Hello and welcome to the broadcast ministry of the Evangelical Methodist Church in Darlington, Maryland, where Dr. John McKnight is the pastor. Today's message comes from Ephesians 2, as Paul tells us about the saving grace of God. God does save sinners, but is his purpose to bring out man's potential as many televangelists and radio preachers are telling us today? In other words, what is the real nature of man? It's not a pretty picture. Preaching a sermon entitled, The Ruin of Humanity, here is Dr. John McKnight. Will you return to Ephesians chapter 2 with me as we look together to the passage we've read from earlier in the service. In Ephesians chapter 2, we have a glorious record of the saving grace of our God. Grace being God's favor unto man, unmerited favor. Saving grace being that favor shown in saving the soul of a sinner, one who has sinned, and all of us have, and is therefore worthy of judgment. Yet God saves the sinner, not for any good thing in that sinner, for there is nothing good there, but for the goodness in God Himself. He saves sinners. Ephesians chapter 2 speaks to us about that, and it's a subject to ponder as we consider this morning the larger subject of the ruin of humanity. I confess, the title is not politically correct. Preachers are supposed to be upbeat. They're supposed to be positive. They're supposed to encourage people that that goodness that is inside of everybody might be bolstered and brought out and seen. That's the popular message of the day. If you watch any religious programming on television, and there's none of it that I would suggest you watch, but if you watch any of it, you will hear this theme, whether it is Joel Osteen or Joyce Meyer or Robert Shuler or Robert Shuler Jr. or any of them, you will hear this theme. You know something? You've got a lot of potential in you. You've got some real opportunities waiting for you. And you can have them. And in order to reach your fullest potential, you need to trust Christ. You need to make a commitment, whatever that may be, unto Jesus Christ. And if you will but make this commitment unto Christ, then you will begin to see that all of your potential, all of that that you have in you untapped for good, then Christ coming in will round you out and make you complete. Now that sounds pretty good. I want to buy a bottle of that real quick. Such is the natural way of thinking. And under such influence, countless millions make that ill-defined, vague, whatever it might be, commitment unto Christ. And not only the televangelists, who by the way become very wealthy doing that, but much more, I think, sincere. Bible-believing, evangelical, and fundamental preachers have at times, perhaps many times, succumbed to a message that's basically the same. You need Jesus. You need to come on and believe in Jesus. And while those words are true, yet they, like the message of the televangelists, are words uttered without the foundation of biblical teaching regarding the nature of man. And it is that biblical teaching regarding the nature of man, what man really is, that we need to grasp and understand. It is not a pretty picture. The fact of the matter is, when we examine the nature of man as Scripture describes it, we are examining the ruin of humanity, hence the title this morning. For this generation, and I fear several generations, has not come to grips with what really happened when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden. Back in the 300s, there was a religious teacher, a monk and instructor who was rightly concerned about the laxness and worldliness of Christianity. This was in the 300s, mind you. And his concern regarding the worldliness and the laxness of Christianity led him to begin questioning the doctrine of salvation by grace alone. the doctrine of salvation by grace alone. We are saved by God's favor, not by any works that we've done, not by our own goodness, but by grace alone we are saved. Pelagius was his name, and he began to question that doctrine because he saw people who said, I'm saved by the grace of God, not by my works, and therefore they were living carelessly and in a worldly fashion because it wasn't their works that would save them. God had taken care of everything. It was grace. And out of that came a doctrine which began to be called by the name of Pelagius, Pelagianism. And in an effort to correct an error, Pelagius went too far beyond the error. which is often the danger when one endeavors to correct and address an error. And in the end, Pelagius' teaching was basically that when Adam sinned, it was not the destruction of human goodness, but man still has the potential to be good. And that potential needs to be encouraged. Adam just was a bad example for us, and we need not to follow Adam's example, but to follow Jesus' example, and we've got the ability to do that, and if we will do that, it is okay. Such thinking, my friends, is the teaching of salvation by human works and a denial of grace. And so the early Christian Church, examining the teaching of Pelagius, recognized its error and condemned the error of Pelagianism. But as time went on, there was always the tendency to