Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nybert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. Our text this morning is found
in Genesis chapter 25. We're actually going to look
at the same verses we looked at last week, and I've entitled
this message, Holy and Sinful? Question mark. Holy and Sinful? Now, while you're turning there,
if you can look in your Bibles, I want to let you know that this
Labor Day weekend, September 1st through 3rd, we're going
to have a Bible conference at Dodge Road Grace Church. It's
going to begin Friday night at seven o'clock, Saturday morning
at 10 a.m. and Saturday evening, 6 p.m. Sunday morning at 10 p.m. We're going to have eight different
speakers bringing a message on the gospel of God's grace. Now, let me say what I mean by
that. Salvation by grace is salvation
of God the Father electing a people, God the Son redeeming those people
that God elected, and God the Holy Spirit giving life to those
people God elected and Christ redeemed. It's a Trinitarian
salvation. And this is salvation by grace,
and every message will have something to do with salvation by the grace
of God, according to the scriptures. And we'd love to have you come
out and be here with us to hear these gospel message nursery
will be provided. Holy and sinful. Verse 22, speaking of Jacob and
Esau struggling within Rebecca's womb, And the children struggled
together within her. And she said, if it be so, why
am I thus? If I have life in me, if I have
spiritual life in me, why this struggle? Now, when it says these
children struggled within her, that means they were crushing
one another. It was an adversarial relationship. There was a war
going on inside of her. And she went to inquire of the
Lord. And the Lord said unto her, two
nations are in thy womb and two manner of people shall be separated
from thy bowels and the one people shall be stronger than the other
people, and the elder shall serve the younger. If you're a believer, if I'm
a believer, if God has birthed us into his kingdom, we have
two natures, a holy nature, and a sinful nature. Now, only the believer has two
natures. The unbeliever only has one nature,
the nature he was born with. But the believer not only has
the nature he was born with, the sinful nature, but he has
the nature that he was born again and given. You see, every believer
has experienced a new birth. being born again, born from above. Now, let's talk about holy and
sinful. What is holiness? What is holy? Well, God is holy. You know what that means? He
cannot sin. He cannot lie. He cannot change. Scripture says there are things
he cannot do. He cannot act contrary to his nature. He is holy. He doesn't even have the potential
to sin. He's holy. If he could sin, he
would no longer be holy. God is holy. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
of hosts. The whole earth is filled with
His glory. Can God sin? No. Can the Lord
Jesus Christ sin? No. I've heard people argue that
there wouldn't be any virtue in his resisting temptation if
it was not possible for him to sin. That's foolishness. He's holy. He was not tempted
to sin in the sense that he had to make a decision whether or
not he was going to sin. When it talks about him being
tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin, that's
talking about when he was made sin on Calvary's tree, he experienced
everything about sin in the sense of the guilt and the shame of
it. He never committed the sin, but he experienced all that. That's what that's talking about
in the temptation of Christ. When Satan tempted him, The Lord
said, the prince of this world has come and found nothing in
me. There was nothing for him to work with. Christ could not
have sinned. If he could sin, he'd be mutable.
It would deny his deity. It would deny his immutability.
It would deny his holiness. Christ couldn't sin. God, the
Holy Spirit cannot sin. He's the Holy Spirit. And that
which God gives birth to, cannot sin. Let me show you that from
the scripture. Now, what I'm saying is what
the scripture teaches. I want you to see that. And somebody
says, I don't understand that. Well, I'm not saying I understand
it completely. I certainly don't, but I believe it. I believe whatever
God's word says. Now look in first John chapter
three, verse nine, whosoever, this is first John chapter three,
verse nine. If you want to look at this with me, that would be
good. If you could open this, the scriptures and read this for
yourself. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. What do you think he says there?
