If you would, open your Bibles
again to 1 Peter chapter 1. The subject of the verses in our
text this evening is the new birth. This is a very, very important
subject for us to understand. Our Lord told Nicodemus, you
must be born again. This is not something that's
optional, not something we can do without, not something that
there is an alternative for. We must be born again. There's
no alternative to the new birth. Now, I want us to look this evening
at what God's Word says in these four verses about what the new
birth is. I'd like for us to see that by
asking our text four questions. The first one, why is the new
birth necessary? Our Lord says you must be born
again. Well, why is the new birth necessary? Second, what is the
new birth? Third, where is the new birth
found? And fourth, what is the evidence
of the new birth? These four verses will answer
those questions for us if we'll look at them and the Lord will
reveal them to us. Now question number one, why
is the new birth necessary? Because men are spiritually dead.
We won't look at these verses in order. Let's look first at
verse 24. The new birth is necessary, for all flesh is as grass, and
all the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withereth,
and the flower thereof falleth away. All flesh is grass. That's part of the twofold cry
of evangelism. You cry, all flesh is grass,
and behold your God. Look away from yourself. Look
away from your flesh, which is grass. And look to God. Now in the springtime, the grass
is so green, it's so lush, it's just beautiful. Except you've
got to cut your grass all the time. But other than that, I
mean, it's just beautiful. The flowers bloom, the colors
are bright and they're vibrant. But just a few weeks from now,
that grass is going to start to turn brown. It won't grow
as fast. You won't have to cut it near
as often. The flowers won't bloom. They'll wither and die. And our
flesh does the exact same thing. Boy, when it first comes into
being, it's lush, isn't it? Oh, it's bright and it's vibrant. It's beautiful in the youth.
Boy, it doesn't take long for that flesh to start drying up. The flesh starts to lose its
beauty. It starts to lose its strength.
Very quickly, it decays. And soon it dies. Because it
comes from a corruptible seed. That's why flesh is corruptible.
That's why it fades away and withers and dies. Because it's
born from a corruptible, dying, dead seed. You know, you've heard
the saying, you are what you eat. Well, we eat grass. That's what we are. Now, if you're
like me, you say, I don't eat much grass. I don't eat many
plants. I don't eat much salad. I like a lot of red meat. What's
that cow eat? Grass. We either eat plants and
vegetables, plants, you know, things that grow, or we eat animals
that eat grass. You're not, we are what we eat.
We're grass. Sometimes you want to see what
grass is? When you cut it, bag it up and stack it up. Just put
a stack of it there and leave it. See what happens to it. It
decays. That, what you see, the ugly
mess, that grass becomes? That's what our flesh is. It's
grass. Now flesh will fool you for a while. Because it can look
good for a time. But I'm telling you, it never
lasts. Just like grass, our flesh will
begin to fade. It'll fade. It'll lose its color,
its vibrancy. It'll become dull and lifeless
brown. And pretty soon, it'll die. And it'll become a mess of black
goo. That's what you pile up that
grass. For too long, at the bottom of it, you know what that grass
is going to turn into? A black goo. That's what our flesh will
become. And then, even that will dry
up. It'll turn to dust. It'll be
gone. That's the end of all flesh.
Flesh must die because of sin. Because of the sin that's in
this flesh. Our flesh is corrupt and filled
with sin, so it must die. David said, I was born in sin. I was shaken in iniquity. I'm
full of sin. And so my flesh must die. And
flesh can only produce more flesh. It can only produce more spiritually
dead flesh. When those babies are born, well,
you kind of like to think they're not, but they are. They're just
like their daddy. spiritually dead. And once it's
born, that flesh can never improve. Ever. It'll never improve. It'll
never get any better. If it does anything, it'll just
get worse. Look back at John chapter 3. Mike read this in
the study. John chapter 3. The flesh, once
it's born, don't ever expect it to change. It will always
be what it's born. Flesh. John 3, verse 6, that
which is born of the flesh is flesh. It'll never improve, it'll
never change, it'll only ever be flesh. And that which is born
of the Spirit is spirit. Now, we'll get to that in a minute.
