Just I've got my candy right here just because I usually teach kids and I know kids like candy But I think adults do too. So first thing is is that when it comes to apologetics? Comes from the Greek word apology that's used eight times in the New Testament. So who can tell me you guys remember? What does apology I mean? Raise your hand so I can pick one and they can say it loud. Does someone over here say go ahead Jackson What's that? Defense. There you go. Make a defense. So it's used in those eight places. The place that is probably most commonly used in regards to apologetics is 1 Peter 3 verse 15 which says, But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense. That's the word apologia in the original, in the Greek. Always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence. And I always like to emphasize a couple things. Number one is, when you're dealing with people who are anti-Christians, your beliefs and such like that, is our tendency to be gentle and respectful or hostile Not very respectful Yes, okay. So again that God's Word commands us where we need to be commanded Okay, and so when we give defense when we make the defense we ought to do so with gentleness and reverence And then the main thing I always like to emphasize is there's two commands here. It's not just make a defense Okay, this is given to all Christians. Okay That doesn't mean all Christians are gonna be you know on TV and YouTube like Jeff Durbin Okay But all Christians are called, commanded according to this passage, to always be ready to make a defense. But before we make a defense, we have to do what? Set apart Christ, sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts. And we're going to see this as we continue to go on. However we make a defense, Christ as Lord sets how we go about doing that. And so we said at the very beginning of this, I think this is the fourth week, so three weeks ago, we said the Bible has to be the foundation for how we do apologetics, right? We want to do it like the Bible instructs us. I think nobody would debate that. I mean, everybody would agree. Every Christian would agree with that. But the thing that we're going to see kind of comes into play is the Bible also has to be defended. So not only is the Bible the foundation for us to defend the faith, but it also needs to be defended. Because is the Bible attacked in our culture? What are some attacks against the Bible? Who can give me one? There we go, Brandon. On inerrancy. Oh, boy, I thought I hit a baby. That'd be bad. In church, with candy. All right. Wouldn't be the first time, probably, though. What are some other attacks against the Word of God? So that it has mistakes in it. That's what he's saying when he's saying attacks of inerrancy. You ever heard that? The Bible has mistakes? Cadence. Contradictions in it. Man, I'm a horrible thrower today, okay? There's all sorts of, and we can go on and on, okay? I want to go on, because I want to get to the meat of today's lesson. But the point is, guys, is the Bible is under a constant attack. Christians are under constant attack. And so apologetics, this is kind of the fancy Definition but apologetics is the defense of Christian truth as it has been revealed to man in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments Okay, and so as Christians were all called to defend the faith to defend the Word of God to defend the gospel Okay, and and I've used the example many times a lot of you guys know Robert But you all have like grandparents or great-grandparents, but think of you know, somebody who's like Roberts almost 90 like was he commanded to to sanctify Christ as Lord in his heart? Oh, he's been a Christian a long time, longer than probably most of us have been alive in here, okay? And he's been commanded that. But here's the thing, growing up in the 40s and 50s, okay, do you think he had to endure a lot of open, hostile attacks against his faith? Do you think there was a lot of those in the 40s and 50s in Graham County? No, there wasn't a lot of them anywhere, really, in America. And the point is, that doesn't mean There was an application. It was still there. But the point is, today, are you going to deal with hostile attacks on Christianity, on biblical beliefs? I mean, you're going to be seen as hateful and a bigot if you believe marriage is between a man and a woman, which is inescapably what the Bible teaches. The only way you can come away with a different definition of marriage is to reject the Bible. It's the only way. And if you do that, though, now you're hateful. You're a bigot. And it doesn't end. I mean, it's just constant, constant, constant. And so my point is, I think I'm just tired today, because I really felt discouraged earlier. But I think what easily happens, then, is we easily think, well, I'll just be quiet. And guys, that's not what God calls us to. And so remember the definition that Votibakam gives. It's easy to remember. Everybody should know this. Apologetics is knowing what we believe, why we believe it, and being able to defend that to others, being able to communicate that effectively to others. That's what God calls us to do, okay? If you don't know what you believe and why you believe it, you probably won't engage people very well, okay? And the thing is, is apologetics, this whole study helps us in our evangelism, helps us to defend the faith, helps us to engage with other people, helps us, for those of you who have kids, with your kids, okay? Both in training them up and preparing them and understanding and discipleship. And so there's so many applications of this. It helps us for us, because if we're constantly hearing attacks on Christianity, is it possible to have doubts ourselves? Absolutely. Okay. And so the point is, is, is understanding what we believe, knowing