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Even Worse Than You Thought (Romans 3:9-20) | Louis Azuma
01:35 Realization of Sinfulness
05:09 The Nature of Sin
06:54 Sin's Control Over Us
10:50 Active Participation in Sin
15:28 Rebellion Against God
18:13 Admit Your Complete Sinfulness
20:19 The Illusion of Good Deeds
24:54 The Law Reveals Our Sin
30:33 Abandon Self-Reliance
36:16 The Danger of Holding Onto Sin
39:47 A Prayer for Repentance and Faith
Transcript
We were looking at Romans three, nine through 20.
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:And um, when I was in.
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:I, I probably told you this before, when
I was in high school, I was really cool.
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:Um, I was in marching band and so
there was a point though in high
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:school that maybe some of you are
starting to realize maybe if you
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:play a sport, you play an instrument.
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:There's a point where I realized
that, that I wasn't good enough
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:to be a professional musician.
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:There was a point where reality
looked me in the face and I
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:realized I'm not gonna make it.
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:Someday.
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:For most of you who play sports or play
instruments, there's gonna be a day
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:when you're, maybe it's in college,
maybe it's in high school, where you're
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:gonna realize, I'm not gonna make it
to the MLB, I'm not gonna make it.
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:I'm not, I'm not good enough.
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:There's gonna be a day where you
have to come to terms with the
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:fact of what you really like.
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:You know, you're, you don't throw hard
enough, you're not talented enough.
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:Right.
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:You, you, you can't practice enough.
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:No amount of practice will overcome
your, your lack of talent or
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:your lack of genetics, right?
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:There's gonna be a time where
you're gonna have to, to see
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:yourself as you really are.
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:Right?
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:And for me, that was the
middle of high school.
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:I realized I, I went to this, I, I I
was, because I thought I was really good.
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:And then I, I went to this, like, I joined
this like advanced orchestra, which is.
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:I was really cool.
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:I know.
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:Um, I know you're all really jealous of me
and, and I realized I'm not good enough.
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:Like these guys are way better than me.
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:There's I, I'm, I, I'm not good enough.
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:I can't do it.
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:I hope that very soon, if it hasn't
happened to you already, that reality
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:has looked you in the face and you
have realized that you're a sinner.
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:I hope that.
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:That's already happened to you, or I
hope that might happen to you tonight,
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:that you are gonna to realize, to
see yourself the way you really are,
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:that you're not good enough, that you
aren't just someone who's, who makes
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:mistakes or occasionally does the
wrong thing, or isn't always perfect.
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:But tonight, I, I want you to
realize that you and, and I, and
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:everyone in this room is wicked evil.
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:That every single person who's
ever walked the face of the earth
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:is sinner a terrible, guilty,
condemned, awful sinner, and that
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:deserves God's wrath in hell forever.
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:That's the realization I
want you to have tonight.
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:Tonight our main point, I want you to
agree with God about your sinful state.
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:I want you to to see yourself
the way you really are.
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:I don't want you to sugarcoat it.
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:I don't want you to, to try to
patch it up with, I'm not that
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:bad, or everyone else does it too.
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:Or what about that person over there?
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:I want you to see yourself
as you really are and agree
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:with what God says about you.
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:I heard a story this week that, um,
there was a guy who was, uh, this
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:is, it was, it was one of my favorite
stories I've heard in a while.
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:This guy, um, someone asked them to take
a, him to take a picture of their family.
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:Or like a portrait, uh, of, of
like some guy, you know, they're
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:walking, oh, can you take my picture?
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:He's like, actually, I
already have your picture.
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:And they were like, what?
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:That's super creepy.
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:You have my picture.
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:And he opened up his Bible
and he read them this passage.
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:He said, this passage is your picture.
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:This passage is you,
you're looking in a mirror.
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:When you read this passage, you're looking
at yourself when you read these words.
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:So that's what we're gonna see tonight.
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:Before we get there, I want you to
remember where we're at, where we're at.
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:Romans is a letter.
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:It's a, it's an argument.
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:It's a, it's a series of thoughts.
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:It's one connected train of
thought, and it's easy to lose
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:that when we go slowly like this.
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:I mean, this isn't really
that slow for Romans.
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:There's people that take way longer to
go through Romans than we're doing, but.
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:We're in this big first section.
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:God's wrath is good.
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:God's wrath is righteous.
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:God's wrath is the right
response towards sinners like us.
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:We, we think God should punish us.
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:That's, that's the conclusion that
we're getting to the, the point
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:of this section is we wanna get to
this next part, next week's sermon.
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:I don't want you to be surprised
that God sends people to hell.
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:I want you to be just surprised
that God forgives anyone.
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:That's where I want you to
be by 6:30 PM next Wednesday.
