FAITH BIBLE CHURCH - www.faithbiblechurch.net

TITLE: TOTAL DEPRAVITY

TEXT: ROMANS 3:9-20

INTRODUCTION: (1) I WANT TO BEGIN OUR MESSAGE THIS MORNING ON THE SUBJECT OF TOTAL DEPRAVITY BY QUOTING CHARLES COLSON AND SOMETHING HE HAD TO SAY ABOUT THIS SUBJECT.

* HE SAID AND I QUOTE, “THIS MYTH (THAT MANKIND IS BASICALLY GOOD) DELUDES PEOPLE INTO THINKING THAT THEY ARE ALWAYS VICTIMS, NEVER VILLAINS, ALWAYS DEPRIVED, NEVER DEPRAVED.

** IT DISMISSES RESPONSIBILITY AS THE TEACHING OF A DARKER AGE.

*** IT CAN EXCUSE ANY CRIME, BECAUSE IT CAN ALWAYS BLAME SOMETHING ELSE – A SICKNESS OF OUR SOCIETY OR A SICKNESS OF THE MIND.

(2) ONE WRITER, SAID COLSON, CALLED THE MODERN AGE “THE GOLDEN AGE OF EXONERATION.”

* WHEN GUILT IS DISMISSED AS THE ILLUSION OF NARROW MINDS, THEN NO ONE IS ACCOUNTABLE, EVEN TO HIS CONSCIENCE.

** THE IRONY IS THAT THIS SHOULD COME ALIVE IN THIS CENTURY, OF ALL CENTURIES, WITH ITS GULAGS AND DEATH CAMPS AND KILLING FIELDS.”

*** FINALLY, COLSON SAID, “AS G. K. CHESTERTON ONCE SAID, THE DOCTRINE OF ORIGINAL SIN IS THE ONLY PHILOSOPHY EMPIRICALLY VALIDATED BY CENTURIES OF RECORDED HUMAN HISTORY.” (END QUOTE)

(3) NOW ALTHOUGH THERE ARE STATEMENTS AND ACTIONS BY CHARLES COLSON THAT I WOULD DISAGREE WITH TODAY, THIS IS A GOOD SOUND STATEMENT THAT COMMUNICATES AND SUMS UP THE MENTALITY OF 2006 AMERICAN CULTURE.

* FOR NO MATTER WHAT PROBLEM A PERSON SUFFERS FROM, WHETHER THEY ARE A SERIAL MURDERER, AN ADULTERER, A HOMOSEXUAL, A DRUNK, A LIAR OR STRUGGLING WITH EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, YOU CAN EASILY FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL EXPLAIN TO YOU WHY YOUR SIN IS NOT YOUR FAULT, AND TEACH YOU HOW TO SILENCE A TROUBLED CONSCIENCE.

** WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY OF VICTIMS, A SOCIETY WHERE BLAME SHIFTING IS THE NORM, IN A SOCIETY WHERE SIN HAS BEEN REDEFINED AND EVEN DENIED.

*** AND WE’VE GROWN UP HEARING THAT NOBODY IS PERFECT AND THAT TO ERR IS HUMAN. AND ALL OF US ARE QUITE WILLING TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE ARE NOT PERFECT.

**** BUT TO ADMIT THAT WE BY NATURE ARE WICKED, DEPRAVED, SLAVES OF SIN, AND THAT OUR HEARTS ARE DECEITFUL IS NOT GOOD FOR OUR SELF-ESTEEM, AND IS GOING TOO FAR ACCORDING TO MANY. THERE IS BASIC GOODNESS IN ALL OF US, WE’RE TOLD.

(4) IN FACT, RELIGION IN AMERICAN HAS JUMPED ON THIS BANDWAGON OF SELF-ESTEEM THEOLOGY. ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR QUOTE CHRISTIAN T.V. SHOWS TODAY IS THE HOUR OF POWER SPONSORED BY THE CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL IN GARDEN GROVE, CALIFORNIA WITH ROBERT SCHULLER AND NOW HIS SON.

* IN HIS BOOK “SELF-ESTEEM, THE NEW REFORMATION” ROBERT SCHULLER SAYS ON PAGE 99 “SIN IS PSYCHOLOGICAL SELF-ABUSE.”

** EARLIER IN THE BOOK ON PAGE 14 HE SAYS AND I QUOTE, “SIN IS ANY ACT OR THOUGHT THAT ROBS MYSELF OR ANOTHER HUMAN BEING OF HIS OR HER SELF-ESTEEM.”

