elect from every nation yet one
or all the earth. What a blessed privilege of grace
to have some part in that. I've entitled the message for
this evening, The Spirit Willing and the Flesh Weak. Now, the Lord had just gone through
that time of praying, sweating great drops of blood in the garden
of Gethsemane, and he said to Peter and James and John, tarry
ye here and watch with me. And he comes back to them, and
how's he find them? Asleep. And he said to Peter, the one
who had boasted, though all the rest of this bunch denies you,
I won't do it. He said to Peter, couldn't you
watch one hour with me? No. Watch and pray. that you enter
not into temptation. What's going to happen to you
if you do enter into temptation? We all know the answer to that
question. Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. And then he makes this amazing
statement as he looked upon them. And I have no doubt with compassion,
with love, the spirit Indeed is willing, but the flesh is
weak. Now, what does the Lord mean
when he's speaking of the spirit and the flesh? Is he talking
about body and soul? Is he talking about two distinct
natures? Is he speaking of a form of dualism? What does he mean when he looks
at his disciples asleep and wakes them up with this statement?
The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. The spirit is willing. Now Paul
said in Romans chapter 7, and every believer can get hold of
this, the will is present with me. I would be just like the Lord Jesus Christ. I would never sin. I would Never be proud and haughty
and arrogant and self-righteousness. I would be merciful and lowly
and gracious. I would be just like the Lord. I would. But you know what he
said after that? He said, how to perform that
which is good. You know what he said next? I find not. He didn't say I mess
up sometimes. He said, I find not. But to will is present with me.
The spirit truly is willing. And the flesh is weak. Now that word weak is also translated
without strength. I remember over 30 years ago
when I had what was called proteinuria. I think that's what it was called,
but I lost a lot of protein. It's when I was sick back in
1988. I got down to 140 pounds. And I lost most of my muscle,
seemingly all my muscle. And I remember when I went to physical therapy, I started bench
pressing a broomstick. And that's all I could handle.
And I couldn't speak. I could only whisper. I was so
weak. That's not the weakness Paul's
talking about, because that kind of weak still has some strength.
This weak means without strength. Unable to get the broomstick
up. Unable even to whisper. dead
in trespasses and sins. Now, what is meant by flesh and
spirit? What did the Lord mean when he
looked at his sleeping disciples and said, the flesh indeed is
willing, but the spirit is weak. Would you turn with me to John
chapter three for a moment? What is flesh? What is spirit? Now look in verse six. The Lord
says, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. It can never rise above
that. And that which is born of the
spirit is spirit. Sometime during the end of 1958,
I was conceived. Some nine months later, I was
born. I was conceived, there was life,
and I wasn't consulted about it. Life was given. And nine months later, I came
into this world. I was born after the flesh. Same is true of you. This is
the birth of the flesh, and we all have a common ancestor, don't
we? Adam. Now, with regard to our father
Adam, and we all have him in common, I love what one man once
said, if you shake your family tree long enough, Adam will fall
out, and he will. We all have Adam in common. Adam
the first man was placed in the garden, and the Lord said to
Adam, in the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die. Now, I was listening to a preacher
comment on that passage of scripture just this week, and he made this
statement. God is so gracious that even though he told Adam
he would die, he didn't. Wrong. Wrong. He died. Now, his body didn't
die. He didn't die physically. His
soul didn't die, but his spirit did die. That's what spiritual death is.
His spirit did die. Romans 5, 12 says, by one man,
sin entered into the world and death by sin. So death passed
upon all men in that all have sinned. That's why David said,
behold, I was shaped in iniquity. And in sin did my mother conceive
me. When I came into this world,
I came into this world dead. in sins. David said the wicked
are restrained from the womb. They go about as soon as they
be born, speaking lies. That's their nature. You know
why you don't have to teach a kid to lie? It's natural for him
to lie because he's born dead in sins, spiritually dead. The natural man does not have
the spirit the believer has. Now, Turn with me to Romans 8. Romans chapter 8, verse 5. For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit
the things of the spirit. Now here we have this concept,
flesh and spirit. Now let's go on reading what
he says about this. For to be carnally minded, and
that word carnally is fleshly minded, to think like a natural
man thinks. That's all it means. To think
like a natural man thinks. Is what? Death. But to be spiritually minded,
You have to have a spirit to be spiritually minded. You have
to be born again and given a spirit, a spiritual nature. But to be
spiritually minded is life and peace because the carnal mind,
the mind of the flesh. Notice the word is, is in italics. We can leave that out, the carnal
mind, enmity against God. Now that is the description of
the mind you and I were born with. Enmity, hatred of the living
God, hatred of Jesus Christ, hatred of the things of God. Now somebody says, I don't feel
that way. Well, if you don't know anything
about that, it's because you've never really heard the gospel.
