The Confession of Sin

Q: What does the Bible say about confession of sin?

The Bible teaches that confession of sin is essential for forgiveness, as highlighted in 1 John 1:9, which assures us that God is faithful to forgive our sins. The Bible emphasizes the importance of confessing our sins as a way to receive God's forgiveness. In 1 John 1:9, we are assured that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This highlights both God's mercy and His justice, enabling true reconciliation between God and sinners. Confession must come from the heart and be genuine, as it reflects an understanding of our need for grace and the acknowledgment of God's holiness. Our need for forgiveness is rooted in the reality that all men are sinners, as sin entered the world through Adam (Romans 5:12).

Q: How do we know that God is merciful?

The Scriptures reveal God's mercy throughout, particularly in Exodus 34, where He is described as merciful and gracious. God's merciful nature is a central theme in Scripture, clearly articulated in Exodus 34, where He reveals Himself to Moses as 'the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.' This passage reassures us of God's readiness to forgive and His delight in showing mercy. Psalm 130:3-4 echoes this by reminding us that though God could mark our iniquities, there is forgiveness with Him, which allows us to reverentially wait upon the Lord. God's mercy is exemplified in the gospel, where Christ came to save sinners (Luke 19:10). This portrays a God who actively seeks reconciliation rather than punishment.

Q: Why is confession important for Christians?

Confession is vital for Christians as it restores fellowship with God and cleanses from sin (1 John 1:9). Confession is a crucial aspect of the Christian life because it acknowledges our sins and our need for God's grace. In 1 John 1:9, the promise of forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness is tied to our willingness to confess. This act is not merely about admitting wrongs but encompasses a heartfelt turn towards God, recognizing His holiness and our dependence on His mercy. True confession fosters intimacy with God and prevents a hardening of the heart due to unacknowledged sin. It is foundational in maintaining a vibrant spiritual life, demonstrating our continual need for Christ's atoning work and the cleansing power of His blood.

