By that which is good, that sin,
by the commandment, might become exceeding sinful. For we know
that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow
not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent under the law that it is good. Now it is no
more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that
in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is
present with me, but to perform that which is good, I find not. For the good that I would, I
do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that,
I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth
in me. I find then a law, that when
I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the
law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members
warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I
myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of
sin. I want to pilot my message this
evening is the confessions of a believer's inability. Confessions
of a believer's inability. Paul talked about how the law
is holy, just, and good. The law is not sinful. The law's
not sinful, it's just and good. But yet he says that, was then
that which is made good unto good and made death unto me?
No, no. But sin then, sin was what brought
death, and the law exposed it. The apostles taken up the subject
of the power of sin in our old nature, in our flesh. And we've
got two natures. Anybody that's ever been saved
by the grace of God, they understand real quick that they've got two
people that they're dealing with. And he's taken up the subject
of the power of sin in the flesh, in the old nature. And it's the
flesh, it's the old nature that makes the law weak. Now, I tell
you, beloved, no man can be saved by the law, because the law cannot
deliver us and save us from ourselves or our flesh. You see, even the
law, God's law, when we're talking about the Word of God, we're
talking about just the Ten Commandments, not the ceremonies, but all of
it. But that law of God, that just law of God, that God that
demands perfection, demands obedience, but that law in the hands of
the Holy Spirit does not stop sin. It doesn't stop it. You know what it does? It reveals
it. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. It does not give life. What it does, it kills us. Paul
said, I have no sin until the law. I was alive without it,
and then the law came, and then I died. He was living, thinking
he was obeying the law, thinking he said, oh, after the righteous,
the law is blameless. And then the law really came
to him, said, thou shalt not covet, because he was coveted
in power, and position, and ambition, He was covered in a great position
in the kingdom of God, and God come along with the law and slayed
him, and killed him, and killed all hope in himself by the very
thing that thought was giving him life. And I'll tell you something
else about the law, and I don't care what anybody says, it doesn't
make a man holy. It doesn't make a man holy. It
exposes their unholiness. The law can't justify us, and
it can't sanctify us. The law cannot make a bad man
better, and it cannot make a bad man good, and it can't make a
good man better. It can't do it. But he goes on
to talk about a struggle that goes on in a believer's heart
and a believer's soul because of the power of sin in his old
nature. You remember what Paul said in Galatians 5? He says, you know, that that
I would, you know, he talked about that in Galatians 5, he
says, you know, he said that I have this struggle in me, you
know, I have this with the cause of the sin in me, I cannot do
what I want to because the spirit in me, I cannot do what I want
to. I have this struggle in my own nature. Now, we're regenerated. I want you to understand that
plainly. It says, you know, in Romans 8, there's therefore now
no condemnation to them that are in Christ. We're regenerated. We're in Christ. And Paul says
here, I delight in God's law. I love it and I rejoice in it.
I don't find any fault in it. I rejoice in the law of God.
That's what Paul said. We rejoice in it. We find great,
and oh, it's holy and just and good. Find no fault in it. But
as I look, even in my regeneration, I still feel my inability, and
I still feel my imperfections. Do you do that? You see, Paul
proved from his past experiences that the law can't make a sinner
righteous. He said, and you look in Philippians 3 when he says,
you know, he said, After the righteousness of the law, I was
blameless. But then, he says, things that I counted good for
myself, right for myself, gain for me. What was gain for me? Me being, considering myself
good man, perfect man, a law-keeping man, a holy man, and a Pharisee
of Pharisees. He said, all the things that
made me somebody. He said, I had to turn around
and tell them, but God, Because all that was gained to me was
lost for Christ. It took away from the glory of
Christ. It took away from the salvation by grace. It took away
from the Spirit of God regenerating me. So I counted all but done. And then I said, you know what
he said? He said, I want to do this one thing. I want to know
Christ, win Christ, and be found in Christ. And he proves also
here from his present experience that the Lord can make a saved
man holy. And I'll tell you, look over
here in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 3. You know, just go right back
to your right just a little. You know, and I'll tell you,
justification and sanctification are both in Christ. I do not
understand anybody, and I know you don't do it, I hope you don't
do it, that tries to be justified or
sanctified or anyway. by anything that they do. And
that's what he said in 1 Corinthians 1.30, justification and sanctification
are in Christ. But of Him, of God, are you in
Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Now, why did God make Christ
everything to us? So that according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." What can we possibly
glory in anything we do? Now, I want you to notice something
here in Romans 7. The word, I, back over here in
what I read tonight, the word, I, is mentioned 30 times. There's no mention of the Holy
Spirit. And you know why he says, I?
because he says, I cannot do anything but fail. That's all
I can do. That's what he says. I, I, I,
I. And that's why he keeps talking
about I, because he comes to the conclusion that I can do
nothing. I, the flesh, cannot do anything.
