God's Law of Dispensing Mercy

Review of David's Confession in Psalm 51

0:02 51st Psalm. In this psalm we have seen, embodied in the prayer of David, some of the principles that make up all true biblical confession of sin. We found in a general observation of the passage that David owned the sin as his own sin, no less than six or seven times in the first four verses. He calls it his own, my sin, my transgression, my iniquity, my evil.

0:34 He called it nothing less than sin. He did not call it shortcoming, mistake, failure, or weakness, but he used four or five different words to describe it as moral evil. Then as we went in some detail through the first four verses, we saw that the only refuge of a convicted sinner is the mercy of God and the God of mercy. So David cries, have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy tender mercies, according to the multitude of thy lovingkindness, blot out my transgressions.

1:07 And then last week we began to consider the three indispensable ingredients for all true confession. And found in verses three and four. For where David says, I acknowledge my transgressions, my sin is ever before me, against thee and thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight. Showing that one of the ingredients is a painful awareness and acknowledgement of the presence of sin.

1:33 He says, my sin is ever before me. He cannot deny the reality of its presence in his life. Secondly, it involves a painful awareness and acknowledgement of the nature of sin. Against thee and thee only have I sinned.

1:46 And I trust that we shall not forget the principle of this truth as found in 2 Samuel when Nathan came and said in the name of Jehovah, David, you've despised me and you've despised my law. The deepest aspect of David's crime was that it was a despising of God. And that lies at the root of the nature of sin. A despising of the authority and the rights of God over his creatures.

2:15 And then the Lord willing, next week... We shall consider that third ingredient where David cries out, I was conceived in sin.

2:24 I was shaped in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. In which he confesses that the source of sin is as deep as his very nature as a fallen son of Adam. But there is a very vital part which, unless we lay hold of it, will render all that follows relatively useless to us. Namely...

2:47 That everything that proceeds from here on in the psalm assumes that the individual praying this psalm is desperately honest with God in the willingness to deal with his sin. And it's at this point that I feel it's necessary, as it were, to labor the issue. For it's not enough to know that sin is present and to know the nature of my sin as being against God and God only. This is the essential.

God's Law of Dispensing Mercy: Proverbs 28:13

3:17 This is the essential aspect of the nature of sin. But everything hinges on this matter of having the willingness, similar to David's, of being thoroughly honest in the confession and the forsaking of that sin. And so as a commentary on that principle, I want us to turn tonight to a text in the book of Proverbs, which I trust will be used tonight in many of our lives and continually in the days ahead as it has been in my own life for a number of years. To bring us to a continual awareness of the fact that unless we are willing to thoroughly acknowledge and deal with our sin, no amount of knowing that the mercy of God is available, no amount of consciousness of His tender mercies and loving kindness, none of this will do us any good. For the statement of our text in Proverbs chapter 28 and verse 13 is as follows.

4:16 Proverbs 28 and verse 13. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, though he's aware of them, though he may be miserable on account of them, though he may even recognize that they are against God. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, the mercy of God notwithstanding, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. You see, David's only hope was the mercy of God.

4:52 But this text declares that the mercy of God is dispensed, it is not dispensed upon anyone regardless of the state of their mind and heart with respect to the sin. This text declares, he that covers his sin, though the mercy of God is there potentially to forgive and restore, he that covers it shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. Now I want us to consider, consider this text tonight under the heading of God's law of dispensing mercy. Would you know the mercy that David knew?

5:35 Mercy that came with forgiveness for adultery, murder, hypocrisy, a year of spiritual barrenness? Would you know the mercy that brings restoration of joy? David said, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. Would you know the restoration of the fresh quickening of the Spirit, uphold me with thy willing spirit?

5:55 Would you know the mercy that brings restored vibrance to the testimony? Open thou my lips and my mouth, so shall forth thy praise. Would you know David's mercy from the Lord? Then you must know, and I must know, something of David's honest and open dealing with his sin.

Characteristics of God's Law of Mercy

6:14 For our text declares, he that covers his sin shall not prosper, but only those who confess and forsake them shall have mercy. So we're going to consider tonight God's law of dispensing mercy. Will you please notice several introductory thoughts about this law by which God dispenses mercy? That it's a universal law. Notice the wording.

