Alright, turn back with me now
to James 1. The book of James is about justifying
your faith. It's about what kind of faith
that you have. It's about God confirming that
faith that He gives in us. That's what this whole book is
about. All religious men and women have a faith. Everybody
believes something. I don't care who he is. I don't
care if a man has never donned the door of a church. You go
talk to him. Begin to talk to him about the things of God,
and he'll soon tell you what he believes. Everybody believes
something. The question is, can that something
bring him into a saving union with the Lord Jesus Christ? Can
it? Can what I know bring me, is
it saving faith? That's what I'm asking. Is it
saving? Israel had a faith. They had
a faith. In James 2, verse 14, he says,
What does it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith? There's no profit in that. You
see what James says? He's calling our attention to
it. What value is that if you just stand up, hold up your hand
and say, I'm a believer? I believe. I have faith. I have faith. I don't know anybody that doesn't
do that. This is what I believe. I'll tell you one thing. I'll
tell you what I believe. If they can't tell you what they believe,
they'll tell you what somebody else they know believes. But
everybody believes something. Now, James says, you stand up
and say, I have faith. He said, what does that profit?
Where is the profit in that? Where is the value in that? That's
what this whole religious world does. They stand up and they
say, we believe. We believe. James said, can that
kind of faith save him? Can that kind of faith save him? Can a faith that does not rejoice
in Christ, rest in Christ, mourn over sin, love one another, can
that kind of faith save? Is that the kind of faith that
God gives? Is that how faith in the scripture
is declared and described? Can a faith with no understanding,
no concern for others, no interest in worship, no interest in the
gospel ministry, can that faith save him? That's what James is
asking. You have it, but what profit
is it if it cannot save? It has no profit. Get rid of
it. Throw it away. Throw it away. He is asking, can that kind of
faith save? Now, Israel had a faith. They
went to church. They read their Bibles. They
prayed. They fasted. They kept the feast days and
the holy days. Their parents took them out, their little male
children, when they were eight years old and had them circumcised
according to the law. They all traced their birth back
to Abraham. They were all children of God.
They belonged to one of the twelve tribes. They read the Scriptures. They stood up every Sabbath day
and read the Scriptures. Yet the beloved apostle Paul
prayed to God out of a broken heart that Israel might be saved. They weren't saved. They had
a faith. But it was that kind of faith
that James asked, what value is it? What's it worth? It has
no value. It has no worth. Paul said, They, being ignorant
of the righteousness of God, and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the
law, for righteousness to every one that believeth. And in their
ignorance and self-righteous legalism, all they could do is
make clean the outside of the cup and the platter. Ain't that
what the Lord said? You just whitewash markers over
graves that cover up dead men's bones. That's all you can do.
That's all that hollow, shallow form of faith can do is whitewash
the outside at its best. Most of it don't even do that.
But at its best, that's all it can do. It can make me appear
clean before you. It has no value before the eyes
of God. And Christ could see right through
it. He said on the inside, he said it's full of dead men's
bones and all manner of corruption. That's where God looks inside. Inside. Nicodemus had a faith. He knew some Bible history. He
knew some Bible facts. He was a rabbi. He was a leader.
He was a ruler in Israel. And he saw in Christ certain
undeniable gifts, but his faith could not produce a spiritual
understanding. And when the Lord began to talk
to him about being born again, he mumbled and walked away saying,
How can these things be? That kind of faith can't save
a man. He had a faith. The rich young
ruler had a faith when he came to Christ. He had a very impressionable
faith. He was a good man. He lived a
clean life. He was a man of reputation and
success. The Lord questioned him about
the law. He said, All these have I done from my youth up. Outwardly,
I have obeyed every statute of that law down to the ounce. You know, we talk about tithing.
I listen to religious folks who tithe. I hope I'm not stepping
on anybody's toes in here this morning, but if I am, get you
a Band-Aid. These things I'm telling you,
these things that they do, they go out and they tithe. And then
I listen to them talk and they say, well, you're not supposed
to do this before taxes. You take the taxes out. You take
all the deductions out. You take the 401k out. And then
we'll tithe. Tithing has to do with everything
you have. If you're going to tithe, you're
going to have to tithe. You've got 12 shirts or 10 shirts
in your closet, you better get one out and give it to God. You've
got 10 dogs, cut one out of the pack, give him to God. It better
be the best one. You see what I'm saying? These
prophets, these children of Israel, when they tithed under the law,
if they had spices in the cabinet, ten percent of that spice was
tithed. Ten percent of everything that
you owned was tithed. And that tithe went in to support
that tribe who did that priestly work for God. It was a tithe. You see what I'm saying? Well,
this man tithed. He tithed everything he had.
And he was a rich man. God blessed him. He was rich.
