And if you would you want to
follow along please turn to John chapter 3 John chapter 3 I'm just gonna read the first eight
verses There was a man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews and The same came to Jesus
by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher
come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest
except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto
him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him,
how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second
time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, verily,
verily, I say unto 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. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sounds thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh, and whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born of
the spirit. We'll stop right there. I am not going to preach on being
born again today. But you must be born again. I'm not gonna preach on, you
need to be born of the water and spirit to enter. You need
to be born again, born from above to see the kingdom of God. You
need to be born of the water and spirit to enter the kingdom
of God. But I'm not gonna preach on that.
I learned something this week and it affected me with something
else I've learned. Something, it is actually something
I should have already known. There are nicknames for what
they call mega churches. These monster churches with thousands
of people in them. Now, of course, one of the nicknames
is mega church. I knew that one. And I'd heard
super church. But I hadn't heard McChurch. instead of McDonald's. It's McChurch,
as one of them calls them. But I have a new personal favorite
for these megachurches. There was a teenage girl who wrote a diary and then became
an article writer. What they called it when she
was going to one of these megachurches growing up, they called it the
Repentagon. I kind of like that one, though. As you understand, the Pentagon's
this huge building and this was a re-Pentagon. Anyway, thousands
of people flock to these places every Sunday. And whenever I
see these or think of them, I am reminded in my head of the thousands
that walked away from Jesus Christ one time when he preached. And
yet these thousands flock to these places every Sunday. And
I'm reminded also about the broad way and the narrow way. Because
both the broad way and the narrow way exist. You understand, a
lot of people want to think the broad way is secularism, you
know? It's evolution. It's bars and
bad places that people go. No, the broad way is church. And the narrow way is the truth
of Jesus Christ. And few there be that find it. Now I'm not saying that just
because we're few. No, we're as big a church as
God wants us to be right now. I can guarantee you that much.
He could make us huge if he wanted to. I don't need the headaches, but
that's just me. You understand, he does what he wants. That Broadway
is filled with many. And it's filled every day. But
what caught my attention, okay, was this teenage girl wrote in
her diary, and she quoted it in an article. I'd been taught that my relationship
with God would decay if I wasn't careful. I wasn't predestined. I wasn't chosen. If I wanted
God's forgiveness, I had to work. Okay, and people wonder why I
mock them. Because that's what they're teaching.
Even if they don't say it that way, and they use the words grace
and holiness and whatever, that's what they're teaching. Because
that is what they believe. And it is also exactly that that
keeps those mega churches going. You can't run a repent-a-gon
on grace, Walter. You better get out there and
get that money. Yes, there is a work for salvation. Yes, there is a work for forgiveness,
but it ain't mine, and it's not yours. Jesus Christ did it. That work has been done. We are
redeemed. Right now, we are reconciled
to God. Now be ye reconciled to God. God has reconciled to us in his
son. Not in ourselves. Forgiveness and salvation are
free to me and to you. But Jesus Christ had to pay it
all. That's why it's free. You understand, there was a debt
to be paid. There was, ooh, there was sin to be punished. And yes,
it was my sin. Yes, it was your sin. But he's
the one that paid it all. It's free to me, but it wasn't
free totally. Somebody had to pay. I work because of his forgiveness.
I work because of his salvation. I work because he works in me
both to will and to do of his good pleasure. I do not work
for forgiveness. And we do not teach that here
by God's grace. Now, that's all on the side. What I want to speak of today
is the believer's life. That's what it's called, Paul.
The believer's life. It's not what most religious
people think. And it's certainly not what most
preachers preach on Sunday. Because a believer's life is not sunshine
and lollipops and rainbows everywhere. There are people out there right
now, probably at this very moment, who are telling people that if
you come to Jesus, everything's gonna be fine, everything's gonna
be great. You'll never have any problems
anymore. And that's a lie. Now, if you come to Christ, it's
gonna be because he found you. He brought you. And yes, things
are going to change. And yes, you are going to change.
But guess what? When you come to believe Christ,
when you come to know Christ, and those of us who do will tell
you this. There's a whole new list of problems
that you never had before that you got now. Remarkably, outwardly, the believer's
life outwardly looks a lot like everybody else's. We go to work,
we go to school, we shop at Kroger's or wherever, we buy cars, we
buy homes, we pay our bills, and we pay our taxes. None of
those things necessarily make us happy, but we do them just
like everyone else. But, What it is it's different
is the believer and I remember when Earl used this word the
believer is a dichotomy Now believer I do mean one male
or female To whom Jesus Christ has revealed himself and has
brought to himself. That's what I'm talking about
by a believer a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ He's brought
him into fellowship with himself and with his saints. A believer is a found sheep,
not a lost sheep. But I do repeat this, the believer
is two things at the same time. That's what the word dichotomy
means. I'm not talking about we're trying to be two things
at the same time. We are two things at the same
time. This is what we are. At first, you may not know it. Okay? Sometimes, you may not
recognize it. But we are two different things. And I'm talking about every single
believer. From Adam to the last one that
Christ brings in. There's gonna be a last one.
