Now if you will, open your Bibles
again to the Book of 1 John. The Book of 1 John. Now in the
first three verses of this chapter, John exalts and identifies our
Redeemer. Much like Job of old, who said,
I know that my Redeemer liveth. Or the Apostle Paul, who said,
I know whom I have to leave. And John says in verse 1 that
he was from the beginning. This Savior, this Redeemer is
from the beginning. He says down here in verse 3, that He was seen and heard and
we declare Him unto you. He was with the Father. He is
the Word of Life. The first verse, He said He was
from the beginning. He's the Word of Life. And if
you will, turn to chapter 5 and look at verse 20. He says, And we know that the
Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that
we may know Him that is true, and we're in Him that is true,
even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God. This is
the true God. And eternal life. And he says
this one, go back to chapter one, now this one that was in
the beginning, and was with the Father, and this one in whom
there is life, and this one who has come to give us an understanding,
verse 2, was manifested. Was manifested. He was manifested. And you notice in these verses
about three or four times John says we've heard him and we've
seen him. We've heard Him and we've seen
Him. He says that in verse 1. He says it again in verse 2.
We've seen. He says it again in verse 3.
We've seen and we've heard. And He even said our hands have
handled Him. He was truly made in the likeness
of sinful flesh. The Word of God, that which was
in the beginning with the Father, which was God, with God, He was
actually made in the likeness of flesh, and dwelt among us,
and we touched Him. We saw Him, and we heard Him,
and we touched Him. We touched Him. And then in verse
5, he sums up this message. He said, this then is the message. This is the message. This message
of the Son of God who has come. This is our message. This is
our message. Christ is our message. This One
who was with the Father, who was from the beginning, who's
manifested in the flesh, this one whom we've seen and heard,
our hands of handle of the word of life, he's our message. Now
my friends, the apostles preached Christ. Don't you turn to all
these scriptures, but let me just give you a few scriptures
here, and you listen while I read. I can turn rapidly to them and
read them for you. But in Acts 5.42, it says this,
now listen. And daily in the temple and in every house they
ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. He is the Apostle's message.
Then in Acts chapter 8 verse 5, listen to this. Then Philip
went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them.
He preached Christ to them. And then in chapter 8 verse 35, Speaking of the eunuch, it says,
And Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture,
and preached unto him Jesus Christ. Then in Acts 10, verse 36, listen
to this, The word which God sent unto the children of Israel,
preaching peace by Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. Then in Acts
11, I'm reading you what the apostles preached. Christ is
their message. Like John says, this is our message. That which was from the beginning,
which was with the Father, the Word of Life, who was manifested,
whom we saw, touched, handled, heard, He's our message. Listen to Acts 11, verse 20.
And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which when
they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching
the Lord Jesus." Preaching the Lord Jesus. And then in Acts
17, verse 3, listen to this, Acts 17, 3. I'll read verse 2 also. And Paul,
as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days
he reasoned with them out of the Scriptures. opening and alleging
that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead
and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ. I preach
Jesus. Acts 28, listen to this scripture,
Acts 28 verse 31, Acts 28 31. And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received
all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching
those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence,
and no man forbidding him." Here's Paul, we're talking about at
the end of his journey, just prior to his martyrdom, in prison,
in his own hired house, but he was under restraint, and he dwelt
there two years, and everybody that came to him, he'd receive
them, and he'd preach to them and teach them, but what did
he preach? He preached and taught those things which concerned
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he preached. This
is the message. You can't improve on it, you can't preach it too
much. It's Christ. Listen to Romans 15. Romans 15
verse 19. Listen to this. Romans 15, 19
says, through mighty wonders, through mighty signs and wonders
by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and
round about and to Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel
of Christ. I have fully preached the gospel
of Christ. Of course, you're familiar with this scripture,
1 Corinthians 17, Paul said, 1 Corinthians 1, 17,
Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Verse
23, but we preach Christ crucified, under the Jew a stumbling block,
under the Greek's foolishness. Chapter 2, verse 2, he said,
I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. And then I believe the verse
that sums up the ministry of these faithful apostles is found
in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 5. For we preach not ourselves. We preach not ourselves, but we preach Jesus Christ the
Lord, and ourselves your servants for Christ's sake. All right,
go back to 1 John 1. John exalts and identifies the
Redeemer. That which was from the beginning,
with God was God, all things made by Him for His glory. He
was literally and actually manifested. The Word became flesh and dwelt
among us, and we touched Him. Our hands handled Him. Our ears
heard His voice. Our eyes gazed, as Tom said,
upon Him. He was manifested to us. And
He said, and this is our message. And this is our message. And
it's our message, verse 4, these things rightly unto you, number
1, that your joy may be full. And number 2, this then is a
message which we've heard of him and declare unto you that
God is light and in him is no darkness at all. And back in
verse 3 he said, we've seen him and heard him and declare him
unto you that you also may have fellowship with us. and our fellowship
with the Father and with his Son. And then in verse 7, verse
6 and 7, the Apostle John identifies true disciples. He says, if we
say that we have fellowship with him, and the tenor of our lives
and the bent of our wiggle and the direction of our walk is
in darkness, we're lying. We're not telling the truth.
