Not one of you sang that, at
least I didn't hear you. Thank you, Teresa. I told brother Marvin when he
got here he's going to have to. Direct the Christmas play and
leave the choir to. I wouldn't want to leave this
for her. He got a kick out of it. We make
fun of that stuff because it needs to be. All right let's go over to first
John chapter one first John One is we continue studying through
this wonderful book. We're not. At least we're not
getting through many, many verses, but we're certainly looking at
glorious things, aren't we? Two or three verses at a time.
Word of life. God who is light. And tonight,
this is going to be, I hope, a good, basic gospel message. Do you like basic gospel messages? The title and subject tonight
is Sin, Confession, and Forgiveness. Sin, Confession, and Forgiveness. Let's read verses 8 through 10. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in it. If we confess
our sins, he, God, is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. The word gospel means good news,
glad tidings. And the gospel is only good news
to sinners, because what the gospel is all about is salvation
from sin. That's what it's all about. That's
what this whole book is all about. Saving us from our sin. The word sin in this book alone
in John's book. Twenty eight. Twenty eight time this little.
He talks about. You rarely hear the word today
in modern. Twenty eight. And. So this is only good news to
center he says in verse eight if we say that we have no sin. We deceive ourselves. And the
truth is not enough we deceive ourselves and it's bad to be
to see. It's worse to deceive yourself. We all are to see that time. But it's really bad if we deceive
ourselves and if we make ourselves believe a lie. That's pretty
bad. We convince ourselves that we're
right. If we're dead wrong. That's bad. We deceive ourselves. Now it
says if we say we have no sin. Singular. It doesn't say sins
does it? It says sin. God's word is perfect. If we say we have no sin, that
means if we say we have not this sinful nature within us, that
Adamic or Adam, nature of Adam, which causes us, this is what
causes us to commit sins. Sin is the nature, the principle. Sins are the fruit of death. It doesn't say faults. It doesn't
say errors. It doesn't say mistakes. And people will admit to that,
won't they? Most people will say, oh, I make
lots of mistakes. Or I have some faults. Some faults. No, what this is talking about
and look at Romans seven, I want to have a turn several places
tonight, but they're all familiar. Romans chapter seven, what this
is talking about is if we say we have not within
us a nature that deserves hell. This is talking about this natural
tendency of ours to hate God. A fellow came in, Brother Scott Richardson's study
years ago and was talking to him about somebody, talking about
to Brother Scott, what a good fellow this fellow was. He was talking about him and
talking about him, and finally Scott stopped him after he was
bragging on his fellow and said, wait a minute, he said, hold
on, there's only one problem here. He hates God. He might be a good fellow to
most, but he hates God. And that shocked his fellow.
And that would shock the average person if you tell him that,
wouldn't it? Why isn't this building full
tonight? We're here to worship God. We're here to worship Christ. We're here to give thanks. We're
here to sing his praises. We're here to acknowledge his
goodness to us, his grace to us, his mercy to us. That's what
we do when we come here. Why isn't this building full
or not? Men don't like to think about God. They wish there weren't
a God. That's what it means to hate
God. I was that way. Weren't you? And it left to myself
still. If God, if His grace and mercy
weren't moved to me every morning, I wouldn't be here tonight. I
wouldn't want to do that. Well, look at Romans 7. This
is kind of sinner. I refer to a true sinner as a
Romans 7 sinner. If we don't say they were Romans
7 sinners, we deceive ourselves. Look at it. It says in verse
15, that which I do, I allow not. I don't know why I do what
I do. What I would, or that is what
I want to do, that do I not. And what I hate, that's what
I do. Now that's a Roman 7 sinner.
