Would you turn back to Genesis
2? Now tonight, I'm going to be preaching upon this subject,
what to do with grace. What to do with grace. And I've entitled the message
for this morning, in the day that thou eatest. Duane, is it possible my battery's
dead? You got a battery on you? That's quick, isn't it? Let's read verse 15 again, And the LORD God took the man,
and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress it, that's the
word that's generally translated WORK, to WORK it, and to KEEP
it. Now, the ground had not yet been
cursed. There were no thorns and thistles
to deal with. Life was good. And the scripture says the Lord
put the man in the garden to work it and to keep it. Now, what that tells me right
off the bat is work was before the fall. Work is good. What a blessing to be allowed
to work. Paul said, if a man would not
work, neither should he eat. You know, I like that. Don't
you? If a man won't work, neither should he eat. Now I'm sure there
was joy in this work that The Lord gave Adam to do, but there's
more anything just to show us that work is a good thing. Remember,
Adam is called in Romans 5, 14, a figure of him that was succumbed. And even before the fall, we're
given another type of Christ. God, the father gave his son
a work to do. And he did it. He said, my meat is to do the
will of him that sent me. My food is to do the will of
him that sent me and finish his work. He said, I finished the
work that thou gavest me to do. We read in John chapter 17, verse
12, those that thou has given me, I have kept and none is lost. The father gave him a work to
do. save the elect, save his bride, the people he gave him.
And that's precisely what he did. We're given a very brief
yet comprehensive type of Christ, even before the fall. Look in verse 16. And the Lord God commanded the
man saying of every tree of the garden, thou mayest freely eat. Here Adam is in paradise with
purpose, his work in an environment that was pleasant to the eyes.
What a blessing, what extraordinary privilege. Adam was placed in
the garden With every tree, he was allowed to freely eat thereof. Verse 17, but of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for
in the day, and don't miss that, that's very important, in the
day. That very day, that very moment that thou eatest thereof,
thou shalt surely die. Now, let me ask you a few questions. Number one, was there something
about Adam that necessitated him or necessitated him to eat
of the fruit? Not really. He was created innocent. He was created upright and there
was nothing in his nature that made eating the fruit necessary. He was created upright. Second question, did God know Adam would eat of
the fruit and fall? Of course he did. He's God. Third question, could God have
prevented it from happening? I answered the same way, of course
he could. He's God. To say he couldn't
do something would be a denial of his very nature. He's God. Of course, he could have prevented
this fall from taking place. Now, let me remind you, there
was nothing in Adam's nature that necessitated the fall. He
was upright. God foresaw the fall. God could have prevented the
fall. Now, the question that we have
to consider is why didn't he do it? if he could have. I've
heard people kind of charged, go, you know, how could a good
God or how could a loving God let something like that happen
if he could have prevented it? And let me remind you that God
is absolutely sovereign. You know what that means? That means his will is the first
cause of everything. Whatever happens, he is in absolute
control of it. He's even sovereign over the
free actions of men. What Adam did, he did freely.
He wasn't coerced to do it. He wasn't forced to do it. He
ate of the fruit because he wanted to eat of the fruit. It was an
act of defiance against God. He did what he wanted to do But
thank God, God is completely sovereign over all the free actions
of men. And this falls into the purpose
of God. God purposed for this to take
place. Now somebody says, I have a problem
with that. Then you've got a problem because this is who God is. He
purposes all things. He works all things after the
counsel of his own will. And this was God's purpose. Revelation chapter 13 verse eight. We read of the lamb slain before. the foundation, the creation
of the world. You see, the lamb was already
slain before the fall. This is all a part of God's eternal
purpose, which he purposed in Christ Jesus, our Lord, Ephesians
chapter one. Everything is according to God's
purpose. You know, that makes me happy.
