WEBVTT 00:00:01.760 --> 00:00:08.400 I want to begin this morning just in uh I want to share two thoughts um and then we're gonna dive into our message. 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:30.719 But um the uh at the Tom Bigby Association, one of the ministers made a comment, and y'all may have heard it before, but it just so struck me, and the implications of it struck me, and the the statement that he made was he was referring to the Lord's deliverance, and he was talking about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:42.880 And we all know the story, uh, how those young men were you know were cast into the fiery furnace, you know, with the because they refused to bow down, you know, to the king and worship him. 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:58.640 And uh the comment that the minister made was this he said, Do you know that God could have delivered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace? 00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:00.399 But he didn't do that. 00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:08.079 Instead, he delivered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace. 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:22.719 And, brother sisters, what struck me about that was that oftentimes you and I want and expect the Lord to deliver us from something, right? 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:27.040 And Lord, you know, why didn't you show up, you know, before this happened? 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:31.920 Or Lord, why didn't you uh, you know, do this in a timely manner or whatever? 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:37.280 And oftentimes the Lord chooses to deliver us in the midst of our trials. 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:42.799 And so uh He didn't go into a great amount of uh of talking about that. 00:01:42.879 --> 00:01:52.319 I just when he made that statement, it just so struck me that you know oftentimes you and I we get mad at the Lord because of his timing. 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:56.319 And but it's not our timing, it's his. 00:01:56.879 --> 00:01:58.799 And he knows better than we do. 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:13.680 Because the thing is, is that if the Lord would have delivered them from the fiery furnace, he would not have gotten the same amount of glory as he did having delivered them in the furnace. 00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:19.840 That, you know, the king looked in there and saw a fourth, a fourth, one who looks like the Son of God. 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:31.439 And then the whole nation got to be witness to the fact that, you know, the men that were throwing them in the furnace were literally consumed, but then these men walked out of the flame untouched. 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:41.840 And so God got a greater measure of glory, and a whole nation bowed down to God as a result of how the Lord chose to deliver them. 00:02:41.919 --> 00:03:07.039 And that just very much struck me, and I just wanted to share that with y'all this morning, and I also wanted to share with y'all this morning uh something that, again, and I'm not going to preach that message, but I had attempted to uh preach on uh a message in regard to the church and the bride of Christ uh while I was at uh the Tom Bigby Association, and how important and beautiful you folks are. 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:12.879 Uh that it is our job as ministers to serve the bride, to serve the church. 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:20.800 And, you know, Christ obviously came and he set that example because he he died on behalf of God's children, he served his bride. 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:31.919 But the other thing that the Lord did is that he has provided the ministry to come alongside of him, to be under-shepherds, and continue to feed and protect and watch over his bride. 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:42.800 But one of the statements that I ran across while I was studying that about what the what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us was written by John Gill, who was a Baptist minister from England. 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:52.639 And I wanted to read you just one statement, one quote that he said about Christ giving himself for us as an offering. 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:57.039 And this is what he says, quote, about Christ. 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:40.160 He gave away his time, service, and strength, his name, fame, and reputation, all the comforts of life, and life itself, his whole human nature, soul and body, and that as in union with his divine person, and that not only for the good of his people, but in their room instead, not for angels, not for all men, but for his chosen ones. 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:44.319 The church, his sheep, his people. 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:50.480 And he did all this when they were sinners. 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:52.560 Isn't that amazing? 00:04:53.839 --> 00:04:59.600 And yet, you and I want to keep so much of ourselves. 00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:04.959 You know, in America, we celebrate our rugged individualism. 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:08.560 Look at me, look at what I've done, look at my accomplishments. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:10.160 Well, how does that affect me? 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:11.759 How does that affect my life? 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:13.920 How does that affect my family? 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:16.800 And look at what the Lord Jesus Christ did. 00:05:17.759 --> 00:05:23.199 He literally poured himself out for you and I. 00:05:23.519 --> 00:05:24.160 Amen. 00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:27.040 That's uh what an example he set. 