I've read some translations that says that means he doesn't continue
in sin, or he doesn't make sin a practice. That's not what it
says. That's not what it says. It says
he doth not commit sin. That which is born of God, God
can't father that which can sin. That which is born of God, whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin. The new nature does not
sin. He goes on to say, for his seed
remaineth in him, the seed of God. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. God's seed remaineth in him,
and he cannot sin. He lacks the ability to sin because
he is born of God. That's what the Bible says. Somebody
says, I don't understand that. Well, I can't say that I understand
it, but I know it's so, and I know in me is two natures. Everybody
that has two natures knows it. You have a holy nature, you have
a sinful nature. Now, the second thing that every
believer has is a sinful nature, a sinful nature, a nature full
of sin to where all you do in and of yourself is sin. I don't
care if it's your prayers. I don't care if it's your Bible
reading. I don't care if it's your motives. Sin is there because
of that sinful nature. I don't become a sinner when
I sin. I sin because I am a sinner. I was born that way, and I still
have that sinful nature. Now, somebody that acts like,
well, I'm getting better and better and more holy and less
sinful, you're lying. That's just not so. You still
have that sinful nature that's just as bad as it was the day
you were born, and that sinful nature never gets any better.
You have a holy nature, you have a sinful nature if you've been
born again. Now, this is illustrated in these
verses of scripture in Genesis chapter 25. As I said, the doctrine
of the New Testament is clearly illustrated in the book of Genesis. Every doctrine in the New Testament
is found in Genesis, the seed plot. And here we have this.
So let's go on reading. The children struggled within
her. And she said, if it be so, why
am I thus? Why this struggle? It's what
Paul talked about in Romans chapter seven, when he said, when I would
do good, evil is present with me. I delight in the law of God
after the inward man, but I see another law of my members warring
against the law of my mind, bringing me into captivity to the law
of sin, which is in my members. Oh, wretched man that I am. He doesn't say, oh, wretched
man, that I used to be before God saved me. As a matter of
fact, until you're born again, you don't really know anything
about sin. You may mourn over the consequences of sin. And
indeed, sin brings such sorrow and sadness and tragedy in our
life. Think of the tragedy that greed
brings. Think of the tragedy that sexual
sin brings. Think of the tragedy that lying
brings. Think of the Tragedy that not
honoring authority brings. Think of the tragedy that stealing,
thieving brings, and covetousness. I mean, sin brings great consequences,
but it's only the believer that mourns over the sin itself. That's
what Paul was saying when he said, oh, wretched man that I
am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? I don't want
to sin. I hate sin. I want to be without
sin. But I see it at all times. David said, my sin is ever before
me. That's the experience of every
believer. Somebody says, well, that's not my experience. Well,
then your experience is not the experience of a believer. Every
believer who's been born of God knows they have two separate
natures. Now, they might not have it all
clearly grasped in their mind, but it's what they experience.
They say with Rebecca, why am I thus? Why this struggle within? Why this adversarial relationship
within? And the Lord said unto her, Two
nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be
separated from thy bowels, and the one people shall be stronger
than the other people. The new man, the new nature,
is stronger than the old nature, and the elder, the one who should
have been the one who served is the one who shall serve the
younger. Now, this is illustrated. Verse
24. And when her days to be delivered
were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. And the
first came out red, all over like a hairy garment, and they
called his name Esau. Now, the name Esau comes from
the verb to work. That's his name. He represents
salvation by works. He came out red, and that's where
we get the word Adam from. He came out with Adam's nature,
and he was hairy all over like a garment. Now, I think that
it's interesting that this man came out with his own covering,
his own garment, his own covering for his nakedness. That represents
the covering Adam and Eve made, that fig leaf to cover their
nakedness. He came out with his own covering,
not the covering God provided, but with his own covering. Now, we go on reading, and I
think this is so mysterious. And he that came out, and after
that his brother came out, and his hand took hold on Esau's
heel, and his name was called Jacob. Now, when Esau came out,
he came out head first, And the feet came out last, and when
his feet came out, there was a little hand clutching onto
his heel. His name was Jacob, and the word
Jacob means heel catcher. And I couldn't help but think
of the first time we read of the word heal in the Bible when
Satan is said to crush the Lord's heel. The Lord crushed his head
and the devil crushed his heel. This is speaking of his death
on the cross that saved us. And I'm holding on to that just
like Jacob did. That's my only hope is what the
Lord accomplished on Calvary's tree. Now, Jacob comes out and
the boys, verse 27, grew. And Esau was a cunning hunter,
a man of the field. And Jacob was a plain man dwelling
in tents. Jacob was not like Esau. Esau was an athletic man. He
was an outdoorsman, a man of the field. He was a hunter. He was just somebody that you
would think of as just being a very strong man. Jacob was
a plain man dwelling in tents. He stayed in the tents with his
mom, cooking. Remember where Esau came to him
wanting some of the stew he was cooking? But this is so important,
that word playing. Jacob was a plain man. Now that
doesn't mean he was an ordinary man. I suppose he was an ordinary
man as far as men goes, but that's not what the word means. This
word is used in the Old Testament 13 times. Nine times it's translated
perfect. Twice it's translated undefiled. Once it's translated upright,
and once it's translated plain. Now the point is, God says regarding
Jacob, who represents the new man, the new nature, he's perfect,
he's undefiled, he's upright. Now if you would have looked
at Jacob's conduct, you would have probably come up with some
other conclusions. He was a swindler. He goes on
to swindle his brother out of his birthright, out of his blessing.
