1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:16,360 Genesis chapter 3 verses 7 through 11. Genesis is the first book of the Bible so just turn 2 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:24,120 a few pages. You'll find chapter 3 pretty quick. Genesis chapter 3 will start in verse 3 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:31,640 7. God had created all things. He had brought all things into existence and then He created 4 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:36,680 humanity and after He created Adam and Eve He told them that they could eat from any 5 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:40,600 tree in the garden except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That was the 6 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:48,040 only thing that they could not do. And like you and I, they gave into their temptations 7 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:53,400 to do what God told them not to do. Now we may be so bold as to say that if we would 8 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:57,840 have been there we wouldn't have eaten that but we would have because how many times were 9 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:02,160 you tempted in a day and in a week and how many times do you give in? So you would have 10 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:08,680 given in just the same as Eve and ultimately Adam did. And after they gave in and sinned 11 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:18,060 against God we see Genesis chapter 3 verse 7. Then the eyes of both of them were opened 12 00:01:18,060 --> 00:01:24,000 and they knew they were naked so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for 13 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:29,400 themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden 14 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:35,220 at the time of the evening breeze and they hid themselves from the Lord God among the 15 00:01:35,220 --> 00:01:41,560 trees of the garden. So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, where are 16 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:48,960 you? And he said, I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked so I 17 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:56,120 hid. Then he asked, who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that 18 00:01:56,120 --> 00:02:02,240 I commanded you not to eat from? Let's pray. Father God we come to you today, we thank 19 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:07,120 you for your word, we thank you for the freedom to come here and hear your word and I pray 20 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:11,880 God that you would bless the time that we have together today. I pray dear Lord that 21 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:16,920 you would help your word to be front and center today dear Lord. That we would seek Jesus 22 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:22,240 Christ today. God that whatever we come in here with, with our worries and our distractions, 23 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:27,320 whatever it may be, I pray that you would free us of that today. God I pray that you 24 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:31,920 would keep me humble, I pray that you would take away any fear or nerves that I have today. 25 00:02:31,920 --> 00:02:36,920 That I would preach and teach your word in a way that's going to draw us closer to you. 26 00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:41,480 I pray dear Lord that your Holy Spirit just be among this place and lead every part of 27 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:46,160 this service. Let every word that's spoken be something that you want us to hear and 28 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:50,800 I pray that you would work in our hearts and work in our lives. In Jesus name I pray it, 29 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:57,560 amen. I want to tell you guys a short story this morning. Now it's a relatively short 30 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:03,000 story on its own but I will condense it even further for time's sake. This is an old story 31 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:07,920 that some of you may have heard before. It was a story that was written by Hans Christian 32 00:03:07,920 --> 00:03:16,920 Anderson in 1837 and the title of the story is The Emperor's New Clothes. Well there once 33 00:03:16,920 --> 00:03:22,520 was a king and well he really enjoyed dressing nicely. He wanted the finest of the finest 34 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:28,040 clothes and always wanted to be well dressed so that he could show himself off to his kingdom 35 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:33,880 and the people of his kingdom. And as such every time a new fashion trend came around 36 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:41,440 the king wanted the best of the best new clothes. One day two swindlers came into town. Perhaps 37 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:46,760 they had heard of the king's love of his clothes. And the swindlers began to make their way 38 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:52,320 around town and they began to talk about how good they were at weaving clothes together 39 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:57,360 and how they would take the finest and the nicest materials and they would make clothes 40 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:05,320 that were spectacular. Clothes that were so spectacular in fact that they were invisible 41 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:10,440 except for those who could see them. Now the only people who could see these wonderful 42 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:15,240 amazing clothes that they made were only those who were fit to serve in the position that 43 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:21,200 they held and only those who were not stupid. And so the town began to talk. They began 44 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:26,920 to murmur amongst themselves. These two men must be something special. We would love to 45 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:31,000 see these clothes. We would love to see this fabric. We would love to see what they make. 46 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:37,680 We want to see if we in fact are stupid, if we are unfit for our positions. And so the 47 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:45,000 king heard word of these swindlers and so he sent for them. And the king said, I want 48 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:50,360 you to make me these clothes. Whatever you need it's yours. I'll give it to you. These 49 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:55,360 two swindlers they were deceivers. They didn't really have any ability to make such clothes 50 00:04:55,360 --> 00:05:00,520 at all. But nonetheless they told the king, well we need the finest fabrics in the kingdom 51 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:05,880 and whatever they asked for was brought to them and they stowed it away for themselves. 