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I’m going to invite you to Romans chapter three. Where we are today is Romans Chapter three, as we continue the theme of incredible messages. Right. I just told you the title of today. We’re going to talk about total depravity. And always a great time to invite your friends to church when you have a topic like total depravity. But but this is an important subject, especially as it relates to our culture today, because we don’t think in terms like this, which is a biblical way to to really view us and perspective of who God is and to help us find a way forward. In fact, if you’ve been with us for the first couple of chapters of Romans, these are not easy chapters to work through, but they’re important chapters to work through. One of the things that doesn’t make it an easy chapter to work through is because these first couple of chapters are contrary to today’s culture. In American culture, we’re told, you know, you’re the answer to everything in life and whatever makes you happy, that’s what you’re supposed to pursue. And you look deeper within yourself if you need to discover more about who you are and and why you exist and how to make your life meaningful, which none of what I just said is biblical at all. It’s how we’re taught to think in our society. But it is not a healthy way forward according to what Scripture tells us. We certainly want you to see the value of who you are as a human being, and we want you to live a wonderful, great life.
Right? But to get there, we disagree with what culture says about that. And Romans flies in the face of what we’re taught in culture. In fact, the first couple of chapters, what we’ve discovered together is the Apostle Paul went after a few ways of thinking about life. He went towards the irreligious and talked about the the downfall of religion. He went after a moralism and talked about the downfall of moralism. And then he goes after religious people and he talks about the shortcoming of religious people. Which brings you to Chapter three, asking the question, Well, where in the world do I go? Right? And he told us in chapter two, verse 16 that really there are no secrets to God. We we have nowhere to hide and God judges our secrets. So so when we consider our our plight in life before a holy God, the question is now what? What do we do? In chapter three, Paul anticipates after he just laid out a very bold and firm statement towards us and in all of our positions as humanity. No matter where you find yourself categorically, whether you’re irreligious, moral or religious, that Paul now understands that people are going to ask questions, they’re going to have some rebuttals. In fact, after 20 years of ministry, Paul Paul has seen the questions people might ask. A Romans was written after about 20 years of Paul’s ministry, but Paul himself has wrestled with his own faith asking questions, which is important for you if you want to grow in your faith.
It is important that when I say things or whoever says things on Sunday, you just don’t embrace those things. You question it, you process through it in your own mind and you you own it for yourself. Like what does Scripture really say? And what do I really believe about this? This is not me just telling you what to think and living your life, your faith matters. God created you for relationship with him. So so being able to have that place where you can ask questions, learn and grow is is important. That’s why we gather together as as God’s people. Every once in a while I get phone calls from people that that want to just ask me spiritual questions but don’t belong to any church. And I’ve got to be honest, because they’ve gone years without belonging to any group to to process and work through things like they’re crazy. They say, I get a lot of crazy questions where people get isolated and start believing, you know, all these insane things and they have no resounding boards or sounding boards to bounce these off of to to dialogue with the community and say, okay, as I’m looking at the scriptures, this how you’re you’re seeing this and how does this work and how does it fit together.
And so this is where the Apostle Paul is today. He comes to these this place and he asks for us, and this is point number one in your notes for objections, for objections to to everything that he’s communicated to us so far. And these aren’t exhaustive objections that Paul raises here, but he anticipates that the reader is going to have some questions because he himself has had questions in doing ministry. He knows people have had questions, but he raises these objections. And every two verses you’re going to see within this communication those objections that that Paul raises for us to think through. What do we do now? How do we move forward if we know it doesn’t matter where you come at in life that all of us are standing before only God, all of us are guilty, what do we do for objections? Objection number one then is this There is no advantage being with God’s people. That’s what that’s what their objection is. Well, Paul, if you’re telling us that there’s there’s he talked about the circumcision. If you’re saying there’s no advantage of being circumcised, then they’re asking the question. Then what is the advantage of being with God’s people? There must not be an advantage of being with God’s people. And in verse one, you see how Paul lays this out. Then. Then what advantage has the Jew or what is the value of circumcision here in the Old Testament? God told him to be circumcised, to to identify themselves as God’s people belonging to Him.
