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Confession
In the washroom of his London club
British newspaper publisher and politician William Beverbrook happened to meet
Edward Heath
then a young member of Parliament
about whom Beverbrook had
printed an insulting editorial a few days earlier. "My dear chap
"
said the publisher
embarrassed by the encounter. "I've been thinking it
over
and I was wrong. Here and now
I wish to apologize." "Very
well
" grunted Heath. "But the next time
I wish you'd insult me in
the washroom and apologize in your newspaper."
Today in the Word
October 1
1993.
Prussian king Frederick the Great was
once touring a Berlin prison. The prisoners fell on their knees before him to
proclaim their innocence -- except for one man
who remained silent. Frederick
called to him
"Why are you here?" "Armed robbery
Your
Majesty
" was the reply. "And are you guilty?" "Yes indeed
Your Majesty
I deserve my punishment." Frederick then summoned the jailer
and ordered him
"Release this guilty wretch at once. I will not have him
kept in this prison where he will corrupt all the fine innocent people who
occupy it."
Today in the Word
December 4
1992.
In 1884 Grover Cleveland was running
against James G. Blaine for the presidency of the U.S. Blaine supporters discovered
that Cleveland
who was a bachelor at the time
had fathered a son by Mrs.
Maria Crofts Halpin
an attractive widow who had been on friendly terms with
several politicians. Subsequently
Republicans tried to pin an immorality tag
on Democrat Cleveland by distributing handbills showing an infant labeled
"One more vote for Cleveland" and by having paraders chant
"Ma
Ma
where's my pa? Gone to the White House
Ha
Ha
Ha!" The move
however
backfired badly. Rather than deny the story
Cleveland decided to tell
the truth and admit the intimacy. This candor helped defuse the issue
and
Cleveland was elected president.
From the Book of Lists
#2
p.
35.
Being general director of the New York
opera took a toll on Beverly Sills; she ballooned into obesity. "It made
me sick to look at myself. I'd reached the point where I didn't want to have my
clothes made anymore. It was too embarrassing. So I ordered everything from
catalogues." Eventually Sills was forced to face the problem. "I woke
up one day and realized I was really ill." She went to see a specialist.
"He put me on the scales. They read 215 pounds. 'I cannot possibly weigh
that much!' I gasped. And the doctor said
'Please look down. Are those two fat
feet on the scale yours or mine?'" Beverly smiled. "Once I accepted
the problem
I was on my way."
Phyllis Battelle in Ladies Home
Journal
quoted in Reader's Digest
June 1986.
"When I kept silence
my bones
waxed old through my roaring all the day long" (Psa. 32:3).
There is nothing that so takes the joy
out of life like unconfessed sin on the conscience.
I once heard the late Dr. F.E. Marsh
tell that on one occasion he was preaching on this question and urging upon his
hearers the importance of confession of sin and wherever possible of restitution
for wrong done to others.
At the close a young man
a member of
the church
came up to him with a troubled countenance. "Pastor
" he
explained
"you have put me in a sad fix. I have wronged another and I am
ashamed to confess it or to try to put it right. You see
I am a boat builder
and the man I work for is an infidel. I have talked to him often about his need
of Christ and urged him to come and hear you preach
but he scoffs and
ridicules it all. Now
I have been guilty of something that
if I should
acknowledge it to him
will ruin my testimony forever."
He then went on to say that sometime
ago he started to build a boat for himself in his own yard. In this work copper
nails are used because they do not rust in the water. These nails are quite expensive
and the young man had been carrying home quantities of them to use on the job.
He knew it was stealing
but he tried to salve his conscience be telling
himself that the master had so many he would never miss them and besides he was
not being paid all that he thought he deserved. But this sermon had brought him
to face the fact that he was just a common thief
for whose dishonest actions
there was no excuse.
"But
" said he
"I
cannot go to my boss and tell him what I have done or offer to pay for those I
have used and return the rest. If I do he will think I am just a hypocrite. And
yet those copper nails are digging into my conscience and I know I shall never
have peace until I put this matter right." For weeks the struggle went on.
