Genesis chapter three, we're going to begin reading at verse one. I'm beginning a message tonight on the subject of dependence, not independence. You see, every year on the fourth of July, we celebrate the Declaration of Independence. But that was not the first Declaration of Independence. We shall read about the first one here in Genesis chapter three. Now the serpent was more subtle 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. 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, lest ye die. The Word of God warns us against adding to Scripture. The Lord did not say they could not touch the tree. He only said, You shall not eat them. And we must remember that. That was her first mistake. Verse four, And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. Now he contradicted. what God said. Verse six. Verse five. For God does know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God's knowing good and evil. Now that's a subtle statement there. The statement he held out to her was, you'll be like God. They were already like God. For when God created them, he created them in his own image. after his own likeness. They were already like God. They didn't need to become like God. They already were. They had been created in the image and in the likeness of God. Satan is subtle. He offers something that isn't real. And this is what he is doing to the woman, and through this she is deceived into partaking of the forbidden fruit. Verse six, And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat, and the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they showed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the cool, 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. And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hest thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee, that thou shouldst not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gaveest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And 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. 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, and thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will declare war. I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel. Now we'll end our reading there except for Galatians chapter five. Galatians chapter five and verse one. Where we read, Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Now may the Lord. Bless the reading of his word. Let us pray together. Our Father, as we bow before thee, having read thy precious word, we thank you again for the liberty that's in Christ. We thank you for the redemptive program that you put into motion even before the foundation of the world. For thy word declared that our names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world. And we praise you for this truth, for we have been loved, not with a love that began when we trusted Christ, but we are loved with an everlasting love, a love that knows no beginning and that shall know no end. Our joy in thee is continual, for we possess a life in Christ Eternal life. Blessed, eternal salvation. We praise the old God for what is ours in Christ. Help us to grasp this truth tonight. Deliver us from anything that would hinder us from laying hold of the truth of the fall and what we have in Christ Jesus our Lord. Then our Father, we pray for these needs that we mention tonight. and there are many, many others, especially for the Birch family, as they go through this time of sorrow. Undergird them with the truths of thy word and with a comfort that comes alone from thyself. Make us instruments of thy comfort, for as we have been comforted of thee, enable us to comfort one another who are going through trials. For Miss Janie Smith, for Miss Sutton and all the others who burden our hearts as well as Miss Meacham in the hospital. Oh, Father, undertake for each of them in a unique way. We pray for others who are burdens upon our hearts, impress us, O God, in these days of the certainty of death and that which follows death, the judgment. There isn't anyone who will not keep that appointment with death, for it is appointed unto man once to die. Prepare us for that moment. Save us early in our youth. We thank you for the boys and girls in the Sunday school. And we ask you to save them in their youth and enable us, who are adults, to feed them with a good word of God, that they're strengthened and they grow and they grow up to adorn the doctrine of thy grace. Minister to us, and for the coming meetings with our brother John Reesinger, all God our Father, prepare our hearts, bring adults in to hear the Word of God, children also, and may they hear with a hearing of faith and trust our Savior, who alone can deliver from the wrath to come. minister to our souls in this hour for Jesus' sake. Amen. That Declaration of Independence that was signed in seventeen seventy-six stands for our independence of Great Britain. But the first Declaration of Independence was drawn up in the Garden of Eden. And that Declaration of Independence is the cause of all the ills that ever took place in the human race. What Adam did when he partook of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, he removed any thought of restraint. We don't know what Adam said when he put forth his hand to partake of the fruit. But we know what his descendants have said. And in the hour of our Lord's judgment on the cross, This is what the people said. We will not have this man to reign over us. And what Adam really said in the Garden of Eden was that. He's not going to tell me I can't have it. If I want it, I can have it. For the Word of God declares that Adam was the one who was in the transgression. For Adam sinned knowing it was wrong. The woman was deceived by the devil. But Adam wasn't. You see, that verse in Luke, verse fourteen is an interesting verse. We will not have this man to reign over us. Just a few days before, in utter excitement, they cried, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. But now they're shouting, Crucify him. Now