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welcome to everyone it's good to be in the house of God on this beautiful Lord's Day we have just two quick announcements before we begin the first is that there is a luncheon directly following our worship service this morning so please you're invited and encouraged to stay for that it'll be up in the fellowship hall as I said directly following our service and then next Sunday Chris Santiago and his wife Shirley and his son Timothy will be with us chris is a missionary to the Far East they are presently on furlough and so they will be here to give a report in the sunday school our that's at nine thirty that'll be in the fellowship hall again I encourage everyone to attend that to find out the concerning the work of God there in the Far East and then Chris will be preaching on Sunday morning next Sunday as well well as we begin our worship this morning you can turn in your Bibles to psalm 32 for our call to worship psalm 32 a song that gets read often at our call to worship in a psalm that should be read often as they call to worship because in it David celebrates and rejoices in God's forgiveness of sin psalm 32 beginning in verse 1 a psalm of David a contemplation blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit when I kept silent my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long for day and night your hand was heavy upon me my vitality was turned into the drought of summer say law I acknowledged my sin to you and my iniquity I have not hidden I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave the iniquity of my sin say law for this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to you in a time when you may be found surely in a flood of Great Waters they shall not come near him you are my hiding place you shall preserve me from trouble you shall surround me with songs of deliverance say law I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go I will guide you with my I do not be like the horse or like the mule which have no understanding which must be harnessed with bit and bridle else they will not come near you many sorrows shall be to the wicked but he who trusts in the lord mercy shall surround him be glad in the Lord and rejoice you righteous and shout for joy all you upright in heart amen well certainly this is a legitimate expression from the people of God what we find at the end shout for joy all you upright in heart the Lord God has redeemed us he has saved us from our sin from damnation from Hell in our future certainly as we come this morning to worship Him it ought to be with this sort of joy with this sort of shouting for God the Lord is dealt mercifully with us well turn to the back of your hymn book and you should find a hymn called an can it be taped into the back once you find that please stand and we'll sing together and can it be you you now let us pray our God and our Father we come before you this morning and we acknowledge your glory and your majesty and your excellence we come before you and we confess that you are Father Son and Holy Spirit one glorious God in perfect unity and in Trinity working to save his people from their sins we acknowledge your handiwork in the creation certainly on a beautiful day like this we are drawn out to consider the glorious God who spoke this world into being by the word of his power and the space of six days and all very good we acknowledge as well your handiwork in the government of the nation's we know that you govern all your creatures and all their actions according to your most holy wise and powerful preserving and on the Sabbath day we come in a special way to consider the work of redemption and in this we greatly rejoice Most High God and in this we give you all praise and glory and honor but we know that we do not worship you this morning because of something good in us it's not because we have merited this it's not because we deserve it but it's because you and your sovereignty and in your grace and in your goodness you have saved us you have brought us ninth through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and we acknowledge your greatness in this we acknowledge that you are infinite eternal and unchangeable you're being wisdom power holiness justice goodness and truth and we acknowledge your greatness in the works that we have described we would pray that today as we gather you would cause us to think your thoughts after you caused us to worship you in spirit and in truth may we come into this place out of the world for the express purpose of worshiping the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit and we would ask that you would receive our praise and receive our glory and receive our our honor and our worship again not because it's in us or not because it's good but because of our great high priest even the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for his mission in this world we thank you that he came to live in obedience to the father's Law he came to die as a sacrifice and as a substitute upon that cross he rose again the third day and we praise you for his current session at your right hand and we do look forward to that day when he will come again in glory to judge the living in the dead and in light of that God we pray that all here this morning all here connected to this local church would be prepared for that day that through the preaching of the gospel and the power of your Holy Spirit you would indeed bring forth sinners in the exercise of your sovereign will she would cause them to recognize and to see their own depravity before a holy God and the justness of your punishment to those who have transgressed your laws and may they see as well the glory of the Redeemer the Blessed One the Holy One the Lord Jesus Christ that one the Bible describes is altogether lovely in chief among 10,000 we pray that today would be the day of salvation we pray that today would be the day when men turned from their useless idols to the true and the Living God and that you would be well pleased in this we ask that you would forgive us as we come before you now we consider your holiness and your majesty we see our own sinfulness and our own waywardness as scripture says all we like sheep have gone astray we confess our transgressions of your log on and we confess the fact that we do not do those good things that you call us to do and we would plead even now the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ how we thank you that you made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him so God even now cleanse us from all sin and all filth and all ungodliness cause us to receive with Thanksgiving your word and cause us to worship you in spirit and in truth and look with favor upon any and all who have come here this morning who have not tasted and seen that the Lord is good we pray that today their eyes would be open that their hearts would be open that they would receive the Word of God most high that they would know of a truth that Christ Jesus came into this world sinners to save we ask the you look with favor upon this congregation in terms of the persons that that suffer physically we have many people with chronic illness and we just commit them to you into the word of your grace and pray that you'd uphold each and every one and cause them to be encouraged even though the outer man decays day by day may the inner man be renewed and may they be more conformed unto the image of the Lord Jesus and may they be able to confess the goodness of our God even in trial and in calamity we asked you'd be with the ladies in our church that are pregnant we thank you for your goodness in your kindness and we know that children are a gift from you we pray for each mother and for each little one that they would be healthy that they would be strong that one day these little ones would not only be born physically but they would be