I'm gonna be in John chapter
three. With three very familiar, hopefully,
passages of scripture, three verses. Because what I'm gonna
try and preach today is a message on the three musts from John
chapter three. I like this word, I looked it
up. This word must, it's used the same word in all three cases.
And in the Greek, it is defined by this. Necessary, necessary. But that's not all. It's necessary
as binding. And these are words used, two
of them, by our Lord Jesus Christ and one of them by John the Baptist
in John chapter three. And just think about this, these
words are necessary. Necessary. Now let's just be
clear, every word Jesus Christ spoke was necessary. He didn't
speak off the cuff as we might, or off the top of our head, which
is usually where we should not speak from sometimes. Just put
it that way. His word is true. Every word
he spoke is true. Still, to this day, every word
is true. It's our understanding of his
word which is incomplete and may be an error. But his word
is true. He spoke only truth and his word
is what makes it so. I heard Henry Mahan on the way
up here this morning saying something, he says, is it in the Bible?
Then it's true. Whether you like it or not, whether
you want it or not, whether you know it or not, and certainly
whether you understand it or not, it's true. His word makes
it so. Now, all three of these are true
and must, I almost said it, must be of vital importance. There's no way to escape, change,
or confound anything that God has stated, though we may try. Men try every day. And here's
the thing, though. The true believer does not wish
to change anything about the word of God. He rejoices in it. Anyhow, let me just go ahead
and read these three verses. It's very, very simple. John
chapter three, verse seven. These are the words of Christ.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. Now, John three and verse 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man Excuse me, even so
must the Son of Man be lifted up. And then John three and verse
30. He must increase, but I must
decrease. Now that's John the Baptist.
And I'll read verse 31 because it's really good. He that cometh
from above is above all. He that is of the earth is earthly
and speaketh of the earth. He that cometh from heaven is
above all, all. So the first must is the must
of the sinner. The second must is the must of
the savior. And the third must is the must
of the sovereign Lord. The first must of the sinner,
verse seven. Here we have the words of the
Lord Jesus Christ speaking to Nicodemus as recorded by John. Here also we have the words of
God manifest in the flesh, speaking to every son and daughter of
Adam when he says this, ye must be born again. The words are
clear. And here's what they mean. You
must be born from above. That's all he says, you know?
He did say it before this. What did he say? Verse three,
except a man be born again, what's he say about it? He cannot see
the kingdom of God. And then Nicodemus, who misunderstood
it, 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? And
Jesus answered him and said, verily, verily, truly, truly,
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. Oh, marvel not that I said unto
thee, ye must be born again. Ye must be born from above. That's what born again means.
Look it up in the Greek, born from above. Well, John wrote
of this in John chapter one in verse 11 through 13. Make sure I don't misquote it.
He came unto his own, and his own received him not, but as
many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name. And what about these
who believe on his name? Which were born. You're not gonna believe until
you are born. That's the order, folks. These
that believe on his name, were born, were born. However, they
were born not of blood. They were born nor of the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man. But they were born, how? But of God. Being born again, being born
from above is to be born of God. It's the same thing, folks. It
takes the power of God for a believer to be born. And they're not gonna believe
until they are born of God, born from above. And Christ said it,
he meant it, ye must be born from above. You must be born
again. Oh, those who believe Christ
were the ones born of God. Because here's the thing, being
born again, being born from above, is not being born of man. At all. At all. It's a work of God. Being born
again is a work of God. I know a lot of people say that
I've been born again. I mean, for the longest time,
in the 80s and the 90s, when this thing cut loose, There were
people being born again left and right, but they were doing
their own borning because they're not around now. They're gone. They're gone. But I'm gonna tell
you something, if you're born of God, oh, what God does, here's
the thing, what God does is forever, is forever. There's nobody being
unborn. It doesn't say that anywhere
in the scriptures. There's no one being unborn.
Paul put it this way, in eight gracious words, 1 Corinthians
1 and verse 30, but of him, and that him is God, but of God are
ye in Christ Jesus. What's that mean? He's talking
to people who are born of God. He's talking to people who are
born from above. And what does he say? Of him
are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and
righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Oh my. Born of God. Born from above. And ye must be born again. Ye
must, the sinner must be born again. Because here it is, life comes to the sinner by the
word, the voice of the Son of God. And they that hear shall
live, shall live. Oh, I like that. You must. Here's the thing. You must, because
he will. He will. We have this promise
a little further on in John chapter 10. He says, other sheep I have. Other sheep I have, which are
not of this fold. Them, what? Also, I must bring. Being born from above is being
brought by the Son of God. The good shepherd. And they shall
hear my voice and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. One shepherd. Oh, I like that,
I do. Because he's talking about those
that are already his sheep. Those are the ones he must bring.
Who are they? They're one that the Father gave
him before the foundation of the world. They're the ones that
were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.
