Could we turn again to the passage from which we were reading? That's Proverbs 28 and let's read again from verse 4. Proverbs 28 and reading again at verse 4. They that forsake the law praise the wicked. but such as keep the law contend with them. They that forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law contend with them. What message does your life proclaim? This passage is bringing before us a clear truth that our life preaches a sermon to those around who see it. We are preaching to our family members, to our friends, to our fellow members and fellow adherents within our congregation about what we believe are the important priorities of life, about how we should make decisions, about what decisions we should make, about how we should live our lives fundamentally, about who is in control, who is in charge of our lives. And this passage is challenging us to reflect on that message, to reflect on that sermon that we are preaching with our lives, and to ask ourselves what we are communicating. You see, as believers, we have received a standard, a perfect pattern for our lives, what we call the law. And here it is spoken of, they that forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law, contend with them. God has given this pattern, this path of wisdom, this path of purity, of righteousness, of holiness. And we might well reflect on what our life says about that pattern that we have received, that we have been taught. Is our life proclaiming that is how life should be lived? Or is our life contradicting that profession that we make? This then will be our theme for a few moments this night. The Witness of Obedience to God's Law. The Witness of Obedience to God's Law. And it reminds us, of course, of this great standard that we have set before us in the law. It convicts us of how we fall short of that standard. And that is an appropriate subject for a Thursday evening, where we come together for a service of humiliation. to acknowledge solemnly before God our sins, how we fall short of his standards, and to confess that sin, and to seek the forgiveness of God as we enter into another communion season. So with these thoughts, let's come firstly to consider the witness of forsaking God's law. The witness of forsaking God's law. Our text reads, they that forsake the law Praise the wicked. They that forsake the law, praise the wicked. Now our world is a world that forsakes God's law. Who can challenge that? Who can question it? Our world is not a world of madness. It's not a world of anarchy. It's not a world where one turns round upon another and executes violence without thought. We live in a civilized country. We live in a civilized society. And indeed, thanks be to God that it is so. But our society functions largely out of self-interest, largely because it suits everyone's interests that there be order, that there be an element of morality in public life. The reality is, as we all know, Our world is one that forsakes God's law, that rejects it, that despises it. And when God's law conflicts with the interests of self, then we see in the world the true contempt in which the world holds the law of God. Think, for example, of the fourth commandment, a commandment despised uniquely, perhaps, in our day, a command that is disregarded, in our society because it conflicts with self-interest. You cannot do what you wish to do upon the first day of the week. You must give it as an offering to God. And that, of course, conflicts with the self-interest of man. And so we see in our society that commandment treated with contempt. We see the Saba desecrated openly and crucially. And this is where our text comes in. We see the world praising those who so desecrate it. The world admires those who do as they wish on the Sabbath. Those who keep the Sabbath, well, they are mocked and scorned. They are narrow-minded. They are bigoted. But those who break the Sabbath, well, they are praised. They are the courageous ones, the modernizers, the trailblazers. Come to think of the sixth commandment, that solemn commandment, thou shalt not kill. Surely that's a commandment that will be obeyed. And yet, see when it conflicts with self-interest. It was striking, you know, just within the last couple of weeks, we saw Richard Dawkins letting the mask slip a little about the true morality that comes in when people reject belief in God. He was debating on the internet on the subject of abortion and somebody asked him, but what about if you have a fetus that's been diagnosed with Down's Syndrome? And he instantly replied, the moral thing to do is to abort that fetus and try again. That's godless morality. That's self-interest colliding with the Word of God. The world says, yes, you shouldn't kill people, until it collides with self-interest. Until it says, well, in that case, you need to be selfless and giving. And care for someone who may not ever be able to reciprocate that love and that care. Care for someone who might be burdened with a disability for the rest of their life. The Christian says, love life and delight in it as a gift from God. Secular morality says, abort it. Try again. You see the collision, don't you? And so the world praises those who adopt this kind of secular approach to assisted suicide, to abortion, to euthanasia, to all these vile things that we are seeing coming in. Come to the seventh commandment, and there we see it most of all, don't we? Those who value that commandment, those who live our lives by this, that we shall not commit adultery. Well, we are scorned and mocked, aren't we? We are despised in our society. Our society rather praises those who exert themselves. Those who wander into the strangest and most bizarre kinds of sexual misbehavior. And our world praises them as people who are courageous and who are willing and free to express themselves. And our world tries to give them rights which of course they are not accorded. in the Word of God. The world, you see, praises those who despise God's law. And so, you see, we see selfishness as the law that governs our society. Come to the Tenth Commandment, and I think there it's