CONFESS YOUR SINS
Proverbs 28:13
Introduction: All of us can remember at one timeor another when we were in school and the teacher was
trying to find out who it was that threw the eraser or paper wod or something like that. We can remember as
clear as if it were just last week or so. The silence in the room as the teacher looked at each one of us,
seeking out the guilty person. No one admitted to the “crime,” someone was guilty, someone was keeping
quiet, someone was trying to cover up a wrong he/she had done.
No one who covers his/her sins will prosper and our spiritual prosperity is vital. Many Christians are
not having a powerful, faithful life. Many are not making any progress in their Christian lives - WHY?
Is it the reason taht we have neglected the plain teaching of the Bible about confessing our sins?
I. THE PRACTICE OF COVERING UP SINS IS NATURAL WITH EVERYONE
1. This practice is common with the unbeliever and sadly with most Christians as well.
- Sins are neither acknowledged nor is guilt felt.
- Since no guilt is felt, no one turns to God.
- This position is far more serious than one might think.
2. To the Christian, this tendency to cover sin is also becoming all too common and is extremely
dangerous.
- After attending Church services there is a feeling that everything is “O.K.”
- A prayer is said and God is told how sorry we are for our sins and it is thought that that
is all there is to it...just ask for forgiveness and all is well.
- The Bible tells us of the inner turmoil of a man who tried to cover up his sins.
Psalm 32:3-5
3. There are many reasons why people do not confess their sins:
- Some imagine they have no need to do so. This is a warped view of what holiness is.
They believe they have reached a degree of perfection and there is nothing to
confess.
- Others quote portions of the Bible which they have picked kout and bend to suit their
needs. They are trying to find a scripture excuse for their sinful lives.
- The many reasons we try to cover our sins boils down to the plain fact that WE CANNOT
BEAR TO SEE OURSELVES AS WE REALLY ARE AND AS GOD SEES US.
- We prefer fiction to fact. We are in love with the image we have created. We,
therefore cannot bring ojurselves to an honest uncovering of our sins.
- We try to cover our sins from ourselves and God, trying to leave our false security
undisturbed.
4. No matter how successfulwe are in conceraling our sins from ourselves and others, we cannot
conceal them from God.
- Adam and Eve tried it and failed.
- God knows us as we really are, not as we THINK.- God knows our secret thoughts, as well as our secret motives.
- All things are open before God and there is no one that can hide anything from
God.
- Not only does God know the real US, but someday we will stand before Him, publicly
and nothing will be hid, not even the things we think we have hidden from others.
- Luke 12:2. We shall not be able to keep secret all the things we have covered up
up today.
- How true the Scripture: “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper..”
II. IT IS WISE TO CONFESS OUR SINS
If the way to forefit prosperity is to cover our sins, then the way to find mercy is to uncover them, bring
them out of the darkness and secrecy into the light of God.
1. We need to uncover our sins in order that God may forgive us of them.
- David is an example. As soon as David uncovered his great sins, God forgave him.
- It is God’s own desire to forgive us our sins, to blot them out.
- It is God’s task of covering up our sins, NOT OURS!
2. We need to uncover our sins so that we may forsake those sins.
- How can we expect to overcome the future if we do not deal with our failures of the past?
- One of the greatrest snares to which Christians fall is the covering of their sins.
- Wherever we look we see sin. In the newspapers, radio, t.v., advertisements, etc. We
cannot escape it for we have become so used to it. We are no longer hurt or shocked
at what we see or hear.
- There is an antidote to all this numbness to sin. It is the practice of uncovering our sins.
It isn’t easy to confess them, but we must. We must deliberately, definitely,
specifically, one by one forsake them.
- First we confess our sins, one by one, thus becoming humble.
- Then we forsake them and reject them.
III. IS CONFESSION REALLY NECESSARY?
1. Why should we confess our sins to God? Why confess, admit to our sins at all?
- Sin is transgression, it is lawlessness, it is trespassing, it is missing God’s mark for us and
sin is breaking God’s laws.
- Look again at David’s sins:
- He saw Bathsheba taking a bath, then he lusted after her. He slept with her and she
became with child. He had her husband killed in battle, then a child was born.
- One after another he broke four of the last five commandments. He coveted, he
stole, he committed adultery and he murdered. Yet, when he finally repented
God forgave him. BUT ONLY after David uncovered all the sins he had
tried to hide.
- True confession is not merely an admission that one has sinned, but that one has sinned
against God.IV. ONE MUST NOT WAIT TO CONFESS HIS/HER SINS
1. It is a great mistake to imagine that when we are aware that we have sinned, we must wait
until Sunday or some special day to confess our sins.
- It is a serious thing to tamper with our conscience or let it remain hardened.
2. Just saying “I’m sorry” isn’t enough. We must be detailed in our confessions. A good way
to start is to get by yourself with a pad and pen then begin to write down every sin that the
Holy Spirit brings to mind and then confess them one by one as they were committed one
by one.
3. Do we ever stop and look back over the day and thank God for each blessing one by one? They
were given one by one.
CONCLUSION:
Confessing and forsaking of EVERY sin is necessary for every Christian.
1. The uncovering of sin is painful and humiliating and it brings us to our knees in lowliness
before God.
2. If Christians want mercy, forgiveness of heart, peace and power for the futuer, there is no other
want but to confess the sin in one’s life.
3. If you are lost and you want to go to heaven, gthere is no other way you can get there except
through Jesus Christ. Forgiveness and eternal life comes from Him.
4. Christian, have you tried to cover up sin in your life? You have covered it up from everyone
except you and God but you can’t be right with God with that unconfessed hidden sin. You
need to get it out before God in confession and repent of it and get rid of it.
5. Now is the time to get your life right with God. You have already put things off too long.
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