Latest / Voddie Baucham Sermons / Voddie Baucham - The Fall of Man

Transcript

Voddie Baucham - The Fall of Man · Voddie Baucham Sermons

0:00
Speaker 1: Well, if you remember, I told you on last week
0:03
Speaker 1: as we talked about marriage and the biblical foundations for
0:09
Speaker 1: marriage there at the end of Genesis chapter 2. And
0:13
Speaker 1: as we've been looking at biblical manhood and womanhood and
0:16
Speaker 1: this battleground of ours in our culture, I told you
0:21
Speaker 1: that this is the front lines of the battle, that
0:24
Speaker 1: we are in the midst of a battle. And these
0:27
Speaker 1: issues of what is a man and what is a
0:30
Speaker 1: woman and what is marriage stand at the forefront of
0:33
Speaker 1: this battleground. Well, a couple of days after that Sunday,
0:39
Speaker 1: one of our presidential candidates, who shall remain nameless, the
0:44
Speaker 1: black guy, he was in Ohio. And in Ohio, he
0:53
Speaker 1: answered a question during Q & A. And the question
0:56
Speaker 1: was about gay marriage. And he put forth, as was
1:01
Speaker 1: not surprising, the fact that he supports homosexual marriage. Now,
1:06
Speaker 1: here's what was interesting. He bases his support for homosexual marriage,
1:12
Speaker 1: he says, on the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon
1:16
Speaker 1: on the Mount. As opposed to, and I quote, some
1:21
Speaker 1: obscure passage in Romans. So he supports gay marriage based
1:31
Speaker 1: on the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount. Now,
1:33
Speaker 1: here's what's interesting. A presidential candidate put forth a policy
1:39
Speaker 1: position based on his interpretation of Scripture, and he didn't
1:42
Speaker 1: get pounded for it. You didn't hear about this in
1:45
Speaker 1: the mainstream media. But he says he supports gay marriage
1:49
Speaker 1: based upon his understanding of the Sermon on the Mount.
1:53
Speaker 1: So that's the first thing that just boggles the mind.
1:57
Speaker 1: The citizens united for the separation of church and state
2:00
Speaker 1: have not camped out at his doorstep. They have not
2:03
Speaker 1: burned down his house. They are not calling for him
2:05
Speaker 1: to step out of the race. He says he's basing
2:11
Speaker 1: his position on this policy, on the teaching of the
2:15
Speaker 1: Sermon on the Mount. Now, let's leave that aside for
2:17
Speaker 1: a moment. And again, this is not about politicking here, okay?
2:23
Speaker 1: This is not about jumping on politicians. He stepped into
2:26
Speaker 1: my world. Okay? He stepped into my world. I did
2:30
Speaker 1: not invite him. I did not ask him. He stepped
2:33
Speaker 1: into my world. Two problems with this position. Number one,
2:39
Speaker 1: the Sermon on the Mount doesn't teach homosexual marriage. In fact,
2:45
Speaker 1: the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5 puts
2:50
Speaker 1: forth one of the strongest arguments for the sanctity of
2:54
Speaker 1: marriage between a man and a woman. when Jesus talks
2:59
Speaker 1: about this issue of divorce. So the only thing touching
3:02
Speaker 1: on marriage in the Sermon on the Mount supports the
3:05
Speaker 1: biblical idea of marriage. Here's the other thing. Since when
3:08
Speaker 1: did Romans chapter 1 become an obscure passage? You don't
3:18
Speaker 1: get more straightforward than Romans chapter 1. And so I
3:23
Speaker 1: say this just to illustrate for you what we talked
3:27
Speaker 1: about on last week. This is the battleground. This is
3:32
Speaker 1: where the war is happening. But I want to read
3:35
Speaker 1: something for you, ironically, from Romans chapter 1. And I
3:39
Speaker 1: want to show you why this is the battleground. Now again,
3:44
Speaker 1: we're in Genesis chapter 3 today, but this, trust me,
3:47
Speaker 1: this is incredibly pertinent to what we're going to be
3:49
Speaker 1: talking about today in Genesis chapter 3, verses 1 through 7.
3:53
Speaker 1: But listen to this. In Romans chapter 1, this supposedly
3:58
Speaker 1: obscure passage of Scripture, okay? We'll just take a little
4:02
Speaker 1: time for this excursion here, and then we'll get back
4:04
Speaker 1: into our passage. But trust me, this goes right to
4:07
Speaker 1: what we're talking about today. Not only does it go
4:09
Speaker 1: right to what we're talking about today, it goes right
4:12
Speaker 1: to everything that we've talked about over the last two months.
4:15
Speaker 1: Let me show you. Beginning in verse 18 of Romans
4:19
Speaker 1: chapter 1. Verse 2. Verse 3. And their foolish hearts
4:53
Speaker 1: were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and
4:56
Speaker 1: exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling
5:00
Speaker 1: mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. So the
5:04
Speaker 1: wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against ungodliness
5:07
Speaker 1: and unrighteousness. And where does this ungodliness and unrighteousness start?
5:13
Speaker 1: A faulty view of creation. Well, imagine that. Have you
5:18
Speaker 1: heard that recently as we've been preaching through Genesis chapters
5:21
Speaker 1: 1 through 11? It starts with a faulty view of creation.
5:27
Speaker 1: You think Genesis 1 doesn't matter? Paul says the wrath
5:31
Speaker 1: of God is being revealed from heaven because we've perverted
5:35
Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 1. Not only that, but we've also perverted
5:40
Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 2. Keep reading here in Romans. Therefore God
5:44
Speaker 1: gave them up. and the lust of their hearts to impurity,
5:47
Speaker 1: to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they
5:50
Speaker 1: exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped
5:52
Speaker 1: and served the creature rather than the creator who is
5:54
Speaker 1: blessed forever. Amen. By the way, remember the message on
5:58
Speaker 1: biblical environmentalism from Genesis chapter 2? And how radical environmentalism
6:05
Speaker 1: is a pollution of biblical truth. because of the way
6:16
Speaker 1: it views the relationship between the creature and the creation.
