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Proverbs chapter 28. I'll read 
verse 13, and then we'll pray, and then we'll look at this passage 
in some detail. So Proverbs 28, verse 13. He who covers his sins will not 
prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father 
in heaven, we thank you for this blessed text. We thank you for 
the reality that there is mercy to be had with you, grace to 
be had in and through our Lord Jesus Christ. So we pray now 
for the ministry of the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us 
as we consider this passage, as we consider the lessons given 
by Solomon, and may we receive them with thanksgiving. And God, 
for any and all who have not been forgiven of their sins against 
a holy God, again, we pray that today would be the day of salvation. 
that you would do that work that is impossible with us, that you 
have the sovereign power and ability to change the heart of 
man. God, this is a great encouragement 
to us. And not only that, but it's coupled 
with the reality that you delight to do this, that this is who 
you are. You are a God who abounds in grace and a God who abounds 
in mercy, a God who is love. So Lord, for your glory, do this, 
and for the good of people in this place and throughout this 
world as your gospel goes forth. Again, provide to us the Holy 
Spirit, forgive us for all of our sin, and we ask in the name 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Well, I don't think that anybody 
would discount this proposition. There's a lot going on in the 
world right now. I'm sure that as you look at 
the news, as you look at your life and day-to-day operation, 
there are a whole host of things that demand our attention. There 
is a pandemic. There is a government that is 
engaged in overreach at the time of this pandemic. We have family 
issues. We have economic issues. There's 
illness or difficulty associated with these lockdowns and the 
various things that affect us and tax us. But in the midst 
of that, there is that constant perennial problem of our own 
sin. So while we, perhaps, are sitting 
back watching Western civilization, like a car, drive off of a cliff, 
nevertheless, we have our own issues. We have our own sin. 
We have our own offense against a holy God. And Solomon here 
prescribes the way of remedy. And so I want to look at this 
text under two considerations. First, the identification of 
the problem. And secondly, the provision of 
the remedy. Now, obviously, this is an evangelistic 
text. Sinners should hear that there 
is mercy with God such that they can be forgiven and received 
into his blessed kingdom. But it's also for believers. 
We find ourselves in that position that the hymn writer wrote of. 
We are prone to wander and prone to leave the God that we love. 
And as a result, it presents or produces a chasm between God 
and us. When we're not maintaining short 
accounts with God, when we're not dealing faithfully with our 
fellows, that does not produce a good vitality in the hearts 
of God's people. So it ought to be the case that 
whatever the conditions that obtain out there, with reference 
to our own hearts and our own lives, we would take Solomon 
seriously, that we would keep our own heart with all understanding, 
for out of it spring the issues of life, and that we would heed 
Solomon's instruction on how to deal with sin. So let's look 
first at the identification of the problem. He who covers his 
sins will not prosper. We're gonna spend a little time 
here because it's important for us to feel the weight of the 
problem of sin. In the first place, we note the 
assumptions in the text. People sin, people rebel, people 
transgress, people lack conformity unto God's holy law. And the 
Bible is no stranger to condemning that. The Bible is certainly 
one of the main themes in scripture is not only to tell us who God 
is, but it's also to tell us who we are. And in terms of theology, 
good theology has produced in a simple format an identification 
of the Bible's teaching on sin. It calls it total depravity. 
Now, with reference to total depravity, it doesn't mean that 
we're as bad as we could possibly be. Praise be to God for that. Praise be to God for the first 
use of the law. wherein he restrains his creatures 
from being as bad as they could possibly be. But total depravity 
speaks to the entirety of man. It's not just the hands that 
are affected, but it's the feet, it's the eyes, it's the ears, 
it's the heart, it's the mind. Everything about man is affected 
by sin. In other words, we are totally 
depraved. Again, not as bad as we could 
possibly be, but completely bad relative to who God is and in 
every aspect of our being in life. Now, coupled with total 
depravity is what the Bible sets forth. Again, theology has identified 
it rightly, total inability. In other words, man being dead 
in his trespasses and sins is unable to come to Christ for 
life and salvation. In fact, Jesus underscores that 
in John 6, 44. He says, no one can come to me 
unless the father who sent me draws him and I will raise him 
up. Now, before you think, well, 
that sounds a bit discouraging. If it's the case that I can't 
come, then there's no hope for me. The blessed reality is that 
God works in hearts. The blessed reality is that God 
takes out the old stony heart and puts in new fleshly hearts 
and puts the graces of faith and repentance such that sinners 
can, in fact, close with Christ. So the Bible highlights sin. The Bible tells us depravity. 
The Bible teaches us inability on the part of the creature to 
mend the breach with God. But as well, the Bible tells 
us that sinners try to cover their own sin, and that's the 
emphasis in the text. Solomon says, he who covers his 
sins. And this idea of covering sin 
oftentimes exacerbates it, compounds it, and makes it a thousand times 
more difficult. When I was in the U.S. military, 
if you broke equipment and you told them you broke equipment, 
nothing happened to you. But if you broke equipment and 
then lied about it or tried to hide it, eventually they would 
catch you. And then you'd have to pay for 
the equipment at a minimum, and perhaps you might have to go 
to jail. So the reality of the text is simple. He who covers 
his sins will not prosper. More on that in a moment. But 
the reality is that man sins, and then man tries to cover that 
sin, and that's what the text speaks to. Now, the problem isn't 
covering other people's sins. Notice in Proverbs 10 20. Proverbs 
10 20. I'm sorry, 10 12. Hatred stirs up strife, but love 
covers all sins. Now understand, that's a comparative 
statement. Love covers all sins. That doesn't 
mean if your wife commits murder, you don't report her. Well, you 
know, I'm just going to let love cover that. But if your wife 
burns the dinner, let love cover it. If your husband doesn't clean 
up the garage, let love cover it. If you find in your husband's 
garage evidence that he's a serial killer, then report him. But 
the principle is simple. When it comes to other people, 
we exercise a great deal of charity, a great deal of love, a great 
deal of long-suffering, a great deal of patience toward our fellows. 
But when it comes to our sin, when we get in the habit of trying 
to cover it up in a way not authorized by God Most High, we're not going 
to prosper. We're not going to go forward, 
there's not going to be any benefit in our lives. So we have the 
assumptions in the text, the fact that people sin and the 
fact that people try and cover sin. Secondly, we have biblical 
examples of the text. Turn back to Genesis chapter 
3. Genesis chapter 3, as we rehearse 
these various attempts to cover sin. Genesis chapter three, you 
know the instance, Adam and Eve fall into transgression. And 
when they fall into transgression, having sin, instead of going 
to God, seeking mercy, seeking grace, seeking forgiveness, no, 
they try and cover the sin. Genesis chapter three, verse 
seven. Then the eyes of both of them 
were open, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed 
fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. and they 
heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the 
cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from 
the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden." 
