None, Not Even One

Amen. Well, you can please take your Bibles and open them up this morning to the book of Psalms.

The book of Psalms. If you did not bring a Bible with you, that's okay.

We have Bibles there in the seat back in front of you, and you're going to need one this morning.

We're going to be flipping to several different places, because as I mentioned, I was not here last week,

and so I'm preaching two Psalms this morning. I'm making up for lost time.

We're going to do Psalm 14 and also Psalm 53, and we'll see the reason why, Lord willing, as we begin.

But we're going to stand in honor of the reading of God's Word as I read Psalm chapter 14 this morning.

Psalms 14 · chapter mention

Let's stand in honor of the reading of God's Word.

To the choir master of David, the fool says in his heart,

There is no God.

They are corrupt.

They do abominable deeds.

There is none who does good.

The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand,

who seek after God.

They have all turned aside.

Together they have become corrupt.

There is none who does good.

Not even one.

Have they no knowledge?

All the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord.

There they are in great terror.

For God is with the generation of the righteous.

You would shame the plans of the poor, but the Lord is his refuge.

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion.

When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice.

Let Israel be glad.

This is God's holy word.

Let's pray once more.

Lord, we thank you for your word.

Father, it is good.

It is true.

It is pure.

And it is necessary for us even when it hurts.

So we pray, Father, would you teach us this morning through your word.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

Well, several years ago I was playing basketball outside.

And I did what I had done a thousand times before.

I shifted my weight onto one leg.

And I went to jump off of that leg.

But instead of going up into the air, my leg gave out on me.

And I went down to the ground.

And I lay there for a minute, but eventually got up.

And I hobbled my way to the car.

And I drove home.

And I cleaned myself up.

And I tried to convince myself that things were not as bad as it seemed.

Maybe it's just a sprain.

Maybe it'll get better.

Well, a week or two went by.

And it still didn't get better.

The pain had gotten a little bit better.

But it still didn't feel quite right.

And I had to be careful how I moved, how I shifted.

Because if I shifted just the wrong way, the pain would come back.

And my leg would give out.

But even still, I'm stubborn.

So I refused.

And I continued to try and convince myself I'm fine.

Things will get better.

Things will improve.

It's not that bad.

Well, eventually a couple of months went by.

And Amanda, like a good wife does, gave me an ultimatum.

She said, if it's not better, by X day, you are going to go to the doctor.

And you're going to get this thing looked at.

So the day came.

Still, it was not any better.

And so reluctantly, I went to the doctor.

And he began to assess the damage.

He began to shift my leg back and forth.

He took my leg and my knee and shifted it all around.

And then he scheduled an X-ray, which I knew was a waste of time.

Because I knew there were no bones broken.

But that's the next step in the process.

So we did an X-ray.

And when we confirmed there were, in fact, no bones broken, we scheduled the MRI.

Which was to get a good look at what is going on inside of me.

So we did the MRI.

And eventually, once the doctor got his hands on the results, he called me back into the office to confirm what I had hoped was not the case.

Things were worse than I thought.

And they were worse than I had tried to pretend that they were.

I had torn my ACL in my good knee.

And now, now that I knew the truth of what was wrong with me, what was going on inside of me, now I would have to decide how we would go about fixing the problem.

Let me tell you something.

I did not enjoy that conversation.

Nobody enjoys conversations like this.

Nobody wants to hear what is wrong with us.

Nobody wants to hear that things are worse than you thought.

Or worse than maybe you're pretending that they are.

But sometimes, you come across a passage in God's Word that functions like a truthful doctor.

It tells us exactly what is going on with us.

That's exactly what Psalm 14 does.

Psalm chapter 14 is like an honest doctor with no bedside manner.

Psalms 14 · chapter mention

It is direct.

It is uncomfortable.

It is honest.

It is a straightforward diagnosis of a sickness, a condition that's going on not just in some people here and there, but in all people, in every single one of us.

And what's the condition?

The condition is that we are sinners.

That we have, all of us, rebelled against a holy God.

We have denied Him.

We have rejected Him.

We have become corrupt.

We are sick.

Nobody wants to have this conversation.

Because we think that we're better off than we are.

