou desirous truth in the inward parts in other words God I’m tired of playing this game Lord here I am I’m playing this game I’m being the king, I’m being the leader of Israel spiritually and politically.

And Lord, I’m so tired of going before everybody and trying to act like I’m something that I’m not. In fact, when David’s sin came out in 2 Samuel 12, verse 14, the prophet says, you’ve given the enemies of God an occasion to blaspheme. Over in Ezekiel chapter 16, Israel gone so far away from God that God told Israel, you are a comfort unto the Babylonians.

wouldn’t it sad sometimes our lives are so messed up as christians that we’re actually a comfort to those that don’t know christ it’s almost like they sit back in their easy chair and take a deep breath when they see our lives and go man i must be okay i must be able to talk like that and not be that big of a deal i must be able to laugh at those jokes and it must not be we’re a comfort to them so he was he would

have removal of hypocrisy number four he had a recovery of biblical joy He says in verse 8 Make me to hear joy and gladness Verse number 11 Cast me not away from thy presence Take not thy Holy Spirit from me Notice this Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation David says I don’t have it anymore I used to sit out with the sheep And used to write psalms And used to enjoy myself And talk with the Lord And sing his praises I can’t do it

anymore right Because I’m not right with God Boy it’s amazing when you go to churches year after year.

I’m sure Brother Van Gelderen could say this. And sometimes you go to the same churches over and over again. And you see a teenager one year when he’s in junior high school.

And boy, they think you’re the hero. They’re all excited to meet you. And they don’t even know what to call you.

They call you Evangelist Brother Pastor Mr. Sams. All in one sentence.

I mean, they don’t even know what to say. But they’re excited. They want you to sign their Bible, man.

They’re all thrilled. And they’re excited that you’re there. And you know what?

You come back two years later, they’re in high school. All of a sudden, they don’t even want to talk to you. You know why?

They don’t have the joy. They don’t have the innocent joy of Jesus Christ in their life anymore. Boy, I can spot them a mile away.

It’s so sad when you come to a conference like this and when young people see that you’re a speaker, I’m thankful that you didn’t know who I was until before this service. I kind of snuck through a little bit. But now, some of us will become avoided.

don’t want to talk to us. You know why? You don’t have the open, joy, free spirit of the Lord anymore.

Boy, you used to be able to sing songs, you can’t sing them anymore. Boy, you used to be able to share with others what God was doing. You used to love camp.

You used to love conferences. You used to love going to Sunday school. You used to love church.

Why? Because the joy of the Lord was there, it was present. And now you’re a teenager and it’s gone.

You have flashes of happiness every once in a while.

but you don’t have joy but you can if you get right with God and then there’s two more things very quickly number five David had a reestablishment of a tender heart in other words look at verse number 16 if you would thou delight desirest not sacrifice else would I give it thou delightest not in burnt offering the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a broken and a contrite heart oh God that will not despise two things there real quick God was not interested in David’s

religious activity David kept going to the temple he kept coming to youth conference he kept listening to preaching he knew what he was supposed to do but God said I don’t want your sacrifices of David I want your heart I want you to have a tender sensitive heart to the Lord you know what so sad to see young people right here you don’t have a tender heart anymore.

You can set through invitations and not move. Boy, and adults are worse than teenagers. Sometimes I’ll preach in a church and the only people that make any decisions for God are teenagers.

Boy, what about the days when God would speak and you’d feel a tug at your heart and immediately you’d say, Oh God.

there are folks in this room right here you can’t remember the last time your tears stained an altar you can’t remember the last time in private you hit your knees because you had just sinned against God and you were ready to make it right you have every intention of making it through this youth conference and not making any decisions for the Lord and may I say this if you have not made a decision for Jesus Christ of late if you have not felt a tug at

your heart because there was something wrong.

I want you to know this newsflash. It’s not because everything’s right. It’s because you’re not tender to the Lord anymore.

I have to have a spiritual checkup every once in a while just to make sure I’m still dealing with my sin. And it wasn’t, but just a couple weeks ago, I found myself at about 11 o’clock at night by myself there in a hotel room near Oshkosh, Wisconsin, down on my face with my Bible open saying, God, here I am again.

and I’m not leaving until you give me some scripture that I can memorize and I’m not getting off my knees until you warm this heart and you change this bad attitude and thank God that he right there re-softened my heart again. But I can tell you time after time after time again and it’s not soft as it needs to be.

There are young people in this room you literally cannot remember the last time you were in a service God spoke to your heart you got out of your seat you went to see a counselor and you did business with God. And you may be the president of your youth group, but it doesn’t mean you’re perfect. It means you’ve lost your tenderness.

David got it back. One final thing. David had a reigniting of his spiritual service.

Notice verse number 13. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Notice that.

