 Romans chapter three. We're gonna begin reading at verse nine. I'm gonna be reading to verse 18 Hopefully we're gonna go further than that. I actually prepared all the way to the end of the chapter, but let's see how it goes right So Romans chapter three beginning at verse nine. What then? Are we better than they not at all? For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin as it is written There is none righteous. No not one There's none who understands. There's none who seeks after God They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable There's none who does good No, not one Their throat is an open tomb with their tongues. They have practiced deceit The poison of asps is under their lips whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness Their feet are swift to shed blood destruction and misery are in their ways and the way of peace They have not known. There's no fear of God before their eyes. And so Paul begins by describing my board. No actually Paul begins by describing humans in general humanity in general I want to develop this with you for a moment because Paul is building a case for man's guilt all of man all Humanities guilt before God because all have sin and fall short of the glory of God So up to this point. He has primarily argued from creation in conscience He's also argued from logic and the law and now from scripture He is saying that both Jew and Gentile alike are guilty before God now when he begins And he says what then are we better than they? Are we better than what are we better than good yet sinful Gentiles? You know when when when I use the term better than good Better than the good yet sinful Gentile. There is something in In just the way we describe human nature and human behavior. There are those who are relatively good Meaning that we're not as evil not all people are as evil as they can be But we are all evil. That's the point. He's making all we need to do is consider a little bit To consider The evil that has been done in society throughout history Evil has been done and here's here's the thing a lot of people have a tendency human nature being what it is as a tendency of Saying well evil has been done, but I've never done that kind of evil But the question is can I can you can we do that kind of evil? And the answer is whatever a human being can do that it's good I can do but whatever an evil or whatever an human being can do that. It's evil I it's possible. I could do that too. Why because of my fallen nature prior to Christ. I have nothing restraining me All I have is what is inside of me and what I desire what I want And so if I want something I'm gonna go after that perhaps if I really wanted no and so evil is Something that a man or a woman can pursue because sometimes evil is what they want and so all humanity is Under the perfection that God would demand of human beings all humanity sins and falls short of that We'll look at that in some detail in just a moment And so are we better than they are we better than then good relatively good yet sinful Gentiles the answer is no Well, are we fundamentally better than the good yet sinful Jewish person and again the answer is is no So he would be saying then am I saying that Christians have a better nature than Gentiles Jews our believers say because they just better human beings the answer is no not at all in Terms of advantages Jews had various blessings and privileges obviously, but in terms of nature they have no advantage And so he says in verse 9 for we have previously charged both Jew and Greek that they are all under sin and So all are under sin He now presents the fact that all humanity is sinful and notice as he begins it I'm gonna I'm gonna share something briefly, but move into this. I want you to see how he begins notice verse 10 as It is written My wife Marie and I were having a conversation today, I'm gonna I'm gonna repeat some of it to you It hopefully will make a bit of sense, but perhaps it won't I don't know but I'll share Marie and I were having a conversation. I was sharing with her some things and And I'm trying to think of how to say it because I want to say it quickly. I hope it makes sense But I want you to notice it says as it is written. I'm using that as my foundation for just a second as it is written What is he doing? He's putting the word of God in the center of the conversation. That's what he's doing He's not using logic at this time He's speaking of scripture as it is written so Marie and I were having a visit today And I don't mean this to be offensive to some who may think it is But I said I said honey, I said do you do you remember we both were raised in the Catholic Church? So I asked her a question. I said do you remember? the structure the way the the architecture of the interior of of the church building So we were conversing about that and I said to her this I said what is in the center? What was in the center of the Catholic Church? And so it's been a long time since since we've been in Catholic Church together and So it took her a moment and she said the altar I Said that's right. I said the altar is in the center of the Catholic Church How many of you were raised in the Catholic Church? So I know you know what I'm saying then right when you walked into the church Where was what was the center when you walked in the altar? Where was the pulpit? Well in the churches I attended they were usually off to the side What's the center of the Catholic Church? I'm going to develop this for a second. What is it? It's the mass It's what they call the real term is the sacrifice of the mass That's what it is the center of the Catholic Church is the sacrifice of the mass and so in the recourse in the re-killing if you will that Jesus dying once again. He becomes a bread in the Catholic Church and and the wine becomes his blood and all of that it's a It's it's a it's more than simply symbolic in the Catholic Church. So the center is the sacrifice That's why it's called the