seen with the greatest of clarity. Our morality says, based upon the Scriptures, thou shalt not covet. It's wrong to desire what you can't have. The world says, no, coveting is good. It's good to be greedy. It's good to desire more. That will stimulate the economy. That will get people working. And you have people who devote their entire careers to the work of marketing, to try to stimulate people's greed and people's desire for what they can't have, to get them to spend money that they don't possess for goods that they don't need. Our society, you see, praising something. that God's word says is wrong and sinful. And it really leads us, you see, to the solemn culmination of the Apostle Paul's condemnation of the heathen society in which he lived, which is very much the heathen society in which we live. Romans 1.32, a crucial verse, who, knowing the judgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." You see what he's saying? They delight in those who flout the law of God. That's our society, identified, charged, and convicted before the bar of the law of God. This, then, is the world in which we live. But let's come to ourselves, and let's recognize that we as believers, ourselves, often forsake the law of God. You see we profess to love it, we profess to delight in it and no doubt we seek to do so. But let's acknowledge honestly before the Lord as we come to humiliate ourselves before him that our lives have not always lived up to that profession and sometimes indeed we contradict it. We say that we remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy and we criticize and rightly so those who defile it. But when it comes to the Sabbath day, just how faithful are we in keeping that Sabbath day? Some of us who are younger know the temptation of these electronic gadgets and how easily we can end up looking at things and exploring things that we've got no right to be doing on the Sabbath day. How easily we can be tempted to break the Lord's day, even in these little things. And those of us who are older, well, we know the temptation, don't we? To conversation. to casual discussion, to casual chatter about the things of this world and the things of this life. And you know, we start off a conversation and we're meaning to speak about good things, but soon we're on to the things of the world and we stay on the things of the world. And we don't end up having fellowship and speaking about good things, but rather we squander our time. We come to the seventh commandment and we condemn those who commit adultery and rightly so, but can we not each of us acknowledge that in our own hearts In our own minds, there's a cesspit of iniquity, of wicked thoughts, of wicked ideas, of wicked temptations and fantasies that battle against that morality that we seek to keep in our outward life. John Bunyan, in his famous book, The Holy War, he spoke of the city of man's soul, the individual, and he warned about the eye gate. That is one of the ways in where the city is vulnerable and how easy it is for what we see to influence our conduct and to render us vulnerable to the evil one. Come to think of the 10th commandment, and again we say it, thou shalt not covet. But how often are we those who covet the lives of our sinful and ungodly neighbors, who wonder what would it be like to live as the world lives? And we fantasized how it would be if we were free of all these restrictions and we could just enjoy life to the full. And the Lord knows what a drawing we have within ourselves to the things of the world and to the things of this life. Maybe the kingdom was once everything to us. But sadly we know that the draw of the world is still there and that's our experience of continual battle against that. We are those identified then in this verse as those who forsake the law. But see what it says about the witness of those that forsake that law. They that forsake the law Praise the wicked. And here is the challenge of this passage to each one of us. When we are those who are committing sin in our own lives, what are we saying? What message are we proclaiming to the world? That really, that's okay. That really, we're comfortable with that. We're happy with that. Our words may say that sin is wrong and sin is evil, but our conduct, that contradicts it, doesn't it? And the reality is, they that forsake the law praise the wicked. And that's the message being sent out. We're saying the way the world lives is okay because secretly we're desiring it ourselves. And sometimes sadly in our outward conduct, demonstrating that. Think of it. What message is your life sending out? Are you sending out the message that obedience to the law of God is not necessary, desirable maybe, but not essential? Because it's not always present. It's not always central to my life. That pleasure is found primarily in what I want and in satisfying my desires rather than obeying the law of God. And especially that sin does not leave us in danger of eternal judgment. Isn't that the message that goes out when we are seen in sin? What we are proclaiming to the world is there is no judgment, there is no danger. Sin will not bring us into condemnation before our God. Think of the Lord's assessment of the lives of the Jews in the days of the prophet Malachi. He said, ye have said it is vain to serve God. And what profit is it? that we have kept his ordinance and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts. They weren't saying it but they were thinking it and their lives were expressing it. Deep down they were saying what good is it that we've kept the law of God. We're still suffering chastisement. We're still struggling and battling through this life. Maybe the wicked have it easier after all. What a temptation it is, what a danger it is, this battle that we have within ourselves. So let's acknowledge then the reality of sin. Let's come before God on this Thursday evening and confess the sin that is present within our lives, within our minds, within our hearts, within our past conduct, the battles that we have had, the battles we have lost. and the public witness which we have failed to