Worthy of No Good Psalm 53:1-3 Ecclesiastes 7:20 Matthew 19:16-17 Romans 3:9-10 Romans 3:23 07.23.14

WORTHY OF NO GOOD

BREAD

¹ The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”  They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good. ² God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.  ³ Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.  

Psalms 53:1-3 (NIV)

²⁰ There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.

Ecclesiastes 7:20 (NIV)

¹⁶ Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”  ¹⁷ “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.”

Matthew 19:16-17 (NIV)

⁹ What shall we conclude then? Are we any better?  Not at all!  We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. ¹⁰ As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; ¹¹ there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. ¹² All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

Romans 3:9-12 (NIV)

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 3:23 (NIV)

BUTTER

“All disquiet of mind ariseth from our own lusts and unmortified tempers, which make the bosom like a troubled sea.  And no settled calm shall we find till we have a single eye to God’s glory, and can count ourselves worthy of no good.  Then we may draw comfort out of trouble, and learn to praise the Lord, both for what he giveth, and for what he taketh away;  being sure that all things are working for our good, and tending to God’s glory, which he knows best how to promote; and that nothing but sin can make us unhappy and miserable.”    K. H. Von Bogatzky

“While I regarded God as a tyrant I thought my sin a trifle; But when I knew Him to be my Father, then I mourned that I could ever have kicked against Him.  When I thought God was hard, I found it easy to sin; but when I found God so kind, so good, so overflowing with compassion, I smote upon my breast to think that I could ever have rebelled against One who loved me so, and sought my good.”  C.H. Spurgeon

In Surprised By Joy, C.S. Lewis paints a vivid description of what he found when he examined his own heart:  “A zoo of lusts, a bedlam of ambitions, a nursery of fears and a harem of fondled hatreds.” 

HEART SAVOR

·       There is nothing good in my flesh.

·       All acts done apart from power the Holy Spirit are rubbish and will one day burn.

·       The natural inclinations of my heart are evil.