No One Seeks for God

And so we're actually gonna pivot at that moment to look at the law, and we're gonna take 10 weeks to look at the 10 Commandments. And that's gonna be our summer series, is we're gonna go through the 10 Commandments. I have found, especially here in the Bible Belt, that more people can quote the 1st and second amendment than they can the 1st and second commandment. And yet, they are fiercely loyal to the 10 Commandments. Yet, we don't actually know what they say, let alone what they mean.

And so we'll begin that series for, beginning in 2 weeks actually. But this is gonna be our last week on Romans. And then we'll come back in August. And probably around Christmas, we will be in Romans chapter 8. So I've got it all mapped out for us. I'm looking forward to the weeks months ahead. Alright. So Romans chapter 3, we will read the first twenty verses. Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?

Much in every way, to begin with, the Jews were entrusted with 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. But if our unrighteousness 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 way.

By no means. For then, how could God judge the world? But if through my lie, God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come? As some people slanderously charge us with saying, their condemnation is just. What then? Are we Jews any better off? Not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin. As it is written, none is righteous.

No, not one. No one understands. No one seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together they have become worthless. No one does good. Not even one. Their throat is an open grave. They use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asp is under their lips.

Their mouths, mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood, and their paths are ruined and misery. And the way of peace they have not known. There's no fear of God before their eyes. 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 may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. This is the word of the Lord. Amen. Pray with me.

Father, I pray that you bring conviction and clarity to this text. That you would open up our hearts to receive your word. That we would hear you speaking gently to us. Lord, those who need to be comforted, may you comfort them. Those who need to be convicted, may you convict them. But have your way in our midst. May my words fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore. But, Lord, may your words remain. And may they change us. And we pray this in the strong name of Jesus.

Amen. Alright. So for the last two chapters, Paul has systematically been building his case against humanity. Before Paul ever gets to the good news in Romans 3, he's gotta first give us all of the bad news. He needs to prove that we actually all need to be saved. And so he's gotta talk about sin. For the last month, I keep running into the same guy at O. Henry's. Every week, I go to O. Henry's.

And I keep running into the same guy. He's found out I'm a preacher and he goes, so what are you preaching on this week? And I go, sin. Next week, he's like, so what do you preach on this week? Sin. That's been my answer for, like, 5 or 6 weeks in a row. And this last time, he just wagged his head. I was like, I get it. I mean, I get it. We're sinful.

I mean, Paul is just kind of pounding it in us, isn't he? We have been beaten down over the last 4 or 5 weeks. Paul has shown us how nature, our very conscience, our own words, the law of God, All of those things reveal our sinfulness. And now, finally, he's going to tell us what God himself says about our condition. And it's going to be devastating.

Paul has been building this airtight case against the sinfulness of humanity. In chapters 1 and 2, he presented as evidence against us, nature, our conscience, our own words, the law of God. And now, this is essentially his closing argument. God Himself is gonna come up and testify against us. But before God does this, before Paul does all of these Old Testament quotes, in verses 1 through 8, he quickly has to address a few questions, that he anticipates us having.

Now he's going to He's just gonna touch on these questions. They're complicated philosophical questions. He's actually gonna go in much greater detail in chapters 9 through 11 addressing these. But it's almost like he knows these are percolating in our minds now, and so he just touches on it before he gets to what he really wants to be talking about, beginning in verse 9. But he knows that this is likely a question some of us are having.

We're wondering, well, is there any advantage at all to, you know, maybe the way that I grew up? You know, was there any advantage to the Jews being circumcised? Was there any advantage to me being baptized, joining a church, being catechized? What's the advantage of any of those things, if none of those things save you? I mean, some of you, and by you, I mean, me, are paying a whole lot of money for your kids to go to a private Christian education.

Why? I mean, why in the world would I do that if Paul is telling us that those things don't save anyone? Now, if you've been having these questions, like I've been having these questions, take comfort that means you're tracking with Paul. Okay? That means you're actually understanding where he is in Romans correctly. Because he is anticipating this question. And so he answers. He says, well, yes. Well, of course, those things are great. Of course, those things are good.

You learn the Bible through all of those things. To which he then anticipates another question. Well, what good did that do learning the Bible? I mean, the Jews largely rejected Jesus, and they had the Bible. To which Paul says, well, their unfaithfulness only highlights God's faithfulness.

To which he anticipates another question. Well, if that's the case, shouldn't we all just be unfaithful? Shouldn't we all just keep on sinning? I mean, we should just keep on sinning if it makes God look so great. And Paul essentially says, don't be stupid. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Your judgment is deserved. And then he goes on. So that's a little philosophical argument that Paul just does immediately. He just kinda wants to address quickly those questions.

Get them out of the way. Once Once again, he's gonna deal with them in full much later. But he really wants to get to this closing argument here, that we find in verses 9 through 21. He begins this closing argument by saying that the Jews and Greeks are under sin. It's an important term, under sin.

