Some Things Are a Must

Q: What does the Bible say about being born again?

The Bible emphasizes that being born again is essential, as stated in John 3:7, where Jesus says, 'You must be born again.' The necessity of being born again is a crucial doctrine in Christian theology, especially highlighted in John 3:7, where Jesus explicitly tells Nicodemus, 'You must be born again.' This statement underscores the inherent need for spiritual regeneration for all individuals, as they are naturally born into sin and depravity. The imperative nature of 'must' indicates that this is not merely a suggestion but a divine necessity for salvation. According to the sovereign grace perspective, every chosen sinner will be born again at God's appointed time, as His grace guarantees the fulfillment of His promises.

Q: How do we know God's election is true?

God's election is affirmed through scripture and His unchanging purpose, as seen in 2 Peter 3:9. The doctrine of election is deeply rooted in Scripture and reflects God's sovereign choice of certain individuals for salvation. In 2 Peter 3:9, it's stated that the Lord is 'not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.' This highlights God's specific intent and purpose toward His elect. Furthermore, the assurance of God's election is consistent throughout the biblical narrative, affirming that His choice is not arbitrary but founded in His eternal wisdom and love. The covenant made in Jeremiah 31 further reinforces this truth as it illustrates God's promise to redeem and regenerate His people.

Q: Why is the concept of election important for Christians?

Election assures Christians of God's sovereignty and the certainty of salvation for the chosen. The concept of election is foundational in understanding God's sovereign grace and His plan for redemption. It reassures believers that their salvation is not based on their own works or decisions but on God's gracious choice. Without the doctrine of election, the concept of salvation might appear uncertain or dependent on human effort. In Ephesians 1:4, Paul emphasizes that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, highlighting that our standing before God is rooted in His sovereign initiative. This understanding fosters a spirit of humility and gratitude, as Christians recognize their salvation as a gift of grace rather than a result of their merit.

Q: What does it mean that Christ must be lifted up?

Christ being lifted up refers to His crucifixion, which was necessary for the salvation of His people. In John 3:14, Jesus explains that, just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, He must be lifted up as well. This lifting up signifies His crucifixion, which is essential for the redemption of His people. It underscores the necessity of Christ’s sacrificial death to satisfy divine justice and enable sinners to be justified before God. The term 'must' indicates that this was not a mere possibility but a divine requirement from the covenant of redemption. Only through His death could the sins of the elect be atoned for, and through this act, He becomes the source of eternal life for all who believe in Him.

So when I've had greater delight studying and preparing a message than I have today, earlier this morning I ran across an outline really of messages I prepared for homiletics class when I was in Bible college and I thought, that's pretty good. That's pretty good. So I worked on it all day and I've been anxious to preach the message to you tonight. I don't know that I ever actually preach the message is one of the things you had to do in school.

But I believe I've got something for us. Turn with me, if you will, to John chapter three. John, the third chapter, just hold your Bibles open here. Some things are a must. Every morning I come in here to the office and I think to myself, this is a must. This I've got to get done before I go home. Shelby and I will often get together and say, This has just got to be done. This is a must.

And normally, normally we get done those things that are on the must list, but fairly often we miss the shot. We don't quite get done everything that in the morning we think we must get done. I'm sure that's true of you. We say that's a must, but when we say that's a must, we really mean that's a priority. We really want to get this done.

But there are lots of things that alter our opinions of what priorities are. I recall just a few weeks ago, it seems like now, it's been a few months, I had some things on my desk that must be done, and then I got word that my mother was dying. That changes priorities real quick. And we have no control over things that frequently change what we consider priorities. But still, some things are a must.

And I want to talk to you tonight about some of those things found here in John chapter three, which our Lord Jesus describes for us plainly by the Spirit of God. Now, as we look at this passage of scripture, this little word must is used several times in this chapter. And we use it every day. We use it all the time in lots of ways. But you might be surprised if you stop to consider exactly what this little word means, must. When we use the word, we commonly use it to say, this is needful.

This is a priority. This is behooving. This is what should be. And those things are certainly included in the meaning of the word. But the primary meaning of this word is this. This is necessary. The word must is an imperative verb. And when the Lord our God says something is a must, that means it's a must. This is sure enough going to come to pass. You see, nothing causes God Almighty to change his mind. Nothing causes God to alter his purpose. Nothing causes God to adjust his plan. With that in mind, let's look at these three or four passages here in John chapter three. And let me show you a few things that I think will be of help to you. First, in verse 7, here is a must for the chosen sinner.