Now, I should point out that when we're dealing with a sovereign 
God, and omniscient God trying to cover our sins is an exercise 
in futility. Here they sow fig leaves together 
to hide their private parts from the God who made them. They then 
run into the midst of the trees, the trees that God had made, 
in an attempt to try and hide from Him. any attempt by man 
to cover his own sin apart from the authorized way of God Most 
High, faith in Jesus Christ, provision through His blood, 
a righteousness that is afforded to us, received by faith alone. 
It's futile. It is foolish. It is folly. And 
we as parents understand that. You've had that in your child-rearing 
experience, where your son or daughter does something foolish. 
They do something sinful. They might have a mouth filled 
with chocolate. And you ask them, did you get 
into the chocolate? And they say, no, I didn't do 
that. It wasn't me. They blame that 
sixth kid, not me. It was not me that did it. You 
see, brethren, the idea that we can hide from God in terms 
of our own sin is futility. It is horrible theology, and 
this is what we see marks Adam and Eve in the outset. Notice 
in Joshua, Joshua chapter 7. Remember the scene, holy war. 
They're supposed to go into Canaan. They're supposed to dispossess 
the land of the Canaanites. There are cities placed under 
the ban. They are anathematized. They're 
not to take anything from them. But of course, there's always 
one exception to the rule. You have this man, Achan, who 
was a troubler of Israel. You see how he tried to cover 
his sin. He hid the loot in his tent. Notice in Joshua 7 at verse 
20. And Achan answered Joshua and 
said, Indeed, I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel. And this 
is what I have done. When I saw among the spoils a 
beautiful Babylonian garment, 200 shekels of silver and a wedge 
of gold weighing 50 shekels, I coveted them and took them. 
And there they are hidden in the earth in the midst of my 
tent with the silver under it. Again, as if God didn't know 
that there was this stuff hidden under Achan's tent, in direct 
contradiction from the law given. Turn over to 1 Samuel chapter 
15. 1 Samuel chapter 15, a passage that underscores the necessity 
of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, is found in 
verse 22. Has the Lord as great delight 
in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the 
Lord. Behold, to obey is better than 
sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams." That's why in justification, 
it's not only the forgiveness of sins, but it's the imputation 
of righteousness that avails with God. We must have both active 
obedience of Christ and passive obedience of Christ. But this 
is the context, or this is the section where that text is preeminent. But it's the reality that Saul 
had disobeyed God. Saul was given a very easy command. Easy in terms of didactic teaching, 
not so easy perhaps in the execution of it. Saul was supposed to take 
Israel into the Amalekite territory and utterly destroy everything 
that breathed among the Amalekites and then kill Agag, the king 
of the Amalekites. So in terms of instruction, it's 
pretty simple. This is what you're supposed to do. In terms of execution, 
obviously Saul did not want to do that. And so Saul is called 
to account with reference to his sin against God Almighty. Notice what he does. 1 Samuel 
15 at verse 15. And Saul said, well, verse 14, 
Samuel said, what then is this bleeding of the sheep in my ears 
and the lowing of the ox in which I hear? In that text, what he 
is saying is simple. If you have successfully carried 
out this campaign, wherein you are called to execute the Amalekites 
and everyone that breeds among them, including their livestock, 
if Saul, you have been successful, why am I hearing these animals? 
If you had been successful, I wouldn't be hearing these animals. So 
that's the nature of Samuel's question in verse 14. What then 
is this bleeding of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of 
the ox in which I hear? They were under the ban. They 
were anathematized. They should have been executed 
as well. The fact that they're lowing and bleeding indicates 
that Saul has come up short. So notice what Saul does. They... They, he blames them, he blames 
the people. This is Saul's version of not 
me. They have brought them from the 
Amalekites for the people spared the best of the sheep and the 
oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God and the rest we have 
utterly destroyed. He reiterates that in verse 21, 
but the people took the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the 
things which should have been utterly destroyed to sacrifice 
to the Lord your God in Gilgal. What is Saul doing? He's covering 
his sins. He understood the nature of the 
commandment because he reiterates it here in verse 15, which I'm 
sorry, verse 21, which should have been utterly destroyed. 
He understood the direction. He just failed to carry it out. 
and instead of embracing it and acting like a good king should 
and accept responsibility. Why is that a vacant concept 
relative to civil authority? Why can't they ever admit fault 
and say, we've overstepped, we've overreached, we've done something 
we ought not? I think most in the body politic 
would be pretty gracious and say, OK, just don't keep doing 
it. When you're in a hole, stop digging. Don't make it deeper and more 
miserable for the rest of us. But Saul couldn't do that. Civil 
authority doesn't seem to be able to do that today. Instead, 
it's the people. Quite the parallel now. If the 
numbers go up, it's the people. If the numbers go down, it's 
the government. We're in a lose-lose situation, 
brethren. I think the way of wisdom dictates. You embrace your sin, you embrace 
your folly, you embrace your wickedness, and you'll find that 
God is extremely merciful. This is the Apostle Paul's statement 
in 1 Timothy 1.15. Christ Jesus came into the world 
to save sinners, and then he says, of whom I am chief. So 
if the chief of sinners was able to fetch out forgiveness from 
God Most High, then I'd like to think the lesser sinners are 
able to fetch out forgiveness as well. You see, God is full 
of mercy and grace. There is no need for us to cover 
our transgression with Him. And then, of course, you have 
the case of David, that lamentable and distressing situation that 
we find in 2 Samuel 11 and 12. It's a horrible situation. At 
the time that the kings went out to battle, David stayed behind. David sent Joab, and then David 
committed adultery with Bathsheba, and in order to cover that sin, 
he engages in subterfuge. He engages in thuggery. The king 
of Israel is functioning like a thug in Israel. and he tries 
to ply Uriah with alcohol so that Uriah will go lie with his 
wife, and when she's found out to be pregnant, everybody will 
assume that it's Uriah's baby. But Uriah has too much integrity 
for that. Uriah's too much the man of God 
for that. Uriah will not engage in any 
sort of pleasure while Israel and Joab and the Ark of the Covenant 
are out on the field of battle. So what does David do? He orders 
Joab to put Uriah in the hottest part of the battle. He engages 
in murder. He didn't actually wield the 
sword, the Philistines did, but it was David who wielded the 
sword. A conspiracy to commit murder is murder on the part 
of the conspirator, and David sinned against God, and that 
in order to cover his own sin. We have the New Testament illustrations, 
Judas Iscariot. We saw that recently in Matthew 
chapter 27, verses 3 to 5. We see a great illustration of 
what Paul speaks of in 2 Corinthians chapter 7 in terms of worldly 
sorrow and godly sorrow. Judas certainly knew his worldly 
sorrow, and what he wanted to try and do was to extricate himself 
from that place. And so he comes to the chief 
priests and elders, and in Matthew 27, verse 4, I have sinned by 
betraying innocent blood. And they said, what is that to 
us? You see to it. Then he threw down the pieces 
of silver in the temple and departed and went and hanged himself. 
