Spurgeon: Sermons on Proverbs (69 page)

He can cover the sin which is known and confessed. He never covers the sin which is unconfessed. When a man will not acknowledge himself to be guilty, he stands convicted of his rebellious refusal to take his proper position before the Lord. But if thou dost stand, O sinner, and confess thy guilt; if thou sayest O rebel, "There is no doubt about the matter; I own that I am guilty," it is the glory of God that he can cover that sin which no other can cover, and which thine own conscience will not permit thee to conceal! He can cover the transgression of that man whose mouth is stopped by the consciousness of his guilt. O glorious act of divine grace, that sin and transgression can be covered--covered though it be confessed and acknowledged, and covered because it is confessed and acknowledged!

The glory of this truth lies in the fact that God can do this justly through the work of Jesus. To cover up sin, why, standing as it does alone and without any qualification, it might seem to be a dreadful thing for God to do; but he can do it righteously. Without the slightest violation of his law, without endangering the stability of his kingdom, he can forgive and cover up all manner of sin and blasphemy so that it shall never be seen again. Do you ask me how this can be done? The answer lies in the great substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ. God steps down from his eternal throne when man must be punished for his sin, and he says "I will bear the punishment; lay it all on me." And that he might bear it, Jesus took upon himself the form of a man and dwelt among men; and at last upon the accursed tree he bore the guilt of man. It was a wondrous recompense which he made to his own law by being himself punished in the stead of the offender. Now, beneath the whole heavens, there can be none who can justly object to the covering of sin by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That singular, that remarkable, that unique transaction of the Just suffering for the unjust that he might bring us to God, has enabled God to cover our sin and to do it justly.

Further, he can do this without exacting any sort of compensation from the offender. Marvellous is this truth-- too marvellous for some to believe. The Romish Church teaches us that we must do penance if our sin is to be forgiven. There must be so many lashes for the bare back, or so long abstention from food, beside purgatorial pains to be inflicted after death, and I know not what beside. Ay, but this is the glory of God--that he can cover all this sin now upon the spot, without any price being paid by the sinner, or any suffering being endured by him. He has but to come and confess his sin and accept the divine covering; namely, the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, and the whole of it shall be covered once for all.

It is the glory of God that he can do all this without any injury to the person who is forgiven. It sometimes happens that if a man has offended you and you forgive him again and again, he may thereby become hardened in his sin; but the Lord's sweet way of covering sin is one which always melts and changes the heart. Sin is never so heartily hated as when it is covered by the blood of Christ. No man does ever thoroughly loathe sin till he has seen it put away in Christ; but when he has seen Jesus put it way by his own griefs and death, then he really hates the sin that made the Redeemer mourn and nailed him to the tree. It is the glory of God that he can cover sin in such a fashion as this, so as not to injure the offender whom he forgives.

And he can do it without causing any injury to the rest of mankind. There is no man who is any the worse because his fellow-man is saved. The example of saved souls is never injurious. There are some I know who can twist the truth till they find in it an excuse for sin; but the truth that God is able to forgive the grossest sin--nay more--that he has forgiven it in the case of many, and has pressed them to his bosom as his own dear children, has done no injury but much helpful service to the morals of mankind. Go where you will and read the story of the prodigal son--on board ship among rough sailors, or away there in the barracks amongst wild soldiery, or go into the worst slums of London and read to fallen women that wondrous story of God's pardoning love, and see if it will do them any injury. You know that it will not. On the contrary it conveys to them a message of hope which helps to lift them up from that black despair which is one of the strongest chains by which the devil can hold lost souls in captivity. I am not at all afraid of the effect of preaching that it is the glory of God to blot out sin, for he put his Son between himself and the sinner, as we sometimes sing -

The greatest blessing of Him, dear friends, that when God covers sin he does it so effectually that it never appears any more. He declares that he casts it into the depths of the sea. He says that as far as the east is from the west so far does he remove it from us. He even goes the length of saying "The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none." So far as anything can be annihilated, that is what will happen to the Lord's people. You know that the work of the Messiah was "to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness;" and that is the work of which he said, "It is finished." Then it is finished, there is an end of it; that is the glorious way in which the Lord covers sin, and it is his peculiar glory that he is continually doing this. Kings may search out matters, and they ought to do so or government will not be safe; but it is to the honor of God to forgive sin.