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:29.600 Now, let's dive off into the message today. 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:36.000 I just uh wanted to share those couple thoughts with you that were from the meeting that I just felt were very wonderful. 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:51.279 Um so through the last several weeks, uh, you and I have been looking at from the standpoint of a person who is a Christian, but they don't believe in the teachings of the Bible regarding predestination election. 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:54.319 Uh and we have looked at several thoughts about that. 00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:58.000 We've looked at that uh why is that the case? 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:04.639 Why is it the case that many Christians do not believe in the biblical teachings about predestination election? 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:10.720 The first thing that I brought to you was that these doctrines are not widely and properly taught. 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:19.040 So it's a lack of ignorance, it's a lack of understanding that the doctrines are just simply not properly and widely taught. 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:22.399 So a lot of Christians just don't know about them and don't believe in them. 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:24.240 That was the first point that I made. 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:36.720 There's a lot of people that simply don't like the doctrines of predestination election because that is not their idea of who God is, and that's not their idea of how God saves people. 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:38.399 So that's a problem. 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:52.480 Well, the third thing, and we preached on last Sunday, uh, the last couple Sundays, is how that predestination election conflicts with a lot of Christians' idea of free will. 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:58.800 That, you know, this is contradictory to how they understand that free will works. 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:08.560 So this morning I want to take up another step in this process looking at the problems that people have with predestination election. 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:22.480 And it's this is that predestination election in a lot of people's minds conflict with their understanding of man's ability and man's responsibility toward God. 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:29.759 In other words, what responsibility do I have toward God if I'm just uh destined for hell, you know, what am I supposed to do? 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:32.160 Or if I'm destined for heaven, how does that work? 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:34.879 And so I want to clarify that this morning. 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:37.839 So we're gonna talk about this in two ways. 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:48.000 We're gonna talk about this first, talking about the lost man, the man who does not know Christ and what his ability or lack thereof is. 00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:50.639 So we're just gonna dive into it. 00:07:51.279 --> 00:08:02.639 So, first off, I want to give you a series of statements that are supported by scriptures, and I'll give you the scripture verses that go along with these, but I want to, for time's sake, we're not gonna read every single one of them. 00:08:02.959 --> 00:08:05.920 So the first statement of this about the lost man. 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:15.759 The natural man will not and cannot come to Christ of his own power. 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:18.800 Is that not a true statement according to the Bible? 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:27.120 That the natural man will not and cannot come to Christ of his own power. 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:31.199 So you see that the lost man, well, Brother Josh, where is that found? 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:40.000 2 Corinthians 2, 14, for the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned. 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:42.399 How about John chapter 6, verse 44? 00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:47.120 No man can come to me except the Father which has sent me, draw him. 00:08:47.519 --> 00:08:57.519 So the natural man, the lost man in his original state, is literally unable to come to God in his lost state. 00:08:57.600 --> 00:08:58.720 He can't do it. 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:00.879 Well, what's the second thing? 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:03.759 And we've already talked about this some before. 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:09.200 The natural man is spiritually dead. 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:10.080 Right? 00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:14.960 I mean, that is the death that we suffered, that Adam and Eve suffered in the garden. 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:27.360 We looked at that last Sunday in regard to Ephesians chapter 2, that uh talking about that that God had to quicken us or make us alive because we were dead in our trespasses and our sins. 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:38.159 Go back and read Ephesians chapter 2, verses 1 through 5, and you will clearly see in the scriptures that man in his natural estate is dead to the things of God. 00:09:38.639 --> 00:09:49.440 So now we've already painted a picture of a man who cannot come to Christ in his own power, a man who is dead spiritually to the things of God. 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:56.720 Now, we also have already labored on the fact that man's will is not free. 00:09:57.120 --> 00:10:01.519 Instead, man's will is enslaved to his own sin. 