give that God's law is the right way and the right path. In our lives we are those who have praised the wicked and that's something that must make us feel shame, mustn't it? That's something that must touch our consciences if we are the people of God. We have praised the wicked. by forsaking the law of God. Let us confess it to God this night. Let's confess it, each one of us, that we have sinned before Him. And let us ask Him to teach us a better way, a holier way, a way of a purer and brighter and more perfect witness than we have yet shown. Let us determine to keep the law of God, to delight in it, and to let our life, our public conduct, exhibit that delight that rejoicing that we have in the law of our God. And that brings us then, you see, to the encouraging aspect of this text. We've spoken of the witness of forsaking God's law, but come secondly to see the witness of keeping God's law. They that forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law contend with them. This is the duty of believers. to keep the law of God. That is something that is taught all through scripture. The people of God must obey His law, must obey His word, must, in the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, confess Him openly before God. Sorry, confess Him openly before men in our public life. And in another place, let your light shine before men. We are called upon to publicly live by the law of God. Not because this will obtain for us salvation, not because we can earn it, or merit it, or deserve it, but rather to prove the salvation that we have received. There's a striking passage in the book of Revelation that brings this before us very clearly. It's Revelation 16, verse 15. A very familiar text, but nonetheless a striking one. The word of the apostle John, behold, I come as a thief, blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. The idea is of one lying in a bed, lying unclothed in bed at night, asleep, and a thief comes in suddenly and startles him out of his slumber. And so is the coming of the Lord. The coming of the Lord, sudden, unexpected, that moment when life ends and we must appear before the judgment seat of God. We all of us have sinful desires, sinful propensities, things that must be covered, governed, kept under control, just as we cover and keep private and keep under control those private parts of our body which we do not wish to expose to the world, so we must govern the sinful propensities of our nature. Let us indeed be those covered. covered by the robe of Christ's righteousness, covered by a public walk of holiness, covered by a disciplined, consistent conduct. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. So how then can we do it? How can we live holy life, a God-glorifying life in the midst of a sinful world full of temptations and being ourselves sinful beings with a longing and a desire for what is wrong and for what is sinful. Well, the encouragement of God's Word is that we have helps so to walk. We have the help of salvation itself. Here are the words of the Apostle Peter in the book of Acts. Says he, unto you first, God having raised up his son Jesus sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. This, you see, is the effect of God's salvation by Christ to turn us away from our iniquities. Not perfectly, not completely. Don't we all know it? but in turning away to some degree and to some extent our desires from the things of this world, not the things of this life, to the things of eternity, to the things of God, to the law of God. And this of course must be a reality. We're those who are just carried about by sin and by our desires and by our temptations. If we're those without control, then we have no place at the Lord's table. We are not his people. We have no right to profess his name. We are those who are still living in sin. We need the power of God to come in and to work. But we are persuaded better things of those who are indeed God's people. That we are those who walk in the ways of the Lord Jesus as he has affected this salvation. That by that salvation he has given us a new heart. a new desire, a new love for his word, for his law, for his way. And especially, of course, that he is giving us the Holy Spirit to help us and enable us so to walk in holiness. There are really three ways in which the Holy Spirit helps us, in which he enables us to turn from sin, to turn rather, to serve the living God. The Spirit gives us grace that we may have new desires. Desires to replace these old worldly desires which before consumed our thoughts. Don't we know this in our experience? Before, what were our priorities? The things of this world, the things of this life. Christian things meant nothing. But now you see we've got new priorities. We love the worship of God. We love the presence of the Lord's people. We love to pray with God's people. We love to speak and have fellowship with God's people. We love to hear God's word preached and read to us. We delight in the things of God. and we long for His blessing, we long for His reviving power, and we delight in it when we get moments of sweet communion and of sweet presence with the Lord Himself. New desires, you see, by the Spirit of God. And then again, the Spirit gives us strength to resist the old desires. Strength that in every situation where we're faced with temptation, we do have the strength to turn away from it if we will do so. We will never be tempted, says the word of God, above that ye are able. So there's never an excuse. When we are faced with a temptation, the strength is there to resist it in every situation. The strength is there if we will use it. That's the challenge, isn't it? The strength is there. The temptation is strong. It's powerful, but we can turn aside from it. Being God's people, the Spirit has worked within us and has given us strength to resist the wiles of the devil. Let us use that strength that we have been given. Let us determine to walk in God's ways and not be led astray of the devil into paths of sin. And especially, of course, the Holy Spirit has given us love to motivate that conduct. A love to