I'll read from the sixth chapter
of the book of John, beginning at verse 29. John, chapter 6, verse 29. Then said they unto him, What
shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto
them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he
hath sent. They said therefore unto him,
What sign showest thou then, that we may see and believe thee? What dost thou work? Our fathers
did eat manna in the desert. As it is written, he gave them
bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from
heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which
cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord,
evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am
the bread of life. And he that cometh to me shall
never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you that ye also
have seen me, and ye believe not. All that the Father giveth
me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no
wise cast out. For I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me. Of all which he hath given me,
I should lose nothing, and should raise it up again the last day." Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the book of Romans, and we'll just look at a verse or two in
Romans 7. I'll begin in a few moments in
the 14th verse. Previously, the Apostle Paul
had shown the operation of the law of God that produces the conviction
of sin, God has set forth a law. God's people were never looked
to as far as obeying that law for righteousness before What the law does is it shows
us how far we have fallen. It shows us our inability to
please God. That's what the law does. It
shows us our need of sovereign grace. I'm unable. The law of God reveals to the
believer that he is in slavery, captivity is the word Paul uses
in the latter part of this chapter, to sin. I cannot get away from
it. It's just there. It's there. It doesn't rule and overrule
the new nature, but it's there. Paul says in Romans 7.14, For
we know that the law is spiritual. But I'm carnal, sold under sin. The law is divine. There's nothing wrong. There's nothing that can be said
concerning the law of God. It's wholly just and good. That's
what the Scripture says. The law of God, it's the expression
of God's character. It's the expression of God's
heart. It's the expression of God Almighty. He says, is spiritual,
but I'm carnal under the presence of my flesh. In the presence, knit to it to
the point that Paul even calls it me. I see in me. It's not
like there's two natures, but oh my! how they evidence themselves
at all times. That old, fallen, corrupt nature. I'm carnal. You know, even being
renewed by the Spirit of God in God's regenerating grace. That law of the flesh, that law
of sin, it's still there. It's there. Paul explains after
he said that I'm sold unto sin, he explains that in the next
verse or two, actually to be a bondage that a believer can't
resist. Now, I made mention of this,
and I want you to turn over to Matthew 6. But I made mention
of this. I was trying to think. I wanted
to look at this thought. of Paul not being able to resist
that presence of sin. Now, when I'm saying this, I'm
going to make this very clear. Paul also was the one that says,
What? Shall we sin that grace may abound? Now, if we're looking for an
excuse to outwardly go and rebel in an uncontrolled, like I just
talked about a while ago, uncontrolled manner I'm going to go out and
be disrespectful. You're in the grocery store.
You give them a $20. You bought $18 worth of stuff. They give you the change back.
They gave you $7 and something, something back. What's the right thing? You know? Well, I'm just a sinner. Doesn't matter. Yes, it does.
Yes, it does. Yes, it does. You're a thief.
You're a thief. Sold some things and made some
extra sales and got cash for it. Didn't turn it in. Didn't turn it in. Well, the
government squanders their money anyway. Render unto Caesar that
which is Caesar's. You're a thief. You're a thief. You say, well, now, wait a minute
now. Good grief, Marvin. You're just trying to be... No,
listen. To know to do good and doeth it not to you it's sin.
You know, we just find ourselves easily just excusing what we
are. Now, there's times when you know
it's the right thing. You know it's the right thing.
You know it's the right thing. And boy, you can make a decision
and just absolutely excuse it to say, and it's wrong. It's
wrong. But what is Paul talking about
where he says, I'm sold unto sin? This is the best example,
and I gave it a while ago, and it was this thing of worry. Now,
I'm going to tell you something. You might give me too much money,
and I know I've got to give that back to you. I know that's wrong. I know this, if I sell something
and somebody gave me $792 in cash, check, cash, gold, you know what? It was a sale. And the right
thing is when it asks me for my sales on my income tax. I'm
sitting there and I'm mulling it around in my mind. Believe
me, I'm wrestling with it. I'm thinking about it. I thought
about it. But what's the right thing to do? I sold it. I sold it. I did something. But now, worry. That's the one
that's stuck in my mind. It's something that I just found
myself not able to do something about. Not able to. Not able
to. Worry. Look at Matthew 6. Verse
25, Therefore I say unto you, take
no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall
drink, nor yet for your body what you shall put on. It is
not the life more than meat, and the body more than raiment.
