Our Lord said to Nicodemus, and
he says to all men and women, all the sons of Adam of every
age, ye must be born again. You cannot see, you cannot enter
into the kingdom of God unless you're born of the Spirit of
God. It's not possible for man or
woman to see God and to live forever in the bliss
of God's glory in heaven unless you're born again by God's almighty
grace, a religious experience will do you no good. A religious
creed will be of no value to your soul. A religious profession
will be of no importance whatsoever when you stand before God. This
is the question. Are you or are you not born again? Are you born of God's Spirit?
I'm not asking, have you made a little trip down the aisle
and said a little prayer And she had a few tears, and she
shook hands with the preacher, got in the baptismal pool, and
been in the church. I'm asking, are you born again
by the Spirit of God? Now, the new birth is a radical,
radical change wrought in us by the power and grace of God
the Holy Spirit. It is a spiritual resurrection
from the dead. I cannot tell you how to be born
again. There is no formula in the Word
of God given for the new birth. Anytime a man starts to tell
you how to be born again, mark it down, he's either a liar or
he has deceived himself. Anytime you pick up a book or
a tract and it talks about how to be born again, how to have
the new birth, the person writing it is deceiving your soul. Nobody
has the secret knowledge of how to be born again. That's the
work of God. It is a resurrection from the
dead. We were dead in sin, spiritually dead, dead with regard to God
and with regard to all things spiritual. In the new birth,
God the Holy Spirit has raised us from the dead. He has created
life where life did not exist before. And this work of regeneration
is altogether the work of God's sovereign grace by the power
of his spirit. It's not dependent upon the talents
or the abilities or the warmth or the zeal or the emotion
or the compassion of the preacher. It's not dependent upon the special
music or the choir or anything of that kind. It's not dependent
upon being able to close the service just right. Those who
are dead will live. only if God gives life. That's all. That's all. Some
of you here today are dead in trespasses and in sins. You are
all religious or you wouldn't be here. You all have some religious
feelings, some religious experiences, some religious profession or
some religious doctrine that you hold to and you think is
right. And you're trying your best to figure out a way to get
to God when you come to die. And if you are left to yourselves,
you will leave this place just like you came in, dead in trespasses
and sins. But, O Spirit of God, if you
will now speak by your word, Son of God, if you will cause
the dead to hear your voice, the dead shall live. May he be
pleased to do so. This new birth is what God promised
in the covenant of grace to all his elect. It is the direct and
certain result of Christ's sin atoning sacrifice. The new birth
is accomplished by God's sovereign will, God's irresistible power,
and God's free grace. It is the spirit that quickeneth,
the flesh profiteth nothing. We are born again, not of the
will of man, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God. It
is not him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
that showeth mercy, by which men are born again. If you today
are born again, it is because God chose to save you, it is
because Christ redeemed you, and it is because the Holy Spirit
has called you from death to life. Now, this new birth is
a radical change. It is a change from darkness
to light, from death to life, from bondage to liberty, from
corruption to spirituality. It is not something that is hidden.
The Word of God plainly declares that there are certain things
which always characterize those who are born of God. If you and
I are born again by God's Spirit, there are certain things that
characterize us as men and women who have been born from above,
born from heaven, born by the Spirit of God. Now, I can't give
you all of them, but let me give you just five of these characteristics. Five characteristics of one who
is born of God. If these things characterize
us, we're born again. And if they do not characterize
us, we are not born of God. Now, that's the plain, bare fact. Number one, the first characteristic
of the new birth is faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Faith
in Christ. Now, that's the result, not the
cause of the new birth. Men are not born again by believing. If you believe, it's because
you're born again. It is the power of God's Spirit
which creates life in us and creates faith in us by which
to believe. But I'll tell you this, If you
do not believe, you're not born of God. Every man born of God
believes the Son of God. Listen to what John says. Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Now, do you or
do you not believe that Jesus is the Christ? Well, pastor,
everybody believes that Jesus is the Christ. No, most everybody
professes to. When John says that man believes
that Jesus is the Christ, he's saying anybody who is born of
God believes that this Christ, who is revealed in Holy Scripture,
is the Christ, ordained and appointed and accepted by God Almighty
as the Lamb and the sacrifice by which justice is satisfied
and sin is put away. He is the Christ who sits upon
the throne of sovereign dominion. Do you or do you not believe
that Jesus is the Christ? Do you believe that this man
of Galilee, this man who is the son of Mary, this man who was