Again, an attempt to cover sin, an attempt for self-atonement, 
an attempt to try to rectify the problem that he had created. 
Turn back for just a moment to Matthew chapter 26, and you see 
Pontius Pilate. Pontius Pilate understands the 
same sort of thing. I'm sorry, Matthew 27 further 
on. Notice what Pilate does in verse 24. When Pilate saw that 
he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was 
rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude 
saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just man. You see 
to it. So he does this. He engages in 
this ceremony to show that he's not really a part of this. He's 
not really a participant in this. Oh yes, you are. Your outward 
covering, your outward emblem, your outward symbol does not 
avail with God Almighty. And then, of course, you have 
the case of Ananias and Sapphira in the early church, who lied 
to God the Spirit. They sold their property, they 
kept back part of the proceeds, and they said to the apostles, 
this is what we got from the sale of the land. Now, make no 
mistake, brethren, the early church was not communist. The 
early church was not mandating that everything you have in terms 
of private property, you need to divest yourself of, and you 
need to give that to the poor. That's not what the emphasis 
is. They lied to the Spirit of God. If, while it was under your 
control, you did with it as you will, No problem. But when you 
come and you say, this is everything, and yet you keep back part for 
yourself, the specific sin is the lying to the Holy Spirit. 
But the larger point is that in both Old Testament and New 
Testament, we have incidents, we have examples of those covering 
sin and not prospering. In terms of some applications 
of this text in our own mindset, in our own day and age, I would 
suggest there's a few ways that persons do this. In the first 
place, they simply deny sin. They just deny it outright. Now, 
they're not usually brought up in Reformed churches, I'll grant 
you that. But there are people out there 
that really think they're splendid individuals. They think they're 
great. They think they're on the straight 
and narrow path. They think that jaunts and tittles 
and everything that God has set forth, they've done it. You'll 
hear people say, well, I'm a pretty good guy. I've never done this. 
I've never done that. I'm not like, you know, the Apostle 
Paul. I'm not like those people that go to that church. I'm not 
like them. In fact, they virtue signal about 
how wonderful they are. It's quite disgusting to those 
who happen to be in their sphere of virtue signaling. But Proverbs 
deals with this in Proverbs 30 at verse 20. This is the way 
of an adulterous woman. She eats and wipes her mouth 
and says, I have done no wickedness. So just a flat out brazen denial 
of sin. Oh no, that wasn't me. Oh no, 
I don't sin against God. I do everything I'm always supposed 
to. I am as upright and as holy and as pure as the driven snow." 
Well, if that's your mindset, you need to repent and you need 
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Bridges makes the observation. He would cover it, if possible, 
from himself, putting it out of mind, banishing all serious 
thoughts, stifling conviction, and then trying to persuade himself 
that he is happy. So it's a simple attempt to deny 
it. That is a mean or method of trying 
to cover one's sin. No, that wasn't me. No, I would 
never do that. No, I'm just so awesome. Secondly 
is the minimizing of sin. In minimization of sin, adultery 
becomes playing around. In the minimization of sin, active 
shooters at crime scenes are called just that. Shooter. It 
almost sounds like a video game. They are murderers. They are 
shedding innocent blood. They need to be condemned by 
the civil state and executed as the criminals that they are. 
Don't romanticize this. Don't make it a video game. These 
are murderers. And when we get into this mindset, 
oh, well, it was just a little white lie. Or we do this with 
politicians all the time. Of course they lie, they're politicians. Isn't that a synonym? Brethren, 
that ought not to be. Minimizing sin doesn't make it 
go away. Minimizing the presence of something 
horrible doesn't get rid of it. Thirdly, you have the attempt 
to shift the blame for sin. If we would have continued in 
the narrative in Genesis chapter 3, Adam does this in spades. And I know we all know he blames 
Eve, right? But he first blames God, the 
woman whom thou gavest to me. In other words, God, if she wasn't 
here, everything would have been fine. I see some smiles out there, 
because some of you think like I do. It was her fault. Perhaps she thinks the same of 
me. You see, brethren, this attempt to blame shift does not help 
the shifter of blame. He who covers his sins will not 
prosper. So the woman whom you gave me, 
God, and then he takes his dear bride, the wife of his youth, 
the one he loves, the one he's one flesh with, and throws her 
under the proverbial bus. It was her fault. She did it. That is not the way to deal with 
sin in a responsible manner. Let's talk about manhood and 
masculinity. Biblical manhood isn't tyranny. 
It isn't despotism. It isn't Hitlerian conduct on 
the easy boy or the lazy boy at home. It is rather servant 
leadership. It is to imitate the blessed 
Lord Jesus who said, the Son of Man didn't come to be served, 
but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. We don't 
take our wives and throw them under the bus. And ladies, can 
I encourage you, it's never a good thing to take your husbands and 
throw them under the bus either. But this reality of shifting 
blame. As well, you have the case of 
Saul. Saul blamed the people. You have 
the case of Aaron. Aaron blames the people. I just 
took their gold, and I threw it into this pot, and out popped 
this calf. So first he blames the people, 
and then he blames chance, as if in the world you could take 
raw material, throw it into a forge, and out would pop a fully shaped 
object. That just doesn't happen, brethren. 
You have to form the object. You have to beat it while it's 
hot and while it's soft. It doesn't just go in and come 
out. But that's what Aaron did. And when we look at that, we 
see the futility of it. We go, come on, Aaron. That's 
really reaching. And yet, how many times in a 
given day do we do that same sort of thing? Well, it wasn't 
me. It sort of just happened. It just happened that you committed 
adultery. It just happened that you got 
addicted to pornography. It just happened that you got 
to that position in your life where you are completely estranged 
from God Almighty. That doesn't just happen. Very 
often it is calculated and it is meditated upon. Fourthly, 
we have the covering of sin by our own methods. Now, this is 
usually religious in nature. Religious people are great at 
this. Oh, yeah, I know how to cover my own sin. Typically, 
it's self-righteousness. If I look good on the outside, 
if I engage in good externals or good formalism, then I'll 
have this image that I'm a godly man, that I'm a holy man, that 
I'm a righteous man. You see, God looks through that. 
