Lev 5:5, 'So it shall be when he becomes guilty in one of these, that he shall confess that in which he has sinned. 
	We are reading about all the details and the requirements that were necessary under the Old Covenant in order for man to have some kind of relationship with God. The old humanity set in its sin and depravity was constantly waging war against the sovereignty and the holiness of God. Mankind was instilled with that need to know God and yet the fall of Adam ushered in the deceptive lie that man could be as god unto himself. 
The lie was that to honor the Holy Lord God Almighty was superfluous because man only needed to worship himself and everything would work out in the end. This is especially promoted today, even by various church groups. There is the lie espoused that if one does enough good to offset the bad things that have been committed, it will be sufficient to keep away the fiery judgment of God.   
	With humanity under the self-established curse of sin, God had to make known that there was only one way to come into His presence. That was through the Hand of God in operation, not the futile workings of man. The Lord, in His Omniscience, had always known that man would fall and that a Savior was needed. Our Lord God Almighty also knew that man had to come to the place wherein the need for the Savior was evident and recognized and that man would want to be saved. Therefore God instituted the Law with all its manners and requirements and preparations and regulations to show all humanity that without the direct intervention of God, there could be no salvation. The sacrifice of animals was only a stop-gap to make it very evident that all the human, priestly rituals and customs and obligations were insufficient to truly make man free from sin and death. Only God could and would do that in the giving of His Only Begotten Son. 
	The key that we want to see this morning is that there is a requirement that is necessary for man to do in terms of his salvation. It is the recognition that he has sinned and that he needs to be saved. Even under the Old Covenant, it was required that those who were offering sacrifices would place their hand upon the head of the sacrifice in order to identify with the need for forgiveness. Throughout the readings of these righteous requirements, we will see over and over again that mankind had to declare to himself and to God that he was in need of something far more than man could do for himself. He had to confess that he was a sinner and that he needed to be cleansed from that sin. 
	The whole aspect of confession is that man admits before God and himself, that he is a sinner and that sin cannot be in the presence of the Holy and Righteous God. It is the statement of truth and realization that man is utterly incapable of doing anything that could bring him into that right standing with God. Only God can do such a miraculous work. Even the offering of the sacrifices were done with the hope that they would acceptably show God the contriteness and the humbleness of the suppliant to receive the mercy and the forgiveness that only God could provide. 
	Again, the whole characteristic and requirement of this confession is that man is agreeing with God that something needs to change within man’s life. It is a coming into conformity and harmony with God that man is beset by sin and helpless. Only God can cleanse the sin. Only God can bring man into right standing before His throne of grace and mercy. It is the absolute admission that man needs a Savior and that God, Alone, can make that salvation real and effective and eternal.  
    	In Lev 26:40-42, The Lord details this requirement as a stipulation for His people being fruitful and bountiful in the land which God was giving them. While they practiced their insolent and obstinate and stubborn ways of rejecting the One True and Living God whoring after all the other gods of the surrounding nations, they could never receive the blessing of The Lord upon them and their land. But if they confessed their iniquity, agreed with God that they had sinned and had shunned Him, then He would open the heavens to bless them. 
	Lev 26:40-42, 'If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me — I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies — or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land. 
	The key component of this pledge was the stipulation that man would recognize that he needed God to save him. There was the working within the heart of the individual and the nation as a whole that humanity was not self-sufficient and able to do everything on his own. This was the iniquity of the deception that so infected and contaminated and demeaned mankind’s relationship with God. It was necessary that man called out to God with the complete knowledge that only God could and would save.
	Our next passage along this line is Num 5:6+7. In it, God makes known that when a person acted unfaithfully unto the Lord, that person not only needed to confess that he or she had sinned, but also do what could be done to make restitution for that sin. It was not just a matter of feeling sorry for oneself as a sinner, but seeking to make it evident that there was a desire on the part of the sinner for the restoration with God of the relationship that was ruined. This meant, in terms of the Old Testament Covenant, that something would be done to physically indicate the desire of the suppliant to come back into proper relationship with both God and fallen man. 
	Num 5:6+7, "Speak to the sons of Israel, 'When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against the Lord, and that person is guilty, then he shall confess his sins which he has committed, and he shall make restitution in full for his wrong, and add to it one-fifth of it, and give it to him whom he has wronged. 
	Please be very careful here. It was not a matter of buying God’s forgiveness or of earning anything through monetary or earthly means. This was a matter of the heart that was reckoned in terms of what the cost was to God for man to be so desirous of a proper relationship with Him. To show true contrition, that humbled man or woman would do all was required to be brought back into the good graces and loving-kindness of God. 
Keep in mind that the Old Testament is filled with the physical types of the spiritual reality that in now ours in Jesus Christ. The sinner of old was to make it known just how much he or she regretted the error and the sin that was infesting them. They did so by showing their heart’s desire to please God through the giving of those physical things that were so precious and valuable to them. 
