1Jn 1:9 If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Dan 9:4 And I
prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the
great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him,
and to them that keep his commandments;
Dan 9:5 We
have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have
rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:
Dan 9:6
Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy
name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the
land.
Dan 9:7 O
Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at
this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto
all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries
whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have
trespassed against thee.
Dan 9:8 O
Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to
our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.
Dan 9:9 To the
Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against
him;
Dan 9:10
Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws,
which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
Dan 9:11 Yea,
all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not
obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is
written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against
him.
Dan 9:12 And
he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges
that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven
hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.
Dan 9:13 As it
is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not
our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and
understand thy truth.
Dan 9:14
Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the
LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not
his voice.
Dan 9:15 And
now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of
Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have
sinned, we have done wickedly.
Dan 9:16 O
Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and
thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for
our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become
a reproach to all that are about us.
Dan 9:17 Now
therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications,
and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's
sake.
Dan 9:18 O my
God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations,
and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our
supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great
mercies.
Dan 9:19 O
Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own
sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.
(Excerpt from The
Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee)
'The Accusation of
Satan
Satan has another way to assault those who set
their heart on following the leading of the spirit’s intuition. This is by
counterfeiting or fasely representing one’s conscience with all sorts of
accusations. To keep our conscience pure we are willing to accept its reproach
and deal with whatever it condemns. The enemy utilizies this desire of keeping
the conscience void of offense by accusing us of various things. In mistaking
such accusations as being from our own consciences we often lose our peace,
tire of trying to keep pace with the false accusations, and thus cease to
advance spiritually with confidence. Those who are spiritual ought to be aware
that Satan not only indicts us before God but also to ourselves. He does this
to disturb us into thinking we ought to suffer penalty because we have done
wrong. He is alert to the fact that the children of God can make no progress
spiritually unless they have a heart full of confidence; consequently he
falsifies the accusation of conscience in order to make them believe they have
sinned. Then their communion with God is broken. The problem with believers is
that they do not know how to distinguish between the indictment of the evil
spirit and the reproach of conscience. Frequently out of fear of offending God,
they mistake the accusation of an evil spirit to be the censure of conscience.
This accusation grows stronger and stronger until it becomes uncontrollable if
not listened to. Thus in addition to their willingness to yield to conscience’s
reproof, spiritual believers should also learn how to discern the accusation of
the enemy. What the enemy charges the saints of may sometimes be real sins,
though more often than not they are merely imaginary—that is, the evil spirit
makes them feel they have sinned. If they actually have sinned, they should
confess it immediately before God, asking for the cleansing of the precious
blood (1 John 1.9). Yet should the accusing voice still continue, it obviously
must be from the evil spirit. Here is a matter of serious consequence. Before
one knows how to differentiate between the reproach of conscience and the
enemy’s accusation, he should ask himself whether or not he really abhors sin.
If this particular thing is wrong, am I willing to confess my sin and eliminate
it? If we truly desire to follow God’s will, not having yet heeded the accusing
voice, we can be quite confident in our heart for it is not in us to want to
rebel against God. Then, having determined to follow God’s will, we should
examine ourselves as to whether or not we have actually committed that sin. We
must know beyond the shadow of doubt whether or not we have done it, because
the evil spirit frequently accuses us of many unrelated items. If we have done
it, then before we confess to God, we first must find out through the teaching
of the Bible and the leading of intuition, whether or not this thing is verily
wrong. Otherwise, though we have not sinned, Satan will make us suffer for it
just as though we had. The adversary is skillful in imparting all sorts of
feelings to men. He may cause them to feel happy or sad; he may induce in them
a feeling of guilt or of none whatsoever. But a child of God should understand
that his feeling is not necessarily accurate when he thinks he is not wrong,
for often he feels right when actually he is wrong. Moreover, he may not be
wrong even when so feeling; it may be just his feeling and not be factually
grounded at all. Whatever he feels, he must test it out for sure so as to know
where he really stands. The child of God should adopt a neutral attitude
towards every accusation. He should not take any action before he is ascured as
to the source of it. He must not be hasty, rather, he should wait quietly for
assurance as to whether it is indeed the chiding of the Holy Spirit or but the
charge of the evil spirit. If it originates with the Holy Spirit, he will then
deal with it honestly. The believer’s present waiting is due to his uncertainty
and not to rebellion. Nevertheless, he absolutely must resist making all
confessions to men which are motivated by sheer force from outside, for the
enemy often tries to compel him to do this. Real conviction from the Holy
Spirit leads us to holiness while the aim of Satan is solely to accuse. He
indicts us to make us indict ourselves. His motive is nothing other than to
make Christians suffer. Sometimes after one has accepted the enemy’s imputation
and confessed accordingly, Satan may next fill him with a false peace. This is
no small danger for it deprives the believer of any real contrition over
defeat. The reproach of conscience ceases once the sin is confessed and
cleansed by the precious blood, but the accusation of the enemy continues even
after what is accused has been dealt with. The former leads us to the precious
blood; the latter drives us to despair, causing us to reckon ourselves
irredeemable. The purpose of Satan is to engineer our fall through accusations:
“Since we cannot be perfect,” sighs the believer resignedly, “then what is the
use?” At times the accusation of Satan is added to the rebuke of conscience.
The sin is real, but when it has been treated according to the mind of the Holy
Spirit the accusation continues because the evil spirit has joined his
indictment to the reproach of the conscience. It is therefore a matter of
utmost concern that we preserve an uncompromising attitude towards sin: not
merely yielding no ground to the enemy to indict but also learning how to
differentiate between the reprimand of the Holy Spirit and the accusation of
the evil spirit and learning how to distinguish what is exclusively the enemy’s
charge from what is his charge mixed in with the reproach of conscience. We
must realize most assuredly that the Holy Spirit never reproves further if the
sin is cleansed by the precious blood and forsaken.'
