Guilty!

Text: Romans 3

Introduction:

Picture yourself in a courtroom. The judge sitting high above you in his legal robes. The court “cryer” then reads the charges against you. The prosecutor has a stack full of evidence. He knows everything that you have ever done.
Actually we are “guilty” already and “condemned already.” We are on death row and need a way to get off of it.

I. Whole Body is Sinful

A. Inner Man

1. Mind (“none that understandeth”)

a) Blinded by sin and selfishness

b) Blinded by our willful suppression of the truth

2. Heart (“none that seeketh after God)

a) Desperately wicked

b) Deceitfully wicked

3. Will (“none that doeth good”)

a) Even our righteousnesses are as filthy rags

(1) When we do good we often to it for selfish reasons

(2) Our good deeds are often cover for or motivated by a desire to cover or atone for our bad deeds. We wouldn’t necessarily do them if it weren’t for trying to make up for something else we did wrong.

b) When weighed in a balance we all fall short

B. Outer Man

1. His quotations are as follows:

a) Verse 13a—Psalm 5:9

b) Verse 13b—Psalm 140:3

c) Verse 14—Psalm 10:7

d) Verses 15-17—Isaiah 59:7-8

e) Verse 18—Psalm 36:1

2. Tongue (v. 13-14)

a) Poem from Spurgeon’s Salt Cellars

“The boneless tongue, so small and weak,

Can crush and kill,” declared the Greek.

“The tongue destroys a greater hoard,”

The Turk asserts, “than does the sword.”

A Persian Proverb wisely saith,

“A lengthy tongue-an early death;”

Or sometimes takes this form instead,

“Don’t let your tongue cut off your head.”

“The tongue can speak a word whose speed,”

The Chinese say, “outstrips the steed;”

While Arab sages this impart,

“The tongue’s great storehouse is the heart.”

From Hebrew with this maxim sprung,

“Though feet should slip, ne’er let the tongue.”

The sacred writer crowns the whole,

“Who keeps his tongue doth keep his soul!”

b) Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, but our Christian nature requires us to guard our speech. “That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment” Mt. 12:36

c) “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.” Ps. 34:13

d) 6 illustrations of the tongue from James 3

(1) Overall view

(a) 1-2 overall power packed in such a little member

(b) 3-4 destructive power

(c) 5-6 constructive power

(2) Six illustrations explained

(a) Bit

(b) Rudder = helm

(i) Tongue will make or break you

(ii) More damage has been done to the church by the tongue on the inside than by its enemies on the outside

(iii) Prov. 21:23 “whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from trouble”

(c) Fire

(d) Wild Animal

(e) Fountain

(f) Fruit Tree

(i) Hitler & Churchill

(ii) “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” Matt 12:34

(iii) “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” Prov. 4:23

(iv) Prov. 18:21 “death and life are in the power of the tongue”

(v) Speak 30,000 words a day, enough to fill a volume