I do desire your prayers. Children, I want you to pay attention. All of us. This is a great truth in the Word of God. I had initially thought I'd preach on something different, but Wednesday night, discuss Romans chapter 5 and that sort of still on my heart and that's what I'm going to try to preach only I'm going to use the scriptures out of Corinthians 15. Children pay attention. Adults pay attention. And you pray for me that know the Lord, you pray for me. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 21 says, For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. I realize that every time that we come into God's house and every time that I try and preach, or any man of God tries to preach. It is of utmost importance, but there are times that we feel that, at least I do, that maybe one is extra important, and that's why I said, children, I want you to listen, because this involves you. It involves all of us. There are some that, that don't believe what I'm about to preach to you, but I certainly do and I think the Bible makes it very clear. I'm going to try to preach to you on the thought of the two men. The two men. We left our discussion Wednesday night with with Romans chapter 5 and verse 12 where Paul says that for by one man's offense, sin entered into the world and death by sin. And so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. I'm going to try to prove to you today, or I'm not going to try to prove it, I'm just going to let the scriptures speak for themselves that every man, every woman, and every child in this place today is in one of two men, that being either in Adam or in Christ. If you want to think about it in terms of ball games, those are the only two teams that you can be a part of. And I promise you today, you are either in Adam or you are in Christ. There is no other option. There is no other team that you can possibly be on, but one or the other you belong to. So what Paul is saying is that by one man's offense, sometimes I don't think we have a very healthy idea of what sin is. And we talked in Sunday school this morning that when God said to remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy, He meant just that. And there was a man on the Sabbath day in the days of Moses that went out and he just picked up sticks. That doesn't seem like a very grievous thing. But my friend, it wasn't the fact that he only picked up sticks. It was the fact that he disobeyed what God had said. And when you disobey what God has said, the penalty of that is death. And so the man simply went out on the Sabbath day, he picked up sticks, and because of that they brought him to Moses, and God said to Moses, you're going to take this man outside the camp, and you're going to command the congregation to stone him with stones. And they did, and he died. I want you to realize today that sin is so grievous that it only took one sin from the very first man, and because of that one sin, death passed upon all men. When you put it into that context, you realize sin in the sight of God is grievous. It's awful. And by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. And now, what I'm going to try to explain to you today is what I think the Apostle Paul was explaining to you. We see these, and it was mentioned maybe last week, of the young man in Salina battling leukemia, and it's awful. And we see once in a while, we see children that are struck with cancer and it's awful. And for many years I've had the question asked to me, why would God allow this to happen to a child? My friends, let me be perfectly clear to you. I bow down and submit to things I do not understand. And I do that because I realize that God is an almighty God, and who are we to question anything? But my answer to that would be, it's not God that did that to these children. It's not. The reason why that when a baby's born, there really isn't a question is, the question really is not, is, will that baby live or will that baby die? That's not the question. The question is, when will they die? Because all of us is going to die. There is not one among us today that is living that will not go in the grave. None of us are going to escape that. And so what Paul is saying, he said even, he said until the law in Romans 5, until the law, sin was not imputed unto men, which means sin was not reckoned unto their account when there was no law. It said those that had sin not after the similitude of Adam. And now what he's saying there is Eve was deceived. That's what Timothy says. Paul writes to Timothy. And it says Eve was deceived, but Adam knew exactly what Adam was doing. Adam was given a command by God to eat every tree of the fruit of every tree except one, and the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And he said, in the day thereof that you eat of that tree, you shall surely die. And so Eve was deceived by the serpent, But when Adam took the bite, it wasn't when Eve took the bite that their eyes were opened, but when Adam partook of that forbidden fruit, he became a sinner. That is so very important. Children, listen. It's so important that you grasp hold of that. Adam became a sinner. He was innocent up until that point, but the moment he did that, he became a sinner in the sight of God. And because that Adam became a sinner, he stood not only as the federal head of mankind, as a representative of man to God, but he was also the seminal head of that everyone born in his line. would take on the nature that he had. And so what Paul is saying is, for what happened, there were 2,000 years between the time of Adam and the time of Moses. And there was no law until the time of Moses. But you know what? Even from Adam to Moses in those 2,000 years, We know that even without the written law, God counted those people for 2,000 years sinners. Then you say, preacher, how can you possibly know that? Because they all died. That's how we know. That's how the scripture plainly says that the wages of sin is death. So for 2,000 years, a man who had never sinned like Adam sinned, A man who couldn't have had sin imputed or accounted to them because there was no law, still were sinners in the sight of God. And we know that because from Adam to Moses, death was not only here, but Paul said death reigned. It reigned as Lord and Master over them. Do you not think that in the days of Noah that there were little children that died in the flood? Absolutely there were little children that died in the flood. Why? It wasn't because of any personal sin that they had done. It was because they sinned when Adam sinned. It was because we call it the, and there are lots today that do not believe this, When sin entered into the world, death entered by sin and death passed upon all. And when Paul says, for all have sinned, let me be perfectly clear. He meant at one moment in time, all sin. We sin in Adam. You say, Preacher, I don't believe that. Well, let me ask you this. You say, do you mean to tell me, Preacher, my brother, do you mean to tell me that this little baby that I hold in my hand is a sinner? I'm sorry, but yes, that baby was conceived and born in sin. From its womb it is going to speak lies. You say, I don't believe that. Now that baby is innocent. That baby has not committed any sin. Those children that are so young, they've not committed any personal sin. But I want you to understand that they were made sinners when Adam I see you say, well, I'm not a sinner. I'm not a liar because I've never told a lie. Telling a lie doesn't make you a liar. In other words, you're not a liar because you lie. You lie because you are a liar. You're not a sinner because you sin. You sin because you are a sinner. There's a difference. It's a creature, I don't believe that. This baby is perfect. I'm telling you, your baby is precious and your baby is innocent. But you mark her down as your baby begins to grow. The selfishness. lust and everything that is in human nature is in your child. You say, I don't believe that. My friends, let me ask you, when your baby wants its father, does it cry? When it wants your attention, does it cry? As it gets older, you know what? It doesn't just want my toy. It wants your toy, and your toy, and your toy. It wants them all, and it don't want to share it. Why is that? It's because we inherit our nature from Adam. Adam is the father of us all. He stood before God as the father of all men. You say, I don't believe that. Well, Paul says in Acts, I think it's chapter 17, he said, God is made by one man. Or he said, God is made of the blood of all men. Similar, God is made common. In other words, every nation is consumed and falls under the blood of one man. That covenant head, that Adam. And Paul said, when Adam sinned, his nature changed. You understand? He was no longer innocent. Why do you think that Jesus Christ must be born of a virgin? If he wasn't virgin-born, then he's just another son of Adam, and he's not fit to be a Savior. But because he was born of a virgin, he did not inherit that sin of Adam. Adam was not the seminal head of Jesus Christ. Do you understand the difference? The Apostle Paul said, because of one man's sin, because of one offense, sin entered the world, and death by sin, and death has passed upon all, for all have sinned. I'm telling you, drive any direction out of this place. Every graveyard that you come across, in order to make a stark reminder, we are And you say, that ain't fair. Well, maybe it is and maybe it's not. But I said I will bow down before those things. I do not understand. But I consider that to be fair. I consider that to be justice. I consider that to be true, that even though you have never done anything wrong when you're children, you are innocent. But God is still going to allow you to die. Some children never make it to the age of adulthood. It's not because they have sinned personally. It's because they're sinners coming from Adam. You understand that. Am I clear on that? You say that ain't fair. I believe it is, and I believe I'll bow down to it. And you say, why on earth would you submit to that kind of authority? Because if one man's sin could make me a sinner, then it also stands to reason that by the righteousness of one man, I can be saved. I'm telling you today, the greatest thing that ever happened to any last one of you, the greatest thing that ever happened to any man in the line of Adam was Jesus Christ coming to this earth and taking a nature of sin or taking a nature of man without the sin nature of Adam. and fulfilled the law of God perfectly. My friend, when he was here, he didn't commit sin. There was not one thing, there was not one thing, sin, I could lay host on him for and declare him to be a sinner. He was perfect in every regard, holy and righteous, separate from sinners, the scripture says. And what Paul is saying is if by one man's sin, all were made sinners, if by one passed upon all men, but by one man's righteousness. You understand that? The only hope any of us have. Now, we are either in Adam or we are in Christ. And when you've been born again, we talked about this Wednesday night, you can doubt it. I intended on preaching on Thomas today, the one who doubted, the one who said, I will not believe. Until I stick my hands into the print of his nails, until I see for myself, I will not believe. I've had a problem in my life at some times and another. With pounding is what God done for me. Was it real? I mean, that's a question that all of us deal with, probably at some point or another. And growing up, I would wonder, and my mind would always go back to what he done. Let me say this today. Even if you are the worst doubter, if God has saved you, you are saved the uttermost. You can doubt, but you're still saved. Now, if you've never been saved, you're an item, and your sin remains upon you. If you're not saved, if you die lost, if you've reached an age and it's different, you can't point and say, when you reach a certain age, now you're not innocent. It doesn't work like that. There are people as young as five years old that I believe have been convicted and been saved. Now there are people as old as probably teenagers or twenties that never come under conviction of sin. They were still sinners. But my friend, when that time comes, and there is no doubt about it, at least there wasn't for me. There was no doubt about it. The moment in time when innocency left me and I realized I was indeed a fallen sinner. I always had been, but the sin wasn't imputed to me, but I was still under the curse of Adam's sin. I could have died before I realized, I could have died before conviction came, and I would have went straight to glory. Little children, don't misunderstand me, little children, they will be in everlasting life in glory one day. My friend, they are innocent. but they still have a sinful nature. You do not have to teach them to lie, cheat, and steal. They learned that on their own. Matter of fact, they don't have to learn that. They inherited it from Adam. From Adam to Moses, death reigned over them, even over them that had not sinned. After the similitude of Adam's transgression, they were still sinners. But now, I remember the moment in time, and if you've ever been saved, you probably do too, when that day was listed, when God recognized, or God let you know and recognize, now I am a sinner. And there is nothing that you can do about it. Not one thing. The only thing that you can do, and let me rephrase, there is nothing that you can do in and of yourself to rectify that. You're a sinner. You're going to be found guilty for breaking the law of God. So what chance do any of us have? There is but one hope and there is but one chance. But I want to make this perfectly clear. He is and always will be the hope of sinners. He came into this world to save sinners. What Paul said in Romans is all of us were undeserving, all of us were guilty. All of us, every man, woman, and child, American, European, Asian, it matters not, black, white, rich, poor, it matters not. We are all sinners because we all came from Adam. And sin, when it left Adam, it was birthed into his children. As a matter of fact, one of his children killed the other, Cain killed Abel. Why? Because he inherited his father Adam's sin nature. You're not a murderer because you murder. You murder because you are a murderer. That's the difference. And so, sin came into the world through one man's disobedience. Many were made sinners. But it stands to reason, the greatest hope that ever came. You realize Paul said, if while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. I said Wednesday night that there may be moments in time that you can point to that say God loves me and He proved it here and here and here and here and here and here. There may be many moments in your life that you can point to, but I'll say this, there is not a greater moment than you can point to that says God loves me except across a Calvary when His own Son died so you could be saved. He gave us the opportunity. By one man's disobedience, all were made sinners. But by the obedience of one, Jesus Christ, many will be made righteous. My friend, we're all sinners, and we all, I don't care what the hyper-Calvinists say, we all have an opportunity to be saved. Every last one of us. And now the question is, when that day comes, if it comes upon you today, and you know without a shadow of a doubt that you are on Adam's side, that you are sinners in him, and that you yourself have done things. contrary to the law of God. That becomes the question. What now are you going to do? Remember, you're on one side or the other. You can run to this altar. You can bow at your seat. You don't even have to be on your hands and knees. My friend, with the depths of your heart and the inmost being of your soul, you cry out for mercy to the Lord and Savior, and He's able to save. By one man's obedience, thank God today. But you think about, if while we were sinners, God loved us that much to send His only begotten Son. He did that to us when we were unworthy. He did that for us when we weren't holy. We were dead, rotten, filthy sinners, degenerate sinners in His sight, fully guilty. And He loved us enough in that state to give His only Son. How much more do you reckon he's gonna love and show his love on them that follow him and take up our cross and follow him for the rest of our life? I don't serve him today because he drives me to. I serve him today because I was a sinner and now I am queen. You realize that? You say I still sin? but in the sight of God. I am not a sinner. I am holy, holy, holy. Now, but this flesh still sin, but there's a spot on the inside of me that's just as pure as the pure and white as snow. The sins were scarlet like crimson and God cleaned them and made me white as snow. So in the sight of almighty God, when he looks at me, he sees his son's blood covering my sin and I, And now in Christ, no more in Adam, I'm still gonna die. His flesh is still gonna die. But I lay hold to what he told Martha. He said, I am the resurrection and the life. And he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die. I'm in him. I'm no longer in Adam. That all changed the moment he saved my soul. I switched teams. I was in the transfer portal, I guess. I went from one team to the other, bought with a price. You understand today, it was my one man's sin that I was made a sinner, and it's my one man's righteousness that I've been made righteous. I'm telling you, it's the greatest truth, and people don't believe it today because they don't want to admit guilt, they don't want to admit sin, and they sure don't want to think about their little boy and girl as being sinners. I'm going to be perfectly honest, they're sinners. They're sinners, not because they've done anything, but because they sin in Adam. What did the scripture say? That Levi paid tithes when he was in the loins of Abraham. He paid tithes to Mechelzadek. What does that mean? Levi wouldn't be born for hundreds of years, but he was in the loins, in the seat of Abraham. And so he paid tithe. We were all in the loins, in the seat of Adam. That's why it was so important that Jesus Christ be born of virgin birth, not having that inherent seed. There are many contrasting things. Acts 17, I said it was by the blood of all nations. By one blood of all nations of men dwelleth on the face of the earth. By one blood, the blood of Adam. But you read on. and to Acts 17, and it says, At the times of sin God weaned Tad, but now he commandeth every man every way to repent. He said, Because he hath appointed a day in which God will judge the world by that man. See, he compared and contrast all the blood of Adam, but he's appointed one man to judge the world. You understand you're on one or the other. You're either in Adam or you're in Christ. He's Adam or he's whatever way you want to put that. You know what? You know what that God said when Adam sinned? Think about this. When Adam sinned, you say, I don't see the comparison. When Adam sinned, you can find in Genesis 2 or 3 what God said. Listen to what He said. He said, Behold, ye man. Now is one of us, as one of us. Behold, the man is now as one of us. Behold, the man. You say, what? What are you talking about, creature? That was Adam. Behold, the man was spoken of Adam. Where else do we hear that? When our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, And Pilate walked out of that temple, and he looked at that crowd, and he said, Behold the man! Same words. You see the comparisons. Adam or Christ. Behold the man. You're a sinner in Adam, or you're saved in Christ. And there is no in-between. It's one or the other. You're a sinner. And you need to be saved. But the good news is, there is a Savior that came to seek and to save sinners. And we'll refuse nobody that comes to Him through repentance and faith. Nothing more, but nothing less. You can be remorseful and never repent. Judas escaped. Two men betrayed Him in one night. Judas and Peter. Two men. You see the comparisons all the way through. Peter repeated. Judas was remorseful. You can be remorseful and never repent and go to hell. You must repent. Two men, Peter, Judas, were not contrasting stories when an Adam weren't in Christ. Two men, a Pharisee and a publican, Jesus said, went up to the temple to pray. The Pharisee, the Pharisee, the Pharisee lifted up his eyes proudly toward heaven. And he said, God, I thank you. I'm not like other men. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I possess. Well, good for him. He done a lot of good things. The publican, it said, standing afar off, standing there far off, would not so much as lift up his eyes into heaven, simply smote upon his breast and said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. He went down saved. He became in Christ. That Pharisee, as far as we know, died lost, still being an Adam. Two men, two destinies, two moments in time, two men, Adam and two men, Christ. You're in one or the other. Two men died, the rich man and Lazarus. One lifted up his eyes in hell, being in torment. And one was carried by the angel in Abraham's bosom. All through the scripture, you see two men. The wise man built his house on a rock. The foolish man built his house on the sand. Two men. Two stories. Two destinies. Adam and Christ. Paul in 1 Corinthians calls Adam the first Adam. You know what He calls Christ? He didn't call Him the second Adam. You know what He calls Him? The last Adam. There are but two. Never be another. The first Adam and the last Adam. Your eternity is bound up in one of those men. Inherit sin by Adam. Inherit righteousness by Christ. There is no other way for you to be saved. There is no other name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved. And by the name of Jesus, call out to Him, talk to Him, repent, believe. My friend, you say, I don't know how to do that, preacher. My brother Marty said, just talk to God. I had to admit what I was. When I came to him broken hearted, I knew I was a sinner. See, He let me know that. He let me know I was an Adam. But you know what? The moment He saved me that quick, He let me know that too. He let me know that. Now there are times I've doubted that, like Thomas. My doubts didn't keep me lost again. My doubts, it didn't matter, I was still saved. I decided to get all that worked out. Somebody said this Wednesday night, listen, if you've ever been saved, God will never deal with you as a sinner ever again. Not ever. Not ever. Because you've been saved. If you're waiting for conviction to come like that again, fear may come, doubt may come, was that it or was that not it may come, but conviction like that for a child of God will never come. It is cast away forever. Because in that moment in time, you no longer were bound to Adam, you have been bound to Jesus Christ. Forever. Two men. Two men, all the way through the Scripture. There are more, but I'll stop for now. That's probably enough. By one man, by one offense sent into the world. What did Paul say? By one man. By one man, many were made sin. He said, as in Adam, all die. But in Christ Jesus, all were made alive. If you're in Him, you'll live forever. Get your song. I appreciate you listening. You're here today and you're lost. You have the invitation. He's dealing with your heart. You're here today and you've got worries. Whatever it is, you follow Him. If you need to come and pray, you come and pray.