You know, people don't know that they're at enmity against God
until they hear the gospel, and it makes them mad. That's when
they find out they're at enmity with God. But before then, they
think they're in good shape. But the carnal mind is enmity,
hatred of God. For it is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be. It is incapable of being
subject to the law of God. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. The way you're born into this
world, if God doesn't give you a new birth and make you to be
born again, You cannot please God and you will never be saved. The flesh is what all of us are
by nature. The flesh is weak, without strength,
impotent, dead in trespasses and sins, and the flesh can never
rise above that which is his. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. That's where we have some understanding
of total depravity. Everything about my flesh is
depraved. Every aspect, my will, my affections, my understanding,
it's all under the dominion of sin. And that renders every man
totally unable to do anything to save himself. That which is
born of the flesh is flesh. Turn with me to 1 John 5. This is a very important scripture.
Now that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. That which is born of God, the
Holy Spirit. And in the context of John chapter
three, what's he talking about? The new birth. You must be born
again. That which is born of the Spirit,
birthed by the Spirit, fathered by the Spirit is Spirit. 1 John 5, verse 18. We know, I love when Paul says
we know. You know, when he says we know,
I do too. I do too. I know this just like Paul did.
We know that whosoever is born of God, birthed of God, fathered
by God, To 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, not of blood, not of the will of the
flesh, not of the will of man, but of God. We know that whosoever is born
of God sinneth not. But he that's begotten of God
keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. There's
nothing for him to touch. You know, when the Lord said,
the prince of this world has come and found nothing in me,
do you know the same could be said of that new birth, birthed
by God? The wicked one cannot touch. that which is born of God. He
has nothing to work with. An absolutely holy nature. Now notice, it says, he that's
born of God sinneth not. Question, do you sin? Do you sin? It says, he that's
born of God sinneth not. I think it's interesting if you
look at some of the different translations where they try to
make it more understandable. The New Living Translation says,
he that's born of God does not make a practice of sinning. I've
never met that fellow, have you? The NIV says, he that's born
of God does not continue in sin. The English Standard Version
says, does not keep sinning. You know somebody who would make
that claim is just a liar. I don't continue in sin, I don't
keep on sinning, I don't make a practice of sin, you do too. That's pure lie and hypocrisy
and nothing more. You've lost all credibility.
Look, keep your finger there, look in 1 John chapter five,
verse, or 1 John chapter one, verse eight. If we say we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If
we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we've not sinned, and
I'm talking about anything I do, any action performed by my hand,
any word that comes out of my mouth, any good work I do, if
I say I didn't sin there, God says I did. And I'm calling him
a liar. And his word is not in me. So what in the world does John
mean when he says, he that's born of God doth not commit sin? Well, let me ask you a question.
Stay with me. Can God sin? Can Jesus Christ sin? Does he
even have the potential to sin? No. Can God the Holy Spirit sin? No. He's the Holy Spirit. Can that which God gives birth
to sin? No. It's not possible. 1 John 3. Verse nine. Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him. That which
God birthed And he, what's the next word? He cannot sin. It's impossible for that which
is born of God to sin because his seed, God's seed remains
in him and God's seed cannot sin. Being born again, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. Peter spake of the hidden man
of the heart in which is not corruptible. It's not even subject
to corruption. Now, when the Lord looked at
his sleeping disciples, he said, the spirit indeed is
willing, but the flesh is strengthless. The Lord said, the spirit quickeneth,
John 6, 63, it is the spirit that quickeneth, that gives life,
the flesh profits nothing. Now the nature of your first
birth is your flesh. It's not talking about this stuff
that you can pinch and hurt and all that kind of stuff. It's
talking about the nature you were born with. Everybody's controlled
by their nature. You know, that's why the very
idea of free will is so ludicrous. You can't have a free will if
you have an evil nature. You can't, well, I'm gonna be
holy now. No, it doesn't work that way. You're going to obey
your nature. The flesh is the nature you were
born with. The spirit is the nature God
birthed in you when you were born again and born from above. Now, every believer has two natures. Let me repeat that. Every believer
has two natures. Now, I've been amazed trying
to listen to what different men had to say about this and reading
about it, and they act like it's blasphemous to say you have two
natures. Well, that's ridiculous. It's
taught in the scripture. We're going to see that even more clearly.
Every believer has two natures, the nature of the flesh and the
nature of the spirit, the old man and the new man. The old
nature and the new nature, the old creation, the new creation,
that's the way the Scripture speaks. But here's what is so
difficult about this, if this is the right word. Both of these
natures pour out through one consciousness. One consciousness. And there's
never a time when you can say, well, that's the Spirit, that's
the flesh. You can't do that. It's like
the best illustration I can think of is a water faucet. You've
got hot water and cold water coming out of the same faucet.
