Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Neidert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 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 Nyberg. I've entitled this message, Why
Am I Thus? In Genesis 25, beginning in verse
21, we read, And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife, because
she was barren. She was unable to have children. She could not produce life. And the Lord was entreated of
him, and Rebekah, his wife, conceived. And the children struggled together
within her. You see, she had twins. And this
was before the days of ultrasound. She didn't know she had twins,
but she had twins within her. And the children struggled together
within her. And she said, if it be so, why
am I thus? What a question. Why am I thus? Why am I the way I am? There was a struggle going on
inside of her. And she didn't understand it.
And she said, why am I thus? What is wrong with me is what
she was asking. Now, what I'm going to say this
morning, you will not be able to understand if you do not have
two natures. Now, what do I mean by that?
When God saves someone, he gives them a new nature. It's called being born again,
born of the Spirit. And when God saves someone, they
have the old nature, the one they were born with, the Adamic
nature, the nature of Adam, but they also have the new nature. The nature that God has given
them, they've been born of the Spirit. God puts a nature within
them that was not there before. There's something in them that
was not there before. You see, when God saves you,
He doesn't change your old heart. That old heart stays just as
bad, but He gives you a new heart. A heart that was not there before. Now, why am I thus? If you have two natures, you'll
understand what I'm saying. And if you don't understand what
I'm saying, pray that God will give you the grace to enter into
what is being said. Why am I thus? Why am I like
I am? I see, and as the Lord enables
me, I want to speak honestly. Oh, I want to speak honestly. I see great contradictions within
myself. I believe the gospel. I believe. And by God's grace, I love the
Lord Jesus Christ. I can say with Peter of old,
Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. He
is my all in all. He's my Lord. He's my Savior. He's my husband. He's my master. I love the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is real. He is my Redeemer. Serving Him is more important
to me than life itself. And yet there are things in me
that contradict that. Things that I just can't get
my... Hands around. Things that are so contradictory.
How could I think the things that I think? How could I do
the things that I do and still be a Christian? I see great contradictions
within myself that I can't reconcile. Why am I thus? What is wrong
with me? Now listen to me carefully. I know what I'm talking about
by the grace of God. Wherever you have true and genuine faith,
you have right alongside with it, unbelief. That is always
the case. Wherever you have true faith,
you also have unbelief right alongside with it. That's the
way it is all the time. It never is not that way. Somebody
once said to Charles Spurgeon, a preacher of the last century,
they said, I never doubt. And he said, I've never had a
doubt about you. I always knew that you were a
hypocrite. You see, somebody that makes that claim is lying. They don't, they're not being
honest. Wherever you have real faith, you also have unbelief
right beside of it. Do you remember that man who
said, Lord, you can read about this in Mark chapter 9, he said,
Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. Now is this just a
weak believer or is this the cry of every believer? Lord,
I believe, help thou mine unbelief. There we have the two things
in the same man. How can that be? Because the
new man, the new nature, the spiritual nature, believes. The
old man, the carnal nature, the nature we're born with, does
not believe. So wherever you have faith, you
have this new nature, Lord I believe, but you also have this old nature
alongside with it, help thou mine unbelief. The spiritual
man and the natural man. The flesh and the spirit. The new man and the old man. Now this new man has communion
with God. This new man loves God. This new man understands and
receives the message of the scripture. You remember when the Lord was
giving the parable of the sower, and the good ground here he describes
as that one who in an honest and a good heart receives the
word. Now, that honest and good heart
is not the heart that that man had by nature. That's the heart
that God gives. He says, a new heart also will
I give thee. And that heart receives the word. That's the heart that believes
the gospel. Now, this is what Peter calls
the incorruptible seed. And he also calls it the hidden
man of the heart, which is not corruptible. Now the old man
is corruptible, evil, nothing but sin, nothing but flesh, nothing
but unbelief. That which is born of the flesh,
our Lord said, is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit
is spirit. Do you remember when the Lord
said to his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane after he's