*** AND WHAT IS HELL ACCORDING TO SCHULLER? IT IS THE LOSS OF PRIDE THAT NATURALLY FOLLOWS SEPARATION FROM GOD – THE ULTIMATE AND UNFAILING SOURCE OF OUR SOUL’S SENSE OF SELF-RESPECT.” (END QUOTE)

(5) NOW IN SELF-ESTEEM THEOLOGY, A PROFOUND DEEP SENSE OF UNWORTHINESS IS NOT VIRTUE, IT IS UNBELIEF ACCORDING TO SCHULLER.

* MOREOVER, ACCORDING TO THIS DOCTRINE, THE MOST SERIOUS SIN IS THE ONE THAT CAUSES ME TO SAY, I AM UNWORTHY.

** SCHULLER EVEN SUGGESTS THAT “TOO MANY PRAYERS OF CONFESSION OF SIN AND REPENTANCE HAVE BEEN DESTRUCTIVE TO THE EMOTIONAL HEALTH OF CHRISTIANS BY FEEDING THEIR SENSE OF NONWORTH.”

*** SCHULLER GOES SO FAR AS TO DENY THAT FALLEN HUMAN NATURE IS TRULY EVIL; HE SAYS AND I QUOTE AGAIN, “BY NATURE WE ARE FEARFUL, NOT BAD, LABEL IT A NEGATIVE SELF IMAGE, BUT DO NOT SAY THAT THE CENTRAL CORE OF THE HUMAN SOUL IS WICKEDNESS. IF THIS WERE SO, THEN TRULY, THE HUMAN BEING IS TOTALLY DEPRAVED.” (END QUOTE)

(6) WELL, THE POINT OF MY MESSAGE TODAY IS TO COMMUNICATE THAT MANKIND IS TOTALLY DEPRAVED. AND NOT BECAUSE THAT IS MY OPINION, BUT BECAUSE SCRIPTURE FROM BEGINNING TO END INCLUDING OUR TEXT TODAY TEACHES THAT ALL HUMANITY IS DEPRAVED.

* AND TODAY I WANT TO LOOK AT THE WORD OF GOD TO COMMUNICATE WHAT GOD HAS TO SAY ABOUT OUR SIN, AND OUR CONDITION BEFORE HIM, THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS NO NOT ONE, ROMANS 3:10.

** AND TO HELP US UNDERSTAND THIS TRUTH, I WANT TO LOOK AT 3 THINGS TODAY. NO. 1 THE CONDITION OF DEPRAVITY; NO. 2 THE CONSEQUENCES OF DEPRAVITY; AND NO. 3 THE CURE OF DEPRAVITY.

*** AND WE’LL END WITH GOOD NEWS TODAY. BUT BEFORE I CAN GIVE YOU THE GOOD NEWS YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND AND SEE THE BAD NEWS OF YOUR SIN.

- AND THIS BRINGS ME TO THE GREAT CONCERN THAT SOME CHURCHES HAVE PHILOSOPHICALLY DETERMINED TO CHANGE THEIR MESSAGE AS A PART OF THEIR MARKET STRATEGY.

**** BUT IF WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND OUR OWN SINFULNESS OR SEE OUR SIN AS GOD SEES IT, WE CANNOT UNDERSTAND OR MAKE USE OF SIN’S REMEDY, WE WILL NOT SEE OUR NEED OF THE SAVIOR.

(7) SO WITH ALL OF THAT IN MIND, LET’S GO TO OUR FIRST POINT TODAY, THE CONDITION.

I. THE CONDITION

A. NOW OUR CONDITION BEFORE SALVATION IN THE PRESENCE OF A HOLY GOD IS WE ARE SINNERS AND GOD’S ENEMIES, WE ARE NOT HIS FRIENDS.

* ROMANS 5:8-10 (READ VV. 8&9)

VERSE 10 – FOR IF WHILE WE WERE ENEMIES, WE WERE RECONCILED TO GOD THROUGH THE DEATH OF HIS SON, MUCH MORE, HAVING BEEN RECONCILED, WE SHALL BE SAVED BY HIS LIFE.

** SO WE ARE SINNERS AND THE ENEMIES OF GOD, ESTRANGED FROM HIM.

*** NOW BEYOND BEING THE ENEMIES OF GOD BECAUSE OF OUR SIN, WE WERE ALIENATED AND HOSTILE IN MIND, ENGAGED IN EVIL DEEDS ACCORDING TO COLOSSIANS 1:21.

*** ACCORDING TO ROMANS 7:5 SINFUL PASSIONS INFLAMED BY OUR HATRED OF GOD’S LAW, MOTIVATED OUR LIVING.

**** IN FACT, WE WERE TAINTED BY SIN IN EVERY PART OF OUR BEING. WE WERE CORRUPT, EVIL, THOROUGHLY SINFUL.

1. ROMANS 3:23 SAYS: (READ IT)

* ECCLESIASTES 7:20 SAYS: (READ IT)

** JEREMIAH 17:9 SAYS: (READ IT)

*** AND FROM THESE VERSES AND MANY MORE I’LL USE TODAY, IT WILL BE CLEAR THAT OUR CONDITION IS SINFUL, AND SIN OFFENDS A PURE, CLEAN, JUST, HOLY, RIGHTEOUS GOD.