Read on, look at verse 18. I know that in me, that is, in
my flesh, in me, Paul Mayhem. And can you say this? Can you
put your name there? Patrick in May that it may not
in Miami. Well no good. That's wrong. That's. To will. That is I want to do what's right
is present with me but how. I can't see. Any Romans seven. Well, you hang on, there's good
news coming. Verse 23 and 24, I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind, bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin, O wretched man that I am. Is that you? Well, I'm not that
bad. Then you're deceiving yourself. That's what John is saying. If
we say, if we say, that's not me. I mean, I got some faults,
but I'm not as bad. The only thing that keeps us
from being a devil is the restraining grace of God Almighty. The only
thing that keeps me from being a drug dealer tonight is the
restraining grace of God. The only reason I'm stressful
is the constraining grace of God. Only reason you ladies aren't
out walking the streets tonight, selling your bodies, is the restraining
grace of God. Now, that's a bad thing. Who
makes us to do it? God does. God does. In Romans
7, see, if we say we have no sin, I'm not that bad, then God
needs to show you. Now, this gospel, this gospel's
not going to be good news. This gospel is only good news
to Romans 7. Now someone who thinks highly
of himself, someone who feels good about themselves. And you
know that's what religion is designed to do, to make people
feel good about themselves. The Gospel, the first thing the
Gospel must do is make us feel real bad about ourselves. And
only then will we esteem Christ as we should, mercy as we should. But someone who sees no just
cause, why God should not let them into heaven, is terribly deceived. And they're
going to stand before God someday like all those people and say,
but, but, but, but I, to hear him say, get out of here, you're
a worker of iniquity. I don't want to hear that. That's
being terribly deceived. And then he says in verse 8,
that person, the truth is not in them. The truth, the truth,
the truth of who God really, God is that holder. God is. He's that holy but he won't he
he will not. He will not clear the guilt.
Every sin must be God is that he said. We are that simple. We are and there is only one. You know, this is, that's the
truth. Truth is not in that person that doesn't see that. Their
heart is deceitful. Look at John 16. John 16. Now, over in Jeremiah, Jeremiah
says about the natural man, his heart is deceitful above all
things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? That's not talking
about the believer. The believer has a new heart.
And the new heart doesn't deceive us. It tells us what we're really
on. But the natural man is deceived. Now here's what the Holy Spirit,
when God Almighty sends His Holy Spirit to save one of His elect,
here's what He does. All right? This is the first
thing He does. John 16. John 16. He's called in verse
13, look at it, He's called the Spirit of Truth. Christ said,
When He, that is the Spirit of Truth, is come, He'll guide you
into all truth. Remember, John said the truth
is not in that person that says they have not that way. So when
the spirit of God, when God sends a spirit to to save a person,
he's called the spirit of truth. And this is what he convinces
us. Look at verse eight through ten. When he is come, he will
reprove the world, not just Jews, but Gentile people all over the
world of sin. And of righteousness, that is,
they don't have any, and of judgment. It's a judgment to faith. Of
sin, look at this, verse nine, of sin, because they believe
not on me. I went twenty years or more without
giving God much of a thought. not caring whether Christ came
or not. That's unbelief. That's unbelief. Of righteousness,
verse 10, because I go to my father and you see me no more,
there's a man in glory. Well, how am I going to get there?
How am I going to get to heaven? How am I going to get there?
Who shall ascend under that holy hill? Psalm 24. The man thinks
he's going to get up there. He's going to have the gate shut
and be cast in the outdark. But Christ did. How? He's righteous. We'll talk more about that in
a minute. Verse 11, of judgment, because
the prince of this world is judged. So, when the Holy Spirit... Go
to 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. And
Satan, talking about being deceived, Satan is a great deceiver. And you know, Satan knows what
God uses to save people. He's seen it. He's seen people
taken out from under his worship. He's seen people changed. What
is it? He knows. It's the gospel, preaching
the gospel. It's the truth. Our Lord said
the truth will set you free. Truth. Satan knows that. So what's
his great design? He didn't want people to hear
the truth. That sets them free. 2 Thessalonians
2 verse 9 says, Now him whose coming is after the working of
Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, with all deceivableness
of unrighteousness. We mean deceivableness of unrighteousness. Deceiving people into thinking
they have one. Deceiving people into thinking
they have a righteousness, when it's not. It's unrighteousness. Read on. And them that perish
because they receive not the love of the truth that they might
be saved, the love of Christ are righteous. He is the truth. He is made unto us righteous. You understand this, don't you?
Blessed are you. And for this cause, read on, God shall send
them strong delusions. What strong delusions? I told you that story about that
fellow I worked with on a railroad, real religious, did some preaching
and all that. I was a young believer, and as
every young believer struggled with sin and temptations, and
all God's people do. They're beset behind and before
with temptations. They struggle with sin. That's
the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. That's just new nature warring
with the old nature. But self-righteous people, religious
people, people in the world don't have that struggle because they
don't have two natures. They've got one. And this old fellow I worked
with on the railroad, he was a self-proclaimed preacher and
all that. And well, I don't want to tell this story here, but
he didn't have the same troubles I did. He was not tempted by
the same things that I was tempted with. I spied on him a couple of times. And it didn't tempt
him. I think it was John Bunyan, it
may have been William Gurnall, I'm not sure which, that made
this statement. I'll never forget it. Ever since. I heard it while the young believe
I'll never forget he said Satan. Satan takes. A believer who is
resting in Christ. And Christ alone trust in Christ
you know. And he just bombards that person
with evil thoughts with temptations with all sorts of things. So
that that believer thinks I'm too sinful to be saved. I can't
be saved. I have all these evil thoughts.
But then he takes a self-righteous man who's trusting his own morality,
his own goodness, and leaves him alone. the bottom of giving it. We want. So that that man thinks
I'm so good I must be saying. I'm too good not to be said.
Does that. Help anybody it did me well when
I first read that by the great John Bunyan or William Bernal
whoever was that I thought you mean John you have these problems
that are way of Oh, I must not be alone. It was either Bunyan
or Ganahl who said this, too. He said that Satan would just
hurl blasphemies into his mind, his ears, and he thought, am
I saying this or is he saying it? He didn't know who it was
that was doing it, himself or Satan. Anybody in here have those struggles? But these strong delusions that
Satan sins is giving people a sense of their own worth and the morality
and all that. We're not deluded. We're not
deceived. Now the spirit of truth convinces
us, convicts us. All right, go back to 1 John.
And I believe a lot as in the garden you know people believe
a lot of the garden would say and say that how did he lie and
he convinced him of a lot of what was a lot of his God. You
got your free will. To you you have power. That's
a lot. That's a lie. Well, when God
sends that Holy Spirit and convicts us of sin, what we are, oh my. Then he sends the gospel. The
gospel. Repentance toward God and faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 9. It says, If
we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. and to cleanse us from all on
righteousness if we compare now confess to confess is to openly
admit what we are that's what confession is we openly admit
what we are when someone confesses Christ and believers baptism
what they're saying when a man takes them and puts them under
water is I deserve to be killed for my sins crucified with Christ. That should have been me. But
Christ was taking my place. It should have been me. I deserve
to bear the wrath of God. I deserve to be buried, put out
of sight and out of mind. Thank God Christ I was buried
with Christ. That's what we're saying, we
confess before everybody that I'm a sinner, a no-good sinner,
I deserve to be punished for my sin, I deserve to be put out
of sight and out of God's presence. But I live, nevertheless I live,
yet not I, Christ the living. So we what is to confess our
sins is to openly admit what we are. It's a voice. Repentance
has a voice. Repentance. What is repentance?
Repentance is to admit you're wrong. Repentance is to admit
you're wrong. That's the hardest thing in the
world for a human being to do. It's impossible. It's impossible. for human being to admit that
they're that bad. But God, the Holy Spirit, must
grant repentance. It's the goodness of God that
leads us to repent, to see ourselves for what we are, what we really
are. And this repentance has a voice,
and it's confession. We confess our sin. It says if
we go to 2 Chronicles, you're going to like this. 2 Chronicles.
You're going to love this if you're a sinner. 2 Chronicles,
chapter 6. Second Chronicles six find the
book of first second Kings right that is chronicle second chronic
confession is that open is repentance with a boy all right who do we
confess our sins to. Who do we confess our sins to. God. He's the one we stand
against. Right. If you if I do something
against Stan. Then who am I going to tell I'm
sorry to. Gabe. Gabe I sure am sorry for hitting
on Stan. I shouldn't. Tell it to Stan. He's the one that's been offended.
I don't tell it to somebody else. I confess it to him and hope
that he forgives me. Well who have we sinned against.
David said it in Psalm 51, didn't he? Against thee and thee only
have I sinned. But I thought you sinned against
Uriah, David. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in your sight. He said, you're going
to be justified when you speak and clear when you judge me.
You send me to hell, you'll be clear for me. against the Indian
it's repentance toward God. We don't confess our sins to
me and. You know. I. I bring up the policies of the
Vietnam you know I'm not just picking on one religion Southern
Baptist religion is just bad it's just as bad. In Catholicism
and Episcopalian, all these, they have their confessionals,
you know. People go in, they confess their sins to a man who's
worse. If he's listening to them, he's
worse than they are. If that man had any sense at
all, he wouldn't let them confess their sins to him. But Southern Baptists have their
Pope. He's from North Carolina. And he stands up there and all
these people come down front. And what they do. Besides wanting
to be on national television. They're confessing their sins
before their Pope. Their Protestant Pope. That's
right. You don't come down front. You don't leave. You go to God. Our Lord said, when you pray,
go in your closet and pray to your who? Who you talking to? Who have you sinned against?
Who's this? Who's this between? God and the sinner. We confess our sins to God. He's
the one who's sending him. And he's the only one that can
forgive us. And we're going to see how in
just a minute. But he will forgive. He's faithful. He said he would. Faithful means
he's true. He'll do what he said he would
do. He will forgive sin. God will forgive sin if we confess
them. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful. What sin? Read it with me. Look at this. This is wonderful.
2 Corinthians 6 verse 24. If thy people, Israel, Now, this
is, let me give you a little background on this. This is Solomon
dedicating the temple. And that's a whole different,
that's a whole new message, the temple. The temple. What does
the temple of Solomon represent? Somebody say it out loud. Now,
I told you, if I ask you a question, just answer it one way, okay?
I want to simplify it. I'll give you one word, and every
time I ask you a question, you say it, you'll be right. Christ. What's the temple of Solomon?
That's what it represents now. It's not a building. God dwells
not in buildings made with hands. But that whole temple and everything
in it represented the Lord. What's the table of showbread?
What's the candlestick? What's the labor of water? Christ. Well, anyway. Solomon is dedicating
the temple they finish building the temple okay he dedicated
the temple. And this is who. God is speaking
to and who he's speaking who he's speaking to God verse twenty
four if that people Israel. He's praying to God if that people
Israel God's people. The salvation is. He shall save
his people. from their sin. If thy people,
Israel, be put to the worst before the enemy, that is, be smitten
by the enemy, and we are, aren't we? Because they have sinned
against thee. That's why the enemy. And shall
return, but if they shall return, that is, turn and confess thy
name. and pray and make supplication
before thee in this house. Then hear thou from heaven, and
forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again
into the land which thou gavest to them and their fathers." Oh,
there's a message there. Read on, it's not over. When
the heaven is shut up and there's no rain, because they've sinned
against thee, yet if they pray toward this place and confess
thy name and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them,
and he will, chasten, then hear thou from heaven and forgive
the sin. of that server of that people
is when that has taught them the good way where they should
walk and send rain on that lane which that has given of that
people are here you read between the lines of rain is the lessons
of the gospel and so we don't. If there be dearth, that is droughts
in the land, there be pestilence, the blasting, mildew, locusts,
caterpillars, if their enemies besiege them in the cities of
their land, whatsoever sore, whatever sickness there be, whatever
it is that they're suffering with, what prayer, what supplication,
soever shall be made by anybody, any man, doesn't matter who it
is, of all thy people. when everyone
shall know his own sorrow and his own grief, and shall spread
forth his hand, and this hath been here, thou from heaven,
thy dwelling place, and for you." If we confess our sin. Anybody? What sin? Come on now. Numbers. Go to Numbers
5. This is even better. This is
even better. In a prayer if we confess our
scene numbers five over there with numbers kept about. Now
that temple. As I say that place remember
Solomon said if they come to this house if they spread their
hands toward this house if they if they pray in this house the
temple. You know it's not talking about.
What's it talking about. Well here's confession of sin
is repentance toward God and faith where in the Lord Jesus. You say. If we have repentance
and confession only that's not good enough. Like whoever these fellows are. And they owe, they've stolen
all this money. And they plead guilty. What are
we going to do? Just let them off. No. We give them time and they
pay a fine. They ought to be required to
pay back every penny. They're not. They put it in a
bank in Zurich, Switzerland, and get out of it. The scripture
says, every sin shall receive a just recompense. You've got to be faithful. Everything
that's owed, you've got to be faithful. That's what God's word
says. We've got to make recompense.
Look at this. Numbers 5. Look at verse... Sin has to be paid for. Debts. Verse 6. Verse 5, the Lord says
unto Moses, speak unto the children of Israel, when a man or woman
shall commit... I told you now, this message
is for sinners. When a man or woman shall commit...
And he's saying that man. And we've got to spend. Anything. That man commit. It's a trespass against the Lord
that person is guilty or said that they should confess their
sin. And recompense. A recompense. With the principal thereof. That is not only interest, but
the principle. Pay it all back. Isn't that significant? Any sin, no matter how great,
no matter how bad, go back to 1 John, any sin, any sin, I don't
know what your past was like. What you've done this is anything. But. It's got to be right. Everything. Got to be faithful
repentance told God so we come to God by faith in Christ and
over Romans he says if we confess our sin with the mouth confession
is made with the heart man believe it with the mouth confession
is mine. And here it is. We are justified freely by God's
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. That
is, he made the payment. Whom God set forth to be the
propitiation, that is, the bloody sacrifice, the substitute, made
sin front. Through faith in his blood, we
come to declare his righteousness. He's the only one. For the remission
of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God, to declare,
I say, at this time, his righteousness. This is why God Almighty hates
self-righteousness. Because there's only one righteousness
he'll accept, and that's Christ. And for anybody to stand up and
say that there's anything about them that God ought to accept,
that means Christ died in vain. That's what the scriptures say.
If righteousness come by the law, then Christ didn't need
to die. And God is only one way that our sins could be paid for,
every one of them, and that's by Christ. And so we come by faith in his
blood to declare his righteousness for remission of our sin, and
that way God may be just and justify. How many times have
you heard that? Just and justify. Go back to
our text. It says he's faithful and just. to forgive us our sin. Now if we confess our sin, to
any sin, any sin, our Lord said all manner of sin
shall be forgiven. Isn't that good news? Phew! Oh,
if we had Mary Magdalene in here tonight, she'd be, she'd be amenin'
out loud. if we had to be on the cross
in your life or hit me. Oh, good. Tell it again. Any
sin? All sin? Yeah, all sin. Amen. Right there. What good
news? He's faithful. He said he was.
And just. God just can't forgive. Brother
Barnard just would just tear people's playhouses up. He'd
say things like this. God doesn't You can't forgive
sin. And those, you know, people will
just be thrown for a loop. What do you mean? He got, oh
no, he's got, sin has to be faithful. He will by no means clear the
guilty scriptures. You can't just up and forgive sin. It's
got to be faithful. It's got to be faithful. Well, he's
just. He's faithful. He said he would. Confess him.
And he's just. How? He spared us. He forgave us. But those sins weren't forgiven.
They were paid for. You understand? He spared us,
but He didn't spare His Son. He put on Him our sins. He didn't forgive Him. He laid
on Him the iniquity of us all and sent Him to hell. It's called
substitution and satisfaction. Sin's been paid for. God is just. Sin's been paid for. And we're
forgiven. Because Christ was not. So that's
how we come. We confess our sins. He's faithful
and just to forgive us. And look at this. And to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. Am I clean? Are you clean? Yes, you are. You ever heard
the story of the leper over in Leviticus thirteen? I'm not going
to tell it to you. Hang on, I'll tell you later.
That's another sermon. I'll give you a hint though.
Only lepers covered with leprosy will be claimed. The scripture
says we're complete in Him. We're complete in Him. We're completely righteous in
Christ. Completely. We're completely forgiven. Completely. Past, present, and thank God,
future. We've got a lot more years to
live here, maybe, and a lot more sins to commit. God forbid, but
we will. of those who are forgiven to,
completely. We're completely justified from
all things. Completely clear. The slate is
gone. The record is gone. I told you
that story about my father, didn't you, when he ran that red light,
and that record went into court, and the judge couldn't find it
over there. That the iniquity of Israel shall
be solved, Scripture says. history of God's people. The
iniquity shall be sought. The books can not be found. I'm
going to look up here some fancy parts. Record. It's all white. Well, actually,
it's red. It was black. There's so much
against her. Black. It's the solid gold and
everything. The ordinances isn't the same.
But it's red. It's all Like a big red stamp, paid in
full, justified from all things. Yet we're still sinners. How
do you explain that? It says he's faithful just to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Well, we are clean in Christ
and someday we will be completely like him, without sin. Yeah,
he's faith. He said he would, didn't he?
He said he's able to present us faultless before his presence. Holy, unblameable, unapprovable
in God's sight. I don't see how... He's faithful,
he's going to. I'm going to stand before him
someday just like Christ, without sin. No more, no more sin. Now, in closing, it says, if
we say we have not sinned, We make him a liar. And his word
is not enough. Sin. What kind of sin? All sin.
Any sin. All manner of sin. What haven't
we... You know, so many people after the morning Bible study
Sunday came up to me and said, oh, God's law is so strict, isn't
it? So strict. And so many of them said, I'm
guilty on all points. And I'm glad I'm glad. I'm glad
that's what you were convicted of that's what the law does.
I wanted to see how good it is how good God's law is but I didn't
want us for a minute to think that we kept it. So many people several people
came up and said that to me. I've broken it all if anybody
says they have not sinned what kind of sin? I may not have actually done
murder. But I thought so yeah. And you
may right. And you name it saying whatever
it may be. He's called God a liar. That's what that's it calling
God a liar. No light in God said, all have sinned. Whatever the
law says, it says of them under, they're guilty. That's what God
said. Not me. He called a guy a liar. And then
the next time we get together, not next Wednesday, but correct
me if I'm wrong here, Gabe, not next Wednesday, but whenever,
we're going to look at the sinner's advocates. Don't sin, John Wright. Don't do it. But if anybody does,
not an advocate, we're going to look at that whenever. OK, stand with me. Our Father, thank you for forgiveness
of sin. Thank you for making Christ to
be sin for us. Thank you, Lord, for sparing
us and yet not sparing your son. Thank you,
Lord, for substitution. Thank you for sending your Son,
our substitute, the sinner's Savior. How we thank you. May we be more thankful every
day. Thank you for the blood that maketh atonement for our
soul, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son that cleanses us from
all unrighteousness. Thank you. We confess what we
are, what we've done. come to you by Christ in his
name we pray amen. You're dismissed.