,
 

 
Deuteronomy 8:2-3: “And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God
led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee,
to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or
no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna,
which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee
know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.”
 
Notice verse one of this chapter: “All the commandments which I command thee
this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and
possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.”
 
We also read in verses 10 and 11: “When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou
shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. Beware
that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his
judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day.”
 
When the Lord has brought upon us His rich blessings, we must beware not to
forget Him. The most important thing for you and me to understand is that the
Lord wants us to understand what He has done for us. The Lord wants us to
remember the way in which He has led us. He wants us not to forget this when He
has given us blessings, and not to set our hearts on the things of this life. We
are not to live by the things of this life, but by every word that proceeds from
the Lord’s mouth.
 
Notice how our Saviour quoted these significant words of our text after He was
tempted 40 days in the wilderness. He had been tempted to violate this very
principle. Notice this in Matthew 4:3-4: “And when the tempter came to him, he
said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he
answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
 
The Lord is leading us through many trials, through many afflictions and through
many circumstances to teach us that we must live by every word that proceeds
from His mouth.

 
Notice the devil’s next subtle temptation by his crafty interpretation and
perversion of the Word of God in Matthew 4:5-6: “Then the devil taketh him up
into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto
him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall
give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee
up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.”
 
One of the devil’s most crafty devices is interpreting the Word of God. He took
the Word of God to tempt Christ to disobey that very Word. He is trying to
interpret God’s Word to mean that we should be fatalistic.
 
There is much difference between interpreting the Word of God and unfolding the
Word of God. No human being on the face of the earth has ever been commissioned
to interpret the Word of God. The pastor’s job is to unfold it and search it out
and to show you “Thus saith the Lord.” That is the end of it. We have absolutely
no commission to interpret the Word of God. Our only commission is to unfold the
Word of God and to help you understand what it says.
 
The Apostle Paul explains so beautifully how we are not to live by the
interpretations of some authority but by every word of God. We see this in 1
Corinthians 2:4-5: “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words
of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your
faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”
 
The Apostle Paul is showing us the basis of his ministry. It is not what some
theologian interprets God’s Word to mean. This is not the foundation upon which
we stand. Our foundation must be every word that proceeds out of the mouth of
God.
 
God’s dear family, whom He led through the wilderness, cannot feed on the husks.
They cannot feed on some interpretation of man’s wisdom. They cannot feed on
that which the swine have left. They can only feed on the bread of life, which
is every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
 
I see such a blessed harmony in these words from our text and those found in
Proverbs 30:5-6: “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put
their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou
be found a liar.” We do not eliminate a word, neither do we transpose a word.

 
By nature of the fall, we find the truth of what God has recorded in His Word in
Romans 10:21: “But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my
hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.”
 
Gainsaying comes from the Greek word antilego, and it means to dispute, to
refuse, to answer again, to contradict, to deny, to gainsay, to argue with, to
oppose by reasoning, or to agitate contrary opinions or principles, to question
the justice of a principle.

 
Now by nature, God’s people are a gainsaying people. This means we want to take
the Word of God, and we want to agitate opinions contrary to it. By nature we
will argue against it or oppose it with human reasoning. We want to start
interpreting. We want to alter what God has really said to us because we do not
like it the way it is.
 
How often do people gainsay the Word of God because they do not believe they
should abide by it the way it is written? They will oppose it and question its
justice, not only the world, but God’s people are a gainsaying people by nature.
 
I want you to see Malachi 3:13-15, where it speaks of a gainsaying people: “Your
words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we
spoken so much against thee? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what
profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully
before the LORD of hosts? And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work
wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.”
 
What we have done is to question the authority of His Word. See how these
gainsayers question God's judgment!
 
This is something I have said before, and I would like to say it again. Why are
there thousands of different churches and denominations in the world? Ask one
why they cannot fellowship with another, and they may respond, Well, we
interpret the Bible differently than they do. No human being, though, has ever
been authorized to interpret the Bible, so they are both wrong. Why do we not
just get into the Bible, unfold it and see what it says, and there would only
have to be one church.
 
As a result of this rebellion, which was instilled in the heart of man through
the fall, our text tells us how God leads His dear children to break that
rebellion and to rebuild their reverence for the Word. That is what happened in
Paradise. They lost their respect and reverence for God’s Word. We are not to
build our foundation upon the wisdom of men or upon what some theologian or
authority says, but on what the Word of God says.
 
That proud rebellion that is in our hearts by nature must be broken, so the Lord
leads us through circumstances to humble us.
 
The first point, which the Lord impresses upon the conscience, is to remember.
We forget so easily, and that is what the Lord was cautioning His people
against. If we get into a state of prosperity and into a comfortable set of
circumstances, we are likely to forget and neglect the authority of His Word.
 
One of the greatest weaknesses we have inherited because of the fall is that we
want to live by bread only, the temporal things of this world, and forget what
God has said. As soon as we become comfortable in the things of this world, and
we start setting our pleasures and hopes on the things of this life, the Lord
sees that we have forgotten to live by His Word.
 
We read in John 14:26: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the
Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things
to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
 
The Lord will lead us through circumstances, and He will bring us through trials
that will bring us to remembrance as to what the Lord has told us, and what the
Word of God says.
 
This Divine Teacher shines on all the ways in which He has led us. When we
become older and look back, then we remember things the Lord did to us when we
were little children. Many things in my life as a child often come to my
remembrance when the Lord has led me through some way that has brought me back
to remembering His Word. Now, many times the Lord reminds me of things He taught
me as a child.

 
One of the most blessed means this Divine Teacher uses to bring God’s ways to
our remembrance is recorded in Malachi 3:16: “Then they that feared the LORD
spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of
remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that
thought upon his name.”
 
The Lord often brings things back to my memory things when we have fellowship,
and we gather together to tell what the Lord has done in our lives. When someone
else tells what the Lord has done in his life, it brings to my mind what the
Lord has done in my life, how He has spared me, and how He has brought me to
this place, how He has led me these years in this life’s wilderness.
 
This time of refreshing follows true repentance. We read in Acts 3:19: “Repent
ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the
times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.”
 
I was visiting with a pastor one time who was dying of cancer, and I asked him
how he was doing. He replied: “I have been preaching all these years, and now I
have to be saved myself. It seems as if the Lord has withdrawn Himself.”
 
I reminded him how he had been in our congregation, and how the Lord had so
richly blessed his preaching. I reminded him of another church, where he told of
how a woman had been so delivered from the power of Satan under his preaching.
Then I reminded him of another time he had told about in a congregation back
east that the Lord had so richly blessed. I told him: Now, when Satan comes and
tells you, Oh, you have deceived yourself. The Lord never called you into the
ministry in the first place, tell him to go back where he belongs.
 
After we had visited for a couple of hours, that man was as lifted up and
rejoicing in the Lord as he was cast down when we started talking. It was by
bringing to remembrance those things that the Lord had done in the past that his
soul was refreshed. The Lord in His providence brought about that very visit.
This is the refreshing that came in the presence of the Lord.
 
Oh beloved, what a blessed time of refreshing it is when one of God’s dear
children may exclaim with David as we see in Psalm 66:16: “Come and hear, all ye
that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.” This refreshes
the souls of those who have become dry. Before you leave a situation like this,
you will find that they too are remembering and are speaking of the times when
the Lord has worked good in their souls.
 
That is what the Lord is saying in our text—that you may remember. I will lead
you through these humiliating times, and through these humiliating
circumstances, so that when I come and send deliverances in such times, then you
will be able to tell of the times I have blessed you.
 
Now I want you to see the harmony between the words of our text and what David
said of those who feared the Lord.  Look at Psalm 66:10-12: “For thou, O God,
hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. Thou broughtest us into
the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins. Thou hast caused men to ride
over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us
out into a wealthy place.”
 
This is what David was going to tell the people who came to gather around him in
verse 16. He was going to tell how the Lord had tried him, and how the Lord had
proved him, and now how the Lord had blessed him. I have been through this
struggle. I have been through this trial, but the Lord did not drop me in the
middle of the fire. He did not leave me to be drowned in the water, but He
brought me out to a wealthy place.
 
This calling of God’s assembly was to remember all the ways into which the Lord
had led him. It was to call to remembrance. He was going to tell them how he had
been proved and how he had been tried, but how the Lord delivered him.

 
I want you to see Psalm 66:17-18: “I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was
extolled with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not
hear me.”
Regard in the original means “cherish.” If I cherish iniquity in my
heart. If I have some iniquity in my heart that I love.
 
Continuing in verses 19 and 20 we read: “But verily God hath heard me; he hath
attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, which hath not turned away
my prayer, nor his mercy from me.”
 
This is the great news he was going to share with others. I was in trouble. He
proved me. He brought me out into a wealthy place. He heard my prayer, and He
delivered me. These are the things that come into remembrance when we come
together to tell what the Lord has done for our souls.

 
We often recall the darker shades of our paths as well as the brighter ones. We
have to also remember the black spots in our lives, as well as the times when
the Lord has delivered us, because it was these black spots that He delivers us
from.
 
It was the same with David when he said in Psalm 25:5-7: “Lead me in thy truth,
and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the
day. Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they
have been ever of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions:
according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O LORD.”
 
It is important to understand that David, the man after God’s own heart, the
sweet psalmist of Israel, when he got older, he said, “Lord, remember not the
sins of my youth.” When we are children, when we are young, we do so many things
that we do not realize are sinful. We have bitter thoughts. We can be rebellious
against our parents. We do not realize how grievous that is until we get older.
David asked the Lord to remember him according to His mercy.
 
Many times, children, now that I am old, I think back on when I was rebellious,
and that makes my heart cry. So many things we do when we are children, such as
being angry, bitter and rebellious, then when we get older we see how grievously
that offends the Lord. Then we say, Lord, please do not remember my sins of
youth. They grieve us. They haunt us, so in our youth we should learn to
remember what it is to love the Lord, and if we are submissive to our parents,
we are being submissive to the Lord. The Lord tells us to honor our father and
our mother. We must respect them.
 
We are to remember all the ways in which the Lord has led us. The Lord has led
us through so many trials. He has led us through so many circumstances, and we
are to remember all of them because He had one purpose in leading us through
these trying circumstances, and that is to teach us to remember that we live by
every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. It is to teach us to love the
Word and the will of God.
 
