If you have your Bible, open
it please to the 6th chapter of the Gospel of John. I want to read beginning with verse
59 and read down through verse 71. 59 through 71. These things said He, that is
Jesus, in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. Many therefore
of His disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is a hard
saying. Who can hear it? When Jesus knew
in Himself that His disciples murmured at it, He said unto
them, Doth this offend you? What and if you shall see the
Son of Man ascend up where He was before? It is the Spirit
that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak
unto you They are spirit, and they are life. But there are
some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him. And
He said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto
Me, except it were given unto him of My Father. From that time
many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him.
Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will you also go away? Then Simon
Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the
words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that thou
art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered them,
Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He
spake of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for he it was that
should betray him, being one of the twelve. Pardon me. I want to speak this morning
on the subject of human inability. Human inability. Total depravity
is another name that describes our subject this morning. And
let me say from the outset that it is not the supposed usefulness
of any truth that qualifies that truth for proclamation. Now what do I mean by that? I
mean by that that we're told many, many times it won't do
any good to preach on a subject like human inability. It won't
do any good to preach about total depravity, the total depravity
of the human race. It just won't do any good. It won't accomplish anything
to tell men and women what they cannot do spiritually. Well, we've been told that many
times ourselves, and certainly the devil tells us every time
that we would elect to preach from a passage of Scripture like
we have here before us this morning. The devil says, that won't be
very interesting to the majority of people. But my friend, I want
you to understand that the whole counsel of God is to be taught
and proclaimed if for no other reason than that it is the whole
counsel of God. Therefore, we ought to preach
it. It ought to be proclaimed. I'm sure that most of you, if
I were to ask you individually, single you out, and say, do you
believe in the proclamation of the whole council of God? I'm
sure that I would get an amen from about everybody in this
building. You would say, I agree with that 100%. I believe that
the whole council of God ought to be proclaimed. It ought to
be disseminated among the people. It ought to be preached and preached
very clearly and forcefully. Now we understand that There
are those who misuse various doctrines that come to their
understanding, that they hear about. But beloved, the problem
in our day and time is not that somebody has abused the doctrine
of human inability, the doctrine of total depravity. If proclaiming
what is true about God and man, listen to me, drives everyone
away, We ought still to proclaim it, letting God be true, and
every man a liar. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ had
given a dissertation here in these verses prior to our text
about Him being the bread of life, and about the necessity
for men to partake of Him, spiritually speaking, through faith. that
they needed to be a partaker of both the flesh and the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. They needed to have Him assimilated
into their spiritual system. They needed a union with the
Lord Jesus Christ. And as He taught these things,
the reaction of the disciples afterwards, they said, this is
a hard saying. Who can hear it? This is a very
difficult and hard saying. Who can hear it? Meaning that
they were having difficulty understanding what he was talking about. How
that he could have come down from heaven earlier in this chapter. There are those that when Jesus
said, I am the bread which came down from heaven, they said,
is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother
we know? How is it then that He said,
I came down from heaven? They didn't have a clue who He
was. They didn't have a clue that this was that One who was
from the beginning. This One that was with the Father
before the world began. They didn't have a clue that
this was that Christ, the Son of the living God. They looked
upon Him as being a mere man. So beloved, when the truth was
preached, we find that the Lord Jesus, talking to these disciples,
His disciples, He said, but there are some of you that believe
not, He knew His congregation. There isn't anybody that needs
to testify of man to the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows all men. And He knows whether you believe
or whether you don't. Or you say, well, I want everybody
to think. I want everybody to know. I wouldn't want anybody
to believe that I didn't believe. But the Lord Jesus Christ knows
whether you believe or whether you don't. He knows. It's very
clear to Him. He's an all-wise God. All things
are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. And He knows whether you believe. He knows those in this congregation
today that believe. If He were to come in here and
separate the sheep from the goats, it would be no problem for Him.
No problem, whatever. Now some mother might say, oh
wait a minute, Jesus. Wait a minute, you forgot my
son here. Jesus said, there's some of you
that believe not. He knows who believes and who
doesn't. Some mother might speak up and
say, what about my daughter over here? She believes. Well, does
she believe? Does she indeed believe? Do you
believe this morning? Have you had a work of grace
done in your heart enabling you to believe savingly on the Lord
Jesus Christ? Jesus said He knew from the beginning
who they were that believed not and who should betray Him. He knew about Judas Iscariot.