But that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that's why
our Lord says in verse 5, that verily, verily, I say unto thee,
except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter
into the kingdom of heaven. This flesh cannot enter into
the kingdom of heaven because the nature of the flesh is opposite
of the spirit. It's opposite of the kingdom
of heaven. Now the flesh, it can look colorful. It can look
beautiful. But don't ever mistake beauty
for spiritual life. All flesh is dead. Look at Matthew
23. Don't mistake beauty, outward
beauty, for spiritual inner life. Matthew 23, verse 25, "'Woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you may clean the outside
of the cup and of the platter, but within there are full of
extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse
first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside
of them also may be clean also.' Low unto you scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites, for you are likened to white at sepulchres, white
at graves, headstones, which indeed appear beautiful outward,
but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but ye are
full of hypocrisy and iniquity." Spiritual life can't be seen
by what you see on the outside. by the flesh. If it looks righteous,
if it looks clean, if it looks beautiful, don't mistake the
flesh being clean and beautiful appearing to the fleshly eyes.
Don't mistake that for spiritual life. Flesh can look intelligent
for a while, but don't make the mistake of thinking intelligence
is spiritual life. All flesh is dead. 1 Corinthians
121, the world by wisdom Do not God. Man cannot know God
by natural wisdom. Don't mistake knowledge and intelligence
for spiritual life. The flesh can look religious.
It can look orthodox. It can look moral. But religion
and morality are not spiritual life. Don't ever mistake an outward
reformed shell for an inward life-giving work of grace. Men
can change their behavior. We can change our behavior, but
a change of behavior is not the new birth. We can change our
outward sin, you know, what men call outward sin. We can change
that to religious sin. But it's still sin, it's not
the new birth. What goes on in the name of religion today is
not righteousness. It's not holiness, it's not worship,
it's nothing but sin. And the people that are in it
are worse off than before they got their religion. Look over
at Luke chapter 11, I'll make good on that. You know, people say, well, isn't
it good to be religious, you know, of some kind, isn't it
good to go into, you know, a church of some kind, whatever it may
be, you know, isn't that better than nothing? No, it's not. Now
look at this, I'll show you this in Luke chapter 11. When the unclean spirit, verse
24, when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walketh
through dry places seeking rest and finds none. Now this is an
unclean spirit leaving a man. He wasn't driven out. He just
went out of his own free will. He just got bored there and he
went out looking for something else. He couldn't find a place
to rest. So he says, I'll return unto my house. I'm returning
to that man from whence I came out. Now, when he cometh, he
findeth it swept and garnished. While that unclean spirit was
gone, the man got religion. He swept it out. He garnished
it. He decorated it. He hung up a
cross. He hung up a crucifix. He hung up a picture of a long-haired
hippie and called him Jesus. He decorated it. And when he
cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, he
says, this is a nice place. Then goeth he and taketh him
seven other spirits, more wicked than himself, and they enter
in and dwell there. And the last state of that man
is worse than the first. If all his religion is, is sweeping
it out and garnishing it, the last state of that man is worse
than the first. You cannot be educated into life. You can't be reformed into the
new birth. The new birth is necessary because
life to dead flesh can come no other way. Well, second question. What is the new birth? You get
a lot of answers to that question in our day, but what does God's
word say? What is the new birth? Look at
our text, 1 Peter 1, verse 23. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. Now, it should be clear to us,
man can't give himself life. He's just dead grass. He's corruptible,
sinful flesh. And if we're going to be born
again, God must do something. He's got to do something for
us, and he's got to do something in us. Lazarus. Now, this is a physical resurrection
of the dead, but it's a good picture of the new birth. Lazarus
was dead. He was dead. His body was decaying. It was corrupt, the flesh. was
already turning to that black goo. And that's the way Lazarus
would have stayed until our Lord came to him and rolled away the
door and said, Lazarus, come forth. And he came forth because
God came to him and gave him life. That valley of dry bones
Ezekiel saw. Those bones had been there a
long time. The flesh was already gone. All that was left was bleached
bones. Those bones couldn't make themselves
live. God had to come. He sent his prophet, and the
prophet spoke to those dead bones and said, live. And the Spirit
blew upon them and gave them life. God did something for them
and did something in them, and they stood up an exceeding great
army. God must do something for us
and in us. God's got to come and in mercy. He must give us life. In John
chapter 1. This new birth is an act of God. God's got to do something for
us. He's got to do something in us. It can't come by the will
of man. It must come by the will of God.
