Turn to Genesis chapter 25. Genesis chapter 25. I'll start
reading in verse 19. And these are the generations
of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac
was 40 years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter
of Bethuel, the Syrian of Paddan Aram, the sister to Laban the
Syrian. And Isaac had treated the Lord
for his wife. because she was barren. And I'm
sure that was more than one time because they were married for
20 years before she had any children. And so I'm sure over those 20
years he had entreated the Lord and Isaac had treated the Lord
for his wife because she was barren and the Lord was entreated
of him. And Rebekah, his wife, conceived, and the children struggled
together within her. And she said, if it be so, why
am I thus? And she went to inquire of the
Lord. And the Lord said unto her, two
nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be
separated from thy bowels. And the one people shall be stronger
than the other people, and the elder shall serve the younger. Let's pray. Our Father, bless
your word to our understanding this morning. Enable me to write
and divide the word of truth. Enable me, Lord, to speak in
the power of your spirit. And enable us to worship you
in spirit and in truth. Bless us with your presence.
Forgive us our sins for Christ's sake. We pray for your children
here who are sick and afflicted. We pray for them. Pray you would
bless and comfort that you would make your presence known to them.
And what we pray for ourselves, we pray for all those, all your
children throughout this world. Pray for the missionaries. Pray
you'd bless their ministry. In Christ's name we pray and
amen. The verse that caught my attention is verse 22. If it be so, why
am I thus? If it be so, so we'll get to
this verse here in just a minute, but that's the verse that caught
my attention. You know, when I look at a portion
of scripture, I really try to find the message that's in that portion of scripture,
not just verse by verse, what does this, but to find the message
that is applicable to us. And this verse just jumped out
at me. If it be so, if I'm yours, why
so much trouble? Why so much struggle? But we'll
get to that here, I guess I said in a minute. Now, Isaac was 40
years old. He took Rebecca, the wife. And
20 years had gone by. And during that 20 years, he
had treated the Lord. He prayed for his wife. Now,
the first thing that jumped out at me was our Lord interceding
for his church. There is one, and I believe I
pointed this out last Thursday, there is one who prays for us.
who intercedes for us, not individually, but he also intercedes for us
as his church and as his bride. And when the Lord intercedes,
he's heard. He said in one place, Father,
I know you always hear me. You always hear me. And when
our Lord intercedes and whatever He intercedes for, or for whomever
He intercedes, He gets it. He gets it. That's why over in
John 17, He said, I pray not for the world, but for them that
you've given me. Those are the ones I pray for.
If He had prayed for the world, He had got it. But our Lord always
prays. He always prays in accordance
to the will of His Father. There's never a difference in
their wills, ever. They are one. They are one in
nature, one in purpose, one in design. They are one. But the
first thing that stood out was how that Isaac, it says, entreated
the Lord for his wife. It just comforts me to know that
the Lord intercedes for me. And he intercedes for you. That
ought to be comforting to us. We see Rebecca's condition here.
It says in verse 21, she was barren. You know, life is of
God. Life does not just happen. It does not just happen. No one
is born into this world by accident or just, she just happened to,
you know, get pregnant. Life is of God. God has to give
it. It has to come from Him. And
it says here, she was barren. And this is us naturally. This
is us naturally. This is how this applies to us. We naturally do not have spiritual
life. We are barren, aren't we? We are spiritually barren of
life. That is spiritual life. We cannot
produce life. Rebecca couldn't produce life.
She could not produce life of herself. It was not possible.
And it's not possible for us to produce spiritual life. It's not possible. We cannot
produce any life apart from God working in us. It takes a powerful
work of God for you and I to live. It's like that baby in
the field. Memories laying there, polluted
in its blood. It was cast out because it was so grotesque.
