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The NEED

He Is Enough

Zach Honnen · Sunday, 25 May 2025 · Romans 3:9-20 · 38:22 · 6,340 words

Romans S5 · 3:9-20 Grand Blanc

Listen to this message

Human sinfulness and the sufficiency of Christ This message examines Romans 3:9-20 to explain why every person—regardless of religious background or good intentions—stands condemned before God's perfect standard. The speaker argues that self-righteousness and pride are dangerous traps, and that understanding our brokenness leads us to embrace Christ's forgiveness rather than deflecting or dismissing the truth. Listeners are challenged to walk in humility, recognizing that they are not good enough but that God loves them anyway. The sermon ends with encouragement to share this message of hope with others.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

enough 45 criticism 8 reality 22 apart 15 deflect 5 righteous 28 boat 8 seek 15 paul 49 good 40 wisdom 9 indictment 4

Topics

Righteousness 10 Sin 9 The Law 5 Justification 2 Salvation 2 Faith 2 Atonement & Sacrifice 1 Prayer 1

Scripture referenced 27

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Romans 3 1:12 Romans 3 2:57 Romans 3:9-20 2:57 Romans 3:9 5:51 Romans 3:10 8:28 Galatians 5:9 9:15 Matthew 5:20 10:21 Romans 3:11-12 11:03 Romans 3:12 11:11 Romans 3:13-14 14:09 Matthew 12:34 14:34 Jeremiah 17:9 14:54 Romans 3:15-17 16:32 Romans 3:18 18:25 Proverbs 1:7 18:39 Proverbs 9:10 18:49 Romans 1 19:49 Philippians 3:5 21:00 Romans 1:19-20 22:58 Matthew 5:3 24:40 Romans 3:23 25:25 Romans 6:23 25:35 Romans 10 27:31 2 Corinthians 5 28:14 Luke 7 30:32 Proverbs 16 32:28 Ephesians 2 36:06

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

Pre-service announcement — 9 lines, 0:39. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

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Thanks again for joining us, and we hope you are blessed by today's message.

Well, good morning. Every time I hear that bumper video, I feel like we're starting a Marvel movie.

Like, it's getting really intense.

I know Chuck's mentioned it before, but it's way more intense when you're standing here.

I don't know what it is.

But good morning. Good to be with you.

My name is Zach Hahn, and I'm the student and young adult director here at the River Church Grand Blanc.

And I'm super grateful and excited to be here with you this morning

to be able to open up God's Word.

So if you have your Bibles with you, please go ahead and open up to Romans chapter 3.

We will be looking at verses 9 through 20, continuing through our Romans series.

But while you're turning there, I wanted to ask us a question.

How many of us like being told when we're wrong?

I see no hands raised, so we're in the same boat.

How many of us love criticism?

I like that response.

Oftentimes, when criticism comes my way, I'm like,

Oh, so you hate me, and you don't love me.

I just said you parked in the wrong parking spot.

Oftentimes, we take criticism personally.

Oftentimes, when we have criticism, or at least for me,

when I have criticism come my way,

my response is to deflect, to deny, and to dismiss.

Those are my responses to criticism.

And it keeps me from growing.

I think us as a church, if we don't respond to criticism with concern

and hearing and listening and learning,

then we can miss a lot of wisdom.

Today, Paul is going to be bringing up more than just criticism.

He's going to be bringing forth life and death truth.

The difference between heaven and hell.

A reality of our state as humanity.

He's diagnosing humanity before our eyes.

And I want us to be sure that we're not going to sit here and deflect,

deny, or dismiss what Paul has to say to us this morning.

With that, let's go ahead and open up.

Romans chapter 3, starting in verse 9 to 20.

What then?

Are we Jews any better off?

No, not at all.

For we have already charged the all.

Both Jews and Greeks are under sin.

As it is written,

No one is righteous.

No, not one.

No one understands.

No one seeks for God.

All have turned aside.

Together they have become worthless.

No one is good.

Not even one.

Their throats are an open grave.

They use their tongues to deceive.

The venom of asps is under their lips.

Their mouth is full of curse.

Their mouth is full of curse.

Their mouth is full of curse.

Their feet are swift to shed blood.

And in their paths are ruin and misery.

And the way of peace they have not known.

There is 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.

Let's go to the Lord.

