[Prayer]  Father, we come to Thee in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We thank Thee that through him we have access into Thy presence and are able to stand in the grace of our God, which has been wrought out for us through the sacrifice of the Lamb of God upon the cross at Calvary for us.  We pray, Lord, Thy blessing upon us as we study again in Thy word.  May the Holy Spirit be our teacher and may we be responsive to the truth.  May each one here be taught in the things that concern our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of God, King of kings and Lord of lords, and our Redeemer.  For we ask it in his name.  Amen.

            [Message]  Now for the benefit of a few of you who are here tonight for the first time, we have been studying in this fall series of studies in the word the general theme of "God's Plan of the Ages," and this is designed to be something of a simple treatment of the major teaching of God's word, the Bible.  And we began with a series of introductory lessons dealing with such themes as revelation, inspiration, illumination, and if those who have been here week after week seem wise to you that's why, they have learned these important doctrines, revelation. 

            They have learned that God's revelation of himself is in a two volume book, the volume of nature and the volume of Holy Scripture.  They have learned that from nature they may learn that God is Almighty to use Paul's words, his eternal power and divinity.  They have also learned, however, that from nature we could never have a complete revelation of God because in nature we do not have any revelation of his grace toward us as manifested through Jesus Christ.  And so, God has revealed himself in the Bible which is, of course, the capstone of his revelation.  In it he reveals himself as a God of grace who has for men provided a way for them to have fellowship with him through Jesus Christ who loved us and gave himself for us as a sacrifice well pleasing to God upon the cross at Calvary.  We discussed illumination.  We discussed inspiration and we saw that the Bible is the inspired word of God.  This second volume of the Book of Revelation is a book which has been written by God.  It was a product of the Holy Spirit who used human beings, the prophets, the apostles to write his revelation.  And what we have in the Bible, in the original manuscripts, in the autographer, that is the technical name for the original manuscripts, what we have in the autographer or the original manuscripts is the very word of God. 

            We also studied illumination, for it is necessary for the one who inspired the book to teach us its meaning.  And so, we studied how it was impossible for the natural man, the man who had never received Jesus Christ as personal Savior, to understand the Bible.  Paul said, "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 

This is why many people opening up the Bible find it a very difficult book to read and comprehend.  Because, you see, in order to understand this spiritual book, we must have a teacher, one who can illumine its pages, and the one who can give illumination is the Holy Spirit of God because he has written it.  And we do not possess the Holy Spirit of God until we have received Jesus Christ as our Savior.  For when we receive him as our Savior, the Holy Spirit comes and takes up his residence within us.  And thus, we are able to read the Bible and understand it as the Holy Spirit of God teaches us the meaning of Scripture.  So we discussed this. 

            We saw that even among Christians in order to fully understand the word, to understand what Paul calls "the deep things of the word of God," we must be subject to the Spirit within.  And this is why, even among Christians, there are varying degrees of comprehension of God's word, ability to understand it.  Some of us are able only to understand the milk of the word.  Others are able to understand the meat of the word for we have grown and are mature in the things of the Lord.  It is Paul's desire that each of us reach that state.

            Now we found out as we looked into God's revelation in nature that there was design in nature.  Just to use a very simple illustration, all of us know that there are seasons and that there is regulatory in our seasons.  We know that we may expect winter to soon be upon us.  We know that after winter, spring comes, and summer after spring and so on.  We observe God's first volume in his Book of Revelation and see order and purpose and design within it. 

            When we look at the second volume of God's Book of Revelation, we should expect just from a perusal of nature that we would find order and purpose and design in this part of his revelation, and the Bible makes this claim for itself.  The Bible says that God has a purpose of the ages.  Through the ages, one increasing purpose runs.  I put this in the lesson for tonight.  By the way, for those of you who are here for the first time, the lesson is a simple summary of what I say each night.  It may contain some things that I don't say, and it may not contain some things that I do say, most of the latter, because it is very brief.  At the same time, there is an assignment with regard to next week and some questions that you may answer, some work that you may do. 

            Now as we look at the word, we discover that the Bible claims that there is a divine purpose in the unfolding of history.  This is very important.  You know, I do not understand how it is possible for a man to read the newspapers today and live at peace in his heart and mind if he does not understand God's purpose of the ages.  I would be terrified in reading the newspapers if I did not know that God has a purpose and that he is proceeding according to that purpose in the affairs of men, because we are living in very, very critical and disturbing days.  I am sure that we all realize this, and we do not know what to expect tomorrow.  But, the Christian who knows that God has a purpose and a plan and that he is proceeding according to that purpose and plan, may read the newspapers not only with comprehension, not only with understanding, but with an inner peace, because he knows the end from the beginning.  God has revealed it in his word.