But. If you’re telling us circumcision has no advantage, what advantage is there with being with God’s people? Paul then answers this and this objection in verse number two. Now, I will tell you, he elaborates this further as you get into Chapter eight, Chapter nine of Romans and talking about if you’re Jewish, here’s the advantage of growing up that way. And he gives us a list. But but as his answer in verse two is is singular here. And I think it becomes significant for not only the Jewish people to see this answer, but really for anyone to see this answer, because this is very foundational in figuring out how to move forward. And he says in verse two, Well, it’s much in every way. What advantage is it in being a Jew? Much in every way to begin with. Here’s the one reason the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. And what he’s saying is if if you’re in a place where the truth is spoken. There is always then the opportunity for transformation. It’s not that people are always believing it, but at least, at least if the truth has a place to be spoken, then there is the opportunity for people to always experience or to have the opportunity to experience transformation in his word. And here’s why God blesses his word. And if there is anything that I carry as a pastor, as a as a hope for for God’s people.
It’s to have a reverence for God’s Word. Because if you have a reverence for his word, if you appreciate the sacredness of what it is, your heart can draw to it and learn from it and grow in it. What I’m saying is, if you have that appreciation for God’s Word, I don’t really have to worry about you in that sense. If you have no concern for God’s Word and you don’t see the value of God’s word and you aren’t spending time in the Word of God, then I am concerned for you. But if you see the sacredness of of what God’s Word is and and you cherish that word and you read that word and you realize this is the way God communicates to you, that truth spoken to you has the opportunity to do some transformation in you and through you. And so Paul is saying by being a part of that community, there is tremendous advantage because that’s where God’s truth is is spoken. Recently, I was with a religious leader and I was questioning, questioning about the religion that they represented. And I was asking them a particular question about their faith. And I’m trying to say this without exposing what religious group this is. Hopefully I care this thought through. But but but I question them about a statement in in their holy writings. And their response to me was all our religious leader didn’t write that.
The claim with this religious book is that the religious leader wrote it. And this person looks at me and says, Oh, I don’t we don’t have to believe that a religious leader didn’t really write it. We know who wrote it. It doesn’t belong to them. And I just looked at them dumbfounded because the place where I’m quoting them is is literally the foundation of their religious beginning. And I just said to them, if your people can’t believe this, then what can they believe? And they just looked at me and shrugged and go, That was astounding to me to think that here I am looking at this religious leader teaching from this religious work and him telling me that there’s not a basis for even believing that the foundation for which the religion is established is true. But when you look at Scripture, the Bible. It is an incredible work of antiquity. And you see the way that the early writers of Scripture treated the sacredness of that word. To the point that God’s people would go to the ends of the earth and give their lives, that you may hold it. It is incredible. I think throughout the centuries, those that have translated God’s Word into other languages of people, of other languages could read the word people like William Tyndale, who gave his life so that we could have the Bible in English today. And his heart desire was was to get the word of God in everyone’s hands.
So he would he would say to the religious leaders of his day, I want to make God’s word so readily available. And I’m adlibbing this a little bit, but he said it in much prettier English, in Elizabethan English, Shakespeare language. He he said, I want to get the word of God in even the plow boy’s hands. So they they know the heart of what God communicates. That was his life’s goal, that anyone could have God’s Word because he knew how precious it is. When you hold God’s word, what makes it so incredible is that you have over 40 authors over 1500 years, three different continents, three different languages, one theme, one theme, and you have copies of the Old Testament that that are older than Jesus. Literally, the the words that Jesus would have read from proclaiming the prophecy of all that Jesus would fulfill and even into the new test. And one of the things is incredible about the New Testament is when when the New Testament is written, we have no early manuscripts of the New Testament or the the first manuscripts, I should say, of the New Testament when it was written. But what happens as soon as as soon as the Paul the Apostle writes the book of Romans and he sends it out and the church receives it, the church just they start to copy it so they can have their own personal copies of God’s Word. Do you think this is a time where illiteracy is extremely high and yet the sacredness of God’s word given to them and here they are, they’re copying it and it goes all over the Roman Empire.
There is no figurehead that leads the church. It’s a grassroots movement. It’s mostly mostly led through slaves and women as they find worth and value. And what Jesus says about them. And it just spreads throughout the Roman Empire and it goes into multiple languages, right, in Coptic and Syriac and Latin and Greek. It’s just spread around. Like if anyone wanted to try to to pervert it or change it, it becomes an impossibility because the wildfire way of which God’s Word spreads throughout the Roman Empire. And even today we have we have Caesar’s recorded that want to want to kill Christians and wipe the word of God off the face of the earth. Diocletian, one of the last persecutors of Christianity before Constantine legalizes Christianity in the in the third century, he’s on record with saying he wants to destroy every copy of the Word of God. And yet today. 25,000 manuscripts of Scripture. Over 5000 in Greek. Let’s see the way that word of God spread throughout the world, that it becomes impossible for anyone to corrupt it because its its vast and and its distribution and language. And parts of the new world. And I can go back today and read that. And and when you when you read those sacred texts, you discover the way that the authors talk about the power of God’s word, how how Paul says.
