Now, would you turn with me, please, to that portion of God's word that we read? The book of Genesis and Genesis chapter three. Genesis chapter three. I'd read again those words that we have there in the verse marked 11 down. And he said, who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? The man said, the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, why is this that thou hast done? The woman said, the serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." Now, what we have here before us, of course, in these chapters is the temptation and the fall of Adam. And while this is, of course, unique in many ways to Adam, and what is brought before us is unique to Adam, Nevertheless, there are general truths that are brought before us here and principles which are applicable to all. Because, of course, we know that as Adam has sinned, so he has that nature and we have that nature that is in common. And here we have, in these verses brought before us, how sinful man and we include ourselves in that, often wish to evade the responsibility for sin. And if we come to remember that on this, the fast day of a communion, because on the fast day of a communion, of course, there is a looking and a stress in preparation. Inwardly, we come to examine ourselves and we come to examine ourselves to see sin. And we, as a result of that, take it in confession onto the Lord. Now, also on the Friday of a communion, as you will hear tomorrow, there will also be that concentration inwards when there is some looking at the marks of grace. And then, of course, as we will see here in relation to which we wish to speak about this evening, we will see the looking away on the Saturday and the Lord's Day. onto Christ himself. I want us to think of three things as the Lord would enable us this evening. The first thing is this, that confession of sin is demanded. Confession of sin is demanded. Secondly, that there is responsibility, which is expected, but it is often elusive. And thirdly, the grace and the mercy in a new covenant. First of all, confession is demanded. Now we see this coming out here in verse 11. And he, that is the Lord, says to Adam, who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? Here is a very simple question. It's a very clear question that comes from the Lord to Adam. And in this question, the Lord knows the answer. But the intention of the Lord is to elicit from Adam himself a confession of sin. And friends, we come this evening on this day as exercised Christians, perhaps. And we know that there are many problems. There are problems in the world today. There are problems in our lives today. And those problems are the result of sin itself. There is something wrong here in the Garden of Eden. And we know that what Adam sees as the problem, he sees that he is naked. He sees the outward thought, he sees the outward shame, he sees even a fear coming into him because he was naked. You know, that is a very easy thing for us to perhaps see in relation to sin is to see the outward things. That is so even in our Christian life. We see the outward consequences of sin. Maybe as it relates to society itself, we see problems in the family, we see problems in the world and all of that. But when it comes to ourselves, there is often this outward problem with sin. So often there is the breakdown of law and order in our own lives. That can happen. And when those public manifestations of sin are there, we can see perhaps in a way, a measure that, well, maybe we're not at the means of grace as we once were. Maybe they don't hold that same attraction for us. as maybe when the Lord first dealt with us. You see, maybe there is a coldness in our desire to have fellowship with the Lord in the Lord's house. Those outward things can be evident. Maybe we're not found as much in the word as we used to be. Maybe we're not found in the place of prayer, wrestling with the Lord as we used to be. Maybe we have all of the excuses of the day. Those are the outward things. Friends, before there is an outward coldness, before there is an outward nakedness, if you like, before the Lord, there is something that has happened inwardly. There is something that has happened, first of all, in the heart. There is a coldness there. The heart is not stirred the way that it used to be stirred. The heart is not with a poverty of spirit before the Lord. You know, isn't it interesting that when we go and We compare the Old Testament and the New Testament, perhaps, or we see that clear line of demarcation when the Lord Jesus Christ came. There was the concentration on the outward things before. But you will remember how the Lord deals with that in the Sermon on the Mount. And my own view is that the Sermon on the Mount is not some kind of a manual of morality. It is much more than that. It's a pointing onto the spiritual character of one who would follow the Lord. You see, the Lord speaks there about the relationship of the heart. Is there that poverty of spirit? Have we got that poverty of spirit now the way that we had perhaps after we came to the Lord? Is there a sense of our own undone-ness? Do we recognize? I'm not asking now the question is, is there a coldness in the heart inside? The question is even more subtle than that. Do we recognize that there is a coldness in the heart inside? You know, that is perhaps even more important than to have the coldness in the heart inside. I heard an account just over these past days. It was one of the days of a communion many years ago on this island. And it was Mr. Macaulay Bach was preaching. And as he related that well-known chapter that we have in Galatians chapter five, it was probably a fencing at the table, he said, there we have 17 lusts of the flesh, 17 lusts of the flesh. And he said, if you do not recognize these 17 lusts of the flesh in yourself, then