SABAOTH WINTER 2021                                                             FORESIGHT OF THE MASTER PLANNER – The Eternal Purpose

The Sacrifices of God Are A Broken spirit: A Broken And A Contrite Heart

 

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Confession – Its Power To Remove The Sting of Sin

I remember some years back when I used to go with Pa Olagunju for weekly ministration to people at the detention centre just outside of London, and during the week prior to one of the Saturdays, he told me that I will be sharing the message at the centre, so I asked him what topic he wanted me to share on, and he replied asking – “am I the Holy Spirit”? So I decided to go and ask the Holy Spirit, what I am supposed to share? I then had a witness in my heart to “pray for the conviction of your own sin”.

So, there I was thinking, am I supposed to go and share my own sins with the people? Then I had known who the boss was (to some extent), so I started praying – “Holy Spirit convict me of my sins”. Just imagine what a ‘lovely’ (I mean terrible) time I had from that Tuesday until we were actually on the journey to the detention centre; then I felt a refreshing from the Holy Spirit and a witness to my heart to “just present the Gospel” simply as just around the 4 spiritual laws.

We got there prepared the room, and the people started coming in and after a worship session Baba said go on and do your thing, so I went on and just simply presented the gospel, As I finished the Holy Spirit started to do his work of conviction of sin and what followed was confession and I actually had to tell a guy to mind what he was saying, remembering that he was in a detention facility; WHAT GOD ONLY WANTED FROM HIM WAS THE GODLY SORROW THAT LEADS TO REPENTANCE; And I am sure the confession he was trying to make released the DELIVERANCE he sought.

In the series The Sacrifices of God Are A Broken spirit: A Broken And A Contrite Heart, we have looked at Conviction – Empowerment To See The Spirituality of God’s Law. Where we saw that Spiritual truth cannot provide Spiritual liveliness to a mind that is dead to righteousness; as such the mind is unable to capture the essence of the truth and similarly, Spiritual truth cannot make an unregenerate will to believe.

We have also looked at Faith – Empowerment To Persuade The Mind That God’s Law And Power Is True And Real. We saw that saving faith is trust in Jesus Christ as a living person for forgiveness of sins and for eternal life with God: That it is faith that propels one to take the next step past simply having knowledge of Christ and believing in the facts presented. We then examined Repentance – Empowerment for a yielded will to turn away from sin to God. Where we saw that Repentance is an act by which we realise we have offended an Holy and righteous God; this act is characterised by a deliberate turn away from the sinful act(s) in question, begging for God’s forgiveness and turning to him and his ways, The last topic we looked at was The Eternal Value of A Sound Conscience where we saw that Our conscience is like a moral nerve for our soul. That it is possible for man to sear his/her conscience and be rendered capable of doing the most terrible things without being aware of the fact that they are doing it any longer. THE CONSIENCE IS SEARED; and this can go on until THERE IS NO MORE HUMAN FEELING.

We will now have a look at Confession – Its Power To Remove The Sting of Sin in:

Conviction – Empowerment To See The Spirituality of God’s Law.

Faith – Empowerment To Persuade The Mind That God’s Law And Power Is True And Real.

Repentance – Empowerment for a yielded will to turn away from sin to God.

The Eternal Value of A Sound Conscience

Confession – Its Power to Remove The Sting of Sin

Circumcision of The Regenerated Heart.

Dead To Sin – Empowerment to overcome indwelling sin

Alive to Christ, Jesus – Empowerment to live a righteous and Godly life.

The Consecration, Quickening (or Awakening), Faith and Repentance Needed For Revival

God’s Way of Restoration & The Cleansing That Leads To Joy.

 

Confession – Its Power To Remove The Sting of Sin

Dictionary Definition of confession:

1: To tell or make known (something, such as something wrong or damaging to oneself) ADMIT E.g. he confessed his guilt

2a: to acknowledge (sin) to God or to ANOTHER BELIEVER

b: to receive the confession of (a penitent)

3: to declare faith in or adherence to : PROFESS

4: to disclose one’s faults specifically : to unburden one’s sins or the state of one’s conscience to God or to ANOTHER BELIEVER

5: ADMIT, OWN confess to a crime

 

The POWER OF COFESSION TO REMOVE THE STING OF SIN

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

First things first, It is important to have a grasp of the following facts:

1. Every sin is essentially unforgivable if it is not confessed
2. NOT confessing is to LIE to God.
3. Lying to God is an intentional and High Handed sin, for which there is no atonement.
4. By confessing you are no longer lying to God but instead agreeing with Him that you have trespassed. Then the sin can be atoned for.
5. The condition of the heart is a priority when it comes to imputing the work of the cross to a believer.
6. An unrepentant man who offers a sacrifice is NOT forgiven.
7. The Cross is not a forgiveness vending machine. It is only efficacious for the one who confesses and repents.