born again spiritually and our Father we do rejoice and your goodness expressed in these past few days to Daniel and Ellie we give you praise and glory and adoration God for causing this little one to be born healthy and strong we would ask the Blessed Ellie bless Gracie watch over them and strengthen them and cause them Lord God to just continue to bond we pray that one day this little one would confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior we pray for the preaching of the gospel throughout the earth we thank you that we're not alone in this world but we are a small part of a much larger whole and we would ask that every pulpit today would proclaim the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ we pray for churches here in chilliwack that you would prosper them and she would bless them that you would use those ministers to set forth Christ and him crucified we pray for the persecuted Church that you would look with mercy in favor upon those who suffer under godless regimes politically and religiously we ask that you would just surround your people with protection and caused them to shine as lights and these crooked and perverse places and may they indeed hold forth the word of truth we ask God that you would continue with us now and bless and strengthen each and every one of us and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well you may turn again in your Trinity hmmm Knoll to number three hundred and sixty-nine 369 will stand as we sing together you you you please be seated you may turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 7 for our scripture reading this morning Matthew chapter 7 continuing in the Sermon on the Mount beginning in chapter 7 at verse 1 Jesus says judge not that you be not judged for with what judgment you judge you will be judged and with the measure you use it will be measured back to you or why you look at the speck in your brother's eye but do not consider the plank in your own eye or how can you say to your brother let me remove the speck from your eye and look a plank is in your own eye hypocrite first remove the plank from your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye do not give what is holy to the dogs nor cast your pearls before swine lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces or tear you in pieces ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and it will be open to you for everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds and to him who knocks it will be opened or what man is there among you who if his son asks for bread will give him a stone or if he asks for a fish will he give him a serpent if you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him therefore whatever you want men to do to you do also to them for this is the law and the prophets amen just a couple of observations in the first place I think chapter 7 verse 1 is a very misunderstood Bible verse in fact you hear it oftentimes spoken by non-christians in a condemn natori way against Christians a Christian might condemn something like homosexuality or abortion or or euthanasia or something like and then we hear this refrain from outside the church telling us not to be judgmental judge not Jesus says that you be not judged it is intriguing that Jesus does tell his disciples just following this such at that they are to judge notice in verse 6 do not give what is holy to the dogs nor cast your pearls before swine it's a judgment call to determine who's a dog and who's a swine lest we violate our Lord's word so whatever Jesus means in this judge not that you be not judged he doesn't mean that you're never supposed to judge this same Lord Jesus teaches in Matthew 18 judgment via church discipline if a brother sins and he doesn't repent and he continues in benetton then we ultimately treat him as a tax collector and a heathen that's a form of judgment the Lord's point in this first section in chapter 7 is do not judge on righteously judge according to God's standard and judge from a position where you're not a hypocrite that's the whole point about trying to gather the speck out of somebody's eye when you've got a beam hanging out of your own Jesus says first take care of the beam take care of the plank make sure you fish that thing out before you start going after specs and other people's eyes but what's the implication if the beam is gone and you're not being hypocritical and you come to a brother or a sister and you say brother or sister that's not right what you're doing do not rejoin to them well you can't judge me no of course we can that's the whole point of the church we come to one another to encourage and exhort one another and to help one another to try and take specs out of one another's eyes and then Jesus presents this blessed statement in verses seven and following ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and it will be open to you now again Jesus is not there promising you you know gold and silver and cars and houses these are all things consistent with the will of God we learn what the will of God is from the word of God and so when we come to God praying his word back to him we have a certain confidence that the Lord most high will indeed answer and he gives that as an illustration he says in verse 9 or what man is there among you who if his son asks for bread will give him a stone I mean that's just unfathomable isn't it I know might be a little joke once in a while but that's not how you operate with your son if he asks for bread you don't give him a stone or if he asks you for a fish you don't give him a serpent and then note Jesus deduction here if you then being evil love to give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask brethren with reference to the Spirit of God present at our corporate meetings and present in your own private life ask seek and knock according to our Lord the father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and then Jesus summarizes this portion of the sermon in verse 12 therefore whatever you want men to do to you do also to them for this is the law and the prophets this is the golden rule it does summarize the teaching of God's Word it's a good pattern for us all to a dot treat others the way that you want them to treat you don't treat others the way you don't want them to treat you this is something that we must consciously consider and it's not something that we must put into practice our homes ought not to be places of chaos our churches ought not to be places of chaos but rather they ought to be places where we are preferring others above ourselves and treating them in a manner that is consistent with God's holy law will let us pray our Father we thank you for the sufficiency of Scripture and for what it speaks to us concerning church life individual life family life society life it does speak to all areas of practice and faith and we give you praise and glory and adoration for this and our father this morning we want to remember in a particular manner Ryan and Esther we thank you for their time with us at this church and we pray she would smile upon them that you would bless this decision to move we pray that they would find a good church that they would find fellowship and an encouragement for their souls and they would find strength from the Word of God bless this family richly continue with them and watch over them and protect them and we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well for our final hem we can turn to number five hundred and eighty five hundred and eighty will stand as we sing together you you we could turn in your Bibles to proverbs chapter 28 proverbs chapter 28 since we finished Matthew 22 last week and Chris Santiago will be preaching next week I thought we'd take a couple weeks from our studies in Matthew this morning look at proverbs 28 verse 13 proverbs 2813 he who covers his sins will not prosper but whoever