            Now in Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 11, we have a statement with regard to this simple fact that God has a purpose, which has run through the ages, and I would like for those of you who have not looked this up, particularly you who are new tonight for the first time, to take a look at this verse since this establishes the fact of what we are trying to do, study God's plan of the ages.  And we have followed the practice in this class of everyone finding it for himself even though it takes you a long time; we want you to find it.  Soon you will understand exactly where all of the books are then you will be wise and enlightened too.  It's all right, we want to take time.  I want you to see if for yourself.  Ephesians, that's the New Testament.  That is one of Paul's epistles.  In the edition in the King James Version which I have, it's on page twelve hundred and fifty-two, which means that it's near the end of the Bible.  Use the index.  Your Bible has an index, so use the index.  Don't be ashamed.  We all had to use the index at one time or another.  Find Ephesians, and Ephesians chapter 3 is after chapter 2 [Laughter].  Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 10, now notice just simply the statement that Paul makes, "According to the eternal purpose which he (that is God) purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord."

            Now I pointed out in one or two of the classes that this expression "the eternal purpose" in the Greek text is an expression, which I might translate literally, "according to the purpose of the ages," the purpose or plan of the ages.  So from this text we know that God has a plan and a purpose for the ages and that he is proceeding according to this plan and purpose which concerns the ages.  Now in the Bible there are a number of different ages revealed and through these ages, a set plan and purpose is being carried out by God, and we are taking a look at his purpose of the ages. 

            We have already studied something about God.  We saw that he was a Trinity.  That there is one God and yet this God subsists in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.  Three persons, one God: God the Father, the first person, God the Son, the second person, God the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost, the terms are identical, the third person.  The Father, the Son, the Spirit.  Not three Gods, but one God who subsists in three persons.  Three personalities, one God. 

            We have also last time; we have taken a look at the opening chapters of the Book of Genesis, Genesis 1 and 2.  We saw that in Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" was a statement with regard to creation.  We learned, and it is not necessary that we go into this tonight, that most likely the fact that the Bible begins the 2nd verse of Genesis 1 by saying, "And the earth was without form and void," most likely that is a reference to an original blasting of the earth due to the occurrence of sin in the angelic hierarchy through Satan who fell.  But that is unimportant for our purposes at this point, the earth waste.  Then from Genesis 1:3, where we begin to read about the Spirit of God brooding over the face of the waters and God saying, "Let there be light," on through chapter 2 and verse 25, we have the remaking of the earth, the reforming of the earth. 

            Now Genesis 1 and 2 then sets the stage for God's revelation of himself through men.  Adam was created and Eve was created out of Adam.  It is very interesting, ladies, that Eve was constructed out of Adam.  There is a reason for this.  You see, the original design of this was that the man should not be complete without the woman, and the woman without the man, because originally they were one, Adam, and out of Adam Eve was made.  Man was placed in the garden of Eden.  Now I want you to take your Bibles and turn with me to the 2nd chapter of Genesis for we shall read again the prohibition which God gave them when they were placed in the garden.  Chapter 2 of Genesis and verse 15,

"And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying (Now these are very important words), 'Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.'"

            Before I say just a word or two about these verses, let me go back to this statement that I said originally that God has a plan and a purpose which goes throughout the ages.  Now let me just say a word an age or, as it has been called, a dispensation.  This is not an easy thing to define in order to comprehend every aspect that the Bible has in connection with an age or dispensation.  But to give a simple explanation, and I have included it in the notes, a dispensation or an age is an administration of God during which man is tested regarding obedience to the truth revealed in it.  If we call, for example, this the age of innocence from Genesis 1:26 through Genesis 3:24, we mean by this that this is an administration of God, an economy of God, during which man is tested with regard to obedience to his revelation within that period.

            Now I have read Genesis chapter 2, verses 16 and 17.  This was his test that he gave man.  The features of a dispensation, or an age, are these; there is first a test.  That is Genesis 2:16 and 17.  There is secondly a response to that test.  We shall read of that in Genesis 3 in just a moment.  And then following the response, for man always fails in the tests of God, there is divine judgment pronounced.  However, God who is revealing not only his holiness, but also his grace, tempers his judgment with further revelation concerning the Redeemer to come, the Lord Jesus Christ, who would make it possible for disobedient men to be restored to fellowship to himself.  And thus, through this revelation of himself, he would show men that he is not only a holy and righteous God, but also a gracious and loving God, who desires to have fellowship with men upon the basis of his grace.  So an age then, is an administration of God during which man is tested regarding obedience to the truth revealed in it.  There are three features: a test, a response, and then a judgment, which is tempered by grace.  It is absolutely essential that you understand the truth of the ages in God's word.  Dispensational truth let me call it that, the truth regarding the ages of God.  You will never understand the Bible if you do not understand this. 

