Sermon
The Power of Sin and the Power of God
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Today's reading is from Romans chapter 1 verses 16 to 18 and chapter 3 verses 9 to 20.
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For I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
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For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith.
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The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
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What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all.
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For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.
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As it is written, there is no one righteous, not even one.
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There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks God.
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All have turned away. They have together become worthless.
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There is no one who does good, not even one.
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Their throats are open graves. Their tongues practice deceit.
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The poison of vipers is on their lips.
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Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.
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Their feet are swift to shed blood.
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Ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.
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There is no fear of God before their eyes.
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Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law,
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so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
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Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law.
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Rather, through the law, we become conscious of our sin.
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This is the word of the Lord.
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Thanks be to God.
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Good morning, Christ Church, and thank you for that reading.
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One of my favorite scripture readers in our church, my daughter Constance.
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Pastor Andrew and I had the privilege this week of going to New York City
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and doing what you do there, which is to not sleep for several days.
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And we gathered with a group of about 50 church leaders,
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just grappling with these questions of how to sustain flourishing and fruitful ministry
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in this new cultural context we find ourselves in.
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And we look forward to sharing more about that and what we learned there.
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But we had the privilege of learning from two rock star scholars.
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One is a guy named James Davison Hunter at the University of Virginia,
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who's a sociologist there.
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And the other is a guy named N.T. Wright, Tom Wright,
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who's a biblical theologian at the University of Oxford.
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And it felt like the whole time we were sort of listening to these dueling prophets.
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You know, one was a prophet of despair and the other a prophet of hope.
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You know, one was a prophet of judgment and the other a prophet of salvation.
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We had the sociologist, and he was basically saying,
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look, you know, our culture no longer has consensus around the five major questions of,
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you know, what is reality?
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How do we know reality?
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What's a human being?
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What's right and wrong?
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And what's the purpose of it all?
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Where's it all going?
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And because we don't have consensus on these things anymore,
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life's going to be kind of rough in the Western world for a little while.
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Yikes.
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This is not a very hopeful message, sir.
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And then you had the theologian come up, and he said,
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yes, from a human point of view, things are quite hopeless.
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They feel pretty hopeless.
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But God, he would say.
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But God.
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Look at what God is doing through Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit
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and through his church.
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And it struck me as I was listening to these two scholars,
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talking about these two mutually compatible truths,
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that that's kind of what's happening in this epistle to the Romans.
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Romans chapter 1, 2, and 3 is telling us two things.
Romans 1 chapter mention
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That number one, all of humanity is under the power of sin.
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And yet, it's also telling us that through Jesus Christ,
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we can experience the power of God.
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And I want you to think about that as we look at this text today.
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We're talking about the power of sin and the power of God.
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And I think most of us would agree that there are times in life
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where we need to be cruel in order to be kind.
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We need to be cruel to be kind.
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My brother's a medical doctor.
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Some of you are doctors.
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And you know that when you're dealing with people that have illness or disease,
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you need to be cruel to be kind.
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Some of you are parents, and you're trying to train up a child
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to become a fully orbed human being.
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And you know what it means to be cruel in order to be kind.
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Conditions may be such that it's the best interest of that child,
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the best interest of your patient,
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is going to be served by causing them temporary pain.
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And causing pain, that's a difficult task.
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We take no pleasure in it.
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But if we have the real interest of the other at heart,
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we must be cruel to be kind and cause this temporary pain.
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It's always much more pleasant to soothe and to comfort people
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than it is to cause them pain and arouse unpleasant reactions.
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But merely palliating symptoms,
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rather than dealing positively and actively with the disease,
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it's not going to help your patient.
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You don't want your doctor to treat you that way.
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Amen?
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So Romans chapter 1, 2, and 3 speaks this word to us
Romans 1 chapter mention
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and this word to the world that's actually quite painful.
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It involves a word of judgment.
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And Paul, the apostle, is being cruel to be kind.
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Because if he's going to help us,
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he must first probe the wound and probe the disease
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to reveal our trouble.
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This cannot be done without causing pain and offense.
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It may lead, Paul knows, to being unpopular and to being disliked.