He knew all about him. He knew exactly what he was going
to do. He knew beforehand. You see,
we're dealing with a sovereign God here that governs and controls
all things and is in charge of His universe. We know that the
Lord Jesus Christ is God in heaven above and Lord in earth. We know that He is, and He knows
all things. Therefore, He said, because I
know you people, and I know those of you that have come and those
who have not come to Me, those of you that believe and those
of you that believe not, Therefore, He said, I said unto you that
no man can come unto Me except it were given to him of My Father. You never get to Me unless My
Father gives you to Me. Only as you're given to Me, Christ
says, you will not come. But when He gives you, then you
will come unto Me. And from that time, verse 66,
From that time, many of His disciples went back and walked no more
with Him. Now, who do you suppose they
were? Well, they were not the twelve. Who do you suppose they
were? There were some of these that
were following Him because of the miracles that He did, or
because of the loaves and the fishes that He provided for them. Some of them were just going
along for the ride, don't you see? They were just going along
for the ride. just because it might be a popular
thing at that time. It was something that was happening,
and some people just got to be involved in whatever is happening. But nevertheless, we see that
many of them, many of His disciples it says, they went back, walked
no more with Him. They got upset with Him because
He told them that He knew who believed and who believed not,
You know, the Bible says the foundation of God standeth sure,
having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His. He knows them
that are His. Every one that are His, He knows
them. And so, they got upset about that. Because He said that
you couldn't come to Me except the Father would give you to
Me. Only then could you come. They got upset. And they went
back, and they walked no more with Him. So beloved, if proclaiming
what is true about God and man draws everyone away, we ought
to still proclaiming it, letting God be true and every man a liar. Amen? Amen. That's exactly what
we must do. Because beloved, listen to me,
we face an entire generation today who have cut their teeth
on the idea that they can be saved anytime They can be saved
any place. They can be saved almost in any
way that they please. That's the kind of people that
we're preaching to in our day. But brother, sister, the spirit
of our day is a haughty and prideful spirit that can only be broken
by the hammer of the Word of God. It can only be broken as
the Word of God is proclaimed, as it is taught. The haughty
spirit of our day, the proud spirit. I'll be saved when I
want to be saved. I'll be saved in the way I want
to be saved. Nobody is going to dictate to
me about how or when I'm going to be saved. But my friend, the
Bible teaches that salvation is not in your hands. It is not
in your hand. Salvation is in the hands of
a sovereign seated on a throne in glory and nobody gets it from
Him unless He gives it to them. He must give you everlasting
life. Now Jesus taught them in this
chapter the doctrine of total inability. In these words, that
no man can come unto me. He taught the doctrine of total
inability. Now this doctrine states in a
nutshell that every faculty of man's being has been pervaded
by sin in the fall of Adam. The whole man, his mind, his
heart, and especially his will has been so affected by the fall
that he is in a state of utter and complete inability to comply
with God's commandments. He cannot comply with God's commandment
because he is a fallen individual. He's fallen in Adam by one man's
sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and death passed
upon all for all of sin. All have done exactly what Adam
did because they did it in him, and so we're all fallen in Adam. Now his problem is far deeper
than that he simply will not. Jesus in John 5 and 40 said,
Ye will not come to me that ye might have life. But the problem
of the sinner is far deeper than that he simply will not. Because the Bible teaches that
he's neither spiritually injured nor spiritually sick. But he's
in a state of spiritual death. He is dead spiritually. Paul in Ephesians 2 and 1 says,
and you hath he quickened who were dead. Who were dead. But God who is rich in His mercy
for His great love, wherewith He loved us even when we were
dead. And so we were all dead Spiritually,
before we were quickened by the Lord Jesus Christ. As the Father
raises up the dead, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will. Whom He will. There's a quickening
that must take place. But now the problem with this
sinner is that he is dead. Now, this results in a condition
which can only be described by the words, no man can come unto
Me. That's His condition. He cannot
come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Jesus said this twice. Somebody
said, well, He was in a hurry in verse 65, and He didn't really
mean to say this. Well, He had already said it
once before in verse 44, at leisure, if you please. And He said, No
man can come to Me except the Father which has sent Me. Draw
him, and I'll raise him up the last day. And so, the Lord Jesus
Christ makes this clear. Well, you say, does he have free
will? This sinner, you said he's dead.
