confession of sin

Repentance

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, confession of sin, prayer, repentance, salvation 1 Comment

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts… – Isaiah 55:7

“Let the wicked forsake his way.” It does not say, “Let him own that his way is bad.” There are some who will say, ‘Oh, yes, I know that my way is very wrong;” and there they stop. Such an admission as that will not save you, my friend; you must forsake your way as well as own that it is wrong. To know that it is wrong, and yet to go on in it, will double your sin. This kind of confession will not help you in the least; on the contrary, it will only increase your guilt. You must forsake your wicked way if you are to be forgiven. “Oh, sir,” you say, “I am very sorry for all the sin that I have committed!” I am glad that you are, and I hope that you will be still more so; but that sorrow alone will never save you. It is not saying, “I am sorry,” nor yet your being sorry for your sin that will save you; that is right as far as it goes, but you must forsake the sin as well as be sorry for it. “I must forsake it; well, I resolve that I will do so.” Yet that resolve by itself will not save you, for there are plenty of good resolutions that are good for nothing. You have actually to forsake your wicked way before you have complied with the requirements of our text. I know how the devil will try to deceive you, when you have made a good resolution. He will say, “Ah, you are a fine fellow; and that is a splendid resolution of yours!” Yet mere resolutions are not worth a penny a thousand; we must act, not simply resolve what we mean to do. We must not be like the man who owes a lot of money, and has not a penny to pay, yet who keeps on saying to his creditors, “I hope I shall be able to pay you tomorrow.” Then, when that day comes, he says he is very sorry, but he missed the friend he expected to see, so he must postpone the payment for a few days; yet, when the few days have passed, there is still nothing forthcoming. So it is with many who resolve to forsake sin; they are like those who promise, but never pay. This will not do; you must forsake your sin if it is to be forgiven.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2797.cfm

Turn and Live

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, confession of sin, promises, repentance, salvation, Sovereignty of God 1 Comment

As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live… – Ezekiel 33:11

This will be at once evident to you when I ask: How would it be consistent with the holiness of God for Him to put aside our past sin, and then to allow us to go on sinning as we did before? How could He be thought to be just and pure if He should remit the punishment for past transgressions, without seeing in us any determination to abstain from such sin in the future? Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, but He never came here to spare their sins. God would never have sent His Son to this earth to be the messenger of sin, yet Christ would be nothing better than the messenger of sin if He had come, and said to men, “You may continue in your sin, yet I will forgive you. You may live as you like, yet you shall find mercy with the Lord at the last.” It must strike you, in a moment, that such a course as this would be inconsistent with the character of the Judge of all the earth, who must do right. There is no such teaching as that in the whole of the Scriptures; and he who dares to believe it, believes a lie. Nowhere, in the whole compass of revelation, is there a promise of forgiveness to the man who continues in his iniquity. There is a promise of pardon to the sinner who forsakes his wicked way, and turns from his evil thoughts; there are many promises of forgiveness to those who confess their sins in humble penitence, and who seek to live new lives under the power of the Holy Spirit.

“Ye must be born again,” is Christ’s own word to all unregenerate sinners. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” There has never been any revocation of these truths, and again I repeat that, in the whole compass of the Word of God, there is no promise of pardon to the man who continues in his iniquities. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2797.cfm

A Fit Object for Thy Compassion

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, confession of sin, prayer, promises, salvation Leave a comment

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men – Titus 2:11

Are any of you sad and lonely? Have any of you been cruelly wronged? Have you lost the goodwill of some you esteemed? Do you seem as if you had the cold shoulder even from good people? Do not say, in the anguish of your spirit, “I am lost,” and give up. He hath compassion on you. Nay, poor fallen woman, seek not the dark river and the cold stream-He has compassion. He who looks down with the bright eyes of yonder stars and watches thee is thy friend. He yet can help thee. Though thou hast gone so far from the path of virtue, throw not thyself away in blank despair, for He hath compassion. And thou, broken down in health and broken down in fortune, scarcely with shoe to thy feet, thou art welcome in the house of God, welcome as the most honoured guest in the assembly of the saints. Let not the weighty grief that overhangs thy soul tempt thee to think that hopeless darkness has settled thy fate and foreclosed thy doom. Though thy sin may have beggared thee, Christ can enrich thee with better riches. He hath compassion….He is a friend of publicans and sinners. He is never happier than when He is relieving and retrieving the forlorn, the abject, and the outcast. He despises not any that confess their sins and seek His mercy. No pride nestles in His dear heart, no sarcastic word rolls off His gracious tongue, no bitter expression falls from His blessed lips. He still receives the guilty. Pray to Him now. Now let the silent prayer go up, “My Saviour, have pity upon me; be moved with compassion towards me, for if misery be any qualification for mercy, I am a fit object for Thy compassion. Oh! save me for Thy mercy’s sake!” Amen. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3438.cfm

Now Will I Sing to My Well-Beloved

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, confession of sin, prayer, promises, repentance 2 Comments