52 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:11,260 And they had looms brought in and these two deceivers began to work. And they began to 53 00:05:11,260 --> 00:05:15,760 take their needles and they would sew through nothing but air. And they would work through 54 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:20,440 their looms and they would work night and day burning candle after candle and working 55 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:27,520 hard to make the most beautiful clothes that anyone would ever see. Now the king was intrigued. 56 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:31,240 His interest was piqued. He couldn't wait for these new clothes. He wanted to see them 57 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:35,280 and he wanted to know what they looked like. But he wasn't concerned about being able to 58 00:05:35,280 --> 00:05:40,120 see these clothes because after all he was quite fit for his position. And he was not 59 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:45,880 a stupid man. But just to make sure that everything was on the up and up, he said, I'll send my 60 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:51,760 minister to check in on the progress of these men. My minister is a trusted man. He is certainly 61 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:57,200 fit for his office. He'll be able to tell me how the progress is going. And so the king's 62 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:03,120 minister went down and checked on the progress of these two deceivers. And he was amazed 63 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:08,640 when he walked into the room. His eyes got big and he looked very close. And he said 64 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:15,080 to himself, well these men are stitching into thin air. I don't see anything at all. But 65 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:20,920 he couldn't dare say a word. Because after all only those who were fit for their office 66 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:26,200 and only those who were not stupid would be able to see the fabric. Perhaps it was just 67 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:31,400 him. If he were to say that he couldn't see anything, then well he would be unfit to serve 68 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:37,160 the king and he would be a stupid man mocked in all of the kingdom. And so he looked at 69 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:43,840 the men and he said, oh gentlemen, what you have made is quite beautiful. The patterns 70 00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:49,800 and the colors and the design, is it squiz it? Now the minister knew that he didn't say 71 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:54,720 anything, but he couldn't let it be known that he didn't see anything. And so the men 72 00:06:54,720 --> 00:07:00,520 went back to work. And the minister went back to the king and reported to the king all that 73 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:08,000 he had seen. The king was pleased to know that the progress was being made. And so the 74 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:13,000 men continued to ask, we need more fabric. We need more of the finest threads and more 75 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:18,360 of the finest materials in the kingdom. And the king says, whatever you need, it is yours. 76 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:23,920 And it was taken to them and they would work tirelessly night and day, day after day. And 77 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:29,280 the king said, I'll send a couple of more of my servants to go and check the progress. 78 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:33,680 And so they go and see these two deceivers. And as they go into the room, the deceivers 79 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:39,880 hold up the clothes and say, look how beautiful this is. Now the king's servants thought to 80 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:45,720 themselves, well these men aren't holding up anything, but they too were afraid to say 81 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:50,040 anything, because they didn't want to be unfit for their position and they didn't want to 82 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:56,120 be viewed as stupid. So just like the minister before them, they said to the man, that is 83 00:07:56,120 --> 00:08:03,400 beautiful work. How can you craft something so beautiful and so exquisite? And so they 84 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:08,680 returned to the king and they tell the king how beautiful the new clothes are. Well eventually 85 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:15,680 the day comes that the clothes are finished. And these two deceivers send word to the king 86 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:22,380 and the king makes his way into the room. And the king is shocked. The door is open 87 00:08:22,380 --> 00:08:28,320 and the deceivers present the new clothes to the king. The king says to himself, well 88 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:35,640 I see nothing at all, but I can't say anything or else I may be viewed as unfit and too stupid 89 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:41,200 to serve as king. How would it look to all the people in my kingdom if I was the only 90 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:45,240 one who couldn't see the clothes? And surely they must be there. I've sent my most trusted 91 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:51,760 advisors and they have seen the beauty of these clothes. And so the two deceivers told 92 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:58,160 the king, would you like for us to help you put the clothes on? Oh yes, the king said. 93 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:02,860 And so there the king stood in front of his servants, in front of his court, and these 94 00:09:02,860 --> 00:09:10,720 two deceivers began to remove the king's clothes. And before long the king was completely naked. 