Okay, let's come back to our
topic at hand. The spirit indeed is willing
and the flesh is weak. Norm pointed out something that
was in that parable of the new wine. The new wine must be put
into new bottles and both are preserved. The new wine and the new bottles
are both preserved. There is this battle, isn't it?
Spirit is willing, the Lord said to those apostles on that night,
and he said, watch and pray that you enter not into temptation.
What happens when you enter into temptation? Every single time. You'll always fall, won't you? The spirit indeed is willing,
and the flesh, but the flesh is weak. The flesh is powerless. See, he's talking to apostles.
And he's not talking of soul and spirit, but he's talking
about the new man and the old man, as Paul says, to will is
present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. When you have time, it's really
good to read Romans 7 and find out whether you're a Romans 7
sinner. The religious world has gone to most extraordinary lengths
to remove Roman VII from the Bible, an adjusted Roman VII. It's just remarkable to read
what they try and say, these learned theologians, to get rid
of Roman VII, so it's no longer the testimony of a saved man. The flesh is willing, but it's
impotent, and it's powerless, and it has no spiritual ability
as of by itself to do that what it most earnestly desires. Peter speaks of the hidden man.
1 Peter 3.4 speaks of the hidden man of the heart, that is, in
that which is not corruptible. It's not corruptible. The hidden
man of the heart is not corruptible. It's a hidden man of the heart.
As I said earlier, it's hidden from this world. The world can't
understand believers. The world can't understand the
struggle. Those with one nature can't understand the struggles
of those with two natures. It's not corruptible. Can you
say that honestly about anything of yourself or anything that
we ever touch? Everything we touch is corruptible,
but the hidden man of the heart is not corruptible. Paul says,
put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness
and true holiness. You put him on as God puts him
on. We put him on by faith. We looked
last week briefly and I asked you to see if you could spend
some time looking at it in first john chapter three and it's first
john chapter three again i've been reading some you know some
of the best commentaries of modern times about it and as again it's
just remarkable what they have to say and what they have to
try and establish to try and work out what on earth is god
saying and god speaks with plainness and clarity god doesn't speak
in convoluted ways Listen to 1 John 3 verse 6. Whosoever abideth
in him sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth has not seen
him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive
you. He that doeth righteousness is
righteous, even as he is righteous. He that commiteth sin is of the
devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this
purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works
of the devil. Listen to it, 1 John 3, 9. Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin. Why? For his seed, the seed of God,
the seed that causes the birth from above, remaineth in him,
and he cannot sin because he is born of God. The translators
have a shocking time with that, don't they? These modern translations,
they have to try and change that somehow, don't they? They've
been doing it for years and years and years. The Catholic Church
used to divide sins into mortal sins and venial sins, sins that
lead to death and sins that you could deal with by your activities
here. The New Living Translation says, does not practice sin. The NIV says, does not continue
in sin. The ESV, the most famous of the
modern ones, it means, does not keep on sinning. Wesley says,
does not practice deliberate seeing. It's just not true, brothers
and sisters. Those translations are not true.
What they have done, as they do with all translations these
days, is that they take their theology and then impose their
theology on the Scriptures, and twist the Scriptures, and they
rest the Scriptures to their own destruction. John says it
again, doesn't he, in 1 John 5, 18? We know, all believers
know, that whosoever is born of God sinneth not. But he that is begotten of God
keepeth himself, and the wicked one toucheth him not. We are,
according to Peter, partakers of the divine nature. As John
says, as he is, so are we in this world. Whosoever is born
of God, the new creation, sinneth not. That's just plain and simply
what the text of Scripture, what God the Holy Spirit has written
for us. It's speaking of the new man.
It's speaking of that seed that came from God, isn't it? God
cannot sin. When Satan came to tempt the
Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus says, he found nothing in me. He found
nothing in me. There was no fallen nature in
the Lord Jesus Christ. There was no sin in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He was incapable of sin because he didn't have
a nature that allowed sin. It was impossible for him to
sin. It's called the impeccability of Christ. And you deny the deity
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you deny his immutability, and
you deny his holiness if you think that he could have sinned.
Was he tempted? He was tempted in all parts as
we are. He was touched with the feelings
of our infirmity. But the wicked one found nothing
in him. There was nothing in the Lord
Jesus for Satan to lay hold of. And so it is with those born
of God. The wicked one touches him not, says the scripture. The wicked one touches him not.
Why? Because he can't touch what's
born of God. It can't be touched. Greater
is he that is in you than he that is in the world, says the
scriptures. People who want to teach about
progressive sanctification want to see that the people have two
natures, one's flesh and spirit, and sanctification is that process
where you grow and grow and grow by feeding the white dog and
starving the black dog. Have you heard that? It's still
an issue of your will and your works. It's not a new creation. It's not a birth from God. If
you can manipulate it and make it better, all it does is remain
flesh. All it does is remain flesh. When you ask these teachers
that want to say that there are two natures and they're spirit
and flesh, and you ask them, can the spirit sin? And they
say, well, it can. Can your spiritual nature sin?