And second, Timothy 316 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, which literally means it’s God breathed. Or Jesus when he’s in the wilderness, facing the temptation with Satan, he says. And Matthew, chapter four, verse four, mentioned, I live by bread alone, but by everywhere that comes from the mouth of God. The way he defeats Satan and the temptation of the wilderness is by quoting the Old Testament. Sacred, powerful, Peter says. And and second, Peter, chapter one and verse 21 that the men of God are moved by the Spirit of God to record the Word of God. It’s incredible how God takes the personalities of individuals and in that personality still expresses what He desires in His word that Jesus says not one jot or tittle will pass from God’s word. Matthew 518. God’s Word, sacred, powerful, even Peter. And second Peter, Chapter three, verse 16 refers to Peter’s or Paul’s writings as Scripture. They knew its power. That’s why they desired to send it throughout the world. What advantage then, is there to being with God’s people? That’s objection number one on your notes. And the answer is you have the Word of God. And if you’re in the place where truth can be spoken, there’s always the opportunity for transformation. Maybe the encouragement with this first objection. You want to find a way forward. Get in God’s word. There’s nothing more precious you could spend time in.
No time. And God’s word is wasted time. Your heart needs to know the Lord to understand truth and why you were discovered. And there’s no better place to do that than in his word. Objection Number two, then. Well, let me read verse three and I’ll tell you. Objection Number two, it says, What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithfulness nullify the faithfulness of God? And what he’s saying is after after all, if God can’t control his followers, doesn’t that make God unfaithful And what they’re acknowledging? Objection. Number two is this The church has hypocrites God, people that claim to follow God, that they’re not always faithful to following God and God can’t control them. The church. The church has hypocrites like that’s that’s the objection and not want to pursue. But in verse four, he says this By no means does this mean God is faithful. His faithfulness is in question. By no means let God be true, though everyone were a liar as it is written that you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged. People bring accusation against God. God is true. God is faithful. Sometimes we object to the unfaithfulness of others. We place that on the character of God because other people are unfaithful. That must mean God is not true. But. But what it acknowledges for us is that Christianity has hypocrites. But because people are not faithful. It doesn’t mean that God has failed. God is always faithful to his word.
And it’s important for us to acknowledge as we follow God, our our expectation in a community like this. People aren’t going to be perfect. And if my faith is based on what you do. I need to check my faith. The truth of what I need to be about is not about what others choose to do or not do, but rather who he is. And it’s important for all of us to to make that decision regardless of what other people do. Regardless of what other people say. Regardless of how other people live. I’m going to follow Jesus. Because he’s true. Because he’s right. Because he is the way. People are going to disappoint you your whole life no matter where they come from. But it doesn’t make God any less than who he is. And to be faithful to him and and to pursue him. And unless we get too far into throwing stones at others and we get too hypocritical of hypocrites, maybe it’s good to remind ourselves. So are we. It’s early. I know what God’s Word says. But I’m not always faithful to it. But God’s always faithful to who He is. Thomas Kempis said this. He said, Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be. Since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be. I read someone online named great theologian Salvador Cruz, which is on his death. He said this Last time I went to church, I didn’t see one righteous person there.
He put this on Facebook the other day. I thought it was great. It was full of sinners, praying for each other, caring for one another. I felt right at home. Isn’t that true? Our claim as a people is not that we’re perfect. Our claim as a people is that he is perfect. And you could tell your dad on on the we quoted him on Sunday morning I. This doesn’t mean there isn’t wisdom in finding a healthy church, a healthy community to be a part of. I think it’s important that that we all strive to find one, but at the same time to recognize you’re never going to find the perfect community. But knowing it’s important to be a part of a healthy community. I think there’s a few things that when you when you look for a church and you could say maybe even many things when you go to look for a church, there’s just there’s certain characteristics you want to see within that body. There needs to be a a high reverence for the sacredness of God’s word, right? We believe in the verbal inspiration, verbal plenary inspiration of Scripture. You hear that God’s word is communicated to us truthfully, and we want to know that there’s this high reverence for God’s Word. That’s why we go through it verse by verse, through through books of the Bible and studying it together. If I ever say something crazy, you can look at that and tell me that’s not what the Scripture says, right? We can help hold each other accountable.
