Would you pray with me, please? Gracious and merciful Father,
Lord, you have brought us here today to hear, to learn about
Christ. So I pray, Lord, that your word
would be a comfort and a joy to your people. Father, you've
given me a message about Christ. and the radical change that you
make in the lives of those who are dead in their sin by giving
them life in Christ. Use the power of your Word, Lord,
to change lives, to draw your people to Christ, changing lives
that are lived in our own power to lives that are lived by the
faith of Christ, trusting Christ for all things. all things whatsoever
we have need of. In Jesus' name, Lord, we have
come to You in worship and in prayer. Amen. Open your Bibles,
please, to 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 17. According to this text
and according to many other Scriptures, a great change is needed in any
man, any man, woman, or child who would be saved. And this
change is recognizable by some distinct signs of God's working
in our lives. This change is a thorough and
a sweeping change. And it's a change that operates
in the nature, the heart, and the life of the convert, of the
person changed. But it isn't a change that we
can work in ourselves. Human nature remains the same
in all men, and it would be a waste of time to try to twist Scripture
around to make it say that it is referring only to the Jews
or the heathen. Because if we did that with very
many Scriptures, soon we would not have a Bible at all, trying
to make it say what we would have it say. The Bible, you see,
is significant. The Bible is an important book. It's important and significant
because it's God's Word. It's God breathed in to those
who wrote it. It's God's Word. It's God speaking
to men. And our text is referring to
any man of any country in any age. In 2 Corinthians 5 verse
17, God's Word says, Therefore, if any man, any man, woman, or
child, Be in Christ. He is a new creature. Old things
are passed away, and behold, all things become new. Everywhere in Scripture, men
are divided into two classes of people. And there's a very
sharp line of distinction between these two classes. If you read
in the Gospels, You will find continual mention of sheep lost
and sheep found. Guests refusing the invitation
and guests feasting at the table. The wise virgins and the foolish
virgins, which I understand you learned something about last
week. You learn about the sheep as well as the goats. In Paul's
letter to the Ephesians, we read about those who are dead in trespasses
and sin. and others to whom it is said,
and you hath he quickened. Though I agree that that word
quickened is in italics in the scripture, which means that translators
have added it. So it is clear that some men
and women are alive to God and others in their natural state
are in a state of spiritual death. In 1 Peter 2.9, we find that
men are spoken about as being either in darkness or in light. And God is describing their being
brought out of darkness into His marvelous light. In Scripture,
some people are described as having been aliens and strangers
and then having been changed into fellow citizens and brethren
or brothers. Scripture often contrasts the
children of God with the children of wrath. We read about believers
who are not condemned and about others who are condemned already
because they have not believed. In 1 Peter 2.25, we read about
those who have gone astray and about those who have returned
to the shepherd and bishop of their souls. We read in Romans
8.8 about those who are in the flesh and cannot please God and
about others who are chosen and called and justified so that
the whole universe is challenged to condemn them. The Apostle speaks about us which
are saved in 1 Corinthians 1.18 as if there were some saved,
while in John 3.36 says that the wrath of God abideth on others. Enemies of God and his people
are continually placed in contrast. with those who are reconciled
to God by the death of His Son. We're told about those who are
far off from God by wicked works and those who are made nigh by
the blood of Christ. I can continue with these contrasts
because there are many in God's Word. But it's clear from these
that I've shown you that there are two classes of people. that
God is telling us about in His Word. And the distinction between
these two classes of people runs all the way through the Scriptures.
And never do we find one single hint that there are some who
are naturally good, so they don't need to be moved from one class
into the other in order to be saved. And there are not any
people who are in a third group, in a group that would be between
those two classes of people that would need to be moved into another
class. And the distinction between these
two is all in God's hands. God's Word is clear. It's clear
to all who read it with a seeking to know what God is saying. They
read it sometimes wanting to know what they think. But when
you read it to see what God says, not wanting to know what God
says, the distinction is very clear.
For anyone to ever be saved, there must be a divine work of
God which makes a radical change, making those that God changes
into new creatures and causes all things to become new with
us. And if that does not happen, then we will die in our sins.
