Day 5,6 Chennai

 

Sundays are always the best days in India. Every day is filled with its own adventures, but on Sundays we always get to speak at several different churches and enjoy fellowship with lots of brothers and sisters. Plus, Sunday night is usually the biggest night for our crusades. This makes it an action packed day with lots of ministry.

The group split into two groups for the morning. Barrett, Kyle, Linda and Yasab left at about 5:00 to go to Jenova’s church for the early service. Then they were invited to stay for the late service, which was at 10:00.

Billy, Zach, Cassie and Jami left at 7:00 to get to Josh’s church by 8:00. As soon as the preaching was over, we had to get into the car again before the service ended and hurry to Christudoss’s church to speak again over there.  By the time we finished, the team was waiting for us at home.

We made the attempt to go do some shopping in between having to get back to the crusades, but all we accomplished was lunch.

Zach, Cassie, Kyle, and Jami left early to get to the crusades because there was a youth service at 4:00 that they were invited to speak at. The rest of us enjoyed a few moments of down time before we arrived at 6:30.

Our last night of crusades had the biggest turnout yet. There were quite a few people. Yasab gave her testimony and drew a hearty applause. God has done absolutely amazing things in her life, and is going to use her in awesome and mighty ways. Before I got up to preach, we joked that all there was left for me to do was the altar call.

The first two nights of the crusades focused on who Jesus is, and how he had come and taken the form of a servant, so the last night I wanted to focus on his return and the urgency that there is to respond to the gospel. I preached about the realities of death, judgment, and hell, and pleaded with them not to die without Christ, and to make sure they knew their sins were forgiven. There were several people who stood during the call to repentance and called upon the name of the Lord.

We also called people up to the altar for prayer in specific areas of their lives. There were lots of people coming forward for a variety of different issues, and we were honored and blessed to be able to pray for those needs. We hung around afterwards for quite a while enjoying fellowship with all the people who had been working so hard to pull this whole thing together, but eventually, the lights had to go out and we headed back to the house.

After such a long day, people were pretty tired, but that didn’t stop us from getting a bite to eat at Tasty Jones. We were literally laughing at each other because almost all of us were dozing off to sleep over our food. Everyone was going to sleep good tonight.

 

We had a bunch of plans for Monday, but we had to choose which of those things we wanted to do. Our first mistake of the day was that everyone slept in too late. We had planned to visit the St Thomas Mount early, before it got too hot, but that didn’t exactly work out. When we finally did leave, we split the team up again because Zach and Cassie wanted to go to the gypsy camp to see Kowsalya again, but that was an hour and a half drive away, so it was going to take most of the day. Kyle and Jami went with them, while the rest of us went up to the St. Thomas Mount, which is the place where the Apostle Thomas was martyred.

It was smoking hot up on the Mount, but we went, took some photos, and checked that off the list of things to do, then went to the mall so we could fill our shopping lists. Everyone has to get a few souvenirs, right?

The other team had a totally different experience on the day. They finally got to the gypsy camp, but Kowsalya wasn’t there. She had gone into the city with her family to beg and sell some beads. Josh told me over the phone that it would be impossible to find her, so he would call when they were getting close to the mall so we could meet up again.

One cool thing that happened at the camp was that they spoke with a woman from Caleb’s church, who is one of the people in charge of the gypsy ministry. Her husband is gone on a mission trip, and she was really low on funds. She was feeling anxious about it, but the Lord told her that morning that He was going to provide her with some money that day. When the team was there, for whatever reason, they all felt compelled to give her some money. They did not know any of this was going on. After they had each pitched in to give it to her, she explained what had been happening.  The amount they had given to her covered the needs plus a little extra. Wow! Praise the Lord for his faithfulness!

An hour later, Josh and I talked again, but he said he was in the city, walking down the street, looking for Kowsalya. I told him that they were wild, to which he replied, “Tell me about it.”  He didn’t think they stood a chance of finding her.  They were marching up and down the streets in the marketplace, in the muggy heat, looking for one little girl.

A short time later they called again and said they had found her! Zach and Cassie got to spend a little more time with them. Al the other beggars, including her parents, were amazed that four Americans had made such an effort just to come spend some time with them. They were able to buy her some clothes and other provisions, and just hang out with the rest of the people there. Kyle got some photos with them and their monkey.

It really was a miracle that they were able to find her. All their hard work paid off. We hope that this will go a long way in building trust in the relationship with Caleb’s church. Also, that her parents would see that the Americans really do care about their daughter, and perhaps that will help them be willing to negotiate some kind of way to allow her to grow some more before they give her to her husband. I don’t even know if that’s possible, but we have all been praying that God would do something to intervene and help this little girl. If nothing else, at least she will know that she is loved and that that love is coming from Christian people.

Monday was our last day in Chennai. We didn’t have a whole bunch of ministry planned, because after a packed out week, we needed a little bit of time to recharge before we hit the ground running in Rajahmundry on Tuesday.

Overall it was a totally awesome week. We saw the Lord do some great things through us, and also a great work in us as well. Some things didn’t exactly go as expected, but the Lord has done some pretty cool things even in that. Five nights of crusades, five church services, the pastor’s conferences, the gypsy ministry, the leper colonies, etc. I’d say we had a fruitful week!

Now we are all looking forward to what’s in store up in Rajahmundry.

I will keep you posted on what the Lord is doing!

Thank you for taking the time to lift us and the ministry up in prayer. We walk in the strength of your faithful prayers.