And walking it together, a high reverence for God’s Word, seeking the truth of who Jesus is, Biblically wanting to know Christ. As Paul says in Philippians Chapter three and walking with humility as people, because we know who we are in light of who God is desiring to glorify God and bless others. So we say as a church, we live to give ourselves away for the glory of God to the benefit of others. This is not about hoarding for ourselves to to to live for our self-made glory. God calls us to be servants as He is a servant. So we live our lives for his glory to the to the benefit of others. No matter what you do. If you wake up tomorrow. Cuts. Heart desire for us is. Is to be faithful. But to recognize that he is he is always faithful, regardless of whether people do or don’t do it. Objection Number three, then, is this a good God? Shouldn’t pour out his wrath. A good God shouldn’t pour out his wrath, as they say. But if our unrighteousness that says verse five serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? I speak in a human human terms. What he’s arguing here is, look, if our righteousness lets God pour out His righteousness, then then God shouldn’t pour out his wrath, right? Like a good God doesn’t pour out his wrath.
But he says in verse six, by by no means for than how could God judge the world? And, you know, I’ve acknowledged this point with us as a church, because I know sometimes people have a hard time with seeing some of the judgment of God in Scripture. In our culture, we typically like to promote the love of God and other cultures. They typically like to highlight the judgment of God. Right. But in America today, when we look at the judgment of God, we we struggle with seeing how God can be loving and be a judge. And but the reality is and I remind us of this often as a church, you can’t be good without judging. God cannot be good without judging. And I compare it often to a judge in a courtroom. If someone does something against you, you go before that judge and they find the person in that courtroom is there and they declare he’s guilty or she’s guilty of bringing a crime against you, yet they don’t execute any judgment. You would look at that judge and say that judge is not good because he does not judge justly. And the same is true with the Lord. In order for God to be good, we need two things. We need him to be just as a judge. And we need him to be loving. That’s how you experience goodness and justice and love and grace.
And the Cross of Christ is where both of those things come together. The justice of God poured out on Christ, who was our substitute? And the love of God made known in Christ, who gave himself for you and for me. Any time in this world we try to execute justice. We usually do it at the forsaking of grace or any time we execute grace. We do it at the forsaking of justice. It’s only at the cross of Christ that both of those things collide beautifully for your well being. In order for God to be good, he must be just. And Paul is helping them begin to understand this, that God, holy God will judge. He must judge in order to be good. One of the passages that I love in Scripture that pulls this together for us is in it’s in second or first Timothy chapter two, verse five and six. It tells us that God is the mediator on our behalf. And then verse six, he becomes the ransom for our sins and says, There’s one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. And first Timothy, Chapter two, verse five. That’s communicating something. A couple of things to us. Any time you have a mediator involved, it’s because there is a problem, right? Two sides don’t agree. And when you choose a mediator, you want a mediator that understands both sides. Who better to mediate our relationship with God than God in the flesh? Jesus understands both God and humanity, because as God, He became flesh.
And so he can represent in that mediation both sides being fully God. He understands the character nature of God becoming man. He understands the the flight and struggle of man. And so he enters into our domain, this world, to mediate for us so that we can be reconciled in our relationship with God. That’s why we need that mediation there. It’s communicating to us that there is a separation of divide in relationship. How can these two sides come together in order to agree, in order to to move forward in life? You need a mediator. Who better to mediate than Christ? And Christ becomes that mediation for us because he understands both sides. And in that mediation, what do we discover? There was really only one problem, and it wasn’t with God. It was with us. Who sinful. And that sin separated us from God. Which is why in that mediation, when the agreement in order to reconcile became this, there must be a price that’s paid. Your sin must be judged. And in verse six, Jesus becomes that ransom. First Timothy, chapter two, verse six, Jesus becomes that ransom, saying He made that payment for you and for me, that we can be reconciled to God. Across from Christ. It’s the place both the Justice of God and the love of God are poured out for the people of God that we can be reconciled to Him.
