"The Disciplines" - Part 6- Confession & Submission

Introduction

Good Morning family!

Well this morning we are Still in our series we are simply calling “DISCIPLE” in which we have been exploring what it actually means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and to engage in the disciple making process. I hope these messages have helped you to better understand the vision we have of truly being a Discipleship driven church.

We want everyone who calls LFB your church family to be actively engaged in becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ and we make no apology for that. I and the other Elders believe that it is our responsibility to help lead every person here to spend time with Jesus, Learn to be like Him and Do what He would do if He were in your place.

For the past several weeks we have been talking about some of the disciplines or practices that you can engage in and hopefully make a habit of, that will position you to begin to experience, what early Christians referred to as “the Way”, which was simply living life as an apprentice of Jesus.

So far we have looked at 13 different practices and we will look at the final two this morning. You may recall that we divided these practices into two categories.

First were the practices of abstinence. Practices that will help us as Peter says, “Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against our soul” (1 PETER 2:11). These are practices that will help to counteract our tendencies to commit the sins of commission. Doing things we should NOT do. That is willful sins like gossip, sexual sins, greed, pride, over indulgence, and hurry. Those practices included:

Solitude

Silence

fasting

frugality

chastity

secrecy

sacrifice

And the second group are practices of Engagement where we counterbalance the practices of abstinence. Practices of engagement help us with the sins of omission, not doing the things we should do. Things like ignorance regarding the written Word of God, joyless living, stingy giving, no regular and consistent prayer life, isolation from others, lack of worship, lack of compassion. James give us a good working definition of such sins.

Jas 4:17 ESV - 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Practices that can help us avoid sins of omission included:

Study

Worship

Celebration

Service

Prayer

last week we looked at

fellowship

and this morning we are going to explore the practices of

Confession and Submission. Oh doesn’t that sound fun? it should.

Now, if you missed any of these, you can go to the website, firstbap.org and videos of all of these messages are listed and viewable on the “Recent Sermons” page. I strongly encourage you to go and re-watch these and prayerfully decide which practices would be most beneficial to you at this season in your life and then....practice them. Make them a habit and watch in awe as the Holy Spirit begins to work in your life.

The final two practices I would like you to consider this morning are the practice of Confession and the practice of Submission. Now of all the practices we have looked at, these two are viewed by many as very scary in the case of confession, and in the case of submission, the culture of the day and age in which you and I live would say is unnecessary and even demeaning. I want to tell you that to take either of these views is to misunderstand these practices as God intended.

Let’s first look at the practice of

CONFESSION

For many, confession would not land on the JOYFUL list. As I said, this word strikes terror in the hearts of some. But it shouldn’t be that way. Contrary to what some may think, confession is not about the public airing of your dirty laundry. Confession is about acknowledging truth.

In the Bible we see confession take on two forms. First is confession about what we believe to be true about someone else, in this case Jesus, and second is confession about what we believe to be true about ourselves.

In both cases, there can indeed be some danger involved with confession. But confession is also the very first step to salvation! And so confession is actually a very good thing. We will say more about that in a bit.

There is a remarkable confession story found in John the 9th chapter. it is about a man born blind who has his sight restored by Jesus.

Jhn 9:19-34 ESV - 19 and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" 20 His parents answered, "We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself." 22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) 23 Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."

So here we see the potential danger of confession. Here are these two parents brought before the rulers of the synagogue to be questioned about this miracle that has taken place with their son. One thing they are certain of and can confess with no fear of backlash is that their son was born blind. On that they could speak with all authority and confidence. And they do. In verse 20 they say,

"We know that this is our son and that he was born blind.”

But then it starts to get a little sketchy. They are being asked, how is it that this son of yours who was born blind, can now see?

Their answer? We don’t know how or who is responsible. What are you asking us for? Why don’t you ask him. he is old enough to answer for himself.

Now here in verse 22, the teller of the story, in this case Luke, gives us a little inside information.

22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.)

So it seems that his parents had already heard the claims of their formerly blind son, that it was this Jesus fellow who healed him. But they also knew that people were being kicked out of the synagogue for “confessing” (the greek word homologeō hom-ol-ogay-o) Jesus to be the Messiah.

