Well, 42 teaching lessons, I
mean, come on, there's four chapters in Philippians. I mean, it just
takes a while to go through four chapters in a book, but that
was a great joy for me to be able to exposit and expound the
book of Philippians, and I would certainly commend Philippians
to you. Well, the topic that has been
assigned to me for tonight is the topic of total depravity.
So I have a few devotional thoughts that I want to leave with you
on total depravity. It's also the
title of my new biography that's coming out, The Life and… Wait a minute, not autobiography. No, it's The Life and Times of
Bob Godfrey. From glory to the grave. Yeah, when my wife saw what my
topic was, she said, why do they always ask you to preach these
hard messages? And so I do. I embrace this. And so I want
to preach to you tonight on total depravity, and it is critically
important that we understand what this doctrine is because
it affects every aspect of ethics and morality. So, I hope you
have a Bible with you because you're going to need to use your
Bible tonight, so go ahead and open your Bible to the book of
Romans. And you'll want to keep it open.
We're going to spend our time tonight, the vast majority of
our time, in the book of Romans. And I want to begin by reading
A couple of verses as a launching point for us tonight as we think
about total depravity. In Romans chapter 5 and beginning
in verse 12, as the Apostle Paul writes to the church at Rome,
he writes this, beginning in verse 12, "'Therefore, just as
through one man sin entered into the world, Let me repeat that. Just as through one man, sin
entered into the world, and death through sin. And so death spread
to all men because all sinned. For until the law, sin was in
the world, and sin is not imputed where there is no law. Nevertheless,
death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had
not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a
type of him who was to come." It's been well said that a right
diagnosis is half the cure. And so we ask the question, what
is wrong with the world? What is wrong with people? What
is wrong with the human race? Because something is obviously
desperately wrong as our world is unraveling like a cheap sweater. We see all around us war and
strife and envy and conflict and murder and lying. And most
people look in all the wrong places to try to diagnose the
problem. They claim that the problem is
on the outside of man, that the problem is the environment. The
problem is the government. The problem is the economy. The
problem is global warming. The problem is your upbringing,
your disadvantages, etc., etc., etc. But you and I know that
there is no cure for a spiritual problem to be found in politics
or in finance. All of these explanations fall
short of where the real problem lies. And the fundamental problem
of man and the world and the human race lies not outside of
man, but on the inside of man, and in one word, it is sin. So what is sin? Well, sin is
any lack of conformity to the holiness of God. Sin is any transgression
of the law of God. Sin is falling short of the glory
of God. Sin is going astray from the
will of God. And this is man's greatest problem. And in order to grasp the magnitude
of what is wrong with everyone and everything, we need to understand
the magnitude of sin. So this necessitates that we
are well taught in three major doctrines, and these will be
the three headings that I'll have for us tonight. Number one,
the doctrine of original sin. Number two, the doctrine of total
depravity. And number three, the doctrine
of universal guilt. These three are interrelated
and interwoven And these three doctrines are so well addressed
in the book of Romans. So I want us to note, first of
all, the doctrine of original sin, and I direct us back to
Romans chapter 5 and verse 12, because original sin is that
first sin of Adam and its effect upon the entire human race. bringing
sin to the entire human race and death to the entire humanity. And so we read in verse 12, just
as through one man. And we know who this one man
is. His name is Adam. His name is
mentioned twice in verse 14. And Adam will become the channel,
the passageway by which sin will enter into the world. And therefore,
just as through one man, sin entered into the world. Adam's one sin, his one transgression,
sin entered the world like a floodgate had been opened up, and sin came
pouring into the human race through the one act of disobedience by
Adam. And please note it says sin in
the singular, not sins in the plural, because the emphasis
here is upon the presence of sin and the power of sin and
the pollution of sin and the principle of sin. This all came
into the human race, and from it came the plurality of sins. You'll also note that sin entered
into the world. It did not originate with Adam.