He cannot be good unless both of those take place. And then. Objection. Number four is this my sin? Highlights his goodness. So he should overlook my sin. That’s what they’re saying. This is not biblical, but this is what they’re saying. Four, seven. But if through my lie, God’s truth abounds to His glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And in verse eight, And why not do evil? That good may come as some people slander Asli charge us with saying their condemnation is just what the what he’s saying is. Notice in verse verse seven he becomes more personal, like verse five and six. He talks about the judgment of God in a broad way, but verse seven, he makes it very personal. Well, if God’s going to judge, at least he shouldn’t judge me. And let me just tell you why God should not judge me. It’s because when I do bad things, it makes his goodness look so much greater, Right? That’s the excuse they’re making when I do bad things. God looks way better in that. So. So I’ll keep doing bad things so that God looks really, really good. And God can just pass over and thank me for helping them look so great. That’s they’re saying in this passage of Scripture, which is absurd. If any of us think that way, you think crazy because it’s like it’s like this. If I gave us an example, it’s like, let’s say a child is born in a family and a father decides, you know what, I’m going to just abandon this family.
I want to up and leave it wife and child alone. And that child is raised in a single parent home, never to see dad again. But one day a child gets older and becomes successful and then dad pops back up and the dad has the audacity to look at the child and say, You need to thank me for everything you’ve achieved. And here’s why. It’s because of my absence. It gave you grit, and that grit is what you use to make you more successful. And because you’re more successful, you should thank me for getting to where you are today. That sounds insane, does it not? I mean, the answer is to say it’s not because of you. I am who I am today, but in spite of you, because you didn’t help me get to where I am. It’s a lack of accountability for what you’ve done. Just because God works all things out to good doesn’t mean that you are. It’s beautiful at the sovereignty of God can still do this right. And we’re going to find this in Romans chapter eight. It says this about the nature of God, but in your life, there is this hope that we have that no matter what happens to us, no matter the difficult things that we go through. Now we have the opportunity to still hope because God and his sovereignty will work all things out together for good.
To those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. And. God will hold people accountable. He must do that in order to be good. So Roman numeral two in your notes, then, is this. There are no excuses. In fact, point number one under that is because there’s no one righteous. None is righteous. And he says that in verse nine. What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. We have already charged that all both Jews and Greeks are under sin. As it is written, none is righteous. No, not one. What is saying in this passage is look. We’re not the victims in connection to God. In fact, we’re the villains. None is righteous. Now, it may be true in your life you have been the victim of something, but when it comes before the nature and character of God, when you stand before the Holy God, you’re not the victim. And it may be in your life that you’ve had more temptation and difficult. People have been around you and it has made things hard. And God knows that. But we also know you’re accountable for the way you choose to respond. Before God were not the victims. We’re the villains. In fact, verse 11, down to verse 18, Paul Then in order to drive this point home, Paul just starts quoting past the. In fact, he quotes seven passages of Scripture as if he’s saying, Do you want to know how corrupt we are? Do you want to know how much we desperately need the Lord in our life? Look at this.
No one understands this is our mind is corrupted. No one seeks for God. This is our. Our motives are corrupted. All have turned aside. This is the our will has been corrupted. Together they have become worthless. This is our our heart being corrupted. No one does good. Not even one. This is our. Our deeds being corrupted. Their. Their throat is an open grave. They use their tongue to deceive. The venom of ASPs is on their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. This is our words being corrupted. Their their feet are swift to shed blood and their paths are ruined in misery. Our actions have been corrupted and the way of peace. They have not known. Our emotions have been corrupted. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Our soul has been corrupted. Do you know what theologians call that? Total depravity. You want to know the an explanation for total depravity. It’s verse 11 or verse 18 in Romans. Any chance we have to corrupt something. We as human beings do this and whatever aspect of our lives that we’re living are involved in, we we total depravity. We see our depravity. It leads us to stop looking to ourselves for the answer. Because what it acknowledges is we’re corrupt to our core.
We are corrupt to our core. In fact, when you read through the Old Testament, you start to see the way that this is communicated, illustrated through their systems of worship. The Jews had two types of sins that they would give sacrifice for. There were sins of omission, sins of commission, sins they realized they committed. And since they weren’t even aware that they had committed, that’s all. That’s how great we are at sinning. We don’t even realize that we do it sometimes when we’re involved in it. So they had they had sacrifices for both, even even the way that they were to to worship. They would acknowledge when they would enter into things that were sacred if they didn’t go through this ritual practice of cleansing, cleansing, cleansing themselves, that if they were to come and touch something that were holy, having not been cleansed themselves to the forgiveness of sins, to their spiritual sacrifice, that whatever they touched that would become unholy, meaning if they were to gather in a sacred religious holiday celebration. They didn’t go through the cleansing, ritualistic period, and they were to be involved in that ceremony. Anything they went through and did in that ceremony would cause that ceremony to be unclean. Now, that was symbolic, to recognize the need for human depravity to be forgiven and cleansed by God. It was an outward communication of what really needed to happen. Inwardly in our hearts, as if I were to use the illustration today.