John 1 verse 12. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name, which were born. Not of blood, not
of their natural genealogy, not because their mother and father
were believers, nor the will of the flesh. The flesh is dead. The flesh doesn't have any will
to live. It's dead. Nor the will of man, but of God. The will of God. That's how the
new birth comes. It's the will of God. And the
new birth is an inward work of grace. Man's religion is always
looking at how to clean up the outside, how to clean up your
act, turn over a new leaf. But the new birth, Scripture
says, is an inward act of grace. In our text, in verse 22, Peter
says, seeing you've purified your souls. Now your soul, that's
an inward work, and it needs an inward cleansing. If you look
at Matthew chapter 15. This is an inward work of grace. Matthew 15, verse 17. Do not
ye yet understand that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth, goeth
into the belly, and is cast out into the draw? But those things
which proceed out of the mouth, they come forth from the heart,
and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies. These are the things which defile
a man. But to eat with unwashing hands defiles not a man. It might
make you sick, but that's not what defiles you. It's the heart. And we need a new heart. We have to have that inward cleansing
work. And the new birth does not change
that old heart. Not at all. The new birth doesn't
cleanse that old heart. The new birth gives a brand new
heart. We need a new heart. That old heart, the first heart
we're born with, that's a lost cause. It's dead flesh. We need
a new heart. And the new birth. That doesn't
come from understanding a set of doctrinal truths. That's like
saying, you know, I believe this set of doctrinal truths, so I've
been born again. That's like saying I'm alive
because I see. No, I see because I'm alive. The moment I'm dead, I quit seeing.
And the same thing is true spiritually. You see Christ because you've
been born again. You're not born again because
you see him. You see because God's given you life. The new
birth is not coming to understand a set of doctrinal truths. The
new birth is not a decision. You'll never hear me tell you
or ask you to make a decision for Jesus, to decide to let Jesus
into your heart. I didn't decide to be born the
first time. That was an act of somebody else.
And even they couldn't determine when that child would be born.
Even that was an act of God. Well, if I didn't decide, if
I can't decide my physical birth, you can rest assured a dead sinner
can't decide to be born again spiritually. I mean, that's just
foolish anymore. You decide to be born the first
time. It's not a decision. When the scripture speaks of
new birth, that's how men speak of the new birth. But when scripture
speaks of the new birth, it talks about a circumcision of the heart.
That means cutting out that old heart, cutting it out, throwing
it away and putting a new heart, putting a new heart in its place.
God said a new heart. will I give you? And it will
be a heart of flesh. I'm not going to soften or change
that old, dead, cold, stony heart. We're going to get rid of it.
I'm going to put in a new heart of flesh. When Scripture speaks
of the new birth, Scripture talks about a new creature being born
in Christ Jesus. A new man. And the new birth
now starts from scratch. Starts all over from the beginning. The new birth doesn't use anything
from our first birth. Nothing. Because that first birth
is defiled by sin. It's got to go. And children
are always conceived from a seed. I guess everything that lives
comes from a seed. And in our first birth, we are
conceived from a seed, from our father's seed. And in that first
birth, we inherited the nature. and the characteristics of our
earthly father. We got him from a seed. We're
just like him because we've got his seed. The sin nature of our
earthly father is passed right on to the children by a seed. Well, the second birth works
the exact same way. In the second birth, we're conceived
by seed, but not earthly seed, the seed of our heavenly father.
And in that birth, we inherit the nature of our Heavenly Father. We inherit the characteristics
of our Heavenly Father. Those things are passed to us.
That holy nature is passed to us through the seed of our Heavenly
Father. And a believer, one who's been
born again, has faith in Christ. Someone who's been born again
loves. Someone who's been born again
walks in holiness. Why is that? Because that's the
characteristics, that's the nature of our Heavenly Father that's
been given to us in the new birth through the seed. We're born
in the spitting image of our Heavenly Father. Now, we still
have that fleshly nature, don't we? The grass didn't change.
