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You can turn with me in your 
Bibles to the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 28. Proverbs 28, not a baptism text 
per se, but certainly a text connected with baptism. In our confession of faith, when 
it speaks concerning baptism, it says in chapter 29, paragraph 
one, baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament ordained 
by Jesus Christ to be unto the party baptized, a sign of his 
fellowship with him in his death and resurrection, of his being 
engrafted into him of remission of sins and of giving up into 
God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of life. 
Well, Proverbs 28, 13 speaks concerning the remission or forgiveness 
of sins. So I'll read the text and then 
we'll pray. He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever 
confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. Amen. Well, let us 
pray. Our gracious God and Holy Father, 
we thank you for the Lord's day. We thank you for the high privilege 
that is ours to gather together and to come to the Father through 
the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit. We thank you for 
the blessed opportunity to worship you in spirit and in truth. And 
to that end, we pray that you would guide us now by your Holy 
Spirit, help us as we approach this text to receive the teaching 
of it, and may it be a great encouragement to those of us 
who know the saving grace of God, and may it be a great enticement 
to those dead in their trespasses and sins. May this be the day 
of salvation, and may you grant the graces of faith and repentance 
so that sinners may lay hold of that blessed surety of the 
new covenant, even Jesus Christ our Lord. We give praise to you 
for the gospel of our salvation. We give praise to you for your 
effectual calling and grace. We give praise to you that salvation 
is of the Lord. And we pray that many more would 
come to a knowledge of that. And we ask this through Jesus 
Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, as we come to this 
particular passage, it breaks down quite nicely into two sections. First, it identifies the problem, 
and then secondly, it prescribes the remedy for the problem. Now, 
you've probably come here this morning having no shortage of 
problems. We all have those days where 
we get out of bed and it seems like things are against us. For 
instance, I forgot to fill up the baptistry tank yesterday. 
I usually do that on Saturday morning. And at 6.15 this morning, 
I remembered, this is going to be a dry baptism unless I head 
over to the church building. And that just caused things to 
go from there. So you've got problems. We've 
got issues. We've got challenges. We hear 
of wars and rumors of wars. We have an oppressive government. 
false religion. We have a lot of things, but 
this text addresses the big thing. It addresses the issue of sin. Sin is the universal problem, 
sin is comprehensive, sin is total, and sin is the reason 
for our enmity with God, and God's enmity toward us. So let's 
look at what Solomon says under inspiration of the Spirit, teaching 
the Word of Christ to us in this present generation. As I said, 
first, we'll look at the identification of the problem, and secondly, 
the remedy for the problem. Under the identification, I have 
four thoughts or four observations. First, notice the assumptions 
in the text. It says, he who covers his sins 
will not prosper. There are two assumptions there 
that we need to wrestle with. The first is that people sin. He who covers his sins will not 
prosper. So that first assumption is what 
we call in theology the doctrine of total depravity. The teaching 
that man is sinful. Man has rebelled against God. 
Man, like sheep, has gone astray, and man therefore stands liable 
to God's justice, his wrath, his curse, and his punishment, 
both in this life and that which is to come. Now, when I say the 
doctrine of total depravity, I don't mean that means as that 
every one of us is as bad as we could be. But I do want to 
caution us to reflect that without the grace of God, we would certainly 
be as bad as we could possibly be. We'd all be Pol Pot. We'd 
all be Joseph Stalin. We'd all be Charles Manson. We'd 
be a whole host of wickedness because of our rebellion against 
that living and true God. Now, this doctrine of total depravity 
is taught throughout Scripture. We see it beginning in Genesis 
chapter 6, and we see it all the way up to the book of Revelation. 
There is this problem concerning sin. One specimen passage is 
in Ephesians chapter 2, and you can turn there. Ephesians chapter 
2 deals with what we call, in theology, the doctrine of total 
depravity. In Ephesians 2, verses 1 to 3, 
the apostle gives a before picture of what the saints in Ephesus 
looked like. In other words, what they had come to be in terms 
of saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus had not always 
been the case. They had been sinful. They had 
been rebellious. They had been at odds with God. 
And this is the description of them prior to their coming to 
Jesus. So in Ephesians 2.1, And you 
he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which 
you once walked, according to the course of this world, according 
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works 
in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted 
ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires 
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of 
wrath, just as the others. In Psalm, the Apostle says, we 
were lifeless, we were helpless, and we were hopeless. And the 
Apostle Paul includes himself in that lot. Sin is a universal 
problem. All have sinned and fallen short 
of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no, 
not one. There is none who seeks after God. There is no fear of 
God before the eyes of men. Why? Because of our rebellion, 
our fallenness in Adam. But coupled with this doctrine 
of total depravity is another thing we call total inability. 
And if you turn to the book of Romans in chapter 8, you'll see 
that underscored. Romans chapter 8. And what I 
mean by this is that man, unaided by God's grace, man left to himself, 
cannot repair the ruins. Man cannot fix his problem. If man could fix his problem, 
then the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to live, to die, and to 
be raised again the third day doesn't make any sense. If we 
had it in us, then why the death of the Son of God? We don't have 
it in us. Unless God undertakes on our 
behalf, we will suffer forever in hell. Notice in Romans 8, 
7, the apostle says, because the carnal mind is enmity against 
God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can 
be. So when we go back to our text 
in Proverbs 28, 13, and we consider that first assumption, the reality 
that people sin, we need to consider the second assumption is the 
reality that those people try to cover their sin. Notice again 
in 28, 13, he who covers his sins will not prosper. Now the covering in view is to 
hide it, It's to ignore it. It's to try to pretend it's not 
there. It's to try to act like things 
are a lot better with you than they really are. It's not covering 
somebody else's sins. Solomon says that's a good thing. 