why we believe it can help build up our faith. And so, uh, there's so many attacks. There's, it's so crucial for us to know. So remember the analogy I use, I think it was from Greg Bonson, but is there's multiple ways to do apologetics. Uh, but I, I use the illustration, uh, stolen from him. Um, but that if you're in a room with a guy with a gun and there's no way for you to escape, And he's got a gun and he's going to shoot you. Okay, you have two choices of what you can do, right? You can either learn how to dodge bullets or you can learn how to disarm the man. Get his gun, right? And the point is, guys, is rather than teach how to dodge bullets, okay, what we're laying the foundation for is how to disarm the hostile attacker, how to disarm the unbeliever, okay? And so we have to understand principles. These are crucial, crucial principles. Some of you guys have heard a lot of these things your whole lives. Some of you haven't. So I want to lay this groundwork really well so that we all really understand it. None of them are super complicated, but we have to understand these truths as we go on. So we've seen how God, we looked at God and his creation, how God is independent. What does that mean God is independent? Say again? He doesn't need help. He doesn't need anything. God is God. That was the whole burning bush. It didn't use up fuel. It was self-sufficient. So the point is, there was a picture of that's who God is. God doesn't need us. God doesn't need anything. And he's completely independent of all, where creation is completely dependent. And so all creation is dependent on God. More dependent than Emerson. Emerson could survive without her parents for a while. She's in the woods, it wouldn't be too long. But guys, if God lifted his hand from us, it's instant. We are that dependent on God. Whether we acknowledge it or not, that's what it is. God, although there's, and remember what we called this difference between God is independent, needs nothing, man is dependent, we're completely dependent on God. Remember what that's called? There you go, baby Ruth. Huh, I don't wanna hit the baby, I'm gonna aim for Jackie. There we go, all right, all right. The creator-creation distinction, guys. And this is the picture, it's crucial for worship, it's crucial for apologetics, it's crucial for a lot of things. But the whole point is guys, is there's a God and you ain't him. There's a God and he's separate, he's different. Now there's aspects of God that we can be like. God is love, can we be like God in that regard? But is our love the same as God's love? Not at all. God has power, can we have power? We can, but is our power anything like God's power? No, and so the point is, is God is so different than us, although we're created in His image, okay? And so there's this distinction, creator, creation, distinction, okay? We're gonna come back to this, this is important. This is long, but this quote is really important. This recognition of the distinction between the independent God and the dependent creation is one of the fundamental differences between Christians and non-Christians. And I don't care what you put in for non-Christians. You can be the cult of the LGBTQ, it can be Jehovah Witnesses, Muslim, secular people, it doesn't matter. Non-Christian, any of them, okay? Versus Christian. This is the fundamental difference right here, okay? Is Christians recognize there's a creator who's independent and different and we're dependent on him. And all these other religions and they seek to make us like God, or God like us. Hinduism, all of these, that's what they do. And so that's why one man even refers to it as two-ism, is Christianity, versus one-ism, making everything alike. And it goes on, Christians strive to see everything in light of the creature's dependence on God, while the non-Christian tries to deny the creation's dependence. It's so hard for me, because I want to jump ahead into the apologetics. But I'm trying to just lay a foundation, OK? If anybody wants to talk afterwards, we can. where we're laying for is so, so applicable, okay? I mean, so applicable. That's why I have a hard time holding myself back, but I am. So I hope you'll keep coming so you'll see this all flesh out. Now, we've seen then that the dependence of God specifically, we've emphasized, he's dependent on multiple ways, but we've really emphasized two ways that man is dependent on God. Man is dependent on God for knowledge and for morality. Man is dependent on God for truth, for true knowledge, and we're dependent on God to know what's right and wrong. We can see in our day and age what happens when you reject God's word to know right from wrong. It's everywhere in our culture now. But look at these passages that speak specifically of how dependent we are on God for knowledge. Psalm 36 verse 9 says, for with you, that is God, is the fountain of life. In your light do we see light. So it's only in God's light we have light. You reject God, what do you reject? Light. Where are you? The dark. We're going to see this as we go on. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. OK? That's not just religious truth, guys. That's truth. All truth. Algebra. Statistics. Whatever. Jesus, truth is found in Christ. OK? Colossians 2, in Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Where are the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden? in Christ. So if you reject Christ, what do you reject? Wisdom and knowledge. Hopefully you can think enough to see that this crashes against secularism. Psalm 94.10 says that it's God who teaches man knowledge. So we've really tried to emphasize this, how dependent we are. Who can tell me one of the two ways God reveals himself to man? God has revealed himself primarily to man in two ways, who can give me one? Hazel. What kind of revelation? The Bible, specific revelation, which one do you want? Butterfinger or crunch? Okay, I'll try to get it to you. Okay, I'll just go over there. All right, it's just gravitate. I should just give Posey one. You want one, Posey? Okay, so special revelation, God has revealed himself through his word. What's the other way? Primary way. What's that? General. There you go. Hope you like chocolate. I can't throw anything today. So God has created himself. What's general revelation? Who can give me some examples of general revelation? Somebody over here. What's general revelation? Give me an example. Nature. Creation. You see a storm. Does that say something about the power of God? Or a hurricane? You see the beauty of the sunset. These things show us something about God. The Bible says in Psalm 19.1 that the heavens declare the glory of God. Who sees that? Who sees the glory of God in the heavens? Everybody. It doesn't matter what language you speak. It doesn't matter where you are. You see that. And so we need to understand. Now, out of those two, which one's the most important? Out of general revelation, creation, and conscience, I think is a part of that, and versus God's word, which one is more important? God's word, because God's word helps us to interpret creation correctly. We'll see that as we go on. Now, last week we looked at man. When it comes to man, If we're gonna understand ourselves, if we're gonna understand the world, and we're gonna understand God, well, specifically, ourselves and the world, there's three stages that the Bible always breaks things down into. You guys remember what those are? You guys, anybody? Look at mankind in creation, I think I have it. And then we gotta look at mankind what? After the fall, with sin, and then what's the last one? Redemption. And guys, this is for anything. If you want to understand marriage, you need to understand marriage at creation before sin. How did God intend it? This is why I sometimes joke and say, my wife and I want to have an Old Testament marriage. Well, when you say an Old Testament marriage, what do most people think? What's that? More than one wife. But that's because most people don't know their Old Testaments very well. Or they're not thinking it right. And Old Testament marriage, guys, would be based on Genesis 1 and 2. One man, one woman, sacrificially together for life. I mean, guys, that's what we would strive for. But why isn't marriage the way, why is most Old Testament, I won't even say most Old Testament, but why is there a lot of polygamy in the Old Testament? Because what happened in Genesis 3? The fall. Sin came into marriage. And so now you have all sorts of things. And so then redemption, is what happens when we're redeemed. Now, we looked specifically last week. This is so crucial. I'm going to spend a little bit of time. But we've got to get this. And I'm only going to do half the lesson on sin today, man and sin, because we need to make sure we're getting this. I want to make sure you guys, we're all there and we don't leave any behind. So when it comes to knowledge, guys, Adam always, did Adam have true knowledge? Before sin, did he have true knowledge? Yes. Now did he know everything? No. There was much he didn't know about, but he had true knowledge. But because he's limited by time, by his perspective, by the changes, by just learning, all these limitations he has, the only way he could know things for certain was when he recognized that creation-creator distinction. And he depended on the Creator, he depended on God for true knowledge. This is really, really crucial, okay? Because we don't think this way a lot, especially because we tend to think and be more secular in our thinking and think, well, we don't really need to acknowledge God in everything to know 2 plus 2 is 4. I mean, do you really need God to know 2 plus 2 is 4? Yes. The Bible, see, and that's fine. Most of us think, we don't think that way, okay? We don't think it really matters anymore, okay? But the point is is I want us to see why okay, because there's a lot of reasons on why okay It matters and so as long as knowledge comes from God, it's true. Okay, but it's like this if if Man is man is finite Okay, God is infinite. So God has infinite power. He's all-powerful Man, do we have power? We have power, but it's finite. It's not the same, is it? And we're dependent on God for much, for everything, really. You could say the same thing in regards to time. God is infinite in time. What's that mean? What's the word for that? God is eternal. He has no beginning, no end. Now, we as created beings, we're finite. Now, we're eternal beings in the sense of we'll have no end. We'll all exist forever in either heaven or hell. But who here has no beginning? I'm sorry, she didn't like that. But she has a beginning, okay? So the point is, see, we're not eternal, okay? We're finite. God's infinite, we're finite. You could do the same thing with space, okay? God is infinite in space. What's that mean? He's present. He's everywhere. We are finite in space. We have a body. We're body and soul. You can be one place at one time. As much as you want to be two, or you get jobs in two different places, you can only do one. If you could do it, we'd have figured it out by now. I'm just telling you. The point is, we're finite. The same thing is in regards to knowledge. That's what I'm spending this time on. Man is limited in knowledge. We do not know everything. We're limited. And so the only way we can have real certainty on a lot of issues is not by thinking it through and by our logic, but it's by dependence on God. And that's why what's so crucial, because we're products of the Enlightenment. How many of you guys know anything about the Enlightenment? I'm not going to ask any