Prayer and Fasting The dynamic Duo

1. There are two basic kinds of fasts.
   
   1. Religious observance
      

      Ceremonial law has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ while the moral law is our guide for life. Fasting and the Law --> Leviticus 16:29-31; 23:26-32; Numbers 29:7
      

      Imagine the whole nation of Israel fasting and prayer and confessing their sins to God. Wow! The day of atonement this year is Saturday October 8,2011
      

      1. The Day of Atonement was established by God.
         
      2. The priest is clothed in the simple cloths of a servant, showing humility (he normally wore fine cloths woven with gold and jewels.
         
      3. The people of Israel fasted and observed a Sabbath rest.
         
      4. The confession and sacrifice for sin with the laying on of hands, placing the sins of the people on the scapegoat.
         

      This is fulfilled for us in Jesus Christ. Mathew 5:17-18 "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one title shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."
      

   
    

   We are not antinomians (no-law) we have a law in Gods word.
   

   
    

   1. Pagan fasting – is done mostly for outward ritualism.
      
      1. Religious pride- considering themselves better than others for their religious works.
         
         1. Proverbs 8:13 the fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth do I hate.
            
      2. A masochist show to placate their conscience – somehow if they punish themselves they will earn favor with God.
         
         1. Romans 1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
            
      3. Political fasting or hunger strike. Attempting to manipulate others through pity and public opinion.
         
         1. Gandhi fasted for welfare– and recently some liberals in America fasted to protest budget cut in education.
            
            1. Deuteronomy 28:48 therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all [things]: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.
               

   
    

   1. Self-purification and penance. That somehow we can earn forgiveness.
      
      1. 1 Samuel 15:22 And 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 fat of rams.
         
      2. Hebrews 10:10 by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
         

   
    

   We do not have a command from God to fast at certain times or events; so why fast?
   

   
    

   1. Fasting as a way of removing all pretenses and humbling yourself before God.
      

   
    

   1. War – Benjamites- Judges 20:26-28 "Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the Lord, and fasted that day until evening, and ... inquired of the Lord ... (whether to) go out to battle ... And the Lord said, Go up ..." Direction
   

   
    

   2. Fasting and prayer for Protection - Ezra 8:21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. 22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, "The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him." 23 So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty. Protection
   

   
    

   3. Repentance of sin – Ezra 10:6 While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children, gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly. 2 And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, addressed Ezra: "We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this. 3 Therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord1 and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be done according to the Law. 4 Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; be strong and do it." 5 Then Ezra arose and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel take oath that they would do as had been said. So they took the oath.6 Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib, where he spent the night, 2 neither eating bread nor drinking water, for he was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles. Renewed relationship
   

   Fasting is a powerful tool given to us by God wherein the Holy Spirit works sanctification in our lives. With real brokenness and a heartfelt repentance our prayers are renewed and given urgency.
   

   
    

   2.
   Acceptable fast;
   

   1. If we turn fasting into a religious work it becomes our shame.
      
      1. Isaiah 1:13-14 13Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
         

         Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—I cannot bear your evil assemblies.14Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
         

         
          

      2. If it is made with our own hands; God hates it. Amos 5: 21"I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. 22Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. 23Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. 24But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! 25"Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? 26You have lifted up the shrine of your king, the pedestal of your idols, the star of your god which you made for yourselves. 27Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus," says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.
         

         
          

      3. If we are preoccupied with the things of the flesh and this world God will not hear. Isaiah 58:3-5 3Why have we fasted, say they, and you see not? Why have we afflicted our soul, and you take no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exact all your labors. 4Behold, you fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: you shall not fast as you do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?
         

   
    

   2) God has called us to selfless service, justice and forgiveness.
   

   1. Fast secretly – Matthew 6:16-18 16"When you fast do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth; they have received their reward in full. 17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
      
   2. Gods design – Isaiah 58:6- 14 6Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?
      

   
    

   7Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? when you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh?
   

   
    

   8Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your health shall spring forth speedily: and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
   

   
    

   9Then shall you call, and the LORD shall answer; you shall cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If you take away from the middle of you the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
   

   
    

   10And if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light rise in obscurity, and your darkness be as the noon day:
   

   
    

   11And the LORD shall guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and make fat your bones: and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
   

   
    

   12And they that shall be of you shall build the old waste places: you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
   

   
    

   13If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honorable; and shall honor him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words:
   

   
    

   14Then shall you delight yourself in the LORD; and I will cause you to ride on the high places of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.
   

       
   

   Fasting that God has chosen has to do with Justice in the land – compassion on the weak and serving your fellow man; in a word selflessness.
   

   
    

   Augustine says that "fasting loves not many words, deems wealth superfluous, scorns pride, commends humility, helps man to perceive what is frail and paltry."
   