Satan had already failed in his cosmic rebellion against God
in heaven, and when he disobeyed, sin entered into the world, and
death through sin. And so, with sin, there is always
death. And God had said in Genesis 2
verse 17, in the day that you eat of this fruit, you shall
surely die. And the moment he disobeyed God,
not only did sin enter the human race, but death entered as well. There was an immediate death
for Adam, a spiritual death. But with that spiritual death,
there would eventually come physical death. And were it not for the
grace of God, there would be eternal death. And so, Adam opened
the door to sin, and sin opened the door to death. And so, we
read in verse 12, so death spread to all men. It spread like a
malignant cancer, and it spread to every human being in the human
race, beginning at the moment of conception. And then he adds,
because all sinned. And at the moment that Adam sinned,
his offense, his sin was imputed to every person that would ever
be conceived in their mother's womb. And so, when did you become
a sinner? Over 6,000 years ago, Adam's
sin was charged to your account. And long before you were conceived
and long before you entered into this world, you were already
condemned, and you were already under the wrath of God, and you
were already a sinner. this imputation of Adam's sin. It was immediate. It took place
to the entire human race once and for all at that point. It
was comprehensive. It went to every member of the
human race. It was realistic in the sense
that we were charged as though we ourselves had committed that
sin. It was fatal in that it brought
death, and it was representative in the sense that the one man
acted on behalf of the many." And this is reinforced five more
times here in Romans chapter 5 in the following verses, and
I want to let your eye go down the page from verse 15 to verse
19, and I want you to see verse 15 where it says, by the transgression
of the one, the many died. Adam's one transgression brought
death to the entire human race. Verse 16, the judgment arose
from one transgression resulting in condemnation, the divine punishment
and judgment of God on the entire human race. Verse 17, we read,
by the transgression of the one, death reigned. And death reigned
like a cruel tyrant and has ruled over the human race from the
time of Adam's sin. It's appointed a man once to
die, and after this, the judgment. In verse 18, we read in Romans
5, through one transgression there resulted condemnation to
all men. And so, eternal condemnation
and eternal punishment was declared by God against every member of
the human race long before they were conceived or born. And then
in verse 19 we read, through the one man's disobedience, referring
to Adam's disobedience, The many were made sinners because His
sin was imputed to every person, and we were charged as guilty
before God, before we entered the human race. This is the doctrine
of imputation, that the action of one man is regarded as the
actions of the many others, and it is based upon the principle
of federal headship. that the action of a representative
head would affect all those whom he represents. And Adam was our
representative head, and his actions would be accredited to
us. and would be imputed to us, and
so His one act has condemned the entire human race to the
end of the age till the last person is conceived in the womb. And this speaks volumes of the
holiness of God, that just one sin would condemn the entire
human race, just one sin by one man, And the entire future population
of the world stood judged and condemned before God. That's
how holy God is. And that is how sinful one act
of rebellion against this holy God is taken seriously by Almighty
God. One sin by one man, and the entire
human race condemned. So, Adam opened the floodgate
of sin and death around the world to every tribe, to every tongue,
to every people, to every nation, to every continent. And you want
to know what's wrong with the world? You want to know what's
wrong with mankind? The answer is original sin. But this leads us now to the
second major doctrine. And it is the doctrine of total
depravity. And so I want you, while you're
in Romans, turn back to chapter 3. Romans chapter 3 and verse
9, because not only was Adam's sin imputed, credited, to every
person of the human race, but the sin nature of Adam has been
transmitted to us in the moment of conception. The sin nature
of Adam has been passed down from parent to child, parent
to child, and you inherited that sin nature. So, beginning in
verse 9. Paul will give really what is
the quintessential signature text on total depravity. And just by way of introduction
before we work our way through these verses, total depravity
means that the totality of human nature has been corrupted, poisoned,
and polluted by sin. From the top of your head to
the bottom of your feet, every inch and every ounce of every
person born into this world has had sin like a fatal poison flooding
through their soul. The mind of every person has
been darkened so they cannot see or understand the truth.
The heart of every person has been defiled so that they do
not love the truth. They love what they should hate,
and they hate what they should love. And the will of every person
is dead and in bondage to sin and cannot believe the gospel
in and of themselves. And so, beginning in verse 9,
it's an incredible scene. And let me just set this up because
this scene is a courtroom scene, and the entire human race is
standing trial before God, and God is judge and jury and prosecutor. And Paul is like a courtroom
reporter, and the defendants are the entire human race. An
unconverted mankind is without an advocate. And the evidence
is submitted. And the evidence is found in
God's Scripture, the Old Testament. And the verdict is indisputable.
It is the condemnation of the entire human race. And there
will be no defense offered by mankind, and there is no appeal
to a higher court. So beginning in verse 9, here
is the charge. Paul begins in verse 9, what
then? In other words, he is saying, what more can I say? Because
this section began in chapter 1, verse 18, when he writes,
for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness.