6:39 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. The he and the whoso in this text are just as broad as the he. He and the whoso of some of the wonderful gospel promises in the New Testament. For whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

7:04 That's as broad as broad can be. The whosoever of God's general invitation to sinners to call upon Jesus Christ for mercy. The he is just as broad as the he of John 5.24.

7:17 He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Therefore, there is not a one of us in this building who is exempt from the binding nature of this law of mercy. If you're here tonight and you're not savingly joined to Christ, this text says, if you cover your sin, you shall not prosper. But blessed be God, if you confess and forsake your sin, regardless of what that sin has been, you shall have mercy.

7:49 If you're here tonight as the most mature saint, this text applies. At any point that you cover your sin, regardless of what that sin is, regardless of how, quote, small, how open it may be before men, or how hidden it may be from the eyes of men, this text applies to you and to me. He that covereth his sin shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth. This law is absolutely universal in its scope.

8:16 It holds every one of us in its grip. This text has its arms around every one of you tonight, and it holds you in a vice-like, and you can't escape it. He and whoso. It says something to you.

8:29 It says something to me. The second thing about this law, by way of introduction, it's an absolute law. There are some laws which admit of exceptions. But this law admits of no exception.

8:42 We say of certain things, well, the exception only proves the rule. You can never say this of this. There was never a person who covered his sins who prospered, in the sense that we're going to understand prosperity. Oh, they may have prospered physically, but that was just ripening themselves with judgment.

8:57 The scripture speaks of that. But prosper in the sense that this text means that there never was a man or woman, an angel, a devil, who covered his sin, who prospered. But blessed be God, there was never a man or woman, boy or girl, who but confessing and forsaking sin, found mercy. This is an absolute law.

9:16 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper. And the shall not of this text is just as binding as the law of the law. As the shall not of John 5.24 that I mentioned a moment ago, he that believeth shall not come into condemnation.

9:32 Just as surely as the shall not of gospel promise brings comfort to the saint, so this shall not should bring terror to anyone who thinks that covering sin he may prosper. This is an absolute law. Not only universal in its scope, but absolute in its inflexibility. And then the third, the third thing we notice about this law of dispensing mercy is that it is an applied law.

10:00 The law of gravity applies to physical objects. This law applies to the whole matter with which we've been dealing in Psalm 51, the problem of sin. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. You see, there is an inseparable connection between the mercy of God and the blessing of God.

10:24 And an honest dealing with sin. In Isaiah 55, this is pictured beautifully, where we read in the opening verses of that wonderful gospel chapter, O everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. But then God goes on to say, let the wicked forsake his way, and let the unrighteous man forsake his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, for he will have mercy, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

10:58 The conferring of mercy and pardon is inseparably joined with the forsaking of wickedness. You cannot separate the two. We find the same thing in the New Testament, in the book of James, where God says, draw nigh to me, and I will draw nigh to you. Well, how do we draw nigh?

11:17 Be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to heaviness and your joy to mourning. In the beginning, God says, the way to draw nigh and know the fresh conferring of mercy is to honestly deal with our sin. Now, when I use the term sin, when this passage uses the word sin, what's it talking about?

The Biblical Definition of Sin

11:37 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper. Does it mean that this refers only to the sins such as those that David committed of adultery and of murder? Certainly a man who commits murder and adultery cannot prosper if he goes on without thoroughly thinking about his sins. But is this true of all sin?

11:58 I believe that we have no right whatsoever to limit the meaning of the word sin here in any way, but give to it its full biblical connotation. Now, what does the Bible mean when it says sin? Well, let me suggest several texts of Scripture that answer that question. First of all, in 1 John 3, 4, we read, sin is the transgression of the law.

12:22 Any stepping over the Bible, the boundaries of God's holy law is sin. Whether consciously or unconsciously, it is sin. Sin is the transgression of the law, or better translated, sin is lawlessness. Sin is living as though there were no restraints of the holy law of God.

12:42 So, do I want to know if I'm covering my sins? Let me dare face the Ten Commandments and go right down through and ask myself, have I allowed any other things to sap away my affections? Have I allowed any other things to sap away my affections from the living God? Have I in any way desecrated His holy day?

