These preachers have went off
and learned how to market, market through churches and took marketing
classes and how to get folks to come in. The gospel is not
enough anymore. Word of God is not enough anymore.
Just preaching is not enough anymore. Just the plain Word
of God, simple, plain, just not enough for people anymore. They've
got to have something else. But that's the only thing that
God has promised to bless in this world is His Word. He said He'll send it out, He'll
do what He's sent it to accomplish, and it will not return to Him
void. He said He's promised to do that.
And He's promised to save sinners who come to His blessed Son and
His Son alone. Now, the title of my message
this morning is, Must, Must, and Must. Must, must, and must. Must is
a word our Lord Jesus Christ uses often. He must go to Jerusalem. And God uses it in His Word. God uses it in His Word. It's
a common word. We use it ourselves often. It's
a little word. It's a word that's used so often
that we don't even worry about its meaning. We use it ourselves,
you know. I must get this done today. If
I don't get this done today, well, you know, I must get the
baby. I must go here. I must go, you
know. We use this word often. But what
does this word most mean? Well, in the scriptures, and
of course in everyday life, it means necessary. It means binding. It's something that's absolutely
necessary to be done. And you're bound to get it done.
Binding you to get it done. But it also means this. It ought
to be done. Should be. But primarily it means
necessary and binding. So when you say you must, it's
necessary. You're bound to get it done.
something that's binding. And so our Lord Jesus Christ,
when He uses this word here in John chapter three, it's something
that's necessary, must have to be done. And it's bound to be
happened. It's bound to be done. And look
what our Lord said here in John chapter three and verse seven.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, you must be born again. Absolutely necessity. Bound to happen. Got to happen.
You must be born again. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ is
saying to Nicodemus, as I read this to you, you really should
be born again. Or you need to be born again.
I urge you to be born again. You know, years ago, one of the
common phrases that people used all the time was, I'm a born-again
Christian. Are you a born-again Christian?
There's no such animal as not a born-again Christian. If you're
born-again, you don't have to tell anybody. It'll tell on you. And the fact that they have to
say, well, I'm a born-again Christian, why in the world is there no
other kind? So, you know, our Lord Jesus Christ didn't say,
I commit, you ought to be born-again. I urge you to be born again.
Make a decision and you'll be born again. No, he says you must
be born again. Why must a man be born again? Now, here's the master in Israel.
This is one of the Sanhedrin. There's only 70 people ruled
over Israel. And he was one of the 70. Nicodemus
was. Here was a fellow that could
stand up in the synagogue and open the scriptures, and folks
would sit and listen to him teach things. He was a master. He was a teacher. He was a big
shot. He was somebody in Israel. And
I, Lord, looked him square in the eye and said, Nicodemus,
you must be born again. And why? I'll tell you why. It's
very simple. The answer to that is as simple
as the nose on your face. It's because we were born wrong
the first time. If you must be born again, then
that means your first birth had to be wrong to start with. Or
you wouldn't need to be born again. So it must be of necessity
that we were born wrong the first time. And look what our Lord
Jesus Christ said to him back up there in verse 4. Nicodemus
said unto him, when our Lord told him, he said, A man must
be born again. I said, How can a man be born
when he's old? Can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb? He thinks naturally, and he's
trying to show the Lord Jesus Christ, how in the world are
you talking about being born again? That's the most absurd
thing I've ever heard. That don't even make sense to
me. He said, I'm an old man now. How in the world am I going to
have a new birth? How am I going to be born again? What are you
talking about? He said, the only way I can understand
that to happen, you mean that this is ridiculous. You mean
I've got to get in my mother's womb and come out a second time?
You know what our Lord said to him? Verily, verily, I say unto
thee, Except a man be born of water, and the spirit he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God. And here's the key to it, that
which is born of the flesh is flesh. I don't care how many
times you're born of a woman, you're born of the flesh, you're
born of nature, you're born of natural, you're born lost. David
said, I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive
me. The wicked go astray from the
womb speaking lies. I get so frustrated with children
sometimes because you just, you know, no matter what you teach
them and what you do to them and what you try to get them
to understand, they're going to manifest their depravity.