It was such a terrible sight. And the mother must have cast
it out. And the Lord said, when he passed
by, it was a time of love. And when he passed by, he said,
I said, live. And that's exactly what happens
when God saves a sinner. He commands life. He commands
life. And the evidence of that life
is faith and repentance. That's the evidence of it. Not
the cause of it, it's the evidence of it. But Rebecca was barren
and that's us naturally. We are spiritually barren. But
Rebecca becomes pregnant. Now she knows what it is to have
life in her womb. See, she was barren. Now she
has life. She has life. And she knows what
it is to have life. But it's not what she thought
it was going to be. It's not what she thought it
was going to be. I know pregnancy for many women is not easy. It's not easy, and childbirth
is never easy. Of course, in this day, they
can give you a shot and make it a lot easier, but childbirth
is not easy. Pregnancy's not easy. And this
is not what she thought it was going to be, because she says,
and it says the children struggled in her womb. She didn't know
she had twins. She didn't have an ultrasound
done. She didn't have it all, they didn't have, you know, they
didn't have it. So she has this struggle going in her womb and
there's this struggle, there's this fight between these two
boys. In her, she says, she's saying,
Lord, if it's so, if it's your will and for me to have this
child, for me to be pregnant and to give birth, why am I having
so much trouble? Why am I having so much trouble? For the first time, she was having
a real struggle within. It says there in verse two that
there's children, see there in verse 22 of me? The children
struggled together within her. Here is a picture. Now listen.
Here is a very clear picture of the two natures of a believer. Very clear picture of the two
natures of the believer. Before there was life in her,
there was no struggle, was there? Before you were born of God,
before I was born of God, there was no struggle with sin. I had
no struggle with sin. The only struggle that I had
was trying to figure out how to do what I wanted to do. It
wasn't the sin that bothered me, it was trying to accomplish
it. That was the problem, how to accomplish it. But when God
came in and God gave life, for the first time, I began to struggle
with what I am and the things I do. If I'm your child, Lord, if I'm
your child, if I've been born again, why am I having so much
trouble with sin? Why am I having so much trouble
with my thoughts? Why am I having so much trouble
with temptation? If I'm yours, why am I thus? And the reason why is because
there's two different people in you. That's what he said.
There are two nations, but there are two different people in you. Two different ones. One is flesh. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. When a sinner is born of God, when you were born of
God, you were flesh and now you're
spirit. But before it was just flesh. It was just flesh and
there was no trouble. One is flesh, the other is spirit. One is born of the flesh, the
other is born of the spirit. Turn over to John chapter 3,
Gospel of John. Look at verse 6. Look at verse
5. Jesus answers Nicodemus, Verily,
verily, I said to thee, except a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is
born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit
is spirit. It's spirit. There's two different
natures. And between these two different
natures, that's born of God, one's born of God, one's born
of the flesh, there's this constant struggle. There's this constant
struggle with sin. There's this constant struggle
with that spiritual nature against that old nature, that Adamic
nature that we have. Between the old man and the new
man. Look over in Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5, let me get there. Look in verse 16. This I say then, walk in the
Spirit, and that's a capital S, that's speaking of the Holy
Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the
flesh lusteth, it wars against the spirit, and the spirit against
the flesh. And these are contrary to one
to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would. What are the things that you
would do this morning? We would worship God, wouldn't
we? We would worship God in spirit
and in truth, and yet, Everything comes in our mind, things comes
in our mind, you think, what am I thinking of that for? Where'd
that come from? That came from the flesh. That
came from the flesh that's warring against the spirit to keep you
from worshiping God as much as possible. I would worship God. You would worship God. We would
love God. We would hear from God. We would walk in a manner that's
pleasing to God. Don't you want to do that? I
want to do that. And I know you want to do that. I know that.
But Paul said, I find in me a law that when I would do good, evil
is present. It's always present with me.
It's always, that principle of evil is always there. I cannot do one thing without
some sin touching it. I can't do it. When I do good,
evil, that which I would do, I would do, I don't do it. Not
like I ought to do it. That which I would not do, I
do it. It's a constant struggle. It's
a constant struggle. Let me give you a little contrast
here of the two natures of a believer. First of all, the old man, as
I just read to you, born after the flesh, flesh is all he is,
it can never do any good. The flesh cannot do any good
whatsoever. That's why the scripture says
there's none good, no not one, because everyone is born first
of the flesh. Everyone. Well, that new man is born of
the Spirit, that which is born of the Spirit of the Spirit.
Listen, it cannot sin. It cannot do anything but good. It can't do anything but good.
It's born of God. It's born of God. The old man, the old nature is
born in sin and shaping in inequity. That's what David said in Psalm
51. He says, I was born in sin and I was shapen, I was conceived,
I was put together in iniquity. In sin did my mother conceive
me. He's not saying it was a sinful
act, but he's saying that the seed by which I was conceived
was sinful. There was nothing spiritual in
it. There's nothing good in it. It was sinful. The poison of
ash from birth is under our tongue. The new man is created in righteousness
and true holiness. Look over in Ephesians chapter
four. In Ephesians chapter four in
verse Verse 23, he says, and be renewed in the spirit
of your mind. And then you put on the new man,
which after God is created, not renovated. You're not looking
at a renovation. I'm not looking at renovation.
