Would you turn back to Luke chapter
24, when the Lord had risen and sent
his angels to tell the women at the tomb, we read in verse
six, he's not here, but has risen. And they remind them of something. Remember how he spake unto you
when he was yet in Galilee. Now, on at least three different
occasions, the Lord told these people and his disciples that
he would be raised from the dead. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
20, or Matthew chapter 16. Remember when he was in Galilee
how he told you of these things. Look in verse 21 of Matthew chapter
16. From that time forth began Jesus
to show unto his disciples how that he must go into Jerusalem
and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and
scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day. Look in Matthew chapter 17. Verse 22, And while they abode
in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed
into the hands of men, and they shall kill him, and the third
day he shall be raised again. Look in Matthew chapter 20, beginning
in verse 17. Now remember, all the disciples
heard this, every single one of them. Verse 17, And Jesus,
going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples apart in the
way, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, And the
Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto
the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death. And they shall
deliver him to the Gentiles, to mock and to scourge, and to
crucify him. And the third day he shall rise
again." Now they all heard this message. Peter, John, James.
As a matter of fact, a whole lot more people knew about it.
Look in Matthew chapter 27. This is after his death, before
the resurrection. This is during the time right
after he died. Verse 62, now the next day that
followed the day of the preparation, this is after he'd been put to
death. Matthew 27, 62, the chief priests and Pharisees came together
in the Pilate saying, sir, We remember that that deceiver said
while he was yet alive after three days I'll rise again. Now
evidently this was common knowledge. People knew not only the disciples
but just the general populace those who knew anything about
him knew that he said I'm going to be crucified and three days
later I'll rise from the dead. So he said in verse 64, command
therefore that the sepulcher be made sure into the third day
lest his disciples come by night and steal him away and saying
to the people, he's risen from the dead. So the last error shall
be worse than the first. Now we see how this was something
they should have known. And yet we read in verse 11,
when the women came back with this message to the apostles.
In Luke chapter 24, verse 11, and their words about the angel
saying, he's not here, he's risen. Come see the place where he was
laid. Why do you seek him that lives among the dead? When they
gave this message, their words seemed to them as idle tales. and they believed them not."
They just didn't believe. And as a matter of fact, if you
look at all four gospel narratives, they all point out the unbelief
of the disciples after the resurrection. What about Thomas? Do you remember
what Thomas said in John? He said, except I shall see in his hands
the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side, I will
not believe." Now notice the language. I will not believe. Unbelief is a choice. You only believe when you have
no choice. You can't help but believe. But when you do not
believe, you choose to not believe. I will not believe. Turn with me to Mark chapter
16. Mark gives more details about
this than the other writers. Mark chapter 16, beginning in
verse 9, Now, when Jesus was risen early
the first day of the week, He appeared to Mary Magdalene, out
of whom He had cast seven devils, and she went and told them that
He had been with them as they mourned and wept. And they, when
they had heard that He was alive and had been seen of her, believed
not. And after that, He appeared in
another form unto two of them as they walked and went into
the country, those two on the road to Emmaus. And they went
and told it unto the residue, believe they did. They didn't
believe. Verse 14, afterward he appeared
in the eleven as they said it meet and he upbraided them. with their unbelief and hardness
of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after
he was risen." He upbraided them about this. Now turn to Matthew's
account, Matthew chapter 20. I was looking at all these and
this is really what stirred up this message. verse 17, in verse 16. Then the 11 disciples, Matthew
28, verse 16, and then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee. Matthew 28, 16. I must have said
something wrong. Why did I say wrong? Matthew 28, 16. Then the eleven
disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had
appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped
him. But some doubted." Now, this
is very interesting. In the original, the word some
is not there. It reads literally like this. They saw him. they worshiped
him and they doubted. Looking at the Lord, risen from
the dead, irrefutable evidence right in front of their face.
They looked upon him and they did what everybody who ever sees
him does. When they saw him, what'd they
do? They worshiped him. That's the
response of seeing the Lord. They worshiped Him. You know what else they did? They doubted. It's not talking
about just some of them did, every single one of them did.
