I Confess

Not long ago L J, a fellow employee, came to me and said, “Young man, you know, when I first saw you I said within myself, ‘I don’t like him.'” Immediately I began to examine myself What have I said or done to cause this man to dislike me? It must have been the time when he heard me discussing the Bible with another driver, who, professing to be a minister of God denied Him in words and works. “Our deportment, our words and actions, preach to others. We are living epistles, known and read of men.” ¹ After much prying, L J confessed that his judgment of me was premature and he apologized.

“God’s servants should come nearer to Him.” ² “He seeks to bring them near to Himself, that He may make known to them His will.” ³

“They should not defy ministers of other denominations and seek to provoke a debate. They should not stand in a position like that of Goliath when he defled The armies of Israel. Israel did not defy Goliath, but Goliath made his proud boast against God and His people. The defying, the boasting, and the railing must come from the opposes of truth, who act the Goliath. But none of this spirit should be seen in those whom God has sent forth to proclaim the last message of warning to a doomed world.” ⁴ “In some cases it may be necessary to meet a proud boaster against the truth of God in open debate; but generally these discussions, either oral or written, result in more harm than good.” ⁵

“True confession is always of a specific character, and acknowledges particular sins. They may be of such a nature as to be brought before God only; they may be wrongs that should be confessed to individuals who have suffered injury through them; or they may be of a public character, and should then be as publicly confessed. But all confession should be definite and to the point, acknowledging the very sins of which you are guilty.” ⁶

Then I told him about the time when I was a passenger on board public transportation. The driver of the coach seemed to be in a bad mood. This was venfied when the driver at first stopping to pick up a would- be passenger shut the door in his face and drove off. This passenger flagged an oncoming taxi cab and instructed its driver to drive ahead of the coach and to let him out at the next stop so that he could board the bus. The taxi driver did as he was instructed, but the bus driver simply maneuvered the bus around the stopped taxi and continued on the route. Again, the would-be passenger instructed the taxi cab driver to drive ahead of the bus, but this time go a little further. The cabby did and this time the bus driver stopped and let the passenger up on the bus.

After paying his fare, this passenger asked the bus driver her reasons for not picking him up at the first stop. She told him that she heard him using curse words. He denied and took a seat next to me. His inquiry, however, was like fuel upon the fire. The driver immediately parked the bus and, in a loud voice, told everyone that she will not continue the route until this passenger exited the bus. Suddenly there was a moan heard throughout the coach. Many of its passengers were on their way to work, the accused passenger also. And he had no desire to remove himself from the coach. After a brief moment, I suggested to him to apologize to the driver. He did and she continued on the route.

“For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” ⁷

“God did not create evil, He only made the good, which was like Himself. ⁸ “He never made a thorn, a thistle, or a tare. These are Satan’s work, the result of degeneration, introduced by him among the precious things.” ⁹ “It was the tempter’s purpose to thwart the divine plan in man’s creation, and fill the earth with woe and desolation. And he would point to all this evil as the result of God’s work in creating man.” ¹⁰ “Why,” said the artful tempter, “when God knew what would be the result, did He permit man to be placed on trial, to sin, and bring in misery and death.” ¹¹

“God did not ordain that sin should exist, but He foresaw its existence, and made provision to meet the terrible emergency.” ¹² “When Adam’s sin plunged the race into hopeless misery, God might have cut Himself loose from fallen beings. He might have treated them as sinners deserve to be treated. He might have commanded the angels of heaven to pour out upon our world the vials of His wrath. He might have removed this dark blot from His universe. But He did not do this. Instead of banishing them from His presence, He came still nearer to the fallen race.” ¹³

“The broken law of God demanded the life of the sinner.” ¹⁴ “Christ consented to die in the sinners stead, that man, by a life of obedience, might escape the penalty of the law of God. His death did not make the law of none effect; it did not slay the law, lessen its holy claims, nor detract from its sacred dignity. The death of Christ proclaimed the justice of His Father’s law in punishing the transgressor, in that He consented to suffer the penalty of the law Himself in order to save fallen man from its curse.” ¹⁵ “He died, the just for the unjust, the innocent for the guilty, that the honor of God’s law might be preserved and yet man of Eternity perish.” ¹⁶ “And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again.” ¹⁷

“And now O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt Me and My vineyard. What could have been done more to My vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes.” ¹⁸
It has been brought to my attention that a recent article of mine “Changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible pan.” The Lord knows the not do this deliberately. I apologize to Him, to His people the church, and to the editors, writers, and readers of the Reformation Messenger. .Please forgive me.

“Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme.” ¹⁹ “And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, if shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.’; ²⁰ “What constitutes the sin against the Holy Ghost? It is willfully attributing to Satan the work of the Holy Spirit. For example, suppose that one is a witness of the special work of the Spirit of God. He has convincing evidence that the work is in harmony with the Scriptures, and the Spirit witness with his spirit that it is of God. Afterward, however, he falls under temptation; pride, self-sufficiency, or some other evil traits, controls him; and rejecting all the evidence of its divine character, he declares that that which he had before acknowledged to be the power of the Holy Spirit was the power of Satan.” ²¹ “Beware how you indulge the attributes of Satan, and pour contempt upon the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. I know not but some have even now gone too far to return and repent.” ²²

1) 3T 66
2) 3T 221
3)6T9
4) 3T 218
5)3T 213
6) SC 38
7) Romans 5:7, 8
8) 5T 503
9) 6T 186
10) SC 17
11) PP 331
12) DA 22
13) SD 11
14) PP 63
15) 2T 200,201
16) 4T 251
17) 2 Corinthian5:15;
18) Isaiah 5:3, 4
19) Mark 3:28
20) Matthew 12:32
21) 5T 634
22) TM 90