I cannot do anything but fail. There's nothing but condemnation
and powerlessness under trying to be saved by the flesh. And
look what the Apostle confessions. And I think that you'll agree
with me that we're all in the same boat. He said in verse 14,
For we know that the law is spiritual, but uncarnate, sold unto sin. What does he mean that the law
is spiritual? Well, first of all, it comes from the Spirit
of God. It comes from the Spirit of God. That's where it comes,
and it comes to the spirit of man. And let me tell you what
it requires. It requires holiness and honesty
and perfection in the heart. David says this, he says, thou
desirest truth in the inward part. Man can conform outwardly,
or at least thinks he does, but the scripture says love God with
what? The heart. And what a service,
any service that we do must be done out of love. And the obedience
that we render unto God must be born out of love. And Paul
says the law is spiritual. It brings the Spirit of God.
The Spirit of God shows me what it requires of me. Love. The
end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart. And faith
unfaith. And look what he goes. But he
says, but I'm carnal. I'm flesh. I'm natural. And then
look what he said. Soul understands. into the slavery
and control of sin. The nature of God's law and my
nature in flesh are just the opposite. God's law and my flesh
are just worlds and worlds apart. Entirely opposite. They're causing
the soul to understand. And then look what he says here
in verse 15. He gives us, he proves it to
us. And oh my, here he confesses the consciousness of his enslavement,
self-unable even to do what it approves of. Look what he says,
for that which I do, I allow not. But I would, but what I
would, I don't do. But what I hate, that's what
I do. If I then do that that I would not, then I consent under
the law that it's good. You know, self is unable to hinder
or keep from doing what it even disapproves of. That word allow,
that which I allow, not that which I approve of. He says,
that which I approve of, I don't do. I don't do. Is there a believer
anywhere which has not thought or done that of which he disapproves? Anybody here says, well, I disapprove
of this right here. And I think it's wrong. And I
disapprove of it. I don't allow it. But then you
end up doing that very thing that you disapprove of. That's
what he's saying. That's what he's saying. And
he says, I do wrong. He said, I do wrong, but he said
there in verse 11, I do what I wouldn't do. But I hate that
that I wouldn't do. I hate the evil that I do. I
despise the evil that I do. I abhor the evil that I do. I
do wrong, but I hate it. I absolutely hate the fact that
I don't have no more control over my heart, my flesh. My flesh
is what he's talking about. My flesh. He said no more control
over it. I condemn my evil. I condemn
my sins. I mourn over my transgressions. I admit by that that the law
is holy, just, and good, but I'm the one that's wrong. Nothing's
wrong with God. Nothing's wrong with the law.
Nothing's wrong with righteousness. Nothing's wrong with justification.
The wrong and problem is me, my own nature. I know that everybody here knows
something about their own nature. Don't you? If you don't, I mean,
boy, you couldn't even be converted if I'm going to talk about this.
And oh, listen, so what does he conclude then? If I do that,
then I would not. He said, I've got to say that
God Himself is good, and I consent that everything about Him is
right, but everything about me and my flesh is wrong. And then
look what he says in verse 17. And oh, you see, he says, Now,
I want you to understand, thou, then it is no more I that do
it. What causes me to be the way
I am? Sin. Where's it live? In me. Dwells in me. People say
you can eradicate sin. I'll tell you what, you know
when sin will be eradicated? When you take your last breath.
As far as God's concerned, it's done away with. But I mean, as
long as we're in this flesh, we're going to deal with it.
Huh? And Paul is not excusing himself. He's not explaining his failings.
