Posted on 07/27/2022 11:43:00 PM PDT by Pilgrim's Progress
“When righteous men do rejoice, there is great glory: but when the wicked rise, a man is hidden. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief” (Proverbs 28:12-14).
“When righteous men do rejoice, there is great glory,” especially when they rejoice about the Lord’s work, they bring great glory to God.
“And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest” (Luke 19:37-38).
We bring glory to God when we rejoice, “when righteous man do rejoice, there a great glory, but when the wicked rise, a man is hidden.” When the wicked rise; specifically like the Antichrist. When he rises, both good men and bad men will have to hide. Did you know that? Israel has to hide in Matthew 24:16 and revelation 12:14. Isn’t that true? In the Tribulation, they'll have to hide from him. Jesus said, “Flee into the mountains, flee into the wilderness.” The good men will have to hide when the Antichrist rises.
But did you know also that bad men will have to hide to?
“And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains” (Revelation 6:15).
Do you know why the bad men have to hide when the wicked rise up? Because God will send His judgment. When God sends judgment, the Bible says that the kings, and captains, and the people of this earth say to the mountains, “Hid us from the wrath to come!” Everybody's got to hide when the wicked rise. The good man has to hide from the wicked man, and the wicked people that are under that system have to hide from the judgment of God.
There is just nothing good about the Tribulation for good men or bad men.
Verses 13 and 14 go together. “He that covereth his sins,” like Adam (Genesis 3) with fig leaves, “shall not prosper.” God said, “Adam, where are you?” Adam didn’t prosper, God rebuked him and then took him off and gave him the animal skins.
This is a good verse to memorize. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them,” A lot of people are confessing, confessing, confessing, and never really forsake them.
There's a two-fold repentance. Two parts to repentance. You confess them, and you turn from them. Now, you may not conquer them immediately, but each time you do it, you confess it and you turn from it again. You keep turning from it until you get away from it. Just like when you were tempted to do it, you kept going to it, and you built up that habit, and that way, in your life. to get rid of it, you keep turning away from it until you finally get away from it. Until you get it all out of your heart. Sometimes it takes years. It took years to build that thing up. And yet, thank God for this:
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:8-9).
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