God knows the inner man. God knows the heart. He tests 
the heart. The heart is deceitful above all things, the prophet 
says. Who can know it? God Most High can know it and 
God tests it. You have the harlot in Proverbs 
7. Look at Proverbs 7 for just a moment. Just to see the religious 
attempt to cover one's own sin. Proverbs chapter 7, the scene 
is terrifying. I encourage Proverbs 7 to all 
young men. Young men that are struggling, 
young men that have the reality of flesh and all those issues, 
read Proverbs 7. You'll see the naive young man 
who just willy-nilly marches to his own death. But as well, 
you should learn and hear from it the cautions that are given. 
But he's going to meet this woman, and she's an adulterous woman. 
Notice what it says in Proverbs chapter 7 at verse 14. Well, 
verse 10, and there a woman met him with the attire of a harlot 
and a crafty heart. She was loud and rebellious. 
Her feet would not stay at home. You need to understand, she's 
not a harlot. She has the attire of a harlot, but she's not a 
harlot. She has a husband. She has a home. She has all those 
things. This is adultery, what is happening in this passage. 
Not that it's OK to visit harlots, but that's a different sin. And 
there a woman met him with the attire of a harlot and a crafty 
heart. She was loud and rebellious. Her feet would not stay at home. 
At times she was outside, at times in the open square, lurking 
at every corner. So she caught him and kissed 
him. With an impudent face, she said to him, I have peace offerings 
with me. Today I have paid my vows. So 
I came out to meet you diligently to seek your face, and I have 
found you. I've spread my bed with tapestry, 
colored coverings of Egyptian linen. I have perfumed my bed 
with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of 
love until morning. Let us delight ourselves with love, for my husband 
is not at home. He has gone on a long journey. 
He has taken a bag of money with him, and will come home on the 
appointed day. Do you see that? I've gone to 
temple, I've presented my sacrifice, I've given my offering, so I'm 
good to go. I'm okay now. I can engage in 
adultery because I've engaged in this external form of what 
it looks like to be a religious person. This is heinous behavior, 
unacceptable behavior. You have the people of Israel. 
Turn to the prophet Micah. Micah chapter 6, a familiar passage 
to all of us, even people that don't read the Old Testament. 
Micah 6, 8 is one text that I think we all know from the Old Testament. 
Micah 6, 8, he has shown you, oh man, what is good, and what 
does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, 
and to walk humbly with your God. Something you need to understand 
about Micah 6, 8, it is corrective, it is reproof, it is bringing 
to bear upon them what they knew. what they disregarded and what 
they had tried to cover up by their own activity, religious 
in nature. What we have in Micah chapter 
six is what's called a covenant lawsuit. It's when the prophet 
of God functions as an attorney for God and prosecutes his case 
against the people of God. He calls them to repentance. 
He calls them to faith. He calls them to renew their 
relationship with Yahweh. So that's what's happening. Look 
at verse 1. Hear now what the Lord says. Arise, plead your 
case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. 
Hear, O you mountains, the Lord's complaint, and you strong foundations 
of the earth. For the Lord has a complaint 
against his people, and he will contend with Israel. O my people, 
what have I done to you, and how have I wearied you? Testify 
against me. For I brought you up from the 
land of Egypt, I redeemed you from the house of bondage, and 
I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Oh, my people, remember 
now what Balak, king of Moab, counseled, and what Balaam, the 
son of Baor, answered him. From Acacia Grove to Gilgal, 
that you may know the righteousness of the Lord." Now, notice their 
response. They're in court with God. The 
mountains surrounding are the witnesses. The Lord has presented 
his opening argument. He says, furnish to me any evidence 
that would justify your present conduct. Provide why I, in my 
actions towards you, deserve the sort of treatment that you've 
inflicted upon me. Look at what they hide behind. 
Religious exercise. With what shall I come before 
the Lord and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before 
him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord 
be pleased with thousands of rams, 10,000 rivers of oil? Shall 
I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the 
sin of my soul? No, that's not it at all. You know what's required 
of you, oh man, but you have rejected that. You've invalidated 
that. And for you to now come and present 
your righteousness as somehow the way of dealing with this 
breach is simply wrong. It is wicked. It is a fool's 
errand. As well, turn to the Gospel of 
Luke, Luke chapter 18. Luke chapter 18, this covering 
of sin by our own methods. Again, self-righteousness seems 
to be the preferred manner, at least those connected in some 
way or other to church. Notice in Luke chapter 18, Jesus 
taught on prayer. Actually, Jesus taught on justification, 
prayer, and then justification. But notice in Luke 18, 9. Also, 
he spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that 
they were righteous and despised others. Two men went up to the 
temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank 
you that I'm not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, 
or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes 
of all that I possess. What a great guy. What a wonderful 
specimen of a human being. You're so holy. You're so pure. You're so awesome. That's what 
the tenor of his prayer was. God, thank you that I'm not like 
all these other people, especially like this tax collector. What's 
he doing? He's covering his sin. He's hiding 
his sin. He has no desire whatsoever to 
deal with God in an honest manner. You see it in Matthew 23, 23. 
The scribes and the Pharisees are condemned by our blessed 
Lord Jesus because they tithe the mint and the anise and the 
cumin. but you've neglected the weightier matters of the law, 
justice, mercy, and faith. See, fastidiously weighing out 
all of your seeds or all of your items for tithing and then bringing 
that to the church does not invalidate the wretchedness of your heart 
throughout the week. You are not supposed to neglect 
justice, mercy, and faith. He says, these you ought to have 
done, the tithing, the mint, anise, and cumin, without leaving 
the others undone. In other words, it's not just 
this externalism that God is looking at, but rather God looks 
upon the heart. And then I added a category, 
the heretics in the history of the church. You know how they 
oftentimes hide their own sin? I realized they would never look 
at themselves and say, I'm a heretic, I'm engaged in disavowing the 
Christian faith, and therefore I am subject to the damnable 
outcome that God has for me. I get that. But objectively, 
the Bible is true. It's not a wax nose. You can't 
just mold the Bible to say whatever it is you want it to say. It 
is objective. It is concrete. It is real. There 
are principles of interpretation that yield the proper understanding 
of texts. So they're not a free-for-all. 
It's not up for grabs. It's not a, well, what does this 
text mean to you? Do you ever go to a Bible study 
and the Bible study teacher says, what does this text mean to you? 