Because if we walk in the light, and that's the light of the revealed
word, the light of the gospel, the light of fellowship with
Christ as he is in the light, if we walk in the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. In other words, it matters
not what a man says, and that's what we're getting at here, what
he's getting at. It matters not what a man says or what a man
professes, It's what a man is inwardly. And what he is inwardly
is daily revealed in his attitude, in his conversation, in his conduct,
and in his walk. And now, here's the fourth thing
in this first chapter. And this is the scripture I've
chosen for my text. John encourages and John demands
an honest heart before God. He says it's divided into four
parts. He's talking about He exalts
our Redeemer. He said He was from the beginning.
And He said He's manifested us. We've seen Him and heard Him.
Our hands have handled Him. And we've declared Him to you.
We've declared Him to you. And He sums up His message. He
said in Christ is our whole message. He's our whole message. And if
that message is heard rightly and experienced rightly, it will
put us in the light of Christ, in a daily walk with Christ,
like Enoch walked with God, and fellowship with God, and communion
with God, and a living, vital, personal union with God. But,
he said, this is all born of an honest heart. Now, watch this. He says in verse 6, now, three
times he says, but if we say it, If we say, if we say, verse
6, if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness,
we lie and do not the truth. Verse 8, if we say we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Verse
10, if we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word
is not in us. The Lord will not speak to us
or be spoken to by us on the ground of appearance, on the
ground of pretension. It is only on the basis of an
honest, sincere, open heart that God will deal with a sinner.
The only ground upon which God will deal in mercy with any man
is on the ground of honesty and truth. I want you to read three
verses here, 1 Samuel 16, verse 7. Now listen, I want you to
turn to these because these are important to the point that I'm
making. Now man loves fiction. God deals
in fact. John tells us that our Lord Jesus
Christ performed many miracles, and when he did, many believed
on him because of the miracles which they saw. But he didn't
commit them after them because he knew their hearts. God doesn't
deal in appearance, but in truth. Man deals in fiction. God deals
in fact. Man sees things as they appear. God sees things as they are.
Man looks on the outward appearance. God looks on the heart. It's
not what I profess that appeals to God and reaches God. It's what I am. Now, look at
verse 7 of 1 Samuel 16. But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not
on his countenance, look not on the height of his stature,
because I have refused him. For the Lord seeth not as man
seeth. For man looketh on the outward
appearance. Man dresses up the body. Men cloak their true feelings. Men disguise their words. Man
looks on the outward appearance. Man gives careful attention to
the outward appearance. Man dresses up the outward appearance. Man seeks approval. He seeks
approval, but God looks on the height. Now that's what John
is driving at. If we say we have no sin, if
we say we have fellowship, if we say these things, This doesn't
impress. It may impress others, but it
doesn't impress God, because God looks on the higher. God
is light. In Him there's no darkness, and
out of this attribute of His nature arises the fact that the
Lord always deals with people not as they're sent to be, but
as they are. Now look, turn to another scripture,
Luke 16. Luke chapter 16, verse 15. Luke 16, 15. In the 16th chapter of Luke,
verse 15. And he said unto them, and this
is the way we are. This is the way we are. He said
unto them, Ye of age, which justify yourselves before me. But God knoweth your heart. For
that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in
the sight of God. Turn to another scripture, Hebrews
chapter 4. Hebrews the fourth chapter, verse
12 and 13. Hebrews 4, 12 and 13. Now watch this carefully. Verse 12, For the word of God
is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing,
even, to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart. This is where this business of fellowship with God,
this business of repentance, this business of faith, this
business of worship, This is where it all takes place, in
the heart. And the Word of God is that which
pierces and discerns. Discern is understand. It understands
the thoughts and intents of the heart. What says, neither is
there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all
things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we
have to do. Now you just, you just think about that. We meet
together and we carry our Bibles and we try to get as pious as
we can and we close our eyes and we bow our heads and we go
through the motions. We sing the hymns, we read, we
pray, we give. And all of this, it sort of impresses
ourselves and we impress others. And folks are saying he's a fine
Christian man, he sure relives his religion, this sort of thing.