6:20
Speaker 1: There it is, right there in Romans chapter one. By
6:24
Speaker 1: the way, it's also in order. The first thing we
6:28
Speaker 1: violated is Genesis chapter one. The next thing we violated
6:31
Speaker 1: you find in Genesis chapter two. Now look at the
6:33
Speaker 1: next verse. For this reason, God gave them up to
6:35
Speaker 1: dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those
6:39
Speaker 1: that are contrary to nature. And the men likewise gave
6:42
Speaker 1: up natural relations with women Too bad that's so obscure.
6:45
Speaker 1: That's a violation of marriage and the sanctity of marriage
6:49
Speaker 1: as we see in Genesis 2. Are you seeing this, folks?
6:51
Speaker 1: Romans 1... talks about the wrath of God being revealed,
7:16
Speaker 1: and as he goes through the reasons that the wrath
7:18
Speaker 1: of God is being revealed, he walks step by step
7:22
Speaker 1: through the creation narrative in Genesis chapter 1 and Genesis
7:26
Speaker 1: chapter 2. Everything we've dealt with over the last couple
7:31
Speaker 1: of months. And so I say again, what we're talking
7:39
Speaker 1: about in Genesis chapter 11 is the front line, the
7:46
Speaker 1: front line of the cultural apologetic battle in which we
7:51
Speaker 1: find ourselves engaged. It's the front line. Now, here's what
7:58
Speaker 1: I want you to see as well. Since they did
8:01
Speaker 1: not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up
8:05
Speaker 1: to a debased mind to do whatever ought not to
8:07
Speaker 1: be done. They are filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice.
8:12
Speaker 1: They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They
8:15
Speaker 1: are gossip, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors
8:19
Speaker 1: of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless. By the way,
8:25
Speaker 1: we're going to see those as we continue in Genesis.
8:28
Speaker 1: Most of those things we're getting ready to see after
8:29
Speaker 1: the fall. We're going to see them in full force
8:34
Speaker 1: after the fall. So again, we continue to walk through
8:37
Speaker 1: this pattern in Genesis. Genesis. Now look at the next
8:39
Speaker 1: part of this. Though they know God's decree that those
8:43
Speaker 1: who practice such things deserve to die, they not only
8:46
Speaker 1: do them but give approval to those who practice them.
8:52
Speaker 1: It's wrong. And not only do they do it, but
8:56
Speaker 1: they give approval to others who do it. You want
9:01
Speaker 1: to know why, as a culture, we are currently under
9:05
Speaker 1: the wrath and judgment of God? You just saw it
9:09
Speaker 1: in this supposedly obscure passage in Romans chapter 1. And
9:13
Speaker 1: by the way, you've also been seeing it as we've
9:17
Speaker 1: walked through Genesis chapter 1 and Genesis chapter 2 and
9:21
Speaker 1: now that we walk into Genesis chapter 3. But in
9:24
Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 3, we put a finer point on it.
9:27
Speaker 1: Because in Genesis chapter 3, we talk about original sin.
9:33
Speaker 1: In Genesis chapter 3, we learn about the condition of
9:36
Speaker 1: all sin. men because of the fall of our first parents,
9:41
Speaker 1: Adam and Eve. Now, let me lay the groundwork before
9:44
Speaker 1: we read verses 1 through 7 of Genesis chapter 3.
9:48
Speaker 1: You need to understand the principle of federal headship. Now,
9:51
Speaker 1: we've talked about this before, but we'll talk about it again.
9:54
Speaker 1: And we'll probably talk about it again and again and
9:56
Speaker 1: again because that's what the Bible does. It repeats important
9:59
Speaker 1: doctrines over and over and over again. And if a
10:03
Speaker 1: doctrine is an important doctrine here's one way you know it.
10:06
Speaker 1: You see it in multiple parts of Scripture. And so
10:10
Speaker 1: you are going to hear again about this doctrine of
10:13
Speaker 1: federal headship. Why? Because it's an important doctrine. And you
10:16
Speaker 1: can't understand the Bible apart from understanding this doctrine of
10:19
Speaker 1: federal headship. So what is this federal headship? Well, it's
10:24
Speaker 1: hard for us to understand because we don't live in
10:26
Speaker 1: a monarchy. And federal headship is actually one of the
10:30
Speaker 1: things that we have been protected from in a sense
10:34
Speaker 1: in our constitution. So we'll get another political lesson here
10:37
Speaker 1: this morning. Now, in a monarchy under federal headship, here's
10:41
Speaker 1: what can happen. The king is the federal head of
10:45
Speaker 1: his people. The king represents his people. And the king
10:50
Speaker 1: can make decrees for all of his people based on
10:53
Speaker 1: his own whims and wishes. He rules by divine right
10:58
Speaker 1: as the king. And so as the king, if I
11:02
Speaker 1: get mad at the king himself, in the next county
11:06
Speaker 1: over or in the next country over, I as the
11:09
Speaker 1: king and the federal head of my people can declare
11:12
Speaker 1: war against this other kingdom, which means that now all
11:16
Speaker 1: of my people, whether they wanted to or not, are
11:20
Speaker 1: also in a state of war against this other kingdom.
11:25
Speaker 1: So now if I as the federal head, I'm the king,
11:28
Speaker 1: I'm the federal head, and I declare war against the
11:31
Speaker 1: next country over, and you as my people declare Don't
11:35
Speaker 1: necessarily know that I've declared war and happen to wander
11:38
Speaker 1: over there. Well, by virtue of me being your federal head,
11:42
Speaker 1: they can now kill you as an act of war
11:46
Speaker 1: and be within their rights. Why? Because the federal head
11:49
Speaker 1: has declared war. By the way, we've been protected against
11:52
Speaker 1: that in our country. In the United States, it is
11:58
Speaker 1: unconstitutional for our president to operate as our federal head
12:02
Speaker 1: and send us to war. It's a violation of the Constitution.
