Chapter 1 will continue our study
of this little book, and as we've talked about before, this book
is written to saints who are suffering, saints who are going
through various trials and tribulations at the time. And it's written
to encourage them in the Lord. And this week we'll be looking
at verses 18 to 25, and the name of the message is, Born Again.
Born Again. 1 Peter 1 verses 18 to 25. For as much as ye know that ye
were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times for you. So again, Peter's writing to
saints who are suffering, And could you imagine the joy that
they would have felt when they read right there that Christ
was manifest in these last times for you. Who by Him do believe in God
that raised Him up from the dead and gave Him glory that your
faith and hope might be in God. Natural man's faith and hope
is in themselves. But the believer's faith and
hope is in Christ and Christ alone. Seeing you have purified
your souls and obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unframed
love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure
heart fervently, being born again not of corruptible seed, but
of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever. For all flesh is as grass. For all flesh is as grass, and
the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withereth,
and the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord
endureth forever." Forever. See the contrast here? Peter
is bringing before us a great contrast between man and between
the word of God and God himself. The word of God endureth forever.
And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. Last week we looked at verses
18 to 21, where we considered that we're not redeemed by silver
or gold or religious traditions. So we can conclude there that
no amount of work on our part can save us. No amount of work
on our part can save us. I was talking to a gospel preacher
this week, you all know him, and I was talking to him this
week, and one of the things he brought out was, we preach that our righteousness
is only from Christ and Christ alone. No one else. We don't have to say the five
points of Calvinism we preach when you preach that salvation's
in Christ alone, plus nothing. But you can't work your way.
You're preaching grace and grace alone. There's no other way but
Christ no other way, but Christ so so Peter's bringing forth
to them here that that no amount of religious traditions No amount
of work on their part could ever save their souls, and this is
something that they know They know that they've been redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb They know that they've been redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb Sister you didn't know how much you
blessed me last week when you said that your dad told you quit rowing
I And I shared that with I shared that with the preacher I was
talking to. And he was just with Brother Don. He was just thrilled
because that's it. That's what we want to tell our
kids. That's what we want to tell the lost people. Quit rowing. Quit working. And why? Why? Because we know we've been
redeemed by the blood of Christ. We know only by the blood of
Christ have we been. No, nothing else has saved us
but Christ and Christ alone. And so Peter's bringing this
forth to encourage them that they've been redeemed by the
precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's a lamb without spot
and blemish. He's a lamb without spot and
blemish. He's the perfect sacrifice for the sins of his people. He's
God incarnate in the flesh. The God man, God himself, if
you're a believer, God himself has saved you. God himself became a man to save
your soul. Isn't that wonderful? It's wonderful. What a message we have. What
a message of grace and mercy we have to tell those around
us. It's wonderful. And we also consider that our
redemption was foreordained before the foundation of the world.
It was planned and purposed and executed by God. Christ was manifest for us In
God's time look at verse 20 who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world But was manifested in these last
times for you That's wonderful Galatians says this when the
fullness of time was set come God sent forth his son made of
a woman made under the law to redeem them that were under the
law that we might receive the adoption of sons and We also looked at verse 21, where
we saw that we only have one hope, beloved, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we give Him all the glory,
don't we? We give Him all the glory and honor and praise, knowing
that God has raised Him from the dead for our justification. And note in verse 21, I noticed
this, I didn't hit on it last week, but look at verse 21, who
by Him do believe in God. Who by Him do believe in God. It was all for you that Christ died for his people.
He did all he did for his people. But look at this. It says who
by him do believe in God. Faith is a gift of God. It's
given to us. It's given. You can't earn it.
And Peter even hit on that earlier. You can't earn it. It's not by
tradition. It's a gift of God. The only
reason we believe is because God gave us the gift of faith
and repentance to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ
came to redeem all who believe on Him. He came to save His people
from their sins. He fulfilled all righteousness
for us. All righteousness for us. That
means He's our substitute. He fulfilled it all. He ascended
to the Father where He ever liveth to make intercession for you.