But the discerning eye, the discerning eye of God, and God's knowledge goes past
this maneuver. It goes past the smile, the expression. It goes past the countenance.
It goes past the appearance. It goes past the words that are
said. It goes down past the standing. the kneeling, the bowing. It
goes past all these things and gets down into the intent and
the motive and the thoughts of the heart. And that's what John's
talking about here. He talks about this great Redeemer,
this Savior of sinners, this Redeemer sent from God, this
unspeakable gift of God's grace who came to this earth, given
to us, was touched haven't even solved it. He's our message,
and to know Him, to walk with Him, is to have fellowship with
God, to have the fullness of joy. But it's not in what we
say. It's not in what we profess.
It's not in what we claim. It's not even in what we practice.
Oh, I know a true believer is known by his walk, I know that. I know that. A true believer,
what he is, is revealed in his walk. But I have an article in
the bulletin, it's next week I have it in the bulletin. But
true faith will produce works of righteousness. But outward works of righteousness
is no guarantee of true faith. In other words, if a man has
true faith, it will be evidenced by outward works of righteousness.
But a man may have all these outward forms and arms and deeds
and still not have faith. And God looks on the heart, that's
where it's done. And the natural tendency, this
is just natural with all of us, the natural tendency of human
nature is to try to appear to be what we're not. That's just
our tendency. It's to try to claim to have
what we don't have. It's to try to give the impression
that we really know when we don't know. Why do we do this? I know
why we do it in the flesh. Like, when I was in the Navy,
I went into the Navy as an apprentice seaman, then I got to be a seaman
second class, and that's one step above nothing. I was down
in New Orleans, and I caught a ship down there, LST 587, it
was going to the Pacific. And I was a second-class seaman.
That's just, well, you have the captain of the ship, and then
you get clear down to the bottom, and that's a second-class seaman.
Nothing. Nothing. That's just a doormat,
white steel. And I went aboard that ship as
a second-class seaman, and the first day aboard, they put me
down cleaning out the bilges. That's as low down in the ship
as you can go, cleaning out those nasty Belgians. And while I was
down there cleaning out those things, I thought, if I ever
get out of here, I'm not coming back. And that night, I went
up to my bunk, and the fellow that was on the bunk above me,
he said, his name was Buter, Thomas Buter, from up Pennsylvania
somewhere. And I was telling him how I hated
the Belgians, and I hated down there below decks, and the black
gang, and all that sort of thing. That's the black gang, not people
now. Not racism here. That was what they called the
fellas that machinists. They were the black gang. Anyway,
I told him how I hated it, and he said, well, we need a signalman
up on the conning tower. I said, that's where I'd like
to be in the sunshine, up on the conning tower, on the bridge.
He said, well, why don't you tomorrow morning go see the the
communications officer, and tell him you want to be a signalman.
And I said, he's going to ask you if you know the flags, and
if you know the semaphore, and if you know the lights, and if
he asks you, tell him you know them. I said, but I don't know
them. He said, well, you better tell him you know them, because you're
not going to get that job if you don't know them. He said,
I'll teach them to you. Every night we'll work. He said, you
can't send signals at night anyway, because there's a blackout. And
he said, he was on board the ship. And he said, I'll help
you. So I went up there the next morning,
and Mr. Flint was the executive officer's
name. And he said, you want to strike for signal? And I said,
yes, sir. He said, do you know the flags? I said, yes, sir.