He swindled Laban. He seemed to be a deceitful man
in many respects. Yet God says he's perfect. He's
undefiled. He's upright. The same words
that were used to describe Job. Perfect and upright. You remember
Lot. God spoke of his righteous soul,
that just Lot, that righteous man whose righteous soul was
vexed. Now God's estimation of something
is the way it is. And God speaks concerning this
man Jacob, the one who would say, Jacob have I loved. He said
he's a perfect man. And that is a reference to the
new birth. the new man created in Christ
Jesus unto good works. Perfect, not corruptible. Now, let me read another passage
of scripture to you from 1 John that I think will shed some more
light on this, this Jacob being a perfect and upright man. Verse
18, for we know, 1 John 5, 18, this is John speaking, for we
know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not." There it is
again. That one who's born of God sinneth
not. Now, I have to bring out that
some translations, other translations, say he doesn't practice sin.
He doesn't keep on sinning. He doesn't continue in sin. I love the King James Version
because I think it's the most accurate translation. It's a
translation. It's not inspired, but it's the
best translation. Those other translations are
men giving their interpretation rather than translating what
the Bible actually says. This is a real translation. It's
not some erroneous man's interpretation. It's what God says. We know that
whosoever is born of God sinneth not, but he that's begotten of
God keepeth himself, and the wicked one toucheth him not.
The wicked one doesn't have anything to do, work with, in the new
nature. Now, he has plenty to work with in the old nature,
but nothing to work with in the new nature. Now, this is Jacob,
this man with this holy nature. Now, these two boys represent
the two natures. Jacob, holy. without blemish,
undefiled. It's what the Lord called his
bride in the Song of Solomon, undefiled, perfect, upright. And Esau represents the flesh,
appealing to the flesh, a man's man, but the flesh nonetheless,
sinful. Now, somebody says, well, how
can I know what is holy and what is not. How can I see this? Can I behold, well, this part's
holy and this part's sinful? No, because both of these natures
come through one consciousness. You don't have two different
consciousnesses. You have one consciousness. It's
kind of like, one faucet with hot and cold water running through
both. And it is not something you can
see. It's not like, I've heard people
illustrate, well you have two natures and the one you feed
is the one that's going to be the strongest. Well, that's no
different than saying you have an angel on one shoulder and
a devil on the other and you're listening to one and listening
to the other and trying to make sure which one you're going to
listen to and which one you're going to decide to obey. That's
not so. That's introducing a third person, looking at the two natures.
It doesn't work that way. You have two natures in this
one person, and we're given an illustration of what this is
all about in the final pages of this chapter. And let's read
these. You're probably familiar with
this story. Verse 29, in this same chapter, Genesis chapter
25, and this is how you can know whether or not you have a holy
nature or not. This is the evidence of a true
holy nature. Now listen up very carefully.
God put this here for this purpose. Verse 29, and Jacob sawed pottage. He cooked stew. And Esau came
from the field, And he was faint. Maybe he'd been out hunting.