I want to read for my text this
morning from the first epistle of John, 1 John chapter 1. I'm going to speak to you on
a most vital, vital and a most personal subject, the confession
of sin. the confession of sins. Tonight I'll be speaking from
1 Corinthians 12. If some of you want to read that
chapter, I'm going to try to go verse by verse tonight in
1 Corinthians 12 on the subject of the Church, his body. Let's read 1 John 1. beginning with verse 1, that
which was from the beginning, which we've heard, which we've
seen with our eyes, which we've looked upon in our hands of handle
of the word of life. For the life was manifested,
and we've seen it, and we bear witness and show unto you that
eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto
us. And that which we've seen and
heard declare we unto you, that you also may have fellowship
with us. And truly our fellowship is with
the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And these things
write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is
the message which we've heard of him and declare unto you that
God is light and in him is no darkness at all. Now if we say
that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, unbelief,
we lie and we do not the truth. But if we walk in the light,
And that light is the light of the glory of God in the face
of Christ Jesus, who is the light of the world. Yes, he is in the
light. And we have fellowship, one with
another. And the blood of Jesus Christ,
his Son, cleanses us from all sin. And we say we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves. But if we confess our sin, if
we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now if we say we have not sinned,
we make him a liar and his word is not in us. Now let me establish
several things before I come to this main body of the message,
confession of sin. If we confess our sins, If we
do, he is faithful, and he is just to forgive us our sins,
all of them, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now,
let me establish this. Number one, all men are sinners. Back there in verse 8, he said,
if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. That's from
the pulpit to the pew to the world. All men are sinners. Verse 10 says, if we say we've
not sinned, we make God a liar. That's what we are, we're sinners.
We sinned in Adam. By one man, sin entered this
world, and death by sin. And so sin and death passed upon
all men, for all sins. And not only that, but we were
born in sin. Now, you can't deny this. David
said it plainly, in sin my mother conceived me. I was shapen in
the womb in sin. I was brought forth from the
womb, speaking lies. The wicked are strained from
the womb, speaking lies the moment they're born. You don't have
to teach your children to lie. They're born knowing how. You
don't have to teach them to be selfish or proud or envious or
jealous, or to demonstrate the evil nature, they're born with
it. What we have to do is discipline them and correct them and teach
them and guide them that they might do the things that are
right. In Adam was sin, and we're born in sin, and we have sin
and we do sin. The Scripture says there's none
that doeth good and sinneth not. God looked down from heaven and
saw that every imagination of our heart is evil continually. The greatest love of our life
is self-love. It's our first love and last
love. We're born loving ourselves and we die loving ourselves.
We justify ourselves, we defend ourselves. Even the thought of foolishness
is seen. And not only that, but in God's
sight, even our righteousness is seen. have sin in them. We
don't ever do a perfect deed. We never have perfect faith.
We never have perfect love. We never engage in perfect worship. We never pray a perfect prayer.
Everything about us is motivated by our nature, because it comes
from us. He said we all do faith as our
iniquities have driven us away, even our righteousnesses are
filthy rags in God's sight. It is utterly impossible for
a natural man to do anything totally holy for the glory of
God. Impossible. That's just our nature
with sin. We sin since we've been in this
building. We've sinned since we've been
in this service. We've sinned since I've just
said that word. Because the commandment of God
is summed up in two. Love God with all your heart,
mind, soul, and strength, and not to do so is sin. And love
your neighbor as yourself, and not to do so is sin. And we've
done neither one. That's just so. All right, that's
the first thing. Glad we don't have to stop there,
don't you? Here's the second thing I wish to establish, and
there's no question about this. God, our God, is merciful. Our God is merciful. God will
forgive sin. That's established. That's just
as true as the fact we're sinners. God is holy and merciful. God
is love. We're darkness and God's light. We're evil and God is holiness. We're hate, God is love. That's
his nature. God delights to show mercy. That's what the Scripture says.
I don't know why preachers want to leave the impression that
God delights to show his wrath. He delights to show his mercy.
He's plenteous in mercy. David said in Psalm 130, Lord,
if thou shouldest mark iniquity, who could stand? But there is
forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be filled. That's his
name. Did you know that? Turn with
me to Exodus. I want you to look at this Scripture.
Goodness and mercy is the name of our God. Exodus 34, Exodus
chapter 34. You remember in chapter 33, Moses
says, show me your glory? God, show me your glory. And
the Lord said, I'll cause all my goodness to pass before you. That's my glory, my goodness. I'll be merciful to whom I will
be merciful. I'll be gracious to whom I will
be gracious. Look at verse 5 of Exodus 34. And the Lord descended in the
cloud. and stood with him there and
proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before