God. A love to God as Father. who brought us into his family, who made us his children, who hears our prayers. A love to God the Son, who loved us and who gave himself for us, and who now is our advocate with the Father. A love for the Holy Spirit, who is the author of all our spiritual life, and who is that constant presence within us when we need him. A love for our God that motivates us to turn from sin, to turn to serve the living God. That is the power of the Spirit at work within us. And you see in this passage the witness that that conduct has when indeed we walk in obedience to the law of God. See it. They that forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law contend with them. A public witness on the side of the Lord is a powerful thing. It's a challenge to the world. It halts the world. It stops them when they mock of Christianity as just an outdated cultural pursuit and just a foolish delusion when they see a life of godliness. When they see clear difference and distinction from the world, when they see people who will not walk in ways of selfishness, but in ways of godliness, that challenges the enemy of the gospel, doesn't it? That challenges those who mock and who score. That is the only thing that will really speak to the people of this world, is a Christian people who are different. Not a Christian people who are conformed to the world and who try to be as worldly as the world is in the hopes of befriending them and in the hopes of making them think that they can be Christians without giving up all their old worldly pursuits. Not at all. We need Christians who have a bold, decisive witness to the transforming power of God's Spirit. Nothing short of that will truly testify to God's power and salvation. This is the witness of keeping God's law, such as keep the law, contend with them. Think, for example, of how Noah witnessed to his generation. Noah, who was building that ark, while no doubt the world scorned and mocked him and rejected his prophecies of the coming destruction. Hear the writer to the Hebrews, by faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. his bold stance on the side of God. By that bold stance he contended with the world and they condemned themselves by rejecting his clear public witness on the side of the Lord. He had proclaimed the gospel to them by his life and no doubt by his words and they rejected it and so condemned themselves. Let us be such. Let us be those whose lives a message of godliness. A message. What message? What do we preach when we live a godly life? Well, we preach that godliness is possible. That godliness is not just some fantasy, but that godliness is attainable. For we demonstrate it ourselves in walking consistently as believers. We say to the world, this is what a godly life should be. Not that we're perfect, not that we don't fall and fail every day, but our public witness must be one of godliness and one that challenges the world around us. A witness that godliness is possible by the power of God. But then again also a witness that godliness is desirable. We witness to the world by such a life that we delight in godliness, that we enjoy godliness, that we love godliness, that godliness isn't a tiresome, burdensome series of duties, but that it's a beautiful way of life, that it's a delightful way of life, that it's a way of life full of joy, full of excitement for us, a way of life that draws us nearer to our God and fills our hearts with joy when we commune with Him and feel His presence, that godliness is desirable, and especially, of course, Our lives proclaim to the world that godliness is wise in the light of eternity, that we are those who believe in eternal judgment and therefore we are living as those preparing to meet our God, preparing for the coming day of judgment. Ask yourself, is your life preaching that message? Is your life preaching godliness to your family, to your friends, and to those in your church. Is your life one that proclaims the transforming power of God's Spirit, the desirableness of godliness and of holiness, and especially your conviction that a judgment day is coming when God will examine the conduct of every single person? Ask yourself that. Are you indeed contending with the world? If not, let us be those who change our lives, who challenge ourselves, who determine to set a clearer and a more distinct pattern in our lives. The effect of true godliness is conflict. Think of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ speaking of his disciples, I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Conflict you see, conflict. The world sees that godliness. The world sees that godliness is contention with their lives and with all that they hold dear. Therefore, the world hateth you. Then again, in another place, think you that I came to send peace on the earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword. Conflict, you see. Conflict arising as a result of that clear, distinct, godly witness. Conflict, a painful thing and a hard thing. We battle not just with ourselves, but we battle with all the pressure of a world around us that would love to see us conform to this world and conform to a selfish, worldly lifestyle. Conflict, yes. But remember, conflict leads to victory when the Lord is fighting a conflict. So if the Lord has begun that work, he will assuredly continue it until the end. And it may be that in winning that victory, more will be won than just your own soul. It may be that in living out that life of public witness, that you may yourself be a means of blessing others within your community, a means of challenging those who are living themselves for this world and for the things of time and preaching to them by your conduct of the things of eternity. So let us repent. That is the real message, the real challenge, is it not, of this passage. Repent. Turn from sin. Turn from sin that praises the wicked. Turn from sin that despises God's law. Turn from sin that is vile. and loathsome and ugly, turn from it and embrace the law of God, which is beautiful and pure and which contends with this sinful, selfish world