Confession- Truth in the inward parts.

 

Our study in prayer has brought us through

1. God is sovereign and prayer changes things
   
2. God answers prayer, just not when and how we think
   
3. How to wrestle with God righteously
   
4. Today we look at Confession.
   

 

Reality –Christians believe and rightly so that God alone defines it but are we consistent with that belief? Do our day to day activities reflect that Jesus Christ is Lord of all, does our heart and mind give glory and honor and service to the mighty God as it should? Who are you? You are named after Christ! "Christian" The things of God are seated in the heavenlies but everything on earth should respond to it as a sunflower to the sun. Is that who you are? Does your joy and hope rest in His parameters for your life? Are you cheerful in obedience?

    Our Elders have wisely considered and chosen a topic that is so basic yet so vital to the church in the fight that the flesh has with the spirit. We are always battling, if it is not the enemy without it's the enemy within. If you don't believe that you're in the battle then check your obedience it's a great barometer.

 

A wise philosopher once said "The goal of brainwashing is to supplant right affections with others that will drive us to a desired outcome. Pride plays a critical role in shielding these things from scrutiny." B.A.Worel

 

God defines reality, the order of your life and declares there is a war. But we are suffering under generations of cultural brainwashing such that our affections are engaged in things that God has not designed for us, clouding our vision of ourselves and others. Pride being a terrible curse that satisfies our flesh binds us to this course of destruction. Confession is a process of humility and revelation that changes us step by step; conforming us to Christ, from glory to glory. 2Corinthians 3:18

John Piper said "Christian hedonism says God is the measure of right and wrong and it's a sin not

to like it".

 

Proverbs 16:1-6

 

    Vr2. All the ways of a man [are] clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth

        the spirits

1. The heart is self-deceptive.
   
2. It justifies itself.
   
3. God sees right through it.
   

Vr5. Every one [that is] proud in heart [is] an abomination to the LORD: [though] hand [join] in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

1. Pride is a great evil, a prevalent sin in those who forget / ungrateful.
   
2. So much for Democracy or conspiracy –God alone is lord
   

Vr6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD [men] depart from evil.

1. Where does this mercy and truth come from? Jesus Christ
   
2. The fear of the lord is a proper motivation
   
3. How do we depart from evil? Confession and repentance.
   

"The law of God is a hammer that crushes our self-righteous hearts and drives us to repentance" B.A.Worel

        Paul said when the law came I died. Romans 7:9

Oh silly man can you save yourself? Not with anything; not even a silly prayer. All you have left is to throw yourself at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and cry out with all your might as a broken vessel; for forgiveness and a covering.

Matthew 11:12 "and from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force."

 

1. We are taught as small children to reject all violence/passion and so as effeminized men we may miss this verse and also miss this blessing.
   

1. Bee-as-tace Har-pad-zo
   

   Fired up by God to seize the prize in an open display of force.
   

   
    

We are here today to talk about Confessional prayer.

Confession is the acknowledgement of a crime fault or something to one's disadvantage; open declaration of guilt, failure, debt, accusation. Webster's 1828

        Romans 10:10 with the mouth confession is made unto salvation

1. Confession is the flame from the fire of faith.
   
2. All confession is prefaced on the fact that we are speaking what is true.
   

Not to be confused with …

Repentance is the relinquishment of any practice from conviction that it has offended God.

    1. 2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

    2. Hebrews 12:17 Esau when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

àThe world's repentance is without God and does not focus on character but for personal want and loss.

Confession and repentance are similar but not the same. Confession does not always include repentance. But repentance always includes confession. We are commanded by God to both confess and repent but it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance.

While confession is the work of faith repentance is the work of God.

1. Reset             2. Reveal         3. Results

1. Touchstone –Stone used to test the purity of gold or silver – a buyer could test a product and be assured that it was real.
   
2. Tuning fork- a tempered steel fork available in different notes – a musician can be assured of proper tuning using one.
   
3. Rosetta stone – an ancient stone engraved with a decree, written in three languages. It was the key to unlock Hieroglyphs
   
4. Benchmark- it is not a mark on a bench for measuring wood or rope.
   

       
   

   When I was a boy in the third grade we lived close to Ellensburg WA in a place my Mom called Timbuktu. It was out on the end of the county road bordering the State forest. Our house was situated in a treed area next to a crick that had good trout and crawdads. Out back was first a field and then rolling hills before you got to the forest. The furthermost hill had a tree on it affectionately known as hangman's tree because it looked like someone could easily be hung from it. At the top of the first hill which was large enough that we rarely ventured further; was a very large rock pile of volcanic stones, it could easily be seen from the road and our house below. My brother and I would often play on these hills; having all sorts of grand adventures. What is of note here is that on the ground next to the rock pile was a marker set in concrete. It was a legal state land management marker used for surveying the land. All the property lines below got there perspective and reality from this one point. The same is true for us; we get our reality from the fact that we were vile unrighteous sinners and if we were thrown into hell all heaven would rejoice of the justice. If Jesus Christ hadn't paid that penalty for me than that's where I would go– that's where my children would go and there would be no hope or light in the culture. No matter what happens to us we have not received what we deserved. Instead we get love mercy and sanctification at the hand of the God who sacrificed himself for us. That's the Christian reality!
   

       Confession brings us back to the very basic relationship we have with God. Back to that surveyors stake in the ground, back to the cross!
   