95 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:15,520 Now these deceivers took the clothes and said, king we're almost ready to put these on you. 96 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:19,040 There's only a few more things that need to be done. There are a few alterations that 97 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:22,940 need to be made. And so they got their scissors out and they began to cut through the air 98 00:09:22,940 --> 00:09:26,320 and they got their needles and they began to sew and they began to tidy up and they 99 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:30,520 began to make the sleeves and the pants legs and everything just the way they needed to 100 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:34,520 be. And they said, king would you like us to dress you now? And the king said, well 101 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:39,800 certainly. They said, king these clothes are so unique and they're so beautiful and they're 102 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:45,280 so wonderful that they are as light as a cobweb. Some would even say it doesn't feel as though 103 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:51,120 you're wearing anything at all. And so the king stood there in front of his mirror and 104 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:56,280 the two deceivers began to put the clothes on him. The king stood and he grabbed a hold 105 00:09:56,280 --> 00:10:04,120 of the jacket that wasn't there. They put the pants on. They put the shoes on. And the 106 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:09,400 king looked at himself in the mirror and admired himself. All the while the king's servant 107 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:14,520 and the king's court are there watching in a distance. No one wanted to say a single 108 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:20,520 thing. But finally someone spoke up and said, king you look beautiful. There's going to 109 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:24,920 be a procession that's going to go right down the street. A parade of sorts. And wouldn't 110 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:30,040 it be wonderful king if you showed off your new clothes to the whole kingdom for everyone 111 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:36,020 to see? Now the king, wanting to be one to show off his beautiful new clothes that he 112 00:10:36,020 --> 00:10:44,160 had spent so much on getting made, was delighted. And so the king said, let it be as you say. 113 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:49,360 And so the king sends out word and the crowds begin to gather in the streets. All of the 114 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:53,920 kingdom is there because they want to find out if they are stupid. They want to find 115 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:57,840 out if they are unfit. Everybody wants to make sure that they can see these clothes 116 00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:03,960 because no one wants to be stupid and unfit. And so everyone is gathered around and everyone 117 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:10,040 is looking to see when the king is going to come. And the king gets ready to leave his 118 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:14,520 room after he is dressed. And they're his servants. They get down and they grab the 119 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:19,160 train and they're walking behind him and they're toting this long beautiful train. And the 120 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:25,960 king makes his appearance and he begins to walk down the street as naked as can be. And 121 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:31,560 all of the kingdom looks at the king and they say, what a beautiful suit of clothes that 122 00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:37,800 you have king. And as he makes his way down, everyone on the street, king, what a beautiful 123 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:43,920 suit of, I've never seen patterns so magnificent. I've never seen anything so wonderful. And 124 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:50,040 the king is walking with his chest out as proud as can be until soon when he makes his 125 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:56,640 way down the street, a small child looks up and says, well, the king is naked. He's not 126 00:11:56,640 --> 00:12:04,160 wearing anything at all. Now the child's father was shocked at first and he didn't want to 127 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:09,700 admit it, but he knew his son was right. And soon whispers begin to make their way through 128 00:12:09,700 --> 00:12:16,480 the crowd and all of the people began to express what was true. They had all been acknowledging 129 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:21,440 a lie and spreading a lie and living in a lie, but finally the truth had been revealed. 130 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:27,080 And finally it took a small child to realize and say that the king was naked. And upon 131 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:34,520 hearing this, the king continued to walk down the street as proud as ever and did nothing 132 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:42,440 about his nakedness. And so the story ends. Now there are a few things in this world that 133 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:48,680 are probably more scary to us than being naked. There are a few things in this world that 134 00:12:48,680 --> 00:12:53,440 we probably dread more, that would be more embarrassing, that we would be more ashamed 135 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:58,960 of. There comes a certain point at a young age, we grow up and we're young and at some 136 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:04,480 point very young, we are aware of our nakedness and we don't want to be exposed to our parents 137 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:08,280 who have seen us naked for the first two, three years of our life. We don't want to 138 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:13,760 be exposed to anyone. We sometimes avoid going to doctor's appointments because sometimes 139 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:19,160 it involves exposing ourselves and that is something that we just do not feel comfortable 140 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:26,000 with that brings a certain amount of shame in our life. And so we are fearful and we 141 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:32,400 are ashamed and we are embarrassed when we are naked. And there are not many things that 142 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:39,720 we could probably think of that we would be more embarrassed about. The king in the story 143 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:47,480 had been deceived. The king in the story had been lied to. The king in the story had believed 144 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:55,160 the deceivers. The king in the story had chosen to overlook the truth and live a lie. And 145 00:13:55,160 --> 00:14:01,400 as a result of that, the king in the story walked around in his nakedness and was unashamed. 