Buena Park Conference: 1976
Table of Contents
Lecture on Prophecy
Three Questions
The Testimony of God Jesus Emmanuel Christ
I will build My Church
Responsibility of Man
Food Given Us by God
The Two Natures
Address—G.H. Hayhoe
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During the three days of meetings we were taking up so much of the precious truth of what Christ has done for us and of how we have been brought into such a place before God. And tonight I was thinking of another line of truth that is perhaps along the same line and that is the 2 natures in the believer. What a blessed thing it is to know that God is not only shown us how our sins have been put away.
But he has also shown us what he has.
Done in connection with that old nature we have within us. I'm sure every young believer one who really loves the Lord feels what a what a conflict there is in finding out that that nature is still there and not improved. Well, it's very blessed for us to know what God has done about this because this is what gives us peace. So let us turn first of all to a well known portion in John chapter 3.
John, Chapter 3.
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher comes from God, for no man can do these miracles, that thou doest except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of.
God, Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born?
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, He must be born again.
The wind blows where it lifts us, and thou hearest the sound thereof, and canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it doth. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit.
And then the 14th verse. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.
Well, it's a very blessed thing for us to know that the question of our sins has been settled at the cross, to know that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin, and that now everyone who has put his trust in the Lord Jesus as Savior is perfectly cleansed from sin through the precious blood of Christ.
But there is also another line of truth that He's brought before us, and it's very blessed to lay hold of it. And that is that we also possess a new life because it's God only forgave us our sins. How could we be at rest in His presence? If I stole from you and you forgave me, I still don't feel I feel thoroughly at ease in your presence. I would always have the feeling that you are looking on me as a forgiven thief.
But isn't it a lovely thing that God not only puts away sin, and he has a righteous basis for doing it? Because the Lord Jesus has fully met all God's claims. He has glorified him about the question of sin. And now the Scripture tells us the blood of Jesus Christ his Son, cleanseth us from all sin. What a blessed thing it is to know then that our sins are gone.
But I say again.
It is also a blessed line of truth that is brought before us in the scripture of that when we accept the Lord as our Savior, we are born into the family of God. We possess a new life. We are brought into a new standing before Him.
And saw the subject in this third chapter of John was a man who came to the Lord Jesus. And he said, we know that thou art a teacher, comes from God. For no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. He would accept the Lord Jesus as a teacher. And many in Christendom will accept the Lord Jesus Christ as a great teacher, but they don't see the necessity of having a new life.
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And so immediately the Lord speaks right to his conscience, and says, verily, verily, I stand to thee, except a man be born again, or the margin says born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. And that is, it's not only necessary that we have our sins put away in the precious blood of Christ.
But isn't this blessed? The one who accepts Christ is born.
Again, isn't this a wonderful thing to know? That we are born from above? That we actually are brought into the family of God by birth, possessing the very life and nature of God himself? What a wonderful thing this is. Nicodemus couldn't understand it. And Nicodemus started to question. He knew how a baby was born into this world, but he didn't understand how a person could be.
Born into the family of God. And so he asked how it would be, and the Lord Jesus replied that except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
That is, when one is born again, it's the operation of the Word of God applied by the Spirit of God. The reason I say this is because in the scripture, water is often used as a figure.
Of the word of God. For instance, in Ephesians it says that he might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water by the Word. And then we find that Peter says in his epistle, being born again by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. James also in his epistle says.
Of his own will begat he us by the word of truth.
So you can see that it's God's Word that is used for the new birth of a soul, and it's the Spirit of God who applies the word and in doing so He gives new life to a dead soul. As we have in the 5th chapter of John. The Lord said the hour cometh, and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.
He wasn't speaking there of resurrection.
As you go on in the chapter, you see he speaks of resurrection, the hour is coming. He speaks of the time when those that are in their graves would hear his voice and come forth. But he said the hour is coming and now is. And that is when a dead Sinner hears the voice of God through the Word, and the Spirit of God uses that for the quickening or the imparting of life to a dead soul.