That makes me glad. I wouldn't want it to be any
other way. Now the purpose of God is the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. This universe was created. The
world was made. The fall was purposed. for the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is where God makes himself
known. Every attribute of God is fully
displayed in the cross. Now, if you have reservations,
if you have questions, how could God purpose the fall? Well, I don't know the answer
to all those things, but if he did it, it's good. I love when
the Lord said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, because you have hid these things. God did it. You have
hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them
unto babes, even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy
sight. Now, if it seemed good in God's
sight, it's good, isn't it? I don't have to understand the
whys and the wherefores. God reigns. God's in control. God's good all the time, and
whatever He does is good. Whether I can see the reasons
or not, it doesn't matter. God's God. He's in control. God is good. Now I think about the first gospel
sermon preached in Acts, and I love the way Peter begins this
message. Listen to this. He said, he's talking about the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's talking about Christ being
nailed to a cross and crucified and dying on a cross. He said,
with regard to the cross, him being delivered, by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. The reason he was hung on
that cross is because it was God's determinate counsel. It all happened according to
his divine foreknowledge. He purposed it. He purposed it. That's the way he begins this
message. He purposed it. God's the one
who delivered him. Him being delivered by the determinant
counsel and foreknowledge of God. Delivered by God. God did
this, but this doesn't get you off the hook. You have taken
and with wicked hands have crucified and slain. You can't say, well,
God determined for me to do this. No, you did what you wanted to
do. With wicked hands, you crucified him and you slew him. But it
was all according to God's determinant counsel and foreknowledge. Now,
somebody says, that's deep. I don't know that it's deep,
but it sure is who God is, isn't it? Anything less than a God
who is in absolute control, is no God at all. And I love the
way Peter begins with this without any apology. He begins this great
sermon on the day of Pentecost, him being delivered by the determinant
counsel and foreknowledge of God. You have taken and with
wicked hands have crucified and slain. Now in Genesis chapter
2, the Lord God commanded the man saying of every tree of the
garden thou mayest freely eat, but, and here's the covenant
of works. Here's the covenant of works.
You say, well, what about the law? Well, this was before the
law and this is the covenant of works, salvation conditioned
upon. contingent upon an act of your
obedience. Now that's what works is some
part of salvation. And if it's some part, it's all
of it conditioned upon contingent upon some act of your obedience. Now look what it says, but of
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Look in verse
nine of chapter two, and out of the ground made the Lord God
to grow every tree that's pleasant to the sight and good for food,
the tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil. Now I have no doubt the
fact that it's in the midst of the garden, I reckon Adam walked
by those trees every day. Somebody says, did he eat of
the tree of life? I don't believe he did. He would
have lived forever if he did. I mean, the scripture points
that out, but he saw it and he saw that tree of knowledge of
good and evil. He knew that's the tree I'm commanded not to
eat. But of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day
you eat thereof, you shall surely die. Now, how content and grateful
Adam should have been. He's placed in this paradise
with every tree that's pleasant to the eyes and good for food.
How happy, how content he should have been. But wherever there
is law, there will be disobedience. I don't care how small the law
is, wherever there is law, there will be disobedience. Here Adam is in this innocent
state. God says, don't touch this. Adam
could not obey. Now the reason was not in his
nature. He was created upright. You see, we cannot obey because
of our sinful nature. You can't say that about Adam
at this time. He was innocent. There was nothing in his nature
that made it to where he had to disobey. But I know this,
wherever there is law, there will never be obedience. Never. This one little law, big
law, because given by the glorious God, But he put this one stipulation. You live if you don't eat, when
you do. He didn't say if you do. He said
when you do, on the day you do, you shall surely die. Now he didn't say you'll die. Adam died when he was 930. That's
a long life. He died when he was 930. He did
not say in the day you eat thereof, you'll begin that process of
dying physically, and you'll end up dying in 930 years. He said in the day you eat thereof,
that very day, you shall surely die. Now, when Adam was in the
garden, He had a body, he had a soul, he had a spirit. He had a body, he had a soul,
he had a spirit. Now the spirit is that which
communed with God. The spirit is that which walked
with God. And on the very day he ate of
that fruit, his spirit died. It's what's called spiritually
dead. And you have he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins. The spirit died that very day. And here is what this looks like. Turn a few pages over to Genesis
chapter six. Verse five. And God saw. You know, I'm thankful
for that. Me and you can't see things as
they really are. Do you believe that? You just
don't see clearly. I don't see clearly. We have
things that we think, things maybe we're even certain of,
feel strongly about, find out we were wrong altogether. We
just don't see things. I know I don't. I know I don't. And I know you don't either.
But God does. And God sees things as they really
are. And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil. continually. Now this is what
spiritual death looks like. This is what God sees. The first
word that I would point out is every, every, every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart, not most of them, not 99% of them, every, You see, this is talking about
the total depravity that Adam experienced at this time. Now,
total depravity does not mean that everybody is out murdering
and robbing banks and so on. I'm thankful it's not that way.