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:10.159 We read about that in John chapter 8, verse 34, that uh whoever sins is the servant, bond servant. 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:12.000 Literally, it means slave to sin. 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:21.840 Well, Brother Josh, I'm a little bit confused about the fact that you're still talking about the will, and yet you're also talking about a man who is spiritually dead. 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:23.360 We're gonna get to that in a minute. 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:31.519 In other words, that is it contradictory to say that a man is dead to the spiritual things of God, but yet his will is enslaved. 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:35.120 Well, if a dead man doesn't have any will anymore, he's lying there dead on the ground. 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:38.559 Well, we're gonna explain that in just a minute, and I want you to follow me. 00:10:38.799 --> 00:10:44.879 But but for right now, just track with me that uh man will not and cannot come to God. 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:46.000 He's unable. 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:53.759 Man is spiritually dead, and man's will is not free, it is enslaved to his fallen nature. 00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:54.480 Okay? 00:10:55.440 --> 00:11:00.799 Not only that, we learn in the scriptures that man's mind is set against God. 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:03.679 Man's mind is actually hatred against God. 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:08.320 He doesn't want the things of God, he doesn't want to conform, he doesn't want to submit. 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:11.360 Uh that's in Romans chapter 8, verses 6 through 8. 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:15.759 That the uh man who is in the flesh, he cannot please God. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:19.200 His mind is literally set against God and the things of God. 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:22.080 Go read Romans chapter 8, verses 6 through 8. 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:24.320 Again, we're not going to preach that again. 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:25.919 Another point. 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:30.159 Now, this is where I wanted to go with this. 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:38.960 Men still have a will, even though they are dead, and they're trespassing the sins. 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:46.240 Men still have a will, and they act according to their nature. 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:51.919 In other words, brothers and sisters, we're not saying that men and women don't have a will. 00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:58.000 Even men and women who are bound up in sin, men who are spiritually dead. 00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:01.120 We're not saying that those men don't have a will. 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:09.440 What we are saying, according to the Bible, is that they absolutely will act according to their nature. 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:24.960 In other words, the man who is a fallen lost man, who his will is, who is dead to spiritual things, he's only going to act in his will by his nature in a fleshly, earthly, fallen manner, you understand? 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:30.159 So that man of his own accord is not going to come to Christ. 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:32.720 He's not going to choose the things of God. 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:39.679 Instead, he's going to choose the things that he selfishly wants, that he sinfully wants, that his will is enslaved to. 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:47.759 And it's we're not saying that that man doesn't have a will. 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:49.519 That man does have a will. 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:56.240 However, his will is bound up to be subservient to his fallen nature. 00:12:56.559 --> 00:12:58.320 He can't act outside of that will. 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:02.639 In other words, can a bear act like a sheep? 00:13:03.519 --> 00:13:03.840 No. 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:08.000 Can a sheep act like a wolf? 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:08.639 No. 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:14.240 Can a fish hop up on land and run around like a dog? 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:15.759 No, they can't do it. 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:25.360 My point is that men and women who are lost do have a will. 00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:30.320 But they are not going to act contrary to that will. 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:31.759 They are bound up. 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:38.000 Their will is enslaved to their fleshly, earthly nature, and they are dead to spiritual things. 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:44.799 So therefore, the lost man who is not spiritual, how is he going to make a spiritual decision that honors the Lord? 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:45.759 He's not. 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:48.559 He doesn't have that ability. 00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:49.679 Okay? 00:13:51.039 --> 00:14:01.200 Oh, the Bible tells us this, and like, for instance, in Jeremiah chapter 17, verse 9, that man's heart is desperately wicked. 