2. NOW BEFORE I GO ANY FURTHER, LET ME DEFINE SIN BIBLICALLY. WHAT IS SIN?

* WELL, THE WORD SIN BY ITSELF WITHOUT IT’S PLURAL USES ARE USED 380 TIMES IN THE BIBLE.

** AND THIS WORD LIT. MEANS TO MISS THE MARK, TO ERR, TO MISS OR WANDER FROM THE PATH OF UPRIGHTNESS AND HONOR, TO DO OR GO WRONG, TO VIOLATE GOD’S LAW, IT MEANS AN OFFENSE, A VIOLATION OF GOD’S LAW IN THOUGHT OR ACT.

*** TO AMPLIFY ON THAT MEANING, I JOHN 3:4 SAYS: (READ IT).

**** NOW ACCORDING TO THIS VERSE SIN IS LAWLESSNESS, IT IS BREAKING GOD’S LAW. GOD IS THE LAWGIVER. HIS LAW EXPRESSES HIS HOLY CHARACTER. AND WHEN WE BREAK HIS LAW, WE ARE REBELLING AGAINST GOD.

***** OUR WILL IS PUT IN THE PLACE OF GOD’S WILL. MY WAY IS PLACED OVER THE ONE WHO KNOWS BEST – DOES WHAT’S ALWAYS BEST AND CAN ONLY DO THAT WHICH IS RIGHT OR RIGHTEOUS – GOD ALMIGHTY.

3. R.C. SPROUL CALLS SIN “COSMIC TREASON.” AND FOLKS WHEN WE BREAK IT DOWN IT IS WILLFULNESS, IT’S REBELLION AGAINST GOD’S WILL LAID OUT IN HIS WORD. IT IS WANTING MY WAY OVER GOD’S WAY.

* THE WESTMINSTER SHORTER CATECHISM SAYS, “SIN IS ANY WANT OF CONFORMITY TO, OR TRANSGRESSION OF, THE LAW OF GOD.”

** BEYOND THAT D. MARTIN LLOYD JONES WROTE THIS ABOUT SIN: “WHY IS IT THAT MAN EVER CHOOSES TO SIN? THE ANSWER IS THAT MAN HAS FALLEN AWAY FROM GOD, AND AS A RESULT, HIS WHOLE NATURE HAS BECOME PERVERTED AND SINFUL. MAN’S WHOLE BIAS IS AWAY FROM GOD. BY NATURE HE HATES GOD AND FEELS THAT GOD IS OPPOSED TO HIM. HIS GOD IS HIMSELF, HIS OWN ABILITIES AND POWERS, HIS OWN DESIRE.

*** HE OBJECTS TO THE WHOLE IDEA OF GOD AND THE DEMANDS WHICH GOD MAKES UPON HIM... FURTHERMORE, MAN LIKES AND COVETS THE THINGS WHICH GOD PROHIBITS, AND DISLIKES THE THINGS AND THE KIND OF LIFE TO WHICH GOD CALLS HIM.

**** THESE ARE NO MERE DOGMATIC STATEMENTS. THEY ARE FACTS... THEY ALONE EXPLAIN THE MORAL MUDDLE AND THE UGLINESS THAT CHARACTERIZE LIFE TO SUCH AN EXTENT TODAY.” (END QUOTE)

4. NOW IF WE’RE HONEST THIS MORNING, WE’LL ADMIT THAT WE HAVE REBELLED AGAINST GOD NOT HERE AND THERE, BUT A LOT EVERY DAY FOR WE HAVE LIED, HATED, COVETED, HAVE BEEN SELFISH, GOSSIPED, BEEN JUDGMENTAL, UNLOVING, HAVE NOT BEEN CONTENT, AND WE CATEGORIZE THOSE THINGS AS LITTLE SINS, AND WE HAVEN’T EVEN GOT TO THE BIG ONES, BUT ALL SIN IS BIG IN GOD’S EYES, AND HE HATES IT ALL.

* SO OUR CONDITION IS SINFUL. AND THAT ACKNOWLEDGMENT BRINGS US TO THE WORDS TOTAL DEPRAVITY, SOMETIMES CALLED TOTAL INABILITY OR RADICAL CORRUPTION.

** NOW WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT WHEN WE USE THESE WORDS? WELL, IT MEANS THAT MAN’S NATURE IS CORRUPT, PERVERSE AND SINFUL THROUGHOUT.

