Good to see you tonight, and if you have your Bibles, please open them with me to Colossians chapter 2. Colossians chapter 2, reading at verse 8. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Our Father, we pray now that as we open your word that your presence might be in our midst by your Holy Spirit to direct our thoughts as we consider this eternal word. And we thank you for this privilege that we have to open the word tonight. We thank you for each one who's present. We ask your blessing upon each of our lives. We pray in Jesus name, amen. Well, I'm entitling this message, Refuting Calvinism. And certainly Calvinism is a segment of Christianity today that's Quite large, in fact. And it has spoiled many by turning theology from a Bible-based system of study, and in the place it substitutes a humanistic method of interpreting the scriptures, mainly through religious philosophy. Though it has become a very strong movement today, it's nothing to be thought of as something that's new. Being removed from the true gospel to a perverted gospel is as old as the Garden of Eden. And Solomon, the preacher, said in Ecclesiastes chapter 1, The thing that hath been is that which shall be, and that which is done is that which shall be done. And there is no new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, see, this is new? It hath been already of old time, which was before us." So even in the days of the apostles themselves there were distortions of the true gospel that were actually being ingrained into the churches and so much so that the Apostle Paul himself marveled about it. He said of the churches of Galatia, I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ into another gospel which is not another but there'd be some which trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. And Paul likewise had to caution the church at Colossae about the spoiling effect of men's speculative philosophical thinking that was displacing the gospel that Paul had preached to them. He said, as we read tonight, To them, beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men and after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ. The church was being made a spoil. They were being carried off. They're being carried away through empty deceitful philosophical speculation. They were observing traditions of men. They were observing the rudiments or the principles of this world and not Christ. And so this very same spoiling, vain philosophy of the world by man's traditions, by man's philosophy is certainly found in Calvinistic theology today. And the common denominator of all Calvinists and the bottom line of Calvinism is that it turns theology into philosophy. And with all of its web of philosophical speculations, Calvinism has really been impersonating Bible doctrine now for hundreds and hundreds of years. And today, Calvinism is riding this wave of resurgence on many fronts. And it's on the advance, it's on the march, it's in denominations, it's taken over many of the Christian publishing houses, it's in Bible colleges, it's in seminaries, it's in churches, it's in homeschooling, it's in homeschooling materials. And all these avenues and so many more are today experiencing a rise of Calvinism, Calvinistic teaching. And it's riding this kind of a wave because the devil understands its divisive nature and how that it just dampens the evangelistic zeal. I mean, who really needs to go out and reach sinners and tell them the gospel if a sovereign God has already predetermined from eternity past who will be saved and who will be lost? You see, it dampens the effect of evangelism. So we're seeing a turning from Christ to the traditions of men and the rudiments of the world. We're living in a day when churches, especially the larger ones and of course many others, but they've become little more than just religious forms of country clubs, social entertainment centers. It's sad to see that. It's all about concerts. and sports and going on amusement trips far and near and it's all about entertainment. Let the good times begin, let the fun times begin. We've got something for everyone, the old, the young, we will entertain you and in this kind of an atmosphere, who's got time to seriously study the doctrines of the word of God or to test the spirits to see whether they be of God. So true theology is just believing from the heart, just believing from the heart, allowing the Bible to interpret itself by comparing scripture with scripture. And as we've already noticed in Colossians 2.8, the Bible warns about philosophies that are fabricated by the vain deceit of men and their traditions and not after Christ. Colossians 2.8, beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men and after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ. The very name The very name of Calvinism is revealing. It's revealing of the origin of this philosophy. It's origin is men. Calvinism, particularly John Calvin. The Lord Jesus is the only standard. He's the only measurement. that any philosophy or any other belief system should be measured against. Christ is the standard by which all human knowledge should be measured. It doesn't matter how lofty, how intellectual, how skillful, it appears if it's not after Christ, as verse eight says in Colossians chapter two, then it doesn't pass the Bible's test. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4 and chapter 4 and verse 5, we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus, the Lord. So obviously implied in that statement, we preach not Calvin, but Christ Jesus, the Lord. And In Acts chapter 17, the philosophers on Mars Hill, they were measuring everything including Christ by their philosophy. And the modern day Calvinists do the very same thing. They've got it backwards. The writings of John Calvin or any other man should be measured by the word of God. And instead what you see in Calvinism when you read their writings is that in many points the Calvinists attempt to make the Bible support the teachings of John Calvin. And the Lord Jesus Christ, his inspired, his preserved word are the measurement, are the standard for any and all human knowledge. And why shouldn't he be? He's the creator of of all, he's the sustainer of all, he's the upholder of all, the universe itself. Turn with me over to Acts chapter 17 for a moment. Acts chapter 17. Sermon from Mars Hill by the Apostle. God will judge the world by Jesus Christ. He says in Acts chapter 17 and verse 18, then certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered Paul. And some said, what will this babbler say? And others said, other some, he seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods. because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to Areopagus and said, may we know what this new doctrine where thou speakest is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears and we would know therefore what these things mean. Verse 21, for all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else but to either tell or to hear some new thing. So, here again we see these philosophers and true Bible theology is not philosophy, it's simply just believing the Bible, studying the Bible in order to try to obtain the truth from heaven. That's what theology is. And so philosophy uses the human intellect, uses human logic in order to try to attain to truth apart from divine revelation. And I believe, as Mr. Creech once said, Calvinism is the mental playground of the intellectual. Calvinism is the mental playground of the intellectual. The authority of the Calvinist is not in the plain teachings of the scriptures. That's not where the authority of the Calvinist lies. But the authority of the Calvinist lies in the humanistic reasoning of Calvinistic teachings. It's an elitist type of mentality. They take the Calvinistic writings and try to fit them into the scriptures. And of course, Calvinism was developed by John Calvin, who lived in the 1500s, he taught this philosophy of his in his institutes of Christian religion. And Calvin's writings gave rise to the Presbyterian and the Reformed theology and many, many other branches. So Calvinism turns theology into philosophy. And it's only become a very divisive apparatus that just divides churches, it splits churches, it splits ministries. True theology is just to believe the Bible with the heart and to allow the Bible to interpret itself. Comparing scripture with scripture without trying to put our human philosophies into it. And to do that, to place the authority of Calvin or any other man on a par that's equal to the authority of the word of God, that's serious deception. And in the Calvinistic writings, they do that. John Calvin in his Institutes of Christian Religion quoted Augustine more than any other source for his writings. And the teachings of Augustine essentially gave basis for what became the Roman Catholic Church. They believed in infant baptism and many other kinds of false things. The acronym TULIP, as I'm sure you know, it represents the five main points of Calvinism. The T, the first of the five points, that stands for total depravity. And the Calvinist doctrine of total depravity, it means that men have no righteousness of their own. The heart of man is depraved, which is right. That's right. But the Calvinist doesn't stop there. The Calvinist further teaches that total depravity so permeates man and that the will of man is so in bondage that he can't believe the gospel. They teach inability. And Calvinists, there's many of them. I was amazed in just doing a little research. They're prominent people. Calvinists such as Arthur Pink, he believes that men have to first be sovereignly born again before they can even believe the gospel. and he said that in his book the sovereignty of God page 73 he states that he says quote faith is not the cause of the new birth but the consequence of it because the unregenerate are spiritually dead and a dead man can't do anything so Calvinism's definition of human depravity includes inability in ability man does not have the ability to believe the gospel the only problem with that is the Bible doesn't teach that the Bible doesn't teach that is as sinners we don't have the ability to believe the gospel that bring salvation that's not biblical why would Christ give the great commission to his church to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, only for God to then refuse to give every creature the ability to believe the gospel. That doesn't make sense. And I'm telling you, you have to get into some very serious elitist philosophical discourses to come to those kinds of conclusions. And as Mr. Creech said, that's exactly what it is. Calvinism is the playground of the intellectuals. I mean, do you believe in a God who would command you to do what you can't do without His grace and then not give you the grace you need to believe and then punish you eternally for not believing? Is that the God you believe in? Well, welcome to Calvinism. God does command all men everywhere to repent. Look at Acts chapter 17 and verse 26. It says there that God has made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth and hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation, that they should seek the Lord, if happily they might feel after him and find him, though he be not far from every one of us. Paul said on Mars Hill, for in him we live. and move and have our being, as certain also of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring. For as much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think of the Godhead as likened to gold or silver or stone, graven by art or man's device. And in the times of this ignorance that God winked at, but now now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. In verse 26, and here we see in of Acts 17, Paul said, God has made of one blood, all nations of men on all the face of the