Evening Confession

0:02 Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. This is where I would say good evening everyone, but I am removing the word good from my vocabulary. I think there was a broadcast of what the other day where I wouldn't say good morning, I would just say morning. Well. I don't want to say good evening. I just want to say it is well. It is Sunday, September the twenty second, twenty twenty four, it is currently nine forty eight pm Central time, and I'm coming to you live from the Theology Central studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. How are you doing? How was your day?

0:57 How is church? Have you had any conversations today about things going on in the Christian world? Did you hear any discussion about certain things going on in the Christian world? Did you have any discussions or hear any thoughts or words or things said about a very specific individual who has been removed from ministry because of sin? Have you heard about that today? In some ways, if you heard no discussion about it, if no one mentioned it, maybe in some ways that is is that a well? I don't want to use the word good. That's a thing it Maybe it was a positive I don't know, or maybe it's actually a negative. If you didn't hear anything about it, if no one is talking about it, if no one is mentioning it, is that a good thing or is that a bad thing? I'm very conflicted. I just know this.

2:01 This entire day has been one of I just feel depressed. I just feel discouraged. I just feel. I I don't want to be hyperbolic, but there's just a point. I just feel like I just want to give up. And maybe I just want to give up because maybe it says more about me than it does anything else. I don't know. But if you. Listen to my messages this morning, Sunday School and Sunday Morning, right, we talked about sin and lordship salvation for Sunday School, we talked about Romans chapter two, verse one that therefore for the morning worship, And if you listen to all of that, you know that there was one major thing that was impacting everything I said, and that is well the recent development of a very famous pastor being removed from ministry. Most are saying he is now permanently disqualified.

3:01 His ministry is forever over because of a specific sin. Now, it's kind of interesting since the sin has not really been outlined. Since the sin has not been really defined, I think everyone is just assuming what the sin is, and then everyone is pronouncing their judgment. And as I've read all the comments and I have kept up with how this is being talked about, I'm just going to tell you I've become more and more discouraged and more and more depressed. Because basically, you can put the category, you can put the comments into a couple of categories, and the two main categories is, well, this proves the man was never saved. This proved this man committed a sin.

3:48 He was never saved. He's not of the he's not one of the real you know, of the regenerate people of God. He's he's not saved. And that has just been so heartbreaking to see. But the other one is even more convoluted and complicated because I saw numerous comments, Well, if he would have just asked God for help, if he would have just trusted God, God is there to give us strength to say no to temptation, and God is there to keep us from sin. Well, if God is there to keep us from sin, well, then no one should sin. So it's it's either the man wasn't saved or the man was saved, but he just did not turn to God because God will keep us from sin as if we can be perfect, which both both and and then and then the comments go away all over the place. So it's just been sad. Now I'm still not going to mention the man's name because I have no desire to do that. I just I just don't see the value in that, right, because how I want to.

4:49 In some ways I could. I could mention the name now because it's everywhere right, right, So maybe I'm just doing it just for a maybe maybe to try to demonstrate something. Maybe I'm trying to teach a lesson. Maybe what I'm trying to demonstrate is, yes, everyone's talking about it, but just throwing more things upon it is not of any value. What I'm trying to do. Is like, here's the situation. You know about it, I know about it. We don't need to dig into all of the particulars. What we need to do is what can we learn from it? What can we learn about? What can we learn? What benefit can we gain from it? Because in the reality is it's not about us. It's about that individual and all the pain that arises from sin. Look, sin always brings pain and destruction. It always does, it always does, right, Sin always brings pain and destruction. And so right now there's people hurting. Right now, there's people suffering, and that's just that's not good, like that should bother us.

5:52 It's like when you read the comments, some people will mention some of the suffering, but then they want to pick some Well, this person is probably suffering more than this person, and it's like everyone's taking side, everyone has, you know, they're the you know, they stand on the moral high ground. They're condemning, and it's just so ugly. It's just all it's just it's disgusting. It's ugly, and I just want us to find a way to take something from this. So I tried to talk about it a lot this morning, again from a theological perspective, and really challenged us and challenged us. Now I did see and you may have a different opinion about this. The person who has been removed from ministry, he was scheduled to be speaking at a conference. He was supposed to be the first speaker at the conference.

