Let's turn in our Bibles to Romans
chapter 7. Whenever God's child finds himself
in the crosshairs of Satan, God doesn't give His child a
heart to go silently into the shadows. God gives His child
a heart to declare the truth even more boldly. He does it
for the glory of God and the good of His sheep. And I do pray
now that God would glorify Himself and edify you who are His through
the message. Let's turn to Romans chapter
7 and verse 18. Romans 7, 18. Paul says, I know that in me,
that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is
present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. Now the Apostle Paul is writing
under the direct power of God the Holy Spirit. This is God's
Word. This is not Paul's word. This
is God's word speaking through Paul. Paul said, we are ambassadors
for Christ as though God did beseech you by us. So he is speaking
for God what he is speaking here. And God is using Paul to declare
how the law is good. The law is good in that God blesses
it to declare His child guilty. That's what it's for, and it's
good. He said back in verse 16, If I then do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Not now then, it's
no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Now what
does God mean when He moved Paul here to write that it's no more
Paul that does it, but sin that dwells in him? He said, it's
no more me that does it, no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth
in me. What does that mean? Well, as
God moved Paul to write that no good thing dwelled in him,
God moved him to restrict and qualify that statement. God moved
him to qualify that statement. He said, that is in my flesh. That is in my flesh. It means
in that part of him which is born of Adam. That part of him
which is only sin and can do nothing but sin. Paul is a regenerated
believer or he wouldn't know this about himself. You don't
know this about yourself until God's given you life and spiritual
discernment. And God gives that in that new
man. Therefore, what he is declaring
here is true of every regenerated child of God. In our flesh dwells
no good thing. In our flesh dwells no good thing.
But why the qualification? Why qualify that? Why not just
say, I know that in me dwells no good thing? That would mean
everything in me is no good. Why not declare it like that?
Why did He say that is in my flesh? The reason Paul qualified
that it was in our flesh that no good thing dwells is because
in the regenerated believer there is an inward man which is the
creation of Christ. And everything God creates is
good. That's why. Now be sure you understand
that this distinction, this qualification is not to encourage you and me
to look within us. That's not the case. We're never
to look to ourselves for anything. We look only to Christ. We look
only to Christ. But it's to make certain, it's
to make certain that we do not deny the work of God. is to make certain that we do
not deny the Spirit of Christ that dwells in His people. It's
to make certain we do not deny Christ Himself who works this
in His people through the Holy Spirit. See, this is for the
glory of God, not for the glorification of the sinner. No, no. This is
to glorify God. We are looking at what God makes.
We are looking at what God does. Just like when we look to the
cross and we glorify God for Christ being the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believes. We are looking
at what God does to bring us to believe and to rest in Christ. This is the work that He does.
Now my outline is very simple. First of all, in our flesh dwells
nothing good. Then secondly, in order for us
to know this, God must create a new inward man within us. And thirdly, God made Paul qualify
this statement because that which Christ creates is good like Christ. Now here we go. First of all,
an ever believer, that is in our flesh, dwells in no good
thing. In the Scriptures, the flesh
is the natural part of the believer which is born of Adam. It's that
part you and I are born with when we come into this world,
being born the first time. Now in the context here, let's
get the context, the flesh is not that part of the believer
in which we have a new will to believe God. It's not in that
part. The new will He gives is not
in the flesh. Look here, verse 18, He said,
For to will is present with me. No natural man has a will to
serve God. He has a will to serve the God
of his imagination, but not the true and living God. Christ makes
us willing in the day of His power, and He does that in the
inward man. Not in the flesh. And then the
flesh is that natural born corrupt nature in the believer in which
nothing but sin dwells. Look at verse 20. He says, Now
if I do that, I would not. It's no more I that do it, but
sin that dwelleth in me. Sin that dwells where in me?
In my flesh. And the flesh is that part in
the believer in which evil dwells. He says in verse 21, I find then
a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. Where? In the flesh. Not in the inward
man, in the flesh. Look at verse 22, the flesh is
not that part of the believer that delights in the law of God.
Verse 22, I delight in the law of God after the inward man. Oh wait, there's two different
men in a believer, isn't there? There is an old man of sin, of
flesh, and there's an inward man that God's made. The flesh
is called in here, my members. And it actively opposes the mind
of Christ that's been given to me in the new man. Do you get
that? The flesh is actively always
opposing the mind of Christ which we are given in the new man.
