We're still going through our declaration of faith. We are up to number 9. We'll try to do number 9 and 10 tonight, but we'll see. They kind of go together. And there's not a whole lot of scripture listed with both of these, so we'll try to do both of them tonight. Total depravity is number nine. It says, we believe that the spiritual death of the natural man or total corruption of human nature has been transmitted to the entire race of man. The man Christ Jesus alone accepted and hence that every child of Adam is born into this world with a nature which not only possesses no divine life, but is essentially and unchangeably evil, being an entity against God and incapable of being brought into subjection to the law of God by any process whatsoever. So, total depravity has become one of the core beliefs of true Baptists. Of course, we know in the early days of the church, from the time Christ started it while he was here, while his apostles were here preaching the gospel and helping start other churches and all that during their day, These things were taught then. And at some point, men began to stray from this teaching. Not everybody, but there were those who did and got away from it. And now, what's referred to as Christianity, for the most part, doesn't believe in the total depravity of man anymore. And there are other doctrines. We'll get into those as we come to them. they have traded in our, this is our number 9 article, the number 10 article is free will, and the reason I said these go together is because man has traded total depravity for man's free will. That's how they go together. And that's how I'm going to try to present them tonight. It is obvious. Look around us, look at ourselves, look at our friends, our family, Anybody we know, watch the news. Watch, if you watch network television and watch some of the sitcoms, you know, watch a movie. Well, I'm not really encouraging you to do those things, but I'm just, for, as an example. If you see the commercials for those things, maybe that's a better thought there, because These are examples of man's total depravity, and it's obvious. It's all around us. It's from the people we work with, from our family, and like I said, ourselves. We can see it in ourselves, especially if we think back to when or before we were saved. We cared not for the things of God at that time. And if we did, it was only because He was putting those things in us at the time and preparing us for what was to come. The total depravity of man is his spiritual death. Man is spiritually dead. In our study, we've been doing... Well, we talked about the fall of man last time. We've been doing a study when we go up to the Hobbeses on Tuesday nights. In the book of Genesis, we saw it there. When Adam fell, he didn't die physically at the time. He started dying physically. That's when the process started. But spiritually, he died. And man has been dead ever since. That's what the scripture tells us. Until Christ comes and saves us, we're dead to God. If we're His elect, those who are His elect, there comes a time where He will start dealing with them. And He'll start pricking their heart. We know that. He tells us that. We've all experienced that ourselves. So, man is totally depraved and there's no doubt about it. You have to be, and I'm going to be blunt, you have to be a fool not to see it. Let's go to John chapter 3. John chapter 3 and verse 6. It says that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Notice both times the word flesh are in lowercase f. The word spirit the first time is capitalized, the second time it's lowercase. that capitalized Holy Spirit, or the capitalized Spirit is the Holy Spirit. And we've discussed this before in this, I think in this same study. When we see the word Spirit capitalized, he's referring to the Holy Spirit of God, the third party in the Trinity. And that's what he's talking about here. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. And he's speaking of our spirit when we're through our new birth we're reborn in the spirit spiritual spiritually and it's through the Holy Spirit in Romans chapter 5 verse 12 Wherefore, by one man, sin entered into the world. Speaking of Adam. And death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. So, all men have sinned. The only one who did not sin was Christ. And remember, He had no earthly father. He only had an earthly mother. God the Father was His Father. Our article says the man Christ, Jesus alone accepted. So let's turn to Matthew chapter 1. verses 18 through 25. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise when his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privately. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife, and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus." We know the Scripture tells us that man is even conceived in sin. What we see here of Christ is of the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit. So there was no sin in him. He could not sin. He suffered from the effects of sin. We know that. We know he got tired. He got hungry. He wept. He had great sorrow at times. He bled and died. Things that he went through in his life. We don't know much about his early years. We know more about the three years he was in the ministry than we do any other time of his life other than his birth. There's a little bit spoken of his youth when he was around 12 years old and he was at the temple and causing problems there for those guys. Other than that, we don't know what did he do before he came on the scene and was preparing for his ministry. We don't know any of that. But we do know this, that according to God's Word, he did not sin, which means he wasn't a typical teenager. He didn't rebel against his parents. That would have been sin. He was perfect and I'm sure that drove his other brothers and sisters insane and Bouts of jealousy at times. I'm sure that would have been natural for them not for him, but for them But He is the only one who was the exception to the rule as far as total depravity John chapter 1 verse 14, and the word was made flesh into water among us and we beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. The word in this word, the word word in the first chapter of John is capitalized in several places. Because it's referring to Christ, the Son of God here. Christ is the Word. He is the Word of God. This book we have, it contains Christ and all about Him, all that we need to know about Him. It is His Word to His people. And I'm a firm believer in that. His word was written particularly to his church, to his bride. But he was made flesh and dwelt among man. In our oracle it says, and hence that every child of Adam is born into this world with a nature which not only possesses no divine life, but is essentially and unchangeably evil. There's nothing other than the blood of Christ, there is nothing that can change the total depravity of man. He's totally depraved forever without Christ. That is, Christ is the only thing that can change, the only one that can change that. And even then, it has to be, that man has to be one of God's elect, or it's not gonna, Christ is not gonna come to him if he's, if that man's not one of the Lord's elect. being at enmity against God, incapable of being brought into subjection to the law of God by any process whatsoever. John 8, 44. John 8.44, Ye are of your father the devil, and the lust of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. So we're either of God or we're of the devil. One of the two. There's no other way. If we're not If we're not of God, we're of the devil. That's what he tells us here. He says, you are your father the devil, and the lust of your father you will do. A person that's in their unsaved state, even though they may have heard the Word of God all their life, their desires are not for God. Their desires are for sin. Their desires are for everything ungodly. Now, I know there are those that are God's elect. Sometimes He starts putting things in their mind before they're saved. Remember, before you're saved, He comes to us and corrects our heart first. And shows us our sinful ways. Shows us where we're wrong. And it may, depending on how the Lord works, some people it's years, sometimes it's a short period of time. That's His choice. That's how He does it. But he says, he says, he speaketh of his own for he is a liar and the father of it. That's pretty harsh words for coming from Christ who all you hear today is that he's Christ's love. Well, he's love all right, but when it comes to those that are not his, we see in the gospels, he can get angry too. And he can be not so lovely when it comes to those who are not his. That's a loving God protecting his own. Romans chapter 8, and this will finish up this article. Romans chapter 8, verse 7. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. The carnal mind, in other words, the unsafe mind, the mind that is not of God, is enmity against God. It's totally against God. It's totally depraved. This is for it is not subject to the law of God. one that is not of God be subject to God's commandments. Now, we think that in some cases, I think we've been taught in a wrong way over the years that some people try to force God's commandments on those that are lost, those who are not saved. and it doesn't work for them. It's not for them. It's not for them unless the Lord saves them. They're not commanded to follow the Lord's commandments in certain areas for sure. We know there are social laws. Look at the Ten Commandments. I think those are for everybody. Those are mankind as a whole is responsible for the things that are listed in those commandments. We know man cannot and will not follow God, but as far as murder and adultery and the sins that are listed there, it's all because of their enmity with God. And it is sin, and they will have to answer for it. Unless the Lord saves them, there's no hope for them. We know that. Because they're totally depraved. Now on to the 10th article on free will. We believe that man by nature possesses free will or free agency. by which we mean that in relation to God, He always acts without compulsion and in accordance with His own dominant desires and inclinations, being impelled from within in all His actions. That this is true while He is yet a sinner under the power of the devil, even though He cannot, of His own strength, free Himself therefrom. that it is also true in the exercise of repentance and faith under the regenerating power of God and in service to God after regeneration as God works in us both to will and to work for His good pleasure. The thing with free will or how it's taught anyway is Man really has no free will. God's got everything planned out. It's going to happen the way he wants it to happen. Now, we are responsible for our sin. I'm not saying that. We do have responsibility. And that's where our free will comes in. We sin of our own free will. But our free will will not save us. Our free will will not cause us to choose God. It takes the Holy Spirit coming into us for that to happen. John chapter 3 verse 19. John chapter 3 verse 19, and this is the condemnation that light is coming to the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Man's free will is constantly seeking evil. That's all he knows. Until the Lord saves him, that's all he knows. He's not looking for God. He may have a thought, he may have a desire to look towards God, but he's not looking for God to solve his problems, or he's not looking for God to, you know, we hear people praying, and I'm talking about the unsaved, think they can pray and ask God for blessings, financial or health or whatever. They don't understand that they're wasting their time. They don't understand that it's foolishness. The free will that they have is not going to cause them to truly seek God like they should. That only comes when the Holy Spirit comes to them. Mark chapter 7. Mark chapter 7, verse 21 through 23. For from within, out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, And evil, blasphemy, pride, foolishness, all these things come from within and defile the man. He says it's out of the heart of men. It's in our very heart that these things happen, that these things are even thought of. This is man's free will. His free will seeks evil. His free will doesn't seek righteousness. Not unless, like I said, not unless the Holy Spirit has come into Him. There's no seeking righteousness with man. And, you know, we've talked before. There are people out there who are seemingly good. Seemingly good people. They do good things with charity. There's philanthropists out there You know, they give money to children's hospitals or they give money to this and that for a good cause. But why are they doing it? They're not doing it because of their love for God. And that's why we should do it if we're going to do something like that. They're doing it In a lot of cases, it's to brag on themselves. Say, hey, look how much money I got. Or look what I'm doing for this orphan's home over here. I built him a new home. Or I've paid for the medical bills of the kids in the cancer ward. There's people that will do that and brag about it. Some of them, it's a tax write-off. You know, that's the only reason they do it. Because that way they don't have to pay any more taxes than they have to. But man's, his thoughts, his actions are evil. Ephesians 2 verse 1. And you hath He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins." Who does the quickening? It's not us. It's not man's free will. It's the Lord. Ephesians 4, 17-19. This I say, therefore, in testifying the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of your mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart, who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness. This is speaking of our old life. Our old life, there should be a drastic change. And in some people, we know there's some that are seemingly good people, and the Lord saves them, and you don't really see much change, but talk to them. Sometimes the change is not on the outside. Sometimes it's on the inside. And that's only on the inside. Sometimes if you take a person who has done good most of their life, I mean even though other than their, we don't know what their thoughts are, but they've never been arrested and they don't do drugs or alcohol You know, those kinds of things. They seem to be a good person. The Lord saves them. And maybe at first you don't see a big change. But give it time. And you will. If that person's truly been saved, even though they've been a good person, a good moral person in their old life, the Lord will bring changes to them. And their works will show it eventually. John chapter 6, verse 44. John 6, verse 44. We'll read 44 and then we'll skip down to 65. 44 says, No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him. and I will raise him up at the last day." He says, no man can come to Him. Man's free will will not draw him to Christ. Man's free will will not lead him to Christ. That is a false doctrine and it's a doctrine of devils. That's exactly what it is. If the Holy Spirit doesn't come to that person first, if that person is not God's elect, it's not going to happen. And then it's only when the Holy Spirit comes to them that they're going to start seeking the Lord. And it's only because then that they're drawn to the Lord, when He draws them to Himself. Verse 65, And He said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto Me except it were given unto him of My Father. The same quote, he quotes himself here. Therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my Father. Unless they're one of God's elect, unless they've received that free gift from the Lord, or from God, God the Father, they're not They're not going to seek Christ. It's an impossibility. Back in our article, the last part of it says that it is also true in the exercise of repentance and faith under the regenerating power of God and in service to God after regeneration. As God works in us both to will and to work for his good pleasure, It's got Ephesians 2 listed there first. Well, we're in John chapter 6. Let's just stay there and read the second scripture first. John 6, 37. For all that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in all wise cast out. So everyone that comes to Christ all that the Father gives Christ are going to come to Him. In other words, if we see someone seeking Christ, it's because the Father's put it in them. Because the Holy Spirit has come and started a work in them. It's not of their own free will. They didn't do it on their own free will. Ephesians 2. Verses 8-10, For by grace are ye saved through faith, and not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus under good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them. So it's by grace that we're saved, through faith. And notice it says, it's not of yourselves. In other words, it's not of our free will. We have no free will when it comes to our salvation. It is the gift of God. And we just had a little birthday party last night for some of the church members. They didn't ask for those gifts, did they? The gifts that they got. That's not how it works. The one giving the gift gives it freely. And they have chosen to give that gift to that person or persons. Our Lord works the same way. This gift is given freely of God. We don't beg for it. I don't want to go into this too deeply, but you know, you think about Christmas time. What do we see? What's being taught? Free will. Man's free will is being taught. People are taught their children to write Santa Claus a list of what you want. And from what I've seen, most parents are going to go out and buy at least most of what's on that list for their kids, because that's what the kids want. I've seen people go out and spend money they didn't have on their family at that time of year and buy things that they didn't need. whether it was toys or new cars or whatever. This gift that we receive from God is given by Him. We don't ask for it. For one, we have no right to ask for it. Two, we're not going to want to ask for it. Before His Holy Spirit comes to us, we don't want it. We don't even know it exists, to be honest. We can read the scripture all day long, but until he puts the understanding in us, we're not going to even know what it's about. And for our last scripture, let's go to Philippians chapter 2. verse 13 for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure so it's God who does the work not us what he he says for God for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do His good pleasure. It is God that gives us the will. So it's not our free will, it's Him giving us the will. And He gives us the will to do His good pleasure, whatever it is. It may not be what we want, but it's His good pleasure, and it's for Him, and it's to glorify Him, not us. So, there's many more. I mean, we could go all through the Scripture and look. There's many more verses that speak against free will. That prove the point that free will is a false doctrine. There are those that will take the Scripture out of context, that will distort it and make it say what they want. and fight you tooth and nail for free will for a false doctrine and the scripture is clear that there's no such thing so we'll stop there and hope