That’s a very interesting verse. once I get things right then I will teach transgressors thy ways and then as a result of my teaching them they’re going to be converted unto the Lord. Boy, I tell you what, the people that are right with God they’re the people that are seeing people saved.

Now folks, I want to just be honest with you it’s not just your pastor’s responsibility to be a soul winner. And quite truthfully the reason that some of us aren’t winning souls or aren’t even making an attempt at it is because our hearts aren’t clear and free for the Lord to work through us. I will never forget this.

Standing outside of a church in Tennessee in 1998, almost one year after I got saved, I was on a ministry team called Neighborhood Bible Time. I was standing outside of a church, underneath of a tree, asking God what was wrong with me. I had preached an entire week almost.

It was Thursday. I’d preach Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday to a crowd full of unsaved teenagers, and nobody was getting saved. And I thought, Lord, I know there’s nothing wrong with your word, and I sure know there’s nothing wrong with the gospel, and so there must be something wrong with me.

I said, God, what is it? And man, as soon as I said that, I’m telling you folks, it was like an audible voice in my heart saying, Brian, you want to know what you did? I’ll tell you what you did.

And my mind went back to the last few weeks of school. And I was taking a Hebrew history final examination. Man, I told you, when I first got saved, I went right to Bible college.

I was in Bible college three months after I got saved. I’m not talking about assurance. I’m not talking about rededication.

I mean, I got saved. And all of a sudden, I was in Bible college. And man, I’m sitting in class for the first time.

I’m listening to Bible stuff. I mean, I am absolutely just soaking it all up. I didn’t know which end was coming.

I just knew I was excited about learning anything God wanted to teach me. Boy, I had a Bible that someone gave me when I first got saved. This is not it, but that teacher would talk.

And right there in the text, I mean, I had little margins. Man, I just wrote out every, it was like almost every word he said, I wrote it in my Bible. I mean, even if I misspelled it, I’d just scratch it out and rewrite it.

I mean, I didn’t know what I was doing. And I got down to the final examination in a class called Hebrew History. And our teacher’s name was Dr.

Yeagley. And have you ever seen Ben Stein, the guy on the dry eye commercial, who just, I mean, talks real slow and his eyes are real wide and he’s very quiet and he just talks like this. That’s how he is.

I loved him though. He was probably my favorite. I mean, I absolutely love him.

He was a great teacher. But I never had. He had this interesting way he held his hands.

And I always remember that. And when he stood up and he told us this, this is exactly what he said. He said, folks, this is going to be an open Bible test.

And I went, oh, we get to use our Bible on this test. All right. And man, I got to the first question.

I flopped open my Bible to the book of Genesis. And I looked at the first question. And I found the text where it was found.

And I went, oh. Oh, the answer was written right in my Bible. I mean, there was A, B, C, and D, and D was right there.

And I remember, folks, there was a battle in my flesh I will never forget sitting there, thinking, okay, Brian, okay, you should not do that. You should get another Bible. And then the other part of me was saying, oh, yeah, but you’re just the fortunate one that took notes in your Bible.

I mean, this is my Bible. It just so happens my Bible has my notes in it. And I even hate to admit this to you.

My flesh won. And for the next 47, 48 minutes, I sat there with my Bible. And I copied almost every answer right out of my Bible right onto the test.

At Bob Jones University, you get expelled for cheating on a final exam.

and when I sat under that tree and I said God what’s wrong and God said you’re what’s wrong you cheated on that test and you acted as if nothing happened why don’t you get right with me all of a sudden I’m saying uh oh what if I get expelled and I quickly argued myself back into the right reality I’d rather get expelled than to not have the power of God on my preaching and I picked up a cell phone I just got one and I picked

it up and I called the office and ironically I believe God planned it like this that he was not teaching that hour he was sitting in his office they patched me up to his office and I said Dr.

Yeagley this is Brian Sam’s I don’t know if you remember me but I had Hebrew history first and second semester and I enjoyed the class but I’ve really got to tell you something and I told him what I just told you I did I said sir I’m being honest with you as honest as I can be I’ll take the test again without my bible I’ll take the test again I’ll take the class again and I understand that expulsion is the punishment I’m thankful for a man

who looked or talked through the phone and said you know what I think you’ve learned your lesson Brian I said sir I have I’m telling you I closed that phone and I left underneath of that tree and all of a sudden there was the most gigantic weight ever lifted off my heart and I could not wait to grab my Bible that night and jump in front of a group of unsaved teenagers and tell them Jesus saves this time not me doing it but the power of

God in me through me doing it and for the whole summer was different.

Souls were saved. Lives were changed. Why?

Because God had a vessel he could finally work through. Can he work through you? I think of a lot.