Look here, verse 23. I see another law in my members.
warring against the law of my mind. Paul said, we have the
mind of Christ. That's in the Edward man. He
says, I see a law in my members, in my flesh, warring against
the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law
of sin which is in my members. You see, this sin is not in my
new mind that is in the new man. It is in my members. It is in
my flesh. Now we are not talking about bodily flesh. We are not
talking about this bodily flesh right here. We are talking about
a nature that is in us. An old nature that makes us do
what we do. The flesh is called the body
of death. Look at verse 24, O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? He's talking about the flesh.
That's the body of death. Christ came into this world,
look back at Romans 6. Look up there at Romans 6. Romans
6 verse 6, Knowing this, our old man is crucified with Christ
that the body of sin might be destroyed and henceforth we should
not serve sin. Now it's not destroyed, you can
see Paul is saying it's not destroyed in the sense that sin still dwells
in me. But it's destroyed in the sense that Christ has justified
us and that old man is dead now. Judgment has been poured out
on him when it was poured out on Christ. So we don't look to
that old flesh and doubt God and worry that we're not saved.
We look to Christ and know that old man's been crucified. Though
He's still with me, though He still plagues me, Christ shall
deliver me. Look here. He says, I thank God,
verse 25, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Who will deliver me?
Christ will. How? By what He did for me on
the cross and by renewing the inward man day by day. That's
right. Because that's the real me, the
inward man that He's made. So He'll keep renewing it. So
then, I conclude there's a difference and there's a distinction between
the inward man and the flesh. Look at verse 25. So then, with
the mind in the new man, I myself serve the law of God, but with
the flesh the law of sin. Now this is why God made Paul
distinguish between the flesh and that new Spirit put in us
by the Holy Spirit of God. You see, every child that Adam
conceives is only sinful, corrupt flesh. What about the fleshly
mind? There is a mind of Christ in
the new man and then there is a fleshly mind. What about the
fleshly mind? Ephesians 4.18 says we have the
understanding Darkened. That's our fleshly mind. The
understanding is darkened. What about fleshly knowledge?
He said in 1 Corinthians 2.14, the natural man, that's the old
flesh, receives not the things of the Spirit of God. They are
foolishness unto him, neither can he know them because they
are spiritually discerned. What about the fleshly heart
of stone? Ecclesiastes 9.3 says, The heart
of the sons of men is full of evil. Well, what about the love
toward God? Is there any love toward God
in my flesh? The carnal mind is enmity against
God. Well, what about fleshly ability?
Do I have any fleshly ability to believe? Is there any ability
in my flesh to believe God? John 12.39 says, They could not
believe. Speaking of men that were only
flesh, they could not believe. What about any fleshly power
to acknowledge Christ? 1 Corinthians 12 verse 3 says,
No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Spirit of
the Holy Spirit. And that's in the new man. And
not only does the flesh not cooperate with the Holy Spirit of God,
not only is, you know, you'll hear men say that, well, you
have a spark in you and all the Holy Spirit's got to do is fan
it and then you're going to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. No, no,
no. Not only does the flesh not cooperate
with the Spirit, the flesh constantly only opposes the Spirit. He said in Galatians 5.17, the
flesh lusteth against the Spirit. and the spirit against the flesh,
and these are contrary the one to the other. So get this point
now. In our flesh dwells nothing good. Not life, not even a spark of
life. Nothing good. Not faith, not
repentance, not love, not any fruit of the Spirit is given
into the flesh, into the old nature. No, sir. God doesn't
put anything in the flesh. He doesn't use the flesh. He
doesn't mold the flesh into something else. He doesn't use the flesh
at all. Christ was very clear. The flesh profiteth nothing. The flesh profiteth nothing. And I hear men, you know, here
is one of the objections. Well, that is so foolish. How
can you separate that part of you which is flesh and that part
of you which is the new man? I can't. When I see myself, all
I see is a sinner. But one day, God will, when I
die, you know what is going to die? That old fleshly man. The
old nature is going to die. You know what's going to still
live? The new man. Going to go to be with God immediately.
Then He'll separate it, but not to the end. Not my business to
try to separate. Alright, secondly, understand
that in order for us to know this about ourselves, we've got
to be born again and have a new man created in us. It's not in
the old man that we know this, it's in the new man we know this.