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And he knows that if he wants to be popular and he wants to be liked,
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he could just soothe people and ignore our problems entirely
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and palliate our symptoms.
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But Paul, the apostle, along with all the apostles,
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are very good physicians of the soul.
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And so he gives us a painful diagnosis and a painful prognosis
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in order that we might fully appreciate the treatment he prescribes
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and the cure that comes through that treatment.
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So what is Paul's prognosis?
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What's his diagnosis?
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He says in Romans 1, 18, we've been considering this verse,
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it says that the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven
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against all the godlessness and wickedness of people
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who suppress the truth in their wickedness.
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And there's really no passage in Scripture
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that describes so accurately our world today
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and the cause of all of our troubles.
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He says that our main problem, our central sin,
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our greatest sin, is our godlessness and our ungodliness.
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And he says from that central human reality
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flow all manner of various types of wickedness and unrighteousness.
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And Paul's been unpacking this in Romans 1, 2, and 3.
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He's just been unpacking that one statement in Romans 1, 18.
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And he's really begging this question,
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you know, why is the preaching of the gospel such an urgent matter?
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And why do we need a salvation from God that's entirely by faith?
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And why will nothing less than the power of God
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and the power of God's salvation meet the situation that we're in?
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And so here in this text in Romans 3,
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he brings us to the climax of this argument
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we've been considering the past few weeks.
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And it's one of the strongest statements
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that the Bible gives us about what's wrong with the world
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and this diagnosis of the human heart.
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And what Paul is saying here is that sin's power is devastating
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and its effects corrupting, but God's power is saving.
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That's Paul's point, that sin's power is devastating
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and its effects corrupting, but God's power is saving.
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First of all, he says sin's power is devastating.
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Look at verse 9.
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He says, what shall we conclude then?
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He's bringing this argument to a conclusion.
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Do we have any advantage?
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Not at all.
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We've already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike
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are all under the power of sin.
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The condition of every human being you meet,
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including the one you see in the mirror every day,
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is that we're a people who are under the power
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and the penalty and the pollution of sin.
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And then what does Paul say next in verse 10?
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He says, as it is written,
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and Paul is this guy who's well-versed in the Scriptures
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and he's committed so much of the Bible to memory.
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An example to us all, if you've not done any of that,
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I encourage you to begin memorizing Scripture.
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Paul begins to marshal his memorized Bible
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to substantiate the claim that sin's power over us
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and over our lives is devastating.
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And so he goes in verses 10 through verse 18
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to show us the devastating power of sin.
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And what does he say first?
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He says, it is written,
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there is no one righteous, not even one.
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Again, Paul's begging the question,
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why is it necessary that God should act
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and intervene in the world and in our lives?
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Why do we need a power that comes from God
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before we can be saved?
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And why is a righteousness that comes from outside of us,
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that comes from God, absolutely essential for us?
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Because Paul says, all of us universally,
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without a single exception,
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good people, even the best and nicest people
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that you'll ever meet,
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including the worst and the most vile people,
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are under the power of sin
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and therefore all of us are going to die
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in a state of unrighteousness
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before the judge of all the earth.
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It's a strong first statement.
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And Paul begins to arrange these scriptures,
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mostly from the Psalms,
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a little bit from the prophet Isaiah
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in this logical order.
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And he says,
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there's no one righteous, not even one.
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There's no one who understands.
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There's no one who seeks God.
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All have turned away.
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They've together become worthless.
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There's no one who does good,
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not even one.
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Paul says, that's our actual state in sin
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and that's the result of being in this state
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and condition of sinfulness.
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And some of us might hear that and say,
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well, Paul, you're flat out wrong
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because I know people who are righteous.
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I know people who seek God
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and people who do good.
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And Paul would say back to us,
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well, who's defining your terms?
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Whose definitions are we using?
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Because the biblical definition of righteousness
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is to be upright in thought and life.
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It's to be blameless with respect to God
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and our neighbor.
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To be righteous does not mean
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to merely be good or moral or respectable
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in the eyes of other people.
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Because when Jesus summed up the law of God,
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he said that we were made to love the Lord our God
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with all our heart and all our soul
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and all our mind and all our strength.