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:I don't want you to be surprised
that people go to hell.
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:I want you to be surprised
that anyone doesn't go to hell.
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:That's the the, that's what
Romans is setting us up for.
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:Okay.
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:So what's happening?
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:How do we get there?
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:Well, this is kind of Paul's
tying everything together.
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:Paul, the Apostle Paul, he wrote
this letter to the church in Rome.
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:He's tying all of all of these
steps together into this big
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:conclusion, and, and this is the
conclusion that he's come to.
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:So read.
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:Um, actually before that we're
gonna do things a little different.
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:I'm gonna give you the point first, and
then I'll, we'll look at the verses.
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:Okay?
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:So our first point is we need
to ag, we need to agree with
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:God about who we are, right?
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:Acknowledge your rebellion against God.
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:There's a few different ways
that the Bible talks about sin.
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:We talk about sin, maybe the, the
most common way you think of sin
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:is maybe missing the mark, right?
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:I messed up, I made a mistake.
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:Maybe that's the way you think of
sin, or maybe you think of sin,
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:um, as doing the wrong thing.
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:I, I disobeyed God.
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:Sin isn't just disobeying.
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:Sin is actually personal.
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:Sin is you personally rejecting
God, rebelling against God.
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:Sin is is you turning away from God.
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:You're God's the God's, the
ruler, and you're saying, I don't
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:want you to be in charge of me.
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:That's what sin.
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:And that's the first part of
what Paul wants us to see.
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:Look at verse nine of chapter three.
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:So we just talked about some arguments
against the gospel and then we talked
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:about a lot about Jews and Gentiles.
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:Verse nine, what then are
we Jews any better off?
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:Right?
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:Is there any advantage to being Jewish?
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:Is there any advantage to being God's
chosen people from the Old Testament?
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:Paul says, no, there's, you're not
any better off on Judgment Day.
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:You don't get any extra righteousness
credited to your account.
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:There's no, there's no benefits to being
a Jew when it comes to judgment four.
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:Why?
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:We have already charged that all.
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:Both Jews and Greeks are under sin.
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:Under sin.
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:Let's look at that under sin.
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:What does that mean?
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:Right?
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:Does that mean like sin is.
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:On top and we're like literally under sin.
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:No.
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:So what does that mean?
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:Well, what Paul's doing here is he's,
he's giving us a picture of sin.
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:Like sin is a slave master,
or sin is a, a kingdom.
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:And he's saying that every single
person, you, me, doesn't matter
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:where we're from, doesn't matter how
much religion we have in our past.
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:Doesn't matter how, what church we went
to or who our parents are, every single
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:person starts off in this category.
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:Under sin, every single person
starts off under sins mastery.
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:The way we talked about it, our
community group last night, was
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:that sin is driving the car.
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:Sin is taking you where it wants to go.
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:You aren't driving the car,
sin is driving the car, right?
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:Some of you guys, you get.
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:Sibling driving and you're
stuck in, in the back.
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:Your siblings taking you places
that you don't want to go.
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:You don't want to go get ice cream.
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:You're stuck in the back of the car.
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:They're your ride.
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:You gotta go, right?
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:What Paul is saying here is that that's
every single person when it comes to sin.
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:Sin is in charge of you.
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:Sin is in control of you.
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:And that's different than maybe
some, some things that you
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:might think about sin, right?
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:You might think of sin as
something that I choose.
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:I'm the one who's, who's
in control of my life.
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:I'm making these decisions.
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:I'm the one who's, who's
choosing what to do.
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:I get to decide, oh,
I'm not gonna do this.
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:I'm gonna do that.
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:I don't do this.
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:I am, I don't love this.
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:I love this.
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:Instead, you, maybe you think
you're the one in control,
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:but really sin is addictive.
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:You think you control it, but really
your sinful desires control you.
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:You don't control your sinful desires.
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:They control.
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:You,
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:it's when you think
about addiction, right?
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:A lot of people who, who are
addicted to things think that
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:they can stop whenever they want,
and that's how they get addicted.
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:They think, well, okay,
I'll start doing this drug.
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:Or maybe it's, you know,
I'll start playing this game.
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:And then they can't stop.
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:They can't stop.
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:I remember when we went to, um, strikes.
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:Right.
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:There was a, a game that may or may
not have been gambling, and there
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:were some students there who were
gambling, um, and they couldn't stop.
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:They, they couldn't leave.
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:They literally wouldn't, they like
begging their parents, please,
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:please don't make us leave.
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:Please don't make us leave.
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:We need to stay here.
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:We can't leave.
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:They thought, oh, well this
game's not in control of me.
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:I'm playing the game.
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:But, but really the game's
in control of them, right?
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:Because they're locked in, they
can't leave, they're stuck.
