"Let Every Mouth Be Stopped"

Bible Passage

Romans 3:9–20 CSB

9 What then? Are we any better off? Not at all! For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin, 10 as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one. 11 There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one. 13 Their throat is an open grave; they deceive with their tongues. Vipers’ venom is under their lips. 14 Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and wretchedness are in their paths, 17 and the path of peace they have not known. 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes. 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are subject to the law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God’s judgment. 20 For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.

Hook (Grab Attention)

Illustration

Have you ever seen the most prideful/arrogant person in the room get silenced?

—no words, just stunned silence?

When pride meets God, boasting dies.

Romans 3 makes it clear:

none of us can stand before Him in our arrogance. NONE.

Introduction

Before a person can be saved, they must first be slain.

here Paul comes, sword in hand, to lay every sinner low.

The Word silences the boasting tongue

humbles the proud heart

and brings us to our knees before the throne of grace.

Book

Bible Passage

The Universal Charge of Sin (v.9)

“What then? Are we any better off? Not at all!”

The Jew and the Gentile stand on level ground before the bar of divine justice.

The polished and the profane

The moralist and the murderer

None are righteous.

Application: No one persons should believe that they are above judgment. ALL are under sin, not just in action but in motive/heart.

The Divine Diagnosis of the Human Condition (vv.10–18)

Paul Quotes Psalm 14:1-3:

Psalm 14:1–3 CSB

1 The fool says in his heart, “There’s no God.” They are corrupt; they do vile deeds. There is no one who does good. 2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the human race to see if there is one who is wise, one who seeks God. 3 All have turned away; all alike have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one.

Romans 3:10 CSB

10 as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one.

There is not one single person who is righteous, in and of themselves.

Since they are not righteous, in and of themselves, this means that righteousness MUST come from somewhere outside of themselves.

Since we are not righteous, in and of ourselves, we cannot begin to do righteously on our own.

We may do things that are RIGHT, but are not done IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, until Christ has clothed us with His own in rebirth. (Justification & Regeneration)

A. The Depravity of the Mind (v.11)

No one understands. The mind is darkened.

They do not understand God

The flesh cannot comprehend the things of the spirit

1 Corinthians 2:13–14 CSB

13 We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people. 14 But the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.

B. The Rebellion of the Will (v.11)

No one seeks after God. Man does not drift toward God; he flees from Him.

He fights against God because he wants to be God himself.

We are LITERALLY the enemies of God.

The natural man, at it’s very core, HATES God.

Romans 8:7–9 CSB

7 The mindset of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit to God’s law. Indeed, it is unable to do so. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.

C. The Corruption of the Heart (v.12)

All have turned away.

The soul is bent away from holiness and from God

All have become worthless.

No beneficial use; incapable of functioning usefully.

There is no one who does what is good, not even one.

No one does good or shows kindness, in humility and love.

D. The Filth of the Mouth (vv.13–14)

Throats like open graves,

tongues full of deceit,

lips and mouths spewing venom, cursing, and bitterness.

Matthew 12:34 LEB

34 Offspring of vipers! How are you able to say good things when you are evil? For from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

E. The Violence of the Hands (v.15)

“Their feet are swift to shed blood.”

Not only with their ACTIONS, but also with their WORDS

Isaiah 59:7–8 CSB

7 Their feet run after evil, and they rush to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and wretchedness are in their paths. 8 They have not known the path of peace, and there is no justice in their ways. They have made their roads crooked; no one who walks on them will know peace.

F. The Absence of Peace and the Fear of God (vv.17–18)

No peace because no reverence for God.

Psalm 36:1 CSB

1 An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked person: Dread of God has no effect on him.

Hebrews 11:27 CSB

27 By faith he left Egypt behind, not being afraid of the king’s anger, for Moses persevered as one who sees him who is invisible.

This WHOLE list that is quoted here by Paul, is quite the list of Truth, concerning the lost…

This is not the “selfie” of a few mischievous friends, but the group portrait of depraved humanity.

The Silence of the Guilty (v.19)

“That every mouth may be stopped...”

The sinner has nothing to plead on their behalf.

They are left without an excuse…

There is nothing left to say for yourself.

No excuses.

The law does not defend; it condemns.

The Purpose of the Law (v.20)

“By the law is the knowledge of sin.”

Not justification, but revelation.

The law exposes our need of grace.

The law is literally our MIRROR that shows us that we are CONSUMED and OBSESSED, and POSSESSED with sin…

Look

Application

“The Law doesn't help us; it just leaves us helpless. It doesn't justify us; it just leaves us guilty before the judgment bar of a holy God.” —Ray Comfort

APP: If your mouth is stopped, let your heart cry out! For the Lord Jesus will not despise the broken in spirit. The law strikes us down, but grace in His Gospel raises us up.

Took

Challenge Application

Let Every Mouth Be Stopped and Every Heart Made Ready for Grace

In this passage, Holy Spirit leads us to the END OF SELF and the beginning of Christ.

Before a person can be saved, they must first be slain.

Call to Action: Come to the feet of Jesus, not to boast, but to beg.

Not to plead your case, but to cast yourself on Christ.

We NEED JESUS to SAVE and RESCUE us from our sin, and to GIVE US NEW LIFE…HIS ETERNAL LIFE.

PRAYER