	Today, in Jesus Christ, by the working power of the Holy Spirit, when we confess our sins unto God, we ask Him to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and we ask Him to put to death anything and everything in us that is not pleasing to Him. We seek to have Him change, even the smallest detail of our likes, our dislikes, our wants, our cravings, anything that does not please Him. Sometimes, He does ask us to make amends with those whom we have harmed or cheated in some way. But we are not buying anything in that restitution. We are simply agreeing with God that what we did was reprehensible and needed to be dealt with in order for our hearts to be at peace with God and with our fellow man.
	This then brings us to the plight of the nation after the return of the exiles. For those years of captivity, the remnant that had stayed in the land had practiced things that were an abomination to God. When Ezra returned with the released captives, he recognized the abhorrent sinfulness and the need for cleansing within the whole of God’s people. In Ezra 10:10-12, we have the declaration of Ezra to the remnant. 
Ezra 10:10-12, Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, "You have been unfaithful and have married foreign wives adding to the guilt of Israel. Now, therefore, make confession to the Lord God of your fathers, and do His will; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives." Then all the assembly answered and said with a loud voice, "That's right! As you have said, so it is our duty to do. 
	Again, note that the requirement was to make confession to the Lord God and then to act in accordance with that which showed that the people truly were sorry for disobeying the Lord in their unfaithfulness. They needed to do His will. 
Sadly, this is something which is often seen as unnecessary today. Many people will have no issue making the statement of confession of sin, but there is also the requirement, the duty which manifests that we truly are sorry for what we did and do not want to disappoint the Lord again. There is the action of obedience that is required. As so stipulated in this passage …all the assembly answered and said with a loud voice, "That's right! As you have said, so it is our duty to do. As they proclaimed, it was their duty to not only confess their sins and iniquity, but to turn from that wickedness and not practice it any longer. 
	Again, with extreme emphasis, this is not a matter of earning salvation or forgiveness or kindness from the Lord. It is the reality of our confession that we no longer want to have any part in that which has so defamed and defiled our relationship with God. It is not enough to just verbally accede to something, our lives have to give evidence to the fact that we are truly sorry for that which we have done. That is the course of true confession, true agreement with God that something is out of kilter in our lives; that we need His help to live the life that will please and honor Him in constant and effective obedience to His will. 
	In Job 33:26-28, we have the detail given as to how and why man should pray to God and confess the error of man’s way. Job 33:26-28, Then he will pray to God, and He will accept him, That he may see His face with joy, And He may restore His righteousness to man. "He will sing to men and say, 'I have sinned and perverted what is right, And it is not proper for me. 'He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit, And my life shall see the light.' 
	Note the effect that will accompany the true confession that man has sinned and done that which God despises. When humanity recognizes that the works of men are set against the ways of God, and admits it freely unto God and asks for God’s forgiveness and for God’s help to change and to do only those things that are pleasing to God, then there will be a joy in evidence. That joy of the Lord will not only register in the heart of God, but it will register in the heart of the man who so honors God with the truth that only God is the true salvation of any man. There will be singing and joy and gladness that will resound on earth and in heaven with the confession that man needs God to save him and to change him and to guide him into all righteousness and holiness. 
	The Psalmist picks up this theme of the absolute need for man to confess his sin unto God in Ps 32:3-7. In this passage, he details just how much not confessing; not agreeing with God that man is a sinner in need of salvation caused the physical anguish and decline of his earthly body. Ps 32:3-7, When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to Thee, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord"; And Thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin. Selah. Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to Thee in a time when Thou mayest be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they shall not reach him. Thou art my hiding place; Thou dost preserve me from trouble; Thou dost surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. 
	Notice the agony and the strife and even the physical decline when we refuse to confess our sins unto God. There is a real means by which our bodies go into decline and decay in the utter rejection of the need for God in our lives. When we refuse to acknowledge our paths of wickedness, and rather defend ourselves and our way of living apart from Him, we do suffer the consequences of being out of proper relationship with Him. Our lives and our hearts and our minds are beset with woe and distress and sorrow and torment because we are not in connection and the relationship with God for which we were divinely designed. 
	It is only after we admit who we are and what we have done, in the full identification of our need and our placement on this earth by God, that we can experience, in life and in vitality and in joy, the true life for which we were created. Our acceptance of the need for God’s intervention and His grace and His mercy and His love and His forgiveness and His salvation makes us open to and the recipients of all the deliverance and the covering and the revelation of God ruling and overruling. We will know that He is holding us close to His heart, through every trial and storm and gale. 
	We will conclude this contemplation in our next session, Lord willing. So be it!
'So it shall be when he becomes guilty in one of these, that he shall confess that in which he has sinned. Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Ps 19:1+2. The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. Amen.