Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Morning church.
[00:00:01] You're awake. It's good. I just wanted to make mention of that. The last slide talked about Taste of the world on the 26th and the 27th. The 27th is when we do all the ethnic food, all the cultural food, and we're still looking for cooks. If any of you want to be participating in that, that's always a wonderful time to see the diversity in the body here. But it said 26th and 27th. It didn't say anything about what's happening on the 26th. That's because we're adding a bit of a new event called why Missions? And it's from 1:30 to 3:30 in the afternoon. It's a family friendly event for all ages. And it's really talking about what is mission, both local and abroad. This is an important thing. There's going to be testimonies and interaction and different people speaking. Also, my wife's going to be speaking, so if you don't want to listen to me, go over there at that and listen to her. But it's just going to be a fun event that's gonna be impactful. You know, I was just in some meetings and reminded of this story of this guy in Thailand who just baptized over 20 people in his community. And that's amazing on its own. But what's even cooler is his backstory is that he was sent to this small group of believers that were doing Bible studies. He was sent to infiltrate their community, to cause disruption and really break it apart. And he just baptized 20 people. You know what happened? He. He met the Lord in that. And it's just those kind of cool stories that you'll be hearing and more on that event on the 26th. So I just invite you to write it out, write it down, and you'll get invites in this next month talking about that.
[00:01:34] So before I start, why don't we just stand up and pray?
[00:01:40] Father, I just thank you for everybody that could make it here today. For those that are online and both here in person, I'm asking. We know that your Holy Spirit is here in your body and you want to bring transformation and change. You want to bring light into our lives and transform us into being children of light. I pray that you would be doing that to each of us, that we would have our hearts opened up to what you want to say. Not me, but that your Holy Spirit would speak through my words and through this time together, that you would ignite light, your children to do that, to be people of love and honesty and transparency and power, Father, in their communities and those that they love and know. So, Father, I just pray that you would be blessing your children that are here and that they would become a blessing to those as they go out. We just lift up this day to you in your name. Amen.
[00:02:43] In the 1970s, Chuck Colson was a top advisor to US President Richard Nixon. He was known as Nixon's hatchet man, willing to do anything, legal or not, to protect the administration. He played a role in the Watergate scandal, one of the biggest political cover ups in history.
[00:03:02] But when that scandal unraveled, Colson was confronted with a choice. He could deny and protect his power and save himself, or confess the truth. And something unexpected happened. Amid the chaos, Colson became a Christian.
[00:03:18] His new faith convicted him. And instead of fighting those charges against him, he publicly confessed his crimes. He admitted his wrongdoing and accepted his prison sentence, shocking the political world. But his story didn't end there. In prison, Colson saw the brokenness of the system. And after his release, he dedicated his life to helping inmates through Prison Fellowship, a ministry that still changes lives today. His confession cost him everything. His career and his power and his reputation. But it also led to redemption, purpose, and a legacy of transformation.
[00:04:01] The story proves that true confession isn't just admitting guilt. It's choosing truth, no matter the cost, and allowing God to bring something good out of it.
[00:04:11] Confession is a key ingredient to an authentic walk with Jesus, to strong community and inner healing.
[00:04:19] First, I'm going to talk about why we do it, based on 1 John 15:10, and then a little bit of a breakdown of how to do it. Well, looking at Psalm 51, it's a broad overview of a subject that we could go off in many different areas that I'm going to try to sum up briefly in one sermon.
[00:04:39] So looking at first John 1, 5, 10, this is the message we have heard from him and declare to you, God is light in him, there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and we do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
[00:05:27] Those first three verses talk a lot about light and darkness, and the second three verses talk a lot about sin.
[00:05:36] But it's all connected to those first verses. That sin and how we are to walk and get release from that enlightened darkness often symbolize good and evil in the Bible, as we see in Job 30:26. Yet when I hoped for good, evil came. And when I looked for light, then came darkness. And again in Psalm 107:14, he brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains.
[00:06:04] And then again in the New Testament in John 3, this is the verdict. Light has come into the world. But people love darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that may be seen plainly. What they have done has been done in the sight of God.