            To show you what I mean, two or three years ago, Lynn Landrum, wrote an article in the Dallas Morning News in the morning paper regarding conscientious objectors.  I have it here.  He says, he started out by saying something about conscientious objectors, and then he described a certain conscientious objector who had been in his particular battalion or company during World War I.  He said that this particular conscientious objector was one who had not marred the corners of his beard.  He appeared in camp.  He had a long beard.  The commander said, "Why do you have this long beard?"  He said, "In Leviticus chapter 19 and verse 27 it says, 'You shall not mar the corners of your beard.'"  And he was not only a conscientious objector, but he was objecting with his long beard.  Now, of course, in the Army, they don't like for you to wear a long bear, particularly if you are a private.  And so, there were some sharp words, and the man kept insisting that he was following the teaching of Leviticus.  His beard, he must not mar the corners of his beard, and Lynn said that he had a lovely beard.  Finally, he said that, I'm going to read what he says, "The column taker doesn't know all the violent details, but he understood that the captain told the sergeant to take the objector down into the bush on the bank of the Salado Creek and argue with him.  Just argue with him.  The sergeant set out with a dull razor and no soap.  The objector again objected, but that sergeant was a powerful man and prevailed.  When the two returned, the objector had no hair, no beard, and considerably less skin."  [Laughter]

            Now the thing that this conscientious objector needed to know was dispensational truth, because you see, he was perhaps very sincere, he wanted to maintain an agreement with holy Scripture, but he did not know dispensational truth.  If he had known the truth of the ages, he would not have made such a ridiculous appearance before his fellow men in the Army.  Because, you see, the truth of Leviticus was truth that was applicable during a certain age to or for a certain people.  It pertained to Israel, and it pertained to Israel before the time of the cross.  When the cross took place, the veil of the temple was rent in twain, God did away with the Old Testament law, and today men who know God through Jesus Christ do not have to worry about marring the corners of their beard.  They do not bring offerings of animals.  These things were done away with.  You see, that was an old dispensation and it was abrogated.  But this man, not knowing dispensational truth, was just running through the Bible picking a verse and picking a verse there not realizing that the verses of the Bible are to be understood in the light of the context in which they are found.  This is extremely important. 

            You will never understand the Bible if you do not understand dispensational truth.  Suppose I were to ask you tonight, "Why do you not offer offerings of animals?  The Bible says that you are to offer offerings of animals.  Did you not know that?  In Leviticus, we have instructions given for a number of offerings.  We have instructions given for the burnt offering, for the meal offering, for the peace offering, for the sin offering, for the trespass offering.  When did you offer your offerings?"  Well, now you say, "Well, I don't know exactly why perhaps, but it just doesn't seem right.  I don't see anybody offering offerings.  Not even the Jews are offering offerings today."  You see, the reason we do not offer offerings is because Jesus Christ came and abrogated the law.  He was the fulfillment of all of the offerings.  And so, the law was done away with, and in reading the Old Testament, we must read the Old Testament in the light of this.  There is some truth that all truth is for us.  It is for our instruction, for our admonition, but not all of the Bible is written to us.  All of the Bible is for us.  We learn many practical lessons from the Law of Moses, practical lessons concerning Christ, practical lessons concerning hygiene, but it is not addressed to us.  It is for us, but not to us. 

            Now this is important.  You will never understand the Bible if you do not understand then dispensational or the truth concerning the ages in which God has revealed himself to men.  Augustine said, "Distinguish the ages and the Scriptures harmonize."  Suppose I were to say to you today if you had an orchard, an apple orchard, "Now you must remember, sir, in this apple orchard that God has said, 'Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.'"  You would laugh at me, wouldn't you?  But that would be the application of this false principle of taking any verse in the Bible and saying, "This is for us today."  So dispensational truth or the truth of the ages enables us to read the Bible with understand, with discernment, with penetration, so that we are able to read it with clarity.         This is one of the basic reasons why people read the Bible and have difficulty with it.  They see in one part of the Bible something that seems to contradict something in another part of the Bible and not realizing that God's purposes have been progressing, growing through the ages.  And some things, which were permitted at one particular time, may not be permitted at another time. 

            Now with this in mind, let's look now at the first age, the first dispensation.  It begins with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden and they have this one simple command, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."  Adam and Eve in a garden with this one prohibition, this was the test.  No doubt, Adam and Eve were in the garden of Eden and were given this test in order to lead them so that they would refuse to disobey God and, thus, by refusal to disobey God fix their moral character in holiness.  So this was designed by God not to be a provocation, but was designed to be a means for fixing their character in a character in which they were obedient to God and not disobedient.  That was the test. 