In prayer this morning.

Dear Heavenly Father,

we ask that you would help us to be present with you this morning.

We ask that we would not dismiss what you have to say.

We would not deny what you have to say.

But we would learn and respond to what you have to say, Lord.

I pray that you'd prepare our hearts,

prepare our minds,

in your Holy Son's name.

So over the past few weeks,

we've been looking at Paul lay out this argument.

He's been laying out that all are in need of Jesus.

He's laying out that both Jew and Greek are in need

of a relationship with Jesus.

He's bringing up this idea

that all of humanity is in total depravity.

Meaning, all of us are broken.

All of us are in need of a Savior.

And we are worse than we think we are.

Paul is explaining to the religious people

and to the non-religious people,

no matter what your background is,

no matter what your life has been,

whether you think you've been good

or think you've been bad,

we are all under the same master.

And that master is sin.

Paul is explaining,

to the Jewish people

who have grown up in synagogue,

who believe that they are saved by their lineage,

that they are not.

And Paul is explaining to us,

whether we have Christian parents

or non-Christian parents,

we're in the same boat.

Whether we grew up in the church

or we didn't grow up in the church,

we're in the same boat.

We have the same need.

And that is a need for Jesus.

That is a need to be justified.

Because the reality is,

no one is justified by the law.

No one is justified by lineage.

And Paul will break this down

and continue with this argument in verse 9.

He says,

No, not at all.

For we have already charged that all,

notice how many times he says all in this passage.

All, both Jews and Greek,

are under sin.

Paul is pointing out

that there's no advantage here.

He's writing to the church in Rome

and he's saying,

whether you are a pagan

and you just came to hear about the Lord

or whether you've grown up

in the Jewish tradition,

there is no advantage for you.

We all are sinners in need of a savior.

we can get caught up

and, you know what?

I get a pass.

I come to church every Sunday.

I get a pass.

I serve in Sunday school.

I've baptized people.

I wake up every morning early

to serve at church.

I come every Wednesday night

for growth community.

I'm good.

I get a pass.

It's not true.

No one gets a pass.

Salvation is not based upon

our own ability.

It's not based upon

our own upbringing.

All of humanity is dead

in our trespasses and sins.

And this is our first smile break.

All right.

Go better at least.

Paul is going to dismantle

many arguments.

And in our culture

and even in some churches,

I've seen the phrase,

you are enough.

There's like sparkles around it.

You are enough.

You are good the way you are.

All people are basically good.

Yeah, people make bad decisions,

but they have a good heart.

These are the thoughts of our culture.

These are the thoughts of the enemy.

And we can't allow them

to be in our church.

Because where I say,

Paul, I'm enough.

He says, I disagree.

Paul, I'm basically good.

Paul, I'm basically good.

Most people aren't bad.

I disagree, is what Paul says.

Paul intends to destroy these arguments.

Paul intends to leave us

without any excuse at all,

without any deflection at all.

And Paul doesn't base this

on his own opinion.

You know, it's one thing

for one person to stand up and say,

yeah, y'all are terrible.

Based on what?

You have no authority.

You have no standing.

Paul says, I'm going to go

through the Old Testament.

I'm going to string together

so many passages

that make it abundantly clear

that we are not enough,

that we are not enough.

That we are not good.

And apart from Christ,

we are all in the same boat.

Let's pick up in verse 10.

It says,

as it is written,

no one is righteous.

Now, if you're thinking,

well, maybe one person.

No, not one.

No one is righteous.

No, not one.

This is something

that we can't really deflect

or step past and say,

well, maybe he met everyone but me.

No.

It is no one is righteous.

And what righteous means,

it's a standard of perfection.

It's to be in right standing with God.

See, I could be righteous

with somebody in this life.

I could be righteous

with people around me

and treat people well

and be in good standing with them.

But when it comes to God's standard,

it's perfection.

No one is righteous.

No, not one.

And we see this illustrated

in Galatians 5, 9.

It says,

a little leaven

leavens the whole lump.

Or another way to put it,

if I had a cup of water

or a bowl of soup

and dropped two, three drops of poison,

that soup is no longer good.

That soup is now poisonous.

That soup is no longer good.

turns us into a sinner.

removes us from being able

to be righteous.

This is the reality that we have.

This is the law.

It demands holiness.

