We'll be looking at several scriptures
tonight. This is going to be our starting
place, John chapter 1. We'll read the first 13 verses.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by him,
and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was
life, and the light was the light of men. And the light shineth
in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. There was
a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a
witness, to bear witness of the light, that all men through him
might believe. He was not that light, but he
was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light,
which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. And I
want to concentrate on these next four verses. He was in the
world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him
not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 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, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God. Now there are five verses in
the New Testament that use this exact phrase, these three words,
as many as And I want to look at all five tonight and see if
we can learn what it means when these three words are used. Now
here in this verse, in the Gospel of John, we read these words,
but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God. This word received has many different
definitions. The definition that best fits
what we've read here is to be the recipient of something. to
come into possession of, to act as a receptacle for. What this
word here in the first chapter of John does not mean is to accept
someone, like modern religion says, to accept Jesus as your
personal savior. We hear so often on mainstream
religion, when did you accept Jesus? I've got news for those
folks. you accepting Jesus has nothing to do with salvation.
And the reason they put it that way is it takes the power out
of God's hands and puts directly into the sinner's hands the power
to make themselves saved or not. But that appeals to man's ego.
But the very words of this verse goes on to make it clear that
the decision that brings salvation is not of the will of the flesh,
nor the will of man, but of God. It couldn't be any plainer. It
also tells us something about the free will of man, as they
say, man's free will. When it says he came into his
own and his own received him not. He was not accepted by natural
man. He was rejected. They did not
receive him. But it also means that they were
not the recipients of faith, and being such, they did not
receive Christ because they did not have the faith to receive
him, that faith that would have enabled them to do so. Only those
who have been given a new heart and a new nature can be the recipients
of the spiritual things of God. We know this from 1 Corinthians
2.14, But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know
them, because they are spiritually discerned. Now when verse 12
says, as many as received him, it means that as many as were
given the gift of faith to believe on this one called Jesus Christ.
As many as became the receptacles of the grace of God poured into
us as you would pour wine into a glass. The glass does nothing
except receive that which is poured into it. It's like a passive
receiving. It's as if a man who is in a
coma would receive a life-saving blood transfusion and perhaps
medicine. That one in a coma does nothing,
has nothing to do, I should say, with that receiving. They are
completely passive. And so it is with everyone who
receives the grace and mercy of God. They are passive. They simply receive that which
is given. They are born of the Spirit.
When this verse says, as many as receive the Lord Jesus Christ,
it means that we have been given everything that he has, everything
that he is, everything that he does. God, in his great mercy,
has poured into our hearts and into our souls his grace and
goodness, making us fit, making us meet, the scriptures say,
to become the sons of God, heirs of God, and we're told, joined
heirs with Christ. Unimaginable, exceedingly abundant
mercy and grace. But unlike us, our Savior does
act of receiving. We read in Luke 15, 1, Then drew
near unto him all the publicans and sinners, for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes
murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. He is indeed the friend of sinners.
