Welcome to Affirm foundation, presented by Princeton Ministries with Dr. Ken Smith. This is Carol Smith, Ken’s wife. Please enjoy.

If there is anything that is clear from scripture, it is this. There is no hiding from the consequences of sin. In the book of Numbers, chapter 32, verse 23, we read. Be sure your sin will find you out. Jimmy Swaggart has come a long way from the early days of his ministry in Faraday, Louisiana. He tells of driving and crisscrossing Louisiana in a broken down car, making $40 a week in those early days and recently, the ministry of Jimmy Swaggart has grown to tremendous proportions. He receives over $140 million a year in donations. He has annual payroll of eleven and a half million dollars. He employs some 1200 people throughout his ministry. He owns and operates 275 acres of property in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In the past six years, his ministry has spent $123 million in new property and new buildings.

The Swaggart ministries is among the largest of all of the businesses that are to be found in Baton Rouge. Jimmy Swaggart himself lives in a one and a half million dollar home. He and his wife drive his and hers Lincoln town cars, and his television ministry is heard in over 145 countries. He was ordained in the Assemblies of God church. Jimmy Swaggart and his ministry supplies $12 million a year to the Assemblies of Goddesse out of $48 million a year, which is used to finance their entire foreign missions program. This week, like scratching on the blackboard, there has been an assault upon all those who love Jesus Christ and are concerned about his church. Jimmy Swaggart having admitted to having several sexual encounters with Deborah Murphy, who is a prostitute in New Orleans, she said that they had encounters.

They did not involve intercourse, but they were pornographic in nature. Swaggart stood before his congregation, spoke to his wife and said, I have sinned. I have sinned against my wife. I have sinned against my family. I have sinned against this church. I have sinned against the Lord. And with the frequency of instant replay, the media has presented those words over and over again as we see the tear stained face of Jimmy Swaggart, saying, I have sinned against my lord. For any thoughtful Christian, this. This experience raises perhaps one of the most troublesome questions that we face. And that is if as a Christian, I confess my sin, and I know according to scripture that my sin has been forgiven by God, will there be any earthly consequence to my sin? Is it enough to say God forgives me, therefore there should be no consequence.

Come with me to another time, to another man, another country. It’s King David, the king of Israel, who is chosen by the prophet Samuel. And Samuel anointed him as the king. If ever there was a bright light on the horizon that would reflect the radiance of the glory of God, it was David, who wanted more than anything to follow the Lord. David was very faithful to the Lord. David who showed his friendship to Jonathan. David who had an opportunity on several occasions to take the life of Saul, the king. But he chose not to take the life of Saul. Why? Because he knew that Saul was anointed by God. And he asked this question, is it right for I to take the life of one who is anointed by God? And he chooses no, I won’t take the shortcut.

If God wants to place me as king, I’ll wait for God’s timing. David was victorious over the Philistines. Never was there one in scripture like David, and at the height of his popularity, at the height of those acts, would bring the glory of God to the people of goddess. In middle age, David succumbed to what some refer to as the syndrome of success and sex. And how many people have I known who have experienced success and have fallen in the midst of that success, to some sexual sin? It’s interesting that there are many people who are able to face the temptations of life, the temptations of adversity, very well.

But they don’t realize that as they go through those difficult times of adversity, that the Lord might bring blessing in their life and their business may begin to prosper, their ministry may begin to prosper. And where before they were able to face the temptations of adversity, now a new agenda of temptations comes. They are temptations of success. And so often in the midst of that success, the tempter whispers in your ear, you have worked so hard. You deserve a rest. You deserve something better. You’re very important now. Let others do the hard work that you used to do. And while there was prosperity in the land under David, it was in that season of his prosperity, it was in that year that David decided for the first time that he would not go to battle, as was fitting.

And for the first time, David said, I’ll not go. Send Joab in my place. For, you see, I’ve succeeded and I deserve a rest from the regular routine. I think I’ll not do my job this season. And what happened during that season? Well, David stayed home. He sent others to fight his battle. And while having completed an afternoon nap, David awaked. And there he looked out on his balcony and he saw a beautiful woman, Bathsheba. Bathsheba, who was bathing herself. And David, the king of Israel, seduced Bathsheba that afternoon. She was the wife of Uriah the Hittite. Uriah, who at that very moment was in the field doing battle for David. Now it was just a one night fatal attraction. But word soon came back to David that Bathsheba was now with child.