Adam... while he knew he was sinning he was totally unaware of the consequences of his disobedience in time Adam realized what had happened but it was too late to rectify the problem death passed upon the whole human family and that's what Romans chapter five in verse twelve tells us for by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin And so death passed upon every man, in that all have sinned. And Adam's sin was not what we call one of the big sins. It was a sin of stealing. And all he did was stole a piece of fruit. That's all he did. But in his stealing the piece of fruit, in taking that which God said, I have reserved that tree for myself, You may not have it. Adam was showing for his disobedience to God. Now, in order to... We're so used to studying Genesis chapter three and to talk about the forbidden fruit and the results of it that a lot of times I'm afraid in our day we are missing the truth of the fall of man. And the results of that fall, which theologians have called, man's total depravity. And because of that, I'd like you to think with me for a few moments. Instead of thinking about a garden, I'd like you to think about a skyscraper. Say the Empire State Building. There it is. God says to Adam and his wife, now I'm giving you whole possession of the whole of the Empire State Building. It's yours, except for room number eighty-nine seventy-six. That is reserved for me. I do not want you to enter into it. You can go anywhere in the building, but that one room you cannot go in. Now, Adam's wife Eve, she's read to believe the great advantage is to be her if she enters that room. And so she enters that room. And Adam, in willful resentment against having that which would make him something, he enters that room and he enters that room boldly. Now upon crossing the threshold of the room, the unhappy pair discover something. They discover that the room has a balanced floor. And immediately they're thrust out of the building, and now they have to contend with an unknown law to them. It is called gravity. My. They have no rules. They're out there. contending with the law of gravity, and they had no rules for a living except trial and error, trial and error. Do we get the picture? Well, in case you don't, imagine them being placed in a car with the engine running. And in disobedience to God, they grabbed a gear shift, lever, and pull it. And when they pull it, the gear shift is locked into reverse. And with the engine running at a high speed, they go moving in reverse. And they do everything to try to get it to go forward, but they can. It's going in reverse, and they're side-swiping this and crashing into that and something else. Can you imagine what it is like? For you see, the engine is continually refueled by the will of man. So there they go, bumping and sliding and side-swiping one collision after another. Boy, is it not like the human family. But you see, God in matchless grace, he doesn't allow this condition to go on. He doesn't do it. No, he intervenes. And the intervention came to himself in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ coming into the world. It is only in Christ, now grasp this, it is only in Christ that we get the fruit that Adam reached for and couldn't get. Do you believe that? It's the truth. It's only in Christ that we get the fruit that Adam reached for what he couldn't get. You see, this independence which is true freedom, or let me put it, this dependence which is true freedom, come as a gift from God. For that's what we read in Galatians chapter five. For freedom, another translation puts it. Christ has set you free. And he has set us free for freedom. And he has set us free from bondage. The average American today living in sin thinks he's free. But in reality, he is only adding to his bondage. For he has been thrust up in the space. He knows something about gravity. But he knows nothing of the law. to maintain his altitude. He can't do it. Now let us notice what is the first of the liberties that is ours in Christ. Look back at Galatians chapter four. Galatians chapter four. And we want to read verse seven. Where he says, Wherefore thou art no more a slave or a servant but a son. And if a son, then an heir of God to Christ. Do you notice what we have? Satan said to the woman, You shall be as God's, knowing good and evil. She never got to really enjoy the fruit. You see. But it's in Christ that we can receive and enjoy the fruit. that Adam reached for, but he never got. God, no more a servant, he says, to those who have been born of God. You're no more a servant, but you're a son. And if a son, then you are an heir of God to Christ. In John chapter eight and verse thirty-five, and I invite you to turn to that passage, John eight and verse thirty-five, we read these words, and the slave abideth not. the slave abideth not in the house forever, but the son abideth forever. And what a privilege. You see, here's the liberty of sonship. Now, the first liberty that sonship enjoys is the liberty of position. A person who is born in the United States of America is entitled to all the rights of citizenship. A person who has been born of God is entitled to all the rights of our divine position as a child of God. We are entitled to the position of sonship. Beloved, now are we the sons of God. First John chapter three and verse two. We are entitled to our position in Christ. Our position in Christ is a perfect position. We are entitled to the liberty that divine sonship has brought to us. We are entitled to the divine inheritance that is laid up for us, who are the children of God. We are entitled to the certainty of eternal salvation. And the certainty of it is ours by divine grace. I'll never forget, listening to Dr. Barnhouse at the Mount Gretna Bible Conference, summer evening when a number of young college fellows were there and they were going to trip up Dr. Barnhouse and they walked up to him and they had a group of, they had their questions poised. They looked at this one father, he was probably the