[00:06:32] Walking in the light is mission critical to walking with Jesus. Confession is a discipline that enables us to walk in that light, to battle evil and be forgiven and live in freedom.
[00:06:46] And Jesus himself, He declares himself to be light. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
[00:06:55] The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. And while we might have fear of what the light will expose, in us, there is life and hope through confession.
[00:07:06] John 8:12 I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. The effect of the light is not just to make people see, but to enable them to walk.
[00:07:24] So why do we struggle so much in having a close relationship with the Lord or with one another?
[00:07:31] Why do we not struggle with knowing God's will for our lives?
[00:07:36] Or. Or why is there so many that are living tied and living in guilt and shame? In part, it's because we fail to regularly expose the darkness in our lives through confession.
[00:07:49] Just as God rid the darkness at the beginning of creation, His Son came into the world, came into our lives, and we are to be lit with light transformed. It is the only way we are to have fellowship with God and one another. We are not called to only walk in the light, but we are called to be the light. As Ephesians 5:8 says, for you were once darkness, but now you are a light in the world. Live as children of light. That's a step beyond. We have light showing the path, and then you know how to Walk. But now we're not even supposed to just have it light. The path it's supposed to come out of. Who we are goes even deeper.
[00:08:27] And first, John not only contrasts has this light and dark theme, but has a theme between saying and doing. There's three times it's saying if we claim, but connected if we claim this and do not do this. Your words and your actions need to align.
[00:08:46] Our belief is important, but as one commentator states, to do the truth is more than believing or speaking it. There can be no genuine believing of truth until it becomes a part of a person's manner of life.
[00:08:59] To believe the truth without living it makes one doubly responsible for his failure to speak the truth without doing it is a mockery of the worst sort. Our words and actions need to match up or we are exactly what the world likes to label us as. Hypocrites.
[00:09:16] Hypocrisy is alive and well in this world. But first John is calling us to something else in order to walk with God, to have that community and forgiveness. This passage is outlining this essential element in our Christian walk.
[00:09:33] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
[00:09:43] He could have said, well, just be a little bit more humble or love a little bit more, or serve. But the Scriptures emphasize the importance of confession connected to walking in the light and becoming that light. And that's not by accident. Accident. Hypocrisy unravels and loses its power as we begin to confess and bring things into the light. We are first sinners. And when we become believers, we confess. But that's just the first confession. That's just the beginning of confession in our lives.
[00:10:13] Confession is an act of obedience that enables us to be light, to. To let the light out instead of the darkness.
[00:10:22] Ephesians goes on, have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.
[00:10:41] So I am talking a lot about confessing sins today, but I want to really add and emphasize that I'm not just leaving at that. It goes well beyond there. There's other struggles in life that we need to just expose things that we're hiding in our hearts that we need to bring into the light. Things that have become weights dragging down the people of God. Everything that is illuminated becomes light, not just sins. There are pains and Struggles and fears that are not expressly sin in themselves, but entangle us and need that exposure. You could be struggling with feelings of inadequacy in a relationship or a job, or you could have conflict. You're just being stuck in conflict or doubting the goodness of God. There's countless weights that can weigh us down and burden us. What about the things that you're afraid of? If fear ever kept you from seeing freedom and coming into the light or disappointments? It's incredible when we come alongside a good, close friend and just lay some of those feelings that we don't really want to share with anybody out and see the healing that can take part. But too often, we want to limp along like overburdened pack animals trying to struggle up that hill. And this is saying there's another way.
[00:11:57] There's an example here of somebody confessing, and it's not strictly sin. It's just saying there's things that we can expose and bringing that out to the light of brothers and sisters. It's powerful.
[00:12:08] Me and my wife lived in Spain for five years and served in these two different locations that are up. And we had a director that oversaw all the missionaries in Spain. And in every three years, we would vote him in or choose another person. And he had served for three years with us, and he came to the board and to the leaders, to fellow missionaries, and he just had to make a confession. He said, guys, there is things that I've done. I think I've done well as a leader leading you guys forward, but I gotta confess, there's parts that I'm not. There's parts that I'm not doing well and that I'm failing at. And if I'm gonna put my vote forward again, allow you guys to vote for me, I just need help. I just need you guys to know my weaknesses and come around me and support me in that.