He just had all kinds of stuff. But his faith couldn't produce
the sacrifice that true faith demands. The Lord said, well,
if you've done all that, you're not going to have any problem
with this. Sell everything you have. Give it to the poor. Take
up your cross. Identify yourself with this gospel. Identify yourself with me. Identify
yourself in my death, in my shame. Take up your cross and follow
me." And he bowed his head and he walked away. That faith can't
save because that faith is not able to sacrifice what God calls
on his faith to sacrifice. It's not saving faith. There's
all kinds of faith. In James 1, verse 3, he talks
about the crying of our faith. Verse 12, Blessed is the man
that endureth temptation, for when he is cried, and he will
be, he shall receive the crown of life which he hath promised
to them that love him. Listen to this over in 1 Corinthians
3. Look over there with me for just
a minute. 1 Corinthians 3. Look here at verse 11. Now, here's
the message. The message is Christ. It's all
Christ. It's Christ alone. There isn't
anything else but Christ. It's all Christ. It's not Christ
and you, Christ and your works. It's all Christ. But that Christ
in you, labors and works and sacrifices, that Christ in you
is the hope of glory. You see what I'm saying? Now,
listen to this. 1 Corinthians 3, other foundation. Christ is
the foundation. Other foundation can no man lay
than that which is laid, Jesus Christ. If any man build on this
foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble,
whatever he builds on this foundation, every man's work, if he builds,
every man's work is going to be made manifest, for the day
shall declare it. because it shall be revealed
by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort
it is." Do you see that? Now, he's not talking about the
fires of hell. Things are going to be settled
in that day. There's not going to be any unanswered
questions. In that day, you're going to
know as you are known. He's not talking about some faraway
time when the fires of hell and the judgment of God going to
reveal some things. Everything is going to be made
known and out and open in that day. He is going to make everything
known. That light is going to be pure
light, and that light is going to reveal all the darkness in
that day. That is not what James is talking
about here. He is talking about, or Paul here in 1 Corinthians,
he is talking about the fire of trial. You stand up and you
say, I have faith. God is going to show you the
difference. Because He's going to try it.
He's going to try it. And we better be careful when
we stand and say, I believe. Because you're fixing to go through
the fire. I'm telling you what I know.
You're going to go through the fire. You're going to go through
the fire. Tried in the fire of aggravation
and fear and loss. Tried in the fire of temptation
and deceit and pleasure. Tried in the fire of persecution. Tried in the fire of earthly
unions and friends and relatives. Our Lord told His disciples,
you know, I haven't even touched the outside of this thing. I'm
telling you, I'm just going around the fringes of it. Our Lord told
His disciples, He said, except you hate, Mother, father, sister,
brother, you can't even be my disciple." What's he talking
about? Your love for me is going to be so great that it's going
to appear like hatred for them because you're going to prefer
me over them. And his own mother came to the
wedding feast and they ran in and said, Your mother wants you
outside. He said, Who is my mother? Huh? Who is my mother? This is my mother. Right here
is my brothers and my sisters and my mother and my father.
Right here. Do you see what he's saying? And it appears, it appears to
them like hatred. Why would you want to leave your
family and take these kids that we love and move all the way
down to Arkansas? Your closest relative is 800
miles. Why would you want to do that?
Will you hate us? No. But I love him more. And it appears like hatred. I'm telling you, this golden
faith of God, it will go through the fire.
And passing through it, it will lose nothing but to dross. That's
how it's going to burn. Everything that's not pure gold,
he's just going to burn it up in the trial. He'll burn it up.
I don't care where it is. It might be your job. It might be your wife. It might
be your mother. I don't know who it is. I'm telling
you, he's going to pass you through the fire. If you have this saving
faith in this life, he's going to burn everything out of it
that's not pure gold. I'm reminded of a one time Brother
Barnard told. He said he was up in the hills,
up in the mountains of West Virginia. And this is back in the day with
the old gas tank with the bubble on top and the man would come
out and pump the gas and all that. He got some gas and it
was a long flow process. The man didn't stand out there
with a handle, you know, and pump the gas. Well, he went inside,
got to looking around, and up on the wall of this little gas
station up in the mountains, There was a little hound dog.
It was about this big and it was sitting up there. And somebody
had carved that thing out of a piece of wood. And man, he
said, I looked at that. He said, that thing, you know
what an old Jed Clampett hound dog, blood hound looks like,
big wrinkles. He said, I looked at that thing,
and he said, I swear it just looked like a real dog sitting
on that shelf. And he said, how much you want
for that? And the guy told him, and he
bought it. And he said, who in the world carved this thing?