            Now let's read the account of the response, Genesis chapter 3.  This is one of the most important passages in all of the Bible.  I think this; I think if you could understand Genesis 3, you would understand a great part of the word of God.  Everything else is simply an expansion of that which we find in Genesis 3.  This is very important.  This, by the way, is why you will find so much debate over Genesis 3 because it is recognized that this is a fundamental revelation of God, and this is why unbelievers who study the Bible, and there are many unbelievers who study the Bible, I've studied under unbelievers, who yet are studying the Bible.  They are studying it in a scientific, philosophical, or intellectual way only.  Nothing wrong with scientifically studying holy Scripture, that's the way we should study it.  But, they have studied it in unbelief and, consequently, this chapter has become a battlefield, and Satan realizes that it is extremely important that we misunderstand it, you see.  It is important from God's standpoint that you understand it.    Now let's look at it, "Now the serpent," well, now, who was the serpent?  Now when you think of a serpent, we think of a reptile that slithers in the bushes and with which we do not want to have any fellowship.  But you must not think of the serpent in that way in verse 1, for in this text, Moses says, "The serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field."  You will notice that he is a beast of the field and, furthermore, that he was more subtle than any other beast of the field.  This word arum in the Hebrew text here may mean one of two things.  It may mean simply wily or it may mean clever.  Now clever in the sense that the British use the word clever, when they say a person is a clever person, they do not mean that he is wily, they mean he is wise.  That is, that he is full of understanding.  A clever fellow is a man who has real ability.  So this word means either wily or wise. 

            Now the Lord Jesus spoke to his disciples and he said to them in one place that he wanted them to be wise as serpents.  Wisdom is a characteristic of a serpent.  Any herpetologist would tell us that serpents were wise, some of the wisest of animals.  But, at this place, a serpent was a beast of the field.  No doubt, now I am going to engage in just a little bit of imagination, since it says that he is a beast of the field and since it says that he is wise, and since it says in Paul that Satan today appears as an angel of light, a beautiful angel, I just have a hunch that this serpent originally, before judgment, was pronounced upon him, was a very beautiful animal and that he was a very wise animal, extremely wise.  So wise that apparently Eve was not surprised when the serpent spoke.        There are two recorded miracles in the Old Testament of animals speaking.  There is an amusing incident told about this.  Many, many years ago, every graduate of the University of Oxford in England had to pass a Scripture exam, and down through the years, there were collected a number of stories about the exams.  These were put on record.  And on record is the case of an examination of one young man who was asked this question, "What two animals are recorded as having spoken in the Old Testament?"  And the student said, "Well, the first animal is the serpent, the serpent spoke," and the examiner said, "Yes, that is good.  Now what is the second?"  Well, he couldn't think of Balaam's ass, and so finally desirous of at least guessing, may as well guess, he said, "The whale, the whale spoke to Jonah."  And the examiner said, "Pray what did the whale say to Jonah?"  And he said, "Why, the whale said to Jonah, 'Almost thou persuadest me to become a Christian.'"  [Laughter]              There are two places in the Old Testament where animals are recorded as having spoken.  Balaam's ass spoke to Balaam, wiser than the prophet, the false prophet.  This was a divine miracle.  Here Satan, through the serpent, speaks to Adam and Eve.  This is a demoniacal or devilish sign, "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field."

            I, of course, we cannot answer this question definitely.  It is quite probable that before the fall, the serpent possessed some power of speech.  It does not say that he did not possess the power of speech.  It may not have been a miracle.  From what we know of animals, it seems to have been a miracle.  That does not surprise me.  A miracle, does it surprise you?  In the first verse of the Book of Genesis, we read, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."  If God created the heavens and the earth, is it a shocking thing to find a miracle in the Bible?  Surely not.  Furthermore, there is evidence as we have seen that Satan was the head of the angelic host at one time.  There is nothing to suggest that he does not have the power to perform some miracle in nature.  In fact, in the Book of Revelation, to which we shall come next spring the Lord willing, we will see that Satan has extremely great powers and will exercise some of them as he has in the past, in the future. 

            "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field (wiser than any beast of the field), which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, 'Yea, hath God said, 'Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?'"  I do not know what Satan's motive was in testing or tempting Adam and Eve.  We do know that Satan wanted to be like God.  We saw that.  He wanted to be God.  He wanted to be as the Most High, and since the Most High had about him angelic hosts who worshipped him, they were subject in his kingdom; it seems most likely that Satan was desirous of having his kingdom too.  And so, when he fell, as he did fall, he desired to have subjects in his kingdom, and we know from biblical revelation that demons are angelic beings who follow the leadership of Satan.  And so, he does have his hosts, and he wanted, since man is upon the earth as God's creation, he wanted them to follow him.  And so, he came to Eve perhaps thinking that she might be the weaker of the two.  He came to her first and he said, "Yea, hath God said, 'Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?'"  His method is very simple.  The first thing that he does is to question the word of God, "Yea, hath God said, 'Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?'"