Now when we remember the dark shades of our lives, there are so many things
connected with our nature’s depravity. When you and I think back like David did
upon his sins of youth, we see so many things connected with the depravity of
our lives. We can think of so many times where we were bitter at this person, or
we were hateful toward that person, or we were rebellious against this or that.
We see such depravity, but we also see grace super abounding. Sometimes when we
think back on all the ways the Lord has led us, then we can think back how we
were so rebellious here, and then how the Lord used such circumstances to teach
us to understand that that was rebellion against God.
 
As we remember God’s mercy, and we remember His delivering hand, it sometimes
seems like all nature was against us, but what was the Lord teaching us? He was
teaching us to recognize that the result was bitterness in our hearts. He was
teaching us to know what was in our hearts, and we overlooked it until the Lord
led us to a given point and then we were able to see it.
 
Now then we see that dark shade in our hearts, and we remember how the Lord
taught us to see it, and how He delivered us from it. That is what we remember
when we look back.
 
The second point the Lord impresses upon the conscience in our text is why it
was that He led them 40 years in the wilderness. First He says remember, and now
He is going to tell us why. His grand purpose was to humble us.

 
Let’s see what the Lord is teaching us here. If the Lord would reveal who was
the proudest man in town, it would not be the one who spends his day counting in
his counting house or doing the things that please the flesh.

 
It would be one of those gainsayers of whom we read in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15:
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into
the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an
angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be
transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to
their works.”
 
This is where we would find the proud one. They can stand up to the Word of God
and interpret it and twist it to say exactly the opposite of what it says. How
much of that do we find in our hearts, that we do not want to take the Word of
God literally, just the way it is written, but we want to alter it a little, or
apply it in some way to fit us better? How much of this is in our hearts that
the Lord has to humble?
 
These ministers preach the righteousness of Christ, but I will show you where
the missing link is. They preach salvation without repentance. You can be saved
like Balaam wanted to be saved. He wanted to have all these wonderful
experiences. He wanted to die the death of the righteous, but he loved the wages
of unrighteousness. That is what happens under this kind of ministry. These
ministers have never cleaned up their acts. They have never repented of their
doings. They will be dealt with according to their works, not according to their
profession.
 
The Lord uses the Spirit’s teaching in the heart to produce the heavenly grace
of humility, which we do not have by nature. You and I have fallen in Adam by
nature, and pride was the first sin. Rebellion was the result of pride.
 
Two things produce humility by way of the Spirit’s teaching. One is His shining
into the heart with a deep discovery of who we are. The Holy Spirit will shine
in our hearts and give us to see the abominations that are there. He will give
us to see the blessed sacrifice of Christ, and the wrath of God upon sin, and
how it grieves God when we sin. He gives us to see our corruption, our weakness,
our pride and our wickedness. This though is not enough. It will not bring our
hearts to be sufficiently humble before the Lord.
 
How did the Lord bring to light the evil in the hearts of the Israelites? You
and I may be humble. I never had trouble in my life with pride—until the Lord
humbled me. When I start to see what it was for the Lord to humble me, then I
understand how much Pharisee was in my own heart. When I started to see what was
in my heart, I lost that whole pile of stones I had to throw at other people.
The proudest man in town was humble by comparison to me, when the Lord taught me
what pride I had in my heart.
 
The Israelites were standing on the shore of the Red Sea, and they had just been
singing the songs of redemption of how God had delivered them from the hands of
the Egyptians. That typified deliverance from the power of sin. Three days later
they murmured against the Lord. They murmured against that very God, and Moses
who led them.

 
The purpose of the Lord in bringing them into these circumstances was to reveal
what was in their hearts. That rebellion, bitterness and hatred was already
there. It did not come from this trial, but the trial revealed it. The Lord led
them 40 years in the wilderness to humble them. It was to teach them by these
circumstances what was in their hearts. During these three days in the
wilderness, their rebellion, which was already in their hearts, was revealed. It
was by this that He proved what was really in their hearts, whether they would
keep His commandments or not.

 
In the way the Lord leads His people today, He brings about circumstances in our
lives. Sometimes these seem like such riddles and bring us to our wits end. Some
circumstances seem to be beyond all reasoning. We wonder why the Lord would have
ever brought us into such a trap, but it is to reveal our hearts. In these
circumstances do we see bitterness, do we see rebellion, do we see murmuring? Do
we see pride being trampled upon? Do we see these things in our own nature
becoming revealed? He leads us into these circumstances to humble us.

 
This is what the Lord is saying. We see bitterness, and we see hatred, and we
see jealousy and we see covetousness. If we come into circumstances where it
seems that the Lord is going to set our brother above us, does it make us
jealous? Is that jealousy in us and suddenly it surfaces, that hatred, that
rebellion, that covetousness, that lust? Those sins are revealed by the
circumstances the Lord leads us through that we might know what is in our
hearts. The Lord knows what is in our hearts, but He wants us to know.
 
This is what Jesus taught in Matthew 10:34: “Think not that I am come to send
peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” 

 
If we are truly walking in the ways that the Lord is leading, and that He is our
Leader, we will walk in ways that are against the flesh. This will crucify every
grain of flesh that is in us. It will bring us to a place that we know we would
have never considered being.
 
Continuing in verses 35 and 36 we read: “For I am come to set a man at variance
against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law
against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”
Does this mean literally that it has to be your own father or your own son? No,
what the Lord is saying is those who are the closest to you. Your closest
friends, those you love the most, and the Lord sets us at variance with them
because we love them more than we love Him. He separates us from them because we
made an idol of that friendship.
 
The Lord’s purpose in this is to humble us and to teach us what is in our hearts
so we will take up our cross.
 
Notice the following verses. We read in verse 37: “He that loveth father or
mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more
than me is not worthy of me.” This is what He is proving. Do we love that person
more than we love Him? Can we give up that friendship or that position in life
in sacrifice because we love Him more? The Lord will lead us in this way to
prove us. He will reveal what is in our hearts by cutting this off, by bringing
us to a crossroads. You choose. Are you going to follow me or are you going to
follow him?
 
Like I have explained before: two boys walking together with one dog following.
Whose dog is it? Wait until they get to a crossroad and they each go their own
way. Which one does the dog follow?
 
This is the way the Lord is. We can walk together side by side with someone in
the world until we come to a place where two ways meet. Now one is going to go
to the right and the other is going to go to the left. Who are we going to
follow? Are we going to follow the Lord, or are we going to follow our friend?
The Lord brings us into these trials to see what is in our hearts.
 
As with the Israelites in the wilderness, it was through circumstances taking
place one after another that the Lord reveals the corruption that is in our own
hearts. The Lord reveals to us by bringing us into these circumstances: which do
we love more? That is what He wants to know.
 
We read in verse 38: “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me,
is not worthy of me.” When we come to these crossroads, if we are unable to
sacrifice everything of the flesh and follow Him, we are not worthy of Him. So,
He will lead us in these paths and in these circumstances for the sole purpose
of proving our hearts.
 
As a general rule, it is not by having some minister tell us what wicked
creatures we are. It is not by merely looking into our own hearts and seeing the
evil therein, but it is by trials and by circumstances that the Lord teaches us
the corruption of our own heart.
 
I can have a preacher tell me all day what a corrupt person I am, but if it does
not apply to me, it is like water off a duck’s back. However, when the Lord has
led me into a set of circumstances and has allowed bitterness to settle in my
heart, and has allowed me to become corrupt in my thinking, then when the Lord
shows me what is in my heart, it is through these circumstances that I have
learned to see.
 
This is what the Lord is saying here in Deuteronomy 8:2: “The LORD thy
God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee.” It is for
this that the Lord leads us into these circumstances.
 
Time after time when the Lord humbles us, we come to the realization of how vile
we are. Then we come to the realization that we have been a gainsaying people,
and the Lord now brings us to where we start living by every word that proceeds
out of the mouth of God.
 
Our text says that we were humbled and that He proved us, to know what was in
our heart, whether we would keep His commandments, or no.

 
Another way in which humility is taught us is found in Romans 2:4: “Or despisest
thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing
that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”
 
The Lord opens our hearts and eyes to understand how we deserve so much less,
and that He has granted so much more than what we deserve. He opens our eyes to
see that God so loved us that He gave His own Son, and how that the love of the
Son hung Him on the cross to take away the penalty of our sins.

 
Mount Sinai drove the people away. Nothing about the law and hell and damnation
draws people to God. However, His goodness, His love, leads us to repentance, to
a change of attitude.
 
Is this notwhat we see in the life of Moses, the meekest of all men? We read in
Exodus 33:17-19: “And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that
thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by
name. And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.  And he said, I will make
all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD
before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew
mercy on whom I will shew mercy.”
 
Israel had just sinned. Israel had just been reproved for worshiping the golden
calf. God had just told Moses that He would destroy all Israel and make a great
nation of Moses alone. Moses intervened and pleaded for Israel, and the Lord
forgave them.
 
When the Lord causes all His goodness to pass before us, He is bringing to our
remembrance all these ways in which He has led us, and all the times we have
grievously sinned against Him, and how He graciously forgave us. He is showing
His tender love, and that is so humiliating.
 
Folks, I want to tell you from experience, when we have seen into our own hearts
and seen the corruption that is there, and then we see the tender love of God to
such a worthless, wretched sinner, that is the most humbling experience there
is. The Lord uses this to humble us as well as the circumstances through which
He brings us.
 
So what was the climax of God’s goodness that He caused to pass before Moses in
the wilderness? We read in Exodus 33:21: “And the LORD said, Behold, there is a
place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock.”
 
Behold, take notice, I want you to see this. I want to bring it to your
attention.  

 
Verse 22 says: “And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I
will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I
pass by.”
 
The Lord is showing him the place He has provided for His church, and that is in
the cleft of the rock. That is so humbling for those who have learned to see the
sins of their own hearts. While I pass by, while I pass over your sins, I will
have you in the cleft of the rock, that is, in that blessed sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
 
In verse 23 we read: “And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back
parts: but my face shall not be seen.” He will take away His hand, and we will
see the finished work of Christ. If you were to see God outside of Christ, you
would be consumed. You will not see what God is on sin outside of Christ, but
you will be able to look on that satisfied, finished work of Christ.