Let me grab my cup real quick. Let’s let’s. Let’s say you were thirsty. And I had for you this morning some purified water. But before I handed it to you. I were to drop inside of it. A drop of cyanide or, I don’t know, maybe, maybe some anthrax and give it to you. All that pure water and that little drop of corruption, you would know it would taint all of the content. You couldn’t drink it. And from that moment forward, you couldn’t even separate what was pure from what made it poisonous to your body and in that sense becomes entirely corrupt. And this is what the symbolism of religion was to show us, is that, look, there’s nothing that you can do. Outwardly to change who you are. That transformation must take place inwardly, and the only one that’s capable of doing that is the Lord. It’s got to be to be made new. One of my favorite passages in the Bible in Luke Chapter eight. As the story of the woman who hemorrhaged for years. One of the things that makes this story so incredible in this story, when you understand it in its historical context, this is a passage that wrecks me when I go through it. Because to understand the life of this woman. In this era. Under her religious system. For her to have this hemorrhage, this bleeding for for over a decade would have caused her to have to walk among her own people, constantly saying unclean.
Unclean. Unclean. And in a society where that’s important in order to connect to God. What is the saying about this woman is that she would have been completely isolated in life. People would have been close to her. But no one would have ever really gotten near her. Because they didn’t want to run the risk of becoming unclean themselves when what is unholy touches, what is holy. The unholy thing doesn’t make the the holy thing doesn’t make the unholy thing clean. The unholy thing makes the holy thing unclean. And here is this woman. And then she hears Jesus is coming. So she runs the risk. She moves into the crowd of which she knows she should not belong. And she reaches out and she touches Jesus. It says in verse 43, and a woman who had suffered chronic flow of blood for 12 years and could not be healed by anyone, came up from behind and touched the fringe of his cloak. And immediately her bleeding stopped and Jesus said, Who is the one who touched me? This is one of those all crap questions. Like if you just think of if you understand what it means to be clean and unclean in Jewish tradition, that Jesus is considered a rabbi, a teacher, a holy one. And now all of a sudden, Jesus is claiming that someone has touched him. And more importantly, an unclean person. And Jesus is just drawing the attention of the crowd to this.
This is one of those moments that if they wanted to press, it could lead to the stoning of this lady. And Jesus asked this question Who is the one who touched me while they were all denying it? Peter said, Master. The people are crowding and pressing in on you. But Jesus said, Someone did touch me, for I am aware the power has left me. Now, when the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before him and admitted in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed. Could you imagine that? Jesus was not going to let this go. Someone touched me. When what is unclean touches, what is clean, what is clean becomes unclean. And now she has run the risk of touching the sacred rabbi teacher. What does she say has happened? I’ve been healed. And in verse 48, he said to her daughter. Your faith has made you well, go in peace. Jesus goes on from this and demonstrates that he still has the power to be holy and to forgive and to heal by raising someone from the dead right after this. But the beauty of the story is to say this. Finally. Finally, there is a place. That when what is unclean comes before the presence of holiness. We don’t make what is sacred. Unclean. But now rather what is clean.