12:10
Speaker 1: In the United States, we can only go to war
12:14
Speaker 1: if the people's representatives in the Congress declare war. That's
12:22
Speaker 1: protection against federal headship. Hadn't mattered much lately because we
12:28
Speaker 1: haven't been in a constitutionally declared war since World War II,
12:31
Speaker 1: but that's a whole other discussion for a whole other day, okay? Okay?
12:35
Speaker 1: We have not been in a legal war, a constitutional war,
12:39
Speaker 1: since World War II. That's the last time our Congress
12:46
Speaker 1: declared war on anybody. The rest of the stuff that
12:51
Speaker 1: we've been involved in, it's been federal headship stuff. Okay?
13:00
Speaker 1: So Adam serves as the federal head all mankind if
13:07
Speaker 1: Adam were to obey as the federal head of all
13:11
Speaker 1: mankind we would have been at peace with God if
13:17
Speaker 1: Adam as the federal head of all mankind disobeys then
13:24
Speaker 1: the rest of mankind is alienated from and at war
13:28
Speaker 1: with God That's what federal headship means. Now, lest you
13:39
Speaker 1: get all upset, well, that's not fair. I should have
13:45
Speaker 1: been able to make that decision on my own. Listen,
13:48
Speaker 1: the only difference, the only difference, if God had substituted
13:53
Speaker 1: Adam with you, the only difference is you would have
13:56
Speaker 1: fallen quicker. Amen. He was the perfect representative of humanity.
14:07
Speaker 1: None of us would have done any better than he did.
14:13
Speaker 1: And as the perfect representative of humanity and our federal head,
14:19
Speaker 1: he fell. And as a result of that, all of
14:22
Speaker 1: us fell in Adam. Try Romans puts it this way
14:28
Speaker 1: in chapter 3 verse 23, all have sinned and fall
14:32
Speaker 1: short of the glory of God. Earlier in chapter 3,
14:34
Speaker 1: you know, you get out in verses 9 and 10,
14:37
Speaker 1: there is none righteous. And in case somebody's name popped
14:42
Speaker 1: into your head, the next phrase, no, not even one.
14:49
Speaker 1: Not one. But let's look at that here in Genesis
14:54
Speaker 1: chapter 3, verses 1 through 7. And we'll see how
14:57
Speaker 1: it happened, and then we'll see the implications of it.
15:01
Speaker 1: How it happened is not nearly as important as the
15:03
Speaker 1: implications of it. But we'll go through here and we'll
15:06
Speaker 1: look at how it happened. By the way, Genesis chapter 3,
15:20
Speaker 1: verses 1 through 7. And the fall of man is
15:24
Speaker 1: all about headship. It's about Adam being our federal head,
15:28
Speaker 1: the federal head of all mankind. It's about Adam being
15:31
Speaker 1: the head of his family and particularly his wife Eve.
15:36
Speaker 1: And it is about God having headship over all things.
15:41
Speaker 1: Just keep that in mind. All of this is about
15:44
Speaker 1: headship here in Genesis chapter 3. Now the serpent was
15:49
Speaker 1: more crafty than any other beast of the field that
15:53
Speaker 1: the Lord God had made. This word is... often think
15:56
Speaker 1: about in a negative sense. This word in the Hebrew
15:59
Speaker 1: is not a negative word. The serpent being more crafty
16:03
Speaker 1: literally means he was wiser. That's what it means. The
16:07
Speaker 1: serpent had great wisdom and nothing else that God created
16:11
Speaker 1: could compare to this kind of wisdom. Now, there are
16:14
Speaker 1: those who would argue that the serpent is the personification
16:17
Speaker 1: of Satan. Others who would argue that the serpent was
16:20
Speaker 1: under the control of Satan or an agent of Satan.
16:25
Speaker 1: Some would argue that the serpent was actually one of
16:28
Speaker 1: the fallen angels or whatever. Here's the deal. What's going
16:31
Speaker 1: on is demonic. As to the level of demonic activity,
16:35
Speaker 1: whether it's the devil himself personified or the devil influencing
16:40
Speaker 1: the serpent, the Bible doesn't say so. I can't either.
16:43
Speaker 1: Fair enough? But this is demonic activity here. The serpent...
16:52
Speaker 1: was more crafty than any other beast of the field
16:56
Speaker 1: the Lord God had made. He said to the woman,
17:00
Speaker 1: that's problem number one. He said to the woman, first
17:06
Speaker 1: question in your mind ought to be, where's her head?
17:11
Speaker 1: How come he not around while she's talking to snakes?
17:15
Speaker 1: Come on now. The serpent said to the woman, where
17:20
Speaker 1: you at Adam? Snake talking to your wife, man. You're
17:26
Speaker 1: her head. You're her authority. You're her protector. And the
17:30
Speaker 1: craftiest thing in the garden has got her cornered off somewhere.
17:34
Speaker 1: Where you at? Said to the woman, did God actually
17:42
Speaker 1: say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden?
17:50
Speaker 1: The woman said to the serpent, Here's what I want
17:53
Speaker 1: you to notice, the subtlety here. Because Satan didn't have
17:57
Speaker 1: anything new, by the way. The first thing that he
18:01
Speaker 1: does is he just sort of instills doubt. Let's instill
18:07
Speaker 1: doubt in what God has said. Did God actually say?