gone and prayed, to his father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thine be done. And at that time he was sweating
great drops of blood. He was getting ready to go to
the cross. And he knew he was getting ready to be made sin
and to be forsaken by his father. And his sufferings had began
then. And he came back to his disciples and they were all fast
asleep. He said, what? Could you not
watch with me for one hour? The Spirit, indeed, is willing,
but the flesh is weak. The flesh is powerless. The flesh
is impotent. Now, why am I thus? And the Lord mercifully gives
us a story in the Old Testament, it's that passage of scripture
that I just read that explains, this will explain to every believer
who has this struggle within, it will explain why we are thus,
why we are the way we are. Now in verse 21 of Genesis chapter
25, and Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife because she was
barren. Now remember, these Old Testament
stories are not just given to inform us of history. They're
all given to illustrate the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every
single one of these stories. And Rebecca typifies what we
all are by nature. Barren. Spiritually dead. Unable to produce life. Ephesians 2.1 says, and you have
he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. What can
a dead man do? Well, he can't see. He can't
hear. He can't smell. He can't feel. He's dead. He can't taste. He's dead. A spiritually dead person, now
they're alive physically. They can hear sounds audibly. They can see. They can smell.
But they have no spiritual ability to do these things. They are
spiritually dead, unable to believe. Unable to repent, unable to come
to Christ, they're sinful, controlled by sin, and spiritually dead.
You know, the very idea of free will is ridiculous. You know,
most people, their view of the gospel is God loves everybody,
God wants to save everybody, Christ died for everybody, and
it's His intention to save everybody, but it's up to man, his power
of choice, his will, as to whether or not he'll be saved or not. That's foolishness. Men by nature
are dead in trespasses and sins and cannot perform the functions
of spiritual life. They can't believe, they can't
repent, they can't love. She was barren. Well, Isaac prayed for her and
the Lord was entreated of him He heard his prayer and Rebecca,
his wife, conceived. Life was placed in her that was
not there before. She now had life. spiritual life. And if you have spiritual life,
it's because God has put life in you. It's not because you
did anything. It's because of what He has done
for you. You, like Rebecca, are naturally
barren. I, like Rebecca, am naturally
barren. And if I have this new nature, this nature that believes
God, it's because God has placed life within me. Now let's go
on reading, verse 22. And the children struggled together
within her. Now let me remind you, this was
before the day of Ultrasound. She didn't know she had twins,
but she had this fight going on within her, on her inside
that troubled her. That word struggled in the Hebrew
is also translated break, bruise, crush, discourage, oppressed. She was miserable. She feels
as if on the inside she's being broken, bruised, crushed, discouraged,
and oppressed. Oh, she's got a struggle going
on on the inside. And she says, why am I thus? What is wrong with me? Something's
wrong with me. She didn't exactly know what
it was. Now, she didn't have any problems before God had put
this life in her. Everything was fine. But now,
all of a sudden, she has this struggle going on. You know,
you really won't understand what sin is until God gives you a
new heart. You won't understand what unbelief is until you're
given faith. That's when the struggle begins.
She says, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the
Lord. She went to ask the Lord what
was taking place. And the Lord said unto her, two
nations are in thy womb and two manner of people. shall be separated
from thy baths." Talking about Jacob and Esau, who would represent
two different nations. You remember how God said, Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated? Jacob was God's chosen. Esau was the one God rejected. And he deserved God's rejection.
He's the flesh. But two manner of men are in
thee. And this represents what is true
of every believer, two manner of men are in you. Flesh, your
old man, and spirit, your new man. Jacob, the new man, Esau,
the old man. And the one people shall be stronger
than the other people. The new man is stronger than
the old man. You see, the new man is born
of God. The old man is born of Adam. Greater is he that's in
you than he that's in the world, John says. And the elder shall
serve the younger. This old man, while he's older
than the younger man, yet he's going to be the servant. And
do you know, this is such a blessing when God gives us grace to see
it. That old man is going to be used to serve the new man. The new man sees the sin and
the unbelief and the helplessness of the old man, and it causes
the new man to cry out to God for grace and mercy. The elder
is going to serve the younger. Verse 24, let's go on reading.