We couldn't live if that's what, that's not what total depravity
means. Total depravity means that totality of your being is
under the dominion of sin. Your will, your affections, Your
thoughts, your mind, your motives, whatever there is about you,
it's totally under the dominion of sin. Whatever's about me is
totally under the dominion of sin. That's what total depravity
means. My conscience is no good. My
desires are no good. My aspirations for good are no
good. Everything is under the total dominion of sin. Total
depravity. Now, the next part of this verse
teaches us something about total inability. Wherever you got total
depravity, you have total inability. Look what he says in Genesis
6, verse 5, God solved the wickedness of man, was great in the earth,
and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only, only evil, nonstop. Total inability. Whatever you
try to do, here's where it's gonna come. Only evil, nonstop,
continually, all the time. Now that is spiritual death. Now when we think of death, think
of a corpse, a dead person. Can't breathe, no blood pumping. There they lay. Dead. They're
not performing the functions of life. They're dead. Describe a beautiful scene. They
can't see it. Play beautiful music. They can't
hear it. Show them the fragrance of some
sweet smelling flower or a rose. They can't smell it. Give them
the best tasting food there is. Put it in their mouth. They can't
taste it. They can't feel they're dead. Now, when we speak of spiritual
death or when the Bible speaks of spiritual death, you're alive.
The wickedness of man is great in the earth and every imagination
and thoughts of his heart is only evil continually. But what
is necessary for spiritual life? A dead man can't perform. He
can't believe. He can't repent. He can't see the beauty of Christ
in his sufficiency. He can't hear the gospel. Oh,
he can hear audibly, but it doesn't come to him as the good news
of the gospel. He can't feel any awe toward God or a reverence
toward his person. He can't smell the sweet savor
of the gospel. He's dead. Now that's what happened
in the day. Not you're gonna die some 900
years later. In the day, that very day that
you eat thereof, thou shalt surely die. And that is precisely what
Adam did. He died. Now the reason for the
fall, and we're gonna get into the fall in Genesis three in
a couple of weeks. But the reason for the fall, Adam sinned. Adam
sinned. The reason for the fall? God's
purpose. You can't believe a God that
doesn't purpose all things. If that's not your God, you don't
have a God. I don't know what it is, but
it's not the God of the Bible. The results of the fall? Spiritual
death. Adam spiritually died. How much hope? What can a dead
man do with someone dead in sins to save themselves? Absolutely
nothing. You remember when the disciples
saw the rich young ruler leave? What a fine young man, what a
promising young man, but he leaves. He couldn't comply with the terms
of the gospel. He left And they looked at each
other and they said to the Lord, who then can be saved? If this
man can't be saved, who then can be saved? You know how the
Lord replied? With men, it is impossible. But not with God, for with God,
all things are possible. Now, Ephesians chapter 2 is a
commentary on Genesis 2.17. Would you turn with me there,
Ephesians chapter 2. Verse 1. And you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins. And notice hath he quickened. If you've got a King James Version,
you'll see that those words are in italics. And that's one of
the reasons, that's one of the many reasons I love the King
James Version. It's a translation. I don't go
on with these people that King James only in the sense that
they act like the King James is inspired. It's a translation. But whenever words are added,
the translators let us know that they have added them in order
to make the verse more understandable. But actually in the original,
this doesn't pop up until verse Five, as far as looking, even
when we're dead in sin, to quicken us together with Christ, there's
the word quicken, but read it without the italicized words. And you who were dead, you who
were dead in trespasses and in sins. Now, Adam experienced this death
and in Adam all die. And you and I were born into
this world. Yes, with a living soul. Yes,
with a living body, but dead, dead. You know, it's, it's, it's,
it's almost creepy when you think of your, you go to work tomorrow
and you look at all the folks around you, they're dead. dead in trespasses and sins.
Now that doesn't mean you're indifferent about them. You want
them to know the Lord. You want the Lord to save them
and reveal himself to them. But this is the case. They're
dead, dead in trespasses and sins. spiritually dead, unable to perform
the functions of spiritual life. Now here's what this looks like.