146 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:09,840 But here we see in the story of Adam and Eve, the great deceiver at work here. The great 147 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:14,640 deceiver was at work and had convinced Adam and Eve to eat of the fruit that God had told 148 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:22,440 them not to eat from. And the moment that they ate from the fruit, their eyes were open 149 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:27,960 and they knew they were naked. Now praise the Lord that Adam and Eve had a better response 150 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:32,760 than the king in the story. It says earlier on that when God made Adam and Eve that they 151 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:38,960 were naked and felt no shame. But there was something that changed in their life that 152 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:47,200 made their nakedness known to them. And what happened in their life was sin. And sin reveals 153 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:53,480 our nakedness. And as you go through the pages of scripture from this point forward, you 154 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:59,580 see that nakedness is compared with sin. You see that nakedness is compared with something 155 00:14:59,580 --> 00:15:06,120 that is unclean, something that is not good. When God gave His people the Ten Commandments 156 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:10,440 soon thereafter, when He gave instructions on how they were to go to the altar, even 157 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:16,200 there God said to His people, there aren't even to be any steps to go to the altar that 158 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:21,600 your nakedness may be exposed. It was so serious that God said, you aren't even to take steps 159 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:26,280 up in your long and flowing clothes in the event that the wind may blow and your nakedness 160 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:34,080 may be exposed. And we see sin compared to nakedness in scripture. In Isaiah chapter 161 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:40,640 47 verse 3, God says of Babylon, He said, your nakedness will be uncovered and your 162 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:47,820 shame will be exposed. And there He's talking about the sin of the Babylonians. And so we 163 00:15:47,820 --> 00:15:54,280 see in scripture time and again, we see plenty of examples of nakedness being a bad thing, 164 00:15:54,280 --> 00:16:00,000 of nakedness representing our sinfulness, that our sinfulness should not be exposed, 165 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:06,680 that we should not walk in our nakedness. We see that in a spiritual sense, most certainly. 166 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:11,820 But we also see it, I think, in our culture in a physical sense as well. Not only does 167 00:16:11,820 --> 00:16:17,440 our nakedness represent our sin, but even in a physical sense, as our sin begins to 168 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:23,120 grow, we see nakedness begin to grow in our society, in our culture. We see men and women 169 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:28,160 selling their bodies. We see parades in the streets of our biggest cities where people 170 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:35,660 are walking as naked as they can be and they feel no shame. They have been deceived just 171 00:16:35,660 --> 00:16:42,120 as the king in the story has been deceived. We have a deceiver in this world who is Satan, 172 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:48,240 a deceiver who has convinced us that sin is good. He has convinced us that what is good 173 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:54,200 is bad and what is bad is good. And even when people see the truth, oftentimes they are 174 00:16:54,200 --> 00:17:00,240 too afraid to admit it. Or perhaps they just don't want to because they enjoy living in 175 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:06,060 the sin and living in their nakedness. But what we need to know today is that we need 176 00:17:06,060 --> 00:17:16,240 to know that as sinners that we are naked. We are naked in our sin and we are exposed. 177 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:21,880 And the question is how do we feel of our sin today? How do we respond to our sin today? 178 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:28,360 Are we ashamed of our sin today? And there may be things in our life, sins in our life, 179 00:17:28,360 --> 00:17:33,520 that the enemy has convinced us that we are as good as can be. That there is no sin there, 180 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:37,480 that there is no wrong there, that there is no evil there. And we are walking just as 181 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:45,200 naked as can be, as proud as we can be, right into a life of sin. And perhaps what we need 182 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:52,040 today is the Word of God. And we need someone like that child to tell us the simple truth 183 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:56,720 that we probably already know. And that is there are some things in our life that are 184 00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:02,040 not good. There are some things in our life that are not right. There are some things 185 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:07,120 in our life that are sinful. And maybe we've avoided them. Maybe we pretended like they 186 00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:13,160 weren't there. But it's time for us to acknowledge the truth. It's time for us to acknowledge 187 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:18,960 the truth of God's Word as individuals and as a nation that we would not turn a blind 188 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:24,480 eye to sin, but that we would recognize our sin, that we would recognize that we are naked 189 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:30,920 in our sin, and that we are exposed, and that we