want to go back to that idea because it is innate within us. We do not truly comprehend the destruction that humanity suffered when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden. And so we retain the notion that maybe we can do something good, which is at the foundation of all of the televangelists preaching today. And so there arose the idea that while Adam's sin was more than a bad example, it did affect the human race in a bad way, yet it was not totally the destruction of human ability to do good and to please God. And that thinking came to be known as semi-Pelagianism. And I tell you, my friends, the popular theology of evangelical Christianity and especially of the tele-evangelists today is semi-Pelagian. This is what scripture teaches. Scripture teaches that because of Adam's sin, every soul is by nature spiritually dead. Dead in trespasses and sins. That's what we read in Ephesians chapter two verse one where Paul writes and says to the believers in Ephesus and you have he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin. The word quicken means to bring to life to resurrect from the dead. And Paul writes to the believers saying, God has resurrected you from death in trespasses and sin. And the consistent teaching of the Scripture throughout is this, when Adam sinned, God's warning to him was fulfilled. What was that warning? Adam, the day you eat that fruit, you shall surely die. Adam ate that fruit. But he lived hundreds of years afterward. What did it mean then when it said, the day you eat that fruit you shall die? What it means is that when Adam partook of that fruit, that life connection that he had with God was severed. And while his body continued to live and would yet for centuries, Yet that soul's life connection to the Creator was severed and Adam was left spiritually dead. And on that day, every one of us was in Adam and thus suffered the consequences of Adam's sin and the spiritual death which fell upon Adam came upon all men. And so Paul writes the same to the Romans when he says, as in Adam, all die. He wrote that to the Corinthians as well concerning the resurrection from the dead. In Adam all die so that we are spiritually dead. Now that's the Bible teaching. Mankind by nature is spiritually dead. He has no spiritual life, no means to commune with God, no means to reach out with God, no means to do anything that is good as God would evaluate good. But the semi-Pelagian position that we spoke of basically says this. Man is not dead. He's just got a bad infection. He is simply ill, seriously ill. But the medicine that can cure him is sitting on his bed stand, and if his sick soul will just reach out and take that medicine, the medicine being Christ, he'll be okay. And so evangelistic efforts have evolved which stressed nothing more than trying to get man to make a decision. And in the 20th century, primarily through the great publicity of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, the concept of salvation from sin was replaced with the need for you to make a decision. And that emphasis upon a mere human decision, a mere commitment, something that is done with the mind, was thrust upon many people. And when that is wrapped in a package that says, with it comes prosperity and blessing and you reaching your fullest potential, people are ready in an instant to make that commitment. For you see, it places them still in the driver's seat. They must not surrender and yield and recognize their inability to do any good. They just need to cooperate some with God. And God coming into the picture makes it a complete picture now. And they have to say they're still in control. But the Bible says they are dead. Dead in trespasses and sin. And so as we consider this passage, Ephesians chapter two, it continues to describe them in verse number two as walking according to the course of this world. And when it speaks of the course of this world, we understand with first John's illumination that that involves the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. In other words, their whole life orientation, purpose and thrust. is limited to the amalgamation of human lusts. The individual's lust of flesh, eyes, pride of life, combined in the whole culture and manifest in that culture, that's the course of this world. They continue walking according to the course of this world. In other words, the scripture is by no means their authority or their guide. Rather, what all the world is doing is their guide. They walk according to the course of this world. Verse two, according to the prince of the power of the air. Now, this is another term, another label, title to describe Satan himself, the prince, the ruler of the power of the air. There the demon spirits invisible to men exist, and the one who rules them is the one whose values and ways and loves are demonstrated in the course of this world. That's how this spiritually dead one lives. This is what rules him. The prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. And Paul continues to describe the condition of these believers before they were saved. Verse 3, among whom also we all had our conversation or our manner