A man had a lovely and gracious wife that he wanted to do something special for. One day they saw in a store a dress that was to her the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. It was very expensive, but she loved the dress. They went in to price it and it was perhaps more than they had ever dreamed of paying for a dress but it was special, and he could afford it and he bought that dress for his wife. She was right for the dress and the dress was right for her. It looked good, it had the fit, and it had the style. Very expensive, but it was one of those once in a lifetime purchases they felt God would allow them to make, and they bought the dress and she went out with it so grateful for her husband’s love.
They were having a special occasion and she wore the dress for the first time and they went out to dinner, she was wearing that white dress, and would you know it, the waiter dropped into her lap a piece of cherry pie on that white dress. She was mortified. They took the dress to the dry cleaners and the dry cleaner said, "Well, I don't know, let me try to see if I can remove the stain."
Later on they came back and asked if he were able to do it. "Well," he said, "almost, as a matter-of-fact we've done such a good job that if you didn't know the stain was there you probably would never notice it." That lady said, "I was never able to wear and enjoy that dress, because while others may not have known the stain was there, I knew it was there."
So it is with our sins. Psychiatry and psychology and good intentions and good works can almost seem to remove that stain and guilt, but the stain of sin is there. You know it's there and God knows it is there, but thank God that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses from all sin. There is no stain, blot, blur, or blemish that the blood of Jesus Christ cannot remove completely. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” To confess means to say the same thing as God says about sin. It is to admit our sin and turn from it. Thank God that upon confession there is no sin that God cannot and will not cleanse through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. God loves you and so does First Baptist Church.