And then that person is born again.
Born into the family of God, and it's a very real thing because.
Perhaps we could put it something like this. The Lord was saying to Nicodemus, I can't take you to heaven in the life that you were born with in this world. You will have to possess a new life, because how could a man born in sin, and we were all born in sin by nature, how could a man born in sin enjoy the things of God?
A fallen nature, as we'll see shortly, is corrupt, according to the deceasedful.
Plus that nature loves sin. How could a person in the natural life that he received by his birth into this world enjoy the things of God or please God? It says in another place they are in the flesh cannot please God. And so the Lord was saying to Nicodemus, you'll have to have a new life.
It isn't a blessed thing that when God imparts that new life.
He imparts to us the very life and nature of God himself, John 17 says, And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom valid sent. And it speaks in the first Epistle of John in the 1St chapter, in these words, that which we have looked upon.
And our hands of handle of the word of life, for the life was manifested, and we have seen it.
And bear witness and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us. So that eternal life that is imparted to the believer is a life that is able to enter into and enjoy the thoughts of God, delight in pleasing Him. Yeah, it is the very life of Christ Himself.
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For Christ himself is the believer's life.
And so the Lord goes on to say here, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. Now this is a very solemn thing, that is, human nature cannot be improved.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. And God Himself has not forgiven the old nature that we were born with. He hasn't improved the old nature. He just tells us exactly what it is. And as we'll see later in the 8th chapter of Romans, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin.
Condemned.
Been in the flesh. What do you do with rotten lumber? You improve it. No, you say it's no good. You condemn it. And what has God done with the fallen nature? He condemned it. And so that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. And that is by the operation of the Spirit of God there is a new life imparted, and that new life that God gives.
Delight in pleasing.
Him, so he told Nicodemus, Marvel not that I said unto thee, He must be born again. No other way by which there can be any fruit for God, nor the way by which a person can enter into and enjoy the thoughts of God. No other way by which a person could be happy in heaven unless he possesses a new life. And that is what happens when one is born again.
The wind blew, for it lifted, and I'll hear it the sounder of, but can't not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. Soils everyone that is born of the Spirit. I think this is an important verse to call attention to because some people are very much occupied with going through some kind of an experience.
But now the important thing I believe that is set forth in this verse is that it's a sovereign act of the Spirit of God to impart new life. And the way it is done is by the result. That is, you never saw the wind in your life. Neither did I. But I've often seen the results of the wind. I've seen the trees blowing. I've seen the dust flying. I've seen the waves high.
All this is the result of the.
When and so when one has been born again, there will be a result in his life. The Lord Jesus will be precious to him. He will, He will love the children of God. We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. Something happens. We're brought into the family. We receive the life of the family and the character of that.
Family of God is to love.
And serve the believer then possesses this kind of a life. And so if there's someone here tonight, and perhaps because you can't remember a definite experience in your life, you're concerned. And you say, I wonder if I'm really saved because I can't remember some definite experience. I say the important thing for you tonight is, is there affection in your heart?
To the Lord Jesus, it says unto you, therefore, which believe He is precious. I'm quite sure that if you have really accepted the Lord as your Savior, your heart goes out to Him. When His name is mentioned reverently, it's just like touching a chord on the piano. There's something inside that responds, even if perhaps you don't have the courage to say anything.
There's still something inside that responds.
When someone speaks well of the Lord Jesus.
When you meet somebody at school or at work and you find out that that person has affection for the Lord Jesus, how do you feel? Well, I'm sure if you're in the family, you'll feel something inside Peter Believeth has a witness in himself, and so the result is seen. Oh, of course, it's seen in many other ways, and there are always.
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Different kinds of fruits in the believer's life, but I think the most simple test is affection for the Lord Jesus. Faith works by love, the Bible says.
And sometimes a person is troubled as to whether he believes in his head or whether he believes in his heart. Well, when we speak about believing in your head, it's just like believing a historical fact. There are many facts I learned in history and I believe them, but they don't do anything to my heart. They don't mean anything in my affection.