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:54.720 Well, how is it, Brother Josh, that in most Christians' mind that, y'all track with me here, that the man who only has an earthly, fleshly nature, who his very heart is desperately wicked, his mind who is hatred and set against God, his will who is enslaved, the man who also simultaneously is spiritually dead, and the man who in his own power is literally unable to please God and come to Christ, how is it that people think that that particular fallen man is going to his own quote-unquote free will choose to sincerely want to follow a righteous God who is currently judging him? 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:56.879 That's impossible, brothers and sisters. 00:14:57.120 --> 00:14:58.879 That man can't do that. 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:01.440 He is unable to do that. 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:09.440 Lastly, I do want to turn and read this one. 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:13.039 It's found in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:16.080 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:31.039 And what we're talking about here is people's response to the preaching of the gospel. 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:35.840 So in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, we begin reading in verse 18. 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:44.159 And Paul is writing to the Corinthian church, and he just matter-of-fact saying these things. 00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:46.399 1 Corinthians 1.18. 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:52.639 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. 00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:56.399 But unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. 00:15:57.039 --> 00:15:59.200 Now let's stop for a second. 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:05.759 Why is the preaching of the cross to them that perish foolishness? 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:08.399 In other words, it doesn't make any sense to them. 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:10.559 It doesn't register with them. 00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:11.919 They don't want it. 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:13.759 They don't want to be obedient to it. 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:15.440 They don't want to follow after it. 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:26.159 There is a misunderstanding of people that God in his predestination election is just predestining people to go to hell, which is not biblically true. 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:28.879 God does not predestine anybody to go to hell. 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:34.639 Man did that all of his own, as did Adam all die, and you and I willfully sinned. 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:37.440 God didn't predestine anyone to hell. 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:41.279 Instead, he leaves the lost natural men alone. 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:48.879 And in their fallen nature, they have condemned themselves by their own choices and by their own actions. 00:16:49.759 --> 00:17:03.840 But there is a misunderstanding that some Christians have about predestination election that here God is, and he's just predestining all these people to a devil's hell, and that these people are just going to hell, kicking and screaming, oh God, I want you to save me. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:05.440 Oh God, I want to follow you. 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:09.680 Oh God, I love you, but yet because I am not predestined, I'm going to hell. 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:12.559 That is absolutely not the case. 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:14.960 That is not true biblically. 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:25.279 In other words, a man who wants Christ, who believes in Christ, who loves Christ, the only reason that he does is because he already is a child of God. 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:33.519 Men who love God, truly love God, are not going to hell, brothers and sisters. 00:17:33.680 --> 00:17:34.480 Can I get an amen? 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:36.400 They're not. 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:40.000 God is not predestining anybody to hell. 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:42.400 Men to debt all of our own. 00:17:43.200 --> 00:18:03.119 So after we have said all of these things about the condition of lost men, y'all tell me, does it logically follow in 1 Corinthians 1.18 that says, for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:08.720 They don't understand it, they don't want it because it's spiritual and they're earthly, they're fleshly. 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:16.640 We're talking about the truthful, wonderful, beautiful things of God, and lost man doesn't want to have anything to do with that. 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:25.680 So therefore, it is absolutely a logical conclusion that the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:36.480 It's like Charles Spurgeon said one time that he, in his youth, and I've shared this with y'all before, that he took a man to a quote unquote revival meeting. 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:41.359 And in Spurgeon's estimation, the man had laid out the gospel very well. 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:45.599 He had, in Spurgeon's estimation, he had preached in power and demonstration of Spirit. 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:50.640 And Spurgeon sitting there listening to him, he was getting excited, he was getting encouraged. 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:51.680 Yes and amen. 00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:53.039 I believe what that man said. 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:55.440 It's right, it's true, it's understandable. 00:18:55.599 --> 00:19:00.960 And his friend that he brought with him to the revival meeting, he turned after it was all over and said, What did you think about that? 