questions about it, but how many of you guys heard of the Enlightenment? Well, the thing about the Enlightenment, called by some, I think appropriately, the Endarkenment. Now the enlightenment, I like a lot of the benefits of the enlightenment, don't get me wrong. Air conditioning, lights, electricity, there's a lot of benefits. But it's referred to as the endarkenment by some because it changed where people started thinking the way we can know truth is in humanity. It's in our reason. And guys, our reason can't do that. What happens then is people try to determine their own truth instead of find truth outside themselves. If we have to find truth outside of ourselves, well, where do we go for that? Remember John 14 verse 6? Jesus said, I am the way, the truth. See, we have to go outside of ourselves and look to Christ for truth. And so this is why this is so So very crucial and so logic guys We need to understand logic and reasoning like God made us to think okay. God did not make Like religion and Christianity doesn't mean check your minds at the door Okay, God says love love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your strength with all your soul with all your Mind, okay, like, and we're gonna see tons of passages about mind, our minds, and that we're not looking at redemption yet, we'll get there, but we'll see how sin has affected our minds. And so the thing I want, that I tried to emphasize last week, is our reasoning abilities, okay, logic, like logic is thinking God's thoughts after him, okay, it's a reflection of God's wisdom. That's why, that's why, that's why across all cultures, We know there can't be any contradictions, okay? We can reason together, and that's part of being created in the image of God. I'm getting beyond myself, but the point is this, guys, is reason is not wrong, it's not evil, okay? But reason can't be independent of God. Our reasoning has to be dependent on God. He's the creator, we're creation. As we reason, we're completely dependent on Him to understand things rightly. And the reason we know that certainty doesn't come from reason and logic is there's lots of truths in the Bible that you can't get to with reason and logic. Who can give me a truth that you'll never get to by reason and logic? The Trinity. How many gods are there? One. And how many persons is that one god? Three persons, I mean guys. Teagan, how many persons are you? One. How many bodies did you have? One human being and one person. Okay, Jackson, one human being, how many persons are you? One. See, I mean, we could do everybody. We're used to beings, one being, one human being, and every human being we know is one person. And if it's not that way, it's actually, it's a disease, right? There's a mental health problem, okay? Schizophrenia. And so the point is, guys, is we recognize we don't know anything. We can't logically understand a being of any sort that's three persons. You can't logic and reason your way to that. How do we know that that's true and that's the God who is God? It's this, guys. Now, it's not a contradiction. It would be a contradiction to say God is one being and he's three beings. That's a contradiction. He's one being and three persons. You can't understand that. We're dependent on him. And see, that's where certainty comes, is when we're dependent on God. And so we can see lots of truths, the incarnation, how Jesus could be fully God and fully man, all these various things. And so the point is, guys, is we must submit reasoning, Adam, before sin, submitted his reasoning to God. He knew what right when wrong was because he looked to God for what was right and wrong in the garden before sin. Does that make sense? Now, so now we're going to look at the fall. And we're going to spend, of course, some time in Genesis 2 and 3. So if you have your Bible, I encourage you to go to Genesis 3. But I'll have most of them up there if you don't have one. OK? And so when we think about the fall of mankind, guys, let's look at Genesis 2, 15, 17. Most of us are probably pretty familiar with these passages, but I want to read them and I want to think through them again, okay? Genesis 2, 15 to 17, again, who can tell me what chapter does the fall occur in? Raise your hand. You got to raise your hand. I'm trying to find something. Johnny! Huh? Genesis 3, very good. Alright, Genesis 3 is the fall. Very, very, very crucial to understand, okay? So in Genesis 2 then, figured out this before the fall and most of us are familiar with this it says the Lord God took the man put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it and the Lord God commanded the man saying you may you may surely eat of every tree of the garden but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat from the day that you eat of it you shall surely die we've all heard this I think probably okay and so who can tell me now I don't have a candy for this one I just want to hear if anybody wants to but why do you think God put this so he puts this tree the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden and says you can eat from any tree all the trees but you can't eat from that one why do you think God did that why did God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden okay and in what sense would it Okay, that's actually a really good answer. That's really good. That's beyond what I was thinking. Most people, at the bare minimum, I think we all understand, it's a test, right? It's a test, okay? God was testing him, testing Adam and Eve, putting to test whether they would recognize or deny his authority. Okay? And their dependence on him, like Jackson just said. I mean, I think Jackson nailed it. That was a really, really good answer, okay? So the point is, guys, is that's why he did this, okay? Calvin writes in the Institutes, he