Self-righteous souls on works
rely, And boast their moral dignity. But if I lisp a song of praise,
Each note shall endlessly ring. One of the ways in which men
seek to excuse their own sin is by pointing out the relative
awfulness of the sin of others. In 2 Corinthians 10-12, Paul
says, but they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves
among themselves are not wise. By discovering an activity in
others which they judge to be far more scandalous than any
activity which they presently involve themselves in, they can
somehow have a moment of self-righteous satisfaction as they contemplate
their own avoidance of such an activity. This practice arises
from the belief that sin is better defined by particular actions
of the flesh rather than the condition of the heart. The Pharisees
were the poster children of just such an attitude and belief,
as they preened themselves in their own looking-glass of righteousness
and religion, while beholding the wickedness of others played
out before them. This is most clearly seen in
the prayer of the Pharisee contrasted with that of the publican, where
the Pharisee even thanked God that he was not a great sinner.
All sin, regardless of the so-called degree of it, stems from the
same source, a well which flows quite freely in the very heart
of every man who is born of a woman. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. As it is written, there is none
righteous, no, not one. When a man is given a true understanding
of this fact, he will be humbled in the dust before a holy God
and abandon all hope of producing any sort of righteousness which
might be considered acceptable in his sight. Such a man is not
able to find any consolation in his sin compared to that of
others. Yet until that occurs, the very
nature of sin will cause him to go about to establish his
own righteousness by a comparison of himself with what he perceives
are the faults of others. In doing so, he denies the true
standard of righteousness which is alone found in the absolute
righteousness of Jesus Christ. As long as a man can take any
sort of satisfaction in himself relative to the actions of others,
he can in no wise submit himself to the righteousness of God revealed
in Jesus Christ. When men judge any man, most
especially their own selves, worthy of favor in God's eyes,
by any means other than the substitutionary righteousness of Jesus Christ,
they have spat in the face of him who is angry with the wicked
every day. They do disregard the very work
of Jesus Christ who came to demonstrate true righteousness by fulfilling
the law in its jot and tittle and dwelling among men as the
only man without sin. They also embrace the exact error
of those Jews and Gentiles alike who say we will not have this
man to rule over us. The only thing that keeps any
man from outward debauchery and baseness of the foulest kind
is the restraining work of the Spirit of God, and to consider
that one has even a shred of righteousness is to despise the
offering of Christ for sinners. There is only one true standard
of righteousness which has ever been set forth among men. He
is that One who was tempted in all points like as we are, but
was yet without sin. He is that One who hung between
heaven and earth as an offering for the sin of His people, imputing
their sin to Himself and His righteousness to them. Unless
you stand in His righteousness, you shall die in your sins. O you who know yourselves to
be sinners of the worst sort, He has demonstrated His purpose
to save unworthy wretches, and does even presently command them
to come unto Him, that they might find rest unto their weary souls.
Thus He speaks to those who are awakened to flee from the wrath
to come. As I live, saith the Lord God,
I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked
turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil
ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream dot
net. That's forthepoor at w-i-n-d-s-t-r-e-a-n
dot net.