We still have that fleshly nature that can't do anything but sin. But when we've been born again,
We have a second nature. Two natures in one body. A new
nature that cannot sin. That new nature absolutely will
never sin. It cannot sin. Because of the
seed from which it was born. The seed of the Heavenly Father. Of God Almighty. Now look over
1 John chapter 3. I'll show you that. You watch me, you watch any believer
for about three seconds and you'll see nothing but sin. Yet that
believer, that child of God has a nature that cannot sin. Can't do it. 1 John 3 verse 9. Whosoever is born of God does
not commit sin for his seed, the seed of God remains in him
and he cannot sin because he's born of God. Look at chapter
5, verse 18. Now we know that whosoever is
born of God sinneth not, but he that is begotten of God keepeth
himself and that wicked one toucheth him not. Why? Because he's born
of God and that new nature that's been born of God cannot sin because
it's born from God himself. It is just as impossible For
that new nature that's been born of God to sin as it would be
for God to sin. Because that new nature has the
new birth, that new man that's been born has the nature of God. And sinning is contrary to that
holy nature. Now our first birth gave us a
nature that can't do anything but sin. That first nature is
born to sin. But the second birth gives us
a nature that cannot sin. because we've been made partakers
of the divine nature. In the first birth, we were made
partakers of Adam's nature. In the second birth, we're made
partakers of God's nature. David said, when I was born in
sin and shaken in iniquity, well, he said that because he was born
that first time from manseed that sows sin. But when we're
born again, there's no sin sowed in that birth because that new
seed just so righteousness and holiness creates a nature that
cannot sin. And that new birth, it's a new
creation. There's a new man born who never
existed before. That new creation is completely
opposite from that first birth in every way. That's why they're
always warring and fighting because they're opposite in every way.
Our first birth was carnal. Our second birth is spiritual.
That first birth is sinful. The second birth is holy. The
first birth is dead. It's a dead birth. The second
one's alive. It's a live birth. In that first
birth, we're born slaves, slaves to sin. In the second birth,
we're born sons of God. In the first birth, we're born
disobedient children. In the second birth, we're born
obedient children. The first birth, we were born
children of wrath. The second birth, children of
love. In the first birth, we received
a human nature. In the second birth, we received
a divine nature. The list goes on and on and on
and on. You got the point? Two completely opposite natures. And the difference from those
two natures comes from the seed that birthed those two natures.
We must be born again, and it must be from new seed, from different
seed than it was from our first birth. If we just are born again
from the same kind of seed that created our first birth, we're
just going to be born dead in sin the second time. It must
be new seed. That seed of our first birth
is corruptible. So that's the way we're born
corrupt sinners. And we'll die because of it.
The second birth. That seed is incorruptible. And
that's the way we're born the second time, incorruptible, so
we'll never die. And that incorruptible seed.
Is the word of God, that's the word, and we make much of God's
word here because life is in God's word. Now that word. The writers all talk about they
get in big arguments, you know, well, is it Christ incarnate
word or is it Christ the written word? You know, were you born
again by Christ or were you born by the written word? Yes. Yes,
it's both. You cannot. How many times did
Brother Henry tell us you cannot separate Christ incarnate word
and Christ the written word? They're one. The word of God
is to see. that verse, the new nature. That's
why we read it. That's why we preach it verse
by verse, line by line, chapter by chapter, book by verse, because
it's not my comments on God's word that's going to create life.
The new birth is going to come from the seed of God's word.
So we preach his word. The word of God liveth and abideth
forever. So that new nature is born from
God's word. That'll live and abide forever
too. And it's both the incarnate word and the written word. Look
back a few pages of James chapter 1. James 1 verse 18. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. that we should be a kind of first
fruits of His creatures. Now that word, the word of His
truth, that's both the written word and it's Christ, the incarnate
word. And we're first fruits of His
creatures. We're born just like Him. And here's a word of comfort.
As we age and the flesh fails, and it will, don't lose hope. Don't be discouraged when this
flesh I know we don't like it, we're not big fans of it, but
don't be discouraged. Just expect it. Yes, the flesh
is failing, but the Word of our God liveth and abideth forever. And you will too, if you've been
born again, regardless of the state and condition of the flesh.
That's the new birth. Now where's this new birth found?
What's found through the preaching of the gospel is found in the
preaching of God's word. Look at verse 25 in our text.
But the word of all flesh is grass. It falls and fails and
dies. But the word of the Lord endureth
forever. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you. The flesh is so temporary. It's always decaying and dying. when I was getting some pictures
and things to put in the study in there. And we got a picture. Janet got out some pictures.