So the Word of God Besides continually describing these two classes
of people, very frequently and in forcible language tells us
about an inward change by which men are brought by God from one
state into the other. It's my prayer. It's a constant
prayer for me that the Lord God would enable me to show you in
scripture that you not only need this radical change, but that
it can be yours in Christ. and that whosoever believeth
on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved." This change is often
described in Scripture as a birth, or maybe as a new birth. If you
read the Gospel of John, which is wonderfully clear and to the
point, you will see that Jesus Christ says in chapter 3, verse
3, that except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of God. Turn please to the Gospel of
John chapter 1 and verses 12 and 13. This birth that Jesus
says is so necessary, it's not a birth by baptism or a birth
that happens as a result of a decision that you might make. This new
birth is spoken of as an act of God which is accompanied by
God-given faith and which then receives the Lord Jesus Christ
as Savior. You see, we receive Christ by
the faith of Christ. In John 1, verses 12 and 13,
it says, But as many as received Him, to them, those who had received
Christ, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believed on His name, which were born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but
they were born of God." That's a new birth that's being talked
about there. It's a new birth. And so I pray that you can see
that believers have been born again, and that they receive
Christ through the God-given faith, believing on His name,
or in other words, by God's grace, they trust Jesus Christ as their
Savior. This power which God gives us
when He saves His soul isn't our power, but it's the power
of God who makes us willing to receive Christ or to come to
Christ. It's the power of the Holy Spirit of God which makes
a radical change in a rebellious sinner. As the psalmist says
to God in Psalm 110, verse 3, thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power In the beauties of holiness from the womb of
the morning, thou hast the dew of thy youth. Thy people shall
be willing in the day of thy power, the psalmist says. In
the third letter of John, our Lord associates faith in regeneration,
or faith in the new birth. Regeneration is a word that means
new birth. It makes this association in
the closest manner possible, declaring not only that we must
be born again, but promising also that whosoever believeth
in him shall not perish, but will have everlasting life. Whosoever
means whosoever will. Whosoever will believeth in him
shall not perish, but will have everlasting life. That's a promise
from God. But let me be perfectly clear.
We must undergo a change. That change is just as great
a change as if we could return to our native nothingness and
then we could come forth again as a fresh newborn baby from
the hand of the Great Creator. That's a radical change. The
Apostle tells us in 1 John 5 verse 4 that whosoever is born of God
overcometh the world. And then he adds to show that
the new birth and faith go together, This is the victory that overcometh
the world, even our faith. Then, to the same effect, he
says nearly the same thing in 1 John 5.1. He says that whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Where there is
true faith, there is a new birth. And that term implies a change
that is beyond measure. a change which is complete and
it's radical. It's a change that is as great
as if a dead man was raised from the grave. In other places in
Scripture, this change is described by God as a quickening. Ephesians
2 says, And you hath He quickened who were dead in trespasses and
sin. And we are said in Scripture to be raised from the dead altogether
with Christ. And this is spoken of as being
a very wonderful display of God's complete power over all things,
His omnipotence. In Ephesians 1 verses 19 and
20 we read about the exceeding greatness of His power usward
who believe according to the working of His mighty power which
He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and
set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places. Regeneration,
or the new birth, is a result of God's divine strength which
causes a miraculous change that is as great as a man or woman
being created again. Because that's exactly what happens.
God gives us a new life in Christ when we're born again. We find
this change frequently described in scripture as a creation. As,
for instance, it says in our text, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. This change, or this new creation,
isn't just a religious or a ritual exercise, because we read in
Galatians 6.15, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth
anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. No outward
rights, Even though they are ordained by Christ Himself, no
outward rights can affect any change in the heart of a man.