God's not into renovation. That's what you and I into. You
know, we like antiques and we like, you know, scripture said,
behold, I'll make all things new. It's gonna be a new heaven,
new earth. It's a new you in Christ. He
says here you are created in righteousness and true holiness. That's the new man. The new man
is created in righteousness and true holiness. That old man is
from the earth, he's earthy. It's what it tells us in 1 Corinthians
15. That old man, that old nature, it's corruptible. It cannot,
corruptible doesn't become incorruptible. It's corruptible, that's why
it's gonna be buried. That's what the graveyard's for.
It's to bury the corruptible, that's what the graveyard's for.
To bury the corruptible. The incorruptible is not going
to be buried. The incorruptible is going to be with the Lord. That old man is from the earth.
He's earthy. He's conformed to the image of
Satan. Our Lord said to the Pharisees,
you're of your father, the devil, and it works in your father.
He'll do. He was a liar from the beginning.
You know what that means? You are too. If he's your father,
you're just like him. Let God be true, and every man
a liar. Every man. That new man, he's from above,
he bears the image of the heavenly, and he's conformed to the image
of Jesus Christ. That which is from heaven is
incorruptible. incorruptible. I believe I said
this to you the other night, why in the world would God give
me another nature that can sin just like the old nature? I mean
it's just, he doesn't because that which is born of the flesh
is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit. It's
just the way it is. There was a song sung by Neil
Young. Old man, look at my life. I'm
a lot like you were. That song popped in my head and
I thought of that Cat's in the Cradle. I don't know if you remember
that. Was it Cat Stevens that sang
that? Cat's in the Cradle. He grows, this young little boy,
he grows up and he becomes just like his father. That which is
of flesh is flesh and that which is spirit is spirit. That which
is of the flesh is just like Adam. That which is born of the
spirit is just like Jesus Christ. Just like Him. Look over in Ezekiel
36. In Ezekiel 36, look in verses, let me get there. Make sure I got the right ones. Look in verse 24. For I will
take you from among the heathen and gather you out of all countries,
will bring you to your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water
upon you and you shall be clean from all your filthiness and
from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I
give you and a new spirit will I put within you. And that's
a little less. That's not talking there about
the Holy Spirit. He's talking about that. That's that new nature
that's born of God. And a new spirit will I put within
you and I'll take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I'll
give you a heart of flesh. And then he said, I'll put my spirit
within you. and cause you to walk in my statutes and you shall
keep my judgments. He said, I'll give you a new
spirit and then I'll put my spirit within you. And then, then you'll
walk after my judgments. Because then, until then, you
don't have any ears to hear, eyes to see. You don't have a
will to follow him. You don't have it. In Romans 6, it says that old
man is crucified with Christ, but that new man is risen with
Christ. It is. Look over at 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Look in verse 17. In verse 2 Corinthians 5, 17,
therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. That is, he is a new creation. That's what he is. He is a new
creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are
become new. But he's a new creation. That old nature, that old man,
However you wanna call it, the scripture calls it the old man.
And over in Colossians 3, 9, it says, lie not one to another,
put off the old man with his deeds, which is lying, cheating,
stealing, adultery, fornication, you name it. It's the sins of
the flesh. He said, put him off, put him off. That's the old man. But over in Ephesians chapter
four, turn over there. In Ephesians chapter 4, and I've already read this one
to you, but I'm going to read it to you again. He says, put on the new man which
after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Put that man
on. Put him on. In other words, It's like if you want something
to grow, you're going to feed it. You're going to feed it. You're going to take care of
it. Cultivate. That which makes the new man
grow is what? Christ. You're going to study
the word. You're going to listen to the
preaching of the gospel. You're going to pray. You're
going to feed that new man. And that's how you put him on.
And the other man, you just, you put him off. You don't feed
him. You don't feed him. You don't,
you don't do those things, go after those things that feeds
him. That's why Paul, you know, Paul said this in one place,
I keep my body under subjection. That's when I preach Christ,
I myself be a castaway. But he said, I, I keep in check
those passions. Cause he had the same flesh you
and I had. He said, I keep that in check. I keep that in check. And the way you keep that in
check is prayer, listening to preaching, studying God's word,
seeking the Lord. That's how you keep that in check. It says over Colossians 3 verse
10, put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after
the image of him that created him. He's renewed in knowledge. Before you were born of God,
you did not know God. You didn't know God. If you didn't
know Christ, you didn't know God. But after being born of
God, you have now been renewed in knowledge. You have an understanding.