They doubted. Look at it! They doubted. I don't have a hard time understanding
this. And let me tell you why I don't
have a hard time understanding this. There is never a time in
my experience up to this point when I've not had to pray, Lord,
I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. Right while they're looking at
him and worshiping him, they still doubt. Lord, I believe,
help thou mine unbelief. If the Lord Jesus Christ was
physically here in the flesh right now, He is by Spirit, I
believe that, but if He was here in the flesh and I was looking
at Him, I would be praying the same thing. Lord, I believe,
help thou mine unbelief. They saw Him, they worshiped
and they doubted. Now this word doubt is only used
one other time in the New Testament. This Greek word is just used
twice, right here, and the other time when Peter was walking on
the water, coming to the Lord and then he quit looking at the
Lord and started looking at the waves, boisterous, and he began
to sink. And he cried out, Lord, save
me. How many times have I prayed
that prayer? Lord, save me. And the Lord put forth his hand
and grabbed him and pulled him out and said, Oh, you of little
faith, wherefore did thou doubt? Now this word. The first definition
given to it in the Greek dictionary is duplicate, duplicate, doubt,
waiver. And the root word that it's taken
out of is twice, twice. Now, what is that a reference
to? They're looking on him. They
worship and they doubt. There were two things going on. Worship and doubt. Faith and unbelief. And there is only one explanation
for this and I think you know. This is speaking of the two natures. They saw worshipped and they
doubted. Now, This thing I'm going to
try to deal with what the scripture actually teaches regarding this
thing of the two natures. And we have an example of it
right here. And you know the thing that is I really don't
have to convince somebody who has two natures that they have
two natures. You know it. You know it. It's not something
that you have to be convinced of. But this is the teaching
of the scripture. And What does it mean to worship? Well, that's the new nature that
does that. The Spirit of God. The new man. The old man doesn't worship.
The flesh doesn't worship. You know, there was a time when
you knew nothing of worship. There was a time when you had
religion perhaps, but you knew nothing about worshiping before
God. But since you've been born from above, you do. You worship
him. You love the way he is. You bow
before him in your heart. And this is the Lord. Worship. That's what the new nature does.
The old nature doubts. It wavers. It duplicates. I believe. Lord, I believe. Help thou mine
unbelief. Now, two separate and distinct
natures are found in every Christian. Now the only problem with that,
and it's not a problem that I've touched on this Wednesday night,
the only problem with that in our experience is we only have
one consciousness. I don't have one consciousness
that is holy and another consciousness that's nothing but sin. I have
one consciousness and I think the illustration is, I think
it's a good illustration is You've got hot and cold, you've got
one faucet. The water goes out of the one
faucet, you've got hot water, you've got cold water, you've
got the new nature, you've got the old nature coming out of
the same consciousness. The new man, the old man that are
both there. Now someone that God has not
saved has only one nature, the sinful nature he is born with.
Remember the Lord said that which is born of the flesh is flesh,
so he can't possibly understand this. But be that as it may,
it doesn't change the fact of the experience of the believer
and the two natures. But what I want to do first,
and really I really want to spend the bulk of the message with
this, is this what the Bible teaches? Is this some strange doctrine,
or is this what the Bible actually teaches? You know, I've heard
so many objections to this over the years. I remember as a young
man saying something to this about, to a preacher, he said,
well, you're preaching dual natures. I thought, is that a bad thing?
I mean, yeah, I guess I am. Is that wrong? No, it's not wrong. It's what I see the scripture
actually teaching, people say, well, there are so many dangerous
implications about this. You see, if you believe in two
natures, one completely sinful and evil, well, that gives you
an excuse for sin. You can be okay with your sin
because, hey, it was the evil nature that did it, and therefore
you can just not worry about it. It doesn't do that. It doesn't give me an excuse
for sin. It doesn't make me think that my sin's okay. It doesn't
give, it gives an explanation for my sin, but it certainly
doesn't make me think, it seems, you know, I couldn't help it.
It was my old nature that did it, and therefore I'm not going
to worry about it. What does the Bible teach? That's the only
issue, isn't it? What does the Bible teach? Well,
it's the uniform teaching of scriptures in both Old Testament
and New Testament. Ezekiel 36, verse 26, a new heart
will I give you. One that was not there before.
I don't know how many times I've heard preachers say, won't you
give Jesus your heart? What would he want with it? We
just read in Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 9 that the heart is
deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know
it? Do you think he wants that? What
would he do with it? Here's what I need, a new heart. one that was not there before. A new heart also will I give
you and I'll put my spirit within you. I don't need a changed heart. I don't need a heart improved
by grace. I need a new heart that was not
there before. In Jeremiah chapter 31, God speaks
of putting his laws in their inward parts. which in the New
Testament is called the inner man and the new man and the hidden
man of the heart. Throughout the New Testament,
we have language like that. And when I think of God saying,
I'll put my laws in their heart, he's not talking about the Ten
Commandments. Everybody's got the Ten Commandments
written on their heart. You're born into this world knowing
it's wrong to lie, wrong to murder. You're born knowing sexual sin
is wrong. That's why I always become upset
when somebody says, we need to be taught how to live. You know
how to live. Everybody knows how to live.