of life in times past in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and notice this, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. In other words, the natural condition of these people is Children of wrath. Proper objects of and recipients of the wrath of God upon sin. Suitable subjects for damnation. Children of wrath. That is the natural condition of mankind. The ruin of humanity. This is why when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, it was his immediate instinct to run and hide from God. He couldn't succeed in doing so, but that's what he tried to do. The instinct of man in his natural state is not to come to God, but to seek to escape God, to hide from Him, never to face Him. And when a man whose natural orientation is that, is yet promised great blessing earthwise, great benefits, if he just makes that commitment and mixes a little bit of Christ with what he already is, he's ready to do it. He's ready thus to believe. But this is the problem. The Scripture teaches us that there is a belief in Jesus Christ that does not save the soul. Did you hear me on that? The Scripture teaches that there is a belief in Jesus Christ that does not save the soul. And given that that is taught in Scripture, every one of us needs to very carefully and diligently examine the nature of our faith. For we are ruined by nature. We are by nature, Scripture describes us, enemies of God, and may even believe in Christ in a manner that does not save the soul. and therefore need to examine the nature of our faith. You might hold your place in Ephesians chapter two and turn with me to the Gospel of John, the second chapter. The Gospel of John chapter two. Our Lord had performed the great first miracle at the marriage in Cana, where he turned the water into wine and then went to Jerusalem in celebration of his the first Passover of his ministry. and performed many miracles there in Jerusalem. He had gotten wide press, a lot of attention because he had had the courage to drive the money changers out of the temple and news of such a deed as that would spread like wildfire throughout Jerusalem. And so crowds had come together to see him, and they observed him performing miracles, many miracles. And many of the people watching Jesus perform miracles believed. So we read in verse number 23 of John 2. Now, when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover in the feast day, many believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. Now it says they believed in him, but it would be as accurate a translation to say he didn't believe in them. They had a faith toward Christ. But it wasn't a faith that saved their souls. It wasn't a faith that Christ acknowledged or received, even though He knew it to be in them. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 2. The Apostle Paul had preached to the people of Corinth. People had been saved in the city of Corinth. In this first letter to the Corinthians, he writes concerning his ministry among them, and follow with me in chapter 2 what he says, And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but a demonstration of the spirit and of power, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians, I didn't come to you in excellency of speech or wisdom, both of which Paul was very capable of. The Apostle Paul was a very well-educated and articulate gentleman. He knew how to communicate. He knew how to engage in skillful, logical argument. He had a rich vocabulary. and mastery of perhaps five languages. He knew how to persuade people, but he says, when I came to you, I did not come with that eloquence or that reliance upon logic. I didn't come in excellency of speech or of wisdom. Why didn't he? He says it's because he's afraid their faith would stand in the wisdom of man rather than in the power of God. He speaks there of a faith which he does not want the people to have, because it is not a saving faith. It is in fact a damning faith, for it only nurtures a false assurance. And he was so concerned as not to bring them to that faith which is just an expression of human emotion, an expression of human will, a desire to get ahead and do better. He was so concerned to avoid that that he did not come, relying on that because he wanted their faith to stand in the power of God. In other words, there is a faith which is the result of the power of God, and that faith alone is the one that is acceptable unto God. If we bring unto God a faith that is simply the product of our own will and emotion, it is not acceptable because it is the product of a depraved, sinful being. But if we bring to God a faith that is the product of the power of God, we bring unto him that which is his own pure product, that which he has wrought, and that is acceptable. What I'm telling to you, as you recognize, is totally foreign to so much of 20th and now 21st century evangelism. For the notions that rule in modern evangelism are these. Put on some kind of a show that will make the program attractive to sinners. Put together something that will win them unto the speaker and win them unto the message. Give them entertainment. Bring them together unto an