Notice he doesn't say that they sin. That would have been true. They do sin. But instead, he actually says that we are under sin. And here he introduces this idea that sin is both an action, and it is a power over us. When we sin, sin essentially begins to take a life of its own. And it exerts power over. Sin becomes like this cruel tyrant, crushing us, weighing us down, keeping us from walking upright. We are under it. Sin has become way more than just an evil action.

It has taken a life of its own. And we are born into this. This is what the Bible calls our sin nature. You know, one does not have the flu because one coughs. One coughs because one has the flu.

Coughing is just a symptom of having the flu. And for us, lying, stealing, lusting, gossiping, cheating, doing acts of violence, all of those are symptoms of what really bothers us, which is a sick and sinful heart. That's our condition. And it's from the heart, all of those things flow out. The theological word for this is total depravity.

Humanity, men and women, are totally depraved. That does not mean that everybody is as bad as they could be. It's been misunderstood. It doesn't mean that we're as bad as we could be. It just means that everything we do is tainted somehow by sin.

The Russian poet, Turgenev, he said, I don't know what the heart of a bad man is like, but I do know what the heart of a good man is like. And it is terrible. We are all under sin, because our very hearts are sinful. Alright. So Paul, he sets up all of these old testament texts that he's about to go through with that statement there.

That we're all under sin. And now he's gonna string together 6 Old Testament texts. He's gonna quote from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Psalms, Proverbs. And he's gonna use these to tell us what God himself says about our condition. So Paul, essentially, he's bringing God to the stand to testify against us. And he begins by quoting Psalm 14 and Isaiah 53. None is righteous. No, not one. In other words, none is righteous. And not even you in the back.

I know what you're thinking. No one is righteous. God knows that everybody thinks they are the exception. That they're actually a pretty good person. So that's why he doesn't just say none are righteous. He says none are righteous. No. Not even one. If you are thinking you're pretty good, it's because you're sizing competition around you. And you're thinking, you know, I'm not bad compared to that guy.

I'm not bad compared to that lady over there. I think my righteousness stacks up pretty good. But your standard is not their righteousness. God doesn't grade on the curve. When I was in high school, and I was in geometry class, my teacher, Mrs. Dahl, she said she was on a grade on the curve. And so when she did that, we're instantly all looking around. And we're like, oh, man. There's Scott. There's this guy Scott.

He was brilliant. He was like, you know, the grade's pretty much gonna be blown. And sure enough, every time, I mean, he just kept acing it. We started going to Scott, seeing how we could entice him. I wasn't a great student.

I knew I didn't have a chance of doing well in the test. I had a better chance of bribing Scott to do poorly on the test. And so I would tell Scott, what what do you what do you need from me to tank this test? So imagine if you're in a class and the class is on righteousness. And your teacher says, I want a grade on the curve.

And you're looking around like, okay. I didn't think I'd stack up pretty well against these guys. And they're like, and we have a new person in the class today, Jesus. You're like, he sets the standard. We don't grade ourselves by one another. It's as if Jesus has come in the room. He is our standard for righteousness. And so none of us can stand before that. Everyone here has fallen short. Verse 11.

We read, no one understands. Man has lost his ability to even comprehend the things about God. To even know right or wrong, what it truly is, Who God truly is. Paul writes about this in 1st Corinthians 2, when he says, the natural person does not accept the things of the spirit of God for their folly to him. And he is not able to understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Unless God himself, through his spirit, gives you the ability to understand who he is, you cannot understand him. The word understand here, it's used elsewhere in Greek literature, actually to describe a rock. It's a it's a great way of thinking of it. You you can say whatever you want to a rock, but a rock can't comprehend or understand you. You can you can share the gospel to a rock.

I can preach to a rock, but nothing is going to ever happen to that rock. Unless something miraculous happens. It's the same with preaching to a person. God's gotta change a heart of stone into a heart of flesh, to where we can actually understand who He is. Verse 11, we read, no one seeks for God.

Now, a lot of people have a problem with this verse. No one seeks for God, because we all have in mind different people who are seeking for God. We all know people who are seeking for God. Even people of different religious faiths, you know, we might say that they're wrong, but they kind of seem to be seeking or kind of groping after Him in whatever way they can. But here, God says, no, they're not seeking.

They might be seeking after something, but it's not me. And what people are actually doing is they are seeking they're seeking for the things that God can give them, but they're not seeking for God himself. And so if you're empty inside, will you seek the fulfillment that God can give? You might be seeking a spiritual experience. You might be going through a time of crisis.

And so, you seek an answer to a prayer. You might seek God as a cure for your anxiety. You might seek him for some emotional healing due to some past trauma or abuse. You might seek God as a way of really just getting rid of all the guilt that you feel. When you do those things, you're not actually seeking God.

