I began this message two weeks
ago, and we had two texts that we looked at. The first one is
found in Proverbs chapter 22 and verse 28, which tells us,
remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set. And the other is in Jeremiah
chapter 6. Jeremiah chapter 6 and verse
16, thus saith the Lord, stand you in the ways and see, and
ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein,
and you shall find rest for your souls. The ancient and the old,
the ancient landmarks, the old paths, I mentioned at that time
that not everything that is ancient and old is necessarily the best,
but it is when it comes to the things of God. Truth is like God. Actually, He is the truth, and
it never changes. He never changes. He's the same
yesterday, today, and forever. forever. The truths of God are
ancient and they are old from everlasting. When the nation of Israel came
into the land of Canaan, it was divided to them by lot. We know
this about the lot from Proverbs chapter 16 in verse 33. The lot is determined by the
Lord as Much as we might think it's all chance, there is no
such thing as chance. The lot is cast into the lap,
but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Many things that are old, and
I mentioned especially in the field of medicine, are not necessarily
the best. We all, I'm sure, remember reading
in school about George Washington, the father of this country, so-called,
first president, how the doctors treated him by bleeding him.
I don't know if that would be something anybody would want
to do today. Medicine has certainly improved,
and we thank God for it. But when it comes to the word
of God, the truths of God, they cannot be improved upon. This has been Satan's way of
operating from the very beginning. He usually casts doubt upon the
word of God, upon the truth of God, and he does so most often
by asking a question, as he did with Eve. Yea, hath God said? just that subtle question that
he asked of her. We have looked at three of these
ancient landmarks. There's one God who exists in
a trinity of persons, the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. We
worship him who is God, God manifest in the flesh, and also the plenary
and verbal inspiration of the scriptures, of all scriptures.
from beginning to end is given by inspiration of God and is
profitable for doctrine, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness. And last Sunday evening, we observed
the Lord's Supper. And the truth about it is also
certainly one of the ancient landmarks, because we know that
men soon began to teach what is called the real presence of
Christ in the bread and in the wine, that the bread actually
becomes the body of our Savior, and the wine actually becomes
the blood of Christ. And I said at that time, it's
pure priestcraft. That's what it is. It's pure
priestcraft. It puts somebody between the
sinner and the Savior. some man between the sinner or
church between the sinner and the Savior. Well, tonight, I
want us to look at two more. I want us to hear about two more
of these ancient landmarks. And the first one is the truth
about man's fallen nature. In the Garden of Eden, did man
fall in such a way that it means that he is totally depraved. Did he receive a wound that means
he has the ability to cure himself or did he die? And we might frame
this question like this, did God keep his word or not? God said, in the day that thou
eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. He disobeyed God. He ate the fruit. But was he
just slightly wounded? You know, like a man is riding
a horse and he falls off the horse and he gets up, picks himself
up, brushes himself off and goes on. Is that what took place when
Adam fell there in the garden? Did the children's nursery rhyme
have reference to what happened in the garden? We've all heard
this nursery rhyme, and I believe it's been said that it was taught
to children to teach them the truth about the fall. Humpty
Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. And all the king's horses and
all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again. What happened in the fall? Remember a message that I heard
many years ago? What happened in the garden?
The Garden of Edom. What happened at the cross? And
what happens in a sinner's heart when God reveals himself? Three pertinent questions, right? What happened in the Garden of
Eden? Did man just receive a wound or did he die spiritually as
God told him that he would? God's Word teaches us that the
spiritual death that he experienced means that it affected his heart. Now all of us, we are accustomed
to think of the heart as Emotions. If we think of the physical heart,
of course, that's ever so important to the physical body. We recognize
that. But when we talk about the heart,
metaphorically, most of the time we're thinking about emotions,
love, affections. But in the scriptures, when the
scriptures speak about the heart, more is included than the affections. The mind, first of all. The mind. and then the affections, and
then the will, the volontad, the will. Those are the things
that make up the heart when the scriptures speak about the heart. Now, we talk about total depravity,
and some people misunderstand what is meant by that term. They
think, well, you're saying When you speak about men being totally
depraved, that every person, every man, woman, boy, and girl
is as awful, sinful as they possibly could be. Morally, they're all,
everyone is totally depraved. Everyone is as bad as he possibly
could be. But that's not what we mean.