 

 
And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus
himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they
should not know him (Luke 24:15-16).
 
Our hearts are often troubled, and we do not understand why the Lord seems to
hide His face. How little do we realize that often Jesus is communing with us.
How seldom do we realize that in all our trials that Jesus Himself draws near
and becomes part of our company, but we cannot see Him.
 
We read in Revelation 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man
hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him,
and he with me.” Sometimes our eyes are closed, and we do not realize that Jesus
is standing at the door knocking.He walks with us and talks with us, but we do
not realize it is Jesus.

 
The events of our text took place at a time of perplexity and trouble. The
Saviour had been slain and taken away from His disciples. The women had come to
the disciples and told them things that were beyond belief. They said He had
been raised from the dead and that they had seen Him. We read in Luke 24:11:
“And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.”
              
Two men were walking to Emmaus, and Jesus joined their company, and said to them
in verse 17: “And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these
that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?”
 
Continuing in verse 18 we read: “And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas,
answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not
known the things which are come to pass therein these days?”  

 
While we are walking in perplexing circumstances, the Lord Jesus Christ is
walking with us and communing with us. In these circumstances, He reveals
Himself and brings to pass His will even though it is hidden to our eyes, even
though we do not see and understand.
 
I want you to see in one instance why the Lord Jesus hides Himself. We read in
Luke 22:31: “And the Lord said, Simon Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have
you, that he may sift you as wheat.” Peter had a lesson to learn. The Apostle
Peter was so secure in himself. He had come to where he was such a great
Christian within himself.
 
In this perplexing circumstance, we must not overlook that the Lord Jesus Christ
said in verse 32: “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.” Did
Peter’s faith fail? Certainly, but the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ in Peter
did not fail. We have so much faith in us, we have so much faith in what we can
do, but the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ did not fail.
 
When Peter was being sifted, the Lord left him over to the point where he was
cursing and swearing and denying that he ever knew Him. This was the man who was
so strong in himself and said: Though all men should forsake you, yet will not
I.
 
We need to understand the difference between our faith and our human reasoning.
Peter used human reasoning, and he thought it was faith, but this was sifted out
in the sieve of Satan. As we are sifted and the Lord is hiding His face, He is
sorting out all that is of ourselves.
 
FOR OUR FIRST POINT, we want to speak about a hidden Jesus.
 
FOR OUR SECOND POINT, we want to discuss why Jesus hides Himself.
 
FOR OUR THIRD POINT, we want to talk about how Jesus may be found after He has
hidden Himself.

 
Peter had to learn to know himself, and so must we. As Jesus walked with these
men, He explained to them out of the Scriptures how these things must surely be,
but in the breaking of bread He revealed Himself.

 
In Luke 9:23 we read, “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” In the way of
crucifying that old flesh of ours we see where the Lord Jesus has hidden
Himself.
 
We read about Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles 32:31: “God left him, to try him, that he
might know all that was in his heart.” The Lord withdrew Himself from Hezekiah,
so Hezekiah, a dear child of God, might know what was in his own heart. The Lord
already knew what was in Hezekiah’s heart. 

 
We read in Luke 22:31, “And the Lord said, Simon Simon, behold Satan hath
desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.” This was for the same
lesson that the Lord was teaching Hezekiah, that Peter might learn what was in
his own heart. This is why He had hidden Himself from Hezekiah and Peter. He
hides Himself from you and me that we might know what is in our hearts, that we
might know the pride of our hearts, that we might learn to see our own
self-sufficiency. This must all be weeded out and sifted in the sieve.
 
In Luke 22:53 we read how Jesus told the chief priests and captains of the
temple, “But this is your hour, and the hour of darkness.” The Lord had left
them over to an hour of darkness to fulfill the very counsel of God. They did
not know what they were doing. When the Lord Jesus was hanging on the cross, He
said: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). They
were fulfilling the counsel of God.

 
When Peter was reproving those who had crucified Christ, they replied in Acts
2:37, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” He had told them in verse 23: “Ye
have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain” the Lord of life and
glory. The Lord had withdrawn Himself to bring about His own purpose.

 
In Ecclesiastes 11:8 we read, “But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them
all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many.” The
days of darkness are those in which the Lord has withheld Himself, those days in
which He has hidden His face. He has not forsaken us, but He has withheld
Himself from our eyes.
 
Jesus had withdrawn his Spirit from Peter, and Peter was in darkness, and we
read in Mark 14:71, “But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this
man of whom ye speak.” The Lord withdrew His restraining power and restraining
grace.
 
For three days and nights, Peter was in the bitterness of his soul. The Lord
Jesus had turned and given him that look of love, and Peter had gone out and
wept bitterly. His Jesus was in the grave, and Peter had no knowledge of what it
was about. It was all hidden from his eyes.
 
In Mark 16:10 we read: “And she went and told them that had been with Him, as
they mourned and wept.” The disciples had no knowledge of what this was all
about.  Jesus was hidden from them.
 
We read in Luke 24:11: “And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they
believed them not.” This was after the women came and told the disciples that He
had risen as He had said He was going to. They just could not believe it. They
could not understand it. The Lord Jesus had withheld their eyes from seeing.
 
Now we read in verses 14 and 15: “And they talked together of all these things
which had happened. While they communed together and reasoned, Jesus Himself
drew near, and went with them.”
 
When you and I have riddles, problems and perplexing things happen to us, we
come together and talk about it. We discuss these things and pray about these
things. He began to unfold the Scriptures to them concerning Himself, but they
did not realize it was Jesus they were talking to. They did not see the hand of
God. They did not see the Lord Jesus Christ in their trial. They did not see Him
even though He was walking with them and talking with them.
 
How often is the Lord Jesus knocking at our door to gain our attention to
something, and we are not listening? How often do we not behold Him? That word
behold means now listen, take notice, understand.

 
In Revelation 3:20 what was the Lord Jesus knocking on their door for them to
understand? We read that in the previous verses. Verse 17 says: “Because thou
sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and
knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and
naked.”
 
Their ignorance was their problem, and we are so often not cognizant of why the
Lord Jesus is dealing with us. Their problem was complacency. They were too
self-sufficient. They had come to the point where they were too capable of
walking without Him.
 
He says in verse 18: “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that
thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that
the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve,
that thou mayest see.” When we start to see how naked we are before a holy and
righteous God, then we start to understand that we need the clothing of that
fine linen, which is the perfect robe of Christ’s righteousness.

 
What does it mean to anoint your eyes with eyesalve? When the Lord Jesus Christ
opened the eyes of the one born blind, He spit on the ground and took the dust
and the spittle and made eyesalve and opened the eyes of the one born blind.
 
Continuing in verse 19 we read, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be
zealous therefore, and repent.” We have to have our eyes opened to see that
Jesus is in these very trials, that He is doing these things to get us to focus
our eyes on Him.
 
The Lord may be hidden from our eyes while we are communing together and talking
together. I want you to see though how the Lord is there. In Malachi 3:16 we
read, “Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord
hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for
them that feared the Lord, and thought upon His name.”
 
This is synonymous with the context of our text. While they communed and
reasoned, Jesus drew near. The Lord bows down His ear, and He hears this
conversation. He hears the inner thoughts and intents of our hearts. As our
hearts cry out to Him, He hears these things, and a book of remembrance is
written, while we talk together, and while we commune together, and while we
discuss these perplexing circumstances we do not understand. Every one of those
prayers are written and remembered before the throne, and in His good time, He
answers them.
 
He reveals Himself, but there are certain ways and means whereby He does so, and
we want to notice that a hidden Jesus is still a praying Jesus. Jesus says in
Luke 22:32: “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not:  and when thou
art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” While you are going through this sin,
while this is all taking place and I have withdrawn myself, I am still praying
for you. This is the Lord Jesus, our intercessor.
 
Peter was so big and strong in himself, and this trial was to bring Peter as a
little child before the Lord. It says in Matthew 18:3: “Except ye be converted,
and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
By nature we are self-sufficient and big within ourselves. We cannot enter the
kingdom, we cannot serve the Lord, in a spirit of self-sufficiency. We cannot do
this until we come to the point where our hearts are broken down as a little
child. A little child sitting at the table has no concern about who is paying
the taxes, the light bill or who paid for the groceries or where they came from.
The child has childlike faith knowing that his father has provided. That is all
they know.
 
Jesus told Peter, “When you are converted,” in other words, when you have become
like a little child, when you come to the point where you know how to depend on
me. Peter was so self-sufficient he said that though all men would forsake Jesus
he would not, but this same Peter cursed and swore and denied that he ever knew
Him. Now we see who Peter is in himself. Now we see a Peter who becomes
converted.

 
Do you know what is strengthening for the brethren? It is when I can come to you
and say: Well, I see the circumstances you are in. I am not a stranger to that.
The Lord allowed me to stumble, and the Lord allowed me to fall, and the Lord
allowed me to become a little child. When I became a little child, then I knew
what it is to walk with faith in Him. I have no strength within myself. Now
everything is, Lord, what will you have me to do, and to totally surrender
myself to His will. 

 
In Mark 6:45-46 we read: “And straightway he constrained his disciples to get
into the ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent
away the people. 
And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to
pray.”
 
Again we see a hidden Jesus. In verse 48 we read, “And He saw them toiling and
rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them.” The disciples thought they were
going to be destroyed in the waves, but Jesus was in the mountain praying. They
were toiling in their own strength, but Jesus was watching. Jesus was there in
spirit. Jesus saw them and was praying for them. A hidden Jesus is still an
instructing Jesus.
 
We read in Luke 24:27, while He seems to have His face hidden from us: “And
beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the
Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” Even while He has hidden His face, He
is bringing us through school. We have now entered the schools of Christ, and He
is teaching us by these trials that He brings us through.
 
For our second point, let’s talk about why Jesus is hidden. Jesus is hidden to
teach us the way of the cross, to teach us to take up our cross daily and follow
Him. He is teaching us what it means for everything of the flesh to be cut off.
That old man of sin must be crucified.
 
Have you ever studied Romans 6 to understand what it really means that we are
crucified with Him and that we are raised with Him unto a newness of life? We
partake of the Lord’s supper in remembrance of Christ’s death. When we think of
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, what are we remembering? In that He died, He
died unto sin. In that He lives, He lives to God.

