I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Proverbs 17. Proverbs 17. As our brother was
reading, I thought to myself, number one, there's no pain to a believer
like the Lord showing him the frailty of his flesh. There is
no pain to exceed that. There is no expression of mercy
like the Lord showing him the frailty of his flesh. Nothing
hurts worse and nothing is more needful that Almighty God in
His infinite mercy and grace would show us what we are. And
we are thankful. God's people are. I can only imagine, and I'm serious,
I can only imagine when David heard those words, you're the
man. If he could have crawled somewhere
and hidden, he would have. Well, where are you going to
go? I tell you what a believer is going
to do. He is going to be honest and he is going to say, Against
thee and thee only have I sinned and done this great evil in thy
sight. Lord, have mercy. How thankful
I am that I can be with some people that God has taught something
of themselves. And the mercy of Almighty God
to express that to them. There is mercy. There is mercy. Proverbs 17. I'd like to deal with verses
9 to 11. He that covereth a transgression
seeketh or procureth love. But he that repeateth a matter
separateth very friends. A reproof entereth more into
a wise man than a hundred stripes into a fool. An evil man seeketh
only rebellion, therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against
him." Adam transgressed in the garden,
and he went beyond the limit that Almighty God had set. You can eat of all the fruits
of the garden except this one. And the day that you eat of that
fruit, you're going to die. And when he did, he died spiritually
in himself. There was no remedy. Adam died spiritually. in the garden and could not make
himself alive. He was, as all men are in him,
a transgressor against God Almighty, and he was guilty before God's
law. in Adam's race to have any hope,
God Almighty is going to have to do something for that transgressor
that they absolutely cannot do. He's going to have to deal with
their sin that He might make them alive justly. He's a just God. He is going
to have to cover that transgression. He is going to have to hide it
from Himself. And that is a tall order, an
impossible order for a man. How is a man going to hide his
transgression from God? His sin is going to have to be
dealt with for there to be any hope. Sin is going to have to be cast
as far as the east is from the west from God. The Lord is going to have to deliver
that transgressor from the pit of corruption, and God is going
to have to cast all of His sins behind God's back. And you know, when we hear these
things, we think to ourselves, Lord, only you could do that. Ezekiel, can these bones live? Lord, you know. I'm too foolish to answer. He must, according to Micah 7,
19, subdue our iniquities. and cast off, that is, the sins
of his people, into the depth of the sea. Now, here's the first
thing I know out of this passage, Proverbs 17. I know that only
God can cover a transgression. God help us from thinking that
we can do something to cover our transgression. The most foolish, damning thought
that will be told a sinner comes from his own heart that is desperately
wicked and deceitful above all things. To think that a man can
do something, that he can perform a little impotent act and think
that it's going to deal with sin. He that covereth a transgression
seeketh love. He that is covering a transgression,
notice here again the ETH in the word covereth. He that is
covering, He that is hiding, He that is dealing with, He that
covereth a transgression, seeketh or procureth, is bringing about,
He is bringing about, He is making it manifest. Love. He that covereth continually
covereth, always covereth, in the process of covering a transgression,
is bringing about that which He has always said is so. I have
loved you with an everlasting love. Psalm 32 says, Blessed is he
whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered Blessed
is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in
whose spirit there is no guile." The blessed man. Truly blessed. And I think so often about what
men talk about. They'll say, Boy, the Lord has
sure blessed me. And then to hear the little fickle,
fleeting, things that men consider. And I do not want to take away.
