confession of sin

Fitness for Believing in Christ

Sherry Character of Jesus, confession of sin, promises, repentance, salvation 3 Comments

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. -1 Timothy 1:15

Some are asking the question, “How shall I make myself fit to be saved?” That is similar to a man who, being very black and filthy coming home from a coal mine or from a forge, says, seeing the bath before him: “How shall I make myself fit to be bathed?” You tell him at once that there cannot be any fitness for washing, except filthiness, which is the reverse of a fitness. So there can be no fitness for believing in Christ, except sinfulness, which is, indeed, the reverse of fitness. If you are hungry, you are fit to eat; if you are thirsty, you are fit to drink; if you are naked, you are fitted to receive the garments which charity is giving to those who need them; if you are a sinner, you are fitted for Christ, and Christ for you; if you are guilty, you are fitted to be pardoned; if you are lost, you are fitted to be saved. This, is all the fitness Christ requireth, and cast every other thought of fitness far hence; yea, cast it to the winds. If thou be needy, Christ is ready to enrich thee. If thou wilt come and confess thine offences before God, the gracious Saviour is willing to pardon thee just as thou art. There is no other fitness wanted.

“Yes, but the way of salvation is coming to Christ and I am afraid I do not come in the right way.” Dear, dear, how unwise we are in the matter of salvation!…”What kind of coming is that,” says John Bunyan, “which saves a soul?” and he answers, “Any coming in all the world if it does but come to Jesus.”~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3509.cfm

The Blessed Confession

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, confession of sin, promises, repentance, salvation, The Father, The Holy Spirit Leave a comment

I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee -Luke 15:18

Look, there he is, with the fellow commoners of the sty, in all his mire and filthiness. Suddenly a thought, put there by the good Spirit, strikes his mind. “How is it,” says he, “that in my father’s house there is bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger? I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.”…But his father puts his hand on his mouth. “No more of that,” says he; “I forgive you all; you shall not say anything about being a hired servant-I will have none of that. Come along,” says he, “come in, poor prodigal. Ho!” says he to the servants, “bring hither the best robe, and put it on him, and put shoes on his poor bleeding feet; and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it; and let us eat and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” And they began to be merry. Oh, what a precious reception for one of the chief of sinners! Good Matthew Henry says-” His father saw him, there were eyes of mercy; he ran to meet him, there were legs of mercy; he put his arms round his neck, there were arms of mercy; he kissed him, there were kisses of mercy; he said to him, there were words of mercy; “Bring hither the best robe,” there were deeds of mercy, wonders of mercy-all mercy. Oh, what a God of mercy He is.”

Now, prodigal, you do the same…”Ah, sir, I am so black, so filthy, so vile.” Well come along with you-you cannot be blacker than the prodigal. Come to your Father’s house, and as surely as He is God He will keep His word: “Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.”~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0113.cfm

 

 

The Repentance of Despair

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, confession of sin, promises, repentance, salvation, The Holy Spirit 3 Comments

Then Judas, which had betrayed Him, when he saw that He was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. -Matthew 27:3-4

Yes, Judas the traitor, who had betrayed his Master, when be saw that his Master was condemned, “repented, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood, and cast down the pieces in the temple, and went” and what?- “and hanged himself.” Here is the worst kind of repentance of all; in fact, I know not that I am justified in calling it repentance; it must be called remorse of conscience. But Judas did confess his sin, and then went and hanged himself. Oh! that dreadful, that terrible, that hideous confession of despair! Have you never seen it? If you never have, then bless God that you never were called to see such a sight. I have seen it once in my life, I pray God I may never see it again -the repentance of the man who sees death staring him in the face, and who says, “I have sinned.” You tell him that Christ has died for sinners; and he answers, “There is no hope for me; I have cursed God to His face; I have defied Him; my day of grace I know is past; my conscience is seared with a hot iron; I am dying, and I know I shall be lost!”

Ah! There may be a man (reading) here who may have such a death as that; let me warn him, ere he come to it; and may God the Holy Spirit grant that that man may be turned unto God, and made a true penitent, and then he need not have any more fear; for he who has had his sins washed away in the Saviour’s blood, need not have any remorse for his sins, for they are pardoned through the Redeemer. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0113.cfm

 

The Doubtful Penitent

Sherry confession of sin, prayer 3 Comments

And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned -Joshua 7:20

You find Achan making a very full confession. He says, “Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done. When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.” It seems so full a confession, that if I might be allowed to judge, I should say, “I hope to meet Achan the sinner, before the throne of God.”…Ah! dear friends, it has been my lot to stand by many a death-bed, and to see many such a repentance as this: I have seen the man, when worn to a skeleton, sustained by pillows in his bed; and he has said, when I have talked to him of judgment to come, “Sir, I feel I have been guilty, but Christ is good; I trust in Him.” And I have said within myself, ” I believe the man’s soul is safe.” But I have always come away with the melancholy reflection that I had no proof of it, beyond his own words; for it needs proof in acts and in future life, in order to sustain any firm conviction of a man’s salvation…Ah! dear friends, I hope none of you will have such a death-bed repentance as that; I hope your minister or your parents will not have to stand by your bedside, and then go away and say, “Poor fellow, I hope he is saved. But alas! death-bed repentances are such flimsy things; such poor, such trivial grounds of hope, that I am afraid, after all, his soul may be lost.” Oh! to die with a full assurance; oh! to die with an abundant entrance, leaving a testimony behind that we have departed this life in peace! That is a far happier way than to die in a doubtful manner, lying sick, hovering between two worlds, and neither ourselves nor yet our friends knowing to which of the two worlds we are going. May God grant us grace to give in our lives evidences of true conversion, that our case may not be doubtful!~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0113.cfm