says, the prohibition to touch the tree of knowledge of good and evil was a trial of obedience, that Adam, by observing it, might prove his willing submission to the command of God. See, if there was no test there, Adam would have always obeyed God, right? But would it have been willing? See, it would have taken no faith of trusting, of depending, and looking to God in dependence. And so that's why that's there. So with that understanding, and we look at the Genesis 3, we look at the fall. So verse 1 says, now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, did God actually say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden. But God said, you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. But the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." And so what I want you guys to understand, there's so much we could go to there. And I told myself, I have to stay focused on what we got to talk about. But there's so much there. But the thing I want us to get and really understand is Eve right here, remember he's subtle, he's crafty. And in this temptation, I want you to understand is Eve is faced with a dilemma. She needs to decide who's more trustworthy. Because think about what she's been told now. God said, we just read both these passages, God said in Genesis 2, in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die. Okay? Satan, okay, says what? You will not surely die. Is there any way to make those two things both be true? So she's, you understand, she's confronted with this dilemma, right? And this is the craftiness of Satan's temptation. Eve had to believe one or the other. He further tempted her that she would be like God. Notice what it says. You will be like God. Okay? You'll what? Your eyes will be open. You won't need to depend on God to know right from wrong. You won't need to depend on God to know knowledge. This is the temptation right here. You're going to be like God. That creator-creation distinction will be gone. And you won't need to depend on Him. You'll know for yourself. You can truly know and understand things without needing him. You can know right from wrong and decide for yourself what's right and wrong. You understand? This is the heart of that temptation. I mean, he says, God knows when you eat of it, your eyes are going to be open. You'll be just like him. Now again, hit Satan is what he's saying there true in everything. No, did they become just like God? No, but the emphasis that I'm trying to see is you see that get rid of that creator-creation distinction. That's what's being tempted to right there predominantly, okay? And so again, instead of having this, okay, where you're dependent, you look to God, you what? No. You'll know yourself, okay? You'll know good and evil. You won't need God. That's the temptation. That's why I kept sharing those two things to really see that, okay? And so that's what he's arguing and that's what he's tempting her to, okay? That you wouldn't have to be dependent on God for those things, okay? This is so, so, so very crucial, okay? And so then the next verse, Genesis 3 verse 6 says, so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate and she gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate. Notice what the essence of Eve's error is. What is it? She did not immediately say, reject God's word. And she did not immediately accept the word of the serpent. Understand? What she did is she looked at the tree herself. She determined the character of it by looking at it Not in dependence on God, because had she depended on God, what conclusion would she have come to? Well, okay, yeah, the serpent's a liar. If she'd have listened to God, she'd have came to the conclusion, in the day you eat of it, you will die. Right? And so instead now, she's looking at the fruit, Okay? And look at it. She saw. What did she see with her eyes, her knowledge, herself? She saw that it was good. She saw that it was good for food. She saw that it was a delight to the eyes. She saw that it was to be desired to make one wise. You see how she's now put herself, she's rejected, the creator-creation distinction, and she's now going to make laws for herself. She's now going to determine what's good and what's right. She's now putting herself in that place. The illustration he gives is this. What's happening now is she's taking God's word, she's taking the serpent's word, And she's saying, OK, well, I now will be the judge to see which is right and which is wrong. I will look and be the judge to determine what's good and what's evil. I'll be the judge to determine which way. And so the point is, when she did that, God, the independent creator's revelation on the same level as the serpent's word. And she just judged them both as though she could do that independently, not dependent on God, okay? Which again, think of the catechism, those of you who've been to the catechism, okay? Why did they eat the forbidden fruit? Remember? Anybody? Ask those kids out there right now, they're doing it, okay? Why did they eat the forbidden fruit? Because they did not believe what God had said. And that's the essence of all sin, guys. We don't believe what God says. So we do what we think is best. We do what we want. But the point is, is this is it. They didn't believe. Which, think, tie that to Jackson. What Jackson said is he did it as a test for their faith. I can't remember exactly how you worded it, but somewhere along that. Is that fair? To see if they would trust him and depend on him. And so that's exactly what she did, is she didn't do that, okay? They didn't do that, okay? But right now we're just looking at Eve, okay? And so understand though, even though she's putting herself now in the place that she can determine knowledge, true knowledge, she can determine what's right and