Not everyone is a Hitler. No, not at all. There are some
people who are moral people, outwardly moral people. There
are some people that never professed to know Christ and didn't obviously
know Christ, don't know Christ, and yet they are very proud,
and I assume they're very truthful about this. You can take their
word. When they tell you they will
do something, they will do it. Many of us have known men like
this. When they shook their hand on
a deal, on a business proposition, it was as good or better than
a signed contract. No, they were not evil, as evil
as they could be. But total depravity tells us
that every part of man's heart His mind, his affections, and
his will was damaged, ruined in the fall. In other words,
he is spiritually as bad off as he could be. That's the bottom line, isn't
it? Spiritually, he could not be any worse off because he is
dead in trespasses and sins. Look with me in Ephesians chapter
2. I know you're familiar with this verse. But Paul, speaking
to the believers in the church at Ephesus, writing to them in
Ephesians chapter 2, he said, and you hath he quickened. Now that word, of course, means
made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins. wherein
in times past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience. I've tried to
illustrate this over the years in different ways. I remember
one illustration I used years ago was of a fish, a fish in
a stream or in a river. Now which way is that fish going
to go? That dead fish is going to follow the current, right?
For him, for the fish to swim against the current, what has
to take place? He's got to be given life. And
then another illustration I've tried to use over the years is
driving a car. You know, most free will preachers,
They preach as though here's a man, he's driving his car,
and it's in neutral. He's not going forward, he's
not going backward. He's just in neutral. And you
can speak to him, and he has the power, he has the ability. You can move his emotions, and
he can reach here and put the car in drive and go on for the
Lord, or put it in reverse and go on towards hell. Man is not
in neutral. No. Man, with that description,
he has the car in drive with his foot on the accelerator all
the way to the floor going as far and as fast as he possibly
can from the things of God. Has no interest in the things
of the Lord. The Lord Jesus in John 6 in verse
44. He said, no man can come to me except the Father, which has
sent me, draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
We all know can, no man can come to me. Can has to do with ability. He didn't say no man may come
to me. That's not what he said. He said,
no man can come to me. That has to do with ability. And then to some others, he said
one day, you will not come to me that you might have life. I heard a preacher many years
ago. I mean, many years ago. And he made this statement and
stayed with me. Man, he has the freedom. to jump over the moon if he wants
to. Every one of us here, we've got the freedom, don't we? There's
no law against it. You can jump over the moon. Of
course, people don't use that terminology anymore about the
man in the moon jumping over the moon, but back years ago,
we did use that for some reason. And I remember his point was,
we have the freedom to do it, but we don't have the ability.
Doesn't that make sense? We have the freedom to jump over
the moon, but we sure don't have the ability. And that's what
our Lord said when he said, no man can come to me. Morally, it's impossible for
him of his own free will to come to Christ. No man can come to
me except, except the Father, which has sent me to draw him. This is an ancient landmark.
Man, he didn't receive a wound in the fall, he died. He was rendered dead by his disobedience,
dead spiritually. So every man, woman, boy and
girl comes into this world spiritually dead. The second truth, the last
one I want to mention tonight is the truth about God's effectual
call. Turn with me, if you will, to
John chapter five. John chapter five, and beginning
with verse 24. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but
is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. For
as the father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the son to
have life in himself, and hath given him authority to execute
judgment also, because he is the son of man. Marvel not at
this, for the hour is coming in the which all that are in
the graves shall hear his voice. I want you to notice in verse
24, The Lord Jesus makes a statement of fact. He that hears my word
and believes on him that sent me has. Not he may have or he
shall have or one day in the future he will have. No. He that
hears my word and believes on him that sent me has everlasting
life and shall not come into condemnation. but is passed from
death unto life. Now in Romans 8, Paul says, there's
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. How is
it that we come into this world condemned in our father, Adam? Condemned in our father, Adam.
but we pass from death unto life, and we will never ever again
be condemned. In Romans chapter eight, Paul
said, who is he that condemneth? It's impossible that anyone should
condemn one for whom Christ died and lives, and whom God has justified. Who is he that condemneth? He
that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting
life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from
death unto life. You see, a person passes from
death. A person passes from death. There
was a day, there was a time in my life, and in your life, if
you are saved tonight, there was a time when you were dead
in trespasses and sins. But you passed, and how is it
that you passed from death unto life? You heard His word, and
you believed on Him whom sent Him. Now, in this passage we've
just read, I want to point this out to us. It's obvious in these
verses that the Lord Jesus speaks of two very different resurrections. Do you see that? He speaks of
two very different resurrections. One is spiritual, and the other
is physical. Verily, verily, verse 25, I say
unto you, the hour is coming, and now is when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall
live. They shall hear his voice, and
they that do hear shall live. But then notice down in verse
28, marvel not at this, but the hour is coming. And notice he
doesn't say, and now is, does he? In verse 25, he says, verily,
verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is. But now
in verse 28, he doesn't say, and now is. He's talking about
two different resurrections. One resurrection is spiritual. That's when a person is born
of the Spirit of God. And over him the second death
hath no power, the scripture says in Revelation chapter 20.
