God. They are corrupt. They have done abominable works. There is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They've all turned aside. They have together become corrupt. There is none who does good. No, not one. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord. There they are in great fear, for God is with the generation of the righteous. You shame the counsel of the poor, but the Lord is his refuge. Oh, that salvation of Israel would come out of Zion when the Lord brings back the captivity of his people. Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad. O Lord, bear with us and help us that we would understand Your Word, that we would not neglect Your Word, nor would we put a low value on Your Word, but that we would have strong desire to understand that Word, and that we would be well disciplined in our thinking about You and about Your Word, and that we would rejoice in the promises that You've given to us here. This we pray in Jesus' name, Amen. So if you get bored along the way tonight, you start thinking to yourself, what else should I think about? While pastor goes on and on in his most excellent sermon, I encourage you to turn over to Psalm 53 and think about what Psalm 53 says. And as you're doing that, you will notice that Psalm 53 and Psalm 14 are very, very similar. Seems like they were written by the same guy. But you can, just for your own curiosity's sake, along the way or when you get home tonight, look at Psalm 53 and you will find that it is very similar. So this psalm is a simple psalm. And it makes a basic point. And the basic point is, you need Jesus. That's really what the Psalm is saying. There's no other help for you. There's no other help for the world. Nothing will help you other than Jesus. No matter what Asia's bumper sticker says, nothing is going to help you except for Jesus. Excuse me. Asia has a new bumper sticker that someone else put on her car. The fact of the matter is, you need Jesus. And it's not just Psalm 14 that tells you you need Jesus. It's actually every other text in the Bible. It's really what the Bible is about from start to finish. But Psalm 14 makes it so loud and clear how much we need Jesus. You can see it, even just at a glance. You can see in the first half, no one does the right thing. No one. Everyone does wrong. No one's got what it takes to earn their salvation. And then the second half talks about how there's this help and hope from God. And it doesn't name Jesus here, but that's what it's pointing at. The help and hope that comes from God, the one that saves God's people from their captivity is Jesus. So that's where we're going. We're going to start We're looking at the first four verses that talk about corruption and ignorance. Corruption and ignorance. The first half of verse one says, the fool says in his heart, there is no God. Here's the basic problem and its expression. What's the problem? The problem is fools. The problem is there are people who simply do not know. But it's not just ignorance, okay? The ignorance that the fool displays is a willful ignorance. It is a willful rebellion against the things that are evident. And we'll see that as we go along. But the fool is not just some poor fool that hasn't been taught. The fool is the one who, against all evidence, will not be convinced. And that's not just this fool. It's all the fools in all of the Bible. The fool in the book of Proverbs is not just some poor guy that doesn't know, again. It's someone who is rebelling against God by expressing their own individualism and going their own way. and reaping the destruction that comes from that. So there's the basic problem. The basic problem is this rebellious foolishness. And the expression of that problem is, he says, there is no God. If the fool wants to be content in his foolishness, if he wants to be content in going his own direction and doing his own thing and not letting anyone tell him what to do, he has to reject the fact that there is a God. Because you can't believe in a God and also believe in your own autonomy. It just doesn't work. And so the fool has to say, there is no God. Not only is there no God, but there's nobody in charge of me. There's nobody who can tell me what to do. There's nobody who could offer me good advice. There's no one who can give me any input. I'm going to stay a fool. I'm going to remain this fool by not listening to anyone. And it starts by denying God and then goes from denying God to following whatever foolishness they come up with in their own heart. And that's where the book of Judges, they did what was right in their own eyes. That's being a fool. That's foolishness right then and there. And the only way you can do what is right in your own eyes consistently is by denying that there is a God. So we have the problem, foolishness. We have the expression of that problem, and that is there is no God. These things are very, very closely related. But then it goes on to explain the way this foolishness is at work in the hearts of man. It says, they are corrupt, they have done abominable works, and there is no one who does good, no not one. So it describes this way that sinfulness works. It's this perfect description of the way sinfulness works. Sinfulness starts with our corruption. It starts with the fact that our nature is corrupted. Sinfulness doesn't start when we do something, or think something, or not do something, or not think something. Sinfulness starts because of the sinful nature we inherit from Adam. It starts prior to our birth. It starts prior to our volition. That's where sinfulness starts. It starts with corruption. But then from that corruption flows all kinds of sinful behavior. And you can see the two kinds of sinful behaviors that are described right here. One of those sinful behaviors is doing bad stuff. That's a sinful behavior. God says, don't do it. Sinful man does it. And then there's the other side of the equation, the other kind of sinful behavior, and that is that God says, do it, and sinful man says, no, I will not. It says, there is none who does good. Here's the good