I invite your attention this
morning to Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7. Beginning with
verse 14. For we know that the law is spiritual. The law does not save anyone
because it can't. The law says, thou shalt not. And, of course, we do. The law is a revealer of the
character of God. God is holy. Thou shalt not commit
adultery. That's what God said. Thou shalt
not. That is a holy command because
it comes from God. Amen? Right. The law was given not to save
us, but to reveal our desperate need of a Savior, to shut us
up to Christ. The law reveals there's something
wrong with us, something bad wrong with us. When you look
into a mirror and you have dirt on your face, Blame the mirror. The mirror is a revealer of the
dirt. God's law is a revealer that
something is bad, wrong on the inside. But I am carnal. I'm the opposite
of spiritual. The law is spiritual. I'm the
opposite. I'm against the law. The law says thou shalt not,
and I say I shall. I am carnal in my flesh, sold
under sin. For that which I do, I allow
not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent under the law that
it's good. Now then it is no more I that
do it, that is the new me, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, that is
in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For the will is present
with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For
the good that I would, I do not. But the evil which I would not,
that I do. Now, if I do that I would not,
it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find
then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with
me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man,
the newborn man, the spiritual man. But I see another law in
my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me
into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death. I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. Last week I talked with you about
the flesh of the ungodly. There is no more truth, no more
important truth for both the sinner and the saint than the
message I brought last week for the sinner and this one today
for the saints of God. Important to the sinner to know
he has not the nature of Christ If you're here today and not
a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, sin is what you are. That's all there is to you or
about you is sin. When God looks, He sees sin. Sin is not so much what we do,
but what we are. That's something we need to learn.
We are by nature the children of wrath, even as others. It is important for the saint
to know that he has the nature of Christ, while the man who
is not a believer does not have the nature of Christ and the
Spirit of Christ. The flesh of a godless man or
woman or boy or girl is dangerous and desperately wicked. And the
Bible says, who can know it? In other words, who can understand
the real depth of sinnership? How wicked, how evil is the human
nature? The flesh of a godless man or
woman, boy or girl, is desperately wicked. Like the troubled sea
continually casting up Mar. You get nothing else out of the
message today, get this, if you're here without Christ, sin is what
you are. Your nature is evil. The flesh of a child who's recently
been born is evil. We come forth from the womb speaking
lies. That's what the Scripture says.
This world, for the most part, and I'm talking about the religious
world, does not see the desperateness of a man without Christ. He's
in a desperate strait. He cannot save himself. He is
wicked and dead and inactive toward God. As that child grows,
there's outward manifestation. of what he is or she is by nature. You don't sit your children down
and teach them how to lie. I mean, daddy's going to teach
you how to steal and be deceptive today. It all just comes so natural. Adult flesh is just sin. So, if you're a big fellow today,
big gal today, you've grown up, you're 21, you're still depraved
and without God and a sinner. That's what you are. And you're
going to act out more because there is no check. You have no
check. You freely do what your nature
dictates. You are a slave to your nature,
a slave to sin. You sin because it's just you. It's as natural as a dog going
back to the vomit. It is natural to you to be in
disobedience to God as the hog goes to the mower. Last week
we read the blacklist from Romans chapter 1 and 2. Religious flesh. Now you can dress it all up.
Put the Catholic garb on it. Put the Baptist garb on it. Put
the Presbyterian garb on it. But you're still just a sinner. dressed in religious garb. That's
all you are. Something has to happen to you
on the inside. The Bible says that two men went
up to the temple to pray. And one said, I thank thee, God,
that I'm not as other men are. That's what religious folks are
without Christ. They're always thanking God that
they're not like everybody else. They're Pharisees. They are self-righteous. which God hates. God hates self-righteousness. You see, the whole plan of God
was to provide an imputed righteousness. And those of you who are trying
to be saved by being churchy and sprinkling and, you know,
keeping the commandments and all of that, you're in direct
rebellion against what God has done in Christ. Religious people. How wicked religious people are.
