Broken-Down Desires (Part 1) - Broken-Down House: The Sinfulness Of Sin (Part 4)

Broken Down House THE SINFULNESS OF SIN Photo: Magnolia677 Review • How Bad Is the Problem of Sin? (Ephesians 2:1-3) • Spiritually dead, morally corrupt, and justly condemned • Broken Down Library (Ephesians 4:17) • Futility of our Minds • Broken Down Electrical System (Psalm 42:5) • Emotions Review 4 Biblical Truths about Emotions • Emotions Communicate Value • Emotions Help us Relate to Others • Emotions Motivate us to Appropriate Action • Emotions Elevate us by Turning us to God Review Sin Distorts our Emotions • Suck it Up – tough guy, stoic, stiff upper lip • Spit it Up – emotionalism, controlled by feelings Review Biblical Response to Emotions – Psalm 42:5 • EXAMINE your emotions • EVALUATE your emotions • REHEARSE BIBLICAL TRUTH • SHARE your emotions with God and others Kitchen Photo: Roozitaa Photo: Ruth Hartnup Broken Down Desires There is something wrong with our “want-er” Ephesians 2:3 …among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Desires of the body The comforts and pleasures of … • sex • food • drink • rest • exercise • health Desires of the mind • desire for power • craving human approval • demanding success • wish for pre-eminence • longings for wealth •goal of self-righteousness Clarification Scripture is not denying that unbelievers can do good in human society in some senses. But it is denying that they can do any spiritual good or be good in terms of a relationship with God. (Wayne Grudem, emphasis in original) Romans 3:11 …No one seeks for God Romans 8:7-8 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Jeremiah 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil. Broken Down Kitchen Photo: Anthony Eastman Augustine Sinners are “not able not to sin.” Martin Luther – The Bondage of the Will “A man without the Spirit of God does not do evil against his will, under pressure, as though he were taken by the scruff of the neck and dragged into it…but he does it spontaneously and voluntarily. And this willingness of volition is something which he cannot in his own strength eliminate, restrain or alter. He goes on willing and desiring to do evil; and if external pressure forces him to act otherwise, nevertheless his will within remains averse to so doing and chafes under such constraint and opposition.” Biblical “cannots” Matthew 7:18 John 6:44, 65 John 15:4-5 1 Corinthians 2:14 James 3:8 John 3:3, 5 John 14:17 Romans 8:7-8 1 Corinthians 12:3 Revelation 14:3 Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved John 3:3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 6:44, 65 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” Romans 9:16 So then [God’s merciful salvation] depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. R. C. Sproul “We do not “find” God as a result of our search for Him. We are found by Him. The search for God does not end in conversion; it begins at conversion. It is the converted person who genuinely and sincerely seeks after God. Jonathan Edwards remarked that seeking after God is the main business of the Christian life.” Miracle of Regeneration: CHOICES Photo: MCB Photo: Anthony Eastman Photo: Zak Greant 1 John 4:19 We love Him because He first loved us. Victory in Jesus Chorus: O victory in Jesus, my Saviour forever! He sought me and bought me… I’ve Found a Friend Opening Stanza: I’ve found a Friend, oh, such a Friend! He loved me ere I knew Him; He drew me with the cords of love, And thus He bound me to Him. He Lifted Me Second Stanza: He called me long before I heard, Before my sinful heart was stirred; But when I took Him at His word, Forgiven, He lifted me. Broken Down Desires •Before we come to Christ – only selfish desires that lead us away from God. •At salvation – we receive a new heart with new desires that want to please God and serve others. •Now we have options. And this is a battle all its own. Photo: Magnolia677