That might be a good time to leave. It doesn't matter what 
it means to you. It matters what it means. That is what is sadly lacking 
today. Experience and emotion and the 
existential moment. No exegesis. The uncovering of 
the meaning of the text that the Spirit of God put there. 
So in the history of the church, and there is something prevalent 
upon us today that I don't know that many people are even as 
aware of as they ought to be. It is the reformulation of the 
doctrine of the Trinity. It is the tampering with holy, 
holy things. It is to go into the holy of 
holies and to say, nah, we don't want this anymore. Well, in the 
history of the church, heretics who deny cardinal truth oftentimes 
begin by coming after creeds and confessions. Listen to what 
Samuel Miller said a couple generations ago. He said, with reference 
to this effect, he says, whenever a group of men began to slide 
with respect to orthodoxy, they generally attempted to break, 
if not to conceal their fall, by declaiming against creeds 
and confessions. And then he makes this point, 
men are seldom opposed to creeds until creeds have become opposed 
to them. That happens. That is happening. It's happening with the Trinity. 
It's happening with our blessed Lord Jesus. It's happening in 
the minds of fools that do not think God's thoughts after Him, 
nor do they listen to the fathers in the history of the church 
that did theology a whole lot better than we're doing today. 
So with reference to this covering of sin, as we look through this 
brief suggestive list, there's a whole host of ways that persons 
try to escape the clear implications of their sin against God. So 
back to Proverbs 28, 13. We have the cursed result associated 
with the text. Notice, will not prosper. He 
who covers his sins will not prosper. Now, that may seem like 
a tough one for us because there's a lot of wicked people prospering 
in the world, right? There's a lot of people that 
have a lot of money and a lot of what looks like prosperity 
that are wretched. They deny the Christian faith. 
They oppose the Christian faith. They do everything they can to 
try and exterminate the Christian faith. So on the one hand, it's 
probably tough to get at this. But just because a guy's rich 
and he has everything that he wants doesn't mean he has peace. 
Has that inner peace? I mean, isn't it better to have, 
you know, just some herbs at a dinner table than a big fatted 
calf when there's strife and dissension and division? I'd 
rather have, you know, a bowl of oatmeal with a happy wife 
than, you know, steak and lobster with an unhappy wife. And I'm 
sure she'd say the same about me. I'm certainly not an unhappy 
person, a good person to be around when I'm unhappy. You see, we 
just don't know what's going on in the hearts of these people, 
but look at the promise of the text. He who covers his sins 
will not prosper, and he will not prosper in this age. He will 
not prosper in this age. Look at Proverbs 13. Proverbs 
13. He will not prosper in this age. Two lines of proof for that statement. 
He will not prosper in this age. That means right now, in the 
world that is. Teaching of Proverbs 13, 15. 
Notice, good understanding gains favor, but the way of the unfaithful 
is hard. The way of the unfaithful is 
hard. It may not look like that. If 
you're an outsider, wow, they've got everything they need. Well, 
we don't know. We don't know their hearts. We don't know what 
happens when it's thundering and it's lightning and they're 
fearful and the thought of God is nigh. Man can't ultimately 
shake off the knowledge of God. This is Paul's point in Romans 
chapter 1. He knows the truth. It's everywhere around him. The 
heavens declare the glory and the majesty and the righteousness 
of God. The problem with atheism is not 
that there's no adequate proof. The problem with atheism is foolishness 
on the part of the atheist. The fool has said in his heart, 
there is no God. Paul tells us God's made himself 
manifest, his eternal power, his Godhead, the reality that 
it's righteous with God to punish offenders of his law. But what 
do they do? According to Romans chapter 1, 
they suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Because what is known about God 
is made manifest in them. And so they're always trying 
to get rid of or extirpate that knowledge of God that is in their 
heart. And with reference to Solomon's statement here, the 
way of the unfaithful is hard. If there was one text, I could 
take kids by the collars, not viciously or violently, but just 
earnestly and say, listen to Solomon in Proverbs 13. The way 
of the treacherous, the way of the unfaithful, it's hard. It 
is much better to listen to Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes. 
Well, all throughout Proverbs, but in Ecclesiastes, remember your 
creator in your youth. Don't engage in the folly of 
resistance. You are dealing with the living 
and the true God. You're dealing with one who is 
altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. The way of the unfaithful 
is hard. And of course, what our Lord 
Jesus teaches in John 8, 34, whoever commits sin is a slave 
of sin. Again, we see successful people, 
we think they're prosperous, but if they're slaves of sin, 
that's not a good place to be. That's not a happy and content 
life. The fearfulness, the thought of a real God having to do with 
us someday, that does produce terror, even in the hearts of 
unbelievers, from time to time. So He will not prosper in this 
age, but He will not prosper in the age to come. Two passages 
that we've looked at recently, I won't spend much time here, 
Matthew 10, 28. Do not fear those who kill the 
body but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear Him who is able 
to destroy both soul and body in hell. The other one you can 
turn, Revelation 21. Revelation 21, just to show or 
demonstrate that those who cover their sin will not prosper in 
this age. The way of the unfaithful is 
hard. The way of the treacherous is hard. Whoever commits sin 
is a slave of sin. But in the age to come, Jesus 
says that He Himself has the power to cast body and soul into 
hell. But in Revelation 21 at verse 
8, But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually 
immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their 
part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which 
is the second death." Now, brethren, that catalog of sins is not so 
far out there that it doesn't touch us. That catalog of sins 
isn't just for those really, really bad people out there. 
That catalog of sins is even forgivable through the power 
of the blood of Jesus Christ. Think about it. The cowardly. 
If somebody repents and gets not cowardly, praise God. Somebody's 
unbelieving and moves into the camp of the faithful, praise 
God. If somebody is abominable and stops being abominable by 
God's grace, great. If somebody's a murderer, Paul 
ascribes to himself that sort of a of a mindset. He was trying 
to persecute and destroy the Church of God. King David was 
forgiven by God, even on the heels of having committed murder. 
Sexually immoral. Certainly that's not some abstract 
concept out there that none of us are experiential with. And 
then he goes on to say, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall 
have their part in a lake which burns with fire. The idea is, 
is unrepentant. The idea is, is they've not sought 
covering under the blood of Jesus. They have tried to cover it themselves 
via their own denial or their minimization or their rationalizations 
or their self-righteousness. So when they stand before God 
on that day of judgment, they're clothed in their own righteousness, 
which is filthy and disgusting and dirty, and they'll be cast 
off. And then notice as well with 
reference to the New Jerusalem, verse 21-27, "...but there shall 
by no means enter it anything that defiles or causes an abomination 
or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book 
of Life." And then 22-15, "...but outside are dogs and sorcerers 
and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and whoever loves 
and practices a lie." So, he who covers his sins will not 
prosper, either in this age or in the age to come. Now, if that's 
all the text said, this would be a miserable text. This would 
be a very unfortunate situation. If there was only bad news, that 
would be as depressing and as discouraging as it could get. 
See, the bad news here leads into the good news that there 
is forgiveness with God that He may be feared. And that's 
what the text goes on to say. He who covers his sins will not 
prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. Three things to observe here. 
First, the exercise of faith. Second, the place of repentance. 
And thirdly, the blessed result. But notice the exercise of faith. He who covers his sins will not 
prosper, but whoever confesses. Now, this confession isn't Roman 
Catholic, where you go into a box, you get on your knees, and you 
say, bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It's been two months 
since my last confession. And then you run through some 
acceptable sins, because you don't want the priest to think 
too badly of you. And then he penalizes you. He punishes you. Your punishment and penalty, 
go to the pew and pray. Go to the pew and say Hail Marys 
and say Our Fathers. You know, it took me a long time 
to recognize that's not the way you punish people, is it? By 
telling them to pray? Anyways, that's not what's in 
view. The confession here is not oracular 
confession to a priest. It's not just some sort of therapy 
either. It's not an encounter group. 
It's not, let's just share how bad we are or share what, you 
know, that kind of stuff. Not bad to find somebody you 
can open your heart to. But encounter sessions or therapy 
sessions or group confessions of sin, the Bible does sanction. 
Confess your sins to one another, but not on Facebook. Don't be 
that person. or on Twitter or in some grand 
sort of pietistic way, that kind of undoes the whole thing. It 
just really shows that you're probably not real serious here. 
So this idea of confession, Bruce Waltke makes this observation. 
He says in six passages, he provides them, it means confess sins. More specifically in these passages, 
it means give God public praise and glory by acknowledging one's 
need of his forgiveness and deliverance from sin. This entails praising 
God for His greatness, i.e., one cannot hide sin from Him, 
His justice, i.e., He has the right to punish the transgressor, 
and His grace, i.e., He forgives and delivers. So this idea of 
confessing It means, in the first place, to confess faith in Jesus. Because as we acknowledge our 
sin, as we understand our rebellion, we lay our hand upon the blessed 
surety of the new covenant, and we confess that. Not in a vacuum, 
not separated from the Savior, but it's a confession of faith 
in our Lord Jesus Christ. And when we do this, we are siding 
with God. You ever wondered how David could 
be called the man after God's own heart? I mean, you'd think 
the bar would be a bit higher for the man that's called the 
man after God's own heart. I mean, he committed murder. 
He committed adultery. It's his psalm of repentance. It's Psalm 
51. What does David do? He ascends 
into heaven, sits down with God, as it were, and upbraids himself. He indicts himself. He accuses 
himself. When we confess saving faith 
in our Lord Jesus, we confess the justness of God and the righteousness 
of God to deal with us in a harsh manner because of our sin. As 
well, he is casting himself upon the mercy of God. Charles Bridges, 
in his commentary on Proverbs, says God needs not confession 
for his own information. Look at the text. He who covers 
his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses, Do you think 
God needs that? Does God need for us to say, 
oh Lord, here's what I did today. He's omniscient. He's sovereign. When Adam and Eve hid, you know, 
God says, who told you that you were naked? Is God really trying 
to fetch out information? No, God's putting them on the 
spot. Who told you that you sinned? 
Who told you that you were naked? That wasn't for God's benefit. 
It was for Adam's benefit. And the same thing is here. So 
Bridges says, but 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. John Dill comments on the text, 
and though it is known unto him, yet he requires an acknowledgment 
of it, which should be done from the heart with an abhorrence 
of the sin, and in the faith of Christ as a sacrifice for 
it. Now turn back to 2 Samuel chapter 
12. 2 Samuel chapter 12. I read Psalm 32 at the beginning 
of our worship service today. What's David rejoicing in there? 
Justification by faith alone. How blessed is the man to whom 
the Lord does not impute iniquity. David rehearses in verses two 
and three how his life was miserable when he had kept silent about 
his sin. David understood this whole scheme. 
David understood the reality involved of trying to cover his 
own sin. But David as well understood 
that the confession of it and the forsaking of it yields great 
blessing and benefit and joy. And you see David's confession 
here in 2 Samuel 12 at verse 13. So David said to Nathan, 
I have sinned against the Lord. That's it. Now, sometimes people 
say, wow, that's all he had to say. Doesn't seem fair. He should 
have to make financial payments to everybody ever connected with 
Uriah. Maybe he did. We don't know. 
He has to rectify and repent of every bad thing he ever got. 
Maybe he did. We don't know. I'm sure he did. 
He was a man of confession, a man of forsaking, a man of repentance. But notice the sublimity of the 
text. I have sinned against the Lord. That's it. By doing that, he's 
not blaming others. By doing that, he's not minimizing. By doing that, he's not rationalizing. 
By doing that, he's not proffering up his own self-righteousness. 
This is what it means to confess sin. I have sinned against the 
Lord. That doesn't mean that on a given 
day, if you've engaged in sin, that you can't go with specificity 
to the throne of grace and say, Lord God Almighty, forgive me. 
I coveted my wife's ice cream, or whatever it might be. If that 
is what you need to clear your conscience by God's grace with 
God and with one another, then do it. But in terms of coming 
to Christ, if you're not a believer here today, you don't have to 
have a list of every sin you've ever committed. You need to confess 
sin as sin, laying your hand upon the blessed surety, looking 
in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ in whom there is forgiveness 
and with whom there is a righteousness provided. There's an old study 
Bible, a German study Bible called the Berlberg. I'm probably not 
pronouncing that right. The Berlberg Bible, 1726 to 29. It's a comment on the simplicity 
of David's confession. I have sinned against the Lord. 
It says the words are very few, just as in the case of the publican 
in the Gospel of Luke. We looked at the Pharisee. I 
thank you, God, that I'm not like other men. I thank you, 
God, that I'm not like all these wretches, and especially this 
tax collector. I thank you, God, that I tithe 
and I fast and I do all this stuff. What's the tax collector 
do? He can't even look up into heaven. He beats his bosom and 
he says, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Who went home 
justified that day? Was it the polished, pure, righteous 
Pharisee? It absolutely, positively wasn't. 
