Ruin by the Fall

Ruin by the fall, redemption by the blood, and regeneration by the spirit. Over the next three weeks, and I don't know where all of this goes, but we're going to deal with this. Here tonight I want to deal with ruin by the fall. I don't have good news for you tonight, that's for next week and the following week. I've got some really bad news for you tonight. The gospel is the good news of God to sinners, but I've got some really bad news. You know what the problem with the church of this hour is, they never give the bad news before they try to give the good news. There's a problem with this. But here tonight as we read from Romans chapter five, I'll try to be brief here tonight. I want to deal with ruin by the fall. Someone once asked D.L. Moody, and I've stolen these three titles, I don't often do this, but I have with this. I felt burdened over it, and I've loved these three things over the years. Someone once asked the great evangelist D.L. Moody, what is your theology? And he said, my theology is very simple. What I preach and constantly preach is ruin by the fall, redemption by the blood, and regeneration by the spirit. So I'm going to keep repeating that over the next three weeks. But you've got to begin with the ruin by the fall. Reading from Romans chapter five, verse 12 to 21, wherefore as by one man, notice that underline it, I want you to really understand that tonight. This is the Bible, the Holy Spirit teaching us, wherefore as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offense, but also as the free gift, for it is through the offense, and notice this again, of one, many be dead, much more the grace of God, much more, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many, and not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift, for the judgment was by one to condemnation. But the free gift is of many offenses unto justification, for it by one man's offense, death reigned by one, much more, they which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Therefore as by the offenses of one, are you getting the message tonight? I hope you'll never forget what I'm emphasizing in the text, I'm not reading into it, I'm going to preach on it, I'm going to expand it a little, but I want you to hear what the Word of God says, it keeps emphasizing one man's sin, and one man's obedience. For by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one, shall many be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. That as sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace, through righteousness, unto eternal life by Christ Jesus, our Lord. Will you pray with me here tonight? Father, we love you, we thank you for the Word of God, and Father I pray that you'd bear witness to the Word of God, you not only show us our redemption, and our regeneration, but you also show us and teach us clearly in the Bible, our ruin as a human race, as mankind, as individuals, that in Adam, by one man's disobedience, we were utterly ruined and became sinners, and fell into a condition of a broken covenant. And Lord God, I pray, Lord God, as we show what you have told us in the Word of God, as we expound what has happened historically, I pray that salvation would become glorious and mighty and powerful, Lord God I pray, will you bless your Word and breathe upon it tonight, in Jesus' mighty name, Amen. My message in this part one, Ruin by the Fall, part two will be Redemption by the Blood, we're going to deal with the blood next week, and the work of redemption by God through Christ, and then we're going to look at Regeneration by the Holy Spirit, a miraculous life-changing experience. But here tonight I'm starting, and these are three vital doctrines. If you don't have much of a theology, make sure you have these three in place. If you're not a great thinker, make sure you think on these three things. If you're not very good at explaining things, make sure you can explain these truths. If your theology has to be narrow and simple and basic, make sure it's established on these three things. If you're going to evangelize a sinner, make sure you preach these three truths. Every time you speak to a sinner, don't miss the first thing, definitely don't miss the second one, and don't miss the third thing. Don't preach redemption by the blood and regeneration of the spirit without preaching ruin by the Fall. We want to get someone saved when we haven't got them lost. We haven't preached ruin by the Fall. We haven't shown them that they're a sinner, yet we're trying to get them saved. Do you know what we're doing when we do that? It's like going, and you know what it's like in Limerick, it's like going to someone in the Mediterranean Sea, and they're there in their swimming shorts with their goggles on and covered in suntan lotion, and they're out on a nice day, and they are swimming in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Greece or Israel or somewhere else, and here you come with your lifesaver gear, and you go running into the water, grabbing this poor person saying, I'm trying to save you, and you wonder why they spit on you, curse you, and try to hit you. You wonder why. You know why? They're enjoying their life. They're enjoying the Mediterranean Sea. They're enjoying the sun. They're there in the sea, and you're trying to save a man who has no awareness of his condition and state. That's what we're like evangelizing sinners. God loves you. Oh yes, I know that. Do you want to go to heaven? And yet we've never shown them their sin. We've never brought them to a place. We're beginning, and that's why I want to begin here, ruined by the fall. It's absolutely vital. You know what we're going to do here is do a diagnosis. We just had our car into the mechanic today, and they put it on a machine that diagnosed certain problems within the car. If you go to a doctor, that doctor is going to diagnose you. He'll take your blood. He'll test your heartbeat. He'll study you and poke you and look down your throat. What's he doing? It's a diagnosis. Before the doctor can help you and heal you, he's got to diagnose the problem. The doctor has to search out the sickness, the illness, the cause of pain within that individual before he applies medicine