[00:12:58] You know that. His confession required some humility and courage to go to your teammate, your workmates, and say that you don't have it all together.
[00:13:06] But it revealed to me a character in a leader that I wanted to follow because he had integrity and authenticity. And I saw a man that was just like me, who had shortcomings and was open enough to me and others to admit, made me want to support and follow him into the battle in any battle that came our way. His confession created an opportunity for growth and unity in a body that would not have occurred otherwise.
[00:13:33] God knows the human heart and that the sinful side of humanity will, if left alone will choose darkness every time.
[00:13:41] And I myself can confess that I prefer that perceived comfort of darkness in parts and areas of my life, because sometimes I believe various lies. One that I can carry it all my own. One sometimes that I'm too dirty to be cleansed completely, or that I just can never be free and I'm just doomed to be in chains.
[00:14:05] First, John gives us that warning, but also hope. Just as Proverbs states in Proverbs 28:13, whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
[00:14:21] You know, there's a pastor who spoke recently about this walk that he felt like he was constantly walking in guilt, shame and depression. And he related it to a petri dish, then putting a microscope under it, and he put guilt, shame and depression there. And he said, guys, how do you grow these really, really quickly? It's the best way to do it. Just add some silence, secrecy and solitude, and you will see your shame and guilt grow faster than you can imagine.
[00:14:51] Pastor Paul often talks about how we can't be in neutral when we're moving. When we're seeking him out and growing in our relationship, we're either moving closer towards him or going farther away. And it's the same thing is true walking in the light.
[00:15:09] We either confess and bring and expose those dark parts of our hearts to God and to others sometimes, or we're embracing darkness.
[00:15:18] But how do we do it? Well, I want to take a little bit of a look at David, a wonderful closet sinner's journey and road through confession that we get in Psalm 51 to guide us in this practice. And many of you guys know this story of David, but I just want to sum it up.
[00:15:40] One evening, King David stood on the palace rooftop and saw a beautiful woman named Bathsheba bathing. Desire took over, and despite knowing she was the wife of Uriah, one of his loyal soldiers, David summoned her. Soon he slept with her, and soon she was pregnant.
[00:16:00] That could have been a point to stop and start exposing and surrendering there and asking forgiveness. But no. To hide his sins, David called Uriah home from battle, hoping he'd sleep with his wife and think the baby was his. But Uriah was honorable and loyal, the opposite of David in this story, and refused to enjoy comfort while his fellow soldiers were at war.
[00:16:22] So, desperate, David plotted, his plot got darker. He ordered Uriah to be placed on the front lines, ensuring his death.
[00:16:31] Once Uriah was gone, David married Bathsheba, thinking, well, now the secret's safe. But obviously God sees it all. And he sent the prophet Nathan to confront David with a parable of a rich man stealing a poor man's lamb. And when David condemned that rich man, Nathan declared, you are that man.
[00:16:52] And David repented deeply. But the consequences were severe. His child with Bathsheba died and turmoil followed his family for years.
[00:17:03] Yet even in the even from that brokenness, God's grace still prevailed. And Bathsheba later bore Solomon, who would become Israel's wisest king.
[00:17:14] Showing that even great failure is never beyond God's redemption in Psalm 51 is David's confession to God. And we're going to use it as a guide to guide us in confession. I'm going to break it into three parts called define, appeal and rejoice. And so the first is define, looking at verses one to six as he defines his sin.
[00:17:40] Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love, according to your great compassion. Blot out my transgressions, wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me. Against you you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. So you were right in your verdict and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb. You taught me wisdom. In that secret place.
[00:18:17] David stops hiding what he's done finally, and he doesn't defend it and he doesn't excuse it, he just lays it out.