Before he comes. Every single one of us is that
exact way. We are two things. So what are
these two things? Well, from our text, John three, verse six, that which
is born of the flesh is flesh. And that which is born of the
spirit is spirit. So what are the two things that
a believer is? Flesh and spirit. Both. Both. Jesus Christ taught
this and Nicodemus didn't get it. And I'll tell you this, most
don't get it now. Now. And the reason why they don't
get it, guess what? Jesus Christ told us that too.
Just for a second, if you want to, turn over to John 6, 63. This is one of those occasions
that after he finished talking, some thousands walked away from
him. John 6, 63, it says this. It is the spirit that quickeneth,
the flesh profiteth nothing. Nothing. The words that I speak
to you are spirit. and our life. But there are some
of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believed him not and who would betray him.
Therefore, and he said, therefore, said I unto you, that no man
can come unto me except it were given unto him of my father.
And from that, that Statement that sermon Many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with them Understand the believer is both
flesh and spirit What about unbelievers why are
we did unbelievers are nothing but flesh That's all they got
They may, there's a spirit there, but you understand that spirit's
totally ruled by the flesh. You understand? The will of man
is subject to his heart. And if the heart of the flesh
is all you have, you don't know anything. You only know one thing,
what your flesh tells you. Our flesh, this body we have
now, will never be anything else. Our flesh is the same as it was
when we were born. It's just bigger and older. We mortify our members, what?
Daily. You know why? Because you have
to mortify your members daily. Those members, the feet, the
hands, the tongue, the brain even, they never get any better. But his spirit is the Holy Spirit,
and it can't ever be anything else but holy. Now, there are
plenty of examples of this dichotomy in the scriptures from people's
writings. But actually I'm just gonna try
and not hold you very long and I'm just gonna focus on two So
if you want to turn to Psalms 51 and we'll look at some of
the words of David These are the words of David
the sinner Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of thy tender
mercies. Blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have
I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest
be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive
me. Behold, thou desireth truth in
the inward parts, And in the hidden part, thou shalt make
me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop and I shall
be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter
than snow. David says, my transgressions,
my iniquity, cleanse me from my sin. I acknowledge my transgressions
and my sin is ever before me. That's the flesh. That's the
flesh. And yet, the same man, the very
same man, wrote this. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. I shall not lack. Why? Because
the Lord is my shepherd. I've got sin, I've got transgression,
I've got iniquity in me. It's mine, I'm owning it. But
the Lord is my shepherd. Therefore since the Lord is my
shepherd I shall not want Mmm, he makes me to lie down in the
green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters He restoreth my soul. He doesn't restore my flesh yet
He restores my soul Will he tell him want to restore unto me the
joy of thy salvation? I? He restores my soul. He leads
me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. You want
to know why? Because if he wasn't leading
me in the path of righteousness, I'd never know where they were.
And neither would you. Because if it's left up to ourselves,
we're going to stay in Psalm 51 with my sin and my transgression
and my flesh. Yay, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why? For thou art with me. Thou art
with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. Thou prepares a table before
me, and I love this part, in the presence of mine enemies. Yes, I sin. Yes, I transgress. Yes, in my flesh dwells no good
thing. And, not but, and he prepares
a table for me to eat in the presence of my enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup runneth over. Surely goodness, surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will
dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Forever. Do you see the dichotomy there? The sins and the iniquities,
the transgressions are all mine. They're all claimed by David.
You understand? He's not even coming close to
saying God's the author of sin. I'm the author of my own sin.
You're the author of your own sin. But guess what? God still saves sinners. Jesus Christ saves sinners. Amen. You understand? But you He's not going to bring you to
himself without showing you a little bit of what you are. You understand? He kills, then he makes alive. You understand, we were already
dead in trespasses and sins, but here's the problem. We were
too dead to know it. He's going to make you know it.
He's going to kill you before he makes you alive. And here's
the thing, believers, the dichotomy is this. We're the only ones
that know this. Because you understand, the lost
don't know they are lost. If our gospel be hid, it's hid
to them that are what? Lost. Whom the God of this world
hath blinded their minds. And this is where I wanted to
tell you where some of the things we're gonna see are not gonna
be fun. You understand? You're gonna
see your sin more than you ever did when you were growing up.
More than you ever did before Jesus Christ entered your life.