We try and convince ourselves that it's not so bad.

But then passages like this come along and they show us the obvious truth of the situation.

This is our diagnosis.

And we see it in three parts this morning.

Three parts.

Here we see the foolishness, the lawlessness, and the pervasiveness of rejecting God.

This will be our outline this morning.

If you're taking notes, we're going to see the foolishness, the lawlessness, and the pervasiveness of rejecting God.

And here's the payoff.

If you can stick with me through the bad news, okay?

And if you can stick with me through the uncomfortable bad news of our diagnosis,

I promise you we will get to some good news of how we can fix it at the end.

Okay?

The first, rejection of God is foolishness.

Rejection of God is foolishness.

Look there to verse 1.

He says,

The fool says in his heart,

There is no God.

David says,

Atheism is foolishness.

And that's a fairly bold claim, isn't it?

Because what it means is that many of our higher elites,

academic professors and scholars, scientists, politicians,

those who we might think would be the smartest and most elite among us,

actually, David says, if they deny God, actually they are fools.

Richard Dawkins,

Niels Bohr,

Alfred Nobel,

Sigmund Freud,

Carl Rogers,

Stephen Hawking,

some of the brightest, most intelligent,

most influential minds in human history,

according to David,

have been fools.

Why?

Because although they study his creation,

and although they live within his creation every day,

although they have studied it,

and in many ways understand it at a far deeper level than you and I probably ever will,

they completely miss the message.

Psalm 19 tells us that creation has a message.

Creation speaks a message.

Psalm 19 says,

The heavens declare the what?

The glory of God.

The skies above proclaim his handiwork.

Day to day pours out speech.

Night to night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech,

nor are there words,

whose voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out through all the earth,

and their words go to the end of the world.

In other words,

everyone has heard the voice of creation.

Every single person who lives underneath the sky

has enough evidence available to them day in and day out

to know for a fact that there is a God who made the world and everything in it.

If you live in creation,

you have evidence of the existence and the glory and the creative power of God.

So then the question becomes,

well then,

why don't all people acknowledge him?

Why is it that so many people deny this God?

If the evidence is so readily available,

why do so many brilliant people deny him?

Romans chapter 1 speaks to that question.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

Romans chapter 1.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

I want you to flip there with me,

because we're going to come back to Romans here in just a minute.

I want you to keep a finger there.

We're going to come back there again in just a minute.

But Romans chapter 1,

Romans 1 · chapter mention

starting in verse 18,

Paul says,

The wrath of God is revealed from heaven

against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men

who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Did you hear that?

It is not that they don't know the truth.

The heavens itself declares it.

That's what Psalm 19 told us.

But by their unrighteousness,

they suppress the truth.

They know that there's a God.

And Paul says they know that there's a God.

This is a shocking common knowledge

that exists within every person on the planet.

Paul says there's not a single person on the planet,

Christian, atheist, or otherwise,

who doesn't know deep down in their hearts

that there is a God.

They know it, but they suppress it.

It would be ignorance to not know the truth,

but it's foolishness to know the truth

and to suppress it.

Listen to this, verse 19 of Romans 1.

He says,

The fool says in his heart,

There is no God.

Atheism is foolishness.

But I want you to look and notice back in Psalm 14

where the fool says this.

Where does the fool say that there is no God?

It's not with his lips, is it?

In Psalm 14, he's not saying this out loud with his lips.

Where does he say it?

It's in his heart.

The fool says in his heart there is no God.

This type of atheism goes deeper than just verbal atheism.

This is a denying, a suppressing of the truth of God

within your own heart.

It's not just verbal atheism.

It's as the English Puritan, Stephen Sharnock, would call it.

He called it a practical atheism.

Do you realize you can claim all the right things with your lips?

You can acknowledge that there is a God with your lips

and yet deny him in your heart.

Do you realize this?

You cannot be a verbal atheist,

but you may be a practical atheist

if you know there's a God

and yet suppress the truth of his existence within your own heart.

What could possibly cause someone to do something so foolish?

What could possibly cause someone to suppress the truth of the existence of God

and pretend like he doesn't even exist?

The answer is our condition.

It's sin.

It's foolishness.

Sin does not behave rationally.