He said, you know the semaphore? I said, yes, sir. He said, can
you read light? I said, yes, sir. He said, well,
stand watch tomorrow night. So I went up and told Guter,
I said, I'm going to watch tomorrow night. He said, well, nighttime,
if you need him, come down and get me. But nothing happened.
I got off along just fine. But that's pretense. I understand
why a man does that in the world, because you've got to bluff a
little bit to get ahead. But not here. Not here. Not with God. I don't understand
why any of us, me, you, or anybody else wants to play games with
God. Do you? Because he sees the heart. You see that man,
Mr. Flint, said he couldn't tell
I was lying. He didn't know I was lying. He was sitting there to
death and I was telling him all these things. He couldn't see my heart,
but God can. So why would I lie to God? I
know why I lied to Mr. Flint. I won't die of the Belgians. But why would I lie to God? I'll
tell you why we do it. There are four reasons. Number
one, it's an ignorant of his holiness. being an ignorant of
God's holiness. He said, you don't know me or
my Father. When a man really comes to know the holiness of
God, like Job, he hits the dust. When a man comes to know the
holiness of God, like Isaiah, he says, I'm undone. When a man
comes to know the holiness of God, like Daniel, he says, my
comeliness melts into corruption. When a man comes to know the
holiness of God, like John, he falls at his feet as a dead man,
when he knows the holiness of God. And the only reason why
a man will play games with God is he's unaware and he's not
knowledgeable of the holiness of God. Secondly, I'll tell you
why we play these games of religion, fear of rejection. Rejection
by people. Fear of rejection makes people
pretend. I dare not disclose my real self. I dare not disclose my real thoughts. Well, I'd be cut off. I'd be
disliked. I couldn't stand with the Apostle
Paul and say, I'm the chief of sinners, poor wretched man that
I am. People say, well, you say that,
but they think you don't mean it. They think it's theology. They don't think it's coming
from the heart. And then third reason why we
pretend is love of approval. We love the praise of men. We
seek the honor. Christ said you seek the honor
that comes from men, not the honor that comes from God. And
the fourth reason, most men basically believe that eternal life comes
as a result of works, and therefore they do these things and profess
these things, hoping God will give them eternal life on the
basis of what they do. Turn to Matthew 6, and listen
to our Lord here. Oh, how He condemns this pretense.
How He condemns this hypocrisy. How He condemns this outward
show. He says in Matthew 6, now listen to our Lord here. In Matthew
chapter 6, verse, take heed, be careful that you do not your
arms, your righteousnesses, that you do not your righteousness
before men to be seen of them, to seek their approval or to
avoid their rejection Otherwise, you have no reward. You have
no reward whatsoever of your father which is in heaven. None
at all. No regard, no reward, no blessing,
no reception, no acceptance, no favor. No favor. Therefore,
when you do your righteousness, don't sound the trumpet before
you as the hypocrites do in the street and in the synagogue in
the street, that they may have the glory of men. I say unto
you, they have their reward. In other words, this is what
our Master said. Be so careful that you're praying,
and you're reading the Word, and you're preaching, and your
gifts, and your kindnesses, and your alms. And whatever you do,
whatever you do in the name of God, whatever you do spiritually,
whatever you do in the righteous realm, whatever you do, offer
a man a ride on the street, or assist a lady across the street,
or go down and help a widow, or whatever you do, be careful,
be so careful that that intent and motive behind that deed or
that word is not to the scene of men. For if that's the motive,
when men see you and praise you, that's it. That's it. You sought their praise, you
got it, that's your reward. You sought their approval, you
got their approval, that's your reward. You sought their honor,
you got their honor, that's your reward. That's it. But when you
do these things, But when you do your alms, your righteousness,
anything, when you do it, now I know that times when you do
things, people are going to see you, people are going to hear
you, and people are going to honor you, and people are going
to thank you, and people are going to brag on you. But you've
got nothing to do with that result. What you've got to do with is
the intention. What you've got to do with is
the motive. What you've got to deal with is what started the
whole thing, not the results of the whole thing. And he said,
so when you do your alms, don't broadcast it. Don't even let
your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Do your