that God calls us to, and sinful man doesn't do it. So the corruption is the root of it, the expression is doing the wrong thing and not doing the right thing. Now we have to recognize that this describes every single human being in this world prior to the work of Christ in us. Every single one of us was in this state at one point in our lives. Everyone. Everyone was not doing good and was doing wrong. Everyone had this corruption as a key part of their character, a key part of who they are. Every single one of us. God has come along and has changed us and has given us a new nature if we're in Christ Jesus. He has given us the ability to do good, the ability to avoid sin. Do we do it perfectly? No, because there's still a conflict between the two natures. There's the corrupt nature that God has taken away and the new nature that's still there. We still battle with that old man. We still battle with that corrupt nature. Total depravity still applies to us. We are being sanctified. We are being changed. But it's still an ongoing battle. We are declared holy in the eyes of God, and we are holy. But we're also growing in our holiness and learning to say no to unholiness. And so there's this ongoing conflict, even now, between us and the old man. I want to read Mark 7 verse 20 for you. This is Jesus speaking, and He says, What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adultery, fornication, murder, theft, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man. It's easy for us to think about ourselves and about the world, that if we would just change our behavior, that everything would be better. If we could just get a little bit better in the way that we act, then we would make some improvements. But that's not the way that it works. That's what the Lord is saying. The Lord is saying it's because of our corrupt nature. And so when you see bad behavior in yourself, yeah, you don't want to allow that behavior to continue. You don't say, well, that's part of my corrupt nature. But the way that you address that bad behavior is by addressing your own heart. When you see bad behavior in people that you have responsibility for, maybe your children or others. How do you respond? You do want to address the behavior, want to address the patterns, but the real work is done when the heart is addressed, when that corrupt nature is revealed, and then repented of, and asked the Lord to change. And that's what needs to happen. That's part of why we need Jesus so bad, is because we have a corrupt nature, we need that nature changed, and we don't have the capability of doing it. It can be pointed out to us, We can put in the effort to try to change it, but it doesn't really change unless God Himself comes along and changes it. I try to picture this thing. I've got this idea very firmly in my mind, but I have a hard time explaining it. It's like, have you ever seen those squishy balls? And if you squeeze them, a thing will pop out in one direction. Whatever, ball, squeezes out in this direction. And then you take your hand and you push down that thing that just squeezed out and it pops out in another direction. And then you maybe get a third hand to come along and push that other part back in and what does it do? It pops out in another direction. And it seems like no matter how much pressure you put on that ball, that thing is going to pop out one way or the other. You guys kind of with me? Can you picture this thing? That's the way our sinful nature is. That's the way our sinful behavior is. It's just just putting pressure on the outside doesn't fix it It's got to be changed from the inside You get all the hands in the world pushing in on this thing and it's gonna find a way to pop out We need our nature to be changed That's really what this comes down to Sinful man has a corrupt nature Because it has a corrupt nature, it is going to find ways to sin. He's going to find ways to get it wrong in what he does or in what he doesn't do. Let's keep on going. V. 2, The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside. They together have become corrupt. There is none who does good. No, not one." So you remember God looking down at the Tower of Babel, seeing all the corruption, and saying, something's got to be fixed here. Something's got to be changed. Destruction is coming. You remember God looking down on Noah and Noah's time. and seeing how everyone did what was evil all the time. It's not just in the Tower of Babel. It's not just at Noah. It's not just with Adam and Eve. It's also with us. It's also in our generation. It's also right here and now. Even Paul in Romans 3 talks about us in the same way. That there's no one righteous. No, not one. That no one seeks after God. It wasn't just them. It wasn't just those Old Testament folks that were evil all the time. It's people today as well. And here's God looking down and seeing this sinfulness to see if there's anyone who would know Him, anyone who would understand, anyone who would seek Him. But they have all turned aside prior to Christ. Every single person has turned aside. Every single person experiences this corruption. And again, because of this corruption, no one does good. So you know Romans 3, that there is no one righteous, no not one. Ecclesiastes 7.20 says, For there is not a just man on the earth who does good and does not sin. So even Solomon could see it, that there is no one who does good, not even one. Man can't save himself. Man can't fix what's wrong. None of us can. So then let's move on to verse four, where he talks about sinful ignorance. All the workers of iniquity Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up My people as they eat bread, and do not call on the Lord?" Here's all these sinful people. Do they have no knowledge? Are they completely ignorant of the way the world works? Here they are eating up the Lord's people like they eat up bread. Here they are devouring God's people. Do they think that they're going to get away with it? Do they really think that God is going to tolerate that kind of evil? It's just an example of evil. But here's