I have some hard things to say
today, some things that are truly offensive unto most people, self-righteous
people particularly, and that is today I want to speak on the
corruption of human nature, and particularly the heart of man,
the wickedness of the heart of man. And in Genesis chapter 6,
1-8 we have our text today particularly in verse 5-7 and there will be
with other places in the scripture as well. So if you are there
and would like to follow along Genesis chapter 6 and verse 1-8 And it came to pass, when men
began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were
born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men,
that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which
they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit
shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh. Yet his day shall be an hundred
and twenty years. There were giants in the earth
in those days. And also after that, when the
sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bared
them children to them, the same became mighty men, which were
of old, men of renown. Now verse 5 and following, God
saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that
he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy
man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man
and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air, for
it repenteth me that I have made them in the one bright spot. But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. I'd like for you to look at verse
5 again. God saw the wickedness that every
imagination of the thoughts of the heart was only evil continually. Now, I begin by saying that I
think there is no doctrine that more runs the length and the
breadth of the scripture than that of depravity. We've taken
our text here in Genesis chapter 6, Genesis, the book of beginning. the origin, as the meaning of
the word is, the beginning, the coming into existence, or the
origin of a particular thing. And in Genesis, we have the beginning
of many things that continue yet. We have the beginning of
creation, God created. We have the beginning of humanity,
God made a man and a woman. We have the institution of marriage. We have the beginning of the
worship of God. And, of course, we have the entrance
or the beginning of sin in the world and among the human family. by one man, Romans chapter 5
and verse 12. And with that comes the realization
that sin separates from God and that there is required a proper
sacrifice in order that man might be reconciled to God and brought
again into the favor of God. Because all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. Romans 3 and 23. The wages of sin is there. Romans chapter 6 and verse 23. And that there is not one righteous,
no not one, Romans chapter 3 verse 10. In spite of all that and
the testimony of the scripture it is amazing that so many still
deny the depravity of the heart and the race and deny it in the
face of overwhelming evidence, both from the scripture and from
history and from present experience, even on the now. For I repeat,
it is not true that most people have a heart of gold, as we hear
expressed so many times in our world. Depravity is everywhere. It is in every place. It is in
everywhere present. And we ask those who deny total
depravity, do they not hear the scripture? Secondly, do they
not hear and read of the news and the events of our present
day and hour? Let me pretend that I'm a newscaster
just for a moment or so. Our lead story. We began with
breaking news tonight. Three shot and killed in an apartment
in East Houston. Convenience store beaten and
robbed and killed. Woman with young child carjacked. No trace of them. Robbers wearing
hoodies smashed the window and robbed a gun and a jewelry store. Twelve-year-old girl abducted
by a stranger in a gray car. Home invasion. Owner pistol-whipped
and tied up. High school math teacher arrested
for affair with one of their students. Preacher and a cop
caught in a prostitution sting, doctor charged in Medicare fraud,
popular female veterinarian jumps to her death after being charged
with solicitation to have her husband killed, man shouting
Allah Akbar runs down a crowd and kills eight, national football
player arrested for slugging girlfriend, Hollywood mogul arrested
for sexual harassment. And the latest, 26 killed while
they worship in their church on Sunday morning. Shall I go
on? Do we need to say more? It is
a violent world. Ours is a violent and wicked
society. And still, in spite of all of
the evidence of the depravity of the race, a jury of our peers
refuses to convict. And they praise the nobility
of the human nature at every possible opportunity and chance. I want to make a prediction,
something recently. I predict that of all the millions
that were raised in relief for the Harvey, I predict that much
of it or some of it will disappear into strange pockets, will be
stolen, embezzled, and never heard from again. As for the
high praise and the pride of humanity, I'd like to share an
opening remark from an old-timer by the name of John Bryan who
