IN NEED OF SOMETHING – PT 1
Romans 3:1-8
* (MOVIE) We are all in need of something. And the sad thing is, most of the time “we simply cannot seem to put our finger on what it is that we need.” These musicians just seen on our screen, all seem to have the idea that “IF” they could get to the top of their field, all would be well. Yet, we have witnessed (and even been) the person who achieved great success and find himself unfulfilled. And the search goes on. What IS this insatiable drive (desire and hope) which we have inside of us?
* It is the need to believe! We need to believe in something bigger than us, to discover something that is larger than we are. And that something is a someone, and that someone’s name is Jesus. Only when we discover Jesus will we find satisfaction, fulfillment, and contentment in this life. For you see, God designed us for a relationship with HIM. It was in the Garden of Eden where sin broke relationship with Him. Today SIN still stands in the way of a pure relationship with God. In the vernacular, mankind has fallen down and we cannot get up, at least not by ourselves. Now we “THINK” we can get up but...
* We have come to think that we are pretty good. In fact, most people today think that “I am basically a good person.” I am reminded of what Chuck Colson, the former hatchet man for President Nixon and now born again minister has said, “The greatest myth of our time is that people are basically good. It is not true. We are bent toward evil."
* One of the fundamental teachings of the Bible is found in Psalm 14:3 (actually this verse appears multiple times in the Bible), “There is no one who does good, not even one.” Factoring in the truth that God will not allow sin in His presence gives us reason to be concerned.
* We continue our study in Paul’s letter to the church at Rome, which is appropriately named “Romans.” Today, we begin our reading in Chapter 3. Let’s all turn there.
* Be reminded that in the first two chapters of this letter Paul has pronounced condemnation on the heathen (Ch 1), the Hebrews (ch 2), the hypocrites (ch 3 last week), and today it is on humanity. Let’s read the first 8 verses.
* We are calling this journey through Romans, “God’s Glorious Gospel” believing that the word “gospel” means “good news.” Yet, you and I must admit that we have not heard much good news since chapter 1, verses 16 and 17 where Paul writes the gospel is the Power of God for Salvation that leads us to live from faith to faith. Since verse 18 we have heard words like judgment, condemnation, and blasphemed. The question many may have is this; where is the good news of the gospel?
* Take this statement to heart; there is no good news and there will be no good news for me UNTIL I clearly understand, embrace, and accept the bad news. Every person in this building knows what it is to receive a little bad news only to overlook it and think it will go away. It is our human nature which seems to refuse to deal with a problem until the pain of staying the same hurts worse than the pain of change. As long as we can get by with a set of circumstance, we will resist change. So what is this bad news? It is sin & sin that must be faced.
* Without apology, yet without being offensive, I will submit to you that the reason the church is so weak today is that many have been ushered into membership, through baptism, simply praying a prayer, without the least bit of remorse for their sin or seeing their eternal destination as a place called hell. Rather, there was simply an external change without an internal or eternal change. The result is what Jesus, in Matthew 23, called white washed tombs or half-cleaned cups, which look good on the outside but are filthy inside. In need of cleansing.
* In our text today, Paul is attempting to make us come face to face with our sin and the consequences thereof so that we will turn to Christ. Today I offer one thought.
1) The Exposure of My Sin - To expose is to reveal, allow something to be seen, or even “make vulnerable.” Much of the time when something is exposed it causes pain. If you have ever had a cavity which exposed the nerve in your tooth, every time you ate, drank, or breathed it hurt? It you have cut your skin you exposed those nerves and experienced pain. The same is even more so true in the spiritual realm. Not long ago the Mayor of New York understood this principle in a real way. He was exposed for all the things He seemingly was against.
* Paul now begins to build a case, like a legal case, which helps us see our sin for what it is & from where it comes.
a) I am deceived – (Verses 1-4). Of all the things which we are cautioned about in the Bible, deception and/or self-deception heads the list. To be deceived is to believe as fact something that is in reality false. Obviously God knows we have this propensity because the warnings are never ending. Also, not only ARE we deceived, but we also deceive others. Peter writes, “So rid yourself of all deceit.” James tells us, “don’t be deceived” and then goes on to tell us “if we only listen to the word and don’t do it, we deceive ourselves.”