   
    

   3. Spiritual fast; one led by the Holy Spirit.
   

A spiritual fast is one that is done for a momentous occasion or simply as a means of humility and sanctification. There are many examples in the bible and in history.

 

A. Corporate fasts- fasting as the body of Christ. Fasting as a means of on-anothering and bearing one-another's burdens.

 

1. Church direction Acts 13 1Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." 3Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
   

 

1. Church appointments – Acts 14:23 when they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
   
2. Judgment of God – Joel 1: Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the elders And wall the inhabitants of the land Into the house of the Lord your God, And cry out to the Lord
   

 

B. Individual fasting- exercising humility and openness to God. "Truth in the inward parts". Basically you have a need or feel some undue separation from God.

 

I. We are created in the image of God- Relational –Spiritual –Moral.

 

1. Relational –
   
   1. Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
      
   2. Genesis 2:18 It is not good that man should be alone.
      
2. Spiritual –
   
   1. John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
      
   2. Psalm 77:6 I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with my own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.
      
3. Moral –
   
   1. Isaiah 45:19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not to the seed of Jacob, Seek you me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
      
   2. Romans 2:14-15 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law to themselves: 15Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
      

Fasting helps us to resist the things of the flesh and focus on the things of the spirit. (Relational Spiritual and Moral)

 

II. Practical Fasting is a mighty tool in the hand of the believer, submitting to God.

        Knife/pray ---- chainsaw/prayer & fasting

 

1. To chasten your soul – Psalm 69:10 When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting that was to my reproach.
   
2. To humble yourself – Psalm 35:13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into my own bosom.
   

   
    

Bill Bright from Campus crusade for Christ said" Fasting enables the Holy spirit to reveal your true spiritual condition; resulting in brokenness repentance and a transformed life".

 

III. Fasting for Passion

1. You can be stuck serving idols that hold on with a deaths grip. A piece of you must die to overcome them. The flesh wareth against the spirit.
   
   1. Philippians 3:19 whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
      
      1. The word for belly here is really Koilia = belly, womb, the inner man. The application here is that you are driven by your emotions or lust.
         

Emotions are like seasoning, a little is a great blessing from God, but they are not our meat.

1. That's why our culture can be so dangerous.
   
   1. It lulls you to sleep. Proverbs 6:-10-11 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
      

11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,

and want like an armed man.

 

A big danger of an effeminized culture is they have lost their minds. No longer are decisions made by reason, logic, or law but by emotions. This affects us, we are not immune to sin, and it is very subtle.

 

We the people of God must always be vigilant, the watchmen never sleeps right men.

 

Fasting is about surrender, it's about submission and service.

    Have you ever sung that song "I surrender all"? That's it- you got it.

 

1. Fasting is about returning to your first Love. Revelation 2:4 nevertheless I have somewhat against you, because you have left your first love.
   
2. It's about hungering and thirsting for righteousness and nothing else will fill you! Matthew 5:6
   Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled
   
3. Fasting is about facing the truth of your own heart. Looking at improper appetites in serious mature warfare! Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
   
4. Fasting is about beating your body into submission. 1 Corinthians 9:27 but I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.
   

 

The power of the living God to fulfill the great commission is available, not in a certificate – not in a conference or in an mp3! It is the person! The Holy Spirit of God. He fills the hearts and lives of every blood washed child of the King of kings.

    We are the called! As Christians we are to be servant leaders. Pouring ourselves out like a drink offering- when we are done we should have nothing left! Laying our life down for our husband The Prince of Glory.

 

    Bee-as-tace Har-pad-zo

Fired up by God to seize the prize in an open display of force. – hanging on with all our strength because there is no other name written in heaven by which men must be saved!

 

Fasting is a powerful tool given to us by God wherein the Holy Spirit works sanctification in our lives…… With real brokenness and a heartfelt repentance our prayers are renewed and given urgency…

Fairness is a horse

Fairness is a horse the Captain of the host rides into
battle. He’s casting down Honor and punishing
Diligence with his lack of concern. Having turned aside
his advisors and esteemed men, (Punctuality, Diligence
and Integrity) he pushes forward to that which is
naught : Utopia. While Manhood is thrown asunder, idle
babblers and vain talkers are lifted up with false
prestige. He has been led astray by Team-speak and
Group-think, agents of that unfaithful deceiver,
Emotion. Upon arrival to this promised valley
they find it an androgynous pit of hopeless despair.
Engulfed with an enumerable league of enemies his
heart sinks with a dark and clammy death.
In their effeminate state of darkness they are trapped
and confused. Having thrown off Honor; Manhood,
Faith and Purpose went with him. Without this kind of
character immaturity and immorality had crept into the
troops, they no longer have a will to fight! That poor
lame horse will not deliver you from your old enemy
Deception that has long pillaged your borders and
now seizes your very life. There is no one to turn to
for help, save a miracle from The Most High.
 

