The Gospel Project

1. The Gospel Project • Session 6 — Numb to the Word

2. Session 5 — Recap • Main Idea: God’s Law for Life • God has set a moral standard that expresses His character • God’s law teaches us how to relate to God and others • God asks for complete obedience, which is why we desperately need His grace.

3. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • Introduction • Physical Leprosy • No feeling is not a good thing! • Spiritual leprosy

4. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • Introduction • Spiritual Leprosy • “More horrible than physical leprosy is spiritual numbness—the inability to recognize our sin and how it harms us and the inability to recognize God’s grace and how it benefits us. Sin sears our consciences, leading us away from life—in all its beauty and complexity. The end result is spiritual death.”

5. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • IntroductionThree Main Points • 1. Disobedience cuts us off from the Source of life. • 2. Our best efforts to fix ourselves are in vain and for our vanity. • 3. Out best desires are insufficient to change us.

6. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • 1. Disobedience cuts us off from the Source of life (Eph. 2:1-2; Rom. 6:23) • 1And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience — • 23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

7. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • 1. Disobedience cuts us off from the Source of life (Eph. 2:1-2; Rom. 6:23) • We are dead in our trespasses and sins • How does this “spiritual deadness” manifest itself?

8. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • 1. Disobedience cuts us off from the Source of life (Eph. 2:1-2; Rom. 6:23) • How does this “spiritual deadness” manifest itself? • spiritual deadness =suppressing the truth ofgeneral revelation + special revelation

9. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • 1. Disobedience cuts us off from the Source of life (Eph. 2:1-2; Rom. 6:23) • We are dead in our trespasses and sins • How does this “spiritual deadness” manifest itself? • General Revelation • Nature • Our experience of the world around us • History

10. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • 1. Disobedience cuts us off from the Source of life (Eph. 2:1-2; Rom. 6:23) • We are dead in our trespasses and sins • How does this “spiritual deadness” manifest itself? • General Revelation • Special Revelation • History of God’s redemption story • The Bible • Work of the Holy Spirit

11. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • 1. Disobedience cuts us off from the Source of life (Eph. 2:1-2; Rom. 6:23) • We are dead in our trespasses and sins • How does this “spiritual deadness” manifest itself? • General Revelation • Special Revelation • Our disobedience is offensive and rebellious.

12. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • 1. Disobedience cuts us off from the Source of life (Eph. 2:1-2; Rom. 6:23) • “Like a naïve person in Chinatown paying top dollar for a “genuine” Rolex, our suppression of God’s Word has made us spectators in the marketplace of sin. We have become comfortable trading in counterfeit currency—so comfortable that we are unable to recognize the voice of God apart from His gracious intervention.”

13. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • 1. Disobedience cuts us off from the Source of life (Eph. 2:1-2; Rom. 6:23) • We are dead in our trespasses and sins • How does this “spiritual deadness” manifest itself? • General Revelation • Special Revelation • Our disobedience is offensive and rebellious. • “The Wages of Sin”

14. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • 2. Our best efforts to fix ourselves are in vain and for our vanity (Isa. 64:6) • 6We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

15. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • 2. Our best efforts to fix ourselves are in vain and for our vanity (Isa. 64:6) • “There is a common thread that runs through all of our pain and all of our suffering…unworthiness. Not feeling worthy enough to own the life you were created for. Even people who believe they deserve to be happy and have nice things often don’t feel worthy once they have them…Your being alive makes worthiness your birthright. You alone are enough.” - Oprah Winfrey

16. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • 2. Our best efforts to fix ourselves are in vain and for our vanity (Isa. 64:6) • The problem is sin. • Every faculty is impacted by sin. • Our heart is corrupted. (Jeremiah 17:9) • Our mind is corrupted. (Titus 1:15-16) • Our will is enslaved. (John 8:34) • Our desires are perverted. (Proverbs 21:10) • We cannot save ourselves • Guilt • Shame

17. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • 2. Our best efforts to fix ourselves are in vain and for our vanity (Isa. 64:6) • The Gospel offers hope in Christ! (2 Cor. 5:21) • “That means that God treated Jesus as though he committed every sin that was or will ever be committed, by every person, who would ever believe when in fact he committed none of them. Hanging on the cross he was holy, harmless, and undefiled. Hanging on the cross he was a spotless lamb. He was never for a split second a sinner. He is holy God on the cross. But God is treating him, I’ll put it more practically, as if he lived my life. God punished Jesus for my sin, turns right around and treats me as if I lived his life. When God looks at the cross, he sees you and when he looks at you, he sees Christ.” - John Macarthur

18. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • 3. Our best desires are insufficient to change us (Rom. 3:10-12) • 6We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

19. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • 3. Our best desires are insufficient to change us (Rom. 3:10-12) • George Robinson’s story. • There is healing for spiritual leprosy!

20. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • Issues (What?!) • & • Implications (So What?)

21. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • Issue #1 – The Purpose of Evangelism • We are commanded: “19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” - Matthew 28:19-20 • The Gospel should be lavishly shared with all!

22. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • Issue #1 – The Purpose of Evangelism • Two results of calling sinners to repent & believe: • 1. Salvation • 2. Judgment

23. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • Issue #1 – The Purpose of Evangelism • 14But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. - 2 Cor. 2:14-16a

24. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • Issue #2 – Sanctification & Best Efforts • 1. Attempting to earn God’s approval is futile • 2. Sanctification is enabled by the Holy Spirit • “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” - Phil. 2:12-13

25. Session 6 — Numb to the Word • Implication — We need to be fighting sin • “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” - John Owen • How do we fight sin? • Abide in Christ (Jn 15:4) • Abide in the Word, His Truth (Jn 17:17) • Abide in the Church, His Body (Heb. 10:24-25) • Abide in Prayer, His Presence (Phil. 4:6-7)

26. Session 5 – God’s Law For Life • Q&A Time!