Our Lord Jesus is talking to Nicodemus. As he comes to the Lord Jesus, Nicodemus is a proud, self-righteous Pharisee, a man who thinks he knows everything, thinks with regard to the things of God. He's got the world by the tail on a downhill pull. He's got everything fixed up and everything sewed up, and he thinks everything's all right. But what Nicodemus did not understand, what he did not know, is that he was himself an object of God's grace and mercy.

Now I know this because in John chapter 19, John tells us Nicodemus was the companion of Joseph of Arimathea. Some suggest he was his brother. But Nicodemus came with Joseph when all the others forsook the Lord, when all the others denied the Lord and nobody would own him. Nicodemus came with Joseph boldly and begged the body of Jesus that they might take it and bury it. And that considerable sacrifice to himself, Nicodemus purchased the spices for the burying of our Lord's body.

So Nicodemus, while he was not here born of God, he was one of God's elect. And the Lord Jesus says to him, verse seven, Marvel not that I said unto thee you must be born again Our Lord was not simply saying to Nicodemus that you really need to be born again He was not saying, I want you to be born again. He was not saying, Nicodemus, this would be the best thing for you. He says, Nicodemus, you must be born again, because Nicodemus was one chosen of God. He was not at this time born again, but at the appointed time of God's mercy, grace, and love, he was indeed born again.

So I take him in this regard as a representative of God's elect. The Lord Jesus says then concerning his elect, concerning every chosen redeemed sinner, you must be born again. He says that from eternity and he begins to do it. All of God's elect must and shall be born again at God's appointed time. Now I'm stressing this to you tonight for this reason.

Let us never become apprehensive. Let us never become fearful of God's purpose. Let us never become a little antsy as to whether or not the Lord God's going to accomplish his purpose. God shall, at his appointed time, in accordance with his absolute purpose, cause every chosen redeemed sinner to hear his word and believe the gospel of his grace, bringing them to his soul. And that's no problem to him. That's no problem to him. Somebody says, well, what if there's no preacher where one of God's elected? That's not a problem. That's not a problem. Or what if there's no liberty to worship in that area? God's toppled nations before. He still does. He still does. God will, at his appointed time of mercy and grace, cause every chosen sinner to hear his word and be born again by the power of his spirit.

Now let me show you why this is a necessity. First, we need it. People, I got a letter today, somebody, I don't know whether they're confused or whether they're just being belligerent. I'll try to decide and answer it accordingly. But they said, well, if these things are so, what's the point in preaching? If these things are so, why must we declare to men they must be born again?

God's already said this one's going to be saved, this one's not. We don't need to preach anything. There's no necessity for the new birth. Oh, yeah. We are chosen for salvation. We have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Those things were taken care of before we were even born. We were chosen before the world began unto salvation. But we were born just like all of the men.

In Ephesians chapter 2, Bob read it in the back back here. In Ephesians 2, the apostle says we were children of wrath even as others. Now that doesn't mean that we were one time the object of God's wrath and he changed his mind. What it means is we are by nature children of wrath. We're born by nature deserving of God's wrath. We must be born again because we were born wrong the first time. And we need to be born again.

The psalmist David says, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. And he's not suggesting in any way that somehow the act of the conception or the shaping of his body in the womb of his mother was somehow sinful. But what he's saying is that he, from the beginning of his life, as he was conceived in the womb, was conceived as a sinner. And so are we all.

The wicked, he says, are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon as they're born, speaking lies. All of us were born depraved. All of us born spiritually dead. All of us born spiritually corrupt. born with a carnal mind which is enmity against God. And that will never change until you're born again. We must be born again, though chosen and redeemed because God who cannot lie promised it before the world began.

Turn back to Jeremiah 31. Let me show you this. Jeremiah chapter 31. Now, this passage of scripture is talking about the everlasting covenant of God's grace. And we know this covenant is applicable and specifically to be interpreted with regard to God's elect of every age and of every nation, because in Hebrews chapter 8 and in Hebrews chapter 10, the Apostle Paul tells us plainly that this covenant is talking about the covenant of which you and I are partakers. Here in Jeremiah 31 and verse 31, the Lord God says, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord. That I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of David Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers In the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of egypt which my covenant they broke Although I was a husband unto them saith the lord and he said I'm going to make a new covenant This new covenant was made for us and with our Redeemer, our surety before the world began. But it comes to each of us in the fullness of time and causes us to receive the blessedness and the benefit of the covenant.