 
The wine signifies sanctification. To make wine, grape juice is put into a
vessel, and it is left to settle out. The dregs are left in the bottle, and the
wine is emptied from vessel to vessel. Each time this is done, the dregs are
left behind, so this symbolizes the process of sanctification. When we serve the
wine in the Lord’s supper, it is to teach us that when He died, He died unto
sin. We must learn that death process, that way of the cross.
 
Peter did not understand the way of the cross. We see in Matthew 16:21, “From
that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto
Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be killed, and be raised again the third day.” Then in verse 22 we read,
“Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee,
Lord: this shall not be unto thee.”
 
A few verses earlier, in verses 16 and 17, we read, “And Simon Peter answered
and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and
said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not
revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” This was a revelation
from God the Father.
 
Peter was not an infidel. Peter was not a stranger to grace, but Peter did not
understand the way of the cross. The Lord Jesus hid Himself from Peter to teach
Him the way of the cross. When Peter rebuked Jesus in verse 22, he was reasoning
with the flesh, and in verse 23 we read, “But Jesus turned, and said unto Peter,
Get thee behind me Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for thou savourest not
the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”
 
Jesus is saying to Peter: That is not of faith. It is human reasoning.
 
In Isaiah 55:8-9 we read: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are
your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
 
If the Lord loves us, He will not allow us to build ourselves an empire of
self-complacency. He will not allow us to build ourselves a position where we
have no need of Him. If the Lord loves us He will make us as little children
totally dependent on Him.
 
Jesus is hidden from our eyes through unbelief. Peter thought he had faith, but
it was unbelief. It was human reasoning. Through our human reasoning and through
our unbelief, we make it so Jesus withdraws Himself.
 
In Luke 24:6 we read how the angel told the women at the grave, “He is not here,
but is risen: remember how He spake unto you when He was yet in Galilee.” The
Lord Jesus told them these things were going to happen, but they did not
understand. Unbelief had so blinded their eyes. In verse 7 we read, “Saying the
Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and
the third day rise again.”
 
The angel told the women this at the grave, and the women went to the disciples,
but “their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not” (Luke
24:11). That is unbelief, and through this unbelief, Jesus was hidden from their
eyes.
 
I want you to see verse 25, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the
prophets have spoken.” He was withdrawn from them because they were acting so
foolishly. They did not believe what Jesus had told them, but now He unveils the
Scriptures before their eyes to train them. These things were prophesied, these
things I told you. These were the very things you were told.
 
They were rebellious. They did not want to accept the truth. Do you understand
sometimes why the Lord Jesus is withheld from us? So often we are filled with so
much rebellion. Our hearts are still so rebellious to be able to unconditionally
surrender to what He has already told us. That is what had been happening here.

 
Next, let’s look at Jesus hidden through idleness and fullness of bread. See how
the Lord withholds and withdraws Himself because of our sins. One of the most
grievous sins is one that we least suspect. It is the sin of Sodom. Do you
understand that the destruction of our nation today is the sin of Sodom? I am
not saying sodomy. Sodomy was the judgment God pronounced upon Sodom because of
their sin.
 
Let me read to you about the sin of Sodom in Ezekiel 16:49: “Behold, this was
the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of
idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of
the poor and needy.”
 
How often you and I are guilty of the sin of Sodom. How much pride is there in
our hearts? How much self-sufficiency? We can build ourselves an empire to the
point where we do not need God. We cannot confess this to ourselves, but we are
now looking through God’s glasses. We become self-sufficient, and that is what
happened to Sodom. They had become so wealthy that they did not need God, and
they became proud. They had lots of time to entertain.
 
This is the sin of America—so much idleness, so much entertainment. You go out
on the sabbath day, the day that is set aside for serving the Lord, and we see
that it is now the greatest day for entertainment. They are stealing the Lord’s
day for their own gratification. We see in America today the Lord leaving them
over to themselves. They publicly defend sodomy as an acceptable way of life.

 
That is the judgment of God that we read in Romans 1:25-28: “Who changed the
truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the
Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto
vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which
is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the
woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which
is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which
was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God
gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not
convenient.” 

 
This is the judgment God sends for the sin of Sodom.
 
In Ezekiel 16:50 we read, “And they were haughty, and committed abomination
before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.” We do not understand by
nature how much of that haughty pride we have in ourselves.

 
I went one time to preach in a Rescue Mission to a group of people as a captive
audience who had to hear the preaching of the gospel before they could have a
free meal. How could there be any pride in those people dressed in rags? What
did they have to be proud of? Yet, when I talked to them afterward, they boasted
of themselves and their families. There was such pride in those people, it would
make your head swim. I thought to myself, What a glaring example of our human
nature. What is it that we have to be proud of? Even man in his best estate is
altogether vanity.
 
In Revelation 3:17 we read, “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with
goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and
miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” Do you see that sin of Sodom?
 
FOR OUR THIRD POINT, let’s talk about how Jesus may be found, and this is the
important point.
 
The sin of Sodom was, “Neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and
needy.” Jesus may be found by strengthening the hand of the poor and needy, by
doing those things that Jesus did, by walking in the footsteps of our Saviour in
the way of the cross, in the way of crucifying self and reaching out to do those
things that are pleasing to the Lord.
 
Jesus may be found by observing His day according to His will. When we do that
which is pleasing to the Lord, then the Lord does that which is pleasing to us.
He gives us that reward. Let me show you in Isaiah 58:6-7: “Is not this the fast
that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens,
and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to
deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to
thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide
not thyself from thine own flesh?”
 
The sin of Sodom was that they did not strengthen the poor and the needy.
 
Continuing in verses 8 and 9 we read: “Then shall thy light break forth as the
morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness
shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. Then shalt
thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I
am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the
finger, and speaking vanity.”
 
We find the hidden Jesus by doing the things He has commanded us to do. What
more would you and I like in our prayer life than for us to call and hear the
Lord respond and say, “Here I am.”
 
We read in verses 10 to 12: “And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and
satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy
darkness be as the noonday: And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and
satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a
watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that
shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the
foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the
breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.”
 
Jesus may be found by keeping the sabbath as we see in verses 13 and 14: “If
thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy
day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt
honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor
speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I
will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with
the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”
 
We find the hidden Jesus by delighting ourselves in the Lord and delighting in
His day, that we delight ourselves in doing what is pleasing to Him.

 
Does this mean that we can impose this on the ungodly? No. I want you to see
what it says in Hebrews 4:9-10: “There remaineth therefore a rest [sabbath] to
the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased
from his own works, as God did from his.”

 
There is no rest for the wicked, and you and I have no right to try to impose on
the ungodly one of the greatest privileges God has given His church. This day of
rest is one of the greatest privileges God has given us, that we have a day when
we can rest from all our labors, which is the emblem of eternal rest, a day we
spend praising and glorifying God.

 
Jesus may be found through submission and through obedience. I want you to see
this in John 15:7: “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask
what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”
 
Notice the word if. There is contingency with God. The Lord has His decrees that
He has decreed from eternity, but as far as you and I walking in His blessed
presence and having His nearness and having His love, it is contingent on our
obedience.
 
Has Jesus been hidden from our eyes? Maybe we have to examine our own hearts and
see in what area we are walking in a way that displeases the Lord. Maybe we have
not abode in Him. Maybe our hearts have been lifted up in the things of this
life. Maybe our hearts have strayed away as lost sheep, and we should ask as
David did in Psalm 119:176: “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy
servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.”
 
I want you to see in John 14:23: “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and
my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with
him.”

 
Jesus may be found through faith, and what is faith? It is the obedience of
faith. It is the exercise of saving faith. We read in James 1:5-8: “If any of
you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and
upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing
wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind
and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the
Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
 
We find the Lord through faith. It is by asking and believing. Are you going to
say you are asking in faith while you ignore abiding in Him, while you are
walking in your own way?
 
Mark 11:22-24 says: “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For
verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou
removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but
shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have
whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire,
when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
 
Are our prayers not mingled with faith? Is this part of the reason why Jesus is
hidden from our eyes?
 
Jesus may be found through forgiveness. We read in Mark 11:25: “And when ye
stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any: that your Father also
which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” That word may is so
powerful. That is saying that if you do not forgive, the Father in heaven may
not forgive you. It would be against His own character to do so. As we read in
verse 26, “But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven
forgive your trespasses.”
 
Turn with me to Colossian 3:12: “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and
beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness,
longsuffering.”
 
Do you understand what this is saying? This is talking about the Spirit of
Christ. Do you want to find Jesus? You will find Him in the Spirit of Christ.
 
Continuing in verses 13 and 14 we read: “Forbearing one another, and forgiving
one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you,
so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of
perfectness.”
 
Charity is to speak of your fellowman in the best possible light. If you and I
want to be critical there is no human being we cannot take apart, but that is
not charity. If I have something against a person, and think I am justified in
doing him harm, I do not have charity.

 
Psalm 50:20 says: “Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou
slanderest thine own mother’s son.” Three verses later we see how pleased the
Lord is with praise: “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that
ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.” This is what
the Lord really drove home to me. Instead of taking each other apart and being
critical, we should be finding what is there in that person that we can praise
him for. What is there in that person that he has done or what is there about
him that I can use to edify him, to build him up? That is charity.
 
Colossians 3:15-17 says, “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the
which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ
dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the
Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”
 
This is similar to what we read in John 15:7: “If ye abide in me, and my words
abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”
 
The Apostle Paul goes on to say in Colossians 3:18 to 20: “Wives, submit
yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your
wives, and be not bitter against them. Children, obey your parents in all
things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.”
 
What a precious thing it is when we see the harmony that there is in the word of
God, when we see what God is revealing to us as His will. If His word abides in
us, our walk of life will demonstrate an understanding of His word.
 
Jesus may be found in the way of repentance, in the way of turning, in the way
of remorse over sin. We read in James 4:1-3: “From whence come wars and
fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your
members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain:
ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not,
because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”
 
We see so much contention in the world today. Homes are being split. Nations
rise against each other. We see wars and fightings. It is all that human nature.
 