And we got a picture the day we were married. There we stood
in the aisle. And I looked at them kids and
I thought, my word. Then I got a picture just from
last year, our 25th wedding anniversary trip we took on vacation. Phew. There's some differences in those
two pictures. The flesh is decaying and dying. One of us looks better, one of
us don't. It's the flesh. But the Word
of God endures forever. 25 years is not a very long time. But you know what's not changed
in that 25 years? The Gospel. The buildings changed. The pastors changed. The Gospel
had changed. The Word endures forever. It never changes. It never goes
out of style. I remember preachers preaching
in a leisure suit. They wouldn't do that now. Styles
have changed. Suits come and go. They go in style and out
of style. God's Word never changes. The same Word that gave life
to Abraham is the Word that will give life to you today if you
believe it. Same Word. This is the eternal gospel that's
preached to you. The message never changes because
there's just one message. It's the message of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And God, the Holy Spirit, will
never use any other message other than the message of the gospel,
the eternal gospel, the gospel of God's word. There's just one
message because God's word never changes. Cecil, that fellow we
were talking to yesterday, I thought he read my notes. Fellas asked
me and Cecil yesterday, why are all these churches, they got
all these different messages all in the same town. He said,
shouldn't there just be one? There's just one word. Absolutely
there should. Just one message. And I tell
you, I told him, you know why all those other places got all
those other messages? Because they're all a lie. There's
just one truth. And it's the message of the Gospel. The Word of God. And the Lord
Jesus Christ himself is that seed that gives life. He is life. What did he tell
Martha? Martha, I am the resurrection
and I'm the life. He is the life and spiritual
life comes from us being in Christ and Christ being formed in our
heart. The new birth is having Christ
formed in the heart. And the only place you'll ever
hear him, the only place you'll ever meet the Lord Jesus Christ
is where he's preached. He's not going to speak to you,
not audibly. He's not going to come to you
in a special revelation. You're going to hear from him,
from his word, from his word that's preached unto you. Four,
what is the evidence of the new birth? Well, in a word, it's
love. Look at our text, verse 22. seeing
you have purified your souls and obeying the truth of the
Spirit, unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that you love
one another with a pure heart fervently." Now, when a baby
is born, that child comes into the world. It's never been here
before. That baby is not a reincarnation.
It's not recycled flesh. It's not new light shined onto
old flesh. That baby is a new Brand new
person. And that baby is evidence of
life. If it's a live birth, you're
going to see evidence of life. That baby cries. It breathes. It sees. You can tell it sees.
It reacts to light. It hears. You can tell. I mean,
it reacts to sound. Drop something over here, it
turns its head. It has life. That's the evidence it has life.
And that baby's going to grow. physically and emotionally, that
baby's going to grow. Now, that maturity, that growth,
it's not a linear, smooth growth. It's kind of back and forth,
up and down. You know, sometimes you think
it's going backwards, but he's growing. He's growing. Everything
that has life grows and matures. Well, spiritual life has the
same evidences. If God's given you a live birth
in the new birth, You see, you see Christ, you hear Him. When you hear the gospel, you
say, that's it. That's Him. That's the Savior. And you cry. You cry to Him. You never did
before, but you do now because you have life. And the chief
evidence of the new birth is love. It's love for God. Before, you hated Him. You were
enmity with Him. Now you love Him. It's love for
Christ. It's love for His Word. You used
to say, I don't like the King James Version. I don't understand
that. I don't understand the Bible. Now you love it. What
happened? God gave you life. You love the
Gospel and you love other people. Especially other children of
God. Now I want to spend just a minute
on this love. You'll notice Peter does not
command us to love one another because the law says so. He doesn't
tell us, I'm the apostle, I've got apostolic authority and you
love or else. You don't do that, does it? Because
it won't work. The law never works. He tells
us you love because you've got a new nature that God birthed
in you that loves. Now, I'm speaking to believers
here. God's given you a new nature. Think where you come from. Think
what you are. God made you be born into His
family. You bear His name now. You've
got a new name, a new family. Peter's saying, live up to it.
You've got a new nature. Live up to it. You've got a new
name. Protect it. Live up to it. And this is a
loving, loving group of people. I mean, I just love being with
you. You're so kind. Easy to be with. Just easy to
preach to. You're a loving people. You love
each other. You love the Gospels. But now, don't rest on your laurels.
Work at this. Cultivate it. Pray about it.
