If you will, open your Bible
with me to the gospel according to Moses. The book of Genesis,
chapter 25. Genesis, chapter 25. Rarely, rarely does a day go
by that I don't have a visit or a call, email, a letter from
one of God's troubled children. asking me about the terrible
struggles they're experiencing with sin, the horrid thoughts of blasphemy
that flood their minds, the coldness and indifference
of their hearts when they try to pray, the horrible hardness hardness of
heart to the things of God, times of great darkness in their souls. David said, Thou makest darkness
and it is night when all the beasts of the forest
do creep forth. At such times, our God gives
us just one very clear word of instruction. You can find it
for yourself in Isaiah 50. Let me just read it to you. Isaiah
50 verse 10. Who is among you that feareth
the Lord? That obeyeth the voice of his
servant. That walketh in darkness and
hath no light. Who is it among you who fears
God, who obeys Christ, and yet you walk in darkness
and have no light? How often, how often we who are
children of the light just can't find any light. Because God makes
night and it's dark. And all the beast and creeping
things of the dark come forth. God says to such, let him trust
in the name of the Lord. And stay upon his God. When you can see nothing. And
feel nothing. and point to nothing in yourself,
in your experience, in your feelings, in your doings, in your thoughts,
nothing to give yourself any comfort or peace, whatever. Then trust in the name of the
Lord. Trust in the name of the Lord. That's what it is to trust. Stay upon your God. When you
have nothing else to lean on. No other crutch, no other prompt
for your soul. Stay upon your God. I spent a good bit of time this
morning early answering just such a letter. Shocking and painful
as these struggles are, they're common to God's saints, common
to all God's saints. John Newton, who wrote that hymn
we love to sing, sung universally by folks who even claim to be
Christian, Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a
wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found,
was blind but now I see. wrote these words as well. I
quote them fairly often. They appear in very few hymn
books and perhaps should not appear in our hymn books for
public worship. I don't know. But Newton wrote
these words that express much the experience of God's saints.
"'Tis a point I long to know. Often it causes anxious thought.
Do I love the Lord or no? Am I his or am I not? If I love,
why am I thus? Why this dull, this lifeless
frame? Hardly sure can they be worse
who have never heard his name. Could my heart so hard remain? Prayer a task and burden proof. I hear people talk about praying,
praying with ease and have no difficulty praying. That's just
not my experience. That's just not my experience.
Could my heart so hard remain, prayer a task and burden prove,
every trifle give me pain, If I knew a Savior's love, when
I turn my eyes within, all is dark and vain and wild, filled
with unbelief and sin. Can I deem myself a child? If
I pray or hear or read, sin is mixed with all I do. You who love the Lord indeed
tell me Is it thus with you? Yet. I mourn my stubborn will. Find my say in a grief and thrall. Should I grieve for what I feel
if I did not love it all? Could I joy his saints to meet,
choose the ways I once abhorred, find at times the promise sweet
if I did not love the Lord? Lord, decide the doubtful case. Thou who art thy people's son,
shine upon thy work of grace, if it be indeed begun. Let me
love thee more and more. If I love it all, I pray, if
I have not loved before. Oh, God, help me. to begin today. Genesis 23, verse
19. Here we have a very clear picture
of what Newton was talking about in that hymn. A picture of the relentless struggle
and terrible warfare that goes on in our souls day by day. These
are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham begat
Isaac and Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebecca to wife
the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of paid an errand the sister
of to Laban the Syrian and Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife
because she was barren and the Lord was entreated of him and
Rebecca 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 men or a people shall be
separated from thy bowels. The one people shall be stronger
than the other people, and the elder shall serve the younger. When Rebecca found two nations
struggling in her womb. She asked the Lord the same thing
Newton asked in his hymn. Why am I thus? This question
I've tried to answer many, many times from this pulpit. I'll
make another stab at it tonight. It's a question I raise relentlessly
with my own soul. Why am I thus? And like Rebecca,
I go to inquire of the Lord. Now, we will be wise to hear
God's explanation of why she was in this state. We'll be wise
to pay attention to God's explanation of what transpired here. I have
no question at all that Rebecca's experience when she carried her
twins in her womb was intended by God specifically. to illustrate
the conflict experienced in every heaven-born soul. Jacob and Esau
did not consciously struggle in Rebekah's womb. It's ludicrous
to imagine they did. Jacob and Esau were unborn infants. They didn't know any more in
their mother's womb than you knew in your mother's womb. Jacob
and Esau were like any other twins in the womb. They were
each one pushing for his own space as they grew in their mother's
womb. But the picture is given of the
struggle they had to teach us something of our own experience
of grace. We will be wise to pay attention.
First, God told Rebekah two nations. Two entirely different people. Two entirely different kinds
of people were in her womb. So with every child of God, there
is in us two entirely different people. Two completely different
people. I can't stress this adequately.