the son of Joseph by his natural parentage, this man who lived
upon this earth in humiliation and sorrow and suffering, this
man who died at Calvary by his death has put away sin for all
his people? Do you believe that this man,
because he is God in human flesh, by his death has satisfied the
justice of God against the sins of his people? Do you believe
that this man sits on the throne of dominion and is God overall
blessed forever? Do you believe that this man
is the King, the Anointed One, the One of whom the Scriptures
spoke, the One revealed in the prophets, the One declared by
John the Baptist to be the Lamb of God? Do you believe that this
man sits in total control over all the universe? If you do,
you believe that Jesus is the Christ. Now, to believe that
is not simply to acknowledge that it's so. To believe it is
to live upon Him as the Christ. To believe Him is to rest upon
His finished work. To believe Him is to trust His
sovereign rule. The second characteristic of
one who is born again is the hope of eternal life. Peter tells
us that God, according to His abundant mercy, hath begotten
us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead. Do you have a good hope through
grace? That is, do you have the hope of eternal life and eternal
glory with the living God? A hope that is based upon the
Word of God, a hope that is founded upon the finished work of Jesus
Christ. If you have a good hope through
grace, so that you at now, with good grounds, upon good authority,
with good confidence, anticipate eternal glory. If you have that
kind of hope, you're born of God. And if you do not have this
hope, or if you have a false or ill-founded hope, then you're
not born of God. Thirdly, those who are born of
God love one another. Now, love or the lack of it tells
everything, doesn't it? We know. We know. We know that we have passed. from death unto life because
we love the brethren. Do you? Do you love them? Love. Somebody's asking me about that
this week. It's something more than a passion.
It's something more than a word. It's something more than a feeling. It's commitment. Are you committed to God's people?
I mean committed to. Do you love the fellowship of
the saints, the assembly of the saints, the presence of the saints,
the company of the saints, the communion of the saints? Do you
love the people of God? He that loveth not knoweth not
God. That's what John says. He that loveth not his brother
abideth in death. If you do not genuinely love
God's people, You're yet dead in trespasses and sins. Love,
I could spend a long time talking about that. You want to know
what it is? Read 1 Corinthians 13. Love does not gossip or slander
its object. Love does not ridicule or belittle
its object. Love does not hold its object
in disdain or scorn. Love does not abuse its object,
but rather love builds up. Love edifies, love strengthens,
love honors, love respects, love adorns, love magnifies. It never
tears down. Does that make sense? Now, if
you want to know whether or not you love one another, just read
1 Corinthians 13, you'll soon see if you're honest. If you
can honestly find the answer to this question, if you can,
you'll know whether or not you're born of God. Do I or do I not
love Jesus Christ and his people? Here's a fourth thing that characterizes
all who are born of God. It is commitment, submission,
and obedience to Christ as Lord. You see, God has translated us. He has delivered us from the
power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of his dear
son. By nature, we were all ruled
by and committed to darkness, sin, and self. That's the rule
of man by nature. He's motivated by, he's committed
to, he's ruled by sin, by self, by corruption, by the things
of this world. He's ruled by darkness. He's in the kingdom of darkness.
Some of you here are in the kingdom of darkness. Darkness corrupts
your mind. That's the reason you can't see.
There's not any light. Darkness controls your heart. Darkness
is the constant ruler of your life. All things about you are
just darkness, darkness, darkness, and perversion, and corruption,
and deceit. But when a man's born again,
he's no longer ruled by darkness. He's no longer ruled by self.
He's no longer ruled by sin. He's brought into the kingdom
of light, and he's ruled by light, and light's God. likes Jesus
Christ. He's now under the dominion and
the rule of Jesus Christ as his Lord. Again, answer this question. What rules you? What motivates
you? What governs you? If you can
honestly answer, you'll know whether or not you're born of
God. And there is a fifth mark of one who is born of God. I
want you to turn to Romans chapter 7. That person who is born of God
has faith in Christ. He has the hope of eternal life.
He loves the people of God. He's committed to Christ as his
Lord. And that person who is born of
God experiences a continual inward spiritual warfare in his heart
between the flesh and the spirit. The Apostle Paul says, the flesh
lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh.
And these are contrary, the one to the other, so that you cannot
do the things you would. He uses his own example to describe
that warfare here in Romans 7, and beginning at verse 14. For
we know that the law is spiritual. There's nothing bad about the
law. Nothing at all to be feared as far as looking upon the law
as being holy and spiritual and good. It is that. The law is
the law of God. It's the revelation of God's
holy character under the law. We know that the law is spiritual.
