Accurate Knowledge of Misery by the Law
Minister: |
Rev. Ronald Van Overloop |
Date: |
3/8/2015 AM
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Text:
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Romans 7;
Lord's Day 2
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Psalters: |
425, 192, 159, 362 |
- My misery.
- Everyone needs Jesus the Savior, but only some know that they need Him.
- We know this need only by knowing our sin – who and what we are by nature.
- Important to correct knowledge of self is that misery is the result given to indicate something is wrong.
- Unless we see the cause of our misery and treat it, there will be no deliverance and recovery.
- Aware of his misery, natural man uses the standard of himself and thus only increases his misery.
- The correct standard for evaluating misery is God – as He reveals Himself in His law.
- God’s law is not just some great principles (put in courthouses), but it reflects God Himself.
- God’s law, reflecting His own perfection, requires one thing: love (Rom. 13:10): “want to” is the heart of “must.”
- The demand of love for God examines the heart, the motive of the mind and sub-consciousness.
- Further, true love for God is reflected in loving our neighbor as ourselves (I John 4:20,21).
- Sin is missing the mark which God’s law identifies for us.
- The law shows me the deep-seated cause of my misery is me.
- The correct identification of me: I have a natural proneness to hate God and my neighbor.
- We are constantly self-centered, thinking of our rights, our interests, and what we think we deserve.
- No one is righteous; all have sinned and come short (Rom. 3:10,23); man’s heart is desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9).
- The true believer is the only one with the ability to admit honestly his natural and constant depravity.
- But there is no reason to despair, for the same faith which acknowledges sin, also acknowledges justification (5:1 and 8:1).