Does he have free will? Well, if you mean by that, is
he free to choose what a man who is dead in trespasses and
in sins will choose? I say, of course. I say, of course. Jesus said in Matthew 7, 18,
neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. A corrupt tree cannot bring forth
good fruit. And so if you're a fallen creature,
you cannot bring forth saving faith, you cannot bring forth
loyal love, to the Master, you cannot bring forth a submissive
heart in life, bowing to the throne and to the Lordship of
Jesus Christ. You cannot do that. A corrupt
tree brings forth corrupt fruit. And that's exactly what you will.
So the fallen nature of the sinner will determine the nature of
his choices. And so you will turn away from
God at every point. Somebody said the sinner is like
a sick man laying in the bed and he has medicine on the nightstand
right by the bed. All he's got to do is just reach
out there and get it and take it. It'll solve his problems.
But the problem with that man in that picture is that that
man in that bed, why he'd rather die than take that medicine.
He will not take that medicine. He doesn't want to take that
medicine and he won't. He'd rather die than do it. And
so what you really have in that bed is a dead man to begin with. Dead to anything good. And the sinner is dead in sin. Now the Scripture declares that
a lost man must be born again. But listen to me, it just as
clearly declares that such a new birth occurs by the free will
of God and not the will of man. The Scripture declares you must
be born again. But man says, well, I guess you
can be born when you get ready to be. I never knew anybody in
the history of the world that was born when they got ready
to be. It was by the good pleasure of God. The Bible says in the
book of Proverbs, or in Ecclesiastes, that there's a time to be born. A time to be born. And so there's
a time to be born spiritually too. And God is the author of
when men and women are born. But the Bible says in James 1.18,
of His own will, begat He us with the word of truth. So it's
by the free will of God that men are born again. God's free will. The Bible says
in John 1 and 13, which were born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. But of God! And so all men and
women who at last make up the family of God and will be gathered
around the throne of God in eternal glory, all of them have been
born of God. of God. Now the Word of God declares
that men must come to Christ to be saved. It just as clearly
declares that men cannot come unless God effectually draws
them. The two verses that we mentioned,
John 6.44 and John 6.55, plainly teaches that. Now the Word of God also declares
that men must believe on Christ to be saved. John 3 and 36 it
says, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. John 3 and 18, he that believeth
is not condemned. He that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God. So the Word of God declares that
men must believe in order to be saved. And in John chapter
6 here, and in verse 40, it says, And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that if everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth
on Him, may have everlasting life, and they'll participate
in the resurrection at the end. But the scripture also clearly
declares, hear me, that the faith that saves the soul is the gift
of God's grace. Now Ephesians 2.8.9 says, For
by grace are ye saved through faith. That not of yourselves,
that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. And Philippians 1.29 says, And
it is given on your behalf to believe, and not only to believe,
but also to suffer for his sake. But it is given on our behalf
to believe. And that's the only reason why
we didn't believe. God had to give us faith. He
had to give us the faith of His Son. And we're justified and
saved by the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so you see
where the Bible declares what men must do, but they're not
able to do it. And if any do, it's because of
the intervention of Almighty God. Now let me take the time
this morning If you'll bear with me, and I know that it may be
a little warm and maybe not so comfortable for some of you,
but you bear with me and I'll try to let you out a little bit
early. But let me take the time this
morning to point out eight effects of Adam's fall upon the human
race. And these things that I want
to point out are true of all men and women by nature. Now
again, I want you to understand that I believe that the Word
of God plainly teaches this truth. Therefore, I believe it to be
important for every one of you to hear it. Now, Martin Luther
had something to say about the need to clearly set forth this
truth that I'd like to share with you before I get involved
here in giving you these eight things. I'm not going to preach
on these eight things, but I'm just going to mention them to
you in a moment. But Martin Luther, in his book
on the bondage of the human will, he had some things to say that
was, I think, very good about this. He says, as long as a man
has the remotest idea that his health is not seriously impaired,
he will never He will never either take medicine or go to a physician
as long as he believes he is possessed of innate strength.