arise and do not sit at the table. Now, friends, of course, there is the living in open sin. That's one thing. Somebody cannot come to the table if they're living in that open sin. But those lusts of the flesh are in a spiritual sense, they are in all of us, just as the Pharisee is in all of us. And you see, there is the outward, but there is also the inward. We tend also to think of the problems lie outside of ourselves, and the issue of sin itself lies outside of ourselves. You know, there are many things today that take place in society, but let us be aware of this, friends. We too have imbibed much of what we hear in society. We too imbibe much of what is there in the world. The world is not something that is outside. The world is knocking at the door of your heart, and it's knocking at the door of my heart. Just as sin had come into that perfect paradise and had disturbed the harmony, of the innocence of Adam and of Eve. Now, what are we to do with that? What are we to do when we feel the pull of the world? Because let's face it, we have this fallen nature, it still remains with us. Even as those who are the Lord's people, even as those who have been on this Christian road for many a year, that fallen nature is still with us. Indeed, as Professor John Murray remarks, that old man still remains within us. And so there is a tendency to be pulled by the work and to be drawn by the work. But you'll notice here in this verse that God would have us to admit that the issue lies with us. Now I've said that there is that nature that has fallen that is still there. How easy it is for us to blame that nature that's still there. How easy it is for us to blame that sin from the world that would try and draw us away. Now we have got to come as Adam was refusing to come and admit that the problem lies with us. And that is what a Thursday, that is what a fast day of a communion is intending for us to do. Because as we have gathered here this day, we are gathered here with a purpose. You as a congregation have gathered with a purpose. And that is to have fellowship with the Lord around his table and with one another. Now, how can we have that fellowship if we try to cover our sin? Surely the way to have that fellowship is to look at that work that has been finished, come and confess that sin, And look, as we said, or mentioned briefly in prayer, look unto that blood of covering that has covered the mercy seat. You know the law, and of course you know the very nature of the law. The law is inflexible. The law has no mercy in the law. We are thankful this evening that we are told in Revelation that above the throne, that throne that speaks about judgment, that throne that speaks about sovereign righteousness, that above the throne is the rainbow, that speaks of the covenant, that speaks of Christ himself. Just imagine if the throne had no rainbow. Just imagine if there was no covenant of grace. Just imagine that there were no redeemer. Oh, how could we imagine such a thing? For friends, we would be consumed. You see, sin doesn't just happen. It doesn't happen in our lives. It didn't happen in Adam and Eve's life. What was the sin? Sin was disobedience. Sin was disobedience. Now when we have been brought onto that saving knowledge of the Lord, we are called onto new obedience of life. And that new obedience is important because it shows the marks of those who are in the Lord. But we are not in the Lord by new obedience. We are in the Lord by grace and by mercy. And that brings us on to that new obedience. When the Lord comes here to Adam, and he says, who told thee that thou wast naked? See, Adam has just now brought a confession. And the confession was that he was naked. What was Adam dealing with? Adam was dealing with the symptoms of sin? See friends, we can ourselves deal with the symptoms of sin. How easy it is to deal with the symptoms. Is there that coldness? Is there that lack of diligence in our duties as the Lord's people? Well, that's a symptom, but what is the cause? The cause is sin itself. And friends, that is something that has to be dealt with. I remember something, there was a twin theme in the Puritans. And if you read even the casual reading of the Puritans, you will notice that the twin themes in the Puritans were these. It was to be a mortification of sin. In other words, you recognize it, and you're potted to death. You're potted to death. Now, some of us over these past months, we have had to go out into the grass and spray the weeds to keep them down. That's not really dealing with the weeds. That's dealing with the symptoms. What we should do is dig them out. remove them. Well that is the teaching of those that have gone before. You deal with sin by putting it to death but you had to do something else. You had to have what they call vivification, indeed nurturing new life. So it's not enough to kill the old way but you have to to nurture the graces that are there in the soul. Ah you see those are tender, Those are weak. They need sheltering and they need care. Well, you see here, Adam was dealing with the outward things. He was dealing with the symptoms and not with the root cause. Disobedience was the issue, not nakedness. What he should have said was that there was a spiritual nakedness before God. So you have here this confession that is to be demanded. And friends, surely that is so with ourselves. There are many things that we have come today, of course, all of us, whether we're in the pew or whether we're in the pulpit. And we have come and we have recognized. We have come and we recognize our lack of faith. But we're thankful, friends, if there's faith there at all. And you will remember that it is all the days of our life, the faith, the expression of it is a trusting and a surrendering and a dependence upon the Lord. Maybe over these days, of course, we