And he says this new covenant that I've made, this one that it's the old one in time, but newly revealed. This covenant that's always new, it's not at all like that covenant that I made with Israel at Sinai. That was a legal covenant which you broke. This is a covenant which my son fulfills and doesn't depend on you.

Now read on. He says in verse 33, This shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts. What law? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and love one another as he gave us commandment. How do you know that's what he's talking about? Because the law of the Ten Commandments, what we call the moral law, is inscribed on the hearts of all men by nature, so that the conscience of man is a witness of God in a man against himself. But here is the law inscribed upon our hearts, causing a man to love God. This is talking then about the new birth.

He says in they I will be their God and they shall be my people No question about it at God's appointed time in the time of his love He will cause every chosen one to come to him willingly Worshipping him as his God. He says in verse 34 They shall know me from the least of them and to the greatest of them saith the Lord. I This is what God promised, who cannot lie.

He saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which were given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Not only is it necessary because God promised it, but our election by his grace demands it. We won't look at the passages of Scripture that deal with God's electing love and grace. He chose us unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. The Scripture plainly states that.

If even one who was chosen for salvation should fail to obtain it, if even one of God's election should perish without life at last, then God's election is meaningless. His purpose is useless. His love is worthless. His word is comfort. Now that's bold, bold truth. The truth it is.

If even one chosen by God should perish, then Larry, God's purpose is meaningless. God's love is worthless and his word is comfort. Well, how can you say that? Because if God cannot secure this thing, which he purposed from eternity, then there is nothing in this book secure. There is nothing purposed by God secure.

Folks fuss and argue about election and predestination and say, we just can't believe that. And then they talk about prophecy and things going to come. They say, well, in the end, in the end, the Lord's going to win. Satan's going to be defeated. Everything's going to turn out all right. How do you know? How do you know?

We know that all shall end as God purposed it because He's God and His purpose shall stand. God's elect must all be born again because predestination has arranged it. Election is God choosing a people. He said, I'll be their God and they should be my people. Predestination is God laying out everything that comes to pass in time from eternity. to secure the election, to secure the salvation of his elect.

That's what it is. Predestination is not some blind fate. Predestination is not, whatever will be, will be. Oh, no, no, no, no. Predestination is our loving Heavenly Father. Before the world began, Rex, because he was arranging everything to secure your everlasting Now that's good doctrine. That doctrine, Moses said, drops like dew from the heaven.

That's refreshing to our souls. These elect ones, every one shall be born again because the sin-atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ demands it. He has obtained eternal redemption for us. This is not something he's hoping to get for us. But with his blood, he entered in once into the holy place and got it. He has secured for us our everlasting salvation. And every chosen blood-bought sinner in this world must be born again because our God wills it.

Now turn to 2 Peter 3. I want you to see this. 2 Peter chapter 3. I love in preaching the gospel of God's free grace to take those texts of scripture which babbling freewill Arminian idolaters like to throw in your face and show you exactly what they mean.

For the scriptures universally declare this message of God's free grace in Christ. Here in 2 Peter 3, verse 9, the Lord is talking to us about the end of the world, the time when Christ will come again, and the scoffers and mockers say, where is the promise of his coming? And in verse 9, the apostle Peter, writing by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise.

What promise? That promise of eternal life, Bobby, which he promised before the world began. He's not slack. He's not slack concerning his promise. I promise you something, and I'm an honest man, and I'm going to do my dead-level best to fulfill my promise. I count on you to do the same thing. But I'm just a man, and I might stump my toe, and I can't fulfill my promise. It doesn't take much to keep me from doing it.

Not God. Not God. Oh no, he's not slack concerning his promise, but his long-suffering. Now, long-suffering means more than patience. Long-suffering with God means more than just God is, he's gonna wait and wait and wait and wait. That's not it at all. Long-suffering with God is a deliberate patience. Long-suffering with God is patience for a specific purpose and a specific people. He is long-suffering, look at it now, to us. Not to everybody. Not to everybody. No, sir. It was never God's purpose to be long-suffering to everybody. It was never God's purpose to save everybody. It was never God's purpose or intent or desire that everyone should be saved.

He's long-suffering to us. Look at it. Not willing that any, any who, any of us to whom he's long-suffering. Now anybody who's got good sense ought to be able to say that. But most folks don't have good sense spiritually. His long-suffering to us were not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Well, how do you know that's what that means? Because in verse 17 he says so. Or verse 15, look at it. Now count that the long-suffering of our Lord salvation.