There are few things in this world that I am willing to get up early for. Visiting the leper colonies is on the list. We had our alarms set for 4:30 so we could get up and out the door in time to get to both leper colonies before the heat set in.   At 5:00 a.m., its a tolerable 80 and humid.

The lepers are outcasts among the society here. They are forced to live in quarantine, separate from the rest of the world. Treatment is available to them to help stop the spread of leprosy in their bodies, and also so that they wont be so contagious. All of the people in the colonies we visited today have been given that treatment. It is for this reason that their families can live with them in the colony. Otherwise, even their own families will forsake them, and for understandable reasons. Who would want to risk contracting leprosy?

We arrived at the first colony around 7:00, and immediately began walking down the streets, greeting people and even praying for some of them. This is the same colony where Living Hope donated the construction of some toilets, and Calvary Chapel donated a running water system. The people came to the meeting hall, and we sang some songs before giving them some encouragement from the Word. Kyle Skinner gave them a short explanation why we were there and shared Christ with them. Then we laid hands on them and prayed for their specific needs.  We had also purchase rice and some basic medical needs like bandages and things like that. It was nice to see some familiar faces there, but I wish there was some way we could just heal them and get them out of this lonely, depressing place. We offer what we can in the way of meeting their physical needs with food and provisions, as well as spiritual with the love of Christ.

We stayed there for about an hour and a half before we had to get going to the other colony, which is about a half an hour’s drive away. The people were all waiting for us in the meeting hall by the time we arrived, so we went in and shared a few words with them. Zach Smith gave them some encouragement by expressing our love for them and sharing the gospel. Then we prayed for individuals again and spent some time with them. I think pretty much everyone on the team was looking forward to walking up and down the streets again and going into people’s homes, but the people were already all down at the meeting hall and we really didnt have all that much time.

We arrived at the crusades around 6:00. We are still holding them at the big church. Tonight Barrett Brown was scheduled to preach, and we also had a different worship team. One of the cool things about holding the meetings at this church is that they have a live stream set up on the internet, so we were able to give the link to some people at home in the US. I dont know if anyone actually watched it or not, but its pretty cool if anyone did. Linda Thomas shared her testimony before Barrett took the stage and preached the lights out. There were a bunch of people who made a profession of faith at the altar call, and bunches of others came forward for prayer.

Another added blessing to the night was that Caleb was able to get Kowsayla from the gypsy camp, get her cleaned up and come to the crusade so she could spend some time with Zach and Cassie. They totally fell in love with her last year and have been looking forward to seeing her. She is the girl who’s parents came and took her away in the night from the day care center, and is giving her in marriage to one of the men in the camp at the age of 12. Its a sad story. But we have been praying that God would work this out for good in some way, and we have faith in his promise that he will. Zach and Cassie framed a picture of them with her from last year and gave it to her. It was a special moment, but it was over too soon. We are hoping that we can see her again before we leave. We’ll see what happens.

We got back in time to get some sleep before another big day on Sunday. That update is coming right up!

Thanks again for all of your wonderful, precious prayers. We value them so much and look forward to seeing what else the Lord has in store for the rest of the trip.

The heat is unescapable in India at this time of year. Air conditioning only goes so far, especially when the government cuts the power for several hours during the hottest part of the day. But I have to be honest, we have a great team of evangelists who have not been complaining about it. It’s pretty hard to whine about enduring a little bit of heat when you look around you and see masses of people who have next to nothing in this world, and who really do have no escape from the relentless heat. We are pretty pampered in our air conditioned cars, our fresh drinking water, and all the other conveniences we enjoy.  These poor people will never experience many of the comforts that we take advantage of every day.

Our first bit of ministry today was to visit the home for special children. Basically, its a home for mentally handicapped people. The men and women who work in this place are like the angels of God in my eyes. We tend to look at popular, influential Christian leaders and think that they are going to get some awesome rewards and positions in the kingdom of heaven, but I have to say that after seeing the work that these people do, I know the Lord has different plans. The amount of love and patience they have is absolutely astounding to me. I have a deep, heartfelt respect and admiration for them, probably more than I have for pretty much anyone else in any ministry I can think of.

There are about 40-50 handicapped people living here, with the severity of their handicaps ranging from simple Down Syndrome to a few guys who literally couldnt even get off the floor. It was really heartbreaking to see people who couldnt speak, walk, crawl, chew their own food, go to the bathroom, etc. Honestly, I think I did an alright job of holding myself together on the outside, but inside I was pretty broken up. If you see just one mentally challenged person its something that is easy to look with compassion on, but seeing this whole group was really hard to deal with. There are a lot of people suffering, and very few of us take the time to notice or show them any love. The building where they house these people is way out on the edge of town, where they wont be a bother to anyone. If the wonderful people who serve here did not have the heart to do what they do, I can guarantee you that every one of these people would die. They just cant take care of themselves.

We came and brought what we could to show them a good time. We walked around shaking hands and high-fiving, smiling and giving hugs. Then we got them all together and sang a bunch of songs to them. We even produced a couple of guitars for Jami and Zach to strike a few chords with. They simply loved it. They got involved with the singing and even began dancing. Some of them were giggling and having a ball of a time. I think every one of us wished there was some way we could just come up with a fix and make the overall situation permanently better for them. If there’s anything we could bring to them, it was to give them a few moments of joy and happiness in the midst of a hard life. They absolutely appreciated and enjoyed our time with them. I’m pretty sure that all of us left a little bit of ourselves with them. We traded a piece of our hearts for an unforgettable memory.