That's not what his purpose is doing. He's not doing that. He's showing what an awful, tyrant
sin is. How it compels him to act even
against his new nature. How it makes him react according
to his own nature. That's what he said. Oh, it makes
me act even according to my new nature. It makes me go against
what I know that's right and just and holy and good. It makes
me do things that I've heard. It makes me act and say and do
that's even against my new nature, and I know it's wrong. And he
said, but it's not me. Well, who is it, Paul? It's sin
in me, and I cannot get it out. Oh, people, now listen, you know
this a little something, you see people that they dress a
certain way because they want people to know that they live
in a holy life, a separated life, a dedicated life. You go in Ohio,
and you go in Pennsylvania, and their wives are little old buggies,
and you go around here, and you see the women with the little
old skirts on, and their bonnets on, and all that, and then you
go around, and you hear the fundamentals talk about, you know, I was a
sinner, and now I'm not, and I'll tell you something, beloved. Sin, sin, sin is exceedingly
sinful, and it's so horrible that even a believer a child
of God, with all the regenerating power that God puts in him, he'll
find himself like David, he'll find himself like Paul, find
himself like Simon Peter, he will do something, somewhere,
sometime that will prove that he is still sin and he cannot
get rid of it. It's an awful thing. I was talking
about that message of Brother Henry's, the awful, awful, sad,
sad state of unbelief. You know how awful unbelief is?
If I got up this, if I get up next Sunday morning, I get up
and say, folks, I've committed the awfulest sin that anybody
could ever commit and still be a preacher. Oh, I've committed... Oh, you all just don't know what
I've done. You don't know what I've... Oh,
I'm just... I'm so ashamed to get up here,
but I've got to confess it. I've got to confess it. And if
I got up and said, you know, I have unbelief. Every one of you. Oh, what's he done? He committed
adultery? He lies? He stole something?
Get caught drunk somewhere or something? I just got up and
said, no. of God-unbelief, you go, phew. But you know what a sin-unbelief
is? What a sin-unbelief is. And what
he's showing us here is that sin is an awful tyrant. It's
an awful tyrant. It compels a person to act against
his new nature and act according to his own nature. He'll end
up saying it. Oh, my. How many times have we
said, oh, you've been driving an automobile or something. Boy,
you get somebody to cut you off, and just if you had an opportunity,
oh, the things you say, the way you feel, and if somebody was
to say or do something to somebody you love, your flesh burns up
that quick. And oh, listen, let me tell you
something, he's not denying his responsibility for sin. He's
not denying it when he says, it's not I, but sin that dwells
in me. He's not laying the blame somewhere
else. And like that Adam did, he said,
well, Adam, when God came to Adam, he said, Lord, it's that
woman you gave me. I wouldn't have been in this
mess if I hadn't done it for that woman. That's not what he's doing. He says, it's not, you know,
and he says, it's not I but sin that dwelleth in me. And one
of his papers saying this, yet not I labor more abundantly than
they all, yet not I, but the grace of God that's in me. He
says, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And oh,
beloved, he's indebted to Christ for everything he has. And let
me tell you something, even so, Sin in and of itself cannot act. The man's got to do the act.
But sin is what causes him to do that act. Let me tell you
something about confessing sin. We have to do this. We just have
to do this. Just to get up and say, Lord, forgive me of my sin. Group like this, you should do
that. But when you're by yourself, and when you're praying, you
need to confess the sin, what you've done, what you said, how
you acted. God knows you're a sinner, and
you know you're a sinner. But if you commit a certain act,
and you act a certain way, you need to tell God, Lord, I'm sorry
that I did that. Forgive me for doing that. You
know, this blanket. If we confess our sin... Well,
let me tell you another confession he makes here. Look what else
he says. He says, verse 17, so there's
no more I that do it but sin. I'm the one that does it, but
it's sin in me that causes me to do it. Now look what else
he says, second confession. For I know that in me, that is,
in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present
with me, but to perform that which is good I find not. For
the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not,
that I do. Now, if I do that, that I would
not, here he goes again, it's no more I that do it, but sin
that dwelt in me. What he's saying, I know that
in me, that in my old nature, in my carnal nature, there's
nothing good in me, absolutely nothing, no good thing in me. And how does he know that? Look
what he says about it. He says, the will is present
with me. The will is present with me. I can will to be perfect,
but I can't perform it. I can will not to say those things,
not to let my temper get the best of me. I can will not to
let my mind run wild and imagine things that's going to happen
that may not never happen. And he said, I can will to be
perfect, but can't perform. And I have the intention, I have
the urge to perfect, be perfect, but I do not have the power to
carry it out. And I'll give you a scriptural
illustration of that. When Simon Peter, when the Lord
Jesus said, all of you are going to forsake me, the shepherd,
he said, as it is written, the shepherd will be smitten and
all the sheep will scatter. And Simon Peter said, oh, no,
Lord. No, no, no. He said, I don't
care if I go to prison with you, I'll even die with you. That
was the will. He really meant that. He wasn't
just blowing smoke. He was serious about that. He
meant from his heart, Lord, I will go to prison with you. I'll even
die with you. That was the will. But he didn't
have the ability to perform it. Why didn't he have the ability
to perform it? Sin that dwelled in him. Sin caused him to be
afraid. Sin caused him to deny his master. Sin that dwelled in him caused
him to stand by the devil's fire. And when Christ was brought in
there, and they said, there, he said, you know that fellow.