confesses and forsake them will have mercy let us pray our Father we thank you for this packed statement and we pray that you would help us now to consider it and all of its beauty and glory help us to understand these things God and to that end we pray for the Ministry of your spirit we thank you for the Holy Spirit we thank you Lord Jesus that you've left us as orphans in this world that you've given another comforter we pray that he would comfort and courage and strengthen us even now as he teaches us truth we ask that you would forgive us for all of our sins and everything that darkens our understanding cleanse us a fresh and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and help us to receive these things and we pray through Christ Jesus our Lord amen well I want to jump right into this particular text and I think it breaks down for us into two particular Zin the first place there is a problem addressed and secondly there is a solution offered or given note the problem addressed he who covers his sins will not prosper and then the solution given is found at the end of verse 13 but whoever confesses and for sakes them will have mercy so let's look first at the problem addressed under four considerations the first is the assumptions in the text the assumptions in detect Solomon the author under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit assumes at least two things here he assumes in the first place that people sin the Bible assumes and demonstrates everywhere that people sin notice he who covers his sins the Assumption being that person sent and I think that as we consider scripture we see that presented from Genesis to Revelation and it would certainly fill in our sermon to just look at passages that deal with what men of call total depravity or and or total inability the idea that man's sins you might hear that phrase applied to sin in Reformed churches we call it total depravity and persons hear that and they say wait a minute I'm not as bad as I could possibly be that's not what total depravity teaches it does not teach that man is as bad as man could possibly be but rather it teaches that every part power and faculty of man's nature is corrupt in fact all of man is affected by the fall in Adam's sin is something that is a part of our nature sin is something that not only we do but sin is something that we are and as I said the scripture demonstrates this in several places we'll just look at a few specimen passages just to establish this reality that all men sinned in Genesis chapter 6 if you don't get the time to turn to all of these you can email me later and I'll send you the notes so you can look at these particular texts in their context in more detail at your own leisure but in Genesis 6 we know the particular instance it is prior to the flood after the fall of man into sin we see not only Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve are Adam plunges the race and descent but right on the heels of that in Genesis chapter for Cain murders able well it doesn't take time take long for that depravity to spread throughout the earth and in Genesis 65 we read then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually it's pretty terrible description and it does help us to understand why the flaw god made man up right according to Ecclesiastes 729 but they have sought out many devices and as we read prior to the flood the earth was exceedingly corrupt and filled with violence why because man sins and man is a sinner it's his very nature and then in Genesis chapter 8 at verse 21 again just a few specimen passages as we look at this first assumption that man sins Genesis 821 the Lord smelled the soothing aroma then the Lord said in his heart I will never again curse the ground for man's sake although the imagination of man's heart is evil is evil from his youth I mean that's a terrible description of man that's what we are by nature turn over to the Book of Psalms Psalm 51 David is tracing back his native depravity and he traces it all the way back to the womb and in Psalm 51 very specifically in verse 5 he says behold I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me and I don't get David wrong David's not saying the act of conception was sin David is saying that at the moment of conception as soon as David was David was a sinner that's something we inherit from Adam we have that nature and because we have that nature we engage in the actual practice of sin it is like sport to us as the proverb say it is like drinking water notice Jesus assumption in the very passage that we read in Matthew 7 he says in verse 11 if you then being evil love to give good gifts to your children well why would Jesus say that because he understood the doctrine of total depravity he understood the reality that we said all men all women all boys all girls everywhere those in Adam sinned even those in Christ we may have remaining sent it's something that we continue to do and in case you are a little perplexed at what David says here tracing his depravity back to the womb look at what he says in 58 3 Psalm 58 verse 3 the wicked are estranged from the womb they go astray as soon as they are born speaking lies you see the Bible doesn't have this idea that all persons or delicate little snowflakes and individually perfect and beautiful and wondrous no they go estranged from the womb speaking lies as soon as they are born just listening to dr. Davis last night a sermon that he preached and he cited that that statement from Luther that I myself have cited in this pulpit where Luther heard that persons were being called Lutheran's and Luther said something to the effect why would anybody want to identify with me a miserable stinking bag of maggots I mean that's a very vivid description isn't it by dr. Martin Luther well in many respects it doesn't go far enough maggots don't sin maggots are disgusting and maggots are something you want to keep far from your home and maggots are certainly things that you don't want in your kitchen but they're not sinful maggots do what maggots were created to do in other words a stinking bag of maggots has something more commendatory about it then sinners because we have violated the law of God we have raised our fist to him we have resisted his ways we have resisted his will we have resisted as mind the doctrine of total depravity Ephesians 2 vs. 1 2 3 the Apostle Paul sets up a contrast what we were prior to Christ and what by God's grace we have become and in Ephesians 2 1 he says in you who are dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world according to the Prince of the power of the air the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and we're by nature children of Wrath just as the others in other words we were lifeless helpless and hopeless because of so going back to our statement or going back to our proverb in chapter 28 13 solomon assumes that men sin and that's a right assumption as we've seen from genesis all the way to the book of Revelation we see that man sins but Solomon makes another assumption Solomon assumes that people will try to cover their sin they will try to cover their sin the covering in view is to conceal it in fact many of your translations has that he who conceals his sins or he conceals his transgressions will not prosper cover is another legitimate translation some translations out there have hide he who hides his transgression now it's legitimate according to proverbs 1012 for us to hide the sin of our brethren it is legitimate according to proverbs 1012 to overlook their sin or to conceal their sin or to hide their sin or to let love cover a multitude of sins done against us but it is wrong for us to try and cover our sin notice when it comes to this whole idea of covering sin people do this during the act of sin don't they you ever noticed that when you sin you don't typically call people and tell them to watch you have