Verses two and three, this thing of being dead. Wherein in times
past, you, it's talking about Todd Knobbert and everybody else
in this room. Before the Lord revealed himself to you, before
he gave you spiritual life, when you were dead, dead, wherein
in times past you walked according to the course of this world. Now, John tells us what that
is in 1 John 2.17. He says, all that's of the world,
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life. Now here is the life of one dead
in sins, the lust, the desires of the cravings of fallen human
nature, the perversions of fallen human nature. The lust of the
eyes is where you're more concerned about what men see than what
God sees. You're more concerned about what
men think than what God thinks. You're controlled by what other
people think of you rather than what God thinks of you. You're
one to impress other men rather than God himself. The pride of
life. Oh, pride is such a... idiotic
thing, a stupid thing, yet it controls every natural man, the
pride of life, the desire for power. That's the course of this
world. And Paul says, you walked according
to the course of this world, according to the Prince of the
power of the air. That's the devil, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Lord said to
the Pharisees, you're of your father, the devil. And the lusts
of your father you will do. Every natural man is under the
dominion and control of Satan. Now they may be religious, they
may be moral, they may be nice people. You may even like them.
But every natural man is a child of God. the devil. And that's
what he says, before God saved you, you walked according to
this course of this world, according to the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Verse three, among whom also
we all had our conversation in times past. in the lusts of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.
And we're by nature, by nature, the children of wrath, just like
everybody else. Now, children of wrath means
wrathful children. Children who were angry at God.
Children who had no love for God. Children who would kill
God if it were in their power and that was proven on the cross.
Wrathful children. Angry children. You were just
like everybody else. That was your nature. Now this
word nature and this description of man lets us know just how
ridiculous the thought of free will is. Well that's ridiculous. You were by nature. This was
your nature. You know, a tiger, if he wanted
to, he could eat grass. I realize that, but it's against
his nature. That's the way the natural man is. They're by nature,
haters of God, wrathful children. You were by nature, children
of wrath, just like everybody else. But, verse four, but, but,
You saw the error of your ways and you turned things around.
But you saw the vanity of your life and you started to seek
the Lord. But you saw the horribleness of sin and started trying to
change things. No, but God. That's the difference. Not but
you did anything. But God. I remember hearing a preacher
once say, Here's the definition of grace, BUT God. Can't you say amen to that? Don't
you know it's so concerning to you? BUT God. Transcendent, glorious, eternal,
divine being, the creator, the all powerful, the omnipotent,
the omniscient, the independent, the immutable, the sovereign
of the universe, but God. Oh, he's so glorious. But God. And then he tells us two things
regarding this glorious God. But God, who is rich in mercy, He's rich in mercy. Let me tell
you the reason why God shows mercy, because he's rich in mercy. It's his nature. He's merciful. He delights in mercy. Do you hear that? God delights
in mercy. But God who is rich in mercy,
when God, when Moses said to God, show me your glory, you
know how God answered? I will be merciful. To whom I will be merciful. His
mercy is a sovereign mercy, but he said, I will be merciful. But God who is rich in mercy,
what's it say next? for his great love, wherewith
he loved us. Now, you've missed the meaning
of this, and I've missed the meaning of this if I don't see
who the us is. The us does not mean all men without exception,
because if it means all men without exception and some of those men
end up being lost, his love is meaningless. His love doesn't
do anything for anybody. The us is the elect. The us are those he loved. Behold, I've loved you with an
everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee here in his love, not that we love God, but
that he loved us. and sent his son to be the propitiation
for our sins. You see, God's love is a saving
love. But God who is rich in mercy
for his great love, wherewith he loved us, how? Even when we were dead in sins. Dead in sins. Hath quickened
us together with Christ. And he makes this
parenthetical statement. Here's what I mean by all this.
By grace, you are saved. Now, I love that it says we were
quickened together with Christ. Do you know the elect? have never
been separated from Christ, even when they were dead in sins.
I've always been his. Perhaps Satan could say, now
wait a minute, he sold his soul to me. He pledged allegiance
to me. If I would give him that, you
know how God would reply? He never was yours in the first
place. He's always been mine. He has no right to do anything. He's mine. You see, if you're
saved, it's because you're his. You're eternally His, and you
are quickened together with Christ. When Christ was raised from the
dead, that's when you live before God. You are in Him from the
foundation of the world, quickened together with Him. By grace,
you are saved. Verse six, and hath raised us
up together. When Christ was raised, you know
who else was raised? Me. Every believer. He has raised us up together
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Is Christ
seated at the right hand of the Father? Yes, as he is seated
at the right hand of the Father, so are we in this world right
now, present tense. That's how secure the believer
is, seated in Christ Jesus. He's raised us up together and
made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus that in
the ages to come, this is what heaven is gonna be. He's going
to show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. Four, by grace. You have been saved. Now, the
word saved is in the perfect tense, perfectly completed, never
to be repeated, complete grace, complete grace, by grace. You have been saved. Now, when
we talk about the grace, when the Bible talks about the grace
of God, it's not just God's offering you grace. He does no such thing.
