The Lutheran Middle 3

Overview

The Middle Road: Between Carnal Security and Despair

There is a road between two ditches, and that road is the word of forgiveness in Jesus Christ. On one side lies the ditch of carnal security—the boast of our own goodness. It speaks through familiar phrases: "Nobody's perfect, but I'm pretty good." "At least I don't…" "Who are you to judge?" Each of these sentences quietly elevates the self and rests the conscience on a comparison with others rather than a comparison with the holiness of God. Scripture warns against this very posture: "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment" Romans 12:3. When we measure ourselves against God's holiness rather than against our neighbors, the picture is not flattering. We are not in the healthy camp; we are in the sick camp, the lost camp—the very ones Jesus came to call (Matthew 9:9-13; Luke 19:1-10). The Pharisee who prayed, "God, I thank you that I am not like other people," went home unjustified, while the tax collector who beat his breast and cried, "God, be merciful to me a sinner," went home justified Luke 18:9-14. The cure for carnal security is not better self-esteem but God-esteem—how God esteems us through Christ.

On the other side of the road is the ditch of despair: the conviction that we are so bad that forgiveness cannot reach us. This ditch contains a half-truth we must not let go of—that left to ourselves we deserve nothing but God's wrath. But it forgets the fuller truth: the grace of God in Jesus Christ is wider than our worst sin. Peter, confronted with the holiness of Christ, fell at His knees crying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man," and yet Jesus answered, "Do not be afraid" Luke 5:1-11. Manasseh, one of Judah's most wicked kings—who shed innocent blood, practiced sorcery, and led his people into idolatry—humbled himself in distress, and the Lord heard his plea and restored him 2 Chronicles 33:1-13. The thief on the cross was promised paradise. No sin reaches deeper than the cross.

In both ditches, reason sits on a throne it does not belong on, and in both ditches the eye is turned inward—either to admire the self or to condemn it. Jesus models the middle road perfectly with Nicodemus, naming his need to be born from above and lifting his eyes to the Son of Man who must be lifted up: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son" John 3:1-18. Paul walks this same road when he confesses, "I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am" 1 Corinthians 15:9-11. He neither minimizes his sin nor magnifies his despair; he speaks the truth and points to grace.

Pastoral application: When the conscience whispers, "At least I'm not like that person," repent of the comparison and look to Christ. When the conscience accuses, "You are beyond forgiveness," confess the truth of your sin and look to the same Christ. The middle road is not a balance we achieve by managing ourselves; it is a road we are kept on by the Word—the proclamation of Christ crucified and risen for sinners. To reason this seems foolish. But this foolishness is the wisdom and power of God, and it is the only ground on which a sinner may stand and be at peace.

Transcript

Well, last week we talked about the middle road between doubt and 0s

presumption, between doubt and presumption. 6s

And remember, we had talked about how reason grasps on to what it 11s

knows. 16s

So when a difficult situation, et cetera, comes up in our lives, 17s

reason will go to what it knows. 21s

It'll run the catalog of the past history. 24s

It'll run everything through reasons grid in terms of what it is 27s

that according to reason makes sense. 33s

It'll run all the kind of human probabilities and all that. 37s

It runs to what it knows. 41s

And the danger, of course, with regard to reason is that reason 44s

becomes elevated above the word instead of reason being guided 48s

by the word. 54s

And when reason becomes elevated over the word, we can be tempted 57s

to doubt the very promises of God. 61s

The cure between the ditches of doubt and presumption, 65s

doubting in the promises of God or presuming upon God's grace 70s

that it's fine for us just to go ahead and sit up a storm. 77s

The remedy there is the middle road of God's word and using his 81s

holy word to guide us. 88s

Well, today I want to take a look with you at the middle road 93s

between despair and carnal security, between despair and carnal 97s

security. 103s

And the middle road is the word of forgiveness about Jesus and 104s

what he has done for us in winning forgiveness. 109s

On the one side of the middle road between carnal security and 114s

despair, on the one side is this ditch of carnal security. 121s

So you've got the middle road and you've got two ditches you can fall into. 128s

One ditch then is the ditch of carnal security. 131s

Carnal security is the boast of our goodness. 134s

It's the boast of our goodness. 137s

It is when the conscience says things like, well, nobody's perfect, of course. 142s