him and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth." That's the
name of our God. He delights to show mercy. His
everlasting covenant of grace is a covenant of mercy. He said,
I'll make a covenant with them after those days, and I'll put
my law in their hearts and write them on their minds, and their
sins and iniquities I'll remember no more. That's my covenant. Christ came to save sinners when
the angel announced the birth of the Son of God. He said, call
his name Jesus. He'll save his people from their
sins. That's why he came. He died to put away sin. He died
just for the unjust to bring us to God. Isaiah said, in Isaiah
53, he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him, by his stripes
we are healed. That's why he died. He said,
I die that you might live. And he lives to intercede Paul
in Romans 8 said this, Who can condemn me? Christ died, yea,
rather is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God,
who also makes intercession for us. And here in my text, John,
1 John, look at it. Look over at chapter 2 of 1 John.
He starts out this way, These things I write unto you,
that ye sin not, and if any man sin, we have an advocate, we
have a lawyer, we have an intercessor with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous. And he's a perpetuation by sin. That's why he died. Perpetuation
is mercy-seek, covering, blotting out. That's why he died. He lives
to intercede. And let me tell you something.
The gospel we preach is designed to save sinners. It's the power
of God and the salvation to everyone that believes it. You know, turn
with me to Acts 13. I want you to look at this, Acts
chapter 13. This is the gospel, if it's preached,
comes with the promise that God will forgive all who believe.
That's what he said to Acts 13. Turn He said to his disciples,
you go into all the world and preach the gospel, and he that
believeth shall be saved. He that believeth not will be
banished. That's the promise of the gospel. That's why we
preach it. Look at Acts 13.38. Be it known unto you therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you
the forgiveness of sins, of which you have and I have an abundant
supply. right? Sin, the forgiveness of
sin, in whom through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness
of sin, and by him all that believe are justified from all things. All things, all things. You mean
really all things? All things. You mean the really
bad? I mean the really bad. Because
the really bad might not be as bad as the really good you're
bragging about. That's right. Self-righteousness
is a greater sin in God's sight than murder. From all things from which you
could not be justified by the law of Moses, in whom we have
the forgiveness of sins, redemption through his blood. That's why
he came One day he was eating with some folks that weren't
very highly esteemed, back when our Lord walked the earth, and
the Pharisees, the religious fellows, saw him eating with
those publicans and harlots, and they were shocked. And they
said to his disciples, they said, Why does your master eat with
sinners? Why does he communicate with sinners? And our Lord heard
them, and he said this, The world do not need a doctor. You go
learn what that means. I'm not come to call the righteous
to repentance, but sinners. I've come to call sinners to
repentance. Our Lord came into this world
to save sinners. He died on that cross to save
sinners. He intercedes at the right hand of God for sinners.
Now, here's the third thing I want to say. And the Bible is full
of promises to those who confess their sins and believe on Christ. He said, Ho, everyone that thirsteth,
come to the water. And he that hath no money, come,
buy wine and milk. That's why he talks about the
promised land being a land of milk and honey. You come by it
without money and without price. Let the wicked forsake his way.
Let the unrighteous man forsake his thought. Let him return to
the Lord, and he will have mercy. Let him return to God. He'll
abundantly part you, abundantly part you, not just barely, abundantly. Matthew 11, 28, our Lord said,
Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, I'll Turn to Job 33. I want you to
look at this, Job 33. Job 33, verse 27 and 28. Job
33, 27 and 28. God looketh upon men.
Job 33, 27. I have sinned. I have sinned, and I have perverted
that which was right. What's perverted? Made crooked. That which is right. And it profiteth
me not. He will deliver his soul from
going into the pit, and his life shall see the light. Though all
these things worketh God often times with man, to bring back
his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of
the living. Can you say that, I've seen? Now, let's get to
my text. In 1 John 1, verse 9, if any
man say, I've seen, I've seen, he'll deliver his soul. He delivers his soul. And this
says here, verse 9, if we confess our sins, he's faithful. God's
faithful. He's faithful to his word, he's
faithful to his nature, he delights to show mercy. That's his nature.
We know a little bit about that, not a whole lot, but many of
you here, you delight to forgive, you delight to show mercy, don't
you? It's more blessed to give than
to receive. Some of you have experienced
that. You know the delight in giving, the delight in making
someone happy. Well, our God is infinitely more
merciful, infinitely more gracious, infinitely more love. Think how
He delights to show mercy. You understand what I'm saying?
What a joy it is to Him to show mercy. He delights to show mercy. He
pleads this at mercy. He just loves to do it. He loves to do it. He's faithful to his covenant,
he's faithful to his son, and he's faithful, and look at this
word, just. It's awfully important. He's
just. Christ Jesus came into the world to enable God to be
just and justifying. See, God being God can't just
overlooked sin, he's got to pardon it in such a way that he'll be
just. He's got to be faithful to his