They're going to manifest their awful wickedness. I'm just giving
you an illustration for it. We was giving the baby yesterday
a bath. The one that's seven months old,
giving him a bath. Ronnie's got five, four or five
horse rags just for her. We want to use one of them. Mary
said, give me one of them brushwipes so I can wash Bentley with. No,
no, no, no. They're mine. They're mine. They're
mine. I ain't gonna use mine. They're
mine. That's the prayer. That's why
it says, you reckon if she went back into her mother's womb and
come out, you reckon she'd be any different? You reckon she'd
be any less selfish? Any less stingy? Any less Faithful, any less loving? Self-centered and selfish and
self-righteous? She would not have but she'd
come out the same, just like me, just like you. And that's
why He says you must be born again, no matter what happens
to you. How many times you come through
this world. And that's why reincarnation
is one of the most ridiculous things in the world. And that's why the Lord said
here, that which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born
of spirit, and that word spirit, that's capitalized, that which
is born of the Spirit of God, He becomes a spiritual being,
a spiritual person. And our Lord didn't tell him
how he ought to live, and this is what preachers, he said, now
Nicodemus, he said, now listen, you know, if you start living
right, If you start praying and if you start giving, if you start
dedicating yourself to me, if you start attending the church
and all, no, no, he already was doing all that. He was a Pharisee. That's the first thing you said
about him. There was a man of the Pharisees. Nobody more religious than the
Pharisees. Our Lord didn't tell him how
he ought to live. He told him, well, you need to make a change.
But no, he says, you must be born again. And look what he
said up here in verse three. Without the new birth, he says,
our Lord says to him, I say unto thee, except a man be born again,
born from above, he can't even see the kingdom of God. What
does that mean, he can't see? That means he's blind. Anybody that can't see, it means
they're blind. They're blind to spiritual things,
blind to God, blind to themselves, blind to sin. That's why our
Lord Jesus Christ, in John chapter 9, when there was a man born
blind, they came to him and said, which did sin, this man or his
parents, that he was born blind? And he says, neither one of them.
He said, that's got nothing to do with it. This man's blindness
is for the glory of God. He says, you know, he was born
blind, and here's the reason why, because I'm going to come
and open his eyes. And that's what he says to Nicodemus.
He said, Nicodemus, except you're born again, you'll be blind all
your life, and because you're blind right now. How many times
have you tried to talk to somebody about something and they say,
I just don't see it. I just don't see it. Of course they don't
see it. You know why they don't see it?
Because they don't have their eyes to see with. And so that's
why the new birth is necessary to get spiritualized. Paul, when
he's on the Damascus Road, went down to the hospital to him,
he says, the Lord has sent me to pray for you. And he said,
and then the scales, the scales fell off of his eyes. And then
he saw for the first time in his life, he actually saw Jesus
Christ. He actually saw himself. And
you know what he said about himself after he saw that? He said, Oh,
wretched man that I am. Oh, I'm the chief of sinners.