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And out of that love for God,
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we're to love our neighbor as ourselves.
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Jesus starts with our relationship with God
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and then he moves out to our relationship
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with everyone else.
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And righteousness means living as God desires us to live
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with respect to God and with respect to each other.
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And so Paul would put the question back to us,
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do any of us live in perfect conformity
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with God's law of love?
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And Paul is saying that since the fall of humanity,
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there's not been a single righteous person.
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Not Abraham or Moses or David
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or any of the prophets, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah.
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These are some of the best people who've ever lived.
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He said none of them have been upright.
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All of them have failed in their relationship
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with God and their neighbor.
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Think of the best people you know,
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the noblest people, the most learned people,
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the most philanthropic people.
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If you drop this plumb line of God
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and his law of love,
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you'll see that we're actually not true.
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We're not straight.
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We're not upright and pure and blameless.
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And Paul would say,
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are you the solitary exception to this rule?
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He says, no, we're not the exalted creatures
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that God made us to be.
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And be very clear that being
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just a little bit better than the next person,
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as we sort of think about
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who's sitting around us this morning,
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being just a little bit better than the next person
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is really quite irrelevant
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in light of God's ultimate standard
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of being absolutely upright,
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like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden,
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before the power of sin entered the world.
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So Paul says, there's no one righteous,
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not even one.
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And then he goes on and he says,
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there's no one who understands.
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In Ephesians 4, Paul says that we've become darkened
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in our understanding.
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And that means that we're lacking
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the apprehension of spiritual truth,
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the apprehension of divine things.
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Of course, from a secular and human perspective,
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we have all kinds of understanding
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of the arts and the sciences,
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of politics and business,
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and all the things that we've become experts at.
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But he says, because of the power of sin,
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God is just simply not in our thoughts.
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He's not in our understanding.
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And because we don't understand God rightly,
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we don't understand ourselves.
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We don't understand our souls
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and what it means to have a relationship with God.
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And because we don't understand God and ourself
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and the way sin has alienated us
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and corrupted us in our relationship with God,
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we don't understand our precarious position
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under the wrath of God.
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And therefore, we don't understand
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that we need a righteousness from God to save us.
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And Paul would say,
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because we don't understand all of these things,
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we therefore don't understand
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what it means to be truly happy.
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We don't understand all the things
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that pertain to our eternal destiny.
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He says, no one understands.
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There's no one righteous, not even one.
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There's no one who understands.
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And then he says, there's no one who seeks God.
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If there's no one righteous
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and there's no one who understands,
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then what does that mean?
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Follow the logic.
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Paul says, because we're unrighteous,
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we lack understanding.
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And because we do not understand,
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we therefore do not seek after God.
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To seek God is to desire God.
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It's to want to know God and to enjoy God
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and to worship God and seek God in prayer
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and to want to know the will of God
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so that we can obey it.
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But Paul says, because all of us have come
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under the power of sin,
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we, whether we're trying to or not,
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we just ignore God.
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We neglect God.
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We avoid God.
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Instead of trying to seek to be close to God,
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we're actually moving away from God.
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And you might say again,
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Paul, wait a second.
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I know people who seek God.
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I know people who are spiritual seekers
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who say their prayers.
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And Paul would say, yes,
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but which God are they seeking?
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Is it the God of the Bible
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or is it the God that we've made in our own image
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and that conveniently conforms
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to all of our values and our preferences?
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Is that the God we're seeking?
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Or are we seeking the God
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who's revealed himself here?
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And are people truly seeking God for God?
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Or are they seeking God
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for the things that God can give them?
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Because many of us seek God for his blessings.
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We seek God for answered prayers.
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We seek God for forgiveness.
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But Paul would say,
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no one seeks God for himself
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rather than his gifts.
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To seek God means to desire God
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above everything and everybody.
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To seek his glory and to be anxious
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to promote his glory to everybody we see.
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To seek God in a biblical sense
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means that God is the center of our thinking
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and that the supreme object of our lives
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is to know him and love him
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and live for his glory.