It is spiritual in its origin and spiritual in its content
and spiritual in its requirement. But I'm carnal, sold unto sin,
for that which I do I allow not, or I know not. For what I would,
that I do not. But what I hate, that's what
I do. Do you know what he's talking
about? What I hate, that's what I do. What I want to do, that's
what I don't do. He says in verse 16, if then
I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it's
good. I'm saying, yes, the law is good, and I would to God I
could live according to the requirements of the law. Now then, it is no
more I that do it, that is, it's no more me committing the evil,
but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, that is
in my flesh, in this body of nature, in this natural fleshly
nature of ours, In my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is
present with me. I want to do what's right. I
want to live for God. I want to honor His name. To
will is present with me. That's what I want. But how to
perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would,
I do not. But the evil which I hate, 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. This is just
a matter of fact. This is a law of life. I talk about laws of nature and
laws of science and laws of gravity. Here's a law of life. I find
this law. I find then a law that whenever
I would do good, evil is present with me." Yeah, I found that
to be a law. I found that to be a law of life.
It's just a fact. 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. And
this other law in my members is warring against the law of
my mind, the law of my heart, the thing that really I desire,
and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in
my members, that is in my natural body. Oh, wretched man that I
am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death. Now this is what I'm saying,
that man, that woman who is born again is two in one. Two men in one, two women in
one, two persons in one. Within his heart the company
of two armies is at war. There is within every believer
a man of sin, the flesh, and the holy man of righteousness,
the spirit. And these two men are at war
with one another. They never agree, and there is
no possibility of a truce between them. And today, if God will
enable me, I want to talk to you as plainly and honestly as
I can, for the good of your soul, about the warfare, this warfare. I want to just make five statements
and show them to you from the Scriptures, and I believe they're
things that all of you who are born of God will identify with. First, let me make this statement. and demonstrate it from the scriptures.
Every believer is a person with two opposing natures, two natures
that are direct opposites, two natures that are in every way,
in every way, opposed to one another, diametrically opposed
to one another. In our text, Paul speaks of these
two natures as I, the new man, and sin, the old man. He speaks
of these two natures as another law in my members, that is, the
principle of nature, and the law of my mind, that's the principle
of grace. In Galatians 5, 17, if you want
to read it, he calls these two natures the flesh and the spirit. In both places, he's telling
us that every converted man is a new man in Christ Jesus, but
that the old man of nature remains with him. Every child of God
in this world is still a child of Adam. Now those who have gone
on to the world beyond this, those who have gone on to the
world of heavenly bliss, they're no longer the children of Adam.
But every child of God in this world is still the child of Adam
by nature. We all live in this world in
these bodies of flesh with a nature of flesh. Now, when we talk about
the flesh, I think it's important that you make this distinction.
When Paul talks about the flesh, when I talk of the flesh, we're
not talking about the physical body. That's not what we're talking
about. There's nothing evil about the
body. God made this body. God made
this body in the image of Jesus Christ who was to come and be
our Redeemer. This body is not evil. And anything connected
with life in this body is not evil. That which is necessary
for life cannot be evil. That which is just a part of
natural life is not evil. Either the emotional or the physical
life of the flesh is not evil. We're not talking then about
the physical body, the physical life. Please understand that.
Sometimes we talk about dropping this robe of flesh and we refer
to this body and this body itself must go to the grave. But the
physical life is not the evil thing. When we talk about the
flesh, we're talking about that inward, natural heart. The inner man. We're talking
about the natural disposition and character of man. We're talking
about the old Adamic nature. Not the body of Adam, but the
spirit of Adam. Not the physical house of clay,
but rather that man housed within that physical house of clay.
Talking about the old Adamic nature that's in all men. By
birth we have the evil nature of sin. We got our daddy's nature
when we were born in this world. All of us did. We all are born
with the disposition and the heart of our father Adam. And
the new birth does not destroy the old nature. The new birth
does not eradicate the old nature. The new birth does not even change
the old nature. Don't ever think that. God does
not, in saving his people, in giving us the new birth, God
does not change the old heart. He does not change the old nature.