earth, we're his offspring. And then he says in verse 27, they, all the nations of men should seek the Lord And verse 30, he commands all men to repent. The Calvinist teaching says that only the elect can repent. The rest are totally without ability to repent or believe because they have not been sovereignly predestinated and predetermined to be elected to salvation. But that's not what the God that Paul and Silas presented to the Philippian jailer when he said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? They gave him the only answer that God has ever given to sinners. They said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. So there is a sense in which to try to make the Bible teach that salvation is 100% of God. That denies many Bible passages. The Philippian jailer had to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. In John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever, whosoever believeth, should not perish, but have everlasting life. Whosoever means whosoever, not to the Calvinist, it means the elect. Acts 2 21, and it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whosoever means whosoever, but to the Calvinist, whosoever means the elect. You see, that's how Calvinism turns or causes divisions among God's people by turning Calvin's personal philosophies about God's sovereignty and election into some kind of church dogma that they will not bend. The Bible is not man's philosophy of theology. Not Calvin's or anyone else's. The Bible is the inspired preserved word of God eternally and forever settled in heaven. So Calvinistic theology changes the word world to mean elect whenever it's in the Bible. It changes the word whosoever to mean elect. It changes the word all to mean elect. Now, there's just no evidence. There's no evidence in the plain language of scripture. You have to put a humanistic philosophical interpretation to it to justify those words meaning the elect. And of course they readily do that. Calvinism readily does that in order to make the Bible accommodate Calvinism. They readily do that in order to make the Bible accommodate the teachings and writings of Calvin. We're studying a course right now in evangelism in the Bible Institute. And people have written extensively on the subject of Calvinism from the right perspective, and they all agree that Calvinism hinders the work of evangelism. It hinders that work. And, of course, there are exceptions. I mean, Charles Spurgeon was a Calvinist, but Spurgeon didn't allow the philosophies of Calvin to usurp the authority of the Bible. Spurgeon preached the gospel throughout his life, inviting all sinners to come to Christ for salvation. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter one, Isaiah chapter one. and look at verse Isaiah chapter 1 and reading at verse 3. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib. But Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider, our sinful nation. A people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corruptors. They have forsaken the Lord. They have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger. They are gone away backward. Why should you be stricken anymore? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick. And the whole heart faint from the sole of the foot, even unto the head there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. They have not been closed up, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. A sinful, laden with iniquity, evildoers, corruptors. But notice this, to these people, to these people, Look down at verse 18 to see what God said to these people. He said to these people, these sinful, laden with iniquity, evildoers, corruptors. He said, come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. So where is the total inability in the plain words of scripture? It's not there. Does the Bible support the Calvinistic doctrine of total depravity? For the most part, yes, it does. Does the Bible support the added Calvinistic doctrine of total depravity which includes total inability? No, it doesn't. And like I say, if you've got the mental wherewithal to dive into some of the Calvinistic books and teachings, they they create this web of philosophical they that's where they go to to total inability because it has to fit if they take total inability out of it the whole deck of cards comes down is it true that the Bible teaches that man is morally corrupt certainly Jeremiah 17 9 the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked Is it true that the Bible teaches that man is dead in trespasses and sins? Sure. Ephesians 2.1, you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin? Is it true that the Bible teaches that man is spiritually blind? Yes. First Corinthians 2. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither for they are foolishness to him. He can't know them because they are spiritually discern. The God of this world has blinded their minds. But nowhere, nowhere in the Bible is it taught that man is without ability to respond to the gospel message. And if the Bible reader Any Bible reader, if they don't place their own interpretation on the words of the Bible, and they just allow the Bible to speak in plain, ordinary language, the only reasonable conclusion is that God has given to man the capability and the responsibility to believe God unto salvation. And not just to the elect, But all men have that ability by the grace of God. John 1 9 teaches that Christ, the true light, lights every man that comes into the world. Christ illuminates. He illuminates the understanding of the heart of man, and God elevates man out of his depravity to a capacity to be able to understand and believe the gospel message. It doesn't mean that we will believe it, or that we will receive it, but they will understand it and make their own choice. Let's turn to one more passage back in the New Testament to Romans chapter one. Romans chapter one and verse 18, Romans 