All over this country today and all over the world today, people
will say they have gone to a place of worship, but they will not
worship. They will not worship the God of the Bible. They will
have self-worship. They will worship their will. They will worship their works.
They will worship their baptism. Anything but bow to Christ. That's
the wickedness. of the flesh. And that's the
heart of it. This man will not rule over me. Now, that was an
amen. Starting him early. I want to talk about the flesh
of a godly man. Let's talk about the flesh of
a person, man or woman, boy or girl, who knows God. What about
your flesh? First of all, let me say this.
Romans 7, when the Apostle Paul says, O wretched man that I am,
he didn't mean to say, O wretched man that I used to be. And the
point is this. Every saved person in here needs
to know that your flesh has gotten no better since you were converted. Some people have such a mystical
reverence for the Apostle Paul that they almost become idolaters
in the sense that, oh, the Apostle Paul. How do you like this about
the Apostle Paul? He wrote 3 fourths of the New
Testament. I'm wretched! Thank God that the Apostle Paul
was honest about himself. You know, when I have no assurance
of my salvation because of my acting out. I can go to Romans
and say, the apostle was wretched too. You and I as Christians
need to clearly understand that your flesh did not get better
when you got saved. Your flesh still longs to use. Still lusts. Your flesh has not changed. Let
me tell you this too. I know that so many believe that
you can lose salvation. And I want to tell you this.
If I could lose it, I would have lost it a long time ago. First
of all, it is not my salvation. It's God's salvation. God saved
the sinner. And David didn't say, restore
unto me the joy of my salvation. He said, restore unto me the
joy of thy salvation. God is the author and the finisher
of our faith. So oftentimes, we as little children
of God begin to doubt salvation because we expect reformation
with our flesh. And it's not there. You still
want to go to the same places. I mean, in the flesh. Do the same things you always
did. You're just as crazy as you always were. Your flesh is. But here's the truth. This ought
to give you some peace. The truth is the nearer a man
lives to God, the more intensely he mourns over his own evil heart. Do you ever just say in the deepest
recesses of your soul, I'm tired and want to go home? Do you ever
just groan in your spirit, As I look at our country, as I look
at our world, as I look at our church, as I look at myself,
as I look at my family, I groan, Lord, how long, Lord? And cry out many times, even
so, come Lord Jesus. What a hope we have in Christ.
The more God blesses a man like myself, In His service, the more
the evil of the flesh vexes and teases me on a daily basis. And
I cry out, prone to wander! Lord, I feel it! Prone to leave
the God I love. Can anybody say, Amen? I have
a tendency. My flesh is not good. Flesh is just flesh. That's all
it is. It's just evil flesh. The flesh
of an adult is just flesh. No check. No light. No God. No
holiness. The wonderful thing about the
child of God is He's been quickened. He's been made alive. And He
has a check. There's a check. Unrenewed, carnal
men inherit from their parents a nature that is evil. And only
evil continually, the Bible says. Do you know that a man can be
honest? A man can be upright, kind, and
generous? And really, really churchy. But
when it comes to matters of knowing God, when it comes to matters
of knowing God, when it comes to spiritual matters, that concern,
God in eternity, He's fallen and is at enmity to God. I preach
that God elected a people. That you did not first come to
God. God first came to you. And people say, no, I won't receive
that. You know why? Because you're
evil. You don't want this thing to be all of grace. You want
to have a part in it. Because your flesh desires that. When I say God chose a people
before the foundation of the world and predestinated them
to be sought out by the Holy Ghost and brought to the feet
of Jesus Christ. No! No! How come? Because you're
evil. This is evil. God came down here
in the flesh, walked the Judean acres without sin, went up on
Calvary and bled and died and said, look and live. And you
said, no! There's another way. I'll be
a Catholic. I'll be a Baptist. I'll be a Methodist. I'll be
a Presbyterian. I'll get sprinkled. I'll get
dunked. I'll get poured. I'll keep the commandments, at
least half of them. And on and on and on it goes. You will not bow to Romans 8.