Every year, we have some sort of problems come up that threaten to shut down our crusades. Satan hates when the gospel is preached, so he thwarts it in any way he can. Our big crusades in Chennai had originally been planned to be held in a large, open field next to the highway, with huge billboards and a booming sound system that would carry the worship and the message out into the city. We had expected crowds up to 4-7,000. Then we started having problems at the last minute. The land-owner who had given permission to use the field suddenly got nervous about potential backlash from the the local government. Apparently, a couple of years ago, he had leased it out to another Christian group for some sort of event, but after it was over, the government came and gave him a fine of the equivalent of $2500 USD. So, at the last minute, on Thursday, he called pastor Christudoss and told him we couldnt do the meetings there unless we guaranteed we would pay the #2500, in the even he got fined again. After they confirmed with me that we could generate the funds if needed, they set up a meeting to sign the document. But, the landowner’s attorney was present and insisted that it was a bad idea, so he gave us the boot. We lost our meeting place!

Big problem. We lost a bunch of money because we had already reserved tons of seats, staging, sound, lighting, etc., and those deposits were nonrefundable. It looked as though Satan had scored a victory. But we all know that our God is greater than any dart or arrow that may fly at us! A local pastor with a huge church offered to hold the meetings in his church. It was just a short walk from the original crusade grounds. It is a smaller building than what we would have liked, since the expected crowd turnout was going to be rather large, but we really didnt have any choice at this point. We gratefully accepted his offer and moved the crusades indoors.

Friday night was the first night of those meetings. There were a few hundred people present, most of whom were Christians involved in the crusades. Billy preached the message of the gospel from Colossians 1 about who Jesus Christ is, followed by what he did for us at the cross. When it came time for the altar call, the strangest thing happened. I have never had this experience in all the years and all the meetings we have had here in India. Not one single person came forward to receive Christ. 0!

Now, I dont know what was going on in people’s hearts or minds, but I can say that this was definitely unusual compared to the response we are used to seeing. After the call to repentance, we called them forward for general prayer, and still, not a single person got out of their seat. What? Usually there is a rush of people swarming the altar for prayer. Not tonight. It was really strange. Once I finished the final prayer of the meeting, however, several people did make their way down to the front to receive prayer. We were happy to lay hands on them and ask for God’s blessing on their particular prayer requests.

Some people in the leadership were visibly discouraged. I wasnt. Of course, looking from the outside it would be easy to get really bummed out. We had put in months of advertising and planning, lots of financial resources, etc., into holding the meetings at a certain venue, and it was pulled out from under us at the last minute. Then, when we do hold the meetings in a different place, hardly anyone shows up in comparison to what we had expected. Sure, if one focuses on the problem, it is easy to get discouraged or defeated.

The truth is, this situation is giving us all an opportunity to put into practice the message I spoke on at the pastor’s conference the day before. We can make our best laid plans, but God has a way of fulfilling His own plan in the midst of that. We dont always recognize what He is doing in the middle of a difficult situation, but He does have a plan. He works all things together for the good of those who are called according to His purpose.  Do I believe what He says, or dont I? God doesnt always expect us to come up with solutions to the problems in our lives, but He does choose to use us in the fix He prescribes. For all we know, the present situation doesnt even require a “fix”. God has something going on under the surface in this that He will inevitably work out for the furtherance of the gospel in some awesome way so we will look back and thank Him for this whole thing.

We are not giving up. We have two more nights of crusades here, and we are going to charge forward and do our best. God can do whatever He wants with the whole thing. We leave the results up to Him. We will see what kinds of exciting things I will be telling You about in the days, weeks, or years ahead to show why the Lord has chosen to do things this way.  I had a good discussion with Josh about some of the things the Lord did with me through this experience. We talked about some of the obvious lessons that are in it for the three pastors and their large churches who are behind the crusades, and how they would grow from it and move forward, but I am not going to discuss those things in detail. We will move forward prayerfully and in faith and see what God does in the rest of the crusades and the future of outreach here.

Hope to catch you up again tomorrow on what’s happening and how the team is doing. God bless you and thank you for your wonderful prayers!

The jet lag is still getting the best of many on the team, so those who could slept in this morning. But as the smell of breakfast filled the house, people’s heads began poking out of the bedrooms, irresistably drawn to the scent of freshly cooked toast and eggs. Josh’s mother is a great cook. The warm hospitality shown by his family during our stay is such an incredible blessing for all of us.

We were all fully up and at em by around 9:00, which was really pushing the limits since we had to be on the road by 9:30 to get rolling in ministry. Billy and Barrett went with Josh to Christudoss’s church for a pastor’s conference. There were about 75 pastors present for the meeting, including a  handful from the neighboring state of Pondicherry.

Barrett brought a powerful message drawn from the life of the Old Testament figure Caleb, encouraging them to look beyond their present circumstances or obstacles in ministry and look ahead by faith to the promises of God. Billy spoke on having a proper perspective in ministry in relation to how we view our roles as leaders, how we deal with problem situations and problem people, and how we know when God is being glorified in our ministry. Overall, the pastors gave us good feedback in how those were both timely messages in their own personal lives and in the churches represented there. Several pastors came and identified with the message, confessing that those were some of the exact issues they were in a serious struggle with at the time. Of course, this gave us great encouragement in knowing that even as we were preparing for this meeting, God was guiding us according to what needed to be said and taught.

During the pastor’s conference, the rest of the team met with Deva and Caleb and went to the gypsy kids day care center in Vandalur. They spent about a couple hours with the kids, playing games, singing songs, doing short Bible lessons, and Yasab gave her testimony (which I heard was quite amazing) to the kids.

