Well, may the Lord be gracious
to us and bless us this evening as we turn to meditate in the
Word of God. This evening, may the Lord bless
us as we consider a verse in the first chapter of the first
epistle of John. And we'll read the ninth verse. First epistle of John, first
chapter and verse nine. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. In the word of God, we should
be very thankful. There are some very wonderful
and some very positive promises. And this is one of them. And it is a glorious truth. And it's a truth that the people
of God love to observe and to hear, and to be found within
the compass of such statements. And so the Word of God here,
as John tells us, if we confess our sins, it is a great question. It is an important question.
It's something that all of us need to be able to answer if
we confess our sins. Now, the truth is that if we
are a true believer, we shall come before our God in true humbleness
and acknowledgement that we are sinners before God, and that
we need the blessing of forgiveness. It won't be something which is
trivial. It won't be something which is
just words. There are those in the Word of
God who have acknowledged their sin, but it wasn't from their
heart. It was just a reaction to their
position. We can think of that man Aitken,
who acknowledged that he'd done wrong. But there wasn't that
true acknowledgement that he'd sinned against the holy God and
he was truly sorry for it. And then we can think of Judas
Garib, he realized he'd done wrong. You see, there wasn't
that true sorrow for sin, and there wasn't that true forgiveness. And even King Saul, you can read
all, was sorry for some of the things he'd done wrongly. There
wasn't a true confession before God, recognizing that they'd
sinned before a holy God, and therefore this statement is very
direct if we confess our sins, not just in a mere verbal way,
not just in a mere theoretical way. Because if you speak to
the man in the street and ask him whether he's sinned at all,
many will confess, done one or two things which are wrong. But that is not a true confession
of sins. Because what it doesn't bring
with it is that earnest desire that their sins might be forgiven. And that really is the vast difference
between just a mere confession of sins and a real concern and
the real desire that their sins might indeed be truly forgiven. And if they're forgiven, to be
truly taken away. We read together in the seventh
verse, a great truth, and this really again separates. But if we walk in the light,
now if the light has shone into our hearts, we shall realize
that we are sinners before a holy God. We have offended Almighty
God, and we need desperately forgiveness. We know that we
can't forgive ourselves. We know that we can't make amends
ourselves for our sins. And that's why the following
words are so gloriously true. But if we walk in the light,
as he is in the light, that means, of course, union, That means
fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And as the Word says,
we have fellowship, one with another. And the blood of Jesus
Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. The clear truth
is that if we are not blessed with this wonderful favour of
being cleansed by the precious blood of Christ, then our sins
are not forgiven. And therefore, whatever confession
we may make with our lips, it doesn't emanate from our heart. And there will not be that true
forgiveness. But if we confess our sins properly,
truthfully, from our very heart, then this word is true. He is
faithful and just. Very humbling, isn't it? To think
the great God doesn't turn us away. He doesn't say, well, there's
no hope for you. You're just too bad. You're just beyond the pale.
No. He blesses us. He comes to us. And He cleanses us. And He forgives
all our sins. for Jesus' sake. If we confess our sins, is faith
going to just to forgive us our sins? And how needful that is. No unforgiving sinner can enter
into heaven because there is no sin in heaven. It is a pure
place. It is a holy place. Sin has no
place there at all. It cannot enter in. So if you
and I are blessed with this heavenly light, are blessed with this
wonderful favour of true confession, true confession before God, it's
a personal position between your soul and God and my soul and
God, It's not for anybody else to be impressed by, for anybody
else to listen to. It's a confession to Almighty
God. And what a blessing it is to
know that the door of God's mercy stands open all day to the poor
and the needy, and not by the way. Those who truly confess
their sins before a holy God are needy sinners. We need forgiveness. We need cleansing from all their
unrighteousness. And you and I won't be able to
just sit back and take it easy. It'll be a burden upon us, a
burden upon our hearts. We read together that 51st Psalm,
which is, of course, one of the well-known Psalms, and it tells
us very beautifully and very wonderfully the confession of
David. See, David didn't beat about
the bush, did he? He knew what he needed, and he
desired to come and to confess his sin before a holy God. And David's life He had thought,
of course, that his sin had been hidden. Maybe, of course, in
our lives, we may think sometimes that our sins are hidden, but
God, in his sovereign mercy to David, brought it to the light,
so that it was revealed to him through Nathan the prophet, and
how clear it was when Nathan told him, Thou art the man. a very real effect upon David. He couldn't then say, well, I
don't think that applies to me. No, David, thou art the man. And of course, it had the wonderful
benefit of David being able to pen this 51st Psalm, which really
shows to us the blessed effect, the blessed work of the Holy
Spirit upon the soul. and shows us what true confession
is. And therefore David would have
come and qualified under this statement, if we confess our
sins. David did. He is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins. God did. And to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness. God did. And so he commences