There must be a new nature created by the divine hand of God. In
Ephesians 2.10 it says we must be created in Christ Jesus under
good works. And in Ephesians 4.25 it says,
we must have in us the new man which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness. What a wonderful change this
must be. It's a change which God first
describes as a new birth. Then as a resurrection from the
dead. And then as an absolutely new creation. Paul in Colossians
1.13 further speaks of God the Father as the One who hath delivered
us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the
kingdom of His dear Son. That's a change. And in 1 John
3.14 the Apostle calls it passing from death unto life. Probably
John had in his mind the glorious declaration of his Lord and Master
in John 5.24 where Jesus said, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
that's Jesus talking, he that heareth my word and believeth
on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from death into life. Once more, as
if God wanted to emphasize the importance of the new birth,
the apostle, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, speaks
about our conversion and our regeneration as being begotten
again, or being born again. That's what begotten means. It
means to be born. In 1 Peter 1, verse 3, he says,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again into a
lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Now I ask you, could any language be more descriptive? Any language that God could have
used, could it be more descriptive? Could it be a clearer description
of such a radical and such a solemn change? It isn't possible, I
think, to describe with the human tongue a change which is so totally
thorough a change which is so complete and divine as these
words describe. If such a radical change isn't
intended by the language that the Holy Spirit uses here in
our text, then I think I'm unable to understand the meaning of
the Bible. And its words must be put there to bewilder rather
than to instruct. And that is not the case. This
is God's Word for the comfort of His people. God's Word tells
us that we must be born again in Christ. And as our text in
2 Corinthians 5.17 says, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature. All things are passed away, and
behold, all things become new. Listen to what I have to say
to you this morning, I pray. I pray that you'll listen with
ears that God has given you to be able to hear with. hear spiritual
things. Old things are passed away, and
behold, all things become new. Don't settle for religion, religion
that can't save. Don't try to live your life in
your own power. You must come to Christ by faith. Only in Christ will you find
rest for your weary soul. And you can't ever be in Christ
unless old things are passed away and all things become new. You must be born again, our Savior
Jesus Christ says, and to whosoever will believe will be born again. Then let me show you what God
produces in you as a result of this radical change. The Scriptures
speak about this great inner work of God as producing a very
wonderful change in our lives. Turn please to Romans 6 and verse
17. Regeneration and conversion are
both the work of God but regeneration of the new birth is the secret
cause and conversion is the effect of what God has done and continues
to do in you as you walk in Christ by the faith of Christ. In Romans
6, verse 17, Paul says, But God be thanked that ye were the servants
of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine
which was delivered you. Again, in Romans 6, verse 22,
Paul says, Now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you
have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life. Now turn please to Colossians
3 verses 9 and 10. With a new birth, a new birth
in Christ, a completely new way of living, a new purpose for
your life is born. We still sin and we often fail. But instead of being ruled by
the law, that law which we can't keep,
never have kept, we're ruled by our love of Christ. Instead
of living for ourselves, we live in Christ. We live in the power
of Christ, seeking to serve Christ out of love, not out of obligation. We live lives that are yielded
to Christ because God has made us willing in the day of His
power. Look closely at the description
of a life in Christ that the Apostle gives us in Colossians
3, verses 9 and 10. When having described the old
nature and its sins, he says, Lie not one to another, seeing
that ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and have
put on the new man. Now the problem is that we're
all liars. There's not a person in this
room that's not told a lie. If you haven't, then I want to
see you afterwards and I want to learn how you did it. The
problem is that nothing can keep the commandment and never tell
a lie. Which of you have never told
a lie? Would you all raise your hands? Turn please to Galatians 5, verses
19 to 25. where he tells us about a whole
other group of laws that people break, though I hope some of
you have not broken all of them. The book of God's Word swarms
with proof text. The change of character in the
converted man, the man who is born again in Christ, is so great
that they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with the
affections and lusts. Here in Galatians 5 verses 19
to 25, Paul is describing the change that God makes as a result
of a new birth in Christ. He says, beginning in verse 19,
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, they're seen clearly,
which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
strife, seditions, heresies, endings, murders, drunkenness,
revelings, and such like, of the which I tell you before,
as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such
things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." But here's the
change. But the fruit of the Spirit,
the fruit of the Spirit that is the Spirit of Jesus Christ
that is born in you with a new birth, the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance. Against such, there is no law. And they that are Christ's have
crucified the flesh, they have died in Christ, they have crucified
the flesh with the affections and lusts, and if we live in
the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Now turn please
to Colossians 1, verses 21 and 22. Until you have experienced
the leading and the guiding of the Holy Spirit, you may have
a hard time understanding what it is to walk in the Spirit.
But, although we continue to sin, our love for Christ has
caused us to hate our sin. But it isn't the hatred of our
sin that motivates us. You can hate your sin terribly,
but it will never become motivating enough to keep you from sinning.
But the love of God And that's the change. The love
of God is what motivates a born-again child of God because God imparts
in his heart, implants in his heart, his love. It's not the hatred of our sins
that motivates us, but it's the love of God. While we are in
this flesh, we will never hate our sin enough to stop sinning. I have stood by the bedside and
watched people continue the very same things
that put them in that bed. And they do it all the way up
to their death, and they knew it was going to kill them. The
love of God is a powerful motivator, though. And because of a new
birth in Christ, there is a change in character. And also, there's
a change in feeling. The man without Christ was an
enemy to God before, but when this change takes place, he begins
to love God. You see the change? From one
who hates God, though you may not realize that you hate God,
to one who loves God, and you probably know whether or not
you love God. But when this change takes place,
he begins to love God. In Colossians 1, verses 21 and
22 it says, And you that were sometime alienated and enemies
in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he, now has Christ,
reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present
you holy and unblameable and unprovable in his sight. Can
you think or understand what it means to see and then to believe
to the point where you trust in it, believe it to the point
where you trust in it, that Christ died for your sin. Can you think of that? What it
means to trust in the fact that Christ died for your sin? It
means that in Christ, if you can trust Christ, it means that
Christ has saved you. You've been saved by Christ.
That takes a tremendous load of sin off of your back. A tremendous
weight is lifted. In Christ, you see, you're no
longer under the law. You're no longer under the law
of sin and death. But you're under the law of God's
love. Turn please to Romans 8 and verse
1. This change from enmity with God to friendship with God arises
very much out of a change of your judicial state before God. It's a state where you're either
guilty or you're washed clean by the
blood of Christ. You're trusting either in your
own works or you're trusting in the righteousness of Christ.
That's the two states. Before man is converted, he's
condemned. But when he receives spiritual
life in Christ, we read in Romans 8.1, there is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Now you're in Romans
8. Turn back to Romans 5 and verse
1, please. With a new birth, your relationship
with God and the law is completely changed. And this radical change
altogether changes your inward joy and happiness. Being set
free from the law, you are made to be at peace with God. As the
Apostle Paul said in Romans 5 verse 1, therefore being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ our
Lord. That's a great verse. Now look
at verse 11. Romans 5, verse 11. We could
never have peace, that peace that it's talking about here,
we could never have that before because the law convicted us
of our sin. Because we're always being convicted
of our sin, we're always enemies of God. Why are you an enemy,
God? Because the wages of sin is death. Unforgiven sin means eternal
life in hell. We're always, without a Savior,
being convicted. And we know it in our hearts.
But now, by faith, we not only have peace with God, but as Romans
5.11 says, And not only so, but we also joy in God through our
Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the atonement. We've had people get up and walk
out of this church as I preach about all men are sinners. All have fallen short of the
grace of God. Say something like that and some people get up and
run because they know it's true. It's true for them. But in Christ,
washed clean by Christ. You have a joy in God through
Christ. Why? Because in Christ you have
received an atonement. Turn to Matthew 11, verse 28,
please. The atonement means that by the
death of Christ as our substitute, not only our sin, but the penalty
of our sin was washed away with Christ's blood. You can't be
condemned if your sin is gone. It's washed away with Christ's
blood. Christ died that we might have
life in Him and free from the law that we can't keep. As our
substitute, Christ kept the law perfectly and then He died for
our sin. So there's a change in our relationship
with God. Sin no longer separates us from
God because Christ took our sin away. He paid the penalty. He died for us. And so instead
of God being God's enemy, we live in peace with God. And more
than that, more than just living in peace with him, we love God. How could you love a God who
would take all of your sin away? How could you not love a God
that would take all of your sin away? Who would send His own
Son to die for you? How could you not love that? Jesus Christ became Himself sin
for us when our sins were laid on Him. I pray you can hear this
and believe it. A new birth and conversion makes
a radical, radical difference. If it didn't, what did Christ
mean when He said in Matthew 11, verse 28, Come unto me all
ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. He's
talking about He takes your sin, that heavy load of sin that you
labor under. What's the rest that Christ is
talking about except from this heavy burden of sin that enables
us to rest in Christ? Is the man who comes to Jesus
just as restless and just as devoid of peace as he was before?
God forbid. Turn to Hebrews 4, verse 3. Doesn't
Jesus say to us that when we drink of the water which He gives
us, that we shall never thirst again? Are we to be told that
there is never going to be a time when we will stop thirsting after
righteousness? Never a time when the living
water becomes in us a well of water springing up into everlasting
life? Well, our own experience refutes
that suggestion. Doesn't Paul say in Hebrews 4.3,
We which have believed do enter into rest." Well, what rest is
that? It's a rest that's in Christ.
It's a trusting in Christ. Not in yourself and your ability
to keep the law, not in what you do, but resting in Christ. It's our condition before God
when we are in Christ. And our moral tone and our nature,
our state of mind, which are all made by conversion, to be
totally different from what they were before we came to Christ. As our text in 2 Corinthians
5.17 says, all things are passed away. Behold, all things are
become new. Now turn please to Jeremiah 31
and verse 33. The Scripture represents this
new birth and conversion by the power of God as being the grand
blessing of the covenant of God's grace. Isn't it true? And don't you believe what the
Lord said in Jeremiah 31 and verse 33? It says, but this shall
be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After
those days, said the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts
and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they
shall be my people. Paul quotes this same passage
in Hebrews 10.16, not as being obsolete, but as being fulfilled
in believers who are born again in Christ. And what has the Lord
said by the prophet in Ezekiel 36, verses 26 and 27? Listen
to this gracious passage and see what a grand blessing conversion
is. God says, A new heart also will I give
you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of
flesh, and I will put my spirit within you, that's talking about
His Holy Spirit, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you
shall keep my judgments and do them. Isn't this the blessing? the
blessing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by which we realize all
the rest? Isn't this the great work of
the Holy Ghost by which we know the Father and the Son? Do you
know anything about what I'm talking about? I'm sure that most of you know
what I'm talking about because you've experienced it. And I
must tell you, though I don't intend to puff you up, You're
showing in your lives that you know what I'm talking about.
But I fear that there are some who do not know and do not understand
and haven't experienced this new birth. And so I pray that
the Lord would not let you, you who are unconverted, find any
rest at all in your souls until you have believed and trusted
Christ with a new heart that is created in you by God. Let
it lay well in your heart that a radical change must come over
you, which you can't work yourself, you can't do it yourself, but
which must be wrought by divine power. But there's this one thing
that I give you for your comfort. Jesus Christ, who is our promised
salvation, Jesus Christ has promised this blessing to all who receive
him because he gives them power to become the sons of God. Let
me say that again. Jesus Christ, who is our promised
salvation, has promised this blessing to all who receive him
because he gives them power to become the sons of God. I don't believe that it's possible
for you to be raised from death in trespasses and sins to a new
life in Christ without it showing that you are in Christ. If God
has made this radical change in you, which he has called a
new birth, then it will be recognized by certain signs that Christ
is in you, leading you, and guiding you. It has been supposed by
some that the moment a man is converted, he thinks about himself
as being holy and perfect. That's not my experience, and
I suggest it's not your experience either. The truth is, we question the
validity of the conversion of any man who thinks of himself
as being holy and perfect. I just plain don't believe you. Others think that a converted
man must be henceforth free from all doubts. Well, I wish that
were so. Every believer that I know confesses
himself to be full of doubts. Unhappily, although there is
faith in us, there is also unbelief. Some people dream that the converted
man has nothing left to seek after. But I haven't found this
to be true either. A man who is alive unto God has
greater needs than ever. Conversion is just the beginning
of a lifelong conflict. It's the beginning of a warfare
which will never end until we're in glory. In every case of conversion,
I expect to see these signs of life in the one who's walking
in Christ. There's always, always a sense
of his sin. No man, rest assured, has ever
found peace with God without sensing the sinfulness of his
sin. A saved man knows all too well
that he's a sinner, saved only by the grace of God in Jesus
Christ. You see, repenting, which is
so often talked about in religion, is not what is so often taught. Repenting is seeing your sin
by the light of the gospel and then turning to God. Turning
to God, seeking forgiveness and salvation in Christ. Repenting
isn't, as many would teach, promising God that you won't sin anymore.
No man but Christ, our sinless Savior. As long as we're in this
fleshly body, no man is able to keep God's law. That's why
we all need a Savior. And we never stop needing Him.
That's why we keep seeking Christ and why we hunger and thirst
after His righteousness. Christ is our only righteousness
and we hunger for Him continually. The terrible horrors of sin,
the guilt which some people feel, have felt, are not essential. But a full confession of sin
before God and an acknowledgement of our guilt is a sign that God
has shined the light of the gospel into your heart. When God shines
that gospel into your heart, it reveals to you that you are
sick with sin. That you are nothing but a sinner.
And that you'll die without a Savior. They that are whole, Christ says
in Mark 2.17, have no need of a physician. but they that are
sick. And Jesus says, I came not to
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Christ doesn't
heal those who aren't sick. And He never clothes those who
are not naked. And He never enriches those who
are not poor. True conversion always has in
it a humbling sense of the need of divine grace And so repentance
is humbly turning from yourself to God in your need. Conversion or salvation always
is attended with simple, true, and real faith in Jesus Christ. If you aren't trusting in Christ,
you're not a believer. In fact, Faith is the king's
own mark that he places on his people. Without true faith, nothing
else is of any value. Jesus said in John 3, verses
14 and 15, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. And this is why, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life. And those words I want to point
out to you, those words of Christ are placed side by side in the
same chapter along with verse 7 in which Christ says, you must
be born again. You must die to yourself and
be born again. You must be given a new life
in Christ. And God is the giver of the faith
of that new life. Therefore, it seems very clear
that faith is the mark of the new birth, and where the faith
of Christ is found, there also is the Spirit of God that has
changed your heart, the heart of one who believes. But where
faith isn't found, that man is dead, still dead in trespasses
and sin. I did a little search. I'm not
sure I got all of them, but I counted 12 times in the New Testament
where in one way or another, it's not always this exact language,
but in one way or another, God has told us, as he says in Acts
16.31, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Twelve times I counted that God
told us that. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. The possession of the faith of
Christ is clear evidence of a radical change from death and trespasses
and sin to life in Christ. Conversion may also be known
by the fact that it changes the whole man. This radical change
changes the principle on which the person lives. He lived for
himself, but now he lives for God. He used to try to do right
because he was afraid of punishment if he did wrong, but now he shuns
evil because he hates his sin. He used to try to do right because
he hoped to merit heaven, but now no such selfish motivates
him. His motive is that he loves Christ and he knows that he is
saved. And so out of his love and gratitude
to God, he seeks to please God, trusting in the righteousness
of Christ and not in any imagined righteousness of his own. The
objects of his life are changed. Once he lived for gain and for
worldly honors, but now he lives for the glory of God. That which
is a comfort to him has changed too. The pleasures of the world
and sin are far less important to him now because he finds his
joy and comfort in the love of God which is shed abroad in the
hearts by the Holy Ghost. He looks to Christ in whom he
finds all things that he needs. So his wants and his desires
are changed. Those things of the world that
he once longed for, he is now content to do without. That which
he once despised, he now longs after. He once despised Christ,
but now he longs to know Christ more and more. He's like the
psalmist who said in Psalm 42, verse 1, that as the heart paneth
after the water, Brooks, so paneth my soul after thee, O God. And
his fears are different than they used to be. He doesn't live
in fear or to please men anymore, but he fears his God and wants
to please God. His hopes have all been altered
and his expectations fly up beyond the stars to heaven. You see,
the man who's been born again has literally begun a new life. It's a life that has lived in
Christ. Some of you have said to me, as I've said to myself,
either the world has changed radically or else I have." Well,
I don't think the world has changed. But a man born again has. It's a radical change. Everything
seems to be new to him. And the old world he once knew
is no longer where he wants to be. He has to read his Bible
all over again because the Word of God speaks more clearly to
him now that he has understandings that come from the Holy Spirit
rather than from his own mind. The love of Christ which now
fills his heart causes him to see things differently. He sees
his family and his friends differently because he now has a strong concern
for their eternal souls. Even the chores which a believing
husband does around the house are done in a different spirit.
And the children are put to bed by their mother in another mood. We learn to sanctify the hammer
and the plow by serving the Lord with them. We feel that the things
which are seen are shadows and the things which we hear are
only voices out of dreamland, but the unseen is substantial.
And that which the mortal hears is not the truth. As Hebrews
11, verse 1 says, faith has become to us the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Well, I could go on
all afternoon talking about the radical change. I believe that
he experiences a radical change in his new birth. But I'm also
sure that no but none of you will understand me except those
of you who have experienced it for yourselves. And I challenge
those who haven't experienced it to tell me that it isn't true. And if you do, how do you know
whether or not it's true? How can a man bear witness to
what he hasn't seen? What is the value of a testimony
from a man who begins by saying, I don't know anything about it? When you see Christ dying for
your sin, you'll know something about that change. If a credible
witness declares you that he knows that such a thing has happened
to him, then it would be easy to find 50 people who can say
that they didn't see it in Him. If you were to ask my wife if
she has seen a radical change in me, I'm sure that she would
say that she hasn't. But I know that God has changed
me radically in a way that I see and do everything I know where
my joy and my comfort is found What I trust in and for me, that's
a radical change. I pray that you would know and
experience this same radical change. It's the work of God
raising a soul from spiritual death to a new life that is lived
in Christ. Turn please to John 14 and verse
12. I pray that we all might know
and experience this radical change. And if you do know it, then I
pray again that the way we might so live in Christ that others
may see the result of it in our characters and inquire of us,
what does it mean? This phenomenon of conversion,
this radical change, is the standing miracle of the church. It's a
miracle that God has worked in all of the people who by His
grace are living in Christ. In John 14, verse 12, Jesus said,
barely, barely I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the
works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these
shall he do, because I go unto my Father. And in John 15, verse
5, Jesus said, I am the vine and you are the branches. He
that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much
fruit. For without me, Jesus says, you can do nothing. The
Spirit of Christ abides, or lives, in those who have experienced
this radical change. The indwelling of Christ is both
the cause and the result of that change, and these are some of
the greater things which the power of the Holy Ghost still
performs in God's people. Today, this very day, the dead
are raised, Blind eyes are opened and the lame are made to walk.
The spiritual miracle of giving life to those who are dead in
their trespasses and sins is greater than the physical miracle
of raising a man from the grave. To be able to see spiritual things
is to be able to see Christ dying for your sin and to be able to
see the kingdom of God and the things of God is a far greater
miracle than it is to be made able to see the things of this
earth. The spiritual miracles show us that Christ lives and
He puts life and power into the gospel, saving sinners from their
sin. And the result is a very practical
one. Tell me about a ministry which
never reclaims the drunkard, never calls back the thief to
honesty, never pulls down the self-righteous and makes him
confess his sin. In a word, Tell me about a ministry
that talks about all of the good things that they do for people,
but it never transforms its hearers. And I'll show you a ministry
that isn't worth the time which men spend in listening to it.
The work that God has given us to do is to feed the hungry by
preaching Jesus Christ to them and letting them feed on Jesus
Christ. Woe unto the man who at the last
shall confess to a ministry fruitless in conversions. If the gospel
doesn't convert sinners, causing them to look to Christ, to trust
in Christ and to grow in the knowledge of Christ, then don't
believe in it. But if it does, then that ministry
is its own evidence and it must be believed. Others may not see
in you a change, but if the preaching of the gospel here in this place
has made a radical change in you, then you know it. And the Christ who is preached
from this pulpit has become in you the joy and the comfort of
your heart. That's why people come to this church. They come
to be fed on Jesus Christ. They come to grow in their knowledge
of Jesus Christ. And once in a while, we have
people come and they hear the Gospel and they believe it. Many
come and they reject it. but many believe it. Jesus Christ
may be to some of you a stumbling block, and to others, Jesus Christ
is only foolishness. But unto those who believe, it's
the power of God unto salvation saving them from their sin. My
prayer is that God would draw each of you closer to Him. That
you would trust Him more. Trust in Him rather than in yourselves.
because it is the God-given faith of Christ which causes you to
look to Christ for your righteousness and your salvation, which will
radically change your life. May it be so with all of us,
and may it be so for God's glory. Amen.