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 an hairy garment, and they called his name Esau. And after that came his brother
out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel, and his name was
called Jacob. And Isaac was three or four years
old when she bared him, and the boys grew. And Esau was a cunning
hunter, a man of the field, and Jacob was a playing dwelling
in tents. And Isaac loved Esau because
he did eat of his venison, but Rebekah loved Jacob." Now here
we have these two boys described, and there's so much in this description
that we can learn. Jacob was a mama's boy. Esau was a man's man. If you
would have preferred one, probably you would have preferred, and
I would have preferred, Esau over Jacob. Esau was a cunning
hunter. Jacob was a plain man. It just
wasn't that much to him. Now, I think it's interesting
we see something of the character of these two natures in what
these boys were. Esau was a cunning man, a cunning
hunter. He was deceitful. He was deceptive. You know, when you hunt, you
have to deceive the prey in order to kill it. You have to have
some knowledge in deception. And that word plain man, Jacob
was a plain man, it's the same word that's translated perfect
regarding Job. He was a perfect man who eschewed
evil and feared God. Jacob represents the new nature. Esau represents the old nature. Now, in the new man, It's the
new man that sees the old man. Like I said, you can't understand
this message unless you have a new nature. You're unable to. And I understand that. The only
way you can understand two natures is if you have two natures. If
you only have one nature, none of this makes sense to you. But
in Psalm 36, verse 1, David said, The transgression of the wicked
saith within my heart, There is no fear of God in him. Now David, as a new man, is looking
at himself, the old man, when he says, the transgression of
the wicked saith within my heart. He sees in his old heart that
sinful man that has no fear of God, that evil nature. But it's
the new nature that sees that. Why am I thus? Why am I like
the way I am? Two manner of men are in thee,
the flesh and the spirit. And Paul tells us in Galatians
chapter 5 verse 17, the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and
the Spirit lusts against the flesh, and these two are contrary
one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you
would. Now, if you're a believer, if
you have these two natures, you would be without sin. You would never sin again. You would be perfectly conformed
to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. You'd be obedient in
thought, word, and deed. You'd never sin again. That's
what you want. But you can't. Because that old
man is still there. The flesh lusts against the Spirit. So that you cannot do the things
that you would. And now let's be honest. Also,
you would commit any sin. That old man, there's no sin
that it wouldn't commit. You say, I wouldn't do that.
Oh, yes, you would. You're just not being honest.
There's no sin that the old man will not commit. But thank God,
you can't do the things that you would. God, the Holy Spirit,
won't let you. He prevents it. So you see, we
have this war going on inside if we're believers. The flesh
lusting against the Spirit, and the Spirit lusting against the
flesh. Now let me tell you some things
that the Bible says about the flesh. It can never rise above
its source. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. It can never be improved. It
can never get better. Paul said in Romans 7, 18, I
know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. In John chapter 6, verse 63,
our Lord said it's the spirit that quickens the flesh profits
nothing. You see, the flesh has no participation
in the spiritual life. Spiritual life didn't come to
you because you decided, as an act of your will, for it to take
place. It's because God the Holy Spirit gave you life. Romans
3.20 says, By the works of the law there shall no flesh be justified
in his sight. You see, your flesh cannot obey
God. It's sinful. And you can never
be justified before God by the works done in your flesh. Paul
put it this way in Romans chapter 8. For the carnal mind is enmity
against God. The fleshly mind, its enmity
against God is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be, so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. It is impossible. In 1 Corinthians
2, verse 14, we read, where the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God. You and I, by nature, cannot
possibly understand the gospel. It's above our grasp. It takes
the new man to hear and believe and receive the gospel. God's
got to reveal himself to you. The natural man cannot receive
the things of God. 1 Corinthians 15 30 says flesh
