My request for this evening is
that you would examine what I'm saying and see if it's what the
scripture teaches. I want you to try this message
from the scriptures. I'm not asking you to believe
anything because I said it. Try this message and see if it's
what the Bible teaches. That's all that counts, isn't
it? I have entitled this message, Holy and Sinful? Holy and Sinful? I could have just as easily entitled
this message, The Evidence of a Holy Nature. You can hear this message and
know whether or not you have a holy nature. Holy and sinful. Every believer on this planet
can be described by both of these terms. Holy and sinful. All of God's elect while on this
earth can be described holy. They can also be described sinful,
full of sin. Those two terms, holy and sinful,
seem like they ought not be together, don't they? Seems like a contradiction
in terms. Holy and sinful. Holy means sinless. That's the only kind of holiness
there is. Sinless. Impeccable. Without the potential to sin. You, if you can sin, you're not
holy. Holiness does not even have the
potential to sin. This is the divine nature. Now let's see if I can back that
up with the scripture. Turn with me to 1 John chapter
three. Hold your finger there in Genesis 25. We're gonna come
back there. Verse nine, 1 John chapter three. Whosoever is born of God, what's
it say? Doth not commit sin. Now there are other translations
that will say he doesn't practice sin. He doesn't continue in sin. He does not keep on sinning. But that's not what the text
says. The text says, just as God said
it under divine inspiration, he that is born of God doth not
commit sin. That means exactly what it says. What's next? His seed, whose seed? Whose seed? God's seed. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and
abideth forever. Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin, for his seed, God's seed, remaineth in him,
and he cannot sin. He does not have the ability
to sin. He is unable to sin, because
he is born of God. Question. Can God sin? No. Can Jesus of Nazareth sin? Can the Lord Jesus Christ sin? No. He is impeccable. I've heard so many preachers
say, well, He didn't sin is the point, but to say he couldn't
sin means that, what, is there any specialness about his resisting
temptation if he couldn't sin? If he could sin, he's not God. If he could sin, he's not immutable. You know, that's really the same
argument Satan used with Eve. Right now, there's no moral virtue
to your innocence. You're just obeying your nature.
Now, if you eat of the fruit, you'll know good and evil, and
you'll choose the good over the evil, and that's what's gonna
make you like God. Well, that sounds good, doesn't it? Sound
good to her. She took of the fruit and did
eat. But the point is, Christ could not sin, and that doesn't
take away from the glory of his virtue and the glory of his holiness,
but he could not sin. God the Holy Spirit cannot sin. He's the Holy Spirit. And that
which God has birthed cannot sin. That's the point. That which
God gives birth to, and is that not what being born again is?
Being born of God? That which God gives birth to
cannot sin. Of his own will, James says,
of his own will begat he us. through the word of truth. John
says in John 1, 12, and 13, but as many as received him, to them
gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them which
believe on his name, which were born, which were birthed, not
of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of
man, but of God, fathered by God. birthed by God, the seed of God. Can that sin? No. And I'm giving what the scripture
teaches. That same man that cannot sin, has a sin full nature. You know what that means? That
nature can't do anything but sin. That's all that nature does. It's evil. It's evil. The way Adam was born into this
world, remember the Lord said, in the day you eat thereof, you'll
surely die. Now he didn't die physically, but he died spiritually. And he had an evil nature. God saw the wickedness of man
was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only, did you hear that? Only evil continued. Paul said in 1 Timothy 1.15,
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I used
to be chief. I was chief before God saved
me. I'm an ex-chief of sinners. Not that way anymore. No, Paul
said in his own experience, of whom I am. The chief. Paul wasn't saying that trying
to act humble. He believed himself as every believer believes themselves
to be the chief of sinners. Now there's a problem with that.
If you agree that I'm the chief of sinners, I'm probably gonna
get aggravated. I'd say, well, I'm just as good as you, maybe
better. That's just that old nature coming
out. But every believer, without exception,
knows that they are the chief of sinners, present tense. Kinda like turning on a faucet. I've used this illustration before.
