Sin Perverted Us; Grace Restores Us

In this part of the sermon: Martin begins by reviewing the previous sermon's theme: life's most basic questions ('Who am I? What am I here for?') and the analogy of being 'lost in the woods.' He reiterates…

The analogy of being 'in the woods' or 'lost in the woods' represents humanity's confusion and inability to make sense of life's basic questions without divine revelation.

Because tonight is, in a very real way, our study tonight, intricately tied in to the consideration that we faced from Scripture this morning, it will be necessary to take a few minutes to review, for the benefit of those who were not with us this morning, that you might catch the drift of thought as we sought to set it out from Scripture in the morning service. And the theme of our study today has clustered around this general subject, life's most basic question, and how to get an answer. And I use the analogy of the woods. At least one person got it going home.

0:01 - 0:44 Read in full sermon

The point: Know how to get other people out of the woods.

Martin contrasts a cow fulfilling its purpose by giving milk and becoming hamburger with a man who, despite living a 'noble life,' fails to fulfill his true purpose if he dies without communion with God, emphasizing man's unique design for God.

When it says in Genesis 1 that God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He then, male and female created He then, we read after that that God is intelligently communicating with the creature that He made. He was made with a capacity to know His God. And in a real sense, nobody is a true man, nobody is a true man, nobody is a woman until they've come into a satisfying heart acquaintance with God. Now, a cow is a true cow when it just grows up and gives milk and has some little cans and ends up as hamburger.

5:42 - 6:15 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second point is that sin has perverted humanity and marred the image of God. Martin defines sin as a ruptured relationship with God and cites numerous Scriptures to establish…

Sin is described as a 'mighty river inundating a countryside,' illustrating how it has universally overwhelmed and corrupted the entire human race.

No one can evade the biblical doctrine of the universality of sin. Romans 5 and verse 12. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned, or better, translated for that all sinned.

11:44 - 12:13 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Rather than having a mind subject to the word of God and the revealed will of God, now that the passions are the boss, the mind goes to work to justify what the passions lead him to do.

Martin uses the example of 'hardcore pornography' being called 'art form' to illustrate how man's mind works to justify the pollution and corruption of his passions, rather than being governed by God's will.

So you have all kinds of clever, high-sounding, intellectually-sounding reasons why you can go ahead and live like a dog. And you can live like a dog, and have the morals of Alley Cat, and still be respected.

19:14 - 19:26 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Rather than having a mind subject to the word of God and the revealed will of God, now that the passions are the boss, the mind goes to work to justify what the passions lead him to do.

The re-labeling of 'downright immorality' as 'the new morality' by 'brilliant young men with turned collars' serves as an example of the mind concocting clever ways to justify passions controlling life while still appearing moral.

What used to be called downright immorality, some brilliant young men with turned collars have come up with a beautiful theory. And calling it the new morality. Oh, it is morality. We're never going to call it immorality.

19:50 - 20:04 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Everyone that doeth evil hateth the light as a sneaking suspicion stamped upon the conscience of every man who has the least inkling about what the Bible's talking about that if I get too near that book it's gonna tear a…

Martin notes that millions will spend hours reading books like 'The Passover Plot' (which attempts to discredit Christ's crucifixion) or magazine articles tearing down the Bible, but won't spend half an hour reading the Bible itself, illustrating their hatred of the light.

It's stated categorically in John chapter 3 verse 19 through 21 And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved but he that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God. Here are two kinds of people those who love light and those who love darkness and those who love darkness they don't want to get in the realm of exposure. Let's see how it works. That'...

28:36 - 29:54 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Everyone that doeth evil hateth the light as a sneaking suspicion stamped upon the conscience of every man who has the least inkling about what the Bible's talking about that if I get too near that book it's gonna tear a…

Martin recounts a conversation with a girl who condemned the Bible based on her instructors' views but admitted she had never read the New Testament herself, illustrating how people avoid direct exposure to God's word due to an underlying hatred of exposure.