18:13
Speaker 1: That's the question. Did God actually say? Is that what
18:20
Speaker 1: the rule is, Eve? You sure about that? You ever
18:27
Speaker 1: do that to you? When sin's creeping around your front door,
18:34
Speaker 1: oftentimes the first thing that the enemy does is he says, hey,
18:37
Speaker 1: is this really forbidden? Is that little thing you feel
18:42
Speaker 1: in your gut, is that from God? Did he really
18:48
Speaker 1: say that this was out of bounds? Yes. The woman
18:55
Speaker 1: said to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit
18:58
Speaker 1: of the trees in the garden. But God said, you
19:02
Speaker 1: shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that
19:04
Speaker 1: is in the midst of the garden. She's doing good
19:07
Speaker 1: so far. Neither shall you touch it lest you die.
19:12
Speaker 1: She just fell off the wagon. Why? Because she made
19:21
Speaker 1: God more restrictive than God actually was. Nowhere have we
19:27
Speaker 1: read that they can't touch that tree. What God said
19:31
Speaker 1: is you can't eat of it. So Eve has made
19:35
Speaker 1: God more restrictive than God made God. You ever do that?
19:44
Speaker 1: God says this. We say this plus. Adding to God's word.
19:53
Speaker 1: Now there are two possibilities here. Either number one, she's
19:56
Speaker 1: adding to God's word because that's what she intended to do.
20:01
Speaker 1: Or secondly, the second possibility is Adam did not teach
20:05
Speaker 1: her properly. Adam's the one who was given the command.
20:13
Speaker 1: After he was given the command, he was given Eve.
20:16
Speaker 1: He's got to protect Eve. He's got to teach Eve.
20:20
Speaker 1: So either Adam added to the commandments of God and
20:24
Speaker 1: Eve has now been instructed improperly or Adam instructed her
20:30
Speaker 1: properly and she just added to it herself. Either way,
20:34
Speaker 1: it's wrong. God didn't say, don't touch the tree. He said,
20:38
Speaker 1: don't eat from the tree. But the serpent said to
20:47
Speaker 1: the woman, you will not surely die. Now he steps
20:51
Speaker 1: it up a notch. First, he just puts a little
20:56
Speaker 1: doubt in there. Then he just comes straight out and
21:01
Speaker 1: denies that God said what he said. You will not
21:08
Speaker 1: surely die. Marriage is not limited to just a man
21:14
Speaker 1: and a woman. Just come straight out and deny what
21:22
Speaker 1: it is that God has said. That's the next step
21:25
Speaker 1: in this assault. The first step is to obscure what
21:30
Speaker 1: God has said. The next step is to deny what
21:34
Speaker 1: God has said. The first step is just to bring
21:37
Speaker 1: doubt into what God has said. And after we've gone
21:41
Speaker 1: that far to try to bring doubt, the next thing
21:43
Speaker 1: is just to stand up and bold-faced lie against God.
21:46
Speaker 1: God did not say that you would die. By the way,
21:54
Speaker 1: the serpent is now undercutting the word of God and
21:59
Speaker 1: the authority and headship of Adam. Where does Eve get
22:05
Speaker 1: this information about what God said? She gets it from Adam.
22:10
Speaker 1: So basically, the serpent is now saying, your head lied
22:15
Speaker 1: to you. He's coming between this woman and her husband.
22:20
Speaker 1: Your head lied to you. What Adam told you was
22:23
Speaker 1: not right. That's not what God said. Eve, you weren't around.
22:29
Speaker 1: Adam lied to you. or God lied. Verse five, not
22:44
Speaker 1: only did God lie to you, but God's trying to
22:47
Speaker 1: keep something from you. For God knows that when you
22:50
Speaker 1: eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you
22:52
Speaker 1: will be like God, knowing good and evil. There it is.
22:58
Speaker 1: There it is. Step one, let's introduce a little doubt.
23:03
Speaker 1: Is that really what the Bible says? I don't think
23:05
Speaker 1: that's really what the Bible says. Step two, let's just
23:09
Speaker 1: bring straight contradiction. That's not what God has said. Step three,
23:16
Speaker 1: in this all-out assault, and actually, that's just trying to
23:21
Speaker 1: keep you from something that's more pleasurable and more rewarding
23:25
Speaker 1: and more fulfilling than your current experience. He's just trying
23:32
Speaker 1: to hold you down It's just trying to keep you back.
23:37
Speaker 1: Have we not heard that? That Christianity stuff. I'm not
23:41
Speaker 1: interested in that Christianity stuff because there's so many rules.
23:45
Speaker 1: It's just trying to keep you down. That Christian life
23:48
Speaker 1: is so uptight. It's just trying to keep you down.
23:52
Speaker 1: Why do I want anything like that? I want to
23:54
Speaker 1: be free. I want to enjoy life. In other words,
23:59
Speaker 1: these restrictions are designed to keep you from experiencing life
24:04
Speaker 1: to the fullest. There is something that you will miss
24:08
Speaker 1: out if you obey what God has said. You ever
24:12
Speaker 1: heard that one before? You go living like that and
24:20
Speaker 1: you won't have the level of enjoyment that everybody else
24:23
Speaker 1: has you go living like that and you will compromise
24:28
Speaker 1: your level of freedom you will compromise your level of
24:31
Speaker 1: enjoyment so now we're there in the onslaught look at
24:39
Speaker 1: the next verse so Adam stepped in and said snake
24:42
Speaker 1: why are you talking to my woman oh I'm sorry
24:46
Speaker 1: it's not there verse 6 by the way First John,
24:54
Speaker 1: what does John say about the world? There's three basic
25:04
Speaker 1: temptations in the world, and they are the lust of
25:08
Speaker 1: the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the boastful
25:12
Speaker 1: pride of life. That's it. Those are the only three.
25:20
Speaker 1: So when the woman saw that the tree was good
25:24
Speaker 1: That would be the lust of the flesh. Tree was
25:32
Speaker 1: good for food. And that it was a delight to
25:35
Speaker 1: the eyes. That would be the lust of the eyes.