wrote in the 1700s in a chapter called The Present Depravity
of Human Nature. This, he said, quote, many take
a peculiar pleasure in extolling human nature. Such is plainly
a contradiction of both scripture and universal experience. Later on, in that same article,
the man wrote, they are exceedingly lavish in their inconiums and
groundless flattering and applause of the human excellency." Certainly
that is true in our day. Now many in our day go further. They deny that there is any such
thing as absolute or pure evil. that people do not act because
they are evil or out of an evil heart, and they shift it off
and blame it on mental illness or to genetics that might run
in the family, a bad childhood experience, or drinking or dope
as being behind these matters. So, in Genesis chapter 5, Let's
lay it out again. Again, verse 5, if you will. God saw the wickedness of man
was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually. Drop down now to verse 11 through
verse 13. The earth also was corrupt before
God, and the earth was filled with violence. God looked upon
the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted
his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end
of all flesh is come before me. For the earth is filled with
violence through them, and behold, I will destroy them with the
earth. Now let's drop on down to verse
17 in the same chapter. And behold, I, even I, do bring
a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh wherein
is the breath of life from under heaven, and every living thing
shall die. Now, we know that the flood,
the great flood in Genesis 6 and 7 and 8, was not caused by global
warming or by climate change or by depleted ozone. It was
God's first great judgment against the wickedness of man and that
generation in particular. and the effects of sin and its
judgment have passed also upon all creation. Now, notice the
words again in Genesis 6 and 5. We're going to use these extensively. God saw the wickedness of man
that it was great in the earth. To put it poetically, if we might,
The earth was flooded with iniquity before it was flooded with water. Hear it again. The wickedness
of man was great in the earth, corrupt before God, and filled
with violence. In verse 11. all flesh had corrupted
its way. Verse 12 of chapter 6. The earth
was filled with violence through them. In verse 13, Calvin called
it, quote, a prodigious wickedness that everywhere reigned, unquote. The whole earth in every habited
part of the earth. Wherever man was, there was great
iniquity that was being practiced in that place. Now let's illustrate. the root of sin, Moses adds this
indictment. Look, every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Now certainly,
their wickedness consisted in outward acts and outward acts
of violence. Early on, Cain killed his brother
Abel in Genesis chapter 4. And again in chapter 4, not only
had Lamech practiced polygamy, but he also boasted that he would
kill any that had or would try to do him harm early on. And in chapter 6, Even the sons
of God chose women and wives not for their character or for
their God-fearing, but upon the loss of the flesh, physical beauty. They were fair to look upon.
In Luke chapter 17 and verse 27 and Matthew 24, 38, it describes
Noah's day as being consumed with eating, with drinking, with
marrying, and giving in marriage. Not that these things are evil
in themselves, and some of them are lawful and even necessary. But Moses emphasizes the wickedness
of their hearts. the imagination of the thought
of his heart. Take note of this. This is probably,
I think, the first time that the word heart appears in the
Old Testament or in the Bible. It's used in the scripture. And
it is not the physical heart or the blood pumper. But it is
the inward or the center of man, the feelings, the intellect. It is the enclosure, the interior
or the midst of man, the heart. They're not just sinful by habit. but their very natures are inclined
toward evil and sin. It would have been a fair summation
for Moses to have written that their hearts were corrupt, that
all had sin, but he goes further and he puts a very strong and
a very special emphasis on the depravity of the human heart
and the mind and the understanding. When it is graceless, when it
is unregenerate and has not the Spirit of God, this is the state
of the heart. Listen how the Scripture frames
it again. Chapter 6 and verse 5. The wickedness
of man was great. It was great. I like to say that
the Jew had filled up their cup of iniquity in the crucifixion
of Christ, and judgment came upon them without remedy. They had made themselves ripe
for the judgment of God. Also, notice, he said, the imagination
of the thoughts of their heart was only evil continually. Actually, I believe the Hebrew
could say every imagination of the heart. Everyone, and the
word imagination here, as it appears in this particular place
in the scripture, can mean conception. Every conception and the thoughts
of the heart. And that was only evil continually. The very frame, if you will.