It was such a privilege this past year when we had a drought, and the governor
of Montana called for prayer, saying let this week be a week of prayer. The
newspaper said that according to weather patterns it was going to be dry the
rest of this year, next year and probably the third year. Before the week was
over we had three inches of rain, and it turned into a wet year, and we have
above average moisture. The weather people were put to shame by people turning
to the Lord. God wants repentance, for us to acknowledge our iniquities, that we
have transgressed.
 
We read in Jeremiah 3:3: “Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there
hath been no latter rain.” Continuing in verses 13 and 14 we read: “Only
acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy
God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye
have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. Turn, O backsliding children, saith
the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two
of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.”
 
Jesus may be found through prayer as we see in Luke 11:9: “And I say unto you,
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be
opened unto you.”
 
There is a preciousness in all the ways where Jesus may be found.

 
CONFESSION BEFORE FORGIVENESS No. 2
 
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9). 

 
This morning we considered our first point, that is, “If we say that we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
 
This afternoon let’s consider our second, third and fourth points.
 
FOR OUR SECOND POINT, let’s consider the conditional terms upon which sin is
forgiven, “If we confess our sins.”
 
FOR OUR THIRD POINT, let’s consider the foundation of our assurance of this
pardon, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful.”
 
FOR OUR FOURTH POINT, let’s consider how justice not only allows, but demands a
pardon, “If we confess our sins, [then] he is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

 
So, let’s consider the conditional terms upon which sin is forgiven, “If we
confess our sins.”
 
Notice Psalm 32:1-2: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin
is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in
whose spirit there is no guile.” One of the most blessed things you and I could
ever experience in this life and throughout eternity is that our transgressions
are forgiven, and that God has not imputed our iniquity unto us.

 
Notice that it is a conditional forgiveness: if we confess. Now let’s examine
our own hearts to see how much Pharisee, and how much of the spirit of the
publican there is in our hearts. The publican confessed his sin, but the
Pharisee boasted before God of his righteousness. How much do we justify
ourselves before the Lord? How much of the publican is in our hearts, of actual
open confession: Be merciful to me a sinner? We confess not only that we are
sinners, but we confess our sin.
 
When we have spoken wrongly, we can confess, Lord, my tongue is a world of
iniquity. When we have caught ourselves in pride, we can say, Lord, I have
violated your precepts. We have to identify that sin if it is to be forgiven,
and to confess that we have that sin. We ask God not only to forgive it, but to
cleanse us from it. The Lord did not come to save us in our sins, but to save us
from our sins. God does not forgive with the stipulation that everyone is a
sinner and that justifies living in sin. There has to be that longing desire of
repenting and turning from sin. It is not a matter of whether or not we are
sinners, it is a matter of having the grace to confess and repent of our sins.
 
Leviticus 26 tells how the Lord through His servant Moses showed His people the
blessings He would bestow upon them if they obeyed His will, but also the
judgements He would bring upon them if they walked contrary to His will.

 
I want you to see the conditions of repentance in Leviticus 26:40: “If they
shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their
trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked
contrary unto me.”

 
The Lord wants us to confess before Him when we walk contrary to His will.
Notice the next verse, which I find to be tremendously important. If in our walk
of life we find that confusion reigns, the Lord wants us to confess that too.
 
Verse 41 says: “And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought
them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be
humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity.” In other
words, He has allowed us to enter a state of total confusion, and this is the
reward for our walking contrary to Him. Nothing happens by chance. Then we must
confess: Lord, I have walked contrary to you, and you have walked contrary to
me. I am now receiving the fruit of my own doings.
 
We read in verse 42: “Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my
covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I
will remember the land.” 

 
If that unrepenting spirit is broken, and we accept the punishment of our
iniquities, then He will remember His covenant. The Lord will again send His
blessings on the fruit of our labors. The Lord will send His blessings upon our
hearts, and He will again bring us peace. This covenant with Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob was the Messiah. In other words, He would again bring the Messiah and His
preciousness back into our hearts. That promise that God had made with Abraham
was that the Messiah would come, in other words, that He would bring them into
the promised land, that He would bring them the promises of Abraham. His
blessings are contingent upon repentance. They are contingent on confessing we
were wrong.
 
We must notice the order King Solomon set forth in his prayer: if they confess,
if they turn, then forgive. We see this in 1 Kings 8:35-36: “When heaven is shut
up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray
toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou
afflictest them: Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants,
and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should
walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an
inheritance.” 

 
We need to understand this if we wonder why we are pining away in our
iniquities, but have not really examined our hearts to see how much Pharisee
there is in our own heart, and we have not openly confessed our sins. We are
still defensive. We still try to prove that we are right. We are still going to
go forward in our sins. If we do this, the Lord leaves us to confusion.
 
We need to confess His name, in other words, that He is the Lord and the Lord of
our lives, and turn from our sins. Then turn and not only bless them in their
souls, but in the fruit of their labors, King Solomon prayed.
 
David found that when he kept silent, God’s hand was heavy on him, but when he
confessed his transgression the Lord forgave him. I want you to notice this in
Psalm 32:3-5: “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all
the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is
turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and
mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the
LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.”
 
We must not only confess our faults to God, but to one another, for our prayers
to be effectual. We must be able to confess to our fellowman: I was wrong. Will
you forgive me? I want you to see this in James 5:16: “Confess your faults one
to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
 
We need to confess our sins to God and to one another for our prayers to be
effectual, for our prayers to enter heaven, for our prayers to get beyond this
ceiling. We must confess our sins to one another and admit we were wrong. We
cannot always defend ourselves and try to prove that we had some excuse for
doing what we did or to deny what we have done. When we have been wrong we must
confess that we were wrong. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man is
to confess your faults one to another.

 
The Apostle James associates confessing our faults to one another together with
the effectual prayer of the righteousness, that is, those who observe the law of
love. If we have offended someone, we have violated the law of love, and we must
repair that breach by confessing we were wrong. If we do not, our prayers are
not effectual.
 
If we find it so difficult to confess our faults to one another, how can we pray
for one another to be healed of that leprosy of sin, of that weakness, of that
covetousness, of that unruly tongue? The prayer for healing does not just
pertain to physical illness. It also pertains to the leprosy of sin. How can we
pray with one another if we cannot confess one to another?
 
If we cannot confess our faults to one another whom we have seen, how can we
rightly confess them to God whom we have not seen? Our pardon depends on this.
How can we come before the Lord and say: I was proud; I acted arrogantly; I was
wrong; and turn right around to the person we were proud against and defend
ourselves? Lord, I was wrong but do not tell him. It does not work that way.

 
The Lord says for that man to forgive me if I confess my sin, so the Lord can
forgive him. How can we be too proud to confess that we were wrong?
 
We read in 1 John 4:20-21: “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he
is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love
God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who
loveth God love his brother also.” Can you say that you love God and come before
Him and confess your faults, but hate your brother and not confess your faults
to him? How can we have a heartfelt prayer for our brother if we cannot confess
that we caused his injury? 

 
If we cannot confess our pride to one whom we love, how can we ask one another
to pray that we be healed of that pride?

 
If we cannot confess our covetousness to one we love, how can we ask one another
to pray that we be healed? We come together in a prayer meeting and ask for
prayer requests. One may reply: Yes, I have been harassed with covetousness.
Pride has been a stumblingblock in my life. I want prayer for this to be healed.
How can we do this if we cannot confess our faults to one another?

 
If we cannot confess our peevishness, or irritation, to one we love, how can we
ask one another to pray that we be healed of it?
 
We must confess that we are guilty of these sins that are so common to man and
that we need God’s help to redeem us from all iniquity. How can we ask: Pray for
me that I might be healed of these things, without confessing that we need that
help? 

 
If we cannot confess our rebellion to one another whom we love, how can we ask
one another to pray for the Lord to break that rebellion?

 
Can any one of us say we are free from these sins? Our text says in 1 John
1:8-9: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is
not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 

 
We are all guilty of these things. That is a result of our fall by nature, but
we must confess these sins before one another and before the Lord.
 
Several things keep us from confessing our sins before God or our fellow man
even though we feel their weight.
 
One is hardness of heart. Did you know that because of the fall we have hard
hearts, and a hardened heart will hinder us in confessing our sins to one
another, and it will hinder us in confessing our sins to God? The law cannot
soften a hardened heart. The more we lash each other with the whip of the law,
the harder our hearts become. Guilt cannot melt it. I can put you on a guilt
trip and show you what a terrible transgressor you are, but this will not melt a
hard and stony heart. The pangs of hell in a man’s conscience cannot break down
the rebellion of the heart. That is why we do not have a gospel of hell and
damnation. That is not the gospel.

 
All the lightening and thunder of Mt. Sinai drove the people away. They fled
from the Lord. That does not melt a hard and stony heart.
 
Yet the Lord sends His Spirit with a blessed revelation of His love, and then
the waters flow. What has more tendency to break a hard heart, a heart of
rebellion, a heart of hatred, than love? Love heaped upon the head, those
burning coals of love, cannot be quenched with a flood. It cannot be quenched
with hardness of heart. It will melt a hard and stony heart.
 
Watch what we read in Jeremiah 31:9: “They shall come with weeping, and with
supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of
waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to
Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.”
 
See the love, compassion and tender fatherly care. We find the rivers not on the
mountain but in the valley of humiliation. Rivers run downhill. A river never
runs uphill. There is no exaltation there. It is a continual flowing of
humility, and it comes with weeping. The love of God draws us to repentance. 

 
Sometimes the Lord will compel a confession out of us by laying death and hell
before our eyes, but most often He will draw it out by melting our hearts with a
revelation of His love. The Lord is the One who brings us to confess, and we
must confess before we receive forgiveness.
 
We read in 1 John 4:8-9: “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only
begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.” 

 
The Lord brings a confession out of our hearts when He starts manifesting the
love of God toward us because God sent His only begotten Son into the world to
suffer, bleed and die to pay the price of our sins. Now we see the tender love
of the Father. That is what brings us with weeping and supplication. That is
what brings us into the rivers and the valley of humiliation. This is not
preaching hell and damnation.

 
Continuing in verse 10 we read: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that
he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Now watch
what follows. He is looking for the fruit. Verse 11 says: “Beloved, if God so
loved us, we ought also to love one another.”
 
