Welcome to Princess Chapel Church in Ashland, Kentucky. Pastor Douglas Salyer. We thank you for joining us today. We pray that the message blesses and edifies you. with your family and friends, and to join us for praise and worship in Ashland, Kentucky. We thank you once again for joining us, and may God bless you. Tonight I'm going to start Sunday night, and I'm going to go over tonight, I don't know if I'll finish this or not, a sermon lesson on a subject called total depravity. And total depravity is a doctrine that has long been overlooked and many people don't even think about it today. And just so you know, we owe everything to God. Every single thing we owe to God. It's because of His grace, His goodness, His mercy, and His long-suffering. I'm going to be reading tonight in a very familiar passage in Romans chapter 3. And I'm going to use four verses as my key text to deal with this subject called total depravity or total inability. It can also be phrased as total inability. But Romans chapter 3, the Apostle Paul is writing to the church at Rome, and he wants to get a very clear-cut point across. And he basically is saying in Romans chapter 1 that the whole world stands guilty. Romans chapter 1, chapter 2, and chapter 3, Paul has condemned all man. He has condemned every man with a soul born of Adam. And what he's trying to say here is that all men are guilty and that all men are without excuse and all men are totally depraved. And in Romans 3, starting in verse 9, the Apostle Paul writes, he says, what then? Are we better than they? Speaking of the Jews and the Gentiles. No. in no wise, for we have before proved, both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin." Verse 10, as it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after God. They all They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable, and there's none that doeth good. No, not one. The Apostle Paul is laying a charge against all humanity. And in Romans chapter 1, of course you know Romans chapter 1, he deals with the Gentiles, the heathen man, and he says they're without excuse. Romans chapter 2, he's dealing with the moralist, the good moral person, and he's saying that they're without excuse. They have their conscience. The heathen man, we all have creation, and we all have a conscience, and we all have the commandments, whether we realize it or not. Whether you're a Jew or a Gentile, we know the commandments, and we're guided by our conscience, and we use our conscience excusing or accusing one another. And you know, we as a society now, And this is in our nature. We want to look at the nice little old lady down the street and say, well, she's good. She doesn't go to church, you see. She doesn't believe in Christ. She hasn't accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior, but she's a good little old lady. And she don't cheat, she don't steal, she don't rob. You know, she feeds the stray dogs, she feeds the stray cats, and she's a good moral person. And we think somehow in our finite minds that God is going to grade on a curve. Like it is in school. You remember when I've been in a class, I was in a class one time, it was so hard in high school that the highest letter grade in the class was a C-. So what the teacher did, Okay? She revamped the grading scale. Instead of 100% being the maximum, she made that 71 the maximum. And she graded everybody on a curb so that everybody passed. Does God do that? No. You see, He's laid down the guidelines. They're cut and dried. And what does Malachi 3.6 say? For I am the Lord and I change not. He's not going to grade on a curve for that little old lady that lives down the street because she's been a good moral person. Because she feeds the stray dogs and feeds the stray cats. She don't go to church, but you know what? She makes a check out once a month and mails it off to some foreign ministry somewhere. Friends, it don't work like that. Paul said that all men are without excuse and the only way to come to God is through Jesus. What did I preach on this morning? The only way to have the peace of God is through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's it. That's the only way you can have the peace of God. And we as a society, we want to think, we honestly want to think and we want to believe that man inherently is good. That there is something in us that makes us good and makes us worthy. But yet Paul says here in Romans 3 verses 9-12, and this by the way is the doctrine of total depravity, he says here that proved both the Jews and the Gentiles that they are under sin. For it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God, they all are gone out of the way, and they are together become unprofitable, and there is none that doeth good, no, not one." Is he talking about some men? or just a little group over here, he's talking about all mankind, both the Jews and the Gentiles. He is saying that man is totally depraved and has an inability. And what we have in our society is we have two theological groups. We have two theological groups of doctors. We have a group called the Armenians or the Pelasgians, and then we have a group over here called the Calvinists. And what I'm going to do tonight, and I'm not here to persuade you in any direction whatsoever, I'm going to tell you what both of these groups believe, and then I'm going