should desire to be clothed. In the same 190 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:35,400 way that if we were naked in this building today, how quickly would we grab for a blanket 191 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:40,360 to cover up? How much more quickly should we cover up our soul, knowing today that it 192 00:18:40,360 --> 00:18:44,680 is stained with sin? How much more quickly should we reach for something that is going 193 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:51,160 to cover us up, that is going to cover our nakedness? Jesus says in Revelation chapter 194 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:58,340 16 verse 15, look, I am coming like a thief, the one who is alert and remains clothed so 195 00:18:58,340 --> 00:19:06,560 that he may not go around naked and people see his shame is blessed. In Isaiah 61 verse 196 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:11,720 10, a chapter that talks about the coming Messiah, it says this, it says, I greatly 197 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:19,320 rejoice in the Lord, I exalt in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation 198 00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:27,100 and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness. We are no better than Adam and Eve today. 199 00:19:27,100 --> 00:19:33,240 We are sinners as they were. In the moment we sin, the moment we see God's Word, the 200 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:38,440 moment it begins to speak to us, the moment our sin is exposed and we realize just how 201 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:45,840 sinful we are and praise the Lord for the Word of God. That God does not leave us here 202 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:50,280 on this world alone to figure out our way, but he gives us a word to instruct us and 203 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:54,800 to guide us and to point out what is sinful and what his commands are and as we begin 204 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:59,440 to study the Word of God and listen to the Word of God, then hopefully the Holy Spirit 205 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:05,440 begins to work in our life and begins to convict us and begins to tell us the truth and that 206 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:12,560 is that we are sinners in need of a Savior. But the question is how will we respond to 207 00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:19,340 that truth? When the king heard the truth of the small child, if he would have actually 208 00:20:19,340 --> 00:20:24,160 been a wise king, he would have instantly grabbed for some clothes, but instead he continued 209 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:32,480 to walk in his nakedness. What about you and I today? There may be some sin in your life. 210 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:37,780 You probably already know it's there. You probably feel that conviction. When you say 211 00:20:37,780 --> 00:20:42,420 that thing you shouldn't say and you do that thing you shouldn't do, you probably know 212 00:20:42,420 --> 00:20:49,840 it doesn't feel right. So how do we respond when sin creeps up into our life? Do we continue 213 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:56,480 to live in it or do we repent in it? Do we repent of that sin? Do we seek Jesus Christ? 214 00:20:56,480 --> 00:21:01,520 Are we those today that acknowledge that we are sinful naked human beings and we need the 215 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:07,360 salvation of Jesus Christ and the righteousness of Jesus Christ to wrap around us today to 216 00:21:07,360 --> 00:21:15,680 cover us in our nakedness so that we will not be exposed. Now some of you probably have 217 00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:19,560 had reoccurring dreams of being naked before. I used to have a dream all the time. I was 218 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:23,920 at school, I was in class, everything is going good. I got up to go to the bathroom and no 219 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:28,840 sooner than I get in the bathroom I realize I ain't got nothing on but a t-shirt. I had 220 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:32,800 this dream multiple times. And I get in there and I run in the stall and I'm like, alright, 221 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:37,760 everything is okay? Somehow I've made it through the whole morning and nobody has noticed that 222 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:42,440 I don't have any pants on. But what am I going to do? I've got to do something. So I always 223 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:46,000 in the dream, I always get to, I get to toilet paper and I'm standing there and I'm wrapping 224 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:50,280 it around me. I'm making like a little white skirt of toilet paper. And so I'm like, alright, 225 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:53,520 I'm covered. Now I can go. Where am I going to go? I don't know where I'm going to go. 226 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:58,400 I'm a kid. How am I going to get out of school? And it always is the best feeling in the world 227 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:02,640 to me when I wake up and I'm not naked in the bathroom at the school. It's like, praise 228 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:12,800 the Lord. I'm not exposed. I'm covered. I'm safe. One day you and I, every one of us, 229 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:17,640 we're going to fall asleep in this world and we're going to wake up in the presence of 230 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:25,440 God. And it wouldn't be a horrible thing if we wake up and we are exposed. Our nakedness 231 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:33,340 is before God. Our sinfulness is before God and it's not been covered up. What a horrible 232 00:22:33,340 --> 00:22:39,680 day that would be. But I can tell you today that your nakedness can be covered. That your 233 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:45,600 sins that are now exposed can be washed away. That the shame that you feel from your sin 234 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:52,400 and the guilt that you feel from your sin, it can be covered today through Jesus Christ. 