Now do you understand why the Apostle John said: “If a man say, I love God, and
hateth his brother, he is a liar” (1 John 4:20).
 
If you have ever had a faith view of the precious love of the Father in sending
His Son; if you have ever had a faith view of Christ being the appeasing of His
wrath upon your sins; and then tell me that you can hate your brother, you are a
liar. You have never had that faith view.
 
See the condescension of God’s love in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20: “And all things
are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to
us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath
committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for
Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be
ye reconciled to God.”
 
I want you to see how God first loved us. God reconciled the world to Himself by
sending His own Son to suffer, bleed and die, to pay the price of sin, to
appease the Father’s wrath upon sin. He sent His servants to proclaim that
reconciliation is in place from God’s side.
 
Where is the separation between you and God? Is it on His side or on yours? It
is because of our hard hearts, that rebellion in the heart by nature that can
only be broken by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit works the work of
regeneration in the heart and breaks that rebellion. The separation is on our
part. The fault is with us, not God.
 
No one standing on the brink of eternity will ever be able to say he could not
be saved because of a limited atonement. God is reconciling Himself to the
world, and we are to be reconciled with Him. The fault is with man, not with
God. That rebellion of the heart has kept us apart. 

 
This is synonymous with Jeremiah 3:13-14a: “Only acknowledge thine iniquity,
that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy
ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice,
saith the LORD. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married
unto you.”
 
Where is the hindrance to you being saved? Where is the hindrance to a person
being at one with Christ? It is the rebellion and the hardness of heart whereby
they refuse to acknowledge their sin. The Lord melts that hard heart with a
revelation of His love.

 
FOR OUR THIRD POINT, let’s consider the foundation of our assurance of this
pardon, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful.”
 
The Lord draws that confession out of the hearts and out of the mouths of His
loved ones by a revelation of His love for them. Now we see how faithful He is.

 
Why does our text emphasize this attribute of God, “He is faithful”? He has so
many attributes. Why is it that the emphasis not on “He is merciful”? Why is the
emphasis not on “He is gracious” or “He is kind”?
 
It is because God’s faithfulness is the foundation of all His promises. What
would one promise of God be worth to you if you could ever prove that He was
unfaithful and that one promise had ever failed? Where would the foundation of
our hope be? Our hope is founded on His faithfulness, that He will never fail,
that what He has promised He is able to perform. He might lead us as He did
Abraham, whom He promised would have a son by Sarah. The Lord waited until
Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90. They were both totally past
child-bearing years.

 
His faithfulness is our absolute assurance that if we confess, He will forgive.
He has promised. His name is connected with this promise to forgive. That is how
surely He will forgive.
 
Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 1:19-20: “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who
was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea
and nay, but in him was yea. For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in
him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.”
 
This tells us that His name is connected with His promises. He is faithful. He
cannot lie. There is no variableness or shadow of turning in the Lord. He will
not say, Yes, I promised, but I changed my mind because of what you did. We will
not sin away His promises, but His promises are contingent on our confession of
sins, if we repent, if we do what He tells us.

 
God’s faithfulness is the attribute in the divine majesty upon which every
promise rests. God’s word says in Romans 3:4, “Let God be true, but every man a
liar.” Every man will be proved a liar, but God will be true. God will never
deceive or repent of what He has promised.

 
Faithfulness, that is truth, is the very character of God. Therefore His
faithfulness is the foundation of our assurance of the words of our text: “If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness.”
 
FOR OUR FOURTH POINT, let’s consider how justice not only allows, but demands a
pardon, “If we confess our sins, [then] he is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

 
The Lord tells us in Proverbs: He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns
the righteous are equally abominable in the sight of the Lord. So for the Lord
to condemn one who is righteous would be abominable in His own sight. If you and
I are just, justice not only authorizes but demands our acquittal.
 
If you and I are brought before the court of heaven, Satan is the accuser of the
brethren. He is the prosecutor, and God the Father sits as judge. What can any
one of us say but guilty, guilty, guilty? Justice demands our sentence, but we
have an Advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. An advocate
is our legal representative, our attorney.

 
My legal representative stands up, and He enters my plea. He raises His right
hand, and in the palm of His hand my name is written. He stands before the
Father and says, That name is written in the palm of my hand and every sin that
has been brought to his charge has been paid for right here. The penalty for
that sin has been paid. The accuser of the brethren is put to silence. He has no
charges left to bring against me.
 
Now justice demands my acquittal. For the judge to condemn me would be as
abominable as it would be to justify me if I were guilty. Now I am righteous
because the penalty has been satisfied in full. If He has fully satisfied the
requirement of the law by the payment of the penalty, the law is satisfied. I
have now been justified, and therefore justice demands my acquittal.
 
Our text says He is faithful and just, not only meaning that He can justly turn
me loose because I am no longer guilty, but now justice demands that He turn me
loose. The charges are dismissed. I have been set free because I have confessed
my guilt. My Advocate would not just sit there. He said He would rise for my
cause, and He did, so now I find justification.

 
When we speak of the attribute of God’s justice we must ask, How can God pardon
a transgressor and still be just? We read in Romans 3:24-26: “Being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God
hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his
righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance
of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be
just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” 

 
God can do this and be just and allow that sin, not to go unpunished, but
punished in a Substitute. He would not be just if He allowed that sin to go
unpunished, but Jesus was the acceptable Substitute.

 
What an eternal wonder how the Lord of life and glory entered into the place of
transgressors to be made their Substitute under the curse of the broken law. We
see this in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew
no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

 
We stand righteous. That word righteous means not guilty. The word righteousness
and the word justified in the Greek are translated from several words. In this
instance that word righteous means to be acquitted as not guilty because our
Substitute became guilty. Our Substitute was made to be sin for us that we might
be made the righteousness of God, in other words, perfect righteousness.
 
Now justice demands our pardon, “If we confess our sins, [because] he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.” He is now just because we have confessed those sins.

 
Oh beloved, mercy begs, but justice demands! Have you ever known what it is to
lay flat on your face before the Lord and beg for mercy? The Lord Jesus Christ
stands before His Father and demands our acquittal.

 
Mercy beseeches and pleads for undeserved favor. Mercy is a part of God’s
character, which looks down with pity and compassion on a confessing criminal,
but justice says: This is his due. It is his right. It belongs to him. The Lord
Jesus Christ judges, and He demands our acquittal, because He has purchased our
salvation with a payment in full. Oh beloved how can that be? Our blessed
Redeemer has paid the debt in full. 

 
When Jesus was circumcised He became a debtor to do the whole law in the place
of His church. We read in Galatians 5:3: “For I testify again to every man that
is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.” 

 
When Jesus Christ was circumcised, His whole church was circumcised in Him. It
is so important that we understand that covenant of circumcision, where the Lord
Jesus Christ covenanted in eternity to come in the place of His church and be
their Substitute. God revealed to Abraham in the covenant of circumcision that
the Lord Jesus Christ would come and be a debtor to do the whole law for His
church.
 
We read in Colossians 2:9-11: “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the
Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all
principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision
made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the
circumcision of Christ.”
 
In that circumcision of Christ, you and I have the imputed righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We are circumcised in Him. We have fulfilled the law to
perfection by His imputed righteousness.

 
This is how the obedience of Christ is imputed to His Bride. That is why the
Apostle Paul said in Galatians 5:1-2: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of
bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall
profit you nothing.” If you are going to yet preach circumcision, you nullify
the circumcision we have in Christ.
 
Continuing in verse 3 we read: “For I testify again to every man that is
circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no
effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from
grace.”
 
The Lord Jesus Christ has been circumcised for His church, and we are
circumcised in Him. Circumcision does not replace baptism, and neither does
baptism replace circumcision. We need both. We are complete in Him. We need His
perfect obedience, but we also need His baptism, wherein He stepped under the
wrath of the Father and took away the penalty of sin. We are baptized in Him,
and we are circumcised in Him. This is how we can have Him as our Advocate,
where He stands in our place before the Father and says: Father, I have
fulfilled the law in his behalf. I have taken the penalty of the law in His
behalf. Justice now demands his pardon. The law has been satisfied, and the law
has been kept by my imputed righteousness.
 
It is such a terrible thing when people want to still preach circumcision, and
they preach that we have to be circumcised whether it be with water or the
knife. If so, Christ avails us nothing. We have nullified that. To be
circumcised means we become debtors to do the whole law. 

 
It was in the way of this perfect obedience that Christ became the propitiation
for our sin. In Philippians 2:8 we read: “And being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross.” This is the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ that is crucial to you
and me. He became a debtor to do the whole law, and God had so commanded Him
that He must lay down His life and take it again. In such perfect obedience, He
stepped into the Father’s wrath as an act of obedience, and now you and I are
circumcised in Him. Our obedience is in the imputed righteousness of Christ.
That is why we need His circumcision. That is why we cannot nullify it by yet
being circumcised. Read Galatians 5 and study it prayerfully in that light.

 
The Father was so glorified by the perfect obedience of Christ because therein
His justice was satisfied, His wrath upon sin was appeased and the purpose of
His creation was fulfilled.
 
Philippians 2:9-11 says: “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given
him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the
earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father.” 

 
He has perfectly satisfied the law by perfect obedience and the appeasing of
God’s wrath in the way of obedience.

 
Our text says in 1 John 1:8-9: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
 
Not only do we seek pardon, but we seek cleansing. When we learn to see the
sinfulness of sin and the true character of sin, then we understand what it is
to desire to be cleansed from sin, because the Lord will never save us in our
sins. He will save us from our sins.

 

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

 
We can use the first epistle of John to measure ourselves in the light of the
word of God. We read in 1 John 5:13: “These things have I written unto you that
believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal
life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” We have no need to
doubt, fear or wonder whether or not we have eternal life.
 
This morning I want to dwell on one of the marks he has set forth whereby we may
know whether we have eternal life.

 
A couple of weeks ago we spoke about Job, and how the righteousness of Job was
not a righteousness sufficient for salvation. His righteousness was a
Pharisaical righteousness that centered on the sacrifice for justification. When
the Lord opened his eyes to see the spirit of the law written in his own heart,
he had to say, “Behold, I am vile.”
 