He receives them. He welcomes them. Now, the next
place we find these words, turn over one book to the book of
Acts. These three words, as many as we find in the book of Acts,
Acts chapter 2, verses we're very familiar with. Now this
chapter gives us an account of the things that transpired on
the day of Pentecost. How the Holy Ghost came upon
the brethren and they began to speak in tongues. And all the
people were amazed, knowing that these men did not know the languages
in which they were speaking. And starting in verse 14, Peter
begins to preach to them of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in verse
22, He says, ye men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth,
a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs,
which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also
know. Him, being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up, having
loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should
be holding of it. And then dropping down to verse
36, it says, therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made this same Jesus
whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now, when they heard
this, they were pricked in their hearts and said unto Peter and
the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, repent
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you and
to your children and to all that are far off even as many as the
Lord our God shall call. Now what promise is Peter talking
about here? It is a promise that we find
in the book of Joel that Peter quotes here, beginning in verse
17 of this chapter. Verse 17. And it shall come to
pass, this is a quote from the book of Joel, and it shall come
to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my spirit
upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall
dream dreams. And I, my servants, and I, my
handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of my spirit, and
they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in heaven
above, and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor
of smoke. The sun shall be turned into
darkness and the moon into blood before that great and notable
day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. It is that promise that Peter
quotes here. And the first part of this promise
is I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. Certainly that
doesn't mean every single person in the world because Peter uses
that same word all in that verse that we're so familiar with in
2 Peter 3, 9, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise,
that same promise that we find here in Acts chapter 2, as some
man counts slackness, but is long-suffering to usward, not
willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. The all in both these verses
is the usward, the saints of God to whom Peter wrote this
letter. Now, there's a very common mistake
that people make, particularly when they read the New Testament,
they read it as if it was written to everybody in the world. And
that is the biggest mistake you can make when you're reading
the scripture, because we know that these letters were written
to believers only. They were not written to lost
folks, they were written to believers. And they think, and they read
these, that it was written to everyone in the world, But these
letters were written to the Church of God in this world, the us
word to whom Peter is writing. So when God says that he would
have all to come to repentance, he means those who he refers
to in this second chapter when he uses these words, as many
as the Lord our God shall call. One of the meanings of this word
call is to address someone in a way to be clearly heard. which is what happens when the
Spirit of God speaks to one of His elect. It is not a verbal
call, but it is one that is certainly heard by the soul of the sinner. Turn over a few pages back to
John chapter 10, speaking of the calling of God,
John chapter 10. First five verses. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, this is the Lord speaking. He that entereth not
by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way,
the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the
door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name,
and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his
own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow,
but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers. Now here our Lord tells us that
the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name. And it says that the sheep follow
because they know his voice, the same voice that calls them.
And there's many places in the scripture that speak of God's
irresistible calling. We're told that it is specific. My sheep, he says, not general,
my sheep. And we're told that it is without
repentance. That is, it will never be rescinded
or taken back. As Don used to tell us, God's
not an Indian giver. That's probably not a politically
correct term nowadays, but too bad. Romans 11 29 says for the calling
and the gifts of God are without repentance. God not going to
change his mind. And Christ Jesus said no man
can come to me except the father which has sent me draw him except
the father calls him by his spirit. And in the promise concludes
in verse 21 of Acts chapter two of these words. Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. These words are
repeated verbatim in Romans chapter 10, verse 13. When we are irresistibly called
by the Spirit of God, when we are given life and faith to believe
on our Lord Jesus Christ, our response to that call is us calling
upon the name of the Lord for mercy. Lord, if thou wilt, thou
can make me clean. And we're taught that all we
require to stand justified before a thrice-holy God is provided
to us through the works and the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ. What does a newborn baby do with
its first breath? It cries. That is a sign that
it is alive. And the first sign of a newborn
sinner is that they cry to the Lord, Lord, save me. And this
is how we know that we have already been born again. We've been given
the ability to cry unto the Lord. We're already saved when we make
that cry. We just have not been given the
assurance yet by the Spirit of God. But the Spirit comes to
us and speaks peace to our heart and gives us assurance that we
are indeed born of God. Now turn over to Acts 13. This is the third place that
we find these words, as many as. Acts chapter 13. Now the second part of this chapter
is an account of Paul and Barnabas preaching in the synagogue at
Antioch. And as Peter did in the second
chapter of the book of Acts, Paul and Barnabas preached unto