law, he's got to be faithful to his justice, he's got to be
faithful to his truth. How can God show mercy and yet
deal with us in truth? How can God be gracious and yet
deal with us according to our deserts? How can God show love
and yet punish our sins in Christ? That's where mercy and truth
met together. That's where righteousness and
mercy kissed each other on the cross. So he's faithful and he's
just, listen, to forgive us our sins, all of them. Look at verse 7. The blood of
Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sins. How would you
like this morning to know that There was absolutely not one
charge against you in glory, not one spot on your record. Well, that's what he's talking
about right here. If we confess our sins, he's faithful, he's
just to forgive us all our sins. Forgive us. And our problem is,
I think a lot of times we forgive people, but you know it's awful
hard to forget it. It's just awful hard, isn't it? It's awful difficult. But he
said, I'll remember their sins no more. That's the mystery of
God. That's the mystery, that's the
riches of his grace, according to the riches of his grace. He
is such that he can forgive sin and remember it no more. That's
what it means to be justified. Justified is not pardoned, justified
is not paroled. Justified is not forgiven. Justified
is just as if I had never sinned, not guilty. That's justified.
I can't explain that, I just know it's truth. You have to
wait for the answer. But he justifies the ungodly. He's faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us, cleanse us from all, from all
unrighteousness. But notice there's a little word
I want to call your attention to in verse 9, if, if, if, if we confess our sins. I don't
mean to be, and I don't mean to a religious imposter, I mean
to him. to him, before him, from the
heart to him. No man ever came to God alone,
personally, individually, to God in true repentance and confession
of sin that did not find mercy. Now, never let it be said of
our God that any man asking it shall be given you. Seeking you
shall find, knocking it shall be opened. To him that asketh
he received it. What would you think of me if
someone came to me who had said something against me or done
something against me and said, Birch, I'm sorry and I confess
I was wrong, will you forgive me? What would you think of me
if I said, I'm sorry, I will not forgive you. You're going
to have to, you're going to have to make restitution. Well, you
say, you're a monster. Well, God is no monster. He's
infinitely more gracious than you and I could even want to
be, let alone be. No man ever came to the problem. Here's the problem. The problem
is finding a truly repentant heart. That's the problem. The problem is finding a genuine
confession of sin. That's the reason it has to be
done alone. It cannot be done through a That's the reason it cannot be
done through a religious soul winner. That's the reason it
cannot be done by a public act before man. It's got to be private,
it's got to be before God, it's got to be under God, because
it's got to be genuine. It has to be from the heart.
It cannot be a hypocritical, vain, self-justifying thing. We find a lot of that in the
scripture. Let me show you just a few of
these confessions. Turn to Exodus 9, Exodus 9. I'll try to be brief, but I want
to show you these. Exodus 9, verse 27. Here's a man confessing sin. I read in Job, if any man say,
I have sinned, God will deliver him, he'll deliver his soul.
But here's a man that said it, In Exodus 9, 27, Pharaoh sent
and called for Moses and Aaron, and he said, I have sinned this
time. The Lord is righteous and I and my people are wicked. This
is Pharaoh speaking. I have sinned. Well, you know,
God had sent the plagues, and he had seen God in mighty power
throughout the land of Egypt, and he was scared. And he didn't
know what was coming next. And so he said, I have sinned.
But when the plagues were over, the truth, the trial was removed,
the truth came out. He wasn't really sorry. He wasn't
really broken. He showed a wicked heart. So
this is not genuine. You see what I'm saying? This
is feigned. And this is what scares me about about trials. People go into great trials and
great problems, and they start confessing sin, start crying
to God. But after the sun comes back
out, they're like Pharaoh, they forget quickly. Turn to Numbers
22. And here's another confession
that wasn't genuine. In Numbers 22, this man's name,
Balaam, he was a preacher. You know, this is the strangest
man I've encountered in the scripture. At times he could speak so eloquently,
so beautifully about the glory of God. Then at other times I
see his covetousness and ambition doing anything for a handout.
That's right, in Numbers 22.17, the king promised him, Numbers
22.17, he promised old Balaam, Balaam was a prophet, a preacher,
he said, I'll promote you unto great honor, and I'll do whatever
you say to me, if you'll serve me." And Balaam did his best
to do so. And he met God. Do you remember?
The angel of the Lord appeared to him on one of his journeys,
and he's riding this donkey, and the donkey saw the angel
and bucked, and Balaam whipped And the donkey saw the angel
again, and he balked, and Balaam just kept on mistreating this
donkey. And finally, verse 30 of Numbers
22, the ass said to Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon whom thou
hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? Was I ever
wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay. Then the Lord
opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord
standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand. He bowed
down his head and fell flat on his face. And verse 34, he said
to the angel of the Lord, I've sinned. I've sinned. But you know, as
I continued to read about him, I didn't see him turning around
and going back. He went on in his covetousness