David, becoming even more treacherous in his plan, decided that he was able to cover it up. He called for Uriah to return from the battlefield under the premise that he wanted a report as to how the troops were doing. And so Uriah returned to. To give an honest report to his king. David is well pleased with the report. And he says to Uriah, this evening, go home. Be with your wife. Hoping that Uriah would spend the evening. And when he would learn months later that a child had been conceived that Uriah would assume it was his own child. But Uriah was a loyal Uriah would not go home that night. Instead, he slept outside of the door of David. And the next day, David, learning of the strong character of Uriah he plied him with liquor and strong drink.

And he encouraged him that he would go back that evening and spend the night with his wife. But Uriah said, shall I then go into my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? I will not do this thing. You see, he was a loyal soldier and as long as his fellow soldiers were in the field Uriah would not betray them. He would not enjoy the pleasantries of peace for a night knowing that his brothers were in battle in the field. And David forgot that sin leads to more sin. And so David became even more cunning. And he decided upon a plan where he would instruct Joab to bring the troops out into battle. And at the forefront of the battle place Uriah the Hittite.

And when the battle is greatest, you are to remove all of the troops and leave Uriah to die. And David wrote the instructions and he gave them to Uriah, the loyal soldier, to bring them to Joab. And in the field, JOab, a good soldier, listened to the command of his king and Uriah was killed. Now, after an appropriate amount of time, David married Bathsheba. They had a child. What a perfect cover up. No lightning from heaven. David must have thought, where will be the finding out of my sin? And for an entire year, all seemed well and at peace. And David must have been certain that his sin would not be found out. David, who was a man after God’s own heart in that year he began to change.

David, who was known as a man of great compassion, now found himself acting mean and with revenge. And he would take the Ammonites and he would call for Torture. He would have them sawn in two. He would have them killed by all horrible means. David, who had shown compassion so many times before he had sinned with Bathsheba, now became a man of great anger and fury. We read that the prophet Nathaniel came and spoke directly to David, telling him a parable about a man who had a herd of sheep and another poor man who only had one little ewe. But that king wanted that ewe. And when a guest came to his home, the king, rather than take from his herd, went and took that one ewe, slaughtered it, and served it to his friend.

And David, in anger, rises up and he says, that man ought to be killed. Nathan looks at him and he says, you are the man struck at the heart. David realizes for the first time that his sin has been uncovered and that Nathan knows the truth. And what happens? David cries tears of sorrow, and he says, I have sinned against the Lord. But that’s not the first time in scripture that those words have been heard. Do you remember Pharaoh? Pharaoh said, I have sinned against the lord. When did he say it? In the midst of the plagues that came as a consequence of his disobedience. Do you remember Balaam, the false prophet? Balaam said, I have sinned against the lord. And what happened? He continued to deceive the people. He was in it for the money. Saul cried; I have sinned against the lord.

It was a false repentance. For over time with Saul, we see that he continued to go further into despair, madness, until finally he takes his own life in suicide. So simply to hear the words, I have sinned against the Lord in themselves does not point us in any direction other than the direction of repentance. And the scriptures teach that there are two types of repentance. One is an earthly sorrow that leads to regret and leads to death. The other is a godly sorrow that leads to true repentance. How can you tell the difference between the two? Time is the only way to tell the difference. The words sound exactly the same. David said, I have sinned against the Lord. Was he forgiven? Well, as David lives the rest of his day, he gives every indication that he continued to trust in the Lord.

But this question still haunts us. If I have been forgiven by the Lord, and I know that the Lord in heaven forgives me because I have confessed my sin to him. Is there any earthly consequence to my sin? What happened to David after he said, I have sinned against the Lord? Well, we read that the child that was born to David and Bathsheba died, and the prophet Nathan had declared that the child would die. We read that his wife later would be taken and publicly raped beneath the sun of Israel in the daytime, as Israel would look upon that rape. His daughter Tamar is seduced and raped by her own brother, Amnon, David’s son. Absalom, David’s other son, lies in wait and takes the life of his brother. Absalom, the favorite son of David, rises up in rebellion against his father.