Lord, forgive me for thinking that any of the blessings in
this life are not truly blessings. I know this. I know this. That
we have a right mind, that we can think this morning. That
you have a mind that even sometimes consistently thinks is by the
grace of God. To be able to get up, to think,
to have health, to have a house, to be in, some clothes to put
on, to have any kind of money, to be able to buy, it's of the
Lord. The Scripture says in Matthew
6, He knows that you have need of all these things. Oh, but
to have my transgression forgiven, to have my sin covered, that
God would not charge me with iniquity that I know is there. I'm telling you, I keenly know
it's there. That's a blessed man. The blessed
man that has his transgression forgiven. That is lifted, carried
away. Why? because of God's love for
him. Love that found its source and
being only in God, and not in the object of God's mercy. I'm telling you, we were dug
out of the same pit as everybody else, and there's not an ounce
of difference in us. We're all rebels against God
by nature. Where did it go? That iniquity,
that sin, that transgression that was forgiven, where did
it go? It was born in the very body of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He has born our iniquities in
His own body, dealt with those iniquities in absolute justice
and wrath, and its penalty justly paid by the precious blood of
the Lamb. How many transgressions did He
pay for? All of them. You say, even the
ones that I will commit tomorrow? Thanks be unto God, yes. By one sacrifice. He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified, set apart by God's grace, set apart by
God's mercy. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Oh, the exact meaning of that
last, whose sin is covered, from Psalm 32. Let me show you. Turn to Romans 4. Here is the exact. How is it
covered? How is my sin? Blessed is he
whose transgression is forgiven, based upon the absolute shedding
of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is the only
merit by which sin is forgiven. Because it's been paid for. It's
been paid for. It's been dealt with. And who's
sin? I am a sinner. I've heard it rightly said, this
is right. I cannot not sin. I hate it. I hate it. It grieves me. You're looking
at a grieving man. It grieves me. But I can tell you this, if I
say that I have no sin, I make God a liar. Why am I still finding
myself with sin? That the mercy of Almighty God
might shine forth in all of its brilliance and majesty and wonder
and praise unto Him, that I'm not consumed. How is my sin covered? I'm forgiven
by the blood of Christ. And it's covered by the blood
of Christ. But here's the exact scriptural
interpretation of my sin being covered. Romans 4. Verses 6 and
7, even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto
whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, this is
what the imputed righteousness of Christ is doing, Neal, blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Do you want to know the sin that
I so easily commit and grieve over, and sin that is forgiven
for Christ's sake. Do you want to know what covers
the sin that I'm committing right now? His imputed righteousness. But for that righteousness that
Almighty God sees, I'd have no hope. That which covers even
now the filthiness of the flesh, His imputed righteousness. Lord, remind me of that. Lord,
bring that to my mind. Transgression forgiven on the
merit for the sake of Him, that precious blood And that sin is
covered by His righteousness. And for God to look upon us and
see only His blessed Son, to see us in Him, that we are accepted
into the Beloved. Now, that's a blessing. And the
reason that He covereth, the reason, in fact, in Proverbs
17, The reason, the reason, the reason. What's the reason for
God covering her? Why is He continuing to cover
and cover and cover and cover forever? Because He seeketh love. Procureth love. He's not trying
to. He is. He is satisfied. in His Son. And all that He's
placed in Him everlastingly, all that He everlastingly loved
and chose in the Lord Jesus Christ and put Him, as Brother Scott
said, and kept Him there by the grace of God. I'm telling you,
if He wouldn't have kept us here, we'd have long since left if
He left it up to us. Love. And that which God seeks
after God gets, has, procures, brings it about, brings it about
for us to see it. It's sure. David said, this is
all my salvation. This is all my salvation right
here. He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things, and they are sure. based upon the blood of Christ,
the honor of Christ, He procureth. He brings it about. Isaiah 46,
9-10, For I am God, there is none else. I am God. There is
none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient
times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel
shall stand. I will do all My pleasure. I will. If we know Him this morning,
it's by the pleasure of God, by the grace of God. Oh, the
thanks that we owe, the sacrifice of our lips and our heart giving
thanks unto Him for His great mercy, for His love. He chose us because He loved
us in Christ. He redeemed us and called us
and keeps us because of His love. He that covereth a transgression
seeketh love. But he that repeateth a matter
separateth very friends. He that repeateth and keeps repeating
and keeps repeating and keeps repeating He that repeated a
matter, separated, is separating and always separates. Very friends,
not seeking love. You want to know that which is
truly comforting to me, is that He doesn't bring it up. That He won't bring it up. Proverbs 16.28 says, A whisperer
separateth chief friends. That is to say, desires between
the best of friends, like Satan did in the garden.