sacrifice of the mass. That's what it's called the sacrifice of the mass not just going to mass Every Catholic knows it's really called the sacrifice of the mass Why is it called that because there's a re-enactment every Sunday Jesus is Recrucified in the communion service. Maybe you remember maybe you don't but that's what it is So we were conversing about that And I said what is the center of a Protestant Church? You guys tell me what is the center of the Protestant Church? Do you know? right here This is the center That's a major difference the center of the Protestant Church is the pulpit Why the pulpit? Because the pulpit is also referred to as the holy altar or the place where the word of God is God's word is a center of the church That's why I wanted to speak for a second here because he says as it is written What is the center of our faith? God's word Not any re-enactments of anything that took place in the past But a presentation of God's mind to his people. That's what Bible study is Now here's something that some of you may not be interested in at all and others might say oh Why do I stand here? Why don't I do this I can do this right I can walk over here. I know what I'm gonna say I Know what I plan on saying already looked at my notes. I can do this. I can walk around if I want to I can talk You're very comfortable doing that. Why don't I do that? Because if I walk around well, I'm teaching I'm drawing your attention to me I'm drawing your attention to me as I speak what I'm doing. You're watching that right now. You're watching me move Why do I stand here? so I don't distract and Today Many people want pastors who walk around prowl the stage entertain grab people's attention Use humor and whatever else they want that they want to have conversation with him But the pastor's responsibility is to say it is written That means I stand here Because I don't want to distract you by prowling a stage Because after a while what you're gonna do is you're gonna wait for me to do something It just happens that's human nature and when I begin to think oh, they're not really Listening I might say you know as and then you know Jonah and he went down down down and then I fall on the ground That's true That's true. I really believe that the center of all things should be the word of God. I really do and that's That's why I stand here. That's why I don't move, you know, some people say well, I want some animation You know, I want I want somebody walk around. I want him to be alive. I want him at personality and blah blah blah But it's the word of God that's alive and so it of God that makes you live So I just wanted to speak about that because we're now we're talking about that today I said, you know, I said it there are people today see churches entertainment in and the pastor as the actor as The guy who draws the attention he he does all of that and I've seen that man I've been around for a long time God knows that and I've seen an awful lot of that We want to keep Jesus Christ in his word center and that's kind of how I wanted to begin this by just reminding you of that You know, just to remind you of that. Yeah, amen to that. So as it as it is written There's a none righteous No, not one so what's he do he appeals to scripture as it is written The Bible is the foundation for saying what he's about to say Psalm 33 verse 4 says the word of the Lord is right and true. He is faithful in all he does So the word of the Lord is right and true. So as it is written, what does it say in scripture? Well, there is none righteous. No, not one No one has ever outside of Christ. He's saying been morally perfectly righteous Mankind and he's about to say this is universally sinful. There is none who is naturally holy There is none who is naturally innocent all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God There's done righteous. No, not one now. I'm gonna use the theological term of brief briefly Our Adamic nature, that's the theological term Our Adamic nature is fallen. No one can do absolute good. So so many says well, what is the Adamic nature? How come you threw that on me because I want to show you how smart I am. No The Adamic nature, what is that it's the propensity to sin that's been inherited from Adam Why does man have an Adamic nature? Well when Adam sinned and fell the whole human family that followed was automatically polluted with a sinful nature and Was born scripture says with a corrupted heart See Romans 512 says Just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin So death spread to all men because all sinned In first Corinthians 15 verse 22 as in Adam all die So also in Christ all will be made alive Galatians 3 22 scripture has concluded all under sin And so he speaks concerning the propensity of the human being to sin due to the fallen nature and the Bible declares That all have sin He says in verse 11. There's none who understands in other words No one has innate ability to comprehend what is spiritually true We don't have that capacity in first Corinthians 2 verse 14 Paul said the natural man receives not the things of the spirit of God They are foolishness unto him neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned When he says the natural man That's the unspiritual man. That's a man who's not born again The natural man cannot receive that word received in the original language means to welcome So the unspiritual man does not welcome the things of the spirit of God So when it says the natural man will not receive he will not welcome in it's a picture of someone knocking at your door You're looking out the window and seeing who it is and you don't want to open it So you're not welcoming that person in well the natural man doesn't receive God will say pictured his word God his word is is knocking on a door will say but they will not welcome it in They don't want to receive it. Why is that? because These things are spiritually discerned What they are he says is their foolishness to him that word