Let's take our Bibles. Turn with me to the book of 1
John. 1 John chapter 1. 1 John chapter 1. I've entitled this message this
evening, Freedom from Guilt. Freedom from guilt. 1 John 1.9 If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. Let's pray together. Our Father, this evening, how
we thank you that we can call upon your holy name. We call in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ and we thank you for your mercy, your grace, your
compassion. Thank you for the forgiveness
of sins. Lord, would you bless the Word to our heart and help
us. For Christ's sake, we ask these things. Amen. In every believer, there is a
new heart. There's a new man. That new man has been created
by God in righteousness. And every believer, because of
that new man, that new man that's holy, there's a holy man in every believer. Every believer mourns over the
weight, the guilt, of the filth that he sees within. And he sees it. And he knows
it. And it's him. It's him. He knows it's him. That new man
is him. That old man is him. Paul the Apostle said, Romans
7, O wretched man that I am, Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? Or the margin in my Bible says,
from this body of death. Who shall deliver me from this
body of death? Every believer wants to be honest
with God. He wants to be honest with the
one that he knows He knows. Now if you want to have some
liberty, some freedom from guilt, let
me tell you where it's found. Be honest with the Lord. We're not fooling Him. He knows. The most liberating thing that
a believer can do is tell the Lord what you know
is so. I am a sinner against you. And the reason that that believer
feels that way, is because of that new man that's
there. Before it did not bother him. Now it does. There's a holy man there. And that holy man sees that which
is not holy in him. And that holy man will talk to
the Lord about it. I'm not right. There's an old
man in me and I am a sinner against God. Just to pour it off of your chest,
just tell him, tell him the reason that he will confess
to the Lord what he is. What he knows, what he sees,
is because the Scripture reveals that by the Lord Jesus Christ,
we're priests unto God. To confess our sins, the priests,
that's what they did, they were intercessor, mediator. The priests,
they'd go in on the day of atonement. That high priest would put his
hands on top of that goat and confess the sins of the people
on that goat. That's symbolic of the transfer,
the imputation, the Lord being made sin. And then there was
a scapegoat, and that scapegoat would be taken into a far country
Never to come back. Our sin was dealt with and our
sins were put away. A believer now, right now, is
a priest. Is a priest. Old Testament they
had priests that confessed the sins of a people unto God. Came in with the blood of the
bulls and goats. Now, we, as priests by the Lord
Jesus Christ, we confess our sins unto Him. Listen to this,
1 Peter 2, 5. Ye also, as lively stones, are
built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. We're priests. Don't you give the time of day
to some man that's wearing some outfit that calls himself a priest,
that says that you're to confess to him and he can absolve you
from your sins. That's a lie. He's not the priest. I'm going to tell you, you believer,
you are. Believers are stones, lively
stones, made by the grace of God. But they're stones cut out
of the same quarry as every other stone, made unto honor by God's
grace, given a heart. And by the grace of God, they
know something of what they are. And they confess it. The priest, I told you, in the
Old Testament would approach God on behalf of the people. And now, we as a priest, we offer
up sacrifices by faith, in love, praising Him and acceptable to
God on the merit of our blessed Savior. Whenever that priest
laid both his hands, I was telling you about on that scapegoat,
and made the confession of sins, there he is for the people. And let me tell you what, you
that know Him, you that believe Him, you that trust Him, What
you do now is we lay hold by faith upon the Lord Jesus Christ,
confessing the evil of sin that is within and without. Confessing what we know is so.
And laying hold of Him by faith, we ask and seek forgiveness from
Him. Lord, be merciful to me, the
sinner. That's what that publican said.
The Pharisee praised himself, I'm not like other men are, I
fast all the time, I'm so good, I know this, that, and the other.
And this one, standing far off, wouldn't even lift up his eyes
toward heaven. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. The Lord said,
I tell you this, this man went down to his house justified.