The thing framed in the thoughts of the heart. The intent the
motive of the thought and of the heart and of the mind. And I want you to notice that
Moses said three things about it here that we want to notice
individually. Number one, of course, it was
evil. The thought, the intent of the
heart was evil. This puts it in a proper respect. This comes from a word, a root
word, I understand, that means to spoil. Every thought of the
imagination of the heart was spoiled, as if to say broken
in pieces and shattered, as it were, and then to be good for
nothing. the evil in the world and God
saw it. God observed it. God looked upon
it. Now the second thing that we
have here is the word only. Look at the word only. only evil. And this puts the emphasis on
it as to say nothing but evil. The imagination of the thought
of their heart was evil only, only evil. Evil and nothing but
evil. And this expresses the depravity
of the human heart as well as might be done. And I think it
applies to all. Thirdly, we have the word continually. Only evil and that continually. This is an added indictment. Every imagination of the thoughts
of the heart was only evil and that continually. There are several
words translated continually in the Old Testament scripture. Not occasionally does Moses mean,
not now and then, Not once in a while, but continually evil. The Concordance defined this
word as meaning a hot day. That is, from sunset to sunset,
his heart is only evil continually. From a root word meaning the
whole, or all, or every, all together, all of the time. only evil continually. Here's some verses that I've
taken where the same word is used in other places in the Old
Testament in a different context. 1 Samuel 18, 29. Saul became
David's enemy continually. Continually. Same word we have
here. All the time. Every day. every
day when he arose, constantly, without ceasing. He was the enemy
of David. Again, in Job 1 and 5, you have
it this time in a good sense. This did Job continually. That is, he made sacrifices for
his children in case they had sinned. And he did that every
day. He did that continually. He did
it often and always. And in Psalm 52 and verse 1,
the goodness of God endures continually. Now that can't mean anything
but all the time all the time, every moment. Before we proceed
with the subject of depravity, which is despised by so many
today and rejected, yea, by most, and that even by those who are
naming themselves Christian and are attached unto the Church.
But this doctrine is so deeply insulting to the natural man
and the religious moralists that I want to make a point before
we go on. I keep digressing but consider
this point that if the Bible is man-written. Some people say
that. This is just some man's writing. Some man wrote that. Now, if
the Bible is man's writing and was written apart from divine
revelation, and if it is just the surmising of some common
man, would they have ever fashioned so self-abasing doctrine as this
total depravity? If men had written of themselves,
would they ever have painted themselves with the brush that
Moses uses? Since everyone is prone to proclaim
their own goodness, as Solomon writes, Proverbs chapter 20 and
verse 6, most speak well of themselves. Most think that they are fine
and upstanding. But to re-quote John Bryan again,
they are exceeding lavish in their inconiums, their high praise
and their glowing praise of groundless flattering applause of human
excellency. No way. that human depravity
is a human doctrine invented by men and written down in the
scripture. But to return to our subject,
let's hear what the scriptures have to say about the unrenewed
heart of man and how it is that they came to be so, and evil
continually. How did that happen? How did
that come to pass? Why are all depraved? Why is the heart of man a literal
cesspool of corruption? And what Lange's commentary called
the procreative source of evil thoughts and motives is the heart
of man. In our text, The corruption of
life, the violent and the depraved acts are traced to the fountain
or to the springhead, the heart, and the imaginations of the heart. They all originate there. procreatively out of the heart. Why is the heart wicked then
in every man? How did it come to be so that
it is so with everyone? What has filled it so with this
depravity? The answer is in Genesis chapter
3. the sin and fall of Adam and
Eve, our first parents and the fountain of the race. It is this,
human nature corrupted in Adam and Eve. For it was by that one
man that sin entered into the world, Romans 5.12. It is in
Adam that all die, 1 Corinthians 15
and 22. We bear the image of Adam, 1
Corinthians 15 and 49. And this is important. When Adam
knew his wife and began to beget seed, we read in Genesis 5 and
3 that he begat after his image and in his likeness. When Adam
begat, They were not upright. They were in his likeness and
image. So let's repeat for emphasis. Human nature corrupted in Adam
and Eve and became sinful. And they are the one blood in
Acts chapter 1726 from which proceed all nations upon the
face of the earth. They are the first parents and
the fountain of humanity and procreated not until they were
fallen depraved and sinful and then in his own image. Thomas Goodwin of Puritan wrote,
depravity is produced unto us by birth and fleshly generation,
unquote. It is produced in procreation
from parent to child. Our Lord said to Nicodemus, look,
that which is born of the flesh is flesh, John chapter 3 and
verse 6. So that depravity is produced
or procreated to the offspring, but grace is not. Grace does not run in the blood. Now I think one of the strongest
arguments for this is from David in Psalm chapter 51 and verse
5. The context is this. David's
penitential prayer, repentance, and confession after his sin
with Bathsheba. And he takes his confession all
the way to what we call original sin. That not only had he sinned
in the flesh, not only had he sinned in his adultery, but he
confessed it, he had been sinful from his conception. Psalm 51 and verse 5. Listen, I was shapen in iniquity. In sin did my mother conceive
me. Now some would try to dodge that.