It was that man who couldn't even look up into heaven, who 
beat his breast and said, God be merciful to me, the sinner. So he goes on. This study Bible 
says, the words are very few, just as in the case of the publican 
in the Gospel of Luke. 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 pretext put forward, no human weakness pleaded. He acknowledges 
his guilt openly, candidly, and without prevarication. In other 
words, he deals honestly with God. By God's grace, he's no 
longer going to try to hide it. He's no longer going to try to 
cover it. He's no longer trying to argue with God. Well, if you 
didn't put me in this situation or if that person didn't do this, 
or if all these other circumstances hadn't of did, he doesn't do 
that. He simply says, I have sinned against the Lord. And 
it's in that context that God brings blessing to David. So if you cover your sin, you 
will not prosper, but whoever confesses it and forsakes it 
will find mercy. And of course, the object of 
faith is Christ. Forgiveness is received because 
Christ is fully satisfied the claims of divine justice. See, 
that's everything about Christianity. It is the case that Christianity, 
as I said, we're playing, tampering with the doctrine of the Trinity. 
Well, we've been playing and tampering with the doctrine of 
soteriology or salvation for quite some time. And the reality 
is simple, that without Christ, sinners perish in hell forever. The way of the unfaithful is 
hard in this age. It's gonna be a lot harder in 
the age to come because that's hell, that's the lake of fire, 
that is to be cut off, that is to be ultimately given over by 
God to that which we preferred above Him in life. When we say 
we want sin more than Christ, at the end of the days, God will 
give us that sin more than Christ. And so with reference to this 
reality, the object of faith is Jesus. Jesus says in John 
3, 14, just as Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness, so 
must the Son of Man be lifted up. Now, the remedy when that 
serpent was lifted in the wilderness was for the bitten sinner or 
for the bitten Israelite to look. All they had to do was look and 
they would live. See, we wanna look and drag ourselves 
over. We wanna suck the poison out 
and drag ourselves over. We wanna do everything but just 
look. Just like in the new covenant 
setting, it's look unto the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be 
saved. Well, don't I have to first fix this? Don't I have 
to first get that in order? Don't I have to first correct 
this? No, that's what he's in the business of doing, fixing 
you, fixing your mess, un-messing you. unknotting the wreck that 
you have made of your life. See, we put our faith by grace 
in Christ, and we receive that forgiveness of sin. It's not 
just that faith, but always with faith there's that repentance. 
And as I've explained many times in our church, repentance is 
in the first place a change of mind. We think that repentance 
is when we stop doing something. Somebody stopped smoking crack 
yesterday. They've repented. No, they've done a good thing. 
You shouldn't smoke crack. But that's not repentance unless 
it's Godward, unless it's with the hand of faith on the head 
of the surety. Faith and repentance go hand in hand. They're two 
sides of the same coin. When we repent, when we have 
that change of mind, there will be fruits worthy of that repentance. And so we read in the text, he 
who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses 
and forsakes. See, the idea isn't, Lord God 
Almighty, please forgive me for having committed this particular 
sin today and then going out and committing that particular 
sin again. And I realize that we do that. And I realize there 
are passages that speak to that. And I realize that God is very 
gracious and very merciful. You'll remember when Peter says, 
Lord, if my brother sins against me seven times in a day, do I 
forgive him? Jesus says, no, seven times seventy. That isn't 
to underscore our continuing in sin so that grace may abound, 
but it's underscoring that if we do sin, we have an advocate 
with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. But there must 
be this forsaking of sin, because we have a new nature. We have 
a new heart. We have a new desire. We now 
want to be in heaven. We want to be in righteousness 
and with godliness and all that sort of thing. So we're seeking 
by grace to deal with sin. The Bible tells us that repentance 
itself is a grace given by God, Acts 5.31, Acts 11.18, 2 Timothy 
2.25. So not only is faith a gift wherein 
the sinner closes with Christ by believing, But there's repentance. The sinner turns from his sin 
onto Jesus Christ. I've always likened it to a marriage 
ceremony. I've done a lot of weddings in 
this church. And typically, all I can say 
100% unanimously, I've never had a fellow and his bride-to-be 
and his girlfriend walk up that aisle. It's just not happened. 
Never had a girl and her fella to be and her boyfriend walk 
up that aisle. It just doesn't happen. Faith 
is going to Christ. Repentance is departing from 
sin. Two sides of the same coin. Now again, brethren, we'll never 
achieve perfection on this side of heaven. We'll never get to 
that place where we're all together holy. It's just not going to 
happen. We do not believe in Wesleyan perfectionism. We do 
not believe in that unattainable good in our lifetime. That doesn't 
mean we just lie around and keep on sinning. That doesn't mean 
we argue from gospel to say, well, if I continue in sin, God's 
grace will continue to abound. No, Paul says, may it never be. 
Forsaking sin is a reality. The confession, or our catechism, 
the Westminster Shorter says, with reference to repentance, 
whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin and apprehension 
of the mercy of God in Christ, does with grief and hatred of 
his sin, turn from it unto God with full purpose of and endeavor 
after new obedience. You see, there's this faith in 
Christ and this repentance unto life, two sides of the same coin. Bridges makes the observation. 
And for you parents that have little children and you want 
some very practical help on how to deal with those little children, 
You can read bridges. Every verse or passage in Proverbs 
where it deals with children, it's gold. I've often thought, 
and it might be sometime now, that they should just take that 
and make it a pamphlet. I think I've shared before when 
I was a young Christian, newly converted, I had a bee in my 
bonnet wanting to evangelize people, and I actually thought 
this was a good idea. I thought listing all the Proverbs 
that spoke dealing with rebellious children would be a handy thing 
to give to people in public who had rebellious children. Boy, 
what an obnoxious person I was. Hey, I noticed your kid's terrible. 
Here's a list of Bible verses that will hopefully help you 
deal with that kid. As I look back now, I say, wow, 
that wasn't the smartest and the brightest approach in terms 
of evangelism. But the point is, if you have 
kids and you need some help, Bridges is a good guide. on that, 
but in terms of repentance and faith. 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. So what he does is shows the 
inextricable link between confession and forsaking. A hypocrite can 
confess, but there's no forsaking. What Bridges says is that the 
forsaking is the best evidence of the best fruit that there 
was in fact legitimate confession. in terms of faith in our Lord 
Jesus Christ. And the text balances out the 
way it does in the beginning. So he who covers his sins, there's 
a result, will not prosper. But whoever confesses and forsakes 
them, there's a result, there's an end, will have mercy. He will have mercy in this age. You'll become experientially 
familiar with Psalm 25, 11. For your namesake, O God, pardon 
my iniquity, for it is great. You'll become experientially 
familiar with Psalm 130, 3 and 4. If you, Lord, should mark 
iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness 
with you that you may be feared. You become experientially connected 
to 1 John 1, 9. If we confess our sins, He is 
faithful and just to forgive us. You see, that mercy is received 
here and now by God's grace to the believing forsaker, to the 
one who by God's grace comes to that fountain of mercy, which 
is our Lord Jesus Christ. So there's mercy in this age. 