12:59 Have I in any way passed on with my lips false stories? Have I in any way been guilty of maligning my brother? Have I broken that commandment? Have I broken the commandment, thou shalt not covet?

13:13 Sin is any transgression of the holy law of God in any form whatsoever. And our text says, He that covereth his sins, shall not prosper. 1 John 5.17 expands the definition of sin.

13:30 We read this, All unrighteousness is sin. Everything that is not mathematically parallel to the righteous requirement of God is sin. Whatever God requires is right. Any failure to do what He requires is sin.

13:47 In what area? Any area. Take the areas we read about this morning in Ephesians 6. I'm just picking them at random.

13:54 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is what? This is right. Servants, be subject to your masters, not only to the good and the gentle, but to the proper. Then he goes on and he commands masters to treat their servants in a certain way.

14:11 Whatever God requires of me in the home, in my place of work, in the use of my tongue, in my attitudes to God, to men, whatever God requires is right. Any failure to do, what is required, is sin. For the scripture says, all unrighteousness is sin. Then in Romans 14.23, we have another text which declares what sin is. Listen as Paul says, Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. He's dealing in the context of people indulging in that concerning which they have doubts as to its rightness or its wrongness. In this case, it was eating certain kinds of meats.

14:54 And here a man was tempted to say, Well, that fella can do it. It doesn't bother him. But even though in my mind that thing is sin, I'm going to do it anyway. Paul says, no.

15:03 Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Anything indulged in about which one has scruples of conscience as to its rightness or wrongness, the scripture says, whatsoever if not of faith is sin. It's nothing less than that. Now when we begin to apply that to our own lives, we're sitting there, watching your TV, a certain program comes on, and you say, well, I really don't think as a Christian I ought to watch it.

15:31 But the chair is so comfortable and you watch it. Beloved, that's sin. Don't call it anything less. It's sin.

15:41 It's sin. Looking through the latest magazine, you start to read a story, and you see the nature of it, and you say, well, really, as a Christian, I shouldn't. But I'm so involved, I can't put it down. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

15:56 You're about to spend your money for something, and as a steward of God, you say, well, really, I don't think I can justify this in the light of that day when I shall give an account of the deeds done in the body, one of which is how I spent my money entrusted to me by God, but I want it so bad, I'll do it anyway. Sin, whatsoever if not of faith, is sin. On the telephone, and you're conversing with someone, and a thought comes into your mind to say something about another person, and you have scruples of conscience. Is it really right?

16:30 I'm going to have to say it anyway. It's sin. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. It's sin.

16:35 Oh, you say that's extreme. That's biblical. You see why the church languishes for want of power, when it's almost shocking to suggest to the average body of professing Christians that the doubtful things are sin. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

16:43 Whatsoever! That includes everything, concerning which I have scruples of conscience. And yet, I'm not. I'm not.

16:53 I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not.

16:57 I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not.

17:02 I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not.

17:07 I'm not. I have scruples of conscience, and yet I indulge in it. Be it word, thought, deed, expenditure of time, of money. It's sin.

17:16 And if it's covered, we shall not prosper. That's the declaration of the Scripture. Sin is the transgression of the law. All unrighteousness is sin.

17:26 Whatsoever is not a page is sin. 1 Corinthians 8.12 expands the definition of sin even broader, where it says, in the context of indulging in things that cause my brother to stumble, that lead another person into sin, it says, when I do this thing, I sin against Christ. You mean if something I do causes someone else to stumble, an action I perform, a word I speak, a place I go, if it causes someone else to stumble, yes, it's sin.

18:02 Anything that I indulge in at the expense of my weaker brethren, it's sin. James 4. 17 expands the definition even further, when it says, to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. Omitted duties are sin.

18:25 In each of these texts, I have not put any fancy interpretation. Each one of them categorically states that certain things are sin. To him that knoweth to do good, it lies within my power to do, by the grace of God, the thing before me. But I do not do it, either for lack of heart desire, or through the perversion of my own corrupt nature, or through some other circumstance, I fail to do what I know I should do.