And he said, old Rastus out there, I'm the one who carved it. That
old man sitting in that rock? Yep. He took that thing outside
and he said, did you make this hound dog? He said, yes sir. He said, yes sir, I did. How
on earth did you take a piece of wood and make something this
beautiful? He said, I cut off everything
that wasn't a hound dog. That's what happens in the fires
and the trials and these things that happen. God cuts off everything
that ain't Christ. He burns it up in the fire. You
see what James is talking about? Man's in darkness. He's in darkness. Now listen to this over in James
2, verse 17. Here's the problem. Even so, Now, if you want to
back up and read what was said before here, he's saying that
what good does this faith do you? And somebody comes to you
and they're hungry and they say, I'm hungry. And you say, well,
the Lord bless you. I hope He'll fill you. And you just go on
your way and just leave them standing there hungry. Or somebody
comes up and they don't have any clothes. Their clothes are
rotted and falling off of them. And they tell you, I need clothes.
And you say, well, Lord bless you. I believe He'll give you
some, and then you just walk away. You say, can that kind
of faith save you? No, that kind of faith can't
save you. Well, here in James 2, even so, just like the man
who told that hungry man, that naked man, to go on his way,
even so, faith, if it has not works, abideth, it's dead. What's it say? Why? Why is it
dead? Because it's alone. It's alone, John. I believe. Anybody else in there with you?
Huh? Is that just you? Is that just you? It's alone. Man is in darkness. He's born in darkness alone. His sins have separated him from
God. Before the immaculate holiness
of God, before the all-seeing eye of God, before the exacting
justice of God, before a law that demands unbroken spiritual
obedience and attitude and absolute perfection from the cradle to
the grave, he stands alone. Alone, alone in the darkness of a fallen
nature, alone in his ignorance of the true character of God,
ignorant of God's righteousness, ignorant of his gifts and callings,
ignorant of the offices and accomplishments of Christ. He's alone in his
darkness, and the wrath of God abideth on him. He that believeth
not the wrath of God abideth on him. Can't you see it? Can't you see it in your desires
for the world and your desires for this and your desires for
that and your lack of desire for Him? You're alone. Folks get upset because I talk
about God sending them strong delusions. All God has to do
to damn you is leave you alone because that's where you're born.
You see what James has said? You're alone. And I don't care how much a man
goes to church or how much he gives or how much he cries. I
don't care how much he knows. I don't care how much affections
he wants to talk about. I don't care how much Bible doctrine
you can teach him that can't do him any good because he's
alone. He can say, but saying don't
cut it. You're still wrong. You're wrong. Faith is the gift of God. It's
God coming into the heart and taking up residence in the heart.
It's God coming in and kicking out the strong man, tearing down
those imaginations and tearing down those old ideas and concepts
and kicking them out. It's God coming in, establishing
His kingdom, translating you from the kingdom of darkness
into the kingdom of His dear Son. It's God taking up residence
in the heart. I wouldn't give you ten cents
for a faith without Him. Everything I know would be worthless
apart from Him. It's a union of persons. Christ
in you, the hope of glory. He's not alone anymore. He doesn't
struggle by His own power. You try to believe apart from
the Holy Spirit of God. You'll sit alone in the darkness
and long to believe, but you can't. Long to love, but you
can't. I've been there. I know what
it is. I'm telling you, you're alone.
I want this. I want that. Sure you do. I do. Everybody does. But you're alone.
And it can't but one thing help you. And that's through this
gospel that he comes in and takes up residence in your heart. Establishes
his kingdom in your heart. And when he does, the fruits
of the Spirit will be evident. That's what James is talking
about. That's what this book is all about. What's this? James chapter 1, verse 18. Let no man say when he's tempted,
I'm tempted of God. God can't be tempted. Jesus Christ was carried out,
in one place it said He was led into the wilderness, and another
place says He was driven into the wilderness to be tempted
of Satan. And Satan himself, not one of
his monkeys, not one of these silly preachers, not one of these
little demonic spirits, Satan himself came to Him. and for
forty days tempted him in all points like as we are, yet without
sin. God cannot be tempted with evil,
neither tempteth he any man. It is the tempter, it is the
deceiver that comes and tempts. Does God allow us to be tempted?
Sure does. Satan comes around going up and
down through the land. That is what he does. He just
goes seeking whom he may devour. He said, Have you considered
my servant Job? He ain't none like him in the earth. Well,
yeah, but you can build a hedge about him. You tear down the
hedge and watch what happens. There he is. He took away from
him his family. He took away from him his fortune.