and a cure. Can you imagine a doctor that never looked for illness, couldn't identify illness, didn't speak about illness, but he's always trying to help you and make you feel good? You're saying, but doctor, there's nothing wrong with me. That's fine. I'm going to cure you, but I'm not sick. No, no. I'm a doctor. I heal people, but doctor, I'm not sick. I really don't want you fiddling with me or giving me your tablets unless I'm sick. Now, what about your computer? When something goes wrong with your computer, you take it to the computer shop, and they're going to diagnose the computer. What are they doing? I want to find out why it's dysfunctional. You know, with all of you in this room, and especially if you're not born again and saved and walking with Jesus Christ, there's something wrong. You need a diagnosis. You cannot fix something until you find out what is wrong. You can't do that. There's no remedy without finding the cause and putting our finger on it. There is no cure without exposing the curse. There's no redemption and regeneration without showing you that you're ruined and that you're lost in your sin. Listen to what Jeremiah chapter 6, 14, they, and this was an accusation of God's people and his hour. All of the religion, the prophets, the preachers, the priests, all the leadership, all speaking, prophesying, ministering, but there was something wrong in Jeremiah's day. Listen to what he said. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly. They were acting as spiritual doctors on God's people, but you know what? They were doing it slightly. Can you imagine a doctor healing you slightly? Can you imagine the guy in the computer shop, you go back to him and he says, I've healed your computer slightly, or the mechanic comes back to our house tonight very, very late and he says, well, Jimmy, have you fixed the car? Yes, I've done a great job. I fixed it slightly, but I'm sure that's fine, isn't it? And yet Jeremiah's dealing with God's people, you, the prophets, the ministry, the leadership have healed my people, the daughter of Jerusalem lightly. How did they do it? Saying, peace, peace, when there was no peace. You shouldn't have said peace to those that had no peace. And then it goes further. Listen to what he says. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not ashamed, neither could they blush. Leonard Ravenhill said the problem of women in our generation is they've lost the ability to blush. And when women lose that, the men are in a bad condition. Do you know what's happened to the churches of our generation? They're not ashamed of sin anymore. They're not ashamed of disobedience. They're not horrified by the rebellion. They're not shocked by their spiritual state. Sinners can go in and out of meetings and yet they're not there going, I'm on the edge of hell, an eternal hell. I am lost. They're not weeping tears anymore over their condition. You know why a sinner doesn't weep tears? They don't realize their condition. If they did, they would weep tears. They would tremble in the presence of God. No more blushing over sin. You ought to blush over your sin. You ought to be ashamed of your sin. If you're not ashamed of your sin, there's actually, you're sick. Even as a church or as Christians, if we sin and yet we're not ashamed, not broken, you know what? You're sick. They shall fall among them that fall. At that time when I visit them, they shall be cast down, saith the Lord. So saith the Lord, stand ye in the way and see and ask for the old path. Jeremiah says, you know what the answer is? You're not ashamed anymore over abomination, over your sin. You're not blushing over things that are horrible. You're not trembling in the presence of God. Do you know what the only answer is? You need to stand still and ask for the old path. You need to be asking God, show us the old path. Take us back to the old doctrines again. Do you know ruined by the fall is an old doctrine, an old fashioned biblical doctrine. The teaching of the total depravity of a sinner, that he is damned, a child of wrath, that he is in a crisis on the edge of hell. We've lost that, but it's an old biblical doctrine. The church of our day doesn't preach against sin anymore. It doesn't preach the terrors of hell. Go on YouTube and look how many times the average preacher preaches on hell, or calls people children of wrath, or warns them to flee from the wrath to come. Jeremiah says the answer is, we've got to ask for the old path, and look at this, where is the good way? And walk therein and ye shall find rest for your souls. And they said, we will not walk therein. There's a rebellion amongst preachers and churches in our day. They're going after the new. They're going after the gimmicks, the games, the entertainment, the feel good message. So they don't preach that you are ruined by the fall. They don't preach it anymore. They don't believe in the total depravity of a sinner. They don't preach to sinners saying, the wrath of God is hanging over you. You know, if a sinner can walk into this church and walk out feeling good, I get very worried. I get very worried. Because you know what? As a doctor of the soul, and that's what a preacher is, that's what a pastor is, a doctor of the soul. I want to help a man. I want to diagnose the problem. I want to put the finger where your pain is. And then I want to say, I've got a cure for you. I've got an answer. Do you remember how Jesus dealt with the woman of Samaria? He put his finger, you've got five, or you did have five husbands. Now you're sleeping with a man that's not your husband. Do you know what he was doing? He was dealing with the issue of sin. He went on to teach her how to worship, but he did not ignore sin. Do you evangelize and not deal with someone's sin? And I'm not saying preach fire and brimstone. There's some of you need to start preaching the blood. You talk about hell more than you do the blood. That's just as bad. Do you remember when Jesus dealt with the rich young ruler? What did he do? God loves you. I love you. I've got a plan for your life. No he didn't. He put his finger on the one thing and said, you're a covetous man. Go sell all that you have, then follow me. He dealt with the one thing, one thing that man did not want to give up. That man would give up anything and everything else, but not that one thing. What did Jesus say? That's the issue. That's what I want. That's what's going to send you to hell. You want to know what's keeping you out of heaven and away from God and away from forgiveness? It's that one thing, that one thing. You see, we can have morality and say, my money's fine. Is it? It could send you to hell. It could be so dangerous, it could destroy your soul or a relationship, a friendship, a house or something else. How dangerous those things are. Remember Jesus, what he said about the woman who came in and anointed him? Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins which are many are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same love is little. You know, that woman was forgiven lots. She loved lots. She poured out. You know why? She's forgiven. She realized she was a gross sinner, a terrible sinner. She realized her condition. She realized her wound. She realized she had been ruined. She realized how desperate her condition was, therefore she loved much. You know why I believe we've got so little manifestation of love towards God in the church today is because you've never realized how terrible your sin is. Even as a Christian, you don't even, you're not even ashamed. You're not even embarrassed. You're not even bothered. No wonder then we love so little. We don't love God as we ought to. We don't love the word of God as we ought to. We don't love holiness as we ought to. So let me bring you to three very simple points here. Hope I've got your attention. And if I don't preach ruin by the fall, redemption by the blood means very little. And regeneration by the spirit will mean nothing to you. But I'm going to show you what ruin by the fall actually means very simply in three points. You see, when we come to the book of Romans, and it's the most amazing book. From chapters three to chapters five, Paul the apostle is pouring out and teaching the most wonderful teachings in the entire Bible. Forgiveness of your sins, justification by faith, the imputed righteousness, in other words, the perfect obedience or righteousness of Christ being given to you as a free gift. He's teaching all these wonderful things of reconciliation, atonement, justification, propitiation, and all of them. It's astounding. But do you realize in the book of Romans from chapter one through to chapter five, he deals with sin, and of course in chapter six and chapter seven and chapter eight. You're going to find that where you find the most precious truths in the Bible, sin is revealed for what it is. This is how the Holy Spirit teaches you. One of the great marks that I know God is dealing with the sinner, do you know what it is? It's not that they say, this is wonderful, I want God. It's that the Holy Spirit is dealing with their sin. If I don't see a sinner grieved over their sin, broken over their sin, running from their sin, hating their sin, burdened down by their sin, then I know they're far away from salvation. They're a million miles away. But when I see someone broken, in tears, terrified, distraught, worried, concerned, I go, you're very near the kingdom. I can't help you if you're righteous tonight. I don't have a message for you if you're righteous. Righteous in your own deeds, moral in your own eyes, trying your best. I don't have a message for you. You know why? You know nothing about your ruined condition. So my three points, number one, sin and death by one man, sin and death by one man. Notice where we read here in Romans 5, verse 12 to 21, we are dealing with two men, Adam and Christ. You're either in Adam or you're in Christ. And you know what? All of us, by nature, we're in Adam. All of us were born in Adam. All of us lived in Adam. All of us sinned in Adam. And so being in Adam, experience everything of that. So you're either in Adam or you're in Jesus here tonight. And you better know what you are. In fact, in these verses that we read in Romans 5, the entirety of humanity is pressed into unity. We have very little unity in our world, don't we? Everybody is divided over everything. But do you know what? We are all united over in Limerick. Every single person was united in Adam. Every single individual, doesn't matter their color or how much money they have or their work or their job or their gender. Do you know what? They were all united in Adam. Listen to what Paul writes here, Romans 5, verse 12. Wherefore, as by one man, one single man, and his name was Adam. Adam was a real man, a historical man. Adam was the first man married to Eve, who was the mother of all humanity. Do you know Darwinism and evolution had so affected our world that people almost believed that we all evolved separately. The Bible always said we come from one man, one woman. Thank God they discovered DNA because now they've actually admitted, guess what? All 8 billion people in the world, no matter your culture or your color or your language or your shape and size, you all descend from one man and one woman. They're very slowly getting there. Science is way behind the Bible, I want to tell you. But listen to what the Bible says, wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world. What does the Bible say? It says sin entered into the world, the world of mankind, affecting all men, all women, all of humanity. It affected this earth through one man. Historically, 6,000 years ago, something happened where one man sinned. Notice it doesn't say woman sinned. Want you to notice that very carefully. It wasn't Eve's sin, it was Adam's sin. Remember Eve sinned before Adam? She disobeyed God. She sinned. She ate of the fruit. But it wasn't her sin that ruined mankind. It was one man's sin. It was Adam's sin ruined all of us. So by one man's sin, sin entered into the world and death by sin, where you get sin, you get death. Do you know how serious sin is? Do you know how serious your sin is? You're going to die one day unless the resurrection comes first. And so far, that hasn't happened in 6,000 years. So if you experience it, you're going to be utterly unique. Every single generation has died physically, even those that are born again, they all died. We watch