foolish is the root that in the Greek Where we can find the word moronic or imbecilic The natural man does not welcome in the things of the spirit of God because it's imbecilic. It makes no sense to him You know this to be true prior to coming to Christ So when we're sure about Jesus with you and you'd say that makes no sense That's we didn't welcome it in it takes the Holy Spirit to convict us So the natural man receive it not the things of the Spirit of God the foolishness to him neither can he know them He cannot understand or discern them Why because they're spiritually discerned? So why do people reject the scriptures? Why do they reject God? Because it makes no sense to them That's why Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would convict the world of sin righteousness and judgment Because it takes the Spirit of God to take you to take me and To redirect my attention to him when my children were very very small when they were babies and I would be wanting to talk to a monocation Their little attention span being what it was They'd kind of look around the room when daddy's talking to him And I used to redirect their attention I would gently touch their little faces And I would move it towards me. So I would look eye to eye with them And I would say daddy's talking to you No, I didn't do that daddy's talking to you You need to listen You redirect the attention The Holy Spirit redirects your attention You're thinking of different things, but the Holy Spirit grabs hold of you. He brings conviction And now you listen You may not hear everywhere that was said, but now you're listening to these words And as you hear those words he convictions of sin righteousness and judgment he awakens you That's how you got saved And so there's none who is any good. There's none who understands they don't spiritually comprehend Verse 11 he continues. There's none who seeks God When it says there's none who sees God it carries the connotation of there's none who's seeking after him to know him and know his will And Psalm 14 verse 2 The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men And that carries the connotation by the way of investigating To see if there were any that did understand if there's any that see God And the answer to that is no you might find this interesting every man made religion avoids God Instead of seeking him How's that? Oh, no, wait a minute. There's guys who do all kinds of crazy things Because they want to know God. How can you say that? Well, that's because man's religion Is normally based on human effort And in your human effort Whether it's in your fasting or your prayers or whether it's in your generous giving whether it's in your meditation Whether it's in your fasting whatever it may be It's all human effort You're attempting to Reach the gulf Between a holy god and a sinful person And you're trying to do it Through your own efforts So there's none who seeks God for God really because every man made religion avoids him Man's religion is normally based on human effort It's interesting, but someone once said this God is the number one seeker in the bible We like to speak about how we seek after him, but we forget that he is the one who first seeks after us When adam fell was that adam chasing after god in the garden? No, it was the voice of the lord adam heard Calling out adam. Where are you? It was not adam the bible doesn't say adam was saying. Oh, where are you god? No, the bible says adam hit himself And it was god the seeking god who went after adam You see that very clearly in the ministry of jesus. He is the one who seeks after the law sheep He's the one who seeks after the lost coin and He's the one who seeks after the lost son In the story of the protocol None of them are seeking after him He is seeking after them And so god is the one who sought after us now when isiah prophesied about messiah he said in isiah 53 6 All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone To his own way and the lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all So we have all gone astray verse 12 says they've all turned aside When it says they've turned aside that means they've gone out of the way. They've gone in the wrong direction humanity policy has left the true path of pursuing god in his will This is a it's from psalm 14 3. They have all turned aside. They have together become corrupt. There's none who does good No, not one They have all together become Excuse me. I've got this cough coming don't get near me. I'll give you covet just kidding I'm not going to It it's a picture in verse 12 Of turning aside going in the wrong direction and together he's speaking of humanity have become unprofitable Again, there's none who does good. No not one Uh humanity left that path Notice that it says they become unprofitable That word unprofitable is putrid That's an ugly word The picture is They become sour They become putrid like sour milk. It's what he's saying So all humanity has fallen to ruin And the point he's making is man without god doesn't produce righteous works. That's why verse 12 says there's none who does good No, not one There's none who is morally upright their throat verse 13 and i've got this cough is wanting to fight me You win um Their throat is an open tomb with their tongues. They've practiced deceit This is an interesting phrase here. Let me share this with you He says their throat is an open tomb. Their throat is an open sepulchre. Their throat Is an open grave Well, what does that mean? Their speech is not only corrupt But it corrupts others I remembered something and I looked it up and I quote i'm gonna just quote it The point he's making is death proceeds from them from the mouth their words do not bring life. That's his point But when it says their throat is an open grave, I remembered something and I'll just read it to you the romans Sometimes compelled a captive listen to this To be joined face to face with a dead body And to bear it about Until the horrible