Title: “Confessing Sin” Scripture: Neh. 9
Type: Expository Where: GNBC 10-29-06
Intro: In 1884 Grover Cleveland was running against James G. Blaine for the presidency of the U.S. Blaine supporters discovered that Cleveland, who was a bachelor at the time, had fathered a son by Mrs. Maria Crofts Halpin, an attractive widow who had been on friendly terms with several politicians. Subsequently, Republicans tried to pin an immorality tag on Democrat Cleveland by distributing handbills showing an infant labeled “One more vote for Cleveland” and by having paraders chant, “Ma, Ma, where’s my pa? Gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha!” The move, however, backfired badly. Rather than deny the story, Cleveland decided to tell the truth and admit the intimacy. This candor helped defuse the issue, and Cleveland was elected president. As some of our politicians today (and every person on the face of the planet) need to learn, confession of sin is ultimately a good thing.
Prop: In Neh. 9 we’ll notice 4 truths about God that are better understood when we confess our sin. (REPEAT)
BG: 1. Last week saw how the people had heard the Law for 1st time, with meaning and explanation and result was instantly being smitten. However leadership wanted be a joyful occasion and encouraged to rejoice in re-establishing right relationship with God. 2. Now, however, about three weeks later, and people are assembling for a national service of repentance. 3. The author of the book, Nehemiah’s name, means: “Jehovah comforts”. With the rebuilding of the wall and the national service of repentance, Israel was once again feeling the comfort of the Lord.
I. When We Confess our Sins We Acknowledge God’s Peerlessness – vv. 5-6
A. This passage confirms the Truth that God has no rivals!
1. The Levites Cry out God’s Praise as they Confirm His Peerlessness.
a. vv. 5-6 – Read – God’s Name is above all other names. God’s position is unique – No other Gods – God’s powers in creation are unique – made heaven and earth and sea! God alone “gives life” – chayah – to live to exist. God is worshipped as unique – angels, cherubim, seraphim, all bow down to Him.
b. Pride is the mother of all sins. Yet if polled a group of people as to the worst of all sins, would rank very low on the list if at all. We are more likely to see pride as a virtue rather than a vice. Pride is the vice we overlook in ourselves and despise in others. One reason not as severe on pride is cause not too clear on its opposite – humility. The first step to becoming humble is realize you are proud! Illust – IN The Grat Divorce, Lewis said: “Only 2 types of people – those who say to God “Thy will be done.” And those to whom God says, “Thy will be done.”
2. Do you understand the fact that God is w/o equal in the universe? (How big is your God?)
a. Illust – In our Bill of Rights, VI Amendment gives right to trial by impartial jury. Often that was defined as a jury by “peers” or people of similar station and circumstances in life.
b. You see, God has no peers, He has no equal. In fact, if you and I are eaten up with pride and yet tell ourselves that we are religious you are in fact deluded and worship an imaginary God.
B. God is Creative and is in fact the Creator God of the Universe.
1. God has created all there is and it is His handiwork we see daily.
a. Illust – A kindergarten SS class was asked by their teacher what they knew about God. One particularly precocious pupil spoke up and said: “I know that He’s an artist.” “How so my dear?” was the reply of the surprised teacher. “Because Jesus Himself said: “Our Father Who does art in heaven!” (Credit – Paul Decker sermon.)
b. When we look at the universe and the beauty of the earth we naturally want to know it all simply happens to be what it is for no reason at all or if there is a power behind it which makes it exist. Often, in pride, people say that since they cannot physically see God in nature He therefore does not exist. This is weak thinking. If there is a controlling power outside the universe it could not show itself to us as one of the facts inside the universe any more than an architect of a house could actually be a wall or staircase or fireplace within that house. (Adapted from Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 19)
2. Although God is w/o rival or peer He finds Himself in Competition w/inferior things man attempts to worship
In reality it is not that our passions are too big. Rather, it is that they are too small. In more primal civilizations they may worship a tree or rock or carving. In ours we may worship perceived power or wealth, or objects or pleasures that we believe will bring us happiness. All of the time missing out on the meaning of life that these Levites were reminding the people of Israel about – “Thou alone art the Lord!”
