He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

Man is in a horrible condition. He is under God’s wrath and knows it not. He despises the gospel. He can sleep well and sin. He is oblivious to his desperate condition, and he does not care that he offends. He is under sin and a slave [Rom 3:9]. He will not trust Christ.

1) He doesn’t see how close he is to hell. Satan has blinded and deceived him. He thinks foolishness can deliver him. He trusts his own righteousness and his own works. He listens to lies and silly fables [2 Tim 4:4]. He’ll believe anything, so long as it isn’t true. Jesus said, “But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me [John 8:45].” It doesn’t matter the evidence, he’ll close his ears and gnash his teeth [Acts 7:54-57]. He’ll wash his hands of the matter. He’ll give Jesus the politest compliments, but he won’t come to the feast. Luke 14:18, “But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.”

2) He doesn’t know that God is holy! He thinks that He is altogether like himself, so he does not fear. Ps 50:21, “These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes.” Man’s deceived! He thinks God will forgive without a sacrifice or without us worshiping the One who died [Heb 5:9]. He thinks that God’s a jolly old man in heaven who only exists to bless him with temporal things and heaven. He doesn’t understand that the fire is kindled forever, so he gives up eternity for a little sin in time. He is like a bird taken in an evil net: he doesn’t fear until it is too late.

3) He loves sin, and he will not give it up. He cannot come to Christ, because He will not [John 5:40]. He’d rather have sin than anything in the world, whether it is immorality or self-righteous pride doesn’t matter: So long as it is not following Jesus, man is happy [Eph 2:2-3]. Man is warped in his thinking and depraved in his mind. He is destitute of the truth and thinks godliness is a way to get money [1 Tim 6:5]! He despises the spiritual kingdom.

4) This desperate condition is ONLY remedied by God. Arguments won’t do it. Words will not arrest the heart or deliver from captivity. Man cannot be charmed. It is foolish to think that we can be clever enough, accurate enough, or eloquent enough to awake the dead! It requires the Holy Spirit [Ezek 37:9-10].

Yes, we speak in faith, but it is faith in God, faith in Christ, and faith in the Spirit. Man is too dead for us to impact him spiritually, so we give up vain self-seeking and turn ourselves over to be useful. God must speak to hearts by us, or they remain among the tombs as madmen. They remain in their coffins. They remain lame, blind, and withered. They are without hope until God intervenes, and then comes power.

5) Look up to God to alleviate man’s horrible condition. Believe Him. Just like you believe Him for yourself, believe Him for others; it must be 100% grace. Look at Abraham. He believed that what God promised, God was also able to perform, and this is how we must preach - totally wrapped up in faith; it must not be a glance at self at all. Rom 4:19-20, “And being not weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old,) and the deadness of Sarah's womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.” Like Peter, we have nothing but faith in Christ [Acts 3:16]. Point sinners to Him believingly: believe that He can do it, and He will.