And throughout the rest of chapter 1, chapter 2, now coming into
chapter 3, verse 9, he says, what more can I say? He has built
an indisputable case of the condemnation of every man and every woman
under the wrath of God. So, he says, what then? Are we
better than they? And the we refer to Paul and
the believers who were in Rome, and the they refer to those who
are yet outside of Christ. Are we of better stock Did we
have a better nature? Were we more spiritual than they?"
And he says, not at all, unequivocally no. For we have already charged,
and that's a legal term of an indictment of a crime and to
be found guilty. For we have already charged that
both Jews and Greeks, that covers the entire human race, are under
sin. All mankind is under the penalty
of sin. All mankind is under the power
of sin and the pollution of sin. All mankind is enslaved and dominated
by sin. And so now, beginning in verse
10 and extending through verse 18, Paul now presents a devastating
indictment against the entire human race that is outside of
Jesus Christ. And in reality, this is God's
case. This isn't Paul's case. This
is God's case. against humanity. So, he says
in verse 10, as it is written, and the word written there signals
that he will be bringing Old Testament Scripture to bring
to bear in building his case. There will be eight Old Testament
texts from Psalms, from Isaiah, and from Ecclesiastes, and he
quotes from the Old Testament to show that what he is saying
is nothing new. that this has been the condition
of the human race since the dawn of human history, throughout
all of the epics and eras of Old Testament times, now coming
into New Testament times, this has always been God's case against
humanity. And so, he begins in verse 10,
there is none righteous, not even one. that serves as something
as a topic sentence over everything that will follow. It's an umbrella
term that spans everything else that will be said, that none
can meet the divine standard, none measure up to the holiness
and the moral perfection of Almighty God, that the entire human race
has been weighed in the balances and found wanting. This is a
devastating case. And in verse 11, he talks about
the mind of every person, the understanding of every person. There is none who understands
because every unbeliever lives in spiritual darkness, and they
are spiritually blind. They live in spiritual darkness,
and they have a veil over their eyes. 1 Corinthians 2, 14 says,
for the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit,
for they are spiritually appraised. And in 2 Corinthians 4, verse
4, it says, the God of this age has blinded the minds of the
ungodly. believing. No matter how clearly
and precisely we may present the gospel and the good news
of Jesus Christ, they cannot understand it. They cannot see
with eyes of understanding because their minds have been unplugged
and are in total darkness. He says in verse 11, there is
none who understands. And then he says, there is none
who seeks for God. The reason that they do not seek
for God is because they do not understand their condition before
God and how they have been weighed in the balances and are under
the wrath of God already. So he says, there's none who
seeks for God. They're all running away from God. R.C. Sproul used to say, in a seeker
church, the only person who would show up would be God. Because there is none who seeks
for God. I mean, there it is. And he explains
it because their heart is defiled, and they do not desire the truth.
They do not desire God. They may desire the blessings
that would come from God, but they just do not want God Himself.
They're running away from God. And then in verse 12, he says,
all have turned aside. And they have gone in the wrong
direction. They are on the wrong path. They're headed to the wrong
destiny. And then he says, together they
have become useless. And the word together just lumps
the entire human race together. They've become useless. The word
means worthless, of no value in their current state of total
depravity. It says there is none who does
good. There is none who is morally
excellent. There is none who is morally
upright. And then to be emphatic, he adds,
not even one. There is no exception to this,
not even the kindest grandmother who is outside of Christ. She
does not meet the standard. She does not measure up. And
then Paul moves to the throat in this total depravity. He says,
their throat is an open grave. In other words, what is down
in the heart comes up through the throat and will eventually
come out of the mouth and be spoken by the lips, but what's
down in the well comes up in the bucket. And what is down
in the heart comes up through the throat, and it says their
throat is an open grave. This is awful. Graves are to
be closed. Because when the corpse is put
into the grave, the decaying process begins, and with the
decaying process, there soon comes the stench and the odor
that comes from the decay, and then soon it begins to rot and
it begins to reek, and there are worms that then produce maggots,
and it's a detestable sight. Their throat is an open grave,
and every time their mouth opens, there is this stench of death
that comes out of their mouth. He says, as we continue to look
at this, he says, with their tongues, they keep deceiving. The deception here is that they
lie. They pervert the truth. And then
he says, with the lips, at the end of verse 13, the poison of
ass, which is a snake or a viper, the poison here referring to
the venom that would be injected into the prey, the poison of
ass is under their lips. And every time they open their
mouth, they're like a snake. injects its fangs into the victim
and then releases the venom and the poison that is deadly that
