From the Ashes
Week 4 – Confession
Scripture: John 3:19-20, James 1:14-15, Luke 15
I grew up differently than most kids today. When I was staying with my grandparents in Hayward, we lived on the edge of town, and were allowed to hunt and fish around the property. We had many firearms, all loaded throughout the house, and from the time I turned 10 or 11, I was allowed to grab my .22 rifle whenever I wanted and go plink at squirrels, rabbits, or other varmints, particularly the ones that would get into my grandpa’s garden or flower beds.
But before I had that blanket permission, I was not allowed to touch any of the guns. They were out in the open, and unlocked, but I obeyed that rule even when left home alone while they were at work.
One day, my grandfather had just left with his friend Bob, who was the county surveyor, to go and do some work marking property for a new development coming into the area. Grandma was working, so I was home alone….probably 8 or 9 years old.
I did my usual- played outside. Went for a walk in the woods. Visit old Hayward which was an old, abandoned logging camp about ½ mile walk through the woods. I explored the old theater, went into several of the old houses and found old toys left behind by the original settlers of Hayward, and brought them home with me.
I made myself a sandwich and was sitting at the kitchen table when I heard a thump from the living room. My grandparent’s poodle had knocked over my bolt action .22 from it’s stand. I noticed the bolt was partially up, so I picked it up and brough it back to the kitchen with me and worked the bolt so it was back in the correct position. That of course popped a single bullet out of the chamber and loaded a new one. I looked all over for that shell, but couldn’t find it so I just put it back and continued my day.
My grandfather came home and grabbed a soda from the refrigerator, and I saw him bend down and pick something up. He asked me, “Johnny, were you messing with your rifle?”
I was on the spot….and I made the wrong decision and lied.
I said, “Nope”
He turned around holding up the shell I had ejected and said, “Can you explain this then?”
I was caught. I just looked down at the ground and my grandpa came over to me and cupped the back of my head and made me look up at him.
I was surprised to see tears in his eyes.
He said, “You broke my heart. I didn’t raise you to be a liar- don’t you trust me with the truth, even when you mess up?”
I learned a valuable lesson that day. It’s A lesson that I’ve continued to learn, fail at, and learn again my entire life-
Confession when you mess up is better than living in darkness.
Today we are going to explore this idea of confession- why we are so afraid of using this vital tool God has given us, and the power it has when we humble ourselves and allow confession to cleanse us and set us free from the snare the enemy has set for us.
Let’s begin with prayer-
Prayer: “God, I confess today that I have made decisions that have broken my relationship with you and others. Forgive me for the mistakes I have made. Free me from shame and guilt that I may walk in the newness of life that you offer me in your Son. May my life be transparent before you and may you help me to live my life with wisdom.”
Big Idea: Confession is the process of recognition of sin, turning from it and experiencing the forgiveness of God. Having a regular practice of searching our lives and coming into the light can cultivate a life full of grace and mercy as we rise from the ashes of past sins and poor decision making in our lives.
Admitting failure is difficult. Confessing and coming clean when we are at fault is not an easy task. I’m sure many of you here today have a similar story like the one I just shared. Honestly, we probably all have numerous stories that sound eerily similar.
Thankfully, the stories end differently when God gets involved. With God, we are promised forgiveness when we confess our sins and come clean. And when we bring ourselves into the light we are able to live free, unburdened or hindered by the sin that so easily entangles so that we can run the race set before us. (Hebrews 12:1)
Confession is the 4th topic of our 6 weeks together in our journey to abundant life. Obviously, Jesus led a sinless life so we won’t see any specific examples from His life including sin. However, it is because of Jesus’ sinless life and humble sacrifice that we can experience the unrestrained forgiveness of the Father over our sin.
As I said in week 1, you are not broken beyond repair.
Jesus is the reason we can confess and experience complete forgiveness in our lives.
However, there are two things that keep us from confession, and they are listed in John chapter 3 when Jesus gives us both the solution to the sin that entangles our heart and our souls, and the reasons we resist that solution.
Let’s deal with the resistance to confessing our sins first
John 3:19-21
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
The first thing we see here is in verse 19- men love their sin more than they love God and HIS word.
This is probably the #1 condition that the vast majority of people suffer from- they love their sin more than God.
It might be an addiction.
It might be a relationship
It might be sexual sin
Whatever it is, people want to do that instead of trusting God and His moral law concerning that behavior.
In other words, they are echoing satan’s words to Adam and Eve- “Did God really say?” and then he follows it up with, “God just doesn’t’ want you to experience everything this life has to offer- HE is holding out on you”
Now I don’t want to give the enemy all of the credit- we sin when our hearts desire something.
I’ve said it many times in the last few months-
What the heart wants, the will choses, and the mind justifies.