decaying body fluids destroyed the life Of the living victim the poet virgil describes this cruel punishment The living and the dead At his command were coupled face to face and hand to hand till choked with stench In loathe embraces tied The lingering wretches pined away and died and so Your words he's saying without god These Humanity without christ is like the stench of an open grave It's putrid So the one who is spiritually dead can't speak spiritual life They're like an unsealed sepulcher Stench and death are present. That's pretty strong language He says with their tongues They have practiced deceit when it says practice deceit They're smooth liars The first time you lied and everyone in this room has lied. I know someone may say well, I I haven't that's your first lie We've all lied But the first lie you you you lied you probably got caught Because it probably just wasn't convincing but you practiced And after practicing you can get pretty good at lying It's it's something you can craft you can learn to be a good liar When I gave my um cardboard testimony those of you who saw it I don't know but um The first thing I put and there was a reason for it was I was a thief Why did I say that you're not interested? I'll tell you in a way the reason I said thief is because The first thing I knew I did is I stole something So I started out as a thief but then I tried to cover it up So the second thing is I became a liar. That's why I put thief and liar I wasn't lying before I stole I stole and learned to lie And if you practice long enough You can become very convincing And that's what he's saying. These are very convincing liars because they practice They smooth they're smooth liars And a person's character is revealed by the way they speak In verse 13 the poison of asps The word asp is a snake is a cobra The poison of cobras is under their lips the poison in a cobra is in a bag And um, it's under a tooth that discharges venom. So that's a picture he's giving But it's a point. Well, when the unsaved preach, there's danger because the words he's saying are spiritual poison Now you say well, that's an interesting thing. Well, jesus said this when some of the Pharisees were having a Having making accusations against him. You remember they called him beelzebub prince of the flies And jesus spoke and he said to them this in matthew 12 34. He said brood of vipers How can you be an evil speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks That's what paul is saying He's saying that the poison of cobras is under the lips you brood of vipers You cannot bring forth good things. That's what paul is saying verse 14 whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness Whose mouth is full of reproaching people and bitterness speaks of them being cruel the way they speak They only desire in other words the worst for people. They have bitterness. What is bitterness? It's openly expressed emotional hostility. They use their speech to hurt people Proverbs 12 18 there is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword But the tongue of the wise promotes health There are people who have learned how to use their words to just lacerate people And it's coming out of out of an evil heart towards people That's where it's coming from and paul once again is saying this is the behavior He's not saying this is the behavior of believers. He's saying this is the behavior of humanity That doesn't know god He says in verse 15 their feet are swift as shed blood 16 destruction and misery are in their ways a way of peace they have not known There's no fear of god before their eyes And so their feet are swift they're eager to commit sin They leave devastation in their wake Why while they're violent and they're angry This kind of behavior becomes commonplace. It's become a commonplace in our day this anger this this Violence that has become normal in just the last few years It's amazing to me You know that that people are not only only Rude to one another, but sometimes they are physically abusive I was watching the news if you watch the news at all, perhaps you saw this recently a swimmer named riley something or other um For some reason her name escaped me, but anyway, she's a swimmer and she was lecturing on On the need to maintain women as women swimmers. I think there's a logic to that that makes sense to me Women should compete with women and just because a man says I feel like a woman Does it mean that he is a woman right? I mean I used to almost tease I teased about that I'll say this quickly. I teased about that Years ago, some of you may have been around when I was teaching and I said something like this I said, you know, I can say that I'm a six foot four swedish man with blue eyes and blonde hair Yeah, you laugh, right? I can say that And that was my point you're looking at somebody who's not that Is that still true today? No Because you're not allowed to doubt what somebody has said Their self-delusion is more important than reality We're living in that right now. Maybe you haven't noticed it But what we are there are laws being passed right now that are forbidding you From pointing that out right now right now Here in california and various other places and so that's taking place even as i'm speaking and so There are people who Get angry at you Because you don't agree with them and so this young woman was given a lecture up in san francisco in a university And people who refer to themselves as transgender began to attack her swear at her they hit her And there's nothing being said about that There's nothing being said about that other than I have to say it this way other than the spokeswoman for For the president said that they are solidly united behind those people who are of the persuasion To hit people for that she didn't say it that way, but that's what she's basically saying We're living in that time right now. We have to be aware of this and by the way, we can't roll over and be quiet about We have to be open