brings extraordinary harm to everyone else. And this isn't
Paul's estimation, and this isn't a theologian's estimation down
through church history. This is God's Word, and this
is God's case against humanity. Let God be found true. Let every
man be found a liar. And then in verse 14, whose mouth
is full of cursings and bitterness, their mouth is foaming and overflowing
with cursings, which is intense hatred, and bitterness, which
is open hostility. And then he says in the middle
of verse 14, their feet. And so, he has started with the
head, and he has worked all the way down now to the feet, and
he's covered the totality of a human soul with the metaphors
of body parts. And at the end of verse, or in
the middle of verse 14, he says their feet are swift to shed
blood. They are anxious and ready. to
elevate themselves, to push others down, to unleash their ego upon
others, and to shed blood is the ultimate harm that could
be done to them. And they're not dragging their
feet. They're not shuffling their feet. They are swift. They are running like a sprinter
to carry out their dastardly deeds of destruction upon others. And then he says, destruction
and misery are in their paths. They leave a trail behind them
of destruction and misery. Destruction refers to calamity. and the harm that is done to
others. And misery is the result of the
destruction. Wherever there's destruction,
it's always accompanied by misery. And it's in their paths where
their feet have taken them as they have run swiftly. This is
God's indictment in the supreme court of heaven. brought against
the entire human race. This is God's estimate of every
person. And then in verse 17, and the
path of peace they have not known. They only know destruction and
misery. They've never had one ounce of
peace, one ounce of rest or calmness. They are always hyperactive to
pursue more sin and more destruction. And then in verse 18, he concludes,
there is no fear of God. before their eyes. He comes back
up to the head now. He started at the head, goes
down to the feet. He now comes back up to the head
where the eyes are. And Paul here is giving the profile
of every person ever born into this world. Whether you were
born in church, whether you were born in a Christian family, whether
you were born with Christian influences around you, whether
you were born and soon attending a Christian school, regardless
of what was on the outside, it was this sewer that was bubbling
up on the inside and spewing its depravity to the totality
of your being, such that the mind to use these words that
Paul has pulled together, the mind, the heart, the throat,
the tongue, the lips, the feet, the eyes are all poisoned and
plagued with sin that has infiltrated the nature of every person as
it has been passed down from Adam. And any other vantage point
would just be a Pollyanna total denial of reality. And when you go back to your
room tonight, and when you turn on cable news, or if you surf
the internet, you will see Romans 3, 10 through 18 on steroids
in every direction that you turn. And this is not an isolated indictment
of of humanity. In Genesis 6, verse 5, from the
very beginning, way back in Genesis 6, verse 5, we read, the Lord
saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that
every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. You know, sometimes I hear people
say that the world is just getting worse and worse and worse. It was awful in the beginning,
and God just wiped out everyone with a flood. except eight people
in one little family that got on the ark. God just drowned
and devastated men, women, boys, girls, children, infants, because
they were all under the sentence of death from Almighty God. In Genesis 8 verse 21, the intent
of man's heart is evil from his youth. He doesn't have to be
taught to be evil. He came out of his mother's womb
speaking lies, the psalmist says. In Ecclesiastes 9 and verse 3,
and I'm reading from the Old Testament just to show that this
has been the case against humanity from the very beginning, the
hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is
in their hearts. You want to know why? Because
sin will make you stupid. Sin will make you make the worst
choices a person could possibly make. It is moral insanity. to sin against God. In Jeremiah
17, verse 9, the heart is more deceitful than all else and is
desperately sick. Who can understand it? It's a
rhetorical question, the answer of which is no one can even understand
the depths of depravity and the evil that is lurking in the human
hearts down deep on the inside. It's far worse than what any
one of us could even begin to comprehend. And in Isaiah 1 and
verse 5 and 6, the whole head is sick. The whole heart is faint. From the sole of the feet, even
to the head, there is nothing sound in it." And again, it's
the same imagery that Paul is using in Romans 3, from the feet
to the head, and every body part representing a different aspect
of the human nature and the human soul Isaiah says, or God says
through Isaiah, there is nothing sound in it. It would be like
taking a glass of water, and you have a thimble of cyanide,
and you pour it into the glass of water. That cyanide now permeates
the whole glass of water, such that there is death now in every
sip of the water. And Adam's sin has been poured
out into the human race like the poison of cyanide, and it
has affected every aspect of human nature of every person
in every generation on every continent born into this world. So, you want to know what's wrong
with Washington? It's total depravity. You want
to know what's wrong with Hollywood? It's total depravity. You want
to know what's wrong with the abortion mills and with transgender
operations, with homosexuality and lesbianism and child abuse?