God didn't mean that. What Satan told Eve He called God a liar. You're
not going to die. You're not going to die. He that repeated the matter.
That word, repeated, it has to do, meaning, you'll understand
this, the second time. The second time. He that returns
to, he that duplicates the matter, He that continues to remind and
remind and remind, I know what I am. Lord, thank You. Lord, that it's covered. That
my sin is covered. Just the very presence of it
grieves me. But oh, tell me one more time
how that God is not going to bring up what I owe. because of my transgression.
Tell me one more time how God has put it away. The Lord is
covering His people's transgression. He that repeats the matter has
one desire, to separate very friends. You know what your old heart
is going to do? Your conscience? You know what Satan is going
to do? He's going to come back. He's
going to remind you, oh, I know what it says, but don't you ever
forget what you did. Don't you ever forget what you
really are. I won't. What he's trying to do is separate
very friends. That's the world. There's no
hope. There's no life. Hebrews 8.12. Hebrews 8.12. All but His grace. Listen to this. Now, you get
hold of this, and I'm going to tell you something to give you
some comfort right here. The Lord says, Hebrews 8.12,
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins. and their iniquities will I remember
no more. No more. He that repeats a matter separateth
very friends. Secondly, the transgressor whose
sin is covered, he hears the correction of God. If you be
without chastisement, as I've said before, The greatest chastisement
for a believer is in his heart. Verse 10, a reproof entereth
more into a wise man, one made wise unto God. A reproof entereth
more. into a wise man than a stripe,
a hundred stripes on a fool's. You know a fool, you whip him,
one that's not broken, a foolish man. Punish him, put him in jail,
resentment, I was set up, I was framed, I'm going to get I'm
getting out of here. You're not going to get me a
fool. But the Lord's word of chastisement
breaks the heart of those made wise unto salvation. You were reading that passage
just a minute ago. I thought about this as I was listening
to what Brother Neal was reading. David said in Psalm 51, I acknowledge my transgressions
and a believer will. And my sin is ever before me.
Psalm 51.9, hide thy face from my sins and blot out all mine
iniquities. Lord, a word from you of reproof
breaks my heart. This precious word right here,
To those regenerated by the grace of God, that heart may tender.
That word that is effectual, that comes in power. The Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit
of truth. Now, think with me just a second
while I'm closing. The Spirit of truth. The life. The life of truth. When you read
God's Word. And that Word just quick, I mean,
it's just alive to you. You read that and you think,
that is such a blessing. That Scripture right there spoke
to my heart. It's because the Spirit of the
truth is the Holy Spirit. Does that make sense? Am I making
that clear? The Spirit of Truth, the Life of Truth is God's Spirit. He makes it alive to God's people. When the Spirit of Truth, the
Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit or Life of Truth, He's going
to teach you all things. He'll teach you. God's people
hears God's Word. They'll hear reproof. That Scripture that's profitable.
It's profitable for correction, for reproof, for rebuke, for
instruction in righteousness. And they hear God's Word and
they say, you know what? I need that. I want that. I desire that. An evil man seeketh only rebellion. cruel messenger shall be sent
against him." Here is the very opposite of love. Seeking love. An evil man seeks only rebellion. You leave a man to himself and
he is going to seek only rebellion against God. That is all that
is there. There is nothing else there.
That unregenerate, continually seeking after, Rebelling against
God, rebelling against God's sovereignty, God's messengers. And the scripture reveals that
in the end, God's going to give him just exactly what he wanted.
A cruel messenger. In this life, God's going to
give him just exactly what he wants. A cruel messenger. Oh,
but if Almighty God has shown mercy, to a sinner, this is what
that sinner is going to say. Lord, teach me. Teach me through
Your Word. Teach me through Your preachers.
Lord, help me. Guide me. Thank You, Lord, for
teaching me that You are procuring, bringing about Your love for
me. Hiding my iniquity. Hiding my
sin that I see in me. Forgiving me for Christ's sake.
Putting away the guilt of my sin. Lord, have mercy on me for
Christ's sake. Amen.