He will never abandon dependence upon himself as long as he believes
he has a personal dignity derivable from his ancestors or acquired
by his own goodness or virtue. He will never cease to carry
himself proudly, but once undecisive, undeceive him, once prove to
him that he's really ill without strength and devoid of honor
or nobility, and then There is a fair prospect of him changing
his course and his department. It is precisely so with man as
regards God. As long as man fancies he can
do something towards his own salvation, as long as he thinks
he is possessed of power or will to do good, as long as he imagines
that he can give a helping hand to Christ to save his soul. So long will he occupy a false
position. So long will he carry himself
presumptuously before God. But once dashed man's absurdities
to pieces, once proved free will to do good in man to be a lie, A delusion and a snare once blow
to the wind, man's notion of health, strength, beauty, and
dignity, and then there is some prospect of him looking unto
Him in whom alone help lies, or at least some hope that he
will cease to boast. Mark you, I do not insinuate
that a mere intellectual knowledge of man's fallen ruin will bring
man to his right mind or induce him to employ the great physician.
For it is a truth that no knowledge without the regenerating power
of the Spirit of God has any power to lead a soul to Christ.
But speaking after the manner of men, I say it is not at all
likely that a man who is without such knowledge will ever go to
God, and that it is more than probable that a man with such
knowledge would begin to think seriously. means of themselves
are powerless, but the Lord uses means to carry out His purpose.
In the hope of the Lord employing these means, I would boldly,
fearlessly, and unmistakably tell man, you are a fallen, ruined,
powerless creature, and until you know it, you are living without
hope, and without God in the world. Man needs to know that
he's a fallen creature and that he has no spiritual ability to
do what God tells him that he ought to do. Now let us just
look briefly at these eight things. I'll suggest them to you. And
I want you to see them because this is true about every man
and woman by nature. First of all, man cannot see
the kingdom of God. He has no ability to see God's
kingdom. John 3, 3, Jesus answered and
said unto him and to Nicodemus, Truly, truly, I say unto thee,
except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. He cannot see it. You say, well,
what in the world does that mean? He cannot see it. Well, most
Bible scholars would tell you that means that he'll never see
it in the world to come. He'll never get there. He'll
never be there. Well, that is true, but that's
not all it means. It means that he'll never perceive
what it's about. He'll never have any understanding
about the kingdom of God until he's born again. Now Jesus explained
it in Luke chapter 17 in verse 20 and 21. And when he was demanded
of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, He answered
them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation. The kingdom of God is not something
you can see and see it coming like they thought that it was.
Neither shall they say, Lo here, lo there, for behold, the kingdom
of God is within you. The kingdom of God is in man.
The kingdom of God is in those who have been born again. And
they see the kingdom of God. They see it being worked in their
lives. Now, you say, well, how would
I know if the kingdom of God is in me? You would know that
the kingdom of God is in you if the King rules in your heart. If the boss, who is God Almighty,
if He's calling the shots in your life, if you truly are bowing
your knee day by day to His Lordship and Kingship, then you know that
the Kingdom of God is in your heart. It is within you, my friend. And you see it. You perceive.
You know what it's about. You know that Jesus Christ came
down from glory. And that there's been a change
of master in the lives of these people. And Jesus reigns there. The flag of rebellion has been
taken down. And the flag of peace has been
raised in the soul. And there's submission in that
soul. And that spirit of obedience
we talked about last Sunday morning is in the soul. The Kingdom of
God. And so the natural man, he, my
friend, he does not see the Kingdom of God. He doesn't understand
the Kingdom of God. He knows nothing about it, about
the Kingdom of God. Now then, the second thing. is
that man cannot understand the things of God. He cannot understand. By nature he cannot. 1 Corinthians
2 and 14. But the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him. Neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned. Now, beloved, this is a tremendous
verse of Scripture, and it's one that we must consider if
we're going to preach to men, if we're going to witness to
men, if we're going to try to assist men and women in coming
to an understanding of the true gospel of Christ, we must consider
this verse of Scripture. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. You say, but he's a good boy.