One of our ladies made this statement to me a few weeks ago. She said,
I pray about this matter of love. We have a loving, forgiving group. For now. I pray about this. That God will make me loving.
God make me a forgiving person. Not He'll make all you a forgiving
person so you'll love me and forgive me. No, I pray that God
will make me a loving person. Make me a forgiving person. We've
been given a new nature that loves. Now see that you do it. See that you do it. We say we've
been redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. Don't we say
that? We just observed the Lord's table here last Wednesday night.
He took that wine saying, I'm redeemed with the precious blood
of Christ when I act like it. I wonder how I do that? By loving. By loving. And you know what? I don't have to give you a list
of things to do. If you love, you'll know what
to do. Because the great American once
said, love acts. If I don't have to tell you what
to do, you'll know. Because love acts. And love This
love, now it's of God. It comes to us through the seed
of the Word of God. A seed can only produce its own
kind, right? An apple seed don't ever expect
to plant that thing that's made out of it. It can only produce
after its kind. It can only ever produce an apple
tree. Well, then love obviously cannot come from our first birth.
That first birth comes from Adam's seed, right? Look at Adam in
the garden after the fall. He's a hateful man. He hated
God. He hated his wife. He's a hateful
man. Well, love can't come from that
seed. It's got to be a new seed. And the second birth. We're born
just like our Father in heaven. Scripture says God is love. He
loves his people and his son. A child of God then loves. Because we've got His nature,
the nature of our Father, who is love. And love is the evidence
that our souls have been purified by obeying the truth. See that
what Peter says in verse 22? Seeing you have purified your
souls in obeying the truth. Now we know we didn't do anything
to purify our souls, did we? That purification is in Christ. It's in the blood of Christ,
the blood that he shed for us. And we're purified when God,
the Holy Spirit, applies that blood to our hearts. Yes, Scripture
still says you purified your souls. Because you're the one
who believed the truth, you're the one who obeyed the gospel,
you're the one that looks to Christ, you're the one who believed
on Christ. Now, you only did it through the power of the Holy
Spirit, right? But yet, Earl, you're the one who believed.
I mean, you know, the Spirit did it in you, but you're the
one that believed. And the cleansing of our souls is an absolute necessity. The new birth is a necessity,
and this cleansing of our souls is a necessity. We're born with
a soul that's defiled, polluted by sin. And it's not just dirty
on the outside. It's defiled all the way through
to the core. And every soul that's been washed
in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is pure, completely pure. The blood of Christ didn't just
cleanse the filth on the outside and cover up and hide the filth
on the inside. The blood of Christ washes us
and makes a sinner pure through and through, sanctified. That's
the work of the Holy Spirit. And the end of this sanctification,
the end of being made holy, Peter says, is love of the brethren. The evidence that you've been
sanctified is love. Now look over 1 John again, chapter
3. 1 John 3, verse 14. We know. that we pass from death unto
life. How? Because we love the brethren.
He that loveth not his brother abides in death. If you don't
love your brother, you're still dead. That's what that's saying.
Look over page chapter 4, verse 7. Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is of God. And everyone that loveth is born
of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God, for God is love. Verse 11, same chapter. No man
has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth
in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we
dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we love one another. And
Peter says love one another with a pure heart, fervently, fervently. Not just in word, but in action. Demonstrate that love. It's not
just a show. Do it in reality. Peter says
it's unfamed love. That word means sincere. It means
without hypocrisy, without pretense. Don't just tell somebody you
love them when you're with them face to face and go home and
forget all about them. No. Think about them. Love them.
I'm not even going to try to tell you what to do. If you love,
you'll do it. You'll act on it. And I'll tell you how we show
that love. True love shows itself mainly in this. Denying self. Denying self. It's self-sacrifice. If I love Janet, she needs something,
I'll do without so she can have it. Not because I have to. Because I love her. Christ loves
His people. Is there any doubt about that?
Any doubt? How do you know it? He sacrificed
himself for his people. That's love. Now you emulate
that. Self-sacrificing. And look at
1 Corinthians 13. Love is the only grace that will last
into eternity. Every other grace, every other
gift stops at the grave. Love is the only grace that will
last through eternity. I will discipline myself to just
read these verses, not make any comment, just a message unto
itself. But I'm just going to read you this chapter. Though
I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love,
I become as a sounding grass or a tinkling cymbal. And though
I have the gift of prophecy, oh, I can preach up a storm.