the people in the nations around Israel that are saying, we're going to take advantage of these people every chance we get. They're small, they're weak. And because they were being faithless most of the time, they also didn't have all the protection that God would normally have offered. And so they were in trouble a lot. And the Philistines, you would think the Philistines would catch on, but they would continue to come after Israel time and time and time again. Why? Did they think they would get away with it? The answer is yeah. They were willfully ignorant. They had convinced themselves that they were going to get away with it. that they didn't need to call on the Lord, that they didn't need to seek help from the Lord, that they didn't need to honor the Lord, that they could continue in their sin and never face any consequences. Now, you've got to put yourself in the shoes of the people who lived near Israel. Hopefully, there's some passing on of the history. There's some recognition. Hey, when these guys came into the land, do you remember the mighty things that God did for them? Do you remember all the ways that God fought for them, and all the cities that God destroyed for them, and all the victory that He's given them? Do you remember all these things that God has done? But they say, no, we will continue to devour them like bread. We'll continue to live out our selfishness. We'll continue to ignore this. Why? Well, because that's part of their sinful nature. That's part of the simple nature of everyone is to ignore these truths. I mean, we talked before about the guy who says there is no God because he's a fool and he wants to continue in the path of folly. There's that willful ignorance. I want this. I can't believe this and do that. And so I'm not going to believe this. That's pretty much the picture. And we see that picture even in Romans 1. Again, these are verses I'm sure you're well familiar with. But for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Because what may be known about God is manifest to them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power in Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Here's God saying, I have made myself known to these people. My eternal power and my Godhead has been on display. And the only way that you haven't seen it is by suppressing the truth and unrighteousness, by willful ignorance, by saying, I will not pay attention to what God says. And so because of that, they're under God's wrath. They're rightly under God's wrath. No one will be able to say on that last day, oh, I didn't know I wasn't supposed to consume your children like bread. I didn't know that I was supposed to do right and avoid wrong. I didn't realize that you were a God who would bring judgment or that you had any standards to judge me by. No one's going to be able to say that. I've met many people on the street who try to say that. Many people who say, oh yeah, I'm good enough. Oh yeah, I do enough good things. I'm sure God will approve of me. And I have a hard time not bursting out laughing at the foolishness of that kind of a statement. At the willful ignorance of a guy standing there telling me, oh, I've never lied. I told that guy, you just did. Because that's how it works. So here's the picture. We have, as our human nature, has this willful ignorance. But willful ignorance is not an excuse. God does not accept it. Those who are willfully ignorant are under the judgment of God. And whether it's willful ignorance or just plain old ordinary ignorance, God's judgment is on those who reject Him. God's judgment is on those who do the wrong and don't do the right. So again, here's one more thing, one more illustration of how much we need Jesus. Because our wills will drive us away from Him, And how do you fix your own will? How do you change your will? If your ignorance is willful ignorance, how do you unwillful your ignorance? You don't. You need someone to change your heart. You need someone bigger than you to come along and fix you. And that's what Christ Jesus does when we are born again. That's what the Spirit does when we're given new life in Christ. So let's talk here briefly, in closing, about our salvation and our hope. We've seen the need for it. We've seen that we're sinful. And because we're sinful, we're under judgment. So what hope is there? Verse 5, there they are in great fear, for God is with the generation of the righteous. So things change here now. Instead of these willful, ignorant people cruising right along, they do have these moments. They do have this time where they realize, I'm going against the God of the universe. Sometimes the ability to suppress the truth and unrighteousness peels back just a little bit. And they say, uh-oh, I've got reason to be afraid. Someone gets sick, someone sees trouble coming, and many times they'll start thinking to themselves, uh-oh, I got reason to be afraid. Most of the time, it's just a momentary lowering of the armor, and then once they get themselves back under control, the armor goes back up and the ignorance continues. But I guess it really depends on how much God reveals of His wrath. But there are times where there is great fear, when they recognize that there's really two cities in this world. We've seen it in our reading in Genesis. You've seen the city of man and the city of God as you're looking in the first few chapters in the book of Genesis. You've seen the city of man rebelling and bringing all kinds of destruction on itself and destroying each other. And you've seen the city of God walking with God, and talking with God, and delighting in God. And as you've seen that, you see exactly this, that God is with the generation of the righteous. That He takes care of the city of God. He takes care of His people. And when you're in the city of man, looking over at the city of God, you're seeing a dark cloud over your city, and you're seeing the beam of God's grace pouring down on His city. So at the moment when the armor comes down, when they feel the guilt of their own sin, when they see God's blessing in forgiving