You will not bow to Romans 7. If I can just find somebody who's
saying, oh wretched man that I am, Oh, I thought you got saved
and got the Holy Ghost and you were without sin. No, I'm wretched.
My flesh. I'm not going to be perfect until
Jesus comes and rescues me totally. I know some of you folks don't
cuss and swear or roller skate and spit on the sidewalk and
all of that stuff. But when you reject Jesus Christ
as a substitute, who died in the sinner's stead, room and
place, you are in direct rebellion against the God of this Bible.
It's true. It's true. The flesh is just
flesh. That's all it is. You see, there
has to be an intervention. I'm telling you, my God is quick.
He has to be quick to catch up with us. Because we were running the wrong
way. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone
to his own way. I want to just say this one more
time. Somebody said, I found the Lord.
He wasn't lost! You didn't find the Lord, the
Lord found you. Sought you out of your loady
bar. Anybody in here had an intervention? I've had an intervention. An
intervention of the Holy Ghost. An intervention of the Holy Spirit.
An intervention where He came to my graveyard, where I was
dead and helpless and hopeless, and He quickened me. He gave
me life. And you know what happened to
me? I became a double man. You're looking at a double man.
Two men in one. The flesh, It's still there. The Spirit that God put in me,
a new nature, a new nature that never sins. You know what God
put inside you in the new birth never sins? Oh, it's your flesh
that is the young ass's coat that can't be tamed, bucking
and snorting. I didn't say you were an ass
now. I said the ass's coat. But if it fits, you can wear
that one too. As low as you can go, the better.
That's what your flesh is. You need to see it. You need
to see it. Paul talks about the body of
this death. The body of this death in Romans
7. Talking about the body of this
death. You know what he's talking about?
You've heard me say this a million times. In Roman days, a man would
commit murder. They would take the corpse and
tie it to the guy who murdered the person's back. And the penalty
was, it has to rot off. So, everywhere you went, the
maggots went. That's the picture of the Christian. I got a monkey on my back. I
got a corpse on my back called the flesh. And everywhere I go,
I smell it. I see it. I'm conscious of it.
It's constantly with me. But one day, free at last, free
at last, thank God Almighty, I'm free at last. The flesh cannot
be made better. Some of you just keep trying
and trying to, you know, I've used crack for the last time.
That was my last time. You're sure of that than I am
as your pastor. I never say, I'll never do that.
I never say that. Because I know what I'm capable
of. You need to know what your flesh is capable of. Anything
you think about, you're capable of. Just let your mind go to
your imagination. What you've been thinking while
I've been preaching here. Clean up your mind. There's been enough thought patterns
in here to send us all to hell since we've been in church. We're
not really as righteous as we act, are we? I know some of you are thinking,
he's on a roll, we're going to be here till one o'clock. That's
what you think. So, death incarnate, death concentrated,
death dwelling in the very temple of life. The enemy is enemy. I hear all these people talking
about, ah, the enemy made me do it. The enemy is a lot closer
than you think. The flesh cannot be made better.
It can't be improved. Listen, you want to improve? Get into the Word and grow in
grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Crucify the flesh. You can't
turn darkness to light. The enemy of God. And an enemy
of God your flesh must ever be. You're going to go to the grave
with that flesh. It is not surprising to me what
dying men say when they're not conscious of what they're saying. Mighty quiet here. You know why? Because that flesh is acting
out. The flesh of a godly man or woman.