6:45 This conference who was being held by, well, the seminary that this man was very much connected to and a part of, and I think he teaches at or I can't remember his specific role, but he's definitely he was listed as part of the you know, a part of the staff for this particular seminary, right, okay, And so so he's very much there. So the people there, the people hosting the conference. It's the seminary who's hosting the conference, so they all know who this man is. This man was scheduled to be there. All the people who were there know knows who the man was because they were showing up at a conference where he was going to be the first speaker. So everyone knew exactly what was going on. And so I watched their opening statement, and I was somewhat baffled and saddened.

7:41 One they did not mention the man's name. They said, Hey, the man who was supposed to speak, right, that man has been permanently disqualified from ministry because of sin. They wouldn't say his name, which was. Kind of bizarre, Like everyone there knows. I mean, like when I'm speaking on the microphone, there's people who don't have a clue who I'm talking about. So there's no point in mentioning the name. But there everyone knew that. Everyone knows. Everyone knows, and they just they wouldn't even mention. They wouldn't say, our brother, our brother in Christ has fallen, our brother in Christ has hurt his family. His family is hurting his his I don't know his entire family structure.

8:24 But they didn't even mention. They didn't meant no. They just said, he is permanently disqualified and he has basically disgraced the name of Christ. So they wanted to immediately. Establish his disqualification. That's what they wanted to establish. He's disqualified and he's disgraced the name of They did not mention his name. And then immediately after this announcement, they pray and they did not even pray for him. They didn't pray for his family, they didn't pray for him. It was if the man no longer exists. He's just the man who's disqualified, and he's the man who disgraced.

9:04 He's not a brother who's fallen. He's not someone we're going We're gonna do everything in our power to show love, mercy, grace, to bring about restoration. There was no speaking of restoration. No, no, he's just the man who. Is permanently disqualified and who disgraced basically the name of Christ. And what we need today is men who are not like that, men who will be faithful. Basically was the message. Don't be like him, the man with whom we will not say. And it was so weird to watch. I was like, even in your. Prayer, you can't pray for him, you can't pray for his family, you can't pray for the people who are specifically hurt the other person involved in the sin.

9:50 No, we're no, no. And I was just kind of like even theer I was watching a YouTube video. They were showing the opening segment of the conference, and then someone was reviewing it, and even the person reviewing it was kind of like that, don't mention his name, they don't even pray for him. Even they were kind of like it was kind of cold. It was kind of. There was no grace, there was no mercy, there was no love, there was no compassion. It was almost like, don't be like him. The end, you be different.

10:41 When someone is broken and fallen. Now, I don't know, maybe the man's not broken. Maybe the man but I mean, Mike, from my understanding, he's the one who acknowledged it. He's the one who came forward. So then that would seem to admit that he acknowledges it sin And I'm assuming there's some brokenness over it. I don't know, but it was just weird. If you're going to mention it. There was no like, let's pray for everyone involved. You don't have to just pray for one, pray for everyone involved. And if you don't want to pray for anyone, I mean, I don't know. It was just so. It just made me so sad. Look, I've always been.

11:31 There's two there's. I have to be honest. Right. On one hand, I could I could think that the way I think about this kind of situation or any other situation is because I'm just aware of my own failure, my own sin, my own unworthiness, my own like I'm so aware of my own Maybe that maybe that shades my perspective, right, Maybe that impacts my perspective. Maybe that somehow, you know, gives me the wrong. Maybe maybe you could say you come across too weak, or you come across to you. But I don't know, I mean, aren't we supposed to is that their love, isn't their compassion?

12:12 Isn't there any hope? Is it? Just like, Okay, here's the five sins, and if you commit these five sins, you are forever, forever doomed, You are forever ever disqualified. Is that the way it is? Since the Bible doesn't really I know people will try to go to verses, but if you really break it down, it it doesn't say hey now, it can't say when you're when you're in the middle of it. I can understand, and I do believe that maybe in some circumstances that you have obviously we could all. I just think every situation is unique and different. In every situation has to be taken into consideration. I think there has I just I know we just like to pronounce dogmatic declarations from our throne of infallibility, But I think the reality is, can't we all see ourselves as sinners?