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And Paul says,
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no one by nature and left to himself or herself
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has ever sought God for God's sake.
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Remember that parable we talked about two weeks ago
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from the Gospel of Luke.
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Jesus tells us about this Pharisee
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and this tax collector.
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And the Pharisee comes to God
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and he says,
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God, I thank you
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that I'm not like everyone else
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and I thank you
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for all the amazing things that I do.
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That is a man who thinks he's seeking God.
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But really he's just telling God
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what a wonderful person he is
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rather than telling God
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what a wonderful God he is.
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Right?
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He's coming to God,
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speaking about his own excellencies
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rather than coming to God
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and telling God all about his excellencies.
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And can we not see ourselves in that man?
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Seeking God in order to exalt ourselves
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is not seeking God at all.
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If anyone is truly seeking God,
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there's only one explanation for it
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and that is that God has first sought us
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and he's justified us by his grace,
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he's regenerated us by his Holy Spirit
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and he's enabled us to seek him.
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But the scriptures tell us
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that left to ourselves,
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we would never seek God
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and we would remain permanently
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at enmity with God
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and totally unreconciled to God.
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That's what Paul is bringing
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to our attention with these scriptures.
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He says,
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sin's power is devastating
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in terms of what we were made for.
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And he goes on and he says,
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sin's power is devastating
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and its effects are corrupting.
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Since power is devastating
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and its effects are corrupting,
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Paul is basically saying
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in verses 10 and 11,
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this is who we are in the state of sin
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and then he says in verse 12,
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now these are the effects
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and the results of being in that condition.
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And he says in verse 12,
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all have turned away.
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We were again created to walk in God's way,
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to journey on this true path
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that God marked out for human beings
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and yet we've all turned our backs
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and gone in the other direction.
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This is what the prophet Isaiah says
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in Isaiah 53,
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he says,
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we all like sheep have gone astray
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and each of us has turned to our own way.
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Every person born into this world
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since the fall of Adam and Eve
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have deliberately gone our own way,
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walking not in God's ways
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that lead to him
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and glorifying him
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and enjoying him
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but rather the lead on this road
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of separation from him
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in this life
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and on into eternity.
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Paul says,
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all have turned away
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and they have together become worthless.
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Holy and simultaneously,
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without exception,
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Paul says,
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we become worthless.
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He's so cruel.
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He's being cruel to be kind.
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That word worthless means unprofitable.
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It's a word that is used
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for when milk has spoiled
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and has gone sour
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and of course we know
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that milk is meant to be food for us.
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It's meant to give us satisfaction
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but when it's soured,
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it has no value anymore.
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It's useless
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and it's good for nothing
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but to be thrown out.
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Paul says,
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we've all become worthless
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and at this point again,
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you may object and say,
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Paul, you're too harsh.
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Paul, this is too sweeping of a statement.
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You're overdoing it
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because I know people who are good.
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They're good citizens.
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They're involved in good causes
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and Paul would say,
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yes, well the Bible doesn't say
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we're as bad or as rotten
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as we could be
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and from the standpoint
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of secular morality,
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yes, we probably do know
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some virtuous people
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but what about
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from the standpoint of God?
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From the standpoint of God's salvation,
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Paul says,
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every single one of us
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apart from the grace of God
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and Jesus Christ
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have become totally unprofitable.
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I think about the prophet Isaiah
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where he says in Isaiah 64,
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he says,
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all our righteous acts
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are filthy rags
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and that's striking
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because we would have expected him
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to say all of our unrighteous acts
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are filthy rags
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but what does he say?
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He says,
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all of our righteous acts
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are filthy rags.
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Paul says something similar
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in Philippians chapter three
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when he's talking about himself
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and he says,
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you know,
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I was a Hebrew of Hebrews,
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I was a Pharisee of Pharisees
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and as it pertains
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to righteousness
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according to the law,
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I was completely faultless
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but when I saw
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the glory of Jesus Christ,
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I realized that all
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of that righteousness
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was a complete loss.
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In fact,
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the word he uses,
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I won't translate it
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exactly
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because we're in church
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this morning
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but he says,
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all my righteousness
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was absolute dung,
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completely worthless
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and useless to save me.