            Now let me emphasize something I emphasized last time, and that is this, that sin is not immorality.  This is very important for you to understand and realize, and so, I repeat it again.  Sin is not immorality.  Immorality is sin, but sin is not immorality.  Sin is unbelief which manifests itself in rebellion and then issues in immorality.  The man may be just as much a sinner before God who has never been in prison as the man who has committed murder.  Now I do not say he is just as guilty in degree, but he is just as much in guilt before God.  A very moral man may be a deep sinner before God.  This is very confusing to people today because, you see, our standards of what is sin are not taken from the word of God.  Adam and Eve were placed in the garden of Eden and they were given one simple command, "You may eat of all the fruit of the trees in the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die."  Was it immoral to eat a fruit?  Not immoral at all.  It was just disobedience which proceeded out of unbelief.  This is why when the Lord Jesus is here, he tells the disciples that when he goes, the Holy Spirit will come, and he will convict men of sin, of righteousness, and judgment, and then he explains of sin because they believe not on me.  That is sin.  So here is the simple command in the garden of Eden.  The issue before Eve and the issue before Adam was, "Will you obey the Word?" 

            Now that is why I say to you tonight that the issue between you and God is not immorality.  That is an effect.  The issue between you and God is your relationship to his word, his word concerning Jesus Christ, "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."  My Son has some and has died upon the cross at Calvary and has borne your sin and my sin.  You may have eternal life or you are in condemnation and stand in guilt.  If you believe on my Son that is the issue before men.  The issue before men is not go to church, get religion, pray through, do good works, be baptized, be confirmed.  Religion, as we shall see, had its origin in Satan, religion per se.  Religion has been responsible for more people going to eternal hell fire than almost anything else.  It may shock you.  That is true.  Religion, well let's go on and see what happens. 

            The first thing he does is to cast doubt upon the word of God, "Yea, hath God said, 'Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?'"  Now you can see simple Eve.  She has never had to face an antagonist like Satan, "And the woman said unto the serpent, 'We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden,' God hath said, 'Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it.'"  Now will you just take your page, turn back a page, read verse 17 again of chapter 2, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die lest ye die."  But Eve says, now you look at verse 17 of chapter 2 while I read this 3rd verse of chapter, "But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, 'Ye shall not eat of it neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.'  What has Even done?  Well, she has added.  She has added something to the word of God.  You can see that the word of God is not swelling deep down in Eve's heart.  She has added to the word. 

            Well, Satan has questioned the word, and so he gets a response from Eve, and when Satan gets a response after having cast doubt upon the word, now he will flatly contradict it.  The 4th verse we read, "And the serpent said unto the woman, 'Ye shall not surely die': ('Ye shall not surely die.  For it is not enough for Satan to question the word and then contradict the word, now he will malign the author of the word.  You see, he starts out very subtly because he is more subtle than any beast of the field.  Is it true that God has said this?  And so, Eve swallows the bait.  He says, "Ye shall not die," contradicts it.  Now he says, "God said this because he is not a good god.")  for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, (I made note in the notes that this should be rendered as God.  You see, the word for God used here is a word that is in the plural, but it is the same word that is found in Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."  It is in the plural because this is frequently the way in which God is designated, and there is no question but that it should be rendered God here.  I notice that most of the newer versions render it God properly.  It is the word "Elohim" and should be rendered that way here, "Ye shall be as God) knowing good and evil."  There is a lot of truth in what Satan said.  Unfortunately, he did not say this, he did not say, "You will be as God knowing good and evil," but unfortunately you will know good and not be able to perform it, and you will know evil and not be able to keep from doing it."  He did not say that because when they came to know God in disobedience, this would be the response.  So he questions the word, he contradicts the word.  He maligns the author of the word. 

            Now then, we read of the fall, "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, (This is what John will later call the "lust of the flesh") and that it was pleasant to the eyes, (the lust of the eyes) and a tree to be desired to make one wise, (the pride of life) she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."  

            Now let's take our Bibles and turn to 1 John chapter 2 and verse 16.  That is near the end of the New Testament, 1 John.  Page thirteen twenty-two in the Scofield Edition of the King James Version, 2nd chapter, 1 John chapter 2, verse 16, 1 John 2:16.  Now John the apostle knew Genesis 3 very well.  He makes many references to Satan.  He makes reference to the fall, and here he analyzes the fall.  He says in verse 16, 1 John 2, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but of the world."  Notice the statements, "lust of the flesh," Eve saw that the tree was good for food.  The lust of the eyes, it was pleasant to the eyes, and the pride of life, a tree to be desired to make one wise.  She took of it, she ate, and she called Adam over and said, "Come here Adam.  This is good.  Take it."  I do not know that it was an apple.  We don't know what kind of fruit.  If you don't like apples, you are sure it was not an apple.  If you like apples, perhaps that is as good as any.  At any rate, Eve was deceived and she ate.  Adam, however, had more sense.  This is not necessarily true always, men.  [Laughter] In this case it was. 