upbeat and a positive, you-can-do-better-and-will-do-better message. And so with all of the glitzy staging, such rely upon the excellency of speech of man. Such nurture a faith toward Christ that stands in the wisdom of man rather than in the power of God. Paul recognized the danger of it 2,000 years ago, and it's a danger that has become only greater with time as man has perfected his glitz and glamour of presentation. And when you see the thousands of people swaying in sync with the program, and buying into a message which is basically, accept Christ and He'll help you round your life out. The missing ingredient will then be there and will complete you. You're okay as you are, but so much more with Christ. When they come to accept such a message, they, with man-wrought faith, accept an unbiblical and condemning message, and lamentably often go forth in great confidence and at least momentary euphoria, such as I think is probably short-lived in many cases. The Apostle Paul thought very differently. Christ recognized faith directed toward him, which was false faith. And I would say that it is better to have no faith at all than to be blinded by a false faith which only secures you more inseparably to your self-confidence and lost condition. The Apostle in Ephesians 2 speaks about the salvation that comes by his own amazing grace, God's grace. And he writes in verse eight, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. In other words, the faith that saves your soul is not something you conjure up within yourself. It is not a work of your own will or mind or flesh. By grace you are saved through faith and that not of yourselves. From whence then does it come? Verse 8, it is the gift of God. And that's what grace is. God giving us something we don't deserve. Saving faith is not a work wrought by man. Saving faith is the gift of God. Every good and perfect gift cometh down from above from the Father of lights, James writes. And the faith we speak of this morning that truly saves the soul is a faith that God gives to the soul. Now I would surmise that someone here is thinking perhaps with anxiety. What about my faith? Is this just something that I've conjured up from within? Or is this the real thing that God gives? And if you are asking that question, I would give this answer. The fact that it is a matter of concern to you is itself an expression of saving faith. I am not so concerned for the dear one who comes to me and says, I have doubts. I'm concerned for them, but not so concerned as I am for the person who says concerning their salvation. Oh yeah, I took care of that a long time ago. As so many in this age are prone to do. Because so many have been convinced that the saving of their soul is just a matter of them making the right decision at the right time. And by George, they did it. And so you speak to them about things of God. And they're rather quiet. Talk to them about the Baltimore Orioles, and they've got a lot to say. or about the weather, or about the economy, or about politics, or anything else of why they can talk you into fatigue. But turn the subject to things of God. They become strangely quiet, rather indifferent, eager to change the subject. Saving faith is something that is wrought by God within the heart. And He grants that faith to everyone who desires it. And in fact, their desire for that faith again is an expression of the faith already given. It may be weak. But who of us can boast of being strong in faith? Much more honored to the one who confesses his doubts than to the one who lies about them. And the fact is this. May we ever remember that we are not saved by the quantity of our faith. We're not talking about how much faith you have. Nor are we saved by the quality of our faith. We're not talking about how good your faith is. We are saved by the object of our faith, Jesus Christ. And though your faith seem to you ever so thin, like a spider's web, Yet if it is faith wrought by God and placed in Christ, it cannot be broken nor cast away. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of warts, lest any man should boast. Turn with me to Matthew, the ninth chapter. As we come to conclusion in a few minutes, Matthew chapter nine. Beginning of verse eighteen, Jesus was in transit to the house of a ruler whose daughter was seriously ill. And Christ had been beckoned to come for her healing. And as he traveled through the crowd that surrounded him, people bumping him and jostling together, there was, verse number 20, a woman which was diseased with an issue of blood 12 years. And we read in the other Gospels that she had spent everything she had on doctors trying to get a cure for this disease, this affliction she had. And with the hemorrhaging that she was suffering, you might imagine that she was probably anemic and fatigued, and it was all she could do to be out among this crowd to try to come to Jesus. But she was coming to him, and she touched the hem of his garment, verse 20 tells us. And 21 continues, for she said with herself, if I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. Here's a woman that was diseased. And yet, she has heard of Christ. And