You want to know what the problem is? The problem is the human
heart. Do you want to know what is driving
pornography and racism and anarchy in the streets? and one country
invading another country and slaughtering and killing innocent
lives, there is only one answer, and it is total depravity. Man sins because man is a sinner
and because he has a sin nature. So, this is the case that Paul
has presented in Romans chapter 3, and what I love about the
Bible is the Bible is a straight-talking book. It tells it like it is.
And this is the realistic estimate of the human race. So, we're ready for the verdict
in the courtroom of heaven. In verse 19 and 20, we have the
verdict. Paul has presented God's case,
and now the gavel is ready to come down. And in verse 19 we read, now
we know, and there's a note of certainty about this. Now we
know with certainty that whatever the law says, it speaks to those
who are under the law. And what the law says is three
things. It's the holiness of God that
is revealed in the law. It is the sinfulness of man that
is exposed by the law, and it is the curse of sin, which is
death. And so, we know that whatever
the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law. Well,
that is every human being. Whether they have heard the law
or have not heard the law, that law was written upon their heart,
as Paul argued in Romans chapter 2. And so, here's the result,
so that every mouth may be closed. This is such an overwhelming
slam dunk. case that no sinner standing
in the final judgment will even bother to offer an excuse by
opening his mouth. There is no self-vindication
that could be possibly offered against this airtight case of
condemnation. There can be no self-justification,
no offering of excuses to God. Every mouth may be closed because
the case is so overwhelming. And at the end of verse 19, in
all the world, all the world may become accountable to God,
must answer to God. must stand in the judgment before
God, must hear the verdict that will come from God. And so, verse 20. by the works of the law, whatever
man's attempts at self-righteousness, whether it be through his own
efforts, whether it be through a false religion, whether it
would be through human philosophy, whether it would be through secular
humanism, whether it would be through whatever attempt to meet
a standard that they perceive that God would have. He says,
by the works of the law, no flesh. will be justified. No person
anywhere on planet earth will be made right before God. And he adds, in his sight, meaning
all that matters is what's in God's sight, not what is in man's
sight. He says, for through the law
comes the knowledge of sin. And so the law makes sin known,
but the law cannot save. This is God's case against humanity. This is God's case whether, again,
you grew up going to church, whether you never darkened the
door of a church. This is all flesh condemned by
sin. So, this leads now to the third
and final doctrine, the doctrine of universal guilt. And in Romans 3 and verse 23,
here is the universal guilt and universal condemnation. He says, for all have sinned.
It means every person in every place in every generation have
sinned. It's in the Aorist tense. It's
translated as in the past, meaning throughout the entirety of your
entire life, everything leading up to this moment, you have sinned. The word sin means to miss the
mark, to err, to go wrong, to wander from the path. and all
humanity has sinned." And then he says, and fall short, and
he changes to the present tense. Not only have you sinned throughout
the entirety of your life from the moment you came out of your
mother's womb, but you continue to sin in the present, and you
now fall short of the glory of God, and here are the scales
and your entire life is put into one dish of these scales, every
thought, every deed, every word, every action, every reaction,
the entirety of your life's record, every sin, every transgression,
every iniquity is placed in this dish And you are weighed in the
balances, and on the other side of the scales in the other dish
is not the average morality of the culture. It's not the sum
and the substance of where people are. On the other side of the
scales is placed the glory of God. the sum and the substance
of all that God is, His holiness, His righteousness, the fullness
of the eternal being of God, His intrinsic glory is placed
on the other side of the scales, and our entire life is placed
on the other side of the scales, and as we are weighed, we have
all fallen short of the glory of God. And this is universal
guilt. And because of universal guilt,
there is universal condemnation. And if you would turn back to
Romans 1 verse 18, Romans 1 verse 18, this text that we could almost
cite from memory, Paul writes, for the wrath of
God. Stop right there. The word wrath
is a Greek word, orge, that comes into the English language as
orgy. Orgy is used in the negative
sense of heated sexual passions, heavy breathing in erotic parties. But here, orge is used in the
positive sense of God's heated anger against sin, that God is
not a stoic sovereign, that God is not mildly indifferent to
the transgressions of the human race, but the fierce, fiery,
blazing, passionate anger of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness, that
is, godless attitudes, and unrighteousness, that is, godless actions. And
Paul puts godliness, all ungodliness, first
because that's the attitude, the heart attitude, and coming
out of the heart attitude is the unrighteousness. For the fierce, passionate anger,
heavy breathing of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." This is sinners in the hands of an angry
God. And so, Romans 6.23 says, the
wages of sin is death. So, the death sentence hangs
over the entire human race. The entire human race is perishing.