Two completely different people. Flesh and spirit. The old man
and the new. That which is of the devil and
that which is born of God. That which is the child of God
and that which is the child of the wicked one. Hold your hands
here in Genesis 25 and turn over to 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter
3. I want you to see this. 1 John
3. The chapter begins like this
behold what manner of love the father hath bestowed on us That
we should be called the sons of God We were called the sons
of God in eternal election before the world began Therefore the
world knoweth us not because it knew him not now watch this
beloved Now are we the sons of God? Right now right now you
who believe? are the children of God. Right
now, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Right now, made
fit, made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in life. Now, what's the next word? And
it doth not yet appear what we shall be. We're right now the
sons of God, but it hasn't yet appeared what we shall be. For
when he shall appear, we know that when he shall appear, we
shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Now, look at
verse 4. We'll go ahead and read verse
3. Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even
as he is pure. Whosoever commiteth sin transgresseth
also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. And
ye know that he, the Lord Jesus, was manifested to take away our
sins, and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth
not. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen
him, neither known him. Now, recognize that the word
translated sin here in the present tense, in the present linear
tense, True it is that the believer does not in the habit of his
life walk in the outward ungodliness of other men. But to say that
the believer does not continually sin is just not true. It is not true with regard to
you, me, or anyone else. To say that the believer does
not continually sin is just not true to our experience or to
the revelation of God's Word everywhere else in Scripture.
What does this mean then? When it says, Whosoever bideth
in him sinneth not, and whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither
known him. That old man that constantly
sins. You. You. Me. Somebody ask, which is me? The
old man or the new? Yes. Both. Really you. That old man, Adam, in you, constantly
sins. And that new man, you. Christ
in you, the hope of glory. That new man, that righteous
thing born of God, does not sin. Now watch the context and you'll
see that it bears it out. Little children, let no man deceive
you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He who does righteousness is
righteous exactly as Christ himself is righteous, for he is our righteousness. He that committed sin is of the
devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. He that committed
sin is of the devil, you. That old man that you are he's
of the devil for the devil sinneth from the beginning read on for
this purpose The son of god was manifested that he might destroy
the works of the devil verse 9 Whosoever is born of god now
watch what it says here doth not commit sin I would suggest
that you underline that about three times, put a star beside
it, and then highlight it in yellow, blue, and purple. Make
sure you understand it. Whosoever is born of God doth
not ever, at any time, to any degree, for any reason, sin. He's born of God. Is that what
it says? He's born of God. He's born of
God. And he... Watch now. Underline
it two or three times Highlight it with yellow red and purple
He cannot see it He cannot see it What? He cannot see it How come? Because he's born of God He's
born of God That new man, you Christ in you, that new nature
that's yours and you, because you're one with Christ, can not
sin. He's born of God. Read on. In
this, the children of God are manifested and the children of
the devil. Now that's not talking, Merle,
about the difference between you and the fellow who's in jail
down there for raping somebody. That's not what it's talking
about. It's talking about the difference between you and you. That's talking about
the difference between that old man in you and the new man in
you. That's talking about the difference between Adam and Christ.
That's talking about the difference between flesh and spirit. He's
talking about the same person. In this, the children of God
are manifest, and the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth
not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his
brother. All right, back here in Genesis
25. Rebekah found there were two
different kinds of people in her womb. And we find the same
thing. The Lord told Rebekah, one of
these is stronger than the other. One of these is stronger than
the other. Now, everybody presumes that's
talking about Esau. I don't think so. I don't think
so. He appeared stronger. He acted
stronger. Jacob thought he was stronger,
but who won? Who came out on top? Who conquered
at last? Jacob did. So it is with the
believer. Greater is he that is in you. than he that is in the world.