Then one night he came to Dr. Marsh and exclaimed
"Pastor
I've settled
for the copper nails and my conscience is relieved at last."
"What happened when you confessed
to your employer what you had done?" asked the pastor.
"Oh
" he answered
"he
looked queerly at me
then exclaimed
'George
I always did think you were just
a hypocrite
but now I begin to feel there's something in this Christianity
after all. Any religion that would make a dishonest workman come back and
confess that he had been stealing copper nails and offer to settle for them
must be worth having.'"
Dr. Marsh asked if he might use the
story
and was granted permission.
Sometime afterwards
he told it in
another city. The next day a lady came up and said
"Doctor
I have had
'copper nails' on my conscience too." "Why
surely
you are not a
boat builder!" "No
but I am a book-lover and I have stolen a number
of books from a friend of mine who gets far more than I could ever afford. I
decided last night I must get rid of the 'copper nails
' so I took them all
back to her today and confessed my sin. I can't tell you how relieved I am. She
forgave me
and God has forgiven me. I am so thankful the 'copper mails' are
not digging into my conscience any more."
I have told this story many times and
almost invariably people have come to me afterwards telling of "copper
nails" in one form or another that they had to get rid of. On one
occasion
I told it at a High School chapel service. The next day the principal
saw me and said
"As a result of that 'copper nails' story
ever so many
stolen fountain pens and other things have been returned to their rightful
owners."
Reformation and restitution do not
save. But where one is truly repentant and has come to God in sincere
confession
he will want to the best of his ability to put things right with
others.
H.A. Ironside
Illustrations of
Bible Truth
1945
Moody Press
pp. 104-106.
A lady in the north of England said
that every time she got down before God to pray
five bottles of wine came up
before her mind. She had taken them wrongfully one time when she was a
housekeeper
and had not been able to pray since. She was advised to make
restitution.
"But the person is dead
"
she said.
"Are not some of the heirs living?"
"Yes
a son."
"Then go to that son and pay him back."
"Well
" she said
"I
want to see the face of God
but I could not think of doing a thing like that.
My reputation is at stake." She went away
and came back the next day to
ask if it would not do just as well to put that money in the treasury of the
Lord. "No
" she was told
"God doesn't want any stolen money.
The only thing is to make restitution." She carried that burden for
several days
but finally went into the country
saw that son
made a full
confession and offered him a five-pound note. He said he didn't want the money
but she finally persuaded him to take it
and came back with a joy and peace
that made her face radiant. She became a magnificent worker for souls
and led
many into the light. My dear friends
get these stumbling stones out of the
way. God does not want a man to shout "Hallelujah" who doesn't pay
his debts. Many of our prayer meetings are killed by men trying to pray who
cannot pray because their lives are not right. Sin builds up a great wall
between us and God. A man may stand high in the community and may be a member
of some church "in good standing
" but the question is
how does he
stand in the sight of God? If there is anything wrong in you life
make it
right.
Moody's Anecdotes
pp. 49-50.
Four preachers met for a friendly
gathering. During the conversation one preacher said
"Our people come to
us and pour out their hears
confess certain sins and needs. Let's do the same.
Confession is good for the soul." In due time all agreed. One confessed he
liked to go to movies and would sneak off when away from his church. The second
confessed to liking to smoke cigars and the third one confessed to liking to
play cards. When it came to the fourth one
he wouldn't confess. The others
pressed him saying
"Come now
we confessed ours. What is your secret or
vice?" Finally he answered
"It is gossiping and I can hardly wait to
get out of here."
Source Unknown.
Because the younger children at our
parochial school often forgot their sins when they entered my confessional
I
suggested that teachers have the students make lists. The next week when one
child came to confession
I could hear him unfolding paper. The youngster
began
"I lied to my parents. I disobeyed my mom. I fought with my
brothers and..." There was a long pause. Then a small angry voice said
"Hey
this isn't my list!"
Rev. Douglas F. Fortner in Reader's
Digest.