September 20-21, 1997 Sermon

September 20-21, 1997

Mike Slaughter

I. The Goodness Desire
What is a good person? One of our deepest psychological and emotional needs is to be good. God is good and we want to be. I mean, it’s what it means to be created in the image of God. Of all of creation, you and I uniquely have the ability to know God and be like God. So we have this inward drive to be good. We value goodness in other people. Right? When you’re looking for someone to get married to, you’re not looking for someone who is a liar and a cheat. Right? I’ve met a lot of people who have married liars and cheats, but I never met anyone who was looking for a liar and a cheat.
We value goodness in others and we try to have an image of goodness to other people. You know, around here, with my friends around Tipp City, when we talk about someone they’ll say ‘well you know, they’re good people.’ It’s a high value that we have.
When I was a kid in elementary school we used to sneak away to the creek that ran behind our house and smoke, and one day, one of the neighbor ladies called our parents. So my dad was waiting. When we came in he confronted me with what he heard, and I said, right away, you know how you lie on your feet, I go ‘no dad, we were lighting leaves and throwing rocks on them.’ And that was so quick and such an unexpected answer that he believed me.
I lied to appear good, you see, because it meant more than just getting in trouble. I didn’t want to get in trouble but I didn’t want my dad to think I was a lying, cheating little sneak which I was. I lied to appear good.

Psalm 51 - The Prayer of Pain
Psalm 51:1
1: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.

Oh, Lord, have mercy. Psalm 51 is a prayer of pain. It is a prayer of failure. And I’m not talking about failure like missing a question on the quiz kind of failure, I’m talking about inside kind of failure - failing God. David blew it. David had an affair. And he used his authority and power to try and cover it up which eventually resulted in the murder of the woman’s husband.
Now you and I can try and rationalize and hide it like David, but ultimately you’re going to have to deal with it because God can see it. I want to tell you something, Church. You can not b.s. God even though we try. Do you hear what I’m saying? It will eventually catch up to you. And David, who had known the power of God, he had known the joy of living in God’s presence, and it just doesn’t get any better than that, is now in the middle of bone-crushing depression.

Psalm 51:8
8: Fill me with joy and gladness; let the bones which thou hast broken rejoice.

Look at verse 8 with me. ‘Let me hear joy and gladness again, let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.’ I mean he literally aches on the inside. Have you ever been there? He literally has physical pain in this depression. Now, folks, it is called the Goodness Gap.

II. The Goodness Gap
There is a gap between what we want to be and who we really are. You know what I’m talking about? There is a discrepancy between what we appear to be to other people and what we know ourselves to be. Now I want to ask you a question. We’re not even going to have you write this down because someone might see it, but I want you to be real honest. What do you work hard to hide?
I mean something in your life that people closest to you don’t even know about - of which you’d be ashamed. What is it? I want you to identify it and be honest. What is it that you work hard at to hide? That you’d be ashamed if anybody found out.
Well my brothers and sisters, you can’t hide it from God. You see, God knows and it’s taking an emotional toll on us. You see, this goodness gap causes us to not experience the fullness of God’s presence and power in our lives.

Psalm 51:11
11: Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me.

Look at what happened to David. I want you to read with me. Verse 11. He said, "Do not cast me away from your presence, don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation." He once knew it - right? But now, because of this phoniness, he’s not experiencing the presence of the Lord. He’s having good sex, but he’s depressed and he’s missing the joy that comes from the power and the presence of the Lord. My brothers and sisters, goodness is not just a matter of behavior or belief. Goodness is a matter of heart.

II. Goodness of the Heart
Psalm 51:6,10
6: Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
10: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.

What does it say in verse 6? You desire truth. Where? Did I follow the rules. (And I’ll get a letter. ‘Pastor, you said b.s.’) That’s because we try to make truths have an outward appearance when truth is a matter of the heart, my brothers and sisters. God looks at the heart. Verse 6 says, "God, you desire truth in the inward being. Therefore, teach me wisdom in my secret heart."
Now, verse 10 is the key to this whole prayer of David. "Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew in me a right spirit." Church, it is time to get honest with God. When I came back from vacation I noticed a strange spirit in the church. It was kind of a spirit of apathy in people’s lives, of powerlessness, a superficial kind of spirit.