How do we see one of the marks of knowing that we have salvation? I can speak
from experience that to recognize a sin in my own heart is not as difficult as
it is to confess that sin, to admit, for example, that I was guilty of pride. I
was exalting myself. This confession is not just before the Lord. It means to
also confess it to our fellowman. I find that many of God’s dear children can
become so defensive if they are confronted with something they ought not to have
done.
 
The word of God tells us in Hebrews 10:24-25: “And let us consider one another
to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of
ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so
much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” How can I reprove a man who
becomes defensive? 

 
The Apostle John is telling us how we can know if we have eternal life. We must
not only realize that we have sinned, but we must confess it. If you or I have a
brother who has caused contention, and he is defensive when we show him without
doubt that what he has done was wrong, the contentions never cease. Yet, if we
can confess our sins, it is so much easier to forgive.
 
If someone comes to me, confesses that they offended me, admits his wrong and
asks for forgiveness, it is much easier to forgive that person than if he is
defensive and justifies what he has done. Is that spirit in you that enables you
to confess when you are wrong?
 
The Scriptures are full of the perfections of Christ in our human nature as we
see from Hebrews 7:26: “For such an high priest became us, who is holy,
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.”
 
There is perfection in our human nature, but it is only to be found in Christ.
If you and I try to defend perfection in our nature then our text says: “If we
say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
There is no room for a Saviour. There is no room for salvation until there is
confession for sin. 

 
As far as perfection in natural man, the Scriptures teach in Romans 3:10-12: “As
it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that
understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good,
no, not one.” 

 
This includes self-righteous Job. That includes the self-righteous Pharisees.
That includes the self-righteous hypocrite that dwells in each of our hearts.
 
If there is any perfection to be found in the church, it is only found in
proportion with Christ being formed in them. Perfection can be in you as far as
Christ is formed in you. Now we are not talking about me, we are talking about
the new man of the spirit that has been created in me. That new man is Christ
formed in me. In that proportion, as Christ has been formed in me by the work of
regeneration, by the work of the Holy Spirit, there is perfection in me.
 
The Lord looks upon that perfection in spite of our shortcomings because He
looks upon it in Christ. Now he can be pleased with what we do.
 
In Colossians 1:27 the Apostle Paul wrote: “To whom God would make known what is
the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in
you, the hope of glory.”
 
In me, this fallen creature, this sinner who has nothing but wounds, bruises and
putrefying sores, the mystery of God is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” This
is where perfection is.
 
Now watch what it says in verse 28: “Whom we preach, warning every man, and
teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in
Christ Jesus.” All faithful preaching must warn everyone of the sin that dwells
within them. We must be make knowledgeable of that human nature, that old man of
sin that needs the cross every day. Every day that old man of sin must be
crucified.
 
How do I teach “in all wisdom”? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
All faithful teaching begins in teaching the character and true nature of sin.
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, so if I am going to teach every man in all
wisdom, I must teach them the fear of the Lord “that we may present every man
perfect in Christ Jesus.” The perfection is in Christ Jesus. How far Christ
Jesus is formed in me is how far I have had perfection wrought in me.
 
We read in verse 29: “Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his
working, which worketh in me mightily.” This is when we have learned to see the
sinfulness of sin. Romans 7 tells us how the Apostle Paul was brought through
the schools of Jesus Christ, and how he learned to see the wretchedness of sin.
The knowledge of sin was working in Paul.
 
The Apostle John says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and
the truth is not in us.” 

 
The root of our imperfections lay in the corruptions of the heart as we see in
Jeremiah 17:9-10: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately
wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to
give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”
 
As we look back to what the Lord has led us through in our lives, we start to
understand what it means “to give every man according to his ways.” This means
in this lifetime as well as in eternity.
 
I want to give you two illustrations. The first is Jacob. He deceived his old
father, he lied, he supplanted his brother, and the Lord rewarded him according
to his ways. Jacob went to Padan-aram, and he was deceived 10 times. When he
passed Penuel, he confessed that he was a traitor, a trickster, a liar and a
cheat. On his deathbed he realized that Joseph was yet alive. For 20 years his
children lied to him and deceived him with the coat of their brother as he
deceived his father with the coat of his brother. I want you to see how
precisely the Lord rewarded him according to his doings.
 
We see the same thing with David. David committed adultery and murder. The Lord
said that the sword would not depart from his house. It began with his own son
forcing his own sister to have sex with him, and his son Absalom killing his own
brother. With his own children, the Lord rewarded him for murder and adultery.
It concluded with Absalom forcing David off the throne and attempting to take
his life.
 
In the end, David would cry, “Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had
died for thee” (2 Samuel 18:33). David said this because he saw that this was
the fruit of his sin.
 
The Lord knows our hearts. He searches our hearts. I could spend the rest of the
day telling you about instances in my own life where the Lord has given me
according to my ways.
 
Can we confess our sins? If we say we have no sins, we deceive ourselves. If we
confess, the Lord will forgive.
 
Why are the failings, falls and grievous sins of God’s dear saints like Noah,
Lot, Abraham, Moses, David and Solomon recorded in Holy Writ? We see the answer
in 1 Corinthians 1:29-31: “That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of
him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is
written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”
 
It is of God that we are in Christ. It is of the work of regeneration in our
souls by the Holy Spirit. I cannot stand up and say proudly that I have wisdom
and I have righteousness and I have sanctification. No, it is of God. For those
who think they can obtain perfection in the flesh, our text says,  “If we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
 
A man who had been in the ministry for many years had been taken in a sin, and
as he was being reproved, he referred to the sin of David as if it were his
license to sin. He said: “Well, David sinned.” That is not why these sins are
recorded. These sins are recorded to warn us that even David fell. Now we see
how subject we are to falling. We learn to confess our weaknesses, and we beg
the Lord for restraining grace that He will keep us from falling. This is not so
we can look at the sin of God’s people and use that as a license for our sins.
 
FOR OUR FIRST POINT, let’s consider the declaration, “If we say that we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
 
FOR OUR SECOND POINT, let’s consider the conditional terms upon which sin is
forgiven, “If we confess our sins.” The forgiveness of sins is conditional.
 
FOR OUR THIRD POINT, let’s consider the foundation of our assurance of this
pardon, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful.” This is the foundation upon
which we have a pardon.
 
FOR OUR FOURTH POINT, let’s consider how justice not only allows, but demands a
pardon, “If we confess our sins, [then] he is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
 
This morning, the Lord willing, I hope to dwell on our first point. This
afternoon I hope to dwell on points two, three and four.
 
FIRST, let’s consider the declaration, “If we say that we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” 

 
No man in a state of nature knows anything of the real character of sin, whether
he lives in open profanity, or as a Pharisee of Pharisees. Even if he lives the
life of Job, he not will understand the true character of sin by nature.
 
Before the Apostle Paul’s eyes were opened to the real character of sin, he
could say as we read in Philippians 3:4-5: “Though I might also have confidence
in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in
the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the
tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee.”
 
These are his credentials whereby he could trust in the flesh. If there was
anything to boast in the flesh, the Apostle Paul could boast about it. Until he
had the light shine into his soul, this was his opinion of himself. He did not
understand the true character of sin until on the way to Damascus the light of
God shined into his soul.
 
After Paul had seen the Lord Jesus in the way, he saw the law in a new light as
we see in Romans 7:11-13: “For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived
me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and
just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But
sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that
sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.”
 
Now the Apostle Paul, that Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law a
Pharisee, knew and understood what the Apostle John is talking about: “If we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.” Now he understood the true character
of sin.
 
After Paul learned to see sin in its right light, he said in Philippians 3:7-9:
“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea
doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine
own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”

 
All these things upon which he built the foundation of his salvation became an
abomination to him. He saw that circumcision on the eighth day availed him
nothing and that he needed the circumcision of Christ. 

 
We read in Colossians 2: 9-11: “For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all
principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision
made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the
circumcision of Christ.”


He saw that his keeping of the law as a Pharisee was a loss. He saw that it was
hypocrisy. He saw that the very righteousness he thought merited salvation in
itself was a damning sin because it was in the wrong spirit. It was not in the
spirit of the law. When he came to understand the spirit of the law, sin became
exceedingly sinful.
 
Righteousness is through the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, where He by faith
endured the cross, despising its shame. He by faith stepped forward into the
wrath of the Father to take away the penalty of our sin, to appease the Father’s
wrath upon our sin by His perfect obedience, by His perfection of righteousness.
 
It was the perfect righteousness of Christ, that circumcision of Christ. He was
circumcised the eighth day, and He became a debtor to do the whole law on behalf
of His church. Now the Apostle Paul sees that righteousness is by the faith of
Christ, which is what we are reading about in Romans 4. There we read that
Abraham received the seal of circumcision as the evidence, as the pledge, that
the Lord Jesus Christ would be circumcised, that He would step under the
Father’s wrath, that by His perfect righteousness of faith, the church would be
healed.
 
Job experienced the cutting off of all his own righteousness when his eyes were
opened to see who he really was through the revelation of God’s true character.
We read in Job 40:4: “Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay
mine hand upon my mouth.” Here Job received the light of the gospel and saw the
true nature of sin.  

 
There is such harmony between the life of Paul and the life of Job.
 
As we receive a right understanding of God’s character, we learn what Paul said
in Romans 7:14: “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold
under sin.” This is what we see when we understand the true character of sin.
 
I want to explain something that I think is so vitally important to understand.
It reveals our ignorance of self and sin when we can be critical of our
fellowman. When we do this we are saying, I have no sin. We are deceiving
ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

 
The scribes and Pharisees were critical of Christ Jesus, who had no sin. They
saw themselves to be so righteous that they could be critical of the Lord of
life and glory. They could call Him a Beelzebub. They could call Him a
blasphemer. Think of the names they called Him.
 
I want you to see what happens when we receive one glimpse of ourselves. Watch
what happened to these same scribes and Pharisees in John 8:7-9 when they
brought to Christ a woman taken in adultery: “So when they continued asking him,
he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let
him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the
ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went
out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left
alone, and the woman standing in the midst.”

 
The Lord Jesus Christ gave them but one glimpse of their own hearts and of the
spirit of the law. They did not have one stone left to throw at a person who was
guilty of a capital crime. That woman according to the law deserved to be stoned
to death.
 