But I'm pretty good. 152s

I'm pretty good. 155s

It raises its head when one says, at least I don't, then you fill in the 158s

head is the sins that are not committed and not an examination of the sins 167s

that are committed. 173s

It pops up when the question is asked, and who are you to judge? 177s

Who are you to judge? 184s

Well, inherent in the very question there is number one, who are you? 187s

And so all of a sudden there's the elevation of the self. 192s

But it's really looking at one's own goodness and being quite secure in our own goodness. 197s

There are a host of motivational speakers, preachers that leverage this. 206s

Robert Schuller was an example. 216s

He built the crystal cathedral, the house of glass, and it was built on the premise of the need for self-esteem. 218s

And in his book I do not recommend it. 230s

His book, Self-esteem, the new Reformation. 235s

And again, do not go to Amazon for this book. 240s

But in the book he was saying that churches emphasize sin too much. 245s

What we need to emphasize is how people can feel good about themselves. 250s

And he called in for a new Reformation in the church, which was a minimizing of sin so that we could feel good about ourselves. 255s

Feeling good about ourselves typically is not a problem in all honesty. 269s

You know, there's so much talk about kind of self-esteem and all of that. 277s

We've got to build one another up in the self-esteem. 282s

Actually the problem is self-esteem, isn't it? 285s

What scripture says, don't think more highly of yourself than you ought. 290s

But think of yourself with sober judgment. 295s

If we think of ourselves with sober judgment, it is not a pretty picture, is it? 298s

It's just not. 304s

We are sinners through and through. 305s

When we compare ourselves not to one another, but we compare ourselves to the holiness of God. 307s

My gosh, my gosh. 313s

Oh, instead of self-esteem, we are to have God-esteem. 317s

How does God-esteem us through Christ? 321s

The ills of society will not be resolved if people simply have a better self-esteem about themselves. 326s

Or think better about themselves. 335s

The problem is, is we need to repent of how good we think about ourselves. 337s

That's the problem. 342s

Where we turn in repentance and we say, forgive me, God, that the thought just ran through my mind. 345s

Well, at least I didn't do that. 354s

You see, when that happens and we're elevating of the self, 360s

carnal security is the sense of, you know, in the end, I'm pretty good. 365s

I'm a pretty good person. 372s

I try and be a good person. 375s

And, you know, I think I'm doing okay. 379s

I visited someone this past week in the hospital and brought, was bringing communion in this particular situation. 383s

And the lady was there and she had talked about God, the lady who was visiting also. 396s

She had talked about God. 402s

And I said, we're going to share communion now. 405s

And if you are trusting in Christ as your Savior and Lord, and repent of your sins, you are welcome to join us. 408s

Would you like that? 416s

And her response was, no, the two of you go ahead and do that. 419s

That's fine. 424s

Okay, that's fine. 425s

She doesn't want to do that. 426s

But then she said, I try and be good. 427s

And that's interesting. 432s

Trying to be good. 433s

Well, of course, that was the door then to share about the grace of God for us. 435s

But that's how we think in our sinfulness. 441s

So the ditch of carnal security is a real pull simply by nature. 443s

Because we can typically think of ourselves not with sober judgment as being better than 450s

we are. 460s

Because we are sinner through and through. 462s

Scripture reveals those that were caught in carnal security. 465s

Let me give you a couple of examples. 468s

Let's go to Matthew 9th chapter. 470s

Matthew 9, verse 9. 479s

And here we see some that are caught in the ditch of carnal security. 486s

Thinking you're so good that you don't need forgiveness. 491s

That in the end, we can, if there is a God, we can redeem ourselves. 494s

That's the perspective here of carnal security. 499s

So Matthew 9 will pick up in verse 9. 503s

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, 506s

and he said to him, follow me, and he got up and followed him. 510s

And as he said at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came, 516s

and were sitting with him and his disciples. 520s

When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, 524s

why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? 528s

But when he heard this, he said, 534s

those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 536s

Go and learn what this means. 542s

I desire mercy, not sacrifice, for I have come to call not the righteous, but sinners. 544s

