Welcome to God's Word to Our
Nation with Pastor Albert N. Martin. We believe that the Bible
is the Word of God and that the Gospel is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone who believes. We are presently airing a series
of messages from Proverbs chapter 28 and verse 13. He that covers
his sin shall not prosper, but who so confesses and forsakes
them shall obtain mercy. At the conclusion, we will give
you some information about the church that sponsors this broadcast
in your area. Join us now as we listen to Pastor
Martin on God's Word to Our Nation. Proverbs 28 and verse 13. He that covereth his transgressions
shall not prosper. but whoso confesseth and forsaketh
them shall obtain mercy." In the opening up of the text thus
far, we have observed the universal scope of the text. It refers
to he and whosoever in the broadest sense in which those words are
used in the Word of God, as broad as the whosoever's of John 5.24
and John 3.16. We have noted the unchanging
force of the text. These are the shall-nots and
the shalls of the living God who cannot lie. And then we have
noted the specific concern of the text. Everything focuses
upon the issue of sin in the form of transgression. sin when
it comes to light in the area of rebellion against the norms
of God as conscious acts of rebellion. And then, further in the opening
up of the text, we have sought to ascertain what it means to
cover sin sinfully. We've looked into the Scriptures
at many examples of the various coverings which the human heart
weaves in an effort to cover its sins. We looked at the covering
of shifted responsibility. We looked at the covering of
lies and of religious activity, of rationalization, of framing
misconceptions of God, finding fault with the instruments of
exposure, refusing the means of exposure. And for those of
you who are not with us, these were not principle descriptions. Each of them was simply an effort
to describe coverings for sin, which are given to us in the
Word of God itself. Wherever, whoever, under whatever
circumstances sin is covered, God says, there you will find
non-prosperity. We have it from the lips of him
who cannot lie. Whoever covers his transgressions
shall not and if anyone can cover his transgressions and prosper,
then God has lied. Jesus Christ was in ignorance
when he said concerning the word of God, thy word is truth, for
here would be a three-word statement of non-truth. If it is at all
possible to cover sin under any circumstances in any place, and
still to prosper God has lied. The scriptures tell us, God who
cannot lie. Therefore, this truth, the results
of covered sin, is as changeless as the character of the living
God who gave it. He that covereth his transgressions
shall not prosper. Now, what is the meaning of the
word prosper, simply the meaning of the word itself? Well, it's
the general word used in the Old Testament for prosperity,
and it means pretty much the same as its usage in the English
language. To prosper means to flourish,
to succeed, to thrive in a vigorous way, to make good. If we say
of a certain man, his business was flourishing, we mean that
it was succeeding in a rather marked and vigorous way. If we
say, well, my garden is really flourishing this summer, we mean
all the plants to be planted are growing and growing well
and bearing fruit. So the meaning of the word flourish
is very obvious even to the children amongst us who perhaps could
not give a technical definition, but if they went out and saw
a scrubby garden with half the plants drooped over, half dead,
and instead of big luscious vegetables, little scrawny ones, we say to
the child, is the garden flourishing? The kid would say, uh-uh, no
way. Well, the child would indicate that he understood the meaning
of the word flourish, even though he couldn't give a technical
definition. But now the matter for our concern this morning,
and this is crucial to everything, what is the significance of the
use of that word in this text? When the text says, he that covereth
his transgressions shall not prosper, that is, he shall not
flourish, he shall not succeed, he shall not thrive in a vigorous
way, he shall not make good, To what is the text referring? Well, let me state the answer,
first of all, negatively. It does not refer necessarily
to anything physical, economic, or any other temporal, observable
prosperity. And I can't underscore that enough.
When the writer says, he that covers his transgressions shall
not prosper, it does not refer necessarily to anything physical,
economic, or any other form of temporal, observable prosperity. The wicked, those who cover their
transgressions, often do prosper. Well then, what does the word
prosper mean in this text? Well, the clue is found within
the text itself. The structure of Hebrew poetry
is such that sometimes the second part of a passage is parallel. Sometimes it's just saying the
same thing in different words. But then you have an antithetical
statement. In other words, you have a contrast,
and the contrast helps us to understand its opposite. You
have a statement given here, then an opposite over here, and
both opposites help you to understand their counterpart. Now notice,
what is the opposite in our text of not prospering? Notice, he
that covers his transgression shall not prosper. But whoso
confesseth and forsaketh then shall obtain riches." Popularity? Long life? Good health? No, no. What is the opposite
of not prospering? Obtaining mercy. Now what is
mercy? A physical or a spiritual commodity?