Though I be the greatest apostles, I'm less than nothing. So you see, beloved, when a man's
eyes is opened, he sees things he never saw before. I remember
Brother Henry years and years and years ago preaching. And
there's a woman who got really upset with this priest, and she
got up and left. She had attended the church there
in Cherokee for years, and she just got up and left. She was
really offended. Something said, and she got up and left. Twenty-five, thirty minutes later,
she'd come back in. Sat there, stiff jaw, stiff neck,
gritting her teeth. She tucked it out. Come back
the next night, Henry's preaching again. She was sitting about
back in the middle of the church and she throwed up her hand and she
said, I see it now, I see it now. I see, I see, I see. That's what
John Newton said, I once was blind, now I see. Oh my, look what our Lord said
to him down here in verse 9. He said, Nicodemus answered and
said unto him, How in the world can these things be? You see,
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
neither can he know them, they are spiritually discerned. And
that's why Nicodemus says, You told me some things, but I don't
have a clue what you're talking about. How in the world can these
things be? And I know this, if a man isn't
born again, and the Spirit of God doesn't regenerate him, he'll
wish he had never been born to start with. That's what our Lord
told about old Judas. He said, this man will one day
wish that he had never been born. And also, our Lord told him,
you must be born again. And our Lord asked him this question. And I've asked preachers this
before. Are thou a master of Israel and knowest not these
things?" You're a preacher, and you don't know these things?
You got a Bible, and you don't know these things? You went to
seminary and don't know these things? You're standing out and telling
everybody else, Reading from the scriptures and preaching
to people and you don't know about nothing about the new birth.
You don't know nothing about the lost condition of a man.
You don't know nothing about how desperately wicked a man's
heart is. You don't know anything about
the Old Testament that presents a new birth in lots and lots
of places. That's why our Lord told us that
I told you of earthly things, natural things. And you don't
understand that. You know, you go back to the
Old Testament, you find all kinds of times. And when Noah and his
family got out of that ark, that was a typical of the resurrection. That's typical of the new birth.
They come out on a new land, on a new earth, saved from wrath,
saved from the condemnation, saved from the judgment of God. When He come to that infant cast
out in the field, He said, I say unto thee, live. That's the new
birth. Those dry bones, I say, live. That's the new birth. Jacob learned that night that
the Lord took hold of him and wrestled him and changed his
name and everything. That's the new birth. He said,
you're a master of Israel and you should have... You mean to
tell me that you've been teaching all these years and you don't
know nothing about that? Well, let's just talk about this
new birth then. What happens in the new birth?
What is it? Our Lord said there in verse... He said, marvel not that I said
unto thee, ye must be born again. Don't marvel about it. You are.
And He says, the wind blows. He said, excuse me, back up in
verse 5. He said, verily, our son, unto
thee, saith the man, be born of water and of spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God. And what does He mean, born of
water and of spirit? You must be born again. The wind
blows where it lifts us out. Here's a sound you cannot tell
where it comes and where it goes. Well, in the natural birth, there's
water in the natural birth. Is that not right? I remember
when, years ago, I remember like it was yesterday. I can remember
the first time I ever laid eyes on her. She didn't have a clue
who I was. GBU Hall on Linden Avenue in
Dayton, Ohio. But she was standing washing
dishes one afternoon in August. That's what I said. That's the
first time I seen her. No, I said, then later, I said, I remember
like this yesterday. We're not washing dishes now.
We're talking about watering the new birth. She's going to ask me to help
her preach. She's going to ask me to stop
that. Anyway, she's standing washing
dishes, and all of a sudden her water broke. You know what that
means? Time to go to the doctor. Time
to go to the hospital. And that's what happened. That's
when our Lord said, He said, I've told you of earthly things. Everybody
knows that when you have a child, the water breaks the first thing
that happens. And He said, and shall a man
be born of the water? And of course he's talking about,
he said, I'm telling you about natural birth, but the water
that he talks about here, he's actually talking about the Word
of God that saves you, that washes you, and that, but he's using
earthly things to say that with. And except a man be born of the
Spirit, the Holy Spirit must come and regenerate a man. And
he says, look how he describes the wind, he uses the natural
birth to talk about how A man is born again, and he said he
must be born of the water, the word of God, which washings and
cleansing of the water by the word. And then look what he says
here. And the wind, he uses natural things. The wind blows where
it will. The wind blows where it will. And you hear the sound. Everybody can hear the wind blow.