He does not improve that Adamic nature. In the new birth, God
implants a new nature, a new principle, a new heart, and a
new spirit, but it doesn't improve the old one. That old Adamic
nature is just flesh, flesh, flesh. Our Lord said to Nicodemus,
that which is born of the flesh is flesh. It always is flesh. It'll always remain flesh, nothing
else but flesh. I do not say that sin lurks in
the flesh, but rather that sin is the flesh. I do not say that
the flesh is prone to sin. but rather that the flesh is
sin. This is what I'm saying. No,
this is what the Word of God declares. That natural heart
of every man is sin. The natural being of every individual
is sin. Our father Adam, in his nature,
in his heart, in the essence of his being, became sin when
he rebelled against God. And you and I, in our hearts
by nature, in the essence of our being, not the physical body,
but in the soul, in the heart, in the inmost self, the essence
of man's being is sin and corruption. You bring man down to what he
really is. do away with all of the outward
physical form, and all of the outward physical life, and all
of the outward show, and bring every man down to just what he
really is, by nature, he's seen. That's all. That's all. That's
the reason Paul declares there's none good. That's the reason
Paul says, I know that in me, that is in my flesh, in my physical
nature, not my physical nature, but my natural being. In my natural
self dwells no good thing. Nothing good. There's not a good
thing in a human being by nature. Some foolishly imagine that the
flesh gradually gets improved. And almost all of us start out
that way, don't we? We about all started out thinking
that now we've got this thing licked. We've struggled with
sin, and we've been wrestling with sin, and we've been under
the conviction of sin, and we look to Christ, and Christ has
pardoned our sin, and now, boy, we won't have any more trouble.
We won't have any more trouble. Sin's behind us now. Oh, no. No, no, no, no. Now you're fixing to find out
what you really are. Now you're fixing to find out
just what is in you because you never knew sin before. You never
knew it before. You're going to learn it now.
You're going to learn it. And that old nature. He just
doesn't get any better. He doesn't improve. Most shocking thing I ever discovered. After believing the gospel. After
coming to faith in Christ, after being born of God's spirit, the
most shocking thing in this world to me was the discovery that
my old man was and is just exactly what he was before. Just exactly
what he was before. Now, that's hard reality, but
brother, that's reality. That's reality. This flesh has
not improved one iota in 20 years, not one bit. It hasn't become
one bit spiritual. It hasn't become one bit holy.
It hasn't become one bit sanctified. Those who foolishly suppose that
the flesh gradually becomes spirit simply do not understand whereof
they speak. The flesh is not to be cured,
it never will be, but to be crucified. The flesh is not to be sanctified,
it never shall be, but to be slain. The flesh has got to die! It's got to die! That's all that
can be done with sin. It's got to be put to death.
Put to death. But thank God, there is another
nature in every believer. Turn over to 1 John chapter 3.
I want you to see this. 1 John chapter 3. In regeneration,
God does not repair the old man. He does not dress up the old
man, give him a new hat and a new set of clothes, new pair of shoes. He does not paint his face and
make him look better. God creates a new man within. and that new man implanted within
us is the incorruptible seed of the word of God which lives
and abides forever. Now let me read a couple of scriptures
to you. Over in the book of 1 Peter, you just hold your hands there
in 1 John, over in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 23, the apostle says
that we are born again not of corruptible seed. Now if you
have delicate ears, time you got woke up anyway, so just pay
attention. The apostle here is making things
real clear, just as plain and clear as he possibly can. He's
saying, now listen, we are not born again of the corruptible
sperm of the flesh. That's what the word seed means.
But rather, we are born again of the incorruptible, that is,
the incorruptible sperm, which is Jesus Christ himself. He's
our life. He's our life. By the word of
God, which liveth and abideth forever. We're not born again
by natural processes. We're not born again by natural
power. We're not born again by corruptible
things, but we're born again of him who is life. He comes
and gives life, and the life he gives is himself. Does that
make sense to you? The Apostle Paul says, if any
man be in Christ, he is an old creature repaired, dressed up,
fixed up. Well, that's not what he said. He says, if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away.
Behold, everything about that man is new. Everything about
him. God gives him something he never had before. He gives
him life. God gives him a spiritual life.
God gives him a heart for God, a heart for Christ, a heart for
holiness. That's the new nature. Everything
is new. Everything about him is altogether
new. Now turn over here to 1 John 3. The Apostle John says, Behold
what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us. We're the
sons of God. In verse 5, he says, Now you know that Christ was
manifested to take away our sins. Now look at this next line. And
in him. Where are you? Are you in Christ
or not in Christ? If you're born of God, you're
in Him. Of God are ye in Him. Who of God has made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We're accepted
in the beloved. In Him is no sin. No sin. Now look at the next
lines. John is going to show us what it is to be in Him. Whosoever
abideth in Him, look at the word, sinneth not. Now the word is,
in this line, he does not habitually practice sin. Whosoever sinneth,
that is, sins and goes on sinning, sins his way of life, hath not
seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive
you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as Christ
is righteous. That is, the believer, the one
who is born of God, is one who goes on in his day-by-day life
living after a manner of righteousness. He that committeth sin, that
is, he that lives after in a habitual manner of sin, is of the devil,
for the devil lives in sin. He continually lives in sin from
the beginning. For this purpose, however, the
Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of
the devil. Now look at verse 9. John changes his language
altogether. Whosoever is born of God doth
not sin. You see the difference in the
language? He's not saying he does not habitually commit sin. He says he does not sin. He does not sin. Look at the
line. For his seed, that's the word,
his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin. Why? He's born
of God. This is that holy thing. It can't
sin. It's the seed of God. Do you
see that? There is within us a new holy
nature that cannot sin. Yes, the old man's there. And
that old man sins and sins and sins and sins and sins. Nothing
else but sin. But that old man's not born of
God. That old man's of the devil. That old man that we are by nature
is not the Spirit of God in us, but that which does not sin.