The Pharisees then are caught in carnal security. 554s

The Pharisees were so sure that they were in the healthy camp, 558s

not realizing that all of us fall into the what camp. 563s

The sick camp, right? 568s

Because we are sick with regard to our sins. 569s

Let's go to Luke the 19th chapter, Matthew, Mark, and then Luke. 573s

Luke 19. 577s

Verse 1. 591s

He, that means Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. 596s

A man was there named Zakyas. 600s

He was a chief tax collector and was very rich. 602s

Now remember, just a little aside here on the tax collector, 606s

the tax collectors could take whatever they could get out of you. 608s

So if you're coming down the road and you're coming with your wagon, 613s

a tax collector could stop you and say it's tax time, it's imposed. 617s

You need to pay X number for each one of the wheels. 621s

And the rate was whatever the tax collector decided at that very moment. 626s

Because there was a certain amount that the tax collector would have to turn in, 631s

and anything over what the tax collector had to turn in, 635s

that was a 100% profit right in their pocket. 640s

So tax collectors were not liked in ancient day. 644s

They were despised. 650s

And then when you have Zakyas, and how does Scripture describe him, he's a what? 652s

He's a chief tax collector. 658s

So you got the pyramid structure here. 660s

So the chief is on the top and the lesser, quote unquote, 662s

tax collectors are going to be taking in here all of these taxes. 667s

They're going to be keeping some of it and then some of it goes to the chief too. 672s

So they have to pay the chief. 680s

So the chief sitting on top of this structure is really, 683s

really has quite a handsome little salary going on here, right? 688s

And just it doesn't have to do a thing, just receive the extortion money 691s

that has been received from the various tax collectors. 697s

So you've got Zakyas here. 702s

He's a chief tax collector, and then this kind of goes without saying. 704s

And was what? It was rich. 708s

It was rich. Right? 711s

He's got all this money from this structure. 713s

He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, 716s

because he was short in stature. 719s

So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, 722s

because he was going to pass that way. 727s

In a crowd, that's probably the best place, regardless of the height of a tax collector. 731s