spokesman of the group and he said to him, son are you saved? And then the man made his first mistake. He said, I hope so. And Barnhart said to him, you have a right to know so. And that ended it. You have a right to know so. Are you a citizen of America? We certainly are. How do you know? Well, I was born in this country. And that gives me all the rights to citizenship. Are you safe? Have you been born of God? If you have been born of God, then you are in God's family, and you have all the rights that divine sonship brings. You see, these blessings, these blessings of liberty, these truths that are ours. Now, you've got to remember this. There are those who follow Adam in his declaration of independence, and they're continuing to follow Adam in his ways, but yet they cry out that that they are sons of God. You see, they loudly claim that they are sons and they demand all the rights of sonship. You know who I'm talking about. There are those who profess that they're sons of God, but they're following the course of Adam. They hear not the shepherd's voice. For the Lord says, My sheep, hear My voice. They declare their own independence from God. They walk according to the course of this world. They are children of disobedience like Adam. You see, to claim to be a son of God and to reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is a claim that will one day be rejected by Christ. I'd like you to turn to Matthew's Gospel chapter seven. Matthew chapter seven. Verse twenty-three. Well, we better begin with verse twenty-one. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. But he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out demons? And in thy name done many wonderful works. But not only. Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. He will not say, I knew you at one time and I have forgotten about you. Oh no, I never knew you. Emphasis on the word, never. I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work, iniquity. You see, to claim to be a son and to reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is a claim that is rejected by Christ. Turn over to John chapter eight, please, and verse thirty-four. John chapter eight and verse thirty-eight. Did I say thirty-four? I meant to say thirty-eight. John eight, verse thirty-eight. And our Lord is in a discussion with those who claim to be the children of God, the Pharisees. In verse thirty-eight he said, in John eight these words, I speak that which I have seen with my father, and you do that which he has seen with your Father. Now a good barometer to tell whether we're in Christ or not, am I living like Adam in deliberate disobedience to the Word of God and to the truths of God and the commands of God? Or am I like Christ seeking to do the will of the Father? For that's what he said to these people. He said, I speak that which I have seen with my father. And you do that, which you have seen with your father. And then in verse forty-four, he says to them, Ye are of your father the devil. And the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth. Because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and a father of it. So you see, there are many claims that are made today, but in a coming day, the claims will be rejected by Christ. Now there are some people who were not born in this country. immigrate to this country, and they take out papers of citizenship, and they demand all the protection that the United States government gives to its citizens. But all the while they're subversive. They are here doing business for a foreign government seeking the overthrow of the government of the United States. Now it's only right and just. that they be arrested, that they be tried, that they be convicted, and finally, that they be deported. And this is what will happen to those who claim divine sonship, but are not the children of God. You see, it's a judgment of the great white throne. The books will be opened. The citizens of the kingdom of God will be made manifest. And those whose names are not written in the book of life will be deported. They'll be cast into the lake of fire. And the scripture adds at another place there shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Beloved, divine sonship, For liberty, Christ has made us free. Divine sonship and liberty is available for all who come in dependence upon Christ and his finished life. Those who know Christ in a genuine way and have received that finished work of Calvary as having been done for them, they enjoy divine sonship and the liberty of divine sonship becomes theirs. For freedom Christ has made us free. And dependence upon Christ is bondage, but it is blessed freedom. Blessed freedom indeed. And it's by dependence upon Christ that we can take and receive the fruit that Adam by reaching never got. He lost. Satan's invitation is the same today as it always was. He offers people liberty and freedom, but it leads to bondage. It leads to bondage. The only one that can set a person free is Jesus Christ. If the Son shall make you free, then are you free Indeed. It's no other way. And you see, you and I have that message to announce. For it pleased God that by the foolishness of preaching, announcing to men the message of freedom that's in Christ by the foolish method of preaching, not by foolish preaching, But by the foolishness of preaching, who'd think that God could impart to a man who hears the gospel what Adam reached for and never got? But that becomes his alone to believing the message, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved, this is available to men, and we can ask in a genuine way, have you come to Christ? Have you come to him? Do you know him? That is what is most important. What a blessed thing is freedom. And it's dependence, friends, not independence. There's a spirit of independence abroad. And they who manifest it declare their children of Adam. They who declare a spirit of dependence are few. But that's where the true liberty is. May God enable us to grasp it for his name's sake.