Look at Romans 7.18, I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. For to will is present with me,
but how to perform that which is good I find not. The Apostle
Paul could never make that statement unless he had been born of the
Spirit of God. Unless a new man had been created
in him, a new spirit put in him, by God the Holy Spirit, he could
in no way know that about himself. Scripture says, ìThe natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. They are
foolishness unto him, and he canít know them, because they
are spiritually discerned, but he that is spiritual.î Thatís
the new man. Thatís the inward man that delights
after every word of God. In the new man, heís spiritual
and he judgeth all things. That means he discerns all things.
Yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind
of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But in that new man we have
the mind of Christ. That's the mind he's talking
about, in that new man. So see, he had to be born of
God. So God made Paul state clearly that everybody that's born of
God has a new spirit put in him by the Spirit of God. And he
has an old fleshly nature. Look at Romans 7 verse 5. When
we were in the flesh, See that? When we were in the flesh, when
all we were was flesh, for we were born of God, the motions
of sins which were by the law did work in our members to bring
forth fruit unto death. That's all flesh brought forth
was death. Well, after you're born of God, guess what it brings
forth? Nothing but death. So how do we serve God? Verse
6, But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein
we were held, that we should serve in newness of spirit. Not in the oldness of the letter,
in newness of spirit. The same power of God, the very
same power of God that spoke heaven and earth and all things
that were created into existence. That same power of God spoke
into our hearts and created a new spirit, a new heart within. Paul said, God who said, let
there be light. God who created light by speaking
and saying, let there be light, that same God has shined in our
hearts. How did He do it? He spoke the
Word. Christ said, the words I speak unto you, their spirit
and their life, He spoke the Word. and He caused the light
to shine forth and made us to see the glory of God in the face
of our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, when you have this Spirit
in you, this new Spirit put in you, this light put in you of
God, that's the first time you'll actually start looking outside
of yourself and look to Christ and to Christ only. So now get
this as well, until this work is performed, We will plead that
our flesh is used in some way. We will plead our flesh is used
in some way until we have this new Spirit put in us. We'll say
that there's a will for God in our flesh. Or we'll say that
there's a spark of life in our flesh. Or we'll say that God
puts the fruit of the Spirit in the flesh and it's my flesh
that believes God. In my flesh I believe God because
all I am is flesh. That's just attributing something
to the flesh. No, it's not the flesh that does
anything but sin and oppose God. And we'll deny that necessary
work of Christ that He has to do for us and that glory of Christ
that He has to perform in us. And we'll deny that. And we'll
do it claiming we're wanting to glorify God, just like the
Pharisees crucified Christ calling glory to God. So we have to be
born of God. And once we are, we know these
things. Now thirdly, understand this. God made a distinction. He made Paul make a distinction
because everything that Christ creates in the new creation is
very good. Everything. Now again, I have
to reiterate this because I want you to not misunderstand what
I'm saying. What we're talking about here
now is Christ and His work of making a new creation within
us. Making a new creation within
us. In Isaiah 65, 17. Let's go there.
Isaiah 65, 17. We looked at this in depth when
we went through Isaiah. Let's just read it here for now.
Isaiah 65, 17. Listen to what the Lord said.
Isaiah 65, 17. He said, For behold, I create
new heavens, a new heavens and a new earth. And the former shall
not be remembered nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice
forever in that which I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem
a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and joy in my people. And the voice of weeping shall
be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying." Does Christ
rejoice in a man whose only sinful flesh, and that's all he is?
Does Christ rejoice in that man? No. The wrath of God abides on
that man. Who is it then that Christ rejoices
in when He says, I rejoice in my people? He rejoices in that
new man in which He has created. That new man that He has made
one with Him. That new man where we worship
God. There is where the rejoicing
He rejoices in. That new man. This is the work
of regeneration. The Apostle Paul, you know what
he called this work? He called it a good work. He
called it a good work. He said, being confident in this
very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you shall
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Why is it a good work? Because God is good. Everything
about God is good. And every perfect and good gift
comes down from God to us. Only good and perfect gifts come
down from God to us. And God is the creator of this
new spirit and this new man within us. This new heart that's put
in us. He said, even everyone that's called by my name, I have
created him for my glory. I formed him. Yea, I've made
him. So this new work we're talking about, it's not for you and I
to glory in us, it's for us to glory in God in what He's done
for us. God said, that's why I made Him.