*** TOTAL DEPRAVITY STRESSES THE FACT THAT SIN REACHES TO THE CORE OF OUR BEING. SIN IS NOT A PERIPHERAL THINGS, A SLIGHT BLEMISH THAT MARS AN OTHERWISE PERFECT SPECIMEN. SIN IS RADICAL IN THE SENSE THAT IT TOUCHES THE ROOT OF OUR LIVES AND BEING.

**** DEPRAVITY MEANS THAT EVIL HAS CONTAMINATED EVERY ASPECT OF OUR HUMANITY, OUR HEART, OUR MIND, OUR PERSONALITY, OUR EMOTIONS, OUR CONSCIENCE, OUR MOTIVES AND OUR WILL.

5. AND UNDERSTAND THIS, THE ADJECTIVE TOTAL DOES NOT MEAN THAT EACH SINNER IS AS TOTALLY OR COMPLETELY CORRUPT IN HIS ACTIONS AND THOUGHTS AS IT IS POSSIBLE FOR HIM TO BE.

* IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE EXPRESSION OF SINFUL HUMAN NATURE IS ALWAYS LIVED OUT TO THE FULLEST. THE HOLY SPIRIT RESTRAINS SIN TO SOME DEGREE. EVEN ADOLF HITLER REFRAINED FROM MURDERING HIS MOTHER.

** INSTEAD THE WORD “TOTAL” IS USED TO INDICATE THAT THE WHOLE OF MAN’S BEING HAS BEEN AFFECTED BY SIN. THE CORRUPTION AGAIN EXTENDS TO EVERY PART OF MAN, HIS BODY AND SOUL, SIN HAS AFFECTED (THE TOTALITY) OF MAN’S FACULTIES, HIS MIND, HIS WILL, ETC.

*** AND FOLKS THAT IS OUR CONDITION BEFORE SALVATION. AND THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES OF THAT CONDITION WHICH WILL FURTHER EXPLAIN OUR CONDITION, AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR CONDITION IS OUR 2’D POINT TODAY.

II. THE CONSEQUENCES

A. NOW THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR SIN ARE TERRIBLE. BECAUSE OF SIN, WE HAVE TO DIE PHYSICALLY ONE DAY, AND WITHOUT FORGIVENESS OF OUR SINS, WE WILL DIE SPIRITUALLY, BE SEPARATED FROM GOD IN HELL FOREVER, WE WILL FACE THE SECOND DEATH, ROMANS 6:23, ROMANS 5:12, GENESIS 2:16&17, I CORINTHIANS 15:22, REVELATION 20:15, EZEKIEL 18:4.

* NOW IT’S VERY CLEAR THAT THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN ARE TERRIBLE TO US PHYSICALLY AND SPIRITUALLY. BUT ALSO SIN AFFECTS OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS, IT MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO MAKE A LIVING FOR BY THE SWEAT OF OUR FACE AND WOMEN HAVE PHYSICAL PAIN WHEN THEY GIVE BIRTH TO A CHILD AS A RESULT OF SIN AND AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE CURSE OF SIN IN GENESIS 3.

** BEYOND THAT, BECAUSE OF OUR INBORN CORRUPTION PASSED ON FROM ADAM, UNSAVED PEOPLE ARE TOTALLY UNABLE TO DO ANYTHING SPIRITUALLY GOOD, TO PLEASE GOD, TO RESPOND TO GOD, TO COME TO GOD IN THEIR OWN POWER AND RIGHTEOUSNESS, ISAIAH 64:6.

*** AND BELOVED, BEFORE GOD’S DIVINE INTERVENTION IN OUR LIVES, WE LOVED DARKNESS RATHER THAN LIGHT, WE DID THE WORKS OF OUR FATHER, SATAN, JOHN 3:19, JOHN 8:44.

**** NOW BECAUSE OF OUR SIN AND OUR DESIRES THERE WAS TOTAL INABILITY ON OUR PART TO COME TO GOD, IT MEANT THAT WE WERE SO SPIRITUALLY BANKRUPT THAT WE COULD DO NOTHING PERTAINING TO OUR SALVATION.

***** WE WERE INCAPABLE OF SPIRITUAL GOOD OR SEEKING GOD, ROMANS 3:10-12, PSALM 14:3 (READ THEM).

- PSALM 53:1-3 ALSO REPEATS THESE TRUTHS, IN FACT, PAUL IN ROMANS 3 IS QUOTING FROM THEM.

V. 1 – THE FOOL HAS SAID IN HIS HEART, “THERE IS NO GOD,” THEY ARE CORRUPT, AND HAVE COMMITTED ABOMINABLE INJUSTICE; THERE IS NO ONE WHO DOES GOOD.

V. 2 – GOD HAS LOOKED DOWN FROM HEAVEN UPON THE SONS OF MEN TO SEE IF THERE IS ANYONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, WHO SEEKS AFTER GOD.