It's by Him that we believe, for faith is a gift of God. It's
by Him that we can approach God. We could never approach God outside
of Christ, could we? It's by Him also that we are
accepted by God. So, we can conclude that salvation
is of the Lord, can't we? We can conclude. Look at verse 22, so with that
fresh in our minds, let's consider our text for today. Seeing you
have purified your souls and obeying the truth through the
spirit unto unframed love of the brethren, see that ye love
one another with a pure heart fervently. Now here before us,
we have another exhortation to believers from the Apostle Peter,
and he's exhorting them to brotherly love. Brotherly love. seeing that you have been enabled
by the Holy Spirit to lay hold of Christ by faith and by the
blood of Christ and your souls your hearts have been purified
and cleanse and sanctified see that you love one and we're gonna see how important
this is see that you love one Unframed there in the Greek means
undisguised, sincere, without hypocrisy. Undisguised, sincere, without
hypocrisy. The word love after unframed
there is philia, which means love of brothers or sisters.
Brotherly love in Christ. The text continues. see that
she loved one another with a pure heart fervently. Now the word
here for love is agape. It's love of persons to welcome,
to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly. To love dearly. Of things to be well pleased,
to be contented at or with a thing. Now here's something for you
to chew on. And when I read this, I thought, boy, this is so true.
The love that believers have for one another, okay? The love that believers have
for one another is evidence of regeneration. If you don't love
your brethren, you're probably not regenerated. It's evidence, beloved, and every
commentator I looked at bought that forth, that this is evidence
of our salvation. The love that believers have
one for another is evidence of regeneration. Turn, if you would,
the first John chapter three, first John chapter three, verse
14, and then also put your finger in John chapter 13. John chapter
13. Now remember, Peter's writing
this to suffering believers, right? They're going through
things. They're going through things together. And he's writing
this to them. This is an exhortation to them.
To love one another. Look at this. In 1 John 3.14. First John 3, 14, we know that
we have passed from death unto life. When did we pass from death
to life? When we're born again by the
Holy Spirit of God, right? That's when we pass from death
to life. We know that we have passed from
death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth
not his brother abideth in death. You know, do you see what the
scriptures are saying there? They're saying exactly what all
those commentators said. If you don't love the brethren,
you're probably not saved. This is what the scripture says,
isn't it? This is why I cherish the love
that we have in this congregation for each other. It's wonderful. Because that only comes from
the Lord. That only comes from Him beloved.
Because remember, before we were saved, did we even want to be
around Christians? No, not at all, let's be honest. Here they come again, them Bible
thumpers, that's what I used to think. Here they come again. And now they're the only people,
you are the only people I wanna be with. I cherish you over my
own blood family. And I know you've all said the
same thing to me too. It's wonderful, isn't it? Now
that's an evidence of regeneration, beloved. Look at John chapter
13, this is wonderful. Look at John 13 verses 34 and
35. The words of the masters. The word of the master, I mean.
John chapter 13, verse 34 and 35. Look at this. A new commandment
I give unto you. That you love one another as
I have loved you. That you also love one another
by this show, all men know that you are my disciple. See, it's
it's distinct. The world don't love each other
like we love each other. It sets us apart. The love that
we have for one another sets us apart. Because we looked at
that last week, we bear one another's burdens, don't we? We do, we
love each other. And we come together to worship
our great God and King right here, every week. By this shall all men know that
you are my disciples, if you have love one to another." So
we see that this is Christ's new commandment right here before
us. And the evidence of regeneration. It's a distinguishing badge,
one commentator said, of Christianity. That you love one another. That
you love one another. Without it, all profession of
religion is a vain and empty thing. Without the love of the
brethren, it's just an empty profession. How do we know that? Turn if you would to 1 Corinthians
chapter 13. 1 Corinthians chapter 13. This is why we work things
out as brethren, eh? This is why. Because we love
one another. We love one another, eh? It's
wonderful. I love it. Look at this. First Corinthians 13 verses 1
to 3. Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels and
have not charity, I become as a sounding brass or a tinkling
cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand
all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so
that I could remove mountains and have not charity, and we
know charity there is love, I am nothing. And though I bestow
all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to
be burned and have not charity, It profiteth me nothing." There
it is right before us. So the brotherly love, this brotherly
love proceeds from a heart that's being regenerated. That's being
regenerated. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit, a heart sprinkled from an evil conscience. It should
be with warmth and infervency, and not with coldness and indifference.