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That's what Paul's getting at
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when he says
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we've all become worthless.
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He's not saying
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that his righteousness
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wasn't quite good enough,
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he calls it total garbage.
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It's not that
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we need to be
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just improved a little bit
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or helped a touch
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or topped off
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just a skosh.
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Paul is saying
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that our righteousness
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is so pitifully worthless
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that it was necessary
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for God to become
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a human being
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and to die on a cross
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and if God has to die,
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our righteousness
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must be pretty worthless.
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All have turned away,
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they've together
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become worthless
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and there is no one
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who does good,
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not even one.
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And again,
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this isn't goodness
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in our eyes
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which tends to lead us
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toward self-righteousness.
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It's goodness
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in the eyes of God
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and God can see
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that our goodness
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is invariably self-centered.
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We probably all
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have that experience
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where you're kind
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to other people
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and you serve other people
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but really,
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it's kind of
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to please yourself.
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And Paul is saying
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that even our goodness
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is tainted
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with this self-interest
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because it's polluted
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at the very source
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and at this point
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you might be saying,
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okay, enough.
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Enough, Paul.
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I can't handle it anymore.
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I've heard your diagnosis
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and you're being
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way too cruel to us
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and you're absolutely relentless.
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I need a little relief.
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And so I'm going to give you
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some relief, okay?
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We're going to skip over
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verses 13 to 14
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where Paul talks about
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the sin of our words
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and what we do
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with our mouths
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and we're going to skip over
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verses 15 to 17
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and the sins of our deeds,
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what we do with our feet
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and with our hands
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and we're going to skip over
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verse 18.
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The cause of all these things
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is what we do
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with our eyes,
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what our eyes are looking at
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or actually not looking at
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and we're going to jump
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to the point
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and ask this question,
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why is Paul so relentless
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in showing us
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the power of sin
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in our lives?
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Why is he so relentless?
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Well he says in verse 19,
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now we know
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that whatever the law says,
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it says to those
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who are under the law
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so that every mouth
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may be silenced
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and the whole world
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held accountable to God.
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So that the whole,
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so that every mouth
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may be silenced
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and the whole world
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held accountable to God.
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Paul is saying,
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look, imagine a court of law
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and you are the criminal
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in the dock
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and the judge looks at you
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and asks you,
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do you have anything
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to say in your defense?
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And Paul says,
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our mouths should be silenced.
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We should be saying
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nothing at all
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in our defense
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because when our mouths
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are silenced,
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your guilt is proved
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and you cannot justify
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yourself at all.
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And Paul's point is
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that God wants to put
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an end to all
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of our talking.
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He wants us to put
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a hand over our mouth
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when it's anxious
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to defend itself
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so that the whole world
-
is rendered speechless
-
before God.
-
Go back to our Pharisee
-
and our tax collector.
-
The Pharisee says,
-
God, I thank you
-
and then he just pours out
-
all these eloquent words
-
describing himself
-
and telling God
-
what a good man he is
-
and how unlike
-
this tax collector he is
-
and what he does
-
and what he does not do
-
and he just talks
-
and talks and talks
-
and talks about himself.
-
But how does
-
the tax collector come?
-
It says that he stops
-
his mouth
-
and he silences his heart
-
and if he says
-
anything to God at all
-
he just says,
-
God, have mercy on me
-
a sinner.
-
That's something
-
we need to learn to say.
-
Can we say that together?
-
God, have mercy on me
-
a sinner.
-
What about you?
-
Has your mouth
-
been silenced?
-
Have you stopped
-
speaking in the presence
-
of this holy God?
-
Have you given up
-
self-justification
-
and quit arguing
-
against this charge
-
and this verdict
-
that you are under
-
the power and penalty
-
and pollution of sin?
-
Or do you still say,
-
God, look at all I've done
-
and aren't you impressed
-
by all the things
-
I've not done?
-
Paul's saying,
-
look, you're never going
-
to receive God's salvation
-
that's described for us
-
in Romans chapter 3
-
verses 21 and following
-
and I promise you
-
we're going to get out
-
of all this bad news
-
next week.