V. 3 – EVERY ONE OF THEM HAS TURNED ASIDE; TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME CORRUPT; THERE IS NO ONE WHO DOES GOOD, NOT EVEN ONE.

1. AND YES IT’S QUITE EVIDENT THAT UNSAVED PEOPLE JUDGED BY MAN’S STANDARDS DO GOOD THINGS. THERE ARE UNSAVED PEOPLE WHO ARE HONEST, NOT ADULTERERS, GOOD FAMILY PEOPLE, WHO HELP THEIR NEIGHBOR, WHO GIVE TO THE POOR, THAT EVEN RISK THEIR LIVES FOR OTHERS AND DIE FOR OTHERS.

* BUT THE QUESTION IS WHY DO THEY DO THOSE GOOD THINGS. ARE THEY DONE FOR GOD AND HIS GLORY, ARE THEY DONE TO PLEASE GOD, ARE THEY DONE TO MERIT SALVATION, ARE THEY SOMETIMES DONE FOR SELF INTEREST, A PAT ON THE BACK.

** THE ANSWERS TO THOSE QUESTIONS ANSWER THE QUESTION WHETHER THOSE THINGS ARE GOOD IN THE SIGHT OF MAN OR GOOD IN THE SIGHT OF GOD.

*** AND IN THE SPIRITUAL REALM, WHEN JUDGED BY GOD’S HOLY, PURE STANDARDS, THE UNSAVED SINNER IS INCAPABLE OF GOOD IN PLEASING GOD. NONE OF THOSE THINGS HAVE MERIT WITH GOD.

*** JONATHAN EDWARDS, THE THEOLOGIAN, SCHOLAR, AND PASTOR OF THE CHURCH IN NORTHHAMPTON, MASS. FOR 23 YEARS IN THE LATE 1720’S THROUGH ABOUT 1750, SPOKE OF THE CONCEPT OF ENLIGHTENED SELF-INTEREST.

**** ENLIGHTENED SELF-INTEREST REFERS TO THAT MOTIVATION WE ALL FEEL TO PERFORM EXTERNAL GOOD DEEDS AND TO RESTRAIN SOME EVIL IMPULSES WITHIN OURSELVES.

2. FOR EXAMPLE, THERE ARE CERTAIN TIMES AND PLACES WHERE CRIME DOES NOT PAY, WHERE THE RISK OF PUNISHMENT OUTWEIGHS THE POSSIBLE REWARD OF OUR MISDEED, SO WE MAY BE INCLINED TO NOT DO IT.

* ON THE OTHER HAND, WE MAY WIN THE APPLAUSE OF MEN BY OUR VIRTUOUS ACTS. WE MAY GAIN A PAT ON THE BACK FROM SOMEONE OR THE RESPECT OF OUR PEERS IF WE DO CERTAIN GOOD DEEDS.

** SO MAN DOES GOOD THINGS IN THE SIGHT OF OTHER PEOPLE, BUT NOT IN THE SIGHT OF GOD, AND THAT’S WHAT IT MEANS IN ECCLESIASTES. 7:20, ISAIAH 64:6, ROMANS 3:11&12, PSALM 14:1-3, PSALM 53:1-3.

*** BELOVED, WE ARE INCAPABLE OF PLEASING GOD ON OUR OWN, WE CAN NOT DO A GOOD WORK TO MERIT OUR SALVATION. BUT NOT ONLY THAT, THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR CONDITION OF TOTAL DEPRAVITY OR TOTAL INABILITY MEANS, WE DO NOT SEEK GOD WITHOUT HIS DIVINE INTERVENTION.

*** AND YES WE SEEK THE BENEFITS OF GOD, WE SEEK HIS BLESSINGS, WE SEEK TO JUSTIFY OURSELVES, AND COME TO GOD IN RELIGION BY OUR WAY, THROUGH OUR PRIDE, BUT WE DO NOT SEEK GOD IN HIS HOLINESS AND PURITY, WE RUN AWAY FROM HIM. WE ONLY SEEK GOD AFTER HE HAS INTERVENED WITH HIS GRACE IN OUR LIVES. BY NATURE WE ARE FUGITIVES.

3. AND THE REASON WE DO NOT SEEK GOD, IS WE ARE DEAD IN OUR TRESPASSES AND SINS AND CANNOT RESPOND SPIRITUALLY TO HIM, WE ARE BLIND SPIRITUALLY, WE ARE DEAF IN HEARING THE CALL OF GOD UNLESS HE MAKES US ALIVE.

