Don't tell me Scripture's not
right when it talks about all men having sinned because all
men are sinners. Go to Genesis 8 for a moment. Verse 21, And the Lord smelled
the soothing aroma, and the Lord said to Himself, I will never
again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's
heart is evil from his youth. This can mean evil from childhood,
evils from a baby. Discover that human nature is
such that imagine for a moment an 18-month-old baby that you're
holding in your arms. And that 18-month-old baby sees
that shiny watch on your wrist. And he grabs for your watch.
And you pull his hand away and say, No. He begins to cry. and
move about in your arms. He reaches for the watch again.
You grab his hand and say no. He begins to scream and cry.
He reaches for the watch again. You say no. He begins to frail
his arms, even in the direction of your face. I submit to you
that if that 18-month-old baby had the strength of an 18-year-old
man, he would slaughter you there where you stand, Father, rip
the watch off your arm and walk across your bloody body out the
door without feeling an ounce of remorse. You see, here's something
you need to understand. Hitler was not an anomaly. Hitler
was not a phenomenon. Hitler was what everyone in this
room has the potential of being. And not only that, you need to
understand, even in all the wickedness of Hitler, Hitler was still restrained
by the common grace of God. And you need to know this, that
if it were not for the common grace of God restraining you
in your unconverted state, you would make Hitler look like a
choir boy. What we do not understand is what Scripture teaches about
men. Men are evil. The Scripture's testimony against
you and all men is that we are born with evil. And we are evil. Do you have to teach a child
to lie? Do you have to teach a child to be self-centered?
Do you have to teach a child to be selfish? Do you have to
teach a child to be brutal to other children? They learn that
on their own. Set them free. Discipline them
not and see what you have in 10 years. A monster. Why? Because what Scripture says is
true. And you hold your ears and you
say, I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear it. In the
same way that a person dying of cancer is in denial and says
to the doctor, I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear
it. But by cupping the hands over your ears, you close yourself
off from any remedy. The first thing you must embrace
is this. All men are born in sin and given over to sin. And all men are born hating God. You say, well, I never hated
God. Yes, you do. If you did not, if you did not
in your unconverted state hate God, then the Bible is not true.
Because the Bible calls all men haters of God and enemies of
God. You say, but I loved God ever
since I was little. No, you loved an image of God. that you created
with your own mind and you loved what you made, but if someone
would have come to you and pointed out the God of Scripture, you
would have said, I could never love a God like that.