[00:18:28] In this experience of opening ourselves to the gaze of God, Richard Foster goes on to say, we must be prepared to deal with definite sins. A generalized confession may save us from humiliation and shame, but it will not ignite inner healing.
[00:18:44] The people who came to Jesus with obvious specific sins, we're forgiven each one. And it's far too easy to avoid our real guilt in a general confession. In our confession, we bring concrete sins.
[00:19:00] And this makes me pause to note that when we go through confession that we often have three stages that we have to move through.
[00:19:10] First, we need to admit our sin or our struggles. Those things we're just keeping in the dark to ourselves.
[00:19:18] And that's incredibly difficult because this requires a self examination that can be very hard to do.
[00:19:25] But as Jeremiah 17, 9 and 10 says, it kind of reinforces that the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? So on our own, sometimes we won't even identify things.
[00:19:40] But then the next verse goes On I, the Lord, search the heart and examine the mind.
[00:19:45] With his help, and using that time to look inwards, we can see and expose things. We have to admit it to ourselves.
[00:19:53] David could not admit his sin at first and sunk himself deeper, which resulted in dire consequences for him and his family.
[00:20:01] And often we need God's help in revealing our hearts. And after we admit it to ourselves, then we confess and admit it to God, as David does in these passages. In the private confession. I'm conscious of my rebellion. My sin is always before me, against you, you alone, I have sinned and done evil in your sight.
[00:20:21] As we open ourselves to God, don't negate how God can reveal the muck in our lives sometimes in some surprising ways.
[00:20:31] I'll tell you a little bit of the story of Bruce Olson. If you guys haven't read this book, it's up on the middle one. He's a missionary to Colombia and Venezuela, and he spoke about the process of discipleship. He went to a tribe that tried to kill him at first, and now 70% of that tribe now follows Jesus.
[00:20:55] But he talks about how he taught some of the basics, and he was working on discipling and sharing with these people, but how the Spirit would work often in better ways in these people than even his words would.
[00:21:08] And so one day, the tribe leaders come to him and they tell him of this blood feud that they had going on between them and another tribe. They'd been killing each other for generations.
[00:21:20] And they came to him and said, well, Bruce, like, we've been. We're trying to walk the way of Jesus. We're trying to walk in the light. And we've realized something like, we've been killing our neighbors for a long time, and this not right. And God had convicted them, and they had realized this on their own, not from him preaching down their throats, but that inner work of the Holy Spirit. And they confess and they're like, we can't just say sorry here. We got to do something. We got to make restitution, try to bring healing to this. And so they gathered up a group of their people and they sent them. They risked some of their own people because typically, when they met each other, they killed one another.
[00:22:00] But because of that risk and that courage to go make peace, they ended a feud of generations.
[00:22:10] So hopefully, none of you are harboring that secret of murdering a tribe of people.
[00:22:15] But I don't want to negate the weights that are in your hearts that God wants to expose and bring out and heal in you. And he often works with the willing as we seek him out honestly, humbly.
[00:22:30] And confession has been part of God's people from the beginning. Some struggle understanding how the Old Testament connects to the New. And they're like, there's so. It's so different. There's so much intensity and different things going on. And there's a whole sacrificial system of the people having to bring animals and kill them at the temple to cleanse them of their sins. But part of that included confession.
[00:22:58] When anyone becomes aware that they are guilty in any of these matters, they must confess in what way they have sinned.
[00:23:06] And so then you would. You would grab a lamb or whatever animal you're coming to sacrifice, and before you would. Before they would kill it, you would have to say what you had done. You would have to open it to the community and confess it. And then they would take that animal and slit its throat, and its lifeblood would drain out on that. On that altar, and you would be forgiven. It's a little bit intense to visualize, but it's so important as we approach Easter and we think about the perfect sacrificial lamb that we all have now. You don't need to have a little farm with all these animals on hand for your confessions.
[00:23:46] Thank the Lord. That's because of Jesus.
[00:23:52] So we admit it to ourselves, we admit it to God, and then we confess to one another.