The word carries the idea of agreeing with, assent, to concede, not to deny, to profess something to be true.

To confess Jesus to be who He Himself claimed to be, the long awaited Messiah, the Christ, God incarnate, was a dangerous thing to do in Jesus day. It was true then and it is becoming increasingly true today. Confession of THIS particular truth could get these two parents kicked out of the synagogue or worse, so they avoided the confession altogether.

Verse 24...

24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, "Give glory to God. We know that this man (speaking of Jesus) is a sinner." 25 He (the man who had been blind) answered, "Whether he (Jesus) is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." 26 They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" 27 He answered them, "I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?" (cheeky!) 28 And they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." 30 The man answered, "Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." 34 They answered him, "You were born in utter sin, (this was the common view of the Jewish leaders at that time. If you were sick or in this case blind, it was because of the sin in your life)

and would you teach us?" And they cast him out.

Let’s stop there for a minute and make a couple of observations.

So the two parents avoid confession. They are not willing to pay the price for it. But their son, who, Jesus healed, is being a little cagey with these so-called spiritual leaders. While He does not out right confess Jesus as Messiah, he puts it back on the Jews and says, all I know is this man Jesus made me, a man born blind to see again. As far as I know this has never been done before. Bottom line? He uses their own position against them. You say God does not listen to sinners. So, if this man were not from God, He would not have been able to do this.

This riled them up so they cast Him out.

What happens next is…confession.

Jhn 9:35-41 ESV - 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" 36 He answered, "And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?" 37 Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you." 38 He said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him.

So Jesus hears about this encounter the healed blind man has with the Jewish leaders. He tracks the guy down and asks him for his confession. Do you believe in the Son of Man?

The man replies, I want to believe in him, but who is He? Jesus says, you are talking to Him. The man replies

Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him. Confession that acknowledges the truth about Who Jesus is resulted in this mans salvation.

But there is a bit different outcome for the Pharisees on this day.

39 Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind." 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, "Are we also blind?" 41 Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains.

These Pharisees refused to confess the truth about themselves. And because of that, Jesus tells them that by their refusal to acknowledge the truth, not only about Him , but about their own hearts, they are guilty. Guilty of what? Failing to confess the truth that they know in order to save face and remain intact in the eyes of men.

Folks, confession is not a bad thing. Confession is the very best thing for your spiritual transformation. It requires a spirit of humility. Refusal to confess the truth about Christ or yourself is an issue of pride. And we know how God feels about that.

Jas 4:6-8 ESV - 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

What I am attempting to do this morning is to make the case that confession may be one of the most significant practices in terms of your spiritual transformation. That means confession is a good thing, not a bad thing.

So a few final thoughts about confession.

Confession is closely tied to the practice we considered last week, fellowship. As we have already seen,

Confession leads to salvation

Rom 10:9 ESV - 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Confession restores fellowship.

Confession moves us from darkness into the light

1Jo 1:5-10 ESV - 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 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 cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

I said a while ago that confession is about acknowledging the truth about who Christ is, but it is also about acknowledging the truth about who we are. This may be the most difficult thing. Confession Jesus as Lord leads to salvation. But why do we need salvation in the first place? Because of the truth about us. We are sinners and we all fall short of God’s Standard. Confession of that sin is critically important. Not just for salvation, but also for our own spiritual welfare after salvation.

1Jo 1:8-9 ESV - 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Not only does confession restore fellowship with our god, but confession has a way of restoring our fellowship with each other.

When we confess, we let others know our deepest weaknesses and failures. This has a way of nourishing our faith in God’s provision for us through His people, our sense of being loved, and our humility before our brothers and sisters in the family of God. It is about letting some of our friends in Christ know who we really are, not holding back anything important, but allowing complete transparency.

There is a heavy burden that we must carry when we are hiding the truth about ourselves and when we are pretending to be something we are not. And that burden will absolutely stifle your spiritual transformation into Christlikeness. It will take up a dreadful amount of your time and energy.

