June 29, 2025 - All Mouths Stopped
Notes
Transcript
If you’ve paid attention the last couple of decades… you would have realized that there has been a push within society to try to CONVINCE ourselves that - - at it's core, the human will is alive and strong
If we think about the various SLOGANS that have saturated the MARKETING of corporations during that time you would REMEBER these types of phrases being PUSHED and promoted:
Do more
Achieve more
empower us all
with courage...push forward
continuous renewal
courage in the face of opportunity
Live fast
Don't hesitate
Stay young
Live for now...because life is good
It's this thought that at our core, humanity is good.
That with a little bit of circumstantial adjustment...a little bit more education...
That human beings will turn out real well.
But this THOUGHT / IDEA flies in the face of what we read last week...right?
starting in verse 10:
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
...and then 6 more verses of the same.
I REMEMBER a few years ago - during the SUPERBOWL - there was a commercial that got a lot of FLACK from society...
It was a Nationwide Commercial PROMOTING SAFETY - and doing it with this little kid talking about how he'll never get to grow up and do all these things...
...because he had died in an accident.
And at the time - One lady tweeted that night - "I think NationWide could have gotten that message across better with a HAPPY POWERFUL message and not DEATH. Make safe happen with LIFE.
And so NOWADAYS - we're ok with half-naked halftime shows, but we're gonna get angry over an Insurance commercial that mentions death and the frailty of mankind.
The world DOES NOT want to hear the indictment of Romans 3:10-18.
We saw Paul last week quote 6 sections of Old Testament Scripture to support everything he has already said in chapters 1 and 2.
We saw how Paul used verses 10-12 to lay the Gentile world on the table as being under sin,
and then we saw how he used verses 15-17 to lay the Jewish nation on the table.
And all together, Paul was saying that ALL are under sin...
All hopeless
And that the only way out is by the mercy of God.
That the only hope mankind has is in the river of God's mercy.
That GOD must move to bring salvation.
And Paul is preparing now to catapult into the Good News of the Gospel.
But before he does...
He'll make one last point....TODAY
19 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.
20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
One of the most underrated aspects of Christianity is that...
..while not everyone believes so, Christianity IS universal.
It is not reserved for a specific class of individuals...
...a certain grouping of like-minded folk.
It's not a tribal religion.
It's universal.
It declares things that have to do with the whole world.
And we see this in verse 19:
19 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.
Even when Christianity is focused on the Jew, or on the church, it speaks TO the nations.
There is a message in every message that speaks to the world.
There's a message in every word of the Law to the Jews, for the nations.
And there are some implications in these texts today.
We'll list them out now, and then we'll walk thru Paul's argument that he makes.
SLIDE: IMPLICATIONS
Everyone is guilty before God...no exceptions.
No mouth, anywhere in the world, from the jungles of Africa to Harvard University, will be able to raise a legitimate objection against God in judgment. Every mouth will be stopped.
The mouths that do raise objections against God NOW, will be silenced.
Therefore, do not fear man...fear God.
Remember that your own heart (my own heart) is sinful and your mouth will be stopped, so while there is still time, turn to Christ and receive what we'll read of next week in verse 22 "righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe".
These are some weighty implications from these text today, and we'd be wise to hold these in our hearts until the day that we drop.
What I'd like to do now is walk thru the argument that Paul is making in verses 19 and 20.
There are 4 steps to this argument...
...we're going to list them now - in order, and then...
We'll unpack them in reverse order to help us understand the argument better.
STEP 1
Step 1 - verse 19a: "Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law."
19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law...
So the first point is:
The Law is focused on the Jews.
the primary hearers of the Law of God are the Jews who have been called out to receive the oracles of God (3:1).
STEP 2
Step 2 - verse 19b: " . . . so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God."
...so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.
The goal and effect of speaking to one chosen people (the Jews) is to stop the mouths of all peoples.
How does this work?
How does the address to the Jews...STOP EVERY mouth?
STEP 3
Step 3 - verse 20a: [All mouths are stopped] ". . . because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight."
20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight...
How does that work?
Why are all mouths stopped because the Jews were addressed by the law?
STEP 4
Step 4 - verse 20b: [no flesh will be justified by works of the Law] " . . . for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin."
... since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
How does that work?
