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Weimar University

Don Mackintosh

True Confession

And oh God, our help in ages past and our hope for days to come.

Today we're going to talk about that text that we just heard, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Father in heaven, thank you for the reminder that you are our help in ages past and our hope for years to come.

But enter in just now in the present to speak to us a word now that could give us confidence based on the past as we move into the future.

I normally have all of my notes up on the screen so you can follow more carefully, but today I just have a bare bones outline.

So if you're wanting to really take notes, it might even activate your reticular activating system in your brain.

And you could actually Remember things actually even longer if you take notes.

Talking about confession, I believe it's important, first of all, to start with the reason we need confession.

And the reason is that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

So look at that person next to you and say, that's you.

And anyone that knows to do right and is not doing it, that's a sin.

Now the person next to you may not believe they're really a great sinner.

If they say they have no sin, 1 John 1 says, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

So all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Now some people sin ignorantly and they need instruction.

Proverbs 16, 25, there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end is the way of death." So some people can think they're doing what's right, but not be doing what's right.

In fact, they can think they're doing what's right so firmly that they actually love what they're doing.

So John 3 19 says, they loved darkness rather than light.

And the thing about sin is that it eventually catches up with you.

The Bible talks about the fleeting pleasures of sin in Hebrews 11, 24 and 25.

It talks about having pleasure in unrighteousness in 2 Thessalonians 2.

It talks about exalting, the exalting of the wicked is short and the joy of the godless but for a moment.

But still there's exalting and there's joy and there's pleasure and it seems so good.

Ultimately, what starts to happen is people begin to groan.

When I kept silent, my bones grew old through all my groaning all the day long, for your hand was heavy, heavy upon me and my vitality turned to drought.

How many of you have ever in your life been involved in sin and it seemed so great right at first.

But once you do it, you can never really do it again because your brain cells are blown up and you never quite have that sense and you never can get there and you begin groaning and wanting more and more of something that is fleeting, it's going away.

This is why the Bible says in Proverbs 13, 15, the way of transgressors may not seem like it at first, but it's hard.

And oh God, our help in ages past, the 1 who helps us in the stormy blast reminded me of this text, the wicked are like a restless tossing sea, churning up mud and dirt, Isaiah 57, 20.

So not only is the sea the ocean sometimes a hazard but being among those that are wicked or being wicked ourselves it's like turning up mud and it gets worse and worse and less we think it doesn't happen in the Advent movement, we're reminded by that sixth church of Laodicea who is described as being wretched, miserable, poor, naked, and blind.

So all of sin, sin works slowly but leads to death.

Don't eat of this tree or touch it or you will die.

Through 1 man's sin entered the world and death through sin and so death spread to all men because all sin, Romans 5.12.

Some people do it ignorantly and they need instruction.

And Romans 7 talks about the wretched man, oh wretched man that I am, Who would deliver me from this body of sin and death?

I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So how many of you are thankful that there is deliverance from sin and death?

Now that text was quite graphic because in that era when you did something to someone else, sometimes they would actually tie you to the person that you had killed face to face, hand to hand, leg to leg, and you rotted to death.

And there was no deliverance unless someone cut you away from that corpse.

So in that day, it would have been much more graphic, the text.

So how is it that we can access this deliverance?

How is it that we can access deliverance from sin and death?

That's our text that we read for our Scripture reading today.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Proverbs 28, 13, whosoever confesseth shall be shown mercy.

So confession, confession is such a big thing Because it's our only hope.

If we do not confess, we get none of the benefits.

Proverbs 28, 13, He that covereth His sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have what?

And how many of you think if you're the devil, you don't want anyone to be prosperous or be shown mercy?

And so he wants to confuse us in the area of confession.

Now last week, some of us were on a retreat in Lake Tahoe.

We had a wonderful message by Pastor Ratsara on unity and the prerequisites of unity, why it is that unity is important, how we access unity, what happens if we're not unified, very compelling, convicting message.

And some of us were able to experience the joy of confessing to 1 another.

The Bible says in Psalm 32, verse 5 and 10, I acknowledge my sin to you, and my iniquity I have not hidden.

I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

Many sorrows, verse 10, shall be to the wicked, but he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him." So the benefits of confession, 1 of them is mercy.

How many of you have ever had mercy extended to you.

Mercy is pictured here as something that actually God wants to surround us with.

Because all of sin, all of falling short of the glory of God, we need God's mercy.

We also are promised in our text, if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins, cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So those who acknowledge their guilt will be justified, for Jesus will plead his blood in behalf of the repentant sinner.

Number 3, confession allows us to experience the peace of God.

We already read this text, blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity.

We talked about this text, when I kept silent, my bones grew old, through all my groaning all the day long.

Then down in verse 6 and 7, for this cause, everyone who is godly shall pray to you.

Because when I confess my transgressions, you forgive me.

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True Confession

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