Understand this, Christian. Understand this real clear. This
will help you. Your flesh is just as dirty as
it was the day you were regenerated. In other words, the day you were
born again, the day you got saved, your flesh is just as dirty. It is no better. Well, I thought
when I got saved, you thought what? And as you grow up, your
flesh becomes more experienced, more deceitful. Now, your flesh
doesn't get better. You think of more ways to do
evil. The Bible talks about inventors
of evil things. We invent things. It's a fact that when the flesh
goes to war against the Spirit, and it always does, if you're strong in spirit and
been feeding on the Word of God, will call for his friends in
the pit to give him aid from the very
bottom of hell. Devils without number come up
to help their brother, the flesh. Have you ever felt like your flesh
was getting some help? And lots of times your comrades
encourage you in the evil. They enjoy you doing it and you
getting messed up and they encourage you. The flesh says to the spirit,
I'll never be content until I kill you. Just know this, your flesh
hates your new spirit. Your flesh hates it. Your flesh
does its best to kill, to murder, to cut to death your spirit.
Your flesh is after your spirit. Your flesh cannot endure your
spirit. Your flesh hates it when you
lift holy hands and praise God. Your flesh hates it when you're
faithful and loyal to your mate. Your flesh hates it. Your flesh
hates when you're not drinking or smoking or poking something
in your arm. Your flesh hates it. Your flesh
is always there. When you get tired, it's your
flesh that says, you know what? You deserve just a little chipping. You can chip just a little bit.
You know, one hit won't hurt you. I mean, look. Look at how hard, look how hard
you work for God. And then when you don't get blessed
real good, your flesh doesn't, see? See, it doesn't pay you
to serve God. See? Don't act like you don't
know what I'm talking about. You know what I'm talking about.
Your new nature is spirit. You know all of this bunk about
religion, about you can make the sign of the cross as long
as you want until Jesus comes and still die and go to hell.
Because it's all flesh. That's what most religion is.
It's just flesh. People all over the country today
are going to get all dressed up, except here, and come to
church. If I was a brave man, I wouldn't
wear a suit all the time. I'm going to break out. It's
all flesh. It's all flesh for me to wear a tie and suit. It's
all flesh. It's my uniform. I'm a pastor. Anyway, all over
this place, all over the country today, all over the country today, people have gotten ready and
gone to a place of ceremonialism. And they sit there dead as a
doornail. and do the stand up, sit down,
kneel down, stand up, take the bread, take the grape juice and
go home and feel like it's all flesh. You know what it profited?
Nothing. Nothing. You know when you take
the unleavened bread in your mouth and the priest or pastor
gives you the wine? Do you know that that's all outward? You don't get Christ in you that
way. That's all flesh. You look at people how they do
that. You don't get Christ in you that way. It's all spirit
that matters. You see, some of you are sitting
here right now, and in your spirit, as a believer, you're saying,
hallelujah, thank you, pastor. Some of you are going, I'm not
that bad. Because, see, one of you, my
spirit is bearing witness with your spirit, and the Holy Spirit
is bearing witness to both of us as we hear the truth. Some
of you are just tickled pink that I'm saying, Paul was a wretched
man. He didn't say he used to be.
And by the way, Romans 7 here was written like 30 years after
his Damascus Road experience. He didn't say, I used to be.
I was a low-down snake. I was killing Christians. I used
to be. He said, I am. Oh, wretched man that I am. So, little child of God, know
it. Understand it. This is the cry
of the regenerate. Isaiah said, in the year that
King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up. And I said,
whoa! Here's me. Whoa! Anytime you see the Lord and
get a look at yourself, you're going to say, whoa! Here's me.
Jacob said, few and evil have been the days of my pilgrimage.
Job said, I've heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but
now my eyes see of thee. Wherefore, I repent. in dust
and ashes. Yes, little child of God, when
the flesh is fierce and wild, we cry out, O wretched man that
I am. Anybody had that experience?
Every Christian has that experience. You cry out. I'm surprised more
people didn't. Let me ask that again. Anybody
had the experience of the Apostle Paul crying out at your wretchedness? You better check up. You better
check up. Whoa here, I didn't see a lot
of hands. That kind of bothers me a little
bit. If you don't know that your flesh is wretched, there's something
wrong in your experience. You may need to be born again.
Because if you're born again, your spirit is going to cry out,
oh, this flesh, this flesh. It's going to happen. All right,
I'm going to go back now. You need to get a hold of that.