and ambition. So it wasn't real, was it? Let
me show you another one. Turn to 1 Samuel 15. These are
far examples. I want you to see this, 1 Samuel
15. This is Saul. I call Pharaoh the hardened sinner. He said, I've seen it. I call
Balaam the covetous sinner. I call Saul the insincere sinner. Here in 1 Samuel 15. verse 22,
1 Samuel 15, 22. Samuel said, "...hath the Lord
as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying
the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than
sacrifice, and to hearken than the pat of rams. For rebellion
is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity
and idolatry, because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has rejected you from being king." And Saul said, I have
seen him. I have seen him. Oh, I tell you,
I have seen him. I have transgressed the commandment
of the Lord and thy words. King Saul is a picture of insincerity. What happened after this? He
went down the same road. He still tried to kill David.
He knew David was God's anointed king. He still tried to destroy
him. And one time he saw David. David had come down and cut the
bottom of his robe off and went back up on the hill, and Saul
saw him, and he said, David, son, come on back home. I said,
I have done you right. Come on back home. But insincerity,
insincerity. Now here's another one, turn
to Joshua, back just a little bit, Joshua chapter 7. Now all
these people are saying, I have sinned, I have sinned. They're insincere and it's hypocritical
and it's out of a covetousness. Now here's a condemned man who
said, I've sinned. This is what you run into in
the jails today. This is what makes a I preached
in jails and prisons and communicated with men in jails and prisons,
and it's easier to get a hearing in a jail. Everybody gets religion. Everybody. And here's a fellow,
let me tell you a story, Achan. You remember, God destroyed the
walls of Jericho, and the people of Israel went in. But God told
them, don't take anything The silver and the gold will go into
the treasure of the Lord. But don't take any of their devotions,
or any of their gods, or any of their idols. Don't take any
of those things. Well, there's a man named Achan.
He saw a Babylonian garment and a wedge or tongue of gold, and
he took it and hid it in his coat. And then when he got back
home, he hid it in his tent. And so no one knew about it but
him, that devotion, that idol, that goal. And so then
they tried to take a little city called Ai, and they were whipped. I mean, Israel had just come
from that great victory at Jericho and went to this little city
of Ai, and the people whipped them. And Joshua was beside himself. He got down on his knees to pray,
Lord, what's happening? And the Lord said, Joshua, get
up. Get up. God stopped the prayer meeting.
He said, don't pray to me, don't talk to me. There's sin in the
camp. There's sin in the camp. There's
a fellow that's taken an arrow from Jericho against my commandments,
and I'm not going to bless you if you get rid of it. So that's
when Joshua faced Achan, after he'd been caught. Now look at
verse Joshua 7, verse 19. And Joshua says, Achan, my son,
give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel. Make confession
unto him, and tell him now what you've done. Don't hide it from
me. And Achan answered Joshua and said,
I've sinned against the Lord of Israel, and thus and thus
have I done." And they stoned him. But he didn't confess it
till Joshua exposed him. And that's the confession of
a condemned sinner, and I tell you, it's not much of a confession. What else could he do? servant of God standing right
in front of his face, and he had checked everybody else, but
he came to Achan and said, you've got it. And finally he said,
well, I've got it, I've seen it. But that's too late. Now turn to
a genuine confession, Luke chapter 15. Let's look at this. We've
seen the hardened sinner and the insincere sinner and the
covetous sinner and the condemned I looked at Luke 15. Here is
a young man. You know the story. I don't need
to tell you the story. Here were two boys, and their
father was a wealthy man, and one of them, the youngest son,
came and said, Father, give me whatever you plan to leave me.
Just give it to me now, and I'll go my way. And the father did.
He gave him a large sum of money or whatever, and he went down
into a wicked land. He wasted it, wasted everything. And it says here in verse 15,
and he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country
and he sent him unto his fields to feed the pigs. Can you imagine
a Jewish boy feeding pigs? That's about as low as they could
get, you know. And he would have fain, he would
fain have filled his belly with the husk that the swine did eat.
And nobody gave him a thing. This boy's in bad shape. But
he's not looking at a miracle, and he's not looking at a policeman,
and he's not looking death in the face. He's just in trouble. He's broke, he's bankrupt, he's
homesick, and he's in a far country, and he's alone, except for the
home. And listen to the next verse. He came to himself. He recognized
what he was. He recognized where he was. There
was no outside pressure exerted on him. They weren't going to
hang him the next day. He'd probably go on for many
years in this same condition. But he realized it was a bad
condition. You see what I'm saying? He realized
what he was. He realized where he was. He
came to himself. He came to himself. And listen
to what he's saying. And when he came to himself,
he said, how many hired servants of my father's have bread enough
and despair, and here I am starving, I'm in a mess, hungry, homeless,
wretched, weary, out here by myself. In other words, he considered
his state in the light of his father's riches. That's when
a man truly comes to recognize his sins, is when he recognizes
them in the light of God's holiness. This young man considered his
poverty in the light of his father's plenty. He considered his poverty