and giving grace to His people, then there's this recognition. God's with them. God is blessing them. God is taking care of them. And that's our job. Our job is to let our light so shine before men that they may see our good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven. Our job is to be the light and to be the salt. It's to be an example of Christ to this world. To show what it's like to live in relationship with God and all the blessings that come from that. God is with us. And living in that is our task. And then verse 6 says, You shame the counsel of the poor, but the Lord is His refuge. Here's the poor guy. He doesn't have a lot. He doesn't have anyone to back him up. He doesn't have anyone to protect him. So along comes this guy who is eating God's children like bread. He is devouring them for his own good. He looks at the poor and he says, just more people for me to devour, more things for me to take, more people for me to take advantage of. But because God is with the generation of the righteous, the Lord is that poor man's refuge. The poor man who trusts in the Lord has a strong and sure refuge. A refuge that is more strong than all the protection and all the influence that the rich person can purchase for themselves. God is their refuge. And that's a tremendous picture for us. Because compared to the power of the world, we're pretty weak. Even just in numbers, we're pretty weak. Who are we? How do we stand up against their devices? It's only by the grace of God. Like even when we talk about sin and righteousness, we can't say, oh yeah, well, they're the terrible sinners and we're pretty good. Not honestly. I mean, yeah, hopefully we're better. But when you really start taking a measuring stick to how much better we are, it's shameful, really, how much better we are than the world. We are better because of God's grace. But it's not like we can point to our righteousness and say, yeah, see, I deserve this. Or this righteousness, this is the thing that's going to protect me. This is what's going to help me. It's not that. It has to be that God is our refuge. And that refuge is not something that we've earned. That refuge is not something that we've gotten because we're better. Think with me about Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2, starting in verse 4. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved, and raised us up together, and made us sit in the heavenly places with Christ Jesus, that in the generations to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourself. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." So it starts with grace, and it ends with grace, and it's grace all over. But right in the middle, what has this grace gotten us? He has made us to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That's the refuge. That's the safe spot. That's the spot where nothing can harm you. Where nothing can do any damage to you. Where no real loss can affect you. Because He has taken you and He has put you in heaven. You're already there. Spiritually speaking, you are already that secure. We've begun talking about that in 1 Peter. There's a little more to go on that, but here's this inheritance that's kept for us. Here's this certainty that we have, that we have been put in this place of refuge. He hides our soul in the cleft of the rock, and He protects us. And again, remember, even from Ephesians 2, it's grace, grace, and more grace. It's not you earned this refuge. It's not you paid your ticket so you get this spot. It is God has graciously taken you from being this sinful, corrupt person, living in willful ignorance and rebellion against God, and He has graciously brought you into the kingdom of His Son. And He has seated you with His Son in the heavenly places where nothing can hurt you, where nothing can steal what He has given to you away. So, here's the picture for us. This is what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. This is what God has made possible for us in Christ Jesus. There are those who say, I want what I want, and I'm going to get it by ignoring God and doing my own rebellious activities. They end up in utter destruction. There are we who say, I can't do enough right to please God. I have nothing of value in and of myself. I trust God, and I'm going to believe Him. And he takes us, and he gives us this blessing, and he makes us this refuge. And then we have in the last verse this great hope. Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion. When the Lord brings back the captivity of his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad. The thing that David looked forward to here in verse 7, we have seen already. This salvation that would come out of Israel, that's Jesus. This being taken back from captivity, that's Jesus. He has done that in us. He has done that for us. So what David longed for, you and I have. You have been set free. from captivity to sin and death. You've been set free from your bondage to sin and all the consequences that come from that. You've been saved from that captivity and you have been given life. Let Jacob rejoice. Let Israel be glad. Let faith rejoice and let us be glad. Let us be glad in what the Lord has done for us. It's grace, grace, and more grace. It's undeserved, but it is sure and certain salvation for us in Christ Jesus. Let's pray. Oh, how we love You, Lord Jesus! For You, our Redeemer, have given to us life. You have given to us what we could not give to ourselves. You have blessed us in a way that we could not ever get anywhere else. Lord, we know the sinfulness that You brought us from. And we rejoice in Your gracious kindness. We have some idea of what it means to be seated in the heavenlies with You. And the security that comes in that. And we rejoice in that. And help us, Lord, to be those who know how much we need Jesus and who know how much Jesus has given to us that we might rejoice. This we pray in the name of our Savior Jesus. Amen. Number six is there is a Redeemer that's in your faith sings. Yes, it is. Number six. Let's stand together and sing. There is a Redeemer.