Why? Because he's passed from death
unto life. But then, in verse 28, Marvel
not at this, for the hour is coming, and it doesn't say, and
now is. Why? Because this hour hasn't
yet come. Oh, it's coming. It's coming,
but it hasn't come yet. All. Now, he didn't say in verse
25 that all would hear the voice. of the Son of God, did he? All
he does not call. All men do not experience the
effectual call. But listen, all men will hear
his voice in the general resurrection. When the Lord Jesus Christ comes
again, to receive his own unto himself, there shall be a general
resurrection, that is, all men will be raised and all men will
be brought to judgment. The scripture is also clear that
those who hear his voice shall live and believe the gospel. Believe. He that hears my voice,
the Lord Jesus Christ said, Verse 24, he that heareth my word and
believeth on him that sent me. In John chapter 10, he said,
my sheep hear my voice and they follow me. And he also said this in John
chapter 10 in verse 26, some of the Jews there, they came
to him and they said, how long do you make us to doubt? How
long do you make us to doubt? If you be the Christ, tell us
plainly, tell us openly. And the Lord Jesus told them,
I told you. But, now listen, but, here it
is, verse 26, but you believe not, because you are not of my sheep. His sheep hear His voice and
believe. And His sheep, hear his voice
in the gospel. And this is certainly a very
strange matter. I don't think any of us are competent,
any man is competent fully to understand this. Remember, a
preacher of years gone by used to say, if my voice is the only
voice you hear, you'll leave this building just like you came
in. But if while hearing my voice, you hear the voice of the Son
of God, you go out of this building alive, spiritually alive. God is chosen by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Paul in Antioch, remember
the scripture says, and as many as were ordained to eternal life
believed. And men have always, free will
preachers, have always tried to twist that scripture around
and make it say as many as believed were ordained to eternal life. But that's not what it says. Remember Dr. Broaddus, he was,
I think, the founder of the Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
Now these are truths that, yes, the Southern Baptists, preachers
in the Southern Baptist Convention, when that began years ago, they
believed these things. Probably not all of them, but
they were ancient landmarks. They were the old paths in which
God's people walked. Dr. Broad has said to those students
there at that seminary, I think he taught Not hermeneutics, but sermon
preparation. I forget the word they use for
that. Homiletics. There you go. I knew you would
know. Thank you. Thank you. Homiletics. That's
an important subject. But he told them, don't twist
that scripture. It means what it says. Brother
Barnard used to say, when we run into something in the Bible
we don't like or we don't believe, we say, well, The Greek says
this, or the Greek says that, you know. No, Dr. Broderick said this is exactly
what the Greek says. It's a good translation. As many
as were ordained to eternal life believed. They that hear his
voice believe his word if they are his sheep. His sheep hear
his voice. They will be quickened. And they
will believe the gospel. How did you believe? How did
you believe? If you believe tonight, you believe
because you were made alive. You were quickened. In his prayer,
his high priestly prayer, the Lord Jesus Christ said that he
had been given power over all flesh. You know, as God, the
Son of God, he had power over all things, just as the Holy
Spirit has power over all things, and God the Father has power
over all things, but as the God-man mediator, as the servant of Jehovah,
he said, thou hast given me power over all flesh. There's a man
in glory tonight. There's a man in glory upon the
throne of God. It's the throne of God and of
the lamb. He's the lamb of God. And he
has all power, both in heaven and in earth. He said, his Al has given him
power over all flesh that he Christ, that he should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given him. Paul asked of the Christians
in Corinth, who maketh thee to differ? Who maketh thee to differ? You
believe tonight, who maketh thee to differ? Oh, you say, well,
I've just always been a better person and I've studied the facts
I've looked at all the evidence and I just made a decision to
believe. Now, who maketh thee to differ? And he makes it clear, it is
God who makes one to differ. I love that passage in Ezekiel
when God carried Ezekiel out there to that valley of dry bones
where there'd been a battle years before. There was bones, bones
everywhere. And Ezekiel walked around and
he said they were dry. They were very dry. And God asked
him, can these bones live? Can these bones live? Well, Ezekiel,
He had the wisdom to respond in the only way you could respond. Oh Lord, oh Lord God, thou knowest. Thou knowest. And then he was
told, preach to them. That's the craziest thing in
the world, isn't it? To preach to a bunch of dry bones? Out in the world, Is that going
to accomplish anything? You said sinners are dead in
trespasses and sins. I just repeated what the word
of God says. Well, why preach? Because God
has chosen. Ezekiel preached. It wasn't long,
God said, prophesied to the wind. The breath, the breath came,
right? And those bones came together.
And they did live. They did live. And when the Lord
passes by, just like that infant cast out in Ezekiel chapter 16, her condition, the infant could
not have been any worse. The Lord passed by. It was a
time of love. And that's what happens when
the Lord calls one of his sheep It's a time of love. And he who
has loved that sheep from before the foundation of the world says,
live. And that person lives. I trust the Lord would bless
these words to all of us here tonight. Number 485, revive us
again, number 485. Let's stand as we sing.