alms in secret, and your Father which seeth in secret shall reward
thee. Oh, God knows the heart. God sees the heart. And God honors
that which is done in his name and for his glory. And verse
5, and when you pray, when you pray, when you intercede, when
you bear another to the throne of grace, when you pray, when
you worship, don't be like the hypocrite. They love to pray
standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets
that they may be seen of men. I say unto you, they have their
reward. They have it. When men see them,
when men praise them, that's it. But when you pray, enter
your closet, and when you shut the door, pray to the Father
in secret, and your Father which seeth in secret shall reward
you openly." That's what we're talking about here. Here's the
truth of the whole matter. Here's this truth of approach
to God, of fellowship with God, of communion with God, of true
worship, of a true relationship. It is a heart matter. It is not
a profession. It's not an outward claim. It's
not an outward duty. It's not the fulfilling of requirements
and responsibilities. It's a heart relationship. And
that loving heart relationship will produce these things rightly. Now, let's look at four things,
and I'll try to do it reasonably quickly. But I want you to listen
to these four things. He deals with verse 6, 13. Now, verse 6, he said, If we say that we have fellowship
with God, what is that? That's a religious profession.
I say that I have fellowship with God. I say that. But if
I say that and my walk, my walk, that is the tenor of my life
and the direction of my life and the bent of my will is in
darkness, I'm alive. In other words, if I say that
I know God, I know God, I believe God, and yet I deny His sovereignty
and deny His purpose in all things, I'm walking in darkness. I'm
not talking about the God of light. If I say that I know God
and love God and I don't have a real interest in His Word,
And I don't have a real interest in his worship, if I don't have
a real interest in his glory, if I'm not identified with the
things of God, I'm lying. I'm just saying I know God. If
I say that I love God, know God, and yet I love not his people,
John says I'm a liar, he that loveth not knoweth not God. If
I say that I know God and love God and yet I'm a self-centered
person and a selfish person and I show no generous spirit toward
others, I'm lying and the truth's not in me. If I say I know God
and love God and yet I walk in the world and with the world
and seek the fellowship and communion of the world, now Paul says,
what fellowship has light with dirt? What communion does Baal
have with God? This is not the way it is. If
we say we have fellowship with God and walk in darkness, we
are liars. And we're certainly not doing
the truth. But, verse 7 says, if we walk in the light, in the
light of Christ, in the light of his gospel, in the light of
his presence, in the light of his mercy, in the light of his
revealed will, in the light of his commandments, he's in the
light, then we have blessed fellowship with him. Whatever the world
thinks, our fellowship with him is with him, and the blood of
Christ cleanseth us from all sin. All right, look at verse
8. Now, he said, if we sin, we have no sin. And while Tom was
reading that, he said, that's original sin. Notice he said
it's singular, S-I-N. if we say we have no sin. Now
my friend, we deceive ourselves. We are deceived. And the truth
is not in us. Now sin is not a technical term
or a theological term. Sin is a nature. S-I-N. S-I-N is not a technical term
or a theological term. It's a nature. It's a nature. Most people, most religious people
are determined, now listen to this, most religious people are
determined to present themselves, not only before God, but before
men and before themselves and their deceit, as basically good
by nature, but possessing some faults. That's exactly the way,
that's the way we present ourselves. We are, we present ourselves
as basically good, basically we're good people. We have some
faults and sins in this area and that area and the other area,
but basically we're good people. But the truth of the matter is
that we're basically bad. And occasionally we do something
good. Now that's true, that's true. And that's what if we say
that we have no S.I.N., that we're not basically bad and evil,
then we're lying, we're deceiving. The truth hadn't dawned on us
yet. But I guarantee you that's the way the average person regards
this human race, especially Americans, especially religious people.
We're basically good, and occasionally we say what we ought not say,
and we do what we ought not do, and we go where we ought not
go. But the Scripture tells us that
we're basically bad. And occasionally we say something
worthwhile. And occasionally we do something
commendable. That's right. I'm telling you.