wrong. In reality, is she dependent on God? Adam takes the fruit and eats. In reality, are they dependent on God still? Are they completely dependent on God, even though they're not acknowledging it anymore? They still are in reality, okay? So God, this is what I want us to say, God's requirement of Adam and Eve was that they admit their dependence on God and live according to it, okay? This is pre-fall. I mean, obviously it applies to us now too, but pre-fall, that's what he had called them to do, admit their dependence on him and live according to it. They failed to meet his demand, they fell into sin. Thinking themselves to be wise, what did they become? Fools, okay? It's exactly what happened right there in Genesis 3. And we're gonna see if that's not jogging, if you're not familiar with that passage, that's exactly what happens today, okay? It's the same thing. And so, because what? God's word was true and they did die, okay? Now, did they die in the same day? Well, they did die spiritually in the same day. But God in his mercy didn't kill them the day they did it. But that's mercy, guys. Had God struck them dead, there'd be no salvation in Christ. You understand that? But they died spiritually that day and became subjects of his wrath from then on. So understand that whole temptation. That's really, really important. depend on that many, many times. That's really crucial. Because most of our temptations are very similar. We're not going to make a lot of application tonight on this regard, but it really is. Now, the other thing we need to look at is the effects of the fall. And I have a lot of passages because I just want to show this. I want you guys to see it just again and again and again and again and again and again. Because some of you maybe are familiar with it, some of you maybe less familiar, maybe some of you aren't familiar with it at all. I want you to at least see the Bible is absolutely clear on this, on how sin affects us in some regards. So the first passage we need to look at, and I'm going to spend a little time on this one, but the rest of them will be a lot shorter, is Romans 5, verse 12. It says, therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all sinned. Now, let me break this down. I'm going to go to the catechism again. It says, therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man. What one man would that be, you think? Adam, OK? We can get that. Adam. And then death came through sin. Well, why did death come through sin? Because the wages of sin is death, OK? So death came through sin, OK? And again, guys, understand, that's directly contrary to Darwinian evolution. The only way Darwinian evolution exists is this world was made for you to die. God's word says you weren't made to die. They're directly opposed. You can't hold to the Bible. I'm not saying micro-evolution. I don't want to bog down, but the point is you can't believe this world came into existence through Darwinian evolution that requires death. That's how it was supposed to be. Something is wrong and every time if you've been to a funeral, you know It's not right. I mean so anyway But the point is again just to see this knowledge thing and it says so death spread to all men because all sins now I think a lot of people read that and they think well Adam sinned and because Adam sinned We're all kind of sinners. And so we sin and since since we all sin we all die I think that's how a lot of people interpret that verse That's not what that verse is saying Okay This is doctrine that's called original sin. And I don't care if you remember that, but you've got to remember the concept. The concept, what that verse is teaching is that when Adam sinned, and we'll talk about in a minute why it's the man, not the woman. It's not that the woman doesn't matter, but it's the man specifically. He sinned. Sin came into the world through his sin. And his sin, all men sinned in that sin. And that's why all men die. Okay? You sinned in the garden. According to God's word, you sinned in the garden. Okay? And that's why you'll die. Now, here's the thing, is all of us add our own sin to that sin, do we not? We all do. Okay? But the point is, is that verse is saying is that because Adam was the head, the representative of the human race, when he sinned, all those in him sinned. Okay? Now, does that sound unjust to think that you're condemned for a sin that is held to your account? I'm not going to get into how long ago Adam and Eve were, but however long you think it was, that's what that's teaching. You're going to die. I often say to the kids when I'm teaching them, how many sins do you have to commit to be a sinner? What's the answer? I can't hear anything. I heard lots of different ones. It's zero. Zero. You sinned in Adam. That's what this text is teaching. It's very, very clear. And so the point is, is in the catechism, again, I'm just trying to show how we lay these truths on even The little kids are learning the things that undergird these basic understandings. But what effect did the sin, again, of Adam, not Eve, of Adam have on all mankind? All mankind is born in a state of sin and misery. Because we all sinned in Adam, this is the result. We're born in a state of sin and misery. What do we inherit from Adam as a result of this? Original sin. See, that's what that is. A sinful nature. That's why none of you need to be, now sometimes kids are, but no kid needs to be taught to lie. And they'll all lie. Okay? Now, some kids do have parents that do teach them to lie. It's unfortunate, but most, I know most of you guys' parents, they did not teach you to lie, okay? And yet we've all done it, okay? That's what? It's a sinful nature, okay? It's the nature of cows to eat grass, lions to eat meat, and it's the nature of you to sin, and me to sin. Nobody