It is a sickness.

Our sin, what it does is it turns us away from God and his glory

and drives us instead to ourself.

And not only we don't want what God wants,

we want what we want.

We don't want God's fame.

We want our fame.

And it's so much easier to pursue the passions of our flesh

if we can convince ourselves that there is no God,

that we're not accountable to anyone.

This is foolishness, David says.

The fool says in his heart there is no God

and they are without excuse.

Not only this, but second.

Second, we see the result of this rejection.

Second, this rejection of God produces lawlessness.

Verse 1 says they are corrupt.

They do abominable deeds.

There is none who does good.

In verse 4, David, he just throws up his hands.

He says, have they no knowledge?

All the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread

and do not call upon the Lord,

don't they know better?

Why do they do the things that they do?

David can't wrap his mind around all the wicked behavior that he sees.

But look again and ask yourself,

what is at the root of their wicked behavior?

Why are they corrupt?

Why do they do abominable deeds?

It's because they have rejected the Lord.

Rejection of God is at the root,

is at the foundation of all lawlessness.

All wickedness at the very foundation

has at its root a rejection of God.

Again, Stephen Sharnock, he says,

all sin is founded in a secret atheism.

Atheism is the spirit of every sin.

Church, we have to remember this.

When we look around at our culture,

and we look around at our friends,

when we look around at our family members

who aren't believers,

and when we just toss up our hands

and we say, well, why are they acting this way?

Don't they know better?

Why are they doing the things that they do?

We have to remember that external actions

are just the symptoms,

but the sickness is actually a rejection of God.

David says,

this denial of God has produced in them

all sorts of corruption.

They actively do abominable deeds,

and at the same time,

they do not do what is good.

They actively pursue evil,

and they resist doing good.

This rejection of God has flipped everything upside down,

and again,

that's what sin does, isn't it?

Sin is a foolish rejection of God

that twists and distorts our desires

and our ambitions,

so that we hate what is good,

and we love what is evil.

So that we resist what is good,

and we pursue what is abominable.

So that we reject God and His glory,

and we worship instead all sorts of false gods

of our own making.

And this is, again,

exactly what Paul tells us in Romans chapter 1.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

Hopefully you still have your finger there.

Romans 1.

And we'll pick right up where we left off.

Paul says,

Those who reject God are without excuse for,

verse 21.

Listen to this.

For although they knew God,

that is in a general, intellectual way,

they knew He was there.

Although they knew God,

they did not honor Him as God,

or give thanks to Him.

But they became futile in their thinking,

and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Claiming to be wise,

they became fools,

and exchanged the glory of the immortal God

for images resembling mortal man,

and birds,

and animals,

and creeping things.

Therefore,

God gave them up

in the lust of their hearts

to impurity,

to the dishonoring of their bodies

among themselves.

Why?

Verse 25.

Because they exchanged the truth

about God for a lie,

and worshipped and served the creature

rather than the Creator,

who is blessed forever.

Amen.

Listen to this.

Verse 26.

Their women exchanged natural relations

for those that are contrary to nature.

And the men likewise gave up

natural relations with women,

and were consumed with passion

for one another.

Men committing shameless acts with men,

and receiving in themselves

the due penalty for their error.

Verse 29.

They were filled with all manner

of unrighteousness,

evil,

covetousness,

malice.

They are full of envy,

murder,

strife,

deceit,

maliciousness.

They are gossips,

slanderers,

haters of God,

insolent,

haughty,

boastful,

inventors of evil,

disobedient to parents,

foolish,

faithless,

heartless,

ruthless.

Though they know God's righteous decree

that those who practice such things

deserve to die,

they not only do them,

but give approval to those who practice them.

Does this sound familiar to anybody else?

Romans chapter 1 reads like America's obituary.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

How in the world

could something written almost 2,000 years ago

in a different country,

in a different place,

in a different time

sound so familiar

and so true to our culture

right here and right now?

I'll tell you.

It rings true to us

because

this same sickness

that existed in David's day,

that existed in Paul's day,

exists right here

and right now

in our day.

What is it?

It's the sickness

of sinful rejection

of God.

Do you see the root issue here?

At the root,

at the foundation

of every sinful behavior

is denial

and rejection

of the glory

of God.