But I believe them just as historical facts and many people that believe.
About Christ coming into the world, they believe about his death. They believe about his resurrection. But no more than in the way they believe history.
But when you believe in your heart, all you say he died for me, you say he's my savior, your heart goes out to him. And there's a desire to please him, not all the desire there should be. Indeed, we all desire that there should be more response in us to.
Wondrous love, but there is some response in every true child of God. So I'm calling attention to this verse to show about the important thing is not to be able to relate an experience because I remember a young lady and he was very occupied with being able to relate an experience and he would think that she was saved for a while. Then when the experience got a little dim in her mind, she wondered if she was saved.
And then she thought that she had to go through the experience again to make sure that she was saved. Well, I didn't have any doubt all the time that she was saved because I could see real affection for the Lord. I could see it underneath all adults that she had a love for the Lord Jesus and she just loved for someone to come and speak to her about Him.
Well, isn't this a lovely verse? So is everyone that is born of the Spirit.
We don't know the moment when the Spirit of God begins to work in a soul, but we do see the results of it in the soul.
Well then, it goes on here in the 14th verse to say, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Stephen saw, Must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. I believe these two verses come in to show that God must have the question of sin settled.
That is, God cannot Passover sin, and when we speak about having a new life, it is not that God in any means passes over sin. Every transgression and disobedience must be punished, and unless your sins and mine were punished upon the head of the Lord Jesus, they would have to be punished upon us.
God must punish sin. But oh how wonderful there was 1 lifted.
Up at Calvary there was one who took the center's place, there was one who glorified God about the question of sin. And so that precious Savior was there as the one who settled that question. And now as we come to the 16th verse, it says God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever.
Believeth in him should not perish, but have ever.
Everlasting life, as someone has said, not the love without the blood.
So in the 14th verse we have the Lord Jesus as a Sinner. In the 16th verse we have God's heart now told out in giving His Son, and the one who believes possesses eternal life. And there are only two positions. Either one is condemned under the judgment of God.
Or one has taken his place under the shelter of that precious blood and is then a new creature in Christ Jesus.
So I've read this chapter to bring before us the fact that when one is born again, he possesses a new life. And so, as I've often said, when you were saved, your body is like a house with two tenants. You have the same old nature that you receive. It's your natural birth. And that which is born of the flesh is flesh. And then you have the new life that God gives to you.
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That is, which is spoken out here as eternal life. I just like to read a few passages about this. If you'll turn with me, please, to Ephesians chapter 4.
In verse 22.
That he put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Then if you'll turn to Colossians chapter 3.
Colossians chapter 3 and verse 4.
When Christ, who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.
And in First Epistle of John in the third chapter.
And the ninth verse.
Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God.
Well, these three passages that we have read show to us the characters of that new life that God has given to us, spoken of in Ephesians 4 as the new man. It says it is created in righteousness and true holiness. In Colossians 3 it assures us that this life is the very life of Christ, Christ who is our life.
And then in the Epistle of John.
We see this wonderful truth about the new life that God has given to us.
Cannot sin? Well, what a blessed thing man it is to know that we possess such a new life. This is what that eternal life is, as it tells us. And I mentioned the verse again in the first epistle of John, that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us. So if you know the Lord Jesus.
Of your failure, This is the new life that you possess.
And God has given it to you, created in righteousness and true holiness, and it cannot be. And so we can see then that God tells us the character of the old nature. He says it's corrupt according to the deceitful lust He tells us to carry through the new life. And so after telling us this.
We realize that we have these two tenants within us.
And I'm sure that everyone here who has been born into the family of God has often found his or her heart responding to the claims of Christ. And that new man has, as it were, risen and said, I do want to please the Lord Jesus. I do want to live for him. He's done so much for me. And then haven't you also experienced that there was something within?
That still wanted to do the.
Wrong thing, You know, if God hadn't told us about this, why we might wonder like some young believers do. I wonder if I'm really saved? I find these impulses inside wanting to do what's wrong. Can I really be a Christian? I hear Christians say, now I'm saved, I don't want to do those things anymore. And perhaps you wonder, are you really saved when you find this inclination within?