It demands righteousness.

It demands that everyone

be up to this perfect standard

and no one in this room,

myself included,

are up to that standard.

No matter how much

we try to be a good person,

I know people,

they're like,

I love everybody.

I care for everybody.

I serve everybody.

I give my money.

I give my time.

But then I'm like,

well,

what if someone screws you over?

What if someone brings

does something against you?

Well, they're cut off from my life.

I don't...

No one is righteous.

No one is good enough.

And we see this demonstrated

in Matthew 5, 20.

It says,

this is Jesus speaking.

He says,

for I tell you,

unless your righteousness exceeds

the scribes and the Pharisees,

you will never enter

the kingdom of heaven.

And now we look at the scribes

and the Pharisees.

We think they're bad people.

Well, the reality is

the scribes and the Pharisees

lived full time 24 seven

to obey and fulfill

and keep God's law.

That was their whole life.

That was their whole job.

They were not good.

They were not good.

This passage is saying

even the righteousness

of the righteous men,

the most good guys

that you can think of,

don't even come close

to the standard.

No one is righteous.

with his indictment,

with his diagnosis

in verse 11 and 12.

He says,

not even,

no one is righteous,

but no one understands.

No one seeks for God.

all have turned aside.

Together they have become worthless.

No one is good,

not even one.

Again,

he leaves no room.

No one is good except for me.

No, not even one.

And Paul's included in this.

No one is good,

not even one.

Left to our own devices.

We wouldn't seek after God.

Left to our own ability.

We would never understand God.

We would never repent.

We would never seek after him.

Apart from Christ,

we can't understand scripture.

that are way, way smarter than me.

I'm talking like they have doctorates

and they will open the Bible,

read scripture,

and then completely mess it up.

Because,

because they're interpreting it

through their own intelligence.

They're not interpreting it

with the Holy Spirit.

They're not seeing it through faith.

Apart from Christ,

we can't understand.

And one commentator put it this way.

He says,

no one understands.

Understands what?

The depth of the attributes of God.

Sin makes this impossible.

No matter what level of spiritual life

and understanding we reach,

there will always be a deficiency

in our understanding.

the more we sin,

the less capable of understanding

we are.

The more we become.

Another way I've heard it put

was sin makes us stupid.

Sin makes us stupid.

If you want to challenge me on this,

I want you to think back

to when you were a teenager.

Think of the things that you did

and think about how you feel

about that now.

What was I thinking?

I was so stupid.

When we're in the heat of sin,

we don't think about the consequences.

We don't think about the future.

We don't think about what matters.

We just think about the sin.

And in no way will we seek after God

unless he reveals us.

He reaches out to us.

See, I've talked to men

who used to read the Bible

and they'd be like,

I've read it.

I got nothing.

God obviously doesn't want me

because I'm not seeing it in there.

And then years later,

they pick up the Bible,

they read it,

and it's like the world exploded.

It's like for the first time

it's written in English

and they can understand it.

That's the work of the Holy Spirit.

That's God moving through his word.

Apart from Christ,

no one is good.

Apart from Christ,

no one seeks after God.

Apart from Christ,

there's many people

who are self-righteous.

But apart from Christ,

there is no one who is righteous.

Self-righteous is cheap.

True righteousness

is only acquired through Christ.

He's the only one

that can give it to us.

Paul continues to move

from this idea

to more of a physical representation

of our sin.

In verse 13 and 14,

he says,

their throats is an open grave

and they use their tongues

and the venom of asps

is under their lips.

Their mouth is full of cursing

and bitterness.

Paul is basically saying

that you say evil

because you are evil.

And Jesus parallels this

in Matthew 12, 34.

He says,

you brood of vipers.

Again, he's talking to

the holy righteous Pharisees,

the people who are supposed

to be the best of the best.

He calls them

a brood of vipers.

It says,

how can you speak good

when you are evil?

Out of the abundance

of the heart,

the mouth speaks.

In Jeremiah 17, 9,

it says,

the heart is deceitful

above all things

and is desperately sick.

Who can understand that?

Who can understand it?

This is the reality

of where we are at.

And one Russian poet

put it this way.

He says,

I do not know

the heart of a bad man.

I do not know what it is like,

but I know the heart

and it is terrible.

It's the reality.

And I want us to take a moment

just to think about this.