Gill brings out this. The word here used may not only
design the intenseness of it, but the extensiveness of it.
That it should reach to all saints, the poor as well as the rich,
the lesser as well as the greater, the more knowing believers, and
likewise may denote the continuance of it. So there shouldn't be
any hierarchy or anything like that. We're all the same. Sinners saved
by the grace of God in Christ. And we are what we are by the
grace of God. It's wonderful. It's wonderful.
It's a perpetual love, Gil says. Now let's see why Peter wrote
about that. Because look, now he's going
to bring in about being born again. So he sets that up, right? About the unfrained love of the
brethren. Because look at the next verse, beloved. Look at
the next verse. It ties right in. A lot would
love one another fervently and sincerely with a pure heart for
the end of sanctification and the evidence of sanctification
is love. Look at verse 23, being born again. So he's tied that
right in with the last verse, right? Being born again, not
of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. So here, Peter continues the
exhortation that he's giving them now. He's continuing that
they're born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible. And
we who believe we who are born again by the Holy Spirit of God,
we all belong to the same family. We have the same father. We have
the same father. Therefore, we ought to love his
brethren. And this glorious birth is not of a natural seed, which
serves only to corrupt us, because we're born dead in trespasses
and sins, and with an evil nature. But this here, speaking of being
born again, is of a holy seed, the word of God, which lives
and abides in us forever. And our first conception, what
does our first conception do? It only leads us back to the
dust, doesn't it? Death. But this conception, our
spiritual conception, what does it lead to, beloved? Eternal
life. Eternal life. So what a contrast
we have in the two births, right? We're born, we're born and it
leads to the dust. But if we're twice born, it leads
to eternal life. It leads to eternal life. In
the first birth, we're born sinners. In the next, we're born to holiness.
In the first, we're partakers of corruption. In the next, we're
heirs of incorruption. In the first, we are born into
depravity. In the second, we're made holy
in Christ. And one day, we'll be glorified,
beloved, without sin. It's marvelous. See the contrast
between the two births, between your natural birth and between
being born again by the Holy Spirit of God. And so that's
what Peter was doing, setting it up with the love of the brethren,
saying, and notice, he just tied it right in, right? Being born
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word
of God, which liveth forever. It's wonderful. It's wonderful. So our love for the brethren
is evidence of our regeneration. Now think of this too. Think of this, in light of one
being, we're born to go back to the dust, and in our spiritual
conception, when we're born again, we're born to eternal life. What
a contrast. What a contrast here before us.
What should make us marvel is the glorious fact that by the
new birth, we are lifted from the ruins of the fall, and we
will be at one time when we walk into, when the Lord brings us
to glory, right? We were ruined in the fall, beloved.
Absolutely ruined. We couldn't help ourselves. But
we're made perfect in Christ, right? Because one day, we're
going to be in glory without sin. Now, God looks upon us and
sees no sin, but we're still sinners, aren't we? Yeah, we're
still battling this flesh all the time, aren't we? But one
day, beloved, one day, sin will be gone. How we long for that
day, don't we? how we long for that day as believers. Oh, my. The Lord himself proclaimed
the importance of the new birth. Turn, if you would, to John chapter
three. The Lord himself proclaimed the importance of the new birth
to Nicodemus, the importance of regeneration by the Holy Spirit
of God and the importance that it's it's a work of God and not
of man. It's a work of God and not of
man. Look at John chapter 3, we're starting verse 3 and we'll
just read to verse 8 here. Jesus answered and said unto
him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except the man be born
again, look at this, he cannot see the kingdom of God. He cannot
see the kingdom of God. If you're not born again, you
won't see the kingdom of God. You won't be with God in glory.