Church, it’s time to get honest with God. You know why? Jesus wants to do a whole lot more than bless us. Jesus wants to make us good. And I’m not talking about good in appearance. You know, we keep, just because we don’t have to deal with our own stuff - the way we hide our own stuff - we keep pointing fingers at little things, like ‘pastor, you said b.s.’ And as long as I point my finger at you doing this, or the music is too loud, or this or that, I never have to deal with the hidden stuff which is the things that I’d be ashamed for you to know.
You see what I’m trying to say? I’m not talking about appearance. I’m talking about Jesus wanting to make us good to the bone. Create in me a pure heart, oh God, and renew in me a right spirit. David is talking about an inside-out kind of goodness. He’s talking about a goodness in the hidden place. You know a heart is made for one thing. Airplanes are made for flying, cars are made for driving, and a heart is made for the presence of God.

Psalm 51:11
11: Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me.

Look at verse 11. What does David say? He had been there before, and he thought he was trying something he wanted, and he says in verse 11, "Do not cast me away from your presence, oh God." You see a heart is made for one thing. Airplanes are made for flying, church. Cars are made for driving, but a heart is made for the presence of God. "Do not remove your presence from me, oh God," David said. That is what a heart is made for, Church.
You know, you and I are made to be God-seekers. That’s it. But we forget that and we become pride - seekers. We say we love God, we believe in God, but all of our energy and focus goes into making more money. Success. Prestige. Relationships. And anytime you seek God in something else, something else will always take over.
Anytime you seek God in anything else, anything else will always win. It’s called a divided heart, that’s what the Bible calls it. That’s where David went wrong. That’s where David lost it, because he who knew that the Lord is my shepherd/owner, I shall not want, for God and begin seeking God in something else.

Don’t Stay at Home
2 Samuel 11:1
1: In the spring of the year, the time when kings go forth to battle, David sent Jo'ab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

Let’s look at how David forgot. Turn to 2 Samuel 11. How did David forget? How did David fall through a divided heart? We’re going to look, are you with me? I’m going to ask Debra to read the first verse. "In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sends Joab with his officers and all of Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah, but David remained at Jerusalem." Now do you see the problem there? It was the spring of the year when kings go out to war. They lead the armies out to war.
Now what was David? A king! What did David do? Did he go out to war? He stayed at home. Now at what point of our life do we get comfortable and we think we need a break? David got lazy, Church. He forgot who he was. Kings are supposed to go out to battle. They’re not supposed to stay at home.
It is when we are spiritually idle that things begin to go wrong. Did you hear what I said? Don’t stay at home. We’re following Jesus. Following Jesus means we’re on a journey. If you’re on a journey you are moving - you’re not staying in this same place. You’re a pilgrim.
You know what it is like when you’re on a trip? Picture vacation, you’re in the car, you have left where you were but you have not yet arrived at your destination, you do not have time to stop for a break. Kids in the backseat. ‘I told you not to drink the two Mountain Dews, right?’ ‘But Dad.’ ‘Don’t say a thing, we don’t have time to stop, we’re going to break last year’s record, we’re going to get there in five hours and fifteen minutes and forty-two seconds.’ ‘But Dad!’ ‘Pee in the cup!’ Right. That’s what we save the McDonald’s coffee cups for. You do not have time to stop and mess around.

Revelation 3:15-16
15: I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot!
16: So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.