It couldn't be much plainer than that, could it? God's long-suffering, his patience with us in this world, he puts up with this wicked world as he does because he's got a people here who he's purposely saved and he's not going to allow the fire and brimstone of heaven to destroy this Sodom and Gomorrah until he's brought the last of his lots out. We know that these chosen, redeemed, predestined elect of God shall indeed be born again because the Holy Spirit was sent here to affect. It is the Spirit that quickeneth the flesh, profiteth nothing. All right, skip down to verse 14, John 3,

14. Here's another must. This is a must for the commission, surety, our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into this world with an errand, with a commission, with a mission to fulfill.

He did not come here haphazardly. He did not come here with nothing intentional to do. He did not come here hoping maybe somebody would pretty please let him do something by which he could honor God and please his Father. Oh, no. He came here on purpose. On purpose to save a people, on purpose to save a people by fulfilling all the stipulations of the covenant, laying down his life, Bobby, as our surety, our mediator, our substitute. And here in John 3, 14, our Lord speaks.

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so, look at it, must the Son of Man be lifted up. Must, binding upon him. Imperative that he'd be lifted up Absolutely necessary that he'd be lifted up. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, but that brazen serpent was a picture of Christ Our Redeemer crucified for us lifted up in the wilderness so that Israel might be saved There was no other way for them to be saved except by that brazen serpent looking to him because they themselves had been bitten of fiery serpents.

Our Lord Jesus came here as a man who was himself condemned to die, made to be sin for us, and there's no other way that we could be saved, the fallen sons of Adam, but by this man making atonement for sin, being lifted up from the earth. How can you say that?

Well, there was no necessity in himself. And we certainly did not put a necessity upon him. There was no necessity in that he somehow is made to be subject to the Father's will because he's less than the Father. But our Lord voluntarily, willingly assumed total responsibility for the saving of his people.

And having assumed that responsibility, when he struck hands as our surety with the Father in the covenant of grace, he put himself in the bondage of a surety. And he said, now I must be lifted up. I must be, because I'm honor-bound to be. A surety is one who assumes responsibility for another. And when a man of honor gives his pledge, when a man of honor gives his word, you can bank on it. Our Lord gives us an example of this back in Genesis 43. Turn back there if you will. Genesis chapter 43. Verse eight. You familiar with the passage?

Joseph is in Egypt now. He made prime minister over Egypt, sitting in the place of Pharaoh upon the throne of Egypt for the saving of God's chosen, exactly as the scriptures had predicted. But his brothers aren't aware of it. His brothers sold him into slavery. And they've been brought into terrible, desperate circumstances now.

And now Benjamin has been held by Joseph, and he was held by Joseph not to torment his father. He was held by Joseph not to torment even his persecuting brethren. But Benjamin was held by Joseph as a prisoner so that he could get every one of Israel down in Egypt. and save them all.

When Jacob heard about this, he said, oh, all these things are Jacob's. And we're everyone just like Jacob. We're just like, oh, God, why did you do this? Brother Scott Richardson said a long time ago, he said, if I could see things the way God sees things and the end of things, I'd want things. just the way God has arranged things. Joseph had kept Benjamin in prison, a bitter thing, a bitter experience, a hard thing, because Joseph was determined to get Jacob and all his brothers and all their family down into Goshen where he could do them good, feed them, care for them, and save them alive.

Now then, Jacob, or Judah rather, goes to his father, Jacob, and he says, now father, Benjamin's down here, and I told this man, I'm sorry, Simeon's down here, and I told this man that I'd bring Benjamin down, and if I don't deliver both Benjamin and Simeon back into your hands, then let me bear the blame forever.

I'll be sure of it, boy. Look at it. Genesis 43, verse 8. Judah said to Israel, his father, send the lad with me, send Benjamin with me, and we'll arise and go. that we may live and not die, both we and thou and also our little ones. I will be surety for him. Of my hand shalt thou require him. If I bring him not unto thee and set him before thee, let me bear the blame forever. Judah said that. Our Lord Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

And before the world began, he says to the Father, give them to me, and I'll redeem them. I will bring them back safely to you. And if I don't, I'll take the blame forever. And he will take no blame. He shall bring all his chosen back to the Father, because he has assured it, he pledged himself to it, even at the sacrifice of himself. Therefore, he says in John chapter 10, verse 18, No man takes my life from me, but I lay it down in myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my father. That is the father that's all right.