You got hot water coming in one line, cold water coming in the
other, they come out of that one faucet. These two natures
come through one consciousness. But they're two separate natures. Now, the denial of this is a
denial of human depravity. It's saying human depravity can,
by grace, become better, can be acted upon, can improve. You see, this is an essential
truth. This is just as important as
election. This is just as important as
redemption. We saw this morning that this
passage taught divine election in these two men, but we're going
to see the two natures in this passage of scripture. Now, look
in verse 19. And these are the generation
of Isaac, Abraham's son, Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac was 40
years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel,
the Syrian, of Pandanarum, the sister 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. There is now life. There was
no life in that womb, and there is now life. And this represents
spiritual life. Yes, this is a historical event
that took place, but remember, everything in the New Testament
is illustrated in the book of Genesis. You can find an illustration
in Genesis of every doctrine of the New Testament. Now, look
at verse 22. Once there's life, verse 22,
and the children struggled together within her. When did life, when
did the struggle begin? When there was life. You know what my real problem
with sin came into being? When I was given life. Now, before
I had life, that doesn't mean sin didn't trouble anyone as
far as the devastations it brings. You think of the problems addictions
bring to people and families. You think of the problems sexual
sin have brought, the sorrow that it's brought into families,
homes, and nations. Everybody deals with the consequences
of sin. But only the believer struggles
with the nature of sin. And that struggle is literally
they crushed one another in the womb. They oppressed one another. They broke one another. They
bruised one another. They discouraged one another
as they struggled together. What was going on in this woman's
womb? She did not know. And what does
she do? If it be so, if I have life,
what's wrong with me? Why am I thus? What is my problem? Why is there this great struggle
within? Why am I thus? You know, I don't have to convince
any believer that they have two natures. They know it. They know it by experience. Might
not understand everything that's going on, but they know something
is. Why am I thus? What is wrong with me? And the Lord answers her in verse
23. And the Lord said unto her, two
nations are in thy womb and two manner of people shall be separated
from thy bowels. Now he's not being repetitive.
He's speaking of divine election in the two nations. Jacob have
I loved, Esau have I hated, The two, God's discriminating grace,
and that's what it is. Jacob have I loved, and it's
the only hope me or you have. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. These men are used by Paul in
Romans chapter nine to expound the glorious truth of God's electing
grace. But not only are these two nations
taught, two manner of men, two manner of people, one holy,
the other sinful. And one of those men will be
stronger than the other. You know, that which is born
of God is stronger than the flesh, isn't it? And the firstborn shall be a
slave to the second. We'll come back to that at the
end of this message, but this was all determined before they
came out of the womb. Verse 24, here's the human explanation. And when her days to be delivered
were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. Verse 25 and the first. This is speaking of Esau. Came
out red, all over like a hairy garment, and they called his
name Esau. Now the word Esau, the name Esau,
that proper name, is taken from the Hebrew verb which means work. Work. Salvation by works. He came out red. Same name as
Adam, Adam means red. He came out with Adam's nature. And the scripture says he was
hairy all over, like a garment. I mean, he came out just completely
with his own natural covering. And that garment is the same
word that's used for the goodly Babylonian garment, that garment
that was produced in Babylon works, religion that remember
Aiken, he stole and hid that goodly Babylonian garment, which
came from Babel, the place where they tried to build a tower to
heaven, the great picture of salvation by works. That's how
he came out. Now this is, um, I don't know how to say picture
this in your mind, but I've got to. Picture this in your mind.
Here Esau comes out. Head first. Head first. Out he comes. His feet come out
last. And when his feet come out, there's
a hand clutching on to his heel. Scripture points that out. There's
a hand. That struggle that was going
on, That hand is clutching onto his heel. And his name was Jacob,
which means heel catcher. They named him after what they
saw. Heel catcher. Supplanter. Now, I think it's interesting
that the first time the word heel is mentioned is when? Thou
shalt crush his head and he shall bruise your heel. And I know
this, every believer is clutching on to that as the only hope they
have. Every believer, without exception. Isaac was three score years old
when she bared them, and the boys grew. Talking about Jacob
and Esau. And Esau was a cunning hunter,
a man of the fields. And Jacob was a plain man, dwelling
in tents. Now, Esau was a man's man. He was a hunter, maybe like Nimrod,
the mighty hunter before God. He was a very masculine man.