and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. I think of Isaac
and Ishmael. One, the scripture says, was
born after the flesh, and one was born after the Spirit. One
represents flesh, that's Abraham doing his part and going into
Hagar, and Abraham's part is nothing but flesh. But the one
is the supernaturally born, born after the Spirit. Paul said in
Philippians 3, 3, we are the circumcision, which worship God
in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence
in the flesh. Now, believer, the wicked man
that dwells in you is nothing but sin. But if you're a believer,
you have another man. That which is born of the Spirit
is spirit. The Lord said, the Spirit is
willing. Paul said, for to will is presence
with me. Your desire is to be just like
Christ and to be perfectly obedient. It's the Spirit that quickens. We're born of the Spirit. This
is where we're given this new nature. Scripture actually says
we're made partakers of the divine nature. This isn't the old heart
being changed. This is a new heart, quickened
and born of the Spirit. You know, when our Lord says,
blessed are the poor in spirit, it's that new man that's poor
in spirit and that is blessed of God. We worship God in the
spirit. Our Lord said, they that worship
God must worship him in spirit and in truth. There is no worship
of God apart from this new nature. This is the spirit of adoption
that cries, Abba, Father. This is the spirit that knows
the things that are freely given to us of God, according to 1
Corinthians 2, verse 12. We've received not the spirit
of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might
know the things freely. Do you hear that word freely
given us of God? It's the Spirit that understands
grace. Oh, I'm so thankful for the freeness of God's grace.
God doesn't have to find a reason in me to do anything for me.
He does it because He's gracious. This is the new man. The Spirit
He has given us is the Spirit not of fear, not of a slavish
fear and bondage, but of power and love and a sound mind. This is the Spirit we walk in.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. It's the
Spirit that looks to Christ only and finds no condemnation. This
is that new nature. Why am I thus? I have two men
within me. It's the Spirit that loves Christ.
This is that Spirit that pants after God, as a heart panteth
after the water brook, so my heart panteth after thee, O God."
This is the spirit that believes. This is the spirit that repents.
This is the spirit that does not sin. In 1 John chapter 3,
we read a very interesting passage of Scripture. If you've got a
Bible, turn with me there to 1 John chapter 3. I want you
to see this with me. John says in verse 9 of 1 John
chapter 3, whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him,
he cannot sin, he lacks the ability to sin because he's born of God.
Now somebody says, well that means a believer won't practice
sin. That's just not so, because all your old man does is sin.
I'm not looking for an excuse for it, but I'm telling the truth.
All your old man does is sin. There's never a time when he
doesn't sin. Paul said, I know that in me,
that is in my flesh, dwells no good thing. What I hate, that's
what I end up doing. What I don't do, I don't do it.
Read Romans chapter 7. doesn't practice sin. That's
not what that means. It's talking about the new nature
that does not commit sin. Holiness cannot sin. That which
is born of God cannot sin. God's seed remains in him. That which is born of God cannot
sin. Why am I thus? Because you have
two separate natures, that which comes from God, that which is
born of God, this holy nature, and you also have a sinful nature,
and this creates this conflict, this creates these contradictions. Now, I'm not looking for an excuse
for my sin. I'm really not. I love what John
says. These things have I written unto
you that you sin not. I'm certainly not looking for
an excuse for my sin. Well, I can't help it. Evil nature.
I'm not going to worry about it. No, not at all. That kind
of attitude is contrary to the gospel. But this gives me an
explanation for my sin. And it gives me an understanding
of my sin. But remember this, we have this
promise, the elder shall serve the younger. That old nature
is going to serve the new nature in this sense. When I see my
sin and my utter wickedness, it makes me look to Christ only
as everything in my righteousness before God. And in that sense,
it's a blessing. Now we have this message on cassette
tape, on DVD, or CD. Call the church, write or email,
and we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Knott, the friend
that God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's
our prayer. Amen. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
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