They say, well, it can, but I'm working on it. That's not what
this text of scripture is saying. It is just not what God says. Whosoever is born of God sinneth
not. Can God sin? That which is born of God cannot
sin. It cannot sin. And what's the hope of glory? What is your hope? Where does
your hope rest upon? Does it rest upon your deeds?
Does it rest upon an improved and a transformed life? Does
it rest upon what you might be able to do and what you have
done and what you are doing, what you might be able to achieve
in the future? Listen to what God says about
the hope. One hope we have, isn't it? Paul prays in Colossians, doesn't
he, to God would make known what is the riches of the glory of
this mystery among the Gentiles. It's Christ in you, the hope
of glory. Christ in you cannot sin. Christ
in you cannot be touched by the evil one. Christ in you cannot
change. When Christ has taken up residence
in a child given to him by his father from the foundation of
the world, cannot be taken away he goes on in Colossians doesn't
he he says lie not one to another saying that you put off the old
man and his deeds and have put on the new man which is renewed
in knowledge after the image of him that created him and what's
this knowledge where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision
or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond or free. And what's
the knowledge? Christ is all and in all. Christ is all and in all. So what does the new man believe?
What's this knowledge that Paul's speaking of there? Christ is
all. Christ is all in Colossians 2.9.
The fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in the Lord Jesus Christ. The fullness of the Godhead dwells
bodily in the Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians 2.9. That's the knowledge,
isn't it? That's part of the knowledge
we have. And guess what he says in the
next verse? Colossians 2.10, For him dwells, in him dwelleth
the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him. You are complete in him, which
is the head of all principality and power. How complete are we
in him? The exact same word is used in
the previous verse. We're as complete in him as he
is the fullness of the body of the Godhead dwelling in flesh.
The new man believes, doesn't he? He believes that Christ is
all. Christ is all. All you'll ever see of God is
the Lord Jesus Christ. All that the scriptures are saying,
every scripture testifies of Him. Christ is all. He's all in God. He's all in
the scriptures. He's all in our salvation. He's
complete, isn't He? He's all in our salvation. He's
all. He's all that God requires. Everything that God requires
of me, he looks to his Son for. And he's seeing it right now
as we speak, isn't he? The Lord God, our great and glorious
Father, is looking upon his dear and precious Son, and he looks
upon his Son, and he looks upon everyone else that's in his Son,
and he sees them as perfect and complete. And all that God requires of
me, I look to his Son for. Because I see the old man as
it really is. I see the old man as nothing
but sin. And God looked down from heaven.
What did he see in Genesis 6-5? He saw that every imagination
of the thoughts of the heart was only evil and that continuously. That's what God saw. That's what
God saw. I see what God sees. This is what the new man believes,
doesn't he? That's the knowledge that he now has. The new man
can't believe in salvation by works. The new man can't believe
in progressive sanctification. The new man can't believe in
legalistic obedience making you more and more righteous. Moses
couldn't enter the promised land because he struck the rock twice.
in wicked disobedience to God. Terrible blasphemy against the
Rock, who's the Lord Jesus Christ, and he was struck just once.
Moses couldn't enter the Promised Land. Joshua, the Lord Jesus
Christ, takes his people into the Promised Land. Elijah ran
like a scared kitten, didn't he, down to Mount Sinai, running
from Jezebel. He'd just killed 700 of their
prophets, hadn't he? And God had done wonders through
him. Three and a half years of drought,
and he ran. He ran down to Mount Sinai, and
God says to him three times down to Mount Sinai, what on earth
are you doing down here, Elijah? You don't get to heaven from
here, Elijah. You go back across the Jordan, Elijah, and we'll
take you to heaven. What are you doing here? New
man cannot believe that salvation is some cooperative activity
in which God begins a work and man completes it by adding the
capstone of his work and his worth and his will to finish
God's work. The building's completed isn't
it? What's the cry in Zechariah 4? Grace unto it, grace unto
it. That's the cry in the building
of God. It's a dwelling, a house of God
that God builds and God constructs and with living stones being
put in it. at God's time and in God's particular way. The
new man believes that Christ is all and in all, that if something
is done that God accepts, then God must provide it, and everything
that He provides, He provides in the Lord Jesus Christ. The
new heart has a simple faith, doesn't it? It simply believes
that Christ is all, in everything, all the time. He's all in creation.
He's all in what this world is, what is going on in this world.