Think of everything

you've said into your life

up until this point.

No matter how old,

no matter how long,

think about it.

How much of your words

have been used to build?

How much of your words

have been used to destroy?

How much of your words

have been used to breathe

life into people?

How much of your words

have been used to kill

will accuse ourselves.

There's no one in this room

that can say,

I haven't said anything I regret.

Lord knows I've said things

That's the reality

of our condition.

That's the reality

of this indictment.

Paul is saying

that all of humanity

is way worse than they think.

And if God took his hand

off of humanity,

we would just become worse

and worse and worse

and worse.

Before the flood,

people only thought

about evil continually

except for God.

Except for Noah.

We are depraved.

We are other than.

We are nowhere near righteous.

And Paul doesn't just stop

at our speech,

which would be enough.

But he goes to our actions.

He goes to our lifestyles.

Looking at verse 15 through 17,

he says,

their feet are swift

Their paths are ruin

And the way of peace

they have not known.

Now, I don't think

that Paul is saying

that everyone in this room

has stabbed somebody

or murdered somebody

or been violent.

But he is saying,

have you ever thought

evil towards your brother?

Have you ever had hatred

towards someone else?

And if you've driven on 75,

you have had hatred

towards someone else.

That's the same as murder.

That's the same

as your path

leading to blood.

That is the same.

We seek revenge.

We don't seek justice.

We seek revenge.

We don't seek peace.

And just think about

the last argument

that you had.

In that argument,

were you trying

to find a solution?

Were you trying

Or were you trying

to support the point

that you knew you lost

10 minutes ago?

Are you trying

to support your own arrogance,

your own pride,

were all in the same boat

with this?

And to hit home the point

in Kent Hughes' commentary,

he references that

in the last 3,421 years

of recorded history,

only 268 did not see war.

Humanity is violent.

We seek to settle the score.

We seek pride and arrogance.

And we would rather fight

than humble ourselves

and seek peace.

And that's true in my life.

And I can't help but believe

that it's true

in all of our lives.

So Paul is laying it on thick.

We don't think

right, we don't talk right,

we don't act right.

We are self-destructive

apart from Christ.

And Paul wraps up

with verse 18.

He says,

there is no fear

of God before their eyes.

And that's the most

devastating one.

There is no fear of God.

When we look at Proverbs,

we look at Proverbs 1, 7,

it says,

the fear of the Lord

is the beginning of knowledge.

Fools despise wisdom

and instruction.

And Proverbs 9, 10,

the fear of the Lord

is the beginning of wisdom.

And knowledge of the Holy One

Apart from God,

there's no fear of God.

And apart from the fear of God,

there is no wisdom from God.

And apart from the wisdom of God,

the only wisdom we have access to

is the wisdom of this world,

which is to live,

for tomorrow we die.

The wisdom of this world

is that nothing really matters.

You can treat people

how you want.

As long as you get happy,

you get your own.

indulge in the things

of this life.

Indulge in drugs,

It's fine.

It's fine.

We all die at some point.

It doesn't matter.

That's the wisdom of this world.

Apart from Christ,

that's all we have

to hold on to.

That's all that there is.

And this leads

to distance from God.

This leads

to distance from truth.

And if we look at Romans 1,

it can lead

to a debased mind.

This is Paul's

entire indictment.

And if this feels heavy,

just know that

I've been carrying this

for a week and a half,

just trying to find

the way to teach this.

This is heavy

and it's supposed to be.

Paul wants this

to feel like a ton of bricks.

Paul doesn't want us

to try and deflect.

Paul doesn't want us

to try and defend.

Paul doesn't want us

to try and deny.

So is Paul just trying

to be a jerk

and want us to consider

what is Paul trying to say?

Is he trying to stand

and say,

oh, y'all are pretty bad,

but I'm pretty good?

Don't think so.

I don't think he's looking

at us and saying,

you're terrible.

He's looking at us

and saying,

we're terrible.

We are in need of Christ.

You see,

the reality is

in the synagogue.

a Hebrew of Hebrews,

Again,

his life was about

living and obeying

the law from a young age.

In Philippians 3, 5,

he describes himself.

He says,

circumcised on the eighth day

of the people of Israel,

of the tribe of Benjamin,

a Hebrew of Hebrews.