These are children who were born into gypsy families on the street. The gypsies live lives of vagabonds, moving from place to place, never having a real home. They find some government lands and make tent-like homes, then live there until they are booted off the land, and move on to find a new place. Caleb’s church has taken the responsibility of taking the kids in and giving them showers, food, teaching them ABC, 123, giving them clothes, etc. Until then, none of them had even been inside a building before. It took them 6 months just to get them to sit still so they could begin teaching them.  Calling it the day care center is kind of a misnomer, since it is actually more of a boarding house. The children are actually taken in full time and live there.

After meeting with the children, they went over to the gypsy colony to visit with the parents and the older children. There is one particular girl that some of the team was anxious to see. Last year, she turned 12, and her parents came in the middle of the night, took her out of the day care center and gave her in marriage to one of the guys in the gypsy camp. We tried everything we could and made ridiculous offers for her to be kept in the day care for at least a few more years, but their traditions and way of life within the gypsy village are so strong that they refused, and gave her to him despite our best efforts to convince them otherwise. It was a real heartbreaker for many of us who had been here and spent time with her. But we know the Lord can use this. It was only a matter of time before some of the kids would probably end up going back, and this may be the perfect opportunity for the rest of the gypsies to see the value of their lives being changed by the Lord Jesus Christ. She will definitely have an incredible influence on those around her. We have to believe that God has a higher purpose in allowing her to be brought back into that situation, and so we conquer our pain by faith in His divine plan. The whole point in starting the day care center was to effect positive change in the culture of the gypsy village, and this is one of the ways in which that change will begin to happen.

The gypsy camp was pretty chaotic. Lots of people running around without clothes, and disorder everywhere. They were able to gather everyone around long enough for Zach to give them a short message before they gave out more bags of rice to the families there. Once they produces a bag of candy things got really out of hand. There’s no way to do it in an orderly fashion when you are dealing with people who have never stood in a line. Hands were groping, pinching, etc. People were getting pretty wild, so they had to bail and head back to meet up with the rest of the team before heading off to our evening crusade.

We had another small crusade in the slums, this time in a different location. When we arrived, we were surprised to see that there were about 150 kids piles into the seats. Barrett was on schedule to preach tonight, and he just smiled and said he would change his message accordingly. One of the cool things they did was have a few small dances before the preaching. Two groups of young girls dressed in beautiful Indian clothing came up and performed some energetic dances. This made the crowd swell to a few hundred. The dances were actually quite entertaining.

Barrett preached with Josh as his interpreter, and there were a bunch of people responding at the altar call. Then we asked them to come forward with prayer requests. Just about every person within earshot responded to this, and we laid hands on each of them and asked the Lord to bless them. Then somebody had the great idea to bring out the candy again. Let me just say that the slums in India are not the best place to pull out a bag of candy. It quickly turns into a mob, adults and children included. You want to give out as much as you can, but have to be careful how you do it because if some people dont get any, they will most likely end up fighting over it or bullying smaller children for their candy.

We gave out a bunch of candy and beat cheeks to the car, then went for a quiet dinner and celebrated Zach’s birthday. He’s 32. Send him something. Haha.

Anyhow, another day is in the books here in India. Tomorrow we have a tough place to go to, so we need to get some rest. Will get out another update as things continue to progress. Thanks again for your prayers!

 

God is so good. Here we are in India for another year of action packed ministry. We have a great team of people who love the Lord with all their hearts. Barrett, Kyle, Zach, Cassie, Yasab, Jami, Linda, and Billy. We are looking forward to all that God is about to do.

We flew out of Seattle on a 15 hour flight straight over the North Pole and down into Dubai. Our layover was short, so we didnt get to do a lot of sightseeing before boarding our connecting flight to Chennai. Add another 4 hours onto our total and we flew for 19 hours just to get here.

I always enjoy watching the new people’s faces as they are confronted with the sounds, the smells, the sights of India. It is a place of sensory overload. No amount of orientation or pre-India meetings can prepare them for what they are about to experience. Everyone on the team is looking around at the culture of India and is totally fired up to get started in ministry.

Our first day included a visit to a gypsy village, where we walked down the street greeting and shaking hands with the poor, untouchable, low-caste people. We gave candy out to the children, who received it with groping hands and broad smiles. To the adults we handed out bags of rice. Giving people the basic necessities is an important part in fostering a relationship that will open doors of opportunity to spread the gospel and begin to effect change.

Josh has been working with this particular group of gypsies for a long time, and feels that he is right on the edge of a breakthrough with them. This is why it was such a pleasure to be a part in developing that connection that will be so vital in bringing the message of new life in Jesus Christ into their community.

We also held a small evening crusade in the slums.  We parked the car and walked a few blocks to the meeting place, being careful with our steps because people defecate openly on the roads and sidewalks. We had to dodge more than one. As we walked down those dark alleys, the reality of the living conditions hit home with the team. The crusade was being held right in a roadway between two buildings.  There were a little over 100 chairs set up in front of a small stage, and the worship team was already hard at work, playing and singing passionately for the Lord.

Billy spoke for about 45 minutes with Josh as his interpreter, and during the call to repentance, just about everyone stood to their feet at pray. I’m not sure how many newcomers there were to the faith, because it looked like a lot of them were believers. Afterwards, we held an altar call for those who need the touch of God in their life, and almost everyone came forward. The team was able to break up and pray for people’s needs on an individual basis.