you noticed that hey come on over i'm going to yell at my wife be there at eight-thirty because i'm going to scream at my children be in my workshop oh say 1120 because if I whack my thumb i'm going to let fly all manner of horrible words we typically hide the act of sin we don't say a common see me sin fact there's an illustration of this in proverbs chapter 7 proverbs chapter 7 there is a woman an adulteress that is trying to entice a young man and it's intriguing when this takes place proverbs 764 at the window of my house I looked through my lattice and I saw among the simple i perceived among the youths a young man deployed of understanding passing along the street near her corner and he took the path to her house I mean that is absolutely insane young man if you ever read proverbs seven take a hint do not pass along the street near her corner and certainly do not take the path to her house but note when the young man is doing this according to verse nine in the Twilight in the evening in the black and dark of night why because he doesn't want to be seen he is trying to cover conceal or hide his transgression in the act of it this is typical this is the way that we operate this is the way that we function a man or a woman who's addicted to internet porn doesn't do it right in front of their family members they wait till people go to bed or they wait till they're gone they wait till they're alone they wait till they have a situation described in the Twilight in the evening in the black and the dark night they don't call party's over of persons to celebrate their iniquity or their sin he who covers hides conceals his sin will not prosper certainly it is done in the act but it's also done in the aftermath and I believe that's what Solomon is addressing in this particular test the after math of sin in other words seen is accomplished sin is done what do we do with it we try to hide it we try to conceal it we try to get rid of it no consider secondly a few biblical examples of this very practice you look at the garden in the eye and the Garden of Eden without him and Eve what did they do after they ate that forbidden fruit their eyes were opened they knew good and evil they proceed now that they were naked so what do they do they try to hide they try to conceal they try to cover their sin they so these fig leaf color of fig leaf coverings together to hide themselves and then one step further they go and hide themselves among the trees look at the folly involved in that the God who made the trees the God who made them the God who knows absolutely sovereign really all things they're trying to hide from him why because they were sinful they cover it they conceal it they try to deal with it in a way that is ungodly consider the occasion of akin remember there was sin in the camp of Israel God the LORD commanded the Israelites to go and destroy a I what happens they go and they lose I mean this should have been a no-brainer this should have been the occasion of a 240-pound rip chiseled man fighting a 90-pound weakling it should have been absolute devastation and decimation and yet Israel goes and they lose in battle and Joshua's agonizing before the Lord and God says get up in the morning we're going to deal with this and he says specifically there is sin in the camp and then Joshua is able to isolate it down to Aiken what is akin say I saw it and I coveted it and I took it and I hid it in my tent now his family would have been party to that and that's why they join him in the punishment that is inflicted he's trying to hide the fact that he was a sinful man consider King David of Israel when kings go out to battle and David should have been with them he goes up on his roof and he sees Bathsheba and he calls for her to come to him and he lay with her and he impregnates her and instead of confessing and instead of forsaking what does he do he tries to hide it he tries to conceal it he tries to cover it the way that he does that is by compounding the sin you see what this passage teaches us is what Bridges says both God and man cover sin God and free unbounded grace and mercy but man in shape and in hypocrisy and that is precisely what David does in second samuel 11 instead of being out with it instead of confessing and forsaking it at the time he calls for Joab to take a letter T calls for Uriah rather to come back from battle with the intent and the hope and the desire that Uriah will lay with his wife such that when she's found out to be pregnant they can look at the gestation chart and say well it happened when your aya was back on military leave you see David didn't bargain for the fact that Uriah was a man of integrity Uriah reckoned the way the king should have reckoned and Uriah said how can I go into my wife how can I drink alcohol when my my fellow soldiers are out in the battlefield well this just won't do so david has to continue to up the ante to try to hide his sin to cover it to conceal it so he sign or writes a letter for Joab puts it in the hand of Uriah and tells him to take it to Joab do you ever wonder if you riah looked at that letter I believe I would have I I don't know if somebody gave me I shouldn't say that if you give me something in confidence i like to think I wouldn't imagine that the depressed though or the rub of the pressure to read this note and it's his own death warrant he gives the letter over to Joab and Joab reads it it says put your eye on the front part of battle so he dies what's David doing he's covering he's hiding he's concealing his sin what about Saul prior to David 2nd or 1st Samuel 15 God gave us all a very specific command concerning the Amalekites he says I want you to utterly destroy the Amalekites I want you to kill everything that lives and breathes and has its being in a Malay I want you to kill a gag the king of the Amalekites I want you to destroy their lives I want you to kill everything so what happened Saul returns from battle Samuels asks him how'd it go he says it went perfectly splendidly beautifully and Samuel says well why am i hearing these lowing of the the oxen why am i hearing the bleeding of the sheep the sheep and those oxen were testifying the soul was a rebellious wretch who didn't go and utterly destroy everything so what us all do he blames the people of Israel he covered he hides he conceals his sin consider one New Testament example in the case of Anna is and sapphira God's not a communist God doesn't tell you to give everything you own to the church but if you say you're giving everything you own to the church and then you keep back some you have engaged in hypocrisy you have engaged in deception you have lied and so the Lord God strikes dead Ananias and Sapphira their crime they've lied to the Holy Spirit they tried to cover they tried to hide they tried to conceal their sins so we see the assumptions in the text we see some biblical examples fleshing out the covering of the aftermath of sin what are some means by which sinners do this how do man cover sin again I hope all of us at the end of this sermon are going to say i want my sins covered in the blood of jesus that's the only means whereby sin is covered I want my sins hidden under that fount which is open for sin and uncleanness I want to be washed and purified I want to be justified and sanctified I want to be heaven bound because of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that is a legitimate means of cover of concealment of hiding of getting rid of sin how do sinners attempt to do this without recourse to our Lord Jesus Christ there are several ways and this is just suggestive and a few things that we ought to tease out in the first place they deny it it just flat out deny sin don't they if you don't know this you're not talking to the right people or you're not reflecting upon your own heart outside of Jesus consider proverbs 30 in verse 20 this is the way of an adulterous