We saw in the John passage we read a while ago how if you were sick or in a bad way it was assumed that was due to the sine in your life. The sad truth is, we are still making that assumption. But here is the truth about that. Un-confessed sin of any kind can indeed separate a person from the full flow of redeeming life and transformation. So in the book of James we are told...

Jas 5:16 ESV - 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

It would do us all well to accept the fact that un-confessed sin is a special kind of burden or obstruction in the psychological as well as the physical realities of a believer’s life. The practice of confession and absolution removes that burden. And confession also helps us AVOID further sin.

We are told in ...

Pro 28:13 NLT - 13 People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.

The confession is obviously an aid to turning away.

You have probably heard it said that confession is good for the soul but bad for the reputation. And if we are honest we would have to admit that a bad reputation makes life more difficult in relation to those close to us.

But here is the thing. Closeness and confession force out evildoing. and evil behavior def will do a number on your reputation before men and more importantly before God. So I would say that nothing is more supportive of right behavior than open truth. And that is what confession is, the acknowledgment of what is true.

We are not gonna have time this morning to give proper attention to the practice of submission because I wanna give you one more example of the importance of confession. So we will save that for next week.

Scripture tells us that David was a man after God’s own heart. Now you an i would imagine that a man described that way would be a righteous man with no sin in His life. A perfect man. Well we know there was only one like that and it wasn’t David. In fact David committed some of what we would call the worst sins. Adultery and pre-meditated murder among them. So hos is it that David earned the reputation of a man after God’s own heart?

I submit to you this morning that it was because of David’s willingness to confess and submit Himself to God’s authority when it really mattered.

You may recall that the price David had to pay for His sin was the loss of His son. I want to read this story to you because I think we can all see a quite a bit more of David in our own lives in terms of sin, but not as much of Him as we should in terms of confession and repentance, those qualities that actually earned Him that lofty reputation of being a man after God’s own heart.

We read that God sends Nathan to confront David about what he had done with Uriah and Bathsheba. If you are not familiar, David sees Bathsheba bathing one night and decides he must have her, but she is married. This does not stop him and he uses his authority as King to have Bathsheba brought to him.

Bathsheba becomes pregnant with David’s child. To try and cover it up, David brings her husband back from the war going on with the Ammonites, wines and dines him and encourages him to go spend the night with his wife. But Uriah, an honorable man, would not do it while his comrades were on the battlefield. So David arranges to have Uriah sent into the thickest part of the battle and the rest of the men of his army to pull back and allow Uriah to be killed in battle. Then, after allowing for a proper time of mourning by Bathsheba over the death of her Husband, David marries her and thinks they will live happily ever after.

But in the final verse of 2 Samuel chapter 11 we read..

But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.

READ 2Sa 12:1-23 ESV

Incredible story of sin, repentance and restoration.

Out of that experience, David wrote the 51st Psalm.

Let’s read it and I will close.

Psa 51:1-19 ESV - 1 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; 19 then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

CLOSING

When we practice open and honest confession to a mature friend or qualified leader in the church, it allows the opportunity for these friends to pray for our specific struggles and to do the things that would be most helpful and redemptive.

Confession alone makes deep fellowship possible and a lack of confession explains a lot of the superficial quality so common in our churches today. Confession is hard. What makes it bearable. I alluded to it earlier. It’s Fellowship. It’s Community. There is an essential reciprocity between these two practices.

Where there is confession within close community, as we saw in David’s case, restitution cannot be avoided and in fact, restitution itself serves as a powerful discipline. The truth is, it is difficult not to rectify wrong done once it is confessed. Of course not all sin calls for restitution but some does. it would be unthinkable that I would sincerely confess to a brother or sister that i stole from them or harmed their reputation in some way and then merrily go my way without trying to make some restoration for the loss I caused. My integrity would require it. And while that might not be very enjoyable, it actually strengthens us in our will to do the right thing.

So confession is one of the most powerful of all the practices for spiritual life that we have looked at so far.

But a word of caution. It can also be easily abused, and in order to practice it effectively does indeed require considerable experience and maturity, both in the individual who is confessing AND in the leadership of the church, which will lead us into next week’s discussion of submission. I will leave it at that.

Let’s share in the Lord’s supper together.

Amen? Let’s pray.