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:03.200 He said, I didn't understand a word he said. 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:06.880 And Spurgeon looked at him in amazement. 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:18.160 So one man is standing right here, and one man, you know, beside him, both of them listening to the exact same thing, and one man rejoices in it. 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:20.240 One man praises God for it. 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:25.839 One man is literally pricked in his heart and in his mind, just yes and amen. 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:30.400 And another man is standing right beside him, just with blank face, with deaf ears. 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:34.400 I don't get that, I don't understand that, I don't understand what the man is talking about. 00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:35.920 This doesn't make any sense to me. 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:36.720 Why is that? 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:42.240 Because one man is spiritually dead, and one man is spiritually alive, you understand. 00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:54.319 That is why the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:55.680 We rejoice in it. 00:19:57.599 --> 00:19:59.359 Skip down to verse 23. 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:12.400 So the apostle Paul says Let me let's back up. 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:14.000 Let's just keep on reading. 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:16.000 1 Corinthians 1 19. 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:22.240 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:23.440 Where is the wise? 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:24.160 Question mark. 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:25.039 Where is the scribe? 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:25.759 Question mark. 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:27.440 Where is the disputer of this world? 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:28.559 Question mark. 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:32.400 Hath not God made foolishness the wisdom of this world? 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:33.680 Question mark. 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:39.599 For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:44.319 In other words, the world didn't put together two plus two equals four. 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:49.599 It didn't do that in regard to spiritual matters, because the world was spiritually dead. 00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:56.720 It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe, who were given belief. 00:20:57.519 --> 00:21:02.160 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:06.000 And brothers and sisters, you and I are in a time of the Greeks. 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:10.559 You or I in a time of an age of science and understanding. 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:27.359 And our modern world has come to the conclusion that, you know, y'all folks who are religious, that y'all just need a crutch in religion, that uh, you know, y'all are just looking for answers in all the wrong places, and we're men and women of science, and we're uh logical, and we do testing and conclusions. 00:21:27.519 --> 00:21:30.400 Uh well, do y'all know that evolution is a theory? 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:32.559 It's not a proven science, you know. 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:35.839 Um gravity is a fact. 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:38.559 Okay, go jump off a building and you won't live. 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:41.119 I'm not telling you to do that, but that's a fact. 00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:45.759 Evolution is not a fact, it's a theory, and it cannot be scientifically proven. 00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:51.519 It is a evolution, it is a belief system of modern academia. 00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:57.119 It is their explanation of how the world and everything came into be. 00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:59.839 It is their form of modern Greek religion. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.119 Religion. 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:05.359 Again, we're not going to go any more into that, but that's for another day. 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:08.079 The Jews require sign, the Greeks seek after wisdom. 00:22:08.319 --> 00:22:18.240 But Paul said in verse 23, but we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block, other religious folks who don't agree with that. 00:22:18.559 --> 00:22:20.319 And unto the Greeks, foolishness. 00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:29.920 Well, it just can't be possible that the spiritual lives and there's a heaven and there's a hell, and that this man came and he was born of a virgin and he died to save us from our sins. 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:31.279 We don't even believe in sin. 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:38.079 That all is just absolute nonsense and foolishness to a large majority of the world, right? 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:56.720 And Paul said about that, but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews, a stumbling block, other religious folks, and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 00:22:56.960 --> 00:22:59.440 To them it's glorious, to them it's beautiful. 00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:01.599 Brother says, what's my point? 00:23:02.720 --> 00:23:23.279 My point is to fallen men, wherever they come from, if they're a religious Jew, if they're a quote unquote educated Greek, if they're a lost person in this world, spiritual things of God to them are foolishness and make no sense according to the Bible. 