[00:23:59] Sometimes we need to confess our sins and our struggles, those dark places, to another person. And it can be an incredibly humbling process, but also one of the main ways to achieve that true, authentic community.
[00:24:16] As James 5:16 says, Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. God is giving us a path on how we can have inner healing.
[00:24:28] The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
[00:24:33] Confession is a difficult discipline for us because we all too often view the believing community as a fellowship of saints before we see it as a fellowship of saints. Sinners.
[00:24:43] We feel that everyone else has advanced so far into holiness that we're isolated and alone in our sin. We cannot bear to reveal our failures and shortcomings to others.
[00:24:54] We imagine that we are the only ones who have not stepped out onto the high road to heaven. Therefore, we hide ourselves from one another and live in veiled lies in hypocrisy.
[00:25:08] But if we know that the people of God are first a fellowship of sinners, we are free to hear the unconditional call of God's love and to confess our needs openly before our brothers. And sisters, we know we are not alone in our sins.
[00:25:23] The fear and pride that cling to us like barnacles cling to others also.
[00:25:28] We are sinners. Together in acts of mutual confession, we release the power that heals our humanity is no longer denied, but transformed.
[00:25:42] Now, we do want to be careful about how and who and where we do confess. It's going to depend on what we're sharing.
[00:25:50] We don't need to air all of our dirty laundry to everybody all the time. But I think instead, as believers, we err on the other side and just don't, or rarely expose any of that darkness to the light with one another. And we don't see that power in the body.
[00:26:07] That same pastor who spoke about walking and coming out of that shame and guilt, he chose to find a confessional brother, a trusted friend in Christ that he could meet up with every week or two, and they would just share what is burdening their hearts, the darkness that is growing there.
[00:26:26] And both men admitted how difficult it was to start that off, but then spoke about the healing that occurred as they made this part of their spiritual disciplines, as they just made it part of their routine in life.
[00:26:44] So I was saved in England at a Bible college, which is its own story, but there was a moment where I got to see authentic community come through confession while I was there. And. And this is the school. And I lived in the place called the zoo. And there was 10 guys crammed into that place. It was a little intense, but it was awesome. And there was a time just before we broke for Christmas where we gathered all the students. There was about 150 students to worship and testify to what God had been doing in those months prior. And one of the guys stood up, and this guy was from the zoo, from my group of guys in my dorm room. And he was, what I thought a spiritual father to all the. I was just saved. I didn't have a clue what was going on in my journey. I was just all open to God and learning lots. But when we gather and pray, this man, same age as me, he. He had those prayers. I don't know if you guys have ever heard those prayers that are super intimidating because they're just so, like, the right words in every moment. He's also British, so he's got a great accent. And, like, so I just would hear this guy pray these prayers that just sounded so holy and amazing, and I didn't even want to pray after him. He didn't mean to do that. It was my own. My own insecurities.
[00:28:01] But he's the guy that stood up in this meeting just before Christmas in that community, and he confessed that he, he's like, guys, I'm. I'm farther from God than I've been ever in my life. And I was shocked. And he's like, you know, I've been making some really bad decisions. I'm hanging out with some guys that are not. Not bringing me towards God, actually bringing me the other way. Started doing some things in my life that are really unhealthy. And it just opened the doors for a time of confession where different people were standing up and sharing. And some were success stories of how God had already been moving. Others were just revealing some of that darkness going on in their lives. And it was amazing to see. And it almost tangibly could feel the Holy Spirit moving through his people and bringing healing and forgiveness and transformation. It was incredible. And I remember going to my spiritual mentor at the time and he knew I was a brand new believer. And he was just like, how do I grow this guy? And he's like, Adam, why do you think the Spirit had such freedom to move on that night? Why did we all feel the work? He's like, can you just kind of seek that out, seek that answer out, try to discover what was going on? And so I, with all my not knowing what I was doing, was like, well, I'll just go talk to people and try to sort out what the Holy Spirit, why that night happened. And it really came down to vulnerability to confession.
[00:29:21] This guy was just open to just lay it out. This is who I am. This is the crap that I'm dealing with. And it was vulnerable and it was dangerous, but it was beautiful to see the unity that came in the body because of that willing act.