How does the knowledge of sin being revealed by the law...
show...that no one will be justified by the law
show...that no one will be justified by the law
which in turn shows that every mouth will be stopped...
because God addressed Israel (Jewish Nation) with the Law?
NOW - - let's go backwards now to follow Paul's train of thought...
...starting with the foundations...
...and making our way up to the peaks.
So let's start with step 4 at the end of verse 20:
... since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
SLIDE: All Mouths Stopped: Through Knowledge of Sin
All Mouths Stopped
All Mouths Stopped
What does this mean?
I think if we were to just read this statement, isolated from everything else Paul has said...
...we may think of this as...
"If we read the Law, we'll know what sin is"
Don't steal
Don't kill
Don't covet
Now I know what sin is...I've learned what sin is by reading the Law.
We know what the weather will be like today by reading the weather section
We know what's for dinner by reading the menu
We know what the Browns are doing by reading the Comics...i mean the Sports Section.
I know what sin is...I've learned what sin is by reading the Law.
No, this is not what Paul's saying here...
and we know it's not because it doesn't fit the argument.
Let's read all of verse 20 and see...
20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since the law teaches what sin is.
That doesn't hold water...
The fact that the law teaches what sin is - wouldn't negate me from then performing the Law and being justified in God's sight.
So that can't be the argument Paul is making.
So what is the argument he's making here?
Well, let's go find another place where Paul mentions the Law making sin known...
7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.
When the Law of God meets an unregenerate, unsaved, rebellious heart...( a person without the Holy Spirit)
...the Law reveals the rebellion in our hearts and makes it known.
**Night Vision Goggles
It's like a teenager who goes to the mailbox to get the mail.
He brings it in and puts it on the table.
He flips through it and sees nothing for him, and so he starts to walk away.
No bad desires at all here, right?
But then he notices at the top of one of the postcards the words, "For parents only!"
And suddenly there is a desire to read the card.
Are those words on the card sin?
No.
No.
But through those words come the knowledge of sin.
Suddenly what was lying dormant in the heart is shown to really be there - the desire to read what one ought not to read.
This is what the Law does...
SLIDE:
The Law of God stirs up resistance in the heart where the Holy Spirit is not ruling.
NOW, taking that position...we can see the connection to Step 3 in Paul's argument:
STEP 3 - verse 20a - "By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight."
20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
SLIDE: All Mouths Stopped: In Being Justified by Good Works
All Mouths Stopped
All Mouths Stopped
Why?
Now we know...
Because everywhere the Law meets an unregenerate heart (without the Spirit), it awakens resistance not faith.
It brings out - sin - not faith - in an unregenerate heart.
It doesn't overcome sin, it reveals sin.
It makes it known - - WHO we are...
"For through the Law comes the knowledge of sin." - and BY EXTENSION - knowledge of who WE ARE...
So the Law does not bring about justification, it brings about condemnation.
It doesn't set anyone right with God - because it doesn't have the power to do that.
Why?
3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
Notice, the Law is not defective in and of itself.
The Law is weak because of our flesh...
By itself, the Law brings out sin, not faith...
And when it does, it is death-giving...not life-giving.
So the Law can only condemn us....apart from the Spirit of God.
There you have steps 4 and 3:
the Law awakens sin, not faith, when it meets mere flesh (the unregenerate heart);
and therefore, by the works of the Law nobody will be justified.
The Law can't do it. It is weak through the flesh
Now, still moving backward in Paul's argument, how do those two steps (3 and 4) help us understand verse 19,
the first two steps in Paul's argument?
In verse 19 he said: (read below)
19 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.
"whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to (literally: guilty before) God."
Why does what the Law says to the Jews show the whole world guilty before God?
Do you guys remember the question raised in verse 1 of chapter 3?
1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?
Do you remember Paul's response in verse 2?
2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.
The Jewish Nation had the advantage of having access to the very Word of God.
They weren't left to natural revelation to try and figure out God.
They had His Word.
And so if anyone could be justified through the Law of God - then surely the Jewish Nation could right?
Like the Dream Team of 1992:
Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Christian Laettner, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, John Stockton
If anyone was going to win the Gold....it was the dream team
Not only did they have the best player in the world on the team,
BUT they had ALL the best players in the world on ONE team.
I grew up playing in the summers against teams with coaches who would stack their teams...