Just still do what is wrong. You know, God has so carefully unfolded His truth to us in the Word so that we might know that He's not only forgiven us our sin, but as I say, He has given us a new life and tells us the character of that new life that He has given to us. Now the question is, what has He done with that old nature that we possess?
Many dear Christian.
They get mixed up in doctrines that tell them that they can buy some kind of process, get rid of that old nature, others that they can climb up to a spiritual plane where they have no more desire to do what's wrong, but to know that we have the truth of God, just like Israel. When they stood by the banks of the Red Sea, the Lord didn't tell them to go and roll back the waters of the Red Sea.
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He said, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. And it's very blessed for us to just listen and hear God telling us what He has done, for He has taken up the whole question. He has been glorified not only about the question of our sins, but about the question of the nature that produced those sins.
Let us turn now to Romans and the 6th chapter.
And the sixth verse, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. But he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if he be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.
Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead.
No more death hath no more dominion over him. For him he died who died. Understand once, but only love us. He will love us unto God. Likewise wrecking ye also yourselves to be dead indeed understand but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it and the lust thereof.
Neither yield ye your members of instruments of unrighteousness. Unrighteousness.
The sin but heal yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
You hear down in these verses tells us what He has done with that fallen nature.
Where we were leading at the general meeting, we were talking about what God has done about our offenses, about our sins. But when we come to the 6th chapter, we find what He has done about the nature that produced those sins. Just like if you had an apple tree and you pulled off all the apples, you haven't changed the kind of a tree it is at all.
It's still exactly the same tree, and when you pull off all the apples you know very well.
Now that the next spring you're very likely to see a shooting out, and then you have a crop of the same kind of apples all over again. Well, if I could speak in this way, fins are like the fruit. But sin as it's spoken out here, as in the singular, is the nature that produces those things, those sins. And God has not only put away our sin.
But here he tells us what he is.
About the nature that produced those sins. And it's very blessed for us to enter into this. This sixth verse says, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed or annulled, That henceforth we should not serve sin. Now in the 4th chapter of Ephesians, we notice that the old man.
Is corrupt according to the deceitful lust.
And all of those who are honest with ourselves and with God notice only too well. We know. That's how bad that old nature is, what it's capable of. And God doesn't in any way minimize the lawfulness of what that foreign nature is. It's deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.
But what has God done about it? Well, in the death of Christ I see not only that putting away of my sin and that the Lord Jesus was delivered for my offenses, That's my sin and was raised again for my justification. But here we find out that God has also put an end before Him to that nature.
Which produced the sins, our old man that.
That fallen nature spoken of as sin, spoken of quite often as the flesh, The evil principle within our old man is crucified with him.
Some of you may have led children's progress.
And you remember her when John Bunyan came to the cross with that great bundle of sins on his back, and the evangelist had sent him there while he looks at the cross, and as he sees the Lord Jesus by faith dying as a substitute, Why, the bundle of sin rolled off his back and rolled down into the sepulchern.
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All he was so thankful to get rid of his sin. But if you've read something of the life of dear John Bunyan.
They'll find out that he did not realize that God had done more than just putting away his sins, but he struggled the rest of his life with that old nature, and he didn't know what God had done with it. But God tells us what He's done with it. And as one person put it very nicely, if when John Bunyan came to the cross and saw the Savior dying there, if he had, if he had tumbled himself right into the sepulchre, sins and all.
And come out a new man, you would have Christianity, dear. And John Bunyan found the forgiveness of his sins, but he never saw the end of John Bunyan, thank God. When we see that God has put an end to that standing in which we were as children of Adam, and brought us into an entirely new position. If we be dead with him, we believe we shall also live with him.
That is, we have died as to our.
Standing out of that position in which we were born and we are alive in a new position. And there are three scriptures that perhaps we could mention here. And that is it says in Colossians 3YE are dead and your life is head with Christ in God. Then it says in the 6th chapter of Romans which we read, Reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed, understand.