What we need to be taught is how to die. We need to be taught
what it means to look to Christ and rest in him. But as far as
everybody knows the difference between right and wrong. Everybody's
been taught these things. Everybody knows it naturally.
The scripture says the work of the law is written in every man's
heart alive. So this is not talking about
having the Ten Commandments placed in your heart. It's talking about
the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. It's a law of
life. It's something that was not there
before. It's called the law of righteousness. Romans 9 30, you
can't be satisfied with anything but perfect righteousness. If
you're a believer, you can't be satisfied with anything else.
It's called the law of sin. If you have a holy nature, you
can't see anything but sin in yourself. That's a law, a law
in your heart. It's called the law of love.
If you have a new heart, you can't not love God. You love
him as he's revealed in the scriptures. You love all of his attributes.
You love him just as he is. You wouldn't change him if you
could. You love Christ. You love his people. It's a law
of love. We read of the law of faith.
If you're a believer, you cannot not believe. Now your old nature
never believes, but your new nature always believes. And you cannot not believe. Try
it. Try to stop believing. You can't do it if you're a new
man in Christ Jesus. This is what God does to the
heart. We read the law of liberty. You
know, a believer cannot handle being brought into bondage in
any way. I've got to have grace. I've got to have the liberty
that's in Christ. You give me a rule, you give me something
that I need to do, that I need to keep in order to be this way.
I flip out. I can't stand it. I don't want
that. Every believer has a law of liberty. So this is the teaching,
really, of the Old Testament, and we're given such illustrations
of this. Turn with me to Genesis chapter 25. Here's the most powerful
illustration, I think, in the scripture. Genesis 25. Now this does teach God's sovereignty
and salvation with reference to Jacob and Esau. I realize
that. It teaches God's sovereignty and salvation. You remember when
God said Jacob ever loved and Esau ever hated? God said that. He said that twice. And so I
realize that this is given to teach us God's absolute sovereignty
and salvation. But look here in verse 19. And
these are the generations 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 Paddanaram, the
sister to Laban the Syrian. And Isaac entreated the Lord
for his wife. She was barren. She was barren,
she had no life. And Isaac entreated the Lord
for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord was entreated
of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. All of a sudden there
was life in her. She had been barren, and now
she has life in her. Verse 22, And the children struggled,
That means a hard fight. They were fighting. And the children
struggled together within her. There were two children in her.
She didn't know it at the time. And she said, if it be so, why
am I thus? What's wrong with me? I've got
this fight going on. I've got this struggle going
on. And you tell me I have life? What's wrong with me? What's
wrong with me? That's what she wanted to know.
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.
Now, she had two different lives in her. And there was a struggle. Two
completely different manner of men. I think of where God said
regarding the Amalekites, you're going to make war with them from
generation to generation. You're never going to defeat
them once and then they're gone. The next generation you make
war with the Amalekites. The next generation you make
war with the Amalekites. The Amalekites represent the
flesh. And they were the first people
to attack Israel after they went into the Promised Land. That
was their first battle. And you know, you don't really, the flesh
doesn't attack until you have life within you. But we see from
these illustrations of the two natures that believers have in
them. And what about Galatians chapter
5 verse 17? The flesh lusts against the Spirit. And the spirit lusts against
the flesh and these are contrary one to another. They're at odds.
They're not together. So that you cannot, you lack
the ability to do what you would. And that goes both ways because
of these two natures. You would, how bad would you
be? How sinful would you be if all
restraints were taken off? Right now, I'm not talking about
how bad you could be. I'm talking about what you are
right now. How evil you are. And what would you do? But you
can't. You can't. The only reason you
haven't done it was you can't. And turn it around. You would
never sin again. You would be just like Christ. You would never have a bad motive
again, you'd never have a sinful thought again, but you can't. You see, the flesh lusts against
the spirit and the spirit lusts against the flesh so that you
cannot do the things that you would. I think of 2 Corinthians
5, 17, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. He's a new
creature. He's not a changed life. Somebody
says, I have a changed life. Now, in my experience, my old
man's just as bad as it ever was. It hadn't improved a bit.