It really pinches them. Some would try to dodge that
and say that David is accusing his mother or imputing to his
mother adultery. But in answer to that, I say
in Psalm 86, 16 and 116 and verse 16, he refers to his mother as
God's handmaid. God's handmaid, his mother. That
would make David, if that were so, illegitimate. If David's mother conceived him
in unfaithfulness and adultery, that would make David illegitimate. And you know what that would
have effect? Illegitimate could not enter into the congregation
of Israel until the 10th generation, Deuteronomy 23, 1 through 3. And besides, as some note, to
make his mother an adulteress does not fit the context in Psalm
chapter 51. For David is speaking of himself
and of his sin, and so he said, born in sin, shapen in iniquity. Isaiah 48 and verse 8, transgressors
from the womb is how some are described. Psalm 58 and verse
3, The wicked are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon
as they be born, speaking lies. In Job 14, 1-4, he speaks of
one born of a woman. The Lord does that too. Matthew
11, 11. For you see, all except Adam and Eve, including the Lord
Jesus Christ, were born of a woman. They're a few days, they're full
of trouble, not able to resist God, and are by birth and nature
a sinner in the sight of God and unclean. It cannot be otherwise,
because only one ever born of a woman was impeccable and free
from sin, and that is our Lord Jesus Christ, born of a woman,
yet not by man, but by the conception of the Holy Spirit. But let's
go back to the corruption of the human heart as it is manifest
out through the heart. Not only does this depravity
possess the heart, not only does it do it as Moses said, but such
words as the earth was corrupt and filled with violence before
God, verse 11. For this reason, God determined
that He would destroy the earth, verse 13, chapter 6. Note the earth is not restricted
unto the land mass or the globe or the ground or the dirt or
the material earth as seen in chapter 6 and verse 13. Now, let's say something about
this depravity. This depravity of the heart is,
in every way but one, incorrigible. This depravity is incorrigible. The dictionary defines incorrigible
as incapable of being corrected or amended or reformed, unquote. So this is incorrigible. depravity in us, as seen by the
words, only and continually. Well, let's fast forward now
to Genesis chapter 8 and verse 21. We notice something. My point
is this. The great judgment in the flood,
the wrath of God poured out, the great death and destruction
did not purify human nature. It did not cure depravity in
man. For in Genesis chapter 8 and
verse 21, when Noah was off of the ark, he made an altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet
savor, and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse
the ground any more for man's sake. Watch this. For the imagination
of man's heart is evil from his youth, neither will I again smite
any more everything living as I have done. Now we notice something. The same reason why God sent
the flood is why He will not destroy the earth by a flood
again. The reason in verse 21, Genesis
8, because or though the heart of man is incurably wicked, and
it would be constantly repeated. Beside, we have the record of
the flood and the reason, and that stands as a monument of
the wickedness of man to man's wickedness, as did Lot's wife
stand as a monument to those that pass by. Now concerning
the heart. Some particular verses stand
out in the Scripture with regard to this doctrine. One of them
is Jeremiah chapter 17 and verse 9. The heart is deceitful above
all things, more deceitful than all else. It's desperately wicked.