As to the law,

that we are reading through

are Old Testament references.

And Paul would have

memorized these passages

from a young boy.

They would have been

written on his heart.

He would have known it all.

See, Paul loved the law.

He knew the law.

He lived the law.

He breathed the law.

But he did not know God.

But he did not have

a relationship with God.

Paul is saying

it doesn't matter

if you grew up in the church

because he grew up in the church.

It didn't matter.

Paul was blinded spiritually

until Christ met him

on the road

And what was he

on his way to do?

He was on his way

to murder Christians.

He was on his way

the very God

he claimed to serve.

And then he was stopped.

His spiritual blindness

And he realized

his sin.

And all I can imagine

is that all these passages

hit him again

and again

and again.

Where Paul thought,

you know what?

He was unrighteous.

Where Paul thought,

you know what?

He realized he is not justified.

Where Paul thought

he was enough,

he realized he was not enough.

Paul came to the realization

that he needs Christ

in that moment.

So Paul is not coming

from a place

of self-righteousness

but he's coming

from a place of humility.

He calls himself

of all sinners,

the chief of all sinners.

Paul is saying

that we're in the same boat.

And the reality is

we're not just in the same boat.

We're in the same boat

next to the Titanic

underneath the weight

of our sin.

We are buried.

Paul's not talking down to us.

He's reaching out to us.

So what is he saying?

We see this in verse 19 and 20.

We know that whether

whatever the law says,

it speaks to those

who are under the law

so that every mouth

may be stopped.

The whole world

may be held accountable

for by works of the law,

no human being

will be justified

in his sight

since through the law

comes knowledge of sin.

Paul's not saying

these things

in order to make us feel broken.

Paul is saying these things

because we are broken.

Paul is not trying

to crush us

with the weight of our sin.

He's trying to help us realize

that we're crushed

under the weight of our sin.

isn't to be bringing bad news.

is to bring attention

that is already around us.

If we were in a house fire,

Paul is running down the road

saying,

get out of the house.

You don't have much time.

He wants us to see

of our need for Christ.

The law brings knowledge of sin.

The law is putting

in front of our eyes

and saying,

look at yourself.

it says,

you say I am rich,

I am well clothed,

but the reality is

we are wretched,

and naked.

And Jesus is offering us

salve for our eyes,

and money.

He's offering us salvation

and we have a mirror before us

and we look in it

and we're like,

that's pretty terrible.

And then we break the mirror

because that's the problem.

It's not us.

It's the mirror's fault.

I've tried this.

It doesn't work.

I took a selfie the other day.

That's the reality.

And we need to recognize this

because of what Jesus says

in Matthew 5, 3.

He says,

blessed are the poor in spirit

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

You must recognize

that you are spiritually bankrupt.

For me to enter heaven,

we need to recognize

we are spiritually empty.

We have nothing.

We have nothing to offer.

When we get to the gates

and the man says,

on what account

should you enter

the kingdom of heaven?

The answer isn't,

well, I did miracles.

Well, I served

a Sunday morning gathering.

Well, I served

with kids ministry.

Well, I tithed

my entire paycheck.

That's not it.

The answer is the guy

on the middle cross

said I could be here.

That's our only answer.

That's our only hope.

Salvation is a recognition

of our need.

That's where it begins.

to make that clear.

In Romans 3, 23,

a few verses ahead,

he says,

all have fallen short

of the glory of God,

summarizing everything

we just read.

And then he defines it

in Romans 6, 23,

for the wages of sin

But the free gift of God

is eternal life

in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We need to understand

the weight of our sin,

understand the wages

of our sin,

to understand the glory

of our Savior.

Sin has consequences,

whether we realize it or not.

We can break the mirror,

never look at it again.

We are still

in the same place.

That doesn't save us.

And the good news is

that we're not good enough

because there is one

who is good enough.

There is one

who is more than good enough.

It is Jesus

who came from heaven

sitting on the throne

of God,

the throne of glory

takes on flesh,

not just into like

born into Herod's house

somewhere rich.

No, he chose a stable.

He chose to be born

and then live 33 years

of torturous work

and life

and live the life

we could not live

yet without sin.

we could not live

and died the death

that we deserved

on the cross.

Not just taking the torture

of going up

and down for air,

but taking on

of God.

And the beautiful thing

is he didn't just

stay on the cross.

and he was buried.