about this is wrong This is not something right and the church of all Entities on the face of the earth. We're supposed to speak the truth in love but speak it nonetheless, right? So that's taking place right now, but that's a sign of the last days Second timothy 3 verse 1 paul said it like this. He said know this that in the last day's perilous or dangerous times will come And he began to describe those days and in verse 3 He said that they'd be unloving unforgiving slanderers without self-control brutal despisers of good We're living in those days in verse 17 the way of peace they have not known They have not sought the peace of god and they have not sought peace with god and as a result They have no peace and they're unfamiliar with what it truly is He's saying that they haven't opened to god's way for peace In isaac 57 21 says it like this. There's no peace say if by god for the wicked So being at war with god they have refused the peace that's been offered to them all humanity Because the peace that's being offered is found in what is called the gospel of reconciliation Now the gospel of reconciliation Is a is a message the gospel message is a message that calls for unconditional surrender. I don't know if you know that Second carinthians 5 you can research it study it. You'll see it very plainly presented We have been entrusted with what is called the gospel of reconciliation to what god was in christ reconciling the world to himself And so the gospel of reconciliation has also been referred to as terms of peace Now the terms of peace that are offered in the gospel of reconciliation Are not a conditional peace You know it is calling for unconditional surrender In other words, you can't negotiate peace with god and retain the sins that he's at war with You have to unconditionally surrender. That's what you did when you got saved you didn't say I hope you didn't say jesus i'm going to give you all of these things, but I want to keep this for myself Because it's just a small sin. It's not a it's not that bad Just a small one. I want to keep No, you unconditionally said I give up I surrender you're the victor I have been vanquished I want peace with you when the united states fought and Participated in the war in the second world war and macArthur, I believe was macArthur went on the Missouri if i'm not mistaken at the moment and received the Sword of hero hito It was an unconditional surrender We did not negotiate a partial peace It was full surrender. That's what happened to conclude world war two That's a picture of what god did through christ The gospel doesn't say stay doing these sins. It's okay. You'll outgrow them The gospel says you're at war with god You are in hostile opposition if he says it's black you say it's white if he says it's sour You say it's sweet if he if he says it's up you say it's down You're having a whore with god. That's what the the bible teaches. We're at war with him but jesus dies on a cross And defeats the enemy Then offers through his message terms of peace with you But you don't negotiate with him by saying i'm going to keep these sins because they're small sins or pet sins I've had them all my life. They're really part of my just the way I am you know No, you said I I give them all to you I unconditionally surrender to you I ask for full forgiveness Because I fully surrender. That's that's what paul's talking about in the world hasn't done that He's saying the world rejects those things and therefore they have no peace because they don't have peace with god He says basically That the reason they have no peace is because they have no fear of god Now matthew henry said this he said the root of religion is the fear of god reigning in the heart And in proverbs 14 27 It says the fear of the lord is a fountain of life to turn one away from the snares of death In verse 19 Now we know that whatever the law says it says to those Who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may Become guilty before god therefore by the deeds of the law No flesh will be justified in his sight for by the law is the knowledge of sin So he has just finished from verse 9 to verse 18 condemning all humanity under sin But in verse 19 he makes it clear Whatever the law speaking of the law of moses says it says to those who are under the law That every mouth may be stopped And so he's closing the door on all humanity by saying that all stand guilty before god And what he's saying is this you cannot be saved if you try to keep the law You stand condemned he's saying in the law of moses. That's why we need god's grace And that includes the person who has an internal moral code And that includes the jewish person who had a written code We break the the code whether it's internal or written And so those who've received the written code he's saying speaking of the jews Stand guilty before the lord And because all people violate standards all stand guilty before god Therefore verse 20 by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in his sight Even if we try very hard to be good We fall short of god's glory The law of moses Reveals to us what sin is It also reveals our guilt before god Later on in chapter 7. Let's see we're in chapter 3. So in about a year when we get to chapter 7 Verse 7 What shall we say then is the law sin? Certainly not Indeed i would not have known what sin was except through the law For i would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said do not covet So the law actually Condemns It doesn't save The law reveals to us how far we have fallen short of god's standards The law actually defines for us reveals what sin is It reveals how we have broken the law And then it even sentences us And unless god had done this for us given christ we'd never realize our guilt before him So no matter how good we are compared to other people we still fall short Everybody has a friend that they have in their past or even now that's worse than them And so you can kind of point to him say at