That's how vital the new birth is. You must be born again. You must be. Nicodemus said unto
them. Now, here's a natural man. Right. Asking. A question in his natural
mind as a result of what the Lord has just told him. Nicodemus
said to them, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter
the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Nicodemus is
thinking natural things. Our great God and King and Lord
is speaking spiritual things. And look what our Lord says to
him. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, Amen and Amen, 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. That which is born of the spirit
is spirit. You're a new creature in Christ.
We're not the same as we used to be. Marvel not that I say
unto thee, ye must be born again. You must be. The wind bloweth
where it listeth. And thou hearest the sound thereof. We hear the wind, but we can't
tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that
is born of the Spirit. You can be in a congregation
like this, and the Holy Spirit can use the preaching of the
Word, and He can regenerate one, and the one sitting right beside
that person, He passes right by. It's amazing. He saves, beloved,
whom He wills, when He wills. And if you're saved, rejoice. Rejoice that He didn't leave
you where you were. And the reason He didn't is because
you're one of His from before the foundation of the world.
My goodness. My goodness, beloved. My goodness. I ask all who are here, do you
know of what Peter writes here? Do you know of what Peter writes
here? Being born again, not a corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by
the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. Being born
again is not something we can perform, we can't regenerate
ourselves, any more than we could cause ourselves to be born the
first time. It's a matter that is out of
the range of human power. It's supernatural and it is divine. And the question is, have you
partaken? Are you born again? Have your fears and hopes changed
places? I read that from a commentator.
I thought, I gotta include that. Isn't that wonderful? Have your
fears and your hopes changed places? They have, haven't they? Before the Lord saved me, I feared
death so much. I was terrified of it. I don't
fear death anymore. And my hope was in myself, now
it's in Christ. Is it so with you? It's wonderful. Our hopes and fears have changed
places, beloved. Our hope is in God. And do you
take your fears to Him? All the time. All the time. Do you love the things you once
hated? And do you hate the things you once loved? Are old things passed away? Have
all things become new? These are questions for us to bring forth before
us, because this is a very solemn and momentous matter. Because
our Lord and King said, you must be born again. You must be. You must be. So the object Peter
was seeking to teach us is that we cannot be Christians without
regeneration. We cannot be Christians without
being born again. And this is a work in the Holy
Spirit of God. And an evidence and a fruit of
that is a love for the brethren. Isn't it wonderful? And it's
all his work, beloved. It's all his work. Believers
are born again by the Spirit, by the Holy Spirit, and their
adoption by God is thereby proved. And it's manifested. Turn, if
you would, to James chapter one. It's manifested that they are
heirs of God. Did you know that you I ask you
who believe? Did you know that you were an
heir of God when you were growing up? I had no clue. I had no clue
at all. But it was manifested. Manifested, the saints are manifested
to be heirs of God and join heirs with Christ because they're born
again by the Holy Spirit of Look at James 1. This is wonderful. James 1. Every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above. Verse 17. And cometh down from
the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow
of turning. Look at this. Of His own will
begat He us with the word of truth. Born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. With the Word of Truth, the Scriptures
being preached and proclaimed, that we should be a kind of first
fruits of His creatures. See, the Scripture is very, very
plain, that it's not by our will. but it's by the will of God that
we are saved. Of His own will begat He us with
the word of the truth. It's wonderful. It's grace from
beginning to end, beloved. How precious are these divine
truths and what unspeakable mercy is here before us when God reveals
these precious truths to His people by the Spirit of God.
Let's go back to our text and let's look at verse 24 in light
of what we've just read there. Look at verse 24. We see the
frailty of all that is around us. Look at this. For all flesh
is grass, and the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass
witherth, and the flower thereof fade away. Now think, beloved,
of the sea of humanity. The sea of humanity that has
lived upon this earth. Not just the sea of humanity
who we live with now on this earth, but the sea of humanity
that have lived upon this earth. All their accomplishments which
they've done seemed glorious in their sight, didn't they?
And we see what Scripture here brings forth. And this will make
you grateful, beloved, that God has saved you, that He's redeemed
you, and regenerated you, and that He severed you from the
sea of humanity. Because you're His. Look at this,
what the scripture says. For all flesh is His grass. And the glory of man is the flower
of the grass. The grass withereth and the flower
thereof falleth away. All flesh is grass. All that
is born of the first birth is here compared to grass. Because
of the frailty and the shortness of its existence. It grows long
and quickly and is mowed down. And is mowed down. Think of this
in light of the generation and generation and generation which
has lived upon this earth. Lived and died. And we know the
scriptures proclaim that their life is like a vapor. Like a
vapor. We know what that's like here
in the cold, don't we? We go out, we go, and it's gone. That's what our lives are like.
And such is mortal life. Do you know that with each breath,
with each heartbeat, we're closer to death? One commentator said
this, and this is very sobering. Our pulse is beating funeral
marches to the tomb. Think of that for natural man.
Now we who are born again, our heart is beating funeral marches,
but we're going to be in glory when it's done. But think of
natural. It's sobering isn't it and now
think that God has had mercy upon you Isn't it wonderful Grace and
mercy grace and mercy All men are mortal all women are more
our first birth gave us life and death together We breathe
a while to keep from the jaws of the grave, but when when our
last breath is spent into the dust of death we go Turn, if
you would, to Psalm 37, Psalm 37. And let us. See what the psalmist writes
here in light of this text that we have before us. Look at this. Psalm 37, verses one and two. Fret not thyself because of evil
doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as
the green herb. That's what Peter's declaring
here before us, isn't it? Our life's a lack of vapor. Here
today and gone tomorrow. Here today and gone tomorrow.
I'm running out of time. Let us consider in light of our
next verse, which ties into the new birth, that we are redeemed
of the Lord, born again by the Holy Spirit of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. Look at verse 25 here. But the
word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you. Because the word of the Lord
endureth forever. But the word of the Lord endureth
forever. Men die, preachers die, everything in this world is uncertain.
Unstable fleeting passing away yet the word of the Lord the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is settled forever and will never
pass away never Consider this in light of Psalm 1 1989 which
I'll read here where it says for that forever O Lord thy word
is settled in heaven forever forever Calvin brings forth on
this verse here. There is no permanent life, but
in God and that is This is communicated to us by the word. However, fading
then is the nature of man. Yet he is made eternal by the
word, for he is remolded and becomes a new creature. Speaking
of those who are born again by the Holy Spirit of God, we will
live eternally. We'll live eternally because
of what Christ has done for us. Undeserving, are we unmerited
favor? My goodness, beloved. Look at
what it says here. The word of the Lord endureth
forever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached
unto you. My goodness, we're born again
when we hear the gospel preached. The Holy Spirit regenerates us
by the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
Peter declares, that which is preached when a gospel preacher
proclaims Christ is a life-giving word of God. And it's God alone
who can make that word effectual, because we've seen it in our
own lives. We've seen one sitting beside another, and the Lord
saves one, makes it effectual to them, and passes right by
the other. One receives mercy, and the other
is left in their sins. And all we can do is pray for
them, eh? That the Lord That if he's, we know that if he's
one of their sheep or she or he or she is one of their sheep,
the Lord going to get them. We know that, but we pray for him,
don't we? We don't know who the Lord's people are. Therefore
we pray. But, but here we have the word of God endures forever. Remember, we're
born again, not a corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by
the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. And this
is why, beloved, I'm going to cut a whole bunch out of here
because we're out of time. But this is why, no matter who's
in the pulpit here, we must preach Christ. We must preach the gospel. We must. We must. We must. Lord, give us grace to continue
to proclaim his word. Proclaim his word.