That's probably the best place for a tax collector to be. 736s

Is up in a tree. 739s

Because here you've got a crowd, they want to see Jesus. 741s

So there's going to be a lot of pressing in on each other. 746s

And who knows what happens in the crowd when they, when they, in this case, 749s

look down and they see, hey, it's Zakyas here. 753s

And look where he is right in the middle of the crowd. 757s

So this is strategic on the part of Zakyas. 760s

Not only in order to see Jesus, but also for his own protection, 763s

that he goes into the tree. 769s

Verse 5, when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, 771s

and Zakyas hurry up and come down, for I must stay at your house today. 774s

So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 781s

Now notice, there's somebody who's changed, who's hard as changing. 785s

Because he's in the tree for protection and to see Jesus calls in. 790s

And there's no hesitation here, is there? 796s

He hurries down. 798s

Hurries to be with Jesus. 799s

Verse 7, all who sought began to grumble and said, 802s

he has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner. 807s

Okay, now let me ask you this. 814s

Who was the only sinless one in the scene? 818s

Jesus, right? 823s

This is carnal security. 825s

This is looking in upon the self and saying, 828s

okay, maybe we're all sinners, right? 833s

But I'm less of a sinner than the others. 838s

That's carnal security. 844s

That's looking and saying, I am a good person. 846s

I'm a good person. 850s

Verse 8, the key is stood there and said to the Lord, 854s

look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor. 857s

And if I've defrauded anyone of anything, 859s

I will pay back four times as much. 861s

That's a changed heart, isn't it? 864s

And Jesus said to him, today salvation has come to this house 867s

because he too is a son of Abraham. 870s

For the son of man came to seek out and to save the lost. 872s

So you just look at these two verses here, 880s

or these two sections of Scripture, 882s

and how are we defined? 884s

We're in the sick camp, and we're in the what camp. 887s

We're in the lost camp. 890s

Amazing grace, what a sweet sound that saved what? 895s

Retch. 902s

Like me. 904s

Shuler said, you have to take Retch out of amazing grace. 907s

Why? 912s

Because it doesn't build what? 913s

And build self-steam. 916s

Retch is how the Scripture describes us. 920s

How did Paul describe himself when he said, 924s

oh, what a wretched sinner I am. 928s

Who will save me from this body of death? 933s

Paul understood what? 939s

He understood the depths of the sinfulness, the depths of it, 941s

the breath of it. 944s

He understood he wasn't a good person. 947s

He was a sinner. 953s

You see, we confuse a civil appearance of righteousness 955s

with being good. 961s

And we elevate the sins that we don't commit 964s

in order to justify that at least we're good 968s

or better than this other person. 973s

This past week I served on the jury. 979s

I didn't get picked. 985s

I told my several years ago you'll never get picked to be on a jury. 989s

And I said, why is that? 996s

He goes, because they'll see on your thing that you indicate 997s

that you're a pastor and they'll look at you and they'll either say, 1000s

you're either going to say, hey, grace abounds or it's the death penalty. 1003s

There is no in between. 1009s

And at least this lawyer said, well, out of the 60 potential jurors, 1012s

I was number four. 1017s

So that meant they really had to not like me to pass over. 1019s

Because they start with one. 1024s

So I texted Denise and I said, I'm four. 1026s

And she just went, oh, my mind. 1029s

But they passed right over. 1034s

Okay, person is on there. 1038s

He's accused of a crime. 1040s

This was aggravated assault with the deadly weapon. 1044s

Okay, so this is a serious crime. 1047s

There's 60 of us sitting on this side. 1050s

Okay, what is the temptation to think? 1054s

Because you're putting out of your mind, you go, if I'm on the jury, 1059s

I just look at the facts of this case. 1063s

But the fact that you're sitting on this side and not that side, 1066s

what's the temptation? 1072s

I'm a what? 1076s

I'm a good person. 1079s

Why? 1081s

Because at least I'm not being accused of a assault with a deadly weapon. 1082s

That's how sin works. 1091s

Sin works. 1092s

And there's the ditch then that you fall into. 1094s

The ditch of carnal security. 1098s

Let's go to Luke 18. 1102s

Luke 18, verse 9. 1103s

He also told this parable to some who trusted it themselves, 1118s

that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt. 1123s

What's that? 1126s

That's carnal security, right? 1127s

It's the ditch. 1129s

Two men went up to the temple to pray one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 1130s

The Pharisee standing by himself was praying, 1134s

, Thus, God, I thank you that I'm not like other people. 1136s

I've always been fascinated by that prayer. 1139s

I thank you that I'm not like other people. 1142s

Thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 1145s

I fast, twice a week, I give a tenth of all my income. 1148s

So there's one who says, At least I'm not like them and look at what I do. 1153s

Right? 1157s

So they got both sides here, really justifying themselves. 1157s

Verse 13, but the tax collector standing far off would not even look up to heaven, 1163s

but was beating his breast and saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 1167s

I tell you this man went down to his home justified rather than the other. 1173s

For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted. 1177s

So there's a middle road of the promises of God and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. 1184s

And here's a ditch on one side of the road. 1190s

The ditch is carnal security. 1193s

I am good enough that I don't need forgiveness. 1196s

Good enough. 1201s

Good person. 1202s

On the other side of the road is the ditch of despair. 1205s

That we are so bad that forgiveness cannot reach us. 1209s

It's the other side. 1213s

It's the other ditch that you can fall into. 1215s

So you've got carnal security on one side, and then you've got the other side of the ditch of the road that says, 1217s

we are so bad that forgiveness cannot reach us. 1222s

Those in despair over a secret sin as opposed to a public sin, 1228s

actually can have more of a challenge with regard to this. 1234s

Because if one carries in them the secret sin, they also carry with them this hypocrisy of this perceived outward righteousness when they know full well of the guilt of their sin. 1240s

So the secret sin can actually burden someone more than a public sin. 1254s

Scripture comes with the word the act of grace that lifts the person out of the ditch of despair. 1260s

Let's go to Luke chapter 5, verse 1. 1270s

And we'll see how God lifts us out of the ditch of despair. 1277s

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Ganesheret and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 1291s

he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake. 1298s

The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 1302s

He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. 1306s

Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 1313s

When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, 1319s

put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch. 1321s

Simon answered, Master, we've worked all night long, would have caught nothing. 1327s

And if you say so I'll let down the nets. 1331s

When they had done this they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. 1334s

So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. 1338s

And they came and filled both boats so that they began to sink. 1343s

Now notice the reaction of Peter. 1347s

But when Simon Peter saw it he fell down at Jesus' knees saying, 1350s

go away from me Lord for I am a sinful man. 1354s

You see there's one who confronted with the holiness and the perfection and the majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ, 1360s

is convicted of his own sinfulness and says, go away from me. 1368s

Go away from me. 1374s

Nine, but he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken. 1377s

And so also were James and John, son of Zebidi, who were partners with Simon. 1382s

Okay here comes the word now. 1387s

Then Jesus said to Simon, do not be afraid from now on you will be catching people. 1389s

When they had brought their boats to shore they left everything and followed him. 1398s

You see there is one who is confronted, he understands his lack of holiness in the presence of the Holy One. 1404s