She sat under some instructors in her school in the religion course who just tried to poop all the Bible as being anything other than the collection of some of the ideas that popped out of the heads of the Israelites while they're wandering around in the wilderness. And then some enthusiastic people who love Jesus sort of thought it'd be nice to perpetuate the lovely feeling that came because of this one that they knew and loved and so they wrote the Gospel accounts and filled it with a lot of myths and all the rest. I finally stopped and I said, young lady, let me ask you a question and I wan...

31:19 - 32:03 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Everyone that doeth evil hateth the light as a sneaking suspicion stamped upon the conscience of every man who has the least inkling about what the Bible's talking about that if I get too near that book it's gonna tear a…

Martin quotes the 'Banning yogurt commercial' slogan 'Don't knock it, try it' to challenge the girl's intellectual dishonesty in condemning literature she hadn't read, applying it to reading the Gospel of John.

She dropped her head and said no. I said, well, there's an old banning yogurt commercial that says don't knock it, try it. Remember that one? Don't knock it, try it.

32:03 - 32:19 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The third effect of sin is man's hatred of accountability to God, illustrated by Adam and Eve hiding from God. Martin explains that unregenerate men love darkness and avoid the…

The analogy of a bat hating light and loving darkness, and thus desiring a 'world of darkness,' illustrates how man, in his blindness and love of sin, shapes his understanding of life's purpose to justify his evil deeds and avoid exposure.

Does that make sense? Does it? If you're a bat and you hate the light, if you were a bat, you'd hate the light, you'd love the darkness. If somebody asked you, what's the meaning of light?

33:33 - 33:46 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin summarizes the sad picture of man perverted by sin: under the devil's control, blinded, enslaved to passions, and under God's wrath. He likens brilliant philosophers and…

Martin compares brilliant philosophers trying to understand life to a 'poor blind man, blind and fettered with no ability to feel objects about him trying to understand the world about him,' emphasizing their hopeless confusion without spiritual sight.

that the most brilliant philosophers are as unable to understand the meaning of life as a poor blind man changing his mind to a blind man blind and fettered with no ability to feel objects about him trying to understand the world about him and he touches this and he's never seen anything and he tries to figure out what it is That's the picture scripture gives It's a sad picture But beloved it will help you to understand the world in which you live When the great philosophers or excuse me when the great statesmen and the great politicians when they stand and they say we trust that the peace tal...

35:28 - 36:55 Read in full sermon

Driving home: now that's grace you see God could have left us all at the second point in the triumph if God if he can speak this way if God were to have permitted the entire human race to suffer the just deserted its sin not one membe…

Martin uses two scenarios involving a king and Mr. Bischoff to distinguish between unmerited kindness (rewarding a loyal subject) and grace (offering adoption and heirship to an inveterate rebel), highlighting that grace gives the opposite of what is deserved.

you don't know what he's talking about but he really meant it he really meant it blind under the wrath of God Now thank God there's a third part of the triangle but I can only touch on it briefly as time permits tonight We must recognize God has created us in His image we are made accountable to Him second angle of the triangle sin has perverted us we no longer seek Him don't want His rules we don't want to be accountable to Him third angle of the triangle grace grace can restore us grace can restore us Now what do I mean by grace when I use the term grace I am speaking of the unmerited favor ...

36:55 - 38:20 Read in full sermon

Driving home: now that's grace you see God could have left us all at the second point in the triumph if God if he can speak this way if God were to have permitted the entire human race to suffer the just deserted its sin not one membe…

The analogy of a 'restored car' that is brought back to its original condition, or even better, illustrates how God's grace restores man to his original purpose of knowing and loving God, but in an even more secure state than before the Fall.

now that's grace you see God could have left us all at the second point in the triumph if God if he can speak this way if God were to have permitted the entire human race to suffer the just deserted its sin not one member of the human race could have wriggled a pinky in the pit of perdition and said unjust unjust not one but in his infinite grace moving out to those who deserve his wrath God has determined out of every kindred and tribe and tongue and nation shall be the objects of his restorative grace now let me define the word restore I'm just defining words now grace can restore us once in...

41:16 - 42:43 Read in full sermon