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:They're like, I can't leave this game.
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:I have to get everything right.
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:Sin is addictive.
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:Sin isn't just bad things you do.
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:I heard a pastor put it like this.
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:Sin is a slave.
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:Master.
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:Sin isn't just you saying,
oh, I do these bad things.
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:Sin is actually taking control of you.
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:You're under sin.
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:Maybe you think, oh, well, I
can just stop sinning when I get
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:older and I'll become a Christian.
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:Then Paul's saying that
you're actually under sin.
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:Your sinful desires are
in the driver's seat.
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:They're driving you around.
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:All you can do is sin.
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:You can't stop.
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:You're stuck.
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:But it's easy to say that and then be
like, well, I'm just a victim, right?
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:My sin controls me.
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:I just do whatever my sinful desires want.
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:How I'm not responsible then, right?
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:'cause I'm a sinner.
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:That's just what I do.
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:I sin.
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:I can't help it.
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:That's actually the opposite
of what Paul's about to say.
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:Keep reading here in verse 10.
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:He's gonna quote a bunch
of Old Testament passages.
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:Verse 10.
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:As it is written, no one is righteous.
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:No, not one.
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:No one understands.
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:No one seeks for God.
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:Everyone all has have turned aside.
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:Together.
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:They have become.
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:Worthless like corrupt.
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:No one does good.
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:Not even one.
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:You aren't just a victim
of your sinful desires.
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:You're an active participant in them.
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:You're not just in the back of
the car being driven around.
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:You're in the back of the
car enjoying the ride.
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:You're in the back of the
car saying, this is awesome.
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:Please take me there.
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:Please let me go where you want me to go.
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:I love this ride.
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:You're not just stuck in the car, you
actually are stuck in the car because
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:you don't wanna get out of the car.
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:It doesn't even matter if there's
a child lock on, you can't get out.
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:You're saying, I love this.
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:I want to be here.
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:And that's what sinful desires are like.
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:You're not just a a victim to them.
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:You are a willing participant.
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:That's what Paul's talking about.
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:No one is righteous.
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:No one likes doing the right thing.
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:He's saying every single
person loves sinning.
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:No one understands.
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:What that means is that there's no one
who naturally agrees with what God says.
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:Everyone naturally
opposes God and His word.
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:That's your natural disposition.
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:That's what you're
naturally like naturally.
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:No one says, oh, you know what?
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:I want to follow God.
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:I want to to be unselfish
and love other people.
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:That has to come from God.
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:It doesn't come from you.
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:All of our values are
backward to God's values.
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:Like you think about, a great
example is humility, right?
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:You don't have to teach
a baby to be prideful.
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:You don't have to teach a baby to
look out for their best interests.
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:Every baby grows up thinking
about themselves when they
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:don't get what they want.
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:They cry when they're hungry.
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:They cry when they're cold.
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:They cry when they're hot.
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:They cry, right?
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:They're, do they care if
they're waking their parents up?
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:No.
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:They just wanna get what they want, right?
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:Then you get older and really you
just learn how to like socially
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:make your sin socially acceptable.
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:So instead of crying, you just gossip
about people instead, or you exclude
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:them or you hurt them or whatever.
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:So everyone, sin comes
naturally to everyone.
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:Every single person naturally
is opposed to God's values.
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:God loves things like humility.
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:We love things like pride.
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:God loves things like peace.
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:We naturally are anxious.
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:We naturally worry about all
these different things that
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:we don't need to worry about.
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:You don't have to try to sin.
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:Also, when we talk about no
one seeks for God, right?
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:You think about, well, there's all
these religious people out there.
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:There's all these other religions.
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:Everyone seems to know that God exists.
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:What do you mean no one seeks for God?
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:Right?
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:You're telling me that the Buddhist
monk isn't seeking for God.
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:You're telling me that the, the,
the Muslim guy who, who goes
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:to and prays seven times a day,
he, he doesn't seek for God.
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:Well, one, he's not seeking
for this God, right?
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:But also no one naturally wants God.
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:We just want His stuff.
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:We don't really want God, we want.
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:God gives us, we love the things that
God gives us more than we love God.
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:That's called idolatry, right?
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:We, we say, oh God, well, I
want you to make me happy.
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:I want you to keep me safe.
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:I want you to give me the,
the, the grades I want.
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:I want you to gimme the friends I want.
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:I want you to make my siblings do
what I want, but I don't want you.
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:We don't naturally want God.
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:We just naturally want his
stuff because we're sinners.
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:That's how deeply rooted
our sin is, in fact.
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:We all avoid God, that word turned aside.
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:It sounds kind of weak.
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:It's like, oh, I just made a wrong turn.
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:What it really means is like you're
avoiding, you're going out of the way.