...HAND picked players
They wanted to give themselves the best advantages they could.
The Jewish Nation had the oracles of God.
If anyone was going to be justified by works of the Law it was going to be the Jewish Nation...
BUT WHAT?
They were NOT justified by the works of the Law.
Why?
We had just gone thru it.
verse 20 had told us...:
Because through the Law came the knowledge of sin - the Law was weak through the flesh; it only awakened sin and rebellion, not faith
SLIDE: All Mouths Stopped: Because All Under Sin
All Mouths Stopped
All Mouths Stopped
If this is what happened among the people who had the greatest advantages -if the Jewish people are so sinful that the "holy," "just," "good" and "spiritual" Law of God (Romans 7:12,14) can, by itself, only awaken sin and rebellion, rather than faith,
then there is no reason to believe that the rest of the world would respond any better.
So the lesson of Israel's response to the Law of God is --
that every mouth is stopped and all the world is guilty before God.
If Israel can't be justified by the works of the Law, NOBODY can.
This is what verse 19 is saying -
19 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.
If Israel can't be justified by the works of the Law, nobody can.
BACK TO THE 5 IMPLICATIONS:
SLIDE:
Everyone is Guilty Before God
No Mouth Has an Objection Against God
Mouths that Reject God Will be Silenced
Therefore Do Not Fear Man
But for God’s Grace, We Would Be as Rebellious as Anyone
(1) Everyone is Guilty Before God:
This is the great lesson from these first 3 chapters of Romans:
Everyone is guilty.
This word "everyone" has implications in your life.
It means you...your kids...your parents....everyone you know.
Every face you recognize
Every voice your familiar with
everyone.
(2) No mouth will be able to lift a legitimate objection to God's judgment. Every mouth will be stopped. No - "Yeah but's"....none.
And God Himself has put 3 great WARNING SIGNS for mankind to WAKE UP to this reality:
Chapter 1: Warning Sign of Nature
20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
All of nature if flashing before us - GOD IS REAL - GOD IS JUST - GOD WILL JUDGE
Chapter 2: Warning Sign of Conscience
15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them
And now in chapter 3: Warning Sign of Israel
19 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.
The point of these Warning Signs is - Get right with God now, because NO ONE will make a case against Him in the Last Day.
Back to the IMPLICATIONS:
Everyone is Guilty Before God
No Mouth Has an Objection Against God
Mouths that Reject God Will be Silenced
Therefore Do Not Fear Man
But for God’s Grace, We Would Be as Rebellious as Anyone
(3) The mouths that raise objections against God now will one day be silenced.
Every mouth will be stopped.
If we just lean into the society today, what we hear is the boasting of men against our God.
"Where is God?" they say.
But only for a short season.
Then they perish, and meet him.
And their mouth is stopped. All boasting will be silenced.
As Isaiah 2:17 says,
17 And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
Back to the IMPLICATIONS:
Everyone is Guilty Before God
No Mouth Has an Objection Against God
Mouths that Reject God Will be Silenced
Therefore Do Not Fear Man
But for God’s Grace, We Would Be as Rebellious as Anyone
(4) Therefore do not fear the voice of man.
All of MAN’s railing will cease. Fear God.
Do we even consider how this should impact our lives?
That God would give us all a radically God-saturated way of looking at the world!
That if we would take an honest look at our daily agendas, would we find God anywhere therein?
Do we walk to the beat of the same drum as the World?
If I'm a Christian, my eyes are called to be fixed on Jesus.
The world is walking this way - opposite way.
And so as a Christian, being IN the world but not OF the world...
...I'm living life with people trying to get them to turn to Christ...
...to turn the way I'M HEADED
That doesn't happen when I turn and face the way they face.
When I fix my eyes on that which they fix their eyes.
Standing up high, can people see you facing the opposite direction as the world,
OR
are you walking to the beat of the same drum as the world?
If you are walking to the beat of the same drum as the world, then you fear the voice of man...
And Paul says - turn around (it’s NOT too late...) ...fear God.
Take courage
Wait on the Lord
(5) Finally, remember that your own heart is sinful, and that, were it not for the power and grace of the regenerating Holy Spirit, you and I would be as rebellious as any man in the world.
Remember that your own mouth will be stopped.
And so, while there is still time, turn to Christ and receive "the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe."
Let's Pray...