You're gonna see more of your sins more times. You'll get sick
of it. And the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. I'm not gonna
lack anything. Matter of fact, right now, I
don't lack anything. I have been blessed with all
spiritual blessings in the heavenly, in Christ. And I am poor, wretched,
and blind at the same time. The only things I see is what
he shows me. The only things I know of truth, of love, and
of beauty are what he's taught me. uh... you know i remember the
old statement and they had a lot of truth what i was an unbeliever
ignorance was bliss in a lot of ways ignorance ain't bliss
no more my sins ever before me even if i don't talk about it
even if i don't act like i know about it understand it's always
there in the back of my mind you know why he put it there
he put it there The Ebenezer song, Walter. Prone to wander,
Lord I feel it. Wait a minute, that's not talking
about lost people. Prone to leave the God I love. Oh my gosh. Yeah, that's where
we are. That's what we are. The flesh
is still flesh, but thank God the spirit is spirit. Here's my heart Lord take and
seal it seal it for thy cart courts above Nothing of our salvation is up
to us. Thank God Both of these things His grace,
His love, His salvation, and our sin, our transgression, our
iniquity, our flesh, both of these things are real, and both
of these things are true. And both of these things are
in every single believer. Because if you don't know something
about your sin, and about, I'm talking about your sin, what
you are. Not your sins, what you do. You should know those
two. But if you don't know anything about the sin of what you are,
what comes out of your heart and out your mouth? What comes
from your head, evil thoughts, and sometimes comes out your
mouth, but even if they don't, they're still evil thoughts.
You might want to make your call on the election sure if you don't
know that. Because the next one, looked
at David here, I want to look at Paul the apostle. He's the apostle to the Gentiles,
which I am a Gentile Don't go to Romans 8 32 First
I want to quote this First Corinthians 3 in verse
16 No ye not That ye are the temple of God. I and the Spirit
of God dwells in you. Do you not know that? You understand? Like I said, you may not know
everything, especially when you first start, but here's the thing.
You need to know, and you shall know, because he's going to show
it to you, that something has changed in you. You understand? Something has changed in you. But I'm going to tell you something.
I looked at that and I thought about that temple of God, Walter. You know what he's saying there,
don't you? This is a Jewish man. Paul was born and raised Jewish,
Pharisee, Hebrew of Hebrews. You know what that means? In
those using the temple of God? That means above your head, as
a believer, as one that Christ has brought in, above your head
is a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day. The Spirit
of God is in you. But Romans 8 and 32, 28, excuse
me, through 32, Paul writes this, and we know that all things work
together for good. To them that love God, to them
who are the called according to his purpose, for whom he did
foreknow. He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. And whom he called, them he also
justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. What shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. It's Christ that died. Yea, rather,
what? That is risen again. and who
is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us. Those who believe Jesus Christ,
those who love God, God is for you. You understand? Who can be against you? Nobody
and nothing. It doesn't matter. You understand?
If God's for you, it doesn't matter who's against you. It
may not feel that way to you, but that's the way it is. That's
the way it is. But the same man who wrote all
that, just a few chapters before, just a few chapters before, wrote
in Romans three, Hmm, where is it? There is no
fear of God before their eyes. The way of peace they've not
known. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery
are their ways. Whose mouth is full of cursing
and bitterness. Their throats an open sepulcher.
You understand? He's describing man. Not just
bad men, man. Because he said, no and no wise
were he before proved that both Jews and Gentiles, that they
are all under sin. As it is written, there's none
righteous, no not one. That's where he starts. There's
none that understand it. There's none that seek it after
God. They're all gone out of the way. They become unprofitable. Their throats an open sepulcher,
an open grave. And their tongues have used to
see. You understand? That's the flesh. And I still have that. I don't
like to admit it, not even to myself, but it's the truth of
God. There is none righteous. No,
not one. There is one righteous and one righteousness, and that's
Jesus Christ, the righteous. Then in Romans seven, Verses
14 to 18, the same man, Paul wrote this. For we know that the law is spiritual,
but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do not, excuse
me, for that which I do, I allow not. For what I would, that do
I not. But what I hate, that I do, that
do I. If then I do that, which I would
not, I consent to the law that it's good. Now then it is no
more I that do it, but what? Sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me, that is
in my flesh. And this is present tense right
now when Paul was writing this. You understand, this is not past
tense. Oh no, we went on to victorious living after this. No, this is
Paul writing in the present tense, and he knew exactly what he was
doing. I don't care what any preacher
says about it. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwells
no good thing. For the will is present with
me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. For the good that I would do,
for the good that I would, I do not. But the evil which I would
not, that I do. How does it all come together at
the end here? Oh, wretched man that I am. Am. Not was, although I was a
wretched man. Oh, wretched man that I am. Then
he asked the question, who shall deliver me from the body of this
death? I thank God. Through Jesus Christ
our Lord, so with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with
the flesh the law of sin. Guess what? It's a dichotomy.
The believer's life, this is the believer's life right here.