them the Lord Jesus Christ as the one sent by God to redeem
Israel. Not the nation of Israel, but
the church of God, the true Israel of God. And starting in verse
44 of chapter 13 of Acts, And the next Sabbath day came
almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes,
they were filled with envy and spake against those things which
were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and
Barnabas waxed bold and said, It was necessary that the word
of God should first have been spoken to you, but seeing you
put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life,
lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded
us, saying, I have said thee to be a light of the Gentiles,
that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And
when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified
the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. This word ordained, it has many
synonyms. It means consecrated, predetermined,
appointed, decreed, anointed, chosen, all of which apply to
what God the Father has done for His elect. as many as were
ordained to eternal life. They were long, long before this
world ever was founded, determined to be children of God in the
mind of our Lord Jesus Christ. Before we were ever born, before
this universe was ever created, we were in Christ. Now the religious
world has it completely backwards. They teach as many as were ordained
They don't teach, I should say, as many were ordained to eternal
life. They teach as many as gave their heart to Jesus and God
saw that they made the right choice, then he ordained them
to eternal life, which puts the sinner in the driver's seat and
God in the backseat. And they teach that once God
sees that you believe, then you receive eternal life as a reward
for your good decision. But the Lord Jesus Christ made
it clear who makes the decision that leads to eternal life when
he said in John 15, 16, ye have not chosen me, I have chosen
you, I have ordained you to eternal life. Turn over to Romans. Romans chapter 8, this is the
next place we find these words, as many as. Romans 8, starting
in verse 10. And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because
of righteousness. But if the spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by the spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we
are debtors, not to the flesh to live after the flesh, For
if we live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through
the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God. The word led, it can be used
in the past tense of the word lead, but it is also a verb meaning
to show the way, to guide, to cause, to command. David states
twice in the 23rd Psalm how that the Lord leads his people. He
says, he leadeth me beside the still waters. He leadeth me in
the path of righteousness for his name's sake. Now a path is
a route or a track that leads from one place to another, a
well-worn way. And our course through this world
is one that has been trodden by an untold number of saints
before us. It is a way that leads us away
from destruction and misery, and leads us to eternal life. And it leads us to a destination
that we would not have chosen in and of ourselves. We are on
this path of grace, I should say, and mercy and goodness that
is given us by our benevolent God who set our path or set our
feet upon the path that leads to glory. David wrote of this
in Psalm 40 in verse 2. He says, He brought me up also
out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet
upon a rock, and established my goings. Now David is here
referring to a punishment that was used in days gone by. We
know that Joseph's brothers put him into a pit before they sold
him into slavery. And a criminal, many times, was
cast into a hole in the ground and left for days, sometimes
to die of starvation or dehydration. And Job spoke of our gracious
God bringing his people out of the pit of sin and destruction
and despair, Job 33, 18. Job said this, he keepeth back
his soul from the pit and his life from perishing from the
sword. And in that same chapter, in verse 24, he says, then is
he gracious unto him and saith, deliver him from going down to
the pit, for I have found a ransom. And we know that that ransom
that was found is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ, who
said of himself in Mark 10 45, even the son of man came not
to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life
a ransom for many. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. We're told in Romans
2, 4 that it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance,
not the judgment of God that only hardens the hearts of sinners. It's the goodness of God that
leads us to repentance. In his exposition of the Good
Shepherd that we read a couple minutes ago, our Lord states
that, he calleth his own sheep by name and leadeth them out.
He shows them the way that they should go and they follow him. Now there's a blessed verse in
Isaiah 48, 17 that speaks to the Lord leading his people.
It says this, thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy
One of Israel, I am the Lord thy God that teacheth thee to
profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. That is not to say that the path
that we travel in this world is always a roady one. It's not
trouble-free by any means. We know from God's Word that
our path is sometimes fraught with woe and heartbreak. Many
a saint in the past has traveled a path that led to martyrdom. But it is not the woes that we
meet with along the way that is to be our focus and our hope,
but rather the final destination that we look forward to. Because
being led by the Spirit of God, we have a good confidence that
no matter what troubles we meet on this path of life, that we
have this promise from God. I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee." That's good promise. And though our path may be one
of woe, the final destination, we will know one day was worth
whatever heartache we suffered in this life, because it is there
that we shall ever be in the presence of our blessed Savior,
singing his praises forever. This is described by John in
Revelation 5-9, and they sung a new song saying, thou art worthy
to take the book, and to open the seals thereof. For thou was
slain and hath redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every
kindred and tongue and people and nation. In verse 12, saying
with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive
power and riches, wisdom, strength, honor and glory and blessing. In the last place that we read,
of these three words is in Revelation 3.19. It says, as many as I love,
I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent.