The entire human race is on the broad path headed for destruction.
The entire human race is rightly and justly the object of God's
holy anger and wrath, and there will be the unleashing
of the fury of His vengeance as the result of the final judgment. This is total depravity. This is the devastating state
of the human race and the condition of the fallen world in which
we live. These are the only lenses that
we can put before our eyes and have a Christian worldview and
look around and see the state of humanity. And so the question is, is there
any hope? And of course, you know the answer is yes. that there would be one who would
come who would be the second Adam. There would be one who
would be the fulfillment of the type of Adam, who would come
into this world and be born of a woman, to be born of a virgin.
He would be born under the law and where the first Adam disobeyed
by eating of the forbidden fruit, the second Adam has obeyed God
at every point. He has been tempted in all points
such as we are, yet without sin. And He went to the cross, and
He bore our sins, the sins of His people. He shed His blood,
and He made the only propitiation there is for the fierce anger
of God. In the sinless life and substitutionary
death of Jesus Christ, He satisfied the vengeance of God towards
those for whom He died, His people. And in His death, He bought us. at the price of the gold and
silver of His blood. And with that death, He set us
free from our tyranny to sin, and He reconciled all those for
whom He died to the Father, and reconciled the Father to them.
He has established peace between God and those for whom He died,
and He shed His blood to wash away all of their sins and to
reverse the curse. And through the miracle of regeneration,
he now gives a new mind that can understand. It is the mind
of Christ. He now gives a new heart, a heart
of flesh that has a spiritual pulse for God, that loves God
and desires the things of God. He is given a new will by which
we now are released to obey God. We have new feet that run after
God. We have new ears that now can
hear the truth of God. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creation. The old things passed away. Behold,
new things have come, and it is through the work of Jesus
Christ upon the cross and in His sinless life and through
the shedding of His blood that He has washed away our sins and
He has cleansed us from all unrighteousness. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. And He says, come, let us reason
together, says the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be white as wool. And there upon the cross, Jesus
Christ, in giving His life unto death, shedding His blood to
make the only atonement for our sins, He has purged the guilt
of sin from us, and He has clothed us with His perfect righteousness,
and we now are presented before the throne of grace, and we are
found in full and perfect acceptance with God. But there is no good news until
you know what the bad news is. And there is no amazing grace
until you know the weighty condemnation that was once upon us. When I
decided to ask my wife to marry me, I knew I needed to buy an
engagement ring, and I went to a jeweler in downtown Dallas.
And he brought me into the showroom, and he began to pull diamonds
out. And I looked at those diamonds, and there was nothing that really
captured my eye. There was nothing that really
drew my gaze to the diamonds. They all looked just so mundane. They looked so dull. And then
he said, wait a minute, and he reached under the counter. And
he put down a black velvet pad. And with those tweezers, he picked
up a diamond and placed it on the black velvet pad, and every
light in that entire showroom suddenly burst through that diamond. And that diamond literally exploded
before my eyes as I could see the light refracting and shining
through this diamond. What made the difference? The
same diamond, it was the black velvet backdrop that caused the
diamond to shine so brightly. And if you take away the doctrine
of total depravity in all of its fullness, you have diminished
the glory of the cross. But when you see the blackness
of sin and the death and the depravity of the human soul,
And then you hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, that Christ
Jesus came into this world to save sinners. Then you rejoice
that God would have grace and mercy on a hell-bound sinner
like me. So may we give glory and praise
to God.