Behold the fowls of the air! They sow not, neither do they
reap, nor gather into barns. Yet your Heavenly Father feedeth
them. Are you not much better than they? Which of you, by taking
thought, can add one cubit to a stature? And why take ye thought
for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow. They toil not, neither do they
spend. Yet I say unto you that even Solomon, all of his glory,
was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothed
the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast
into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little
faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or
What shall we drink? or Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do
the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knoweth that you have
need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom
of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for
the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof." Don't think on the morrow. That last part that says, "...for
the moral shall take thought for the things of itself." Don't
bring the cares of two days into one. You'll have plenty to think
about tomorrow. Now, I wonder what I'm going
to do. Friday. Here it is, Monday. Boy, Friday, I've got to... All
you're doing is just adding four days' worth of worry. There'll
be enough of it on Thursday. Don't worry. It'll be there.
Boy, how many times have I seen myself And it'll come up, and
I know, I know that Scripture right there. I know it. I know the Lord takes care of
the lilies. I know that Solomon was not arrayed
like one of those. I know that God's not going to
leave me. He's not going to forsake me. I know that. I know that.
And boy, something comes up just right there. And I'm worried. And I wish I could get away from
that. And I just can't control it. You came up to me and you
said something to me. And I mean, before I knew it,
I thought so disrespectfully. You said something to me. It
offended me. It was just there. I mean, before I knew it. Paul says in verse 14, "...for
that which I do I allow not, what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that I do. He said there is a nature in
me that wills to go one way. I want to walk in respect. I do. I believe I am being honest
with you. I believe I am. I believe that
I want to walk in reverence before Almighty God, before His people.
I want to go in that way, but that flesh that strives to direct
me another way, I argue with myself. That's what I'm doing. That's what I'm doing. And there's some things, like
I said, there's some things that I can make a decision on. I know I can do something about
that, but there's some that I just can't. I just cannot do it. Paul said he does what he hates.
For that which I do, that which I work in my carnal flesh, I
allow not, I know not. What he's saying is this, is
I don't recognize its true nature. I know not. I don't really realize
the fullness of what I'm really doing. I know not. It's like a slave that doesn't
recognize his master's intent. The Master says, take that over
there and bring that over there. He takes it over there and brings
it over there. He didn't ask him why. He didn't ask him what
was the purpose. He said, do it. That's the way
that sin works in our memories. Paul says, that which I do, I
don't realize the intent of what's really going on. I don't realize
the disrespect before Almighty God. I allow for what I would,
what I desire, what I determine by my new mind, that do I not. I don't habitually. That's what
the word do means. I don't habitually. I don't make
a habit of it. What I would truly desire, I
would truly desire to walk absolutely every step I take in obedience. Someone says, well, that's just
wishful thinking. No, it isn't. This is truly the mind of a believer.
Is there a believer here that would truly say, I don't really
want to walk perfectly before God. I know in the Lord Jesus
Christ that His righteousness, that God Almighty has justified
me by the imputed righteousness of Christ. But let me tell you
something. I'm living in this world. And as long as I'm in
this world, this body of sin is a plague to me. It's disrespectful. And I don't like it. Paul says,
For that which I do, I know or allow not. For what I would,
that do I not. But what I hate, I hate it. You that believe,
do too. You hate it. Do you enjoy not
believing God? No. Do you enjoy worrying? Do you enjoy... No. No. I don't. I hate it. I hate the
practice. Paul is saying what I love and
approve of that I find myself lax in doing. What I hate and disapprove of, that's what I find myself doing. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that it is good. If I find myself
accomplishing, doing what I don't desire to do. That is sin against
God. And I don't. And I know that
you don't either. I know you don't. But you know
what? We're all right here this morning
and we're all knowing that God's Word is so. We're in agreement
with it. I'm giving consent, he says,
if I do that which I would not. I'm saying that the law is good.