I don't know him. I don't know him. Now, that's what we mean. How many times? Wouldn't it be
wonderful if we had the ability to perform what was in our hearts
to perform, what was in our will to perform? If we could perform what our
will is to do, we'd never have a struggle in the service. You'd
never have any unbelief. You'd always be full of faith.
You never would fly off the handle. You never would say an ugly thing.
You never would get angry at anybody. We'd be perfect if we could.
But he says, I can't. This is what he says. He said,
for the good that I would die, that I would, I don't do. How
many times, and you've done this, said, I've got to do this, I've
got to get a hold of this one, I've got to say something to
that one, I need to do this with this person. Next thing you know,
a day's gone by, two days gone by, three days gone by, and you
just keep putting it off and putting it on. You would do good,
but you just get away, let it go by. Huh? And then look what he says.
But to evil, which I would not, that I do. Well, what's your
problem, Paul? What is your problem? What's
your problem, Donny? What's your problem? Now, if
I do that that I would not, it's no more I that do it, but sin
that dwelleth in me. What an awful, awful thing sin
is. Then look what he says. Oh, he
repeats it again. Look in Matthew 26. Let me show you this. Matthew
26. Look in verse 41. Back up in verse 36, you remember
when our Lord got into Gethsemane, He came into Gethsemane and He
said to His disciples, Peter, John, and James, sit ye here
while I go yonder and pray. And oh, He began to be, He said
in verse 38, my soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death. Tear ye
here and watch with me. Just watch with me. So He went
off and prayed. He came back and went off and
prayed. And then look what he said, and he come behind the
disciples asleep, Simon Peter, and he said unto Peter, What
could you not watch with me one hour? Now listen to what he says. Watch and pray that ye enter
not into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing.
You got it in your heart to watch with the Lord. You got it in
your heart to pray. You got it in your heart To do
what the Lord wants you to do. You've got in your heart to stay
awake one hour. To watch with the Lord for one
hour. That's in your heart to do that. You want to perform that. He
said, the Spirit's willing. But oh my, your flesh. Don't trust it. Don't trust it. Now look back over again here.
And oh, he concludes that he's not his own master. What a description
of the awful, dreary struggle that goes on within us. No more
I but sin that dwelleth in me. And he makes another confession
here in verse 21 through verse 25. Now he says, Now if I do, verse 21, I find in a law, this law here is a principle. It's a principle. Like the law
of gravity, it's like the law of relativity. I find in a law
that when I would do good, evil's got along with me. You know,
you see them things that they do in cartoons and stuff, over
here sits an angel, over here sits a devil? Well, devil's over here. That's
what John Bunyan said one time. He was walking along and he said
he heard this voice. He said he heard this voice in
his mind. He heard this voice in his thoughts. And he says
to himself, he said, is that my voice telling me those things,
thinking those things, telling me to do these things? Or is
that Apollyon's voice? Is that the devil's voice or
my voice? Sometimes you don't know if it's the flesh or the
devil. And that's what he's saying. That's what Paul's saying. I
find in the law that when I do good, evil is right there with
me. to try to keep me from doing
exactly what I ought to do, to glorify and honor God. And all
he goes on to say, because of the principle of sin, because
of the power of sin, my will and my own nature, I would do
good, but everywhere I go, sin is right there, that old evil
thing is right there with me. And what a contradiction we appear
to be. But he goes on to say, listen,
this is where we're at, this is where we're at. I delight
in the law of God after the inward man. In our hearts, in our soul,
we delight in what God says. We just rejoice in God's law. We rejoice in God's ways. We
rejoice in everything there is about God that's holy, just,
and good, and perfect. But he said, I delight in the
law of God after the inward man, that new nature. But I see another
law. I see another law. And this law
is in my members. What does he mean in my members?