And then in 2nd Corinthians 4 it says always bearing about in the body the dying or the putting to death of the Lord Jesus. And that is as to my standing, I can say as that scripture says, ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. And then we are told because of this, for it applies to our standing before God, we are to reckon ourselves.
Dead indeed unto sin. But then we ask the question, can this be done once for all? Well, we learn the truth of it, but it's a constant thing in our lives to reckon ourselves dead, and it's always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, because at old nature is always liable to pop up.
Assert itself again the tenant inside the body, as before God.
God it is looked upon as having died in the death of Christ.
But as to the actual fact, we find that we have to reckon it dead. We find, as the 7th chapter tells us, the motions of sin are still active in our members, because as to our standing, we have died with Christ, but in actual fact we have to look at ourselves dead.
Sometimes use the illustration of citizenship.
You know, I'm a Canadian citizen, but if I were accepted as an American citizen, why, you could say, well, Gordon, you're in a new position. There's no such person as Gordon Hale, the Canadian citizen, any longer. But I am alive in a new position. Every time I would approach the border to cross over, I would have to reckon myself in a new position in the eyes of the customs authorities.
And that's what happened. When you accept Christ as your Savior, God sees you in that position. And this transaction took place not by becoming a naturalized American, but by death and resurrection, because God himself, I say again, has not attempted to improve that old fallen nature.
But it says he condemned sin in the flesh.
Our old man is crucified with him, and baptism, which is a symbol of it, says buried with him by baptism into death. Now that is, what do you do when you acknowledge a person is dead? Nothing left to do but to bury him. And so that's what baptism signifies, its burial. And so we see.
That perhaps we could say 4 things condemned.
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Crucified.
Condemned, crucified, recommended, and buried. Well, how wonderful it is to see what God has done. And then as we look at these Scriptures, we'll see now how we can count upon this victory and act upon it practically in our lives.
So it says here in the 11TH 1St. I'll read it again. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
I mentioned again what was mentioned at the meeting. This is why it says justification of life. He that is dead is freed or justified from sin. Now that is, we're no longer in that position anymore.
We're in this new position.
Standing before God in a life that never sinned and cannot sin.
And so we are to reckon upon this now, it tells us.
Let's not sin therefore rain in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lust thereof. Well, we mentioned how there are two tenants in the body. One is the lawful tenant and the other one God says is no longer the lawful tenant.
He sees that old man as crucified with him. And so before I was saved, my hands wanted to do what the fallen nature within me wanted to do. My feet wanted to go where the fallen nature wanted to take me. My ears to listen to what the fallen nature wanted to hear.
And now what has God done? Well, he's given me a new life, and now he tells.
They don't allow the members of your body to be controlled by that fallen nature within. And if we have reckoned ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, why then we desire that our hands would do what the new nature wants to do? We yield ourselves to God, our members of instruments of righteousness unto God.
Isn't it lovely that now?
Christ himself is my life, and that I have the privilege of letting these hands do what the very life of Christ would desire to do. Isn't any wonder that John says in his epistle. He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. We possess his life.
Friends were not going to have a different new life when we get home to glory.
We already possess the life of Christ and all the desires associated with that new life are in every true born again child of God. And as someone has said.
People talk about liberty, but if it had been possible to take away the Lord's liberty, it would have been to take away his ability to please his Father. It couldn't be, of course, because the Lord Jesus said The good pleasure of thy will, O God, is my delight.
And that was true liberty to him. He didn't desire ever, ever to do anything but what was pleasing to his Father. And I want to tell every Christian in this room, you possess that life. You possess that life, and that life responds to the claims of Christ. And I think this is so lovely. It always gives me great joy when I'm addressing God's children. It doesn't matter how worldly they are it.
Matter how far they have drifted from the Lord, if I really believe they're his children or I say there is a life inside that responds. And when the claims of Christ are addressed to that new man is just like hitting a chord on the piano. There's something inside that responds. And if there's no response in your heart to the claims of Christ, I don't believe you're a child of God.