II. Now secondly to make a practical use of this doctrine, this should be very great encouragement to those who are seeking mercy at God's hands.

Beloved friend, do you wish to have your sin forgiven? Then do not attempt to cover it yourself, for it is the glory of God to cover that matter, so do not try to rob him of his glory. If you could have covered your sin there would have been no need for a Redeemer. Do not attempt to excuse or extenuate your guilt, but make a clean breast of it. You are sinner, therefore say that you are a sinner. In all your approaches to God seeking mercy at his hands, come in your true colors. Do not even plead your own repentance or your tears or your feelings. Plead as David did, "For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity: for it is great." Call your sin great as it really is. Never try to
make it out to be little. You know that if you were wounded on a battlefield and a surgeon came where you were, you would not say to him "Oh, I have very little the matter with me!" Oh no! I warrant you that you would cry as loudly as you could, "Doctor, do bind up my gaping wounds lest I die!" You know that in such a case you would make the most of it, and you would act wisely in doing so; and it is never wise for a sinner to make himself out to be a little sinner. It is the glory of God to cover sin so do not you attempt to do it. I say again, lay it all bare before him, and ask him to cover it with the atoning sacrifice of his dear Son.

Now, poor sinner, I pray the Holy Spirit to enable thee to give God glory at this moment by believing that he can cover sin. When the conscience is thoroughly awakened it seems impossible that sin should ever be covered. The convicted sinner says, "My sin, my sin, I always see it; can it ever be hidden from the sight of God?" Canst thou not believe that God in Christ can cover thy sin? Glorify God, O son, glorify God, O daughter, by believing that he can do so! Do not limit his mercy by thinking that he cannot pardon thee, for he has forgiven so many that assuredly there is proof enough that he can pass by iniquity, transgression, and sin, and remember not the guilt of those who trust his Son. If thou believest that, give glory to God now by believing that he is willing to pass by thy sin. Every man is willing to do that which honors himself, and it is inconceivable that God should be reluctant to do that which glorifies himself. So as it is for his glory to cover it, he must be willing to cover it; therefore may the Holy Spirit help thee now to believe that he can and will cover thy sin! There is Christ on the cross; look to him with the eye of faith and take him to be thine own Savior. Christ on the cross is nothing to you until you trust in him, but it glorifies Christ when a poor guilty sinner cries to him, "Purge me with hyssop." You know what the use of the hyssop was. They took a bunch of it and dipped it in the blood of the sacrifice, and those who were sprinkled with it were made ceremonially clean. David prayed "Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow;" and that is the prayer for you to present. You believe that if God were to wash another man in the blood of Jesus he would become whiter than snow, but canst thou not believe it for thyself? May the blessed Spirit take away thine unbelief, dear heart! Canst thou not believe that he can wash thee and make thee whiter than snow? He will do it in a moment if thou dost but trust him, rely upon him, and receive his dear Son to be thy salvation. This is the true covering of sin. Oh, how the Hebrews loved that word "covering." Noah's ark was pitched within and without with pitch: that was its covering. So everything under the Mosaic law had its covering; and God has a way of covering sin, and covering the sinner too, within and without, till all his sin is gone, and he that believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ may know at once that his transgression is forgiven, his sin is covered.

"But," someone asks, "am I to do nothing?" Nothing but "believe in him that justifieth the ungodly." If you do that you will begin to do something more directly afterwards, for you will love God for having pardoned you and you will say, "I am not my own now for I am bought with a price; and therefore I will live to his glory." But in order to get thy sin forgiven thou hast nothing to do except to-

"for he that believeth on him is not condemned." "He that believeth in him is justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." Oh what an encouragement this ought to be to all sinners who are seeking the Savior!
III. Now lastly, this grand doctrine ought to be a great stimulus to the people of God.