[00:29:38] So speaking of, you know, I spoke of confessional partners and communal confession. There's another church that does it handles it a little bit differently. When you become a member there, they, let's see if it goes. They don't give you a choice. You get placed into a life group, you don't get to pick which one, and you don't get to pick if you want to be one. You just get placed in one.
[00:30:02] And they, they go through three questions. They look differently in how they all function, but they all have these three questions. They, in their life groups, they go through input. How did you feed your soul? What are you learning in God's word? It's a pretty good question for all of us to ask how we're growing with God and then output how do you feed others? Did you share the gospel or spend time to disciple someone or serve in someplace? It's great because it keeps us then from growing inwards and becoming cliquey and becoming, which is not God's idea, but to look outwards on how to love others. Well, and then confession. How did you feed your flesh this week? It's a bit of an intense statement. You say it that way. What sin or struggle do you need to confess with your brothers and sisters in that group?
[00:30:51] And I think that's such a. It's got to be such an uncomfortable moment sometimes. And I'm sure it's messy and it's probably not done well all the time, but I imagine there's some incredible small communities growing out of that, and brothers and sisters that are walking in new freedoms as they do that.
[00:31:09] If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we'll have fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin. We walk in the light, so we don't allow things to be hidden so no darkness can fester. Yes, none of us really want to admit what we're actually like.
[00:31:29] No one wants to admit that our marriage is broken, or admit their closet addictions, or admit their lies and hypocrisies, or their lustful thoughts, their laziness, their pride, or other dark corners in their hearts. But until these things are admitted, we are living in a lie. We live in darkness.
[00:31:55] But I love the heart behind those small groups.
[00:32:00] Nope, that's not it.
[00:32:05] Hmm. Now I don't know where I am.
[00:32:11] Well, whatever. We'll just keep going. I wasn't tracking with myself at all.
[00:32:15] Nope, it's okay. We'll go back to this.
[00:32:20] I love the heart behind that church. They had kind of a mission statement of why those life groups existed. Proverbs 11:14 tells us wisdom comes from the council of many. If wisdom is going to mark our lives, we must be people committed to sharing all aspects of our lives with other Christ followers who can offer biblical counsel. Generally, the places in our lives that are off limits or uninspected by others are the places most vulnerable to the attack of the enemy. And that's what they're trying to fight against. That's why they do it.
[00:32:56] So moving to appeal. We define. We define our sin and then we appeal it. In verses 7 to 14. Cleanse me with hyssop and I'll be clean. Wash me and I'll be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your holy spirit from me. Restore me with the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.
[00:33:32] Then I will teach the transgressors your way so that sinners will turn back to you. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God, my Savior and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. An appeal in the legal system is when you're approaching a higher authority to review and change the decision that is happening. That is coming down to you.
[00:33:58] It's coming and ask that they change their verdict. And that's exactly what we need to do with God. David did the same when he brings his sins to God. Turn your face away from my sins and blot out all my guilt. But he's not just changing for asking for a change of decision, just in forgiveness, just in that. He's asking for a full transformation and change within Himself. Verse 7 Purify me, wash me. Verse 10 God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
[00:34:30] Don't banish me or take your holy spirit. Restore the joy of my salvation. Save me from the guilt of bloodshed.
[00:34:41] We aren't just asking for forgiveness, we are looking and asking for transformation. And as we identify and then appeal it, we're approaching the only one who can truly do anything lasting about it. Wash me and you will be whiter than snow.
[00:34:56] And then we move to rejoice. Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it. You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, you, God will not despise.
[00:35:16] May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem, that you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous in burnt offerings offered whole. Then bulls will be offered on your altar.
[00:35:29] We don't stay in a place of guilt and shame. That's not what the point of confession is. God forgives us and we will begin to see the burdens we have fall away. It's not just sharing our failures, but about God's restoring forgiveness. There must be a definite termination point in the self examination process, otherwise we can easily fall into the permanent habit of self condemnation. Confession begins in sorrow, but ends in joy. There is celebration in the forgiveness of sins because it results in a genuinely changed life.