            Now we know this because in 1 Timothy chapter 2, let's turn there, not quite as far as back as 1 John, 1 Timothy chapter 2, Paul tells us something about the fall too.  Page twelve seventy-five in the Scofield Edition, 1 Timothy chapter 2, verse 13.  Now Paul is setting forth an argument based upon the facts in Genesis 3.  Near the end of it, he ways in the 13th verse, "For Adam was first formed, then Eve."  You see, he has been reading Genesis 2.  He knows the story, "And Adam was not deceived."  Adam knew what he was doing.  He knew this was wrong, "Adam was not deceived, but the woman being utterly deceived."  The Greek text uses an emphatic word.  Takes the word "deceive" and adds a preposition to it, which makes it emphatic, exapatao.  Eve was utterly deceived.  She had completely swallowed the serpent's bait, but Adam, when Eve said, "Take some of this," he knew it was wrong.  He remembered the words of God, but he nevertheless went ahead and ate, which of course is a more heinous sin than Eve's.  "Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived came to be in the transgression."

            Now from this then, here we have man in the garden of Eden with a simple test, "Do not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden.  In the day you eat of it, you shall surely die."  The serpent comes, tempts the woman, she eats, and then Adam too eats.  Since that time, men have been in sin.   In the first chapters of the Book of Genesis, over and over God says regarding the animal creation, regarding other features of the creation, "They produced after their own kind, after his kind, after his kind," and so on.  Now in the Bible, it is plainly taught that when men became sinners through the sin of Adam and Eve, sin entered into the human race and since that time men have been born sinners. 

            Now let me show you this from the word of God lest you say to me, "Dr. Johnson, this kind of doctrine I have heard is very bad."  [Laughter] Let's turn to Romans chapter 5, and let's read that which the Apostle Paul has to say, and if you are going to get mad with somebody, don't get mad with me, just get mad with Paul.  Romans chapter 5 and verse 12, page eleven ninety-seven.  Romans, this is the first of the Pauline Epistles in our Edition of the Bible, verse 12.  Now look at it very carefully.  Paul knows Genesis 2 and 3, and this is what he says, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, (You'll notice he does not say, "Sin originated," sin entered because Satan had already sinned remember.  "Sin entered into the world by one man") and death by sin." 

            Why have men died down through the years?  Why is it that a fine looking young man like this shall, all things being equal, become old and decrepit like we are?  Why is it that an infant grows to maturity, passes through the finest years of his life, reaches middle age at 35, (70 years, remember, middle age, 35) on into the forties, and the lines begin to appear on the face, the hair begins to leave the top of the head, wrinkles come, the hair turns gray, sometimes it goes entirely, and then sooner or later, we must take this one whom we love and place them in a coffin and have a funeral service?  Why is this true?  Why is this true of everybody?  Why is this true of you?  Why is this true of me?  "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."  All have sinned. 

            Why is it that all have sinned?   

We are born in sin.  We are just manifesting our nature.  When you go to an apple tree and you look at the apple tree and you pull off an apple, you don't ask the question, "Why is this an apple?" if you know it's an apple tree.  You're not surprised.  You expect this.  The same thing is true of men.  If we are in sin, death is the natural result.  This is why men die, and it is an amazing thing, our newspapers are full of much useful information, but this is one thing you rarely ever will find in the newspaper.  This is one thing that is completely forgotten.  Men are fallen men. 

            I have even had people have the nerve to say, "What is the evidence of the fall?"  That is just as if I were to take you down to the Gulf of Mexico and take you out on a boat, and have you say, "Where is the Gulf of Mexico?" when it is everywhere around you.  And yet you have had, no doubt, people who have said, "Where are the evidences of the fall of man?"  Even the very structure of our society is based on the fall of men.  Why do we have an FBI?  Why do we have a police department in Dallas?  Why do we have a system of education?  Why is it that evil has persisted down through the years?  Why is it that it is still here with us?  It may manifest itself in different ways, different forms, depending upon the age, but why is it still here?  And, furthermore, why is it everywhere as well?  Not only is it in the United States, but it is Germany, it is in Norway, it is in India, it is in Siam, it is in Japan, it is in the Islands of the Sea.  Wherever you go, men are the same, they are sinners.  Do you know of any country which does not have a police department?  Of course not.  Do you know of any country where men are all lovely and they never have crime?  Of course not, because sin is universal, and it penetrates all men.  Genesis 3 is the explanation of it. 

