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January 7, 2021 12:00 am
Sin is sin is ruined. Women, even ruining sin has occasioned every tear of sorrow every sigh of grief. Every pain of agony. Sin has withered everything that is fair blasted everything that is good, made better everything that is sweet.
Sin has dogged every grave built every coffin woven every shroud and enlarged every cemetery. The world and everyone listening to my voice is a center if you are traveling through an unfamiliar place.
The wisest thing might be to stick to the main roads and the most well-traveled paths, but when it comes to living for Jesus Christ.
That's not the best advice.
Living for Jesus doesn't mean that you follow the path most people are on because that's likely the path of sin. Instead, we follow Jesus in obedience here Stephen David with a message called the road most travel.
We have been studying Paul's description of mankind. In Romans chapter 3 we come to the end of it today. We learned what it means when we talk about the gravity of mankind. Depravity is a word that simply means wretched ruined sinful degenerate Webster years ago summed up very well.
The meaning of the word least in the English language as he defined it as wicked perversion, the evil condition of the hearts of fallen, sinful mankind is been exposed as follows written chapter 3 verse 10 there is none righteous, not even one, there is none who understands that his spiritual thing is none who seeks after God it is God who seeks after followed all of turned aside, together mankind is become useless. The word for spoiled milk. This is the evil condition of mankind that he goes on, and he is described the evil communication of man. Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips.
His mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.
Now, finally, Paul concludes his inspired though unflattering truthful description of mankind by focusing on the evil chaos we had the evil condition the evil communication and now the evil chaos brought about by sinful humanity. The purpose of this description, this awful description of the wretchedness and sinfulness of mankind is to reveal the absolute inability of mankind to save himself. The inability of anybody to ever think they could ever stand before God and say I have equalize the balance scale between good and evil. Let me in my deserve to be there. It isn't so much that we have done sinful things is that we are sinful creatures. It isn't so much that we had evil thoughts. It is that we are evil in our hearts.
This description was given to us from God to show why a Savior would in fact need to pay the incredible penalty of the immensity of our sinful is no way we could ever pay for the immensity of our sin and depravity. We can never add a few good things on the side and hope that somehow it would balance it all out.
We could never pay according to a press report I read some time ago, Matthew boy from Brunei West Africa was innocently practicing his golf swing adjacent to the but I Air Force Base with one errant shot. He destroyed the country's small but entire Air Force.
Here's how it happened. He was hitting golf balls in an adjacent field when one of his shot sliced toward the runway. The ball hit a bird in midair killed it. The bird dropped on the windshield of a small plane which was speeding down the runway, preparing the lift off. The pilot was so shocked by the bird hitting his windshield that he momentarily lost control of his little plane and plowed into the forest shiny Moraga jet sin destroyed the entire Air Force of the small country was that officials caught Matthew and jailed him for hooliganism. They refused to give a trial. In fact, are demanding that Matthew boy reimburse his country since they don't have the money in her treasury. The cost is $40 million since Matthew makes $275 a year. The report estimates will take a modern 45,000 years.
The pay it all back.
No way they can try in the country can keep them locked up is no way to pay the immensity of that $40 million, my friend.
What a great illustration of humanity would ever think they could pay the penalty of our sin before just and holy God. Paul is driving toward that point said clearly in Romans 319.
The middle part that every mouth may be closed in all the world may become accountable to God is driving us toward that point that every mouth will be closed not one will one day stand before God, the judge and say you forgot something. There are two or three things you love are locked every mouth will be closed and all the world accountable to a holy God like a prosecuting attorney. The apostle Paul in verses 10 to 12 is describe who we are. In verses 13 to 14. He is describe what we say now. This latter part of this description, he will deliver the final evidence of mankind sinfulness as he describes what we for very short yet powerful inspired phrases that will pull off whatever remains of a mask and reveal the human heart for what it truly is totally corrupted, totally depraved when we say we are totally depraved again. Remember the doesn't mean that all of us are acting as badly as we could all act. It simply means that we are all capable of acting as evil and wickedly as we would want because we are all corrupted in every part of us and need the Redeemer and unbelieving psychologist even wrote all the old primitive sins are not dead. They are just crouching in the dark corners of our modern hearts still there as ghastly as ever with Paul is about to describe, as he describes the human race is that San Marcos openly corrupted but all that is his point is inwardly corrupted with sin that is crouching in the corners of our hearts and simply waiting for the moment for the excuse to act. If you take your Bibles and turn if you're not already there to Romans chapter 3 let's look at the completed portion of this final paragraph, first of all, the inspired description of the evil chaos of mankind. Paul will declare that mankind is callously unconcerned about life. Verse 15 he writes their feet are swift to shed blood.
