Proverbs 16.6, the title of the
lesson this morning is Purged and Turned From. And hopefully
we'll understand that title when we're through. Purged and Turned
From. Proverbs 16.6, by mercy and truth,
iniquity is purged. And by the fear of the Lord,
men depart from evil. On both sides of our proverb
this morning, as we've seen through most of the proverbs, they have
two sides to them. It'll talk about the righteous
and the wicked, and what happens to them, the results of righteousness
and wickedness in the earth. And there'll be two phrases,
two sides to it, and both of those sides will often have several
points to them. On both sides of our proverb
this morning is evil. It's not righteousness and wickedness
opposed to one another and compared and contrasted. But here we have
evil on both sides and they're called two things, iniquity and
evil. But there's only really one important
distinction when it comes to sin. I've heard people talk about
the difference between iniquities and sins and transgressions. Nobody's explained it to me yet
that made any sense. Sin is sin. There may be different
forms of it, but sin is sin and it comes from the heart. It's
a heart problem, it's a nature in man. But there is a distinction
that's important. There is a sin nature that we
call sin and then there's sin in its performance, in its commission. Outward sin, deeds of sin, thoughts
of sin. It's a nature and it's behavior. Those are two different, those
are distinctions that are important. Because it's important to understand
the cause and effect. The cause is our nature, the
effect is the evil that we do. And that's really important,
because most people don't understand that. Most people in this world
think that we're evil because we do bad things. That's not
right. We do bad things because we're
evil. You might be able to clean up your act, but you can't change
your nature. It takes the grace of God through
the blood of his son to do that. And that's important to this
verse. We sin because we are evil. Now, the two ways that
sin are dealt with in these two phrases We have to distinguish
those also. There are two ways sin is dealt
with. And then there are two results of the two ways that
they're dealt with that relate to the sin. So the two ways that
is dealt with on the one side is mercy and truth. They're put
together often in the scripture and they belong together here.
Mercy and truth is on one side. But another way that it's dealt
with is the fear of the Lord in the fear of the Lord. So you
see that by mercy and truth, something happens to sin. And
by the fear of the Lord, something happens to sin. And so this is
important. These are important distinction.
The two results are purging, sin is purged, it's done away
with. And the other one is the word
depart there means to walk away from, to turn away from, to forsake,
to abandon. And so that's something different.
This is important now because mercy and truth are attributes
of God. The fear of the Lord is a quality
in men. You see the difference? The fear
of the Lord. The Lord doesn't need the fear of the Lord. You
need the fear of the Lord. That's a quality in men. Now
both are accomplished by God. Both are works of God. By who
God is, mercy and truth, his attributes, his qualities, his
characteristics, by who he is, sin is purged. And by what he
does for us, fear of him in our hearts, sin
is abandoned. So let's talk about who God is
and how that purges iniquity. God is mercy and truth. If you think of the attributes
of God, these are two that are mentioned, and really together,
because what is the truth? The truth. It's true that the
sky is blue, but that's not the truth. If I stand up here and
talk to you about all the reasons why the sky is blue this morning,
well, God's not gonna be glorified in that, and nobody's gonna be
saved. You see what I'm saying? There's the truth. That's what
the scriptures talk about. The truth. It's the gospel. It's a person and his work. It's his body and his blood.
We see it all through in every aspect of scripture. It's who
Christ is and what he did, which again can't be separated. He
did what he did because of who he is and what he did is what
it is because of who he is. And so think of the attributes
of God, His grace. That's the first thing. Somebody
says the attributes of God. What's the first thing that pops
into your head? It probably should be holiness, but I think of grace
because I need it so much. Grace, grace, and He's holy. We don't even know what that
is, do we? Holiness, love. God is love. He doesn't just
love, He is love. That's who He is. And mercy and truth are in that.
In sovereignty, he's sovereign. He doesn't just act like a sovereign.
They said nobody ever spake like he did. He speaks with authority.