When it's really blowing, you can hear it blow. And you cannot
tell where it comes. The wind is so mysterious, you
don't know when it's going to start, where it's going to start,
what it's going to do when it gets there. And you cannot tell
where it comes and where it goes. It'll just come and then it'll
be gone. But you can see the effects of
it. When you sit watching the wind, the leaves blow. Leaves
blow off of trees. Limbs blow off of trees. Sometimes
it's just a gentle breeze that just blows along. But he says,
so is everyone that's born of the Spirit. And you can't tell
when the wind's blowing. It may blow really, really hard
on somebody. Shake all their foundation, I
mean, shake their whole world and tear it all to pieces. And
then it may come with just a gentle breeze. But I do know wherever
it comes and wherever it blows, you can see the effects of it. You can look and see what's happening.
The wind's blowing. Look at them leaves. Sometimes
it blows and bends the trees, but I do know that wherever it
goes, and you can tell what our Lord said, you can hear the sound
thereof, and you can tell whence it cometh, and I'll tell you
why. And that's the way it is. You don't know who it's blowing
on and when it's blowing and who it's going to do something.
But when it's done, you know that the wind is blowing on you. You can tell. You can tell. You
hear it. The wind's blowing right now.
How's it blowing? In the gospel. In the gospel. And I'll tell
you something, the wind blows. Now that's a fact. Where it pleases,
that's a fact. I mean, it blows where it pleases.
And it's sovereign in its action. I mean, it says, blows where
it pleases. I mean, it's sovereign wherever it wants to blow. And
it's mysterious. It comes and it goes. And I'll
tell you something else, it's irresistible. Have any of y'all
ever resisted the wind? You ever had any power over the
wind? You ever been able to change the wind? You ever been able
to have any effect on the wind? No, the wind will have an effect
on you. But you will have no effect on it. And it's irresistible. It comes in power. You hear the
sound. And it evidences the fact that it's blowing. And I'll tell
you something else, the wind's invisible. You ever saw the wind? All you see is the effects of
it. You can't see the wind itself,
can you? Can't see wind itself. But, boy,
you can see its effects when it's blowing. All right. So all men must be born again.
Now look down here in verse 14. Here's my other must. Must? That's
my first must. Here's my second. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Must be lifted up. Now what is
our Lord doing here? He took Nicodemus on another
step. Took him on to another step. And the Lord is teaching Nicodemus
and teaching us that the ground and foundation upon the way the
new birth is given is through Christ being lifted up. Nobody's
going to be saved. Nobody's going to be born again.
There's going to be no life for anybody until Christ was lifted
up. And they said, Nicodemus, this
is what's got to happen. And this is what you've got to
understand. Now, Nicodemus knew exactly what happened when that
serpent was lifted up. The children of Israel were murmuring
against God. They loathed this white bread.
They despised the water. And they said, Oh, we loathe
this white bread. You've brought us out here in
the wilderness to die. And God got angry and he says,
Now listen, Moses, and he sent fire serpents among the people
and much people died. I mean, before God ever did anything,
many people died. He didn't say, now lift up a
sign that says, smile, God loves you. He didn't lift up a sign
that says, now here's an altar, come get on it. He didn't say,
now here's our old-fashioned service, come here and we'll
have us a big time. No, he says, Moses, take you
a serpent. There's serpents, 50s people,
you make you the likeness of a serpent. and you hang it out
of brass and you hang it up high and put it on a pole and everybody
and the first thing they said they come and said Moses we sinned
against God and oh after they confessed their
sin God lifted up that serpent and he says first of all God
said make the serpent Moses didn't come up with that idea Nobody
come up with Christ crucified. He said, as Moses lifted up the
serpent of the will, even so must Christ, the Son of Man,
be lifted up. And more when he lifted up, he
said, any soul that's bitten, notice that, any soul that's
bitten, not just any body, any soul that's bitten, got that
sin in them, that death in them, And when that serpent bit you,
you were just as sure to die as God was on His throne, unless
you looked at that serpent. And that's the way it is with
Christ. Christ was lifted up. You know why? Because man sinned. You know who He was lifted up
for? Those that was bitten. Right? And you know the consequences
of not looking? Death. Oh, my. And I tell you,
Moses lifted up that serpent. Christ must be lifted up. And
I tell you, in both of them, the consequences of not looking
was sin, was death. And then both of them were provided
by God. Moses made a serpent, lifted
it up, and it was the likeness of that serpent. Christ was made
in the likeness of sinful flesh. He wasn't sinful. He was made
in the likeness. When you looked at it, you saw
a man. You saw a man like me and you. You saw a man that was
a Jew. You saw a man that he went around
doing wonderful works and miracles. But you saw a man. No different
looking than anybody else. But the difference between him
and everybody around him was that he had no sin. He could
not sin. When you look at him, he is in
the likeness of sinful flesh, but he was not sinned. He had
no sin. And boy, he was lifting us And I'll tell you, you know why
he was lifted up? I'll tell you that in verse 6.