25:41
Speaker 1: And that the tree was to be desired to make
25:44
Speaker 1: one wise. That would be the boastful pride of life.
25:55
Speaker 1: That's it. That's all he's got, by the way. By
26:00
Speaker 1: the way, when he tempts Jesus in Matthew chapter 4,
26:04
Speaker 1: how does he tempt him? Jesus, I know you're hungry.
26:07
Speaker 1: Turn these stones into bread. Lust of the flesh. Jesus,
26:14
Speaker 1: come with me to this high place and I will
26:16
Speaker 1: show you all of the kingdoms of the earth that
26:18
Speaker 1: could be yours. Lust of the eyes. Jesus, throw yourself
26:24
Speaker 1: down from here and he'll give his angels charge over you.
26:27
Speaker 1: I know you're familiar with Psalm number 91. Throw yourself
26:31
Speaker 1: down so that you can see if God will do
26:35
Speaker 1: for you what he's promised to do for you. Boastful
26:37
Speaker 1: pride of life. That's all he's got, folks. That's all
26:40
Speaker 1: he's got. That's all he's ever had. Unfortunately, that's all
26:47
Speaker 1: he needs. She took of its fruit and ate. Now
26:57
Speaker 1: here's what's interesting. Then she went and searched and found Adam.
27:05
Speaker 1: It's not what it says, does it? This looks bad.
27:15
Speaker 1: And she also gave some to her husband who was
27:19
Speaker 1: with her. She gave some to her husband who was
27:24
Speaker 1: with her. She didn't have to go hunt him down
27:27
Speaker 1: and say, hey, let me tell you what the snake
27:29
Speaker 1: said to me. What the serpent said to me. No.
27:33
Speaker 1: She saw it. She lusted after it. She ate it.
27:35
Speaker 1: And then immediately she turns and she gives it to
27:37
Speaker 1: her husband who was with her. Who was not exercising
27:44
Speaker 1: his headship. And then what did he do? He ate. Again,
27:51
Speaker 1: not exercising his his headship. Then the eyes of both
27:57
Speaker 1: were opened and they knew that they were naked and
28:02
Speaker 1: they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. So
28:09
Speaker 1: that's how the fall of man happened. That's how it transpired.
28:14
Speaker 1: That's how it took place. But I want you to
28:17
Speaker 1: understand something more than just how it transpired and how
28:20
Speaker 1: it took place. Here's how we usually look at this
28:23
Speaker 1: We usually look at this and we say, okay, because
28:27
Speaker 1: this is what the serpent did, we have to look
28:29
Speaker 1: at Genesis chapter 3 verses 1 through 7 from a
28:32
Speaker 1: moralistic perspective. And if you look at it from a
28:35
Speaker 1: moralistic perspective, then what you do is you find out
28:38
Speaker 1: what the serpent did and you build yourself up so
28:41
Speaker 1: that you won't fall the way that Eve fell and
28:45
Speaker 1: the way that Adam fell. So ultimately, Genesis chapter 3
28:49
Speaker 1: just becomes a lesson in how to overcome temptation or
28:53
Speaker 1: a lesson in how not to fall into sin. There's
28:57
Speaker 1: a small problem here. Genesis chapter 3 verses 1 through
29:00
Speaker 1: 7 is not just a moralistic lesson in how to
29:04
Speaker 1: overcome sin and how to overcome temptation. It can't be
29:08
Speaker 1: for several reasons, not the least of which is the
29:12
Speaker 1: implication of Genesis chapter 3. The implication, of course, is
29:17
Speaker 1: in that Adam, we have all fallen into sin. Go
29:20
Speaker 1: with me to Romans again and look at Romans chapter 5.
29:26
Speaker 1: Look at Romans chapter 5. And beginning at verse 12. Therefore,
29:55
Speaker 1: just as sin came into the world through one man
29:58
Speaker 1: and death through sin, and so death spread to all
30:01
Speaker 1: men because all sinned. For sin indeed was in the
30:06
Speaker 1: world before the law was given, but sin is not
30:09
Speaker 1: counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from
30:11
Speaker 1: Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not
30:15
Speaker 1: like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of
30:18
Speaker 1: the one who was to come. And so all of
30:20
Speaker 1: us sinned in Adam, all of us fell in Adam,
30:22
Speaker 1: and all of us died in Adam. What's the result
30:26
Speaker 1: of that? Turn with me to the right again and
30:28
Speaker 1: look at Ephesians. Look at Ephesians chapter 2. And you
30:52
Speaker 1: were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you
30:55
Speaker 1: once walked. following the course of this world, following the
30:58
Speaker 1: prince of the power of the air, the spirit that
31:01
Speaker 1: is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among
31:03
Speaker 1: whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh,
31:07
Speaker 1: carrying out the desires of the body and of the mind,
31:10
Speaker 1: and were by nature children of wrath like the rest
31:14
Speaker 1: of mankind. So all of mankind falls into the same category,
31:20
Speaker 1: children of wrath. All of mankind falls into the same category,
31:24
Speaker 1: dead in sin. not asleep in sin, dead in sin.
31:33
Speaker 1: Not semi-conscious in sin, dead in sin. As a result
31:39
Speaker 1: of the fall of Adam, All of mankind sinned in
31:43
Speaker 1: him and die in him, and that death works itself
31:47
Speaker 1: out until ultimately all of us die physically. But what's
31:50
Speaker 1: worse than that is that there is enmity between us
31:54
Speaker 1: and God. We are by nature children of wrath. All
31:59
Speaker 1: of mankind is by nature children of wrath. Everybody? Yeah.
32:09
Speaker 1: Come with me to Romans again. And look at Romans
32:12
Speaker 1: chapter 3. And look at verse 10. As it is written,
32:37
Speaker 1: none is righteous, no, not one. No one understands. No
32:40
Speaker 1: one seeks for God. Who seeks for God? No one.