And he is lifted out of the ditch of despair by the word of Jesus. 1413s

I think of Luke 23. 1421s

There is the thief on the cross. 1424s

For the sake of time we won't go there. 1426s

Luke 23, the thief is on the cross. 1429s

His heart is transformed and Jesus turns to him and says what? 1432s

Today you will be with me where it paralyzes. 1438s

There is a word then that lifts the one out of the ditch of despair. 1443s

I think of 2 Chronicles the 33rd chapter. 1450s

There is King Manasseh. 1454s

He is one of the worst of Judas kings. 1457s

Just terrible guy. 1461s

In fact let's go there. 1464s

Let's go to 2 Chronicles in the Old Testament. 1465s

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, 1467s

Samuel, Kings, Kings, Chronicles, Chronicles, 33rd chapter. 1475s

If you have hit Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther, turn left. 1481s

2 Corinthians chapter 33. 1486s

Verse 1. 1493s

Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to reign. 1499s

He reigned 55 years in Jerusalem. 1502s

He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord according to the bombable practices of the nations, 1505s

whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 1510s

For he rebuilt the high places that his father, Hezekiah, had pulled down, 1515s

and erected altars to the bales, made sacred poles, worshipped all the host of heaven and served them. 1520s

He built altars in the house of the Lord of which the Lord had said in Jerusalem, 1529s

shall mine name be forever. 1534s

He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 1538s

He met his own son, passed through fire in the valley of the Son of Hinnum, 1544s

practiced sooth saying in ogre and sorcery and dealt with mediums and with wizards. 1551s

He did much evil in the sight of the Lord provoking him to anger. 1557s

The carved image of the idol that he had made, he said in the house of God of which God said to David 1564s

and to his son Solomon, in this house and in Jerusalem which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, 1570s

I will put my name forever. 1577s

I will never again remove the feet of Israel from the land that I appointed for your ancestors, 1580s

if only. 1586s

They will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statues, 1587s

and the ordinances given through Moses. 1591s

Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that they did more evil than the nations 1595s

whom the Lord had destroyed before the people of Israel. 1602s

That is an amazing comment, isn't it? 1607s

More evil than all of the evil nations that the Lord had driven up. 1610s

Verse 10, the Lord spoke to Manasseh and said to his people, 1616s

but they gave no heed. 1620s

Therefore the Lord brought against them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria 1624s

who took Manasseh captive in Manacles, bound him with fetters and brought him to Babylon. 1629s

While he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord, his God, 1636s

and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. 1641s

He prayed to him, 1646s

God received his entreaty, heard his plea, and restored him again to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. 1648s

Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was indeed God. 1658s

There is one who is in a ditch of despair, and God comes with his forgiving word to him, 1664s

and restoring the throne to him. 1674s

We see then in Scripture a changed individual. 1677s

You have the ditch of carnal security, and you have the ditch of despair. 1683s

Question, on what throne does reason sit in the ditch of carnal security? 1689s

On what throne does reason sit in the ditch of carnal security? 1698s

It is the throne that leads us to think. 1705s

We don't need to be saved. 1709s

We are good enough. 1712s

Second question, on what throne does reason sit in the ditch of despair? 1715s

On what throne does reason sit in the ditch of despair? 1721s

It is the law of God and the voice of conscience formed by the Word of God that says, 1728s

I must be because of who I am beyond the forgiveness of God. 1736s

Reason sits in both ditches on throats, where is the problem? 1744s

But in both ditches, the person is looking unto themselves. 1753s

In the ditch of carnal security, it is looking unto yourself and saying, I'm a good person. 1759s

Of course, I am saved. 1768s

All good people will be saved. 1772s

That's looking to oneself, right? 1776s

In the ditch of despair, it is looking into yourself and saying, because of my sinfulness, 1781s

the forgiveness of God is not great enough to encompass me. 1787s

And reason sits on the throats in both of the ditches instead of looking to Christ. 1793s

Now, in the ditch of despair, there's a half-truth there, isn't there? 1804s

The half-truth in the ditch of despair is that we indeed deserve nothing but God's wrath and eternal punishment. 1810s

That's the truth in the ditch of despair. 1819s

That's the half-truth. 1822s

But what can be forgotten is the forgiveness that is ours through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, 1824s

the grace of God through the Lord Jesus Christ, to those of us that left to ourselves we are doomed for hell. 1834s

So in the ditch of despair is the half-truth. 1846s

You don't let go of that. 1849s

We can't redeem ourselves and left to ourselves. 1852s

We deserve God's eternal wrath. 1854s

But in the ditch of despair, what is forgotten is the truth of the grace that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. 1858s