I don't want you to just come here and do the fleshly thing
where we have some kind of religious something. I'm not talking simply
to myself today. I want the Holy Spirit to reach
out and grab somebody today. And I'm sure He does as the Word
is preached. Listen to the Apostle Paul and
then I'll let you go home. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? The body. Am I going to get this
corpse off my back? I think it was yesterday. Sometimes
I get to thinking about things, and maybe it's because I'm nearer
home than I was yesterday. I see things going on and I say,
oh, what a day that'll be. When my Jesus I shall see. When
I look upon His face, the One who saved me by His grace. What
a day, what a glorious day that will be. Do you ever long for
the Lord to come back? Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? Mr. Law says, I cannot and I
will not. Mr. Conscience says, I can make
you see the battle, but I cannot help you in it. Mr. Human Nature says, ah, none can
deliver you. I shall destroy you. You shall
fall by the hand of your enemy. Two things. Two things make us
feel as losers. Number one, and we preach those
two things here, human responsibility. I say, you must believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. And then I turn around and say,
you can't. Human responsibility and human
inability. You can't save yourself. But
you must believe on the Lord. But I can't. God must do something,
but you're still responsible. You say, well, Father, that doesn't
make any sense. You've shut me up to where I
can't do anything. That's right. The sooner you
get away from being a work of your own, the better. The sooner
you hoist the white flag and put the shotgun down and say,
all to Jesus I surrender, save me or damn me, I'm yours, the
better. It's true. It's true. Let me
tell you, little child of God, there comes a voice from heaven
saying, deliver them from going down to the pit. I've found a
ransom. Always remember that. When you could have been damned,
God found a ransom. His Son, Jesus Christ. And there
is coming a day, little child of God, when the monkey is going
to be off your back permanently. When the corpse called flesh
shall die and you and I shall be free. Little child of God,
that is certain. That is certain. I love the way the Apostle Paul
goes through Romans 7. And did you notice the 24th verse
says, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ.
Look at 8.1. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. Isn't that something? He didn't
even take a good breath there. I want to be perfect, don't you?
And the day is coming when I will be. Every child of God wants
to be perfect. I want to be free from sin. I
want to be totally free from it. What does your flesh do? Your flesh acts out and then
reminds you of what you did. Some of you in here are carrying
things that happened 20 years ago or 10 years ago or 15 years
ago And your flesh is nipping at you. So God just keeps reminding
me. God doesn't remind you. God can't
remember. Hey! God can't remember your
sins. Your sins and your transgressions
will I remember no more. Well, then who's accusing you?
It's the accuser. It's not God. My sins are gone. Yes, my sins are gone. Buried
in the deepest sea. That's good enough for me. I
shall eternally praise God. My sins are gone. No condemnation
to those that are in Christ Jesus. Think about this. Think about
the whole scheme of God. Quit fighting, Romans 8. For
whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate. Whom He predestinated,
they whom He also called. Whom He called, they whom He
also justified. Whom He justified, they whom He also glorified.
Who shall separate us from the love of God that is in Christ
Jesus? I am persuaded that neither life, nor death, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor any other
creature shall be able to separate me from the love of God that's
in Christ Jesus. Not even my flesh. Here's the
plan of God. I've heard this week several
people say, you know, some of our staff people, they come to
our staff meeting and they say things like, you know, I am so
perplexed and conflicted when I go to staff meetings and hear
Pastor talk about predestination. Well, which kind of God do you
want? One that has a plan or rabbit's foot luck? Do you want
to get lucky or do you want God to be in control? Do you want
a purr-adventure or perhaps gospel or do you want a real one? I
want a real one. So before the foundation of the
world, God chose a number that no man can number. More than
the sands of the seashore. Been to the beach lately? Well,
if you put all the beaches in all the universe together, you
would not have the people that God is going to save. He elected
a number. Is that alright with you? A number
that no man can number. People say to me, oh, you believe
in that. God has a little handful. God doesn't have little hands. He's a big God. You must be thinking
about your little God. I'm talking about my big God.