have all lacked fellowship, fellowship one with the other, and we have missed that. But friends, throughout it all, there was one who was there, and he was even the Lord. And surely that has been a time, or it should have been a time when our fellowship with him was all the greater and all the more, because that is the fellowship that matters, a fellowship with the Lord. So there is here brought before us a confession that is demanded. But there is also a responsibility that is expected, but often elusive. And we have that brought before us in verses 12 and 13. And the man said, the woman whom thou gave us to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, what is this that thou hast done? The woman said, the serpent beguiled me and I You know, it would be wrong for us friends to leave all of this in the Garden of Eden and say that we do not deal in such a manner as this. You see, God treats us, especially as the Lord's people, he treats us as responsible beings. We are not a machine. We are not a machine. When we come and we pick up our catechism, what are we reminded in our catechism? We are reminded of what man is. Man is created in the image of God, in righteousness and knowledge and holiness. He is called, therefore, to face his shortcomings personally and individually. how easy it is for us to make a confession generally. How easy that is. You take these last months, and I'm sure in decades to come, those who are still preaching the gospel and those who are still listening to the gospel who have gone through this pandemic, they will be using this pandemic as an example. Over these past months, We have heard, haven't we, we have heard people speaking about this as a result of the sins of the nation, maybe even a bit more as the sin of the church. But that is easy to make it general. It doesn't point the finger at us. But friends, what is our part in it? What is our part in it? You'll go through the minor prophets. And time and time again, Judgment was brought upon the nation. Even though they were not responsible for the sins, especially, they nevertheless covered themselves in sackcloth and in ashes. Eve was quite happy to say that I was beguiled, verse 13. In other words, I couldn't help myself. Well, friends, we know that the fault would rest with Eve herself. It would rest with her. We have a calling to holiness, holiness of life. And when we slip and when we go astray, we're not to close our ears, we're not to blame anybody apart from ourselves. So often it is this case that we see here, a non-willingness to accept responsibility. And that unwillingness to accept responsibility is a sin itself. This was the sin that Adam was trying to cover, even with those fig leaves. You'll notice here, there was an evasion by focusing on the symptoms. What was the cause? Well, the cause was misery. And that's what we do. We suffer all of the miseries of this life. You'll notice as well that he tried to blame others. He abdicated his headship role. And I say to you men who are in the congregation that we cannot abdicate our leadership role. You have been appointed as head of your house. You are the one that has a responsibility to give that leadership role in spiritual matters in your own home. It is indeed a sin not to do so. So there was this attempt to blame fellow sinners for this. You'll notice there was an attempt to blame God. The woman that thou gave us to be with, How easy is it for us to blame God? Or you would say, I would never blame the Lord. I would never blame the Lord. Well, what happens when something comes into our life that is difficult? What happens when we are laid aside by great illness? Is there a moment in us that says, why has this come to me? Why has that not come to that person down the road who has little thought or no thought of the Lord? Is it not a case that there is often a bitterness that comes into ourselves? Is there not a case that often we covet something that the Lord has not given us in his providence? Well, that is exactly what Adam was doing here. or maybe say this to somebody here this evening. And as yet, perhaps you have been struggling with your spiritual state before the Lord, or you have been struggling with making a profession of faith, and you're giving a catalogue of why you could not do so. Maybe you're saying I'm a shy person or I'm a quiet person or whatever. I could not possibly do that. Well, you have got to ask yourself the question, friends. Is it a case that you are trying to put off or you are making an excuse before the Lord and you're saying that is how the Lord has made me? It's often a case that when we come to a day like this, we perhaps engage in a type of examination, but it is not a deep examination. We are content to confess those sins that we do not commit. You listen to the prison chaplains, And they will tell you that there are often men inside and in prison for serious crime, murder. But they're quite willing to say they have never taken the Lord's name in vain or they haven't broken the Sabbath day. Well, you know, we can have that tendency to skim over the sins that we are keen to forget. There is an attempt to brazen it out. You notice here what Eve would say, that I was given it and then I did eat. Well, what is it with ourselves, friends? Have we come over these days and have we examined ourselves? Not in relation to the keeping of the Outward Ten Commandments, but what is our situation as regards our love? our love to the Lord, our love to our fellows, when it comes to our personal lives, do we like that piece of gospel? Or it might be the truth, you know, that we're telling, but do we get a buzz from passing on information? There is practical Christianity, isn't it? And that is where we need to see what the Lord is doing with us. But not only do we have this confession that is demanded