We ended the evening by eating out for dinner at a place called Tasty Johns, which is a small, inexpensive steakhouse near the ocean. Everyone was pretty beat from the jet-lag and we all slept pretty heavily that night.

I will upload some pictures if I can edit or change the format.

Will give you another update tomorrow. Thanks for all your wonderful prayers and support! By the way, you can stay up to date on whats going on by receiving new blog postings in your email. Simply click on the title to the blog and it should take you to the Sowing the Seed website, where you can subscribe to the blog. It will immediately send you an email that you MUST open to confirm that it was really you who subscribed to the blog. Once you do this, you will automatically receive every update via email.

Thanks again,

Blessings,

Billy

 

Should Christians Confess Sins to An Earthly Priest? — J.C. Ryle

 

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9)

Ryle,

I enter on this branch of the subject with sorrowful feelings. I approach it as a sailor would approach some rock on which many gallant ships have made shipwreck. I cannot forget that I have arrived at a point on which millions of so-called Christians have erred greatly, and millions are erring at the present day. But I dare not keep back anything that is Scriptural, for fear of giving offence. The errors of millions must not prevent a minister of the Gospel speaking the truth. If multitudes are hewing out broken cisterns that can hold no water, it becomes the more needful to point out the true fountain. If countless souls are turning aside from the right way, it becomes the more important to show clearly to whom confession ought to be made.

Sin, to speak generally, ought to be confessed to God. He it is whom we have chiefly offended. His are the laws which we have broken. To him all men and women will one day give account. His displeasure is that which sinners have principally to fear. This is what David felt: “Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight” (Psalm 51:4). This is what David practised: I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord” (Psalm 32:5). This is what Joshua advised Achan to do: “My son, give glory to God, and make confession to Him” (Joshua 7:19). The Jews were right when they said, “Who can forgive sins but God only? ” (Mark 2:7).

But must we leave the matter here? Can vile sinners like us ever dare to confess our sins to a holy God? Will not the thought of his infinite purity shut our mouths and make us afraid? Must not the remembrance of His holiness make us afraid? Is it not written of God, that He is ” of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity?” (Hab. 1:13). Is it not said, that He “hates all workers of iniquity?” (Psalm 5:5). Did He not say to Moses, “There shalt no man see My face and live?” (Exodus 33:20). Did not Israel say of old, “Let not God speak with us, lest we die?” (Exodus 20:19). Did not Daniel say, ” How can the servant of this my Lord talk with this my Lord?” (Dan. 10:17). Did not Job say, “When I consider, I am afraid of Him?” (Job xxiii. 15). Did not Isaiah say, “Woe is me, for I am undone; . . . for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts?” (Isaiah 6:5). Does not Elihu say, “Shall it be told Him that I speak? If a man speak, surely he shall be swallowed up” (Job 37:20).

Reader, these are serious questions. They are questions which must and will occur to thoughtful minds. There are many who know what Luther meant when he said. “I dare not have anything to do with an absolute God.” But I thank God, they are questions to which the Gospel supplies a full and satisfactory answer. The Gospel reveals One who is exactly suited to the wants of souls which desire to confess sin.

I say then that sin ought to be confessed to God in Christ. I say that sin ought specially to be confessed to God manifest in the flesh,-to Christ Jesus the Lord,-to that Jesus who came into the world to save sinners,-to that Jesus who died for our sins, and rose again for our justification, and now lives at the right hand of God to intercede for all who come to God by Him. He that desires to confess sin, should apply direct to Christ.

Christ is a great High Priest. Let that truth sink down into our hearts, and never be forgotten. He is sealed and appointed by God the Father for that very purpose. It is His peculiar office to receive and hear, and pardon and absolve sinners. It is His place to receive confessions and to grant plenary absolutions. It is written in Scripture, ” Thou art a priest for ever.” “We have a great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens.” “Having an High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith” (Heb. 4:14; 6:20; 10:21, 22).

Christ is a High Priest of Almighty power. There is no sin that He cannot pardon, and no sinner that He cannot absolve. He is very God of very God. He is “over all, God blessed for ever.” He says Himself, “I and My Father are one.” He has “all power in heaven and in earth.” He has “power on earth to forgive sins.” He has complete authority to say to the chief of sinners, ” Thy sins are forgiven. Go in Peace.” He has “the keys of death and hell.” When He opens, no man can shut. (Rom. 9:5; John 10:30; Matt. 28:18; Matt 9:6; Luke 7:48, 50; Rev. 1:18; 3:7).

Christ is a High Priest of infinite willingness to receive confession of sin. He invites all who feel their guilt to come to Him for relief. “Come unto Me,” He says, “all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.” When the penitent thief cried to Him on the cross, He at once absolved him fully, and gave him an answer of peace (Matt. 11:28; John 7:37).

Christ is a High Priest of perfect knowledge. He knows exactly the whole history of all who confess to Him. From Him no secrets are hid. He never errs in judgment. He makes no mistakes. It is written that “He is of quick understanding. He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears ” (Isaiah 11:3). He can discern the difference between the hypocritical professor who is full of words, and the broken-hearted sinner who can scarce stammer out his confession. People may deceive ministers by “good words and fair speeches,” but they will never deceive Christ.

Christ is a High Priest of matchless tenderness. He will not afflict willingly, or grieve any soul that comes to Him. He will handle delicately every wound that is exposed to Him. He will deal tenderly even with the vilest sinners, as He did with the Samaritan woman. Confidence reposed in Him is never abused. Secrets confided to Him are completely safe. Of Him it is right. But when we ask a reason for the practice, we may ask long without getting an answer.