to show you what the Word of God says about it. The Armenian group maintains that man is evil and wicked, but there's something left in him. He still has something within him. Some goodness in him. And it says that the Armenians maintain that God has predestinated all mankind. Not in an absolute sense, but rather that He looked forward into the future and saw who would pick Him. And based off of man's choice, He chose them. each person, based on their own free will. When one decides when he wants to be saved, he becomes saved because of that goodness that is inherently left in him from the fall of Adam. And finally, they hold to the doctrine and the affirmation that it is possible, once you have been saved, to fall away and to lose your salvation. Now, not all Armenians believe this. Some of them believe that you are, once saved, always saved. But then we have the other group called the Calvinists. And the Calvinists believe that the doctrine of predestination is not based off of God's foreknowledge, but it's based off of God's sovereignty. It's based off of God's omnipresence and omnipotence, and whatever He desires with His creation, He wills it. He is all-powerful and in charge, and that God answers to no one. He also maintains that God predestinates people unto salvation, and that God must intervene in the predestination process because of the total state of depravity of man. Because man within himself cannot choose God. Now, what we're going to do tonight is we're going to go through the Word of God. And we're going to determine what the Scriptures say. Not what John Calvin of the 1500's said. Or not what Jacob Arminius said of the late 1500's. And there is a five points of Calvinism called Tulip. And what we're going to deal with tonight is the T in Tulip. The T being total depravity. and what the Bible says about total depravity. And you say, well, preacher, Brother Doug, pastor, why should we know total depravity? Why should we learn about total depravity? Why should we understand total depravity? Not what the Calvinist doctrine teaches, or not what the Armenians teach, but what the Scripture teaches about total depravity. Because one can never fully understand the doctrine of election and predestination until they have knowledge and understanding of total depravity. We may not even be able to understand it fully, but it's outlined in God's book. And if it's in His book, it's in here for a reason. There's a lot of things that I read and I can't understand. My little finite mortal mind will not allow me to grasp it just yet. But when God's ready for me to receive this stuff, He'll give it to me. But this is one doctrine that I believe churches need to know. Because what it's going to do for you by knowing these truths, it will assure you of your position with God. It will give you an assurance beyond a shadow of a doubt of your position with God. Our views and our beliefs on the doctrine of total depravity will give the regenerated believer in Christ Jesus a greater desire to serve and to follow Christ, once you understand total depravity. Because you've got to understand where you came from before God saved you. And a lot of people realize it, but they don't fully grasp it. Why teach the doctrine of total depravity? Because the doctrine of total depravity controls our belief system, and it will influence the following things. The way you view total depravity will influence and dictate on how you discipline your children. whether or not you're going to just let certain things slide, or you're going to hold them accountable. The next, it will establish the governing of civil government. You see, I believe when America was founded, it was founded on the basis that our founding fathers believed in the doctrine of total depravity. Why? Because The total depravity of the establishment of civil government says is man is basically good or he is inherently evil. If he's basically good, we just let him go and we let him do his own thing. But if he's inherently evil, we put a system of checks and balances in place to keep a watchful eye upon man. And that's what we have within our government today, right? It's been established all the way back from our founding fathers. Our founding fathers believed in total depravity. Total depravity will also determine the guilt and the punishment of criminals in our society. You say, well, what do you mean by that, Brother Doug? Well, is it the sin and the depraved state and the nature of the criminal that committed these acts? Or is it society? Is it his home life? Did mommy and daddy make him this way? You know what that is? That's a cop-out. You know what it is, friends? It's nothing more than sin. It's being totally depraved. The fourth thing it will govern as a society, it will govern how we treat and respond to the mentally ill. Now, I'm not saying this is the case in everyone, because there are people out there that are genuinely mentally ill that need help and need medication. But for the most part, most of them, is it their total depraved state? Or do they just need a pill to make them feel better about their self? Do you see how important this doctrine is? And once we understand the doctrine of total depravity, we can understand where we came from, where we're going to, and what God has saved us from, and it makes us want to serve Him that much more. And this is not a new doctrine. This is not something that has just popped up over the last 20, 30, 40 years. Why? Because God tells us in Genesis 8.21, And the Lord smelled the sweet savor, and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. What is that? That's total depravity right there. God said it in Genesis 8, 21. The Apostle Paul said it in Romans 3, 9-12. Man is totally depraved. Total inability. Total depravity teaches that the fallen man, the unregenerated, saved person, the unbeliever, will not... Now listen to this and hear me out. Allow me to finish this before you base judgment. Will not... in his own free will, be able to choose God. That's what total depravity says. He can't. Why? There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that seeketh after God. There is none that understandeth. And there is none that doeth good. He cannot. in his fallen, unregenerated state, even in his own free will. And yes, we still have free will. And I will explain that more just in a minute. But he cannot choose God. Simply put, the doctrine of total depravity is derived from the Scriptures and what the Bible teaches about the condition of the unbeliever. The true biblical interpretation with no man-made philosophies and teachings will reveal the total depravity of human character. Fallen. A sinner by nature, by birth, and by choice. Jeremiah 17.9. Jeremiah the prophet writes, the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Jeremiah said, the heart is wicked, deceitful. The Lord Jesus said in the book of Mark, chapter 7, verses 21 and 23, He said, For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulterers, fornications, murderers, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lavish, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness, and all of these evil things come from within and defile man. Jesus said in the Gospel of John that this is the condemnation, that the light come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light. Why? Because he's fallen. You see, we can't help it. It was our parents. Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. They broke God's law. And every person after that is born into sin. He's born into sin. Total depravity without God. Totally separated without God. So what does God do? Does God let man continue in that state? Or does He reveal the light? Well, I believe he reveals the light because I believe there's people being saved. And in order to get saved, you have to have seen the light. You had to have the light be revealed some way, somehow. And I believe that's what God does. Why? Because he's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. You see, he doesn't want. He doesn't want, friends, his chosen his elect to perish. That's why he's long-suffering. He didn't want Noah's wife to drown in the water of the flood. He didn't want any one of Noah's three daughter-in-laws to drown in the flood. He didn't want any one of Noah's three sons to drown in the flood. That's why he was long-suffering in 1 Peter 1.20, to allow Noah the time to build the ark. The rest of mankind Totally depraved. Totally depraved. Would choose darkness rather than light. As it is written, there is none righteous. No, not one. There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after God. They all have gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable. And there is none that doeth good. No, not one. But we still, as a society, we want to find something in us that makes us worthy. As mankind, we want to say, well, I did this. I've done this. You remember what I told you? For no man to think more highly of himself than he ought, for it is God who hath dealt every man a measure of faith. The faith you had to believe, God gave it to you. The justifying faith was given. And the saving grace was gifted by God. Because you were totally depraved. There was nothing you could have done. If God leaves us alone, and God knocks on our hearts door, we will choose darkness rather than light. That's what Jesus said. Because God has to reveal the truth unto you, just like He did to Peter. And Jesus said, Peter, no man hath revealed this unto you, but God. God the Father hath showed you these things. Romans 6, 17. Paul writes and he says, But God bethanked that ye were the servants of sin, and ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered unto you. There must be a form. There must be a way that God delivers this light to the world. There must be a means, Adam. And he said in Corinthians, he said, For it pleaseth God To save those that would believe. By what? By the foolishness of preaching. Why do we preach? So people can hear the gospel. The power of God unto salvation to whosoever believeth. That's why we preach. Why do we give altar calls? And why do we beg people to come in? Because it is God that reveals the truth unto them. It is God that is really giving the invitation. NOT THE PREACHER! And we see people come and we see people pray and make a profession of faith. And I have a problem with this. I've seen them. I've seen them out in Lawrence County and I've seen them in Johnson County and I've seen them other places. I've seen them walk in the aisle and they'll be popping their chewing gum and a diddy popping down the aisle. They'll drop on the altar. They'll say about 15 words. They'll jump off. The preacher will pat them on the back. Not one single tear will be shed. And they walk straight back to the pew. And then six weeks later, where are they at? Well, they're not in church. I've seen that. And do you know what that is? That's called total depravity. Why? Because in our own self-will, we think there's something about us that all we've got to do, maybe in our own self-righteousness, we can come up and we can just say a few words And we can get in. But it's God. God has to be drawing. Jesus said, no man cometh unto me except my Father which is in heaven. Draw him. When God got a hold of me and got me under conviction, I knew I was lost. Now, everybody don't cry. I'm not expecting everybody to come down this aisle tear-jerking and just all weeping and wailing and crying. Everybody reacts differently. But glory to God, when he got a hold of me, I was scared. Not only was I scared, but I felt about that big. Because I realized that I was a sinner. And unless God had intervened in my life, in my totally depraved state, I would have never come to that knowledge. I wouldn't have come to that knowledge. I would have lived my whole life. God would have knocked on my heart's door, and if He hadn't revealed the truth unto me, I would have died and I would have went to hell. God has to intervene. Some way, somehow, God has to intervene. Ephesians 2.3 among whom also we had our conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of our flesh and of the mind and were by nature, by nature, the children of wrath. That's our nature. To be what? To be enemies with God and to be the children of wrath. Totally depraved. A sinner by nature, by birth, and by choice. And until somebody can realize that state, until somebody can realize their condition, they can't be saved. They can't. You could argue with me until you're blue in the face, but first, unless you know you're a sinner, you cannot be saved. You've got to have a need for something in order to go looking for it. And until God reveals the truth and reveals the light unto you and puts you under conviction, you ain't going to look for it anyway because you're totally depraved. Jesus Christ said, you will choose darkness rather than light. 1 Corinthians 2.14 The Apostle Paul said, but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. We talked about this this morning in Sunday School. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. He can't understand them. He doesn't want to understand them. This is all a bunch of mumbo-jumbo to him. It's foolishness to him. Why? Because he hasn't been revealed the light, he hasn't been given the measure of truth needed, and he hasn't been called, and he hasn't been drawn and wooed in yet. But you wait till the Holy Ghost gets a hold of him. The Holy Ghost can do a work on you, and He'll change your tune real quick. You'll realize that you're a sinner. You'll realize that you're totally depraved, and out of God's good graces, and out of the will of God, and that you need a Savior, and that you, in your own capacity, cannot save yourself. And then, when God does that, then when God reveals the truth unto you, then comes the saying in Acts, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Why? Because God's revealed something to you. God's drawing you. God's wooing you. He's knocking on your heart's door. But before that, you're totally depraved. John 6, 65. Jesus said, Therefore, I say unto you that no man can come unto Me, except it were given unto him by My Father." That's where that calling and that wooing comes in. That's where Jesus prayed in the garden and He said, all that thou hast given Me are thine and they are Mine. And then God woos you through and by the Holy Ghost, the third part of the Trinity. You see? I've seen this too. And I'm not saying, now don't take me the wrong way here. Some of it might have been genuine. And I believe some of it is genuine. Mommy gets sick. Papa dies. Granny's in the hospital. Or somebody is hurt, maimed, sick, or dead. And all of a sudden we start feeling sad. And we come to church, and we hear the preaching, and we hear the altar call, and we got a few tears running down our eyes, and we run up, and we say a little prayer, and get patted on the back, and we think everything's okay. You know what that's called? That's called an earthly sorrow. That's not a godly sorrow. Because when God gets a hold of you, and when God breaks your heart, you'll have a broken heart and a contrite spirit. You won't care about them all being in the hospital. You won't care about mommy and daddy being sick. Why? Because you will care about the eternal state of your soul, because you know that you are lost and nothing else matters without a Savior. That's a godly sorrow. That's a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And that's when God brings you out of the realm of total depravity and starts revealing the truth unto you and starts wooing you and starts bringing you in. But before that, before He reveals that to you, you can't do it on your own. You can't do it on your own. Well, I'll just wait until I get everything okay. And then I'll come in and I'll accept God. It don't work that way. Romans 8, 29 and 30. I read this this morning. It said, "...for no, he did predestine to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, those whom he did predestine, them he called, and whom he called, them he justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified." You see, God has to do the calling. Like it says in verse 30 there, you can't come on your time. You've got to come on God's time. You've got to come on His terms, not our terms. What was it when Jesus was in the boat and He got ready to pass over to the sea of Galilee in the city of the Gardens, right across the sea? And the Bible said, He said unto his disciples, he got in the ship, and he said, let us, now notice what he said, let us pass over to the other side. And his disciples took him, even as he was, into the ship. It was on his terms, wasn't it? They took him, even as he was, into the ship. And boy, they no more pulled up anchor and started sailing. And they had already forgot the promise. What did He say? Let us pass over to the other side. You see, man is totally depraved. And God has to intervene. And if He doesn't intervene, if God would have never had intervened, did you know? Nobody. Nobody would ever have been saved if God had not had intervened. And I'm going to prove it to you. God's intervention is divine. God's intervention is sovereign. Ephesians 1.4, the Bible says, this is the Apostle Paul writing here too. He said, according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. 2 Thessalonians 2.13, the Apostle Paul writes to the church at Thessalonica, and he says, But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. Because God hath from the beginning chosen you unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. 2 Timothy 1.9, Who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace. Is it anything that I do? Could God care less about what I do in order to save me? Because did God have to look forward and say, well, you know what? He's going to be a pretty good preacher. I'm going to go ahead and call him. That had absolutely nothing to do with it. Because God didn't have to look forward into the future to see anything or to find anything out. Because if He does that, He's not all-knowing. If he has to look forward into the future to learn what Brother Dove is going to do in 2013, then God is learning and God can't learn. So now we've got a problem. What does God do? God intervenes. God intervenes with man and his total depraved state. And God says, you know what? I'm not going to let all of mankind go to hell. So what am I going to do? This is why God must and will and does predestinate. Why? To show off His grace. You want to talk about a mean God? Now, what kind of God would He be if He, the whole human race, and He looked at them and said, alright, they're all totally depraved, so guess what? They're all going to hell. Because you would say, well, if it had been left up to me, now I'd have let everybody in on it. Well, if it had been left up to me, I probably wouldn't have let nobody in on it. But what does God do? Now, friends, this is Bible. Like I said, I'm not teaching you something that is new, that is a newfangled doctrine. This has been out ever since the days of the Apostle Paul. And this is exactly why he wrote the book of Romans. To let us know that our election can be sure. That's what he says in the Bible. And what God does is He shows off His grace. And He selects for Him, before the foundation of the world, a redeemed people. By His sovereign will, not by His foreknowledge. I thought for years that's how He did it. I thought for years He just looked forward into the future and said, well, He's going to pick me. And because He picks me, I'm going to pick Him. Now, does that make sense? God's making His choice off of our choice, so therefore, we're totally depraved, so we're in control of our own salvation. You say, Brother Dung, what about free will? Man still has free will. The totally depraved man will act in his free will. But He will act in those things, everything that He is accustomed to and all that He is. Not what we think He is, but what the Bible says He is. And what the Bible says He is, is He is a fallen creature. The Bible said that He is not righteous. He does not seek after God. He does not understand. He is totally depraved. So in that state, when he is called, what's his free will choice going to be? It's going to be to reject God. Because that's all he knows. And Jesus said, they will choose darkness rather than light. God intervenes. And man in his own wicked and depraved state cannot choose God, even though through his own free will he acts. But he acts in accordance with that what the Bible says he is. Totally depraved. Not righteous. Fallen. A sinner by nature, by birth, and by choice, will not seek God, does not understand, does not do good, He will act in accordance with that. So God intervenes. It is God who makes us born again. Not of our will, but of His will. John 1.13. It is God who grants us that we come to Jesus. John 6.65. It is God who ordains men to believe, Acts 13, 48. It is God who predestinates us to be conformed to the image of His Son, Romans 8, 29. It is God who saves us, Romans 9, 16. It is God who chooses us to be holy and blameless. Ephesians 1.4, it is God who chooses us and selects us for salvation. 2 Thessalonians 2.13, it is God who saves us according to His own will and purpose. 2 Timothy 1.9, and it is God who gives us repentance. 2 Timothy 2.24 and 25, and it is God who causes us to be begotten. 