I don't know what he was doing, but he was tired and he was hungry. He comes in from the field. And
Esau said to Jacob, feed me, I pray thee, with that same red
pottage, that stew you're making. For I am faint, I'm hungry. Esau was polite. He seemed to
be a nice enough man. He said, may I have some of that
stew that you're making? I'm so hungry. And Jacob said, sell me this day by birthright. I'll give you this soup for your
birthright. Now the birthright was so important
If you were the firstborn, you know what? Everything went to
you. Everything went to you. The other
children got nothing. The firstborn got everything. And this is given to picture
to us that Christ gets all. All who have him have all. That's the significance of the
birthright. Now, what did Esau think of this
birthright? Was it important to him? Well, he said, behold, I'm at
the point to die. I'm so hungry, what good will
the birthright do me if I die? Now, he wasn't that hungry. I'm hungry every day, and I don't
think, well, I'm going to die. I do think I want something to
eat. And he was thinking that. He was living just for today.
And he said, well, what good would the birthright do me if
I die anyway? I'm at the point of death. I'm
so hungry. So he said, OK, I'll sell you the birthright if you
give me that soup. And the writer of the Hebrews said that Hebrews
was a profane man who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. Now, the word profane means accessible. It means you can be bought. Esau
could be bought. Now, you can't buy off a believer.
You can't say, I'll give you so much money if you'll give
me what you have in Christ. No way. I don't care if I had
all the world. It's worth nothing to me in comparison
to simply being found in Christ and having his righteousness.
But a profane person like Esau could be bought. So what happened? And Esau said, behold, I'm at
the point to die. And what profit shall this birthright
do me? And Jacob said, swear to me this day. And he swear
unto him and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. He said, here's this
bowl of stew. That's what Jacob said to him.
I want your birthright for it. Esau said, okay, we got a deal. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and
pottage of lentils. And he did eat and drink, and
rose up, and went his way. Thus Esau despised, belittled
his birthright." Now, here's the difference between somebody
who has a holy nature and somebody who doesn't. Jacob had to have
the birthright. He would do anything simply to
have the birthright. He had to have the birthright. Now, in the birthright, God gave
everything to Isaac. Abraham gave everything to Isaac.
Nobody else. He gave the others presents and
sent them off. But everything went to Isaac. Now what that
represents is everything going to Christ. He's the heir of all
things. Christ is all. He's all that God is. He's all
to God. He's all in the scriptures. He's
all in salvation. He's all God requires of me.
He's all God requires of me. He's all I want. He's all I need. I must have Him to be all in
my salvation. If God looks to me to come up
with anything, I won't be saved. I have to have Him as all. I have to have the birthright.
If He's not all, if something is required of me, you see, the
only way He's all to you is if you don't have anything. If you
have nothing to recommend you to God, Only then can Christ
be all to you. He's all you have. You don't
have anything else but Him. And you don't want anything else
but him. You simply want to be found in
him, not having your own righteousness, which is the law, but that which
is through the righteousness of God, the righteousness of
Christ by faith. Now that's, you have to have
him as all. Esau didn't need that. He despised,
he belittled his birthright. He was only living for the here
and now, and he'd sell it for that bowl of soup because he
didn't really see the value of the birthright. He didn't see
any value in Christ being all. Now, that's the difference. A
holy nature must have Christ as all. The sinful nature, it
doesn't really need that. Now, I love the way it said,
the elder shall serve The younger will be stronger, and the elder
shall serve the younger. Now, the elder, my old nature,
is a slave to my new nature. Now, what's that mean? My sin that comes from my old
nature, I hate it. I would never sin again. My sin
that comes from my old nature, drives me to Christ as my only
righteousness before God. It drives me to see that Christ
really is all, and I have nothing else, and thus my old nature
serves my new nature. It teaches me that Christ is
all. He is all in my salvation. So what does a holy nature see?
A holy nature really does see that Jesus Christ is all in all
of salvation. Now, we have this message on
DVD, CD. If you call the church, write,
email, or look on our website, you can find a copy of this message.
This is Todd Nyberg praying that God will be pleased to make himself
known to you. That's our prayer. Amen. To receive a copy of the
sermon you have just heard, send your request to todd.nyberg at
gmail.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.