How can we sit by such a large pile of stones and throw stones at our fellowman?
It is because we do not realize that we have sinned. It is because our eyes are
blinded to see the sins of our own hearts. When we understand the law and the
true character of sin, then we understand the true Spirit of Christ, and we do
not have a stone left to throw.


The real nature of sin astonishes the quickened sinner. That word behold in Job
40:4 where Job said, “Behold, I am vile,” was an exclamation of surprise. When
the Lord opened Job’s eyes to see the true character of sin, he was astonished,
and this is the way it is with you and me if the Lord truly opens our eyes. It
makes us gracious to the chiefest of sinners. We do not throw stones at the most
vile wretch. Our heart goes out to him with sympathy and love. “Oh Lord, how can
I reach out to that poor man and help drag him out of such a gutter.” I do not
throw stones at him, because I see the seeds of those same crimes in my own
heart. If it was not for the restraining grace of God, I would have been worse
than he. What stones do we have left to throw?
 
How should we come to such people as we read in Galatians 6:1-2: “Brethren, if a
man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the
spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one
another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” That is not being
critical. That is not throwing stones. That is seeking the man to restore him.



As the Holy Spirit opens our understanding to discover the spirit of the law, He
leads us into the chambers of imagery. He opens our hearts to understanding as
He did for these scribes and Pharisees to see the evil and wicked imaginations
of our own hearts. Now we understand what we read in Ezekiel 8:12: “For they
say, the LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.” That is the
secret imagination of the evil heart. I can be evil. I can be filled with
hatred. I can do all these things, and the Lord does not see it because the Lord
has withdrawn Himself. He has withdrawn Himself because of these sins. The Lord
withdraws His nearness and withdraws His Spirit because of these evil
imaginations of the heart. This gives us more license to sin.

 
When the Spirit begins to awaken a sinner to the true character of sin, he
attempts to purify himself by turning from some of his most sinful actions. The
first response is that self-righteousness begins to compound itself. We try to
become holy within ourselves. We are going to turn from certain sins, correct
ourselves and stand right before God. This is still not confessing ourselves to
be sinners under the light of the true character of sin.
 
As the Spirit continues to awaken the sinner to the true character of sin and
the spirit of the law, then one as perfect as Job will say as we read in Job
9:30-31: “If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;
Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me.”
 
Then we learn to see that our best righteousness is but filthy rags. We can do
all in our power to cleanse our own selves of sin, and the Lord would still spew
us out of His mouth. Then we start to see our need for the perfection of Christ.
We start to see and understand that we need Christ’s righteousness, that we need
His blood for cleansing.
 
Our text says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us.” 

 
When a man is brought to understand the true character of sin, he begins to
realize what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 3:19: “Now we know that what things
soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth
may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”
 
You and I by nature are under the law. The law comes as a warrant officer to
arrest us and bring us before the judge. Then we understand what it means to
become guilty before God, and we are not defensive anymore. Our heart can tell
us that we are wrong. Our heart can convict us, yet we will phrase our defense
in some way that we will never confess that wrong. It even takes the grace of
God to come to where a conviction of sin brings forth a confession of sin.

 
“All the world” (Romans 3:19) means there is no exception. We are all guilty
before God. Until we have been brought to see that we are guilty before God, we
will never see the beauty of the imputed righteousness of Christ, which only has
merit. How do I need the perfect robe of Christ’s righteousness when I look at
my own clothes, and they are clean?

 
I want you to see in 1 Corinthians 1:30: “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who
of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and
redemption.” It is all of God. He is altogether lovely. Everything flows from
Him, and everything flows back to Him because He is all in all. Now, we become
nothing.
 
The only ones who can say, “We have no sin,” are those described in Proverbs
30:12-13: “There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not
washed from their filthiness. There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes!
and their eyelids are lifted up.” They can say that they have no sin, but our
text says they are deceived. The truth is not in them. They are righteous in
themselves, but they are not cleansed from their filthiness.

 
God’s word illustrates how those who say they have no sin appear in His sight in
Proverbs 30:20: “Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth
her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.” We are spiritual adulterers
when we say we have no sin. When we do not see and recognize the sin of our own
hearts, we are guilty of spiritual adultery because we can stand up and be so
lofty. 

 
When we may think that we sin not in thought, words or deeds, then how often we
must confess as we read in James 3:7-9: “For every kind of beasts, and of birds,
and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of
mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly
poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men,
which are made after the similitude of God.” 

 
It does not matter who we are, we can be a wise man or a man of few words, but
scripture says that no man can tame the tongue. When we understand how much we
sin with the tongue, then we will never be able say that we have no sin. That
member of the body that has been defiled by the fall is an unruly evil, full of
deadly poison.  Anytime we have said anything unkind about any man, do not
forget that he might be fallen in sin, but he was still made after the
similitude of God.
 
No human creature can plead innocence in this matter. We are all guilty of this,
and we must all come before God and confess that we are guilty of these things.
 
Our text says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us.” 

 
See the confession of Hannah as she poured out her heart to the Lord in 1 Samuel
2:2-3: “There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither
is there any rock like our God. Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not
arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him
actions are weighed.”
 
Hannah was talking to the same one James was talking to, the human tongue. The
Lord weighs the actions of every man. The Lord weighs my actions. I have said so
often, Until we can start preaching with our feet, we had better keep our mouths
shut. We must know what it is to be gracious to our fellowman, forgiving his
weaknesses and praying with a sympathetic heart to the Lord to restore such a
one, rather to be critical of him and condemn him.
 
The Lord will weigh my actions in the balance of His actions, and then justify
me or condemn me based on how I judge my brother. Judgment begins at the house
of God, and I will be judged with the same judgment as I judge my brother. If I
forgive, God will forgive.

 
Can we boast of our actions before the Lord as the Pharisee, saying in Luke
18:11-12: “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee,
that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.”
 
Notice the prayer that the Lord Jesus is teaching us in Luke 18:1: “And he spake
a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to
faint.” As the Lord explains what this prayer must be, He goes on to show the
prayer of importunity, and then in verses 11 and 12, He shows the prayer of the
Pharisee, who did not see any sin in himself. The Pharisee brought his actions
before the Lord, and by the Lord actions are weighed.

 
This publican who was so despised by the Pharisee could not boast of his actions
and that he had no sin, but which of the two went home deceived? I want you to
see the tone of our text, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us.” That Pharisee had no truth in him. The Lord was
weighing his actions, but He also weighed the actions of the publican. We read
in verses 13 and 14: “And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so
much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful
to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather
than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that
humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
 
The publican confessed his sin. He did not boast of who he was. He confessed who
he was. The Pharisee was deceived, and the publican was justified.  

 
There is such blessed harmony in the gospel. Our text says in 1 John 1:8-9: “If
we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
 
When I see the sinfulness of my sin, confess that I have sinned and come before
the Lord and confess that I am a sinner and need forgiveness, then He is
faithful and just to forgive.
 
So, which were the two greatest contrasts in the prayers of the Pharisee and the
publican? First, the Pharisee supposed he had no sin, therefore he deceived
himself, and the truth was not in him. Second, the Publican confessed his sins,
and he went home justified.
 
With the Lord’s help, we hope to consider our second point this afternoon, which
is the conditional terms upon which sin is forgiven, “If we confess our sins.”
 
I want you to take notice of this prayer of the publican and the Pharisee, and I
want you to weigh that with the language of our text. “If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.” In other words, we are made righteous in the righteousness of
Christ if we confess our sins. The difference was that with the Pharisee, he
confessed his righteousness, and he deceived himself.
 
The mere knowledge of how great our sins and miseries are is no basis upon which
to build our hope for eternity. We may teach three things that are needful to
live and die happily. One of them is how great our sins and miseries are. That
is what it says in the Heidelberg Catchecism. 

 
King Saul received much knowledge about his sins and miseries, but there was no
salvation in it for him. I want you to see this in 1 Samuel 28:20 and how he had
gone to the which at Endor and had her bring up Samuel: “Then Saul fell
straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of
Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day,
nor all the night.” 

 
The fact that he was now brought to this knowledge had no salvation in it
because even at this point Saul did not confess his sin. If he had fallen
prostrate before the Lord and confessed, I have sinned, the Lord would have been
faithful and forgiven him his sin, but one thing the Lord withheld from King
Saul was repentance. That knowledge of sin and misery has no salvation in it
apart from confessing it.
 
Samuel had told Saul in verses 18 and 19: “Because thou obeyedst not the voice
of the LORD, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the
LORD done this thing unto thee this day. Moreover the LORD will also deliver
Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and
thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the
hand of the Philistines.”
 
Even at this point what did Saul lack? Our text says in 1 John 1:8: “If we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Verse 9
says: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I want to underscore that word if
in verse 9. It is conditional. If we confess our sins from the heart He will
forgive us and cleanse us. 

 
We can learn from many scriptural examples how God’s saints who shine as the
brightest stars upon the pages of Holy Writ were no exception to the spiritual
warfare in which all God’s dear children must fight. This is a struggle against
the power and character of sin.
 
Of Moses we read in Numbers 12:3: “(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all
the men which were upon the face of the earth.)” No man can claim he was more
meek than Moses. Yet it was of this same Moses that the Lord’s displeasure is
recorded against his pride and rebellion in Numbers 20:10-12: “And Moses and
Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them,
Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?” Do you see their
pride?
 
Continuing in verses 11 and 12 we read: “And Moses lifted up his hand, and with
his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the
congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the LORD spake unto Moses and
Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of
Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I
have given them.” 

 
Can we say we have no pride? For their pride, Moses could not enter the Promised
Land. Moses, the meekest of all men, was rebuked for his pride. This is a
message you and I must understand. We need to confess our sins.
 
May God give us an attentive heart this afternoon, and the words He will bless
as we unfold our other three points.
 
FOR OUR SECOND POINT, let’s consider the conditional terms upon which sin is
forgiven, “If we confess our sins.”
 
FOR OUR THIRD POINT, let’s consider the foundation of our assurance of this
pardon and the foundation of His faithfulness that it rests upon, “If we confess
our sins, he is faithful.”
 
FOR OUR FOURTH POINT, let’s consider how justice not only allows, but demands a
pardon, “If we confess our sins, [then] he is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
 
 
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