Iniquity Hiding in our Hearts

“Behold, I was born in Iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

Psalm 51:1–6 “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.”

Acts 8:18–23 “Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.””

The season of Lent (40 days to Easter) is an intentional pilgrimage of repentance and prayer, preparing us to be a Resurrection People with Jesus on Easter Sunday.

Principle: The path to experiencing freedom in our lives is often marked with testing our faith, trials, and seasons of purging away what needs to be purged from our lives.

[Slide: Picture Wadi Qelt] - BSC Israel 2026 Tour

The Road to Jerusalem: Wadi Qelt

For thousands of years, travelers between Jerusalem and Jericho have followed the 17 mile long path through Wadi Qelt, facing danger from falling rocks, wild animals, and thieves hiding in its many caves. By the time of Jesus, the Romans had built a road through Wadi Qelt leading up to Jerusalem. Shepherds can still be seen above Wadi Qelt, leading their sheep and goats along paths worn into the hillside by countless earlier shepherds. The shepherds still guide their flocks along these paths with their rods and still lead them to the calm, spring-fed waters of the Wilderness. When sitting above Wadi Qelt, it is impossible not to imagine that the writer of 23rd Psalm was sitting in the same spot when he wrote about his Lord, the shepherd, protecting and comforting his animals as they walked through the “valley of the shadow of death.”

Psalms of Ascent (Ps.120-134) -

Psalm 122:1 “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!””

The Issue IS NOT Forgiveness

I wonder…How many of you know today that YOU ARE FORGIVEN?!

That is the gospel…Because of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, YOU HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN.

We have to repeat it every week because that is GOOD NEWS!

We have to repeat it because even those of us who are “saved” need to hear it over and over.

But what I want to suggest to you today that when it comes to experiencing Freedom in your life, Forgiveness has never been the issue!

All throughout the Scriptures God has said, “return to me, you have been forgiven…”

Forgiveness is already yours, you just have to open your heart to receive it!

The real issue is not all the bad things we do as believers…it’s the sickness (iniquity) that lies in our hearts…

Like the thieves hiding in the caves of Wadi Qelt and the dangerous rocks falling on the path, our hearts often have the hidden places we have been unwilling to expose to the light of Jesus.

The reason God has to take us on this road through trial and struggle is because the real issue of our lives is not in the sins we have done…the deeper issue is the sickness that lies within our hearts.

Last week on e-group I talked about avoiding the BIG SINS…. Growing up I was always concerned about the BIG SINS… “Don’t cuss, don’t chew, don’t hang out with people who do!” What I’ve come to realize is often when I am sorry for the BIG SIN

Iniquity - A Sickness of the Heart

In Scripture there are two words used in connections with our need for forgiveness…SIN (we all know), and then another not so well known word INIQUITY.

Sin is any action that misses the mark of perfect love for God and perfect love for others.

Iniquity is the lawless power or force that corrupts the hearts of men and women to keep them trapped in cycles of disobedience.

In short…Iniquity is a sickness of the heart.

“The mystery of Iniquity is the Energy of Satan.” - John Wesley

When our Heart is Sick…

We justify our actions instead of allowing our hearts to break with repentance.

How often have we ignored the still small voice of the Holy Spirit saying, “You know this is not what I want for you.”

We make excuses like, ‘they will understand’ or ‘It’s not a big deal’, instead of going to that person and saying, “Please forgive me. My heart was not right before you or before the Lord.”

We turn our frustrations towards others believing they are the reason for our problems.

It’s a whole lot easier to imagine “they” are the problem than it is to admit the real issue is with ME.

We hide from God and lose the intensity of our prayers and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.

Genesis 2 - Adam and Eve hiding from God

All of the sudden our religion becomes dead and loses it’s connection to the presence of Jesus.

Bitterness, Fear, and Anger set in corrupting our souls and tearing apart our lives, families, and relationships.

This is what Jesus meant when he warned his disciples that the enemy of your soul comes to “Kill, steal, and destroy” everything good that God has created.

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

4 Questions to Prepare Our Hearts for Easter

*I shared these 4 questions for Lent a few weeks back, but I want to put them to you again….

What habit, what voices, what choices are hindering your faith?

What has a hold of your attention? What controls your emotions and thoughts more than the Holy Spirit?

Whatever has your passion, has your heart.

Proverbs 4:23 “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”

Will you intensify your prayer life?

Mark 9:29 “And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.””

Not about performance or getting God’s attention…prayer shapes your heart…cultivates the soil of your heart.

Can you turn off the noise to patiently wait on the Holy Spirit’s voice?

What is distracting you from hearing the deep work of the Spirit?

What are you unwilling to sacrifice?

Colossians 3:8–10 “But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”