[00:36:06] And authenticity will become a reality, not just for you, but for the whole body of Christ. And that's why there's so much power in our personal testimonies that each of you who have chosen to follow God has for me my own testimony. When I first was saved, I once was lost.
[00:36:25] So lost that I didn't deserve life.
[00:36:28] I was a thief and a liar. I sold drugs and dragged other people into the darkness with me.
[00:36:36] I was locked into addictions. I was angry and incredibly self absorbed.
[00:36:41] The Lord took my life and began to make something beautiful. Does that mean I don't have parts that I need to drag into the light still? Absolutely not. And I'm confessing here and now that I still have to make an effort to walk in the light, to reveal parts of my heart and soul that God and others to God and others that I am ashamed of. But I know that I do not have to live permanently in that shame and guilt. God has provided hope and healing.
[00:37:11] Rejoicing.
[00:37:13] As David said in verse 15, I will open my mouth and declare your praise.
[00:37:17] Praise the Lord for the healing and forgiveness. In First John 1:9 if we confess our sins, he is faithful and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
[00:37:29] Confession is not a punishment. It's a path to restoration and healing. It is a way that we can course correct.
[00:37:38] We have gotten off the path and this is how we get back on the path.
[00:37:42] Confession is essential for a genuine relationship with Jesus, his community, and true healing. And there are parts of our lives, sins and struggles that we do need to drag into the light to see it transformed. Literally.
[00:37:58] We must desire to be conquered and ruled by God. And if we do not desire that, desire to desire that, because such a desire is a gracious gift from God, the seeking of this gift is one of the preliminaries of confessing to a brother and sister. So some of you might not desire yet to be conquered and ruled by God. And maybe that's where you got to start.
[00:38:20] And then that will lead into that desire to confess and to expose the darkness.
[00:38:27] So I do want to end in prayer, but I really want to encourage you guys to put into this into practice. I'm a practical person and I don't want it just to be words.
[00:38:37] So after I pray, I want to bring whatever for us to have a time for you to bring whatever's in your heart into the light to have a private confession. Time with God. You could come up front and kneel down. You can stay in your seats if you have a trusted close friend beside you. You could confess with them if you felt needed to do that.
[00:39:00] But I know that some of you are walking and carrying burdens that you need freedom from.
[00:39:05] And so I want to encourage you to define that sin, to speak it out, to appeal it, ask forgiveness and transformation, and then rejoice in the God who does forgive and change and give us life and light.
[00:39:19] God is waiting to intervene, to forgive and to heal. And my question to all of you is how long you want to carry that baggage that's weighing down your souls?
[00:39:30] Or do you want to walk out of these sanctuary doors cleansed by him, or to start that healing process and begin that transformation into beautiful children of light?
[00:39:40] So I will pray, and then you can have some time on your own, and then you can just disperse. I'm not going to talk again, so. So let me pray.
[00:39:52] Oh, Father, we thank you for the hope that you've given us through your son.
[00:39:58] We thank you that you have not just called us to walk in light, but you've created a way that we can be that light, that we can dig out the stuff that hurts, take out the stuff that we're ashamed of, dig out the stuff that some of us maybe feel like we're drowning.
[00:40:20] And when we bring it out, even that action of bringing it out, we're just not bringing it out and throwing it out to the universe. We're throwing it out to a God who has forgiven through his son, through that ultimate sacrifice and shedding of blood that has now cleansed and washes over his people and he now looks upon them, delights in you.
[00:40:43] Father, I pray that no person would leave here believing the lies, that they don't matter, that they're not loved, that they're not enough, that they're not gifted, that there's not a plan.
[00:40:54] But, Father, also give them the courage to do some soul work with you, to expose the things that we really want to cling on to, that we think are gonna help, but really are hurting and give them up to you. So, Father, I just pray that you would do a work by your Holy Spirit's power in your people and you would set them free, you would heal them, and we would be an authentic community walking towards you. In the name of Jesus, amen.