The Insincere Man

Sherry confession of sin 3 Comments

And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned… -1 Samuel 15:24

Here is the insincere man…a man who has no prominent point in his character at all, but is moulded everlastingly by the circumstances that are passing over his head. Such a man was Saul. Samuel reproved him, and he said, “I have sinned.” But he did not mean what he said: for if you read the whole verse you will find him saying, “I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words; because I feared the people:” which was a lying excuse. Saul never feared anybody; he was always ready enough to do his own will-he was the despot…You remember, my friends, that the most prominent feature in the character of Saul. was his insincerity. One day he fetched David from his bed, as bethought, to put him to death in his house. Another time he declares, “God forbid that I should do aught against thee, my son David.”…How many such we have in every Christian assembly; men who are very easily moulded! Say what you please to them, they always agree with you. They have affectionate dispositions, very likely a tender conscience; but then the conscience is so remarkably tender, that when touched it seems to give, and you are afraid to probe deeper, but it heals as soon it is wounded.

O sirs, too many of you have done the same; you have bowed your heads in church, and said, “We have erred and strayed from thy ways;” and you did not mean what you said. You have come to your minister; you have said, “I repent of my sins;” you did not then feel you were a sinner; you only said it to please him. And now you attend the house of God; no one more impressible than you; the tear will run down your cheek in a moment, but yet. notwithstanding all that, the tear is dried as quickly as it is brought forth, and you remain to all intents and purposes the same as you were before. To say, “I have sinned,” in an unmeaning manner, is worse than worthless, for it is a mockery of God thus to confess with insincerity of heart. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0113.cfm

The Double-Minded Man

Sherry Attributes of God, confession of sin Leave a comment

And Balaam said unto the angel of the LORD, I have sinned… -Numbers 22:34

Think you see Balaam; he stands upon the brow of the hill, and there lie the multitudes of Israel at his feet; he is bidden to curse them, and he cries, “How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed?” And God opening his eyes, he begins to tell even about the coming of Christ, and he says, “I shall see Him, but not now. I shall behold Him, but not nigh.” And then he winds up his oration by saying-“Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!” And ye will say of that man, he is a hopeful character. Wait till he has come off the brow of the hill, and ye will hear him give the most diabolical advice to the king of Moab, “You cannot overthrow these people in battle, for God is with them; try and entice them from their God.” And ye know how with wanton lusts they of Moab tried to entice the children of Israel from allegiance to Jehovah; so that this man seemed to have the voice of an angel at one time, and yet the very soul of a devil in his bowels. He was a terrible character; he was a man of two things, a man who went all the way with two things to a very great extent… it was like the people of whom it was said, “They feared the Lord, and served other gods.”…There are many such, who are ready for both. They meet a minister, and how pious and holy they are; on the Sabbath they are the most respectable and upright people in the world, as you would think; indeed they effect a drawling in their speech, which they think to be eminently religious. But on a week day, if you want to find the greatest rogues and cheats, they are some of those men who are so sanctimonious in their piety. Now, rest assured, my hearers, that no confession of sin can be genuine, unless it be a whole hearted one. It is of no use for you to say, “I have sinned,” and then keep on sinning. Ah! it is idle and useless for you to say, “I have sinned,” unless you mean it from your heart. That double minded man’s confession is of no avail. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0113.cfm

The Hardened Sinner

Sherry Attributes of God, confession of sin 3 Comments

 “I have sinned this time: the LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.” -Exodus 9:27

“Now,” says Pharaoh, whilst the thunder is rolling through the sky, while the lightning-flashes are setting the very ground on fire, and while the hail is descending in big lumps of ice, now, says he, “I have sinned.” He is but a type and specimen of multitudes of the same class. How many a hardened rebel on shipboard, when the timbers are strained and creaking, when the mast is broken, and the ship is drifting before the gale, when the hungry waves are opening their mouths to swallow the ship up alive and quick as those that go into the pit-how many a hardened sailor has then bowed his knee, with tears in his eyes, and cried, “I have sinned!” But of what avail and of what value was his confession? The repentance that was born in the storm died in the calm; that repentance of his that was begotten amidst the thunder and the lightning, ceased so soon as all was hushed in quiet, and the man who was a pious mariner when on board ship, became the most wicked and abominable of sailors when he placed his foot on terra firma….But alas, for such a repentance! When the sun again shines, and the black clouds are withdrawn, sin comes again upon the man, and he becomes worse than before…If I have such here this morning, let me solemnly say to them, “Sirs, you have forgotten the feelings you had in your hours of alarm; but, remember, God has not forgotten the vows you then made.” Sailor, you said if God would spare you to see the land again, you would be his servant; you are not so, you have lied against God, you have made Him a false promise, for you have never kept the vow which your lips did utter. Couldst thou lie to thy fellow-man, and yet go unreproved? And thinkest thou that thou wilt lie against God, and yet go unpunished?…It is of no use for you to say, “I have sinned,” merely under the influence of terror, and then to forget it afterwards.  ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0113.cfm