He elected a people, a number that no man can number. Christ
came down here and redeemed them 2,000 years ago. I mean, He bought
them. Do you ever think about this?
Do you ever think about the popular gospel that's being preached
today? That Johnny gets saved and God goes, what? I would have
never thought Johnny would have got saved. God saves people on
purpose. God saw you down in Lodibar.
God saw you in the hood. God saw you in the wilderness.
God saw you in the church. Boy, you folks who've been saved
out of church, you have a reason to hold up your hands and praise
God. And He purposed, and He called you, and the Holy Spirit
brought you to Jesus Christ. Gave you life. And now here's
what God says. Now, I'm going to indwell you. I'm going to be in you. And I'm
going to work in you both to will and to do of My good pleasure.
I'm going to work in you. And know this too. Dear children,
when I begin a work, I always finish it. He that hath begun
a good work in you will accomplish it. All you have to know is God
started. Don't put yourself as the starter.
Say, God started a work in me. And He promised that whatever
He starts, He finishes. So, here you are. You've been
saved. Now, let's see. I was converted
when I was 8 years old, so 60 years ago. It's been a fight
every day. It's been a fight every single
day. When I was eight years old, and
God quickened me and gave me life and faith in Christ, the
battle started. And not one time has it stopped.
I hate my flesh, and my flesh hates me. The real me. The new me. The born-again me. See, I don't go to church because
I have to. I'm here because I want to be
here. I love to be here. I don't wish there were not a
God. I'm glad there's a God. I die in God. Now, here's what he says. Now,
children, life is going to be a battle. But I want you to know,
because I'm going to go away, that I have prepared a place
for you. That where I am, there you may be also. And if I go
away, I will come again and get you. Oh, little child of God, He's
coming to get you. He's coming after you. And He says this too. Now, when you go to sleep on
earth, your spirit will go back and be with me until this corruptible
puts on incorruption. In other words, I'm going to
give you a new body. I'm going to put Spirit in you. And guess
what? Not only am I going to build
you a mansion. In my Father's house are many mansions. Are
you still with me? But I'm going to create a complete new universe. All sin will be destroyed. No
more Satan. No more sickness. No more sorrow.
No more cancer. No more death. No more graveyards. No more hospitals. and you're going to inhabit it.
Let me tell you this. There's no... Buddha can't beat
that kind of plan. Hinduism can't beat that kind
of plan. The people who believe in salvation by works can't beat
this kind of plan. And it was all free. I didn't
deserve it. All you folks here claiming you
just want what you deserve, you're going to get it. Don't worry
about that. You're going to get it. I don't
want what I deserve. And that puts me in this spirit
worship. I worship in my spirit. See,
I don't know whether you understand this, and I hope you don't take
this wrong, but I've enjoyed my own preaching today. I don't mean that in a fleshly
way. I mean, I've just enjoyed myself. And my spirit is going
to leave here happy. Because I'm more than a conqueror. I'm more than a conqueror. We
ought to bump knuckles. Y'all want to bump knuckles?
I'm more than a conqueror. So I want all you saints to go
home happy today, thinking this. Thank you, Pastor. Thank you,
Apostle Paul. Thank you, Paul, for putting that in there. Otherwise,
I might have gone home today thinking I couldn't be saved.
How many times have I thought after I have tried and failed
and my flesh has gotten the upper hand, I thought, how could I
be saved? How could I be saved? You say,
well, Pastor, you know, I know when we are all, you know, with
biases. I'm talking about in the pulpit.
I have been preaching, and honestly and truly, across my mind, the
flesh came galloping. Look out now. See, I'm not trying
to make Clarkites here. I'm telling you the truth. I'm
telling you the truth so you can know you and I are just alike.
There's no difference. We've all messed up. Were it
not for the grace of God, there go I. Let's stand together and
praise our God.