*AND THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH GIVES A CLEAR, CONCISE STATEMENT OF THIS DOCTRINE – “MAN, BY HIS FALL INTO A STATE OF SIN, HATH WHOLLY LOST ALL ABILITY OF WILL TO ANY SPIRITUAL GOOD ACCOMPANYING SALVATION; SO AS A NATURAL MAN, BEING ALTOGETHER AVERSE FROM GOOD, AND DEAD IN SIN, IS NOT ABLE, BY HIS OWN STRENGTH, TO CONVERT HIMSELF, OR TO PREPARE HIMSELF THEREUNTO.”

** NOW EPHESIANS 2:1-5 COMMUNICATES THIS TRUTH

V. 1 – AND YOU WERE DEAD IN YOUR TRESPASSES AND SINS,

V. 2 – IN WHICH YOU FORMERLY WALKED ACCORDING TO THE COURSE OF THIS WORLD, ACCORDING TO THE PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR, OF THE SPIRIT THAT IS NOW WORKING IN THE SONS OF DISOBEDIENCE.

V. 3 – AMONG THEM WE TOO ALL FORMERLY LIVED IN THE LUSTS OF OUR FLESH, INDULGING THE DESIRES OF THE FLESH AND OF THE MIND, AND WERE BY NATURE CHILDREN OF WRATH, EVEN AS THE REST.

V. 4 – BUT GOD, BEING RICH IN MERCY, BECAUSE OF HIS GREAT LOVE WITH WHICH HE LOVED US,

V. 5 – EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN OUR TRANSGRESSIONS, MADE US ALIVE TOGETHER WITH CHRIST (BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED).

*** NOW BEYOND EPHESIANS 2:1-5, COLOSSIANS 2:13 SAYS BASICALLY THE SAME THING, THAT WE WERE DEAD AND GOD MADE US ALIVE. EPHESIANS 4:17-19 SAYS WE WERE DARKENED IN OUR UNDERSTANDING DUE TO THE HARDNESS OF OUR HEARTS.

**** I CORINTHIANS 2:14 SAYS: (READ IT)

***** ROMANS 8:7&8 SAYS: “BECAUSE THE MIND SET ON THE FLESH – AN UNSAVED MIND - IS HOSTILE TOWARD GOD; FOR IT DOES NOT SUBJECT ITSELF TO THE LAW OF GOD, FOR IT IS NOT EVEN ABLE TO DO SO – INCAPABLE, THERE IS INABILITY- AND THOSE WHO ARE IN THE FLESH (UNSAVED PEOPLE) CANNOT PLEASE GOD.”

**** AND THEN IN JOHN 6, JESUS SAID IN V. 44, NO ONE CAN COME TO ME, UNLESS THE FATHER DRAWS HIM. IN V. 65 HE SAID NO ONE CAN COME TO ME, UNLESS IT HAS BEEN GRANTED HIM FROM THE FATHER.

4. SO THE ISSUE IS THERE IS TOTAL INABILITY TO RESPOND TO GOD UNLESS HE QUICKENS US AND INTERVENES IN OUR LIVES THROUGH REGENERATION, THROUGH THE NEW BIRTH, THEN WE DESIRE CHRIST, WANT HIM AND RECEIVE HIM BY GOD GIVEN FAITH, WE HAVE LIFE TO RESPOND.

* AND FOLKS, THAT IS A CONSEQUENCE OF SIN. LET ME USE TWO ILLUSTRATIONS BY EDWIN PALMER THAT HOPEFULLY WILL MAKES THIS CLEAR OF OUR TOTAL INABILITY, THAT WE DO NOT SEEK GOD, THAT WE ARE DEAD.

** THE TEACHING THAT GIVES MAN A LITTLE CREDIT FOR HIS SALVATION BY GRANTING HIM THE ABILITY TO BELIEVE, PICTURES MAN AS DROWNING. HIS HEAD IS BOBBING UP AND DOWN IN THE WATER AS HE FLAILS HIS ARMS, TRYING TO KEEP ABOVE WATER.

*** IF SOMEONE DOESN’T SAVE HIM, HE WILL DIE. HE MAY HAVE HIS LUNGS PARTIALLY FILLED WITH WATER, EVEN LOSE CONSCIOUSNESS FOR A MOMENT OR TWO, BUT HE STILL HAS ENOUGH PRESENCE OF MIND AND ABILITY TO WAVE AND YELL TO THE LIFEGUARD TO SAVE HIM – THERE IS SOME LIFE – HE’S NOT DEAD.

**** IF HE CALLS TO THE GUARD, THE GUARD WILL RESCUE HIM, THE GUARD BEING CHRIST IN THIS ILLUSTRATION – ONE VIEW THAT SOME OF OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS HOLD TO.

