So I'll get you to turn to the book of John chapter 3.
John chapter 3 verses 1 to 7. We'll start by reading that.
1 to 7.
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, the ruler of the Jews.
The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him,
Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come 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 who 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, ye must be born again.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, Lord, you know I'm tired.
I can sleep and feel like sleeping right now, Lord.
I just pray that you would just empower me, Lord, to speak your word.
Lord, help us have hearts to hear and ears to listen.
And Lord, I just pray that this will be a blessing to your people here tonight, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Alright, so we have Nicodemus, one of the Pharisees, come to Jesus by night.
It's interesting that he came by night. He didn't want to come by day to be seen by others, but he came by night to speak to Jesus.
And he asked, you know, what is it that he needs to do?
And Jesus says, look, you cannot be born again.
You cannot enter into the kingdom unless you cannot inherit eternal life until you've been born twice.
You need to be born again, he said to him.
Once by water and once by the Spirit.
Now, there are those that will read this passage and tell you, when Jesus says there in verse number 5 then,
that a man must be born of water and of the Spirit.
They'll point to that and say, hey, see, you need to get baptized.
It's not just faith alone. You can't just believe and make it to heaven, but you also have to be baptized to be saved.
But that's not what it's referring to whatsoever.
I mean, that's just the gross misinterpretation of the passage.
Because if you look how Jesus explains it there in verse number 6, he explains himself.
He defines what he said in verse number 5 and verse number 6.
He says, that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
So being born of the water obviously means just being born of the flesh, being born from your mother, you know.
All of us have experienced that first birth.
All of us have been born by our mothers.
And of course, you know, when we talk about a pregnant woman, we talk about the pregnancy waters, you know, the amniotic fluid.
I think I pronounced that wrongly.
But that refers to the waters and when the woman's about to give birth, what do we say?
That the water's broke, don't we?
I mean, we've gone through that a number of times.
My wife and I, as soon as the water's break, we know it's on.
Alright, it's just a matter of, well, we've got to get to the hospital as soon as we can because it's going to happen any moment.
So that's what God is referring to.
That's what Jesus is referring to when he says being born of the water.
Being born of the water means the water birth, being born of the flesh.
So, you know, Jesus further explains that you need the spiritual birth, right?
You need to be born of the spirit, which is eternal life and available to all those who believe in him.
Obviously, this is John chapter 3.
We know John chapter 3 verse 16, the most famous verse in our Bible.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Ever last in life, actually, it says that.
So we know that Jesus Christ is referring to entering into the kingdom by being born spiritually, by believing upon him.
And that's obviously the message that we're sending out as we go in towards the preaching in the gospel today.
But what I want to emphasize tonight, what I really want to preach upon is the spirit versus the flesh.
Because if you're not saved, you've been born of the flesh, you've got the flesh.
But if you've been born again, if you're saved, you've also been born of the spirit.
And something that you must realize and something that's going to help you when you read your Bible,
when you face some passages that seem contradictive, is to understand that you are made up of the flesh.
And if you're saved, you're made up of the spirit as well.
In many ways, there's a twin nature or a twofold nature of man within yourself if you're saved.
The spirit and the flesh.
And let me just say very quickly that these two things are totally opposite one to another.
The flesh wants to sin.
The flesh wants to please yourself.
The spirit wants to please God.
And the Bible says that the spirit cannot sin.
So these are two aspects within yourself.
Now often when we talk about going to war, going to battle in our spiritual life, we think about the world.
We think about the philosophies of the world.
We think about the depravity of the world and the way it's gone.
Now the homosexual marriage won't get pushed here in Australia.
We just see the depravity.
And we think of the world as our enemy.
And of course it is.
And then we think about Satan.
We think of the forces of evil.
We think of the forces of darkness.
And of course, the Bible says we don't wrestle against flesh and blood but by these spirits and these powers.
So these are different war fronts that we are fighting.
But sometimes we forget about the war that's transpired within ourselves.
That war of the spirit versus the flesh.
And you need to realize this in order to be able to overcome your sins.
To be able to overcome discouragement when you fail.
Because you've got to understand, hold on.
There's a part of me that cannot sin.
That's the spirit.
And there's a part of me that can sin and will sin.
And that's the flesh.
And you need to understand this in order to be able to read your Bible correctly and understand so-called contradictions in the New Testament.
So, you know, the flesh is your sinful nature and he wants nothing to do with God.
Nor can it please him, the Bible says.
The spirit itself though has no sin and is constantly willing to serve and please God.
And it has, the spirit itself has no pleasure in sin and unrighteousness.
There are very two different natures pulling you in opposite directions.
You know, the Bible refers to these two natures not just as the flesh and the spirit.
But also if you read your Bibles, it's the new man and the old man.
There's also the new creature for the new man.