18:54 God says to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. But I know I ought to give that tract to that gas station attendant, and I pull away from there feeling, well, I know I should, but I couldn't be bothered. Sin! Sin!

19:12 Well, I know I'm tired, and I ought to... I know I ought to read the word, but I don't...

19:15 It's sin! I know I ought to go and make that apology where I harmed my sister or brother, but I can't be bothered. Sin!

19:26 To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. Now, take that biblical definition of sin, transgression of the law, all unrighteousness, whatsoever is not at faith, harming my weaker brother, omitted duties. Now, read that biblical...

19:45 ...definition of sin back into the text.

19:48 He that covereth his sin shall not prosper.

19:57 You mean if I, through spiritual carelessness or perversity, do not openly acknowledge those areas where I've transgressed the law, where I have been unrighteous, where I have partaken of the doubtful which God says is sinful, where I've caused my brother to stumble, where I've omitted known duties? You mean if I don't...

20:19 If I don't specifically, deliberately confess them to God, I shall not prosper? That's exactly what the text says. And frankly, dear ones, I'm deeply concerned at the lack of specific confession of sin that marks so many of us.

20:39 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper.

Two Kinds of Covering for Sin

20:44 He that covereth his sins. Now, you say, how do you cover? You've defined the word sin biblically. Now, what does it mean to cover sin?

20:52 Well, there's two kinds of covering for sin. There's the covering that God gives, which is mentioned in Psalm 32. Notice, David uses this very word, cover, in Psalm 32,

21:08 where he declares in verse 1, Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

21:18 You see, that's the covering that God grants by the blood of sacrifice, whereby, as it were, the blood of sacrifice comes between the sin and God, so that God is expiated, so that sin is expiated, that God is satisfied, propitiation is made, and David says, Blessed is the man whose sin is covered by God. But now there's another kind of covering. That's the covering with which men seek to hide their sin from God and other times from their fellow men. That's the covering that Adam and Eve made when they sowed together, when they sowed together, when they sowed together, the fig leaves of self-justification and sought to hide from the presence of God. That's the covering David was talking about when he said in this same psalm, When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. One covering is the covering of which God is the author, but God never covers until we uncover.

22:25 The other covering is that covering by which we seek to cover our sins, and as long as we do, we'll never know the covering of God. So much then for the meaning of the word cover. I want us in the next place to ask the question, with what do we cover our sins? How does the human heart weave fabric by which to cover its sin?

Covering Sin with Silence

22:49 May I suggest from the scriptures some illustrations and explanations of how the human heart is covered. How the human heart will cover its sin. Still referring to Psalm 32, we see what is probably the most widely used covering for sin. When the writer of the Proverbs said, He that covereth his sin shall not prosper, that covering which is most frequently indulged in by saint and sinner alike is the covering that David talks about in verse 3 of Psalm 32.

23:26 Notice, When I kept silence,

23:35 my bones waxed old to my roaring all the day long, for day and night thy hand was heavy upon me, my moisture is turned to the drought of summer. Then he says in verse 5, I acknowledged my sin. Notice the contrast. I kept silence.

23:54 I acknowledged. The greatest covering of sin, probably, is the cloak of silence.

24:05 For a whole year, David's place of prayer was wet with his tears of self-pity and inward agony and turmoil, but never once in that entire period were those walls witness to the honest acknowledgment of his sin. And he says it wasn't until, as he records in verse 5, that he acknowledged his sin, that he experienced the blessedness and forgiveness, and the restoration. You see, you don't need to pull your guards around you like the Pharisees and strut around and say, you know, I'm pretty good. I don't sin.

24:41 All you need to do is go to your place of prayer, if and when you go, and just not openly, honestly, acknowledge your sins to God. That's all. You can cover your sins by the cloak of silence. You don't need to go around telling people, I never sinned.

25:02 But if you can go to your place of prayer day in and day out, and not specifically, honestly acknowledge your individual sins before God, you're covering your sins.

25:14 If you can indulge in the doubtful and not acknowledge it to God,

25:19 if you can leave duties undone and not acknowledge it to God, when you say God knows my heart, yes, he does know your heart.

25:27 He knows that heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, and by your refusal to acknowledge that sin, you're covering it with a cloak of silence.