-
But he says,
-
you're never going
-
to receive God's salvation
-
unless you shut up spiritually
-
and unless your mouth
-
is silenced
-
with no more excuses.
-
If you're still saying
-
to yourself,
-
God, I know that I did wrong
-
but I can do better
-
next time.
-
And God,
-
I see that my motives
-
are not right
-
but I think I can turn it around,
-
you've not shut up
-
and therefore you're not
-
ready for salvation.
-
You've got to realize
-
that you cannot fix yourself
-
and that every effort
-
to fix yourself
-
and put yourself together
-
and be a better person
-
and try harder
-
in an effort of self-salvation
-
and self-sufficiency
-
is just making you worse.
-
Paul says,
-
you need to be quiet.
-
You need to come
-
to the end of yourself
-
and learn to be sorry.
-
Not only for all
-
that you've done wrong
-
but even for the reasons
-
you've done everything right
-
and to see that
-
your righteousness
-
is totally worthless,
-
it's filthy rags,
-
it's dung
-
and say,
-
God,
-
it's true.
-
I have nothing to say.
-
I give up
-
and I give in.
-
We must admit
-
that there's this terrible force,
-
this mighty active power
-
called sin
-
which is alienating us
-
from God
-
and it's only
-
as we face this
-
and realize
-
the true nature
-
of our problem,
-
how devastating
-
and how corrupting
-
the power of sin is
-
that we can come to see
-
the one power alone,
-
the sufficient
-
and adequate
-
to deal
-
with our situation
-
and that's where
-
I want to close.
-
Sin's power
-
is devastating
-
and its effects
-
corrupting
-
but God's power
-
is saving.
-
God's power
-
is saving.
-
I hope you can
-
understand now
-
given Paul's argument
-
about the power
-
of sin
-
why he says
-
in the thesis
-
of this letter
-
in Romans 1.16
-
I'm not ashamed
-
of the gospel
-
because it is what?
-
It's the power
-
of God
-
that brings salvation
-
to everyone
-
who believes.
-
Paul uses
-
these two negatives
-
to express a positive.
-
He says,
-
I'm not ashamed
-
meaning I'm proud
-
of the gospel,
-
I glory in the gospel,
-
I boast about the gospel
-
and you have to remember
-
that Rome
-
is a very proud city.
-
It's the proudest city
-
because it's the great
-
metropolis of the world.
-
I was in New York
-
this week,
-
I know how proud
-
these people were.
-
They boasted
-
of great wealth
-
and power
-
and learning
-
and culture.
-
They attracted
-
the best people
-
and the finest goods.
-
All that was prized
-
and valued most
-
came to Rome.
-
All the religions,
-
all the schools
-
of thought,
-
structures of law,
-
systems of government,
-
all their amazing buildings.
-
Any of you been to Rome?
-
Okay, you know.
-
In Rome,
-
human culture
-
and human progress
-
seem to have reached
-
its zenith
-
and it was the very
-
embodiment of pride
-
and human greatness
-
and the boasting
-
of human achievement
-
and Paul comes along
-
and he says,
-
I am proud
-
and I boast
-
but I boast
-
in none of this
-
Roman power.
-
No,
-
I boast
-
in the power
-
of God.
-
Power was everything
-
for Rome.
-
Right,
-
they didn't consider
-
anything unless it worked,
-
unless it had power,
-
unless it produced results
-
and Paul comes
-
and he looks at Rome
-
and he basically says,
-
is this all you've been able
-
to produce?
-
Is this all you have
-
to boast about?
-
Because I have
-
a greater boast.
-
I have something
-
that can actually deal
-
with the problems
-
of human life.
-
I know of something
-
that can save people
-
from the power
-
and the penalty
-
and the pollution
-
of sin.
-
To these proud
-
and cultured people,
-
the self-satisfied
-
metropolis of the world
-
with all of its wealth
-
and its power,
-
Paul is proud
-
of a greater power,
-
the power of the gospel.