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:People go out of their
way to not look for God.
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:People go out of their way to avoid
God, and we've all been there, right?
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:All of us have actively avoided God.
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:You've actively decided,
God's given me a Bible.
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:I don't wanna read it.
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:You've actively decided.
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:God's offered himself to me in prayer.
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:Not gonna do it.
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:We've all actively turned away from God.
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:God has said, I give life, I give peace.
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:I give joy.
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:And we say, well actually God, I
can be happier doing my own thing.
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:I can be happier living my own way.
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:I can be happier making my own
decisions and not listening to you.
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:We all turn aside.
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:We all reject God.
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:We say, God, your way's dumb.
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:My way's better.
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:I'm gonna do that.
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:That's sin.
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:Whenever we sin, that's what we're saying.
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:We're saying, God, I don't want you.
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:I want me.
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:That's sin.
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:We are all so sinful.
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:We are rebelling against God.
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:We're opposing God, right?
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:Sin isn't just making mistakes.
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:Sin is actively opposing God.
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:When we sin, right?
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:When, when, like for example, let's
just take, um, let's take anger, right?
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:You get upset with someone in your heart.
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:You hate them in your heart.
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:That's you saying, God, this
person is so inconvenient to me or
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:bothering me so much that I'm going
to, to murder them in my heart.
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:You're rebelling against God.
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:That's what, that's what anger is.
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:Or let's take um, anxiety, right?
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:Anxiety, rejection of God.
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:Anxiety is saying, God,
I know that you're good.
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:I know that you're wise.
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:I know that you love me,
but I don't trust you.
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:I need.
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:To be safe.
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:That's what anxiety is.
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:It's a rebellion against God.
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:It's saying, God, I'm gonna live as if
you don't exist, and I'm gonna live as
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:if this thing is more powerful than you.
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:I'm gonna be more afraid of
this thing than I am of you.
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:It's rebelling against God.
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:So all, all sin is, is actively
rejecting God and rebelling against him.
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:Remember, sin is sinful because
of what it says about God.
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:I heard one pastor, he said that if.
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:God didn't exist.
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:And let's say you were a successful
version of Hitler and you
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:actually did kill all of the Jews,
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:would that person, if there
was no God, no heaven, no.
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:Hell would that person deserve to
suffer forever for their punishment.
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:If they killed, if they succeeded in
wiping out a whole race of people,
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:they wouldn't deserve to suffer forever.
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:They did a finite amount of sin and
they sinned against finite people.
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:If you sin against an infinitely
awesome and amazing God, that's why
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:you deserve infinite punishment.
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:You don't go to hell because of
what your sin does to other people.
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:You go to hell because
your sin says God is.
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:Even though he's the most amazing,
most glorious, most worthy to be
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:trusted, most worthy, to be loved
most, he's so patient with me, he,
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:he's so kind to me and I don't care.
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:That's why sin sends people to hell
forever because of God, not because
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:of what happens to other people.
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:So even if you say, oh, my
sins not hurting anyone,
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:what does it say about God?
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:Sin is sinful because of what it
says about God, not because of
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:what it says about other people.
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:And because of all that, our sin has
made us, this word says worthless.
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:It's ruined us.
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:We've become corrupt.
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:We've become thoroughly
infected by our sin.
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:So our second point tonight is
admit that you are thoroughly
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:evil, thoroughly, right?
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:Whole, holistically all of you.
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:Every part of you is
infected by sin, right?
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:You're not a house that just
has a couple rooms of sin and a
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:couple rooms of righteousness.
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:Every part of you is sinful.
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:I don't know if you've seen this before,
but if you've seen the difference between
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:when you put food coloring in cold water
and when you put it in hot water, it's
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:like this science experiment people do.
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:When you put food coloring in cold
water, it takes way longer to spread out.
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:When you put it in hot water, it
fills the whole thing pretty fast.
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:So I think a lot of times
we see ourselves like this.
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:We say, well, yeah, part of me might
be sinful, but part of me is not.
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:I do some good things.
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:I do some bad things right?
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:Part of me loves God.
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:Part of me doesn't, and we see ourselves
as, oh, well, parts of me are bad.
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:Parts of me are infected by
sin and parts of me aren't.
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:Part of me are clean water.
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:Part of me is.
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:Polluted water.
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:Right?
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:Really, this is us apart from
Christ, all of us are colored by sin.
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:All of us.
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:This, this sin is infecting every
part of us, not just some parts.
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:It's not like, oh, well I'm, I'm only
sinful when I'm with those people, or I'm
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:only sinful when I'm doing bad things.
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:Actually.
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:Because of how thoroughly,
how sinful we are.
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:You're always under sin.
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:Apart from Christ, you are
always infected by sin.
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:That's what Paul talks about in verse 12.