He saves you by grace. If you're saved, He saves you
by grace. And when we talk about the grace of God, we're talking
about the electing grace, the redeeming grace that put away
your sin, the justifying grace that made you to where you have
no sin. the life-giving grace, the preserving grace, the grace
that conforms you to the image of his son. That's the grace
the Bible's talking about. By grace, you are saved. And I'm so thankful for this
next statement, through faith. Through faith. Now, what is the evidence that
God's given his grace to you? Well, somebody says, well, because
of my changed life, I can see how I've changed so much and
I've become so much better by, and I give grace the credit,
but I've become a much better person through grace. I deal
with sin better. I don't have the same temper I used to have.
I don't have the same lustful thoughts I used to have. I'm
just different. That's the evidence of grace
in my heart. Now, beloved, I'm all for a changed
life. Wouldn't you like to never sin
again? I'd like to never sin again. But if the evidence of
grace is a changed life, I've got a nature that hadn't changed
a bit. It's just as bad as it ever was.
It ain't improved a bit. It's the same. You've got the
same thing. Somebody says, I don't, you're a liar. You do too. You
do too. A sinful nature. And if I had
to look to some kind of change to give me some kind of evidence
that I was saved, I'd have to conclude I'm not saved. But you
know, he doesn't say by grace he is saved through a changed
life, through learning to sin less and become more holy. He
says, by grace are you saved, how? Through faith. What is the evidence that God
has saved you by his grace? You believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God. You believe he is that Christ. You see and believe that he is
all in your salvation. That's what faith is. By grace
he is saved through faith. And I love what he says next
in verse eight. And that, that faith, it's not
of yourselves. It didn't come from you, and
you know it too. If you have faith, you know it didn't come
from you. That not of yourselves. It's not the product of your
decision or your free will or anything of that nature. It's
the gift of God. I see that this is what the scripture
teaches, but it goes right on with my experience too. There
was a time when I didn't know what it meant to believe. I'd
hear faith, but I thought, what in the world does that mean?
I'd do it if I knew what it was. Then I found myself believing.
I didn't choose to believe. I found myself believing. Why? God gave me this gift. And to deny that, look what he
says in verse nine, not of works. If you don't see faith as the
gift of God, then you're believing salvation is in some way by works. If you think the faith you have
came from you because of a decision you made, because of some act
of your will, you believe in salvation by works. How many
other ways are there to take that? Not of works. lest any man should boast, lest
any man should have some ground of boasting before God. Aha,
I'm saved because I did this. I'm saved because I believe.
I'm saved because I repent. I'm saved because I have, fill
in the blank, whatever it is. No, no. Salvation's by grace. Salvation's of the Lord. By grace
are you saved through faith, and back, God, of yourselves.
It's the gift, the free gift of God, not of works, lest any
man should boast. Four, verse 10. We are his workmanship. Now if I, I know it's not gonna
happen, but if I did paint a beautiful painting, and I did it all by
myself, you know whose name I'd want on it? Mine. And you know, if you try to put
your name on it, I'm going to do something about
that. You didn't do this, I did it. Salvation is his workmanship. It's where we get the word poem
from. We're his poem. The poem of God,
the poem of Jesus Christ. where his workmanship created. Don't miss that word created.
How much did you have to do with the first creation? Well, you
say absolutely nothing. How much do you have to do with
the second creation? The answer is the same. Absolutely nothing. Created in Christ Jesus unto
good works. He that hath begun good work
in you shall perform it into the day of Jesus Christ. You're going to walk in good
works because he's ordained it. That's why. I know good works
are not what the world thinks of them, but they're true nonetheless. But God You were dead because
of what Adam did in the garden, and you did it with him. You
were right there with him. You did it. It's not his work
charged to you. You did it. You died. But God. That's the gospel, isn't
it? Let's pray. Lord, we give thanks for your
grace that gives dead sinners life
before you. Lord, I ask in Christ's name
that each person in this room would be given life from the
dead. they might be saved, that we
might be saved by your grace, that we might be given this glorious
gift, faith, for Christ's sake. Bless your word according to
your will. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
Dwayne, come lead us in the closing here, please.