There is no need for such a confession. Christ has not given up His office, and ceased to be a Priest. The saints and angels cannot possibly do more for us than Christ can. They certainly have not more pity or compassion, or goodwill towards our souls.

There is no warrant of Scripture for such a confession. There is not a text in the Bible that bids us confess to dead saints and angels. There is not an instance in Scripture of any living believer taking his sins to them.

There is not the slightest proof that there is any use in such a confession. We do not even know that the saints in glory can hear what we say. Much less do we know that they could help us if they heard. They were all sinners, saved by grace themselves. Where is the likelihood that they could do anything to aid our souls

Reader, the man who turns away from Christ to confess to saints and angels is a deluded robber of his own soul. He is following a shadow, and forsaking the substance. He is rejecting the bread of life, and trying to satisfy his spiritual hunger with sand.

But why, again, should we confess our sins to living priests and ministers, while we have Christ for a High Priest? The Church of Rome commands her members to do so. A party within the Church of England approves the practice as useful, helpful, and almost needful to the soul. But, again, when we ask for Scripture and reason in support of the practice, we receive no satisfactory answer. written, that He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax. “He is one that “despiseth not any” (Isaiah 42:3; Job 36:5).

Christ is a High Priest who can sympathise with all that confess to Him. He knows the heart of a man by experience, for He had a body like our own, and was made in the likeness of man. “We have not a High Priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). To Him the words can most truly be applied, which Elihu applied to himself, “Behold, I am according to thy wish in God’s stead; I also am formed out of the clay. Behold, my terror shall not make thee afraid, neither shall my hand be heavy upon thee” (Job 33:6, 7).

Reader, this great High Priest is the person whom you and I ought specially to employ in our confession of sin. It is only through Him and by Him that we should make all our approaches to God. In Him we may draw near to God with boldness, and have access with confidence (Eph. 3:12). Laying our hand on Him and His atonement, we may come “boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). We need no other mediator or priest. We can find no better High Priest. To whom should the sick man disclose his ailment, but the physician? To whom should the prisoner tell his story, but to his legal advocate? To whom should the sinner open his heart and confess his sins, but to Christ?

Why should we confess our sins to angels and dead saints, while we have Christ for a High Priest? Why should we confess to the Virgin Mary, Michael the archangel. John the Baptist. St. Paul, or any other creature in the unseen world? The Church of Rome enjoins such confession as this on her millions of members, and many members of the Church of England seem half disposed to think the Church of Rome is right. But when we ask a reason for the practice, we may ask long without getting an answer.

There is no need for such a confession. Christ has not given up His office, and ceased to be a Priest. The saints and angels cannot possibly do more for us than Christ can. They certainly have not more pity or compassion, or goodwill towards our souls.

There is no warrant of Scripture for such a confession. There is not a text in the Bible that bids us confess to dead saints and angels. There is not an instance in Scripture of any living believer taking his sins to them.

There is not the slightest proof that there is any use in such a confession. We do not even know that the saints in glory can hear what we say. Much less do we know that they could help us if they heard. They were all sinners, saved by grace themselves. Where is the likelihood that they could do anything to aid our souls

Reader, the man who turns away from Christ to confess to saints and angels is a deluded robber of his own soul. He is following a shadow, and forsaking the substance. He is rejecting the bread of life, and trying to satisfy his spiritual hunger with sand.

But why, again, should we confess our sins to living priests and ministers, while we have Christ for a High Priest? The Church of Rome commands her members to do so. A party within the Church of England approves the practice as useful, helpful, and almost needful to the soul. But, again, when we ask for Scripture and reason in support of the practice, we receive no satisfactory answer.

Is there any need for confessing to priests or ministers There is none. There is nothing they can do for a sinner that Christ cannot do a thousand times better. When Christ has failed the soul that cries to Him it may be time to turn to ministers. But that time will never come.

Is there any Scriptural warrant for confessing to priests or ministers? There is none. There is not a passage in the New Testament which commands it. St. Paul writes three epistles to Timothy and Titus about ministerial duty. But he says nothing about receiving confessions. St. James bids us “confess our faults to one another,” but he says nothing about confessing to ministers. Above all, there is not a single example in the Bible of any one confessing to a minister and receiving absolution. We see the Apostles often declaring plainly the way of forgiveness, and pointing men to Christ. But we nowhere find them telling men to confess to them, and offering to absolve them after confession.

Finally, is any good likely to result from confessing to priests or ministers? I answer boldly, there is none. Ministers can never know that those who confess to them are telling the truth. Those who confess to them will never feel their consciences really satisfied, and will never feel certain that what they confess will not be improperly used. Above all, facts, stubborn facts abound, to show that the practice of confessing to ministers has often led to the grossest and most disgusting immorality. A living writer has truly said, “There is no better school of wickedness on earth than the confessional. History testifies that for every offender whom the confessional has reclaimed, it has hardened thousands; for one it may have saved it has destroyed millions” (Wylie on Popery, p. 329).

Reader, the man who turns away from Christ to confess his sins to ministers, is like a man who chooses to live in prison when he may walk at liberty; or to starve and go in rags in the midst of riches and plenty; or to cringe for favours at the feet of a servant, when he may go boldly to the Master and ask what he will. A mighty and sinless High Priest is provided for him, and yet he prefers to employ the aid of mere fellow sinners like himself! He is trying to fill his purse with rubbish when he may have fine gold for the asking. He is insisting on lighting a rushlight, when he may enjoy the noon-day light of God’s sun!