32:45
Speaker 1: That's why it always amazes me when churches have seeker services.
32:50
Speaker 1: Who's that for? No one seeks for God. None. Jesus
32:56
Speaker 1: tells us in John chapter 4 that there's only one seeker.
33:00
Speaker 1: God's the seeker. So we have seeker services because they're
33:05
Speaker 1: God-centered services. Amen? Amen. The only seeker that there is
33:10
Speaker 1: is God. Man does not seek after God. Man cannot
33:14
Speaker 1: seek after God. Man is dead in his sin. No
33:19
Speaker 1: one understands. No one seeks God. All have turned aside.
33:23
Speaker 1: Together they have become worthless. No one does good, not
33:26
Speaker 1: even one. We're incapable of good. There's not one who
33:32
Speaker 1: does good. Isaiah says, our righteousness is as filthy rags
33:38
Speaker 1: before a holy God. This is the extent of the fall, people.
33:43
Speaker 1: Their throat is an open grave. They use their tongues
33:47
Speaker 1: to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips.
33:51
Speaker 1: Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet
33:54
Speaker 1: are swift to shed blood. In their paths are ruin
33:59
Speaker 1: and misery. And the way of peace they have not known.
34:03
Speaker 1: There is no fear of God before their eyes. Yes,
34:10
Speaker 1: but I believe way down deep inside, in our heart
34:14
Speaker 1: of hearts, man is inherently good. Really? Turn with me
34:19
Speaker 1: to the left and look at Jeremiah 17. Jeremiah 17,
34:27
Speaker 1: verse 9. You got it? This is for all of
34:39
Speaker 1: us who have fallen for that whole follow your heart routine.
34:44
Speaker 1: I believe in the heart of every man, there is
34:48
Speaker 1: some good. Jeremiah 17 and 9. The heart is deceitful
34:55
Speaker 1: above all things and desperately sick. Who can understand it?
35:01
Speaker 1: Don't you dare follow your heart. Amen. Amen. It is
35:09
Speaker 1: deceitful above all things. It is desperately sick. I want
35:13
Speaker 1: you to understand the extent of this. Here's why Genesis
35:16
Speaker 1: chapter 3 can't just be moralism, can't just be a
35:20
Speaker 1: moral lesson on how to do better when temptation comes
35:23
Speaker 1: your way. At least two reasons. Number one, the best
35:26
Speaker 1: of us did not make it, which means you and
35:30
Speaker 1: I don't have much of a chance. Number two, The
35:33
Speaker 1: fall of our federal head means that all of us
35:36
Speaker 1: are now born in sin and shaped in iniquity, and
35:41
Speaker 1: our predilection, our predisposition is toward sin. That's what we want, sin. Well,
35:51
Speaker 1: what about man's free will? Dead men don't have them.
36:02
Speaker 1: Dead men don't have free wills. Well, wait a minute.
36:07
Speaker 1: But I always heard that, you know, it's sort of
36:11
Speaker 1: like we're out in the middle of the sea and
36:14
Speaker 1: God throws us a life preserver. And he's the one
36:19
Speaker 1: who saves us and rescues us, but we got to
36:22
Speaker 1: do our part and grab onto the life preserver. You
36:24
Speaker 1: ever thrown a life preserver to a dead man? How'd
36:28
Speaker 1: that work for you? Dead men don't grab life preservers.
36:36
Speaker 1: Dead men have to be made alive first. Understand something.
36:42
Speaker 1: We're dead in our trespasses and our sins before Almighty God.
36:49
Speaker 1: We are incapable of seeking God in and of ourselves
36:53
Speaker 1: and we have a predisposition in the other direction. Here's
36:59
Speaker 1: the deal. If your will is so free, I got
37:02
Speaker 1: one thing for you. Then by the power of your
37:04
Speaker 1: own will, don't sin anymore. You can't. You don't have
37:09
Speaker 1: the ability because your will is not free. That's why
37:16
Speaker 1: you didn't get to choose your parents, because your will
37:19
Speaker 1: is not free. It's sort of like when we go
37:23
Speaker 1: through the line. There'll be a whole bunch of food
37:26
Speaker 1: when we go through the line during our fellowship meal.
37:29
Speaker 1: But if you notice, nobody's plates are exactly alike. Why?
37:34
Speaker 1: Because we are exercising our free will? Nope, because your
37:38
Speaker 1: taste buds are not like mine and you didn't choose them.
37:42
Speaker 1: So are you free to go through the line and
37:44
Speaker 1: choose whatever you want? Sure you are. But are you
37:48
Speaker 1: free to determine what's pleasing to your taste and what's not? No,
37:51
Speaker 1: you are not. You are not free. Because of the
38:02
Speaker 1: fall of Adam and because of our fall in Adam,
38:08
Speaker 1: we are utterly and absolutely hopelessly sinful and deserving of
38:17
Speaker 1: death and the wrath of God. Well, then, well, what then?
38:27
Speaker 1: I'm glad you asked. Go back with me to Ephesians
38:32
Speaker 1: 2 again. Carrying out the desires of the body and
38:42
Speaker 1: of the mind and were by nature children of wrath
38:45
Speaker 1: like the rest of mankind. Verse 4. But God. Amen. Hallelujah.
38:53
Speaker 1: Praise the Lord. But God, being rich in mercy because
38:57
Speaker 1: of the great love with which he loved us, even
39:00
Speaker 1: when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive
39:02
Speaker 1: together with Christ by grace. By grace, you have been saved. Listen,
39:10
Speaker 1: so many of us cannot comprehend the grace of God
39:13
Speaker 1: because we do not comprehend the fall of man. It's
39:17
Speaker 1: only when you understand the severity and the extent of
39:20
Speaker 1: the fall that you understand the grace of God. The
39:24
Speaker 1: grace of God doesn't help people who help themselves. The
39:28
Speaker 1: grace of God helps dead people who couldn't help themselves
39:32
Speaker 1: if they wanted to and by the way couldn't even
39:34
Speaker 1: want to that's the grace of God The grace of
39:38
Speaker 1: God in salvation is not that you want it bad
39:41
Speaker 1: enough and you meet God halfway. No, the grace of
39:44
Speaker 1: God is you're dead and it's God who makes you
39:48
Speaker 1: alive in the first place, which is the only way
39:50
Speaker 1: that you would ever seek salvation. That's the grace of God.