Only the restraining hand of God keeps all of us from the
lowest criminal act. Did you know that? I know that's
hard to take, but it's so. The only reason you're not in
prison right now is the restraining hand of God. The only reason
that last time you got mad at a person, you didn't kill him,
is God restrained you. That's the only reason. You look at that fellow that
sold the secrets to the Soviet Union and betrayed his own nation
for money. The only reason you didn't do
it is because you didn't have the secrets, and they didn't
offer you the money, and God restrained you. That's simple. I don't care what people say.
The nature's there, the evil's there, and the potential's there.
And I'm telling you this. This is where it all is. This
is where the whole battle's fought. Don't mistake sovereign restraint
for personal holiness. That's what most people do. They
mistake sovereign restraint for personal holiness. By His grace
that I'm kept from any sin, any moment of any day. To deny that
is to be deceived. That's what it says. You are
deceived. The man professes to know God
and love God, and yet his walk and direction is in darkness. That's generally speaking. Now,
the child of God walks in light, the light of Christ. Occasionally,
he steps in darkness. Oh, yes, you do. Occasionally,
the cloud of darkness is over you. The child of darkness walks
in darkness, and occasionally, he does something worthwhile.
That's right. And he appears to be a child
of light. But the tenor of a man's life, the bent of his will, the
direction of his attitude and conversation and thought, day
by day, is in the light. He walks with God. That's a man
who's been redeemed. We may say that we know God,
but this is not the direction and the bent of the will and
the tenor of the life, generally speaking, a man doesn't know
God. But here's the real problem.
If we say we have no S-I-N, we have no basically bad nature,
evil nature, corrupt nature, fleshly nature, capable, capable,
except for the restraining hand of God, of any sin. And we're deceived. We're deceived. And the amazing thing is that
the truth's not in us. Religion may be in us, but the
truth's not in us. You say, do you have to preach that all the
time? I have to preach that all the time for a person to really
appreciate the love of God, and the grace of God, and the mercy
of God. I have to preach that all the time and for a person
really to trust Christ. If I'm deceived and I can't see
that basically bad, evil nature that's in my blood that's corrupted
me from the sole of my feet to the top of my head, I really
can't appreciate Christ and I won't really trust him. I'll keep reaching
back for something in me. Now here's the third thing. Verse
10, you say you skipped a verse, I'm coming back to it. Verse
10, if we say, if we say that we have not sinned, S-I-N-N-E-D,
we have not sinned, we make God a liar, a word not in his power.
We've not sinned today, we've not sinned today. Augustus' top
lady, this is interesting. Augustus Toplady, who lived only
38 years, he lived in 1740 to 1778. He was the editor of the
gospel magazine, prolific writer, and author of the book of the
song Rock of Ages. But Augustus Toplady took a mathematical
approach to seeing, a mathematical approach to seeing. He calculated
that we see him every second, every second. And that being so, he said a
man, if he lives to be 80 years of age, has broken God's law
2,522,880,000 times. We've got two and a half billion
sins. And John says, if you say you haven't You make God a liar. Oh, we've
seen it. Oh, we've seen it. There's none
good, none righteous, there's none that understand it. I tell
you really, I don't think the religious American public has
any idea what sin is. I really don't. I think there
are people right here between the walls of this building that
couldn't give you a good definition of sin. It's difficult to define
sin. The Bible says that the thought
of foolishness is sin, transgression of the law is sin, to know to
do good and do it not is sin. But my friends, sin is not just
the presence of hate, it's the absence of love. You say, I don't hate anybody.