she seeks Christ. And her very seeking after Him is accompanied by this confidence, if I can just touch His garment, I'll be healed. And in that, she already demonstrates a faith of which God is aware and observant, for it is a faith He has given to her. and she comes to touch Him. And the moment she touches Him, He knows she has touched Him, for the writer of Hebrews says concerning Christ that He can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He knows His own people. He feels their touch no matter how many others are bumping against Him. And He stops and He turns to her, and the moment she's touched Him, she's healed. This is the example of a believer, one whose faith is evident in that she touches. So that I would say to you, it is not your call unto God which saves you, although those who are saved indeed call upon Him, but it is the call which demonstrates the faith already wrought by God in your heart. You wouldn't call if it weren't there. And by calling upon God, you confess with the mouth the Lord Jesus, demonstrating that you believe in your heart. And the promise of scripture is that you are saved. And one last illustration. There on the cross where Christ hung between two criminals. The one criminal persisted in cursing and blaspheming Christ, but the other cried out to Him, Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom. That's all it took. Why did He say, Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom? This is why. Because He believed. And I believe that He believed because Jesus had just prayed, Father, forgive them, for they knew not what they do. in which Christ prayed for the forgiveness of everyone who would ever believe in Him. And when He prayed for that forgiveness, this thief believed the work of God was wrought in him, and like this, he was turned from a blasphemer into a confessor of Christ. He said, Lord, remember me. When's the last time someone referred to a victim on the cross as Master? Lord, Remember me." And he said, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. When is the last time that a person on the cross was recognized as possessing a kingdom and possessing the authority to determine who enters and who doesn't? And yet the thief cried thus, for there was a work of faith already done in his heart and he believed and those who believe will indeed confess with their mouth Jesus as Lord. So as we consider these things this morning, let us conclude with this emphasis. Never trust the power of human nature to any improvement of the soul. Recognize Those appeals that are made so widely today on the airwaves, which essentially are, you're pretty good already, take Jesus and He'll round you out and make you complete. The fact is we are not pretty good. We are by nature sinners to be damned unless we believe savingly. Recognize that there are faiths that do not save the soul and beware. Give diligence to make your calling and election sure. And see to it that the faith you possess is indeed that God-wrought faith. And you can take a step toward the assurance of that by searching the Scripture because faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. And you stay in the Scripture and allow the Word of God to nurture your faith. Faith not in a profession you made. Faith not in the fact that you profess to be a Christian. But faith in Christ. Christ alone. The object of saving faith. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And thou shalt be saved. Shall we bow together and look to our Lord. And in this moment of silence, with your head bowed, your eyes closed, I would exhort you to search your own heart prayerfully with the desire that God might ever reveal to you the nature of your faith and that you might ever take from him alone that faith which is nurtured by scripture. And let me say that if this has aroused any questions in your own heart or mind, I am gladly available, as other Brethren of the Assembly are, at any time to sit down with any one of you and with Bible in hand, that we might together seek the Lord and know His great saving faith. Let us all stand together as we pray. O Lord our God, I fear that we live in an age of great presumption concerning the things that are of the gravest eternal magnitude, even the salvation of the soul. And we desire not huge numbers or grand shows, but the evidence of saving grace and faith in each of our hearts. Grant to each of your children that comfort of confidence in Christ, a comfort that is wrought not by human religious action, but rather by the Spirit's witness with our spirits that we are children of God. Bless this precious, precious flock with peace and joy in Christ, with an assured God-wrought faith. Prosper each in the knowledge of God and in the joy of the Lord. Bless us as we go our ways and make us examples of the believer. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. That was Dr. John McKnight, pastor of the Evangelical Methodist Church in Darlington, Maryland, bringing a message from Ephesians 2 entitled, The Ruin of Humanity. Thank you for listening to this, the broadcast ministry of the Evangelical Methodist Church. This is Don Nixon speaking.