All I fail often and perhaps you say.
Say, well, I do too, but there is that new life within. And now the exhortation here is that we would yield the members of our body to the Lord, not on the principle of law, because the law addressed itself to man in the flesh. It asked him to do something he had neither the desire nor the power to do.
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But God gives us a new life, and then he addresses himself.
To the Newman and he has given us the Holy Spirit as the power, so that we have the nature and we have the power. And so how blessed to know what God has done with that old nature and how he has brought us into this new position. And you and I have this new life now. And now we're exhorted.
To allow this new life to control.
The members of our body so that we would do what's pleasing to the Lord. Now let's turn to the 7th chapter because in the 7th chapter we see someone who is in a conflict about these things we've been talking about.
First of all, let us begin at the 18th verse.
For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing, for the will is present with me. But how to perform that which is good, I find not.
Now in the 7th chapter of Romans we see a soul under the law, and yet he possesses a new life and he cannot understand the conflict that is going on inside. Having the desire there to please the Lord. He doesn't understand how it is, how that so often he finds the impulses so strong another way. And if we didn't understand about the truth of the two natures.
And if we didn't know what God?
Had done with the old nature that we possess why we would be very miserable too and that's why I say again the Scripture says stand still and see the salvation of the Lord listen and the Lord tells you what he has done about it. Now this 18th verse.
He says, I know that in me, that is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Perhaps you expected that after you were saved that you wouldn't desire to do what's wrong anymore.
And were very surprised to find out even after you're saved that you still had a nature that wanted to do what's wrong.
And perhaps even a doubt come into your mind as to whether you were really a child of God when you found this.
It's all here that in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Has an evil thought come into your mind? And then he said, oh, I didn't think a Christian would think a thing like that. I thought when I was saved I wouldn't have such a thought as that. Then you didn't believe this verse because if you really believed it, you wouldn't be surprised at anything that you saw, because what did God do?
He told us what?
That all nature was like.
And he himself didn't attempt to improve that. He condemned it, and he crucified it, and tells us now to reckon ourselves to be dead and beat unto sin. Till the next time there's an evil thought comes into your mind, remember, God has told you just how bad that old nature is. And this was a dear child of God that's speaking here.
Who says in me that is in my flesh?
Dwelleth no good thing. There's not one good movement toward God in that fallen nature that is inside my body right now. It's just like a pile of rotten lumber, and it's not improved at all after we're saved. That which is born of the flesh is flesh.
Now the 20th verse. Now if I do that, I would not. It is no more I that do it, but then that dwelleth in me. How I believe there's a a little progress here when we come to this 20th verse.
Because all through the chapter, in one breath he has been Speaking of the old nature as I, and in another breath he has been Speaking of the new nature as I. But now on the 20th verse he says, If now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
That is when he was struggling between the two natures.
In one breath he calls the old nature eye, and in the next breath the new nature. But now he says, I just recognize one nature as being I, and that old thing from which those bad thoughts and impulses spring is no more I. How could he do that? Did he have a right to do that?
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Do I have a right if I've been accepted as an American?
Citizen to say I am no longer a Canadian citizen. Yes, I have I have a legal right to say that. And do I have a right to say that that old nature within is no more I yes, God says my old man was crucified with him, that henceforth I should not serve sin. So next time that thought comes into your mind just look up and say.
Thank God it's not. It's not I. It's not I it's.
Sin that dwelleth in me. It's the thing that God condemned, it's the thing that God put an end to, and he gives me the privilege of recognizing the victory that he has won for me. Oh, what a blessed thing it is to get hold of this because, as I sometimes commented, a young Christian may be in the joy of his salvation.
He doesn't want to do any worldly things anymore. But then after a little while.
Perhaps coldness of heart comes in.
And he finds that old nature asserting itself may be neglecting the word of God in prayer. Why? The old nature begins to assert itself, and then along comes the temptation.
