1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5, we'll be looking
at verse 1 this evening. And the title of the message
is in the form of a question. Are you born of God? Are you born of God? John states this in verse 1 of
chapter 5, 1 John 1 chapter 5 and verse 1, Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Now, this matter of the
birth, This being born of God. Our Lord Jesus in the Gospel
of John chapter 3 tells us plainly that being born of God or being
born again is not an option for glory. It is not an option for
heaven. Rather, the birth, the new birth
or being born of God is a necessity. Jesus says this, you must be
born again. He tells Nicodemus this truth. He says that which is born, except
a man be born again. He cannot see the kingdom of
God. I tell you this by divine authority. You will never see God's kingdom. You will never see heaven. You
will never have eternal life except you'll be born again. It is a necessity. Now, what
does it mean to be born again? What is the Lord talking about?
This birth. He is talking about a spiritual
thing. A spiritual thing, he tells Nicodemus,
that which is born of flesh is flesh. And that which is born
of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I say unto you,
you must be born again. This new birth is not of the
flesh. Nicodemus asked that question.
He said, how is it that a man, if he is old, can be born a second
time? He was thinking according to
the flesh. But Jesus tells him it's not
a matter of flesh. The Spirit, through the Scriptures,
plainly teaches us that this flesh is not necessarily the
body, but rather the nature of man, the nature of man. That which is born of flesh is
flesh. And all men by nature are born
with a fleshly nature. A fleshly nature, a nature that
is spiritually dead. Spiritually dead. Paul says to us who are born
again, you who have been born again of the Spirit of God, he
says this to us, and you hath he quickened, who were, what,
dead, dead in trespasses and sins, wherein In that deadness,
in time past, you walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also
we all had our conversation in time past, in the lust of the
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by," listen, nature, Do you see what he's relating?
The flesh, the lust of the flesh, the carnal desires of the mind. We walked, when we were dead,
we walked according to this flesh, to this nature. And we're by
nature the children of wrath, even as others. Paul says of
that fleshly mind in Romans 8, he says that the natural mind,
the natural mind, the carnal mind is enmity. The natural mind, your natural
mind, my natural abilities, my natural will and soul have a
desire against God. We are against God by nature.
For the nature of man is not subject to the law of God, neither
indeed can be, because he's spiritually discerned. So then, Paul said,
they that are in the flesh cannot please God. This is plain language. This is not complicated. That
which is born of flesh is flesh. It's natural for men to hate
God, to despise God, May God ever open your eyes to see that
there is nothing you or I could do to please Him by nature. Nothing. Have you seen that? Have you seen the truth that
by nature you and I can do nothing to please God? There is no amount
of work There is no level of religion or learning that we
can attain to. There's no amount of heartfelt
sincerity that you can give in the flesh to please God. The scriptures are plain in these
matters. There is none righteous, no,
not one. There's none that doeth good.
There's none that seeketh after God. There's none that understandeth. These things are plain. By nature,
man, all have sinned and fallen short, come short of the glory
of God. You see, we've all missed the
mark. We've all failed to meet God's standard of acceptance,
which is absolute perfection. God does not demand your best
efforts. God demands your perfection. These are the plain words of
God. Be ye holy even as I am holy. These are not suggestions. These are demands. I was reading earlier of men
who were complaining of this, that God would put upon men demands
that they can't fulfill. Well, when man failed, did God
lose His right to demand of man to obey? No! Man lost his ability
to obey in the fall, but God did not lose His right to demand
obedience. What will it take for you to
enter into heaven. What will it take? Well, let's
see what God says about it. Go to Isaiah. Go to the Psalm. Psalm 24. Psalm 24. Psalm 24
and verse 3. Listen to the question. Listen
to the question he asks here. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His holy
place? Here's the answer. Look at the
answer. He said, He that hath clean hands and a pure heart,
who hath not lifted up his soul to vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing
of the Lord and righteousness from the God of His salvation.
Who shall ascend into heaven? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart. Now who among us has clean hands
and a pure heart? Who among us would be so bold
as to confess we have no sin? We have not sinned. Who would
be so bold? John says, he said in 1 John
1 verse 8, he said, if we say we have not sinned, we are calling
God a liar. You get that? I know there's
a lot of people running around in the so-called Christian world
who confess that they are now sinless and perfect in everything. They are calling God a liar. And the truth is not in them.