In my mind, in my will, in my affection, in my understanding,
in what I do with my hands, what I do with my eyes, what I do
with my tongue, what I do with my ears. Did you ever think that you'd
watch TV shows that you watch now a few years ago? Hear language
that you hear? That's what he said, I see this
world with my ears I hear things. With my eyes I look at things.
With my tongue I say things. With my hands I do things. My
feet take me places that I wouldn't go because of this evil in me.
And it wars against the law of my mind. Oh, this war is trouble. bringing me into captivity to
the law of sin, which is in this body and this mind and all about
us. And there's four laws mentioned
here in these two verses. First, there's the law of God,
just, holy, and good. There's the law of sin, and that's
in our own nature. And there's the law of the mind,
that's the man, that's who we really are. And then the law
that's in our memories. And then look what he says. He
comes to this conclusion. He comes to this conclusion.
And how many times have you said this about yourself? He said,
Oh, wretched man that I am! How can I be those people? How can I be this way? How can I have sins so prevalent? and despise it, and how can I
love things that so just or injurious? Oh, wretched man that I am! Who
shall save me? Who shall deliver me from this
body of death? And one of the things that they
used to do to people back in those days is that they would
take a dead body and strap to their back And they'd have to
carry that dead body around with them, and it would stink, and
it would rot, and it would corrupt. If you kill a person, have him
do your body. And that's what he said, he said, that's what
my old nature is. He said, like it's a dead body,
an old wretched body. A stinking body. And, oh, listen,
the older you get, the more you carry this flesh around, the
more it stinks, the more corrupt it is, the more heavy it becomes. And you keep thinking, oh, where
will I get, where, somebody take this off of me. Somebody take
this off of me. But, oh, he found somebody that
did. He said, I thank God. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. So that with the mind, I myself
serve the Word of God. Serve God. Serve the law of God. With my mind, I love God. I love His Word. I love His ways. I love His Scripture. I love
His holiness. I love His righteousness. I love
His requirements for perfection because He gives it. But with
the flesh, the law of sin. And then he comes to say this.
That's that boy, right now. Paul, you just got through sin,
you had sin in you. You just got through sin until
you know what you wouldn't do, you do, and the good that you
wouldn't, you end up doing evil. How in the world are you talking
about no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus? Oh,
why doesn't he cry guilty, but still cries wretched? I'll
tell you why. Because the conflict he's going
through isn't over guilt and condemnation. That's been taken
care of. But he's talking about the indwelling
fire of sin that he can't, or you and I can't overcome from
our own strength. We just can't do it. From this
body of death, Thank God, thank God, thank God that through Jesus
Christ we see God, we love God, we worship God, we find great
enjoyment in God. But with this old body, sin has
such a power. But wouldn't it be something
if we didn't have the power of God, if it wasn't for Jesus Christ,
if it wasn't for Him? I don't know if you understand
what I said tonight, if you ever experienced any of this, that
I know this, that right now, even with all the struggles we
have, and we take the blame for it, you don't think for a minute
that we can blame anybody else for what we do, do you? There's only one reason it caused
us to be the way we are. Two reasons. If we have anything
right about us, God does it. If we have anything wrong with
us, we do it. Wouldn't you agree with that?
And ain't you glad you can come to Jesus Christ, even though
you have sin dwelling in you, that you can still come to Him?
Ain't you thankful that you can do that? Our Father, O gracious God in
heaven, Lord, You're so merciful, oh,
so merciful. And thank You, Lord Jesus, that
one of these days, one of these days, we'll be done with this
body of sin, this flesh, this old nature that struggles so
hard, that finds so, it's so easy to find ourselves in a to sin, but, O God, help us to
never justify it, to always confess it, and to know that there's
always forgiveness with You. But, Lord, thank You for taking
away the guilt and the condemnation. Thank You for the grace and the
strength that sin don't really reign and rule in us. It rises
its ugly head, but, Lord, it's not our master. You're our master,
and we struggle against this, but God enabled us to continue
to fight until the day we die. There's no discharge from this
war. Help us to never give up, never give in, never ever make
an excuse for any sin we ever commit, any awful word we ever
say, any deed we ever do, any unkindness we ever show, any
lack of love we ever exhibit, help us never to excuse it, but
to take the blame for our sins, and give You the glory and honor
for saving us by the grace of God and keeping us saved. In
Christ our Lord's name I pray. Amen. Amen.