And you get up the courage to say, no, I don't want to do it.
And then after the person is gone, the devil says you did want to do it, you have told him a lie, you really did want to do it, and why did you say he didn't want to do it? And then he whispers, perhaps you're not saved at all. But yes, you can honestly say I don't want to do it because you're letting the new man answer the door.
You're letting the new man express itself because.
Because that is what he speaks of his eye. And he says the old nature is not I, it's sin that dwells in me. So I can say to myself, yes, I told the truth.
The Newman in me doesn't want to do anything displeasing to the Lord, but the old man that God has condemned and crucified of that nature still wants to do what's wrong. It's not improved. So he found them a blessed deliverance that we only recognize 1 tenant in the body as being the lawful tenant, and that is the new man.
And let us be sure.
That we always let the Newman answer the door when there's temptation. Let the new man, the very life of Christ, speak, because if that new man is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Now on the 22nd verse he says, For I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another land, my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing 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 the mind, I myself serve the law of God.
But with the flesh, the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit to the law. The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Well, a soul in the thumb of Romans has learned two things that the old nature hasn't improved in me, that is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. He has learned to be able to say it's no more I but sin that dwelleth in me. But he says I'm still wretched. How can I get deliverance from these impulses that I continually find rising up within?
And he says, and perhaps many a young Christian has said this.
Or a wretched man that I am.
But immediately there's a little change here in the way he speaks. He doesn't say how shall I get deliverance, but who shall deliver me? Now this is very blessed and it's important to notice it because as someone has said, you'll get just as dirty fighting in chimney sweep as hugging him. And you get juices defiled trying to fight away bad thoughts as indulging them.
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You ever try? Well, I surely tried it. And they just keep bouncing back. And how do you try to fight them away? They just seem to give you another smear and you just feel so badly. And you tried so hard, you'd say, and they just keep coming. But it says here, who shall deliver me? All you see here now he's looking away from himself. He's not trying to fight away the thing, but what is he doing?
He's looking up and giving thanks.
When that bad thought came to say, oh, thank God, that's no more I that's the sinful nature that God condemned. And so you turn from it and you allow the Spirit of God to occupy you with Christ and you get deliverance. What would you do with that chimney sweep? Would you fight with him? Would you hug him? You seldom do either, I don't think.
You'd get away from him, wouldn't you? How do we get away?
Well, God gives us the answer. We have victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. What does the Spirit of God do? Why, He enables us to look away and look to Christ and rejoice in the deliverance that has been accomplished for us through the work that Christ did upon the cross. Now, I'm not speaking about sin and the believer's life and how we have to confess that. I'm speaking now about the subject of deliverance.
How we get deliverance from the impulses of that nature that we find within us.
I used an illustration. Perhaps some others have heard me use it, but maybe it bears repeating.
Supposing that you were going to put up a little building and maybe you have some lumber in your backyard and you decide that you're going to use this lumber to put up the little building. You get a Carpenter and you say to them, now I'd like to put up a building and I'd like you to use this lumber that I have in the backyard. It'll save a little in the expense. And so the Carpenter goes out to look at your lumber and he comes back in and he says.
Well, I guess I have bad news.
For you there are lumbers all rotten. It's no good.
I can't use it. What did he do? He condemned that, your pile of lumber, didn't he? He didn't attempt to improve it. He condemned it. But then he said, I also brought some good news for you. I brought another pile of lumber for you. It's all good sound lumber. It's not going to cost you anything. And we'll use this new lumber in the building.
Oh, you say, thank you very much. Did that improve the old lumber?
Not at all did it, but you gave thanks because he brought a new pile of lumber. And so that's what God is telling us here, that instead of being so cast down because of that old fallen nature which God put to an end in the death of Christ, He says that we can give thanks, that there is now therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.
Are you condemning yourself for having a fallen nature within? God is telling you, I don't see you that way, I see you in Christ. There is now therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.