That's just so. they don't like it, and I don't
care if they like it. That's what God says. You call
God a liar if you say you haven't sinned, if you don't sin. David said, confessing his sin,
he says this of himself, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and
in sin Did my mother conceive me? Now, he's not blaming his
sin on his mother or his father. They didn't sin in his conception. What he was saying was that he
received by nature that sinful, fleshly, Adamic nature. He was confessing that he was
a sinner from the womb. Have you seen that? Has God revealed
that to you? That we are all born sinners. Romans 5, 12 is one of the clearest
declarations of this. Sin entered into the world. And
death by sin, so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned. How did all sin? All sinned in
the representative. All sinned in Adam. Death and sin were passed to us through our
relationship to our father and representative, Adam. Adam. Paul says in Corinthians, he
said, in Adam all die. Do you not see then that our
fleshly nature, our fleshly natural condition that is both without
hope and ability to be accepted of God, Not only is man born
without righteousness and ability to please God, but because he
is dead, he is also without desire to please God. He's without the
will to please God. I tell you this evening, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That is
a true statement. The problem is, Man does not
have the desire or will to believe on Christ because he is dead,
because he is dead in sins. As I've quoted before, the carnal
mind is enmity, hatred against God. It's not able or willing
to be subject to the law of God. Jesus, who is the savior of sinners,
told those Jews, When they started complaining about this, Jesus
told them, he said, I'm the bread that came down from heaven. They
didn't understand, said, how in the world is he saying he
come down from heaven? You know, God's in heaven. What he was
saying was, I'm God, and I came down from heaven, and yet I'm
in the flesh. I'm the bread of life, and he
that believeth in me shall never die. What he was saying to them,
and they didn't understand, so what'd they do? They started
murmuring and complaining about it. Jesus said, there's no reason
for you to murmur among yourselves. No man can come unto me except
the Father which has sent me draw him. There's no murmuring
about this. There's no complaining about
this. This is just true. This is the new birth. It is
not something man can do for himself. It is not something
that God does as a result of what man does for God. That's
not the new birth. No, the new birth is by the grace
of God. and you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins but God who is rich in mercy
for his great love wherewith he hath loved us He sent His
Son to be the propitiation for our sins. For by grace you are
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. Faith is not
of yourself. It, faith, is a gift of God,
not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship."
Listen to this word, created. There's another word. for the
new birth, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God before ordained that we should walk in them." Oh, the foolish
complaints of men concerning the new birth. Some say, well, preacher, if
you're saying that no matter what a man does, God only gives
salvation to his elect, Well, that's so. No matter what a man
does, God is going to give salvation to the leg. But I tell you, that's
a presumptuous statement is what that is. That's a very foolish
and ignorant presumption to suppose that man will desire to come
to Christ when Christ said no man can come except the Father
which has sent me draw him. It's a foolish presumption to
believe that any man will come to Christ without the new birth.
That's just presumption. It's foolishness. It's ignorance
of the Scripture. Murmur, if you will, against
God's Word. But I tell you, no man can or
will come to Christ, come to faith in Christ. No man will
believe that Jesus is the Christ Unless he's born of God. Unless
he's born of God. Except he be born of the will
of God. John says that plainly, doesn't
he? As many as received him, to them gave he the right to
be called the sons of God. If you've believed on Christ,
you have a right to be called the sons of God. But how is it
that you believe? John tells you how you believe,
which were born not of the flesh, not of the will of man, not of
the will of the flesh, but of God. Do you see where your new
birth comes from? It comes from God. It is a gift
of God's grace. So then, seeing now that man
is helpless, Seeing now that man by nature cannot come to
God and will not come to God, who then will be born again?
Who are born again? I'll tell you. They are called
the elect. That's who they are. That's who
will be born again. Go to Ephesians 1. Read it with
me. Ephesians 1. to the believer. This is one
of the most comforting passages of scripture, most assuring passages. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. And this is what
He has chosen for us, that we should be holy. Now isn't that
a choice? Isn't that something? He chose
us, gave us to Christ, and then He said that we should be holy
and without blame before Him. Notice why. In love. This is His motivation. In love. Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved."