Whether we want to admit it or not, we live in a world of violence are world is baited with blood. By 1900, even in our country, there was only one murder for every 100,000 people but by 1974° and one out of every 10,000 people. Violence has become a way of life we are inundated by we are even entertained by by the time the average child reaches 12 years of age he will watch more than 13,000 hours of television, which is twice the time he spends in school and those hours of television. He will obtain 14,000 violent deaths, 100,000 violent crimes, one every eight minutes. There will be more than 70,000 assaults against teachers in our school system. Our culture of violence has led one college president to describe ours as a culture of death. He editorialized the world magazine with the following illustration you wrote on June 6, 1997 Melissa Drexler killed her baby. The Aberdeen, New Jersey teenager was at her high school prom. When the pains of her contractions became strong enough to force her into the bathroom where she gave birth to a son. She took her child wrapped up in a garbage bag and tossed returning to the dance floor.
She picked up where she left off her case is not unique.
The number of murders of children less than one week old has increased by 92% over the last 25 year why not this article and offer went on to say, even the Washington Post seem to prophesy the quote. The acceptance of abortion would lead to a profound moral shift in our culture.
A great devaluing of human life feel annoyed by now that profound shift in the value of a life is in full swing. It is in fact turned upside down today in our country it is illegal to crush the egg of an eagle, but it is legal crush an unborn child in the womb of its mother believe in abortion is a symptom. It is not the cause of this devaluation of life. The devaluation of human life is been taught for several generations now to a generation or two of those who have heard something other than the biblical view of creationism as it is been replaced with the theory of evolution. The resulting loss of the value of human life was recently articulated by James Rachel up and unbelieving professor of philosophy at the University of Alabama. He claimed because of the theory of Darwin, which he believed in. He said quote we can no longer think of ourselves as occupying a special place in the world instead, we must realize that we are working blindly and without purpose. We are products of the same evolutionary forces that shape the rest of the animal kingdom and hours were just another animal were just another animal so that logic flows to its bitter and its violent and since animals can kill their offspring, so humans should since animals will make indiscriminately with other animals so should humans be able to do so. Since animals kill one another for a variety reason why can human several generations now officially and resolutely ignored creation is God's handiwork that only the human race was breathed into with us.
Nefesh this eternal soul.
Genesis 127 God created the animal kingdom with the waiving of his hand and immediately herds and flocks appeared one man breathing in the him this eternal Nefesh soul became an eternal soul. Genesis 127. The Bible also tells us that man is more valuable than an animal. Matthew 1031 that the worth of the human soul is greater than all the physical world. Of all the physical world nature and all of creation and measured against one's soul. The gospel quotes Jesus Christ as saying that one's soul is worth everything out outside the human race. Ultimately, because these true the been abandoned. We now have a culture of violence life no longer has value.
The aged are killed upon request and the unborn. We are moving to the day of the deformed and the mentally handicapped. You pick up an advertisement are saturated culture of violence to speak of an ad from a videogame like moral common to read the ad. If you ever killed anyone with a chainsaw that you want to high school students Jonesboro Arkansas were told of the shootings at a nearby school.
Many of them laugh, pick up the latest newspaper and watch what adults are doing our growing culture of violence and death continues to amaze us a nurse's aide faces murder charges. A nurse's aide had a homeless man named Gregory Biggs page 37 the car. She continued driving home, he was stuck headfirst in her broken windshield. She ignored his cries for help as he bled to death in her garage. According to the report, Miss Mallard said she'd been taking the drug ecstasy and drinking that night. The victim was hit. The impact hurled him headfirst through the windshield, leaving his broken legs protruding onto the hood with big still lodged in the windshield.
Valid, panicked and drove a few miles to her Fort Worth home. This article says parked her car in the garage and lowered the door as Biggs pleaded for help.