friends who loved Jesus with all their heart, all of them died. Maybe they reached 87 like Brother Clendenin, but he died. He ran hard, he fought hard, but death caught up with him. Do you know that's the result of this one sin? Death has come on all mankind. Everybody, death is working in your body right now. Do you know what? It's the consequence of mankind being ruined. Don't tell me sin isn't real. Don't tell me the fall of Adam isn't real. Don't tell me that one action isn't real. Death passed upon all and now death is pursuing every one of you. Physical, real death is pursuing all of you. You know why? Because of sin. One man disobeyed God and death came in upon all. And so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned. Verse 15, through the offense, the disobedience of one, many be dead. Do you see what it's saying? Through the one offense of Adam, many be dead. Many be dead. Verse 16, the judgment was by one to condemnation. Verse 17, for it by one man's offense, death reigned by one. Do you know what it's saying? Death reigned. It had power. It had authority. It had control. Men all over our world are trying to escape death. You know with transhumanism, you know what their motive is? To escape death. They think when we join computers and science goes further, and we're going to discover the answer to eternal life. If you go into the British Museum, and go into the ancient Assyrian and Sumerian section, I mean these are some of the oldest artifacts in our world. And you go in there, and ancient Babylonians, do you know what you see everywhere? It's the tree of life. And someone, a man standing up, picking the fruit off the tree. It's there. Go to the Berlin Museum, you'll see the same. The tree of life is right at the center. You know what they're looking for? Mankind for 6,000 years, since the ruin, has been searching for life. We want to conquer death. We want to outrun death. We want to have the answer to eternal life. All religion came out of this. All health products come out of this. It's all there. And yet we have here that by one man's sin, it affected you. Do you realize all eight billion people have been affected by one man's sin? When he sinned, we all became sinners. Every single one of us. That's what the Bible clearly teaches. But listen, you won't understand next week if you don't understand this. See, there's two men. There's Adam, and there's Christ. One man's sin, and we all fell. The entirety of creation, of humanity, we all became sinners. There was something about Adam's action that brought all of us into sin. If you do not understand this, you will not believe the gospel. Because the gospel is one man's obedience makes you righteous. Not your righteousness. Not your obedience. One man's obedience. And if you don't accept your fallen Adam, you will not accept your righteousness in Christ. Do you see how this affects the gospel in such a real way? Verse 18, by the offenses of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. It's all about this one man. Do you know what? Not all of you were born a child of Adam, a son of Adam, a daughter of Eve. All of you, all of humanity, you can't escape this. We are unified. We are born sinners. The Bible teaches that. All have sinned. There's some teachings in the church, it says that no, we're all born as children, morally right, morally good. There is some remnants of righteousness and innocence that comes to us. And if we have the right environment, or if we obey God perfectly, we'll never become a sinner. I'm going to tell you that's an absolute lie. All have sinned. The Bible's clear. It doesn't say most have sinned. Almost all have sinned. It said all have sinned. And if any man says he hasn't sinned, he's a liar. Verse 19, If you don't realize what one man's disobedience has done to you, has done to your family, has done to our world, you say one act of obedience can do that? Do you know how serious sin is? Do you know how great God's holiness is? You think you can disobey Him and go, Sure, God loves me. Sure, God understands. Do you know God notes everything? Remember over in the New Testament, Paul again writes 1 Corinthians 15, 22, for as in Adam. I hope you realize Adam was a real man. Do you know in today's church, a lot of people are saying, he's a mythical character. It's typology. It's a picture. It's teaching. It's metaphorical. Well, then sin's metaphorical and the devil's metaphorical and Jesus is metaphorical. Where do you start? Where do you stop? Do you know those who deny a real, literal Adam are destroying the gospel, are destroying the entirety of what the Bible says. And so he said in 1 Corinthians 15, 22, for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all be made alive. If you're born in Adam, you're born ruined, a sinner, separate from God, unholy. You are actually born in spiritual death. The minute you're born or conceived, you're on the way to death. It's guaranteed. All be made alive. And so it is written, the first man, Adam, was made a living soul. The last Adam, look what Jesus is called, the last Adam, was made a quickening spirit. You need to understand that in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15, Adam and Jesus are put side by side. There is a teaching about Christ that you cannot understand if you don't receive the teaching about Adam. If you don't understand what you are in Adam, you'll never understand what you are in Christ. You know, growing up over the years, we always had these lists in the church. People were always giving them out, always trying to teach you this, what you are in Christ. You need to memorize this. They would pass out lists of everything you are. You're this and you're righteous in Christ. You're accepted in Christ. You're loved in Christ. It's beautiful. Not many people hand out lists of what you are in Adam. Never seen it this far. And it says in Romans 3, 23, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All have sinned. That's the first thing you need to understand about ruined by the fall. What is the fall? It was the fall of Adam, the fall of mankind. It was right at our beginning. Unbelievable. It was in paradise. No sin, no sickness, no cancer, no pain, no aging. Ladies, no gray hairs. Doesn't