Family trouble

Being a parent is a wonderful thing, there is so much love

Receiving a precious gift, from way up above

Sometimes that gift can be heavy, as we live our life

Maybe too much sorrow, adds to our strife

It could be too many dark days, for a husband and a wife

How can that child be to blame, no it’s not there blunder

Some people embrace bitterness, is it any wonder

That separations in our families, are the result of sin

When we embrace bitterness, its evil we let in

The solution is quite clear, and there is no cost

When we invite Jesus in, the darkness is lost

Bitterness in our families hurts more than you know

It’s the bystander unaware, who takes the swiftest blow

It’s bad enough you hurt yourself, like a hunter to a rabbit

The legacy of this game, becomes an evil little habit

One generation to the next, hand it on down

If we really knew the damage caused, it would knock us to the ground

Please stop this madness if you can, is my tearful cry

Pour lots of love on everyone and look them in the eye

If there is a problem overcome it real-quick

So when special occasions arise you won’t be sick

If you see yourself in here you know what to do

Clean up your heart and your life so the light can shine through

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Judge not?

There are a lot of things that are unacceptable in our culture. Most of what is accepted is cursed by God. Satan being a crafty liar, in an attempt to silence the warriors of the Lord from destroying his sand castle -uses demonization to silence opposition.

One such ill-used passage is Matt7:1 , "Judge not…" we can all quote it because it's a culturally religious objection to the proclamation of transcendent truth and standards of righteousness. It runs like this, if I live in sin and you say something than you are living in a greater sin "Judging". We all know how horrible and unloving that is (the litmus test for all good). What a twisted feminist society! Love is righteous and we are defending immoral actions in the name of Love! I need no other proof that this is indeed a reprobate culture and those who commit these crimes of syntax do so for their own self-justifying immoral reasons. God alone decides what is right and wrong (John 14:6)-In Gen 3:5 satan tells us that we can decide. When we separate righteousness from love we doom our culture and posterity to all matter of debauchery, nothing is safe and the future sure (slavery) Deut 28:7

    If you look a little deeper at Matthew 7 it is better said to "Decide not lest you be judged" Before we can know truth and apply it to others it has to be received from God. You cannot decide it for yourselves unless you first reject God and his bible. What's being said is don't you decide right and wrong for you but to find it in the eternal truths of God. We either agree with him or make our own decisions and thereby dam ourselves. God decides what is evil and if you do evil things it's because you are evil. We are all judged/measured by Gods standards of right and wrong – therefore use that as your standard to know what is good.

    We do not need to judge the world, it is already condemned by its actions – remember you were likewise condemned by the law of God and found mercy at the cross of Jesus Christ.

Words

Men need words and we rarely have time to think about it. If you are raising a son to be a man in the context of Gods call then you had better take the time to display your vision and make sure it is consistent with the word of your father – The Bible.

1. Accountability – equipping, challenging and informing one another so as to live a consistently Christian life.
   
2. Manhood – A state of living in maturity – based in a heart that has strong affection for honor, integrity, and work – a love for righteousness – Stand fast -1 Cor 16:13
   
3. Diligence – utilizing my time and resources as a good Stuart of the Lord Jesus Christ – to give glory to His name. Matt 25:14-30
   
4. Love – having and cultivating a commitment and affection to another so as to tend to their need and be mindful of them. 1cor :13
   
5. Maturity – the purposeful putting away of the foolish things and deliberate putting on the things od Christ. 1Cor 13:11 Col 3:10 Eph 4:24
   

Religiosity

            Christ died for sinners purchasing a relationship between the bride and himself in all tenderness, gentleness, truth and righteousness. We being simple men who tend to go astray can miss this beautiful gift from heaven and instead choose ritualism and religiosity. We are prone to hide our hearts and put on facades of superstition rather than the bold truth of Christ. He must be first and last the definer of all reality.  On the one side we have petty lusts and narcissistic protectionism. Not wanting to open our hearts to the Lord who knocks. So as we walk a little. foolishly, outsiders can be offended at our apparent lack of piety. Still there are those who are mainly concerned with the external. If this becomes a point of pride then they will be susceptible to all manner of cults and religious forms that will pacify their arrogant hearts. Oh how we need the reformation sound bites!  Put off all forms of religion and embrace the pure bosom of the Lord Jesus Christ our groom. Sola Cristo - Sola Scriptura - Sola Gratia - Sola Fide.

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"