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:Everyone's turned away from God,
the other of become corrupt.
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:No one does good.
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:Not even one.
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:No one does good.
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:Paul is saying that that billionaire.
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:Atheist who donates to
charity, he's not doing good.
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:What do you agree with that?
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:That sounds weird, right?
442
:Well, why?
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:Well, when you think about it,
every good deed that someone does,
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:if it's not for God, who's it for?
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:It's for them.
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:It's selfish.
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:And remember what we
talked about with sin?
448
:Sin is sin because of
what it says about God.
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:If you donate a billion
dollars to charity.
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:For you.
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:What are you saying about God?
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:You're not even acknowledging God.
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:You're saying God is worthless.
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:God isn't important.
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:God's not worth my time.
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:You're stealing glory from God.
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:Maybe you're drawing
attention to yourself.
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:So really that good thing that
you did is still infected by sin.
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:There's no clean water in that activity.
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:It's all polluted.
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:Think about all the things, all the the
good things that you could do for selfish
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:reasons, and think about your life if
maybe before you were a Christian or
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:maybe now you're, you're not a Christian,
think about all the good things you
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:do and think about how your motives
are so sometimes double sided, right?
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:It's like, well, did I really do that?
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:Did I really?
467
:Say that encouraging word to that person
because I wanted to encourage them, or did
468
:I say it because I wanted 'em to like me?
469
:Maybe both, but guess what?
470
:Is that a pure act then?
471
:No, it's infected by sin or, oh, well,
did I really, um, answer that question in
472
:small group because I wanted to be honest?
473
:Or was I answering it because
I wanted attention and I
474
:wanted to impress my leader?
475
:Well, even if it's both, guess what?
476
:Not a pure motive, right?
477
:So we're incapable apart from, from
God of doing anything good because
478
:everything about us is infected by sin.
479
:Just like all of the water
in the jar is polluted.
480
:And then Paul goes on to talk
about how he talks about a lot of
481
:different body parts here, right?
482
:You see things like throat.
483
:Tongues, lips, mouth.
484
:And then we talk about feet
and we talk about like walking,
485
:and then we talk about eyes.
486
:I think what Paul's trying to say
here is he, so he's compiled a bunch
487
:of quotes from the Old Testament,
and what he's saying is that you're
488
:evil from head to toe, right?
489
:From your head to your feet.
490
:You're a terrible person.
491
:That's what Paul's saying.
492
:Paul is saying that your words
are, they tear people down.
493
:They're an an asp, that's a snake.
494
:That's like a Egyptian cobra.
495
:If you know about Cleopatra,
that's probably the kind that
496
:she used to kill herself Anyway.
497
:Um, there your mouth.
498
:And what did you just
say about our mouths?
499
:Right?
500
:Our mouths reveal our hearts.
501
:He says, out of the abundance
of your heart, the mouth speaks.
502
:What comes outta your mouth is
actually showing your heart.
503
:So everything about us is polluted by sin.
504
:See how Paul here is focusing
on motives and intentions too.
505
:Not just actions.
506
:He's not just talking about the
external things that people can see.
507
:He's talking about the things
that go on in your heart
508
:that no one else knows about.
509
:Right?
510
:He's talking about deceiving people.
511
:He's talking about bitterness, right?
512
:I, I might not be able
to tell if you're bitter.
513
:Your parents might not be able to tell
if you're, if you're being bitter, if
514
:you're holding a grudge against someone,
if you're tearing someone, someone down
515
:when, when they, they walk away or even.
516
:Their feet are swift to shed blood.
517
:That's an intention.
518
:That's it.
519
:I, I want to hurt someone.
520
:So
521
:even our good deeds are
filled with mixed motives.
522
:They're filled with selfishness,
they're filled with pride, and so
523
:we are thoroughly infected by sin.
524
:There's no part of us
that's untouched by sin.
525
:We're not like, oh, 90%
sinful, 10% good, or.
526
:60% righteous, 40% sinful.
527
:Everyone is 100% sinful, 100% sinful
before God does something to you.
528
:But also sin makes us
blind to our need for help.
529
:So if you keep reading
in our passage, verse 19.
530
:After all those quotes, Paul
says, now that we know, whatever
531
:the law says, it speaks to those
who are under the law, right?
532
:So under the law, that means the
people that are under the authority
533
:of the law, so that every mouth
may be stopped and the whole world
534
:may be held accountable for God.
535
:So no objections.
536
:No objections.
537
:Every single person is accountable to God.
538
:Every single person falls short of
God's standard, and every single
539
:person is responsible for that.
540
:That's why we all deserve God's punishment
because God has a standard, he, he gives
541
:the law and no one can make any excuse.
542
:You can't say, well, God, I, I
wasn't sure that you existed.