bother the men. It seems to bother ladies more than men. I can't wait. Do you know in paradise, there was no crime, no violence, no anger, no covetousness, no bitterness, no jealousy, no envy. There was a condition of perfection. But then the fall came. And one man, as soon as he sinned, we all fell. You were in Adam. When he sinned, you sinned. It was the entire family represented in him. That's number one. Sin and death by one man. The Bible teaches it. You'll never understand what you have in Christ. You'll never understand the cure, the answer, the gospel, unless you see the ruin, the fall, the tragedy of man. Number two, a broken covenant. Do you know what the ruin of man was? Or ruined by the fall? It was a broken covenant. Do you know why it was Adam and not Eve that brought the fall? It wasn't Eve's sin. She sinned first. But why was it not her sin that brought the fall? Why did it have to be his sin that brought about the fall of the entirety of mankind? Every man, every woman, every child, for the next 6,000 years, 8 billion people and all those that lived before, all in Adam. All of them were in one man. All of us, all of our DNA came from him. And we were all in him. Why is it that Eve could sin and yet it had to be Adam? You know why? The man is the head. God has made the man the head of the family. Not the woman. That's not a lesser position. It's the order of God. That's why when Adam sinned, everything crashed. Do you know why? Because there was a covenant that Adam broke. God made a covenant, agreement, relationship with Adam before Eve was created and brought out of him. Listen to what it says in Genesis 2,16. Before Eve is brought out of Adam. And the Lord commanded the man saying, Notice here right at the beginning. Adam has only been created. Eve has not been brought forth yet. God is speaking directly to Adam. You know what? He's making an agreement, a covenant between man and him. There's two parties. You know God has never dealt with man. Never in 6,000 years unless through a covenant. All of you are in some kind of covenant. All of you are here. Maybe you didn't realize that. All of you are under some sort of covenant. Either a covenant that was made with Adam or a covenant that was made with Christ. And your life is either cursed by Adam's broken covenant or you're blessed by a fulfilled covenant by Christ. Because Adam blew it and broke the covenant. Christ kept it and was perfect in the covenant. Which covenant is your life under? You see both covenants, the covenant with Adam, do this, just one thing. There was only one condition. Keep the condition and you'll be blessed. You'll have life. You'll have everything. You'll maintain everything. There was a covenant engagement here. There were two contracting parties, Adam and God. There were benefits for obedience and there were curses for failure. If you fail, if you disobey me, I'm only asking one simple thing. And if you do not keep that, you'll bring a curse on yourself and all of your posterity. What a tragedy. What was the demand? Perfect obedience was the condition. If you keep the condition, all of your children will be blessed. None of them will die. All of them will have righteousness. It all hinged on Adam. Not upon Eve, but Adam. Eve influenced. Ladies, don't you get out of this now. Why? Eve led Adam into temptation and sin. Yum, yum. You'll love this. Trust me. In Genesis chapter 2, there's no word covenant mentioned. And yet it is a covenant. You know what? It's a covenant of law. A covenant of works. You know why? If you do this, you'll live. If you keep all the commandments, you're going to live. It's not blood. It's not sacrifice. It's keeping the commandments. It's being obedient. And if you're obedient, then there'll be blessing. You know what this was? It was a covenant of law that God entered into Adam with. You know, God chose Adam to represent you. Think about it. Adam was your covenant head, the father of all humanity. God entered into a covenant with him and said, all of humanity is going to depend on this. You said, you may sit here tonight or be online and say, Malcolmson, you're getting me pretty mad here. If I ever get my hands on Adam, he's going to be in a sorry condition. Malcolmson, you shouldn't preach this because you're making me stew here so it's not my sin. It was someone else I can accuse for my condition. I want to tell you, God chose the best representative for all of mankind. He was morally pure. He was innocent. He was righteous. He had no fallen nature within him. No lust bursting, driving him. It wasn't there. He had no fallen nature. He had good company. He had God to walk with and talk with every single evening. God came down. What company? What fellowship? What advice? What a counsel? What an input. You said, if only we had the right preacher, I wouldn't sin. Oh yes, you would. What a companion. And his wife, who provided his wife. God chose his wife. God made his wife. She was made perfect. None of you husbands have had that. You say, why couldn't I have done this? Sure, you wouldn't have managed. Eve was as good as it gets. You think you've got problems. Eve was as good as it gets. And she got him in an awful lot of trouble. Do you know paradise was a perfect environment? God chose the perfect man. God made him, forged him, created him. Put all the attributes of kindness and love and goodness and desire and perfect knowledge. You know his intelligence? He named every animal in the world. He had perfect knowledge. Perfect understanding. His mind was perfect. His emotions were perfect. His body was perfect. He had everything he needed. And yet, you know what? It all hinged on this perfect man. You think you could do better than Adam? You think that you could have sustained this? God chose the very best. Adam was to be the head of the race. The head of all mankind. Representing you in covenant. If he succeeded, you would be greatly blessed. He's in the Garden of Eden. What a condition. It says in the New Testament, in Galatians chapter 4, 24, speaking about Abraham marrying Sarah. And then, you remember when he didn't get a child from her? She thought up a good idea. Why don't you take my maid and sleep with her? Have a child. Because this was