Love covering a multitude of others' sins towards you is a 
blessed virtue. but your attempt to cover your 
sin so that you don't look so bad, so that you don't have to 
ponder the consequences of a life without God, so that you don't 
have to think about those things that at times haunt the hearts 
of men in silence. We need to consider the reality 
that this is an assumption that Solomon presents. Not only do 
people sin, but then they try to cover that sin. And that brings 
us, secondly, to biblical examples of this particular text. If the 
Bible sets forth this doctrine, then it certainly shows us, in 
terms of example, persons who did this. If you go back with 
me to the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 3, the first occasion 
of somebody trying to cover sin, and not in the way that God authorizes. You need to remember, God and 
man seek to cover sin. God does it effectively and efficaciously 
through His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Man does it in 
rebellion. Man does it in a way that pacifies 
his conscience, but doesn't fix his situation. So Genesis chapter 
3 is that first instance where we see covering of sin in a way 
that is not good. Notice, the serpent tempts Eve, 
and then we see in verse 6, so when the woman saw that the tree 
was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree 
desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She 
also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes 
of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were 
naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves 
coverings. They sinned. They were conscious 
of that rebellion. And what do they do in response? 
They try to cover it. They try to hide themselves. 
They then run to the trees that God the Lord had made, thinking 
somehow that He wouldn't be able to attack them. So this covering 
of sin is obviously futile. This covering of sin doesn't 
work. This covering of sin is something that the Bible condemns. 
In fact, that's what Solomon is doing in Proverbs 28, 13. 
And nevertheless, sinners continue to cover their sin. And I want 
to speak to you this morning. If you happen to be one of those 
sinners who is trying to cover his or her own sin, stop. It's 
vain, it's futile, it's a losing prospect. I would suggest that 
you wave the white flag, that you surrender, that you realize 
that Christ alone is the one who can cover sin. His precious 
blood cleanses us and His glorious righteousness clothes us. That 
is the means by which there is an authorized covering for sin. 
So don't tarry, or don't resist, or don't reject, or don't say, 
well, you know, I'm going to keep trying to do it on my own. 
Let's just continue to see how that goes. Look at Joshua chapter 
7. Joshua chapter 7. Remember, God 
told the children of Israel to go in and to utterly dispossess 
the land of Canaan from all the Canaanites. In other words, go 
in and destroy them, break their sacred pillars, destroy their 
property, kill them, take no prisoners, sanitize the land, 
because these altogether wicked sinners are being displaced now 
by God's people. Now, don't forget, when God's 
people act like the Canaanites, they then get displaced as well. For our God is not capricious, 
and He is not arbitrary. The same sort of judgment He 
imposes upon the Canaanites, He gives to the Israelites when 
they ate the Canaanites. But in this context, in Joshua 
chapter 7, they're given a relatively simple task. All they've got 
to do is conquer Ai. And this wasn't, you know, Russia 
or China. This wasn't, you know, a nuclear 
power. This should have been, you know, 
chump change. This should have been a foray with several troops 
in an afternoon, and you'd be drinking coffee and eating dinner 
later on. But that's not what happened. 
God judges that. God defeats them through these 
people at Ai. Why is that? Because there was 
sin in the camp. There was rebellion in the camp. 
There was a man by the name of Aked who coveted certain things 
that was under the ban, they weren't supposed to take, but 
he coveted those things, took them back to his tent, and hid 
them underneath the ground. Why? To try to avoid detection. Can you avoid detection with 
the sovereign God? Can you hide among the trees 
that God made and Him not find you out? Doesn't the author in 
the Chronicles say that your sin will always find you out? Well, that is specifically what 
happens. And it's not until the sin is dealt with in the camp 
of Israel that they then go and engage in a victorious warfare 
over the people of Ai. Turn over to 1 Samuel chapter 
15. 1 Samuel chapter 15. The man by the name of Saul, 
the first king in Israel. Saul had big problems, brethren. 
Really big problems. And one of them was that he tried 
to cover his sin. God gave very clear instructions 
to Saul. I want you to go in and utterly 
destroy the Amalekites and kill Agag, their president, or their 
king. That's it. It's a simple project. It's not, you know, too difficult 
to sort of figure out. So what happens? They engage 
in the foray, but instead of killing all the Amalekites, instead 
of killing Agag, what does Saul do? Saul wants stuff. Saul wants things. Saul wants 
the spoils that these particular persons have. And so when Saul 
is called to account by Samuel, guess what Saul does? Does he 
say, I've been found out? I'm a transgressor of God's law. 
I have been found in my sin. I need to confess it and forsake 
it and find mercy in the Lord Jesus. No, he covers it. He blames 
the people. It was the people. They didn't 
want me to kill the Amalekites. They didn't want me to kill Agag. 