You’re moving, you’re on a journey, you have a destination, you’re not staying at home. You don’t have time for a break. You know what Jesus said? Revelation 3:15, write this down, you need to read it. It said this to the church of Laodicea. He said, "You’re neither hot nor cold. I wish you were hot or cold." You’re just kind of like a sandwich that’s not been left in the microwave long enough. He said "because you’re not hot or cold, I’m getting ready to spit you out of my mouth."
Church, I want to be hot for God. You can’t be hot for God and be idle. You can’t be hot for God and stay at the edges.
When I was a teenager I used to come to church and I sat in the farthest back place in the balcony where no one could see us. There was this place you could sit where I could see you all, but the preacher couldn’t see us, and I sat back there to scout out the girls and entertain my friends. So one day, Carol Whitehouse, we were somewhere in high school, got up to share with the church. She was my age, in my class, so I was kind of half listening out of one ear. So Carol was saying you cannot be uninvolved in following God.
She said some people just sit way up there in the back of the balcony. She says it’s easy to stay in the back of the balcony on the edges and be uninvolved, it’s another thing to come down in the middle and be in the middle. Boy, that was the last week I ever sat in the balcony. The next week I came back down and got in the middle of the church and I’ve been in the middle ever since.
Church, you can’t be hot for God and be idle or sit at the edges. I told our teenagers this week, we had 250 teenagers here for the youth group Wednesday night, and I said to them, ‘Get involved. Don’t stay at the edges. Get training. Don’t stay at home, get training. All these incredible courses that are offered in this church, small groups and everything else.’ Hey folks, you’re in the army now if you’re following Jesus. All leaves have been canceled, Church. What is this idle?’ See what I’m trying to say?
But the Bible, you know this is incredible, this is a blueprint, these are the words of God that God has given us. Principles for living. You know how casual we take the Word of God? Take time to read a little of it every day. Prayer. Here’s a prayer I pray constantly. Lord Jesus, help. Lord Jesus, help. This is a supernatural life. How do you think we’re ever going to live it by ourselves? That’s why my constant prayer all day long is Lord Jesus, help. Lord Jesus, help.
Don’t stay at the edges. Hang out with the sold out. I want to hang out with hot people, like John Wesley used to say, get on fire for God and people will come and watch you burn.

Don’t Change Your Focus
2 Samuel1 1:2-3
2: It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking upon the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.
3: And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, "Is not this Bathshe'ba, the daughter of Eli'am, the wife of Uri'ah the Hittite?"

What happened to David? It was springtime when kings go out to war. David sent someone else. Go on, take a break. People, airplanes are made to fly, cars are made to drive, and people are made for the presence of God. Now what’s the second failure that David had that caused him to have a divided heart? Debra, read the next verse. "It happened late one afternoon when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king’s house that he saw from the roof a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful. David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, ‘This is Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.’"
Oh, oh, oh, in the heat of the night he goes up on the roof and saw a woman and the woman was very beautiful. Don’t change your focus. Anytime we seek God in something else, something else always takes over. Do you know what the evil enemies greatest trick is? It’s called ‘bait and switch.’ Distract. Eve was walking in the garden with God. There is nothing like the joy that comes from being in God’s presence. Can you imagine, Eve walking with God, and here comes Satan... ‘Eve.’ Bait and switch. ‘Look at this fruit.’ Great. Distract.
Jesus was in the wilderness. He knew it wasn’t food that could satisfy his hunger, and for forty days and nights he was seeking the face of God. Right? The heart is made for one thing, to live in the presence of God and enjoy the presence of God forever. Forty days and nights he sought the face of God. Doesn’t that rock look like bread? Bait and switch. Distract. Right? My brothers and sisters, do not change your focus, for airplanes were made to fly, cars to drive, and hearts for the presence of God.

Trust God’s Provision
2 Samuel 11:4
4: So David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house.
5: And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, "I am with child."