5. NOW THE OTHER ILLUSTRATION, WHAT I BELIEVE TO BE THE BIBLICAL PICTURE, IS OF A MAN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN IN THE MARIANAS TRENCH, MORE THAN THIRTY-FIVE THOUSAND FEET DEEP. THE WEIGHT OF THE WATER ON TOP OF HIM IS SIX TONS FOR EVERY SQUARE INCH.

* HE HAS BEEN THERE FOR A THOUSAND YEARS AND THE SHARKS HAVE EATEN HIS HEART. IN OTHER WORDS, THE MAN IS DEAD AND IS TOTALLY UNABLE TO ASK ANY LIFEGUARD TO SAVE HIM. IF HE IS TO BE SAVED, THEN A MIRACLE MUST OCCUR.

** HE MUST BE BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE AND TO THE SURFACE, AND THEN HE CAN ASK THE GUARD TO RESCUE HIM.

*** AND THAT IS THE PICTURE OF THE SINNER. HE IS DEAD IN HIS SINS AND TRESPASSES (EPH. 2:1, 5). HE DOES NOT WANT TO BE MADE WHOLE, LET ALONE EVEN KNOW THAT HE SHOULD BE MADE WHOLE. HE IS DEAD.

**** AS MICHAEL HORTON SAID: “WE CANNOT FIND GOD FOR THE SAME REASON THAT A THIEF CAN’T FIND A POLICE OFFICER.”

***** TO FURTHER ILLUSTRATE THAT, WHEN CHRIST CALLED TO LAZARUS TO COME OUT OF THE GRAVE, LAZARUS HAD NO LIFE IN HIM SO THAT HE COULD HEAR, SIT UP, AND EMERGE. THERE WAS NOT A FLICKER OF LIFE IN HIM. IF HE WAS TO BE ABLE TO HEAR JESUS CALLING HIM AND TO GO TO HIM, THEN JESUS WOULD HAVE TO MAKE HIM ALIVE FIRST. AND JESUS DID RESURRECT HIM AND THEN LAZARUS COULD RESPOND.

6. AND FOLKS BECAUSE OF OUR SIN, WE ARE UNABLE TO COME TO GOD UNLESS HE SPIRITUALLY RESURRECTS US. AND IF YOU DESIRE TO COME, THEN COME, GOD IS WORKING, HE WILL SAVE YOU, JOHN 6:37, WHICH LEADS US TO THE CURE AND OUR CONCLUSION TODAY.

III. THE CURE

A. NOW I’VE GIVEN YOU A LOT OF BAD NEWS, NOW I CAN GIVE THE GOOD NEWS. FOR YOU SEE, IF WE DO NOT SEE OUR OWN SINFULNESS OR SEE OUR SIN AS GOD SEES IT, WE CANNOT UNDERSTAND OR MAKE USE OF GOD’S REMEDY.

* SIN IS A HORRIBLE MALIGNANCY WITH ONLY ONE EXPENSIVE CURE WHICH IS FREE FOR THOSE WHO COME TO THE CROSS.

** FOR YOU SEE THE CROSS OF CHRIST IS PROOF OF BOTH THE IMMENSE LOVE OF GOD AND THE PROFOUND WICKEDNESS OF SIN.

*** THAT GOD THE FATHER, WOULD SEND GOD THE SON TO BECOME A MAN, LIVE A PERFECT LIFE, HAVE HIM SACRIFICED FOR SINNERS COMMUNICATES GOD’S LOVE FOR SINNERS TO RESCUE THEM AS REBELS FROM HIS WRATH, BUT ALSO HOW DEPLORABLE SIN MUST BE FOR GOD TO TAKE CARE OF IT BY THE MEANS OF THE DEATH AND SUFFERING OF HIS SON, I PETER 2:24,

II CORINTHIANS, 5:21, I PETER 1:18&19, ISAIAH 53:5, ROMANS 4:25.

1. AND FOLKS, THE CLEAR SOLUTION, THE CURE FOR SIN IS THE SACRIFICIAL DEATH OF THE SINLESS SON OF GOD.

* THE ONLY WAY GOD COULD SATISFY HIS PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS WAS TO HAVE HIS RIGHTEOUS SON BE THE SUBSTITUTE FOR SINNERS.

** AND THE CROSS OF CHRIST PURCHASED THE WAY OF SALVATION BY ENABLING THE ONLY PERFECT SACRIFICE TO ATONE FOR HUMAN SIN ONCE FOR ALL.

*** FOR YOU SEE THE OFFERING FOR SIN HAD TO BE PERFECT, SPOTLESS, UNTAINTED BY SIN. AND JESUS LIVED A SINLESS HOLY LIFE IN PERFECT OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S LAW, HEBREWS 4:15.

**** JESUS CAME TO THIS EARTH TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THE LOST, LUKE 19:10, NOT POTENTIALLY, BUT ACTUALLY. I JOHN 3:5 SAYS, YOU KNOW THAT HE APPEARED IN ORDER TO TAKE AWAY SINS; AND IN HIM THERE IS NO SIN.

