Well, first of all, let me say
how thankful I am to be here with you today. And I appreciate. Your love and concern for us
and for your faithful support over these many, many years.
Thankful for our fellowship in the gospel. And I'm thankful
that to see. As I look out. A lot of gray
head. A lot of gray hairs. The Lord
is faithful to keep us. We're saved by the power of God
through the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ, the faith
of Him. We're kept by the power of God
through the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ, His faith.
And I appreciate this opportunity. I enjoy coming to visit the different
churches that support us. I'm looking forward to getting
back, though. Lord willing, we'll get back the 25th of this month. Wynna and I will fly back. I'm
glad to have Wynna with me today. We just got through putting our
third son in school, and now we're going to have an empty
nest. Don't know what that feels like. But tonight I want us to
consider what things must be. What things must be. If a man
or a woman is going to be in the presence of God and be accepted,
what things must be? What things must be? We read
just now in Acts chapter 4, neither is there any other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. We must be saved by that one,
the Lord Jesus Christ. We must be saved by him, by his
doing and dying on the cross. But the Lord has a people from
every tongue and kindred and nation, and he must save them.
He must save them. His name, his name is Jesus. Y'all shall call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sin. Now when God
says that something must be, When God says something must
be. And you and I could be sure that it must be so. It must. This is not an option. This is an imperative. It must
be. So that's the title I give this
message tonight. What must be in the salvation
of God's people? Now, I want us to go to John,
the book of John. My text is going to be in John,
chapter three, John, chapter four. John Chapter 9 and John
Chapter 20. We're not going to be here all
that long. But there are seven times, well eight, but one of
those times is a repetition in the form of a question. But seven
times we find in the book of John the word must is used in
connection with this salvation that God works. Seven times,
and I want to look at these seven statements, these imperative,
these seven statements of necessity and ask this question in reference
to each one. Why must this be so? The Lord
says this must be, and I want us to see why this must be so. What does the word of God say
concerning what must be so? And in answering these questions,
we see the personal work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is
what we're here for, to see him, to see the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Paul said, I determined to know nothing among you save
Jesus Christ and him crucified. And now we're not going to look
at these statements in the order that they appear. But if we did
look at them in the order that they appear, we would say the
same thing in each case. And the first one is found in
John chapter 3 and verse 7. Our Lord says, Marvel not that
I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. Ye must be born again. Our Lord is speaking to Nicodemus.
Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews, a man who knew the scriptures. He was a ruler, a teacher. And he came to the Lord by night
and wanted to enter into a dialogue with the Lord. And the Lord said,
Nicodemus. He said. Barely, barely, I say
unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of God. Now, why is it that a man must
be born again? Why is it that a man must be
born again? Well, the reason I want to give
several reasons, but the reason we find in verse six We see here
that which is born of the flesh. It's flesh. That which is born
of the flesh is flesh man's mind when he comes into this world,
natural mind, his mind is it is enmity against God. All the
thoughts of man by nature or enmity against our weapons, if
you will, against God and who he is. against the Lord Jesus
Christ, their enmity against God, not only his mind, but his
will, his will. He will not come to God. He will
not submit to the Lord Jesus Christ, not only his mind and
his will, but he loves the darkness that he's in. A man by nature
loves the darkness that he's in. And unless the Lord gives
life, a man is spiritually dead and Adam all die and Adam all
die and the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ is a spiritual kingdom. A person cannot see the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Except he be born of the spirit
of God by the word of God, the word of truth. You know, the
text in first Peter, chapter one and verse twenty three, he
has begotten us again. Not with corruptible seed, but
with incorruptible seed. Born of incorruptible seed, the
word of God. He of his own will begat us again
by his will. First Peter chapter 1 and verse
23. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. A man must be born of the Spirit
of God by the Word of God. You see that in verse 5. Our
Lord said, 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. Now, think about this for a moment.
When a man and a woman have a child, He comes into this world, and
the Lord says that which is born is flesh. What does a man have? What does a boy, what does a
child have? They have this body and they have a soul, and this
soul motivates this body, moves this body. It's that inanimate
part of man. But he's dead spiritually. He's dead spiritually. And unless
God gives life And unless he gives life, that that person
is just flesh, so that a lot of what goes on in this world,
they say, is spiritual. It's nothing more than flesh.
There's nothing more than flesh. You hear of you hear of the the
the Hindu and all these different religions, and they say, oh,
they're very spiritual. No, they're not spiritual, it's
flesh. That's all it can be. But because
people have feelings and emotions, they think that's spiritual,
but it's not. That which is born of flesh is
flesh and will always be flesh. A man must be born of the Spirit
of God in order to see the kingdom of God, in order to be able to
see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, he must be born
again. It's a new creation. And so when
the Spirit of God creates a new creation, that's when the battle
begins inside the man. He has that old man, that which
is born of the flesh and that which is born of the spirit. And they're never in agreement
and never in agreement. The flesh lusts against the spirit
and the spirit lusts against the flesh. So that's the first
thing God must give life. You have to quicken. who were
dead in trespasses and sins. But now this death is a it's
not a kind of death that it's not like we're an active dead.
We're dead in trespasses and sins. Look at that in Ephesians
chapter two. It's not like not like a man
is inactive in that death. He's dead, but he's active in
sin and rebellion against God. Says chapter two and verse one,
and you have the quickened speaking to believers who were dead and
precious trespasses and sin. That's your condition. The attitude
of that man that is dead and trespasses and sin is in verse
two, where in time past you walked. They were active in that we were
active in that in time past, we walked according to the. Course
of this world. According to the prince of the
power of air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience, among whom all we are. Also, we all had our
conversation in time past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of our flesh and of the mind. And we're by nature
the children of wrath, even as others. The nature we're children
of wrath, what does that mean? Not that not that God was wrath
with his children. But we were wrathful against
him. We were wrathful against him in our depraved nature. And unless God gives a new nature,
creates a new person, a person will never, never see the kingdom
of heaven. Now, here's the second thing.
Look over in John chapter 3 and verse 14. Not only must a man
be given life by the Spirit of God, by his word, But the Lord
Jesus Christ must be lifted up, and as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting,
eternal life. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son
of God in flesh, that word was manifest in the flesh. He must
go to the cross, he must shed his blood on the cross to put
away the sins of his people. There is no other way. There
is no other way of salvation. Why must Christ die? Was it not
enough that he come into the world and live? No, not at all. He must. He must put away the
sins of his people. God saves his people freely by
his grace, but it's through The redemption that is in Christ
Jesus, the payment, the redemption price is his blood. Without the
shedding of blood, there is no redemption remission of sins. There is this matter of God's
justice, God's justice being satisfied for the sins of his
people, his people, all his people. And Adam went away. rebellious
and all transgressed his law and all full of sin from the
top of our head to the bottom of our feet. We're sin. That's
enmity against God, rebellion, hatred against God. And in order
for a man to come into God's presence, his sin has to be taken
away. The Lord Jesus Christ, he was
made sin for us when he went to the cross God laid the sins
of his people on him. He was made sin for us. We can
understand that. But he was made sin for us, who
knew no sin. He knew no sin. He's the holy,
spotless, separate from sinners, undefiled. But he was made sin
for his people. And when he became sin for his
people, he went to the cross and paid the price. The shedding
of his blood and by his blood. His the sins of his people are
taken away, they're blotted out, they don't they don't exist anymore,
they don't exist, they're taken away. This is how God saves his
people, he removes the sins of his people. Why? What is the reason? Like
I said, it's this matter of God being just. It's this matter
of God being just when He pronounces you who believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ just, justified without sin. No sin. No sin. He's justified. Read
that in Romans chapter 3. These are texts that you're all
familiar with. I know, but we must go to them. Romans chapter 3. Verse 21, But now the righteousness
or the justice of God without the law is manifested, being
testified or witnessed by the law and the prophets, the Old
Testament scriptures, even the justice or even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith, by faith of Jesus Christ. Unto. Unto all. And upon all them that
believe. For there is no difference. For
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Being justified
freely by His grace. Freely by His grace. It's not
by works of righteousness that we do. We have no works of righteousness. To contribute our works of righteousness
are as filthy rags. It's only by the redemption.
He says, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, to declare God's righteousness. For the remission of sins that
are passed through the forbearance of God to declare, I say at this
time, God's righteousness or God's justice, that he might
be the just and the justifier of him that believeth on Jesus. God must be just when he declares
one of his justify. That's the reason he must be
lifted up. He must be lifted up. Well, here's
the third thing. First, a man must be born of
the Spirit of God, by the Word of God. That's the seed. Second, the Son of Man must be
lifted up. The Lord Jesus Christ must shed
his blood and put away the sins of his people. Number three,
look at John chapter nine and verse four. I must work the works All these
texts have the word must. I must work the works of him
that sent me while it is day. The night cometh when no man
can work. I must work the works of him
that sent me while it is day. The night cometh when no man
can work. The work of saving his people
from their sins must be A finished work. It must be a finished work. Thank God, he cried out, it is
finished. It is finished. He said, Father,
I finished the work which you gave me to do. It is a finished
work. What is this finished work? You
know, and Isaiah says, by his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many. By his knowledge, by his knowledge,
of what God requires, by His knowledge of what God requires,
that we might be presented before Him holy and unblameable and
unreprovable in His sight. This is the work that God the
Father gave Him to do to establish righteousness here on the earth,
to establish righteousness as a man. The law was given to man,
and man must Obey the law. You and I can't obey the law.
We never have. But the Lord Jesus Christ, He
obeyed the law in every jot and tittle. And in Him, I obeyed
the law. In Him. His righteousness is
my righteousness. He is Jehovah Zedekiah. The Lord,
our righteousness. And He said, I must work the
works of Him that sent me while it is day. In other words, while
He's here on the earth. The day of his time here on the
earth, he said, I am the light of the world. The day of him
being here on the earth as a man, it must be a finished work because
the night comes when he goes to the father, when he's not
here on the earth bodily, when no man can work. There's nothing
that can be added to that work. There's nothing that can be added.
If he didn't finish the work, there's no hope for any of us.
If he didn't finish the work, if he didn't establish a righteousness
where we can come before God and be accepted before Him who
is light, before Him who is a consuming fire, if he didn't establish
that righteousness, then there's no hope for any of us. But he
finished that work. He established righteousness
here on the earth and he put away the sins of his people.
It's a finished work. It's a finished work. I must work the works of him
that sent me, while it is day, the night cometh when no man
can work." False religion, false religion is always trying to
add to this finished work, is always trying to add to this
finished work. And they say, it is OK that you
believe in Jesus, but you must do this. Oh, no. He must finish
the work. He must finish the work, and
he did finish. He said, it is finished. It is
finished. So we're saved by the faithfulness,
by the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, here's the fourth
thing in John chapter 20 and verse 9. Not only must he give
his life to put away the sins of his people, not only must
he finish the work of establishing righteousness here on the earth
as a man, fulfilling God's purpose, God's will. In chapter 20 and
verse 9, it says here, For as yet they knew not the scripture
that he must rise again from the dead. He must rise again
from the dead. There is no salvation. There
is no hope for you and I unless the Lord Jesus Christ came forth
from the grave. He must come forth from the grave. Jesus Christ must be raised from
the dead on the third day, according to the Scriptures, or there can
be no salvation. There can be no salvation. The
Apostle Paul deals with this in Corinthians chapter 15, where
he said, how is it that some of you said the resurrection
already happened? How is it you say that there
is no resurrection? If Christ isn't risen, Then our
preaching is in vain. Not only is in vain, we're liars
and there's no hope for anybody. Our only hope is that when Christ
was raised from the dead, we, his people, were risen together
with him and are sitting right now on the right hand of the
majesty on high. We're sitting with him in glory.
If he didn't raise from the dead, there is no hope. We're still
in our sins. But bless God, we read there
in Romans chapter 4, verse 25, who was delivered for our offenses
and was raised again for our justification. God justified him. God justified
him when he raised him from the dead on the third day. He said,
I've had enough. I've had enough. Deliver him. And he came forth from the grave
victorious over all The enemies, sin, death, the grave, Satan,
this world, he rose victorious over all our enemies. It's finished. He rose from the
grave. Having satisfied God's just demands
of his holy law, it was impossible that he should be holding of
death. That's what the Apostle says
there in Acts chapter 2, verse 24. God had raised him up, having
loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should
be holding of it. There is a man right now sitting
in glory, and just as sure as he's sitting in glory, all those
for whom he died, all those for whom he established righteousness
here on the earth, one day we're going to be in glory with him
because he was raised from the dead. Here's the fifth thing
that must be if a man or a woman are going to be in glory. Here's
the fifth thing. Man is lost in trespasses and
sins. He's dead. He's dead in trespasses
and sin and he's lost. He's lost. He's in the world.
He's in the world and he's not looking for God, he's not looking
for the Lord Jesus Christ. He's dumb and happy to be so. For dumb sheep. But the Lord
must go looking for all His sheep. Look at John chapter 4 and verse
4. When we go forth preaching the
gospel, we'll preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. We don't know who they are. It's
the Lord who goes looking for His sheep. He says here in chapter
4 and verse 4, And he must needs go through Samaria. He must the
Lord Jesus Christ must needs go through Samaria. You know
the story that this is talking about when he came to the well,
there was a Samaritan woman there. The Samaritan woman was not looking
for the Lord. She was not looking for the Lord
Jesus Christ. She went out to the well that
day because she was trying to avoid everybody's company. She
had a bad reputation in town, and she was trying to stay away
from everybody. She showed up in the middle of
the day. But the Lord Jesus Christ came to where she was, not on
accident, on purpose. He knows where his sheep are.
He knows where they are. He put them there. He put them
there. He knows exactly where his people
are. And so he sends a pastor here,
Fairmont, West Virginia. Why? Because he must needs go
through Fairmont, West Virginia, to save his people. Because we
weren't looking for him. We weren't looking for him. We
had religion. We had our own gods and our own
imagination, but we didn't know the true and living God. He must
needs go through Samaria. Christ is the good shepherd.
The good shepherd goes and finds that sheep. He said he leaves
the 99 and goes out in the wilderness and finds that one that was lost.
And when he finds it, he puts it on his shoulders and carries
them all the way home. Their sheep are not only dead,
but they're they're lost. They're in the rebellion and
he must needs go. Well, he must needs go through. This is a time that he must reveal
himself. He needs to go through Samaria
because he must reveal himself to his people. This is a revelation. This is a revelation. It's not
that we can learn in the books and school. We cannot learn Christ
that way. It is by revelation. He reveals
himself to his people. He asked his disciples one day,
he said, whom do you say? Whom do the men say that I, the
Son of Man, am? And you could ask that question to anybody
and they'll come up with a hundred and different one answers. But
when someone answers from the heart, thou art the Christ, the
son of the living God, it's always because God revealed this. It's
always because they're blessed of God, the father. Peter said,
thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. Blessed art
thou, Simon Bar-Jonah. For flesh and blood didn't reveal
this to you. It couldn't. But my Father, by
His Spirit, through the Word, revealed this. He must reveal
Himself. So He comes to this woman and
He begins to enter into conversation with this woman. And this woman,
well, she's religious. She has her ideas about how God
must be worshipped. And the Lord begins to deal with
her And he says to this woman, he says, Go call your husband. And she said, I don't have a
husband. Verse 17 says, The woman answered and said, I have no
husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast
well said, I have no husband, for thou hast had five husbands,
and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband. And that says
thou truly. The woman said unto him, Sir,
I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this
mountain. And you say that in Jerusalem is the place to worship,
is a place where men ought to worship. Jesus said unto her,
Woman, believe me, the hours cometh when you shall neither
in this mountain or yet in Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship,
you know not what. And that is the case of natural
man. That is the case of the flesh.
You worship, you know not what. A man cannot worship God Unless
he worships God in spirit and in truth. And that's the last
thing I see here. Excuse me, the sixth thing. God
is spirit. It says here in verse 24. Verse
23 says, The hour cometh and now is when true worshipers shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth. What did the Lord
say that that which is born of flesh? He said that which is
born of flesh is flesh. It didn't say that which is born
of flesh is flesh and spirit. That which is born of flesh is
flesh. True worshipers worship in spirit, born of God. The hour cometh now and now is
when true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth,
for the Father seeketh such to worship him. That God is a spirit
and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth. That is the new man. The new
man, you must worship in spirit and in truth as it is in Christ
Jesus. There's a lot of worship that
is not worship. It's false worship. A lot of
worship goes around that's not true worship. Only by revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ, only by the spirit of God given life
is a man able to worship God. God must be worshiped in spirit. And truth, I believe many confuse
the emotions and senses of the soul and call it spiritual. But a man cannot worship unless
he worship in spirit and in truth, the truth, Jesus Christ is the
truth, the true God. True God. One with God, the Father,
I am the Father of one. No man can know God apart from
knowing him in the Lord Jesus Christ. The only God we'll ever
see is the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, he and the Father,
I and the Father are one. And here's the last thing. Number
John, chapter three, John, chapter three. In verse 30. He must increase. And I must
decrease. He must increase, and I must
decrease. If a man or a woman is going
to be in glory, He must increase, and I must decrease. I must decrease. You know the story here. The
disciples, verse 25 says, Then arose a question between some
of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. And they came
to John and said unto him, Rabbi, He that was with thee beyond
Jordan, to whom thou get barest witness, behold, the same baptize,
and all men come to him." They're trying to make John the Baptist
jealous. And John answered and said, A
man can receive nothing. A man can receive nothing except
to be given him from heaven. I told you the truth. But a man
cannot receive that. Unless God reveals it to him,
unless God gives it to him. You yourself bear me witness
that I said I'm not the Christ, but that I'm sent before him.
He that hath the bride, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. He that
hath the bride is the bridegroom. He's the bridegroom, the Lord
Jesus Christ. But the friend of the bridegroom, that's me,
which standeth and heareth him rejoices greatly because the
bridegroom's voice. This my joy, therefore, is fulfilled. He must increase, and I must
decrease. God the Father has determined
that all preeminence, that the Lord Jesus Christ will have all
preeminence. All preeminence. You look here
in Colossians chapter 1. All preeminence in all things. There's only one to whom the
glory will go in heaven. To the land, to the land that
was slain in Colossians chapter one and verse 15, who is the
image of the invisible God. This is the Lord Jesus Christ,
the firstborn of every creature or the the the heir of every
all creation for by him. For all things created that are
in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible. Whether
they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things were created by him, all things were created for him,
and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body,
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn of the dead, that
in all things he might have the preeminence. All things he might
have the preeminence. He must increase and I must decrease. If anybody is going to be in
glory, there's no doubt and question in their mind that who he is,
that he is the one that receives all the honor and glory in heaven. Christ is all. Christ is all
or he's nothing at all. He's all or he's nothing. And
there is no one in the kingdom that has any doubt about this.
The song and glory is the same song that his people are singing
here on the earth. Not in dust, not in dust, but
in thy name, and to thy name give glory and praise. These
seven things I find in the book of John, that if a man or a woman
is to be before God and be accepted, these things must be. These things
must be the spirit of God, according to his mercy and grace in Christ.
Jesus must give life to dead sinners. You must be born again. The Lord Jesus Christ must pay
the debt of his people on the cross, shedding his blood to
put away the sins of his people. Lord Jesus Christ must finish
the work while he's here in this world. It is finished. He established
righteousness. He finished the work of salvation.
Salvation is of the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ must be
raised of the dead, justified by him. The Lord Jesus Christ
himself must go out seeking his sheep that are lost. And the
Lord Jesus Christ must reveal himself to his people. And the
Lord Jesus Christ must be all in all. These are seven things
I find that must be if a person is going to be in his presence.
Lord bless his word. Thank you, Pastor.