39:55
Speaker 1: From beginning to end, God saves sinners. They do not
40:00
Speaker 1: help him. Well, wait a minute. God requires repentance and faith. Yeah,
40:07
Speaker 1: that's true. That's why Ephesians 2 goes on to say,
40:11
Speaker 1: by grace you have been saved through faith and that
40:13
Speaker 1: not of yourselves. In other words, the faith that you
40:16
Speaker 1: placed in God, he gave that to you too. It
40:19
Speaker 1: is a gift of God, not as a result of works. Why?
40:22
Speaker 1: So that no one may boast. Whoa, so what do
40:26
Speaker 1: I bring to the party? The sin that you inherited
40:29
Speaker 1: from Adam. That's what you bring to the party. That's it.
40:42
Speaker 1: You see, if we don't understand this and we view
40:45
Speaker 1: salvation as this synergistic work, now synergistic, there's synergy, there's
40:50
Speaker 1: parties working together, as opposed to a monergistic work where
40:53
Speaker 1: there's one party who works to bring something about. If
40:56
Speaker 1: we understand salvation as this synergistic process where God sort
41:01
Speaker 1: of helps man save himself ultimately, Satan casts a vote,
41:05
Speaker 1: God casts a vote, but the deciding vote is yours.
41:08
Speaker 1: God's basically running for God in your life. He's politicking
41:12
Speaker 1: real hard. I mean, he is. He's got a great
41:15
Speaker 1: platform and everything else. He's got more money to spend
41:18
Speaker 1: on his campaign than the other guy's got to spend
41:20
Speaker 1: on his campaign. But ultimately, it's up to you and
41:23
Speaker 1: your vote. By the way, that's the American understanding of salvation.
41:26
Speaker 1: Completely synergistic. You cast the deciding vote. Monergism, God's not
41:33
Speaker 1: running for God. Amen. If we have a synergistic view
41:42
Speaker 1: of salvation, we look at Genesis chapter 3, and here's
41:47
Speaker 1: what we say. You've got to work real hard not
41:50
Speaker 1: to be deceived by the serpent. That's what Genesis chapter
41:53
Speaker 1: 3 is all about. Work harder against the lust of
41:58
Speaker 1: the eyes. Guard yourself. Work harder against the lust of
42:01
Speaker 1: the flesh. Guard yourself. Work harder against the boastful pride
42:05
Speaker 1: of life. Don't be so prideful. In other words, do
42:09
Speaker 1: what Romans chapter 3 says no human being does. But
42:19
Speaker 1: if we come to this understanding, the extent of the fault,
42:26
Speaker 1: and the consequences of the fall, and that all of us,
42:30
Speaker 1: because of the fall, are born desperately wicked, then we
42:35
Speaker 1: understand that we are absolutely helpless unless God, by His grace,
42:40
Speaker 1: makes us alive. One more I want you to see.
42:43
Speaker 1: Go to John chapter 6. And look at verse 44.
43:14
Speaker 1: The words of Jesus. No one can come to me
43:27
Speaker 1: unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I
43:31
Speaker 1: will raise him up on the last day. No one
43:38
Speaker 1: can come to me unless the Father who sent me
43:40
Speaker 1: draws him. And I will raise him up on the
43:44
Speaker 1: last day turn with me a few pages to the
43:46
Speaker 1: right and look at John chapter 10 truly truly I
44:08
Speaker 1: say to you he who does not enter the sheepfold
44:11
Speaker 1: by the door but climbs in by another way That
44:13
Speaker 1: man is a thief and a robber, but he who
44:16
Speaker 1: enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
44:19
Speaker 1: To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice,
44:23
Speaker 1: and he calls his own sheep by name and leads
44:25
Speaker 1: them out. When he has brought out all his own,
44:30
Speaker 1: he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for
44:33
Speaker 1: they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow,
44:37
Speaker 1: but they will flee from him, and they do not
44:40
Speaker 1: know the voice of strangers. This figure of speech Jesus
44:43
Speaker 1: used with them, but they did not understand what he
44:46
Speaker 1: was trying to say to them. Jesus again said to them, truly, truly,
44:48
Speaker 1: I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
44:51
Speaker 1: All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but
44:54
Speaker 1: the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door.
44:56
Speaker 1: If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and
44:59
Speaker 1: will go in and out and find pasture. The thief
45:02
Speaker 1: comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy.
45:05
Speaker 1: I have come that they might have life and have
45:06
Speaker 1: it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd
45:10
Speaker 1: lays down his life For the sheep, he who is
45:14
Speaker 1: a hired hand is not a shepherd who does not
45:18
Speaker 1: own the sheep. Sees the wolf coming and leaves the
45:21
Speaker 1: sheep and flees. And the wolf snatches them. And the
45:25
Speaker 1: hired hand cares nothing for the sheep. I am the
45:27
Speaker 1: good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.
45:31
Speaker 1: Just as the father knows me. And I know the father.
45:34
Speaker 1: And I lay down my life for the sheep. I
45:37
Speaker 1: have other sheep that are not of this fold. I
45:39
Speaker 1: must bring them also. And they will listen to my voice.