It's a spiritual commodity. Mercy immediately brings us into
the orbit of a man's unseen relationship to the unseen God, His unseen
law, the unseen commodities of peace with God, a conscience
at rest before God, lightness before God, preparation to meet
God, the basis of walking with God. So you see, the antithetical
statement in the text itself points us in the direction of
the true significance of the word prosperity. He that covereth
his sins shall not prosper. That is the prosperity that counts
in the only realm that really matters. The only realm that
ultimately matters is the realm of being right with God, having
communion with God, knowing the blessing of God's presence in
life and death and the world to come. Therefore, when our
text says, He that covereth his transgression shall not prosper,
it is asserting that the covering of transgression utterly precludes
the conferral or the increase of those distinctively spiritual
blessings which are the essence of that life which is life indeed.
And if you read into this text economics, if you read into it
physical well-being, you are reading something into the text
that simply is not there. Now, as we shall see in our subsequent
studies, the covering of sin that results in the non-prosperity
of the soul will often have physical attendance, just as the mercy
that comes to the soul will also bring external, physical, economic
attendance, but they are incidental and disposed according to the
sovereignty of God. You shall not prosper now. You
shall not prosper in the future. Two basic time slots. You shall not prosper now. You shall not prosper in the
world to come. As we considered last Lord's
Day, each one of us, by virtue of being created in the image
of God, has two inescapable realities stamped upon his inner consciousness.
My deeds are known to God, and God shall bring my deeds into
judgment." You can no more escape that conviction than you can
escape your humanity. Like it or not, that is as much
a part of your humanity as the nose on your face. Now, when
we transgress and conscience is active with respect to that
transgression, And then we cover that sin. You know what we do
the moment we do that? We bring into our companionship
the worst companion in all the world. An accusing conscience. The worst
companion in all the world is an accusing conscience. It is the companion that will
be the hell of hell in hell. For Jesus said, Where there worm
dieth not, and the fire is never quenched. It will be the accusing worm
of a condemning conscience that damned in hell will know, and
know for eternity, I am here because I chose my sin, for which
I am accountable to God. I say the worst companion in
life is an accusing conscience. But the moment you and I sin,
and conscience brings accusation, we've got to do one of two things.
We've got to try to stifle his mouth. We've got to get him to
change his language. We try to do that by putting
coverings over the voice of conscience, or, in the language of Hebrews
10.22, We flee to a fountain open for sin and uncleanness,
and here the apostle says in that beautiful language, let
us draw near, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. The blood of Jesus Christ alone
can rid the human heart of that foul companion called an evil
conscience, because When we come owning our guilt and we say conscience
is telling the truth, when conscience speaks according to the objective
law of God and says you're guilty, you're culpable, you're liable
to judgment, and conscience is speaking according to the eternal
law, then we say where shall I flee? We find in the death
of Christ. that God did punish sin, and
conscience can strike in with forgiveness that is grounded
in the justice of God, venting itself upon the substitute, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And when the conscience comes
and in faith we embrace the Lord Jesus, in the language of Hebrews,
conscience is Conscience is sprinkled, and we no longer have an evil
conscience. But until you come to the blood
of cleansing, my friend, the Scripture says, covering your
sins, you shall not prosper. You have not that peace of conscience
that alone can be given in the blood of Christ. And because
you don't, it creates that aversion to God. The accusing, uncleansed
conscience is a radical influence, both with reference to our dealings
with God and with our fellow men. Do you remember in the Garden
of Eden? The moment Adam had an accusing conscience, what
happened? Instead of running to God, he ran where? He ran
from God. He tried to hide. Why? Conscience
was accusing. And because conscience was accusing
him what happened in his relationship to Eve in the place of harmony
and concord, there was disharmony and enmity and resentment and
accusation. Why? He had an accusing conscience. He that covers his sin shall
not prosper. What happens? There's no pacified
conscience through the blood of Christ. That affects us not
only Godward but manward. It affected Adam's relationship
to Eve. Cain's relationship to Abel. Listen. You know why some
of you young people are so shifty-eyed? You can't even look your mom
and dad straight in the eyeballs back to the retina. You know
why you're so shifty-eyed with your elders at the door? I'll
tell you why. You've got an accusing conscience,
and because man is made in the image of God, when you're around
any man or woman who reflects that image as a believer, it
reminds you of your uncleansed conscience before God when you
look upon one of his image-bearers. And that's why you feel uncomfortable.
That's why you shift the eye. That's why it's, oh yeah, oh
yeah, small talk. There's no looking right back
to the retina. No gripping the hand and feeling,
as it were, the communion of soul to soul, and even a social
handshake. Why? I'll tell you why. You've got that companion who
ruins not only vertical relationships, but horizontal. Not only will
you not have the peace of conscience through the blood of Christ,
you will have none of the peculiar privileges of the children of
God. That's the now. These are the areas in which
you'll not prosper now. You'll have none of the peculiar
privileges of the children of God in covering your sin, in
refusing a full and honest confession, and forsaking You've cut yourself
off from the family of God and all the privileges of that family.
Let me just enumerate a few of them. You have no communion with
God. And you see, the tragedy is,
as a human being you were made so that in a real sense you're
not a full human being until you're in communion with God.
