Pastor Mark
Mikels – October 22, 2006
“WE COME
CLEAN WITH EACH OTHER!”
Church Under Construction – Relational Phase #5
Intro … “Church Under Construction” … that’s what we are! In
fact, the pace of construction has now reached a feverish pitch as
Christ rushes to ready this congregation to enter the structure that is
rapidly moving toward completion at 13324 Apple Valley Road.
We are building a building – Christ is building a people – people who
will use that building as a gathering place for fellowship and worship
as well as a headquarters for ministry. It’s essential that the people
be as well constructed (as well put together) as the structure.
In our personal spiritual construction project we are halfway through
phase three …
We have completed the Doctrinal Phase … where we carefully examined
the major beliefs of the Christian Faith which form the foundation upon
which we stand.
We have also completed the Behavioral Phase … where we sensitively
discussed the basic moral standards of the Christian Faith which form
the framework within which we live our lives.
The current phase that we are halfway through is the Relational Phase
… where we are discovering the quality of life that Christ would have
us enjoy as we share our lives together.
In this phase of construction we are being shaped by a series of
Biblical Relational Directives … Specific directions from God
concerning the way that we are to inter-act with one another.
So far He has directed us to:
“Be Devoted To One Another”
“Agape One Another”
“Encourage One Another” and
“Build One Another Up”.
If we merely carried out those four relational directives faithfully,
we would be in pretty terrific shape as a congregation. We would be
well on our way to being “the happiest place on earth”.
However, there are three more of these directives that Christ would
have implemented in His Church and let me say that these final three
are absolutely dependent upon the presence of the first four.
You might say that the first four establish a necessary context for the
final three …
So then, as we are devoted to one another and agape one another and
encourage one another and build up one another – as we have created
among ourselves a community that we enter with great delight – let us
consider now …
Biblical Relational Directive #5
“CONFESS your SINS to one another” – James 5:16a
Confess your sins … what sins? Do any of us still sin? And if we do,
does it matter? Hasn’t Christ died for all of our sins? Hasn’t God
already in Christ forgiven us for every one of them?
Well, apparently our sins do matter and apparently God desires that we
not only recognize our sins as sins but that we bring some trusted
person into that recognition with us.
Now there’s perhaps nothing quite so difficult as that … it’s hard
enough to swallow our pride and confess our sins to God but how much
harder is it to openly admit that we have sinned – that we have
willfully disobeyed the Lord in some way or another!
Why would God direct us to do such a difficult and uncomfortable thing?
Consider with me this morning …
FIVE INCREDIBLE BENEFITS OF CONFESSION:
1. Confession officially puts our sin “ON the TABLE” and brings to a
conclusion the Holy Spirit’s Work of CONVICTION.
Keep in mind that the Holy Spirit is the supreme example of One who is
devoted to us and who continually agapes us and who would seek to
encourage us and who would do anything to
“build us up” …
It’s in that incredible context of support and love that He brings to
our attention those things that would prove detrimental to our
continuing growth in grace – it’s in that context we are to understand
the use of the word “conviction” – a word that has nothing at all in
common with the word “condemnation” …
Conviction: The Holy Spirit saying to us …
“Here is something WRONG that needs to be DEALT with.”
Confession: Us saying to the Holy Spirit …
“You are ABSOLUTELY CORRECT.”
That’s exactly what confession is … confession is us agreeing with
God about the true identity of the thing we have done – it’s sin …
it’s something wrong that needs to be dealt with.
Confession gets our sin out into the open where it can be seen for what
it is and where others can assist us in dealing with it. That’s a
powerful positive benefit that God wants confession to accomplish in
our lives.
2. Confession salvages the ENERGY that would have been put into
RATIONALIZATION or DENIAL and directs it into RESTORATION.
The words … “I was wrong and I need to do things differently” replace
the words …
“I didn’t do it” or “I couldn’t help it”.
There’s a lot of mental and emotional and spiritual energy expended
when we try to cover-up or explain away our sins … our sins of
neglect or disrespect or willful violation of some Biblically commanded
principle or practice.
It can feel like a thousand pound load has been taken off our hearts
when we finally just come right out and say, “I was wrong”.
It adds a very important piece of information to that confession when
we say,
“God has convicted me that something I did was wrong”.
That statement communicates that we are sensitive to the Spirit within
us and that we have heard His voice and sensed His discomfort and that
we are prepared to ease that discomfort by dealing with the very thing
in question – the sin that we have committed.
To have our feet put firmly on the path of correction or restoration is
a tremendous blessing whenever it happens – confession provides that
blessing for us.