543
:Right.
544
:Romans one, we talked about how
everyone knows that God exists
545
:and then you say, well, um, maybe
I was part of the right group.
546
:I got baptized, or I went to church,
or My parents are Christians.
547
:Romans two, right.
548
:Paul talked about how even the
Jewish people have all these
549
:religious advantages, but.
550
:They don't measure up to
God's standard either.
551
:So no one has any, any standing to say,
God, actually you shouldn't condemn me.
552
:You shouldn't punish me for my sin.
553
:So sin because it makes us
blind to our need for help.
554
:God gives us the law by works
of the law, no human being
555
:will be justified in his sight.
556
:No one, no person is good
enough to go to heaven.
557
:That's what Paul's saying.
558
:Since through the law
comes knowledge of sin.
559
:The law shows us that we're sinful.
560
:God gives us the law.
561
:He gives us his word, he, he tells
us what he expects of us, to show
562
:us that we're not good enough.
563
:Because one of the symptoms of
sin is that we don't see it.
564
:We don't think we're sinful.
565
:Most people, if you ask
them, are you a good person?
566
:Yes.
567
:Or most people, you ask them, do you think
you're gonna go to heaven or go to hell?
568
:Uh, I think I'm go to heaven.
569
:Why?
570
:I'm a good person.
571
:Or I went to church, or I prayed a prayer.
572
:Get a lot of people who assume, right?
573
:There's a country song.
574
:I believe most people are good, or I
believe that most people say, oh, but
575
:there's goodness in everyone, right?
576
:We see that in a lot
like Star Wars, right?
577
:That's like the whole point of Star Wars.
578
:So we see a lot of, a lot of
this come out just implicitly.
579
:We think, oh, well, somewhat deep down
they're, they're really a good person.
580
:Or we think kids are just good natured and
then they get corrupted by our society.
581
:Not true.
582
:Kids are sinners, and
so that's why they sin.
583
:So God needs to show us that we're sinful.
584
:And the way he does that
is he gives us his law.
585
:It's kind of like, I dunno if you remember
these things from elementary school.
586
:So I have terrible handwriting.
587
:Um, these things don't
help me write neatly.
588
:They just make me feel bad.
589
:These things don't help
me have good handwriting.
590
:What they do is they show
me that I stink at writing.
591
:They show me as I try to
fill out the, as I could even
592
:probably do this on the board.
593
:I'm not going to, but they show
me that I'm a terrible writer.
594
:That I, I have terrible
handwriting, terrible penmanship.
595
:I don't write neatly or I have
bad motor skills, whatever.
596
:Right.
597
:That's what God's law does.
598
:Right.
599
:We try to fill out the, the form.
600
:We try to, to write the
A's and and write ant.
601
:We try to do that and.
602
:We end up looking terrible 'cause we
see what we're supposed to be like and
603
:we realize, oh man, I'm not doing that.
604
:We need that.
605
:'cause otherwise we would think
we're good because we look around.
606
:Imagine if you didn't know what
an A was supposed to look like
607
:and you just had a bunch of third
graders try to write the letter.
608
:Or sorry, a bunch of three-year-olds
try to write the letter A sometimes
609
:third graders, some of you.
610
:I see your sermon notes anyway.
611
:Um, no, I'm just kidding.
612
:But imagine, right, if we're just all
doing this and we're just comparing
613
:ourselves to each other and we're
not comparing ourselves to this,
614
:it makes it harder to see, right?
615
:If all the three-year-olds in the room
are like trying to write, you know, in
616
:the lines and they're like, well, I'm
better than you and I'm better than you.
617
:But guess what?
618
:If we show them this, oh
yeah, I don't measure up.
619
:I'm not good enough.
620
:My A looks nothing like that.
621
:A, even if it's the best a
in the three-year-old class.
622
:I don't even know if
three year old's, right.
623
:Anyway, um, you get the point, right?
624
:The whole point of the first three
chapters of Romans is to expose your sin.
625
:The whole point of, of what probably
feels like a bunch of discouraging
626
:sermons is because we are so bad at
admitting that we need God to save us
627
:because we love to rely on ourselves.
628
:We love to think that we're good enough.
629
:We love to think that, that
I don't, I, I can make it.
630
:Maybe, maybe God will help me,
but I'll do like some of the work.
631
:We love to think those things, right?
632
:The Mormons, one of their phrases
that they'll tell you is, the way
633
:salvation works is you do your best
and God takes care of the rest.
634
:So you try as hard as you can to
be a good person to, to do what
635
:the Book of Mormon says, and then
God will make up the difference.
636
:But as long as you tried.
637
:Good.
638
:The Bible says you're the
worst and God does everything.
639
:So we are so bad at admitting
because we love to rely on ourselves.