They didn't want me to do that because we wanted all this livestock 
and we wanted all these blessings. You don't cover sin, Saul, and 
prosper. And then you've got the case 
of David. We don't even need to turn there. I've preached 
on that so many times. The sin of David. What happened? It's 
the time of the year when kings go out to battle, and instead 
of David going out to battle, he sends Joab in his place. And 
so what does David do? He gets up on his roof, he sees 
a beautiful woman, and he takes her. She becomes pregnant, or 
he impregnates her. She doesn't become pregnant. 
It's not some magical sort of process there. Biologically, 
he was very much involved in that foray. But then what does 
he do to cover it? Does he confess it? Does he forsake 
it? Does he lay his hand upon the great surety of the new covenant? 
No, he doesn't do that. First, he tries to get Uriah 
to take the fall. He tries to get Uriah drunk so 
that Uriah will go to his house and that Uriah will have relations 
so that when it's discovered that Bathsheba is pregnant, well, 
everybody will conclude that it was Uriah. Seemed like a great 
plan, didn't it? Except for the integrity of Uriah. 
David didn't account for that. David didn't account for the 
fact that Uriah would say, I'm not going to go to my wife's 
bed when the armies of Israel and the Ark of the Covenant are 
out in the battlefield. So what does David then do? Does he retool? 
Does he say, I need to confess? I need to forsake? I need to 
lay my hand on the shirt? No, he commits murder. Conspiracy 
to murder is murder. He plans Uriah's death at the 
hottest part of the battle. So you see, David as well understands 
this concept of covering sin. What about the New Testament? 
Does it show us any examples in terms of covering sin? You've got Judas Iscariot. What 
does Judas Iscariot do? He feels bad. Brethren, feeling 
bad isn't repentance. Feeling bad, any miserable heathen 
can do when they've had enough of their corruption. Feeling 
bad is not the way of salvation. It's grace alone through faith 
alone in Christ alone. And that faith is always mingled 
with repentance. And this is what our text enjoins. 
But whoever confesses and forsakes it will find mercy. So you've 
got Judas, he has remorse, he gets rid of the money, and he 
hangs himself. That's not repentance. That's covering. He felt bad. I mean, I'll give him that, but 
you don't just go out and do those sorts of things when you 
feel bad. What about Pontius Pilate? Pontius Pilate knew that 
Jesus was an innocent man. He says it three times. He says, 
I find no guilt in this man. I find no guilt in this man. 
I find no guilt in this man. Always rehearses or recalls to 
me the threefold pronouncement of the holiness of God in the 
prophet Isaiah when those angels were before the throne of God 
most high and holy, holy, holy. Well, that's essentially what 
Pontius Pilate does. He says, Jesus is holy, holy, 
holy. He understood the envy of the 
Jews. He understood that this was a kangaroo court. And yet, 
he stands before them and in an attempt to cover his own sin 
and pacify his own wretched conscience, he cleanses his hands and he 
says, I am guiltless concerning the blood of this just man. Oh 
no, you're not, pal. Not one bit are you guiltless 
from that. You endorse these bloodthirsty, 
unbelieving Jews in their call for the crucifixion of the only 
holy, harmless, and undefiled man that ever lived? Brethren, 
just imagine if you and I got framed for a particular crime 
and sentenced to the death penalty. Maybe we didn't commit that crime, 
but we're not guiltless. We're not altogether harmless. 
Jesus was. He was innocent. And then what 
about the case of Ananias and Sapphira? Remember what they 
did, Acts chapter 5? We don't like to talk about that 
because that sounds kind of wrathful. That sounds kind of Old Testament-ish. God kills people in churches 
when they lie to the Holy Spirit? Yeah, he kills people in churches 
when they lie to the Holy Spirit. Not every instance, not every 
time, but that's certainly within his realm. And that's what happens 
with Ananias and Sapphira. It wasn't wrong that they had 
property. It wasn't wrong that they sold property. It was wrong 
that they said that we're giving all the proceeds to the apostles. 
They lied. God's not anti-private property. God's not pro-commie. God is 
pro-truth. And so when these people lie 
to the Holy Spirit, God kills them. Why didn't you just come 
clean? Why didn't you just confess it 
and forsake it and find mercy in the Christ who saves? You 
see, brethren, as we consider the implication here with reference 
to the fact that people sin, the fact that people cover sin, 
as we consider these particular examples, I think it brings us 
thirdly to consider the applications of this text. He who covers his 
sins will not prosper. How do people do that? I don't 
want to get psychological here, but all you have to do is kind 
of look at human history or human nature, starting with yourself 
and perhaps others that you know and the people that you live 
and move and have your being with. There seems to be some 
common themes among the sons of men as to why or how they 
attempt to cover their sin. Again, this isn't rocket science. 
I'm not a brain surgeon. I'm not here developing or telling 
you, you know, I figured out how to split the atom. This is 
pretty simple, brethren. The way that people mitigate 
the effects of sin, the way that people just try to explain away 
sin, the way that people just want to assume that they're really 
not as bad as the Bible suggests. First, there is just the denial 
of sin. This is a tough one. I remember 
being with a brother and we went to evangelize or meet with a 
guy that was on his deathbed and we tried to tell him he's 
a sinner. Oh no, no, no, not me. Never sinned. Really? You've never sinned? What's that 
like, holy one? It's an impossibility, brethren. 