I made Him for that reason. Colossians 3.10 says, the new
man's renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created
him. God created this new man within. God created that first creation.
You know what God said? Scripture says, God saw everything
that He had made, and behold, it was very good. It was very
good. Oh, preacher, you can't say that
about anything in us. You can't say there's anything
in us that's very good. There is nothing in you and me
that's very good. That is in our flesh. But whatever God creates is very
good. It's very good. This new creation. It's good. This new creation
is born by the Word of God. He said, "...of His own will
begot He us with the Word of God." And He didn't just say
that He caused us to be born by the Word of God. He said this. He said, "...the Word of God
abideth in you." The Word of God abideth in you. Is the Word
of God good? Yeah, it's very good. Where is
it? It's in the new man. Is it in
my flesh? No way. It's in the new man.
The Spirit of God Himself abides in the inward man. Scripture
says Christ is formed in the inward man. Is He good? Oh, He's very good. Very good. The anointing which you have
received of Him abideth in you. Is His anointing good? Very good. Very good. The effectual work
of God within His child is always good. Listen to this. David said, Create in me a clean
heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. When God worked that and put
that clean heart and that right spirit in him, what's a clean
heart? It's very good. It's the work
of God. It's very good. In the new heart,
God gives faith, hope, and love. Faith, hope, and love. God said
without faith it's impossible to please me. That means with
faith, God's pleased. Well, how could God be pleased
with a sinner? He's not pleased with my flesh.
He's pleased with me in that new man because that new man
believes on Him, trusts Him. I have communion with God in
the new man. Scripture says, love is of God and everyone that
loveth is born of God and knoweth God. Where's that love? It's
in the new man. Is that good? Is love good? It's
of God. You better believe it's good.
He says we have repentance and faith towards God. We have repentance
towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. Is repentance
and faith good? It sure is. It's of God. It's in the new
man. He said, God said, I will put my fear in their hearts. Is He talking about He would
put His fear in our old stony sinful heart? No. I put my fear
in that new heart. Is God's fear good? It's the
beginning of wisdom. You better believe it's good.
Yes, it's good. He gives us new desires and new
affections and new motives in that new man. Look at 2 Corinthians
5.14. We just read the Old Testament
passage about Him being the Creator. This is where Paul is quoting
from in 2 Corinthians 5.14. He is quoting from that verse
in Isaiah 65. Now listen to this, 2 Corinthians
5.14. Pay close attention to the context. He says in 2 Corinthians
5.14, here is our new heart, our new motive. The love of Christ
constraineth us, because we thus judge. Now let me ask you a question. Where is this love constraining
us? Where is it? Well, it's in Christ,
that's for sure. It's the love of Christ. But
what's being constrained? That new man. In that new man,
there's a constraint from the love of Christ. Where is this? He says, so that we thus judge. That's discernment. He says we
thus spiritually discern. Where is that spiritual discernment?
It's in the new man. It's in the new heart. It's not
in the flesh. It's in the new heart. So this
is a good work that God works in His child to give us heart
to discern because look, this is what we discern. Verse 14,
that if one died for all, Christ died for all His elect, and if
one died for all, this is the result, then we're all dead. He's saying what He said in Romans
6. Since Christ died for all God's
elect, that old man of sin is dead for all His people. That
old man's dead. He's dead. He's dead. That old thing is dead. There's
a new thing in you now that He created. And that old thing is
dead. Now read on verse 15. And that
He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live
unto themselves. Where do we live? What part of
me is alive? The new man. So that they which
live should not live unto themselves, but unto Christ which died for
them and rose again. That's only in the new man. That's
only in Christ. Do we glory in Christ for making
us the righteousness of God? In the new man we glory in Christ
for making us holy by His sanctifying work. In the new man we glory
in Christ for redeeming us entirely from the curse of the law. And
making us free to worship Him in spirit and in truth. In the
new man we glorify Christ for all things, because all things
are of God. Look, read on. Verse 16, here's
the result. In that new man, wherefore henceforth
know we no man after the flesh. That old thing's passed away.