This rejection

is the root cause

of all sexual perversion.

We deny God

and we pursue

the desires

of our own flesh.

It's the foundation

of all greed

and theft.

We deny God

and we worship money.

It's the foundation

of all covetousness.

We deny the worth

of God

and we deny

the satisfaction

that can be found

in Him alone

so we crave more.

We crave satisfaction

in some earthly good,

some bigger home,

a better job,

a nicer car,

a dream vacation,

whatever it may be.

It's the foundation

of rebelliousness

in children.

We deny the structures

of order and authority

God has given us

and we all want

to be God

of our own world.

Denial of God

is the foundation

of every evil pursuit.

Are we in agreement?

That's good.

Because it's third point.

Before we point our finger

out at everybody else

and shake our head

at the sin in our culture

and in our world

and the sin of our neighbor,

we have to realize

point number three,

rejection of God

is pervasive.

It's pervasive.

In other words,

it's not just a them problem.

It's a us problem.

It's not just an out there issue

where other people

are sinning

and we are not.

This is an us problem.

Look there to verse two.

Verse two shifts

to the Lord's perspective

on all of this.

Look what he says.

It says,

The Lord,

he looks down from heaven

on the children of man

to see if there are

any who understand.

If there are any

who seek after God.

And verse three

gives us the answer.

They have all turned aside.

Together they have become corrupt.

There is none

who does good.

Not even one.

One.

Let me tell you

how we tend to read this.

Our natural inclination

is to read this

and say,

Yeah, I agree.

It is terrible out there.

Right?

All those sinners

out there.

Why can't they

get it all together?

But look what it says again.

It says,

There is none

who does good.

None understand.

No one seeks after God.

Not even one.

Not even me.

Not even you.

This is a universal issue.

You and I

and everyone else

are all guilty

of making the same

foolish exchange.

We are guilty

of rejecting God.

It's our very nature

to do so.

All we like sheep

have gone astray.

We have turned

everyone to his own way.

And that is exactly

Paul's point

in Romans chapter 3.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

Flip there back with me

again one last time.

I've had us

looking at Romans

because Paul has been

building up

to this point.

Paul quotes

Psalm 14

in Romans chapter 3.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

He spends all

of chapter 1

illustrating

the sinfulness

of the nations,

the Gentiles

who have rejected God

and who have followed

their own passions,

who have chased

after idols.

And he says,

hey,

we all agree

that the judgment

of God rightly

falls on people

who does stuff

like that,

right?

We all agree

that that's wrong

and I just imagine

all the Jews

nodding their head.

Yep,

I get it.

Yes,

of course.

How could they do that?

They've rejected God.

The judgment of God

rightly falls on them.

They deserve

to be punished.

And then Paul

turns the tables

on them.

And he says,

therefore,

you have no excuses,

oh man.

Every one of you

who judges,

for in passing judgment

on another,

you condemn yourself

because you,

the judge,

practice the very

same things

as it is written,

chapter 3,

verse 10,

as it is written,

none is righteous,

no,

not one.

No one understands.

No one seeks for God.

All have turned aside.

Together,

they have become worthless.

No one does good,

not even one.

In other words,

church,

this is our problem.

This problem

is universal.

So he asks,

well what then?

Are we Jews

any better off?

I mean,

surely we Jews

are better off,

right?

Romans 3,

Romans 3:9

verse 9,

no,

not at all.

You fill in the blank

however you like.

Whatever you think

makes you superior

to anybody else,

you fill it in right there.

What then?

Are we Americans

any better off?

Any better off

than the Iraqis

or the Russians?

Are we any better off?

No,

not at all.

What about us Republicans?

Are we better off,

right?

Surely,

than the Democrats,

right?

No,

not at all.

Democrats,

we're better off,

right?

We're better than the Republicans.

Not at all.

Why not?

Because you,

me,

and everybody else

all have sinned

and fallen short

of the glory of God,

every one of us.

Our sin nature

is the great equalizer.

we have to understand this,

church.

A rejection of God

is a universal condition

which ought to lead

to a complete demolition

of any streak of pride

in our hearts.

We are all in the same boat here.