That new man in us is born of God and it does not commit sin
because it's born of God. It can't sin. It can't sin. Now,
this is what I'm saying. In regeneration, God has implanted
within us this incorruptible seed. And that seed, that life
which is implanted within us, that which is born of God within
us, is the very nature of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Peter says we're made partakers of the divine nature. It is a
new man altogether within. That holy nature created in us
cannot sin. It has no tendency toward sin,
no appetite for sin, and no taint of sin. It is holy, harmless,
and undefiled. It's Jesus Christ. All its appetites
are heavenly. All its thoughts are holy. All
its desires are toward Christ. That new nature, that new man
created in us, and that old nature, that old man within us, are diametrically
opposed one to the other. There is within us two natures,
two hearts, two wills, and two principles that are mutual enemies. The old man and the new, sin
and holiness, Adam and Christ, that's our nature. The one nature
hates God, the other loves him. The one nature hates the law
of God, the other loves him. The old man is of the earth,
earthy. The new man is from heaven, heavenly. That old man of sin no longer
rules and controls the believer. Turn over to Romans 6 and I'll
show you that. That old man of sin is no longer in charge. He
used to. He used to take control. He used
to hold the reins of the heart. Paul said we walked according
to the course of this world. We had our conversation in this
world like all the other children of wrath. But not anymore. That old man has been subdued.
Romans 6 and verse 6. The reason why we're baptized
is we know this. Our old man is crucified with
Christ. That the body of sin might be
destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. Then in
verse 11, Paul has told us now, he says, God declares that you're
without sin. God declares that you're holy.
God declares that you're freed from sin. Likewise, you declare
it. Reckon ye also yourselves to
be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in
your body, that you should obey it in the lust thereof. Neither
yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin,
but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from
the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness
unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are
not under the law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin? Well, that's ridiculous, because
we are not under the law, but under grace, God forbid. Know
ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey?
His servants ye are whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death or
of obedience unto righteousness. The old man's there, and the
old man's just like he always was. And the old man never does
anything but sin. But the old man's no longer boss.
He's no longer in control. He no longer sits on the throne.
That old man of sin, however, is still constantly with us. If any man say he has no sin,
he's a liar. He's a liar. He's a deceiver,
and he is deceived. I often illustrate it. I think
I've illustrated it to you this way, but it serves my purpose. I used to live over here in a
black, dark, filthy dungeon, and I loved it. I just loved
it. I loved the field, and I loved
the darkness, and I loved the dungeon. I never knew anything
else. I had shackles on my hands and
leg irons on my feet, but I didn't know it. I did exactly what I
wanted to do, but I always did the bidding of my master. was Satan, the old serpent, the
devil. But I was his willing servant.
And when my master would say to me, go out and work my fields,
I'd go out and work his slime pits and enjoy working his slime
pits. And I would go out and work in
his cesspool and enjoy working in his cesspool. because my heart
was one with him. That was my life in that dungeon
of sin. As a matter of fact, the dungeon
of sin was and is myself. That's where I've been. But one day, the Lord from heaven
came and with the word of pardon, he broke the iron shackles from
my wrist and the leg irons from my feet and the fetters from
my heart. And he brought light and life
and liberty and cleanness. And he brought me out of that
dungeon of sin and translated me into this kingdom of light,
into a palace of grace and purity and holiness and truth and liberty. And there are no fetters, there
are no chains, there are no bonds. And my master, is the Lord of
glory, Jesus Christ. And he has his beautiful, lovely
fields. And I willingly labor in his
vineyard. Willingly do so. It's my heart's
delight to do so. But that old deceiver has still
got some loyal servants in me. He's got some loyal servants.