-
He says,
-
all that Rome is
-
and all that it can boast about,
-
all of the power of Rome
-
just pales into insignificance
-
compared to the power of God
-
and so he says,
-
I'm not ashamed
-
because I know of a power
-
that's a transcendent power
-
and he says,
-
my boast is in the power of God
-
and his gospel to save us
-
and Paul knows that,
-
he knows the response
-
he's going to get,
-
right,
-
when he rolls up
-
into this capital city,
-
he knows he's going to be ridiculed
-
and laughed at,
-
he knows that people
-
are going to say,
-
hey Paul,
-
you should actually be ashamed,
-
very ashamed
-
of this message
-
to suggest that
-
to these proud Romans
-
that some small
-
and insignificant group
-
of people over here
-
that belong to this
-
poorest of Rome's colonies
-
and her conquered territories
-
possesses the truth
-
and possesses a power
-
that the whole of humanity needs
-
is absolutely ridiculous
-
and utter folly,
-
Paul.
-
To come here
-
and claim that Jesus
-
who belonged to this
-
despised town in Israel
-
far from being a scholar
-
and a philosopher,
-
just a common worker
-
was the unique son of God
-
and the savior of the world,
-
Paul,
-
that's madness.
-
And more than that,
-
to say that this Jesus,
-
far from being a conqueror
-
who subdued nations to himself
-
by his might
-
and by his power
-
like our Caesar,
-
he was actually crucified
-
in utter weakness
-
and helplessness
-
between two thieves,
-
Paul,
-
this message
-
that you come to bring
-
is beneath contempt.
-
But is Paul ashamed
-
of the gospel?
-
No.
-
A thousand times,
-
no.
-
Paul, rather,
-
is ashamed
-
of all of our foolish pride.
-
He's ashamed
-
of all of our empty pomp
-
and our futile schemes
-
and vain strivings
-
to save ourselves.
-
He's ashamed
-
of all of our worthless righteousness.
-
And he says
-
that the power
-
that Rome really needs,
-
the power
-
that the Bay Area
-
really needs
-
is the gospel of God
-
and the gospel of his son.
-
The power of God's salvation
-
is not about God
-
waiting for us
-
to seek him
-
because as we've seen today,
-
no one is really seeking God.
-
No,
-
the power of God's salvation
-
is about God
-
and his infinite power
-
seeking after us.
-
It's about God
-
coming and finding us
-
at infinite cost
-
to himself.
-
This powerful,
-
immortal God
-
who became a weak
-
and mortal human being,
-
God in the flesh,
-
crucified
-
in powerlessness
-
in your place.
-
Paul says
-
that is the only power.
-
The weakness of Christ,
-
the powerlessness
-
of his cross
-
is the only power
-
that can save you
-
from the power of sin.
-
It's the only power
-
that can save you
-
for a reconciled relationship
-
with your creator God.
-
And so Paul says
-
in Galatians 6, 14,
-
he says,
-
may I never boast
-
except in the cross
-
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
-
Friends,
-
what are we boasting in?
-
What are we proud of?
-
What's the greatest power
-
in our lives?
-
Paul says
-
this cross of Jesus
-
is the only power
-
that can break
-
the power of sin.
-
It's his sacrificial death
-
and shedding of his blood
-
that's the only power
-
to save us
-
because it's the power
-
of God himself.
-
Do we have a heartfelt urgency
-
for people
-
that are in our lives
-
to come and know
-
and experience
-
the power of this gospel?
-
And do we have
-
a prayerful expectancy
-
that the power
-
of the gospel
-
might be unleashed
-
in our time
-
and in our place?
-
Paul says,
-
I'm a thousand percent
-
not ashamed
-
of the gospel.
-
Why?
-
Because it's the power
-
of God
-
that brings salvation
-
to everyone
-
who simply believes.
-
Amen.
-
I think I am
-
I hope you
-
are in next
-
doll
-
is tionna
-
is tionna
-
and
-
of the gospel
-
in the name
-
of the gospel
-
and of the gospel
-
and the gospel
-
and the gospel
-
and the gospel
-
and the gospel
-
and the gospel
-
and the gospel
-
and the gospel
-
and the gospel
-
and the gospel
-
and the gospel
-
and the gospel
-
and the gospel
-
and the gospel