You'll be able to sing, with Charles Wesley, 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 approach the eternal 
throne and claim the crown through Christ my own. And then the one 
that I often quote, my sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought. 
My sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross 
and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. 
Whoever confesses and forsakes will what? He will have mercy. It's a most blessed thing. Our 
God meets us in our sin, not with clubs, not with sticks, 
not with buffets, but he comes to us with mercy and grace and 
loving kindness. Remember that prodigal upon his 
return. Doesn't he realize this? He thinks 
to himself and he's not converted when he thinks to himself, I 
know I'll go back to my father's house. He has many a day laborer. I'll just be included among that 
lot and I'll at least get to fill my belly with food on a 
given day. I won't be lusting after or coveting after what 
the pigs are eating, but rather if I throw myself upon His mercy, 
He'll take me in as a hired servant. When that boy was a long way 
off, the father runs from the porch, and he runs from the porch 
not to fall on him and beat him up, not to resist him and reject 
him, not to drive him out of the town, but he falls on him 
to display his love, his mercy, his kindness, his graciousness. 
What we find Solomon saying here in Proverbs 28, 13, that brother 
knew whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. And then, 
of course, mercy enjoyed in the age to come. I just point you 
to Revelation 21 and 22 again, because it highlights the blessedness 
for those who have, by grace, believed on Jesus and turned 
from their sin. We get to enter into the New 
Jerusalem. We get to enter into communion 
with the Triune God. We get to enter into that place 
wherein righteousness dwells. So there's every good argument 
in the passage for us to not cover our sins, but rather to 
confess and forsake. In conclusion, I want to first 
explore the problem. I'm not going to do this long. 
You need to be in God's law, not just gospel, law. Heidelberg 
Catechism number three, from where do you know your sins and 
misery? From the law of God. You see, when we don't use the 
law of God lawfully, we become deficient. I think it was Bunyan 
who said, low views of the law produce low views of sin, which 
always results in a low view of the Savior. John Newton said, 
I am a great sinner, but I have a great Savior. So when we understand 
the nature of sin, we understand the beauty of the Savior. And 
so the use of the law is most helpful in that regard. Secondly, 
in terms of the remedy with reference to believers, it not only describes 
our relationship to God. Notice, he who covers his sins 
before God will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes 
his sins before God will have mercy. That's certainly implied 
and that's certainly involved, but it also obtains in the marriage 
relationship, doesn't it? My wife cited to me, or my beloved 
shared to me, that the effects of the lockdowns is that you 
tend to be very close to a minimum of people. And sometimes when 
you're very close to a minimum of people, you start to go a 
little wonky. Thankfully, God in his grace 
and mercy and kindness has, you know, unwonked us for the most 
part, and we all appreciate those fellows with whom we dwell. But 
you get it, right? There's an instance or a time 
or a situation wherein you sin against each other. I know that 
looks surprising to most of you here, but this is something we 
have to utilize in our home a lot. It's not just obtaining mercy 
from God, but it's obtaining mercy from brethren. If we sin 
against somebody, instead of covering it, knowing that we're 
not going to prosper, let's confess it to them, let's forsake it, 
and let's find mercy. This is a most blessed thing. 
The passage describes our dealings with brethren. Gil speaking about 
believers reproved by fellow Christians. He said he should 
not cover it. That is, he should own it. For 
not to own and acknowledge it is to cover it. He should not 
deny it, which is to cover it with a lie and is adding sin 
to sin. Nor should he justify it as if 
he had done a right thing, not extenuate or excuse it or impute 
it to others, to the others that drew him into it. You see, in 
our interrelationships with one another, This is a good way to 
proceed as well. But of course it has to do with 
God. If you are living a life of covering 
your own sin, if you are living a life wherein you are hiding 
those things that you engage in all the time, or some of the 
time, may I encourage you, by God's grace, to stop that pattern. You can't do it. You can't cover 
it. It's not the case that God's 
going to say, wow, they successfully dealt with their sin. Self-atonement 
actually worked. No, you can never deal with your 
own sin apart from the grace and mercy of God Almighty. Do 
not cover it, do not attempt to hide from it, don't minimize 
it, don't try to rationalize it, certainly don't blame God, 
and don't blame others. Man up, take the responsibility, 
confess the sin, laying the hand of faith upon the Savior, and 
forsaking it by God's grace, such that you know the joy of 
life in Christ. And, of course, for the unbeliever, 
the realization that men and God both cover sin. See, the 
text is interesting. He who covers his sins will not 
prosper. There's obviously a missing sort 
of premise. He who covers his sins in the 
wrong way. There is a right way to cover 
sin. That word atonement that we love and celebrate, sort of 
one of the fundamental concepts involved in atonement is just 
that, covering. We've got sin that needs to be 
covered. We've got filth that needs to 
be dealt with. We've got guilt that needs to 
be purged. Bridges again says, God and man 
each cover sin. God in free unbounded grace, 
man in shame and hypocrisy. So stop covering sin. Stop engaging 
in the sorts of things that are oftentimes engaged in and look 
unto Jesus. Just settle it right now. You're 
like the Israelites in Numbers 22 who have been bitten by fiery 
serpents. There's a brazen serpent erected 
in the wilderness and the direction is simple. Look to it and you 
will live. The same is true with reference 
to the fiery serpent of sin. We've all been bent, we're all 
in a miserable condition, we are all going to perish, and 
we are all going to experience the wrath and fury of God Almighty. But Christ has been exalted on 
a cross, and all those who by grace look to Him in faith will 
live. the most blessed and wonderful 
truth in all this world, excellent and worthy of all acceptation, 
that Christ Jesus came into this world, sinners to save. Well, 
let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank 
you for the Word of God. We thank you that it deals not 
only with the problem of sin, but the mercy of God. And Lord, 
I thank you and I praise you for the brothers and sisters 
in this congregation for all of those in the church of Jesus 
Christ that have experienced the blessedness of this text. Help us to ponder the mercy received 
now, and help us to look forward to that age to come when we get 
to enter into the presence of our great and our glorious God. 
We ask that you would go with us now, help us to glorify and 
honor you, and help us to live in light of passages like these. 
And we pray through Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen. We'll close with 
a brief time of meditation. you