45:43
Speaker 1: So there will be one flock and one shepherd. For
45:46
Speaker 1: this reason, the father loves me because I lay down
45:49
Speaker 1: my life that I may take it up again. No
45:52
Speaker 1: one takes it from me, but I lay it down
45:54
Speaker 1: of my own accord. I have authority to lay it
45:57
Speaker 1: down and I have authority to take it up again.
45:59
Speaker 1: This charge I received from my father. He knows his
46:08
Speaker 1: sheep and he lays down his life for his sheep.
46:13
Speaker 1: Because the sheep were absolutely helpless having fallen in Adam.
46:19
Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 3 is not about you doing better as
46:23
Speaker 1: the adversary comes at you. Because you can't do better.
46:29
Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 3 is about the nature and the extent
46:32
Speaker 1: of the fall. Genesis chapter 3 is about the radical
46:38
Speaker 1: depravity of man. Genesis chapter 3 is about the death
46:43
Speaker 1: that entered the world for all men because of the
46:46
Speaker 1: fall of Adam. And Genesis chapter 3 is about the
46:50
Speaker 1: desperate need of mankind for a Savior. In the next
46:56
Speaker 1: section of Genesis chapter 3, we see that that Savior
46:59
Speaker 1: is to come as the gospel is proclaimed afresh and anew,
47:04
Speaker 1: even in the midst of the curse to the woman.
47:08
Speaker 1: But for now, Hear this, Adam fell, in him you
47:15
Speaker 1: fell too. And because you fell in Adam, you are
47:21
Speaker 1: desperately and deceitfully wicked and you are in need of
47:24
Speaker 1: a savior who will rescue you from your sin. You
47:28
Speaker 1: cannot help him do so. And if you have any
47:31
Speaker 1: desire toward that salvation, rejoice because it is a gift
47:37
Speaker 1: of almighty God. Therefore, repent. Place your faith in Jesus Christ.
47:49
Speaker 1: And you will be saved. Here's the good news. It
47:56
Speaker 1: is God who works in you, both to will and
47:59
Speaker 1: to do his good pleasure. So if God brings you
48:04
Speaker 1: to that place of repentance and faith, and my prayer
48:06
Speaker 1: is that he does and that he has, my admonition
48:10
Speaker 1: to you is The day you hear his voice, do
48:14
Speaker 1: not harden your heart. Hear. Respond. Repent. Believe and be saved.
48:29
Speaker 1: And for those of us who are saved, let us
48:31
Speaker 1: rejoice in our salvation that has been wrought by God
48:37
Speaker 1: and by God alone. And let us forsake now and
48:41
Speaker 1: forevermore this arrogant idea that somehow you and I were
48:46
Speaker 1: smarter than the next guy and we figured it out.
48:50
Speaker 1: Because ultimately, if salvation is not a monergistic work of God,
48:54
Speaker 1: we have reason to boast. I'm smarter than the next guy. Therefore,
49:00
Speaker 1: I heard the gospel and I got it and he didn't.
49:05
Speaker 1: Or if not smarter, then more righteous. I'm more than
49:08
Speaker 1: the next guy. I heard the gospel and I exercised
49:11
Speaker 1: my righteousness. He didn't exercise his. So I'm saved because
49:15
Speaker 1: I'm more righteous. are you more intelligent are you more
49:23
Speaker 1: righteous or have you just experienced the unmerited favor of
49:28
Speaker 1: God as his grace has made you alive together with
49:32
Speaker 1: Christ you understand the nature and the extent of the
49:37
Speaker 1: fall The answer is a resounding yes. I have experienced
49:49
Speaker 1: this undeserved, unmerited favor of God. And because of it
49:56
Speaker 1: and by it, I've been saved. Through no work of
50:00
Speaker 1: my own. Through no effort of my own. Because all
50:05
Speaker 1: of the effort that I put forth in placing my
50:08
Speaker 1: faith in Christ and repenting of my sin was also
50:12
Speaker 1: a result of the work wrought by God in my heart.
50:16
Speaker 1: That's salvation. That's why we don't come up here every
50:22
Speaker 1: week and just say, if you will but say these words,
50:28
Speaker 1: if you will but work a little bit harder, because
50:31
Speaker 1: that's not salvation. It's not. And churches are filled with
50:35
Speaker 1: people who are absolutely committed unequivocally lost because they've never
50:40
Speaker 1: heard about the nature and the extent of the fall
50:44
Speaker 1: and believe that somehow if they walk to the magic
50:47
Speaker 1: part of the room and say the magic words that
50:51
Speaker 1: they can somehow twist God's arm and bring themselves to
50:56
Speaker 1: the reality of salvation nothing could be further from the
50:59
Speaker 1: truth That's why we plead with God to reveal himself
51:08
Speaker 1: in the lives of the people to whom we preach.
51:12
Speaker 1: Because unless God does the work, the work doesn't get done.
51:20
Speaker 1: Would you bow with me? Father, we acknowledge and confess
51:38
Speaker 1: to you that we are fallen, sinful creatures. And we
51:50
Speaker 1: exhibit every day the evidence that we have inherited Adam's
51:55
Speaker 1: fallen nature. Because in our thoughts, in our words, and
52:04
Speaker 1: in our deeds, We exhibit rebellion against you. And we
52:15
Speaker 1: confess this morning that only by your grace may we
52:22
Speaker 1: be redeemed. Only by your grace do we even comprehend.
52:30
Speaker 1: Only by your grace are we made alive and given
52:33
Speaker 1: a desire to to come to you in repentance and
52:36
Speaker 1: faith only by your grace. And I thank you for
52:47
Speaker 1: the grace of God that is demonstrated and exhibited in
52:53
Speaker 1: the proclamation of the gospel. May that grace bear much
52:58
Speaker 1: fruit in the form of repentance and faith. I pray
53:08
Speaker 1: that every soul under the sound of my voice would
53:12
Speaker 1: come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ by your
53:16
Speaker 1: power and for your glory and for the eternal praise
53:24
Speaker 1: of his name. Amen.