woman she eats and wipes her mouth and says i have done no wickedness are you kidding me you're an adulterous woman are you kidding me you have compromised the Covenant that God has placed you in how in the world could you wipe your mouth and act like this is just an ordinary course of events Charles Bridges says he would cover it if possible from himself putting it out of my denial getting rid of it banishing all serious thoughts stifling conviction and then trying to persuade himself that he is happy that's why I encourage you if you're not a believer here this morning continue to come to church continue to be exposed to Scripture continue to feel the guilt and the sting of conscience because of your sin and rebellion against God you heard that before I don't want to be around those Christians all they ever do is you know pedal guilt you know a bit of healthy guilt and the soul of a man makes a man a secret after the grace of god please don't absent from scriptures which tell you things you need to hear which rightly describes the condition of your heart the denial of sins committed a second means by which men cover sin is to minimize the gravity of it to minimize the gravity of it again maybe this doesn't describe you but I think somewhere in this you can be found you either deny it or you minimize the gravity of sin the one who covers in this manner engages in redefinition adultery is playing around telling lies our only little white lies right 3 definition its holiness through redefinition I'm not so bad as you may suggest because after all I'm married to a wretch of a woman or a wretch of a husband you know persons in my shoes would have committed adultery a long time ago or they engage in rationalization well the government steals from me constantly so they deserve it when I cheat on my taxes has God prescribed such thought processes to us has God given us such license to rationalize sin has God said well I know you've had a pretty tumultuous time over those last period of time so you go ahead and indulge your lusts for a period or for now not to minimize the gravity if sin every sin is an offense against all odd the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks the question what does every sin deserve the answer is very precise every sin deserves God's wrath and curse both in this life and that which is to come I mean imagine hearing that published abroad how many things do we just assume Jerry bridges prior to his death wrote a book called respectable sins this happens in the church as long as we're not smoking crack as long as we're not engaged in prostitution as long as we're not out robbing banks you know we don't care one whit about slander or about gossip or about hypocrisy or about a self righteousness or those sorts of respectable sins that we have taken into our bosom and made our own we're not to minimize the gravity of sin in the third place there is this attempt to shift the blame now all of you who are parents have probably undergone this in your own homes it wasn't me it's never anybody right it wasn't me was it me you see there's pattern of shift blaming in the very beginning what does Adam do when God comes to him in fact when God says where are you Adam do you think God's looking for information God's not looking for information the question is for Adam it's like when we know what our kids have done and we say to them what have you done is that really because we're trying to ascertain the situation we want them to feel miserable no we're good parents we don't ever do that yeah maybe a little bit what have you done this is what God does with reference to Adam and who does Adam blame now the basic response is his wife he does but he first blames god imagine that the first man has the audacity to blame God you know we're just like the first man if we can blame God to get out of culpability to cover to conceal or to hide then we will do it right adam has the gall to say to god the woman you gave me what's the implication God everything was fine well I was naming dogs and sheep and cows it was everything was great until she came on the scene and your bidding God that these terrible things have happened and then he blames her the man was made to protect his wife and now he's pulled her up and he's trying to make her a shield to deflect the Vengeance of God truly reprehensible to shift the blame in that manner so means to cover to hide to conceal San Saul does this is have already sad for Samuel 52 people did this doesn't Erin do this in Exodus 32 Moses comes down from the mount and what are the people doing their celebrating their dancing they're engaged in revelry before this golden calf and what does Aaron do when he's pressed Aaron said well you you know the people that just kind of like this it's just got a hankering in their hearts to go after calves he blames the people and then he blames chance I don't know how else to describe it he says they gave me all their gold all there any earrings I threw it into the furnace in and out came this golden calf it's bizarre isn't it but we do that children do that only to pick on Jill I don't know what happened i was just playing with what you told me not to play with and it broke I don't know that's because you played with something you were told not to play with and you dropped it that's why it broke it wasn't chance it wasn't fortuitous it wasn't some haphazard event if you hadn't touched it it wouldn't have broke but we want to blame everybody and everything it's never our problem our culture has created this and is fostered in it are not created it was created by Adam but it's been fostered and nurtured and taken to new levels in our society nobody is responsible for their wickedness nobody is accountable to God well it's the way the Lord made me to want to be a sodomite it's the way God made me and make me a man trapped in a woman's body it's the way God or society is made me way my dad or my mother now there's certainly influences upon persons that I do not dismiss brethren it is an attempt to cover to conceal to hide see it just own it confess it for sake and find mercy another means by which persons will hide santis to attempt to cover them by good deeds he said let seems paradoxical yes but i think it is true go back 27 14 in the book of Proverbs it's intriguing to me this woman is enticing this young man this woman is married she is an adulteress notice in 7-10 and there a woman met him with the entire of the harlot and a crafty heart she was loud and rebellious her feet would not stay at home at time she was outside at times in the open square lurking at every corner so she caught him and kissed him with an imputed face she said to him notice verse 14 I have peace offerings with me today I have paid my vows now some commentators take this this way when the worshiper offered the peace offering a bulk of it or the the fat of it was given to the the pre so that they could eat well if it was returned to the worshiper so that they could eat it at home she could be trying to entice him I have these peace offerings I've got meat what better way to entice a young man their own sexuality and me I mean this man is just going to go off to his destruction like a burden of trap as what Solomon tells us but just think about this a little bit further she was at worship that warning she went to the temple she took her animals she received back her portion from the peace offerings she had the guise of religion if you saw her on that morning you wouldn't conclude she's an adulteress you saw her on that morning he wouldn't conclude that wow she's going to go have illicit relations with a young man that she's corrupting sometimes sinners busy themselves doing good things to try and I'd to try and cover and to try and conceal sin I think Israel's guilty of this in my eye Micah 6 you can turn their micah chapter 6 again just teasing out some of the