See, the gospel's in verse 14. But the reason for Moses Christ
being lifted up, the reason that he was lifted up, the reason
that Christ was lifted up, was God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son. That's the reason, that's the
motive for God to lift up His Son. It was sovereign mercy. They despised God there back
in the book of Numbers. And men despise God today, and
He said, we will not have this man to reign over us. Will not
come to me that you might have life. And let me tell you something,
like a ghost serpent, and Christ was lifted up. And where was
they lifted up at? In public view. This thing, this thing wasn't
done in a corner. That's why it's so messy. You
know, that's why it's so imperative that we always make our message
to be Christ. We may never get another shot
at preaching to a soul, which comes in sometimes. But when
we do, we've got to set forth Christ and public views that
they can see, that they can understand that they're telling something
about a person that actually was lifted up, that when he was
lifted up, God lifted him up. God put him on that cross. And
he was put on that cross for the same reason that circle was
lifted up, because we have sinned. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. We've proved before Jew and Gentile
that all are under sin. And oh, beloved, and those who
looked, what happened to them? They lived. And why did they look? Because
they said, we've sinned. Why didn't they look? Because
they needed to. Why didn't they look? They said,
because if I don't look, I'm going to die. And if a man don't look to Christ,
there's no other, no other sacrifice, he said, nobody else to look
to. And let me tell you this about this business of, of a
certain business of Christ being lifted up. In numbers, They were
faced only with physical death. Just physical death. In John,
they're faced with eternal death. Eternal death. The serpent was
provided for physical healing only. If they looked, they were
healed of that serpent's bite. They're still going to die. But
our Lord was lifted up for our spiritual healing. That we might
be born of the Spirit. That the Spirit of God might
come to us and work in us and shed the love of God and draw
it in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. And that's why the Lord
said, must. It's necessary for Christ to
be lifted up. You ask most people, why in the
world was Christ crucified? They say, well, because He loved
us and He died to save us if we would just make the right
choice. when we get our opportunity,
when we get our chance. Christ was lifted up. The good
shepherd gives his life for the sheep. God sent his Son forth to be
of propitiation. That's the same thing that God
sent forth that serpent into wilderness. God sent forth Christ
publicly. set him forth in his words, set
him forth in his life, set him forth on the cross, set our Lord
Jesus Christ forth for everybody to see. For a propitiation must
be lifted up. Thank God that he must be lifted
up. Bless God that he was lifted
up and that it was necessary for him to be lifted up. It's
necessary to save us from the law. And people talk about the law.