You know why? Because he is the authority. That's his attribute. And truth,
Christ said, I am the truth. What does that even mean? Well,
one thing about that is, and this is important to our text,
remember the text through all of this, It means that something
is true and right just because he does it or says it. Truth is not some sort of cosmic
standard out there in the universe that Christ measures up to. He
is the standard. He is the one to be measured
up to. He is the perfect stone against
whom all others are weighed and found wanting. Truth, Who he is I am the way
the truth and the light where else would it come from where
where else would truth come from who would determine it and Then mercy This is who God
is to in fact mercy is Defined you want to know what mercy is
look what God did His greatest glory is revealed in this I'll
have mercy and Moses said, show me your glory. And he said, I'll
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. Mercy is not giving someone what
they deserve. It's you deserve hell. But if
God has mercy on you, you're not going to go to hell. That's
just, that's the most extreme way to say it. It's just the
truth. What do we all ultimately deserve? Hell. Who has the keys of hell and
of death? Who is it that can shut up hell
when it comes to you, where you can't get in? You'd get in if
you could. He won't let you in. He has the keys of hell and of
death. And more importantly, how is
it that God can be holy and just and not put you in hell? How
can he have mercy on you and still be God? Christ. And what he did on Calvary. It's
a person. Mercy is a person. Only God can say, I'll have mercy
on whom I will have mercy. And there's a couple of good
reasons for that. First of all, only the one sinned against has
the right to have mercy on the sinner. I can't forgive you for
a debt that you owe to somebody else. They will have to do that. And we all, all to him I owe, we just saying
that. And secondly, only God The person
of his only begotten son Can offer what it takes to make it
right? Between you and God God cannot forgive or be merciful
arbitrarily or That is without a reason. He can't just do it
on a whim. And I say that what he does is
right just because he does it. But that's only true because
he is justice and truth. He can't lie. The scriptures
are clear on that. That's not a limitation of his
person. That's an expansion of it. That is a glorifying. That's not a limitation that
he can't lie. That's glorious. He is justice and truth, but
he's also mercy. Mercy and truth are met together
and have kissed one another in the Savior. He's a just God and
a Savior. It's who he is, and that's what
results, who he is. In his redemptive character,
in his, as Jesus, Jehovah's Savior. The result of that, of who he
is. And what he did because of who
he is is what? Sin is purged. It's done away
with. It's erased. Here's the important now distinction
in our text. God may give us a fear of him,
And that does cause sinners to turn away from their sin. I'll
show you that in the scriptures, or I'll refer to it and you can
read it later, because it's a long passage, but think about this
now. God gives us a fear of him, and that causes us to turn away
from sin, but only who God is and what he does can purge it.
We can't purge sin. There's nothing in us. There's
nothing that he gives us or does in us that purges sin. It's what
he did for us that purges sin. But what he did in me will cause
me to walk away from it. And don't think of sin now as
doing bad stuff. Most people think of sin as cussing
and smoking and drinking and things like that. You may believe
on Christ and still smoke cigarettes. You might just do that. I don't
recommend it, but hey. Our idea of sin is the world,
the religion's idea of sin is just wrong. Sin is what we're
talking about here. It has to do with the gospel.
Evil is rejecting the son of God and his word. What is turning
away from that? Believe in him. bowing to Him,
falling in love with Him. That's what it is. It's turning
away from self and turning to the Savior. It's to stop trusting
what we do. It's Philippians chapter three,
write it down. If you want to know, and I'm
jumping ahead of myself here, but I can't help it. I've got
to say it right now. The definition of what it is
to turn away from sin is Philippians chapter three. You look at the
apostle Paul and what he writes there. That's what it means to
turn away from sin. is to abandon yourself and everything
you are and everything you've ever done and press toward the
Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart. So that you might be found in
him, not having your righteousness, but his before God. That's what
it is. I don't care whether you smoke
or don't smoke. What think ye of Christ? I don't care if you say a bad
word every now and then. What think ye of Christ? You see, it doesn't look like
what this world thinks, that the religion of this world thinks
it necessarily looks like. We're sinners. But by God's grace,
we're sinners who love the Savior. And he's our only hope. That word purge there in our
text, it means to cover. The coats of skins that God made
for Adam and Eve in the garden, they covered their nakedness.
That's the picture here. It's a covering. Remember that
later today too, when we talk about that. The apparel, who
is this that's glorious in his apparel? What does that mean
before God? What is clothing? It means to
cover. It means to purge. It means to
make an atonement. And you know, it's the same word
that's used in Genesis 6, 14, when God said, make an ark. Listen
to what he said. Make thee an ark of gopher wood. Rooms shalt thou make in the
ark. I go to prepare a place for you. In my father's house are many
rooms. That's in Christ. Rooms shalt
thou make in the ark, and thou shalt pitch it within and without
with pitch. You know what that word pitch
is? It's the word purge in our text. It means to cover. Cover
it with pitch. And it also means make an atonement.