ways that men women boys and girls will try and attempt to hide sin Micah 66 after they are reproved by the prophet and condemned for their sin against God notice in verse 6 with what shall i come before Yahweh and by myself before the High God shall i come before and with burnt offerings with calves a year old but will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams ten thousand rivers of oil shall I give my firstborn for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul it's what they're saying is if God so angry with us should we just multiply our sacrifices if God so upset with us can we can we just add to what we offer if God so upset can we we give a child out of our own family to try and appease him I mean in this they sound like Moloch worshiping wretches you see the idea if I do enough good things I can hide I can conceal I can cover my sin consider those two men who went to pray and Luke's Gospel in Luke 18 the one man state stands and praised us with himself I thank you Lord but I'm not like other men I thank you that I'm such an awesome human being I thank you that I'm such a respectable person I thank you that i tithe I thank you that I fast I thank you that I'm not like other men it's to hide its to conceal its to cover I wonder how many persons that profess saving faith are in their sins and yet busy themselves with these sorts of deeds so to hide to conceal and to cover their own sin and then the final way that sinners do this is to completely abandon all thought whatsoever of sin forget it I'm not even going to try anymore Hebrews 6 Hebrews 10 describes apostasy again a reason why you ought to be under the means do not let it get to the point where you throw off these things so back in Proverbs 28 we've seen the assumptions in our text the biblical examples in or that illustrate the tax the means and buoyed by centers to cover and the final thing we ought to observe with reference to the problem is the cursive result he who covers his sins will not prosper you may be here this morning covering hiding or concealing sin listen to Solomon you're not going to prosper it's just not going to happen you know there are those out in this world that are idolaters they worship their money or they worship their their success and they worship themselves and they worship women and they worship man or they worship who knows what and they have this outward appearance of happiness the Bible tells us otherwise in Proverbs specifically in proverbs chapter 13 at verse 50 it tells us the way of the unfaithful is hard young people listen to proverbs 13 the way of the unfaithful is hard do you know why your parents preach the gospel to you you know why they slap you to church every lord's day hopefully morning and evening so you're under the means it's because they understand the ramifications of proverbs 13 15 the way of the unfaithful is hard it's not good it's not happy it's not soft you see whoever covers his transgressions will not prosper his way will be hard it will be it will be embedded with thorns and thistles and difficulties what does Jesus teach us in John's Gospel in chapter 8 tells us whoever commits sin is what he's a slave of sin but if I saw some slave getting beaten by the by the the whip and he had a big smile on his face I wouldn't necessarily conclude that he's a happy man yet that's the way that we operate and then the vivid illustration of this principle in this age we're talking about this age right now we're not about the age to come in just a moment should I prosper in this age have you ever seen somebody use drugs you don't have to nod you don't have to say yes or you know maybe you didn't maybe you haven't seen that maybe haven't been exposed to persons who begin to bow at an idle and at first they have control over the idol and it first everything is good for them at least as far as they think they bow to whatever it is whatever drug or it could be alcohol that these sacks could be money could be whatever they start out small they don't give themselves totally and fully and their allegiance to this thing right off the bat but if you see them a while later what do they look like you see the effects of the idol all over them in the case of drugs it does leave a physical effect teeth have holes in them they've got bags they've got all sorts of health problems and issues this is not good they're not prospering they're not thriving they're not flourishing they're not in a good place but the text also indicates he'll hbu covers his transgressions will not prosper in the age to come see there is a world beyond this world there is a heaven to be won by the grace of God or or a hell to be punished in for a rebellion against him Matthew 10 verse 28 our Lord Jesus says and do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul but rather fear Him who has the ability the power and the authority to kill both body and soul in hell about revelation 21 verse 8 it describes those who are in the lake of fire these are persons who sought to cover their sins whether it be idolatry whether it be sexual immorality whether it be lying whether it be whatever manner of sin and depravity they've engaged it you see the point is with reference to the problem addressed in this text if you are not a believer if you are not in Jesus Christ your problem is a lot more severe than you've ever bargained for your problem is massive your problem is huge children and young people if you're not believers that's why your parents pray for you that's why your parents hold your hands and push you push you physically but want to press you to the Lord Jesus that's why you get the nudges in church so you'll pay attention because your problem is massive it's huge it's got major ramifications notice Solomon doesn't leave just with the problem but he provides the solution notice first the exercise of faith he who covers his sins will not prosper but it's not beautiful there's a but their butts in the Bible are good find a cap reddit reading Ephesians 24 but God ephesians 2 1 2 3 describes us as life less helpless hopeless but God who is rich in mercy you see we could just end here and be of all persons the most depressed and the most discouraged Butler told us about our problem and it sounds miserable my way in this life is going to be hard my way and the life to come is going to be judgment hellfire burning everlasting destruction the terrible view isn't it there's a blood of the text pot he says whoever confesses I think this has reference to faith in Jesus Christ this is not confession to a Roman Catholic priests this is not just some therapeutic exercise go sit somewhere and chant off your scent no it is to lay hold of the mercy offered in Christ it is to lay the hand on the scapegoat it is to confess the sin it is to realize that there is a God in heaven who will most certainly punished transgression but who is sent one to save sinners from their sins whoever confesses see this is the means this is the hope this is the solution don't hang on to it don't continue to cover conceal and hide but confess it to God lay hold of Christ believe on him vomit it out you know sometimes after getting sick the best thing to do is to vomit isn't it just to get it out you feel better after that may sound sick and disgusting and you don't want to air about vomit before lunch but you know what deal with it for just a moment you come to the throw one of grace and what is one of the best things about that throne we get to vomit out our sins and see them covered in the blood that's beautiful this is siding with God this is casting oneself upon the mercy of God listen two bridges commenting on whoever confesses he says God needs not confession for his own information but he demands it for our good it brings no claim on his mercy but it is a means for the reception of it Christ has fully satisfied the claims of divine justice and this