The Pathway of Spiritual Death

About this sermon

Introduction: What Paul has charged he has defended. He charged that all mankind is “under sin.” Under the penalty of sin. Under the power of sin. Under the pollution of sin. He then demonstrates that this is God’s view of mankind. He takes any Jewish antagonist to their own Bible. From Psalm 14,53,5,140, and 36, and Proverbs 1,3, and Isaiah 59, he gives them man’s true condition in God’s own Words. The character of the natural man: No one is righteous, no one understands, no one seeks for God, everyone is on the wrong road, all have become useless, no one does good. That spiritual condition is then put on display in man’s speech. We saw it this morning. His speech reveals death, deception, deadly poison, and disdain. But what is in man’s SPEECH is eventually on display in man’s STEPS. What is in his heart is on his lips, and what is on his lips is manifested in his living. Paul is demonstrating is what “under sin” means. IT IS NOT JUST TRUE TO SAY THAT ALL MANKIND IS UNDER SIN, IT IS ALSO TRUE TO SAY THAT ALL OF MAN IS UNDER SIN. His whole being has been polluted by sin. His throat His tongue His lips His mouth His feet The pollution found in his soul, manifests itself in every aspect of his life. • MAN IS NOW A MURDEROUS CREATURE (vs.15) The statement is straightforward. Man runs swiftly to kill. He is, by nature, a murderer, a destroyer. The animus that is in his heart, and on his lips, he works out in life toward other people. This speaks to the source of the temptation that resulted in man’s spiritual death. This speaks to the domain that the natural man now belongs to. ESV John 8:44 aYou are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. bHe was a murderer from the beginning, and cdoes not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. dWhen he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ESV Ephesians 2:2 ain which you once walked, following the course of this world, following bthe prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in cthe sons of disobedience-- Satan is not just a liar. He’s a murderer. His lies serve the interests of his murderous desires and designs. And, so it is with his offspring. The children of God, by the grace of God, are now life givers. They love. They edify. They serve. They invest. But the nature of the natural man is to serve himself. To please himself. To defend himself. And to destroy anything or anyone that doesn’t serve his own interests. And that is not to say that he always does this RATIONALLY. That is not to say that he always has a well thought out plan about destroying other people. No, what this means is that it is his very nature. This is the default. HE COMES FIRST. ESV James 4:2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. ESV Isaiah 59:7 aTheir feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their highways. 8 The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths; they have made their roads crooked; ano one who treads on them knows peace. 9 Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; awe hope for light, and behold, darkness, and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.

Topics

• Heaven & Eternity