And I understand all mysteries and all knowledge. And though
I have all faith, so that I can remove mountains, and have not
love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods
to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,
and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. Love suffers long
in its kind. Love envies not. Love bonneth
not itself. Love is not puffed up. Love does
not behave itself unseemly. Love does not seek her own. Love
is not easily provoked. Love thinketh no evil. Love doesn't
rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all
things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all
things. Now, love never fails. But whether
there'll be prophecies, preaching, they'll fail. Whether there'll
be tongues, a gift of tongues, a gift of going out and talking
to people in different tongues, that's going to cease. And heaven
will all speak one language. Whether there'll be knowledge,
it shall vanish away. We'll realize we didn't know
near as much as we thought we did. For we know in part, and we preach
in part. But when that which is perfect
is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When
I was a child, I spake as a child. I understood as a child. I thought
as a child. But when I became a man, I put
away childish things. For now we see through a glass
darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then
shall I know even as also I am known. By faith, hope, love,
these three. But the greatest of these is
love. Well, I see what you're saying.
Boy, it's hard to love certain people. I just don't have any. I can't love them. I just can't
even act like I love them. Now, wait a minute. Where'd that
attitude come from? That attitude's not of God. That
attitude's of Adam, isn't it? That selfish attitude comes from
the grass, comes from the flesh. Every child of God, don't ever
forget this, you're born the first time unclean and you still
carry that old dead nature around with you. You're still carrying
that grass around with you. Well, everybody else is too.
Shouldn't we be able to have some sympathy on those? Got the
same heart I got. Got the same flesh I've got.
Got the same grass I've got. Should we be able to love them
and forgive them? Because we understand. Got the
same grass. Got the same flesh. Should be
able to forgive them just because Christ forgave me. God, for Christ's
sake, forgave me. God loved me when I was unlovable.
That ought to be all the motivation I ever need to love somebody
else and forgive somebody else. Boy, you got the same flesh I
do. I'd be able to understand, shouldn't
we? And last, let me give you this. This love. This is the
family of God. I'm looking at God's family.
Families are supposed to love one another. Families are supposed
to love one another. When our girls were little, Janet
insisted our girls love one another. She wasn't going to tolerate
anything less because families love one another. You even love
that crazy brother. That crazy aunt, that crazy uncle
you got somewhere because they're family. This is the family of
God. One blood. The blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Love one another. Love is how believers are identified. It's shameful. Utterly shameful. I don't even know what to say.
I'm sorry. It's just shameful. I'm as hateful and unloving and
uncaring as I am. Believers are identified to each
other and to this world because we love one another. And besides that, it's our Lord's
commandment to His children, your family, y'all love one another. John 13, verse 34. A new commandment I give unto
you, that you love one another. Now get this, here's the whole
key. You love one another as I've
loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all
men know that you're my disciples, if you have love one to another."
God helped us to love others as God, for Christ's sake, loved
us. Not because there was anything
good in us, because He would. Because He is love. And that's the nature He's given
His children in the new birth. Alright, I've preached too long.
Let's bow in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, I beg of
Thee that You would bless Your Word as it's been preached to
this, Your family. Forgive the stumblings and bumblings
of the servant, and Father, bless Your Word. Oh, we beg of Thee
Thy grace, that in Your mercy, in Your power, You would give
the new birth to someone here tonight that knows Thee not.
We are completely and utterly dependent upon Thee to give life. We are dead grass, but Thou art
life. And Father, we beg of Thee, we
have no other hope, no other plea but Thy mercy and Thy grace,
the blood, the life-giving, cleansing blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And Father, we beg of Thee, We're
so thankful that you've given this nature to thy people in
the new birth. Father, we're so thankful. We
know we're unworthy, and we beg of thee that you cause us to
walk aright. Give us a love, one for another,
not just in word, but in deed, to love one another, to care
for one another, to hold one another up, to pray for one another,
to do for one another. Father, give us this love. Give
us a love for sinners. Love for the lost. That we might
be enabled by Thy Spirit to preach the Gospel to them. To not beat
up and just tear people down. But, Father, in love, preach
the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to them. It's in the precious
name of our Lord Jesus Christ we ask this blessing.