But a blessed thing, and many a dear Christian has said, well, I just can't enjoy the Lord because every time I try to, some bad thought comes in, well, here's this man with this pile of lumber. He could be worrying himself thick and saying, oh, I just can hardly believe it, that lumber is no good. I intended to use it. He could just make himself miserable.
Or somebody else who had the same experience could say, well, I had a pile of rotten lumber.
I think it was worse than yours, but I'm just giving thanks for that. Carpenter brought me a new pile, and I'm just giving thanks for that new pile. And now that's what the victory is here. I can remember when my soul went through the experience. I thought if I could just find out what's between the 24th and 25th verse, how happy I would be wretched in the 24th.
Verse giving thanks in the 25th isn't it blessed? This is where.
God has brought you and He sees you in that position.
Sometimes to carry out the illustration, I have said, Well, supposing now after the carpenters gone.
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You are very thankful, but to begin thinking about this a little bit and you say, I can't believe that there's no good lumber in that pile. I really think there there must be some good pieces there. So you go out and you start pulling down the old pile looking for a good piece of lumber and the Carpenter comes along and sees you and.
Says, what are you doing? Well, you say, I felt so badly. I was sure that I didn't really think that pile was that bad, and I just thought if I could find a few pieces that were sound in it, I'd feel better. Well, he said, you're just making yourself unhappy for nothing and calling you down. He throws the tarpaulin over the top and he says, I'll just reckon it's not there. Doesn't improve under the Tarpon, does it?
But you just have the privilege of giving thanks.
That that you have a new pile of lumber. And that's the position that God is trying to bring before us here. And so the way of victory for the believer is not to expect the old nature to be burned out, not to think that he has to climb up to some high spiritual plane where he is going to be able to boast of what he has done. But isn't it lovely?
My precious Savior not only bore my sin.
But he died unto sin. My old man was crucified with him, and God has brought me into this new position. And then in a simple way he shows us the world victory in the second verse. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death, when he uses the word law here.
It's rather under the in the idea of a ruling principle like we speak of.
The law of gravitation. If I let this book go, the law of gravitation would take it down. And every time my old nature acts down it goes. That always sends. It's the law of sin and death. And every time that Alexa does the same thing. How could I set a tree from the law of gravitation without changing the weight of the book and without changing the law? Oh, you say I'd be hard to do, but if I put a balloon with helium gas in it and then you.
The book started to go up. What happened? I didn't change the law of gravitation, and I didn't change the weight of the book. But I set the book free, didn't I? And I still have that old nature within. God tells me how bad it is. He tells me what he's done with it. And now he says, I've given you my Holy Spirit. I've given you a new life. And the Spirit of God, through the new man, is going to occupy you with Christ.
And every time that impulse comes, just let the Spirit of God up.
With Christ and that won't improve the old nature, but it'll set you free, it'll set you free and oh what a blessed thing it is tomorrow that this is all part of the blessed work that Christ has done. I just want to add this little comment because I don't want anyone to think that we look lightly on sin in a believer's life. Let me just say this that when the Carpenter started to put up the building. If I foolishly one time.
Took one of those pieces of wood and nailed it into the building. The Carpenter would have to tell me you'll have to take that out and I'd have to tell him I was sorry I put that old piece in before it would have to be taken out because I shouldn't have put that old rotten piece in. When a believer sins, God has made provision for the believer's sin. But I'm speaking now of the believer's standing.
Of the nature that produces them.
And what a blessed thing is. It is that the work of Christ has answered to God for all my sins, the blood of Christ has cleansed me. The death of Christ has put away that that old man before God, and he's brought me into a new position. And he tells me how I can walk in the good of that. And this is deliverance. This is the Christian life.
Oh, surely when we think of it, it makes us think again of that verse.
Still and see the salvation of the Lord. The work of Christ is gloriously complete. They will rejoice in it. May we thank God for it, and know how full and blessed is that work He accomplished.
Can we sing 289?
01:00:00
The condemnation.
Press at work.
Comes better at my thoughts.
Lecture
Four Judgments and the Eternal State
Old Testament Prophets Millennium