Yep, you don't love anybody either. Sin is not only to do evil, it's
to neglect to do good. When I'm not doing good, I'm
sinning. I may not be that evil. Sin is not only to steal, it's
to fail to give. Sin is not only an act, it's
a thought, or the lack of a thought, a good thought. Sin is not only
complaining. You say, I don't complain. But
sin is failure to praise God. Sin is not only covetousness,
but it's failure to be satisfied. Sin is not only fleshly desire,
but spiritual indifference. Sin is not only to wound with
words. You say, when you wound people with words, you sin. You
wound them with silence sometimes, too. Sin is not only to speak evil,
it's to fail to speak good. Sin is not only a deed, but a
look. I never said anything, you looked. Sin is not only to think lowly
of someone, it's to think too highly of yourself. That's the reason, Paul, or John
says, you say you have not seen. This moment, you make God a liar. Because God said, But all it
seemed had come short of his blow." Where is the publican
today? Where is the cry of the publican, God be merciful to
me this evening? Where is the cry of the thief
on the cross who said, I receive a due reward for my deeds, but
this man hath done nothing amiss? Where is the David's who write,
have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness, blot out
my transgression? Wash me throughly from mine iniquity,
cleanse me from my sin. I acknowledge my transgression,
my sin is ever before me. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall
be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter
than the snow." This, and here we come to the fourth thing,
verse 9, and here it is. But, if we confess our sins, Now, this is a choice everybody
has to make. Are we going to say we have fellowship
with God while the evidence is not there? Are we going to say
that we're not basically bad when the evidence is there? Are
we going to say that we have not sinned and make God a liar?
Or are we going to come down to this thing of Confession of sin. I want you
to turn to Genesis 32. I want you to listen to this.
I just love this. I just flat love this statement
here. Genesis 32. This is old Jacob. And I'll tell you, we need to
be identified with Jacob, don't we? Genesis 32. Old Jacob said in Genesis 32,
verse 9. Now listen to him. Jacob said, O God of my father
Abraham, God of my father Isaac, the Lord would saith unto me,
Return unto thy country, unto thy kindred, and I will deal
well with thee." Now remember, this man's praying alone. He
hasn't got an audience. He's not trying to impress anybody.
Verse 10, I am not worthy. I am not worthy of the least
of all thy mercies. And I'm not worthy of all thy
truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant. For with my
staff I have passed over this Jordan, and I have become two
bands. I am just not worthy of the least, least thing." Don't
you like that? I'm not worthy. In verse 11, he said, Deliver
me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand
of Esau. I fear him, lest he come and smite me and the mother
with the children. Now here's the basis on which
he prays. I'm not worthy, but he said, but you said, you said,
I will surely do thee good. That's what I'm pleading. That's
the basis on, but you said, see what I mean? I'm not worthy of
the least mercy, and I can't instill that in you. I can preach
the accuracy of it and the truth of it, and the necessity of it,
but there's not any way in the world that I can instill my experience,
that truth in you. That's got to be God-given. Stripped,
broken, humbled, brought down, I'm not worthy of the least of
your mercies, the least of them, even a drink of water. I'm not
worthy of the truth you revealed to me. The most inconsistent
thing under heaven and this side of hell is a proud Christian.
How can a man be proud of grace, whenever a bit of it is given
to him? But he said, you say it. So watch here in our text. Here's what he said. He said,
Preacher, you made us feel so low and rotten and dirty and
filthy and no count and incapable and unable. and shiftless and
far from God and aliens and strangers and without hope, without God,
without Christ, sure, that's what we are by nature. But if
you've got the grace to confess it, he's got the love to forgive
it. That's what I'm saying. If you
can. Now, he didn't say confess your
sins to men. We confess our faults to one
another, but not our sins. There's nothing men can do about
your sins. There's nothing they can do about
it. They're guilty of the same things.
And getting the burden off your chest is not going to get it
off the books of God. That won't do it. You say, I
just feel so much better. I told my mother what I did.
Don't feel better because before God it's still down. Telling
mother never helped you. Isn't that right? I just feel
so much better. I've told people about my sins.
Well, they're too unholy to forgive and too unholy to forget. You're
wasting your time. But if we confess our sins to
God, now He can do something about it. And He's holy enough
and loving enough and gracious enough not only to forgive, He
said, but to remember them no more. And I'll tell you, when you feel,
and I listen to these things and I'll quit, when you feel
that all is wrong within you, everything is, like John Newton
said, when I look within, all is wild and dark. Well, when
you feel that, you just feel what's so. You're just facing
the truth. For it is all wrong. And only
Christ can make it right. It is all wrong. And when you
feel that you're desperately bad, desperately bad, desperately
wicked, remember, you're worse than you think. That's exactly,
I'm telling you the truth. In God's sight. Because it's
not possible for you to understand the depths of sin like God understands. You say, I just feel so rotten.