I hope the new man keeps him in check. But he's no better
than he ever was. I've got a new life. I'm a changed
person. Well I've got salvation is described
as a new creation. God creating something that was
not there before not taking something old and working on it and improving
it and by grace making it gradually better. But it's a new creation. Turn to Romans chapter 7. Now here's Paul speaking in his
own experience as a believer. And he didn't know this when
he wasn't saved. When he was not saved, he was
a stranger to this statement. For we know that the law is spiritual,
but I am carnal. sold under sin sold as a slave
to sin now before he was saved I can keep the law I'm I'm a
good person I'm touching the righteousness which in the law
I was blameless that was his attitude before the Lord saved
him but now that the Lord has saved him look at his language
He says in verse 15, for that which I do, I 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 to the law that
is good. I'm not blaming God's law. Now
then it's no more I that do it, that's the new man, but the sin
that dwelleth in me, the old man, for I know that in me that
is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present
with me. I would. never sin again. I would never have another proud
thought, I would never say another negative thing about, I would
never sin again. The will is present with me. But how to perform that which
is good? Usually I don't find. No, I don't find it. I find not. For the good that I would, I
do not. But the evil which I would not, that I do not. If I do that
which I would not, it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth
in me. I find in 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. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from
the body of this death? 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 old nature, the
law of sin. I think of the parable of the
wineskins. I think this is so beautiful.
The Lord said, you don't take new wine and put it in old wineskins. Through the process of fermentation,
the old wineskins are dried. It'll burst it and you'll lose
everything. You put new wine in new wineskins. God doesn't take his grace and
put it in these old hearts of ours. He gives a new heart that
will hold his grace, that will hold his gospel. Now this is
what the Bible actually teaches, and men sometimes will make fun
of it. They'll say this is crazy, but
If a blind man says, I can't see any blue in the sky, I don't
believe it's blue. It's still blue if he doesn't
believe it or not, doesn't it? Now, what do these two natures
actually teach us? It's evident from the scriptures. But what do I learn of the gospel
from these two natures? Well, first of all, Two separate
natures teaches us, number one, that total depravity really is. There's nothing about your nature
that God's going to work with, your old nature. It's totally
depraved. You're completely evil. You're unreformable. There's
nothing to work with. God does not use that which is
perfectly evil, that which is desperately wicked and deceitful
above all things. Now, Genesis 6, 5 says God saw
the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, nonstop. That's me. I believe that about
myself. Ephesians 2.1, and you hath he
quickened who are dead in trespasses and sin. John 6.44, no man can
come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him.
Now, if I don't believe in two natures, I believe I only have
one nature that God's working with by His grace, gradually
changing it and improving it and making it more and more conformed
to the image of Christ. Him enabling me by grace, enabling
my old man to believe, to repent, to love. Now, what this is, it's
a denial of the new heart. It's a denial of new creation.
You see, the old man has not helped or improved. And I love
thinking about this. When God created the universe,
what did he have to work with? Nothing but his own will. That's
it. When he created a new creature
in Christ Jesus, what did he have to work with? Nothing but
his own will. the new birth, because I'm totally
depraved, the new nature, I have to be given a new nature, a new
creation in Christ Jesus. You see, that which is born of
the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is
spirit. Now, that's how important this
is. If I don't believe in two separate
natures in this man, in my experience, I don't really believe I'm totally
depraved. It's a denial of sinfulness. It's saying God can take something
in me and work with it and make it better. Who can bring a crooked
thing out of a, well, I can't remember the verse, but it's
just not what the Bible teaches. And not only do the two natures
line up with total depravity, the two natures also line up
with total grace. Total grace. By grace are you saved. Through
faith. And that faith, it's not of yourselves. You didn't come up with it because
grace worked on that old nature and kind of made it. No. That's
not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of
words, lest any man should boast. Now, I don't need assistance. I don't need help. I need life from the dead. I
need God to do for me that which I cannot do for myself. And that is the teaching of two
natures. Now, denial of the two natures
opens the door for what is known as progressive sanctification. By grace, your flesh becomes
more and more conformed to the image of Christ. Now, there are certain things
you need to do to help that come along. You need to suppress sin. You need to read the Bible more.
You need to pray more. You need to do more. You need
to, but through that, through that grace working with that,
you can become holier and holier and holier and less sinful and
less sinful. And if you want to take that
out to, if you want to carry that to its logical extent, you
can become sinless in this life. If you want to take it out with
the implications of it, you can become sinless in this life. One error always leads to another,
but remember this scripture, the carnal mind is enmity against
God. It's not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be. So then, they that are in the
flesh cannot, they lack the ability to please God. Now the two separate
natures explain to me why sin is still such a struggle with
me. I mean a monstrous struggle.
Somebody says, do you have struggles within? Sure I do. Sure I do. How about you? Do you have struggles
within? Sure you do if you're a believer.