Now will I sing to my Well-beloved a song of my Beloved… – Isaiah 5:1

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise. – Psalm 51:15

“Now will I sing.” Does not that imply that there were times when he who spake these words could not sing? “Now,” said he, “will I sing to my Well-beloved.” There were times, then, when his voice, and his heart, and his circumstances were not in such order that he could praise God. My brethren, a little while ago we could not sing to our Well-beloved, for we did not love Him, we did not know Him, we were dead in trespasses and sins. Perhaps we joined in sacred song, but we mocked the Lord. We stood up with His people, and we uttered the same sounds as they did, but our hearts were far from Him. Let us blush for those mock psalms; let us shed many a tear of repentance that we could so insincerely have come before the Lord Most High. After that, we were led to feel our state by nature, and our guilt lay heavy upon us. We could not sing to our Well-beloved then. Our music was set to the deep bass and in the minor key. We could only bring forth sighs and groans…Brethren in Christ Jesus, it is now some years ago since we believed in Christ, but since then there have been times when we could not sing. Alas! for us, there was a time when we watched not our steps, but went astray, when the flatterer led us from the strait road that leads to heaven, and brought us into sin; and then the chastisement of God came upon us, our heart was broken, until we cried out in anguish, as David did in the 51st Psalm. Then if we did sing, we could only bring out penitential odes, but no songs. We laid aside all parts of the book of Psalms that had to do with Hallelujah, and we could only groan forth the notes of repentance. There were no songs for us then, till at last Emmanuel smiled upon us once more, and we were reconciled again, brought back from our wanderings and restored to a sense of the divine favour. It is not always summer weather with the best of us. Though for the most part:

“We can read our title clear,
To mansions in the skies,”

~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3476.cfm

Worship Only Thee

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, confession of sin, repentance, salvation 3 Comments

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. – James 4:8

I have known some who have taken very strange ways of showing their joy. They have been inclined to stand up and shout in the very place where they found the Saviour, while others could only sit still and water the floor with their tears, feeling as if for the next week or two they did not want to look anybody in the face, but just in solemn silence of the mind to revel in the company of their adorable Lord. We do not wonder that some people show a little strange enthusiasm when they first come to know Christ. It is no marvel. When a man has been in prison for months he may well be a little demonstrative in his joy on obtaining his liberty; so when a soul has been under the burden of sin, and bound with its galling chain, he may well leap, as Bunyan tells us his pilgrim did, when the burden was loosed off him and rolled away.

A better way of showing that you have received Christ joyfully is by turning out His enemies. When you receive Christ in at the front door, you must not keep the devil in the back parlour. Every traitor sin must be ejected when the Great King takes up His residence in your heart. The thorough cleansing of your house from every defilement is the smallest tribute we can expect you to pay in deference to your royal guest. The soul that receives Christ joyfully sighs and groans because it cannot make, as it would, a clean sweep of its sin. I know you do not love Christ if you cling to your sins; if you love Christ heartily, you will put away your iniquities:

“The dearest idol I have known,
Whate’er that idol be;
Help me to tear it from its throne,
And worship only Thee.”

~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3487.cfm

What Does the Gospel Mean?

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, confession of sin, promises, salvation 1 Comment

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. – Acts 4:12

There are thousands of persons, even in this highly-favoured, greatly- enlightened country, who really do not know what the Gospel means. The knowledge of salvation is within their reach, but they have no desire to acquaint themselves with this best of all the sciences. We are all sinners, they say; but they do not know what they mean. In the jargon of general confession they lose sight of their own personal transgressions. The plan of salvation by a Substitute, which is the gist of the whole matter, never dawned on their understanding. They do not know the great truth that Jesus took our sins and suffered for us in our room, and in our stead, that justice might be satisfied, that mercy might be magnified, and that we sinners might be liberated. Hence it comes to pass that whosoever trusteth in Christ is saved. Being ignorant of this, they are still depending upon their own works, merits, and professions, or they are relying upon their baptism, their confirmation, or their identification with some ecclesiastical system by means of some outward ceremony, instead of understanding that salvation is by faith, a thing of the heart in the spirit, and not in the letter. This ignorance of the blessed Saviour prevents many from receiving Him joyfully. So was it with the woman of Samaria; hence the Saviour said to her, “If thou hadst known the gift of God, and who it is that speaks to thee, thou wouldst have asked, and He would have given thee living water.” Lest ye perish through lack of knowledge, brethren, do entreat the Lord so to guide you in the reading of Scripture, and in listening to the exposition of Scripture that you may get a clear understanding of the way of the Lord. “That the soul should be without knowledge is not good,” for ignorance is the parent of many infatuations. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3487.cfm

At the Saviour’s Feet

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, confession of sin, prayer, promises, Sovereignty of God 4 Comments

Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying unto Him, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.- John 11:32

Some of us do know what it is to be scarcely able to get together two consecutive thoughts-not to be able to master a text or lay hold of a promise; still we could say, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him”; we could lie down at the feet that were pierced, and feel how sweet it is to swoon at the Saviour’s feet. Only get there. Let your will and heart be good to get at Him now, for the Master is here, and calls for you. Come, though in the coming you should utterly fail to get enjoyment, come and fall at His feet. Do I hear any of you saying, “Ah! but I have a heavy thought pressing at my heart, and if I come to Him it is not much that I can say in His honour. I feel but little love, and gratitude, and joy. I could not pour out sweet spikenard from the broken box of my heart.” Be it so, only pour out what you have; for what did Mary do? She said-and the Master did not chide her though He might have done-“Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” Oh! it was half cruel, for she seemed to say, “Why wast Thou not here?” It was unbelieving in part, and yet there is a deal of faith in it-a sweet clinging to Him…Beloved, when you are at Jesus’ feet, if you have an unbelieving thought, if you have something that half chides Him, pour out your heart like water before the Lord…Tell Him the weakness; tell Him the suspicion; tell Him all the sin that has been, and all the sin that is haunting you. Tell it all to Him; and at His feet is the place to tell it. You will be eased of your burden then. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3461.cfm