Well, guys, as usual, when I fill in pinch hit for Brendan and Kirby, we've been doing the Heidelberg Catechism and that we're brought to Lord's Day number three in the catechism. And we shall go through our lesson and I'll try to get us out a little bit early since I think probably seating will be somewhat of an issue with one service today upstairs. So let you all out to get a seat. But just as a reminder of what we've learned from the first couple of lessons is one, we established that man is in a state of depravity and that our only comfort from the first question must be in Christ. So that's essentially the basics of what we've been through. We've looked at our condition, seen that it is not pretty, and also looked at what the remedy is. And we know that can only be in Christ in this world or the next. So the catechism moves on this morning, asking the question, essentially, did God create us in this estate? were we created in this mess. So we'll look at questions six through eight. I'll read those and we shall talk about them. Question six, did God then create man so wicked and perverse? Answer, by no means, but God created man good and after his own image and righteousness and true holiness. that he might rightly know God his creator, heartily love him, and live with him in eternal happiness, to glorify and to praise him. Question seven, whence then proceeds this depravity of the human nature? Answer, from the fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, in paradise, hence our nature become so corrupt that we are all conceived and born in sin. And finally, question eight. Are we then so corrupt that we are wholly incapable of doing any good and inclined to all wickedness? Answer, indeed we are, except we are regenerated by the Spirit of God. Amen. All right, so we start in this lesson with the creation of man. Does anybody have their Bibles? If they could turn to Genesis. For those of you non-regular readers, that's the first book of the Bible. So Genesis 1, somebody read for me Genesis 127 and then Genesis 131. If you have it, just pop your hand up. Mike, Kerry, read it, brother. All right, so God created man in his own image, in the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. That's 27. And then God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Man, so as Mike has read in the scriptures for us, and remind us God created everything, including man. Very good. Essentially, the Bible teaches that we were made in God's image. What does that mean exactly? I think shorthand, you can say one, that we're essentially vice regents, meant to rule for God in the garden, to keep and to tend it. And secondly, there was an ability ability and responsibility to mirror God and His character. That was our task as image bearers, and we had the ability to do so. Now we all know that there was a command, Genesis 2, 15 through 17. Can somebody give me Genesis 2, 15 through 17? Jillian. Amen. So we have a very clear rule set down from God. You don't eat of this tree. We got all these other great trees for food. Nothing from them is withheld. The one rule. As for man's ability to do this, he has essentially at this point an ability to follow the rule, the ability not to sin, but also the ability to sin, though his inclinations are towards God. Essentially, of course, man has free will. Now that's a loaded term, we know. we will define it simply as the ability to make voluntary decisions free from external constraint or coercion. Now, of course, there's an Arminian strand that sees free will as something which we have to, that we can, our inclinations are such, the Arminians will teach that we can cooperate with God or not in our fallen state, that we can be obstreperous, we can refuse to cooperate, but it really rests with man, this idea of free will. So the rich man and the beggar, that the beggar, our minions, has to choose to reach out his hand to the rich man, whereas we would say with God as the rich man and us being the beggar, when God changes our hearts, when God does that, The beggar cannot not want to reach out his hand there. So we essentially see a difference, a humanist idea that man is the ultimate autonomous norm, sort of in the Arminian thought, and that this idea of self-actualization is the ultimate good. I don't know about you, but I would not want to depend on my self-actualization to establish anything, much less a matter as important as one's salvation there. And of course, that's our state, but in this state, man has these two abilities to sin and not to sin. Now, why is it so important, you might ask, that we understand this fall of man and his conditions? Well, Ercinas gives a good little outline for us on that. He says that it may be manifest in the first place that we understand that we were created without sin. and therefore God is not the author of our sin, corruption, or misery. God is not the author of that. That we may see what height and dignity to what a depth of misery we have fallen by sin and that by seeing that we thus can acknowledge the mercy of God who has deigned to extricate us from this wretchedness through his son. that we may then acknowledge the greatness