We can't read this

and place ourselves

in any group

that we think

is outside

of this natural condition.

We are not exempt.

We gotta wipe our hearts clean

of any idea

of superiority

to anyone else.

Why?

We all share

this same

natural condition.

Jew and Gentile alike,

Republican and Democrat alike,

black,

white,

Hispanic,

American citizen,

illegal,

alien,

rich,

poor,

Auburn,

Clemson,

USC,

University of Georgia.

All of us are in this

same broad category

of sinners.

That college too,

whichever one

you just mentioned

right there.

I didn't hear what it was,

but you're included.

We have all turned aside.

Together,

we have become corrupt.

This is all of our problem.

We have to start thinking

in biblical terms.

Understanding the world

and everything in it,

everyone else in it,

and ourselves as well

in biblical terms.

This is hard.

It's hard to shake off

all the other things

that try to determine

our identity

and our worth

and to put us

in buckets and categories.

The Bible teaches us

there are only two types

of people.

Only two types of people

in the world.

It's not us and them,

whatever your definition

of us might be.

It is those who have been

forgiven of their sin

and those who remain in it.

those who have been forgiven

of our rejection of God

and those who continue

still to reject Him.

Those who have been forgiven

of our natural rebellion

against the Lord

and those who continue

to rebel.

understanding these two categories

of people

is absolutely crucial

to understanding the Psalms

and understanding

what's going on here

in Psalm chapter 14.

Psalms 14 · chapter mention

We've seen it over and over

and over and over and over again

throughout the book of Psalms.

There are only two types of people.

You remember what they are?

It's the righteous

and the wicked.

Look back there with me

to Psalm 14.

And once you're there,

put a finger there

and flip over to Psalm 53.

This is why I wanted to preach

two Psalms this morning.

Psalm 14 and Psalm 53.

I want you to make your way

to Psalm 53

and I want you to tell me

if this sounds familiar

at all to you.

Psalm 53.

Psalm 53 goes like this.

The fool says in his heart

there is no God.

They are corrupt

doing abominable iniquity.

There is none who does good.

God looks down from heaven

on the children of man

to see if there are any

who understand,

who seek after God.

They have all fallen away

and together they have become corrupt.

There is none who does good,

not even one.

Have those who work evil

no knowledge,

who eat up my people

as they eat bread

and do not call upon God.

Stop there.

Does that sound familiar

to you yet?

These two Psalms

are almost identical.

Why are we repeating

the same thing?

Why is David going back

and saying the same thing

in Psalm 14 and Psalm 53?

That's the question.

And the answer is found

in the one verse

that's different.

Psalm 53 and Psalm 14

Psalms 14:5

verse 5.

There's only one verse

that's completely different.

Verse 5 of Psalm 53 says,

There they are in great terror

where there is no terror.

For God scatters the bones

of him who encamps against you.

You put them to shame

for God has rejected them.

But Psalm 14 verse 5,

Psalms 14:5

you flip back there,

it says,

There they are in great terror

for God is with the generation

of the righteous.

You would shame

the plans of the poor,

but the Lord is his refuge.

Do you see the difference?

Stay with me here.

Do you see it?

Psalm 53

is God's response

of judgment

on the wicked.

He says,

You have rejected me,

I have rejected you.

That's what our sins deserve.

We are at odds

with a holy God

and justice demands

that our sins be dealt with.

Psalm 53

is God's response

to the wicked.

But look at the focus

in Psalm 14.

Psalm 14 says,

You have rejected me,

all have turned aside,

and I will be your refuge.

You are guilty,

you are in the all here

who have become corrupt,

and yet I will shield you

from what your sins deserve.

You have denied me,

I will call you righteous

even though you're guilty.

Two types of people.

You see it?

Again, Psalm 53 says,

All have sinned,

the wicked will be judged.

Psalm 14 says,

All have sinned,

and God is with the righteous.

How in the world

do we understand this?

The answer is found

only in the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

Listen to this.

The difference between

these two people,

the righteous

and the wicked,

is not whether or not

you are guilty.

We are all guilty.

The answer is whether or not

you are in Christ.

Listen to this.