done in culture. And that child will be my child. Our child. Even though my maid, Hagar, would have. So Abraham went, again, getting in trouble here. What a good idea, Sarah. Let's do this. We've waited all these years. We've prayed. We've believed. God didn't come through. This must be the answer. Sarah never gets anything wrong. So let's do this. And then they had the child, and then Sarah gets pregnant. God was faithful. Now you've got two sons, and you've got a war in that home. Do you know what Paul writes in Galatians chapter 4, 24? Looking back to Genesis, and this story of Sarah and Hagar, and these two boys, Isaac and Ishmael, what a war broke out. It says, which things are an allegory, which is a story with a heading meaning, or it's an illustration. So what do they represent? What do these two mothers represent? And their two sons represent? Listen to what Paul says in Galatians 4, 24. For these are the two covenants. One from Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Hagar. And Sarah represents the covenant of grace. Two covenants throughout the entirety of the Bible. Do you know there's always only been two covenants? I believe in the Garden of Eden, the tree of life represents the covenant of grace. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents law, or the covenant of law. They had a choice in the garden, which tree are you going to eat of? Eat of the tree of life, and you will live forever. Eat of the tree of the knowledge of the good and evil, and you'll die. They had a choice. And it's been like this all through the Bible. Cain and Abel. Cain said, I'll serve God, I'll obey God, I'll be moral and good and work hard, and really serve God. And then he got angry when God said, I can't accept that. What did Abel do? Abel brought a blood sacrifice, and God accepted that. What about Saul and David, the two kings of Israel? Do you know Saul was under a covenant of law? Do this and be blessed. He done it for two years. For two years out of 40 years, he managed to be obedient and humble and kind, and then for 38 years, he disobeyed and he rebelled, and he lived under a covenant of law for 38 years. What about David? Man after God's own heart. He had a husband killed. He committed adultery. Got a woman pregnant. The law said he ought to die. Did he die? No, he was forgiven. God showed mercy. Don't tell me King David was under the law, under the old covenant. You know what David was under? He was under grace and under mercy, or else he would have had to have died, and so you see this throughout all of the Bible. You see two covenants. Remember Mephibosheth in the Old Testament. David makes a covenant with Jonathan. Jonathan says, I want you to bless my children. Make a covenant with me. Join me in a covenant of grace that any of my children, you'll look after them. David says, let's make this covenant, and they made a covenant, but do you know who Jonathan's father was? Saul. He's a wicked, evil man. If you're Jonathan, I'd want to make a covenant with David as well, because naturally I'm joined to Saul, but I want to be joined to David, and so when King Saul died and was killed on the battlefield, do you know what all the family of Jonathan and Saul thought? Do you know what they thought? We're in serious trouble. Now David's going to arise, and he's going to kill us all, and Jonathan had a son called Mephibosheth, and he was five years old, and his nursing mother, looking after him, when she heard Saul is dead, do you know what David's going to do? He's going to kill Mephibosheth. There's going to be a death sentence hanging over him. He is a child of Saul, and David is going to be after his blood. Do you know what they didn't know about? It was the covenant that David made with Jonathan. I'm going to bless your seed, and the story goes on. Mephibosheth lives all of his life in fear. He's scared of David. David's the enemy. David's going to kill him. Here I am. I'm lame. I can't walk. Do you know what the Bible says? David begins searching and looking, and says, is there any of Jonathan's seed that I can bless? I want to bless them. Mephibosheth couldn't believe it. Do you know what many sinners are like? They are sinners. They are rebels. They are fallen. They cannot walk. They have been wounded and damaged by the fall of Adam. They think God hates them and is against them. They think there's a covenant of death hanging over them. I'm going to go to hell. Do you know, unknown to you, there is a covenant made with the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit is saying, is there any I can bless? I am searching for a lame duck that I can bless. And you know when this message is delivered to him, he's brought into David's table, and he puts his lame legs under the table and hides it at the table, sitting, feasting with King David. And King David says, I didn't want to curse you or hurt you or kill you. I've been searching for a child of Jonathan that I could bless and love and give to and feed, and all the time you're scared of me. Third and lastly, as we close here, do you see the importance of understanding ruined by the fall? Saints preach this. Ruined by a fall. All has sinned. You're a sinner. And the consequences of sin is eternal death and damnation, and there is a real hell, and there is no other hope apart from Christ. But thirdly and finally, a fallen nature. In Genesis chapter 5 verse 1, listen to what it says about the difference. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him. God created or made Adam in his own likeness, in his own image. Remember what God says, let us make man in our image. In other words, there was the mark of God when Adam was created in innocence, holiness, perfection, beauty. He had a task, a calling. He walked with God in the cool of the evening. Do you know what God had made him, created him in the likeness of God. God at the beginning created mankind in his own likeness, with his own nature to walk with him. Then listen to three verses later. Verse 3, And Adam lived 130 years, and he begat, Adam begat, or he had children. He begat his son, notice this, in his own likeness, after his image, and he called his name Seth. This was after the fall, after Adam had sinned. Adam is now under a broken covenant. There's only two covenants. There was a covenant with Adam. So in other words, if you're an Adam, what happened to Adam comes on you. If you're in a covenant with Christ, what Christ done becomes yours. Do you realize that salvation, the obedience, every, why did Jesus have to live 30 years before he stepped out in ministry? Do you think they're wasted years? Hey, he had brothers and sisters. The Catholic Church doesn't think so, the Bible says so. He had several brothers and sisters. Can you imagine any man growing up in a home with several brothers and sisters and he doesn't sin? Can you imagine that? He was perfect in every word, every thought, every action, every attitude. He is the oldest brother and he never sinned. Why do you think he had to live and grow up for 30 years in a family home in Nazareth as a carpenter? Why do you think that was? All the words he spoke, all of his actions, do you know what was being built up? That for anyone who comes into Christ and makes Christ their covenant head, all of that obedience becomes yours. But hold on, I don't want to tell you the good news this week. That's for the other weeks. I want to give you the bad news. In Adam, as a human, as a person, when you're born, you're born in sin. You're shaping an inequity. That's what David said. You're born a sinner. Every child is born a sinner. What's my third point? A fallen nature. You know what? Our nature, we are born in the likeness of a fallen Adam. After his likeness, no longer. You're not born in the image of God. Yes, there's a certain image of God in all of mankind. But do you know what? As the seed of Adam, you are in his likeness after his image. You have an old nature. You're born with it. You know, my brother was raised around the gospel like me. And this particular night, us three brothers were sitting talking. And my middle brother was saying, I don't believe we're born sinners. I don't believe in original sin. I don't believe in the fall. I don't believe that I'm guilty. I believe I'm going to raise my children. I'm going to create a nice, loving environment. And I'm going to say the right thing and create the right environment. And they're going to grow up perfect. And he argued with us and he debated. And he was utterly convinced. Come back three years later, he's got a child. And he says, you know what? Children are born sinners. What two brothers with a Bible in their hand couldn't convince him of, a baby in his two hands utterly convinced him. Do you know what that little child is? She might look beautiful and smile at you and kiss you, but she is a born liar. Being fallen doesn't mean you're as evil as you can be. There's many nice moral people out there. Being a sinner doesn't mean you do everything wickedly, but it does mean you've got a deceitful heart that you don't even know. Have you ever seen a child covered in jam? What have you been doing, son? Nothing. Have you been in the jam? No. Or paint all over their shoes. Have you been near the paint? No, daddy, I wouldn't do that. Do you know what that is? In Adam, we are ruined by the fall. In Adam, we all became sinners. In Adam, you're born under a broken covenant. In Adam, you receive a fallen nature. Everyone has been born with a fallen nature. It's called the old man, the old self, the person you were before you were saved, what you were born as in Adam. It is the old Eden life. You were born with it. The Bible in Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3 call it the old man. It's our carnal nature. We inherited it. We were born with it. It's also called the flesh in Romans 7 three times. In Romans 6, it's called the body of sin. In Romans 8, it's called the body. In Colossians 2, it's called the body of sins of the flesh. So what is this body of sin? It's the whole principle of sin. You have a physical body. Well, there's a body of sin. It's the Adamic nature. It is the fallen nature. From Adam, everyone has been born with a fallen nature. It is sin expressed through a body. The fallen body of sin is the throne room of sin. Lusts of the flesh come through it, carnal desires, affections which are wrong. It's the natural self, the human man. What you are apart from Christ is what you get in Adam. Not only a broken covenant. You had nothing to do with it. You're born under a broken covenant that condemns you to hell, that condemns you to death. Remember, hell wasn't made for man. It's made for Lucifer and his fallen angels. Do you know hyper-Calvinists or even many Calvinists? They'll say that reprobation, some of those big names, even the best of them, Calvinists, and they'll say, God reprobated or chose men to go to hell. Rubbish. Rubbish. Do you know what Jesus said? He said, hell was not created for man. How can God have eternally chosen men to go to hell? He said, try all you want. There's no hope for you. And yet hell wasn't made for man. You know what? They're born with a fallen nature. Romans 3, verse 10, it says, As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. None righteous. Nobody born of Adam's race was ever righteous. There's lots of people in this city, they're not in Christ. And you know what they'll say? I'm righteous, I'm holy, I'm innocent, I'm pure. I'm moral, I try my best. I'm quite a good guy. The average sinner you try to share the gospel with, they say, I'm good. You know what you need to preach them? They're ruined by the fall. You're ruined. Before you preach redemption or regeneration, you need to preach the ruin. They actually think they're okay. I'm moral and I'm good and I'll try my best and I hope. Are you going to heaven? Well, I hope so. Do you think you're a sinner? Well, I wouldn't hurt anyone. Do you know what the Bible says? None is righteous. None is innocent. None is holy. None is pure. There's none that reach God's standard. By your standards, you might think you're okay. You know, most sinners in evangelism, I've asked them. I'm trying to give them the word of God and say, I don't believe that. I said, okay, so what do you believe is good? In your own eyes, I mean, what do you think really? Your standards, not the Bible, not God. What do you think is good? And right for you to do? Do you think you've ever broken that? Oh, yes. If