Song:

Come, now is the time to worship
Come, now is the time to give your heart
Come, just as you are to worship
Come, just as you are before your God
Come

One day every tongue will confess You are God
One day every knee will bow
Still, the greatest treasure remains for those
Who gladly choose You now

Introduction

Everyone is created in the image and likeness of God and since he is a holy God; he wants us to be holy. No single soul is destined for hell because:

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” [Ephesians 1:4-5].

Pardon of Sin

The prayer of a sinner must be first and foremost forgiveness of sin. This is because sin brings defeat and shame.

  1 Have mercy on me, O God,
   according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
   blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
   and cleanse me from my sin.

  3 For I know my transgressions,
   and my sin is always before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
   and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
   and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
   sinful from the time my mother conceived me. (Psalm 51:1-5)

Sadly, when a church leader lives in sin, then the members will be harassed by the devil, see this situation in the life of David the leader of Israel and thankfully too, how Nathan was so bold and would not compromise; hypocritically, David became furious and was judgemental after listening to the introductory story from Nathan [Read 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12].

2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” (2 Samuel 11:2-5)

“Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” (Isaiah 55:7).

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9).

Purging from Sin

5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
   sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
   you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

  7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
   wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
   let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
   and blot out all my iniquity.

  10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
   and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence
   or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
   and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (Psalm 51:5-12).

“Help us, God our Saviour, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake.” (Psalm 79:9)

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8).

Promise

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
   so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
   you who are God my Saviour,
   and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

15 Open my lips, Lord,
   and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
   you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
   a broken and contrite heart
   you, God, will not despise.

  18 May it please you to prosper Zion,
   to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
   in burnt offerings offered whole;
   then bulls will be offered on your altar. (Psalm 51:13-19).

Shalom!

In His Vineyard

Oseh JB