Biblical Realism: Hope and Redemption in Human Nature

The Bible that it is realistic indeed I would go so far as to say this that there is nothing which is more notable about the whole of the biblical message as it star realism I've often put it like this from this Pulpit if I had no other reason for believing the Bible to be the word of God this for me would rarely be enough that I get the truth about men and about life in the Bible in a way that I get it nowhere else everywhere else I always find some form of special pleading I always find men being flattered and patted on the back in some shape or form there is no book that I know of that rarely gives us the truth unvarnished wats and all about ourselves in the way that the scriptures do [00:10:15]

The Bible doesn't try to whitewash its Heroes it shows you a men like King David such an outstanding men falling into a terrible sin it gives you all the details it doesn't conceal anything the Bible in its realism leaves the Sunday newspapers far behind it just gives you all the luur details and doesn't attempt in any way to Shield its own people it doesn't give us a Rosy picture of men nor of his world it's always revealing and exposing the hidden things and in its diag es of the human heart it's devastating the human heart it tells us is desperately wicked and deceitful who can know it nothing more terrible has ever been said about men than that its analysis of human nature even in its best people is not at all flattering and is on the surface most discouraging [00:11:31]

The Bible alone that gives us an adequate explanation of of this condition I don't don't want to stay with this this morning but it is a very vital part of the message may I put it again in this hurried form surely the thing that is needed above everything at this hour is that we should have an understanding of the causes of our troubles and it's the utter superficiality in this matter of diagnosis that almost fills those of us who are Christian with despair the interest seems to be in personality still and in men they don't seem to see that there's something deeper in all men they think it can be explained in a terms of a president or a prime minister or a leader in this or that or the other country or in a political party and they fail to see that all the leaders and all the parties and all the governments and all the powers are afflicted by the same fell disease which the Bible calls sin [00:14:51]

The Bible alone I say that rarely comes to grips with the cause of the trouble and he traces it from the beginning to the end and it just makes it plain and clear that man is as he is and his world is as it is this morning because of man's original Rebellion against God at the instigation of the devil which led inevitably to what is called the fall with all its dire consequences of which we are reaping so many at this present hour that's the second principle [00:16:12]

The Bible the Christian message exposes the utter futility not to say the childishness of all the false hopes with which the world tries to comfort itself and to cheer itself and to buy itself up the Bible I say exposes the futility and the childish superficiality of all these vain and false hopes now here and I want to emphasize it here the Bible sounds thoroughly and utterly pessimistic and I want to repeat again that at this point it is altogether much more pessimistic than the greatest pessimist in the world this moment now as I've said there are many people who object to this they say surely things are bad enough without your rubbing it in and making it still worse for us [00:17:55]

The gospel teaches me this that while you have a vestage of Hope left in yourself or in the world you'll never turn to God so the first thing we have to do is to explode the false optimism the futile vain hopes of the world of course the world is still indulging in them I don't think it's quite as evident this year as it generally is at the turn of the year and we know the reason why but it's still there you see the world is still saying something like this ring out the old ring in the new ring happy Bells across the snow the year is going let him go ring out the false ring in the true every year they seem to think it can be done that some or another by clanging your Bells you can ring out the false ring in the true but it never seems to come does it [00:18:49]

The Bible simply explodes the fallacy of all that it rarely ridicules it you can find it all if you like in a phrase at the very beginning of the book of Ecclesiastes if you still are clinging to this vain hope that somehow or another a new year is going to put things right or that the fact that we finished with 1956 and are beginning with 1957 is somehow in some strange way going to make a difference I said just go straight to the Book of Ecclesiastes and this is what it'll tell you what has been will be now that's sure pessimism isn't it yes but my dear friend what is it you want do you want Comfort or do you want truth whatever you may say about it it's true what has been will be [00:19:36]

The sun still continues to rise it still continues to set the mountains still rise in the springs in the mountain the rivers still rise in their Springs in the mountains and they flow out into the sea there's a great circle says the Book of Ecclesiastes the sun absorbs the moisture takes it up into the heavens forms the clouds down it comes as rain back it comes down the river again round what has been will be and you know this only this is not only true of nature still more devastating and pessimistic is the fact that it's true of men that in spite of all he talks about men Still Remains the Same he doesn't change and it's as true to say of men and his way of living as it is of nature itself that what has been will be [00:20:31]

The typical case and argument of the Bible that is its fundamental plank that because man remains as he has been since the fall and ever will remain and cannot deliver himself out of that it's for that reason that God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law to redeem them that are under the law that's why Christ came but the world won't have this it still clings to this illusion that men's getting better or can make himself better [00:21:42]

The Bible has always been stated that there is nothing which is so so completely futile as this vain belief that somewhow or another the passing of the years and the coming of the unknown future is going to put everything right my dear friend it never has done it never will do if you are expecting anything from 1957 to solve your problems I say you're a fool what has been will be pride and Gra greed and avarice and lust and passion will remain in human nature as it has been and as long as it's there you'll get the moral model the international model and every other model from which we are suffering so much at this hour [00:22:55]

The gospel El is equally against the pessimism of the world you see everything about the world is wrong its optimism is wrong it's pessimism is wrong there's nothing right about it the gospel equally denounces its false pessimism now this is something of course that is very much in evidence at this present hour as I said there isn't so much of the false optimism this year as there was last year or as there has been in previous years the whole situation is very pessimistic and the greatest danger of all perhaps today is that men and women will just be engulfed by this fatalistic pessimism of the world and just feel that everything is utterly useless and hopeless [00:25:00]

The gospel offers a message of hope and redemption through Christ it declares that transformation is possible through the gospel and that despite the depth of human depravity there is a way out of despair and a path to true transformation the gospel calls us to abandon false hopes and embrace the truth leading us to the only source of genuine hope and change it is a message of profound realism and ultimate hope [00:28:03]