13:04 Can't we all? I just don't know, And I was so fearful of this that this is the way it would go down. He's just going to be a footnote in the pages of Christian history. I mean, look, how Rabbi Zacharias has just wiped off the face. Of the earth. I mean, basically, not by no means, am I'm justifying anything he did. I'm not justifying it, and not I'm pleased, I want, I'm not justifying anything. People, whenever you. Try to offer mercy or grace, it's oh, you're almost immediately accused of justifying or excusing. But I just like, here's the conference he was supposed to speak at a conference that it sounds like he had spoken up year after year after year after year after year. This man, I mean, the man's a part of the very seminary hosting the very conference, and their their approach was, we will not say his name. We will just say he's permanently disqualified and he disgraced basically the name of Christ, and don't be like him. Now, let's pray, all right, guys, let's get to the conference. I mean, what wouldn't it have been like, haymen, because it was a men's conference. Amen, our brother has fallen and he has hurt other people.

14:38 There's people in pain, there's people filled with humility and shame. Let's pray for our brother. Now, men, I have no idea what's going on in your life? And you have no idea what's going on in mind. I don't know you struggles. You don't know my struggles. I don't know your private failures. You don't know my private failures. I know we're here for a conference. How about we set aside the beginning of this conference and let's all stand and publicly do a public confession of our sin, a general confession. Then maybe let's spend about ten or fifteen minutes in silence as we cry out to God and speak to God about our spiritual weaknesses, our sins, the things we're struggling with. Maybe maybe that could have been powerful. Right.

15:55 I'm not saying that my way is the right way. I'm not. That's the whole thing. I just I just it's like if you've ever driven through an area where a tornado just happened, right, and everything is destroyed, like it's a huge tornado, and you and you pull in and you see the people just walking through the rubble. Their houses are destroyed, their property is scattered all over the place, and you're just kind of walking through it. You can see that they're shocked. There's pain, there's dismay. All their memories are destroyed, their homes are gone. They don't they don't know what to do. Well.

16:37 Sin is kind of it just destroys everything, and the people are just hurt. And I know we like to stand and point the finger and go oo, or we take sides. Well, that person sin, so he hurt that person. So I'm on this Maybe the only we should be on all of their sides that we want to help, we want to comfort, We will not make it worse, and we're going to do everything we can to show love and compassion, especially when already everyone's already talking about it. Now we don't have to add to that. That's one of the reasons I've tried not to give names or anything, because I don't want to add to it. I want but at the same time, I want to.

17:18 Talk about that, all the theology and all the craziness that being spoken of. So what I want to do tonight. Is really this sitting here on my table, we talked about this book. I haven't once I've got it, I haven't had the opportunity to do much with it. There's always so many other things I'm trying to do, or I may do one broadcast and not get to the others. But the name of the book is Psalms and Thirty Days by Trevin Wax from Hallman. It's beautiful, green, hard bound book. I love the cover Psalms and Thirty Days.

18:01 And basically what this is is a non Catholic use, so basically the concept of the Liturgy of the Hours. I'm not going to go all the way back through it, but I just had it sitting here and I was just thinking about the day and this tragedy, this sin, this failure, the pain, the suffering, thinking about my own failure, my own sin, just thinking about, you know, I did you know two hours of teaching, did it really matter? Did I cover it? Was it even helpful? Just you know, and just really just struggling with the reality of sin. Sin is such a reality in the Christian life. I said it today that the Christian life is a life of sin, and I know that goes against everyone's theology, but facts proved me out here. So I picked up the book and I was like, you know, man, I haven't done anything with this book yet. And so we opened it up and it has day one morning prayer.

19:04 I'm like, okay, and then it has you know, a Day one midday prayer, I'm like, okay, And then I turned the page and I saw Day one Evening Prayer, and then I saw Confession of Sin, and I'm like, that's what I need. That's what we all need. I've said it over and over and over, whenever we hear of sin and anyone else, we should first look before we even think or want to discuss it. We should look to ourselves and see our own sin. As Christians. We should be so broken by the law of God which shows us our sin and our failure to keep it no one can keep it or in a perpetual state of sin, we should be so humbled by it.