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:25.680 They don't want anything to do with them. 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:29.119 And that is the narrative that the Bible paints. 00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:43.759 Well, Brother Josh, if that's the case, if it's the case that these men are just, they can't see God, then I don't understand how these people are accountable to God. 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:47.920 You know, because who's gonna uh who's gonna uh say no to God's will? 00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:51.200 Because God is, y'all say that God is sovereign, that God is all-powerful. 00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:54.559 So, so how are these men accountable to God? 00:23:54.720 --> 00:24:00.160 How are they responsible if they don't have spiritual eyesight and understanding? 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:06.799 Turn, if you will, to uh Acts chapter 2. 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:16.480 I want to give you an example, a quick example, that pertains to the Lord Jesus Christ in Acts chapter 2 about this. 00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:24.720 How that God can predestine something, but how that men are still accountable for their own sins. 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:28.000 So in a wrong book. 00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:29.039 I went to Ephesians. 00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:30.079 Let's try Acts. 00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:46.000 In Acts chapter 2, y'all will notice that this is the time when the apostles were preaching on the day of Pentecost, and here is Peter preaching in Acts 2 and verse 22, and I want to get just a few verses. 00:24:47.920 --> 00:24:51.440 Acts 2 and 22, we read. 00:24:51.680 --> 00:24:58.000 So Peter's told them, uh, ye men of Israel, hear these words. 00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:13.359 Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know. 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:19.839 So Peter is telling the Jews that are gathered in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. 00:25:20.079 --> 00:25:24.400 He's preaching a gospel sermon, he's saying, Look, this is who Jesus really was. 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:38.720 That, you know, Jesus is the Messiah, and he came down here and he did signs and miracles and wonders, and he said, Y'all folks, the ones he's preaching to, were all eyewitnesses to what Christ did. 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:41.920 And he said, I'm telling you who that man was. 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:51.279 Verse 23, him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. 00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:52.240 Stop. 00:25:53.039 --> 00:26:01.279 It was God's will, it was God's determination beforehand that Christ would come and do this. 00:26:01.680 --> 00:26:05.359 That Christ would come and die for the sins of all the elect. 00:26:05.519 --> 00:26:06.640 That was God's will. 00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:10.319 And Christ came and he was the redeemer and he fulfilled that will. 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:12.000 100%, he did that. 00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:33.440 But you also notice that Peter tells this group of folks that while that was God's will to do that thing, he tells them, he says, Ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. 00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:37.680 Now, did God make these people sin? 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:38.559 No. 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:44.160 It was God's will that Christ would come and suffer and die for us. 00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:47.279 But he did not make these men sin. 00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:56.640 These men were accountable for their sins that they committed toward Christ in rejecting him, denying him, crucifying him. 00:26:56.960 --> 00:27:03.440 And Jesus even said that, he said, you know, I lay down my life willingly, no man taketh it from me. 00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:10.640 That is a dual-sided coin that the Lord willingly chose to lay down his life. 00:27:10.960 --> 00:27:28.559 God predestined Christ to do that very thing, but it's simultaneously the case that God did not make men sin, that they did that all of their own fallen nature because they hated God, they hated the truth, they hated the fact that Christ claimed to be Messiah. 00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:34.079 You know, we've already talked about examples of Christ would be speaking to a group of people. 00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:46.319 And some of those people would rejoice in him, and at the same time, the Pharisees would take the very same things that Jesus said, and they would be inflamed to the point that they would want to stone him to death. 00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:50.160 And people are hearing the same sermon from Christ. 00:27:50.319 --> 00:27:53.519 People are seeing the same example of the Lord. 00:27:53.759 --> 00:27:58.319 And on the one hand, some rejoice in it, and on the other hand, others hate him for it. 00:27:58.480 --> 00:28:04.559 Well, God didn't make them hate Christ, they did that all of their own. 00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:24.240 Well, so Jesus went, or Paul went on, I'm sorry, Peter went on and preached to them that, you know, Christ is the Messiah, and he is the Savior, and He's the one who y'all have been seeking after, and y'all rejected him, y'all denied him, y'all murdered him, but he rose again because it was God's will that he rise again. 