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Now this 
denial of sin is something that Solomon treats elsewhere. Listen 
to Proverbs chapter 30 and verse 20. This is the way of an adulterous 
woman. She eats and wipes her mouth 
and says, I have done no wickedness. Not me. Whatever I do cannot 
be classified as wickedness, but Solomon just said you're 
an adulteress. The definition of wicked is right 
there in that word, adulteress, isn't it? Not me. Denial of sin. Bridges says, he who 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 I often think when we have 
a Lord's Day service, and when we preach the Word, and there's 
some touching on sin, or hopefully the Spirit of God is working 
conviction in sin, let's not try to blow that up after a service. Maybe somebody's got their conscience 
haunting them a bit. Maybe there's the work of the 
Spirit sort of post-preaching that needs to obtain, that needs 
to go on. So we don't want to give an occasion 
for somebody to further deny their sin. Well, he said a lot 
of stuff there. It's true for most of the people 
there, but not me, because I'm awesome and all that. Secondly, 
there is the minimizing of sin. The minimizing of sin. You see 
this as well. Again, this isn't rocket science. 
You see it in redefinition. Adultery, let's just pick on 
that particular sin again. It's playing around. We're just 
flirting. You know, theft. Well, you know, 
the government really shouldn't tell me what I can and can't 
do anyway. There's this redefinition. When God calls something theft, 
or God calls something covetousness, or God calls something, you know, 
idolatry, that's another one that's a hot topic, not just 
for the non-people of God, but John ends his first epistle on 
that note. My little children, keep yourselves 
from idols. Why would you write that, John? 
Because the propensity of the human heart, even redeemed by 
God's good grace, is prone to wander and prone to leave the 
God that we love. So my little children, keep yourselves 
from idols. We are not to redefine. As well, 
we're not to engage in rationalization. Again, sinners do that. Well, 
I'm not as bad as my brother. I'm not as bad as my neighbor. I'm not as bad as that guy, you 
know, sitting down the aisle from me in church. Don't everybody 
look to your left or right. I'm just not that bad. So there's 
this redefinition, and then there's this rationalization. And then, 
of course, there's the attempt to shift blame for sin. We're 
all pretty good at that one, too. It began in the Garden. 
If we'd have continued reading in that narrative in Genesis 
3, guess what Adam does? Lord, I've sinned, I've rebelled, 
I've transgressed. Where's the surety of a better 
covenant? Let me lay my hand of faith on Him. No. He first 
blames God, the woman whom thou hast given me. Think of that 
arrogance. God, if you hadn't put her here, 
I'd be fine. I wouldn't have eaten that fruit. 
I would have been happy and content and everything would have been 
great. So the woman whom thou has given me, but also that woman, 
he's supposed to lead his wife. He's supposed to love his wife. 
He's supposed to care for his wife. He's supposed to protect 
his wife. We're gonna see that when we 
return to our studies in Ephesians chapter five. Husbands, love 
your wives. You're to function as Christ 
to your wives. He's the savior of the body. 
He's the head of the body. He's supposed to wash her and 
cherish her and tend to her. Well, Adam doesn't do that. He 
throws Eve right under the bus. It was her fault. Blame shifting. I mentioned the case of Saul. 
Same sort of a situation. He blamed the people. Samuel 
said, if you've done your task, why am I hearing these oxen and 
why am I hearing these cattle? It's because the people wanted 
to preserve them. That's blame-shifting. What about 
Exodus chapter 32? That sort of foray into idolatry. God gives detailed plans on how 
to build the tabernacle. Before they get to building the 
tabernacle, let's just go ahead and sin in an anti-tabernacle 
sort of an event. Let's just do exactly what God 
has commanded us not to. Well, how do they do that? They 
invoke Aaron. They say, well, Moses has been 
on that mountain for, you know, for a long time. We don't know 
when he's going to come back. Aaron, satisfy our religious 
longings. Okay, give me whatever gold you 
have, and I'll throw it into this forge, and we'll see what 
pops out. That's actually how Aaron argues. He blames the people, and then 
he blames chance. I just took the gold, I threw 
it in the forge, and out came this calf! Imagine that! You see what covering sin looks 
like? Kids, I don't wanna pick on you, 
and I won't look at anyone in particular, but your parents 
are usually smarter than you are. You know, at this level, 
I didn't do anything. Oh, really? You didn't do anything. You got it written all over you. 
Criminals, right on your forehead. And your parents usually see 
it with absolute clarity. This covering of sin is an exercise 
in futility. As well, there are people who 
try to cover sin by their own religious methodology. Their own religious methodology. Proverbs 7, 14. You can turn 
there, we're not far. Proverbs chapter seven. We have 
the wayward woman seducing the young man. And notice how Solomon writes 
in 7.6, Could Solomon say it any more candidly? This guy's not the brightest 
bulb in the chandelier. He says it right there. I saw 
among the simple, I perceived among the youths, a young man 
devoid of understanding, passing along the street near her corner, 
and he took the path to her house in the twilight, in the evening, 
in the black and dark night. Don't miss that. Sinners like 
to cover sin in the hours of darkness. There are things that 
sinners don't typically do in noonday that they might do at 
midnight because darkness provides a foil. It provides a cover of 
sort so that people don't find out what you're doing. And then 
notice in 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. 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. Gil says she's not 
a common strumpet. It's an old English word for 
that kind of a woman. She's married. Her husband's 
away on business. She has a degree of respectability. 