But he rose

again three days later

to give us

the opportunity

to have eternal life.

of this passage

is to show us

that we are broken

and show us

that we need a healer

because we are not enough

but Christ is.

That is the truth.

And maybe you're

in this room

and you know

that you don't have

a relationship with Christ.

Maybe you're online

and you know

you don't have

a relationship with Christ.

I want to plead.

I would cry.

I would beg.

Seek him today.

Repent and believe

because you are not enough

and we are not enough.

and I want to encourage you

to turn to Jesus

And Romans 10 9

makes it clear.

It says if you confess

with your mouth

that Jesus is Lord

and you believe

in your heart

that God raised him

from the dead

you will be saved.

See it's this reality

of repent and believe.

If I'm going this way

pursuing my own thing

I'm living in this sin

it's turning the other way

and saying God I'm yours.

I'm no further away

but I am definitely saved.

And then we walk out

If you don't know

please turn to him.

It's the most important

decision you could ever

And the reality is

when we turn to him

when we give our life

we go from being unrighteous

to being righteous.

And we see this

in 2 Corinthians 5 21

for our sake

he made him to be sin

who knew no sin

so that we might become

the righteousness of God.

He transferred his wealth.

It wasn't just

hey there's your debt

I paid for it

you're good to go.

He took his entire fortune

of grace and mercy

and righteousness

put it upon us

and we have righteousness

left over.

That way when we go to heaven

we can hear well done

my good and faithful servant.

Enter into the joy

of your master.

It's a beautiful thing.

This text

is meant to show us

that we're not enough

but that Christ

And if you're

a man in this room

and you feel like

you're failing

you feel like you're not

enough for your family

you're not enough

for your kids

you're not enough

for your church

or for your friends

the answer is

you're not supposed to be.

You're not meant

to be enough.

You're meant to rely

on the one who is enough.

And if you're

a lady in this room

if you have a family

if you have kids

and you feel like

you didn't do enough

you're not enough

for your kids

and you've never been

enough for your kids

the reality is

you're not meant

to be enough

for your kids.

You're not meant

to be enough

for your husband.

You're not meant

to be enough

for your family.

You're meant

to rely on the one

who is enough

and that is Jesus Christ.

So if you're saved

if you have a relationship

with the Lord

I want us to just

rest and actually

and think

I'm not enough.

of the world

off your shoulders

because there's someone

who is way more equipped

to carry it.

There is someone

who is far more able

to carry it

because we're not meant

to be enough

because he is enough.

I fall into the habit

all the time.

I'm not enough.

I'm not enough

for my friends.

I'm not enough

for my family.

I'm not enough

for my church.

I'm not enough

for our youth group.

It doesn't matter.

He doesn't call the equipped

he equips the called.

That's the reality

for all of us church.

I think this is something

that keeps us

from evangelism.

We think we don't have

the words to say.

We don't have enough

understanding of the Bible

to share the word of God

with other people

but the reality is

he's already equipped us

and he can do more

than we think he can.

So when we look

at this passage

look at the mercy of God

because Luke 7 47 says

therefore I tell you

her sins which are many

and this is talking

about a prostitute

that came to Jesus

that was crying at his feet

anointing him with oil.

He said her sins

which are many

She loved much

but he who is forgiven

little loves little.

Every single person

in this room

if we have a relationship

has been forgiven

so much.

So we should look

and not just love the Lord

but love the call

love the gospel.

We should cry

not knowing the Lord.

Everyone around us

who doesn't know Jesus

is in a burning house

and we're walking down the road

and we're okay with it.

what we've been forgiven of?

And do we realize

what they need to be forgiven of?

This is the news

and it's heavy

but it's beautiful

because we can walk

and wake up every day

and be like

you know what Lord?

You're enough.

I don't have to be.

You know what Lord?

You can do it

because I can't.

And this keeps us

from being puffed up

with pride.

When we read this section

and we're like

nah it's not me.

I'm good.

I have Jesus.

Okay cool.

We have Jesus.

But here's the reality.

Something that is a pet peeve of mine

that I catch myself doing

oh I would never.

No I would never do that.

What that person did?

They're stupid.

I could never do that.

As a young minister

I look at men

who have fallen

and I'm like

apart from you I would.

Keep me from that.