Now, this is what it'll cost you. This is what it'll cost you to redeem your people. It'll cost you your life's precious blood. And he said, I'll do it. The father said, go do it. And this becomes his commandment. The Son of God must die as he did because the scriptures must be fulfilled. And this was an absolute necessity in order for him to save us from ourselves. In John 3, 14, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. for justice must be satisfied if sin is to be put away. You read about God blotting out our transgressions, forgiving our sins?

This is how he does it. Only when justice is satisfied. Then he says in verse 50, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. Now then, if I'm lifted up and I make it possible for God to be just and justify all who live in it. But what's the cause of all that? For God so loved the world, not just the Jews, but the world, the world of his elect, Jew and Gentile, black and white, bond and free, rich and poor, men and women from every climate, every country. God loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

I like that word whosoever. That's a big, big word. Whosoever. He doesn't say whosoever does or whosoever feels or whosoever decides. He just says whosoever believes. I'm glad he didn't even say if Don Fortner will believe. Because there's some other Don Fortners around. I've met a few of them. And I would just be convinced he's talking about that guy, important or not me. But here he says, whosoever. That means anybody, anywhere, who believes. Anybody, anywhere, who believes will not perish but have everlasting life. Well, how can you say that?

Preach election and limited atonement, irresistible grace. Why, I couldn't say it if I didn't preach those things. We know that whosoever believes has everlasting life and shall never perish because God purposed and Christ redeemed them. And now the spirit has called them else they could never believe.

And then look at verse 30. This is where I've been working to. Here is a must for the contrite servant. John the Baptist is speaking now. He says in verse 29, he that hath the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This, my joy, therefore, is fulfilled. Now remember the context.

John's disciples were a little concerned. They said, Master, that one whom you've been preaching, he's baptizing. Everybody's following him now. And they were a little jealous for it. And John said, don't be jealous of the miseries I carry. No, don't be concerned about him taking my reputation away. I meant for him too. That's the purpose. My joy is now fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.

Christ is the bridegroom. He has the bride. Gospel preachers are friends of the bridegroom who stand before him. We listen to the bridegroom's voice. We rejoice to hear his voice. And our joy is fulfilled when God is pleased to take us as friends of the bridegroom and introduce the bride and the bridegroom. Oh, that's all I'm here for. Oh, if God calls you to meet his son, let me be a voice that brings the two together. my joyful being. And every true servant of God is anxious to turn the honor and the attention away from himself to Christ alone.

He must decrease. I must decrease. The more I decrease, the more I delight, to just stand before him and hear his voice. And the more I simply stand before him and hear his voice, the more he will increase before me and the more I'll decrease before him. Oh, let Christ increase and me decrease. We cannot be occupied with more than one thing at a time. Only one thing at a time. Let us then ever be occupied with Christ. and not what I say. The more occupied I am with him, the less occupied I am with me. That's what it says.

Let him be increased and me decreased. You see, humility is not something a man cultivates. Humility, many men try to fake, but humility is really something that comes as a result of simply beholding the Lord Jesus Christ. The more I try to humble myself, the more proud I become. But the more I stand in his presence, hear his voice, the more I'm humbled before him. Now then, look at this, in verse 4 of chapter 4. Here's a must for our compassionate Savior. He must needs go through Samaria.

The cause is an old, trashy, dirty, harlot woman down there. She wasn't really even a harlot. She didn't sell herself, she gave herself away. Had five husbands, none of them were husbands. She just shacked up with this fella, shacked up with that fella, shacked up with this fella, shacked up with that fella.

But she's a chosen object of God's grace. She's been redeemed by the blood of Christ. And now the time has come when she must be called. She must be born again. And so the Lord Jesus must needs go through Samaria to call his chosen one at the time of his life. And so he did. And it's still that way.

Lord willing, I'll leave here tomorrow, go down and preach in Texas for a couple of nights. Maybe, maybe the son of God will go with visit that living room and call out somebody who is chosen, redeemed, because the time of love has come. I believe I'll go. I believe I'll go. May God have His blessings in that portion of His Word and into your hearts, for Christ's sake. Amen.

Some Things Are a Must

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about being born again?

How do we know God's election is true?

Why is the concept of election important for Christians?

What does it mean that Christ must be lifted up?

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Some Things Are a Must

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about being born again?

How do we know God's election is true?

Why is the concept of election important for Christians?

What does it mean that Christ must be lifted up?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

Comments

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