25:38 David said, while I kept silence, my bones waxed only through my quarreling all the way back.

25:49 But they ask the question to each one of you tonight, whether you're in Christ or out of Christ. This would be one of the greatest indications as to where you stand in that relationship. Has there been any place, I'm not saying the front of a church, an inquiry room, but has there been any place where alone with God there's been the honest,

26:13 frank acknowledgement of your absolute sinfulness, and helplessness, and the pouring out of the confession, God be merciful to me.

26:25 Is any place on earth witness to the fact that you've had a heart broken over sin? Let me ask you, child of God, is there any place this week that's been witness to the specific confession of sins in your life? Is there any wall anywhere that could this night, if it could walk, come to the front of this auditorium and witness, and witness, and say, of this one, of that one, I was witness.

26:54 I received those sound waves that went out from that person's mouth as they confessed the sins of omission, the sins of thought, the sins of motive, the sins of attitude, the untimed words, the untricelike responses. I'm witness that that person has not covered sin with a cloak of silence. Is there any wall, any drape, any curtain, any bed, or could come tonight and bear witness that this week you've confessed your sins to God? If not, what you're saying is I haven't sinned.

27:33 Oh, I wouldn't say that. You're saying it in practice.

27:37 Have you omitted known duties this week? Yes or no? Have you indulged in the doubtful in word and thought and deed, time, money? Have you indulged in that concerning which you had scruples?

27:48 Have you?

27:52 Has that been confessed to God as sin? If not, you're covering your sins with a cloak of silence. And God says you shall not confess.

28:03 Isn't that what the text says? He that covereth his sins shall not confess. Second great quote, and I don't know whether it's more frequently used than that of silence,

Covering Sin with Rationalization

28:18 but I know I find my own heart very adept at reading the fabric of this quote. It's what I'm going to call rationalization. The illustration of it is so clear, tragically clear, as found in 1 Samuel 15 in the life of King Saul. Rationalization is that subtle process by which we attempt to convince ourselves that black is white, that sin is virtue, and that wrong is right, and that evil is good.

28:49 All to the end that we can justify our deeds, indulge ourselves in sin without any prickings of conscience. And to do so, we rationalize. That's what I mean by the term. To give you the setting of the passage, God had commanded Saul through the prophet Samuel, to utterly destroy all of the Amalekites, not to leave anything behind, to destroy the people, the cattle, the whole business, to destroy it all.

29:16 And Samuel goes out to fight, and when he does, disregarding the command of verse 3, to utterly destroy all that they have, spare them not, slay man, woman, infant, suckling ox, sheep, camel, ass, God was so specific that there'd be no doubt whatsoever about what he meant. Saul goes out to fight, and what does he do? Notice verse 8, And Saul took Agag, the king of the Amalekites, alive. Disobedience.

29:43 Utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword, but Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep. That was sin. And of the oxen, sin. And of the fatlings, sin.

29:54 And of the lambs, sin. And of all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. Open disobedience. Now the next day, Samuel comes over the hill, and Saul goes out to meet him, and what does he say to him?

30:05 Notice carefully. As he goes out to meet him, he says in verse 13, And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord, I have performed the commandment of the Lord. He said, I've done what God told me. Remember Samuel's classic answer.

30:27 What meaneth then the bleating of the sheep in my ears? If you've done what God told you to do, how come I hear these cattle making a racket down here? If you've done what I've told you, there'd be no cattle around this place. And then he goes on to rationalize.

30:45 Notice what he says. Verse 15. They have brought them from the Amalekites. He shifts the responsibility from himself to others, and he says, We have spared them to sacrifice them unto the Lord.

31:01 You see, the end we had in view was such a noble end, that it sort of justified our disobedience. You see, this is the process of rationalization which takes a clear commandment. Slay all of the Amalekites, the sheep, the oxen, the cattle, the high, the low, every bit of it, utterly destroy it. And it begins to take the commandment and twist it, and play with it, and knead it, and work over it, until it comes out the other end, saying, Spare a little here, and a little here, and a little there.

31:33 Of course, we had to give it a spiritual end, so we say that we might sacrifice them to the Lord. But he certainly didn't follow his line of reasoning. He said, Because of this thing, you had it, Saul. You had it.