According to the arrest warrant. Mallard waited a couple of days for Biggs to die before two friends removed his body and dumped it. Miss Mallard said she planned to burn the car and purchase a new and after she received her income tax refund Sherry or lived across the street from Mallard and occasionally visit her describe her as a nice woman who kept her lawn neatly manicured and could often be seen dressed for church on Sunday, prosecuting attorneys that I'm not have to come up with a new word in different isn't enough cruel isn't enough heartless inhumane that maybe we just redefine the inhumanity. Several times Miss Mallard actually went out into the garage and apologize the man but did nothing to help. Why because she be found out to be a drug user because she would have faced charges of driving under the influence because she faced criminal charges because he guitars her career because she could perhaps lose her job and a reputation. Perhaps some of that maybe all of that some in her heart and out of her panic and fear in her pride turned her from being just a nurse who at the church on Sunday into a physical murder but in general, and the apostle Paul pulls off the mask and says that the capability of murder resides in every human heart from the first crime recorded in Scripture which was murder. One brother killing another to the latest article in the newspaper. The capability is within us all. Just change the circumstance.
Just apply enough pressure just altered the conditions at enough selfish motive and pride and maybe fear in the world will only record one more episode in the murderous ability of the human heart was the ultimate reason for man's violence God is been abandoned. My friend is ignored. Humanity is answerable to no one. And so Dostoyevsky was right when he wrote of God does not exist. Everything is permissible. Everything is permissible without a holy, righteous God, before whom men believe they are accountable get rid of him and anything is permissible. The second thing Paul reveals that the evil chaos of mankind is that mankind is destructively on harmonious verse 16 records destruction and misery are in their paths. Destruction is what you do.
Others misery is what you bring upon yourself. Paul is referring here to the wreckage of human relationships, the word destruction is actually a rare compound Greek word soon trauma which put together means to crush up to grind up in the hands. In other words, Paul is saying that the hands of mankind are destructive that mankind crushes things he breaks things with his life. He breaks his word, he breaks his vowel he destroys relationships.
He climbs over and crushes people on his way. He fractures parts man grows tired of his toys. He wearies of his responsibilities and his commitments. The thrill of sin needs new adventure new experimentation is pride and selfishness needs new avenues to satiate his appetite for sin heart of man apart from God's this Wall Street Journal article somebody gave it a published news of the recent Valentine's Day in England that a record number of Valentines which sounds good until you read further wasn't good for marriage is in fact a survey conducted by the British found that 13% of married men and 11% of married women were sending Valentines assembly of the spouse. They've dubbed them. Unfaithful Valentines for people living in London alone, unfaithful Valentines jumped to nearly one card out of every seven cards had an individual come see me a few days ago does in the tender church did years ago.
I listen to a story he been through a series of life-changing tragedies, including bankruptcy, divorce now.
The inability to see his grown children suffered on two separate occasions a complete emotional breakdown. At one point, after having been to doctor after doctor, having been on every possible medication said 1.30 different doctor said what mailing it and he said to him, rather tongue-in-cheek. Do you have a pill for a broken heart. Do you need that until today see your heart for what it is. If you caused it in the lives of others.
The record were told with fractured lives, we can live with devastating sorrow brought about by sin and old preacher is now the Lord named George Ely once wrote it this way, sin has ruined men sin has ruined women even ruined angel sin has occasioned every tear of sorrow every sigh of grief every paying of agony. Sin has withered everything that is fair blasted everything that is good made bitter.
Everything that is sweet.
Sin has dogged every grave built every coffin woven every shroud and enlarged every cemetery. The world is ever seen. Strip Paul goes on to add in verse 16 that only his destruction on this path, but he says misery is on this path, destruction and misery are on the broad path mankind is after what he wants.
He gets up and then guess what is miserable. He pursues his sin and then guess what he pillows his head and is miserable. They are not only miserable and they cast their misery upon one another, but they are personally rewarded with Ms. Riel of the way James Dobson put it, when he wrote the grass on the other side of the fence is not really any greener. In fact, it's often not even edible. Is that true with destruction and misery lie along the path of sinful humanity. Is it any surprise that Paul would follow that descriptive phrase up with the very next one in verse 17 and the path of peace have they not known. Mankind is callously unconcerned. Mankind is destructively on harmonious.
Now here mankind is inevitably unfulfilled. This is the path that is taking people away from God. Jesus Christ called it the broad path and many there be that find it. This is the road most traveled leads the final judgment. There are three kinds of peace that will never be found on this path of sin number one peace with God.
Number two peace with others. Number three peace with ourselves. Peace with God, and on this path is you only have peace with God through Jesus Christ effective you look at page or two over defined in Romans chapter 5 verse one therefore, having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Apart from Jesus Christ.
You do not have peace with God.