has to teach us. Somebody has to teach us right. Now, let's look at some of these passages. That's why these passages, once you understand this understanding, that's why these passages help us flesh it out. Behold, David said, I was brought forth in iniquity. I was brought forth in sin. I was born in sin, is what he's saying, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Now again, he's not saying that his mom was sinning when she conceived him. That's possible for that to happen, but that's not what he's saying. He's saying that when he was conceived, okay, he was a zygote in his mother's belly, womb, sorry. Okay, get that right for my wife, Jackie. She doesn't like when I say belly, okay? From that point, I was in sin, is what David says. I was in sin. Kids aren't born innocent, okay? Paul says it this way in Ephesians 2, he says, and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. Dead in sin. We're literally zombies, okay? In the sense that we're dead people walking. We're spiritually dead, okay? And so it's really crucial then that we understand the effects of sin. I'm just gonna look real quickly at some of these passages. If you wanna understand how sin has affected our thinking, spend some time in Romans 1. It's a good month to spend time in Romans 1 anyway, okay? But Romans 1, especially verses 18 to 32, we're gonna go through that in more depth next week. But just look at what this says. It says, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. They suppress the truth. That's what we do. Because of sin, we try to hold the truth and ignore it. We don't acknowledge God. And specifically, he's talking about in creation. He says that although they knew God, that is what we seek, creation. We all see it. We know God in that sense. But what? They do not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they become futile, empty in their thinking. And their foolish hearts were darkened. OK? Claiming to be wise. We become fools. Guys, this is exactly how sin works, okay? They what? Exchange the truth of God for a lie and worship the creature rather than the creator. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, the creator, they don't think they need to, God gives them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done, okay? Just talk to me about the Braves game afterwards, okay? I'll tell you, I mean, it's everywhere in our culture, okay? Don't acknowledge God, you're giving over to a debased mind doing things that ought not to be done, and trying to do them ostentatiously in front of kids and other people, okay? So my point is, that's what we see. Romans 8 says it this way, that the mind that it set on the flesh, that's an unbelieving mind, is hostile to God. What does it mean to be hostile to someone? What's that? Against them. You hate them. You're enemies. The mindset of the flesh is hostile to God. Why? Not only does it not acknowledge God in creation, but it doesn't acknowledge God in his word. It will not submit to God's law. And then he says, as an unbeliever, you cannot submit to God's law. Not that you won't, that you can't. Why can't you? because you hate him that much. That's what the Bible's teaching. Those who are in the flesh then cannot please God. Not that they won't please God, they can't. Because if you hate the one who's given you, and you refuse to acknowledge him, and you refuse to acknowledge his word, it's impossible for you to submit to that word and please him. That's what it's teaching. So our whole mindset is set against God. From our thinking, everything, okay? That's why 1 Corinthians 2 verse 14 says it this way. The natural person, that's an unbeliever, does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. An unbeliever sees God's word and thinks, well, that's stupid. You'd have to be a knuckle-dragger to believe that. I mean, are these thoughts that are in our culture nowadays? You gotta be backward from a small town to believe something like this? If you've been to the city, big college, I mean, that's what it is, okay? He's not able to understand them. He's not able to understand them, because he's spiritually discerned, okay? Jeremiah 8, verse 9, this is Old and New Testament. It says, wise men shall be put to shame. They shall be dismayed and taken. Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord. Here's a rhetorical question. So what wisdom is in them? What's the answer? None. I mean, that's what the Bible teaches. You reject God's word, what wisdom do you have? None, okay? And so the point is, if you reject God's word, guys, you're left to judging everything, like Eve judged everything. You're left to judge everything, okay, according to, I'm trying to find the, according to the yardstick of your carnal stupidity. That was Calvin's word, okay? In other words, we take our own yardstick and we try to figure things out. And that's why I love that terminology that Calvin uses. He says it's what? It's the yardstick of your own carnal stupidity. He says you stifle the light of nature and the light of God's word and you intentionally stupefy yourself. That's what we do when we reject the Bible, when we reject God's word. This is what the Bible teaches us. And that's why, what's the beginning of wisdom? The creator, creation, distinction. There's a God and you're not him. You look to God, okay? You fear the Lord, that's the beginning of wisdom. And if you refuse to do that, it's because you despise wisdom and instruction. And you want to, most of the time, you just want to live your own way. For most of them, that's what it is. Proverbs 28, 26, whoever, again, doesn't acknowledge God but trusts his own mind. trust his own reasoning, his own logic, his own thinking. Whoever trusts his own mind, according to the Bible, is a fool. Now a fool, just so you