When we're in Christ Jesus, the judgment of God falls upon Christ,
and we're sealed from that. We're covered. We're protected. What is it that seals us off
and makes us, the elect of God, invulnerable to his wrath? It's
the pitch, the arc covered inside and out
with pitch, the atonement for our sin, the precious blood of
Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. This is what
God did for us. He didn't just say there's an
ark. If you'll get in it, you'll be saying, he put him in, he
opened the door and put him in the ark of God, are you in Christ
Jesus, who has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. This is what he did for us. Salvation
is of the Lord for us, without us. He by himself purged our
sins. He didn't need you for that.
You're the problem. You're not part of the solution. Mercy and truth are what happened
on Calvary. God said, I'll have mercy on
whom I'll have mercy, and there's only one way there can be mercy
for sinners, and it's by His precious blood. And when it comes
to the truth, gospel truth, all of it concerns, reveals, and
points to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, every word of it. If it doesn't leave you looking
to the Lamb of God, who takes away sin, it's not the truth.
It might be true, but it's not the truth. Mercy and truth are what God
did for us. And the fear of God is what God
has done in us. Both are works of God now. Both
are God's doing. What God does in a sinner when
he saves him, he causes that sinner to turn from sin, to turn
from himself, to deny himself and take up his cross and follow
the Savior. Only the precious blood can purge
our sin. Us turning from sin in our life
is not gonna purge our sin. Only his blood can do that. See
why the two sides to our text? But thank God for both. Thank
God there is fear of God before our eyes now because he's to
be had in reverence by all those who are about him. I'm thankful to God for both.
Christ could have, I suppose, atoned for our sin, but then
left us unchanged in this world and in this life. Do you think
he could have done that? He could have done that. If he purchased
us on Calvary with his precious blood, he would possess us in
glory. That wouldn't have changed. That
could be no different. But not only did he do that,
Not only did he purchase us and shall possess us, but in the
meantime, he gives us a right spirit, a new heart, a new nature. He creates us anew in Christ
Jesus, in righteousness and true holiness, according to this book. Not so that we are personally
holy yet. We're gonna be just like Christ
one day, but we're not now. We still have a sin nature too
that affects everything we do, everything we say, and even everything
we think. But also we are even now a new
creation in Christ Jesus. Old things are passed away and
everything's new. Nothing's the same. We don't think, act, or talk
the same way we did. Paul said the love of Christ
constrains us. Look up that word constrained
sometime. It'll be a blessing to you. That's what God, that's
what the love of Christ does for us now and does in us. The
love of Christ, the scripture says, is shed abroad in our hearts. Shed abroad in our hearts. It's
the fruit of his spirit. You weren't born with that and
you're not gonna come up with it. He's gonna have to give it
to you. But the love of Christ constraineth
us because we thus judge. Because he's changed the way
we discern and make judgments. That if one died for all, then
all were dead. He died for us because we were
dead in trespasses and sins. And that he died for all, that
they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto
him. Which died for them and rose again. That's another pretty
good definition of turning from our sin and turning to him. When Christ died on Calvary,
this is my final statement and this is important. When Christ
died on Calvary, the just for the unjust that he might bring
us to God, our iniquity was purged there by him. That's the first
part of our verse. It was purged by him. doing what
he did for us on Calvary. The fear of the Lord, the second
part of our verse, is what happens when he shows us what he did
for us on Calvary. If he ever gives you a glimpse
of who he is and what he did for sinners, you'll never be
the same again. And you'll say, don't you fear
God? Instead of cursing him and mocking him as that one thief
did, you'll say, don't you fear God? Look at us, we're getting
what we deserve. But this is the innocent, spotless
lamb. He shows us what he did on Calvary,
and we turn away from all that we know and all that we are and
all that we've done as Paul did in Philippians 3. And that's the definition now
of our text. I could sit here and think up,
you know, fancy words and try to define it. The scripture defines
scripture. If you want to know what it is
to turn away from sin, like our text says, read Philippians 3. Everything I was and am Everything
I did and do and will do Everything I trusted is done That I may
win Christ and be found in him By mercy and truth iniquities
purged And thank God For the work he's
done in us, too Because we fear him by his spirit, by Christ
dwelling in us, we look to him and trust him alone.