You're rottener than that. When you feel that your sins
are more than you can bear, they are. But they're not more than
he can bear. He's able to save to the uttermost. He said, though your sins be
like scarlet, though they be red like crimson, I'll make them
white as snow. White as snow. What a Savior. When we confess that we're lost,
we are. We're plumb lost. But he came
to save the lost. That's good news. That's good
news. You say, I'm just lost. Well, he's going to find the
lost. Are you really? Are you really? Now, are you just popping
off, or are you really lost? If I can find somebody that says,
lost, lost, lost, I'm going to say, save, save, save. Because
he's going to save all lost people. Oh, I'm a wretched sinner. I'm
going to tell you, God loves you. Christ died for you. If
you really believe that now, you're not just saying that.
If that's before God from the heart, that's a heart cry. When
you feel that you're ungodly, remember, he died for the ungodly.
That's what the Bible said. That's exactly right. When you
feel that you ought to be sent to hell, you ought When you feel
that God would be just to damn you, you're right. That's what
David said. But I'll tell you this, but God
is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us even,
even when we were dead in sin. Dead. Now, dead is totally lifeless,
godless, hopeless. But even when we were dead and
polluted in our blood and cast out to be destroyed, God said,
I passed by you. And it was a time of love. Only
God can love like God loves. Only God can love the unworthy,
the undeserving. And that's the kind of folks
in Christ He loves. God's love is not this namby-pamby,
pussy-footin', sentimental love that the religious folks talk
about today, it's a just and righteous and holy love that
demonstrates his attribute of grace in Christ. That's God's
love. It's a love you can't escape.
It's a love you can't lose. It's a love you can't explain.
It's an infinite. He said, I've drawn you with
an everlasting love. And it's only characteristic
of him and him alone. And it's only in Christ. Everything
else is wrath and judgment and condemnation. But if you can
find yourself a sinner, I mean a bona fide, genuine, unadulterated,
self-confessed, hell-deserving sinner, if you can find yourself
desperately wicked, If you can feel your sins are more than
the hairs of your head, innumerable, if you can lay yourself bare
before God as an unworthy, ungodly, lost sinner, dead in trespasses
and sin, you can be, by His grace, an object of His mercy. God's going to meet us on the
basis of truth in the world. Is what I've been saying truth?
And that's where God will meet you. Now you say, I've never
been there, I've just never experienced that, then you never met God.
Because the religious God of today may play games. The religious
God of today may be fooled by your smiles and they get to the
end of the prayer, Amen and Amen. The religious God of this day
may be impressed with all that waving of the hands. and all
that hope to do, and all that put on, and all that calling
and pledging, and doing all this healing. The God of this present
day religion may be impressed with that trash, but the God
of the Bible knows the heart. And that's where he does business,
in the secret, quiet recesses of the heart. And that's where
he deals with sinners. It ain't pushing up and down
aisles and shaking preacher's hand and making I say, I say,
I say, I say. Quit saying and get in the closet.
Start confessing. And confession is repentance.
That's what confession is. Confession is repentance. Confession
is faith. Because without faith, I'd never
approach Him in confession. Exactly. Without faith, I'd never
come to that place. I believed God. What brought
me to that place? What brought me to the closet?
My sins? my despair, my guilt, and my
faith in Him who told me to get there. That's right. All this healing for the sick,
soul sick, this life for the dead, this clothing for the naked,
this sight for the blind, this freedom for the captive, but
there ain't nothing for the religious. That's right, John, not a thing.
None of that. That's good news. Our Father, thank you for your
word. Oh, what fumbling characters
we are, what frail creatures, such great things, and we We just stumble and fumble along.
But Lord, take the word, take the word, take the message, and
use it for your glory, for our good. It's here. If we can have
eyes to see it, it's here. And like John who said, we see,
we have seen him. We can see him. I've heard him. We can hear him in his word.
My hands have handled him. My heart has experienced him.
and my heart loves him. Bless this word tonight according
to your will, for the glory of Christ we pray. Amen.