31:44 I'm putting it in 20th century vernacular, but he said, You had it. The kingdom should be taken from you. What does the Scripture say? Listen.

31:53 Listen. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves of all defilement of the flesh and of the spirit, protecting holiness in the fear of God. How much defilement of the flesh am I to spare? None of it, slay it all.

32:11 How much defilement of the spirit? None of it, slay it all. God says, Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and speaking be put away from you. How much of it?

32:26 All of it. Ah, but you see, in my case, I have a right to spare a little. God says, All the cause is just. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

32:46 Amen. Beloved, it matters not what anyone does to you as a Christian. You're never justified to have anything but love, you know, never. And the moment you begin to justify any attitude contrary to love, you're being assault.

33:08 There is no place for filthiness of the flesh in the life of a Christian. And the minute you begin to rationalize, the minute you begin to open the door to excuse any flesh and indulgence, the minute you begin to rationalize, you're covering your sin with that coat of rationalization. The minute you begin to rationalize with giving God his portion, for God understands. We're in particular financial straits and we just can't give God his portion.

33:38 He understands. Yes, he does. He understands you're a thief. That's what he understands.

33:45 Will a man rob God? Can they answer, Wherein have we robbed God? He said, In your tithes and offerings. Say, Ah, you can talk.

33:53 You get your house paid for. You get your utilities paid for. Nobody here lived on four thousand dollars a year. Married and a child paying his own rent and buying his own car.

34:05 I did for two or three years. I knew what it was like not to see where grocery money was coming and yet give the Lord his portion out of the little hundred dollar check that I got for two weeks of meetings. Beloved, I believe under God I've earned the right to say these things. I'm not bragging.

34:24 I believe I have earned the right to say that if you hedge on giving God his portion, you're rationalized and it's sin. It's sin! He that covers his sin shall not prosper even when we so cleverly justify our attitude, our words, our actions. The Word of God stands as an indictment against us.

34:52 He that covereth his sin, whether with silence, whether with rationalization, he shall not prosper. Oh, beloved, don't go out angry with me. I want you to prosper. And you can't as long as you as long as that sin lies covered.

Covering Sin by Shifting Responsibility

35:08 I speak not to hurt but to heal. I speak that tonight some of you would leave this place. Tear off these coverings. The next time we see you will be radiant with the glow of spiritual reality because you've confessed and forsaken your sin.

35:26 The third covering with which the human heart will seek to cover its sin is as old as Adam and Eve. Literally. It's the close of what I would call shifting the responsibility. Notice it in Genesis 3.

35:44 But you'll know that I've not concocted these coverings out of my head because they're vital spiritual principles. I want us to see a scriptural illustration of each of them. God had clearly said to Adam, Don't eat of that tree. Adam had passed the command on to Eve.

36:07 You know the story of how the tempter came. And now God comes in grace. What a beautiful picture of the seeking God who comes to the running sinner. Not running to him.

36:17 Running away from him. Hiding in the bushes of the garden. And God comes with that pathetic and yet beautiful voice of entreaty and says, Adam, where art thou? Verse 9 of Genesis 3.

36:34 Verse 10. And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden and I was afraid. You see, when you've got sin that you're covering the voice of God scares you. That's why you don't come to the Bible.

36:45 Because you're afraid of that voice. Because you know it's the voice of exposure. The old saying of D.L. Moody has never been improved. This book will keep you from sin. Or sin will keep you from this book. You see, he said, I heard the voice of God.

37:01 I was afraid. When you're covering sin you'd be afraid of the voice of God. You can't come to church saying, Lord, say anything you want to say to me. We've got you fired up all over the place.

37:15 Because we're afraid of that voice when we're constantly in sin. And this was Adam's condition. He said, I was afraid because I was naked and hid myself. And God says, who told you you were naked?

37:27 Now notice the question, verse 11. Adam, I want to know one thing. Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? Adam, I want a categorical answer to a categorical question.

37:39 Have you disobeyed me, Adam? Now notice his answer. And the man said, Yes, Lord, I disobeyed. And this is how it happened, Lord.

37:49 I disobeyed the responsibility. These were simply the means by which I disobeyed. No, he didn't do that. What he did was this.