Now here’s something else I want us to think about before we move on to
discuss benefit #3 …
Our “confession” sends a wonderful and sometimes relieving message to
those who know us best …
If our “sin” was something that they already knew about, then our
confession has saved them from the never desirable task of confronting
us about it … the Holy Spirit has beat them to it and they can simply
support us in the task of restoration. They don’t have to convince us
or debate us or get frustrated or distressed in any sense because of
us. Our confession brings them a sense of relief.
If our “sin” was something that they had known nothing about, then our
confession has made them aware that our relationship to the Holy Spirit
within us is both genuine and productive – a delightful awareness that
causes them to treasure us all the more.
And those twin effects of relief and delight prepare them and us to
experience the third benefit of confession …
3. Confession unleashes a powerful spiritual DYNAMIC when we confess
our sins to those who are DEVOTED to us!
“Confess your sins to each other and PRAY for each other” – James
5:16b
To the degree that our confession causes our closest Christian brothers
to cherish us all the most – to that same degree, our confession will
stimulate them to an even increased focus upon us and upon our
particular need in their prayers.
They will pray that we gain victory over this particular sin; they will
pray that we be specifically protected from the Evil One; they will
pray that our minds will continue to be renewed so that our lives will
be more and more conformed to Christ.
They will immerse us in prayer … effective prayer, wonder-working
prayer. How good is that!
And as that prayer on our behalf pours forth from those who are devoted
to us – from those who truly agape us – from those who would desire to
encourage us and see us become stronger and stronger in the Lord …
the fourth benefit of confession begins to unfold:
4. Confession initiates a life-renewing spiritual PROCESS as a result
of those who are devoted to us praying knowingly for us.
“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other that you may
be HEALED.”
(James 5:16c)
Here we have it … sin creates disease in the spiritual realm and sin
frequently as a result creates
dis-ease in the physical realm.
Prayer for spiritual health and healing – for oneness and wholeness
within the heart of man – is automatically a prayer for physical health
and healing as well.
A person living in harmony with the Spirit and thus in compliance with
the Word of God is a person who will avoid much of the physical and
emotional breakdowns that afflict those who are out of harmony
with Him.
Doctors have maintained for years that over 80% of our hospital beds
are filled with people whose physical ailments have emotional roots.
Emotional sins like anger, wrath, bitterness, fearfulness, resentment,
unforgiveness, hatred, impatience create an environment of stress
within the body that is highly destructive.
Just imagine what the replacement of all those things with the Fruit of
the Spirit would mean to a person’s physical and spiritual well-being –
things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
When we confess our sins to those who are devoted to us and they begin
to pray for us, there is set in motion a healing process that can work
its way through every part of our being. It’s the ultimate benefit that
comes from confession.
Confession – what a scary and yet wonderfully beneficial thing …
* It puts our sin on the table and brings to completion the convicting
work of the Holy Spirit,
* It salvages the energy that would have been put into rationalization
or denial and
directs it into restoration,
* It unleashes a powerful spiritual dynamic (prayer) when we confess
our sins
to those who are devoted to us and
* It initiates a life-renewing spiritual process (healing) as a result
of those who are
devoted to us praying knowingly for us.
Now there’s one final benefit of confession that I would suggest to you
this morning. I alluded to it earlier but let’s see it directly
identified …
5. Confession protects us from the DAMAGE wrought by UNCONFESSED sin.
“When I kept silent, my BONES wasted away … my STRENGTH was sapped”
(Psalm 32:3-5)
Unconfessed sin – sin that we know about, sin that we are refusing to
deal with, sin that we are either consciously harboring or merely
avoiding – creates havoc in the heart of a born-again follower
of Jesus Christ.
Our new man is not equipped to co-exist with willful, purposeful,
frequently prideful sin. It’s an offence to him; it’s an offense to the
Holy Spirit within us.
Willful sin and a refusal to deal with it set up internal shockwaves
that like an earthquake rumbling deep in the earth create damage in
far-flung places.
David said that even his bones hurt … his energy was gone – he was
feeling physical consequences as a result of his sin. He was in a bad
way.
But he found a way out … verse 5
“Then I said … I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.”
And David did just that … more of the details of his confession and
the results of his confession are recorded in Psalm 51 but suffice it
to say this morning …
David was restored to the path of blessing.
Immediate confession – confession that happens as soon as we become
aware of our sin – provides the surest protection from the damages
wrought by unconfessed sin.
Within the Church of Jesus Christ, within the context of a devoted,
loving, close-knit body of believers, God would have us confess our
sins to one another that we might be wonderfully and gloriously healed
and wonderfully and gloriously blessed!
Final Thot …
CONFESSION – Indeed, it’s GOOD for the SOUL!