Or as the bible says in James
Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
We all have this fallen nature that we contend with, and for different people it manifests in different ways.
The devil has a file with your name, your weakness, and will use that information to make sure your weakness is exploited so it causes you as much spiritual damage as possible.
And of the most pernicious tricks he uses is to dangle that sin in front of your eyes like a worm on a hook to a fish, and then when you open your mouth to take a nibble, he jerks the line and sets the hook and you are his at that point.
However, confession destroys the hook and sets you free.
But, the second part of what Jesus was telling us about sin also keep us bound to sin-
John 3:20b will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
While confession can destroy that hook, pride helps it dig in deeper.
How many people have we all known that were destroyed because they were too prideful to confess that they needed help with their problem?
I’m going to touch a sensitive area here, so be forward it might bother a few people, but it’s not my intent to offend anyone but this has to be said.
What I’m about to say it’s just focused on us here. I’m speaking toward the condition of the church universal- throughout the world and throughout history.
We in the church, an organization built upon the grace of God shown through Jesus Christ are the worst people when it comes to extending grace to one of our own when they fall.
This is why people will prefer the hook and remain on the devil’s line then allow their sin to become public and get dragged into the light.
Sure, some of it is pride…no doubt. No one wants to admit when they have messed up, and the greater the sin the more effort it takes to cover it up.
But a lot of it is because they don’t trust the church to be able to deal with them gently and walk with them through the restoration process.
The bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God- meaning his moral perfection.
Even after we come to Christ, we will sin and fall short of the Glory of God.
If this is expected, why are we surprised when it happens?
This is why confession is so important to us as a church family, and to us as individual Christians. It breaks the devil’s hold on us, dissolves the hook, and renders his tactics useless.
Most importantly, confession opens up the forgiveness of God.
This divine forgiveness is truly amazing grace and it is such a different response to our wrongdoing than what many of us grew up experiencing.
This truth is shown in the bible through a parable that Jesus taught.
Turn in your bibles to Luke 15.
We are going to go through the story of the Prodigal Son.
The Prodigal Son’s story starts where most of our stories begin.
This is an unfortunate truth- We are convinced we know how to run our life better than God does.
So, we take all that he has given us and we waste it on living however we want. We double down on our bad decisions and hurt ourselves and others in the process.
Luke 15:11
“Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.”
The word used here for wild living is only used once in the New Testament. It describes an extravagantly wasteful lifestyle. It may seem like the right thing for a time, and after all in the case of the younger son, he was only spending his rightful inheritance. But eventually the money runs out, the parties come to an end, and the nerves wear thin.
It’s at this point we realize we’ve squandered it all.
The son here, who represents you and me, has bitten on the lure that satan put before him, accepted the pain of the hook, and kept the sin in the darkness so it wouldn’t be too painful for him.
Thankfully, that’s not the end of the prodigal’s story nor is it the end of ours.
Continuing in Luke 15 we read;
“After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. “When he came to his senses, he said;
‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father.”
No Longer Worthy
There needs to be a time in each of our lives where we simply come to our senses and realize that our life will never be what it was meant to be apart from the Father.
My prayer is that none of you here have to lose everything, become shattered, or have your dreams reduced to ashes...
But if that does happen, the good news is, we are able to make the decision to head home at any time.
Some of us simply have to come to the end of our worth and realize that in Christ alone we are found worthy before the Father. Repeat
Not based upon anything we can or cannot do but based upon the finished work of Christ on the cross.
As the younger son reaches his end, look at the confession he was practicing: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you…” He recognizes the depravity of his life and he understands his sin not only touches his earthly father but His heavenly Father as well.
Alive Again
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.
For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.” John 15:20-24
This is one of the most beautiful scenes of compassion in the entire Bible.
The younger son reaches bottom, and begins heading home.
But even while he’s still a long way from home, his father sees him and RUNS out to meet him.
You can almost hear the son's muffled apology coming through the sound of his fathers warm embrace and smothering kisses. The younger man's humility, confession, and willingness to return home after having lost everything says a lot about his true character. Yes, he was physically starved and yes he was in a foreign land with nothing to show.
But there at rock bottom, what really mattered became clear to him.
The abundance of food, mercy, compassion, warmth, etc… of his fathers house called him home.
How many of you need to humble yourselves this morning, confess your sin against God and others, and return to the Father?
Conclusion/Application
Let me ask you, what’s keeping you from the Father today?
- Anger?
- Unforgiveness?
- Offense?
- Unmet expectations?
- Past hurts?
What can be confessed, repented of, and healed today?
James 5:16 says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
Come home today. The church is not a mausoleum or a museum where we celebrate the past, but hospital that treats the sin sick.
A rise
Let’s pray together.