Who can know it? That is, who can sound out the
depth? Who can understand it? Who can
explain it? Who can cure it? Only God. In Ecclesiastes 9 and 3, Solomon
writes, The hearts of the sons of man is full of evil and madness
or literally insanity is in their heart while they live and then
they go to the dead. Now, you want to turn with me
to the New Testament, the book of Mark. chapter 7. These are the words of our Lord. Mark 7, 21 through 23. The Lord said, this is about
purifying and defilement and so forth under the law. The Lord said, for from within,
out of the heart of men precede evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
theft, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil
eye, pride, foolishness, blasphemy. All these things come from within
and defile the man. This is doubly useful in that
Not only is it in the scripture, but they are the words of our
Lord. In a contention with the Pharisees
about defilement, it agrees with Genesis that the thoughts of
the heart, the Lord said, out of the heart proceed evil thoughts. The heart is a cesspool of evil
imaginations, of festering consideration, of evil reasoning and wicked
devices. Sin has, if I may use this expression,
its embryonic development in the heart. It being the womb
where sin is conceived and is brought forth. In Matthew's account
of this, Matthew lists six sins conceived in the heart. Mark
extends the list to twelve. Evil thoughts precede all dirty
dozen imaginations that Mark has mentioned. And this is not
all, for Paul lists 17 works of the flesh in Galatians 5,
19 through 21. By the measure of scripture,
we must ask, woe is me. If the case be so, how shall
it be? Proverbs 29. Who can say, I have
made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin? The Lord Jesus Christ
made that declaration. The Lord Jesus Christ declared
His impeccability in John 8 and verse 46. Which of you convinces
me of sin? But none else can. Who can say,
I have no sinful thoughts, I have no vain imagination, I have no
sinful pride, no unbelief, no ignorance dwelling in me? Who
is there that can make that claim and it stand? All are partakers
of the same corrupt nature. Therefore, the seeds of vice
are in all. That's amazing, is it not? I
have a corrupt nature, therefore I'm capable of all that human
nature is capable of. The seeds of vice are in us all,
though all do not practice the same vices and not to the same
extent or not at the same time. But the same corrupt heart that
makes one a self-righteous moralist also makes one an harlot. And the same fallen nature that
makes one an adulterer drives the murderer as well. The same
nature that allows one to practice adultery pushes one into sex
perversion as well. Another pornography addict. Our thoughts are witnesses that
the nature within us is corrupt and what it is capable of. Think of the thoughts. that run
through our mind, the same nature that lets one become a religious
hypocrite, lets another fall into idolatry or worse, atheism. The embezzler has the same nature
as the mass murderer, the liar the same nature as the drunk,
And the answer is not education. It's not culture. It's not sensitivity
training. It's not anger management. It's
not treatment centers. It is the saving grace of God
in Jesus Christ. So let me close with two things.
Number one, Some are more restrained than others. All do not run to
the same extent. But that's due to some kind of
restraint upon human nature and depravity. It might be parents
holding a tight rein. It might be conscience that's
a little more enlightened. It might be a natural fear of
God. It might be from hearing the
preaching of the Word of God or attending church to restrain
sin in some degree and be thankful, even like the Pharisee, that
we're not like other men in some thing. But secondly, Genesis
6 and 8, here is the light. Here's the light. Genesis 6 and
8, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. In the midst of
all of that corruption, the word but. But Noah found grace. God favored him. and spared him
and gave him grace so that he, like Enoch, walked with God. For in Genesis 6 and verse 9,
he was just and perfect and upright, a sincere man, a man of integrity
who walked with God. Genesis 7 and verse 1, he was
a righteous man in that wicked generation wherein sin abounded. Grace did much more abound in
the case of Noah. Noah was not perfect. He was
not without sin. But he was not living a sinless
life, and this grace and righteousness was not of himself. Noah did
not find grace by searching or by seeking for it. It was a sovereign
grace bestowed upon Noah that formed his character and caused
him to be righteous and to walk with God. And he could say like
Paul, by the grace of God, I am what I am. 1 Corinthians 15 and
verse 10. And let us all say that. I am
by the grace of God what I am. For it is a sinful generation
that we live in. May the grace of God rescue and
has rescued us and thank God for that. Noah found grace in
that generation, in the midst of that, and was spared through
the flood and his family. Noah found grace. The whole world
was corrupt. But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. And that's the secret. That's
the blessing. Thank God for that.