Woven into the fabric of man's madness was his capacity for
and his enjoyment of fellowship with God. That's as much a part
of true humanity as knows and is mine. And if you cover your
sins, you shall not prosper. You will have none of that fellowship
and communion with the living God. You will have no valid access
to God in prayer. How can a man or woman live this
life who cannot come to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and
find grace to help in times of need? I do not marvel that people
have to belt down three or four cocktails at lunch and another
three or four at night, keep themselves half-numb to the real
world. Why? If there's no access to
the throne of grace where we can unburden the deepest concerns
of our heart and know that we have a loving Father who hears
and answers, it's no wonder. I just marvel that more people
don't put a gun to the head and end it. You can't have that privilege.
See, if you cover your sin, if I regard iniquity in my heart,
the Lord will not hear the scripture says. You can have in the third
place no settled confidence amidst the mysteries and the trials
of life. You see, the one who's dealt with his sin and found
mercy, he can stand upon the statement of Romans 8, 28. All
things are working together for my good. What do you have to
pull together the seeming inequities, the mysteries of life, the imbalances,
the injustices? You have nothing, my friend.
That's what God means when he says, you shall not prosper.
This is no peculiar notion of a cranky preacher. It's God who
says, you shall not prosper, man, woman, boy, girl. And all because you've covered
sin that God is so willing to cleanse and purge, but which
He will not purge as long as you will to cover it. But tragic
as the effects of covered sin are now, to those of you who
are out of Christ, the greater tragedy is to be seen in the
future. As long as you cover sin, the
scripture says, you shall not prosper. And I want very briefly
to say just three things under this heading. May God help you
to listen as ones who with me are quickly making their way
to that day when we stand before God. You cover your sins, unconverted
man, woman, boy or girl. You shall not prosper in the
future. How? You'll die without the comforts
of Christ. You'll be summoned to judgment
without the protection of Christ. and you'll be sent to the everlasting
state without the presence of Christ. That's the price you'll
pay for covering your sins. You'll die without the comforts
of Christ. One of the great consolations
to every believer, the one who has confessed his sin and forsaken
it and found refuge in the blood of Christ, is to know that when
that inevitable experience comes, and I must die, and there will
be the wrenching of soul from body, and the soul goes out into
that world it has never entered before, what a consolation to
have the words of Jesus ringing in one's ears, distilling into
the depths of the heart. You believe in God? Believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go, I will
come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there
you may be also. O the words of John 11, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me I am the resurrection
and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die." What a wonderful thing to have the
compass of Christ in death. Secondly, you'll be summoned
to judgment without the protection of Christ. You see, men are big
and bold and brave about their sins and judgment till the day
comes. And we read in Revelation 620, when that day comes, and
conscience can no longer be stifled and its voice no longer ignored,
when they see the coming judge, the language of Revelation 620
is graphic. I quote it, and they shall cry
to the rocks and to the mountains, Fall upon us! Hide us from the
face of him that sitteth upon the throne and from the wrath
of the Lamb. My friend, when you go out yelling
for mountains to fall on you, you're in a bad state. Because
the judgment was coming and they knew that the judge was against
them. For as the child of God, the one who has forsaken and
confessed his sins, he knows that there's going to be a day
in court the likes of which no earthly court ever saw. The judge,
who knows all, will actually plead the case of his clients. He that confesses me before men,
Him will I confess before my Father." What a wonderful thing
to have the Judge say, the Eternal God, my Father. That man, all
the evidence is accurate. All of the sins were committed,
but my Father, He fled for refuge to me and to my righteousness.
Father, I plead my death on his behalf. I plead the sum total
of that righteousness which is mine by virtue of my obedience
even unto death. And the Father will be well pleased
with the plea of the Son. And the Father will not be able
to find one iota of just claims of unfulfilled justice. I tell
you what a wonderful thing to face judgment in the knowledge
that we shall have the protection of Christ. But my friend, you
go to judgment without that protection and you'll plead your own cause. And the evidence will be such
as to make you die. You'll die without the comforts
of Christ. You'll be summoned to judgment without the protection
of Christ. And finally, you'll be sent into
the everlasting state without the presence of Christ. when your covered sin is openly
displayed and placarded before the entire moral universe. For
Jesus said, there is nothing covered, but that it shall be
made manifest. Luke chapter 12. Nothing covered, but it shall
be made manifest. When your sin that you've covered
is placarded before the whole moral universe. And my friend,
the words, I pray God none of you will hear. Then shall the
king say to them on his left hand, and I quote from the scriptures
now, Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire. Oh, I plead with you this morning
in the name of Christ, believe what God has said. He that covers his sin shall
not prosper. For whoso confesseth and forsaketh
shall have mercy. May you find mercy in the blood
of Jesus Christ that cleanses from all sin. That brings us to the conclusion
of this week's broadcast. Our speaker has been Pastor Albert
N. Martin, and you've been listening to God's Word to Our Nation.
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