You've got the old nature and the new nature coming through
the same consciousness. Now this is clearly taught in
scripture, but let me say this before we go on. If my understanding of this does
not lead me to see Christ as more precious, I've not understood
it. You know, that's true with regard
to every doctrine we ever understand, isn't it? If it doesn't lead
me to see my Redeemer as more precious, I really don't have
any understanding. I may think I do, but I don't.
When God teaches anybody anything, it's going to make Christ more
precious to them. Now, I asked a preacher if he
believed a believer had two natures. He said, yes, flesh and spirit. I certainly do believe that.
And then I asked another question. I said, well, does the spiritual
nature sin? And he said, yes, it does. Because
I sin. How can I separate that? I sin. And I gave him these scriptures
and tried to give what I thought they meant. And his response
to this was, I don't want to give anybody an excuse for sin.
And if you teach that a believer has two separate natures, that
will make them have an excuse for their sin. Since when does that give you
an excuse for sin? It doesn't in any light. The only people
that would make that as an excuse for sin are people who only have
one nature. And that kind of thinking is the same as saying,
well, I want to preach grace to free because that'll give
people an excuse for sin. If you preach grace utterly and
completely free, why, men will sin all they want. No, doesn't
work that way. Doesn't work that way. Now, we're going to come to Roman
7 in just a few moments, but let me say this. Roman 7, you're
familiar with that passage of scripture. What I would, that
do I not, what I want to do, that I do, I find in the law.
You're familiar with it. Most of you are anyway. When
Paul wrote that, was it before he was saved or after he was
saved? You can't read that and conclude
anything but it was after he saved. And really, It's only
when someone is saved and born again that they can have any
understanding of this. You have to have two natures
to understand two natures. It's just, it's, this is not
something you just figure out. And when you have two natures,
you'll understand you have two natures. Now I've even heard
people. acknowledging, preachers acknowledging
having two natures, and then saying, well, the one that you
feed is the one that's gonna have the upper hand. Yeah, you
have two natures, and if you feed the flesh, that's gonna
have the upper hand. If you feed the spirit, that's
gonna have the upper hand. That's foolishness. That's kind of making a third
party deciding which nature you're gonna feed. and it's just not
the way it is. That is foolishness and nothing
more. Peter said in 2 Peter 1.4 that
we're partakers of the divine nature. That's what the Bible
says. We're partakers. of the divine
nature. Now, I hate bringing up objections,
but I guess I have to with this. Somebody said, well, you're saying
people are little gods. I'm not saying that at all. But
I am saying what Peter said, we're partakers of the divine
nature. Now that doesn't mean that all of a sudden I'm God
or I'm Jesus Christ or I'm the Holy Spirit. That's blasphemous,
that's wicked. But every believer is given a
nature from God. And we're actually partakers
of the divine nature. That is what the new birth is. I've also heard people say, well,
It's not a new nature, it's God the Holy Spirit working in us. It's God the Holy Spirit who
believes. It's God the Holy Spirit who repents. It's God the Holy
Spirit who loves God. No, I believe. I repent. I love God. It's not God doing
these things, although you wouldn't do it unless he was in you, you
know that. But it's the divine Now turn with me for a moment
to Romans chapter 7. We're just going to read this.
I'm going to make very little comments on it. But I heard one man say this,
and I thought this was about as good a comment as I've heard
on Romans chapter 7. He said, Romans chapter 7 is
the story of the healthy Christian. And I would agree 100%. Not only,
I take it a little further, it's the experience of every Christian.
It's not just a healthy Christian, it's a Christian. It's a believer. One time somebody said to me,
we need to get out of Romans 7 into Romans 8. That's foolishness. You never leave Romans 7, you
never leave Romans 8. This is the experience of every
believer. Now look in Romans chapter 7, verse 14. For we know that the law is spiritual,
but I am carnal, sold under sin. You know, I didn't find that
out until the Lord saved me. You know a lost man can't understand
sin. He doesn't understand it to be in nature. He has no idea
what Paul is saying here. A slave, sold as a slave to sin. And every believer listening
says, that's me. I understand. Verse 15, for that which I do,
I'll allow not. For 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's good. Now it's no more I that
do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me,
that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me,
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 would not,
that I do. Now, if I do that I would not,
it's no more I that do it, but the sin that dwelleth in me,
I find in 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, who should deliver me from the body of this death? The flesh. I thank God through
Jesus Christ, our Lord, so that with the mind I myself serve
the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. Now, the Old Testament, particularly
the book of Genesis, gives us an illustration of every doctrine
in the New Testament. I love the illustrations of Genesis,
and they make it so we can understand what's being said. And Genesis
25 gives us such a beautiful picture of what's going on here. Would you turn to Genesis chapter
25? Verse 20, and Isaac was 40 years old when
he took Rebekah to wife. the daughter of Bethuel, the
Syrian of Badanaram, and the sister to Laban the Syrian. And
Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife because she was barren, no life. And the Lord was entreated
of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. There now was life. And the children. struggled together within her. Now that word struggle, they
were beating each other up in the womb. And she didn't know
she had twins. And she said, if it be so, if
I have life, why am I thus? What is my problem? 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 should be separated
from thy bowels, and the one people should be stronger than
the other people, and the elder shall serve the younger. Now, when there is life, you
find out there's two manner of people in you, flesh and spirit,
and they struggle. What Paul say in Galatians 5,
17, the flesh lusts against the spirit, the spirit lusts against
the flesh. And these two are contrary at
odds with one another so that you can't do the things you would.