She's gone to temple that day or tabernacle that day. She has 
paid her offerings. She's got a religion in check, 
and yet she's seducing this dumb young man. This is the case when 
sinners try to cover their sin. Look at the prophet Micah. Look 
at the prophet Micah, chapter 6 specifically, a passage that 
probably we all know out of Micah. I mean, if given the sword exam, 
it's going to take me a minute to find Micah, but we all know 
Micah 6, 8. He has shown you, O 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. Brethren, that text is in 
a context. You don't just lift that out 
and put it on your fridge and say, okay, God, that's how I'm 
gonna be today. I mean, you can do that, but 
that's not really the function of the passage in the context. 
The function of the passage in the context is God, through Micah, 
upbraiding the children of Israel. See, the prophets functioned 
like prosecuting attorneys. They would go to the courtroom 
and they would say, God has an ax to grind with you for these 
reasons. You need to repent. You need 
to renew faith. You need to get it together. 
And that's the context in Micah 6. So notice in verse 1, Oh, 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." It's the opening argument. God, through Micah, 
says, what have I done? Register your complaint. Bring 
your evidence. Bring your receipts, as they 
say today. Show me my offense. Now look at their response. 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, ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall 
I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the 
sin of my soul? Of course not. God's never commanded you to 
function the way Moloch worshipers function and throw their babies 
into the fire in order to pacify the angry God. Jehovah's not 
that way. And that's when he comes and 
says, he has shown you, oh man, what is good. He doesn't require, 
you know, blood from your babies. He doesn't require all of these 
things that you put together. See, their religiosity sufficed 
for them to think that everything was just fine. Everything was 
just dandy with them. And then, of course, that Pharisee. 
Don't want to leave him untouched. Notice in Luke chapter 18. Luke 
chapter 18. How does this man hide his sin? Well, he does it under the guise 
of being super spiritual. Super religious, just an excellent 
specimen of a human being. Notice in Luke 18 at verse 9, 
also Jesus spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves 
that they were righteous and despised others. Don't miss that. Self-righteousness always produces 
hatred for others. just the way it goes. When you 
are righteous with yourself and content with your abilities, 
typically you have problems with everybody else. And that's what 
happens. 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, I thank you that I'm not like other men, 
extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector." 
So he's righteous in his own eyes, but he despises the tax 
collector. This poor wretch that can't even 
look up into heaven, but he beats his breast and says, God be merciful 
to me, the sinner. What does this Pharisee think 
he's gonna hear? Have it open up and say, wow, you're just 
awesome. You have done over and above 
the call of duty, your fasting, your tithing, your religiosity. It is just spotless and sterling. This man was a fake. Jesus tells 
us he was a fake. He goes home condemned. The Pharisee, 
or rather, the publican is the one who goes home justified. 
So when it comes to this covering of sin, beware of the religious 
attempt to cover sin. And then finally, with reference 
to our text, Proverbs 28, 13, just looking at the first section, 
he who covers his sins will not prosper. We've seen the assumptions. 
We've seen the examples. We see the applications. Notice, 
fourthly, the cursed result. The cursed result, in verse 13, 
he who covers his sins will not prosper. Don't forget that brief 
clause, will not prosper. See, that's kind of built into 
us, isn't it? We want to prosper. I don't mean 
riches and houses and all that sort of thing, but I mean hard 
work and industry, be left alone by people that should leave us 
alone and seek to be diligent and just do what God calls us 
to do. I think that's in us. It's there. We image God. He built us that way. So there's 
this longing, this desire, this inkling to prosper. But what 
happens if you cover your transgression, you will not prosper. You cover 
your sin and you will not go forward. You cover your sin and 
you will not be blessed. And if we had to speak to this, 
we could break it down into two points. First, you'll not prosper 
in this life. And second, you'll not prosper 
in the life to come. Something else that Solomon says 
in the book of Proverbs, specifically at chapter 13 and verse 15, he 
says, the way of the unfaithful is hard. Now, I realize that 
sometimes evidence suggests otherwise. We go through those Asaph moments 
in Psalm 73, where we see the righteous suffer, we see the 
unrighteous abound, it perplexes us, it vexes us. But for the 
most part, when it comes to passages like these, we need to understand 
that what may appear to be prosperity, we don't know what it's like 
for that person. It's because somebody has a lot 
of stuff doesn't mean they're happy. Just because they have 
a lot of things doesn't mean they're prosperous. The way of 
the transgressor is hard. Doesn't mean that if you're righteous, 
everything's gonna be easy. You don't forget to fill baptistry 
tanks. You don't forget to do this. 
No, no. There's always going to be challenges 
in this present evil age, but the way of the transgressor is 
hard betwixt him and God. He has no peace in his conscience. 