Reader, if you love your soul, beware of giving to ministers the honour that belongs to Christ alone. He is the true High Priest of the Christian’s profession. He ever lives to receive confessions, and to absolve sinners. Why should we turn away from Him to man Above all, beware of the whole system of the Romish confessional. Of all practices that were ever devised by man, in the name of religion, I firmly believe that none was ever devised so mischievous and objectionable as the confessional. It overthrows Christ’s office, and places man in the seat which should only be occupied by the Son of God. It puts two sinners in a thoroughly wrong position. It exalts the confessor far too high. It places those who confess far too low, it gives the confessor a place which is not safe for any child of Adam to occupy. It imposes on those who confess a bondage to which it is not safe for any child of Adam to submit. It sinks one poor sinner into the degrading attitude of a serf. It raises another poor sinner into a dangerous mastery over his brother’s soul. It makes the confessor little less than a God. It makes those who confess little better than slaves. If you love Christian liberty, if you value inward peace, remember the advice I give you this day. Beware, beware of the slightest approach to the Romish confessional!

Listen not to those who tell you that Christian ministers were intended to receive confessions, and that evangelical teaching makes light of the ministerial office, and strips it of all authority and power. Such assertions are more easily made than proved. We honour the minister’s office highly, but we refuse to give it a hair’s breadth more dignity than we find given in the Word of God. We honour ministers as Christ’s ambassadors, Christ’ s messengers, Christ’s watchmen, helpers of believers’ joy, preachers of the Word, and stewards of the mysteries of God. But we decline to regard them as priests, mediators, confessors, and rulers over men’s faith, both for the sake of their souls and of our own.

Listen not to those who tell you that evangelical teaching is opposed to the exercise of soul-discipline, or heart examination, or self-humiliation, or mortification of the flesh, or true contrition. Opposed to it! There never was a more baseless assertion. We are entirely favourable to it. This only we require, that it shall be carried on in the right way. We approve of a confessional; but it must be the only true one,- the throne of grace. We approve of going to a confessor; but it must be the true one,-Christ the Lord. We approve of submitting consciences to a priest; but it must be to the great High Priest,-Jesus the Son of God. We approve of unbecoming our secret sins, and seeking absolution; but it must be at the feet of the great Head of the Church, and not at the feet of one of His weak members. We approve of kneeling to receive ghostly counsel; but it must be at the feet of Christ, and not at the feet of man.

Reader, beware of ever losing sight of Christ’s priestly office. Glory in His atoning death. Honour Him as your substitute and surety on the cross. Follow Him as your Shepherd. Hear His voice as your Prophet. Obey Him as your King. But in all your thoughts about Christ, let it be often before your mind that He alone is your High Priest, and that He has deputed His priestly office to no order of men in the world. This is the office of Christ, which Satan labours above all to obscure. It is the neglect of this office which leads to every kind of error. It is the remembrance of this office which is the best safeguard against the plausible teaching of the Church of Rome. Once right about this office you will never greatly err in the matter of the confession of sin. You will know to whom confession ought to be made; and to know that rightly is no slight thing.

– J.C. Ryle (1816-1900)
taken from: Do You Confess?

I went to the sentencing of a man who had repeatedly committed some serious crimes over the course of several years. All the evidence and witnesses were there, and he did not deny his guilt. When asked if he had anything left to say before receiving his sentence, he stood up and begged the judge to suspend his sentence or allow him to go free because he had also done a lot of good in his life, even daring to mention his avid church attendance. The judge was not swayed by his appeal, and not-so-gently reminded him that he was not on trial for his good deeds, but for his crimes. He was also reminded of all the times he outwardly said to others that he was going to stop what he was doing, but carried on in secret. It was then that the judge handed down his sentence of fifteen years without the possibility of parole.

Many people are going to face the same kind of unwavering judgement when they stand before God on Judgment Day. They are hoping that they can balance the scales of God’s justice by pulling out their long list of good deeds, but they will be met with the sad realization that those good works werent earning them any extra credit with God. In fact, every time they did some good thing, they were only doing what was their duty to do in the first place. All of their church attendance, giving to the poor, and helping little old ladies across the street dont cancel out a lifetime of crimes against conscience and against God.

At 35, I have honestly only had one chance that I can remember where I actually had an opportunity to help a little old lady across the street. Here’s how it went: We were at a very busy intersection and the walk signal only stayed lit for about 5 seconds. I could see that she was afraid to cross, so I said reassuringly, “I’ll go with you.” About halfway across, it occurred to me that there really were a lot of cars out here. Was anyone I knew seeing all this? Was anyone getting this? Ohh, snap! Pride! Even while I’ trying to do something good, part of my sinful nature has to come in and spoil it by making it all about me!  The truth is, pretty much all of our so called good deeds are tainted by impure motives. We like the good feeling we get, we hope someone sees us in the act, we hope God will reward us, etc.
But even if they could cancel out sins, why dont you try an experiment. You sit down and think really hard about all of the good things you have done, and make yourself a nice little list. Then, look at the commandments and try to recount the sins you have committed and make another list alongside the previous one. Every time I have asked people how many lies they think they have told, I always get the same answer, “Countless” or “too many to remember”. Then we move on to thefts, followed by adultery. In fact, every time we have looked with lust we have committed adultery of the heart.
Pretty soon, we end up with a mountain of sin alongside a molehill of good deeds. Is that going to balance the scales?
Go to your bank tomorrow morning and tell them you want to settle your debts. Get out the mortgage loan, the car loan, the boat loan, the personal loan, the credit cards, etc. Then, when the banker sits down and says, for example, “Ok, you owe a total of $267,000. How will you be paying for that?”, you say, “Wow, thats more than I expected. Tell you what, how about I give you a nickel and we call it even?” Thats ridiculous. You and I know that would never fly in the real world. (Or we’d all be at the bank in a flash)
So why in the world do we think it will work with God? And yet that is exactly what many people are counting on. They really do think their nickel’s-worth of self righteousness or good deeds will patch things up with God on Judgment Day. It’s not going to happen.

