Good morning. If you'd like,
turn to First John with me this morning. It's good to be back
with you again. Good to see everyone. It feels
like a while since I've been here. Kind of took the summer
off, well, theoretically off. Spent time with my oldest son
who graduated high school this year. Greetings from Kingsport
and all the fellowship there. And I'm sure you may have heard,
but we're having a conference there September 27th through
the 29th. If you care to drive three and
a half hours down, come worship with us. I don't remember who
all is going to be there, but it's a good lineup. First John chapter five. 1 John 5, verse one. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. And everyone that loveth him
that beget loveth him also that is begotten of him. Lord willing, our text this morning
is going to be the first part of that verse, and we're just
going to look at the great promise and the great hope that is in
that first part. It says, Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. When I first started
considering this verse, I was going to go word by word. just
defining and expounding on each word. And as I got deeper into
it and it got a little more rich, I realized we're here this morning
to see what our Lord has done for us. That's where we want
to be. It's what we want to hear. So
this morning we'll consider the sentence in this order. Jesus,
who is he? Christ, what does his title mean? Believeth. What's it mean to
believe? Whosoever, am I included? Born of God, the great promise. Whosoever believeth that Jesus,
who is it that John is referring to here? Is this a good man? An example to be followed? A
man who tried his best, but really didn't accomplish much more than
just becoming a martyr? Let's see just who John's talking
about, just from his letter. Turn over to 1 John chapter three,
chapter one, excuse me, and hold your place here. We'll come right
back. Chapter one. Verse three, that which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us.
And truly our fellowship is with the father and with his son,
Jesus Christ. John declares this Jesus that
he refers to is God the son. Does this mean that he is in
some way less God than God the Father? No, there is one God
in three persons, the Father of God, the Son of God, and the
Spirit of God. Flip back over to chapter five.
Chapter five, verse seven, we read. There are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. The Son of God is no less God
than the Father of God. Father of God is no less God
than the Spirit of God. And the Spirit of God is no less
than either the Son or the Father. Flip over to John chapter 14. John 14. John chapter 14, verse 7, our
Lord here is speaking to his disciples and he says, John 14,
verse 7, if he had known me, you should have known my father
also. And from henceforth ye know him,
and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord,
show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have
I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me,
Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. And how sayest thou then, show
us the Father? You can go back to 1 John. The
man, Jesus that John is referring to in our text, is God the Son. The infant that laid in the manger
so long ago is the Almighty God. The 12 year old in the temple
is the Almighty God. The man the man in the hinder
part of the ship, asleep on a pillow because he was exhausted. The man is the Almighty God. The man nailed to a tree, shedding
his precious blood, is the Almighty God. Back in 1 John, chapter
5 again, 1 John 5, verse 7, for there are
three that bear record in heaven. I am sorry, that is the wrong
one. Chapter 1, 1 John 1. Again, who is this Jesus that
John is declaring? 1 John 1, verse 7. But if we walk in the light as
he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. And the blood
of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. The blood. Leviticus 17.11 says the life
of the flesh is in the blood. The blood of Jesus Christ, his
son, cleanseth us from all sin. This Jesus John declares is a
man, flesh, and he's a righteous man. Chapter two, verse one. My little children, these things
write I unto you that ye sin not, And if any man sin, we have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. Our Lord Jesus Christ is righteous. He is righteous as God the Son. And as a man, he earned a righteous
standing before God. Jesus of Nazareth is a man. He is a man as though he were
not God, and he is God. as though he were not a man. Obie, explain that. There's no
way. I can't explain that. But I have
come to a conclusion. If we, me included, if we Worship
a God that we can understand and explain. We don't worship
much of a God. The true and living God declared
in the scriptures saith, my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
are your ways my ways. For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways and my
thoughts than your thoughts. Now, why is it of such importance? I've spent a goodly portion of
our time this morning declaring Jesus Christ is a man and Jesus
Christ is God. Why? Why did I spend so much
time on that? Our salvation depends on both
being true. Someone who is more than a man
coming would not be able to be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities in like manner as we are. Because someone who is
more than a man would have something to fight for as we are. And if
our Lord was less than God, he could not fulfill all righteousness. For even the holy angels, always
beholding the face of the Father, are charged with folly. Why does our salvation depend
on the Lord Jesus Christ being the God-man? Sin came by man,
and sin must be paid for by a man. Hebrews 10.4 says, For it is
not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away
sins. Why can't they? Why can't the
blood of bulls and goats take away sin? Sin didn't come by
bulls and goats. Turn with me to Romans chapter
five. You don't have to hold your place
here. Romans chapter five. Why can't the blood of bulls
and goats take away sins? Romans 5, verse 12. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. It is man that sinned. And the
price to be paid for sin is death, the shedding of the blood of
man unto death. Our Lord Jesus Christ came in
the flesh and he obeyed the law we had broken. Verse 19. Excuse me. Verse 19, for as by
one man's disobedience, Adam, Many were made sinners, so by
the obedience of one, our Lord Jesus Christ, shall many be made
righteous. Whosoever believeth that Jesus,
the Son of God and the Son of Man, is the Christ. Christ is the title our Lord
was given. Christ means the anointed. the Messiah. Look back at verse
12 again, Romans chapter 5. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. This is our condition. We are
sin. We are, outside of Christ, guilty
before God. Ephesians 2.1 describes us as
dead in trespasses and sins. What can the naturally dead do? Rot? Stink? Decay? Corrupt? What relationship does life have
with the dead? are naturally dead, what relationship
do we have with them? None. We put them away. We want them separated from us,
out of sight. The holy God is life. He cannot have a relationship
with men and women who are dead in trespasses and sins. How can that relationship be
restored? The only way is for both parties
to be in the same state, alive or dead. God is spirit. God is life. God cannot die, for death only
comes by sin. First John 3, 5, and in him is
no sin. So the only way the relationship
between a sinful man or woman can be restored to a relationship with the living
God is if that man or woman is made alive. Well, we're told all the time
by false religion, that's very simple. All you gotta do is keep
the commandments, Can someone who is dead keep
the law? No. They're dead. False religion will also say
something along the lines of, just live a good life, do the
best you can because you know, God is love. Or, God hates the
sin but loves the sinner. God is love. God is holy. God is just. God is righteous. One characteristic of God cannot
supersede the other. God is. I am that I am. And our feeble minds can't comprehend
God is love. God is holy. God is just. God is righteous. They are all
the same. One is not greater than the other.
There's no outpowering of one over the other. God is. He cannot sacrifice his justice
to his love. A sinner dead in trespasses and
sins cannot, of our own doing, be given life. We're dead. We can't do it. Life is only
given by the operation of God's power. The same power that spoke
under that lump of clay and said to Adam, live, must speak to
this dead sinner for it to be made alive. So how can the holy,
just, righteous God give life, pardon sin, declare the guilty
guiltless, and remain holy, just, and righteous. God, our Lord
Jesus Christ, came in the likeness of sinful flesh, obeyed his law
and commandments in absolute perfection. Then, For all those
lovingly elected, chosen of God the Father, given to God the
Son to redeem, our Lord took upon him the sins of his people,
bore our shame, endured our judgment, shed his precious blood, laid
down his life, entered the tomb, and rose again on the third day. because he paid our debt as our
substitute, because he endured our judgment, because he obtained
a righteous standing before God. The just for the unjust. God
is holy. just and righteous in declaring
those guilty sinners who died in Christ Jesus as guiltless,
and he gives unto them the gift of eternal life in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Whosoever believeth, do you believe
that Jesus is the Christ? What does believeth mean? How
can I know if I believe unless I know what it means to believe? I have had many definitions read
to me from pulpits over a course of many years. And I don't know
if any of them have ever stuck with me, but I remember examples. And hopefully, this one will
help you remember. When I was a little boy in elementary
school, mom and dad were going somewhere. And they weren't going
to be gone all night, but they were going to go late into the
night, early morning. I have no idea where they went.
They didn't remember either. But they sent me and my sister
to stay with some neighbors. that were friends of ours. And
where we lived in Louisiana, we were between two dairy farms.