   That Mighty God of thunder & Hell fire has honesty & tenderly covered all our sin as far as the east is from the west He paid it all. This should break us anew when in confession with God.
   

 

Confession Resets our perspective

1. We are sinners –He is God
   
2. We are lost and vulnerable- He is our rock/fortress/protection
   
   1. Psalm31:3-4 61:1-4 5-11 14-6 46-1 9-9 2-12 7-1 11-1 16-1 17-7 18-2
      

      18-30 25-20 28-8 31-1 31-2 31-19 34-22 36-7 37-39 37-40 46-7 46-11
      

      48-3 57-1 59-16 - this concept is used hundreds of times.
      

3. Born as children of Adam and have sinful lying hearts bent on self-service.
   
   1. Gen6:5 "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."
      

   Now in Christ as he is the truth we are children of the truth and lovers of truth
   

   1. John 14:16 –the way the truth the life
      
   2. John 17:13"And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 18As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth."
      

 

àConfession in truth is a powerful factor in the Spirits work of sanctification, when you are struggling then God is directing you to focus on these.

 

Confession Reveals our heart

    

Psalms 51 Lets look and see if confession is vital. This sin he speaks of is bad very bad

and we being self-justifying must admit that we have never done these things. Maybe the depth of these verses doesn't apply to us. Nonsense these are great verses, some of my favorites. What is the context?

1. David is involved in murder and adultery.
   
2. This is David the
   
   1. High born –prince of the tribe of Judah
      
   2. Warrior and champion of Israel
      
   3. The King of Israel that demands honor
      
   4. A mighty man of God
      
   5. One who suffered for God and committed to building the temple
      

 

1. Vr1 Have mercy on me because of your character
   
   1. Steadfast love
      
   2. Mercy
      
2. Vr1b-2 this is what we need- sin should not cripple us but be a platform for Gods glory, even if that means proclaiming His justice.
   
   1. blot out – legal, debt forgiveness
      
   2. wash thoroughly- remove the guilt
      
   3. cleanse me – make acceptable to God
      
3. Vrs3-5 what is David saying?
   
   1. I see my sin.
      
   2. It is against God.
      
   3. God would be just to destroy me.
      
   4. I have a sin nature
      
      1. Jeremiah 3:24-25
         

   David here is speaking truth –these aren't reasons or excuses but simply what is true. He is confessing and discovering deeper truths about who he is.
   

It is important to note that we don't simply fall into sin; these things don't just happen with no relation to us. No we have coddled the terrible thing in our bosom. If we are struggling with lying, it's because we are a liar – stealing, it's because we are a thief – adultery, it's because we are adulterers. When we confess this to God he will hear us

 

1. Vrs6 "Truth in the inward parts"
   
   1. God's desire for us is truth in the inward parts.
      
      1. Genesis 25:27
         

         Up till now Jacob had been a deceiver and God called him to confession to truth in the inward parts. "What is your name?"
         

         1. Proverbs 20:9-11 don't be inconsistent your actions show who you are.
            

         
          

         1. Proverbs 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh [them] shall have mercy.
            

   
    

   
    

 

Confessions Results

 

1. Vrs7-13 the living God will work in your heart. Its Gods delight to have relationship with His creation.
   
   1. Verse 17 says it all The sacrifice of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
      

 

1. Forgiveness 1John1:9 Confess your sins to God- He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
   

   
    

2. Pardon Psalms 32:5Then I acknowledged my sin to you
   

   and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord"—and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
   

   
    

3. Renewed fellowship Psalms 51:13-19
   

   
    

4. Healing James 5:16 Confess [your] faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
   

 

"One another-ing" and "brotherly" are sermon topics on their own. This is about the work of unity and selflessness in the lives of Christians.

1. Accountability
   
2. Encouragement
   
3. Unity against a common foe
   
4. Familistic relations
   

Jeremiah3:19-25

19"I myself said,

"'How gladly would I treat you like sons

and give you a desirable land,

the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.'

I thought you would call me 'Father'

and not turn away from following me.

20But like a woman unfaithful to her husband,

so you have been unfaithful to me, O house of Israel,"

declares the Lord.

21A cry is heard on the barren heights,

the weeping and pleading of the people of Israel,

because they have perverted their ways

and have forgotten the Lord their God.

22"Return, faithless people;

I will cure you of backsliding."

"Yes, we will come to you,

for you are the Lord our God.

23Surely the [idolatrous] commotion on the hills

and mountains is a deception;

surely in the Lord our God

is the salvation of Israel.

24From our youth shameful gods have consumed

the fruits of our fathers' labor—

their flocks and herds,

their sons and daughters.

25Let us lie down in our shame,

and let our disgrace cover us.

We have sinned against the Lord our God,

both we and our fathers;

from our youth till this day

we have not obeyed the Lord our God!"

 

God defines reality and declares there is a war. But we are suffering under generations of cultural brainwashing such that our affections are engaged in things that God has not designed for us, clouding our vision of ourselves and others. Pride being a terrible curse that satisfies our flesh binds us to this course of destruction. Confession is a process of humility and revelation that changes us step by step; conforming us to Christ, from glory to glory. 2Corinthians 3:18

 

Luke 12:34 For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.

Psalms 4:6-7 Lift thy countenance upon us. Thou has put gladness in our heart, more than when

corn and wine increase.

Where is your Joy?     

John Piper said "whatever makes you most happy is you're God"