The new heart believes in the new covenant in the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The new heart believes, the new
man believes, in the eternal activities of God which set in
place everything that happens in this world, that spiritual
realities come before physical realities. There is this blood
of the covenant. He sees it as God enables him
to see. But this covenant, the surety
of this covenant, is based on the suretyship of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's based on his obedience and
not our obedience. I love what Judah said to Jacob
when Jacob was terrified about Benjamin going and being lost.
Reuben offered to help and he said, Reuben, you're as unstable
as water. And Judah, representing the Lord Jesus Christ, the lion
of the tribe of Judah, says, I will be surety for him. I'll
be surety for him. And of my hand shalt thou require
him. If I bring him not to thee, and
set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever. That
was the promise that the Lord Jesus Christ made to his father
before the foundation of the world. The new creation believes
God, simply believes what God says. Paul says to the Philippians,
he says rejoice in the Lord, just rejoice. He says beware
of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the concision,
beware of those who put you under some bondage of works and some
bondage of legalism. And then he says for we are the
circumcision. which worship God in the Spirit,
and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the
flesh." There's no confidence in the flesh. Paul goes to list
his pedigree, what a confidence he had in the flesh. He had no
confidence in the flesh. That's what worshipping God is,
isn't it? We are the circumcision. We worship God in the Spirit. We just believe the truth of
what God says about who his people are, and who they are in union
with the Lord Jesus Christ. And what happened on the cross,
they simply believe what happened on the cross, that when the Lord
Jesus Christ was dying on the cross, he was dying as a surety,
he was dying because of an eternal union with his people. that there
was in that remarkable, extraordinary event was the most extraordinary
display of the holiness of God, and the justice of God, and the
righteousness of God, and the faithfulness of God, and the
glory of God, and the power of God. as God the Father poured out
His wrath on His Son and all those who were in Him. There
is a union, an eternal union between God and His, God the
Son and all of His bride. They are one flesh. They are one. The saints in heaven,
as we speak, are worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ, aren't
they? They see Him as He is, and they have one nature. That's
the difference between us and them, isn't it? When we leave
here, death for a Christian is considered in the scriptures
as going to sleep. And we wake up. We wake up in
his presence, instantly in his presence. The old man has died
and returned to the dust, waiting for that glorious resurrection
day. And the saints in heaven are the same as us in our inner
man, aren't they? We're going to be no more holy
in heaven than we are now. We're not going to be no more
loved in heaven than we are now. We're going to be no more accepted
in the beloved in heaven than we are now. We just have this
sinful nature that wars against that. I love what the hymn writer
said, near, so very near to God, nearer I cannot be, for in the
person of his dear son, I am as near as he. Dear, so very
dear to God, dearer I cannot be, for in the person of his
dear son, I am as dear as he. That was this high priest, D.
Perry, in John 17. The new man is stronger than the old man. Greater is he that is in you
than he that is in the world. If we go back to Genesis 25,
the promise to Rebecca was that the old man shall serve the new
man. The elder shall serve the younger. My old nature serves my new nature. That's the promise of God. How? How can something which is nothing
but sin be a servant to my new nature, which is nothing but
holiness before God? See, my sin makes me look to
Christ continually, and especially when I seem to be performing
best of all. It causes me to look to Him.
It causes me to be reminded that the only hope I have of salvation
is Christ only. I keep clinging to Him. It causes
me to keep running back to Him. that my righteousness, all my
righteousness, and the only righteousness I have is the righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And if God were to look for one
of my deeds as a reason for my acceptance, I'm lost, and so
is everyone else that lives that way. God alone brings good out
of evil, and the sins of God's children drive us to Christ again
and again and again. That's what happened to David.
It's happened to the saints through our time, isn't it? The sins
and the falls and the failings we have cause us to look to God.
It's like those people in Numbers 21 when they were bitten by the
serpent. The ones that were bitten looked. The ones that were bitten
by their sin looked and lived. I know how sin bites the child
of God. And only the old man, only the
new man sees the old man for what it really is. Nothing but
sin, nowhere else to look. This is my hope, my only hope. It is my only plea that Jesus
died and that he died for me. the old man serving the new man.
We spent a little bit of time looking at Song of Solomon. I'd
just like to close because it's such a precious, precious story. She speaks of the intimacy of
relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's what I pray. that comes out of our fellowship
together and out of your private meditations that you bask in
his presence and delight in knowing him and delight in him as he's
revealed in his word. Listen to what she says, let
him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth for thy love is better
than wine, she says. She says, draw me and we will
run after you. And the king brought me into
his chambers and we will be glad and rejoice in thee. We will
remember thy love more than wine, the upright love thee. And then
she describes herself, she says, I'm black, nothing but sin, but
I'm comely, I'm beautiful. That's what she says of herself. And then she pleads with him,
tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth. Where do you feed? Where
does the Lord Jesus Christ feed? He feeds amongst his church. And where do you make your flock
to rest at noon in the heat of the day? You make your flock
to rest. And she says, that she's been brought into
his banqueting house in chapter 2 verse 4. Brought into his banqueting
house and his banner over me with love. She keeps saying,
I am my beloved. My beloved is mine and I am his. And she seeks whom her soul loveth.