they're honest, they say yes. So I'm saying, you don't even keep your own standards. What do you think you're like before God's standards? You don't even do the things you think you should do. And your standards are ground level. So it says there is none righteous. It also says there's none that understands. When you're an Adam, you are not righteous. Those born in Adam are not righteous. They are not good. They don't meet God's standard. Neither do they understand. No child of Adam understands. What does that mean? To grasp, comprehend, put the true facts together. Grasp the truth. Have an intellect. None, none understandeth. Education won't do this. All are without understanding. Oh, I know lots of things. No, you don't. While you're an Adam, you understand nothing. You don't grasp it, or else you'd be in Christ. You would run from your sin. You'd be trust in the blood. But if you haven't done that, you do not understand. You don't comprehend reality. It also says none seeketh after God. Oh, I'm seeking after God, but he's not answering me. Well, either you're a liar or God's a liar. Take your choice. And I know who I'd bet on. The Bible says none seeketh after God. You know what it says in John? No one would come to Christ unless the Father drew him. I'm talking about our natural condition. You wouldn't even seek after God. In Adam, you don't even have a desire after God. If you start seeking after him, that is a testimony that the Holy Spirit's moving on you. He's wooing you. If you're here as a sinner, and you're going, I'm worried about my spiritual condition. I want born again. I know I'm not okay. That's not natural. Do you know that most of this city have heard things about God, and they could care less, and yet you're concerned about your soul? Do you realize the Spirit of God has to woo you and move on you? Don't believe those that say men are generally moral. They've got a free will. Who says Adam had a free will? Adam had a free will. Don't tell me the drug addict pumping heroin into their arm have a free will. I've met heroin addicts. They hate it. They want free of it, but there's no power. Don't tell me that's a choice of their will. In fact, John's Gospel, John chapter 1, it says that we're not saved by the will of man or our choice. Don't tell me there's power in man's will. You can't even come to God unless the Holy Spirit draws you. And then it says none that doeth good. I'm talking about a fallen nature. This is what you got in Adam. You're under a broken covenant. You're a sinner under the penalty of death, and you have a fallen nature. None doeth good. It says in chapter 3 and 12, they are all gone out of the way. They are altogether become unprofitable. None doeth good. Do you know Paul puts this truth, this teaching in the midst of trying to explain justification by faith to Christians, to the church? Do you know the problem with the church? Why you're not in awe about the blood and forgiveness? Why you lose your excitement and go, I've been made righteous in Christ. I am in Christ. Do you know why you're not enthralled with that? Because you've lost the reality of what you were in Adam, and your utter ruin, and the penalty of your sin, and how dangerous your condition is. And so you lose the awesomeness of this. You'll never understand redemption by the blood, without understanding your ruin in Adam, the fall of man, the disaster, the tragedy. Every murder has come out of this. Every lie has come out of this. Every broken marriage and relationship has come out of this. Oh, heartache has come out of this. Every death has come out of this. Every sickness has come out of this. This is the ruin of mankind, and it's tragic. Millions, billions on their way to hell. And they don't desire God. They don't care about God. They love their sin. And you know what? Jesus died on the cross for them, and they could care less. Like those that walked past the cross 2,000 years ago, and they looked up at him, and they laughed at him, and they mocked him, and said, if thou be the Son of God, why don't you come down? And they laughed and went on their way. A man's dying, crucified, with his mummy standing in front of him, and they're laughing, and they're joking, like this generation, and they don't realize salvation is hanging before them. Judas could kiss that cheek, and he kissed heaven, and then died and went to hell. Imagine kissing the gateway to heaven, and you walk away from it and hang yourself. You commit suicide, and you damn your soul eternally. Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, have mercy upon us. My God, Father, we know, Lord God, that when you pour out your Holy Spirit, when you send revival again, Lord God, you're going to have, Lord God, a breed of preachers, a generation of preachers, who begin to preach ruined by the fall, who'll warn men to flee from the wrath to come, that will show them their sin and expose their condition, and show them the remedy of Jesus dying on the cross for sinners. Lord God, we pray again. We want to stand in these old paths. We stand in the way, and we're asking you tonight, show us these old paths, these ancient ways to walk in. Lord God, it's in these pathways of divine doctrine, of the truth of total depravity, of the fall of mankind, of the imputation of Adam's sin. Lord God, these are the truths of the Bible, showing the damnation and the ruin and the loss of men. And my God, I pray, show us it tonight, that we would cry out to Jesus as our Savior. We would lay hold of Him, that we would go seeking for a new covenant of grace where there's blood redemption and there's perfect righteousness in the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, I pray that your mighty Holy Spirit would save men and women. Lord God, add to this church real converts that are saved out of sin by the power of the Holy Spirit, by the washing of the blood of the Lamb. Lord God, we thank you tonight for real salvation and a real Christ. By this one man's obedience, many were made righteous. My righteousness depends upon the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that you bless this tonight. And Lord God, work deeply in our hearts for your own glory and praise and honor. In Jesus' name, amen.