and benefits which we as God's people have received and our unworthiness of being made the recipients of such favor, how we don't deserve that favor at all, but that we may earnestly desire and seek Christ and the recovery of the dignity and happiness that we have lost and finally that we can be thankful to God for this restoration. That's his summary there. Now we have the fall, right? Our first parents eat the apple, the forbidden fruit. Just a question, at what point do you think they sinned prior to eating the fruit, the actual eating of the fruit? or after eating. Where did sin enter into if you had to venture an educated guess there? Prior. Okay. And your reasoning, Rhonda May? Well, you are lusting after something that you have been forbidden to do. So you had to conceive it in your mind before you pulled the beautiful flesh off the tree and ate it. Now that's Rhonda's on it this morning. Look how Augustine from the City of God puts it to this question. He says, it was in secret that the first human beings began to be evil. And the result was they slipped into open disobedience, for they would not have arrived at the evil act if an evil will had not preceded it. And Augustine goes on, now could anything but pride have been the start of an evil will? For pride is the start of every kind of sin. there. So Rhonda and Augustine are in accord, so the universe is aligned there. Maybe it was when Satan planted the seed in Eve's mind that she could be like God. No, that's when that seed's planted and you start to believe it. No, I think that's a good point. That's a good point right there. Now, you know, some people in the world would say, you know, he ate an apple. Why is that a big deal to God? Well, first we see what we just talked about, this idea of pride, this ambition, this admiration of self where our first parents wanted to be like God. That is a big deal. That pride and ambition to not be happy with a vice regent role in paradise but to want to be like God in power and esteem. Of course, also unbelief is a big deal, right? Because what Julian just read to us, God said that, hey, if you eat, what's gonna happen? You will surely die, that's right. So how can you, after being, talking with the serpent, you will not, what? You don't know if it's going to happen to you. The act of doing it expresses unbelief. Because if I told you that I poisoned that coffee back there this morning, and if you drink it, you will surely die. I mean, if you believe me, what are you going to do? You're going to stay away from that pot, right? But if you drink it, you're like, oh, why don't you just keep kidding us again? Let's go have a cup of coffee. unbelief by Adam and Eve that these consequences would follow. That's a big deal. Further, it goes to contempt and disobedience of God, that God has given one simple command, has bestowed great benefits otherwise, but they treat him with contempt and just disobey as quick as they could here. You know, really it's an ingratitude as well for these benefits received. That you have this wonderful place to live, that again, you're a vice regent of it, but you're not thankful. There's something more that you want. God walks in the garden with you in the cool of the day, but I want more. I want more. It's ingratitude. It also shows sort of a lack of love for posterity. for Bill, for Julian, for Kirby, right? If you'd not eaten of the tree, then in theory there, we could all still be in the garden, right? But I'm not worried about my children, their grandchildren, generations. I want to be like God. So just a total lack of what the consequences would be for their offspring, their offspring, etc. Again, this lack of love for posterity paints a pretty bleak picture on why this was a big deal to God and is a big deal to God. And it comes with multiple consequences, as we've talked about. As Ercinas mentioned, and to put a little more on that, going from divine height to these great depths of misery, this loss of freedom, a bondage to evil. Again, man, as we talked about, had that ability to sin, the ability not to sin. Post-fall and prior conversion, we can We can only choose darkness and sin. We are in bondage, as Luther would say, to evil. Our intellectual capacity is diminished. Again, we've talked about this, you know, total depravity doesn't mean as bad as you can possibly be, but it might, you know, radical corruption might be a better phrase that, you know, every S part of us is infected from the fall. We don't have the intellectual ability that Adam has. Our minds don't function as clear as he did. We have that diminishment. Of course, with the fall was this withdrawal of the grace of the garden as they were given over to sin. Obviously, the loss of paradise, huge consequence, you know, paradise. this predilection to the sensuous that we see, physical death as was promised, you know, how many funerals do we attend throughout the year of loved ones and see the hurt and the pain there, and then of course this hereditary guilt from the fall, you know, plus our own sins. So, you know, these are major consequences that our first parents brought into the world. So, you know, this we see, of course, is original sin that we're infected with. And, of course, again, another loaded term we should be careful with, but Erasinus gives a good job of defining it as essentially the guilt, he says, of the whole human race on account of the fall. of our first parents. It consists in a want of the knowledge of God and His will in the mind, and of an inclination to those things which the law of God forbids, and an aversion to those things which it commands, resulting from the fall of our first parents, and from them made to pass over into their posterity, us, this corrupting of our whole nature, so that all, on account of this depravity, are subject to the eternal wrath of God. Could someone turn to Psalm 51, verse five? Raise your hand and read that for us. Okay. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Amen. We're sinful at birth, as the Scriptures say. Romans 5, 12-14 and 5-19. Anybody turn to Romans real quick for us? Anybody? Romans 5.12-14, then 5.19. Mr. Schoenfeld. Therefore justice through one man, sin introduced to the world, and death through sin. And so death spread to all men because all sinned. For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who was a type of him who was to come. Amen. So we see the scripture teaching here just as we've seen in the question that sin entered the world through our first parents. pulled us all down with them as they were pulled down. We are sinful at birth. This is not something that you have to be taught to sin, right? It's something you're born with there. To make it even worse, what this teaches, as we've talked about, are inclinations. Our inclinations are not towards the things of God. Even this sweet baby we've talked about this morning, the love child that has been brought into the world. You know, we see a sweet little baby, but grandpa's not going to have to teach that baby how to sin, right? It's already all about him. He's already got it. He's born with that inclination for self, self-centered. and not for the things of God. All of us are born into this world like that, with inclinations that are counter to the things of God, right? So how do we remedy that? What does the Catechism teach us? I think we know the answer, but let's look at the Scripture. Chapter 3, verses 5 through 8, with his chat with Nicodemus. Anybody have that for us? John 3, 5 through 8. And then if somebody could have ready Ephesians 2, 8 through 9. Probably a lot of you have that as a memory verse. It's a holler when somebody has one of those. Edward. Okay, John 3, 5 through 8. Jesus answered. and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it's going. So is everyone who is born of the spirit. Ephesians, anybody have that handy? 2, 8, and 9. Chapter 2. Chuck, back there. Amen. So, what we're taught clearly from the scriptures with our inclinations set totally against the things of God incapable of doing any good, and inclined to wickedness, that we are without hope, except, as question eight says, that we are regenerated by the Spirit of God. What we just read in John chapter three, the new birth, being born again of the Spirit, and this grace that saves us, as Chuck has read, again, not something that we earn, not something that we do. It's inclinations being changed from darkness to light by the work of the Spirit and God's choosing there. Now, of course, some might object, well, sure, you know, wicked people, you know, say Muslims, right, that don't know Jesus, don't want to know Him the way we do, don't they do some good works, right? open a hospital, do something like that. But that's not for the glory of the true God. That's fine and well in the world, but it's not for God's glory as when we act as Christians, that should be our motivation there. Yeah, with still the old man present in this world, are we going to have Even our best deeds are going to be a mixed bag. True. But without the Spirit, that cannot be sanctified to God. So we're thankful for the Spirit working there. We're thankful for this change in inclinations. And most of all, we're thankful for this grace by which we have been saved, knowing, as we've been taught in these questions, that we can't earn it. We can't come close. As we learned in Lord's Day 1, our state is complete misery except that we turn to Christ and trust in Him. That's the only deliverance that we have in this world, is the power of God changing the human heart, not in cooperation with us, but by a sovereign act. And I'm glad for that, because if I had to cooperate, I'd mess it up, right? So thanks be to God for monergism. Amen? Amen. All right, guys, well, let's close in prayer and enjoy a little bit more coffee and get upstairs to find you a seat. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for your work. in us. Lord, we thank you that we don't have to depend on ourselves and us cooperating with you to be saved, Lord, that it is of your doing and your choosing and all of your power. Lord, we can rest and have comfort in this because we know that you are strong. We know that you are good. So, Lord, we ask that you be with us as we go into worship this morning. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.