==> By the end of chapter 2 Paul has summarily cut the legs out from under the Jews and their deceived view of life. They believed that because of their heritage, all they had to do was keep the law, be circumcised, observe the traditions, and they would be a part of God’s kingdom. So in light of Paul’s pointed words, he now asks the question, what advantage or benefit is it in being a Jew? And the only benefit was the keeper of the sacred word of God. Not salvation or righteousness.
==> Did you know that same question can be asked of us today? What advantage is it to be a Baptist or a Church member? We, like they, have been entrusted with the word of God. Notice this, just like the Jew, we are not granted eternal life because of our status. However we are held to a higher standard because we know the word and that it says, “God is true and every man a liar.” We have no excuse for being deceived.
==> Yet, today the deception runs deep as there is a vast undercurrent of false believing.
(1) Some will say, “no virgin birth” –
(2) Others will say, “the Bible may not be true”
(3) Yet other may say, “Jesus is not the only way”
==> “Let God be true and every man a liar.”
==> The sad part is that because we have become so biblically illiterate, not only are we deceived by our sin, we can be deceived by worldly philosophies.
==> Why is this? That brings us to Paul’s next thought.
b) I am depraved – (Verses 5-7) First of all, it is interesting that this word jumps out at us this week. Depraved is not a word we use every day (and there is a reason for this), however last Wednesday in Men’s Fraternity we studied the wounded heart or better said the depraved mind. Depravity is not about being the worst you can possibly be, it is about everything you do being tainted by sin. Because we are deceived, we don’t think right and our thinking is bent toward evil.
==> We don’t have to teach kids how to be self-centered; we must teach them how to be selfless. (candidly, some adults seem to never have learned this lesson) This is our depravity. This is me. I can be self-centered. This is my natural reaction to the circumstances which come my way. I submit that every person in this room is wired the same way.
==> Could the reason we do not use this word much be that it strikes to close to home? We don’t care to be reminded of those secrets which we have locked away inside. Guess what? It’s not a secret.
==> Truthfully, we have attempted to “fix” our minds.
==> We have tried education. Today, we call ourselves enlightened, but are we truly better?
==> We have tried therapy; you know “self-revelation.” That is, thinking more of ourselves or having a good self-image. Today, we THINK we’re pretty good, but look at the culture this has created.
==> We have even tried religion and the results have been disastrous.
==> In verse 5 Paul begins an “if-then” proposition which reveals our flawed & faulty minds. (read)
==> Please hear this; we cannot “fix” ourselves. We don’t have the capacity. We cannot educate ourselves out of depravity, we cannot change our environment and eradicate our depravity, we cannot become “self-aware” and impact our depravity, and we cannot even get religious enough to erase our depravity. We can only be saved from it. This takes an internal transformation.
==> Without this divine transformation, our thinking and actions make as much sense as the logic in verse 8, “let’s do evil to make God look good.” Thoughts and action which sound like this lead to this truth;
c) I am deserving – (Verses 8b) Paul concludes the thought of exposing our sin with this statement, you are deserving of condemnation. Ouch. KJV says it this way, “Their damnation is just,” another translation says, “they deserve to be condemned”, still another says, “they should be condemned.” In essence he says, “You depend on the wrong things, believe the wrong way, and act like the devil, so you deserve what you get.” We should never lose sight of the truth that the wages of sin is death. We have to come to grips with this truth; He is talking to ME, to YOU. Verse 9 tells us that all of humanity is under the curse of sin.
==> Death from sin speaks to the physical death from the original sin Garden of Eden. It speaks to spiritual death of separation from Paradise which is so visible in the Garden. It speaks of eternal death to those dead in their sin to reside forever in the Lake of Fire.
==> In his classic message “Sinners in the Hands of an angry God,” Jonathon Edwards made many sobering statements;
==> There is nothing that keeps wicked men at one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God.
==> Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and they are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not beat their weight and these places are not seen.
> I am thinking of 2 books in my office, both of them about “near death” experiences. One is entitled “90 minutes in Heaven.” This is the one everyone WANTS to read (they should). The other is “23 minutes in Hell.” (excerpts) Did you hear that? No relief of any kind, just like Jesus tells in the parable of the Rich Man & Lazarus.
> Exposing our sin is not enjoyable at all, but it is required for us to come to Christ for forgiveness which is what we NEED. I’m in need of something? Yes.
> Have you come face to face with your sin? Have you seen yourself as one who is a sinner in need of a Savior? If not, now is the time.