understand, is not just somebody stupid, but it's somebody who fails to acknowledge God. In their lives they won't have wisdom, won't correspond with reality. But he who walks in wisdom will be delivered. Proverbs 129, because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. See, the Bible sees if you reject looking to God and acknowledging Him as your creator and that you're dependent on Him to know what's true, what's true truth, and what is right and wrong, if you refuse to do that, you hate knowledge. You hate it. Not that you can get it your own way. No, you hate it, okay? We're that dependent on God. Proverbs 14 verse 7, leave the presence of a fool, see somebody who doesn't acknowledge God, for there you do not meet with words of knowledge, okay? Somebody should put, Bob Jones should put that on their college thing, okay? I mean, in other words, when you look, a lot of you guys are looking for, to study beyond high school, okay? Is there an application there? Do all universities acknowledge their dependence upon God and say, well, we look to God and his word to know truth, and then we want to teach students how they can know true knowledge and true wisdom and be the kind of people that this world needs? I'm just saying there's an application there to be thinking through. Leave the presence of a fool, because you're not going to meet the words of knowledge at a place that rejects God. You won't, it's not there. That's what these passages say. Two more passages. The result of rejecting God's revelation is that the Gentiles, that's a euphemism for unbelievers, they walk, how do they walk? In the futility of their minds, the emptiness of their minds, okay? They're darkened in their understanding. Again, not in the light, in the darkness, alienated from the life of God Because of the ignorance, because they don't know things. The ignorance that is in them, but now here's the crucial thing, guys. What is their ignorance due to? Is it due to low IQ? Is it due to they're kind of dull? It's due to their hardness of heart. What's that? A refusal to acknowledge God as their creator and that they depend upon him for knowledge, for truth, for what's right and wrong. That's what it is, and that's what, that hard-heartedness will always lead to those things, okay? And lastly, 1 Corinthians 3, 18 to 20, let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God, okay? For it is written, he catches the wise in their craftiness, and now catch this right here. The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise that they are futile. That they're useless. Okay? Now, my point is this. I've really driven down this point. That if you refuse to acknowledge God, what do you know? Nothing. And I was intentionally wanting to get to that point. You don't have true knowledge. Now, here's the point that I want to make. Sometimes this is obvious. Okay? If you look at, like, A lot of things with the trans agenda and how many genders there are, it's so obvious that you reject God's word, you get to be in a place that makes no sense to anything. I think most of us would readily see that, hopefully all of us. If you have any questions about that, talk to me afterward. The idea to say that there's 72 different, it's just beyond bonkers. and clearly detrimental to kids, clearly, undebatable, and yet pushed, pushed, pushed, pushed, okay? So my point is, is in something like that, I think we can all see how these verses apply, okay? But here's the thing, I said that if you reject God and reject dependence upon God, what do we know? Nothing, that's what we've seen, right? But do unbelievers, can they get two plus two is four, right? Well, some get it wrong now, actually. But historically, do you have to be a Christian to know 2 plus 2 equals 4? So you don't. I mean, I think most of us would rather... So my point is this. Non-Christians can think and express some things that are right, can't they? I mean, if non-Christians never expressed anything that was right, like, nobody would send their kids to public school. Nobody would go to Harvard or something now, at least, okay? So they can clearly get some things right. So how do we make up for that discrepancy? Is the Bible wrong in all those passages that I've really emphasized tonight? No, hopefully No, okay next week. We want to deal with the fact. It's not just super simple to say well There's no knowledge that they have and they're dumb and it's obvious Okay, they do get some things right and I'll just tell you the quick answer that the quick answer is it's just by the grace of God that they're Created in the image of God that they're still able to get some right, but that's it Okay, that's it, and we'll see how detrimental that is, Lord willing, next week. So let me pray for us, and then if anybody has any questions or if anything wasn't clear, please come up and talk to me afterwards. So let's pray. Dear God, we do thank you for who you are. We thank you for the creation, especially Graham County, beautiful place we live in. We're just reminded of your goodness and grace and creativity around us each and every day. And so we thank you for that. Lord, we thank you even more so for your word. It points us to Christ, salvation, and him. It points us to truth. It points us to truly being able to know what's right and wrong in a world that is constantly trying to flip around what's right and wrong. And so Lord, I just pray that you'd help us to truly honor you by acknowledging our dependence upon you, by looking to you for truth, for knowledge, for our morality. And Lord, I just pray that you'd help us to understand these things well enough that we would stand strong. in such a hostile and dark world. So help us to that and we pray for your glory. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you guys.