And as a church

if we are constantly saying

I would never do that

that person's stupid

I'm not.

We're walking up a ladder

and we're about to walk off

and fall.

Proverbs 16 18 says

pride goes before destruction

and a haughty spirit

before a fall.

So let's not deflect.

Let's understand

and then live

in the victory

has given us

because this isn't supposed

to make us

beat ourselves up

and be like

oh I'm terrible

No that's a cop out.

Lord I have failed

and I seek you.

Lord I recognize

that my history is terrible.

I know that I have victory in you.

to be like you.

I want to be more like you

every day.

Because the reality is

and this is something

that we hear often

those who forget history

are doomed to repeat it.

Remember from where

we have been

picked up and carried from

lest we fall back in.

We have to be guarded.

Imagine if as a kid

when you touched a hot stove

you instantly forgot about it.

You instantly were like

oh I don't know what happened

I'm just burned.

Didn't hurt that bad.

And you just keep doing it

keep doing it

keep doing it.

That's what happens

when we try to forget

about our sin.

We keep touching the hot stove

thinking it's going to be

different this time

because we're trying

to forget that we did that

because we can't handle

We weren't meant to handle

the weight of that guilt.

Give it to the Lord.

Know it's there.

That's what we are called

to do as Christians.

The pain and embarrassment

of sin is a protection

and a grace from God.

It's the only thing

that keeps us

from who we once were.

We understand this

and know this by faith.

And we understand

and know that we in faith

we are a new creation.

And that Christ

is making us more

and more like him

every day

because we are not enough

but he is enough.

We can't earn love.

We can't earn salvation

but we can have

a relationship with him.

I want to make sure

if we choose

the path of pride

as I have in my past.

I remember as a kid

I would never do that.

Two years later

I did that.

No, I'd never do that.

Three years later

I did that.

that I would do anything

apart from Christ.

So if we choose

the path of pride

sin will take you further

than you ever thought

you would go.

It will keep you longer

than you ever thought

you would stay.

And it will cost you

way more than you ever

thought you'd be willing

to pay.

It's not worth it.

We must walk in humility

understanding what

Christ has done for us

and understanding

who we are

apart from him.

I want to leave us

with a little bit of hope

because this is beautiful.

This is heavy

but it's beautiful.

We look at Psalm 51a

it says

let me hear joy

let these bones

that you have broken

Brokenness isn't a problem

when we turn to joy

and know that the Lord

is going to heal us

from that brokenness.

Psalm 3011

you have turned

you have loosed

me with gladness.

Allow these passages

to remind us

of our brokenness

and remind us

of our healer

and our great physician

who is Jesus

and remind us

of all that he has done

for us

and we can worship

him wholeheartedly

grateful for what he's done

because God could have

just said

you know what

figure it out on your own

you're pretty terrible

but he was kind enough

to say

you're awful

The person who loves you

the most

the most truth

and God has presented

it through Paul

and through the Old Testament

in these passages.

I want to share with us

Ephesians 2 4 3

through 5

it says

but God

being rich in mercy

because of the great love

with which he loved us

even when we were dead

and our trespasses

and sins

together with Christ

you have been saved.

If you believe

in the Lord Jesus

if you have been saved

this is the truth.

We can walk in his victory.

See the reality is

there is no one good

in this room

but there's no one

in this room

who is not loved by God.

We are loved more

than we could ever think

and God doesn't love us

because we're good

he loves us despite

us not being good.

God doesn't love us

because we're enough

he loves us

because he loves us.

It's his decision

and it's amazing.

Let's go ahead and pray.

Dear Heavenly Father

thank you for how good you are.

Thank you for your love

and for your mercy God.

Thank you for your goodness God.

Thank you for being kind enough

to present truth to us Lord

and I pray Lord

that this would lead

to change in our lives God

that we would recognize

who we once were

how good you are.

Recognize that you are sufficient

you are enough

and we don't need

because you are perfect God

and then recognize

that there are more people

that need you

that we have been slacking Lord

if we have.

Help us to see

where we can share your word

see the urgency

catch the mission

and go out

and reach our communities

for you God.

Help us to never forget

that we're not good

but you are.

Help us to never forget

that we are loved by you

more than we could ever think

Lord we love you

and we pour our worship

to you today.

In your Holy Son's name.

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