TEXT: I John 1:9

SUBJECT: Kids' Sermon #26: Confession

Kids, listen carefully.

I'm going to talk about Confessing your sins. Everything in the Bible is important. But some things are more important than others. You can be wrong about the Millennium, for example, without hurting yourself too badly. But you can't miss confessing your sins without greatly damaging your life and your eternal soul. So listen carefully. Believe. And obey.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO CONFESS YOUR SINS?

It is to tell your sins to the Lord. It's to admit you've done something bad or you've not done something good.

It is the opposite of denying your sin or saying, "It wasn't me"--when, in fact, it was you.

It is the opposite of excusing your sin or saying, "Well, maybe I did it, but I didn't mean to!"

It is the opposite of blaming someone else for your sin or saying "He made me do it!"

In short, confession means telling God the truth about your sins.

WHO SHOULD CONFESS HIS SINS?

Not everyone should confess. A sinless person shouldn't because doing that would be a lie. Jesus Christ never confessed his sins because He had no sins to confess.

But everyone else is a sinner. The Bible says so in many places, Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:10; Romans 3:23.

Everyone who sins should confess to the Lord. Including me. And you.

An unsaved person should confess his sins because he cannot be saved without it. "Unless you repent, you shall all likewise perish" the Lord once said. And part of repentance is confessing your sins.

But what about Christians? Aren't our sins all forgiven? Yes they are. But they're still to be confessed to the Lord. That's what our verse says, doesn't it? And many others as well.

Every sinful person should confess his sins. And that's everybody except Jesus Christ. Confession is for children and for senior-citizens; for teenagers, for the middle-aged--and for everyone else!

WHAT SINS SHOULD YOU CONFESS?

You should confess every known sin.

What's a "known sin"? It's a sin you know about. You lied or you cheated or you fought or you disobeyed or your sulked or you did something else you know was wrong. Confess those sins honestly to the Lord.

You should also confess your unknown sins.

What's that? It's a sin you don't know about. Now, if you don't know you did something wrong, how can you confess it to the Lord? You confess it as an unknown sin! Psalm 19:12 says,

The faults are not only secret from others. But also secret from the person who committed them.

How can a sin be secret? Maybe you don't know God's will on some point (and think the sin you committed was not sinful). Or, maybe you forgot what you did. Or, because we're all too easy on ourselves, maybe you thought your sin was, in fact, a good thing.

If you should confess all your sins, it means you've got to confess them very often. Don't go days or weeks (or longer) between confessions!

Whenever you commit a sin, confess it right then to the Lord!

When you go to bed at night, think about the day you've had, and confess the things you've done that are wrong. If you can't remember, ask the Lord to help you recall them.

In any event, confess your sins as fully and often as possible.

WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT NOT CONFESSING YOUR SINS?

You know, most people don't confess their sins--at least not very often or honestly. The sad thing is, they don't feel guilty about it. But they should because not confessing your sins is itself one of the worst sins you can commit.

Here are some reasons why:

If you don't confess your sins, you're a liar and a fool.

If you don't confess your sins, you're saying, in effect, you haven't sinned--and that's a lie. And it's the worst kind of lie because it's told to yourself. And believed. And anyone who believes his own lie must be a very great fool!

Do you want to be a liar and a fool? If not, confess your sins to the Lord.

If you don't confess your sins, you're self-righteous (or proud). The Pharisees were this way. One of them prayed,

Most of what he said was true, I suppose. But he was very proud of himself. Jesus Christ said, he

That is, he's not acceptable to God! And not welcome in His Kingdom.

Pride is such a sin, the Lord said, that "publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before [the self-righteous]".

Think of the worst boy you know: He's a bully and a thief, a cheater and a liar; he curses, fights, destroys things and tortures animals. He's very bad, isn't he?

Yet he's closer to heaven than the perfect little girl who's proud of herself.

That's how bad self-righteousness is. He who doesn't confess his sins to the Lord is self-righteous.

The worst thing about not confessing your sins, however, is what it says about God.

I never heard anyone say, "God is a Liar". Yet many people do that every day. Not by saying the words themselves, but by not confessing their sins. If God says you are a sinner, but you don't confess your sins, you're saying--in effect--"I'm not a sinner" and that's the same as saying "God lied about me".

In short, not confessing your sins in no little thing. It's a "biggie". If you don't do it very often or honestly, it's time to repent.

ARE THERE BLESSSINGS FOR SOMEONE WHO CONFESSES HIS SINS?

Of course!

If you honestly and humbly confess your sins to the Lord, you will be forgiven, I John 1:9.

Is being forgiven a blessing? Sure it is! It's a very great blessing! David describes it in Psalm 32:1,

This happiness is contrasted with the unhappiness of not being forgiven, Psalm 32:3,4,

What changed David from terribly unhappy to full of joy? The forgiveness of sin gotten through confession,

One blessing that comes from confession is the forgiveness of sin. And that's a big one. But there's another, even bigger than that.

If you confess your sins honestly and humbly to the Lord, you will have His fellowship, I John 1:3,

Fellowship with God means you enjoy His company--and He enjoys your company. Nothing is better than this--or even half-as-good! Psalm 16:1.

CLOSE AND APPEAL

Everyone here needs to confess his sins. Do it honestly, do it humbly, do it in faith. And do it now. May the love of God be with you. Amen.