You do realize Jesus said in the book of Matthew that if Sodom and Gomorrah would have seen the same miracles that Chorazin had seen, they would have repented long ago. Do you want to know why Sodom and Gomorrah didn’t get saved? Of course, because of their disbelief and their sin.

But did you realize they didn’t get saved because there was a missionary missing in action? Are you following me? Listen now.

I believe Lot’s reasoning for going to Sodom and Gomorrah was wrong. I believe his priorities were wrong. But nonetheless, he was saved, 2 Peter 2.

And God could have used him, if he was right with God, to be a bright and shining light right there in Sodom. because some people would have listened. God said they would have.

Lot didn’t even so much as win his own wife to Jesus Christ. And the place went up in hellfire and damnation. You want to know why?

Because there was a man who should have been right with God who could have been a witness, who did not because he was so wrapped up in the culture. There are young people in this room right now. I wonder how many people will have to go to hell simply because you’re not right with God.

Folks, listen. We’re going to prayer in just a few moments, but we might as well not. We got services tonight.

We might as well pack our bags. Hey, I’ve been before the Lord today myself. There are things in my life right now that I had to get right and say, God, my attitude’s not right.

And I think we all ought to join together and say, God, I need to get right with you. Let’s have a word of prayer if we could. I wonder how many of you this morning would very honestly answer the following question.

I want you to listen very carefully. Please, please listen to exactly what I’m saying. I wonder how many of you would say, Preacher, I listen to the message.

Please don’t click your notebooks, please. We’ll have time for that later, please. Preacher, I listen to the message on sin.

I listen to what David did. I listened to his confession before God. I listened to how he responded to God.

And preacher, I have to be honest with you today. As far as I know, I am completely right with God. And there is nothing in my life I need to confess.

Be very careful before you answer that question. I know nobody’s perfect. And some of you are doing right to the best of your knowledge.

And if you are, praise God for you. I thank God for that. You can live like that.

I wonder how many of you, not by arrogance or pride, but simply as a testimony to Jesus Christ, you could say, sit in your seat right now, Preacher, I’ve listened to all these sermons so far, including yours. And I believe with all my heart, I am completely right with God. There is nothing in my life I need to confess and make right.

And Preacher, please pray for me. And I’d like to give a testimony to God. I want to honor the Lord continually.

I’m not all that I I know I’m not all that I should be but as far as I know I am right with God there’s no sin that needs to be confessed in my life be careful as you answer but as a testimony to the Lord if you can say that would you just slip up your hand real quick thank you well praise God now folks I didn’t have time to look around I only looked around long enough to know there was a towering number of

you God, raise your hand.

For the sake of the cause of Jesus Christ and for sake of His name being exalted and proclaimed among the heathen and for sake of His own glory and for the cause of revival today. I wonder how many of you would say, preacher, there are things that are not right and I’m ready right now. I don’t want to take another moment in this conference without being right with God.

God’s dealing with me, preacher. Please pray for me. Would you just slip your hand up high right now?

All across this room. Praise the Lord. Amen.

Right now, quietly, let’s stand to our feet for a word of prayer. Now, I’d like for you, before we pray, would you just look at me real quick, please? Everybody just look right here.

Folks, I know that these type of messages are a challenge. They’re essential. Your youth group’s as strong as the weakest one in your youth group.

Folks, listen. God says, if my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, I’ll hear from heaven. You.

You block everybody else out in this room and think about just you right now. You could be an instrument of revival in your youth group. Just you.

So you know what I’d say? If Johnny, wrong with God, doesn’t want to move, just step right by him. Say, pal, if you want to hold up revival, you go ahead and do it.

I’m not going to. And right now, whether we’re pastors, youth pastors, or even myself, we’re teenagers. And if God has dealt with you today, whatever you do, don’t hold revival from this place.

In just a minute, I’m going to ask the piano to play right after I pray. If you’re one of the many that raised your hand, look, we’re going to flood out of this place. We’re going to find ourselves a quiet place.

With a counselor preferably, but I know there may not be enough. Get alone with God. Confess your sins.

Remember, be honest, call it what it is. Take personal responsibility. Know you deserve judgment.

Ask for God’s mercy. Commit to do right. And ask for God’s blessing on your life.

Let’s have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, I pray in this moment, God, that you’d forgive me of failures even in this sermon.

Lord I know that I’m not what I need to be Lord I’m a weak instrument Lord it’s amazing that I even had an opportunity to come here Lord I don’t even deserve to stand here Lord I’m thankful for the calling and I’m thankful that you choose the weak things of this world to confound the mighty God I pray that today we’d have revival right here right now as your young people and adults respond to your precious and wonderful word.

Give us the courage to do what sometimes we’re not willing to do. Give us help to call it what it is. Confess it and forsake it.

In Christ’s name, amen.