“When you read God’s Word, you must constantly be saying to yourself, ‘It is talking to me, and about me.’  – Søren Kierkegaard

You must learn to follow our Savior for yourself, but never follow Him by yourself. – Henri Nouwen

“Who helps me most?” I must answer, “The one who is willing to share his or her life with me.”  -Henri Nouwen

Precautions

Sin committed between you and the Lord alone (transgression) is confessed between you and the Lord alone.

I confess my sin before the Lord, it brings forgiveness

I confess it to another believer, it activates deliverance from that sin

If you have sinned against somebody else, you have to confess it to that person, ask his/her forgiveness and confess it to the Lord as well.

Sin committed against a group should be confessed before the group and also before the Lord.

Confession should be made carefully so that further injustice is not done. For instance, it is foolish to confess bad thoughts about someone to that person. That way you will do more damage than good. The purpose of confession is to bring forth healing and not further separation. If someone knows that you have gossiped about him, confess it. If he does not know about it, do not tell him about it because it only causes harm. If the Lord leads you, pray with another trustworthy believer about the matter.

O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine prising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. (Psalm 139:1-14)

I confess it to another believer, it brings forth deliverance from that sin.

Caution!!!

Be mindful of who you confess your sin to

 

God will surely forgive and “that’s it”

But

Man can always come back to use it against you

 

Restitution

Sin can cause physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual damage to a believer that is difficult to rectify. Restitution should be made where he/she have done someone harm, for instance by stealing from someone, or hostility between the believer and someone else. In other words the believer must set the record straight, return the stolen goods, confess his/her share in the matter. If the believer cannot fix the problems caused by their actions, he/she should sincerely ask forgiveness of those that have been wronged and try to find another way to show a change of heart.

Definition of restitution

1 : an act of restoring or a condition of being restored: such as

a : a restoration of something to its rightful owner

b : a making good of or giving an equivalent for some injury

2 : a legal action serving to cause restoration of a previous state

3. the restoration of something lost or stolen to its proper owner.

“the ANC had demanded the restitution of land seized from blacks”

4. recompense for injury or loss. “he was ordered to pay £6,000 in restitution”

Restitution Cannot Replace Repentance

The Heart Of The Matter Is Essentially The Matter Of The Heart.

WHEN RESTITUTION SHOULD BE MADE (Leviticus 6:1-7)

IF

All crimes or offences involving oppression, theft, and fraud are direct breaches of faith against God. Not all sins are crimes, nor are all crimes sins as such.

 If anyone sins and commits a trespass against the Lord and deals falsely with his neighbour in a matter of deposit given him to keep, or of bargain or pledge, or of robbery, or has oppressed his neighbour. Or has found what was lost and lied about it, or swears falsely, in any of all the things which men do and sin in so doing, (Leviticus 6:2-3)

A repentant heart alone, of course, is no excuse to withhold repayment; however, neither should financial recompense ever replace what must be a matter of the heart

Then if he has sinned and is guilty, he shall restore what he took by robbery, or what he secured by oppression or extortion, or what was delivered him to keep in trust, or the lost thing which he found (Leviticus 6:4)

While faith is our receiving of the grace “offered us in Christ.”: Repentance is availing ourselves of this grace and utilizing the power of it to turn to God.

 

Prayers:

 AND WE CONTINUALLY PRAY:

1. Holy Spirit, in times of evil guilt from an evil conscience that seeks to block our access to God, imprint in the inner recesses of our being that the Blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ wholly satisfies God.
2. O Lord, that as we are convicted of our own sins; the Holy Spirit of conviction and Holy Spirit inspired repentance will flow through us to others in our surroundings and beyond.
3. Heavenly Father, that You quicken us with Your presence like never before that we may continually be filled with renewed vigour and courage.
4. Heavenly Father, that You quicken us with Your presence like never before that we may continually be empowered to actively seek the purification our motives and conscience.
5. Any power of death operating in through, and against any aspect of our being; collide with the covenant of the Blood of The Eternal Covenant
6. Heavenly Father, that You quicken us with Your presence like never before that we may continually be filled with grace to confess our sins even to other believers if the need arises.
7. Heavenly Father, that You quicken us with Your presence like never before that we may continually be empowered to actively seek the marvellous truth taught in Your Word, that there is a way out of our guilt, a way out of our alienation, that we no longer need to be far off from you.
8. Heavenly Father, that You teach us to accurately, righteously fear You.
9. Heavenly Father, that You will help us to be honest about our guilt, and not try to avoid it but to know that there is no way out unless we acknowledge it.