He can't say with Romans 5.1, therefore, having been justified 
by faith, we have peace with God. Whatever the condition of 
God's people, whatever their outward affliction, whatever 
the turmoil or trial that they face, they nevertheless have 
peace with God that cannot be taken away from them. It cannot 
be stripped. But for the unrighteous, for 
the unfaithful, their way is hard. Jesus speaks to this in 
John's Gospel, John chapter 8, verse 34. He says, Most assuredly, 
I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. Slavery 
isn't a happy life. Slavery isn't a good existence. So the way of the transgressor 
is hard. So in this life, for those who cover their sin, they 
will not prosper. But certainly the Bible speaks 
to the life to come. It speaks to the age to come. 
It speaks to the eternal state. See, what we experience in the 
here and now isn't all there is. There is a life after this. There is heaven or there is hell. 
And the Bible is crystal clear concerning this. In fact, you 
can turn to the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 21, specifically 
at verse 8. Revelation chapter 21 verse 8. 
So the way of the transgressor in life now is hard, but the 
way of the transgressor in the life to come is harder. It is punctuated by pain and 
suffering and turmoil and exclusion from all the goodness of God 
most high. Notice in Revelation 21 at verse 
eight, but the cowardly, we need to qualify that because some 
of us have some native fears about things and we might think 
we're going to the lake of fire because we don't like spiders 
or we don't like snakes or we get a little uncomfortable in 
the dark. That's not what the cowardly is. When you read the 
seven letters to the churches of Asia Minor, they all end with 
this emphasis. They all end with this benediction 
or blessing. To he who overcomes. To he who overcomes. To he who 
overcomes. There's seven of them, so if 
we could keep going, you get the point. to he who overcomes. 
So when we get to 21.8, we see cowardly, it doesn't mean spiders. It doesn't mean snakes. It means 
the civil state. It means false religion. It means 
the pressures that we receive when we side with Jesus in this 
present evil age. It's those who are identified 
as cowardly. It's those who are excluded from 
the good presence of God. It is those who find themselves 
in the lake of fire with all these other derelicts and reprobates. So notice in 21.8. 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." So 
back to our text. He who covers his sins will not 
prosper in this age or in the age to come. The way of the transgressor 
is hard now. The way of the transgressor is 
going to be eternally harder in the age to come. So there's 
great impetus in this text to continue with reference to the 
prescription of the remedy. How do we find relief? What do 
we do? If what you're saying is true, 
and I've just seen a few verses that have convinced me so, then 
what's the hope of escape? What's the sanctioned or authorized 
way to cover the sin that is teeming in my heart? Well, back 
to our text in 28.13, he who covers his sins will not prosper, 
but Whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. Now, I want to break this down. 
First, the exercise of faith. Secondly, the place of repentance. 
And then third, the blessed result. But notice the exercise of faith. He who covers his sins will not 
prosper, but whoever confesses. Some of you have perhaps been 
brought up in the Roman Catholic Church, or you know somebody 
that's in that particular church, and you'll know that they have 
confession. They have a confessional. You go in there as young papist, 
you get on the kneeler, and you say, bless me, Father, for I 
have sinned. It has been, you know, 25 years since my last 
confession. Or you say, 25 days, and if it 
was 25 years, your first confessed sin is I lied. So there is this, 
this, this sort of saetia dodal, which refers to a priestly office 
that mediates blessing from God to the worshiper. That's not 
what this text is advancing. That's not what this text is 
advocating. Find a priest and give him your confession. No, 
that's not it. The beauty of the Bible, we confess 
right to God. We come right through the mediator, 
the high priest, even our Lord Jesus Christ. He is an advocate 
with the Father, and he ever lives to make intercession for 
us. Those earthly corrupt priests, we don't have any need for them. 
There's the priesthood of all believers. We can actually come 
to God through Christ in the Spirit. It's a blessed and wonderful 
provision. But this idea of confessing has 
to do with expressing faith in God, faith in our Lord Jesus. 
One commentator, Bruce Waltke, mentions this word confession. 
In six passages, 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, He forgives and delivers from 
sin. So when we come to this passage 
and it says, but whoever confesses, I would argue this is an expression 
of faith. The object is our Lord Jesus, 
more on that in just a moment, but when we do this, the sinner 
agrees with God, right? Because if the alternative is 
covering, then the right response is to say, yeah, God, you're 
right, I am a wretch. Have you ever wondered how David, 
the man described as the man after God's own heart in 1 Samuel 
could have been described that way? I mean, face it, most of 
us in this room, anyway, I don't want to say universally, haven't 
done the sorts of things David did. There was a time when the 
kings went out to battle, or David sends Joab, David commits 
sin, David compounds sin. How could he be the man after 
God's own heart? Because he sides with God against 
himself. He's not trying to be something 
else. Oh no, I'm actually this really holy, righteous, wonderful 
guy. It's not the way you're supposed 
to read the Psalter. That is not how David is rehearsing 
his life before a thrice holy God. So when we confess our transgression, 
we agree with God. As well, the sinner believes 
in the mercy of God. Why else would we do this? Why 
would we confess to God if we didn't think there was mercy 
to be had from God? And spoiler alert, that's precisely 
the teaching in Proverbs 28, 13. When it comes to this, Bridges 
says, God needs not confession for his own information, but 
he demands it for our good. It brings no claim on his mercy, 
but it is a means for the reception of it. Christ has fully satisfied 
the claims of divine justice. Now make sure we keep that clear. 