Used to, that's all we judge men by, was the flesh. We looked
on the appearance of things. But he says, henceforth know
we Him no man after the flesh, and we knew Christ after the
flesh once. That's all we knew. When we were dead in sins, we
only knew Christ after the flesh. That's why we didn't know Him,
who He was truly. But now we don't know Him after
the flesh anymore either. That's passed away too. Where's
this passed away? In our new man. That old man
of flesh in which we didn't know Christ, we didn't worship Christ,
that's passed away. Because in this new man now we
know Him in spirit. You see? There's a new thing.
There's an old thing that's passed away. There's a new thing now.
Look here. Verse 17. Therefore, referring
to this work done for us and in us by Christ. He's talked
about both of them right here. What He did for us and what He's
done in us. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, The only way
experimentally in the power of God's grace that you're in Christ
is when Christ is in you. Now from eternity we were in
Christ by divine election. But the way you experience being
in Christ and know you're in Christ is for Christ to be in
you. And that's what he's talking about here. Now watch. Therefore
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. a new creation. All things are passed away. Behold, all things are become
new, and all these new things are of God, who reconciled us
to Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry
of reconciliation." He's telling us this work of being born again,
of having a new man created in us, in which we see all the old
flesh, and all the old way of discerning, and all the old way
of judging after the flesh. We see all these old things are
gone now. And the only way we know this
is because a new man is put in us wherein all things are new.
And this work was done by Christ doing the work on the cross for
us. It is done through Christ shedding His blood for us and
justifying us and purging us of all sin so that God is fully
just now to come to His child and reveal the truth in us in
the inward man. He's just to come and create
it. Titus Paul called it the washing
of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost which is shed
on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. You see, that
work on the cross was necessary in order for this work in us
to be done. And both are necessary and both
are Christ. He did both. He's our righteousness
and our sanctification. He's both. He's both. He alone
gets all the glory. As by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. That like as sin has reigned
unto death, even so might righteousness reign unto eternal life by Jesus
Christ our Lord. Where do you have eternal life?
Do you have it in the flesh? The flesh is going to die. The
flesh is dead and dying and shall soon be dust. No, we have eternal
life in Christ with Christ in us in that new man. It is a new
spirit that is going to go be with God because Christ has made
us new. So what are these old things
that have passed away? Through that justifying righteousness
of Christ. He has come and He has made us
put on the new man. And he says that's where old
things are passed away. He said where there's neither
Greek nor Jew, there's neither circumcision nor uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, bond or free. That's how we used to judge
after the flesh. That's gone. But now, what's
the new thing that's in the new man? Christ is all and in all. Christ is all and in all. That's right. Christ said this,
make the tree good and his fruit will be good. Make the tree good. Create a new tree and the fruit
will be good. And that's what He's done in
the inward man. A good man, He said, out of the good treasure
of the heart bringeth forth good things. And an evil man out of
the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. Now some people
have accused me of preaching self-righteousness for preaching
these Scriptures. Let me tell you what self-righteousness
is. Self-righteousness is to say
that you are made righteous by yourself. That's what self-righteousness
is. Have you heard me say that? Is
that what I've said here and everything? I've tried to be
as clear as I can be that no sir, nothing of what I'm talking
about is of you or me at all. In our flesh dwells no good thing. What I'm talking about is the
creation of Christ alone. Was Christ self-righteous for
declaring a good man out of the good treasure of His heart brings
forth good things? Was He self-righteous for declaring
that? No. And neither is there self-righteousness
in the inward man. This new heart, this new fruit
is produced by sanctification of the Spirit in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. He gets
all the glory. And anybody born of the Spirit
of God gives Him the glory. They give Him the glory and don't
at all boast in the flesh. But the Apostle Paul did tell
us there are some who have a form of godliness. but they deny the
power. That is, they have an outward
form of godliness, but they deny the power in the new heart. Because they don't have that
power working in a new heart. You see, this power is not an
external form. This work we're talking about
here is not an external form. This work we're talking about
is not by the works of our flesh. It's not at all by anything you
and I have done. This is only the new man that's
created by God. For us who've partaken of this
first resurrection, and that's what it's called in Scripture,
the first resurrection. We've been born from the dead
because Christ gave us life. Now then, brethren, one day our
bodies too shall be quickened and resurrected. That's what
He said in Romans 8. Even though the body is dead
right now, one day He's going to quicken that spirit that raised
up Christ. If He dwelled in you, He'll also
quicken your mortal bodies one day. Well, when He does that work, we shall
be perfectly righteous and holy inside and out. will be perfectly
conformed to His image, inside and out. Right now, we're only
conformed to His image in the new man in which He's created.