God's people shall prevail. Always. We are in Jesus Christ
more than conquerors through him that loved us. A third thing. We are told here
that in the next verses, Jacob came into this world. Holding
on to Esau's heels. He was born holding on to Esau's
heels. And God's elect are born again
while living in this body of flesh. Our life didn't begin
when we were born again. We began to experience that life
when we were born again. Our life began with him who is
our life, Christ the Lord, our surety, who is eternal life. And we are born again in this
world and begin to experience that life in this body of flesh
And then god told rebecca The elder shall serve the younger Esau was born To serve jacob
Now you go back and read the succeeding chapters in Genesis,
and you will discover that Esau never did a frazzling thing for
Jacob on purpose. Not one thing. Not one thing. Read it carefully. Pick up right
here in Genesis 25 and come back to me Sunday if you find anything
that Esau ever did for Jacob because he wanted to. Not one
thing. But Esau held the birthright
for Jacob, and Jacob got it. Esau had great wealth for Jacob,
and Jacob got it. Esau did lots of stuff for Jacob. Everything he did was just for
Jacob, and Jacob profited by it. Now, here's the lesson, children
of God. All that we experience in this
body of flesh. Painful. Contrary. Difficult. Unexplainable. Confusing as it
is. All that we experience. And I'm
not talking about from folks outside. I'm talking about all
that we experience in our souls, in this body of flesh, shall
serve the interest of our immortal souls, our good, ultimately,
for the glory of our God. Everything. Everything. The flesh
shall serve the spirit. Adam shall serve Christ. The
old man shall serve the new. Never, never, never shall it
be the other way around. This is exactly what the Apostle
Paul experienced in the seventh chapter of Romans as he describes
it. I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good
thing. The evil which I would not that
I do, when I do good, evil is present with me. Why? Why are we like this? Why is
sin so prominent in our nature? Why is evil present with us all
the time? Because that which is born of
flesh is flesh. That which is born of the spirit
is spirit. That's the only explanation that
can be given and you will find it nowhere except in God's word. That which is born of flesh is
flesh. And that which is born of spirit
is spirit. Those two natures are constantly
at war with one another. The spirit will never surrender
to the flesh. The flesh will never surrender
to the spirit. But the flesh will always serve
the spirit. We do not live after the flesh
and we don't walk in the flesh. Romans 8 says so. We live after
the spirit and we walk in the spirit. And those who walk in
the spirit do not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And yet we
never escape those lusts. We never will until this body
of death is laid in the grave. Now painful as this condition
is, it's best for us. It's best that we have to struggle
with it. It's best that we have the conflict. It's best that
we have the discomfort. It's best that we have the ups
and downs. It's best that we have the seasons
of darkness. It's best, it's best that we
find ourselves in the deep for three reasons. One, we must never
forget. Don Fortner never forget that the only thing that distinguishes
you from any other man is the distinguishing grace of God. The only thing. My bestest, the heart of every
reprobate in hell is your heart and mine. That's our nature. That's our
nature. I love that dear lady sitting
there. She's the finest human being I've ever known in my life.
And the heart of every reprobate in hell is your heart. That's
your nature. Understand that? What's the difference
between you and others? God's election, Christ's redemption,
God's saving grace. That's all. That's all. Nothing else. Nothing else. Number two. We must never forget
that our only acceptance with God, our only acceptance with God. When I was writing this out this
morning, I wrote down the only ground of our acceptance with
God. And I looked at that and looked at it. It's not right.
That's not right. The only acceptance we have with
God is Jesus Christ. That's all. The only acceptance
we have with God is Christ our mediator, God's darling son,
our substitute. Of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. Christ alone is our wisdom in
and by whom we know God and know God's ways and know every man
the plague of his own heart. Christ alone is our wisdom. Christ
alone is our righteousness. Christ alone Is that one who
is our righteousness with God? He is the righteousness of God,
and we're the righteousness of God in him. Christ alone is our
sanctification. He alone is our holiness. We
have no holiness, but he. No holiness. No holiness. That new man created in you,
that new creature made by God's grace is Christ in you, the hope
of glory, that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. And you don't have any other
holiness. And Christ alone is our redemption. Brother Frank
was asking me about redemption the other night, Sunday night
before we met in the office when he came in early. Redemption. is one of those huge words in
scripture. It doesn't refer only to the
sin-atoning death of Christ. It doesn't refer only to what
Christ accomplished at Calvary, though it includes that. Redemption
is the deliverance of our souls. from sin and death and all the
consequences of the fall into the glorious liberty of the sons
of God by Jesus Christ through the merit of his blood and the
power of his grace. It takes in the whole of our
deliverance. Redemption by blood, redemption
by grace, redemption and resurrection glory. All our deliverance. is Jesus Christ, the Lord, our
deliverer. And we must never, never, never
become content with our existence in this world. This state of things is designed of God to make us
constantly aware that he by his grace alone makes Israel to differ
from Egypt. It is intended and designed by
God that we never forget our only acceptance with God is Christ
the Lord. And we must never become content
with our existence in this world. But ever press toward the mark
for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Ever labor to be accepted of
Christ so that we understand and know that for me to live
is Christ and to die is gain. Now that's not just pretty talk
for funerals. That's reality for believers. To die is gain. Oh, what gain? What gain? It's such gain that at last our