These chosen people of God were chosen before the foundation
of the world. They were loved before the foundation
of the world. God purposed that these elect
should be holy and without blame that he should they should be
his adopted sons And he even purposed how this would happen
see God didn't just purpose that we should he also purposed how
we would by Jesus Christ By Jesus Christ God planned it all there's
no gaps in this plan How many times you made a plan there's
gaps in it? Well, I'm gonna go here, and I'm gonna do this,
and if this works, then I'll do this. But if it doesn't, then
I'm gonna have to make a contingency, and I'm gonna have to go over
here, and if that doesn't, then we'll just go home. That's usually
the way it works. Usually we're just upset, and
we'll just go home, because our plans crumble. Our plans crumble. And
men try to put that failure on God. God doesn't fail in His
plans. He planned the whole thing. He
purposed the whole thing. That they should be holy and
without blame by Jesus Christ. Over in Romans 8, he says, if you look over there in Romans
8, I want to read it, I don't want to mess it up. Romans 8,
28. And we know that all things work
together for good to who? To everyone? No. No. Not all things work together
for good to everyone. But to who? To them who love
God. In our text, John tells us that
those that are born again love God. So he's saying, in essence,
those that are born again. Everything works together for
good to those who are born of God, who love God, who are the
called according to His purpose. I like this. One lady had asked
a pastor long ago. She was a Methodist, and she
didn't quite understand this difference. She knew there was
a difference between the preachers of the gospel and those in that
Methodist church she was at. She knew there was something
about this election, and she couldn't figure out what it was.
And she asked him, and she said, What's this thing of election?
And he pointed to this scripture right here and he said it's all
about purpose. Did God save you on accident or on purpose? See, God saves His people on
purpose. On purpose. It's not by accident. Those called
according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow. He
did predestinate. Not what He foreknew man would
do, but who. He foreknew. For whom He did foreknow, He
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
He did predestinate, them He also called. And whom He called,
them He also justified. And whom He justified, them He
also glorified." Salvation, friends, is on purpose. What then distinguishes these
from the rest of Adam's race? What distinguishes these elect?
Why is it that they should be born again? What's different
about them? Let me give you this word of
wisdom. There is nothing different in
them. Nothing. God did not choose His
elect based on anything in them. Remember, Paul said we were by
nature as others. We were no different. What then
makes the difference? One word, grace. Absolute, sovereign,
free, unmerited favor. That makes the difference. In Romans chapter 9, the apostle
tells us this, that for the children, talking about Esau and Jacob
not yet being born, neither having done good or evil, that the purpose
of God, according to election, might stand not of works, but
of him that calleth. He saith to her, the elder shall
serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? Is God unrighteous to do that?
Absolutely not. God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, so then, it is not of
him that willeth, nor him that runneth, but God that showeth
mercy. Consider that. Consider this. Why? Why did God set His love
on Jacob? There was nothing different from
Jacob and Esau. They were both born of the same
mother, of the same father. Yet God, according, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand. He said, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. He didn't wait for them to do
anything before He did that. He did that before they were
yet born. He does this so the purpose of
God, according to election, might stand not of works, but Him that
calleth. Do you yet feel your hopelessness then? Do you not
see your hopelessness in this, that you have nothing to do with
this matter of the new birth? Do you not feel that your condition
and see that salvation is not up to you? Are you yet convinced to see
that there is nothing in you, nothing you can do to merit God's
favor? If you've seen that, I'll tell
you what, you've been blessed. If you've seen that, that's a
blessing. I like this song, Joseph Hardy said, A sinner is a sacred
thing, the Holy Ghost hath made him one. Now behold how God purposed to
save the elect, I told you, by Jesus Christ. An eternal covenant
of grace, when God gave the elect to his son, The Scripture tells
us plainly in Proverbs chapter 8, Jesus speaking in the person
of wisdom. He says, I was set up before
the world was. Set up. Now the eternal Son of
God, equal with the Father and the Spirit, how was He set up?