I'm not forgiven because I've confessed my sins. I am forgiven 
because of the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Lord. Same 
for you. But this act of confession, this 
laying hold, as it were, upon the offered mercy of God through 
our Lord Jesus Christ, is an act of faith. In the last hour 
we had a prayer meeting, and in that prayer meeting we read 
from Voice of the Martyrs. And Voice of the Martyrs reports 
on what you might think, martyrs and persons suffering for the 
cause of God and truth in various countries. There was a woman 
that was accused of the dastardly crime of selling Bibles in China, 
and one of the things she did at her, I think it was that woman, 
what she does when she gets her day in court, what would we do? Oh, I was framed. I bought them 
from the state church, just kind of wanted to cut a deal to, you 
know, my front. That's not what she does. She 
recites the Apostles' Creed. Praise God Almighty for that. That might've been the reason 
that she was on the earth and she went to this jail, that she 
stood before this group so that she could rehearse the Apostles' 
Creed. You know, one of the things that 
we rehearse in the Apostles' Creed, it's very near and dear 
to this text, I believe in the forgiveness of sins. But whoever 
confesses, side with God, you're not okay. You're not just a little 
off. You're as messed up and probably 
a whole lot more than the Bible says. You do not find, you know, 
any comfort, or you should not find any comfort in trying to 
evade that, or, you know, it really isn't my fault. It really 
wasn't that. No, no, side with God. Believe 
in the offer of mercy that comes through Jesus Christ. Talk to 
some of the people here. Talk to Steve and Mike. Why are 
you going into that water? Oh, because we're great young 
men, and we've always done. No, because Jesus is a great 
savior, because his blood and righteousness is for me. And 
it's received by faith alone. Confession means to lay my hand 
upon that blessed surety. And then as well, the sinner 
follows David. 2 Samuel 11 and 12. Again, I've alluded to it. But 
when David is confronted by Nathan, what does David say? Very simple. I have sinned against the Lord. 
That's it? You didn't have to get on your 
knees and plead and beg? You didn't have to grovel in 
the dirt? He said everything that needed 
to be said. He didn't try to redefine it. Well, it wasn't 
really adultery. I'm the king after all. He didn't 
try to rationalize it. You know, I live a busy and stressful 
life. And you know, that woman that 
was out there, she shouldn't have been doing that. He doesn't 
do that. When he's confronted by the prophet, he says, I have 
sinned against the Lord. What else can I say? What other 
thing needs to be said? He lays his hand upon that mercy 
offered in our Lord Jesus Christ. There's an old German study Bible 
called the Berlberg, I'm probably mispronouncing that, from 1726 
to 29, and it comments on the simplicity of David's confession. 
It says the words are very few, just as in the case of the publican 
in the gospel. But that is a good sign of a 
thoroughly broken spirit. There is no excuse. There is 
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. That is accurate. That is spot 
on. And that is what it means to 
confess. It means to lay hold of Jesus 
Christ. He is the object of faith. When we consider that, we obviously 
think to the New Testament. The Old Testament teaches that 
as well. Genesis 3.15 promised a man born of a woman, the seed 
of a woman, that would crush the serpent. As we move through 
the Old Testament, we get various facets of the life of the Redeemer 
King. He's going to be a prophet. He's 
going to be a priest. He's going to be a king. What 
do you think the old covenant saints believed in, or who do 
you think they believed in? They believed on the Lord Jesus 
Christ. The Old Testament is full of Christ. The Old Testament 
is all about Christ. The Old Testament has as the 
scope of scripture, Jesus Christ. And of course, the new covenant 
certainly reinforces that. In the birth narrative in Matthew's 
gospel, you shall call his name Jesus. Why? For he will save 
his people from their sins. Jesus says the Son of Man did 
not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a 
ransom for many. He's the object of faith. That's 
why Sunday in and Sunday out, that's why every day, every day 
out, that parents and pastors and friends and evangelists are 
pointing you to the Lord Jesus. Because that's what you need. 
That's who you need. It's through Christ alone that 
forgiveness comes. It's through Christ alone that 
a righteousness comes. He is the object of faith. And 
then notice the high note upon which the text ends. The blessed 
result is simple. You confess, you find mercy. Isn't that beautiful? Well, grovel, 
suffer pain for 15 years, do all the right things according 
to... No, no, no. You confess. In other words, 
you believe on the Lord Jesus, and with that belief comes repentance. I'm not going to continue to 
go down that path. I'm not going to continue to 
pursue those things that are vile and filthy and wretched 
and would ultimately land me in the lake of fire. Faith and 
repentance are always hand in hand. A penitent faith and repentance 
is believing repentance. So they're always two sides of 
the same coin. But the blessed result isn't 
you may find mercy. There's a world of probability 
and possibility that you could perhaps find mercy. No. Brethren, 
isn't that one of the beautiful things about the Christian religion? 
It's not hypothetical. It's not maybe. It's not kind 
of. It's not, you're okay, I'm okay. 