And he listens carefully. Oh, well, that's to be admired.
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God. But he's been to college. She's been to college. It doesn't
make any difference. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God for their foolishness unto him.
Oh, you say, well, they don't laugh when the gospel is preached. But my friend, in their hearts,
in their hearts, you don't know what's going on in their hearts,
and neither do I. But I'll tell you this, that
when a man receives the gospel, when he is enabled, like the
harlot Rahab, to hang that scarlet thread out the window, And all
of her life and her safety and health and the health of her
family and the safety of their family was all tied up in that
red thread that was hanging out that window. That's the foolishness
of the gospel. And I'm here to tell you this
morning, every man, no man, will be saved until he is willing
to receive the foolishness of the gospel. The Bible says that
God is chosen through the foolishness of declaring the gospel to save
them that believe it. And so my friend, you cannot
receive the things of the Spirit of God, and you will never receive
them until you are born of the Spirit. When the Spirit of God
comes into your life and you are born again, then the Scriptures
open up to you. The Word of God opens up. You
begin to read and you say, well, I never did understand that.
I never saw that before. There it is. There it is. Over
and over again. And my friend, it's not how much
education you've got. It's whether or not you're born
of the Spirit. Well, the Spirit of God is in you because these
things are spiritually discerned. Number three, man cannot do anything
pleasing to God. You say, do you mean to tell
me that man cannot do anything pleasing to God according to
his mother or his daddy? Oh, I didn't say that. Oh, most
people think that their neighbors can do things pleasing to God,
that they can do things pleasing to God. But God said, listen
to what He said, Romans 8.8. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. That's what he said. That's what
God said. God sent a man in the natural
state. A man considered to be in the
fresh. There's only two places to be.
Fresh and spirit. And those that are in the fresh
cannot please God. So as to so appease God that
all their sins be forgiven, all their sins be blotted out, he
cannot He cannot, he cannot bring down the favor of God upon his
never dying soul. He can't do it. He cannot please
God. You say, well I'm getting better.
You'll never get good enough to please God that he'll have
mercy on your never dying soul. Never will you be good enough. Because the Bible plainly says
that in the flesh men cannot please God. Well you say, well
how in the world can I ever, how can this be remedied? It
can be remedied by you trusting in one that never did anything
but please God all of his life. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Believe on Him, trust Him, and have His righteous merit, and
have His righteous garment put on you, that God will accept
you in His beloved Son, and forgive you all your trespasses, and
count you as one of His own, a member of His dear family.
All right, that brings me to the next thing. I told you I
wasn't going to preach on these things. I'm doing the best I
can. Number four, fallen man cannot hear the Word of God. He cannot hear the Word of God. John chapter 8 and verse 43,
listen to this. You say, I'm listening, aren't
I? I'm listening. Yes, my friend, but you cannot
hear it. You can't hear what I'm saying. You're not hearing
what I'm saying. If you were hearing what I'm
saying, you'd get up and confess Christ before I'm done. If you
were hearing what I'm saying, why, you'd become fanatical about
getting right with God and getting your sins under the blood. Oh,
somebody said, well, that's old time stuff. Listen, there's not
that much difference between what's being preached in this
church and what's being preached through the years back in the
hills of Kentucky, Tennessee, or wherever you want to go. There's
not that much difference in it. And I'm telling you this, that
a man cannot hear the Word of God, and the day comes you will
hear it, if you do hear it. And the Bible says, hear ye death,
hear ye death, and see ye blind. And the Bible says, told Ezekiel,
said to these dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord! Hear it! And so I'm saying to you, hear
the Word of the Lord. But the Lord Jesus Christ was
talking about Him And the father, and about him being one with
the father, and the Pharisees were about to stone him to death.
And he said, why do you not understand my speech? John 8, 43. Even because you cannot hear
my word. You can't hear it. You just can't.
You say, well that's going to leave us in a bad way. You mean
we can't hear the word? No, my friend, you can't hear
it unless God gives you hearing ears and seeing eyes and a heart
to perceive. You cannot. Number five, man
cannot receive the Spirit and truth of God, John 14 and 17,
even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive. Somebody
said, well, I think so-and-so believes the truth. Do they have
the Spirit of truth? Do they have the Spirit of truth?