Chasten means to punish for a wrongdoing. Rebuke means to criticize someone
sharply, to reprimand, to admonish. Hebrews chapter 12, turn over
there with me. Hebrews chapter 12. It speaks about how our God chastens
his beloved children. Hebrews chapter 12, starting verse 6. For whom the Lord loveth, He
chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth, every
single one. If ye endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father
chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons. Furthermore, we had fathers of
our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence, shall
we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and
live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their
own pleasure, but he for our profit, that we might be partakers
of his holiness. Now, no chastening for the present
seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth
the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised
thereby. A loving father will correct
his children when they do wrong. He does this to teach them what
is acceptable behavior and what is not. And our Heavenly Father
teaches His children what is that good and perfect way in
which to live our lives. But these verses tell us that
we can expect the chastisement of our Heavenly Father to be
painful. It is always, it always leads us to experience
what is called in verse 11, the peaceable fruit of righteousness. I don't know about you, but when
my earthly father laid some stripes on my backside, it was painful. And many times, at the time,
I despised him for it. But later, we come to realize
that they did it for our own good. And we're glad they did
it. It wasn't enjoyable at the time,
as this scripture says, but it led to our well-being. And when our Heavenly Father who loves us a thousand times
more than any earthly father ever did. Verse 6 tells us that
He chastens us because He loves us. It is proof of His love toward
us. It's never enjoyable when we
go through it. It's described in verse 6 as scourging. Every
son he loveth, he says he scourgeth. And we know that scourging was
an excruciating form of punishment. And so it is sometimes with the
trials that are laid upon us. They sometimes seem to be more
than we can bear, but our God promises in his word that he
will not put a trial upon us that we cannot bear. And as fallible
sinners, we seldom, if ever, judge the actions of our God
rightly. We see a fellow saint going through a trial, And our
self-righteousness, which is ingrained in every strand of
our DNA, our self-righteousness kicks in and we say, I don't
know what they did that the Lord is punishing them. The folks, we've got it completely
backwards. Because punishments from God,
according to verse 6, are proof of God's love to us. proof that
He loves us. If He didn't, He wouldn't chasten
us. We have that promise from His Word, but we can take comfort
in this proof. No matter how severe the chastening
hand of our God seems to be, the chastening that we endure
in this life cannot begin to compare to the chastening that
our blessed Lord suffered at the hand of His Father. how that he was wounded for our
transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, how the chastisement
of our peace was upon him when he suffered the unimaginable
furious wrath of an angry God because our sin was found upon
him. The chastisement that we suffer in this life is not to
be compared to that which we would have suffered were it not
for the mercy and the grace of God toward us. how He chose us to be one of
His adopted children, to be among as many as received Him, to be
among as many as the Lord our God shall call, to be among as
many as were ordained to eternal life, to be among that as many
as are led by the Spirit of God, to be among that as many as our
Father chastens. among those that are blessed
beyond measure because of the fact that God our Father chose
us and God the Son before the foundation of the world that
we might become children of the living God. Let's look to the
Lord in prayer. Our merciful Father, we praise
you and thank you for the encouragement that we find in your word, Father,
for the blessed, blessed promises that we know cannot fail. If we read it in this word, Father,
it shall surely come to pass. Father, we thank you that you
have shown us that Christ is all, that we are
nothing, deserve nothing but wrath, but Father, we thank you
that in your tender mercies, your exceeding abundant grace,
that you chose us in Christ for reasons that seem good to yourself. Father, help us to never lose
the wonder that a holy God would choose
wretched sinners and make them his children. Father, help us to leave this
place rejoicing in that one who gave his very soul to secure
our salvation. Help us, Father, to ever adore
him. To ever hold Him in highest esteem,
we pray all these things in His name, and for His name's sake,
amen. I hope the Lord will bless that
to your heart, and the Lord bless you in your distance.