And if you got a problem with that, you might as well have
a problem with the whole book. Because you understand, God has
always been working his good pleasure in this world since
before it began. Said it, what, last week? Let
there be light. Guess what? There was light.
When God says to the sinner, when Christ says to the sinner,
let there be life, there's life. There's life, oh my. And matter
of fact, those are the ones for whom the good shepherd laid down
his life for. We'll get to that in just a minute.
And for them, I laid down my life and I take it up. I take
it again, oh my. The must of the sinner is performed
by the power of God in Jesus Christ alone. It's his power alone. You must
be born again. Now the second must, the second
must, is the must of the Savior. Wait a minute, before I forget
something. The second must is the must of
the Savior. The first must is the must of
the sinner. This is the must of the Savior. And as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up. These are also still the words
of Jesus Christ, the blessed Messiah, the Holy One of Israel,
the Anointed One. Even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
that brass serpent. In the wilderness, the children
of Israel would disobey God again were being bitten by real serpents,
real snakes, and they were dying. And he told Moses to make this
brass serpent and put it on a pole and hold it up. And if you look
to that serpent, if you'd been bit, and you look to that brass
serpent that Moses lifted up, you lived. Look and live. Oh my. Look and live. Because that was it. At that
time, in the Old Testament, that was your two choices. Look and
live or don't look and die. That was it. In the wilderness,
those Israelites who had been bitten would die unless they
saw this serpent, they looked to this serpent that Moses had
raised up, this brass serpent. Jesus here was telling his disciples
of the manner of his death to come. He was to be lifted up. He was to be lifted up on a cross.
We know that's coming because we've got the word here. This
is before it happened and he's telling them about it. Not the
first time, not the last time he'll tell them about it. Jesus
told his disciples here the manner of his death because the Christ
knew, Jesus knew he was to be crucified. He said it later,
for this hour came I into the world. And for that hour, he
did come into the world. This was not a travesty. It was not a tragedy. This was
the purpose and plan done by the determinant counsel and the
foreknowledge of God. The Son of Man is going to be
lifted up. Those that are born from above
look to Jesus Christ, the one who was lifted up. Oh my. And this is the thing. Christ
is telling these disciples here that his being lifted up is going
to mean life for his people. life for his people. Those who
saw that brazen serpent in the wilderness, they lived. Those
who see Christ lifted up on that cross are alive, and only those. The Christ knew he was to be
crucified, and he was, and he was. Those who look to him who
died for us, we look to him who is the author and finisher of
faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh my. Because you understand,
his death purchased our redemption. He bought us. His precious blood
that was shed when he was lifted up purchased our redemption,
our justification. Oh, and through his blood, we
are sanctified, set apart. And in him, we are made perfect through
the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
through his life, we live. Oh, the Son of Man must be lifted
up. because this man, the God man,
this man, he is the one who became sin
for us, for us. He is the one who was, and I
know some people don't like this, but this is what the scripture
says, he was made to be sin for us. Now it doesn't say He was
made a sinner, but he was made to be sin. It does say he took
in his body on the tree our sins. And here's the thing, the glorious
thing. If he paid the price for your
sins, there is no more price to be paid. There is no more
price to be paid because God is satisfied. with the death
of his son. God is satisfied with his son
being lifted up. What have we got to complain
about, folks? God's satisfied, I'm satisfied. He did it, he paid the price. And that's what he's saying here.
And the Son of Man must be lifted up. This has got to happen, why? because God said it was gonna
be happening. He was the Lamb slain from before the foundation
of the world. He had to be lifted up. He must,
necessary, I like this, as binding. Now, he did it willfully, lovingly,
purposefully. He did this on purpose, why? to save his people from their
sins. That's what that angel told Joseph.
Call his name Jesus. And then he told him why. For
he shall save his people from their sins. And on that tree,
he did. He did. Oh my, he purchased our
redemption. He bought us to himself. The
Savior must be lifted up. It was prophesied in the Old
Testament. It was promised in the Old Testament,
and he promised it right here himself. As Moses lifted up that
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted
up. Oh my. Oh, I like that. For he shall save his people
from their sins. The son of man must be lifted
up. Now third, the must of the sovereign Lord. Now these are
the words of John the Baptist. In verse 28, John the Baptist
told him, ye yourselves bear me witness that I said I am not
the Christ, but that I am sent before him. That's verse 28. He that hath the bride is the
bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom which standeth
and heareth him rejoiceth greatly. Because of the bridegroom's voice,
this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He, the bridegroom, Christ Jesus,
must increase. And I must decrease. I must decrease. Oh my. John the Baptist had a following.
But if you look over into John chapter four for just a second,
when therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that
Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John. That's one
way he must increase and I must decrease. Though Jesus himself
baptized not, but his disciples did. That's verses one and two.