They're traitors to me, but they're loyal to him. The lust of the
flesh. The lust of the eye and the pride
of life, yeah, they're still there. And I hear him call, Don,
go work my slime pit and I get my tools together and I go over
and wait a minute, I don't have to do that. I'm not your slave
anymore. And I go back to my master. Sometimes he calls and I don't
even hear him. Sometimes he calls, and I get
my tools, and with all the willingness of my old nature, I crawl into
his slime pit, and I work. What am I doing here? I'm not
under the dominion of sin! I'll go back to my master. And
I live there. But that old man's always there.
He's always there. Always there. and always ready
for every evil, for every evil is what he is. Does that make
sense to you? Now, blessed be God. All believers
do have a new nature, a new nature that is holy, righteous, and
heavenly. Grace does make a difference
in a man. The man who is born of God is
not the same as other men. He is an entirely new man with
an entirely new nature within him. And this new nature is what
he truly is. Let me show it to you here in
Romans chapter 7. Look at verse, let me see, verse
20, verse 17. Now then, it is no more I that
do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Now, Paul is not shifting
responsibility. He's just declaring the reality.
He's saying, when I do the evil, that's not me. That's not me. That's Adam. That's not me. That's what I was. And verse
20, now if I do that, I would not. It is no more I that do
it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Do you see that, Bob? It's
not me. It's not that new man. It's not
that man that's born of God. It's that old man that's cursed,
and I curse him. I cursed it! That old man of
sin. That's what it is that commits
rebellion and sin against God. The new nature may be weak and
it may seem to struggle for existence, but it's there and it reigns
over the passions of the flesh. The passions of the flesh are
as great as ever they were, but they are no longer in control.
That's what I'm saying. Before God saved us, We walked after the passions
of our flesh. We did exactly what the flesh
wanted to do as long as it didn't cost us too much. That's right,
in a way. Just exactly what we wanted to
do. Now, I had some restraint. And I didn't always do exactly
what I wanted to do. Because when I was a boy, I knew my mother
would work me over good if I did exactly what I wanted to do.
But if I could do it and not get caught, that's exactly what
I did. And I had other restraints because
I knew if I did exactly what I wanted to do, the law would
get hold of me and I didn't want to go to prison. I didn't want
to go to the electric chair. And so I didn't kill folks. I
thought about killing. But if the law hadn't restrained me,
I'd have killed him just as quick as I thought about it. Just as
quick as I thought about it. And I didn't steal what I thought
about stealing. But if the law hadn't threatened me with punishment,
I'd have stolen everything I thought about stealing. And you would
have too. That's just our nature. We lived
after the passions of our flesh. And thank God for both the law
of the scriptures and the law of the land and the law of society
and the law of the family that keeps us from doing all that
we would. Thank God there's some restraints
placed around. What place would this world be
without those restraints? But we lived after the passions
of our flesh doing exactly what we wanted to. Now then, the passions
are still there. They're just as much there today
as they, they're more there today, because passion is stronger.
They're more real today than they were yesterday or 20 years
ago. The passions are more evil. Somebody
says, well, you know, my passions aren't the same as they were.
Well, as you get older, they change. They vary in direction, but the
passions of the flesh are still the passions of the flesh. But
these passions are now under the rule and the dominion of
Jesus Christ, the Lord, that new man living in us. Every believer
then has two natures, flesh and spirit, and these dual natures
cause an unchanging and unceasing duel within. That's my second
point. The flesh and the spirit are
constantly at war. Paul says in verse 23, I see
another law in my members, that is, another principle of life
in my body warring against the law of my mind. The flesh lusteth
against the spirit. The lion will not lie down with
the lamb in our hearts. Fire will not find a truce with
water in our hearts. Death will not be at peace with
life. Sin will not submit to holiness. Look at what Paul says in chapter
8 in verse 7. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. Now, you know what the carnal
mind is? That's your natural self. That's exactly what you
and I are by nature. The carnal mind is enmity against
God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can it be. It's not possible for the flesh
to be subject to the law of God. The flesh never will be submissive
to God. Though Satan has been bound and
Christ has been enthroned in our hearts, Satan's loyalist
within us, though they are under the sentence of death, they put
their heads together and they constantly plot to recapture
the throne of our hearts. The lust of the flesh are traitors
within us. They live within us and in constantly,
constantly war against us. The flesh, oh what a subtle enemy
he is. He'll let you rest, be at peace. After you've had a long season
of confidence and assurance, peace, and you begin to feel
a measure of contentment and satisfaction with your achievements
in the things of God. Suddenly the flesh falls on you
like a huge boulder to crush your soul down to hell and you
suddenly are seized with every corruption imaginable, suddenly
seized with every evil imagination that a man could possibly think
of. Suddenly. You're reading the word, reading
this book, the blessed book of God. And I dare not mention what goes
through your heart and mind. Dare not mention it. It's called
the flesh. You pray. He set aside times for prayer,
seasons for prayer, certain occasions of prayer. And that's all right. At our house, we pray before
every meal. But the flesh loves habits, doesn't
it? I get done praying while I'm
eating my meal. My heart cries out to God in
repentance for the prayer I've said, for it's always, not always,
almost always, so much ritual, so much repetition. Sit over here in the office,
try to pray and study the flesh. Just meditate. Go home today
or tonight and meditate on the word that you've heard today.