and the responsibility that we have, which is expected but elusive, but thirdly, we have this. We have the grace and mercy in a new covenant. You see, Adam had fallen. there was an attempt at confession. But what would be the result? Well, we know that the Lord had said that in the day that he thereof, he shall surely die. But we know that there was mercy. We know that while that covenant of works was broken, there was a mediator of a new covenant, even Christ himself, that was promised, and it was the promise of grace. And friends, that is what our encouragement is on the Thursday of a communion. What is it that we do? Well, when we come to examine ourselves, we must do as John Flavel said, we must take our eyes from off the sin and we must take it to the Lord himself, the Christ of God. We have that brought before us there in Leviticus chapter 16 on the Day of Atonement. And you will remember that right throughout that chapter, there are great stipulations that are given in preparation for the Day of Atonement, in preparation, if you like, for the type of the Lord's Supper. And what were those stipulations? Well, you will remember that they were to do no work at all. They were to afflict their souls as we are doing today. But after the first 30 or so verses, something happens that is very significant at the end. The focus is taken from off the people and what they had to do. And the focus then goes to the high priest and what the high priest does. And what does the high priest do? The high priest goes within the holy of holies with the blood of sacrifice. to sprinkle upon the mercy seat. Now friends, after the affliction of the soul, after doing no work at all, what do they then see? They then see the high priest making an atonement for their sin. And on the Thursday of a communion, that is what we are to see. We are to see what the Lord would do, which will be set before you on the Sabbath account. And you might be here today, you might be cast down, you might be bruised, you might see as you engage in examination, undoubtedly you will see, you will see that same. But you're to look to the high priest. Because if you continue to look at the sin, if you continue to look at yourself, you're going to end up in despair. You're going to end up cast down. But if you look to the Lord, you will be encouraged because there he has purged away, he has taken away the sin of his people. You will remember there that when the sacrifice was offered, there was the Lamb of the Sacrifice. And then you will remember that there was the scapegoat. And there was a laying of the hands upon the scapegoat. And the scapegoat, we are told, was led out by a strong man into the wilderness. Now there, there is a picture of the Lord. The Lord's work is represented in both of those. both the sacrifice and the scapegoat. And you will remember that when the strong man came back, he was unclean because of the sin that had been associated with the scapegoat. Friends, the Lord is the one who has borne it all away, borne it all away. And you will remember there upon the cross, and I don't wish to impinge upon the Sabbath, But when the side was pierced, it came out blood and it came out water. That which was there to cleanse from sin and that which was there to wash from pollution. I was reading this morning that work, some of you might be familiar with it, Alexander Patterson on the shorter catechism. And Patterson wrote his commentary on the shorter catechism as a discourse for his trials for license. He was a young man that was never ordained because he died at the age of 25 or 26. And this is what Patterson said about the availability of the remedy for sin. He said that there was a call to this new obedience. And what is this new obedience? Well, it is a dying onto sin, a dying onto sin. There is to be an endeavor with the very grace of God to destroy the root of sin in the soul, as we were indicating earlier on. There is to be a living onto righteousness, abounding more and more in inward holiness. There must be a fruit on gospel foundations and not upon morality. Or you see, when it is built upon the Lord himself and his redeeming grace, then it is a sure foundation. You know, friends, how often we come and we say that we are unworthy, worthy to sit at the Lord's table. Well, of course we are. Of course we are. But we can sit there because there is one who is worthy, who is sitting at that table. And it is by his perfect obedience, his passive obedience upon the cross to atone for sin, but also here an act of obedience and leading a holy life, that we might have that holiness and that righteousness imputed to him. Friends, we are a privileged people. The Lord remembers our weakness, and in remembering that weakness, we have that acceptance in him. May the Lord bless these thoughts to us for his name's sake. Let us pray. our gracious and our eternal God. We bow before Thee this evening, all with that sense of being undone. But we thank Thee for the strength and for the righteousness and the merits that are to be found in another. We come, O Lord, and we confess our own unworthiness, but we also confess the worthiness of our beloved. we come gracious and eternal one and we say that there is indeed sin within us and it so easily besets us and so it will be unto that day when we cross the swellings of Jordan but we thank thee for the perfection that is to be found in him so that even before thy tribunal thy people are regarded as perfectly holy. O gracious Lord we ask thee to Bless us over these days and bless this congregation particularly. We thank thee that they are now ascending once again onto the Mount of Ordinance. May it indeed be a blessing unto them. And may thou thyself in eternity have all the honour, the praise and glory. For we ask it in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen.