Well, dear brothers and sisters, before we come to the word of God for today, let's once again pray and ask the Lord's blessings on our time. Let's pray. Father, we thank you again for your great and matchless love to us, your people. We bless you, O God, that in the fullness of time Christ came, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might have the adoption as sons. We thank you, Lord, this day that many of us here have been adopted into your family. We have been brought out of the family of darkness, the family of Satan, and now we have the sonship of children of God. And we bless you, O God, for this royal title that many sons and daughters here this day belong to you because of your great conquering grace in our lives. We bless you, O God, then, for your goodness to us. Thank you for not leaving us to ourselves. And as we come, O God, this day to your word, we ask that you would fill us afresh with the Holy Spirit. We ask, O God, that you would rend the heavens and speak to us from the scriptures themselves. O God, give us help, we pray. We feel our weaknesses. Give us, then, power from on high. We ask these things through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. As we continue our short break in the Gospel of Matthew, we come today to begin a new mini-series of sermons on the subject of Calvinism, also known as the doctrines of grace. Now, there's an interesting phenomenon that is happening in our day in connection to these doctrines, and it is that these old grand truths of the Bible are actually in vogue in many places. I mean, today you have the young, restless, and reformed crowd who are thoroughly Calvinistic, and you have scores of people who are not afraid to wear the t-shirt which says, Jonathan Edwards is my homeboy. In addition to these things, you also have many, many throughout the world who regularly listen to such great Calvinistic preachers as John MacArthur, John Piper, Paul Washer, and Sinclair Ferguson, etc. And so, to be sure, Calvinism, the doctrines of grace, are becoming very popular in our day. Now, there was a time when, back in the early 90s, When I first embraced Calvinism, that if people knew this, they would have thought that I had gone off the theological deep end. If you were a Calvinist at that time, most people viewed you as one who had strayed from the faith because you no longer held to that popular form of theology, also known as Arminianism. Now, it's interesting to note that when one comes to embrace the doctrines of grace, they actually come connected to biblical and historical Christianity. You see, friends, the doctrines of grace, which speak about how a man, how a woman gets saved, make up a part of what is commonly called the Reformed faith. and those doctrines and those are doctrines rather which are found in the Word of God were affirmed by the early church and were rediscovered in the Protestant Reformation now sadly because most people are ignorant of their Bibles and church history they don't know these things but if you check the record you would see that this in fact is the case. Now, as I say, Calvinism is a part of what is known as the Reformed faith, and this is important for us to know, because Calvinism is not the whole pie of Reformed theology. Calvinism is an important part of Reformed theology, but as Reformed Baptists, we are not just Calvinistic Baptists. And this is because we hold to a full-orbed Reformed theology, which includes a Reformed confession of faith, that is to say, the 1689 London Baptist confession of faith. We hold to covenant theology, we hold to the regulative principle of worship and the church, and we hold to the Ten Commandments as being normative for the believer. And lastly, we hold to a Lord's Day Sabbath. Now, I would love to preach a series on each one of those biblical distinctives. However, For today, and for the next several weeks, we're just going to focus on this one point of Reformed theology, that is to say, Calvinism. Now why do we take up this mini-series of sermons on Calvinism at this point in the life of our church. Well, we do so for two reasons, and they are the following. First, there is always a danger among us who are very familiar with certain doctrines, and it is that we can forget why we believe what we believe or embrace something which is contrary to biblical Now, I'm not sure why this happens, dear ones, but for whatever reason, as Christians, to use the language of the Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 3 and verse 1, it is always good for us to be stirred up by way of reminder so that we will hold to that which is good and profitable for our souls. Dear brothers and sisters, there is good doctrine and there is bad doctrine, and if we forsake the good for the bad, it will always, it will always lead us down a horrible path, one which will take us a long time to recover from will secondly then we take up the series because there are many new folks in our congregation. God is goodness over the past year has been pleased to bring us many new families for which we thank him for and your pastors are convinced that now would be a good time for them to be instructed in those things most surely believe among us. If as a church we're going to hold to right doctrine, and if as a church we are going to be biblically grounded in the truth for our good and for God's glory, then it is very important that we are instructed in these matters. As we come then to consider this series which I've simply entitled, What is Calvinism? I ask you to consider with me first its basic definition, its basic definition. Now, for those of you who sat under my ministry, for some time. You know that whenever I begin a new series, I always begin with a definition. In my mind, before we can begin to consider any topic, it's crucial for us to know what it is we are studying, or else things will not go well for us. So what then is Calvinism? Well, in summary, Calvinism is that glad confession which is set forth in those three pregnant words, namely, God God saves sinners. God saves sinners. Now, friends, if you can get this first point, this part in the message concerning Calvinism, you are already heading in the right direction. What is Calvinism? What is it? Well, it is the recognition of the words found in Jonah chapter 2 and verse 9 which say that salvation is of The Lord, Calvinism, more fully expressed, is that system of theology which, in contrast to the man-centered, humanistic theology of Arminianism, focuses upon God's work and His glory in our salvation. Calvinism is a system of theology that begins with God and ends with God. Now, let me state something important at this point. for us to always be mindful of. Dear brothers and sisters, Calvinism did not come from John Calvin. No, ultimately it came from the Bible. Now, to be sure, Calvin believed the doctrines that we'll speak of today. And to be sure, his followers after him later systematized these truths as we shall see. However, the teaching that we will be considering from the Bible over the next several weeks does not belong to a man. Rather, they belong to the God of the man. Listen to Spurgeon, the great Reformed Baptist preacher, in this regard. Spurgeon says, quote, the doctrines which are called Calvinism did not spring from Calvin, for we believe they sprang from the great founder of all truth. Spurgeon says, quote, perhaps Calvin himself derived it mainly from the writings of Augustine and Augustine from the close observation of Paul's writings, and Paul received them from the Holy Ghost, from Jesus Christ, the great founder of the Christian dispensation. Spurgeon writes, quote, we use the term Calvinism then, not because we impute any extraordinary importance to Calvin having taught these doctrines for we would be just as happy to call them anything else or by any other name if we can find one which would be better understood and which on the whole would be consistent with the fact that brethren again I state this in the outset because this is very important for us to have in our minds and why simply put because at the end of the day it does not matter who said what about the Bible what matters is what does the Bible say about itself. If a man said something that the Bible says, we say yes and amen. However, if that individual does not speak according to the word of God, we reject what that man has said out of hand because the Bible is to be our final rule, our final bar of arbitration for all things. As our confession of faith rightly says, the Bible is to be, quote, our only sufficient, certain, infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and knowledge. Well then, having given you my definition of Calvinism, let me give you another one which I really like from the great Reformed theologian, B.B. Warfield. What does B.B. stand for? B.B. stands for Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield. Benjamin Breckinridge, well, Warfield, the great Reformed theologian and defining Calvinism said this, and I really like it, he said that Calvinism is, quote, Theism come to its rights. Calvinism is theism come to its rights. That is to say, in this system of theology called Calvinism, God, not man, but God has center In Calvinism, God is set forth in his rightful place above all others, and man is set forth in his rightful place, namely, as a lost sinner in desperate need of God's sovereign salvation. So having considered, firstly, the definition of Calvinism, note with me, secondly, its historical development. its historical development. Now under this heading, I want us to consider when and why the system of Calvinism was hammered out. from the Bible. Now, it's important for us to understand that the system of Calvinism is made up of five distinct but interrelated Bible teachings that are all linked together or that we're all linked together in response to a theology which was developed in Holland in the late 16th century. And this theology is associated with a man named Jacob Arminius. Now, the year is 1610, and Arminius, a Dutch professor, had died a year earlier, and his teachings were formulated by his followers into five points of doctrines known as the Five Points of Arminianism. Now, up until this point, the churches in Holland, by and large, heartily subscribed to the Belgic and Heidelberg Confessions of Faith, which, of course, were both very Calvinistic in their teachings. Although this was the case, nonetheless, the followers of Arminius were set on changing the major doctrinal position of the churches because they disagreed with Calvinism. And like Arminius themselves, they were leaning towards the humanistic doctrines of Erasmus, which stressed the sovereignty of man in salvation over the sovereignty of God. Well, so as to have a hearing, these followers of Arminius presented their five points of disagreement with Calvinism in the form of remonstrance or protest to the Dutch Well, a council was called and the five points of Arminianism were presented to the state and a national synod of churches were called to meet in Dort in 1618 to consider if the teachings of Arminianism were consistent with the scripture. This gathering, which is known as the Synod of Dort, sat for 154 sessions over a period of seven months, but at the end, the Synod could not find any ground, note it, any ground on which to reconcile the Armenian viewpoint with what the Bible taught. So, in other words, Arminianism was considered by the churches to be unbiblical. The Arminians lost the debate and their teaching was declared heretical. As I said earlier, because most Christians are ignorant of their Bibles and church history, these old condemned doctrines of Arminianism have once again gained wide acceptance in the modern church. While I said in the outset, Calvinism certainly is on the rise, sadly, in most broad evangelical churches, the emphasis in salvation is on what man does for God, not on what God does for man. Now, brethren, I think there is an application for me to make at this point, and it is that we cannot afford, we cannot afford to be ignorant of our Bibles and church history. Dear ones, listen. If you think about it, so many of the modern day heresies that have crept into the church are nothing but old heresies dressed in new religious garb. I think, for example, of T.D. Jakes with his horrendous and heretical doctrine of modalism, which is a blatant denial of the triune nature of the one true and living God and friends this doctrine of mortalism was condemned by the churches centuries ago and yet however, because most Christians are ignorant of this fact, this man T.D. Jakes has a huge following and is accepted by multitudes of people and applauded as a true biblical Christian. So friends listen, For your own good souls, I warn you, I encourage you, I exhort you, be a student of the Bible, be a student of church history. In God's word, we learn the truth. In history, we see what the church has said about that truth. Well, having denounced Arminian theology, the Reformed churches in the 1600s were called to respond to the errors, the deviations of the Armenians, and they did so with five of their own points, which are called the Five Points of Calvinism. That name was given in honor of Calvin's teachings. Now, these five points were summarized under the acronym of TULIP, which, by the way, is the national flower for Holland. Now, TULIP is an acrostic, and each letter stands for a doctrine that was most in dispute with the Armenians, and they stand for the following. So firstly, the T in the TULIP acronym stands for Total Spiritual Depravity, which is in direct opposition to the Armenian teaching of free will or human ability, the U in the acronym. stands for unconditional election, which is in direct opposition to the Armenian teaching of conditional election. The L stands for limited or particular atonement, which stands in direct opposition to the Armenian teaching of general atonement. The I stands for irresistible grace, or irresistible calling, which stands in opposition to the Arminian teaching of resistible grace, and the P stands for perseverance of the saints, which stands in opposition to the Arminian teaching that a truly saved person can fall from Grace, well these are the five points of Calvinism which again were drawn up in response to the erroneous teachings set forth by the followers of Jacob Arminius. If the followers of Arminius would not have written what they did, the churches would have continued to be Calvinistic. But because they did what they did, the true church had to stand for the truths of God's Word, which were once for all delivered to the saints. Well, as I said in the outset, over the next several weeks, we're going to look at each one of these five points of Calvinism in detail in light of the Bible. And for today, we come just to take up the first letter in the acronym TULIP, which is the letter T, which again stands for Total Spiritual depravity. Well, having seen then a definition of Calvinism and its historical development, consider with me thirdly its biblical exposition, its biblical exposition. Now, before we do this, as we begin to consider this matter of total spiritual depravity, let me quote for you the Arminian view as set forth by the Arminian remonstrance of the 1600s concerning the matter of man's condition. Before he is saved, the Arminian said, and I quote, although human nature was seriously affected by the fall, now listen, man has not, has not been left in a state of total spiritual helplessness. God graciously enables every sinner to repent and believe, but he does so in such a manner as not to interfere with man's freedom, interfere with man's freedom. Each sinner, said the Arminians, possess a free will, and his eternal destiny depends on how he uses it. Man's freedom consists of his ability to choose good over evil in spiritual matters. His will is not enslaved to his sinful nature. The sinner has power either to cooperate with God's spirit and be regenerated, or resist God's grace and perish. The lost sinner needs the Spirit's assistance, but he does not have to be regenerated by the Spirit before he can believe, for faith is man's act. and proceeds or goes forth before the new birth. Faith is the sinner's gift to God. It is man's contribution to salvation. I'm ashamed to even say those things from this pulpit, brethren. And for us who hold to the Reformed doctrine of the Bible, these thoughts make us cringe. These thoughts are patently unbiblical and filled with humanistic, self-centered thinking. I do like to be fair. I must say at this point that not all Armenians, not all non-Calvinists believe every single thing that that first point sets forth. However, sticking to the point at hand, we must say and must not lose sight of the fact that at its core, This is what most non-Calvinists believe. They may not agree with every jot and tittle, but at its core, this is the essence of what non-Calvinists believe. Non-Calvinists say that man has fallen, but he's not totally helpless. They say man is sick, but he is still able to repent and believe in and of himself. And they say that man's will, not God's will, but man's will is the determining factor in Now, of course this view as set forth by the Arminian scheme has similarities to three other heresies concerning man that were condemned centuries earlier by the Church, and the first was that which was espoused by a 5th century heretic named Pelagius. Now, Pelagius was a teacher of asceticism in Rome and began to teach doctrines concerning man, which stood in direct opposition to the scripture. Pelagius, for example, taught that every child who was born into the world is born good and without sin, and thus he denied the biblical teaching of original sin. As I was preparing this sermon this week, I wondered if Pelagius had any children. That surely would have fixed his bad doctrinal error at this point. born good. I think not. In addition to this, Pelagius also taught that Adamson only brought injury to himself. and to no one else, and thus Pelagius denied federal headship and federal representation. And he also believed that everyone born into the world after Adam is born in the same condition that Adam himself was born in before the fall. For Pelagius, sin in the world existed for the same reason why most pop psychologists tell us in our day, namely, because men pick up bad habits from their fellow Well, as most of you know, I trust it was the great opponent of Pelagius, namely Augustine, who showed from the Bible that Pelagius' teachings concerning man were absolutely unbiblical. And because of Augustine's writings against Pelagius, His errors were rejected by many. As one writer says, after Augustine dealt with Pelagianism, Pelagius' teachings could no longer be made plausible to the Christian mind. Well, after Pelagius was defeated, Pelagianism went underground for some time. However, unfortunately, it reemerged in a milder, more palatable form of theology known as semi-Pelagianism, which, unfortunately, many of the churches began to embrace in the following years. Now, this form of semi-Pelagianism is a hybrid, a compromise, if you will, between Pelagianism and Augustinianism, which, while teaching that man was not born into the world good, still insisted on the fact that man was not born totally depraved. Well, it was during the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century when the issue of the doctrine of man arose once again in the great debate between Erasmus and Martin Luther, the great Protestant reformer. Now, Erasmus, who was a humanist, strongly argued for man's freedom of his will, that man had a free will, so that he was able in and of himself to, quote, make a decision for Christ apart from God's work in his heart. Well, based upon the teaching of the Bible, Martin Luther utterly, utterly rejected this idea and wrote his famous book against Erasmus, that scathing condemnation of his writings. in that wonderful work entitled The Bondage of the Will. Well, of course, old heresies die hard, and so as we're discussing today, we see that the Arminian view of man, in a true sense, I believe, is nothing less, nothing, I should say, more than a refinement of what Pelagianism semi-Pelagianism, and Erasmus believe to some degree what Pelagianism, semi-Pelagianism, and Arminianism all have in common is that they present a synergistic form of salvation. That is to say, they view the beginning of man's salvation in regeneration, not that which is accomplished by a sovereign act of an all-powerful God, but rather that which is produced by God and man working together in some sense. And for those of you who know church history, you also know that this semi-Pelagian position is the position of the Roman Catholic Church. This is the view that they have adopted. In light of such Arminian teaching in the 1600s, we ask, how did the Calvinistic party respond to this first point of the five points of Arminianism concerning man in his unregenerate state? Well, they did so, the Calvinists, by making the following statement in contrast to the Arminian view of man. Let's hear the Calvinists. They said, quote, because of the fall, man is unable of himself to savingly believe the gospel. That's correct. The sinner is dead, blind and deaf to the things of God. Yes, his heart is deceitful and desperately corrupt. Yes, his will is not free. It is in bondage to his evil nature. Therefore, he will not listen. Indeed, he cannot choose good over evil in the spiritual realm. Consequently, said the Calvinist, it takes much more than the Spirit's assistance to bring a sinner to Christ. It takes regeneration by the Spirit, which makes a sinner alive to salvation, but is itself a part of God's gift of salvation. Now, speaking about faith, faith is not something man contributes to salvation. That is part of God's gift of salvation. Faith is God's gift to the sinner, not the sinner's gift. to God. Well, if you're at all familiar with your Bible, dear Friend, you know what, or rather that these statements are completely in line with Scripture, as we shall see in a few moments. When man fell into sin, he was not just a little bit affected by the fall of Adam, who represented all of us. No, but rather, according to Ephesians 2 and verse 1, man became dead, dead, not just wiggling a little bit, not just hurt, not just wounded, but dead in trespasses and sins. While, of course, man is able to choose many natural things, where he will go out to eat, what college he will go to, what shoes he should wear, what suit he will purchase by his fall into sin. To quote our confession of faith, he has only lost all ability to will any spiritual good accompanying salvation. He's only lost it in the fall because he's a dead sinner. Not just a wounded, not just a hurt, not just a broken, but a dead sinner. Now friends, in just speaking about these matters, I hope you see how important these issues are. I hope you see that. I say, beloved, that if we do not begin our understanding of salvation with a proper view of man and his condition, we will never understand and appreciate the glorious free grace of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Man will always be the center of things, not God, not his glory, not his free grace. Brothers and sisters, if we don't begin with a proper view of man, we will be messed up at every other point of theology. And so we must have this matter straight concerning man. The two systems of Arminianism and Calvinism are diametrically opposed. One is correct. One is wrong. One proclaims a God who saves sinners by his free and sovereign grace. The other presents a God who enables sinners to save themselves. Therefore, again, we must get this matter right. So what then is the true condition? of those who are outside Christ, biblically speaking. Is man just merely broken a little bit, or is his spiritual condition far worse than this? Well, let's begin our study, then, of the biblical exposition of the first point of Calvinism by defining our terms. Let's define our terms again. When we say as Reformed Christians that man is totally depraved, what exactly do we mean? Well, let me state the matter firstly negatively and then positively. So firstly, negatively, total depravity, listen closely, is not to be understood as utter depravity. That is to say that unsaved people are as wicked as they can possibly be. We are not saying this at all. Further, it does not mean that an unsaved individual does not have a conscience, nor does it mean that there is no such thing as common decency among the unregenerate. It doesn't apply in any of these things at all. An unsaved person can work hard, support his family, give good gifts to his children, and be faithful to his wife, which are all good things on the human level, although having absolutely no saving merit before God Almighty. So please, friends, don't misunderstand what I am saying here concerning this matter of total spiritual depravity. Even though men are totally depraved, by God's restraining grace they are not as bad as they could be. So having stated the matter negatively, let's consider it positively. When we speak of total depravity or total inability, we are saying now that since the fall of man, sin and sinfulness has extended to every facility of the human soul and body. We are saying that there is no capacity, there is no facility in the human heart which is exempt from the pollution of sin. Brothers and sisters, by nature, sin corrupts the whole fall. It affects every part of our beings, our bodies, our souls, our minds, our emotions, and yes, even our wills. For Jesus says in John 6 and verse 65, literally, no man is able to come to me unless the Father draws him the doctrine of total spiritual depravity teaches us that unsaved people are completely and totally corrupted by sin. They are in bondage to it while outside of Christ. I'll be sure this definition of total spiritual depravity is absolutely different than what the Armenians have painted for us concerning man's spiritual condition. And this is certainly certainly a different picture from what the world paints before our eyes every single day. But dear friends, today the humanist and the secularist teach that man is what? Basically good. Oh really? We're told today that he has a good heart, that he murders and does all wicked things all day long, that he's a good person. Even though, biblically speaking, he is stinking in the nostrils of a holy God. Well, friends, contrary to what the world says, we must believe what God says. We must believe God's portrait of us. Contrary to what most teach in the public schools, sin has penetrated man to the very core of his being, to the very core of his existence. Man is a rebel. He hates God. The Spurgeon rightly said, quote, as the salt flavors every drop in the Atlantic, so does sin affect every atom of our nature. Well, having stated these things, we need to consider now the scriptural witness to these assertions. I mean, can these doctrines of man's total spiritual nature, this doctrine which speaks about his Inability to do any spiritual good while one's saved, can it really be substantiated from the Word of God? Well, to be sure, it most certainly can. In the time that remains before we come to applications, we're going to do a high-level tour of the Bible concerning this doctrine, looking at various passages which speak to this matter. Now, typically, as you know, When it comes to preaching the Bible, I preach the Bible verse by verse. However, when it comes to studying out a particular doctrine in the Bible, in order for us to do this rightly, we must look at all of the various passages or the main passages which speak about a subject so that we can be convinced of its truthfulness. And so for today, instead of just focusing on one text, we're going to look at several key verses in this regard. So why don't we begin? Why don't we begin our study concerning the doctrine of man, his spiritual condition. Well, we begin in the beginning with man, when after setting forth in the opening chapters of the Bible that God made man in his own image and likeness, and that in that state man was pure and innocent. Sadly, as we know, Genesis chapter 3, a great spiritual fall took place. Our first parents, Adam, and he who represented this all rebelled against God and fell from their original righteousness and we in them and thus we have inherited spiritual death and the corrupt nature so much so that the Apostle Paul can say in first Corinthians 15 in verse 22 note the reference for as in Adam all die. As an Adam Paul says, every single person dies. Again, speaking about this matter. Federal headship, Adam representing us all. Paul can say in Romans 5 and verse 12, Therefore, just as through one man, namely Adam, sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. When did all sin? In the garden. Why? Because we were in Adam's loins, and when he fell, we fell with him and in him. How then does the Bible describe us after this great spiritual tragedy? In other words, how are we pictured as unbelievers? Are our hearts pictured as good? Are we described in the Bible as being pure and holy, desiring God and His ways and His will, while in an unregenerate state? Let's see the answers to some of these questions by noting first, God's description of man after the fall as set forth in Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5. Please turn with me there in your Bibles. Genesis 6 and verse 5. Genesis 6 and verse 5. In speaking about human beings after the fall, here, and note this, in the very first description in the word of God of man's heart, The very first description of man's heart in the Bible, we read the words which say, Genesis 6 and verse 5, follow with me in your Bibles, then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, now note it closely, and that every, every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Now, dear friends, if there was only one verse in the Bible that we needed to use in order to support the reformed biblical doctrine of man's spiritual condition while still in an unsaved condition, here we have such a verse. Here we are told that every intention, none excluded, every intention of the thoughts of man's heart was only evil, and that literally all the day. All the day. Here we see how corrupt man became from the fall in his headship under Adam and in his own actual sin before God. This passage teaches us that man is thoroughly corrupt internally speaking. Does it say that he's only sick? It doesn't say that he's sick. It says that he's radically depraved. Every intent of the thoughts of his heart. Only evil. And that all the day. And that all the day. Not in conforming to God's ways. Not wanting to do His bidding. Not seeking to follow after Christ. But an evil, rebellious heart all the day long. That was you, dear Christian. before you were saved. That was me. I wasn't thinking about God. I loved my sin. I did not wake up and say, Oh, Lord, I want to serve you this day. I hated God. Although I love the God that I had made to suit my sin. A holy and righteous God who commands me to follow after him, I would have none of that God. Why? Because my heart spiritually speaking, was evil all the day long. This is God's picture. God who sees the heart. Now, someone might say, concerning this condition of man, that what is set forth in Genesis 6 only describes man before God brought the great flood on the earth. to destroy man while in such an evil condition. Well, this would be nice. However, I want you to notice with me what we read about unsaved people after the flood in Genesis 8 in verse 21. OK, the flood has come. God's destroyed all humanity, save eight souls. Now, notice what happens. God was done, he wiped his hands of them. Great. But what happened after man came out of. The ark. Genesis 8, 21, in the days after the destruction, notice what we read. I'll pick up at verse 20. Then Noah, now on dry land, built an altar to the Lord and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. Now notice the language. And the Lord smelled a smoothing aroma. Then the Lord said in his heart, I will never again curse the ground for man's sake. Now note the language. Although. or even though the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth, nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. My dear brother, my dear sister, the flood did not cure man of his spiritual malady. It did not. pure man of his great sinfulness. This passage says that from his youth, from his youth, that is from his earliest days, man's heart is evil. Now again, beloved, I know that this is not what the psychologists nor the positive thinkers or most pastors in our day teach. But this is what the Bible says about us. This is what God says about the matter. This is how God, who cannot lie, sees all things. Man is not good in God's sight. He is not pure within. He has a corrupt, a foul nature. He is a rebel against the Almighty. From the time we were conceived in the womb, we came forth into this world, spiritual, stillborns. Now, this fact is perhaps most clearly seen in that well-known Psalm of David, Psalm 51, and I ask you to turn with me there in your Bible, Psalm 51. Note the language, Psalm 51, page 652 in the Pew Bible. Psalm 51. Here we have that famous Psalm of repentance, which David uttered after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba. Well, after confessing his guilt to God and asking Him to cleanse him, in verses 1 to 4, notice with me how David now identifies the root of his sinfulness, the root of his sinful actions, in verse 5. He says in verse 5, note the words, Behold, behold, I was brought forth in iniquity. And in sin did my mother conceive me. Now, friends, to be sure, David here in this language is not speaking about any sin that his mother and father had committed in their sexual union, which brought David forth. No, absolutely not. Rather, what he's speaking about is that what came forth as a result of that sexual union was that a little sinner was conceived. Here, David says, is where his problem began. Have mercy on me, O God. Forgive me according to your tender mercies. Wash me from my sins. Cleanse me thoroughly. I acknowledge my transgression. My sin is always before me against you, and only you have I sinned and done this evil, O God, that you might be found just when you speak and blame us when you judge. David reflects and says, Lord, the truth of the matter is my real problem in life. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity. I came forth as a little sinner, as a little rebel against the Almighty. In this verse, as Matthew Henry rightly says, quote, David is confessing his original corruption. Henry says, quote, Though David's mother, by grace, was a child of God, she was by nature a daughter of Eve and not accepted from the common character. Henry says this is what we call original sin because it is as ancient as our original and because it is the original of all of our actual transgressions. This, says Henry, is that foolishness which is bound in the heart of a child, to which I say, amen. The root of our problem by nature is not that we're products of society, but the root of our problem by nature is, according to Jeremiah 17 in verse 9, that our hearts are desperately wicked. They are full of sin. Our hearts, says Jeremiah, are deceitful, hardened to God. Now, of course, Our Lord Jesus Christ confirms this fact, does he not? He does. In Mark 7, verses 20 to 23, and I ask you to turn with me there in your Bibles. Mark 7, note the language. Mark 7. Mark 7, verses 20 to 23, here in correcting the externalism of the Pharisees, In the context, Jesus says to his own disciples, picking up at verse 20, note the language, and he that as Jesus said, what comes out of a man that defiles him. Notice why, notice the basis, notice the rationale for that statement. For, here's why this is true, from within, out of the heart of men proceeds evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, theft, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. Now in his summary statement, verse 23, all these evil things come from within and defile a man. Friends, I don't think language could be clearer than this. From within, out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, theft, murder, adultery, fornication. You say, what in the world is going on with this world? Why are people the way they are. Why so many murders and adulteries and fornications and so much pride and envy and strife? The last place the world looks is here. The first place God looks is here. This is our problem. The heart is the problem. Here Jesus says that all of our moral evils have their origin in our fallen and depraved hearts. Our passage teaches us that because our hearts are defiled, we live sinful lives. And because we live sinful lives, the Apostle Paul could say, in giving us that true picture of mankind, true biblical anthropology, Romans 3 verse 9 and following, Paul can say concerning all of us by nature outside of Christ, there is none righteous. No, not one. There is none who understands, none who seeks after God. They have together become unprofitable. They have turned aside. There is none, N-O-N-E. There is none who does good. No, not one. This sounds like the world that we live in. Why? Because the world that we live in has a heart problem. They have a spiritual malice. My dear friends, according to the Apostle Paul in Romans 8 in verse 7, the unsaved person is at war with God. And therefore Solomon, the wisest man in all the earth, was right when he said in Ecclesiastes 7 in verse 20, there is not a just man on the face of the earth who does good and sins not well in light of such teaching their brothers and sisters. Is it any wonder, I just ask, is it any wonder why Jesus Christ said in John chapter 3 that we must be born again? Any wonder at this point anyone scratching their heads? Who did Jesus say that to? Wow. He said it to a very religious morally accepted guy, guy who went to church a lot, synagogue, man who spoke very religious, hung out with the religious elite in his day, did a lot of religious things, so that all would think, surely if anyone's going to heaven, it's religious Nicodemus! He wasn't like the tax collectors and the harlots. He was a synagogue goer. He knew the Shema. Jesus said to that man, unless you're born again, you will never go to heaven. You Nicodemus, though religious, just like the harlot, you need a new heart. You need to be born again, friend. You are in a terrible spiritual condition. There should be no question in our minds as to why Jesus said we must be born again. Friends, if we're ever going to be made with God, we need to have radical spiritual heart surgery done on us. And only Jesus Christ can do this. And here's where I pause just to speak to any here this day who are not saved. You're not true Christians. My dear friend here today, you have absolutely no hope in yourself of being made right with God. You cannot be right with God in and of yourselves, but praise be to God, there is one who can help, the mighty Jesus, the Savior. My dear friends, Jesus Christ is the one who gives life to dead sinners through the gospel. He makes the dead alive. And so therefore, this day, the only thing you can do is ask Jesus to save you. You can't save yourself, but Jesus can save you. Jesus can give you a new heart. He, through the gospel, by the Spirit's operation, takes out hearts of stone and He gives hearts of flesh. And that's what you need to happen to you this day, my dear unsaved person. You need a new heart. And you can't give yourself a new heart. You need to have something done for you, which you can't do yourself. Nothing you can ever do can change your heart. Not by joining the church, not by being baptized, not by any religious work. nor destitute of any ability to save yourself dead in trespasses and sins. But Christ resurrects the dead by His almighty power and sovereign grace. He's here today and in an instant He can transform your heart and make it alive. My dear non-Christian here today, younger person, older person, you will continue in your rebellious course. You will continue down the bad path you are in until Jesus gives you a new heart. You're shut up to Christ. But that's a good place to be. Close to the Savior. Lord, if you don't save me, If you don't change me within, Lord, I've tried everything. From pulling myself up on my own bootstraps, to turning over a new leaf, to this, to that, to the other. Nothing works. Why? Because it's not dealing with the root of the problem. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity. What do you do? You cry out. with David at the end of that psalm, and you say, created me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me. You see, God works for the gospel, the good news that Jesus died for sinners, and based on his atonement on behalf of the guilty, the spirit of God enables dead sinners, even in this place, to believe upon Christ. Christ died for our sins, was buried, rose again on the third day. He is now at the right hand of God, the living Savior, who saves dead sinners from their horrible condition. Only Christ can save you. Call upon Him, my friend, to do this even now. Well, so ends then our teaching for today concerning the first letter in the acronym TULIP, which represents the Bible's doctrine concerning man's spiritual condition while outside of Christ. By nature, unsaved man is not good. Based on the Bible, he's rotten to the core. He's dead in trespasses and sins. Contrary to popular opinion, to quote the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2, we are all by nature children of wrath. Well, in the time that remains, I want to draw out several applications for us who are Christians based upon what we've seen today. Having considered this material of total spiritual depravity, what lessons, dear brothers and sisters, can we, who are Christians here today, take for ourselves? There are several things in the First Assist. Dear congregation, in light of what we've seen today, we should be people who greatly praise our God for His magnificent grace that He has shown us in Jesus, and that He freed us from our horrible, native, spiritual, condition. We were held fast by our sins. We couldn't will for God to save us. We were aliens and strangers to the covenants of promise. We were in a far country, spiritually speaking. But if you're a Christian here today, God came and he rescued you. He took your rotten, dirty hearts And He gave you a new one, spiritually speaking, so that now you say, Lord, I do want to serve You. Oh, I still sin and I fall short of Your glory. Yes, I stumble. And I don't love You as I ought. But I do love You. And I do praise You. And I do want to follow You, Lord. How did these things happen, dear Christian? God. And God alone. Salvation is of the Lord. And especially as Reformed Christians who have a biblical anthropology. We ought to praise God far above the Armenians. Because we understand what took place. A mighty act of a sovereign God broke in and took out my heart of rebellion. and gave me a heart that now loves God and wants to serve God and live for God all by His grace. When I was dead, when I was not looking for Him, He came looking for me. And with an outstretched arm, He redeemed me to Himself. Secondly then, dear believer, having considered this one key error of Arminianism, I must say something about the disposition that we are to have. towards those who do not hold to reform theology. Now, brothers and sisters, just because someone doesn't quite see things as we see them theologically, or just because people might differ with us on a dozen other doctrines, if they are true believers, which many Armenians are, this gives us no right to treat such individuals as if they are sub-Christians, or even worse, not Christians at all. Beloved, this is wrong. And I pray that it will never be named among us in this place. Our goal in life should not be to make Arminians Calvinists. Our goal in life should be to preach Christ and Him crucified. Okay? Now, if in God's providence you run into an Arminian who's saved and you start speaking to him about the doctrines of grace, and by God's doing he's open to the Word and all that, great! Be used of God to bring your brother, your sister, into a more excellent way. Yes. But let's not un-Christian someone because they don't get all of these things. Be patient with your Arminian friend. As Whitefield said, we're all born by nature, Arminians. We all think that God loves everyone and that we're able to do this and that until we read our Bibles. But we ought to be gracious toward Arminians. Why? Because many of them are our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Nothing worse than a combative Calvinist. And you always know the new Calvinist. How do you know the new Calvinist? Because the moment a person becomes a Calvinist, he wants to see every single person he knows become just like he is. All he talks about. Going after all the Armenians. Every place. Anytime he snitches one out, I'm going after him. Hurt. I'm going to show them how they're wrong. I'm going to show them how man is dead and trespassing. He doesn't have a free will. He's a slave to sin. Romans 6. Well, for us who have been Calvinistic for decades, I hope that we have a better disposition so that we can say with Paul, what do we have that we have not received? And if we received it, why do we act as if we did it of our own accord? Anything we know about God and man, Christ and his atonement is only by God's grace. Let's not be prideful. Thirdly, we learn from what we've considered today, our great need to do the work of evangelism, evangelism, evangelism, why evangelism? Well, because dear ones, we're told in James chapter one in verse 18 and first Peter chapter one in verse 23, that people are born again by the word of truth. That is to say dead sinners are born again through the preaching of the gospel. Beloved, the gospel, when preached in truth and accompanied by the Holy Spirit, when that happens, God owns that truth to the saving of souls. And one thing we must remember is that although man's fallen condition is great, the gospel is greater. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation, so that when I preach the gospel every week, I know people are dead, I know they can't respond, but the gospel is greater. than their deadness. It's greater than their lack of response. That's how we became Christians, through the gospel. Because the gospel is the means by which dead sinners are made alive in Christ Jesus, the Lord. Here's where I must say something against the error of what is commonly called hyper-Calvinism. While rightly rejecting Arminianism's view of man, hyper-Calvinists are imbalanced in their approach to the free and sovereign grace of God to the extent that they see no need of evangelizing the lost. Man's dead, God will save him. Huh? Let me look at that. Man is dead. Is that right? Is it? He's dead. God will save him if he's elect. Is that right? Great. And what's the piece that's missing in the middle? It's the question, how does he save them? Right. Man is dead. And God alone saves them. Great. How does he get saved? My Bible says it's through the foolishness of the thing preached that God ordained that men would be saved. It is through the preaching of the gospel. And dear friends, let me say that any approach or any attitude in the Christian life that denies evangelizing the lost completely flies in the face all of the scriptural mandate which says go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature. What, Jesus didn't know about total depravity? He was ignorant of it? He was an Arminian? I think not. Jesus taught that men are dead in sins. Jesus taught that men must be born again. Jesus taught that men cannot come to Him of their own accord. And then he taught, preach the gospel to all men. How could you do that? Because the two go together. Because yes, men are dead, but the gospel is the means to quicken men to faith in Christ. And those are two things that we must always keep in balance. Yes, unsaved men and women are lost, dead and trespassed in sins, and only God can save them. However, the means by which God saves fallen men and women is through the life-transforming power of the gospel of Christ. Lastly, then concerning this matter of total spiritual depravity. I think that having considered this doctrine today, a fresh dear brothers and sisters, we have a call to holy living. My time is just about gone. A call to holy living. Now, why would I say this? Well, I do so because by God's grace, dear Christian, we are no longer what we used to be. We're no longer totally depraved in the sense of the unbeliever. At one time, we were slaves to sin. But now, by God's doing, Paul says we are what? The slaves of righteousness. And therefore, Paul could rebuke the Romans and say, what in the world are you doing? Don't you know that you're no longer a slave to sin? Therefore, live as a slave to righteousness, to holiness. You once were this, but now you're this. So Christian, I ask you, do you live as a slave to righteousness? I ask you, professing Christian here today, man, woman, boy or girl, are you a holy person? Do you live distinctly as a Christian? seeking to put all of God's ways first. Or are you living for yourself? All of this is seen in how we dress, in how we act, in how we speak, in the music we listen to, in the things we watch on the television. What is holiness? It is separateness from sin. And it is a separateness unto God and His ways and His truth. If we say something radical has happened in our hearts, we ought not to be living as if this has not happened. Dear Christian, examine yourself today and think about an area in your life where sin may be getting the upper hand. Maybe it's a tongue that is not controlled. Maybe it's pride, lust, whatever it might be. And bring it to Christ and say, oh Lord, this is inconsistent with what it means to be a godly Christian. I repent of it. I ask you to forgive me. I pray that by the Holy Ghost you empower me to mortify the deeds of the flesh. For Paul said in Romans 8, if by the Spirit of God you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you shall live. Are you living holy, Christian? May it ever be. May God give us grace not only individually, but as a corporately-to-be people who glorify the grace of God in His mighty salvation that He has wrought in our lives. Let's pray. Father, if You had not come We would be still lost, dead in our sins. We thank you, therefore, O Lord, for your grace. We don't deserve any of it. But you freely bestowed it upon us for salvation is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God who shows mercy. Thank you, Lord, for showing mercy to the likes of us. We bless your name this day. We pray it in Jesus' name, Amen.