Now let’s look at the next two verses. What was the next failure David had that caused him to have a divided heart? "So David sent messengers to get her and she came to him and he lay with her." Uh oh. He let it into his house, didn’t he? Trust God’s provision. David forgot, the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. Those were his famous words. The Lord is my shepherd, my owner, and the Lord is good, so he will provide everything I need. All of a sudden, David felt that he needed something more than God had provided and he forgot. Nothing else will satisfy.
You know what amazes me -- how many of you here are single? Okay, we think there’s about 40% of the adult population of this church that is single, matter of fact, 50% of all adults over the age over 21 right now are single, did you know that? Unmarried. 50% over 21 are single. About 40% in this church. So many times single people feel like they need another person to be complete. Now hear me.
Did you know in heaven there are no marriages? You won’t be together in heaven, the Bible is clear in this. Do you know why? Because the heart is made for one thing. The presence of God. You say, well why do we have marriage on earth? Monogamy means faithfulness to one person for life, what’s monotheism? Faithfulness to one God, forever. Well, the way we learn faithfulness to one God, it’s hard, because I want a new god, sometimes, every week.
And when you’re married to someone and sometimes you feel in love, sometimes you don’t , and you know it’s hard to be faithful to a person for life when you’re basically selfish. You learn to be faithful to one God forever by learning to be faithful to one person on earth for a period of time. Monogamy teaches us monotheism. You see, but there are no marriage in heaven, because our hearts are made for one thing. To live in the presence of God and enjoy the presence of God and to be filled with the presence of God forever.

Matthew 6:33
33: But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.

Nothing else can satisfy. It’s what Jesus said in Matthew 6:33. "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." Righteousness means rightness or goodness. It’s either God, or no good. The perfect will of God that you accept with no compromise, or it’s no good. For only God is good, and only what comes from God’s hands is good. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and guess what? Everything else will be yours as well. Align yourself with one thing. The presence of God. For airplanes are made for flying, cars are made for driving, and people are made for the presence of God. Align yourself with the presence of God and everything else falls into place.
You know Mother Teresa? What an example. You know the world goes nuts and deifies Princess Diana, so you know what God does? Slaps the world in the face and says ‘what’s wrong with you?’ with Mother Teresa’s death. By what we value. Mother Teresa and Diana - look at Diana and what do you see? A beautiful person - outward beauty. Right? I mean you want what she has. People pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for her clothing.
But I can relate to Diana. I think there was confusion in Diana’s life. I think there were secrets in Diana’s life like that Dodi, if she ever ended up with him, she would have had a lot of problems. You hear what I’m trying to say? Now look at Mother Teresa and what do you see? Outward beauty? I think some people would say four feet, nine inches of ugly. But I look at Mother Teresa and you know what I see? I see God.
Goodness is a matter of heart. And the heart is made for one thing. Mother Teresa knew this, listen to what she said. She says "Jesus is my God, Jesus is my spouse, Jesus is my life, Jesus is my only love, Jesus is my all in all, Jesus is my everything. Because of this, I’m never afraid." You like that? And I look at Mother Teresa - I look at Princess Diana and I see something that is close to me. I look at Mother Teresa and I see what I want to be.
Airplanes are made for flying, cars are made for driving, and people are made for the presence of God. Create in me, oh Lord, a pure heart. Are you ready to get honest with God? Are you ready to say to God, ‘Lord, I have been too complacent. I have been comfortable and settled and shallow. Lord, I’ve been lukewarm.’
Can you pray? "Lord, oh Lord, have mercy," is how David begins that psalm. He wakes up because he had tasted the goodness of God before. He remembered what that was like but somehow he had gotten a divided heart, so he begins this prayer by saying, "Oh Lord, have mercy according to your steadfast love." He knows about that -- you know what that means, steadfast? It means his love keeps on keeping on even when yours quits. His love endures forever. It means when you stop, he doesn’t.
So God, have mercy because in my blindness I thought I was holy, I thought I was religious... but I forgot what goodness was all about. I sought something more than the one thing. So Lord, create in me a pure heart, it means a heart that is focused on one thing, that’s what pure means. Not mixed with anything else. Can you pray that prayer? Create in me a pure heart, and renew, Oh Lord, renew in me a right spirit. Amen.