C. Applic: - God is w/o peer. He has no rivals. Let me ask, who sits on the throne of your life? Yourself? If so, you are a spiritual traitor, guilty of celestial treason before a peerless God.
II. When We confess our Sin We Acknowledge God’s Promise – vv. 7-8
A. In Confessing their Sin the Jews Recall God’s Faithfulness to Abraham.
1. The Levites, leading this time of prayer and repentance, realized their very existence was a Fulfillment of God’s Promises.
a. Here we see the Levites continuing to pray, using as an example the patriarch Abraham. God took Abram and changed his name to “Abraham” – “father of a multitude” –Gen. 17:5-6. God promised Abraham a blessing, land, and a lineage. It was through His covenant promises God would bless the world through the Jews both physically and more importantly, spiritually.
b. Illust – Wm. Gladstone story: Was once asked best evidence for the truth of the Bible. Answer – “The Jews”.
2. When we confess our sin we acknowledge God’s promises.
a. King David: “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long”
There is nothing that so takes the joy out of life like unconfessed sin on the conscience. Ps. 32:3
b. I Jn. 1:9 – “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
B.. Confession of Sin reminds us that God is Trustworthy.
1. God Does What He Says He will Do
a. Illust - I love that passage in Gen. 18:14a where God has just made known to Abraham that Sarai will have a child in space of a year. Sarai was listening at the tent and does what every 89 yrs. old woman does when told going to have a child – breaks down and laughs! God says to Abraham “Why did Sara laugh?” (v.13) and then says: “Is anything to difficult for the Lord?”
b. God does what He says He will do. He is trustworthy. Is anything too difficult for the Lord? Here and now you may give a rhetorical “No!”, but tomorrow you may think differently. In your marriage. In your workplace. In your finances. Maybe a desire to serve the Lord in a different capacity. Possibly attempting to conceive a child. Possibly attempting to quit drinking or smoking or???? Nothing is too difficult for God!
2. God Keeps His Every Promise.
a. Illust – I try not to make very many promises to my kids. Now, I do try very hard to fulfill every promise I make them. However, sometimes I fail. Why? Cause I am human. God doesn’t have that problem or limitation. Let me ask everyone over about 15yrs., “Has anyone ever let you down?” Didn’t do what promised? That whole concept is foreign to God.
b. Go back to the text. Look again: As these Levites are leading the nation in prayer they testify to this truth and proclaim: “And Thou hast fulfilled Thy promise, For Thou art righteous.” (v.8) You see, God’s moral character, His righteousness, assures us that He will fulfill His promises or decrees. God’s nature, His attributes cannot be out of sinc with any other of His attributes. Must be in harmony. The very nature of God gives us courage and assurance in His trustworthiness.
C. Applic: Confessing sin allows us to realize God’s faithful and true.
III. 3rd Truth we Acknowledge about God When Confess Sins: His Passion vv. 9-25
A. Please note God’s Unique Ability to work His love and Power in Perfect Harmony.
1. In prayer the Nation is Reminded of God’s Passion for His People.
a. Illust – vv. 9-15 – Levites remind people that God saw the Israelites in distress in Egypt, and it was His love for His people that motivated Him to move in their behalf. Love saw the suffering and toil of the slaves. Yet it was God’s power that did something about it. As God moved to save it was His uniqueness that stood out. In fact, He identifies Himself when says: “I am who I am.” - He has been and always shall be. Because God has such a passion for his people He always defeats all inferior rivals (like Pharoah).
2. It was God’s Divine Passion that Chased after and overcame us in spite of our running.
a. I love Francis Thompson’s classic poem “The Hound of Heaven” which begins with the classic lines: “I fled Him down the nights and down the days; I fled Him down the arches of the years; I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways Of my own min; and in the mist of tears I hid from Him, and under running laughter. Up vistaed hopes I sped; And shot, precipitated, Adown Titanic glooms of chasmed fears, From those strong Feet that followed, followed after. But with unhurrying chase, And unperturbed pace, Deliberate speed, majestic instancy, They beat—and a Voice beat More instant that the Feet—All things betray the, who betrayest Me.” (pub. Revell, 1965).
b. Possibly someone here today is still thinking you can outrun the Hound of Heaven. You cannot. Jesus Christ is passionate. He is passionate about you!