37:59 The woman, one step away, whom thou gavest with me, to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat. And the Lord said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And she said, Well, really, I didn't do much. I was sort of victim of circumstances.

38:19 You see, it was all the serpent. I want you to own up. Have you sinned? And they say, Lord, well, not really.

38:29 She did it. It comes to her. Have you sinned? Well, not really.

38:34 The serpent, you see, shifting, pushing off, shunting the responsibility. Well, the truth is that God didn't accept their explanation because he brought judgment upon the man, upon the woman, and also upon the serpent. You see the principle of this in your own heart. It says, Thou hast sinned against me.

Other Ways of Covering Sin

38:57 And we say, Oh, Lord, yes, but if only my wife had not been quite so this or that, if only my husband had not been quite so this or that, Lord, I sinned but shifted the responsibility. No, he that covers his sin by shifting the responsibility shall not prosper. Shall not prosper. So, you may look at the passages clearly, but you may look them up on your own.

39:37 Isaiah, chapter 58, a classic passage. Tragic in its implication. Excuse me, Bill, did you get that door? I hope it helped that down the noise.

39:53 Just pull it. Thank you. In Isaiah 58, the whole setting is the picture of the nation of Israel going up and you'd say, my, the nation's in the pink of spiritual hell. The temple is crowded.

40:09 Activities at an all-time high. And yet, the chapter opens with these words. Spare not, cry aloud, show unto my people their sins, yet they seek me daily. You see, they were seeking to cover their sins by the amassing of religious activity, but it wouldn't do.

40:34 All it did was aggravate their sins, for it put on them the crowning sin of hypocrisy, drawing nigh with the lips but the heart far from it. Oh, beloved, let us not think that any amount of religious activity can cover our sins. It cannot. You don't pass out ten tracts to cancel out an ugly word.

40:57 The only way the ugly word is blotted out is when we confess it then and only then is it put away by the blood of Christ and by the forgiving grace of God. It may cover our sin with tears. Judas did it. Esau did it.

41:15 In Malachi it says, Thou hast covered the altar with thy tears. And yet the nation was at an all-time low spiritually. Not enough to have a good week, if we're not owning up to our sin. And the last thing I'll call the covering of the lapsing of time.

41:37 I'm amazed at how we think well time heals all things. Well time may heal things but it never cleanses anything. There's only one thing that cleanses sin. It's the blood of Jesus Christ.

41:50 And the only time the blood cleanses according to 1 John 1-9 is what? If we confess our sins. See time may make your conscience grow dull. And time we think then makes the memory of God grow dull.

42:09 But it doesn't. Boy you see this again and again in the scriptures where God promised a certain form of judgment and hundreds of years later God says now I will remember my word that I spoke like unto the Amalekites hundreds of years before when they forbid passage of the children of Israel in their wilderness wanderings. God said He judged them hundreds of years before they became the children of Jesus Christ. So the blood of Jesus Christ was cleansed and the blood of Christ was cleansed until we confess sin.

42:53 So we're trying to make the sin conscious. There's things that happen. Remember one of the first ingredients of sin group confession sin. My sin is evident.

43:12 A tender, gentle, gentle, and compassionate person. I understand how a child of God can live for days and weeks with the cancerous sin. Known sin eating his sin. But then again I do understand because I know something of the deceitfulness of my own heart.

43:46 How when we allow the sun to go down upon our wrath or upon our uncleanness is almost completely silence and we think that the silencing of conscience means that the sin has been dealt with. No. It has simply been covered as it was covered in David for almost two years. That's why one of the marks of every true religious awakening I hate to use the word revival has been so prostituted but revival in the purest sense when God visits the fresh awareness of sin in the mind and heart of Christians which leads them many times to go back months and even years to make right the things that have been wrong with God and their fellow man. Does that mean it was any less sin before God visited in revival? No. It just meant that they thought that time would cover.

The Results of Covering Sin: No Prosperity

44:53 Time does time does. While we could go on the exposition of it to a conclusion. What are the results if we cover sin? Notice the indictment of God to everyone who covers sin be he a child of God or a child of the devil.