confession of sin acknowledges Christ dill likewise and though it is known unto him the sin unto God Yeti requires an acknowledgment of it which should be done from the heart with an abhorrent abhorrence of the sin and in the faith of Christ as a sacrifice for it it's beautiful isn't it he who covers his sins will not prosper box that's a but you can hang your soul on but you can bank your soul on your life on whoever confesses lay your hand on Jesus believe in him look to the one in whom alone there is forgiveness to be had isn't this precisely what happened with David you see I sketched previously David's in not only the adultery with Bathsheba let the murder of Uriah to cover it in chapter 12 Nathan the Prophet is dispatched by God most high and Nathan tells David this story about a man who had a little ewe lamb and another rich man comes and takes that you lamb away from him and David is incensed David is upset David is angry and Nathan says how art the man talk about a crushing sermon talk about being laid low Nathan's upset about this story and it turns out the story illustrates his practice God says I gave you everything David I gave you houses I gave you this I gave you that and God says if it wasn't enough I would have given you more why does David do at this point he doesn't cover he doesn't conceal he doesn't I'd he confesses and his confession is brief but gorda beautiful he says I have sinned against the Lord now be honest do you think David got off light sometimes we can be tempted that way can't we are that's a yes to do say I've sinned against the Lord he receives forgiveness yes because he laid his hand upon the sacrifice yes because he trusted in the one alone who is able to forgive it's what he writes about in psalm 32 vs 1 & 2 remember we read that all about 40 minutes ago way back when how blessed is the man how blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute transgression one to whom the Lord forgives he says in verses four and five when I kept silent might my bones hurt you see did if you were looking at David in that interim period between the time that he actually committed adultery the time that he actually committed murder and the time that he was reproved by the Prophet there was probably a series of months there if you looked at David you would have thought wow successful King military leader savvy that is admired by all the pagan Kings around it but he's miserable inside the way of the unfaithful is hard his bones hurt he was in turmoil he was in agony but back to his confession it's simple its sublime all he says is I have sinned against the Lord there's a German Bible called the burl Berg I probably butchering anytime I say German words I feel the the press that I'm getting it wrong but this written in 17 26 to 29 it wasn't written obviously the Bible was there but they put this Bible together a German Study Bible essentially and it deals with the simplicity of David's confession watch it before you say well you know that's it David did horrendous things they have to go out and feel bad for a while before God forgives him do you have to go out and be nice tcats for a while before God forgives it do you have to go out and do some community service first before God forgives him I mean he did horrible things and all he says is I have sinned against the Lord and Nathan assures him that the Lord will cover his sin listen to the burl berg says the words are very few just as in the case of the publican in the Gospel of Luke remember God be merciful to me the sinner he says but that or they say but that is a good sign of a thoroughly broken spirit there is no excuse no cloaking no palliation of the sin there is no searching for a loophole no pre-tax put forward no human weakness pleaded he acknowledges is guilt openly candidly and without prevarication in other words he's not trying to be evasive in that one brief statement I have sinned against Yahweh he is acknowledging God's just judgment of him and he is acknowledging God just provision of the mediator Jesus Christ this is confession it's not just going through the therapy of getting rid of the vomit it's to lay hold of Christ it is to believe the gospel it is to understand what second Corinthians 5 21 means it is to understand first John one night that if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness brethren have we forgotten how wonderful forgiveness is have we forgotten how wonderful text like these are I think Davis is right our public worship we go through the motions we acknowledge these things we sing them to be sure but the to do our souls have they lost their goose bumps brethren this experience of God's mercy and God's grace ought to promote in us a joy when we sing something like my sin oh the bliss of this glorious thought my sin not in part but the hole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more praise the Lord O my soul that's what David found that's why David rehearsed this in the Psalms that's why we have chapped psalm 32 when he talks about us shouting for joy and rejoicing why because God has imputed the righteousness of Christ God has forgiven your sins it's beautiful blessed and wonderful notice what follows the exercise of faith but whoever confesses and for sakes you know from your theology you know from your confession to faith you know from the Bible that faith and repentance or two sides to the same coin faith and repentance always go together it is a penitential faith it is a believing repentance and when the man the woman the boy of the girl confesses that sent laying hold of the mercy offered in Jesus Christ there is a forsaking of it they don't continue in it Jesus will save his people from their sins Matthew 121 we're to pursue holiness without which no one will see the Lord Hebrews chapter 12 those are just things we must know you believe the gospel you repent of your sin you marry the bride Christ you leave off the harlots in it is that simple it is that evident it is that obvious listen to bridges he says penitent faith confesses in the act of laying the hand upon the great sacrifice and hence draws strength of purpose to forsake all that has been here confessed for while the hypocrite confesses without forsaking the hearty forsaking is here the best proof of the sincere confessing in other words the repentance the forsaking of the sin manifests the reality that it's been confessed that we've laid hold on the mercy offered in Christ and that by God's grace we have been brought out of darkness into marvelous light so you see he says whoever covers his transgressions will not prosper we saw the various things involved in the problem and the very curse and result he will not prosper in this age or in the age to come we see the same sort of thing here but whoever confesses and for sakes there's a blasted result isn't there cursive result in the first half he will not prosper bless and result in the latter half but he will find mercy he will have mercy both in this age and in the age to come you confess you lay hold of Christ you believe by God's grace you repent by God's grace make no mistake about it you are absolutely dependent upon the grace of God faith and repentance or gifts given by god they are gift given by God not want ought to humble you it ought to lay you low it ought to put you at the mercy of God which is the very best place to be it is the most excellent place to be at the mercy of one who is most merciful but notice as I've already mentioned when we have that mercy will have the ability to identify with blessed passages of Scripture if our hearts aren't jumping out from texts like these we need to reassess our lives our position of the world if you can read Psalm 130 verses 3 and 4 and not be delighted or have that goose those goose bumps on your soul what does the psalmist say there if you Lord should mark iniquities O Lord who could stand it's terrifying