Then we'll be perfectly conformed to His image inside and out,
totally, thoroughly, completely. Will we all be self-righteous
then in glory, walking around as a bunch of self-righteous
folks? No. We'll be glorifying Christ who
did it all. It's just like those with a new
man do right now. We glorify Christ for doing it
all. You get what I'm saying? It's
not self-righteousness at all. But now listen to this. We can
get a hint of how that new man is created by looking at how
that body is going to be raised from the dead and what it will
be when it comes forth from the grave. Let me give this to you.
I want you to go home and read this. 1 Corinthians 15.42. Listen
to what Paul said. He said that new body is going
to come out of the grave and it is raised in incorruption. You know what He said about this
new spirit that He's created? It's born of incorruptible seed.
When something is born of incorruptible seed, it can't be corrupted.
It can't be corrupted. And He says this, it is raised
in glory. Remember Christ said, ìThe glory,
Father, that Youíve given Me, Iíve given them, that they may
be one like We are one.î Itís raised in glory, in the glory
of our Redeemer. And He said, ìIt will be raised
in power.î You know what Ephesians 1, at the end of Ephesians 1,
you know how it says this new man is born? He is born with
the same power that it took to raise Christ from the grave.
Same power. Exceeding greatness of His power. You see, you can look at the
way the body is going to be raised and see how the Spirit is raised
and how it is made new. for as much as you are manifestly
declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written
not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not in tables
of stone, but in fleshly, spiritual tables of the heart, in the new
heart. In 1 Peter 3 verse 4, He called
it the hidden man of the heart in that which is not corruptible,
even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the
sight of God of great price. The hidden man of the heart which
is not corruptible. Because it's born of incorruptible
seed. It can't be corrupted. So God
says through Paul, He has given him a word to speak to declare
to us that in our flesh dwells nothing good. You see, he is
talking about the law. He is showing us here what the
law teaches us about our flesh. That in our flesh dwells nothing
good. But in the course of writing this, God checked him. And he said, qualify that. That
is, in my flesh dwells nothing good. And the reason God had
him write this is because whatever God creates, that new man God's
created is good. We are, Paul said, the workmanship
of God. This pulpit right here, I'm so
thankful for it. Brother Adam built this pulpit.
And Christina Scott stained this pulpit. You know what this pulpit
is? It's their workmanship. It's
their workmanship. If I brag on this pulpit, I'm
not bragging on myself at all. I'm bragging on their handiwork.
I'm bragging on their workmanship. I'm not bragging on myself. I'm saying this is their workmanship. That's what I'm doing in this
message. I'm not bragging on me and you. I'm bragging on God.
I'm boasting in what God's created. We're His workmanship. were His
workmanship. That new man. Listen to this
and I'll close with it. Go with me to Romans 2. Let's
look at this again and we'll close. Romans 2, 28. Romans 2, 28. For He is not a
Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is
outward in the flesh. But He is a Jew a true child
of God, a true Hebrew, which is one inwardly. And circumcision
is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter,
whose praise is not of me and you. We had nothing to do with
this. We had as much to do with this
creation as we did when our mother and father created us the first
time. We don't have anything to boast in. Whose praise is
not of men, but of God. Of God. That's why Paul made
the distinction. That in me, that is, in my flesh
dwells no good thing. Now if He's made you new and
He's given you a new heart, I know what's happening in that new
man in you. You're rejoicing in the Lord
Jesus Christ. You're rejoicing that all the
glory and all the praise and all the honor goes to Him. And
I know what's happening if He hasn't put this new man in you.
You're trying to figure out how you can reject this message and
object to it and use the Scripture to do so. That's right. There'll probably be 15 messages
preached trying to do just like that, do that very thing. against
what I'm saying. But not for you who have experienced
this new birth. You say, Glory to God in the
highest. I'm thankful for what He's done.
He did it all. He did it all. And if He's done
it all, cast all your care on Him and glory only in Him and
follow only Him, knowing flesh and blood did not reveal this
to you, but my Father which is in heaven. Amen.