by asking God, have mercy upon me, O God. That won't be a prayer which
will be strange to you and me. It'll be a prayer which will
be familiar to us. Have mercy upon me, O God. It's like the publicans' prayer,
is it not? God be merciful to me, a sinner. Well, we're told that man went
down to his house justified rather than the other who was a publican
who justified himself. God came and tells us that this
man, this publican, was justified because he confessed his sin. He desired mercy from God. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy lovingkindness. And surely it's only the lovingkindness
of the Lord toward us that can bring about mercy, that can bring
about forgiveness. It's because He's loved us with
everlasting love. That's why He has mercy upon
us. Because we are blessed to be
amongst those for whom He has shed His most precious blood
upon that cross at Calvary. So, David says, according to
thy loving kindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender
mercies, to lot out my transgressions. What a mercy it is to have a
realization of God's tender mercies toward us. That means he doesn't
deal with us as our sins deserve at all. Tender mercies. by loving kindness according
unto the multitude of thy tender mercies." Well, David knew the
need for that. What a blessing if you and I
know the need for it again and again. We need God's tender mercy
to be toward us, to blot out my transgressions. You see that?
Transgressions of thoughts and word, Indeed, it's very comprehensive,
such a statement as this. And you and I cannot avoid it.
What a mercy, then, to come to a God who is merciful, a God
with whom there is forgiveness. And so he desires to be washed
throughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. He had a view of the need to
be clean. May we all have an understanding
of what it means to be clean, because if we're unclean, the
effect will be we're leprous, we're contaminated. We need to
be cleansed. We cry out, unclean, unclean. Mercy when God comes and cleanses
us from all our sin. And then he says, this confession
for I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. You know, we just can't shake
off sin when we stand before a holy God. We can't say, well,
it doesn't exist. It does exist. And we should
know it exists. And we should know it separates
between us and our God. And that's why David was brought
to write words like this or to speak words like this. I acknowledge
my transgression, my sin is ever before thee, against thee, thee
only have I sinned. And that's very significant,
isn't it? David realized he had sinned
against God. He sinned against Bathsheba,
of course, but he sinned against God. And that's the great position
when the Holy Spirit convinces us of our sin against God, the
holy God, the righteous God. That's who you and I have sinned
against. Well, what a blessing then if
we're brought here, if we confess our sins, David did very clearly,
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. You can see surely, What a wonderful
blessing it is to be granted true heartfelt confession, heartfelt
sorriness, heartfelt sorrow, heartfelt repentance for all
our sins. So he says, against thee, the
only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight that thou mightest
be justified for thou speakest. and be clear when there are judges. God is just when he condemns
us. And of course, what a mercy it
is when we are justified by our Saviour. Yes, we are made just,
not through what we've done, but through what he has done
on our behalf. That which was procured for us,
that glorious forgiveness at Calvary, So many years ago, the
blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. And then he tells us, Behold,
I was shaken in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive
me. Behold, that is I's truth in the inward paths. Again, David
was blessed with a view of himself, that which was only available
for him to see. No one else saw it. The inward
sin in our hearts, that which God sees, and it's a mercy when
God reveals it to us, so that we do know that we stand before
a holy God as a black sinner on the earth. We need the glorious
cleansing power in our hearts. Thou desirest truth in the inward
parts, and 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 the snow. But when God washes, when God
takes away sin, it's removed. It's cast into the depths of
the sea to be remembered no more. by our kind and gracious and
merciful God. Well, he says then, make me then,
having made this confession, he then comes and says, make
me to hear joy and gladness in the bones which thou hast broken. May I rejoice. The good news
of the gospel surely is in them. The good news of the sin atoning
sacrifice of the blessed Saviour. This is joy and gladness to the
undone sinner. It's good news. Here we hear joy and gladness. The bones which thou hast broken
may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins and
brought out all my iniquities. And then he says, creating me
a clean heart, when our hearts by nature are unclean. What a good desire it is. What
a prayer it is. To say to the Lord, the almighty
God, to come and create, bring about that which you and I cannot
do. We might try to, but you see,
sin is mixed with all we do and say. Create in me a clean heart,
O God, and renew a right spirit within me. How often we can have
a wrong spirit. We need God to come and to renew
a right spirit within us. A spirit which is seeking for
God's favour, for God's forgiveness, for God's blessing, for God's
direction, for God's instruction, a right spirit within me. And
then he says, cast me not away from thy presence, and take not
thy Holy Spirit from me. He feared, didn't he? He feared. Because of that which he'd done,
he feared. Therefore he was able to say,
cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit
from me. a good confession, isn't it?