and with all that it lives for. Come just thirdly, just briefly, To consider, thirdly, the witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. We've considered, you see, the witness of forsaking God's law. We've considered the witness of keeping God's law. But consider, thirdly, the witness of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. They that forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law contend with them. And in whom do we find that command more clearly, more fully fulfilled? than in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Is this not the great encouragement that we have to live this life when we see in the Lord Jesus this command exhibited as it should be lived? Who kept the law perfectly, in every aspect of it, in every portion, in every detail, the Lord Jesus Christ? Honor Him. Honor him as the one who is our perfect example of holiness and of purity. And delight in him that he shows to us a life that really is attractive. A life that really is beautiful and desirable and wonderful. See the life of the Lord Jesus Christ and marvel at it. See the Lord Jesus Christ who was the God-man. Look at how he dealt with people. Look at how he dealt with people who challenged him and who tried to trap him. Look at how he dealt with those who contradicted him. When is the Lord Jesus Christ ever less than the perfect man? Robust, strong, firm in his convictions, knowing what he believes and clearly standing to it. But when is he ever less than perfect God? Love, compassion, yearning for the souls of men, longing for the conversion of those who despise his gospel and who reject his message. See in the Lord Jesus Christ perfect obedience to the law of God, perfect keeping of God's law, and as a result, perfect contention with the people of this world. Such as keep the law, contend with them. And who more than the Lord Jesus Christ Who lived a life more perfectly devoted to love than Jesus Christ? And yet who endured more hatred? Who was despised more? And who at last was put to death in the most painful, miserable, humiliating way that could have been devised by the wickedness of man's heart? Lord Jesus Christ, the most pure and perfect keeper of God's law, and therefore the one who above all contended with this sinful and this wicked world. Said the Lord Jesus, the world cannot hate you, but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. That was the message of his life, that their works were evil and his were good, and therefore they hated him. Therefore they despised him. His godliness was evident and it was powerful. And beside him, what are the rest of us? We are as nothing compared to the purity and the perfection of the Lord Jesus. But let us look to that perfect example. Let us see that as our example that we must follow if we are to live godly before our generation. And let us draw our encouragement from him. Because his righteousness does not stand apart from us as some challenge to us that we will never, ever be able to meet. No. In the gospel, we are united to the Lord Jesus Christ. And his righteousness, in the eyes of God, becomes our righteousness. We share in it. We are covered with the robe of his perfect righteousness. And so when we gaze on the righteousness of Christ, we're not despairing. We're rather wondering at it. because this is his gift to us of such purity and of such holiness in the eyes of God. So that's when you and I are broken in our own hearts, when you and I are despairing of ourselves, when we think it is hopeless for us to try to continue with this Christian life. At that point, let us look to the Lord Jesus and let's find out encouragement in him. He is righteous enough. for himself and for us. So let's draw our encouragement from him. Let us hold to him. Let us cling to him. And let's find our encouragement in his love. The witness of obedience to the law of God. Just as we finish off, a couple of final thoughts of application. To those of you who are believers and who know your own sin, recognize the extent of it. It is great. It is vile, it is loathsome, it is ugly. See the ugliness of it. See the vileness of it, but repent of it. And turn from it at this communion weekend with, as the Shorter Catechism puts it, full purpose of and endeavour after new obedience. Let us strive to be holy, strive to be pure. As the Word of God says, that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world. God grant that that may be so for each one of us. To you who are backsliders, who are falling deep into sin, deep, deep into sin, who are being drawn deeper in and who know you're sinking down, more and more into the wiles of the devil, into the darkness of sin. This passage speaks to you, and it condemns your conduct. They that forsake the law praise the wicked. When you live like that, what you're saying is, really, the wicked have it right. Really, there is no judgment. Really, there is no joy in godliness. Really, they are right. And it is only that I lack the courage to dispense with church entirely and to live as a proud and godless atheist, your life is praising the wicked. Turn from it. Even now, halt the downward progress and seek that the Lord would again revive his work within you and return that true love to you that once you had for the Lord Jesus and for his presence. And to those of you who are not believers, see the challenge of this passage to you. See that your life is one that praises the wickedness and the sinfulness of this world. And though I'm sure you do not wish it to be so, yet ultimately you're living for this life, and your heaven is here, and the judgment of God awaits. Let it not be so. Let it not be so. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ. See in Him a way of salvation. See in His righteousness the solution that you need to your problem of sin. His righteousness is perfect and pure. Embrace His gospel. Embrace His salvation. Repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out. May God enable us so to obey and so to receive His word and so to draw near to Him. Amen. May God bless His word. Let us call upon Him in prayer.