There's also the carnal mind for the flesh for the old man.
So these are references, these are different terminologies that you read for the New Testament.
Explaining this issue between the battle within yourself, the spirit and the flesh.
Now, this should be a very simple doctrine to understand.
This shouldn't be that difficult, right?
You're born of your mother, the flesh.
Then you're born of God, you believe in Jesus Christ, you're born of the spirit.
This is straightforward and simple.
But so many people fail to grasp this and then they end up, you know, believing in false heresy.
So let me show you one example of this.
If you can turn to 1 John chapter 8.
1 John chapter 8.
1 John chapter, sorry, 1 John chapter 1, it's not chapter 8 is it?
1 John chapter 1 verses 8 to 10.
It says, if we say that we have no sin.
So if we say to ourselves that we have no sin.
If I come to you and say, look, I no longer sin.
What does it say about us?
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
Okay, so it's a lie.
We deceive ourselves.
But then it says here.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to give us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar.
So not only do we lie to ourselves, but we make God a liar if we say we've not sinned.
If we say we have no sin and his word is not in us.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.
So you've got these people that claim to be Christians and claim to never sin.
I've never sinned, you know, ever since I've believed on Christ, I no longer sin.
Well, according to the Bible, you know, the word is not in them.
They're not saved.
Okay, so that's one aspect.
Now, this is talking about our sinful nature.
Let me ask you a question.
Is this the flesh or the spirit?
Anyone can answer that one.
The flesh, absolutely.
Now, we've been in the same book, 1 John.
Let's go to chapter number three.
1 John chapter, so turn the page to chapter number three.
Look at verse number nine.
1 John chapter three, verse nine.
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin.
So if you've been born of God, the Bible says you don't commit sin.
All right.
Sorry, I'm losing my spot here.
Number nine.
For his sievery maineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God.
So according to this verse that we just read, can you sin?
No, you can't.
You can't.
If you've been born again, it says whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin.
It says because he is born of God, he cannot sin because he is born of God.
So hold on.
There's a part of you now that cannot sin.
We're looking at the same book, 1 John.
It says, hey, if you say you don't sin, then you're a liar.
Now it's saying, hey, you can't sin.
So is that a contradiction?
No.
Because what is this referring to?
Is this now the flesh or the spirit?
It's a spirit because it's saying that whosoever is born of God, that's been born again.
You've been born of the spirit.
That new man that comes, that new creature that God creates in you cannot sin.
And that's why when you read passages, you've got to be careful to understand.
Some passages are referring to the flesh, the old man.
And some passages are referring to the spirit, the new man.
And so this is important to understand.
Now, like I said, it's like a supposed contradiction.
So you can understand why it's important to understand the dual nature of the believer
to understand certain passages.
Now, again, I think this is very simple to understand, right?
I think it's very simple.
But will my flesh, the flesh I'm dressed in right now, what you can see, my arms, my face,
will this enter into the kingdom of God?
Will this flesh part of me right now that I'm wearing, will this enter into the kingdom of God?
No, it will not enter into the kingdom of God, all right?
It's the new man, the spirit that will enter into the kingdom of God.
So 1 Corinthians 15, 50, you don't need to determine the answer.
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
So this part of me that you see here, this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Neither does corruption inherit incorruption, okay?
Because this body is corrupted.
This body has probably got diseases that I'm not even familiar with.
This body is aging. This body is going to die one day.
And so this body is corruptible.
That's something we must realize.
And so this body will not inherit the kingdom of God.
And it's this body that sins.
So my soul was saved the moment I believed in Jesus Christ and was born of the spirit.
I will enter into the kingdom of God through that new man, through that spirit that's been given to me.
And not through this current flesh of mine.
See, the sins you commit right now, the sins that you've been committing your whole life,
has to be done in the flesh and not the spirit.
And the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God.
It never did and it never will.
So think about eternal security.
This is another reason why we know we are eternally secure.
This is another reason why we cannot lose our salvation.
Because this flesh in the first place was never going to inherit the kingdom of God.
So people say, hey, if you don't perform right, if you don't keep the commandments,
if you don't stop sinning, then you can lose your salvation.
Well, hold on. How can the flesh lose something that it never had?
It's impossible.
And then there's that part of me, the spirit, which cannot sin.
So even when my flesh sins, it's not me that's doing it, it's sinning me, but the new man cannot sin.
So how can the new man lose his salvation when he has never sinned in the first place?
All the sins we're committing in our bodies while we're saved are committed in the flesh.
And that flesh was never going to heaven to begin with and it's never going to.
So you cannot lose your salvation because that flesh was never had and the spirit has it and he cannot sin.
So he cannot lose it.
So psychologically, you understand when you understand these dual natures that you cannot lose your salvation.
And people have this mixed up that if you commit sin that, you know, you might lose your salvation.