You confess your sins and He is faithful and just to forgive 
us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You lay your 
hand upon the surety. That's Bridges' language, by 
the way, and I think it is very excellent. He speaks in that 
way specifically, this laying of the hand of faith upon the 
head of the surety Jesus Christ. There is the blessed result that 
you will find mercy. Now, just let that sink in here 
for a moment. You're a wretch. God is a holy 
God. He's gonna punish you in this 
life and that which is to come, but he's given a way out. He's 
given an escape means. He's given a way of salvation. So my encouragement to you today 
is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to look unto Him in faith, 
to lay your hand of faith upon the head of the surety and find 
that hope, find that mercy, find that forgiveness that the Apostle 
Paul celebrates in his writings. In Ephesians 1, 3, he says, blessed 
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed 
us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. 
Every spiritual one. I need justification. You got 
it. I need sanctification. You got 
it. I need glorification. You got it. Christ has done the 
work. Christ is the surety. Christ 
is the one in whom there is salvation. And that was the apostolic emphasis 
in the early church. Look unto the Lord Jesus Christ 
and be ye saved. Well, in conclusion, just a few 
thoughts. We, us, all of us, should at 
times explore this problem a bit more. Heidelberg Catechism says, 
how do you know your sin and misery? Well, the law of God 
tells me, right? Sometimes we get pretty puffed 
up and arrogant and we think we're doing quite well. Get your 
face in the commandments of God, get your face in the Old Testament, 
get your face in the New Testament, and realize you're not righteous 
in yourself. It really is about Jesus. It 
really is the fact that he is to us wisdom from God, that is 
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Jesus is for 
us. So with that, believers should 
reflect upon this and ponder it, but unbelievers should as 
well. Don't run from your problems, because that's an attempt to 
cover it. Trust me, you know this. Anybody 
over two knows that running from problems never solves them. Does 
it? The warning engine light comes 
on. I'm just going to pretend it's not and see how that works. 
No, you can't live that way, right? Oh, I've got this issue 
at work. I'm just going to pretend like, 
no, no, you got to deal with it. And you know you do, don't 
you? Because somebody will say that. 
Well, you just got to deal with it. I know, but I don't want 
to deal with it. Well, don't be that sinner. I 
know I got a problem. I know there's a promise of mercy 
to be had. In other words, a solution to 
the problem. But instead of dealing with that, 
I'm going to run from it and continue to cover my sin. Again, 
may we just say, no, stop. Take the law of God, shine it 
upon your heart, you'll probably find out things about yourself 
even more disturbing than you ever had thought. But again, 
there is mercy to be had with the God of heaven and earth. 
Secondly, in terms of the explanation of the remedy, I think this serves 
both God and man. In other words, if I sin against 
God and I confess it and forsake it, I find mercy from God. But 
horizontally it works too. If you've got a problem in your 
marriage, you've got a problem with your kids, you've got a 
problem with your parents, you've got a problem in your church, 
What should you do? Run from your problems? Hide 
from your problems? Treat that person like they're 
dead to you? No, you deal with it. You seek mercy. You seek forgiveness. For unbelievers, 
you need to understand that man and God both cover sin. God just 
does it effectually. Bridges says, God and man each 
cover sin. God in free unbounded grace, 
man in shame and hypocrisy. The answer, the solution is to 
flee to the Savior. And the final admonition is for 
our young brothers today. You're here because of God's 
mercy. In fact, I want to just read this so I don't get misty-eyed 
here. The mercy of God brings the forgiveness of sins. Why 
does God send his son? Love, he so loved the world that 
he gave his only begotten son. When God forgives a sinner, what 
is that an expression of? It's his mercy. Isn't this what 
the psalmist just rehearses over and over again in Psalm 136? For his mercy endures forever. His mercy endures forever. His mercy endures forever. He just keeps saying that. Why? Because it just keeps being true. The prophet Micah, chapter 7, 
he says, who is a God like you, forgiving iniquity, pardoning 
sin? Why? Because he loves mercy. These young men go into the water 
today not because they're bright, I'm not saying they're not, but 
they're going into that water because of God's mercy. The mercy 
of God is foundational to Christian baptism. This signifies outwardly 
what has happened to them inwardly by the power of God through faith 
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Their sins are forgiven. They 
understand remission. They know the bliss of being 
found in Jesus Christ, not having their own righteousness, which 
is from the law, but that which is from God and received through 
faith alone. And that is what we should all 
look to on this day, as we see these young men baptized in the 
name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, understanding 
they're not the last sinners. They're not the last ones. There's 
hope and mercy and grace available in our blessed God through His 
Son, the Lord Jesus. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the simplicity 
of this text, the clarity of it. And I pray that you would 
bring it home and seal it to our hearts. As the people of 
God, may we rejoice in that mercy received. As well, may we rejoice 
in that object of faith, even our Lord Jesus Christ, in his 
life, death, and resurrection. And for unbelievers, we pray 
that you'd open their eyes, open their hearts to receive the truth. 
And may they see Jesus Christ as altogether lovely and chief 
among 10,000. And may they, by that grace, 
lay hold of him for salvation. And we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, Brother Mark is gonna come 
up and lead the congregation in a hymn while we go and change 
our clothes here. Any of the parents that have 
children in the nursery could go and collect your children, 
bring them up. That would free up the nursery workers to join 
us for the baptismal. And we're going to get things 
prepared here while they're changing. We're going to sing Amazing Grace. It's number 433 in the