Look at John, chapter 3, please. 1866s

The story of Nicodemus. 1871s

And how Jesus masterfully takes the middle road with Nicodemus. 1874s

He takes the middle road with Nicodemus. 1882s

He points out Nicodemus's sin and he points out the saving grace in Jesus Christ. 1886s

That's the middle road. 1894s

It doesn't fall in the ditch of carnal security or despair. 1896s

He's right in the middle road of the promises. 1900s

So John, chapter 3, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and then John, will pick up in verse 1. 1903s

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 1911s

He came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who's come from God. 1915s

For no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God. 1920s

Jesus answered him, very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above. 1927s

Nicodemus said to him, how can anyone be born after having grown old? 1936s

Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born? 1939s

Jesus answered, very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God 1944s

without being born of water and spirit. 1949s

What is that? It's baptism. Exactly right. 1954s

What is born of the flesh is flesh. 1959s

What is born of the spirit is spirit. 1962s

Do not be astonished that I said to you, you must be born from above. 1966s

The wind blows where it chooses and you hear the sound of it, 1970s

but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. 1973s

So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit. 1977s

Nicodemus said to him, how can these things be? 1982s

Jesus answered him, are you a teacher of Israel? 1984s

And yet you do not understand these things? 1987s

Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we've seen 1992s

yet you do not receive our testimony. 1996s

If I've told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 1999s

No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 2006s

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 2013s

so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. 2017s

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, 2024s

so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish, but may have eternal life. 2028s

Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, 2033s

but in order that the world might be saved through Him. 2037s

Those who believe in Him are not condemned, those who do not believe are condemned already, 2041s

because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 2046s

There is a middle road, right? There is a middle road. 2051s

Jesus stays right on the middle road, convicting Nicodemus of His sinfulness. 2055s

He doesn't turn to Nicodemus and says, you know Nicodemus is I compare you to the rest of the lot of the Pharisees? 2061s

Good for you here, that you're talking to me here and you're a good person, Nicodemus. 2066s

You're a good person. 2071s

Nope. 2073s

There's the understanding of his sinfulness, the understanding of the Savior, 2075s

avoids the ditch of carnal security, and it avoids the ditch of despair. 2079s

Let's go to 1 Corinthians, chapter 15. 2088s

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and Romans. 2091s

1 Corinthians, chapter 15. 2094s

Verse 9. 2100s

Paul says, 2119s

unfit to be called an apostle, 2121s

because I persecuted the Church of God. 2124s

That sounds like there's danger for the ditch of despair, right? 2128s

But by the grace of God, I am what I am, 2134s

and His grace toward me has not been in vain. 2137s

On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, 2141s

but the grace of God that is within me. 2145s

See, it sounds like on the other side, there's the potential for the gift of, 2149s

or for the ditch of, you know, I worked really hard. 2154s

You see, it worked really hard for you, God. 2158s

See what a good servant I am of you, right? Impressed. 2161s

Nope. 2166s

But right after, it says, 2166s

it wasn't I, it was the grace of God that's within me. 2167s

He gives glory to the empowerment of that which is being done. 2171s

Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim, 2176s

and so you have come to believe. 2178s

There is one who understands the middle road and avoidance of the ditch on either side. 2183s

To reason, this is all nonsense. 2192s

It's all nonsense. 2196s

Because reason wants to pull you either into self-righteous pride or despair 2197s

with regard to our guilt. 2206s

That's what reason understands. 2209s

But instead, Paul says elsewhere, 2212s

we preach the foolishness of Christ, foolishness of Christ. 2216s

Because the only thing that matters is God's reasoning about this. 2226s

Right? It's the only thing that matters. 2235s

So to the world, that says, 2236s

well, of course, if you're good enough, God will be impressed or, you know, 2240s

all is lost. 2245s

Here, he might as well sit up a storm and try and get as much out of life as you can, 2246s

because life is short. 2251s

Now, see, it's foolishness, Jesus Christ. 2254s

And we preach Christ, crucified, and risen, which is foolishness to what? 2257s

To reason. 2264s

To reason. 2266s

Reason looks at what is, 2268s

and then extrapolates from there. 2271s

Instead, God continues to pull us onto the middle road, 2275s

out of carnal security, 2280s

and out of despair onto the middle road of His gracious promises for us. 2282s

And we preach Christ, 2308s