Weight of Unconfessed sin

He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. ( Prov. 28:13)

The weight of unconfessed sin is the topic of our sermon this afternoon. This very important aspect of our faith walk is often ignored by many, but I felt to touch this very imperative issue today.  The word of God tells us that sin has a separating element in itself and most and foremost it separates us from God who is sinless. When I say separate us I mean in our communion with Him and it block our freedom to live under the fullness of His blessing through grace.

Jesus Christ being the sinless Lamb of God was slained so that this element of separation would be eternally abolished through His righteous blood. Although He Himself being God in the flesh came to us who were sinners and lived among us, but He remained sinless and the power of sin Was not able to touch Him until the very end when on the cross He took our sin upon Himself and that is when He too felt the agonizing power of sin in being separated from God the Father.

From the cross He cried out “ Eloi, Eloi Lam Sabactani or My, My God why have you forsaken Me?”.

Oh yes sin has a very strong legal right before God to separate us from Him in His holiness. That is why the Bible says death reigned over men from Adam to Moses.  (Rom. 5:14)  Through Moses the Law was introduced and sin became even more evident in its power to destroy our communion with God.  Sin also has a very heavy weight that put’s on man’s conscious and that binds us to a very heavy load, called guilt. This unseen spiritual reality also gives God in His heavenly righteousness the right to keep Himself away from us in His holy communion.

 In Isaiah  59: 1 & 2  the Lord says “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened,
That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy,
That it cannot hear. ² But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
And your sins have hidden His face from you,  So that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood , and your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, your tongue has muttered perversity.

Here we are reasons why God cannot keep continual communion with us. Sin that makes God’s wrath just and His righteous anger justified.

Having said all this we must not forget that this very rebellion of one man brought the eternal separation of man and God and its dominion and abode was called death. This is why Apostle Paul in describing the power of resurrection of Christ in 1^stCorinthian 15^th chapter in verses 55 and 56 says “ O death, where is your sting? Oh Hades, where is your Victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Here we read all about the power that sin through the law had attained over us in separating us from God best for us. Adam and Eve were the first to experience this separation and soon after it was their first born Cain who by coveting sinned in His heart and it grew into thoughts of murder and in the end it resulted to an act of actual murder. In Cain’s case it went as far even a rebellious act of lack of confession and that is how it ended with eternal separation from God. But Jesus Christ’s offer of Himself on the altar of the cross has become the only means through which this power is broken and through faith in Him we are all restored by His atonement unto fellowship. However through admittance, confession and forsaking of our sins we are restored. For many different reasons some delay the confession of their sins and through this they are delaying God’s best for them.  In doing this they harm their relationship and they often forsake their own mercy. The weight of unconfessed sin is one of the worst burdens that we could place upon ourselves. It blocks the blessing of God in our lives and it makes us lean back upon our former strength of life, which was our flesh. Brothers of Joseph are the best examples who had this weight of unforgiveness upon their shoulders all of their lives.

However the good news is that in 1 John 1:9 the beloved Apostle of the Lord through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost says “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Wow what a freedom offered to us all who would receive Him as our Redeemer and would not be ashamed by continually going to Him for confession and forsaking of all of our sins. Confessing it one to another when our sin has affected another person, as James the half brother of the Lord has spoken.  The purifying effects of genuine confession restores us unto Him and brings refreshment to our soul. The Bible declares in the gospel of Matthew saying “ If your brother sins against you and comes to you for forgiveness you must forgive him even seventy times seven a day”. Well this very saying declares that being a Christian does not automatically prevent us from sinning, but can help us in seeking restoration.

The Lord knowing the weight of sin and its heaviness on the soul of man has made a way of escape and we all need to give heed to its smoothing remedy called confession. Proverbs 28:13 says it very well and I like to quote it again for more clearance. “ He who covers his sins, will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy”.Hear this Church covering our sins is the reason why many of us have not prospered maybe? What secret sin have you not brought to light? Know that this very same thing has stopped God’s best for you. This could be even very small wrongs you have let uncovered. After all it is the small foxes that ruin our vineyards. That small lie you had told your spouse, or the improper use of our words about someone? To you it could be an insignificant dislike of what someone did to you when you were young? A grudge you might have in your heart for so many years? Whatever this could be we need to catch this little spiritual demons at their onslaught before they ruin our relationship. Have you heard that Jesus Christ our Messiah had to carry His cross on the road of pain and agony “Via Dolorosa”? I was thinking it over just now, because the Lord our Father and His Father could have allowed it so that the weight of the altar of sin too would be felt on His mortal body. Why? I think so that He could be a perfect High Priest in all matters, even in understanding of the heavy weight of sin upon His own shoulders. Brothers that is why I know that He and Paul both instituted the importance of the last supper and the continual memorial of it amongst the sanctified ones. Apostle Paul in 1^st Corinthians the 11^th chapter speaks of the importance of the communion as a memorial and in it he emphasizes the absolute necessity of confession of sins before partaking of this table. There the Apostle of Jesus Christ makes a clear distinction between the unconfessed and those who would judge their sin through their confession.