Listen, the law is not just the Ten Commandments. It's all the
ceremonies and all the rituals, all the things that a man must
do. If you're going to be saved by
law, you're going to have to keep it all. That's why the Catholicism
is so great, because, you know, folks want to be saved, but they
don't know how to do it, so they go to somebody that tells them
how to do it. a priest that'll atone for him, a priest that
offers sacrifice for him, and a priest that'll pray for him,
and a priest that'll burn a candle for him. And why it works, religion,
is so great. Old Roland Hill stood up one
day and preached in the marketplace there in London, in the market,
and he said, if I stood up and he preached, he said, if I could
tell folks that they'd be saved if they brought me I could sell
salvation to him for five pounds, and people line up and give me
five pounds. He said, I get up here and preach salvation full,
I preach salvation free, that Christ did it all, Christ accomplished
it all, and everything you needed for salvation to be accepted
of God, Christ did it. You're made accepted in the beloved.
He says nobody wants as long as it's free. You put a price
tag on it, and they're gladly having it. But our Lord said,
I must be lifted up. God said, I must to atone for
sin. Paul said, I must to fulfill
it. Death said, I must in order to
die. Sin said, I must in order to
put it away. Justice said, I must in order
to satisfy it. Grace said, I must so that I
can be just and justified when I come and save a sinner by the
power of God. Oh, so many must for Christ to
be lifted up. And then look down with me now
in verse, let me get, there's my must, must, and here's my
must. Look down in verse 30. He must increase, but I must
decrease. Oh my. So here's what happened. Look back up in verse 26. This is what happened. This is
the way the devil works. And they came to John, some of
John's disciples, and they came unto John, some of the Jews and
them did, and they came and says, Rabbi, he that was with thee
beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, talk about Christ, when
he bore witness to Christ being the Lamb of God. Behold, the
same baptizes, and all come to him. They said, John said, boy,
you know, you was the cast me out. Everybody come to you. Now
they're going to him. That's the way the devil comes.
He says, you know, they like him better than they do you.
They think you're more popular than him. You're fading off the
scene, you know. And I think, you know, set them
up against one another. That's the way the devil works.
But look what John said. John answered and said, a man
can receive nothing except to be given him from heaven. I don't
care what you all say, if you know anything at all, if you
have any spiritual understanding, if you ever know who that was
that I witnessed to. He said, you can't receive that
until God gives it to you. You can't receive the Lamb of
God. You can't receive my witness. And he said, and I know your
devices. He said, a man can't receive nothing until God gives
it to him. God gives it to him from heaven.
Huh? And oh, listen. Look what he
says now. And you yourself bear witness
that I said I am not the Christ, that I am sent before him. I
was his forerunner. Now listen to what he's saying.
He that has the bride is the bridegroom. Christ is the bridegroom. He's the one that's got the bride.
He's the one that's going to have the marriage supper of the
Lamb. He's the one that put the garment on his bride. He's the
one that dressed her up. And then that friend of the bridegroom,
John, said, I'm just a friend. He said he rejoices greatly.
It's like the best man. He rejoices greatly when he hears
that bridegroom's voice. And he says, when I heard his
voice and I seen who he was and I received this from heaven,
my joy is fulfilled because I know who the bridegroom is. And that's
why he said he must increase. It don't make a bit of difference
what I am. When they said, John, who are you? I'm just a boy. Well, you weren't just a boy.
Nope, just a boy. What are you doing? Crying out
here in the wilderness. What are you crying about? Repent!
Repent! Flee from the wrath to come.
And he kept preaching that until one day he was standing there
The Lord Jesus Christ went in the baptismal pool and He come
back up out of there in that duck and John said, Behold the
Lamb of God! That's Him! God told me when
I saw that duck, He said, That's Venus Messiah! He said, I'm not
fit to bow down and loose a shoelace on His foot. He said, He is before
me, preferred before me. I'm nothing. And oh, ain't that
what we sung this morning? Hangs my helpless soul on thee.
And then look what he said in verse 31. He that cometh from
above is above everybody. Who come from above? Very but
one come from above. That's Christ. He that come from
above, he's above everybody. He's above everything. He's above
every person. He's above every type. He's above
everything. And watch this. And he that saith
the earth is earthly, he speaks of the earth. That's why you
fellows come to me and say, you know, That fellow you bore witness
to said he's over there baptizing folks. Not him himself, but his
disciples are. And everybody's coming to him
now. And he said, oh, but he that cometh from heaven is above
all. And he speaks of heavenly things.