He drives David from his throne. David hides from his son, Absalom. Absalom, driving furiously in his chariot, is caught by the locks of his hair in the bough of an oak tree. And there he is, suspended. And who comes along at that very moment to find him hanging by his hair? None other than Joab. Joab, who had received from the hand of Uriah the message from David that in battle, Uriah will be killed. And Joab, seeing Absalom, takes his sword and he kills David’s son. And word is brought back to David for the death of his son. And he cries out, o Absalom, my son. Would God that I had died for you. O Absalom, my son. Is there forgiveness for the sin that we commit? Yes.

In Jesus Christ, as we put our trust in him, we know that we can confess our sins to him because he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. But will there be a consequence in this life that continues beyond those sins? This year were shocked by the disclosures of Jim Baker. Jim Baker, who also had committed immorality. Recently, Jim Baker paid $25 to have his ordination reinstated. Through what denomination, you ask? Through the faith Christian Fellowship International. Have you heard of it? Jim Baker planned, knowing that he had received the forgiveness of the Lord, to continue in ministry, saying, because God has forgiven me, you will forgive me and continue as though nothing ever happen. And so Jim Baker planned on a 26 state tour, asking that people would come and pay $20 to come to hear his side of the story.

In Norfolk, Virginia, he rented an auditorium that seats 11,300 people. Before his fall in sin, Jim Baker, if he had gone to Norfolk, Virginia, could have filled that stadium without any difficulty. But after his sin, of those 11,300 seats, 24 were sold. In Birmingham, Alabama, Jim Baker rented an auditorium that would seat 19,000 people. 33 tickets were sold. In Dallas, Texas, he again would rent an auditorium that would seat 19,900 people. 80 tickets were sold. He decided not to go on tour. Jimmy Swaggart was able to fill great auditoriums and to have a ministry that had great impact around the world.

But in Springfield, Missouri, every hour, as long as there is an operator to answer the phone, they are now receiving over 300 calls, an hour of people who are calling for either his resignation or that he would be defrocked, or that he would have a greater penalty placed as a result of the sin that he has committed. Is there forgiveness in Jesus Christ? Yes. But are there consequences as a result of our sin in this earth? Ask Jim Baker if there are consequences to sin. Ask Jimmy Swaggart if there are consequences to sin. Above all, ask King David if there are consequences to sin. Forgiveness. Yes. Consequences, yes. Let us pray. Our God and our father, there has been a great catastrophe in your church. And father, each night we reel at new revelations and father, what do we learn from this?

Father, we learn that it is important for each of us to guard our own hearts, to guard against sin in our life. Shall we sin that grace may abound? No. Father, we ask that you would help us to see that it is far better to obey than to disobey, that there are far greater blessings to be found in obedience than disobedience. Father, help us to see that there is a consequence to our sin. Help us also to remember there is forgiveness in sin through Jesus Christ. Father, we give you thanks for your word, and we pray that you would keep us pure in our hearts and in our lives to the extent that we may not bring disgrace to the cause of Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

If there is anything that is clear from scripture, it is there is no hiding from the consequences of sin. In the book of Numbers, chapter 32, verse 23, we read, be sure your sin will find you out. Jimmy Swaggart, he has come a long way from the early days of his ministry in Faraday, Louisiana. He tells of driving and crisscrossing Louisiana in a broken down car, making $40 a week in those early days and recently, the ministry of Jimmy Swaggart has grown to tremendous proportions. He receives over $140 million a year in donations. He has annual payroll of eleven and a half million dollars. He employs some 1200 people throughout his ministry. He owns and operates 275 acres of property in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In the past six years, his ministry has.

Thank you for listening to affirm foundation presented by Princeton ministries. This programming is supported by you, the listener. You may go to our website, princetonministries.org, or send your donation to Princeton Ministries Post Office Box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 Princeton Ministries Post Office Box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 the Lord bless you and Dr. Smith looks forward to hearing from.