He knew how to deceive his prey, and he was very successful at
it. As a matter of fact, you find out that that's why Isaac
showed favoritism toward him. Verse 28, and Isaac loved Esau
because he did eat of his venison. That's why I loved him. He gets
me good food, and he brings it to me, and I love his venison. And he showed favoritism toward
this boy, and that begins the dysfunction of this family. And
like I said this morning, there's never been a more dysfunctional
family. I mean, look what goes on in
chapter 27, the deceit, the lies, the cheating that goes on in
that very family. But here we have Esau described
as a cunning hunter, a man of the field. And Jacob was a plain
man. Some people thought, well, that
means he was simple. That word plain is translated,
is found 13 times in the Old Testament. Nine times it's translated
perfect. Two times it's translated undefiled. One time it's translated upright. And one time it's translated
plain. God the Holy Spirit says regarding
this man Jacob, he was a perfect man. an undefiled man, an upright
man. And if you would have looked
at his conduct, you would have said, no, he's not. He was a
deceitful man. I mean, look, I mean, his life
was a continued He deceived his brother. He deceived Laban. He
deceived his dad. He was just a deceptive man,
and that's what the word means, and there's no justification
for that. His actions were reprehensible. We would never say, well, it's
okay to act the way he did. It was not. It was evil. It's evil when I am what he is,
and it's evil when you are what he is. You're not excusing it.
It's wrong as it can be, but yet when God describes this man,
that word plain doesn't get it. It's the same way with lot. How
does the Holy Spirit refer to lot in the New Testament? Just
lot. That righteous man with that
righteous soul. Now if God says he's that, that's
what he is. Jacob is described as this perfect,
upright, Undefiled man same word that the Lord used to describe
his bride in the song of Solomon perfect undefiled Now if you would look to Jacob's
conduct as I said, and there's no justification for it his character
seems more of a supplanter than perfect and But this is the way
the Holy Spirit describes Him and every other believer. Perfect in Christ, given a new
nature that does not sin. That's the teaching of Scripture. Hold your finger there and let
me show you another passage, 1 John 5. We know. I love the we knows of the scripture,
don't you? We know. This is not something
we're unsure about. This is something God has taught
us. We know that whosoever is born
of God, sinneth not. There it is. Whosoever is born
of God sinneth not." Now, like I said, if you don't have a King
James Version, you have some of these other versions. I'm
not King James only. Some people think the King James
Version is inspired. It's a translation. It's a translation. I believe it to be the best translation.
I do believe that. But it's a translation. And there
are other translations that will say he doesn't practice sin or
he doesn't continue in sin. If that's what it does mean,
me and you are not saved, neither were the translators, neither
is anybody else. It says, he sinneth not. Whosoever is born of God sinneth
not, but he that's begotten of God keepeth himself, and that
wicked one, Satan, touches him not. Do you know there's nothing
for Satan to work with in the holy nature? Now he's got plenty
to work with in the evil nature, He demonstrated that with Peter,
but there is nothing for him to work with in the holy nature. Two natures. Now, turn to Romans
7. Romans 7, you're familiar with
this. Paul says in verse 14, for, Romans
chapter 7, verse 14, for, we know, there's another one of
those knows, we know, And when Paul was saying this, just like
John, he is speaking as the spokesman for the elect. All of God's elect
know this. We know. Don't have to convince
anybody of it, don't have to argue anybody into it, they know
it. We know that the law is spiritual, but I, and notice I think it's
interesting how he didn't say we this time. We know that the
law is spiritual, but I, now I'm talking about myself, and
every believer knows this, I am carnal, not I used to be carnal,
before God saved me. I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I don't
approve of it, I don't allow it, You know, if somebody that
has a holy nature doesn't approve of sin under any circumstance,
I hate sin. I would never sin again. And
I don't approve of that. I don't use this as an excuse
for sin. No believer does. But I don't
say, I don't do that. He said, for that which I do,
I allow not. What I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that it's good. Now it's no more I
that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I didn't do it, he did. That's what he's saying. I didn't
do it. He did. For I know that in me
that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Do you know that? For to will is present with me. want to be perfectly conformed
to the image of Christ. I don't want to ever have another
proud thought. I don't want to ever have another vain thought.
