Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
Preservative from ruin
I. The assumption of an awful fact. Iniquity induces ruin. The term “ruin” occurs but seldom in the sacred Scriptures. It is, however, one of awful import and aspect; a word ever used in an evil sense to describe the fearful disaster which has befallen him who was the subject of it. In the text the word is employed to describe the eternal misery of the soul.
1. He who is ruined has lost something of which he was formerly in possession. When an individual meets with sudden reverses of a painful character in his circumstances, and is called to sustain an extensive deprivation of property, we are accustomed to say, that such an one is ruined. But of all the loss and forfeiture which men can sustain, none can possibly be compared with that which is experienced by him who is ruined by his iniquity.
2. We apply this term to the demolition or destruction of a fabric. In hell there is nothing witnessed but ruin. Some of the finest and most noble intelligences ever formed, are there irreparably and eternally ruined. “Morning stars” which once sang for joy around the Almighty’s throne are in a state of wretchedness and perdition. This ruin is:
(1) Indescribably great. It is the ruin of man; a dignified, exalted, and intelligent being.
(2) Incapable of reparation. Cities may be rebuilt, and the waste of ages redeemed; habitations and palaces may be renovated, and shine forth in pristine magnificence and glory; but the ruin adverted to in the text cannot be repaired. The Most High would have accomplished this for sinners while they were on “this” world, and in a state of probation; but they “set at nought all His counsel, and would none of His reproof”; therefore: Proverbs 1:25-27.
(3) Punitive and painful. The ruin of a building made with hands is the ruin of unconscious, inactive, and unfeeling matter, utterly insensible of the desolation that reigns around. When man is ruined, there are inflicted pain and destruction of the most fearful description.
II. The efficacy of a divine admonition.
1. Repentance implies the existence of that which is sinful and erroneous (Romans 3:10-12; Romans 3:23).
2. Repentance comprises a consciousness of having done wrong, a conviction of sinfulness. We are so accustomed to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, that we need pray earnestly to God to show us what we are, and to open our eyes to “behold wondrous things out of His law” (Psalms 119:18).
3. Repentance includes also sorrow for sin; a “godly sorrow” (2 Corinthians 7:10), a sorrow wrought in the heart by the Spirit of God.
4. Repentance is attended with confession of sin. This may be performed in a two-fold sense: first to God, and secondly to man. (R. Treffry.)
Breaking the entail of sin
I. The ruin which sin brings on the sinner.
1. Great.
2. Irreparable.
3. Awfully painful.
4. Inevitable.
II. The means by which ruin may be prevented.
1. Conviction of sin.
2. Contrition for sin.
3. Confession of sin.
4. Departure from sin.
5. An earnest desire, etc. (E. R. Derby.)
God’s vindication of Himself
I. A serious exhortation.
1. The grounds on which it proceeds. Judgment shall be given according to our ways.
2. The exhortation--to repentance. Turn away from what is useless, hurtful, loathsome. There must be no reserve.
II. An earnest remonstrance. “Why will ye die?”
1. Is it because your sins are too great to be pardoned?
2. Is it because God commands you to make new hearts and you cannot do it?
3. No, the reason is, the love of sin.
III. An encouraging declaration.
1. “So iniquity shall not be your ruin.” What a God of mercy is here!
2. “I have no pleasure,” etc. Judgment is His “strange act”; He holds off from striking till vengeance can slumber no longer. (John D. Lane, M. A.)
A call to the impenitent
I. The characters that are addressed. Such as are still the subjects of an evil nature, and are still living in sin against God.
II. The danger that is indicated. Iniquity is represented as inducing and exposing to ruin. We know what it is for a man to be ruined in his property--to be reduced from affluence to poverty--what it is for a man to be ruined as regards his health and constitution, and, consequently, in those enjoyments that are dependent on health. We know what it is for a man to be ruined in his character and credit, and everything that renders him respectable in society; but all the notions we can form of ruin, as referring to these external circumstances, will give us a very inadequate idea indeed of the ruin that sin induces--the ruin of the soul. The ruin of the soul implies exquisite, positive suffering, such as no language can describe--its final condemnation under the curse and wrath of God; a condemnation that cannot be repealed; a state of banishment from God’s presence and the glory of His power; final and eternal banishment. It is worth while to turn our thoughts to this, and to consider how it is that iniquity induces ruin, at once so dreadful and so awful. In the first place, I would say it operates in this way, inasmuch as it naturally produces the effect I have noticed, in robbing the soul of all its excellence. Again, it induces ruin, inasmuch as it operates in separating the soul immediately from God, who is the source of felicity, the fountain of good.
III. The only remedy accessible to sinners is repentance. Do not confound it, I would say, with the sorrow of the world. A man may be in grief, and may be the subject of great sorrow. This may not be repentance: sorrow it is; but, you know, there is the sorrow of the world as well as a sorrow of a godly sort. I would say, do not confound repentance with the mere fear of punishment. I would say, again, it is not a mere transitory impression of grief, on account of sin. True repentance, let me say, implies a knowledge of sin. It is the Holy Spirit alone that can give us right views on such a subject as this, and can make the Law a schoolmaster, to bring us to Christ--who can reveal to us the holiness of the law, the extent of its demands, as it applies not merely towards the actions, but to the thoughts and intents of the heart. And, in addition to this, repentance also implies the conviction of sin. The charge is fixed on his conscience, and he cannot throw it off. He feels that he is in this situation, and he cries, “What must I do to be saved?” Let me say, too, that conviction will be followed, where it is genuine, by suitable impressions and emotions. (J. Hill.)
Escape from ruin
I. God will judge us, everyone according to his ways: not according to our plan of our ways, but according to His. All men will hereafter be judged according to the dispensation they have been under. Those who are under the law will be judged by the law; sin in them will be the transgression of their law. Those who are without the law--that is, without a written law--will be judged without a written law--by the law of nature written upon their hearts. But those who have been under the Gospel will be judged by the Gospel.
II. If under this dispensation we are found impenitent sinners we shall be ruined. Ah! it is a touching thing to witness what we call ruin, even in this life; to see wringing of hands, and wringing of hearts, and hopeless grief; but ruin for eternity is infinitely worse than this; for the grave will soon end earthly sorrows, but the resurrection from the grave is only the beginning of eternal ruin.
III. If we are found repentant we shall not be ruined. Repentance has a different character according to the different conditions of men; but it always implies a change of mind, issuing in change of conduct, which change of conduct must needs have respect to the dispensations of religion under which God has brought men. If the Jewish nation, in a matter that threatened national ruin, repented and turned to God, according to their law, they obtained deliverance from that ruin that otherwise was coming upon them. If Christians under the Gospel turn to the provisions under that Gospel, they turn to Christ, and they obtain eternal life through Him. Conviction of sin, and misery on account of sin, is not repentance. (T. Snow.)