That's fine. The Lord Jesus Christ, God's
Lamb, is the object of the believer's faith. We call upon Him, confessing
what we are, confessing what we know we do, and realizing
that we don't even know what all we do. But Lord, I know this,
I need mercy. We remember, the Lord said when
He went through, Egypt, the Lord went through. And I've heard,
you know, the death angel and stuff. The Lord says, I'm going
to pass through. And I'll tell you what. He said,
you take some hyssop, you kill that lamb, you put that blood
on the side post lintel of the door. And He said, when I come
through, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. Let me tell
you something, he wasn't looking for Hebrews, he wasn't looking
for Egyptians, he was looking for the blood. When I see the
blood, I'm telling you, we are needy
people. Knowing all by faith, we're not
left without hope. Now, let me tell you, this is
a verse of Scripture, Let's hold on right here, just a few minutes.
If we confess our sins, a man, a woman made to know something
of their guilt. That is a blessed person. And I'm telling you, as I said
a moment ago, the most liberating thing, you know if you've done something,
And you're holding it in. And you're just so afraid somebody's
going to find out. Isn't that just the most confining? I mean you just feel horrible. Oh, I hope nobody finds out.
I hope nobody knows. Oh, I hope that doesn't leak
out. And I mean you just tore all the pieces, but you want
to know what's liberating. Just be honest and say, listen,
I did it. I cast myself. upon your mercy. I'm so sorry. I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrong. Forgive me. I don't want to do
that anymore. I'm done. I'm done. God help
me not to. That's liberty. That's liberty. To be able to just be honest
about it. and say, I'm the guilty party. If we confess our sins, and what
believer doesn't? You show me a man or woman that
is a believer, and I'm telling you, they're honest with the
Lord. If we confess our sins, what
we are, and that which is too numerous to count, our transgressions,
if we confess our failings, He is faithful. Faithful to His
Word, faithful to His covenant promise. He's faithful. And He's just. He is just to
bestow that which the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
procured for poor, helpless sinners. This is what He bought. He paid for our pardon. He bought our pardon. Paid the debt of our guilt. Paid what was owed to God's broken
law. Paid it with His own precious
blood. Put away that guilt. And Almighty
God is revealed and He gives us faith to do this. I'm telling
you. The confession of sin is not of ourselves. Without me,
He said, you can do nothing. You can do nothing. You say,
well, I can confess sin. No, you can't. Not without Him.
If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just. He's just
at the stipulated price for the forgiveness of our sins. He paid
that price to the Father. Honored the law. All of it is
just demand. He's faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and listen to this, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. What does that mean? He who is faithful and just on
the merit of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, that blood
that put away our debt, the debt of His sheep, If we confess our
sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us by the sprinkling of our conscience on the merit
of that precious blood. Same blood that paid the debt
cleanses our conscience. You know, you come to a friend,
a friend, One that you love. One that's
offended you or you've offended. You come to Him and you tell
Him, I'm sorry. I am sorry. I've treated you with such disrespect. And He puts His arm around you
and hugs you and y'all just tell each other, I love you. I love
you too. You know, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Let's just forget
about this, okay? Let's don't bring this up no
more, okay? I don't want to talk about this no more, okay? No, I don't
either. I don't either. You know what? It's done. It's
done. You sit there and you start thinking
about it before and you say, you know what? It's over. He, by the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ, takes it and applies that blood and
cleanses us from all unrighteousness, our conscience is clear. Almighty God has promised, He's
given His Word. If I confess my sin, pleading
the blood, asking for mercy, He's just to forgive us. Faithful and just to forgive
us our sins. And the Scripture sets forth
He gives us the oil of joy for mourning and the garment of praise
for the spirit of heaviness. Now, in closing, I want you to
turn with me to Psalm 51. Psalm 51. All I'm going to do
is read Psalm 51. David, a man after God's own
heart, Now here's the evidence of a believer. Now here's a believer. He was caught. He was wrong. He was broken. And he was honest. This is what David had to say. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy Loving kindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender
mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions
and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. that thou mightest
be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive
me. Behold, thou desirest truth in
the inward parts, in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know
wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall
be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter
than snow, Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones
which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and
blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O
God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from
thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore
unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit,
then will I teach transgressors. Thy ways and sinners shall be
converted unto thee. Deliver me from blood guiltiness,
O God, thou God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud
of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips, and
my mouth shall show forth thy praise. For thou desirest not
sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt
offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise. Do good in Thy good pleasure
unto Zion. Build Thou the walls of Jerusalem. Then shalt Thou be pleased with
the sacrifices of righteousness with burnt offering, whole burnt
offering, then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar." I'll
ask the men if they'll