If they don't have the Spirit of truth, then they don't believe
the truth. And the spirit of truth, the
world cannot receive that. Because it seeth him not, neither
knoweth it. Doesn't see it, doesn't know
it. Therefore, they cannot receive the spirit of truth. Fallen man
number six cannot come to the Son of God. We told you in John
6.65, Therefore I said to you that no man can come to me, except
it were given to him of my Father. He cannot come to Christ. He
is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him,
seeing He ever lives to make intercession for them, but you
can't come unless the Father draws you to Him. Number seven,
man cannot call Christ Lord left to himself. You say, well, I
can polypare it, what everybody else says. That won't do you
any good. When Paul says this, he says, I give you to understand.
Now hear this. He said, I give you to understand,
talking to the church in Corinth, that no man speaking by the Spirit
of God calleth Jesus accursed, and that no man can say that
Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. And you say, well,
I've been trying to get around to maybe one of these days declaring
Him to be my Lord. Well, my friend, you'll never
do it. You will never bow your knee in humble submission to
Him with judgment day honesty. You will never with feeling and
meaning in the depth of your soul believe on Jesus Christ
as Lord until the Holy Spirit of God regenerates your heart
and enables you to do it. Only then can you call Jesus
Lord. And everybody else running around
here saying Lord, Lord. Lord, Lord, have we not done
this? Have we not done that? The Lord
doesn't hear that. He doesn't hear that. Lord, Lord?
No, no. Why call me Lord, Lord and do
not the things which I say? I mean only as the Spirit of
God is in the heart enabling a man to respond to the Lordship
of Christ, only then, only then can he truly say Jesus is Lord. Wouldn't you like to be able
to say that? Well, you must be born again. And then number eight
and last, man cannot believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He
cannot believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You go to hell if you
don't, but you can't do it. You cannot do it. Every one of
you here in this room that is not a believer on the Lord Jesus
Christ is consigned to the pit. The wrath of God abides on you,
and you're a lost sinner, dead in sin, and there isn't a remedy
for you outside of the sovereign grace of God, outside of the
God of the Bible, outside of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let me read out of John 12.
And just a few verses here that help you to see what the scripture
says about the fact that man cannot believe. In the middle of verse 36 of
John 12, these things spake Jesus and departed, and did hide himself
from them. But though he had done so many
miracles before them, yet they believed not on him. that the
saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he
spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath
the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore, verse 39 of John 12,
it's in the Bible, therefore they could not believe. Because that Isaiah said, again,
he hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they
should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart,
and be converted, and I should heal them. Now Isaiah saw that
on a day when he had been looking at the glory of God, and he spake
of Him, and said, this business of men seeing, men believing,
is in the hands of a sovereign God. I see that, Isaiah said. I see that clearly. I see that
clearly. This is in the hands of God.
Now, total depravity, total inability. You say, what does all that mean?
Sum it up, preacher. Well, it means that you cannot
be saved by your will, your works. It means if ever you are saved,
you must be saved by the mercy and the grace of God alone. You
say, well, where does that leave an individual? Where does it
leave an individual? The opponents of the truth of
the gospel of God's grace says, it leaves a man in despair without
any hope. Well, if you mean that it leaves
men despairing of any hope in themselves, then we wholeheartedly
concur. Because there ain't no hope in
you, friend. You're a goner if God doesn't intervene in your
life. If He doesn't cross your path, if He doesn't reveal His
Son to you, if He doesn't make Him known down here in your heart,
you're a goner. You're not escaping the judgment
of God. Now, in fact, that's where a man must be brought.