1.18. Romans chapter 1 and verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God has showed it unto them. Christ is the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Verse 20, for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and God had so that they are without excuse. God has been revealed to all men by creation, by the word of God written in their heart and in their conscience, by preaching, by the written word, all men have been shown and all men have been made to understand even the eternal power of the Godhead so that they are without excuse. Now, you have to ask yourself, You have to ask the Calvinist, do you believe in a God who would make known his will to man only to then say, but I'm going to withhold from you the ability to respond to my will. I'm not going to give you the ability to believe because you're not one of the elect. And then I'm going to punish you eternally for not believing. The Calvinistic teaching of total inability makes about as much sense as some loving parents making their will clearly known to their child, a will that has the wellness and the good of the child, good of the child's life in view, only to then by their power to withhold from that child the ability and the means to respond to their will. That just does not make sense. The plain teaching of the Bible is that God enables all men to respond by giving them light. John chapter one and verse nine, by drawing them, John chapter 12, verse 32, by convicting them, John chapter 16 and verse eight, and by commanding them to repent, Acts 1730, and commanding them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, Acts 1631. So, what about you? What about your unsaved friends? What about your unsaved family members? Why are they unsaved? Why do they remain unsaved? Is it because the sovereign God has not predestinated them to salvation? Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4, if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this world had blinded the minds of them which believe not. lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." That passage teaches that men are blinded because of their own unbelief. And they are lost because they reject the gospel. Not because a sovereign God Won't give them the grace to believe because they're not part of the elect. It's God's sovereign will to save every sinner. We read that in first Timothy talking about God, our savior. And he says, who, who will have all men to be saved? What does that word all mean to the Calvinist? That means the elect. Because if it was his will for all to be saved and he didn't save them, that won't fit into the Calvinistic theology and philosophy of God's sovereignty. So that means the elect. But sinners can resist the will of God. The Lord Jesus said, you will not come unto me. that you might have life. He didn't say you cannot come. You've not been foreordained to come. He said you will not come. He didn't say that you don't have the ability to come. You will not come. So God truly elects and man truly chooses. And those two things are not contradictory with one another. Calvinism says that because of total depravity man can't do anything, not even believe. Because then man would have a part in his salvation and he could boast about it. But the Bible says that faith and believing are not works. Ephesians chapter 2, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works. So, this is a very, I think, needed subject to be brought from time to time to be thought about because, like I say, it's riding a wave of resurgence in our days. But if you're here tonight and you don't know Jesus as personally as your Savior, then there's no greater thanksgiving that you can share in than to have a thankful heart because you've trusted Him to be your Savior and your sins are forgiven. And you know, God has made that possible. What He did for you, what He did for me. God sent his son, the spotless lamb of God, to be our substitute. He paid our sin debt as he hung there between two thieves. And what is our responsibility? It's certainly not to try to work our way to heaven by being a good person. or by being religious. Our responsibility is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And I mean, it's absurd to think that you can look at the cross of Calvary and then even think that there's something that you can contribute to that work. Man can't contribute anything. That's why the Lord Jesus uttered those words on the cross, it is finished. So this indeed could be a thanksgiving for you if you're here lost and without the savior to put your faith and trust in him. Let's close in a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for the plain teaching of your word and we thank you that the spirit of God instructs us out of the scriptures not to put our own interpretation upon your word. And yet we know, Lord, that this all started very craftily in the Garden of Eden. And it's only been a downhill journey ever since for man. But we thank you that you're still in the saving business. You're still in the business of saving sinners. And we know that you will save all who will call upon you. And Father, we do pray that we might understand the spiritual atmosphere, the spiritual landscape that we live in, that we would not be carried away by man's philosophies and vain deceit. And we certainly know if a church is as good as the church at Colossae, that the Apostle Paul himself went in that direction. we certainly know that we can be susceptible to that too. So we pray that you'll protect us and that you'll encourage us in your word and in the things of the Lord. And father, we thank you for this, this Thanksgiving season. And truly we are thankful people because we know our savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray your blessing, uh, upon this word that we've heard tonight. And we pray that you'll encourage us in the days ahead. We pray it all in our savior's name. Amen.