And while you meditate on that word, Satan will try his best
to steal the seed. The flesh will try its best to
drive out the seed. The flesh will give you great
ease and comfort and security in outward deeds of religious
service. and the flesh will make you content
with a mere form of religion. The flesh, I think, is never
so dangerous as when it appears to be completely subdued. Some of you probably say to yourself, well, I've never
had the kind of problems you're I have subdued the flesh within
me. The Spirit of God has subdued
the flesh within me, and now I no longer have those problems
with these horrible imaginations and lust and corruptions you
speak of. You are in grave, grave danger. Grave danger. Grave danger. So far as I know, nobody here
has a great struggle with outward crimes of wickedness. And somehow
we still talk about sin in those terms, don't we? The whole world's upset because
Jim Baker, you know, had his little fling. And the whole world's
upset because Jimmy Swaggart had his little role in the hay. But nobody thinks anything about
sin. Nobody, nobody. We even, we even
identify sin without the deeds. And we take solace and comfort
and self-righteous satisfaction in ourselves because we don't
commit the opposite deeds. That's right. I don't know anybody
here who's, who's guilty of any horrendous crimes of evil, any
horrible deeds of wickedness. But do not imagine for those
reasons that sin is only an outward act of indecency,
and that the flesh only has to do with outward deeds. Most people talk as though sin
is measured by deeds of drunkenness, adultery, murder, and profanity.
Paul's struggle was a matter of immeasurable inward evil.
In verse 15, he says, that which I do, I allow not. And the word is, I know not.
Paul is saying, I do evil without thinking about it, without consent,
without willing it. I do it even without knowing
what I'm doing. And I don't even know the evil
within me. Now remember, the man who makes these statements,
even before he was converted, probably had never uttered a
profane word. Even before he was converted,
he had never known drunkenness. Even before he was converted,
he had never been an adulterer, a fornicator, a blasphemer. Never.
He was a Pharisee. He was a strict moralist. But
he talks about sin. And when he does, he's not talking
about what is out here and what he does. That's what we are. This is what I'm saying. Those
very things which we loathe and despise in the actions of others,
we are constantly guilty of ourselves. And we loathe and despise these
things in ourselves if we're born of God more than in anyone
else. Far as I know, nobody here is
guilty of idol worship. I don't know anybody here who'd
bow down and worship a stick or a stone or the Virgin Mary
or an angel or anything of that kind. I don't know anybody here
who'd bow down at a crucifix or bow down at an idol of Buddha. But we got plenty of idolatry,
don't we? None of us are guilty of drunkenness. I've never heard a report of
anybody in this assembly being drunk. but how intoxicated we are with
materialism. None of us are guilty of outward
adultery. I don't know of anybody here
who's committed the outward deed. Don't
know of anybody here. But we're so full of lust that
we can't even talk about them. None of us here are thieves,
Nobody here had been convicted of robbing a bank, but we're
all thieves, but we're all full of covetousness. None of us are
notorious liars. Somebody tells me something,
I believe them, among you people here, but we're all full of pretense
and hypocrisy. None of us are profane swearers.
I never heard a man in this assembly cuss the blue streak, as they
say. Never heard it happen. But we're all impatient and prone
to fits of temper. Now you tell me the difference. None of us here are legally guilty
of murder, but we're all easily stirred
to anger, malice, and revenge. I know these things are in you,
and I know they're in me. I know it by the word of God,
and I know it by bitter experience. This is the nature of man. But
there is a warfare in our souls. And if there is this warfare,
because we hate sin, that sin that is us, that warfare is a
blessed warfare. It is a blessed warfare. Many
people hate sin. Actually, they don't hate the
sin. They hate the results of sin. They hate the penalty of
sin. They hate the legal guilt of sin. They hate the fear caused
by sin. But they do not hate sin because
it's sin. Only one who is born of God,
only one who sees and knows the living God hates sin itself because
it is sin. Hates himself, abhors himself
like Job when he said, I've seen you, I abhor myself. I repent in sackcloth and ashes.