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:42.240 And then he said, uh, and he gave them examples out of the Old Testament, and then he got through preaching his sermon, and he says in verse 26, Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God had made the same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. 00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:51.119 He said, Y'all folks wrongfully, sinfully, wickedly killed him, and the Lord allowed you to do that, but he didn't cause you to do that. 00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:54.000 Now, what is supposed to be their response? 00:28:55.119 --> 00:28:56.480 Verse 37. 00:28:57.279 --> 00:29:05.519 Now, when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:06.400 Question mark. 00:29:06.559 --> 00:29:14.799 Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:21.359 For the promise is to you and your children, and that all that are afar off, even to as many as the Lord God shall call. 00:29:21.599 --> 00:29:29.200 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 00:29:29.680 --> 00:29:36.079 So there was those in the crowd that did believe, and there was those in the crowd that didn't believe. 00:29:36.240 --> 00:29:44.079 And Peter's saying, You need to save yourselves from this untoward generation, not save themselves to heaven. 00:29:44.319 --> 00:29:54.880 The fact that these brethren, brothers and sisters, these Jews actually heard and understood Peter's sermon, to them it wasn't foolishness, right? 00:29:55.119 --> 00:29:57.440 To them they felt pricked in their heart. 00:29:57.680 --> 00:29:58.880 They felt convicted. 00:29:59.119 --> 00:29:59.680 Why? 00:29:59.920 --> 00:30:04.799 Because those were some of the born-again Jews that were there on the day of Pentecost. 00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:08.880 And Peter was addressing them, saying, Well, what shall you do in response of it? 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:10.720 Repent and follow Christ. 00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:16.400 But there was yet men that were also in the crowd that continued to think, oh, these men are drunk. 00:30:16.880 --> 00:30:18.960 These men, they aren't making any sense. 00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:20.400 You know, y'all need to get out of here. 00:30:20.480 --> 00:30:21.920 I don't agree with what you're doing. 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:26.160 And then a lot of those men went on to uh uh kill a lot of the apostles. 00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:29.359 Well, Brother Joshua. 00:30:30.960 --> 00:30:40.640 So you're saying that men are still guilty of their sins toward God, even though God didn't cause them to sin. 00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:41.039 Yes. 00:30:41.200 --> 00:30:42.480 Let me give you one other example. 00:30:42.720 --> 00:30:44.559 Look at Romans chapter 1. 00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:48.559 This is a very clear example in the scriptures. 00:30:50.880 --> 00:30:57.359 Very quickly, in Romans chapter 1, Paul writes, verse 16. 00:30:57.839 --> 00:31:00.559 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. 00:31:00.880 --> 00:31:06.480 For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, stop. 00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:18.400 The gospel preaching is the power of God to timely salvation to everyone that is a believer. 00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:25.680 If I'm preaching the gospel here this morning to y'all folks, and you say, Brother Josh, yes and amen. 00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:28.240 You know that what you're preaching out of the Bible, that's true. 00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:29.119 I agree with it. 00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:30.160 I rejoice in it. 00:31:30.319 --> 00:31:31.920 To you, it is a timely salvation. 00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:33.279 It's an encouragement, right? 00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:35.920 It's to help you spur on to walk with the Lord. 00:31:36.079 --> 00:31:42.319 But but it's only it's only a timely salvation to you, is because you already have ears to hear. 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:44.559 You already have the eye of faith. 00:31:44.799 --> 00:31:47.920 You already have the mind of Christ to believe and understand. 00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:58.559 But to those folks who don't have faith or belief that God has given them, who have been a recipient of grace, who've been born again, to them it's just foolishness. 00:32:02.720 --> 00:32:04.480 For I am not ashamed of the gospel. 00:32:04.720 --> 00:32:12.160 He says in verse 17, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. 00:32:12.559 --> 00:32:17.200 The gospel is delivered from a believer to a believer. 00:32:17.440 --> 00:32:20.720 In other words, that's the only person that's going to actually hear it. 00:32:21.359 --> 00:32:23.519 As it is written, the just shall live by faith. 00:32:23.680 --> 00:32:24.480 Verse 18. 00:32:24.720 --> 00:32:37.119 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth and unrighteousness, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has showed it unto them. 00:32:37.759 --> 00:32:50.559 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. 00:32:51.119 --> 00:33:01.759 Because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 00:33:02.079 --> 00:33:16.880 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like unto corruptible man, and to birds and four-footed beasts and to creeping things, that's people were making idols. 00:33:17.039 --> 00:33:25.839 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own flesh to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. 00:33:26.079 --> 00:33:34.480 These folks who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than the creator who is blessed forever, amen. 00:33:34.640 --> 00:33:36.319 What does all that mean? 00:33:37.359 --> 00:33:47.279 That man who could should be able to clearly see and understand that this world and this universe and the way everything works came into existence. 