Now turn with me to Galatians chapter 5, Galatians chapter 5 verse 25.
It says here, Galatians 5, 25, if we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit.
So if you're saved today, you are living in the spirit because you're being made alive again when you were born of God.
You're living in the spirit. But it says here, let's also walk in the spirit.
So can you see there's a difference between living in the spirit and walking in the spirit?
If you're saved, you're living in the spirit, the spirit's in you, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you're walking in the spirit.
And again, you've got people that are those fruit inspector preachers that say, hey, if you're saved and you're not living the right kind of life,
then you're not really saved. Well, hold on.
When you're saved, you're living and then the command is to walk in the spirit.
So if it's a command to walk in the spirit, then it's not an automatic process.
You must decide as an individual, hey, I'm not just going to live in the spirit now.
I'm going to walk in the spirit. I'm going to learn my Bible.
I'm going to learn how to please God. I'm going to listen to the commands that God has given me and I'm going to go and do it.
And when you go and do the commands that God has laid for you in his word, now you're walking in the spirit.
And you have to make that decision as a believer. Yes, I'm saved. Yes, I've got a ticket to heaven.
But now I must walk in the spirit and earn my rewards in heaven.
You know, the saved believer has to decide every day, will I walk in the spirit? Will I walk in the flesh?
Will I submit to the old man? Will I put on the new man?
Will I sin? Or will I work the works of righteousness?
And that's important. You know, you're going to have this battle for the rest of your life.
You know, until we pass away or God, Jesus Christ, returns and takes us home to be with him.
You know, God promises, the passage that Calum read, God promises a new body, a resurrection body, to be like Jesus Christ.
This body will not enter into the kingdom of God. But we are promised one day to have a new physical body
that we will be able to enter into that kingdom of God.
And so right now, you know, that's not the case. Right now you have this battle within you
and you need to find ways to overcome that battle. When you wake up in the morning,
I think when you wake up in the morning, you're already in the flesh, right?
I think you need to crucify that flesh daily and you need to make a decision.
Hey, am I going to walk in the spirit? Am I going to serve God? Or am I going to serve myself?
You know, I'll be honest with you. I don't wake up in the morning when it's so winning day.
I don't wake up thinking, man, I can't wait to get out there and knock doors.
I can't wait to get sunburned. I can't wait to be told I'm not interested.
That's, you know, that's not the truth. But that's the flesh in me.
You know, and I need to make a decision when you go door knocking.
You know how you make the decision, hey, am I going to give in to the flesh?
Or even though I don't want to go, am I now going to walk in the spirit?
It's like, yes, once I'm out there, I'm going to go preach the word.
And what's great about it, it's like going to the gym.
I was telling a few of you, you know, you may not want to go to the gym,
but once you're there, it feels all right. It feels good.
And it's like soul winning. You know, I don't really want to get out there some morning.
Sometimes I just want to sleep in the same bed and sleep in.
But when you're out there knocking doors and you're given the gospel
and people are getting saved, it's fantastic.
And even when I'm not getting saved, it's fantastic.
Because you're doing the works of God that He's meant us to do.
And you're being obedient to Him.
So you need to decide, will I walk in the flesh or will I walk in the spirit?
You know, we've walked in the spirit today.
Many of you guys are tired.
Your flesh has been sunburnt so I can see your faces.
And you guys are wider than me, so I can tell you guys are going to get,
you guys are just going to get red, you know, like a lobster.
But just like what the other guys said, you know, it's great that we've done it today.
But what about tomorrow? Are you going to walk in the spirit tomorrow?
What about next week? Are you going to walk in the spirit?
Next month? Next year?
You know, and I feel sorry for those of you that don't have a great church to go to.
Because if I didn't have a great church, I would probably be backsliding.
I probably would want to do less for God.
You know, being gathered together amongst other believers encourages you, hey, let's go.
You know, sometimes I can be down and someone else can encourage me, hey, let's go knock on those doors.
Hey, let's read our Bibles.
And it's great to have other believers where you can fellowship with and be encouraged.
And then when you're encouraged and when someone's encouraged, hey, give encouragement to them.
And help them to crucify the other man to walk in the spirit.
For the last reference I wanted you to turn to is in Galatians 5 16.
Galatians 5 16.
It says, this I say then, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Hey, if you're struggling with sin, if you're struggling with just pleasing yourself, there's only one solution to it.
Walk in the spirit, do the things of God, do the commandments of God.
Read your Bible, be in church, go door knocking, spend time in prayer.
This is the only answer, guys, to be able to overcome the lust of the flesh.
And, you know, I know there are sins that I struggle with and I know there are sins that you struggle with because we're made of the same flesh and blood.
Alright, so let's make sure that we spend our time to walk in the spirit. Thank you.