235 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:58,640 You might have come into this place naked today and not even known it. But as God said 236 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:03,760 to Adam and Eve, who told you that you were naked? Maybe today is the first time you've 237 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:10,640 ever heard it. Maybe today the Holy Spirit has told you that in your sin that you are 238 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:17,680 naked and exposed. And maybe today for the first time you know that you need Jesus Christ. 239 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:24,360 Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He gave his life on a cross so that you could be forgiven 240 00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:31,480 of your sins. We live in a world that accepts sins. We live in a world that has a deceiver 241 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:37,020 that is far greater than these swindlers that we saw in the story. We live in a world that 242 00:23:37,020 --> 00:23:43,680 has convinced us that a lot of things are what they're not. That has convinced us that 243 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:50,400 a lot of things that are evil are good. But let us not be deceived today. That we will 244 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:55,940 not be so foolish as the king in the story. That we would not walk around in our nakedness 245 00:23:55,940 --> 00:24:02,680 and rejoice, but that we would repent of our sinfulness and be covered by the righteous 246 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:08,200 and precious blood of Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Father God, we come to you today and 247 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:13,000 I pray, dear Lord, that you would help us to realize that we are no better than Adam 248 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:19,400 and Eve, dear Lord. They had the opportunity and the choice before them to sin and they 249 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:26,720 gave in to it. And dear Lord, we are no better than them today. We do it repeatedly. Far 250 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:34,160 more than we want God, far more than we want to admit, but dear Lord, we have sinned and 251 00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:39,200 we feel the shame of that sin, dear Lord. Maybe there are some in here today and they 252 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:44,560 feel like Adam and Eve and they are naked and afraid, dear Lord. Their sinfulness and 253 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:51,000 the burden is on them today and it is heavy, God. And they feel so guilty and so ashamed 254 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:56,040 of what they've done. Maybe for some they've never accepted Jesus Christ. Maybe there are 255 00:24:56,040 --> 00:25:01,080 some that are yours, dear Lord, and they are just ashamed that they have done it again, 256 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:10,080 dear Lord. But God, I pray today that as we come before you exposed in our sinfulness, 257 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:16,200 naked and afraid, dear Lord, that today we would come to you that we may be clothed, 258 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:22,040 God. We're not going to be clothed by our acts. We're not going to be clothed by anything 259 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:27,320 that we do, dear Lord. The only thing that can cover our sins and cover our sinfulness 260 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:34,360 and cover our nakedness so it's not exposed, dear Lord, is Jesus Christ. So I pray, God, 261 00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:39,040 that we would be those who don't walk around exposed, but we would be those who are covered 262 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:45,800 by the precious blood of Jesus today. God, I pray that you help our eyes to be opened, 263 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:50,560 that we don't go along with everything that the world says, dear Lord, that we are not 264 00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:55,800 deceived by the lies, God, but that we study your word, that we know the truth of your 265 00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:59,840 word, the truth of Jesus Christ, and that we choose the truth over the lie, that we 266 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:04,460 don't bury it, dear Lord, that we don't pretend it doesn't exist, but that today, dear Lord, 267 00:26:04,460 --> 00:26:09,600 we would repent of our sinfulness, repent of the lies, repent of the deception. Maybe 268 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:13,320 there are some we don't see. Open our eyes to see them, dear Lord, that we would see 269 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:18,600 the deception and that we would see the truth and that we would choose the right one. So, 270 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:26,440 God, I pray today that you'd be with us, that you would help us to seek you in everything. 271 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:30,880 And God, if we come in here today with our nakedness and our sinfulness ever before us, 272 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:36,920 I pray that we would give it to you this morning. I pray that we would repent. I pray that we 273 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:42,080 would seek you. I pray that we would ask you for forgiveness. And I pray, dear Lord, that 274 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:46,600 we can walk out of here with confidence today, that that old sin that we committed in the 275 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:51,000 past doesn't nag us, but that we can know without a shadow of a doubt that we are not 276 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:56,240 exposed if we have trusted in Jesus Christ, that we are clothed in righteousness, dear 277 00:26:56,240 --> 00:27:02,400 Lord. So, I pray, dear Lord, that you just be with any today that do not know Jesus Christ, 278 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:07,360 that maybe today they would repent and put their faith in him. Maybe today, dear Lord, 279 00:27:07,360 --> 00:27:11,640 there are many in here that know you, that realize that there is some sin that they need 280 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:16,800 to deal with. And God, the way we deal with our sin is by bringing it to you, because 281 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:21,960 Jesus has already dealt with it on the cross. So, I pray, dear Lord, that you just would 282 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:27,920 bless each one this morning and let us seek you to be clothed in Christ today. In Jesus' 283 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:52,400 name I pray it. Amen.