640
:We love to be to get credit for things.
641
:We love to deserve things.
642
:We love to earn things, and
that's what's wrong with us.
643
:So our third point tonight is
abandon your reliance on self.
644
:Right.
645
:Give it up.
646
:Say, I can't, trust
me, I can't rely on me.
647
:I can't count on me to be good enough.
648
:When I stand before God and he
judges me, I can't say, well, God,
649
:look what I fill in the blank.
650
:Look what I did.
651
:I can't say that because
that's me relying on me.
652
:One of the, the things with sin is it,
it's called blindness a lot in the Bible.
653
:And the thing about sin is it, it makes
us think that we're fine on our own.
654
:It makes us think that we
don't need other people's help.
655
:When I was listening to what some
people said about this passage, I heard
656
:this epic story about Ringo the Duck.
657
:I want you guys to meet Ringo,
the duck from the seventies.
658
:The reason he is named Ringo.
659
:Is because he was trying to like, eat
stuff through some trash and you know,
660
:those like soda can things, he got one of
those stuck around his, his beak and so
661
:he couldn't open his mouth all the way.
662
:Um, and so he, this was in Toronto I
think, and everyone tried to help him,
663
:but imagine, right, you're trying to
help this duck get the, the ring off.
664
:Its off its bill.
665
:What's the duck gonna do?
666
:Is duck gonna be like,
oh yeah, please help.
667
:Duck's gonna fly away, right?
668
:Duck's gonna jump in the water.
669
:So all these people are trying to
help Ringo and Ringo's running away.
670
:Ringo's saying, I'm scared of you.
671
:I don't like you, I'm going away.
672
:So these people in Toronto, they
made like a, like a coalition
673
:to help Ringo, like save Ringo.
674
:And so they got, um, people with
like net guns to try to catch Ringo.
675
:Didn't work, couldn't catch a Ringo.
676
:He kept escaping.
677
:They got like some skin divers to go and
like try to ambush Ringo and, and get him.
678
:Still didn't work.
679
:They even got the champion duck collar
from Canada to get Ringo to come and they
680
:got other ducks to come, but not Ringo.
681
:I don't know what happened to Ringo.
682
:Ringo may have been liberated
from his, his plight, um, but.
683
:He might not have.
684
:Ringo might have died.
685
:He might have, he might have starved to
death 'cause he couldn't eat anything.
686
:But the point is that all these people
tried to help Ringo and Ringo ran away
687
:from their help because Ringo didn't
realize that they're trying to help him.
688
:Ringo didn't realize that
these people care about him.
689
:He just saw, oh, they're scary.
690
:I'm gonna run away.
691
:Ringo obviously is a duck.
692
:Can't admit that he needs help.
693
:A lot of people are like Ringo, like
God comes to you with the gospel.
694
:You hear sermons, your parents talk
to you, your leaders talk to you.
695
:You're convicted of your
sin, and you run away.
696
:You say, I don't want that.
697
:That's, I, I don't think
that's good for me.
698
:'cause Ringo thought I
was gonna hurt Ringo's.
699
:Like, oh, they're gonna kill me,
they're going to eat me, whatever.
700
:Right?
701
:Ringo didn't wanna do do
that, and so he ran away.
702
:Part of the problem for us
when we're under sin, right?
703
:We're even sometimes Christians,
we're so influenced by our sinful
704
:flesh that we don't want God's help.
705
:People are naturally resistant to God.
706
:We naturally want to rely on ourselves.
707
:We naturally want to do things our way.
708
:We naturally don't want God's
help because we want to hold on
709
:to anything that gives us credit.
710
:We wanna hold onto?
711
:Oh, well, I'm, I'm not really that bad.
712
:I know that I know what the Bible says.
713
:I know that I'm a sinner,
but I'm not like that bad.
714
:I'm not gonna confess that sin.
715
:I can't give up that God's
asking me to stop doing that.
716
:That's what repentance looks like.
717
:I don't wanna do that.
718
:You're telling me that that's better.
719
:That God is better than, than this.
720
:You're telling me God's
better than that relationship.
721
:You're telling me God's better than,
than this hobby that I really enjoy.
722
:You're telling me that that God's
worth investing time into time reading
723
:the Bible and and time praying and
and time talking to other Christians.
724
:We love to hold onto our own goodness
or our own independence or our own
725
:priorities, and it prevents us.
726
:From being saved a lot, or if you're a
Christian, it prevents us from growing.
727
:If you never admit that you need help,
you're not gonna grow as a Christian.
728
:The the less you feel like you're
a sinner, the less you'll grow
729
:even as a Christian, the less
that you feel like you need.
730
:God's grace and God's help, and
God's power and God's Word, and
731
:God's people to help you grow.