19:53 And true humility is almost is the impossible task of living a lit where you're more aware, more convicted, and more concerned by your own sin. You aren't so worried, concerned, or bothered by anyone else's because we have our own. So I'm just going to utilize this book for what we'll call evening prayer. At this point that would be probably fast approaching nighttime prayer, but we'll call it evening prayer. And it begins with a call to prayer. And that call to prayer is Mark chapter thirteen. Now it only wants us to read thirty five to thirty six, But I'm going to read thirty two to thirty seven. Mark Chapter thirteen thirty two through thirty seven. I'm setting the book aside because it uses a different translation, and I'm just going to use the King James Mark thirteen thirty two.

20:53 But of that day and that hour, no with no man, No, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son but the Father. Right the day of. The return of the Son of Man. Take ye, heed, watch and pray for you know not when the time is. Look, I don't know when the time is. I don't know when the time is of Christ return. I don't know the time is of my death. I don't know. You don't know. I don't know if I have one more year, six more months, five more years. All I know is every passing minute is one minute closer to the end of my book, to the end of my story. We all know that. So we need to take heed. We need to be paying attention. We watch and pray for we don't know when the time is for. The Son of Man is a man taking a far journey, who left his house and gave authority to his servants to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch watch.

22:03 He therefore, for you know, not when the Master of the house cometh at even or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning, I don't know which hour. Don't know if it's going to be late at night, don't know if it's going to be in the morning, don't know if it's going to be in the evening, don't know if it's going to be in the afternoon. This is kind of this verse kind of creates the concept of the hours of prayer. I mean, the Jews already had them. This is kind of a New Testament carrying that idea over right in the early Church, the liturgy of the hours, morning prayer, office of readings, afternoon prayer, evening prayer, nighttime prayer. Okay, we could go through all of that. That's what this book on the Psalms and Thirty Days is based off of. Right, So this is evening prayer. And why should we be praying in a sense at morning, afternoon, evening night. Why should we be praying at multiple hours throughout the day? Lest coming, speaking of Christ, suddenly he find you sleeping. We should not be found asleep. We should be found with our focus on him, we should be. But we know how that works. And what I say unto you, I say unto all. Watch watch well, I know I don't. I know you probably don't. I know we don't pray probably when we should. I know we all fall short. And that's why right underneath that call to prayer we have this confession. Now for the confession of sin tonight, they borrow it from the Book of Common Prayer, And here

23:36 is the confession, Most Merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, indeed, by what we have done, and by what we have left on done. Now, before I read all of this, I'm going to stop right there. Throughout church history, many worship services begin with this type of general confession of sin, and many Protestant churches we don't do that, and many non Catholic churches we don't do that. We need to get back to a general confession of sin and every service because philologically, you know what you're telling the people, you've sinned.

24:34 You've sinned you, and. We need to get back as believers every night having a general confession of sin. You know what it tells me. It tells me I have sinned because Christianity is on this never ending like I even saw in comments, well, a regenerate man would never commit that sin. A regenerate man commits sin every single day, a regenerate woman, a regenerate child, a regenerate teenager. We commit sin every single day. And for some. Weird reason, Christians have this never ending obsession with this. Idea that no, no, no, no no. When I became a Christian, I became a new creation. The oldest passed away all things that become new, and we almost obliterate that and not understand that that's my position and practice. I sin every day. That's why every day, at the end of every day, I could do this in the morning, I could do this in the afternoon, I could do this in the evening, and I could do this at night. Most Merciful God, we not just me, but I am definitely including me.

25:31 So let me make this more personal. Most Merciful God, me me, I Lord, I confess that I have sinned against you, ladies and gentlemen. I send against God today. I will probably sin against God before I go to sleep. I will sin against. God in the morning. I will sin against God tomorrow afternoon. I will sin against God tomorrow evening. I will sin against God tomorrow night.