What was He set up to do? He was set up to be the surety. That's a very important word,
surety. When Jesus took the elect to
Himself, what He did was swear to save them. He became a guarantee. I don't know if you remember this,
but remember when Judah had to come back from seeing Joseph. He didn't know it was Joseph
yet. And he had his brothers all put in prison. He told them,
you go back and you get that young one. You go get Benjamin
and you bring him back. Jacob had already lost Joseph
and Benjamin was his only son left of that of his wife She
had already died. And so he did not want to let
Benjamin go and Judah said this He said I will be a surety for
the lad my life for his My life for his he became a guarantee
that Do you not see that's what Jesus did? He became a guarantee
for all the elect. He became a guarantee. He said,
my life for theirs. Behold, in the volume of the
book it is written of me to do thy will. Because His people
could not obey the law of God, nor could they satisfy the justice
of God, the Son of God was made flesh so as to represent the
elect before God. Behold, in Jesus Christ were
all of the elect in union with Him as He lived, as He died,
and as He rose again from the dead. Behold, friends, God hath
made Him to be wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. For who? For us. For who? The elect. For those who are
born again of the Spirit of God. This was the purpose of God from
the beginning, that the seed of the woman should crush the
head of the serpent, the Lamb of God should die, and His blood
should be applied to the doorpost of the heart of His people, so
that He was able to pass over them. Therefore, Jesus was born
of the Virgin, and He came to destroy, not to destroy the law
of God, but to fulfill it. and to die in the stead of His
people. Oh, how He was tried and proven
to be the Christ. Isn't that so? Satan tried Him. The Jews tried Him. His disciples
were with Him every day and tried Him. And what was their answer? The Jews said, never a man spake
like this man. Pilate said, I find no fault
in this man. And his disciples said, this
is the Son of God. And he said to those Jews, which
of you convinces me of sin? He was the righteous Son of God.
He was the Christ, fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophecies,
fulfilled all righteousness, and offered himself as a sacrifice
for sin. now in whom Christ we have redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." The sins of God's elect
were punished in the Son of God. Do you realize this, that God
could not have mercy at the expense of His justice? I tell you, religious men today
care nothing for the justice of God. They don't care if God's
just as long as they get saved. I tell you, you won't be saved
unless the justice of God is satisfied. And I know this, that Jesus Christ
came into the world to satisfy God's justice. This is why Jesus Christ could
say, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Isn't that a definite article?
That's a definite thing. All that the Father giveth me,
guess what? They shall come to me. And him that cometh to me,
I will in no wise cast out. For this is the will of him that
sent me, that of all he hath given me I should lose how many?
Nothing. Nothing. But raise it up again
at the last day. this is the purpose of God that
all of his elect should be in Christ that he should obey the
law for them that he should die for them that he should rise
again the third day for their justification and in the appointed
time he would come to them by his Holy Spirit and give them
the new birth all sinner behold Jesus Christ John says in that text, whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ, I was telling Scott the other
day, there is just an endless amount of understanding in that
word Christ. But I'm going to give you one
word for that, successful. Successful. He that believeth
that Jesus Christ is successful, because only Christ is successful.
Remember the word of says of Christ thou shall call his name
Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins God said behold
my servant in whom I uphold mine elect in whom I so delighted
he shall not fail nor be discouraged now if Jesus were to fail and
lose one I Tell you he would not be the Christ But that's not the Christ I'm
presenting to you. That's not the Christ we believe
in. We believe in a successful Savior. He accomplished redemption. And I tell you, behold. Behold
Him. God said in Isaiah, Behold, My
servants shall deal prudently. And that word means He'll be
successful. And he shall be exalted and extolled
very high. Let me ask you this, is Christ
not risen? Of course he's risen. He's risen from the dead. That
proves his success. He's successful. O sinner, hear his word. He said,
Come unto me, all you that are weary and heavy laden, and I'll
give you rest. Do you stand in need of an absolute
Savior? Well, that's good if you do,
because that's the only Savior for absolute sinners. I myself
know that I am an absolute sinner. But I believe that Jesus is the
Christ, an absolute perfect Savior. Now, does my faith make me born
again? No. I was born again. Therefore, I believe. I believe. Because of the birth. John says,
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, listen, this is
your, is that your confession? Then this is John's comfort to
you. You are born of God. You And isn't it true that whoso
that every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that
is begotten of him? Do we not love God and His Son? I tell you, I don't love Him
like I want to. I don't love Him like I should. But I tell you this, Lord, Thou
knowest I love Thee. I do love Him. And you know what? I love His
people. He says, By this you know that
we love the children of God when we love God and keep His commandments. What is His commandment? Faith
and love. Those are His commandments. that
just shall live," how? By faith. And we obey His commandments,
love one another as I have loved you. That commandment's not grievous
to you, is it? No. Why? Because you've been
born of God. And if you've been born of God,
consider you were chosen of God. You were the elect of God. You
were eternally loved of God. Christ ransomed you before you
were born. And when you were born into sin
and dismay and death, yet He came to you and saved you. He gave you life and faith. Was
it because of any goodness in you? We confess no. Oh no. All glory belongs to God in this
matter of the new birth. Are you born again? If you are,
then you believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And he
that hath the Son hath life. But he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. and the wrath of God abideth
on him. May God bless this to your hearts.
Let's stand. We'll be dismissed in prayer.