45:10 Notice he shall not prosper. Now that does not mean he shall not prosper materially for the scripture reveals in Psalm 73 that many times the wicked prosper far more materially than do the saints. In fact that's what troubled the righteous in the world. The righteous are in trouble in life and horrors at times at death.

45:35 How can this be? Until he went into the sanctuary and he said I went beyond the veil that separates time from eternity and when I saw their latter end he said I saw that all this material prosperity was simply ripening for the day of judgment. No when the writer says sin shall not prosper he's talking about spiritual prosperity. That means to the child of God to cover sin you shall not prosper.

46:06 It means you must live with a gnawing conscience that makes you feel at ease in the presence of God. No confidence in prayer for the scripture says if our heart condemn us not then have we confidence to God. You can't pray unless you've just gotten in such a terrible state of God when you've got a controversy covering some sin in your heart you can't do it you shall not prosper. You cannot with a grieved spirit expect to know the glow of the reality of the world to come in spiritual things.

46:44 There's that dull drab lifeless barren lethargic kind of spiritual state. You find it hard to enter into spiritual conversation. Let them talk about their home you're right there let them talk about your children you're right there let them talk about the deep things of God and you're silent and they mock you you shall not prosper you shall not prosper you shall not prosper condemn conscience the grieved spirit you shall not prosper there'll be a skilled witness no vibrancy look at David you read the commentary in Psalm 51 what it means what does it mean to you who are out of Christ if you cover your sin will not acknowledge your original and actual sin and your need of the Savior you shall not prosper in time you'll know no forgiveness you'll know no assurance of the world to come but blessed be God the latter part of the text is true he that confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy he that stands as David did acknowledging his sin

The Promise of Mercy for Confession and Forsaking

48:12 will come to God through Christ or whether as a child of God you come a thousand times over God promises if we confess say the same thing about our sin as God says acknowledge it in all of its ugliness acknowledge it in its true nature as sin against Him acknowledge its source flowing out of our corrupted grave nature God says he that confesseth and forsaketh shall have mercy and that forsaking speaks of that attitude of which says I want to be done with the sin because it's sin, not just done with its consequences, not just done with the pain inflicted upon me, but I want to be done with the sin because it's sin against God. God promises that whoso confesseth and forsaketh shall have mercy. Mercy rooted in the character of God, who is mercy from everlasting to everlasting. Mercy provided in the cross of Christ. Mercy conveyed by the Spirit's quickening grace and power.

49:14 This is God's law of dispensing mercy, and it's got its arms around every one of you tonight, and it holds you in its grip. You can't escape. There it is. The way of spiritual barrenness.

49:28 The way of prosperity. It stands before every one of us, and it stands before us constantly. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper,

49:41 but blessed be God whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

Call to Action: Uncover Your Sins

49:48 Life's too short to spend time playing with the things of God's love.

49:58 Young people, adults, friends, visitors, if you're covering with sin for your own sin, as well as for the glory of God, pull the covers off.

50:13 God says you shall not prosper. This is not my opinion.

50:19 Don't go out disturbed with the preacher. He simply told you the truth. Well, you shall not prosper. Some of you fellas and girls, you've lied to your moms and dads.

50:29 You've never made those lies right. You're never going to prosper until you go sit down and make those things right.

50:36 You've lied. You know it. God knows it. What a blessed thing it would be tonight if in some of your homes there was some pulling off of the covers.

50:47 Some of you've got things, husbands and wives, between you that ought to be torn off the covers and you ought to bare your hearts before one another and the Lord. Some of you, between each other, covering sin. How can you look at your brother and sister and shake their hand and greet them with a smile? If in your heart there's something contrary to Christian love, that's covering sin.

51:11 And God says you can't prosper. You can't do it.

51:17 Do we want the blessing of God bad enough to deal with our sin openly, honestly? Do we? Do we?

51:24 If we do, God's promise is the first. We shall have mercy. Mercy that forgives, restores, empowers, quickens. Mercy that will make us men and women, fathers, mothers, young people.

51:36 We shall be a commendation of the gospel and be an instrument in God's hands to bring blessing to us. May God grant that we shall heed this law of dispensing mercy as found in Proverbs 28 and verse 13. Let us pray.