Now if you're an unbeliever, you don't know anything about
this because you don't know what sin is in the first place. But if you're
a believer, this gives you some idea why you have the struggles
going on within you. You can't do the things that
you would. Now, this doesn't give me an
excuse for sin, nor does it cause me to give in to sin because
it's my nature, but it gives me an explanation for my present
sinfulness. And I need to understand, why
am I like this? Just like Rebecca, if it be so,
if I have life, why am I thus? Why is this battle going on within
me? Well, if you have two natures,
you understand where that comes from. And these two natures we're
speaking of are the only explanation for so many scriptures. For instance, David said, I'm holy. I'm holy. How did he say that? The new man said that, and the
new man is holy. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers
of the heavenly calling, he said in Psalm 119, blessed are the
undefiled in the way They also do no iniquity. That's what's
said of them. They do no iniquity. They walk in his ways. How do
you explain what the Lord meant when he said, blessed are the
pure in heart? How do you explain that? If there
are not two separate natures, one that's pure in heart, and
one that's desperately wicked and deceitful above all things.
But look, the only way I can have a pure heart is if I have
a pure heart. And the only way I can have a pure heart is if
God gave me a pure heart, a new nature. What about the scripture
in 1 John 3? Whoso abideth in him sinneth
not, and whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. What is Peter talking about when
he talks about being a partaker of the divine nature? Let me remind you of something. In Genesis chapter 25, when we're
given this beautiful illustration, this is also said, the elder
shall serve the younger. The old nature, in your experience,
it's the eldest, isn't it? You're born with it. The wicked
are restrained from the womb. They go about as soon as they
be born speaking lies. That's what the scripture says.
You were born with this old nature and it's older than the new nature
that's been given to you. But that old nature shall serve
the new nature. How so? I'll tell you one thing my old
nature forces me to, to know that the only help I have is
the grace of God. that Christ really is all in
my salvation. It doesn't have anything to do
with me doing something or becoming better. Christ Jesus is all in
my salvation. My old nature drives me to that. My old nature will not allow
me to become complacent. It makes me see my need of Christ
continually. And I'm always saying, Lord,
save me. Why? Because my old nature is
after me. And you know all that's doing?
It's serving the new nature. It's making me to where I can't
look anywhere but the Lord Jesus Christ. It serves well in this sense
and this is what only God can do. God can bring good and does
bring good out of evil. Now you and I can't do it. Well,
I'm going to go ahead and sin so good will come out of this,
and so I'm going to go ahead and sin so I can trust Christ alone. Oh, you just are offended by
that kind of thinking. I mean, you know that's evil.
That's devilish to think of something like that. I'm going to, let's
sin that grace may abound. Let's sin so, no, but I'll tell
you what my sin does do. My sin makes me know that all
I have in my acceptance before God is Jesus Christ the Lord,
His righteousness, His precious blood. And it's more important
to me now than it ever has been. Now, the elder, the old nature,
shall serve the younger. But bless God, one day soon,
We'll only have one nature. Not gonna be very long either.
Not gonna be very long. One day soon, I'm only gonna
have one nature. A holy nature perfectly conformed
to the image of Christ. Now that holy nature I have right
now. But that lets you know the fact that I have the same holy
nature that I'll have in heaven. That lets me know just how much
this old nature drags me down because I'm made to cry out.
And it's the new man who cries there's a wretched man that I
am who should deliver me from this body of death. But one of
these days I'm not going to deal with that anymore. I love that
scripture where the Lord says regarding his people then shall
the righteous and that describes every believer. Righteous, right
now, righteous, righteous before God. Then, not right now, these
righteous ones don't shine like the sun right now, do they? But
then, after he comes in judgment and brings his elect into heaven
and the unbeliever is sent to his own place, then shall the
righteous shine as the sun. Every one of them, they're going
to shine as the sun and that shining is there right now, but
it's veiled with something called the old nature. Don't you look
forward to getting rid of this old nature? By the gospel. Let's pray together. Lord, we enter in with the disciples. Lord, we see, we worship. Oh,
Lord, we worship you for who you are. We see you as altogether
lovely. We see the beauty of your gospel,
and we're still made to cry, help thou mine unbelief. We ask in Christ's name, that you would deliver us from
ourselves and cause us to walk with thy dear son by faith. And
Lord, we say with John of old, when he heard you say, behold,
I come quickly, even so come Lord Jesus, we ask that you would
hasten your return. Lord, we want to be rid of these
old natures and Lord deliver us deliver us from taking our
old natures and trying to excuse our sin out of it. But Lord let
us know this is what your word teaches. Lord we know that if it had pleased
you you could have made it when you saved us in our experience
to not have to deal with sin anymore. But Lord, we know that
the elder, the sin serves in this respect. We know that thy
son is our only righteousness and our only salvation. And we
give thanks for him. And I bless this message to our
heart for Christ's sake. In his name we pray. Amen. We
got rich.