So it was a mile between houses. It wasn't, I was going across
the street to the neighbors. I was a ways off, very dark,
it was night. And that night, everyone in that
old farmhouse we were spending the night in were asleep, except
for me. I was laying in that bed, listening
to all the noises that old farmhouse made. It creaked, it groaned,
it made the awfulest rackets. And I laid there until I couldn't
take it anymore. And I woke my buddy up and I said, I'm going
home. This was late into the night. You have no idea what time it
was. I was young enough, I didn't have a watch on. I snuck out of that house and
I got on my bike and I rode home. And talking to my family about it
after I related this story to them, we got to thinking about
all the things This is Louisiana in the summer at night. There
were coyotes all over the place out there. We were on a sheep
farm. They had sheep killed all the time by coyotes. Snakes,
alligators. But I was convinced I would be
safer at home than I was in that old farmhouse. I rode my bike
home. I got there, and my parents weren't
there yet. The house was locked, but Dad's truck wasn't. So I
climbed in his truck, and I locked the doors. And the next thing I knew, Mom
and Dad were beating on the windows of that old truck, trying to
wake me up. Dad said the keys to the house
were probably in the truck, as were the truck keys. But you see, my trust, my belief
that could not be shaken by that long bike ride home was that
I was safer at home than I was in that farmhouse. This childhood
belief prompted me to take action. I sought to be home. I made an
effort to get there. I defied authority. My parents
had told me, you'll stay with them tonight. We'll get you tomorrow. It didn't matter. I had to get
home. That's where I wanted to be.
That's where I felt I was safe. If we have this belief, if we
have this faith in our hearts that Jesus is the Christ, we
will take action. We will seek to know more of
him. We will flee to him. We will
call upon him. We will rest in him. Now, this belief is more than
just giving a general acknowledgment that there was a man who lived
a long time ago by the name of Jesus. He was a good man. And he suffered and he died.
And Because I believe that that happened,
that those historical events took place, that's what I'm placing
my trust of eternal life in, is that I believe this man did
live once upon a time, and he did things, and I fear many hold out their hope
of eternal life on this type of belief, this general acknowledgement
of factual information. but that's not saving faith.
This type of faith is kind of equivalent to me saying, I believe
in George Washington to save our country today. Because I
believe he existed, our country's going to be well and good. George
Washington lived. And he was used to accomplish
many good things for the establishment of this country. But knowing
that's not going to do a bit of good for today's environment. My belief that I was safer at
home than in that old farmhouse all those years ago wasn't actually
based on the location of that house. It was the people that
I knew were going to be in that house. My parents were going
to be there. I believed I was safer with them
than I was there. And that's why I wanted to get
home so badly. Whosoever believeth, whosoever
places their trust in and on the Lord Jesus Christ, that's
who believeth. Not those that base their hope,
their faith in the factual historical truth that a man lived, but on
the person who now lives and reigns above. Not on the fact
that I believe that my trusting is my hope. but on the fact that
I believe the only man accepted of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are now, today, holding
out your hope of eternal life in the fact that this man lived,
but you aren't prompted to action, you aren't prompted to flee to
him, to call upon him, to rest in him, Ask the Lord to reveal
to you who you are. That you are the center. Who he is. The almighty God of
heaven and earth. And to give you a reason to flee
to him. See, I had a reason to flee from
that old farmhouse. I was scared to death. I had
to get away. If we ever find out who we are
outside of Christ, who he is, the holy, holy, holy God, and we find out what we are,
we'll have a fear. We'll have a need to flee. And if he gives us that fear,
if he gives us that desire that we need a redemption, we need
a safe place, do we not cry out? Having been shown that, having
been given this heart to flee to him, do we not cry out, Lord,
increase my faith? Whosoever. Oh, what a word. What an all-encompassing word.
Are you a whosoever? Does that describe you? Does
it describe me? That word is used in 163 verses
in our Bibles. And in every single instance,
there's a specification for whosoever. For you to be included in this,
whosoever, you must believe. You must trust. As a little child,
scared of the dark, trust his parents to keep him safe. You
must trust that Jesus is the Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ,
God Almighty, manifest in the flesh, came into the world to
save sinners. The righteous man, the sinless
man, was made to be what you and I are, sin. He who knew no
sin was made sin for us. He bore our sin in his body. He stood in our place before
the judgment of men. He stood in our place before
the judgment of God. He stood in our place in our
death. He laid down his life that we
might have life. And when he rose again, he gave
us his righteousness, which he had earned. Do you believe that
Jesus is the Christ? Then this promise belongs to
you. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. Oh, what a blessing. What does
it mean? Turn over one last place, John
chapter three. John chapter three, verse three. Jesus answered and said unto
him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is not
a place. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness. It is our Lord Jesus Christ. Except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How
can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second
time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered. Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel
not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind
bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth.
So is everyone that is born of the Spirit. That which is born
of the flesh is flesh, and that is every one of us. We are all
born of the flesh, but if God has revealed to you that Jesus