732
:Trials to help you.
733
:That's why God gives you trials as
a Christian, because we're so bad at
734
:growing that God has to make us go through
really hard things so that we trust him.
735
:Because if God just gave us
all these good things all the
736
:time, we'd forget about 'em.
737
:And we love all his gifts
and we wouldn't love God.
738
:So God has to give us, there's,
there's a, one of Paul's letters.
739
:He basically says that God almost
had to kill me to get me to, to
740
:trust him, to stop relying on myself.
741
:How sinful Paul was, and I can't
imagine that any of us here
742
:are much better off than that.
743
:There's a scene in Indiana Jones, um, the
last crusade where, I don't know, at the
744
:very end, spoiler alert, um, they find
the holy grail and um, which isn't real.
745
:Anyway, um, this lady really wants
it and she, she wants to grab it.
746
:And what happens is they're, they
find it and the cha uh, every Indiana
747
:Jones movie, everything starts falling
down and the building gets destroyed
748
:every, at the end of every movie.
749
:And, um, the, the Holy Grail, it falls
down this crack and she jumps after
750
:it 'cause she's trying to get it.
751
:And if Indiana Jones, he grabs
her hand because he, if she,
752
:lets go of him, she's gonna fall.
753
:But she's trying to grab this.
754
:She wants the this cup, she wants
the holy grail and she wants it so
755
:bad and she's so consumed with, I
need that, that I need that treasure.
756
:I need that.
757
:She thinks it's gonna make
her live forever, right?
758
:She's like, I want that so bad.
759
:She doesn't realize she's literally
about to die to get it, and so he's
760
:trying to pull her up and she can't stop.
761
:She, she wants it so bad.
762
:She ends up letting go and dying
because of how bad she wants.
763
:That she, if, if she lets, if she gives
up on this, if she says, you know what?
764
:I give up on that, I'm gonna
let go of that and grab onto
765
:you, then I'll be saved.
766
:I'll live.
767
:But she is so caught up in
this, in the holy grail.
768
:She wants it so bad she can't give it up.
769
:And she can't let go of it in
order to to grab Indy and be saved.
770
:That's where I think a
lot of you guys are at.
771
:You know that, that God could save you.
772
:You know that he could pull you up,
773
:but you're so caught up with
your sin, you love it too much.
774
:You can't let it go, or you can't
really bring yourself to admit
775
:the fact that I need a savior.
776
:I don't just need God to help
me and clean me up a little bit.
777
:I need God to save me 'cause I'm a sinner.
778
:I deserve hell.
779
:I deserve wrath forever.
780
:And you can't let go of the fact
that, oh, I'm, I'm not that bad.
781
:Or I, I have to, I have to.
782
:Following Jesus means putting
him above that person or that
783
:priority, or that ambition of mine.
784
:You can't give it up.
785
:You can't let it go and
it's, it's gonna kill you.
786
:If, if you can't surrender to Jesus,
787
:whatever you're, you're
chasing after will kill you
788
:because you have to let go of it.
789
:You have to abandon your self-reliance.
790
:You have to say, I'm not good enough,
so don't hold on to that anymore.
791
:Right.
792
:Stop holding on to.
793
:Whatever it is that that makes you
feel like you can, maybe you think
794
:I'm too sinful to come to Jesus,
whatever it is, stop holding onto that.
795
:Give it up and it, and admit,
turn away from yourself.
796
:Say, I'm not good enough.
797
:I fall short.
798
:I need Jesus to save me.
799
:I don't just need Jesus to help me.
800
:I don't just need Jesus
to, to partner with me.
801
:I need a savior.
802
:I don't just need help.
803
:Let's pray and we'll talk
about that in small groups.
804
:God, thank you that you love us so much.
805
:We are awful people.
806
:Um, and we admit that and confess
that, um, that we are sinful.
807
:We are worse than we think we are.
808
:We are more evil, more selfish, more
prideful, more lazy, more lustful,
809
:more anxious than we think we are.
810
:And so I pray tonight that you
show us that, that you show us who
811
:we really are, that we would see
ourselves the way you see us, first and
812
:foremost, our sin, the way you see it.
813
:But I also pray that we would be able to
see salvation for what it is that we would
814
:remember, that trying to hold on to our
sin, trying to hold onto the world, trying
815
:to hold onto ourselves will kill us.
816
:Turning to you in repentance and
faith, trusting that you, Jesus,
817
:died to take away our sin, and you
live to give us righteousness, and
818
:you rose again to defeat death.
819
:Trusting you, turning to you
in in faith gives us life.
820
:So I pray that we're honest
and we're open in small groups.
821
:And I pray that we, you help us to, to
really see things the way they really are.
822
:You pray this in Jesus name.
823
:Amen.