You're just seeking the things that God can give you. Apart from the Holy Spirit's work in your life, no one actually seeks God to know him. Just to know him. We just want the things from him. In verse 12, we read, all have turned aside. Together, they have become worthless. Turning aside here really is the sin. It's the sin that's behind all of the other sins. Turning aside is the thinking of this. God, I know that this is the path that you want me to go on.

I clearly know this is the path. But I think I'm gonna go in this direction. I think I found a better way. God, I know what you said about divorce, But I actually think my way is the better way. God, I know what you say about sex or sexuality. I hear you on that. But I think my way is the better way. I know what you said about generosity and how I'm to give away my money. But have you seen the stock market? It's a time to invest.

Giving comes later. I know you want me to forgive. But I really think I need to hold on to this grudge. Turning aside. Turning aside from the way that God wants us to go from the way. That is the sin. It's the sin that leads to all of those others is when we think our way is the better way than God's. It's us wanting to rule our own lives. And God says, as a result of all of this, we have become worthless. Or perhaps her translation says useless.

It's a interesting word. It's the word that's used to describe milk that is soured. I mean, what do you do with milk that is soured? There's not really any anything you can do. I remember my my mom, we were at a, well, I won't name the restaurant. And they gave us some coleslaw and it was, you know, it's got the milk in it and it's it was sour. It was horribly soured. And we'd say, I mean, instant, we'd just throw up. And my mom was so mad, she actually drove back. And she said, this is sour.

And the person said, no. It's not. And she goes, eat it. She goes, I don't need I'm I'm not gonna eat it. She goes, eat it. The person took one bite of it, immediately threw up. Said, there was nothing wrong with this, which you can only imagine my mom at this moment. I probably won't share this story at the 9:30 when my mom watches the livestream. But what does it get? You you just spew it out.

It's useless. It's worthless when it's spoiled. And God is saying, that's humanity. I made you for this reason. I made you to have dominion over all the earth. You were to reflect who I was. That's why I created you in my image, To be a reflection of who I am. And now, you're worthless. You're not doing the very thing I created you to do. You're of absolutely no use to me.

You're good for nothing. And then, just to, you know, drive the nail in a little deeper, God says, no one does good. Not even one. Once again, no one does good. Not even you in the back, who's raising an objection to this.

Some of you might have an objection to this because you see people doing good all the time. You know, even non Christians. Aren't they capable of doing some good? And just remember, God sees the heart. He sees the motivations behind why we do the apparent good things that we do. Remember when I shared the the story of my friend, who was devastated and because a girl rejected him and she didn't take his flowers. And I took those flowers and gave them to Lauren. Good deed. Right? No.

The motivation was it was it was driven by a radical self centeredness. God looks at our hearts. And unless we do something purely out of love for Him, it's not good. I'd also just like to add this. That in light of the scope and the severity of our sins, our good deeds, those small little things, they really aren't that good.

Imagine, if you will, a guy who's who's having an affair. And so he is meeting his mistress at a hotel. So he lies to his wife. He lies to his children. He goes off to meet this woman at the hotel. And as he's going up the elevator, he gives a generous tip to the bellhop. Tell me, didn't he do a good deed? Like, in light of the scope and the severity of his sin? No. No.

That's what God is saying about us. And in light of your scope and the severity of all that you've done, I mean, are you really gonna try to point out something? And truly, I can show you how the inner workings of that decision were poor. They weren't motivated for my glory. No one does good.

Not even one. Paul now is gonna go on to move to some more direct accusations. In verse 13, he says their throat And by the way, whenever he says they, he's talking about us. Their throat is an open grave. They use their tongues to deceive.

This is a quote from Psalm 5, and it's actually really graphic. God says that, the opening of our mouth is kinda like the opening of a pit in which there's a decaying body. In other words, when you open your mouth, I just smell the stench of death. It's a very vivid image that God uses. He says, they use their tongues to deceive.

The venom of asp is under their lips. The mouth is full of curses and bitterness. I was reading through Psalm 55 this week, which is a psalm of David. And he talks about this psalm. He talks about a friend of his who he used to eat and drink with, a companion of his, he would take counsel with.

But all along, he was secretly, this friend was secretly warring against him. And we read this line. He says, his speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords. This is what God is talking about here.

And David, of course, was writing about King Saul. You You know, he used to eat at the king's table. The king would say, you were a son to me. And say all these flattering things to David. But all along, king Saul was plotting to kill him.

But it struck me this week as I was reading Psalm 55, that very psalm could be used to describe someone else, as well. Years later, David could read that very psalm and it would stand in judgment of him. Remember when he had an affair with Uriah's wife, Bathsheba? And he tried to cover it up. He brought Uriah over for dinner. Had a big feast. Said lots of flattering words to him. Yet, all along, David was plotting war. And went on to kill him. David's gonna be condemned by his own words.