The gospel is the bad news

that all of us

are guilty of rebelling

against God,

but it is the unthinkably

good news

that God

pardons

guilty sinners

by punishing

His own Son

in our place.

The gospel

is the bad news

that yes,

we are guilty,

every one of us,

but it's the good news

that Jesus Christ

came for the guilty.

It's the bad news

that we're sinners,

we are sick,

we share this condition,

we have all done

abominable deeds,

we have rejected God,

we have become corrupt,

but the good news

is that Christ Jesus

came into the world

to save sinners

of whom I am the foremost.

The bad news,

this psalm describes

all of our fallen

sinful nature,

but the good news

of the gospel,

Christ Jesus

came to give us

a new nature.

The bad news

is that our sins

deserve death,

but the good news

is Christ Jesus

died for us,

and more than that,

rose from the grave

and defeated death

so that any sinner

who turns from their sin

and puts their faith

in Christ

can be made righteous

and live forever

in the sight of God.

That's the gospel

and it's our only hope.

That is the cure

for our condition.

You know,

our natural response

to a text like this,

to Psalm 14

or Psalm 53

is either to point the finger

out at other people

or to pretend like

it's not so bad.

And if you felt that tendency

this morning to say,

I'm not that bad.

That doesn't describe me.

Or if you read through this

and you thought of somebody else

and not of yourself,

you've missed it.

But if you hear this

and you are pricked

to the heart

and you know

that you're sick

and you know

that you've sinned

against the Lord,

I have good news for you.

Jesus says,

those who are well

have no need

of a physician

but those

who are sick.

I came not

to call the righteous

those who think

they're doing alright,

but I've come

to call sinners.

God's word

has shown us

this morning

that we are broken.

Now,

you can choose

to pretend

that it's better

than it is

and you can try

to deny it

as long as you can.

You can walk

with a limp

or

you can cast yourself

totally,

helplessly,

completely,

confidently

into the arms

of Jesus,

the great physician

who came

to take

your sin

away.

And to give

you

his righteousness.

Here's the point,

church.

This is the thought

that I want

to leave you with

as we leave

this place.

Our sinful condition

is far worse

than we could

possibly think.

But the grace

of God

towards us

in Christ

is far greater

than we could

possibly imagine.

So what's our

response then

as we close?

Two-fold.

Two-fold.

Pray for salvation

and rejoice

in what God

has done.

This is how

David closes

this psalm.

Psalm 14,

Psalms 14:7

verse 7.

He says,

Oh,

that salvation

for Israel

would come

out of Zion.

When the Lord

restores the fortunes

of His people,

let Jacob rejoice.

Let Israel

be glad.

Pray for salvation.

if you have

experienced

the saving

grace of God.

Pray,

pray,

pray,

and pray

some more

that the Lord

would extend

that same

saving grace

to others

around you.

How do we

expect to see

the Lord reach

this community

of all and all?

We desire to see

the Lord save

many in this

community,

don't we?

The way He's

going to do it

is through

your prayers

and through

faithful evangelism.

Pray

that the Lord

would save,

forgive,

and convert

even the most

unlikely,

most rebellious

sinner you know.

And pray for

salvation and pray

for the coming

day when the Lord

will return and

bring final and

total salvation

for all of His

people.

Not only this,

if you have

received the

grace of God,

rejoice in what

God has done.

rejoice and be

glad.

Christians of

all people

ought to be

full of joy

and gladness.

We of all

people ought to

be rejoicing.

Why?

Because we

have received

an eternal

inheritance that

none of us

deserve.

We've been

healed by the

grace of God

through the

gospel of

Jesus Christ.

Let's pray.

Lord,

Father,

we confess we

have sinned and

fallen short of

your glory.

There's not a

person in this

room who can

claim that we've

lived perfectly as

you desire.

Father,

we praise you

that you sent

Christ to live

in our place as

we should have

lived, to die in

our place as we

deserve to die,

and to rise from

the grave that we

might have certain

hope of eternal

life through

faith in him

alone.

God, we pray if

there are any

here who do

not know you,

Lord, would you

give them the

gift of salvation

this morning?

God, we pray

for salvation,

and we pray that

we would rejoice

in what you've

done.

We ask this in

Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Do just

let you

более

song

Jesus' name