            Now let's just very quickly, we are going to deal with this again next week because this is too big a subject to cover in one night.  We will deal particularly with the promise next time, but let's read on a few verses, because we want to see exactly what God did, and since we started five minutes late tonight, I am going to take five minutes over nine.  Let's notice what happened now, verse 7, "And the eyes of them both were opened, (they suddenly had grown up) and they knew that they were naked."  You see, before in chapter 2, verse 25, they were both naked, the man and his wife and were not ashamed.  Apparently, they were covered with the glory of God, but now when the glory of God had departed when they sinned, they knew they were naked, and they were ashamed, because shame is the result of sin. 

            When Jesus Christ hung upon the cross at Calvary, it was not without accident that they came and stripped the clothes from him so that he was naked.  For he was not only bearing our sin as our substitute, he was also bearing the shame of our sin.  And so, what did they do?  Well, they did what men have been trying to do ever since, they said, "Let's get a little religion, because if we get a little religion, we will be able to cover our guilt and our shame."  Instead of going immediately to God and saying, "O God, we have sinned.  We have disobeyed Thee.  Have mercy upon us so that we do not die," they have done what men have done ever since, because sin makes men do this.  It is a marvel to me that you are here tonight.  Do you know why?  Because perhaps some of you, in coming to this place and realizing that perhaps the word of God might be taught, you thought this is the last place that I would like to be.  That is normal.  That is natural.  We all have felt that way.  I was 25 years old before I came to know Jesus Christ, and I can assure that if I ever heard that the Bible was to be taught at a certain place that was the last place that I wanted to be.  Why?  Because in the heart of man there exists rebellion against God, even the heart of good men, so instead of going to God, they run from God, and man has been running from God ever since. 

            Now I say I was little surprised, but I am not surprised because, you see, I believe in the providence and sovereignty of God.  I believe that in his providence and in his sovereignty you are here tonight.  It's not an accident, not an accident at all.  He worlds things according to the counsel of his own will, and you are here in the sovereignty of God and in his providential grace.  I don't know what your fig leaves have been.  I am a Baptist.  I am a Presbyterian.  Good, I'm glad you're dignified.  I am a Methodist.  Good, I'm glad you're enthusiastic.  I am an Episcopalian.  Good.  Is this your covering, your fig leaves?  You see, we all try to cover ourselves with something that we have made and constructed.  And so, we say, "I'm a Presbyterian," or "I'm a Baptist," or "I'm a Methodist," or even "I'm not any of these things."  I'm not Sectarian.  I believe that God welcomes men from all different groups.  We can worship him in our own particular way.   There are many ways to heaven just not all going down the same road, that's all."  Fig leaves, fig leaves, human products.  They sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.  They thought they would cover their shame with their good works.         

            Now next week we shall learn that fig leaves do not help.  That God will strip all of our fig leaves away, and will give us only one type of clothing, the clothing of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, whether we be Presbyterians, or Baptists, or Methodists, or Episcopalians, or not anything.  The only clothing avails before God is that which he has provided through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  There is one way to God.  It is through Jesus Christ.  He said, "I am THE way, THE truth, THE life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me." 

            Now one wonderful thing about God is that when we don't want to come into his presence, he nevertheless wants us to come into his presence.  If we don't love him that does not stop his love for us, see that's a wonderful thing.  It is wonderful to know that when I was running from God, he was running after me, you see.  Jesus Christ came to seek and to save those who were lost.  So in your rebellion, in your disobedience, in your desire to get away from God, he has nevertheless been pursuing you.  Now in the garden, he pursued, "And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden."  Think of that.  The one who had created them, the one who had blessed them, the one who had provided them with all that pertained to life and light and godliness and happiness and joy, they're hiding from him.  So they run off and hide, but God does not stop loving them.  That is important.  "The LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, 'Where art thou?'" 

            That's what God has been doing down through the years, you see.  Wherever you are, no matter how deep in rebellion and sin you might be, God still calls, "Where are you?" 