You might think you have it, but you don't your self deceived comes through faith in Christ peace with others. Peace with ourselves comes again, not from ourselves but Tom's outside of ourselves from God through his Spirit. In fact, by submitting to the Holy Spirit, we discover the fruit of the Spirit is love, July, and what peace it isn't something the human heart can manufacture. It is only that which God's spirit can produce in the heart that is submitted to him file you want billing or had the night and it will be without peace apart from Christ. It's interesting to me that God invites troubled mankind with the promise of rest and peace. Listen as Isaiah quotes the word of our Lord God says I have seen man's ways, but I will heal and I will lead him and restore comfort to him creating praise peace to him was far and was near.
I will heal and your heart need healing today.
He goes on to say that the wicked are like the raging tossing the scene for it cannot be still or quiet its waters toss up, refuse and mud. There is no peace says my God for the wicked is a 5718 to 21.
Isaiah was also the same prophet who unmistakably introduce the Messiah with these wonderful words for a child will be born Thomas assignment will be given, and the government will rest upon his shoulders and his name will be called wonderful Counselor, mighty God, eternal father, Prince of peace is in 961. Peace. Today my friend. You need the Prince of peace to take the throne. The castle of your heart. What is the world do with this invitation. Can you imagine the world saying I want my misery. I want to continue destroying relationships. I want to keep breaking my word I want to submit to the want to get a lot of Venn joy and peace. Can you imagine the world whatever say no thanks.
I I'd rather walk the path.
Most traveled have these the benefits of my stubborn exactly what the world does.
Paul says in verse 18, there is no fear of God before their eyes. There's no respect. There's no trust there is no loyalty, no deference, no law, no worship of God from the unbeliever the unbeliever is afraid of a lot of things but not afraid of God.
That's why an actor like Burt Reynolds was recently asked in an interview that I read about the was asked what he would say that God and the afterlife responded in typical bravado. He said I would say to God, I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, but you've made more man fears other men, but not the sovereign ruler of all man fears, natural disaster, but he doesn't fear the creator of nature man fears the future but not the designer of eternal life. Man is afraid of death, but he doesn't fear the one who conquered it, man fears, exposure of sin to others, but he doesn't fear the supreme judge before whom he will one day stand and is afraid of eternity, but not the architect of heaven and hell.
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
So they rejected have nothing to do with part of mankind will pursue his way in one day pay the awful price member reading some time ago, an article published in Moody monthly was about an event that occurred in Chicago which is where it's published something that happened in the life of a well-known surgeon named Dr. Leo Winters's phone rang 1 o'clock in the morning. He answered it was the hospital. He wasn't necessarily on called the third been a terrible accident. The young boy was there in the hospital and they believe that only Dr. Winters had the skill necessary to save the boys life and put his body together allowed to live. So Dr. Winters got out of bed and jumped and was closing Greg's keys and ran out to his car raced away on the drive to downtown Chicago from the suburbs. He decided to take a shortcut to a rather dangerous part of town he felt like the time that he could say was precious and he was there sitting at a stoplight with a man suddenly rushed from the shadows and opened his door and yanked him out, jumped in behind the steering wheel and even though the doctor shouted after him that he was a doctor and he had to make it to the hospital and sped away is where an old flannel shirt dirty gray hat took Dr. Winters 45 minutes find a phone and another 15 or 20 to be delivered to the hospital by the time he walked into the corridor rushed up there to been over an hour and the head nurse looked at him when he got off the elevator and immediately shook her head and she said Dr. the boy died 30 minutes ago. You're too late so you can find the father down the hall. The chapel breathing is confusing can understand why you never came without taking any time to explain the staff. He rushed down the hallway and open the door the chapel there at the front was the crumpled form of that weeping father wearing that same flannel shirt, clutching dirty gray hat and a picture of humanity often tragedy humanity rushing pursue seeking help and hope pushing out of their lives. The only one safe there's no fear of God before their eyes. This is the description of mankind's depravity spirit of God for the apostle Paul was intended to leave the Romans and everyone in this audience to an understanding of why we desperately need why we helplessly claim to the deliverance of God. This is wisdom for the heart and Stephen's current teaching series is entitled the depravity of man, the deliverance of God's lesson has clarified the connection between our depravity and God's deliverance and I hope it encouraged and challenged you. This is wisdom for the heart, I invite you to learn more about our ministry and access more of Stephen's Bible teaching on our website. Wisdom online.org you can listen to each days broadcast.
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