Where there is this warfare in the heart because of sin, God's
present. Grace is present and Christ is
present. The struggle between the flesh
and the spirit is real. bitter, it's lifelong, but it's
a blessed struggle, for it's an evidence of grace, and it
makes the believer kind, sympathetic, and patient with his brethren." Joey Browning and I are soldiers
together on the battlefield, and the cannons are firing, Bullets are
hurling. Men are falling left and to the
right. And suddenly Joey is stricken. And he falls. And he drops his
weapons. And his heart sags and faints.
And what's my response? Well, I pick him up and carry
him. We're on the same battlefield, fighting the same cause. It experiences
the same warfare, subject to the same horrible rules. I don't kick him. I don't cut
him off. I don't pull out a gun and shoot
him. I pick him up and help him. Because we're fellow soldiers.
We're comrades in arms. You follow me? Believers are
that way. We're comrades in arms. And when
one of our brethren falls, And we all do. We all do continually. We don't cut them off. We don't
kick them out. We pick them up and we carry
them because we got the same corruption, the same corruption,
the same corruption. And as long as we're in this
world, this warfare brings us into captivity. I was going to
preach on that a little while, but I can't. Oh, it's true, we're free from
sin. We're free from its penalty and we're free from its dominion.
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. What does that mean? Well, a soldier on the battlefield,
take the same illustration. fighting for liberty, citizen
of these United States. While he's out there on that
battlefield, he is a citizen of this land and he's free. He's
a free citizen. He has all the rights and privileges
of freedom. But you go ask him if he's free. Well, would you like to be with
your wife today? Oh, I'd give anything if I could be with my
wife, just for a little while. How would you like to see that
son you've never seen? Oh, I can see that boy. I'd love to see
it. Well, you're free to go. Oh, no, no. There's a battle
to be fought. And I'm not free yet. I'm not
free. I have an obligation. I have a responsibility. I'm
still engaged in the battle. And until the battle's won, I'm
not free to do as I would. That's me. If you're a believer, you know
exactly what I'm saying. You would love God with all your
heart, wouldn't you? But sin brings us into captivity. We
can't do what we would. We would pray, but sin brings
us into captivity. Sometimes we find it impossible
to utter a word of true prayer. I received a letter from a friend
Friday. She said, how do I pray? How
can I pray? I wrote back and I said, you've
asked the wrong fellow. I can't tell you how to pray. I just
say it. We would hear God speak through
his word. But honestly, sometimes. Can read for hours. And for what's said, that word
just will be closed. Sin brings us into captivity. We would live in perfect holiness
and never sin. Never sin, but sin. We would be content with God's
providence But sin wars against me, brings me into captivity,
and I find myself murmuring and grumbling and complaining. We would be weaned from this
world. Oh God, wean me from this world. Wean me from this world. God, wean my soul. Let me be
as a weaned child. But sin brings me into captivity. The believer, kind of like a caged eagle. I've
been to a few zoos and see that eagle sitting up in that cage
with a youth sitting on a steel bar, steel pipe. And he flaps
his wings, stretches his neck, looks up to the heavens. But
he's long since even given up trying to fly. He could. He could just take off and fly.
But there's a shackle around his foot and a chain, and he
couldn't fly up just a little ways, and he'd soon be brought
back down. And we would stretch our wings
and soar to that realm where sin is no more. But sin brings
us continually into captivity, and this warfare, this warfare
causes us to look to Christ for everything. God could put it
at an end right now. God could make us perfect right
here in this world, but it's best for us ever to take our
place as helpless sinners in the dust before his throne of
grace, before the cross of his mercy and his redemption, and
come like that publican crying, God be merciful to me, the sinner. Nothing in my hands I bring,
simply to thy cross I cling. Naked come to thee for dress,
helpless come to thee for grace. That's the only way for us to
come to Him. What's your hope? Christ. He is my wisdom. I don't have any other. My righteousness,
I don't have any other. My sanctification, I have no
other. My redemption, I have no other.
He's all. He's all. But thank God. Soon we shall
be free. Free from the presence of sin. And free from the consequences
of sin. Even from these tears and aching
hearts and sorrow. Free from all the consequences
of sin. Free from all pain. But oh, blessing of blessings of blessings. In Christ, by Christ, with Christ,
we shall be free from the very being of sin. Free, free. free from the very being of sin. Amen.