00:33:47.440 --> 00:33:50.960 It had to have been created by an intelligent creator. 00:33:51.119 --> 00:33:53.039 But no man didn't come to that conclusion. 00:33:53.200 --> 00:33:56.240 Oh, look at me, look at man, look at how important I am. 00:33:56.480 --> 00:34:07.759 Brothers and sisters, this passage of scripture is literally speaking to modern day, it was speaking to those idol worshippers of old, but it's literally speaking to modern day academics that say that, you know, I don't believe there is a God. 00:34:07.920 --> 00:34:09.440 I don't believe that God is real. 00:34:09.599 --> 00:34:10.400 And you know what? 00:34:10.559 --> 00:34:21.199 You have become foolish in your wisdom, all the letters that follow your name, because you think that you understand and know more than God does, and that is how wicked man actually is. 00:34:21.440 --> 00:34:24.159 And that's how much man actually doesn't understand. 00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:27.360 So what's your point, Brother Josh? 00:34:27.920 --> 00:34:41.440 Fallen lost men don't see or understand the things of God, yet they are still accountable for their own sinfulness before a holy and righteous God. 00:34:41.599 --> 00:34:46.719 And they will suffer the consequences of that if men don't repent. 00:34:47.199 --> 00:34:50.559 Now, let's I'm gonna conclude this morning. 00:34:50.719 --> 00:34:53.280 Y'all stay with me for just a few more minutes and we're gonna be done. 00:34:53.599 --> 00:34:59.039 So we've looked at the one side of the coin where the lost men are spiritually dead. 00:34:59.280 --> 00:35:01.360 Now let's look at Christians. 00:35:01.599 --> 00:35:09.199 Let's look at born-again men, men who have been forgiven, men who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ. 00:35:09.440 --> 00:35:10.400 What is there? 00:35:10.559 --> 00:35:13.280 What is our responsibility toward God? 00:35:13.440 --> 00:35:16.639 And I want to give you a phrase, and you may have never thought about it this way. 00:35:18.159 --> 00:35:25.920 Where lost men, their will is enslaved to sin. 00:35:28.559 --> 00:35:36.000 Born-again men, they have a quote-unquote freed will. 00:35:37.119 --> 00:35:38.239 What do you mean, Rosia? 00:35:39.199 --> 00:35:45.519 The born-again man now has more capacity than the lost man did. 00:35:45.679 --> 00:35:46.239 Why? 00:35:46.639 --> 00:35:53.679 Because his mind, he's been born again, he's been redeemed, he's been born from on high, he's been regenerated, made anew. 00:35:53.920 --> 00:36:02.000 Now his will is no longer captive to the things of the flesh and the things of the world. 00:36:02.320 --> 00:36:05.440 This man has a freed will. 00:36:06.480 --> 00:36:10.000 The prison bars to him have been opened. 00:36:10.239 --> 00:36:19.679 And now, like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, now this man has the capacity to, on the one hand, serve and honor God. 00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.800 He also still has the old fallen nature and the propensity still to sin. 00:36:25.039 --> 00:36:25.519 Amen. 00:36:25.760 --> 00:36:27.840 So this is the fight that you and I have. 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:29.920 This is the war that you and I have. 00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:32.800 Go back and read Romans chapter 7 and 8. 00:36:32.960 --> 00:36:37.440 Uh, when Paul was talking about the things that he didn't want to do, he still did. 00:36:37.679 --> 00:36:41.119 The things that he wanted to do, he didn't do them all the time. 00:36:41.360 --> 00:36:42.400 So this is the war. 00:36:42.559 --> 00:36:43.920 This is the struggle. 00:36:44.159 --> 00:36:48.400 This is the two natures of the Christian man, the born-again man. 00:36:48.800 --> 00:36:53.840 But Joshua just don't understand how somebody who's born again, how they can still go off and sin. 00:36:54.079 --> 00:36:58.880 You ought to understand, because we still have the fallen nature right there with us. 00:36:59.119 --> 00:37:04.960 Satan still tempts us, our flesh still tempts us, we're still led away by our own lust, by our own mind. 00:37:05.199 --> 00:37:09.119 And so our default nature is the nature of the earth. 00:37:09.280 --> 00:37:11.519 I remember what Brother Sonny Spain said one time. 00:37:11.679 --> 00:37:15.360 He says that we find ourselves falling into bad habits. 00:37:15.599 --> 00:37:16.159 Why? 00:37:16.480 --> 00:37:18.480 Because that's our default nature. 00:37:18.719 --> 00:37:21.519 You don't find yourself falling into good habits. 00:37:21.679 --> 00:37:25.440 Instead, you and I have to exercise the good habits. 00:37:25.599 --> 00:37:31.360 Does anybody just find themselves five or six days a week just naturally driving to the gym? 00:37:31.599 --> 00:37:39.519 Do you find yourself, oh, I don't want any of that red velvet cake or that uh pound cake or that uh, I don't want to eat that 42-ounce steak. 00:37:39.760 --> 00:37:42.880 I'm a man, I'm a carnivore, I love meat, I love sweets. 00:37:43.119 --> 00:37:46.559 You know, uh, I have to exercise restraint. 00:37:46.800 --> 00:37:52.639 I have to exercise purpose and self-discipline when I eat, and I don't do a perfect job of that. 00:37:54.079 --> 00:38:02.639 We don't find ourselves falling into good and godly habits, moderation, to prayer, to righteousness. 00:38:02.880 --> 00:38:08.239 Instead, we find ourselves falling into all the things of the flesh, our nature. 00:38:08.800 --> 00:38:14.159 That example, in and of itself, shows you that man by nature is not good. 00:38:14.320 --> 00:38:16.239 Man by nature is fallen. 00:38:16.719 --> 00:38:23.119 However, the born-again man, the redeemed man, has two natures. 00:38:24.480 --> 00:38:29.519 His will has been freed from slavery to sin. 00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:43.679 Now, like Adam and Eve, you and I have the capacity to, on the one hand, serve God, but we also have the capacity within us to deny God and disgrace God by our own actions. 00:38:43.920 --> 00:38:46.639 So that's the duality in the life of the Christian. 00:38:46.880 --> 00:38:48.239 The lost man doesn't have that. 00:38:48.400 --> 00:38:50.639