Savior will present us, everyone, thoughtless before the presence
of His glory with exceeding joy. This is what it is for the believer
to live in this world. Constantly acknowledging our
shame. Acknowledging our sin. Trusting
in the Lord. Stayed upon our God. These inward conflicts are facts
of life for every believer. The conflict begins as soon as
you're born of God. And it continues until you drop
this robe of flesh. And the conflict has some good
effect because it does curb our pride. It does curb our pride. I have to acknowledge not much,
but it does curb our pride. I said to Brother Scott Richardson
one time something, I forgot what we were talking about, I
said, that'll take a starch out of a fella. He said, not for long. Not for
long. And the fact is, Our pride must
be curbed relentlessly. Because it is of all evils that
horrid devil that rises up in us relentlessly. And we mistake it for humility,
and we mistake it for goodness, and we mistake it for doing the
right thing. Pride. Remember what you are. Just see
it. except for what God's done for
you by His grace. It makes us, in measure, patient. Patient with others, patient
with our brethren, understanding. Now Sam, that's real, that's
so, it does. Imagine what devils we would
be if we didn't have that. Baddest things are now. Bad as
they are now. Imagine what it'd be like if
we didn't know this. And another good effect is that they produce good in
the end. I suspect, probably, and I just
suspect this, I don't know it, I don't have any scripture for
it, don't pretend to speak with authority about it, but I suspect,
I suspect that the day will come when the Lord God will allow
us to see that He ordered our fall in one area,
that he might use that to keep us from a worse fall in another
area. And the fall that now breaks our hearts, as
it should, will ultimately prepare us for greater usefulness for
his glory. You read the book of Job And
some folks have the idea, some good, faithful men have the idea
that Job was a lost man until you get to the end of the book. But God says plainly in the first
chapter, Job was a perfect man. That settles the issue. God says
it plainly. One that feared God and eschewed
evil. But then you start to read Job's
conflict with his friends, and man, Job Job acted horrible sometimes. He said some things that, he said, man, nobody who knows
God could talk like that. Did you read the book? Just read it. God said, he's
perfect and upright. He fears God and excuses evil
like no other man walking on this earth. That's what God said.
Now read what he says, what Job says. to his friends when he
gets bent out of shape. I mean, when he flat gets bent
out of shape. But when he got done. Job was
a better man for it all. And served God better than he
did before. And prayed for his three friends. whom he grew to despise when
they mocked him. Go talk to Peter. Peter trembled before a little
girl. Now I want to tell you something
about Peter, Lindsay. He probably was the manliest
of all the men who followed our Lord. If I If I were among them
and I was picking somebody to travel with me to make sure he
had my back covered, Peter would be the fella. He'd be what I
want. That man took out his fisherman's
knife. It's called a sword. But that
sword that Peter carried was not the sword of a soldier. It
was a fisherman's knife. That's all. Commonly carried. And with that, Attacked a soldier
who came to arrest the Lord Jesus right in the middle of a garrison.
I mean, that was a man. He didn't like boldness. He didn't
like courage. And a few hours later, that bold as a lion, Peter,
that rock, that rock, Peter. Standing, warming himself in
Pilate's judgment hall, and a little girl comes up. A little teenage girl comes up
and said, you're one of his. She don't know what she's talking
about. I don't know him. Another came up. And then a little
girl comes back and she said, your speech betrays you. And
he cursed and said, I don't know that man. Poor little girl. Why? Who maketh thee to differ
from another? What hast thou? that thou didst
not receive. And if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? Peter,
remember, you said, James and John and the others may forsake
you, but I won't. I'll follow you to death. And
he meant it. And he did it. But he's got to
be broken. He's got to be broken. And God
knows how to break them. Satan sifts him as wheat, but
he sifts him with God's sieve. And when he gets done, when he
gets done, Peter, after the resurrection, is preaching Christ Jesus. And
the Sanhedrin arrested him. These are the people who were
standing there in Pilate's judgment hall, clamoring that the Savior
be crucified. These are the men, the very same
men, who were crying, crucify Him, crucify Him, crucify Him,
while Peter was standing in Pilate's judgment hall, trembling before
that maid. They had to know. Larry, they
had to know. They had to know. And Peter understood
they had power, they had power to put him to death if they wanted
to. They said, what right do you have? What right do you have
to heal a man on the Sabbath day? And Peter could have said,
he could have said, I've done this in the name of the Lord
Jehovah, the only true and living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. And he'd been telling the truth.
And those Jews said, well, bless God. He's our brother. We're
one with him. And Peter knew it. But he knew
he was talking to God's enemies. And this is what he did. He said, by the name and the authority
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, this man
stands before you whole. Peter's back now. He drew out
his fisherman's knife again and willing to take them on in the
name of the Lord. Because by his fall, God prepared
him for greater usefulness. Esau only serves Jacob. Always serves Jacob. And soon the struggle is going
to be over. We soon shall be free from sin. Perfect triumphant. Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling. and present you thoughtless before
the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise
God our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now
and forever. I give you one word of admonition. Keep yourselves In the love of
God, looking for the mercy of our
Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Rest your soul upon Christ. Our Sabbath. While you walk in darkness and
have no light, trust your Lord. Stay upon your God. Amen. Brother David is going
to come sing for us and we'll be dismissed with this.