First it should excite you to glorify God in having covered your sin. Do not go and talk to everybody about what you used to be before conversion as I have known some do. They will almost glory in what they were. I have more than a little hesitation about what is sometimes said by converted burglars, and men of that sort. I am glad they are converted but I wish there would not talk so much about that which is covered. Let it be covered.

Still, never be backward to glorify God for having covered your sin. Speak of it with delicacy and modesty; but if the grace of God has saved you tell all men of it and do not let people imagine that God has done only a small thing for you. When he saved you it was the grandest thing he could do for you. Do you not think so? Well then, tell the story of it.

And what is more I never shall go there, but shall see God's face with acceptance in heaven. Tell this to sinners while you live; and when you get to heaven make the streets of glory to ring with the tidings of the almighty grace that covered all your sin.

The next thing for you Christian people to do, now that you know that God can cover sin, is to aim at the covering of the sins of your friends and neighbors by leading them to the Savior. To see sin should always be a tearful sight to you. As soon as ever you see it breathe the prayer, "Lord, cover it." Do you live where you can hardly lie in your bed at night without hearing mounds of ribaldry and blasphemy? Then the moment you hear them say, "Lord, cover that sin." Do you see, in the streets, foul transgression that makes you blush? Never see it without saying "Lord, cover that sin." If we were in a right state of heart this would be our habit; every sin that we noticed in ourselves or in others--in our children or our servants or our neighbors or that we read of in the newspapers, would make us pray "Lord, cover that sin." So always be telling others about the covering of sin by Christ's precious blood. Show them what a perfect covering it is. You know that the Lord spoke through Isaiah of "a covering which is narrower than that a man can wrap himself in it." But the atoning sacrifice of Christ is a covering which will cover all sin, and cover the sinner from head to foot; therefore tell others about it with all your might.

And once more, you who have proved the power of this covering, imitate the Lord in forgetting the sins of those who repent. If ever they
offend you, let that atonement which satisfied God for sin also satisfy you, and say, "Though this man has offended me, I ask no atonement at his hands, because Christ's atonement is to my soul the satisfaction for every sin against me as well as against God." Never harbor any
resentment for a single moment, beloved. Even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Do you think that Christ's blood and righteousness are not sufficient to cover those unkind words of your brother, or that
ungenerous action of your sin, or that slanderous speech of your
neighbor? Go and put all offenses against yourself where God has put all offenses against himself. It is a dreadful thing to hear a man
talking about God having forgiven him ten thousand talents and then to see him take his brother by the throat, saying "Pay me what thou
owest." Our Lord Jesus Christ said "If ye forgive not men their
trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespass." This spirit of forgiveness would keep us always in a state of love, and this is
exactly what the Lord Jesus aims at. "It is the glory of God to cover a matter." Then do you cover matters too. I know some people who always like to be poking into any filth there is. They keep a long stick and
stir it up, and they seem to be quite pleased with the sweet perfume. Let it alone, brother, let it alone. "Oh but you do not know how they
have offended me!" No, and I do not want to know; but I am quite sure that they have not offended you as much as you have offended God, and yet he has forgiven you. Then do you forgive them. The less said in
such matters, the sooner are they mended. Solomon wisely says "Where no wood is there the fire goeth out." Blessed are they who always act as firemen, throwing cold water upon every spark of dissension or ill-will that they see. It is the glory of God to cover it up, so do you also
cover it up with the spirit of love and the mantle of gentleness; and,
above all, with the reflection that the precious blood of Christ that
made peace between you and God, has also made peace between you and all mankind. And now for love of Christ, if they smite you on the one cheek you should turn the other also; if they will have your cloak, for love
of Jesus let them have your coat also sooner than live in the spirit of perpetual contention and strife. May God enable you to act thus, for Christ's sake! Amen.