If I'm saying in my heart, I find myself like worrying. That's the only example I can
think of right now. If I find myself doing that which
I know is wrong, I know that I'm disbelieving God. When I
worry, that's what I'm doing. Why take thought? Do you think
God's going to leave you to yourself? Do you think you're going to
starve to death? Do you think you're not going to have anything
to eat? Do you think God's going to leave
His people to Himself? The Lord Jesus Christ who came
into this world, the Word Himself who was made flesh, came into this world made in
the fashion, form of sinful flesh. I don't want to go into that
topic right now because I want to deal with it. We'll deal with
it here soon. In the form of sinful flesh,
what it means. But He came into this world.
God Himself who had everlastingly loved His people. And He came
into this world and walked in absolute obedience before Almighty
God with all of His people considered in Him as the surety. And there
was the surety. Slain from the foundation of
the world, God had always seen His sacrifice. God was always
pleased. God had always looked upon His
own. into a justified state by the righteousness of Christ,
their surety. And he came into this world and
he walked in this world and not one thought, not one act, not
one word ever in disobedience before his Father. He walked
perfectly. The Father even said of him,
this is my beloved Son, whom I am well pleased. There's the
surety. And as the Father looked at the
surety, He had never looked at the sheep to answer. He looked at the surety. And
what the surety did, the sheep did. The way the surety obeyed,
the sheep obeyed. And there was the shepherd, there
was the Lord Jesus, the surety Himself. And as the Father was
well pleased with him, he was well pleased with me. All of
his people, well pleased. He went to the cross, made sin,
made sin. There the Father made him that
which was in direct opposition to his holiness and character.
And the Father forsook him. that He would never forsake us.
Never. Turned His back. Turned His back. And punished Him. God dealing
with God. God Almighty dealing with God
Almighty. That's a high statement. But
God Almighty put away the guilt of His people. Put it away. Took away their sin. Looked upon
them. Justify! Do you think He's not going to
give you something to eat? He's given you the best. Will He withhold
that which is less? He's given you the best. Paul
says, I'm doing those things that I hate. I see myself. I see myself in a disrespectful,
you know, When I find my flesh acting the way that it does,
sin in my members, sin taking every occasion, every opportunity
to take the law of God and to show me what I really am and
how disrespectful I really am, the only thing that I can say
is, Lord, thank You for Your grace and Your mercy. Thank you
for keeping me. Thank you for not leaving me
to myself. Thank you. Thank you. I struggle in this
life, and you that believe, you do too. But I'm telling you,
here's the good news. He will never leave us. Never forsake us. He knows and
feels. He's touched with the feelings
of our infirmities. The Scripture says, here he was.
I said I wasn't going to deal with this form of sinful flesh,
and I'll probably not. But here he was. He didn't come. He didn't come in the way that
Adam was before Adam fell, in that flesh. That was before fallen
flesh. He came after fallen flesh. He came in that form. A body
was prepared for him. He had no sin. But he came made
in the fashion, the form of sinful flesh that had all of the effects
of sin on it. He thirsted. He hungered. He
was tired. He aged. Have you ever thought
of that? He was made in the fashion, formed
in the fashion of sinful flesh, a body that had all of the the
effects of sin. So he was touched with the feelings
of our infirmities. He knew what it felt like to
get thirsty. He knew what it felt like to
get hungry. When they drove those nails in his wrist, in his feet,
stuck him in the side, he knew what that felt like. He was touched
with the feelings of our infirmities, yet without sin. Do you think
he'll leave you to yourself? No. Rest assured, our God reigns. He is in the heaven, David says,
doing what He wills. He will not leave us to ourselves.
Knowing that, we will go through this world until we die struggling,
seeing disrespect in our old nature, warring against the nature
of our mind. Paul says, bring me into captivity. to the law of sin. I just can't
get away with it. I can't get away from it. But
I don't like it. I don't want to just say, just
tolerate it. It's a battle. I know it is.
I know it is. But He'll not leave us to ourselves.