2. AND WE MUST BE SAVED FROM OUR SINS. AND JESUS IS THE ONLY SAVIOR. THERE ARE NO OTHERS, HIS NAME JESUS ACTUALLY MEANS SAVIOR, MATTHEW 1:21 AND ACTS 4:12 SAYS: (READ IT).

* AND IF YOU’RE HERE TODAY AND HAVE NOT REPENTED OF YOUR SIN AND RECEIVED THE SAVIOR, YOU MIGHT BE ASKING LIKE THE PHILIPPIAN JAILER, WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED? OR LIKE THE JEWS IN ACTS 2:37, WHAT SHALL WE DO?

** WELL, THE ANSWER IS YOU MUST BELIEVE ON THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. YOU MUST REPENT, ACTS 2:38.

*** AND BIBLICALLY TO BELIEVE MEANS THAT WE MUST REPENT. AND REPENTANCE MEANS TURNING FROM OUR LOVE OF SIN IN SORROW FOR IT, AND TURNING TO JESUS CHRIST FOR SALVATION. ACTS 3:19 SAYS: REPENT YE THEREFORE, AND BE CONVERTED.

**** ACTS 20:21 SAYS: (READ IT)

3. AND THEN IN LUKE 24:47 IT SAYS: (READ IT)

* AND UNDERSTAND THAT REPENTANCE IS A PART OF GENUINE BELIEF IN CHRIST. SALVATION FROM SIN IS NOT MERELY A POSITIVE “DECISION FOR CHRIST.” WE CANNOT SIMPLY ADD CHRIST TO A SIN-LADEN LIFE, THEN GO ON LOVING SIN AND LIVING IN IT. WE BY GOD’S GRACE MUST TURN FROM IT.

** AND REPENTANCE CERTAINLY DOES NOT MEAN YOU MUST DO WORKS OF PENITENCE OR CORRECT YOUR BEHAVIOR BEFORE YOU CAN TURN TO CHRIST, IT IS NOT A WORK ON OUR PART.

*** BUT IF YOU TURN TO THE SAVIOR AND HE WILL CHANGE YOU AND GIVE YOU A NEW NATURE. HE WILL BEGIN A GOOD WORK IN YOU AND WILL SEE IT TO IT’S COMPLETION, PHILIPPIANS 1:6.

**** GODLY SORROW WHICH WORKS REPENTANCE TO SALVATION BRINGS CHANGED BEHAVIOR,

II CORINTHIANS 7:10.

4. BUT NOT ONLY DO YOU NEED TO REPENT, YOU MUST BELIEVE. REPENTANCE AND FAITH GO HAND IN HAND.

* FOR REPENTANCE STRESSES OUR TURNING AWAY FROM SIN AND SELF, AND BELIEVING EMPHASIZES WHAT OUR HEARTS TURN TOWARD, ACTS 16:31, ROMANS 10:9&10&13.

** AND FOLKS, YOU MUST BELIEVE IN THE CHRIST OF SCRIPTURE, AND HE IS BOTH SAVIOR AND LORD, SO YOU MUST RECEIVE HIM AS LORD AND SAVIOR.

*** YOU MUST RECEIVE HIM ON HIS OWN TERMS; YOU CANNOT HAVE HIS PARDON WITHOUT ALSO ACCEPTING HIS RIGHT TO RULE OVER YOU.

**** YOU CANNOT LAY HOLD OF CHRIST WHILE STILL CLINGING TO YOUR SIN. HE CAME TO SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS, MATTHEW 1:21, LUKE 2:11, NOT TO OFFER HEAVEN TO SINNERS STILL REVELING IN THEIR WICKEDNESS.

5. FOLKS, THE SALVATION HE GIVES IS NOT MERELY AN ESCAPE FROM THE FLAMES OF HELL, BUT IT IS ALSO A GLORIOUS LIBERATION FROM THE DOMINION OF SIN.

* FOR HAVING SEEN THE AWFUL REALITY OF SIN IN OUR STUDY TODAY, WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT A SALVATION THAT STOPS SHORT OF DELIVERING THE SINNER FROM SIN’S BONDAGE?

** FOLKS, THIS IS MY CONCLUDING STATEMENT TODAY, WHEN YOU UNDERSTAND THE EXCEEDING SINFULNESS OF SIN, WHEN YOU REALIZE IT’S POWER OVER YOU, AND WHEN YOU KNOW THE DREADFUL HAZARDS IT POSES TO YOUR SOUL, YOU SHOULD BE DRIVEN TO CHRIST AS YOUR REFUGE AS SAVIOR AND LORD. WHY? WE ARE TOTALLY DEPRAVED.