I'm wretched and I'm blessed. Understand I'm sinful and in
him I'm holy and righteous. Oh I'm full of transgressions And I'm full of grace I'm not
bragging folks. This is coming from Christ and
this is true of every single believer and Because Paul wrote this before
he wrote Romans chapter eight, where he said, God's for us.
Guess what? You go through all this, you're still there, and
God is for you. God is for you. If you know him,
if you know this, if you love him, what? All things work together
for good to them that love God. Now, if you don't love God, and
I'm talking about this God, These words aren't for you. But I like this way Paul wrote
that. I used to quote that one wrong too. Who shall deliver
me from this body of death? No, no, no. It's from the body
of this death. In my flesh dwells no good thing. Who's going to deliver me from
that death? Because I still got that in me. You want a dichotomy? In a certain way, the believer
is dead and alive at the same time. Because the flesh is still
dead. It's still dead. But his spirit
lives in me. Oh, I like that. And God is for
me, even though my flesh is still flesh. God is for me. God is for you. Even though your
flesh is still flesh. You know, I am blessed with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly place. I'm not blessed with all
fleshly blessings, because there ain't none. So here's the thing, the believer
has his flesh, or her flesh, and the believer has his spirit. Hmm and guess what with that
comes a warfare in your body In me you understand because
What with my mind I serve the law of God you stand His law his holy law holy just
and good is in you and your flesh is in you We have them both Romans 8 and 8 before that Says
this So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God But
thank God for this but I Ye are not in the flesh, but in the
spirit, if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the spirit
of Christ, he is none of his. That's all it says. And you know
what? That's what it means. That's what it means. But here's
the thing. We're not in the flesh, but we
still got the flesh. You understand? We're still in
the flesh. We are not in the flesh, excuse
me if I'm saying it wrong, but we still have our flesh. Just
exactly the same way that we are in this world, but we are
not of this world. We still got this flesh, and
we're aware of it, to some extent, of the evil of my members. Understand? I don't have to hold back from
doing too much good. That's not what I mean. Don't
let my wife laugh back there. I don't have to hold back from
doing so much good it hurts me. No, I have to hold back from
not slapping somebody I want to slap. Understand? Because that, my temper, is mine. Understand and I need to hold
it in check. The tongue is an unruly member
and I need to mortify it You understand I don't have to stop
my tongue from preaching the gospel Walter From saying the
truth of Christ. I have to stop it from everything
else. It wants to talk about Why because all that other stuff's
up in here and it wants to come out here and Too much of it is
flesh Think about it. One of the things
that made me think of this, Henry said something on a message the
other day, and Deb said, boy, that's pretty good. And I was
thinking the same thing and didn't say it out loud until after she
did, but here it is. Think about this, folks. You
understand? We are sheep, right? The sheep of his pasture. But
you understand, we don't make more sheep. It's God that gives
the increase. It's God that brings the sheep
in. We preach his word, his gospel. We sow the seed, you understand? But it's God that gives the increase.
The father is the husbandman, Christ is the vine, we're a branch. We don't make more branches,
the vine does. Or there won't be no branches. But Henry said this, and this
got a hold of me, Walter. Think about this. Every single
circumcised Jew could only produce uncircumcised sons. Ain't that
true? That's true. You understand? That went all over me when he
first said that. He said that out there. I remember that. And
Deb said, boy, that's good. I think, yeah, it is. It's not
up to us because what in my flesh still dwells no good thing Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean thing Well, not me and not you but here God can
With man, it's impossible. But with God all things are possible. I This is the believer's life. He's both poor and he's rich
at the same time. He's weak and he's strong in
Christ. The believer is both vanquished
and victorious at the same time. He's timid and he's bold. She's in the world, but she's
not of the world. We are distracted by life and
yet concentrated on Christ at the same time. We're both empty and we're full. And we are dying and yet we are
more alive than ever before. We are, believers are, the old
man and the new man. Now there's coming a day. There's
coming a day. He's promised this salvation
will be complete. But it's not yet. So what do
we do? Guess what? We wait. We wait. You understand? Like
I said, we don't make sheep. We preach, we teach, we witness,
we give testimony, and we wait. And God will give the increase
as he sees fit or not. God may give a decrease through
attrition as it will. Yeah, that's the way it works.
You understand? There are churches that were
big churches in the day that preached the truth of God. And
right now, they're preaching the biggest bunch of lies you
ever wanted to hear, or you never wanted to hear. You understand? God does as he wills. But here's
the thing. Don't be discouraged by your
flesh. Mortify the members thereof. Because this is the way we are.
This is our life. Empty and full at the same time.
This is our life, sad and joyous at the same time. Hope thou in God and him extol
who gives his saving help to me. That's all we can do. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
for this, your Lord, dear Lord, ours. Lord Jesus Christ has done
all and is doing all and has given all for us to us And given
all in us Thank you Lord for sending your son for accepting
him Perfect holiness granted to us in him Mmm Christ name
we pray amen