And listen to this. Now, our Lord Jesus told this,
the very same thing. Back up in verse 11, he told,
this is exactly what Christ told Nicodemus. And this is what John
says about Christ. Verily I say unto thee, that
we speak that which we do know, and testify that which we have
seen, and ye receive not our witness." Now look what John
said about it in verse 32. He that cometh from above heaven
is above all in what he hath seen and heard. What he's seen
in glory, what he's heard from his Father, that he testifies. He testifies from things of above,
and no man receives his testimony. And that's what that he told
Nicodemus, that you don't receive our witness. And listen to this,
and the man that hath received his testimony, what Christ said
about himself, has said to his seal. You know, God's true. This is true. Who Christ said
he was is so. Oh, my. He said that's what,
that's what he's saying. He that's from God speaks God's
word. And let me tell you something, beloved. The father loves the
son, giving all things into his hands. When John said he must
increase, I'm telling you something, Christ did increase. He did increase. His word increased. His kingdom
increased. His people increased. Here we
are. He started out at 120. First
time Peter preached, 3,000. Next time he preached, 5,000.
That's how fast he increased. His word went around the world. And, oh, beloved, we're looking
for His kingdom, sure, in Christ. We're part of His kingdom in
Christ. He's the bridegroom. And I tell
you, He puts garments on His bride. But right now, right now,
He sits on His throne. And one thing that will never
increase about our Lord Jesus Christ is His power and His authority
and His sovereignty. Those will never increase. All
power in heaven and earth is given unto Him. Ain't that right? And He's going to sit there until
God brings all of His enemies, puts them right there at His
foot, and our Lord puts His foot on them. That all lives He increases,
we must decrease. What do you think about yourself
in the light of the Lord Jesus Christ? What do you think about
yourself in light of God, in light of the Word? In light of
the new birth, in light of you being saved by the grace of God,
what do you think about yourself? What do you think about what
you've accomplished in this world? As a Christian, as a believer,
what have you accomplished? What have you done in your life that gives God all
the glory? So there's not a bit of sense
in us increasing ourselves. This increase in the grace and
knowledge of Christ by the Spirit of God, the body in the world. Boy, to see somebody put their
self forward, when Christ must increase. John said, Who are
you, John? I'm just a voice. I'm just a
voice. God said, Who's voice one day?
Shut his voice. You know how I shut it? Having
a wicked woman and a wicked king cut his head off. That's how
I shut it. And you know what? I still hear
his voice. He must decrease. I must decrease. I still hear old John Thunder.
Listen! Your man can't receive nothing
except it be given him from heaven. Well, what did you get from heaven?
He must decrease! I must decrease. The Father loves
the Son, and given all things into His hand. Huh? Bless His name. Our Father, gracious, gracious
Father in heaven, our blessed Lord Jesus, who is like unto
Thee, wondrous in grace, wondrous in mercy, And Lord Jesus, thank
You. Father, thank You that our Lord
Jesus Christ must be lifted up. Oh, blessed be Your name, that
it was necessary, binding in the covenant of grace, that You
must be lifted up. Lifted up to bear our sins away
in Your body on the tree. Lifted up to bear the wrath of
God in our place. Lifted up. so that the Spirit
would come, the wind would blow, and He would blow on us, blow
in such power that would create a new creature, take out that
old stony heart, blowed on us in the Word, opened our understanding,
our minds, our hearts. God, we bless You for that. Please
have mercy upon the lost among us. Make them understand and
see your blessed grace, that they might come to Christ. They
might trust Christ. They may trust the Lord Jesus.
We ask in His blessed name. Amen. Amen. Turn your eyes upon
Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. and the things of earth
will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. See you tonight. God will in
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