"And he said, 'I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.'  And the Lord said unto him, 'Who told thee that thou wast naked?  Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?'  (And the woman and the man, you'll notice.  Isn't it typical of human nature.  Isn't this typical?)  And the man said, 'The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.'  (He wants to blame the woman.  Now the women are all laughing self righteously here, because they haven't read the next verse or two, [Laughter]) And the LORD God said unto the woman, (I'm not saying he accepted Adam's excuse.  The Lord God said unto the woman) 'What is this that thou hast done?'  And the woman said, 'The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.'  (You see, the man blames the woman, and the woman blames the serpent.  Could you see the self righteousness and pride that exist in these two even at this point?  So now God pronounces judgment, and I'll just read through it, make a comment two.  We'll stop, next time, we'll take up the judgment.  But notice there is a judgment for the serpent, there is a judgment for the woman, and there is a judgment for the man.  And in the midst of the judgment, there is a promise of grace.)  And the LORD God said unto the serpent, 'Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, (You see, the serpent was not like the serpent before, because part of his judgment now is that he must crawl upon his belly.  The serpent that we see today is the result of divine judgment.  "Upon thy belly shalt thou go,) and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; (ultimately Christ, of course,) it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.'  (Isn't it interesting how God uses the ordinary affairs of life to picture this, because you see, we are always in danger of a serpent striking us on the heel, and the way we kill a serpent is by crushing his head.  And God says, "Satan's seed shall one day strike the heel of man, but in the process of striking the heel of man, the serpent will be crushed."  For Jesus Christ was struck by the serpent in the heel at the cross when he was made sin for us as the brazen serpent, but there Satan was crushed because sin was paid for and now men may come to God and receive forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ.)  Unto the woman he said, 'I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.'  And unto Adam he said, 'Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, 'Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, unto dust shalt thou return.'"

            They died spiritually when they sinned.  They must die physically, ultimately, as all have died and, finally, if they die without Christ, they must die eternally.  Let's close in a word of prayer.

            [Prayer]  Heavenly Father, we are so grateful to Thee that Thou hast revealed to us Thy plan and Thy purpose, and as we continue to study Thy word, we pray that the Holy Spirit may teach us.  We pray, Lord, that we may cast aside our rebellion by the power of the Holy Spirit, and come to Thee through Jesus Christ and receive life.  For we ask it in Christ's name.  Amen. 

            Now those of you who have to leave, may leave, but usually we wait for a few minutes with questions that you have.

            [Question from audience member]

            [Johnson]  Some have thought that that may well be, but since in the early days, in the beginning, men lived for a long period of time and now they don't.  But that does indicate an increasing degree of sin.  It might.  I'm not sure that that is true.  It's not definitely taught in the Bible.  It's merely an observation at best.  We might ask the question then, "If that be true then why is it that now we have the expectation of a few more years of life now since medical science has helped us in that respect?" 

            [Question from audience member]

            [Johnson]  Well, this is something again that we cannot be dogmatic about, but I have given several a chart in which I suggest these ages: the age of innocence, and we will deal with the age of innocence, then the age of conscience, the age of human government, the age of promise, the age of the law, which is the Mosaic law, this covers a big period of time, the age of the church in which we are living, the age of the kingdom which is to come.  So about seven, but this is not, in other words, we may have one more or less.  The important ages are these: the age of the law, the age of the church, and the age of the kingdom to come.  These are the whole.  Almost all of the Bible is taken up with these three ages.  From about Exodus chapter 19 on, we deal with the age of the law, the age of the church, and the age of the kingdom. 

            [Question from audience member]

            [Johnson]  In the broad overall patterns of things, we know, for example, that since Jesus Christ has come, this age will have a termination in the coming of Christ, and that there will be apostasy in the church of Jesus Christ, great tribulation from which we will be delivered.  We have put our trust in Christ, great tribulation, and then our Lord shall come and establish his kingdom upon the earth.  And I know, for example, that man shall not establish any kingdom upon the earth.  I am not surprised when I see that the United Nations is a failure.  I want to perhaps do as much as I can to preserve peace upon the earth in order that the gospel go forth, but I do not have any false impressions, false hopes in United Nations, because I know the United Nations is made up of men.  And I don't have any hopes in Washington either [Laughter].  Though I pray for Washington and so on, I want to be the kind of citizen that Washington will be able to say, "He's a good citizen."  But, I don't have any hopes in JFK.  He's not going to bring in the kingdom, Jesus Christ is, you see.  So when I see things going from bad to worse or maybe they're better for a little while, and then calamity seems to come, I'm not shocked, I'm not surprised.  I'm not, you see, completely taken in by this in that sense is what I meant. 

            Now, I don't know what is going to happen tomorrow, you know.  If I did, I'd be a millionaire. [Laughter]  Know how to invest in a stock market and so on.

            [Question from audience member]

            [Johnson]  Yes and, fortunately, even many who have been liberal and modernistic in their theology have learned that that theology was wrong.  It took World War I and World War II to demonstrate it, but many of them learned that lesson.  For example, Carl Barth learned that lesson.  He was brought up under Adolf Harnack in Germany who was one of the outstanding liberals, and they had as their thesis that things would get better and better and that man was growing "gooder and gooder" as the countryman said.  But, they discovered, and Barth discovered this, he discovered that the very same professors who taught that, were those that signed Kaiser Wilhelm's statement to the effect that Kaiser Wilhelm was in the right in what he was doing.  And he discovered that these same professors were responsible for much of the evil, so he had to go back and rethink his theology and when World War II came along, it...

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