We are all in desperate need of the Savior. What Jesus did is he paid or debts for us. He walked into the courtroom of eternal justice and took the sentence that we deserved. He paid the penalty for our sins, and satisfied the demands of the law once and for all. Now we can legally go free based on the fact that our fine has been paid. The blood of Jesus Christ has made it possible for you and I to be released from the sentence of eternal death. We don’t look to any of our own feeble efforts at good works, we simply look to Jesus and his finished work on the cross.
If you will turn from your sins today, put your faith in the Son of God, and call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, you have the promise of God that your sins will be forgiven and you will be saved. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Jesus said that anyone who comes to him, he will in no wise cast out.
Salvation is a pretty simple thing, really. The question you have to ask yourself is, is Jesus worth turning from your sins? What do you think?

The upper peninsula of Michigan can get pretty cold. Winters bring loads of snow and with it, all sorts of winter sports. People in the UP love ice fishing, and its common to see them pulling their ice fishing shacks out onto the lakes with their pickups. Yes, there are literally roads that people drive out onto the lakes to get to their favorite fishing holes.
Most people know that the ice is plenty thick enough, and venture out with confidence, but others aren’t so sure it will hold up underneath them, so they don’t dare go out there.
One time, I had a carful of buddies and we decided to go for a spin out on the bay in Baraga. One of the guys in the back seat freaked out and said, “No way!” I ignored him and drove out there anyway.
He was so panicked, he managed to force the passenger seat forward, open the door, and bail out onto the ice at 35 mph!
The rest of us laughed pretty hard and enjoyed a tour around all the ice shacks before returning to land and picking him up. You can just imagine the hard time we gave him for his unnecessary fear.

That’s a funny story, but some of you are just like my fearful friend. There are some areas of your life where you are still fearful to venture out in faith in the promises of God, so you bail out and stay safe. Regardless of how many others are out there going for it, you don’t step out and take any risks when it comes to obedience to God.
Brother or sister in Christ, are you sweating it or panicked when it comes to faith in God’s promise? Are you afraid they won’t hold up in your life? I can assure you they are solid all the way through. Your doubts may be real but they just aren’t necessary.
It may be financial, in prayer, in the area of witnessing, or even when it comes to assurance of your salvation. Whatever it is, let knowledge release you today that every promise God has made, he will keep. It is impossible for him to lie. All the promises of God are “Yea and Amen” in Jesus Christ! Let it be said of us that we had the same faith as Abraham, who “staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, being fully persuaded that what God had promised, he was able also to perform.” See Romans 4 for a great picture of faith.
You know, there was a point where even the disciples asked The Lord to increase their faith. If you find yourself struggling today in some area, talk to Him about it. You’ll find that he loves to answer that kind of prayer.
The best way to increase your faith is to take God at his word and learn by experience that he does in fact keep his promises!
What are you waiting for? Go for it!

Imagine a man who walks around every day with a briefcase filled with millions of dollars. He minds his own business and pretty much conceals his wealth to the rest of the world by trying his best to fit in and live just like they do.
Every time he passes by a homeless person or someone in need, he has a desire to help out but tells himself that he doesn’t have the training to do it properly. He sees the commercials with starving children, but doesn’t bother to help feed them because he doesn’t think he is gifted in that area. So he keeps what he has hidden away while the world around him suffers.
Then one day he meets another man who also walks around with plenty of money. But this man is constantly giving out of his resources to those in need. He is always ready to open his hands and give to the poor. No matter how much he gives out, it is always replenished with even more abundance. The first man asks him how long it took to learn how to share his wealth. How he can be so bold and do such incredible things? Where did his gifting come from?
To which he received the reply, “It’s not a gift, silly! I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do.”
Sadly, many Christians are just like our first man. They see the world around them suffering from the consequences of sin, and on their way to an eternity in hell, but rather than sharing the riches of the good news with them, they mind their own business and live their own lives. Rather than sharing the treasure they carry around in an earthen vessel, they keep it to themselves while the world around them suffers, consoling their guilty consciences with the assumption that they don’t have the gift of sharing the gospel.
Then they meet someone who is constantly going around telling a lost and hungry people about the marvelous gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ. No matter how much resources are spent, God replenishes it with increasing abundance. They admire the person and ask how they do it, to which they receive the reply, “I am an unprofitable servant. I am only doing that which is my duty to do.”
Saints, there are some things we don’t need further instruction about. We are all told to be a light and a witness to a lost and dying world. The gift you need to share your faith is the same gift you would need to feed starving children. It’s called compassion.
Look out across the landscape of the world and see things from an eternal perspective, and let your love for your neighbor motivate you into action. One thing is for sure, we won’t be sitting around in eternity wishing we would have done less to reach them.
God has given you everything you need for this task, and he will continue to provide as you spend yourself in it. Dont be a selfish Christian. Share the good news! People are worth the effort. Go for it!