The Shulamite said, there's two companies of armies within me. But she's given this promise. The elder, the old nature, the
one you were born with, the bad one, the evil one, it's gonna
serve the new one. There's only one way I understand
that. My old nature, my sinful nature, and let me say, I can't look at my sin and say,
well, I can't help it, it's my sinful nature. Can't do that. My sinful nature is all my fault.
But let me say this about my sinful nature. My sinful nature
serves my new nature because it causes me to continually see
that all I have is Christ. I can't look anywhere else. I
can't get any comfort. I can't get any rest from anything
but Christ alone. In that sense, The old nature
serves the new nature. You know, the Lord, if he wanted
to, he could have made it to where we didn't have a sinful
nature anymore, but he didn't in his wise and holy purposes.
But I know this, my old nature gives me nowhere to look but
Christ. And in that sense, it serves
me. Now, let me close with this thought
Nature, nature. Why does a tiger eat meat? It's
his nature. Why does a hog love to get in
the slop? It's his nature. Why does a cat
wanna be clean? It's their nature. Now, a believer
is given a new nature, a holy nature. Now, let me give you
some things that'll let you know what that holy nature looks like.
In the New Testament, I've given you these before, we read of
six laws. You know the laws of nature?
These are six laws of the new nature. The first one is called,
as Paul called it in Romans 7.23, the law of sin. If you have a
new nature, you see that everything about you is sin. That's a law. And it takes a
holy nature to see that. It takes a new nature. We read
in Romans 9 of the law of righteousness. If you have a new nature, you
cannot be satisfied with anything but the perfect righteousness
of Christ as the only righteousness you possess. Now, if you can
Loosen up there, you don't have a new nature. A new nature can
only be satisfied with the righteousness of Christ. And we read in Romans
14 of the law of faith. A new nature cannot not believe. The old nature never believes,
the new nature never does not believe. You can't not believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. You cannot
not believe that his blood is sufficient. You cannot not believe
that his righteousness is everything in your salvation. You've got
a law of faith. It's your nature to believe.
It's your nature. And then we read of the law of
liberty in James chapter one. This is a law and a believer.
You can't handle being put under bondage. You can't handle works.
It's your nature to stand fast in the liberty where with Christ
made us free. Works just, you can't deal with
it. Not if you have a new nature.
And then we read of the royal law of love. It's your nature
to love God as he is. You love every one of his attributes.
You love him just the way he is. You love the way he saves.
If you've got this new nature, you love God. And I'm not talking about man's
concept of God, I'm talking about God as he is revealed in this
book. Now, a denial of these two separate
natures in reality is a denial of what the Bible teaches about
regeneration. This is how important this is.
If you deny this, you deny what the Bible says with regard to
being born again. You see, if you're born again,
you're a new creation. You're made to be something you were
not. God doesn't work on the old man and improve it. God doesn't
enable the old man to get better. That's not what the new birth
is at all. It's a new creation. Now, this thing of two natures
never gives an excuse for sin, but it certainly gives an explanation
of sin, doesn't it? I can explain from that why I
am the way I am. And I know this, heaven is gonna
be when I don't have this nature anymore to deal with. I'll no longer have a sinful
nature. I'll see Christ as he is. Peter lays there with the rest
of them asleep when he should have been watching and praying,
as the Lord told him to, and the Lord gives us this commentary
on our condition. The Spirit is willing, and the
flesh is weak. Let's pray. Lord, we. Thank you for your
word and we pray that you would take this message. And use it. To cause us to pursue that dear
son. And to see more of his preciousness. And the completeness of his salvation
and Lord, we thank you for the spiritual nature you've given
us. That beholds the beauty of the sun. And Lord, we long for
that day when we'll no longer have this sinful nature. And it will be in thy presence,
beholding thy face and righteousness, satisfied, being awakened in
thy likeness. Bless this message for the Lord's
sake. In his name we pray. Amen.