And we looked at chapter 5 last week and we've only just briefly
looked at it again. But there she is having had these
remarkable Remarkable promises, and this remarkable presence
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and these remarkable experiences
of grace in his presence. He says to her, I've come into
my garden, my sister, my spouse, I've gathered my myrrh with my
spice, I've eaten my honeycomb with my honey, I have drunk my
wine with my milk. And then he says, eat, oh friends,
drink, drink abundantly, oh beloved. And then the very next verse. She's asleep. She's asleep and
she hears the voice of the beloved and he's knocking on the door
and he says, open to me. And she says, I will, or I have,
listen to her works. I've put off my coat. How shall
I put it on? I've washed my feet. How shall
I defile them again? What a shocking thing to say.
What a shocking thing to say. Unbelief is wicked, wicked, wicked,
wicked treatment of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he left his mark on her door. And she went searching for him
and she couldn't find him. And he'd hidden himself from
her. And he hides himself from his bride that she might seek
him, she might know how precious he is to her. And she was beaten
as she went through the city. And then she was asked that question
which must have cut to her very heart, isn't it? What is he to
you? What's he mean to you? What is he to you? What is your
beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? What
is thy beloved more than another beloved that you so charge us? And then she does something which
I encourage you to do in the times when it seems so dark and
at times when your flesh is waging war and it seems like everything
is against you. She's asked about him and she
starts at the top of his head and goes to the soles of his
feet and she describes him in the most beautiful terms. When
we can't see him, and our flesh is assaulting our communion with
him, speak well of him, brothers and sisters. Speak well of him. She finishes by saying, his mouth
is most sweet, yea, he is altogether lovely. And I can't see him,
and I can't find him, and he's hidden himself from me because
of my sins and my wickedness. This is my beloved. And she knew
where he'd gone. And she goes and he finds him,
and his very first words to her, the very first words, you think,
the prodigal, which is what we all are. We're all returning
prodigals, aren't we? We're all recovering Pharisees.
His very first words, they are beautiful. He completely ignores
her sin. Why is that? Because her sin's
gone, brothers and sisters. Turn thine eyes away from me,
for they have overcome me. He's overcome with love. His
love doesn't change like our love. We're up and down and in
and out. He sends, and then he says at
the end of chapter six, he says, return, O Shulamite, return,
return, that we may look upon thee. And what will you see in
the Shulamite? as it were the company of two
armies, the flesh and the spirit. They're in, as the words indicate
here, in a dance, aren't they? They're continually revolving
one around the other. For the old man serves the new
man. She's caused to seek him. She's
caused to speak wonderful things about him. She's caused to know
what she is again. And here she is coming up out
of the wilderness. We read it earlier in chapter
eight. How do you come up out of the wilderness? As a child
of God in this world, how do you come up out of it? Leaning
on her beloved. The old man serves the new man. Because all we do is lean on
the beloved. We don't have strength enough
in ourselves to support ourselves in this journey. We just lean
on the beloved. And then she says, set me as
a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm. And the Lord Jesus
Christ sealed his people upon his heart, upon his arm, upon
his shoulder as the great high priest went with the holy of
holies with our names upon his breast. The names upon his shoulders,
he has a government upon his shoulders. That's what Romans
8 is saying, isn't it? He's working all things together
for good. All things. All things, bar nothing, he's
working together for good. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father,
we do pray that you would bless us again and again with the reality
of who you are, and thus the reality of who we are, and that
we might find ourselves with our lives hidden in Christ in
you, our Father. we praise you heavenly father
for the infinite eternal love of the lord jesus christ which
brought him to this world and took him to calvary's cross and
there he bore our sins and bore them away forever our heavenly
father You alone can grant new birth, and You alone can sustain
the growth that You bring into the hearts of Your people. And
we pray, Heavenly Father, that You would just simply do as You
have promised, that You would cause us to see that Christ is
all. Christ is all in this world. He's all in salvation. He's all
in redemption. He's all in sanctification. He's
all our wisdom, Heavenly Father. And you alone can cause us by
the Spirit's work in our lives, Heavenly Father. Take your word
and be our teacher and cause us to find ourselves leaning
on the Beloved. We pray for the glory of your
Son and for the good of your people, for our comfort as we
walk through this wilderness world, our Father. Bless us for
Christ's sake as you have promised. We pray in his precious name.
Amen.