If even the great King David's throat is like an open grave. Even the man after God's own heart. If his lips were softer than oil, but they were also like drawn swords, what hope do we have? Once again, no one is righteous. No, not one.

In verse 15, we read, their feet are swift to shed blood in their paths. Or shed to shed blood, and their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. Has there ever been a time in human history where we've not been killing one another? I mean, it's an indisputable fact that humans are violent and we kill one another. I actually looked up the question.

I wanted to see what Google had to say. You know, has there ever been a time in history where we haven't been killing one another? It led me to a book. A man named Will Durant wrote a book, Lessons from History. And he wrote that in the 3,421 years of human history, recorded human history, only 268 of those have seen no war.

But, of course, in those times, there were many acts of personal violence and murder. Humans are swift to shed blood. I've said this before, but if you are a parent of a 23 year old, the only reason your child hasn't ripped your head off, isn't due to some inherent kindness in them. It's because they lack the strength. That's it.

I mean, have you seen seen a kid, like, you know, having a temper tantrum just writhing around in the ground? They're trying to turn into the Hulk. That is like what they are trying to do to get that strength to tear you apart. It's in us. The violent we spend all of our time as parents trying to get that out of children. No. Don't hit. Don't take. Don't say those things, hurtful things. The violence is in us and we are so quick to run towards it.

We are quick to shed blood. Verse 18, there is no fear of God in their eyes. The lack of fear we have before God, actually leads to all of these other sins that we've just looked at. We sin because we don't fear judgment. We don't fear God.

Now, we still fear a lot of things. We might fear being called ignorant Or we might fear being called intolerant or judgmental. We might fear being called old fashioned, but we don't fear God. We fear what others think about us, but we do not fear what God thinks about us. If any of you have raised teenagers, I have 3 teenage daughters.

Pray for me. So, I have 3 teenagers. If any of you have raised teenagers, you know that there will be times when certain activities or parties are going to be planned, Perhaps, after a football game or after a dance or something like that. And it astonishes me that parents won't raise any concerns at all. No objections.

No matter how terrible the activities are. And the reason they will not raise any objections is because they fear their teenager, but they do not fear God. They fear the other parents and the judgment that might come from other parents, but they do not fear God. And so they just blindly go along with it. In Luke chapter 12, Jesus says this.

He sets it up by saying, I tell you my friends. First, you need to know you're my friends. Do not fear those who kill the body. And after that, have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you who to fear. Fear him who after he has killed, has authority to cast you into hell. Yes. I tell you, fear him. Now, in verse 19, Paul gives his summary statement to all of 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 may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, Since through the law comes knowledge of sin. When Paul uses that line, he says that every mouth will be stopped. The picture is as is of us being in the courtroom, and God has just laid out this devastating case against us. And now it's our turn to give a defense.

And we open our mouths, but nothing can come out. I mean, what can we possibly say at this moment? I mean, we really have no defense. Nature has come out and testified against us. Our conscience has testified against us. God's law has testified against us. God's very own words has testified against us. God sitting in the stand testifying against us. What are we supposed to say? So we get up there and we open our mouth and we're like.

We're just silenced. There is no defense. All humanity stands condemned. Now, this is actually our hope though, is to not make a defense. To not say, well, God, what about this? Or to come up with some excuse. Because we read that God doesn't, He doesn't forgive excuses. God forgives sins. And when we cease to make excuses, when we actually shut our mouths before Him and we humble ourselves before God, we confess who we are and what we have done. Christ forgives us.

Paul is about to. This is where it all turns and Paul is about to give us the good news of the gospel. We're actually gonna stop here because the entire summer, I just want you to sit and sin. Alright? We're stopping here. But verse 22 begins with the words, but. It's the turning point. All of Romans turns after this statement. Actually, I can't let you sit all summer in condemnation. That would just be cruel.

So I'm going to give you a little hint of what is coming. The good news of the gospel is this. Yes. You are a sinner. And you might think you're bad, but just know you're a lot worse than you actually think you are. Yet, at the same time, you are more loved than you could ever even imagine. You are more accepted by God than you ever thought possible. Yes. You are bad. So bad, Jesus had to die for your sins.

Yet, so loved that Jesus died for your sins. And if you humble yourself before him and if you call out to him, he'll give you life. A joyful new life will be yours. Pray with me. Lord Jesus, I pray that when we think of the things we have done, we would humble ourselves. We would close our mouths and not make any excuses. Not point to others and say, see. They're worse. I'm not as bad as as as him or her. But, Lord, we would shut up.

Confess our sin. Ask for forgiveness. Jesus, you loved us so much that you gave your life for us. And you now offer us new life in you. And I pray we would reach out and grab hold of that. We love you, and we pray this in your name. Amen.