thought isn't it if you Lord should mark iniquities O Lord who could stand that is a terrifying thought imagine that right now if you're not a believer consider the fact that God if he marked your iniquities not doesn't say that he doesn't know them he knows every cent if he called you to account right now if you Lord should mark iniquities if you Lord should rip the bread thought of a living human being and son in them to stand right before you and give an account for deeds done in the body whether good or evil how to be terrifying wouldn't it yes possibly maybe I'm a believer and it would be terrifying if you Lord should mark iniquities O Lord who could stand let's David saying there's nobody righteous no not one there's nobody perfect nobody out so and nobody that's engaged in that law keeping if you should do this Lord who can stand it goes on he says but there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared brethren do you read that and rejoice do you read the end of the prophet Micah when you see that God goes deep sea fishing with our sins do you rejoice you realize it by the grace of God have confessed I have forsaken and i have found mercy when we sang this morning no condemnation now I dread Jesus with all in him is mine alive in him my living head and clothed in righteousness divine bold I approached the eternal throne and claim the crown through Christ my own you see I submit that mercy received in this age will produce worshipers of God in this age that when we reckon with the reality of Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me when we wander into the public worship of God and we find our hymnbooks or we find our Salters and we're called to stand and praise God we will do so as those with been covered those who have been forgiven those who have been washed and purified we have found mercy from the merciful God in this age what happens in the age to come what happens in the age to come is the exact opposite of those who do not prosper they will suffer at the hands of a thrice holy God we will be blessed infinitely we will blend blast immeasurably we will be in a manuals land and we will see the one who died for us we will see the one who rose for us we will see the one who ever lives for us it's truly truly an amazing text in terms of what it holds out well in conclusion just a quick exploration of the problem the law of God is a great means to help you assess your situation you know there's this idea today where persons thing you know I'm not that bad no you're a lot worse than you can ever imagine again we just sketched a few specimen passages in the scriptures we referred to you know Luther is a miserable stinking bag of maggots and said you know that would be an improvement on our nature the scriptures are clear remember a couple of weeks ago we considered that that statement of that that question posed by the Pharisaic lawyer to Jesus which is the Great Commandment in the law shall love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and mind and the second is like it you shall love your neighbor as yourself the Heidelberg catechism rightly asks how do you know your sin and misery the law of God what does the law of God saying and its sights Matthew 22 do you keep the law of God no by nature I hate God and I hate my neighbor that's what that law will demonstrate to you that's what that rule of life that standard of absolute truth will tell you you've got problems you've got issues you may think everything's great you may be physically attractive you may be prospering at work you may have people who like you and people who say nice things to you and it's easy to get into this mindset that everything is great but you're going to stand before this God one day and right now consider the demands of the law of God that you love him with your heart soul and mind to love your neighbor as yourself how many times do you violate that how many times do you break that in a given day and then consider the reality that instead of dealing with it like a big boy or like a big girl confessing it forsaking it the way God says you cover it you conceal it you hide it you didn't I the fact even caught in the act you just see the picture of the kid you've told them don't eat that chocolate bar they come wandering out and they got a ring a chocolate right around their mouth you said did you eat that chocolate more know what do you do as a parent oh okay I don't want to violate your delicate psyche now you say I don't think so you got chocolate ring right on your mouth you press them they confess finally would it be nice if they said yeah I eat the chocolate please have mercy on me I confess it out for sake and I won't do it again would that be great they're obstinate then I'm not picking on kids I was there too i do the same thing as an adult no i didn't do that you know rain chocolate around my mouth you take the biggest one Jim no I didn't you know we see it with a child and we sort of expected because their child their children but with adults quit hiding seen good playing games we're trying to be something or not don't conceal don't hide don't cover but confess it forsake it and you will find mercy that's the Blessed promise of our text if you confess by the grace of God if you forsake by the grace of God what will you find by the grace of God a storehouse of Mercy for this age and the age to come but before we leave this particular tax this text speaks to believers as well its tax deals with our relationships one to another we've seen a lot of that in the Sermon on the Mount how do we relate to one another well proverbs 2813 feeds that as well man if your wife comes and says you sinned don't hide don't conceal don't you know I don't do it wasn't me did you check the kids I'm sure they get it don't do that Gil makes this wise observation when believers are approved by fellow Christians he should not cover it that is he should own it for not to own it ignore it is to cover it he should not deny it which is to cover it with a lie and is adding sin too soon nor should he justify it as if he had done a right thing not extenuate or excuse it or imputed to others that drew him into it if your brother if your sister if your husband if your wife if your parent if your child comes to you and reproves you for a real sin don't cover it don't conceal it don't hide it confess it forsake it and guess what you'll find mercy this is the way we're supposed to deal with one another in the church I was a knee but that's the way we're supposed to deal with one another faithfully righteously and biblically and I mentioned bridges earlier and I want us to close with this thought he says with reference to proverbs 2813 God and man each cover sin God in free unbounded grace man in shame and hypocrisy facet forsake it and you will find mercy may those words be with you throughout this day and in days to come and may God's Holy Spirit screw them into your conscience and give you the grace to believe and to forsake so that you might have that mercy will let us pray father we do thank you for the word of God and we thank you for your mercy to us and we pray that you would help us to deal faithfully one with another help us to deal righteously one with another and God I pray for any and all who are not believers this morning those who are not Christians don't want to pick on them God we want you to save them we want you to open their hot eyes and hearts to receive the truth the Proverbs 2813 they would stop and cease from hiding and covering and concealing sin they would take it to God Most High they would confess they would forsake and they would find that mercy and may they do so by your grace and for your glory and we ask these things through Christ Jesus our Lord amen we'll have a brief time of meditation that I'll come back up and ask the Lord to bless the food and then we can go upstairs and enjoy some food you you