I don't want to, I don't want to sin against my God. I don't
want to sin against you. To will is present with me, but
how to perform that which is good, I find not. And as long as I'm in the flesh,
This will be the case. I find out. I remember one time
somebody told me, when are you going to get out of Romans 7
and get into Romans 8? Well, that person didn't know
anything about Romans 7 or Romans 8, did they? Verse 19. For the good that I
would, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that which I would
not, it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with
me, for I delight in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin, which is in my members. Oh, wretched man
that I am." Now, he didn't say wretched man that I used to be.
He said, O wretched man that I am, right now, present tense,
who shall deliver me from the body of this death? This dead,
wicked body I'm carrying around with me. And some have said that
Paul was alluding to a dead body chained to him, and that did
happen in those days. I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord, so then with my mind I myself serve the law of God,
but with the flesh, the law of sin. Now, if you're a believer,
you have two separate natures, a holy nature and a sinful nature. And like Rebecca, there is a
crushing going on within, a bruising. A fight, a struggle, Paul put
it this way in Galatians 5, 17, the flesh lusts against the spirit,
the spirit lusts against the flesh, these are contrary one
to the other, so that you cannot do the things you would. Now, if a man denies this, all
he's proving is that he only has one nature. If you don't have two natures,
you don't understand this. It's confusing to you. It doesn't
make sense. If you have two natures, you
know that it's so. Now, I've heard people say, yes,
a believer has two natures, but the one you decide to feed is
the one that's going to prosper. Let's think about that for a
moment. Let's think about that for a
moment. Who's doing the deciding of which one you're going to
feed? That's introducing a third person into the equation. And
that is no different than that little cartoon every one of us
has seen where a guy's got an angel on one shoulder and a demon
on the other, and he's listing which one he's going to listen
to. That's foolishness. That's all
it is. Every believer has two separate
natures. And it's a continual conflict between these two men. And it's
what made Paul cry, oh, wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from this
body? of death. I thank God through
Christ Jesus our Lord. Now turn back to Genesis 25 and
I believe this will be helpful to us in ascertaining whether
or not I have a holy nature. The Lord gives this story in
this chapter to teach us something about this holy nature. Verse 29, and Jacob sawed pottage. He was
in the tent hanging out with his mom, cooking. Now, I admire
a man that can cook. I'm not one of them. I can't
even boil water hardly. Or at least I try to keep it
that way so I won't have to. But Jacob was cooking. He sawed pottage. He made some
red stew. And Esau came from the field.