in the light of even the servants. He said, even the servants in
my father's house have bread to spare. My father's good to
servants. Not only sons, but servants.
I haven't in five years, too. You see, this man is doing some
thinking. He's not like Achan when Joshua
ran and said, you're the man. He's not like Saul when Samuel
came in and said, you shouldn't have done that. He's not like
old Pharaoh who got scared because something terrible was going
to happen again. This young man was where he was and what he
was. And he came to an understanding
of where he was and what he was in the light of what his father
was and what his father had. You see what I'm saying? And
I do believe that real conviction of sin does not come when a man's
whipped with the law. I believe real conviction and
understanding of sin comes in the light of God's goodness.
The goodness of God leads a man to repentance. Cecil, you see
that? It's the goodness of God. It's not the wrath of God. I
tell you, sometimes the wrath of God just makes us meaner. You can preach law. I can stand
up here and preach law. And you know what it'll make
out of you? It'll make rebels out of you. Either Pharisees
or rebels. It'll be one or the other. But
I can stand here and preach the love of God and the mercy of
God. And it'll make every one of us realize what we are and
who we are in the light of that mercy and that love. That's right.
And this young man sat down there, ragged and hungry and bummy,
and he thought, boy, in my father's house, the servants don't look
like me. My father's so generous and kind, even his servants have
bread left over. Isn't that what he said? The
spare. He's so good. I know what I'm going to do,
verse 18. I'm going to arise. I'm going
to go right to my father. I'm not going to go to one of
his ambassadors or one of his preachers or one of his servants.
I'm going to go to him. I'll tell you what I'm going
to do. He humbled himself. I'm going to say to my father,
Father, I've sinned. That's what I've done. I've sinned.
Where? I've sinned against heaven. Our
sins aren't against people. People are in the same boat we
are. You don't owe me anything. I don't owe you anything. as
far as this thing is concerned here. It's God against whom I've
seen it. That's right. When we rebel,
we're not rebelling against, we are rebelling against human
authority, but that's indirectly. We're rebelling against God.
That's, that's who we've got to get hold of. That's right. That little fella, when he rebels
against you, he wishes he didn't have anybody over Well, who put
that one over him? God did. Well, if he could get
rid of God, he wouldn't have anybody over him. That's honestly
what it is. David said, Lord, against thee
have I sinned. That's our problem. Our rebellion
is against him. And he says, Father, I've sinned
against heaven and before thee. Not against thee, before thee.
Man doesn't owe you an apology. No, no, no, no. No. We all together come before God
and apologize. That's where it is. Now, look
at this. He's not demanding a position. He's not claiming merit. He said,
I'm not worthy to be called your son. I wish the preachers of
today would read that. We're not worthy to be saved.
We're not worthy to be forgiven. We're not worthy to be children
of God. I'm not worthy to be called a son. Make me one of
your hired servants. Make me a hired servant. I just
want to be in your kingdom. I don't want to be one of the
officials and hold an office and get some prestige and power.
These preachers are always preaching on your rewards. There is no
such thing in the Bible. rewards for Christians. The word
rewards in the plural is not in the Bible for Christians.
It's not in there. Christ is our reward. But what preachers are doing
is they're making merchandise. They're trying to appeal to a
man's worthiness, and we don't have any worthiness. Make me
a hired servant. And he arose and came to his
father, and I want you to watch what he found. And when he was
a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran
and fell on his neck and kissed him. That's my heavenly Father. And the son said he had his speech
already, Father, and he meant it. I sinned against heaven and
in your sight. I'm not worthy to be called your
son. But the father said to his servants, bring forth the best
robe. put it on him, the best robe,
put a ring on his finger, shoes on his feet, and bring hither
the fatted calf, and kill it, and let's eat and be married."
My son was dead, and he's at my what? My son. He's always
been his son. And he's alive again. He was
lost, and he's found. And they began to be married. That's confession. And that's
the response to confession. My God is good. My God is gracious,
and he invites to show mercy. And you know something? That
confession of sin never stops. It goes right on. David, the
man after God's own heart, wrote Psalm 51 and said, I have sinned. I have sinned. My sins are ever
before me. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned. But this attitude of humility and confession and repentance
and coming to God never stops. But it has to start sometimes.
Father, I have sinned. Well, if we confess our sins,
faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. All right, we'll sing a song,
number, I think this is appropriate, 236, Amazing Grace. I sweep the
sound that saved a wretch like me. I was lost, but now I'm found. I was blind, but now I see."
Number 236.

The Confession of Sin

What does the Bible say about confession of sin?

How do we know that God is merciful?

Why is confession important for Christians?

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The Confession of Sin

What does the Bible say about confession of sin?

How do we know that God is merciful?

Why is confession important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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