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.

Opening Prayer

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.

Introduction

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

The Identification of the Problem

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.

Assumptions: Total Depravity and Total Inability

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,

Biblical Examples of Covering Sin

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.

Modern Ways of Covering Sin

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

The Cursed Result: Will Not Prosper

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.

The Provision of the Remedy

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,

Repentance and the Blessed Result: Mercy

the place of repentance. And thirdly, the blessed result.

The Exercise of Faith: Confession

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.

David's Confession as Pattern

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.

The Object of Faith: Christ Alone

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.

Application

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.

Closing Prayer

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

Scripture References

• Numbers 21:8
• Joshua 7:20
• 1 Samuel 15:14; 15:21-22
• 2 Samuel 11-12; 12:13
• Psalms 25:11; 32; 130:3-4
• Proverbs 7:10; 10:12; 13:15; 28:13; 30:20
• Micah 6:1; 6:8
• Matthew 10:28; 23:23; 27:3-5; 27:24
• Luke 18:9
• John 3:14; 6:44; 8:34
• Acts 5:31; 11:18
• Romans 1
• 2 Corinthians 7
• 1 Timothy 1:15
• 2 Timothy 2:25
• 1 John 1:9
• Revelation 21:8; 21:27; 22:15