The Son of God has come and given us an understanding that we may
know Him that is true. We are in Him that is true. Even
in Jesus Christ. The Son of God. Now, here's the question. Why
am I thus? If I'm your child, why am I struggling
so much with sin? I'll tell you why. Because you're
born of God. You're born of God. That's why
you struggle with sin. If you have no struggle with
sin, if there was not Divine life, spiritual life. If there
was not spiritual life in you, you wouldn't struggle with sin.
And I wouldn't struggle with it. I wouldn't have any trouble
with it. Before she was barren. She had
no life in her. But now she has life. She's got
twins. And she has this struggle going
on. And that's just the way it is with the believers. They have
that old flesh, that old nature, and they have that new nature
that's born of God. And there's a constant struggle. And that's
why I am thus. That's why I struggle. You know,
Paul sounded like a confused man, didn't he, in Romans? That
which I would do, I do not. That which I would not do, I
do. He just sounded like a confused man. He's not a confused man,
he's a live man. He's not dead anymore. Dead people
don't struggle. The living struggle. The living
struggle. Will this struggle ever end?
Yes. Yes. When you die. When you die, it will end. The flesh will stay in the grave. And you will go home to be with
the Lord. And all this struggle and all
this sin and all this corruption is going to be left behind. It's
going to go back to the dust. It will when we die, but not
till then, not till then. Till then it will be when I would
do good, evil is present with me. It'll be that way all the
way to the end. But here's good news. Let's end
this on a note of good news. Let me go back over here to Genesis
25. It says in verse 22, as she went
to inquire of the Lord. Now, that's how you handle inward
struggle. Take it to the Lord and leave
it there. That's how we handle sin. This
is how we handle this struggle that we deal with daily, is we
constantly take it before the Lord. And she took this before
the Lord. And the Lord said to her, two
nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people, or two
different types of people in you. And they said, two manner of
people shall be separated from thy bowels, and the one people
shall be stronger than the other people, and the elder shall serve
the younger. Now here's the good news. Rebecca prays and the Lord
answers her. He hears her prayers. He hears
ours and he tells her, there are two men or people in your
womb. And the elder, which is the elder
in you? Which is the oldest in you? That
old nature. That old nature. I had it first. I had it first. But here's God's
promise. The elder shall serve the younger.
Sin shall not have dominion over you. Sin will not have dominion
over you. And here's a scripture that I
find a lot of comfort in. Greater is he that is in you
than he that's in the world. And he's speaking here of the
Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ in you. Greater is he that's
in you He that's in the world. There's two manner of people
in you. One is old. Old, it goes back
to the fall. It's what I was born with first.
I was born of the flesh. But that flesh, that flesh, is
not going to overcome that new man. The Lord's not going to
allow it to. And the flesh... Now, we need
to get a hold of this. The Lord makes the flesh, the
elder, to serve the younger. It's because of my flesh that
I learn my dependence on Jesus Christ. I know I need Him. When
I see sin in me, and when I have to fight the corruption that's
in me, what do I do? I flee to Christ. It makes me flee to the Lord
Jesus Christ. It makes me learn more of Him.
It makes me lean more on Him. when I realize more and more
of what I am and that the only place I have refuge and rest
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now who's serving who? God is
using the elder, that old nature, to serve and teach us something,
to learn something, and to run us to Christ. Oh, wretched man that I am. Yes,
I am. Thank God you know that. Most
people do not know what a wretch they are. And God has used that elder to
serve and teach and instruct that younger. And make that younger
one run to the Lord Jesus Christ. And find in him all that he needs. All that he needs. If it be so, if it's your will
that I'm your child, if I've been born of God, why am I having
so much struggle with sin? I remember back years ago, I had made a
profession when I was 20 years old. And my brother James had said
something to me to the effect that I'm being a sinner now,
saved by grace. And I said, no, I used to be
a sinner. I said, I'm not no more. I remember saying that
to him. And three years later, I heard
the gospel and I learned, yes, you are a sinner. You are a wretched
human being. And you need Christ. If it be so, why am I thus? Because
you're His. That's why.