B. God’s Love is Seen to be even more Amazing When we Consider the repeated waywardness of man.
1. Waywardness is the Hallmark of the Human Condition.
a. If there was one thing that Israel was consistent in it was their rebellion towards God. And yet in love and grace God consistently reached out to His rebellious people. That’s not to say that punishment and chastisement didn’t come to Israel. It did, in awful fashion. However, God’s grace and love were always present.
b. Robert Robinson’s famous hymn: “Come Thou Font of Every Blessing” - “O to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.”
2. Waywardness infects the Entire Human Race.
a. All too often we are an ungrateful people, and yet God still chooses to not withdraw His presence or provision from our lives although we deserve radically different treatment from Him.
b. Illust – There once was a grandmother walking along the beach at Myrtle Beach, SC, with 2yr. old grandson. Big wave hit and swept away grandson. Immediately and frantictly she prayed: “Oh God, please save my grandson.” In short order another wave crashed ashore, depositing the soaked and frightened toddler on shore and the older lady’s feet. The grandmother checked for cuts and bruises and then angrily looked to heaven and said: “When we came we had a hat!”
C. Applic: Let me ask you do you recognize your own waywardness from devotion to Christ? If so, do you also recognize how passionate our Lord is that He continues to pour His grace and love out on you? When we confess our sin it allows us to see once again how much God has done so that we can be in a relationship with Him.
IV. 4th Truth Acknowledge about God when we Confess our Sin is His Patience – vv. 26-31
A. The Story of Israel (and sadly all too often our own) is a sad one of Lovelessness and Indifference.
1. And yet, God patiently Absorbs the Disloyalty of His People.
-Illust – Notice how God is treated in this passage – The people don’t merely ignore Him, they deliberately defy Him. When God sends His prophets, they make sure they won’t have to listen to them, ridiculing them and even killing some.
2. In spite of Our Persistent Evil, God is Tenaciously Loyal.
a. Illust – Carol and I recently checked out Thomas Hardy’s “Far From the Madding Crowd”. For it not only has tragedy, intrigue, betrayal, obsession, suffering, and a cruelly twisting narrative—all features of Hardy's realistic art—but a love story that wins out in the end. The plot is about young woman, Bathsheba Everdene, who inherits a large farm and is courted by three men: Gabriel Oak, a shepherd who is devoted to her but is ruled out as a suitor due to his low station; Boldwood, a neighboring farmer; and Sergeant Troy, a dashing soldier. In a series of circumstances Oak who was the first to fall in love with Bathsheba comes into her employ. And although her fickle life flounders at times, and she treats him with less than the respect he deserves, he remains tenaciously loyal.
b. Demonstrating His passion and patience He has for man, God accuses Israel of being unfaithful. And yet forgives her of illicit affairs. Instead of being grateful for such grace and mercy, those affairs are repeated with increasing frequency. – Man is often incapable of forgiving one significant betrayal. Andy yet, may I ask how many times have you and I betrayed Him?
B. God is Persistent in His Patience – vv. 32-37
1. God Deliberately Pursues Us so that we will Turn from our Failures to His Compassion.
a. God does what He has to do, He does not and will not give up on us. I want you to be encouraged by that truth. Possibly you have a loved one who has strayed far from the truth. Maybe he/she is walking in disobedience, is living in rebellion. God is capable. Jesus Christ died for such a one.
2. God’s Persistence Calls for our commitment.
a. Dr. G. Campbell Morgan said this about believers who are reluctant to commit themselves wholeheartedly to Christ: “When our convictions are yielded to Him completely, He is able to give Himself to us in all His fullness. Until that is so, He cannot trust us. How true it is that we often miss the joy and strength of our Christianity because, by withholding ourselves from Christ, we make it impossible for Him to give Himself to us in all the fullness of His grace and truth.”
b. "A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." --Sir Winston Churchill
C. Applic:
