Rom. 3:9-20 THE MAN IN MY MIRROR
Intro: Most of us have an image of ourselves that is
somewhat different from reality. We may feel that we
are fatter or thinner than we really are. Others may
believe that they are smarter, or perhaps even dumber
than they really are. This same deceptive self-image
slips into our view of our spiritual selves as well. Most,
if not all of us, believe that we are basically good
people. We want to think that we are in good shape
spiritually. This isn't just a situation that is true among
members of the church, but nearly every person who
exists around us has the idea that all is well within his or
her heart. Sadly, this is simply not the truth!
These verses tell us all about the man in our mirror.
Everyday, we look at a person in the mirror who is
nothing like we think he is. This passage reveals the
truth that we are nothing more than sinners in the eyes
of the Lord. You see, Paul has just told his readers that
the immoral as well as the moral pagan are condemned
before the Lord. Then, he tells them that the moral and
the immoral Jew stand condemned as well. Now, he is
telling them that every man, no matter who he is, is a
sinner in the sight of God!
Folks, that is a hard pill for many people to swallow!
Yet, understanding that truth is the first step in coming
to God for salvation. Tonight, I would like to look at
these verses and tell you about the man in my mirror.
As I preach this message, realize that the man in your
mirror is no different from the one I look at every day.
Hopefully, if there is someone here this evening who
has never come to realize that they are a sinner, tonight
will be the night when the light comes on and they see
themselves as they really are. By the same token, we
who are saved need to be reminded from time to time
that we have no ground from which to boast before the
Lord. We are what we are by the grace of God! Let's
look this evening at The Man In My Mirror.
I. V. 9-10 SIN IS A UNIVERSAL PROBLEM
A. V. 9 It Touches Every Race - Paul tells us that
sin is a problem that affects both the Jew and the
Gentile. Regardless of the color of your skin, you
are still a sinner. No one is exempt from the stain
of sin! The white man, the black man, the red
man, the brown man and the yellow man are all
sinners in the sight of the Lord! It is a universal
problem!
B. V. 9 It Touches Every Religion - Paul tells us
that the Jew and the pagan are both sinners. It
matters not how dedicated they may be to their
religion, they are still sinners in the sight of God.
Notice the words, "What then? Are we better that
they? No in no wise!" Paul tells his Christian
readers that they are no different than anyone
else! All men are sinners, there is no escaping
that awful truth!
(Ill. Many have the mistaken idea that believing
strongly enough in your religion has the power to
take away sins. Some think that sincerity is the
key to having sin removed. However, the truth of
the matter is, no one has ever been saved by
religion or by sincerity. You can sincerely believe
anything you want to, and still be sincerely wrong,
deceived and headed to Hell!)
C. V. 10 It Tarnishes All Righteousness - Here is
God's indictment of the sinner! He looks at them
and says that no man has the ability produce
righteousness! In fact, the Bible tells us that the
best we can produce in the flesh is filthy rags in
the sight of God, Isa. 64:6. The best we can do
will never be good enough! The problem with that
idea is that Jesus said that we had to possess
perfect righteousness to get into Heaven, Matt.
5:20; Matt. 5:48. In and of ourselves that is
absolutely impossible! I can never be good
enough to please God, because I am a sinner
and everything I touch is ruined by my sin!
(Ill. It is the Midas touch in reverse! When we
sinners touch something, it doesn't turn to gold, it
turns to junk in the sight of God!)
(Ill. Man's problem is that man always measures
himself against the wrong measuring stick! We
will look at our neighbors and say, "Well, I am
certainly not as bad as he is!" People do that and
then feel that they are somehow superior and
pleasing to God because they are not a wicked as
their neighbor. However, what man forgets is that
dead is still dead, just as lost is still lost!)
(Ill. Imagine for a moment that some people in
Hawaii decide to come to the mainland.
However, they are going to try a pretty
unconventional method of getting here. Instead
of taking boats or planes, they decide to see if
they can jump across the ocean. Some of them
a in great shape! They run and jump with all their
might and some might make it 25 feet or so.
Others who aren't is as good a shape might be
able to jump 10 or 15 feet. Still others who are in
very bad shape might have difficulty jumping even
5 feet. Now, those who jumped the farthest might
look down on those who jumped the least and
feel superior, but the fact is, none of them were
able to go the distance. That is a pretty silly
illustration, but that is exactly what some people
are trying to do! They are trying to jump into
Heaven on the basis of their being in better
"spiritual shape" than someone else. People can
try anything they please, but the fact remains that
there is only one way to cure the sin problem and
make it into Heaven and that is through faith in
the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Christ! If we trust ourselves to get to Heaven, we
will trust ourselves right into Hell!)
(Ill. Sin is a horrible problem! It has only one cure
and that cure is faith in Jesus Christ!)
I. Sin Is A Universal Problem
II. V. 11-18 SIN IS AN UGLY PROBLEM
(Ill. The sinful nature of man will always manifest itself
in his life. These verses tell all about the problems that
man has because he is a sinner. These statements
prove that while sin is a universal problem, everybody
must deal with it, it is also an ugly problem! Notice what
sin has done to the sinner.)
A. V. 10 Sin Has Tarnished Our Spirit - This has
already been touched on, but the fact that we are
sinners is why we are barred from entering
Heaven. Simply stated, we are wicked to the
core of our beings and there is no good at all in
us! That may bother folks, but it is true
nonetheless! You could search the world from
town to town, interviewing every one of the 6
billion people in the world and not find a single
righteous man. You might find some who
seemed to be better than others, but when they
are judged by the standard: the perfect
righteousness of God Himself, then the truth is
plain to see! They are guilty before the Lord!
Men may look good outwardly, but inwardly, they
are rotten and wicked, Matt. 23:27-28.
B. V. 11 Sin Has Tarnished Our Senses - This
verse teaches the terrible truth sin has dulled our
minds to the truth of God. We cannot understand
Him and there is not a single person in this world
who will seek God if left to himself. Nobody just
decides to go after God! When a person begins
to hunger for the Lord, it is the work of God in his
spirit! Man is a rebel and he is dead, Eph. 2:1,
until the Lord quickens his heart and creates a
hunger in man for God, John 6:44. Sin has left us
with spiritual brain damage!
C. V. 12 Sin Has Tarnished Our Souls - This verse
makes the accusation that all sinners are
wayward and are worthless to the Lord. It is the
same idea that is mentioned in Isa. 53:6, or that
is pictured in the parable of the Lost Sheep, Luke
15:3-7. The picture is of one who is unusable to
the Lord. Not only has sin dulled our minds and
damaged our spirits, it has also dirtied our
vessels! God will not use a dirty vessel! It is
worthless until it is has been cleansed and made
worthy of the Lord. That is why He says that
there is none that doeth good! We might be
tempted to disagree with that statement. After all,
surely there is a difference between Mother
Theresa who spend many years working among
the Untouchables of India and a Saddam Hussein
who is responsible for untold misery and
suffering. Or, there must be a difference between
the doctor who uses his education and talent to
heal and one who uses his talent to perform
abortions. From a human standpoint, there is a
difference between their works and from our
vantage point we see that some people work
good while others work evil. However, from a
heavenly standpoint, God looks at all our works
as they appear beside His righteousness and that
leaves us guilty in His sight!
(Ill. Imagine seeing New York City from a boat in
the harbor. It would be easy to see the difference
in the buildings. Some would be very short,
others would be taller and still others would leap
into the sky. Now, imagine seeing that same city
from the window of an airplane flying high
overhead. From that vantage point, it would be
impossible to tell which buildings were tall and
which were short. It is all a matter of perspective.
Unfortunately, man's perspective will not count for
anything when it is time to face judgment for
sins!)
D. V. 13-14 Sin Has Tarnished Our Speech - Paul
now moves to tell us that sin has ruined our
speech. He is merely echoing the words of the
Lord Jesus Christ, Matt. 12:34-35; Matt. 15:18;
Pro. 15:2, 28. It is a fact, but your words will
reveal the condition of your heart! Notice what
the writer says about the sinner's speech.
1. It is like the smell of a rotting corpse. (Ill.
Just a listen to the language of society will tell
you that men are rotten on the inside! If not,
then tell me why so many of our slang and
curse words have to do with human
excrement and perverted sexual acts!)
2. It is filled with lies and deception. It
exaggerates its own greatness. It flatters. It
lies without remorse. (Ill. Lying has become
the national pastime! It is everywhere from
the White House to the church house and it is
another indication that man is a wicked
sinner!)
3. It is like a deadly poison. Think of the souls
damned to Hell by the poison of false doctrine
that dripped from the lips of some infidel
preacher. Think of the deadly poison that has
ruined the life and reputation of godly people
through gossip and rumor. The tongue is a
wicked thing. No wonder the Lord sealed it
behind a wall of flesh and a wall of ivory. No
wonder He tells us that to tame the tongue is
to be able to control the entire body and to live
perfectly, James 3:2.
4. It is a weapon of the most devastating
power. The tongue of the sinner is a dreadful
thing. It can ruin lives and it can damage
testimonies and reputations. It can do more
damage than a lifetime of right living can undo.
(Ill. I don't how you use your tongue, but I do
know that how you speak reveals the condition of
your heart! Remember the words of our Savior,
"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh.", Matt. 12:34.)
E. V. 15-17 Sin Has Tarnished Our Steps - Now,
Paul tells us that the influence of sin in our lives
has caused us to be extraordinarily cruel and
wicked in the way we walk. Notice what he says
about the sinful heart.
1. V. 15 We are quick to shed blood - This
speaks of murder! One need look no farther
than the statistics concerning abortion to know
that this is true. Since 1973 over 30 million
children have been murdered legally in this
country. That is more than 10 times the total
number of war dead from every war in
American history, from the Revolutionary War
on through Operation Desert Storm.
According to statistics, during the Twentieth
Century, twice as many American citizens
died by murder than in all our wars put
together! One researcher has concluded that
a child born in the 1980's in America had a
greater chance of being murdered than an
American soldier had of being killed in battle
in World War II! We are guilty!
2. V. 16 People are growing more and more
brutal - Paul says that destruction and misery
are in their paths. That is, as people go
through life, they are guilty of stepping on one
another to have their way. Often, lives are
lost, or are permanently damaged by people
who are simply brutal in the way they live!
3. V. 17 People do not really want to live in
peace - Basically, people just want to have
their own way! They do not care about the
rights of others and they will stop at nothing to
achieve their own goals and dreams!
F. V. 18 Sin Has Tarnished Our Sight - This last
charge against the sinner tells us that mankind
possesses no fear of God. This is why he is able
to all these other thing. This is why he is able to
live the kind of live that he does. To put it simply,
men just do not fear the Lord! God has already
told mankind what will happen as a result of his
sins. Man has chosen not to believe the Word of
God. In fact, most people live as though God did
not exist! This is called "practical atheism" This
kind of person knows there is a God. He knows
there is a Hell. He knows that he needs to live for
the Lord. Yet, he chooses to live his life his way
and live as if there were no God. This frees him
from any restrictions on his behavior and allows
him to do as he pleases. God has a name for
people like that: Fool, Psa. 14:1!
(Ill. It is the fear of God that motivates men to
come to Jesus Christ for salvation! It is the fear
of God that motivates the Christian to live for
God. Fear is a healthy force for righteousness, if
that fear is born out of a desire to please the
Lord.)
I. Sin Is A Universal Problem
II. Sin Is An Ugly Problem
III. V. 19-20 SIN IS AN UNDENIABLE PROBLEM
A. V. 19 Man's Sin Is Declared By The Law -
Because the Law of God condemns all the things
that man is guilty of, man stands condemned by
the Law. The Law has the ability to show us just
how wicked we really are! J.B. Phillips said, "It is
the straightedge of the Law that shows us just
how crooked we are." No one can look into the
Word of God and miss the truth of what Paul is
saying! Just remember Christ's words in the
Sermon on the Mount - Matt. 5:17-48. It is the
Word of God that shows us how wretched we
really are!
B. V. 20 Man's Sin Is Damned By The Law - God
gave the Law to man as a tool. It was given to
show man that he was a sinner and to drive man
to Jesus, Gal. 3:24. If the Law had one purpose,
it was to show us that we are guilty!
(Ill. The Law is like a mirror, James 1:23-25. It
can show you how dirty your face is, but it cannot
be used to clean you up! You don't take the
mirror and rub it on your face to get clean, the
mirror is there to point us to the water! So it is
with the Law. The Law cannot clean us up, but it
can create a hunger in us for the One Who can:
the Lord Jesus Christ!)
(Ill. Looking into the Law cannot save you. Living
out the Law cannot save you. The only thing that
can save the sinner is coming to Jesus Christ by
faith! We have too many who are trying to "good
their way to God." It simply will not work! The
Bible is clear at this point, "Ye must be born
again!", John 3:7; Eph. 2:8-9.)
Conc: Folks, the conclusion of this thing is crystal clear!
We are all sinners before the Lord. There is one
solution for our sins and it won't be found in doing good
things or in being a good person. It will be found only in
a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ! I ask
you this evening: "Are you saved by grace through
faith? If you were to die this evening, would you die a
child of God, completely trusting in Jesus and nothing
else to take you to Heaven?" How do you stand before
the Lord this evening?