26:12 And what if for sin I want to say, I'm going to stop that one. There's still going to be sin. And how does this sin look? What does my sin look like? Well, I've sinned against God in my thinking and my thoughts. I have sinned against God in my words. I have sinned against God in my deeds, by what I have done and by what I have left undone. Now let me read that all together, Most Merciful God, I confess I'm going to use I'm going to make it personal. Most Merciful God, I confess that I have sinned against you and thought word. Indeed, by what I have done and by what I have left undone, I have not loved You with my whole heart. I didn't love God with my whole heart today. I don't love God with my whole heart right now, speaking to you, I will not be loving God with my whole heart tomorrow when I do a broadcast. I wasn't loving God with my whole heart when I was preaching today. I have never loved God with my whole heart. Because I still have a sinful nature that loves.

27:28 Me more than I love God. Over and over and over and over again, I have not loved my neighbor as myself. I am truly sorry, and I humbly repent for the sake of your son, Jesus Christ, Have mercy on me and forgive me. I am sorry for all my sin, and I repent in the sense that I'm acknowledging and changing my mind and just more acknowledging that it's a sin. Yes.

28:08 Do I want to turn from it? Yes? But guess what, no matter how many sins I turn from, I'm going to be confessing tomorrow that, in many cases, the exact same sin. You know why, Because no matter how much I try to turn from it, I have a sinful nature that will prevent me from ever getting to perfection or holiness. So therefore I'm always going to be confessing a sin, because I'm always in sin. Now, this confession is a little bit more positive than maybe I would want to be. It says, have mercy and forgive us that I might delight in your will and walk in your ways to the glory of your name. Amen. Now I wish that I could, you know, start doing that, But as much as I want to, I'm never going to even come even close. That's why we confess. We confess.

29:01 Then it has this verse. You know it. This is the first time this verse really meant anything to me. The first time I really understood this verse, the first time it really had a profound impact on me, was the first time I walked into a Lutheran church. This is when the first time I really begin to understand law and gospel. Even though I kind of abandoned that understanding for a long time, it still had a profound impact on me. And I'm going to make it personal again. If I confess my sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive me of my sins and declanse me from all unrighteousness one John one nine. If we will confess our sins, he is faithful and just, faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and decleanse us from all unrighteousness.

30:08 Then it has the evening psalms. I won't read them. It has the Gloria Glory be to God, the Father, God, the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever world without end. Amen. Then it has the Lord's prayer, our Father in heaven, How will be your name, your kingdom Come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. And then it has this concluding blessing, The Lord Almighty grant you and me a peaceful night and a perfect end. Some in history would say, the Lord Almighty grant us a peaceful night.

31:13 And a perfect death. Same concept that I don't think they use the word perfect death, but they use the word similar. But the Lord Almighty grant us a peaceful night and a perfect end. Amen. Now, why can we have a peaceful night? Why can I have a perfect end? Because my sins are forgiven in Christ Jesus. And because when I go to sleep tonight, no matter if I committed a thousand sins, I am declared perfect and righteous because I'm in Christ and I'm saved by an imputed righteousness. This one pastor who's been removed He's not the only one who is suffering from sin this evening, all of us are. His situation is more public, and you know people are dissecting it. But let's just end by saying this, and let's just ask God. Lord, God, we come before you this evening. I pray for this pastor his family, for everyone involved, for all who are hurting.

32:47 We're all feeling pain, are all feeling all the negative feelings. I just pray somehow peace and your mercy, your grace can somehow bring peace and healing and restoration to a very very painful situation. But Lord, there are people everywhere suffering the consequences of sin, because we all sin. There's pain, there's suffering, there's heartache everywhere throughout the world. Lord, because of sin. Lord, our only hope is in your son. I pray that everyone, whether they were sinned against or whether they the one was doing the sinning, that we would all find peace and hope in your son and his finished work. Because our only hope is what your son has done for us, not in what we can do, hope to do, stop doing, or trying to make more promises that we will do better. All we can do is run to the foot of the cross of your son and be covered in his blood, and have his perfect rife righteousness accredited to our account because of faith alone. Lord, let someone find peace in this, Let someone find hope in this, and let this horrible situation where people will judge condemn, let us use it to focus on our

34:19 own sin. In Jesus name, we pray, Amen, God bless