And that's a good desire, isn't it? And that shows, doesn't it,
that the Holy Spirit has come upon us and directed us beyond
just a mere superficial position, but the blessed work of the Holy
Spirit upon our hearts and desire in this right spirit. Cast me
not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from
me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. See, David had
been wonderfully blessed. And now, quite clearly, he'd
come into a time of barrenness and a time of self-righteousness.
But God very graciously dealt with him in love to his soul. It's a wonderful thought, isn't
it? In love to his soul. And directed him to the Saviour
without any doubt. Directed him to the Saviour. He said, restore unto me the
joy of thy salvation. What is the Lord's salvation?
Directs us to Calvary. Now, of course, the Lord hadn't
been born or lived or died in David's day. But there were many
prophecies before David's life, and that David was able, blessed
by the Spirit of God, to prophesy that Christ should come, and
Christ should suffer, and Christ should die in order to atone
for his sins. So, restore unto me the joy of
thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit, Then when
I teach transgressors thy ways, he could teach from a personal
experience. It wasn't a theory. It was a
personal experience. He walked it out. He proved it. It was the work of God in his
soul. Then when I teach transgressors
thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee, deliver
me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation. My
tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. Well, he had something
to sing about, didn't he? He had something to praise God
for. And so will we. The Lord has
been gracious to us. Delivered us from the cursed. Delivered us from our just desert. Shown to us our glorious salvation. Brought about through the sinister
death of the Saviour. That's something to sing about,
something to glory in. O Lord, open thou my lips, my
mouth shall show forth thy praise. Something truly to praise God
for, for thou desirest not sacrifice, else will I give it thou delightest
not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God or a broken
spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, that will not despise. Therefore, true confession comes
about in this way. It doesn't come about with a
self-righteous thought, a self-righteous walk. It comes about in this
way. And it is a sacrifice, an acceptable
sacrifice to Almighty God, broken spirit, a broken and a contrite
heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." Isn't that wonderful? Why doesn't
he despise us as we come to God in this way, with a broken and
a contrite heart? Because it is the blessed work
of the Holy Spirit. Do good in thy good, pleasure
unto Zion, build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Then shall thou
be pleased With the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt
offering and whole burnt offerings, then shall they offer bullocks
upon thine altar. Well, if we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. So as we commence with our thoughts
this evening, this is a great and glorious promise by Almighty
God. My friends, God is faithful today,
as he was with David. And as John was able to write
these words, we can bless God that we have such a God, a very
gracious God, a very merciful God. And you will find throughout
the Word of God, confession of sin, without any doubt, near
Maya. And they came back from Babylon.
What did he do? poor God confessed the sin of
the people. And they all stood and bowed
down before Almighty God. Yes, they confessed their sin.
And Jeremiah, in his day, confessed the sin of the people. And God
was gracious to them and dealt with them. And Daniel also, in
his life, he confessed the sin of the people. My friends, it
is a great blessing to be able to come and to come in line with
these great words, if we confess our sins. He is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And how is that done? He's told
us, as I've said in the seventh verse, we have fellowship, one
with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ. His Son cleanses
us. from all sin. Well, may we tonight
have the realization that by the grace of God, by the mercy
of God, and because of his amazing love towards us, we find that
we are under the plan, and because we're under the plan, we are
eternally safe, because we have been cleansed from all our sin,
and therefore it is well with our soul. Amen.