He must be brought to the place where he has no confidence or
hope in himself. He must be brought to the end
of himself. And that's where a man must be brought if he ever
would be saved. You know, the Bible teaches that
God kills before he makes alive. He must despair. A man must despair
of his own goodness. He must despair of his own ability,
his own righteousness, and cast himself wholly and solely upon
the mercy of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's a rare thing today to
find a man in such a condition as that, isn't it? It's a rare
thing. to find somebody who's give up
on themselves. And he said, I'm trusting, I'm
trusting only to Him. The vast majority of our generation,
hear me now, I'm about to come to a conclusion here. The vast
majority of our generation have cut their teeth on a teaching
that tells them, hear me, that God has done all that He can
do to save them, and now it's all up to them to accept His
offer. That's what they've heard. They've
heard that. But that terminology is not used
anywhere in the scriptures. I want you to know that. Notice
who this leaves in the driver's seat. Who does that kind of an
idea leave in the driver's seat? This leaves in the driver's seat
a people who think that they can be saved if, when, and how
they please. And they get indignant if you
tell them that it's otherwise, that that's not true. Well, rather
than bringing them to despair of self, their doctrine specifically
points them to themselves as the critical contributor to their
own salvation. And this system leaves a man
with at least one act of which he may be proud and boastful,
and that is his choice which allows the work of Christ, they
say, to be effectual on His behalf. Ah, my friend, such a lie as
that needs to be exposed. In Luke 18 and 14, Christ says
that everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that
humbleth himself shall be exalted. You say, Preacher, you humble
us by telling us that we cannot, that we cannot, that we cannot,
that we cannot! Well, sinner, if God leaves you
a leg to stand on, you'll try to stand on it, won't you? If
He leaves you any other hope but Christ, you'll trust it rather
than Him, I'm sure of it. If He leaves you any other hiding
place but in the Savior, you'll flee to it and ignore Him. If
he leaves you other ground on which to stand, then upon Christ
you will bank your soul upon the sinking sand rather than
upon the solid rock, Christ Jesus. It may be humbling to utterly
turn your back on yourself, but it's an absolute essential. For
God has placed a rock in Zion, and either you fall upon that
rock and be broken, or that rock will fall upon you and grind
you to powder. There is no middle ground. Christ or death. This truth we've
been talking about this morning is a humiliating truth, especially
to this generation that is steeped in the modern day atmosphere
of self-love, self-confidence, and self-glorification. But then, as painful as it is,
as painful as it is to learn the truth about inability and
human depravity. I never heard anyone dying of
being humiliated, did you? No one ever perished of being
broken in heart. In fact, I think it's the step,
the first step down the road that leads to full submission
to your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Salvation is not dependent. upon you, not dependent upon
you. We are all deserving of God's
everlasting wrath in hell, and we are justly condemned, justly
condemned, and unless God saves us by His almighty grace, we
will forever die. We're done. We're finished for
eternity, already consigned to the wrath of God, to the lake
of fire, to burn that death, that death that never dies, to
suffer it eternally. Oh, my friend, listen to me,
will you also go away? See, that's a hard saying, preacher,
what you've been talking about this morning. That's tough. Will
you also go away, I ask? Jesus knows who believes and
who doesn't. Will you also go away? Will you
go away? Well, like what the disciples
said, and I think that you do too, most of you, Simon Peter
answered and said, Lord, we don't have any place to go. To whom
shall we go? Nowhere else to go. Thou hast
the words of eternal life. You're the only one that can
save. You've got the only saving grace, the only saving mercy. And we believe. Oh, here's a
man that believes. And you know what the Bible says
in another place? God said to this man Peter, He
said, Blessed art thou, Simon, son of Berjona. Flesh and blood
didn't reveal it to you. He said, you're the Christ, Son
of the Living God. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you. Your mom and papa didn't teach you that. Your grandpa
and grandma didn't teach you that. Flesh and blood didn't
reveal it to you, but my Father, which is in heaven, He revealed
it to you. He made you to know it. So He
said, we believe and are sure. And everybody that He teaches,
Everybody that He teaches comes to the Son, and all of them believe
and are sure that He's the Christ, the Son of the living God. Am
I telling you the truth or not? I'm telling you the truth. Everybody
that believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, they've been taught there
by the Father. They shall be all taught of God.
They shall be all taught of God. And everybody that has heard
and learned of the Father does what? Comes unto Me. Jesus said,
comes unto Me. If you have difficulty with this,
I just say, hear the Word of the Lord. Hear the Word of the
Lord. Oh, you dry bones, hear the Word
of the Lord. Oh! Hear the Word of the Lord. Hear His Word. May God be pleased
to bring full surrender to every life here. Submission to His
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. fall on him and be broken, or
may he never fall on any of you and grind you to powder. God's
will be done in the salvation of souls. I wonder if we could
stand