1 Peter 1.3. Furthermore, our faith for believing is the work of God. Our grace for believing is by the grace of God, the grace that we are given. It's all of God. Every single bit of it. Because God, through and by His love and His sovereignty and His mercy, has bestowed mercy and grace unto who? The elect. And what I'm saying is hard. It is so hard for some people to understand and to grasp. But friends, it's Bible. And I wrestled with this for over a month. And then the more I read, to try to disprove it, because I've done some of the same thing that some of you all tried to do. I tried to disprove it. And the more I read to try to disprove this, the more God revealed that it is the truth. Chosen you from the beginning unto salvation. Made you elect and predestinated you before the foundation of the world. And I want to show you one verse tonight, and then I'm going to close. And I wasn't going to go here with this, but I believe I'm going to have to because I'm getting some of those deer-in-the-headlights looks. So I want to reaffirm what the Bible says. Because I have told you absolutely nothing that is not Scripture. Revelation chapter 17. Got to do it. Got to go here. Because I'm getting those wondered and bewildered looks. Do you remember two weeks ago I told you that it's all part of God's plan? God's sovereign, He's in control. He answers to no one. And Revelation 13.8 says that Jesus Christ was slain before the foundation of the world. Did it not? I read it two weeks ago. As far as God was concerned, it had already happened. Revelation 13, 8. Let's read that first. Revelation 13, 8. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship Him whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. As far as God the Father was concerned, the Lamb was already slain from the foundation of the world. Now, turn to Revelation 17. I'd love for the Pelagians and the Armenians to try to explain this verse away. Revelation 17, 8. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder." Everybody is going to wonder. Whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation. of the world. I have chosen you from the beginning unto salvation. Why? Because of the totally depraved state of man. God had to intervene. And God looked down and said, I'm not going to let them all go to hell. I'm going to make for myself a remnant. I'm going to make for myself a people. I'm going to make for myself a group of chosen and a group of elect. Now, He didn't make us for heaven, and He didn't make those other folks for hell. He made all of the human race, but man fell. And God knew He would fall. But God had already selected and predestinated His chosen people. And their names was enrolled in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world. There ain't no denying that. Because that's black and white right in the Bible. You can't explain it away, friends. You might not be able to understand it. Because I wrestled with it for a month. And I woke up one Saturday morning and the Lord told me, just because you can't put your arms around a tree and have your fingers touch on the other side, don't mean it ain't a tree. It's still a tree. I might not be able to grasp that tree, but it's still a tree. There's doctrines and there's points of theology that we might not be able to grasp. But I want to ask you this, and I want you to ask yourself this, knowing that, that there's nothing in you. You're totally depraved. It's not about you. It's not about anything you have done, will do, or did, or ever could do, because you was already selected before the foundation of the world. You say, well, Brother Don, If that's the case, why evangelize? Why go out and knock on doors if God already knows? Two reasons. Number one, He told us to. He knows and He ain't telling. Number two, it should give you that greater of a desire to go knock on doors. Do you know why? Because we're still here, ain't we? That means God's still being long-suffering. You know why? That means there's still elect people out there that still need to be saved. You're guaranteed results. That should motivate you to want to go out and knock on doors, to want to win souls for Christ, because God is still long-suffering. When the last soul that's been predestinated When the last soul, prior to rapture, that's been predestinated, accepts Christ as his personal Lord and Savior, then Jesus will come home and get the church. But evidently, there's still some out there that need to be saved. And what are we doing? That should give us the desire to want to win souls for Christ. Because why? We know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, we're going to get results. Because He's not willing that any should perish. Well, who's the any? The any is the elect. That all should come to repentance. Who's the all? Well, the all is the elect. Well, Brother Doug, who's the elect? Well, the elect are the ones in Romans 8.30, those whom He did predestinate. Well, who did He predestinate? He predestinated the same ones that Jesus prayed for in the garden, saying, All that thou hast given Me, I pray not for the world, but I pray for them. Yeah, boy! Because man was totally depraved, God had to intervene. God had to intervene. And he's still long-suffering. So that means there's still people that are left that need to be saved. Let's bow our heads.