Okay. But John the Baptist told his
disciples, I'm not the Christ. I'm happy to see the Christ. I'm happy to tell you about the
Christ. I'm not the Christ. But the friend
of the bridegroom, what, rejoices. when he hears the bridegroom's
voice. Ah, I like that. Do you rejoice
when you hear the word of Christ? Understand, if you're his, you're
gonna hear his voice. First time, they that hear his
voice shall live. The second time, and on and on
and on afterwards is this. Thy word invites us nigh, or
we must starve indeed. For we no money have to buy,
no righteousness to plead. The food our spirits want, thy
hand alone can give. Oh, hear the prayer of faith
and grant that we might eat and live. The Good Shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. He prepares a table for me in
the presence of mine enemies. His word is our food. His message from his men preaching
his gospel is our food. And he gives it to us so that
we might eat and live. Understand, I might have to do another thing
on the shepherd out of Ezekiel. But one of the things that the
under shepherd is to do is to feed the flock of God. Feed the
flock of God. The sovereign Lord will be obeyed. He works his will and his way
in this world as he sees fit. and the bridegroom came, and
the sun was lifted up, and he must increase, and I must decrease,
and that still goes for us. You understand? We've said it
many times, gonna say it many more times, I'm sure. You can't
preach Christ high enough, and you can't preach man low enough.
Why? Because he must increase, and
I must decrease, even now. Even now. Oh, I like that. He is more important than we. Yeah, that's the truth of it. We are way too self-centered.
We need to be Christ-centered. Because here's the thing, Jesus
Christ himself is the good news. The Son of Man was lifted up.
The Son of Man did redeem His people. The Son of Man did sanctify
His people. The Son of Man did make that
offering to God Himself, His precious blood. We need to believe Him. We need
to follow Him. We need to listen for His voice.
He must increase and I must decrease. Here's the thing, Jesus Christ
causes men and women to be born from above, to be born of God. And those that are born of God
need to be looking to him. He must increase. We need to
see his personal perfect living sacrifice for sin forever. The believer knows that Jesus
Christ is seated at the right hand of the majesty on high.
And the believer also knows that where two or three are gathered
in his name, there am I in the midst of them. Oh, I like that. He must increase and I must decrease. Oh, there he is, in the midst. I like that. I've come to the
conclusion looking at this that I like this word, must. Necessary
as binding. Understand, he has bound us to
himself. Oh, I like that. Mm, the sinner's
must, the savior's must, and the sovereign lord's must. Now,
there's a glorious and gracious result of these three musts here
at the end of John chapter three. John chapter three, verse 35.
The father loveth the son and hath given all things into his
hand. Verse 36. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. Hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Oh, ye must be born again. to believe, to believe. Oh my, because that's the warning
in the end. He that believeth not, the son
shall not see life. Now the question is, do you believe
today, right now? Understand, I'm not concerned
about yesterday. I wanna know now. Because you
understand, yesterday can't save you. Christ saves. And if you
believed him yesterday, you better believe him today. You need to
believe him today. Oh. And let me just point this out,
because I got to thinking about this, mainly because of that. John chapter four. And verse
four, and he must needs go through Samaria. That same word must. Necessary
as binding. So after these three verses in
John chapter three, and everything else he said in John chapter
three, he must needs go through Samaria. I can tell you why. You can read it for yourself,
but there are sinners in Samaria who need to be born again, who
need to be born from above. And the Savior's path to be lifted
up went right through Samaria. Even though most of the Jews
wouldn't go near Samaria if their lives depended upon it. But he
had some people there. And the sovereign Lord Jesus
Christ must increased, and he increased in Samaria. Oh, I like that. Joseph Hart wrote this, I'll
leave you with this. Almighty God, side human breath,
the Lord of life experienced death. How it was done, we can't
discuss, but this we know, it was done for us. Blessed with
this faith, then let us raise our hearts in love, our voice
in praise. All things to us must work for
good. For whom the lamb has shed his
blood. I like that. It was done for
us. Here's the thing about salvation. If Christ doesn't do it, it's
not gonna get done. And if Christ has done it, it's
done. It's done. You must be born again. The son
of man must be lifted up and he must increase and I must decrease. Those things are as true as anything
else in the scripture. Our heavenly father, thankful
again, Lord, for this time, this place, and for your gracious
work in sending your son, Lord, and sending him to live for us
and to die for us and to be raised for us. that we might be made
the sons of God, that we might be given the adoption of children. Lord, thank you so very much. Help us to understand, help us
to love your word. Help us to understand your word. Help us to walk in your word. As we go through this life, Be
with Walter, Paul as they come to preach today your gospel. Be with those in other places
who are preaching your word, your truth in spirit and in truth. And help us all to understand
it and understand your son in whose name we pray.