He'd been out hunting. He was tired, exerting himself,
and he was faint. And Esau said to Jacob, feed
me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage, for I'm faint. How many times have you said
the word, I'm starving? I say that almost every day at some
point. I can remember saying it yesterday. I don't think I've
said it today, but I did say it yesterday. I'm starving. And
I'm hungry. And Esau was hungry. And when I'm hungry, I've got
to eat. You know, I've always thought it's interesting how
people say they were so busy they forgot to eat. It ain't
ever happened to me. When I'm hungry, I want something to eat,
and I want it now. And that's how Esau felt. He was hungry. I guess he came in saying, I'm
starving. That's why his name was called
Edom, red. That's where the Edomites came
from. Now, here's something very curious. And Jacob said, sell
me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, behold, I'm at
the point to die. I mean, if I don't eat this soup,
I'm dying. Was he going to die? No. He was
hungry. But he said, I'm going to die
if I don't get something to eat. What good will the birthright
do me if I starve to death? He reasoned it out. This is the
thing to do. Behold, I'm at the point of death,
and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, swear
to me this day And he swear unto him and he sold his birthright
unto Jacob. 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 his birthright. Now here is the key to understanding
the holy nature. You can't look at yourself and
say, well, this was holy. That wasn't, but this is. Well,
what's the significance of the birthright? That's the key. Well, look in Genesis 24, verse
36. And Sarah, my master's wife,
bare son to my master when she was old, and unto him hath he
given that he hath." Look in chapter 25, verse 5, and Abraham
gave all that he had unto Isaac. If you had the birthright, You
had all. Christ is all. That's what the scripture says. Colossians chapter three, verse
11. Christ is all and in all. Now let me say this with regard
to Christ being all. He's all that God is. God gives all to His Son. He's
all in the scripture. He's all God requires. If you
have Christ, you have all God requires. And do you hear that? He's not looking for anything
else. He's all in your salvation. You're saved for one reason,
for Christ's sake. Everything God requires of you,
he looks to Christ for. Jacob had to have that. He had to have that. To Esau,
it really wasn't important. Sure, it's nice, but I gotta
live. Esau was living for today. I
need something right now. He was living for today. Jacob
had to have the birthright. Now, let me tell you something
I can say with as much conviction as I know
how to have. I have to have Christ as all
of my salvation, because if he's not all of my salvation, I won't
be saved. If anything is required from
me other than the Lord Jesus Christ, Him being all in my salvation,
all in my acceptance, all in my experience. I mean, He's,
I don't look to my faith, I look to His faith. I don't look to
my sorrow, I look to His sorrow. I'm resting in Him. My acceptance
is in the Beloved, nowhere else. And if it's not, if there's anything
that I have to come up with, I won't be saved. I must have
the birthright. Jacob knew that. He had to have
the birthright. Esau, he didn't have to have
it. Do you have to have Christ as
all for your salvation? Now you can
answer that. Do you have to have Christ as
all for your salvation? Is that absolutely necessary
to you? You have a holy nature. That's the reason why. You have a holy nature that can't
be satisfied with anything short of Christ alone. You don't want
anything else. You're not looking for anything
else. You simply want to have Christ as all. And the only way
you'll have Christ as all is if you have nothing of your own.
You can't have 99% Christ and 1% you. Christ is all. Now, Jacob, he had to have Christ
as all. You know, I think he was, he
had thought about this. This didn't just come up. He
thought, maybe all this off, I've got to get that birthright.
I've got that, whatever it takes, I've got to have the birthright.
And if you go on in Genesis 27, he had to have the blessing too,
didn't he? He had to have the blessing. Now, this I know, everyone
that God has saved, they must have the birthright. They must
have Christ as everything went to Christ. And you know your
only salvation is right there. And if this is take it or leave it, I don't
necessarily see this, you're easel. You're easel. Now, in closing, did you notice that it said in verse 23, 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, and the elder shall serve the younger. Now,
the new nature is stronger than the old nature. It's being forgotten of God.
That's stronger, isn't it? And it says the old nature is
a slave to the new nature. The elder, Esau, is going to
serve the younger. What that means is my sin, my old nature, forces
me to see that Christ is all. And I don't have anywhere else
to look. And in that sense, my old nature is a slave to the
new nature. That's how that works. Now, What
I have given is what the Bible teaches. I don't have any question
about it, but I ask you to search the scripture to see if this
is so. You know, I was listening to
a preacher on the way home today. I turned on the radio and I heard
the preacher say, I'm satisfied with Christ, but what I'm afraid
of is I'm afraid he's not satisfied with me. So what we need to do
is work really hard. And he started talking about
all these things we need to do to make sure Christ is satisfied
with us. Listen to me. Christ is satisfied
with me. Thou art all fair, my love. There is no spot in thee. He's satisfied with me because
I don't have any sin. I'm justified. Are you saying
you don't commit sin anymore? All I gotta do is breathe and
I commit sin, I realize that. But I am completely satisfied to
have the birthright and I don't want anything else. Let's pray. Lord, we're so thankful that your son is all to you,
all in our salvation, all you require, all we need, and all
we want. Lord, put in our heart this same desire the brother Jacob
had to have to have the birthright. Bless this message for Christ's
sake, in his name we pray, amen.