Proverbs 28:13-14 - Homiletics

Confession

I. IT IS DANGEROUS FOR A MAN fro DENY HIS SIN .

1 . It is false . If a man pretends to be virtuous when he knows that he is guilty, that man's life is a lie. He lives in a continuous falsehood. Such a condition is rotten, turning his whole course into a delusion, and leading to a confused estimate of right and wrong. The very landmarks of righteousness are lost sight of in a fog of bewildering pretences.

2 . It precludes forgiveness . God will only pardon the penitent, and penitence is impossible without an admission of guilt. Therefore the Divine covering of sin which will utterly bury it and allow of no ugly resurrection in a revival of old accusations, is hindered by the sinner's foolish, cowardly attempt to cover it in his own way by a paltry concealment. The wretched rags that he draws over the foul thing will not really hide it, but they will prevent the massive shield of Divine forgiveness from being cast over it.

3 . It confirms the sin . Sin is not destroyed by being covered. It is no more killed than the seed of a poison plant is killed when it is sown in the soil, and so temporarily buried out of sight. Driven hack to the secret chambers of the soul, the evil thing grows there and spreads its deadly influence. Confession would clear out the noxious malaria of guilt; concealment only shots it up to breed in the stifling atmosphere of its own corruption. Such a condition hardens the heart in wickedness.

II. IT IS HAPPY FOR A MAN TO CONFESS HIS SIN .

1 . This confession must mean an earnest desire to be free from it . The man who conceals his sin keeps it while he covers it, and holds it tight even when he is denying it. But one who confesses his sin aright hates it though he admits it. Three things are here implied.

2 . Such confession will tie followed by God ' s forgiveness and a new joy to the penitent .