least i'm not like that, you know We all have that So no matter how good we are compared to somebody else we're still not perfect Isaiah 64 6 we are all as an unclean thing All our all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags We all do fade as a leaf Our iniquities like the wind Have taken us away We are an unclean thing our righteousnesses are as filthy rags The leper who had oozing sores Would wrap their arm With a cloth And the cloth would become polluted by the seepage And just in life as walking in in life the dust would settle it would become dirty and grimy And isaias simply saying our righteousness is like a filthy rag We may consider it ourselves to be clean, but in fact We're filthy we need the lord That's why we're thankful for the grace of god because grace changes everything In titus 3 verses 4 through 7 When the kindness and the love of god our savior toward man appeared Not by works of righteousness which we've done But according to his mercy He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the holy spirit Whom he poured out on us abundantly through jesus christ our savior That having been justified by his grace We should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. I'm going to stop there By just magnifying the grace of god Thank god for his grace No matter how hard i tried no matter how hard you tried To be good The desire was within me the ability to perform that which i desired was not I didn't want to be a liar But I was just this last sunday on Easter service a little boy approached me Sweetest little guy I'd say he's nine or ten maybe And I was in the back and I think it was Jared came and knocked on the door and said pastor david There's a little boy out there wants to talk to you for a minute. Would you come out? I said no get the kid out of here. No No, I said of course So I came walking out and he was just standing there sweetest. He's a sweet little guy Maybe ten or so and he's standing there and he's just Wanting to to talk and he's jabbering in this and that his mama's doing what mama's do Apologizing, you know, well, I'm sorry. Oh, no, I enjoy this. I love this I enjoy talking to these little guys and so we're having a nice conversation. But then the mama says this to me She says, you know He kind of exaggerates. No, he's a liar. She says he he lies and you know pastor, maybe you can pray for him and help him a little bit but He he makes up a lot of stuff Well, they'd already told me some of their story and I could understand why he does that So I looked at him and I told him this and I'll close with this little illustration But this is what I told this little boy. I said I understand why you lie I understand why you don't tell everything exactly. I didn't call him a liar Stupid. No, I I'm the righteous rags. No, I said, um I said, I know I understand why you exaggerate the truth I said I used to do that I was a liar a polished liar I would actually sit down at the age of 17 and 18. I wasn't a child And I would make up something to tell somebody And I used to do it habitually I was a liar Oh, I'd make up stories that I did and make their eyes get wide and say, well, you did that and I go, yeah, I did this and I did that And I used to formulate lies and I was telling this boy this little guy. I said, you know, I used to lie And he goes you did pastor. I said, yeah, I I did I said I understand I said, but let me tell you something. I found out why I lied The reason I lied is because I just didn't know my value before God I didn't realize that that God loved me So I tried to make myself into something I wasn't I wanted to recreate myself I said, so I tell lies about what I did and how adventurous I was and all of those things I said and then one day the Lord just told me, you know, I love you And then you don't need to make up stories. Just be yourself And maybe that ministers to somebody even listening to this now You know who you are in christ is more than enough Is more than enough You don't have to be the hero of your own stories You don't have to be the one who never loses You don't have to be the person who is just oh so at just be yourself Just be who you are, you know, and one last closing thought something that may help somebody may not but On this whole thing about God's grace and goodness When I was a young man and I would date girls I would ask them and I didn't date very often I was too cheap to But when I did I would not where do you want to go and what do you want to do? What do you like to eat? What kind of music I had kind of sound them out What kind of food do you like? Oh, I like it Me too What kind of music do you like? I like country Me too That one hurt And then one day I met a girl named Marie And At that point I said I'm not going to try and do everything she likes I'm going to take her to see if she likes the things I like So when I asked her out, I'd say would you like to go with me? I'm going And guess what she wanted to go Would you like to go here? It's where I'm going. So no, I didn't cater I didn't pretend I was somebody else. I was myself And guess what she fell in love with the real person She fell in love with the real person. That's how it works And so as I was sharing with this little fellow, you don't have to say things to make yourself what you're not Just learn that God loves you and he can make you into what he wants Because of the grace of God Because God's grace changes everything So the law Our conscience creation Our morals all of those things fall short The only thing that matters is God's grace. That's what paul's pointing out All sin and fall short of the glory of God. That's why God sent jesus Because you cannot make it on your own. You needed his help. That's why we need a savior Because he did what I can't do And all I need to do is trust and believe that he can give me what he prepared for me I didn't do it. He did it. I just received it And guess what it changes your life. We'll see that more deeply next time