Makes what is unclean whole. Jesus. Jesus is what we need. Jesus is what our soul is looking for. This is contrary to what culture teaches us. Everywhere you go in this world. People are going to tell you. It’s you. That’s the answer. You need a greater self esteem, you need a greater self-worth, you need a greater self purpose. The way you find all that is looking deeper within yourself. You know why? Because you’re. What makes you so special? And you can do it because you’re awesome. And you. You get your best life now and you can fix everything because the world revolves around you and whatever makes you happy, that’s what you need to pursue because your life is made for you and it’s all about you. The Bible, says Isaiah 64, verse six. All our righteous deeds are filthy rags before the Lord. Like this woman crying, unclean. We need Jesus to heal her heart. It’s not you. It’s him. It’s him that gives you worth. It’s him that makes things new. It’s him that shows the importance of who you are. It’s him that forgives you, restores you, makes all things new in you. We’re not pointing the finger at someone. Are pointing the finger at everyone. That’s why in verse 19, then he goes on and says this, He says. Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world held accountable to God for by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
And here’s the last point in your notes to fill in. What he acknowledges here in these verses. Every mouth is silent before God. Then you come to these passages and they’re asking. Paul, Well, Paul, now what I mean, irreligious, moral, religious, what advantage is any of those things? And he’s saying, that’s exactly my point, that we stop looking in us for any of this. If you want to find the way forward, let’s tear down everything that society says that doesn’t relate to what God’s word communicates. And let’s start new and fresh because we want to build and what what God says in the truth of his word. We want things to be new. We want things to be different. We want things to be better. But in order to get there, we’ve got to acknowledge where we truly are. Every mouth needs to be silent before God. To stop telling God what we think and to start listening to what he says. His word. In your heart. Let the truth be spoken. And you. No objection can be raised against God. Our hearts silent before him. It’s important, I think, for us to see the significance of what Paul’s saying here. To look and ask not. Not only what I am, what am I doing before the Lord? But also ask Where am I? Where am I guiding others? You have raised a generation or a country of idol worshippers.
And what I mean by that is the religion of America today. It used to be a few decades ago moralism. But the religion of America today is, I don’t think, any longer moralism because we’ve disassociated from God. The religion of America today is humanism. Humanism is idolatrous. Hinduism has the response of all about you. In fact, there’s a there’s a book that’s called Good Faith, and they just have these statistics within. It says this 84% of Americans believe that enjoying yourself is the highest goal of life. 86% believe that to enjoy yourself, you must pursue the things you desire most. 91% affirm that the statement to find yourself look within yourself. And let me just say from a biblical perspective, all of those are garbage. None of those are what Scripture says at all. If you want to know what 84% of 100% of Americans should believe and join yourself as the highest goal of life that is not biblical. God’s glory is the highest goal of our life. You will you will not understand the reason for your existence, nor find the joy of your existence until it’s connected to the one who created you and you didn’t make you 86% that say pursue the things you desire most. Like I would say, our heart should pursue the truth of what God’s Word says, not what what we want to believe is true, but rather what God says is true.
To find yourself, look within yourself. And again, you didn’t make yourself. So how in the world could I ever be the solution? It’s only found in Creator God. This is what humanism says. But it’s important for us to be silent and ask the question, God, what does your word say? Humanism. We are good. Scripture Mark ten, verse 18 God alone is good. Humanism. I am the ultimate authority. Scripture. God is the ultimate authority. Humanism. I accept me for where I am Scripture, I repent and God forgives me and I follow Him Humanism. I find my worth in me Scripture. I find my worth in Him. Humanism. I love me for me Scripture. God loves me in Him, humanism. I make myself better. Scripture. God makes me new. Every mouth silent. So. So let me just ask for not only for your well-being, but maybe for those young people today. Where are we leading the next generation? Are we really better off than we were a few decades ago? I would say we could maybe argue technology has gotten better. But spiritually, emotionally, humanity does not sing better. Are we better off pursuing humanism than Christ? Can I encourage you men this morning? Before the Lord. If we as men pursue this with truthfulness, can can we as men just decide? Let’s stop being selfish. Stop being passive. Stop being bullies. Give our lives to Christ. Walk with bold conviction.
An incredible compassion. A deep love for Christ and a grit to faithfully demonstrated. Ladies. A servants of Christ wise in your action, gracious in your behavior, walking faithfully with the Lord. Society has laid out for us a humanistic path to follow, a way to think what to do. But God’s word communicates to us blaze an entirely different trail. You have got to be confident in your conviction to do that. And diligent in the pursuit to guide him, because this is this is just something that happens to you in a bubble. This this influences the people around you in the next generation and how they find their purpose and and worth and meaning in life. The road forward will pulse communicating to us this morning. It doesn’t start in you. It starts with the death of you. In a full surrender to Christ. So let me just encourage you from the beginning of this to the end of this passage as Paul communicates. God’s word. God’s word. What advantage is that gathering with God’s people? The truth of God’s spoken over you so that the truth of God can work its transforming power in you, so that we would stop giving God our objections and excuses. But understand before him all the world is held silent. And we can stop telling him what we think and start listening to what he says. And in that God, God helps us and leads us in a way forward.