He took away from him every earthly blessing. He took away from him
his health. And the old man sat out there
on a pile of cinder scraping his bones with a rock. And even
his wife said, Why don't you just curse God and die? Huh? He said, I've received the good
things at His hand. You think He don't have control
over the evil? I'm going to trust Him. Though He slay me, He said,
I'll trust Him. That's faith. That's faith. It's a union of persons. He's
not there alone. Every man's tempted, listen to
me, when he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed. It's our nature, not his, our
weakness, not his. Something comes our way, something
appeals to us, appeals to our senses, a job or a position,
money, something. You're going to sacrifice your
spiritual welfare for it? You just going to throw it all
out? Faith won't. Faith won't. Look at old Joseph
down there in Egypt. Potiphar's wife tempts him. Tries
to seduce him. That's what religion does. Tries
to seduce you. It's a seduction. That's what
this word enticed means. Seduced. How come he didn't go? Because
he had faith. He had faith. He wasn't alone. He had somebody in there with
him. These enticements, they take
us away from worship. It takes us away from fellowship.
Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together. Ain't that
the instruction of God? Then why do we do it? Why do
we do it? Because we're enticed. It takes
us away. And he said down here in verse
15, when lust hath conceived, when it moves from a desire to
an action, it bringeth forth sin. Now, it was a sin when it
was a desire. But it is a full-blown transgression
of the law now, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth
death. Now, remember what we are talking about. We are talking
about folks who make professions of faith and how to distinguish
true faith from false faith. That is what this whole book
of James is about. He is writing to the Jews. He
said, A Sermon on the Lord Jesus Christ to the Twelve Tribes.
He is talking to Jewish people who all their lives have been
hidden in a false religion, buried in the darkness and blindness
to all these figures and types and symbols and priesthood and
all these things. They are ignorant of Christ.
And every last one of them thought they were a believer. Every last
one of them thought they were a child of God. That's who I
preach to in this generation. Every one of them thinks they're
saved. I bet you go over to Taylor and you couldn't find... I bet
you can't find me a sinner in the town of Taylor. I bet you
can't do it. I wish you could. I'd preach
to it. He said, you're drawn away by
your own lust and desire. because he was enticed. If you
want to follow what I'm about to say, you can go over to Proverbs
7. You can read it verse by verse. Some of them I'll read in full.
Some of them I'm just going to tell you what to say. But over
here in Proverbs 7, Solomon is talking to his son about the
harlot, the strange woman. Is that really what Solomon is
talking to his son about? Solomon's the preacher. Well, maybe he was. Maybe there's
a sense in which he was. But that's not what he's talking
about. And anybody that knows anything at all about this Bible
from cover to cover knows that this is how God describes and
labels and declares false religion. It's the heart over and over
and over. But here in Proverbs 7, she's
called the strange woman that flatters with her lips. She's
a stranger to God and a stranger to holiness, a stranger from
the promises of God, a stranger from the covenants of God. And she flatters everybody that
comes her way. And Solomon said, I looked out
my window and I saw a man of no understanding. Who's he talking
about? It says over in Romans chapter 3, there's none that
understandeth. He's talking about us. That's
who he's talking about. And we're going down her way.
We're going down her street. That's the Broadway our Lord
talked about. Her house is out on Broadway.
That's where it's at. None that understandeth. None
that understandeth. See, we didn't have any reasoning. We didn't have any knowledge.
We don't have any understanding or we'd avoid the road. We wouldn't
be on the road to start with. We don't have no understanding.
Verse 8, Passing through the street near her corner, he went
the way to her house. Now in verse 12 it says, She
lies wait at every corner. I have driven this country west
to east, north to south. I've been down in Mexico. I've
been all the way across Canada. And I'm telling you, her house
is on every corner. Taylor's got 600 people, a little
above, about 650 people. There's a church on every corner. Huh? The church in Ashland had 600
people. Taylor's got 600 and God knows how many churches. Just drive up and down the land.
Look. Look as you go. There's a church on every corner.
Her house, she lies right on every corner. That's where she's
at. And that's why she's there, because
she knows she's going to catch him when he comes. He's going
to come by. How's she going to catch him?
Well, she's wearing the attire of a harlot. She knows what he's
after. She knows what appeals to him.
She knows what he desires. And she dresses for the occasion.
You drive up and down. What do you see? What appeals
to you? A big church. What appeals to you about it?
The crosses and the stained glass windows and all the things, all
the things of religion. It appeals to you. It draws you
in. Come on in. Come on in. Come on in. In the twilight, in the evening,
That's folks with a little bit of light. And in the dark night,
verse 9, born in darkness, raised in darkness. Verse 10, and suddenly
she appears with the attire of a harlot and subtle of heart.
She's dressed to impress. Everything she wears says, Come on. Come on. And it says she caught him. He
went in. He went away to her house. And
she caught him. And she kissed him. Now listen
to me. She didn't tell him his heart
wasn't right with God. She didn't tell him he was born
in sin. She didn't tell him he had a
nature of darkness and couldn't see. She didn't tell him that
he was unclean like the leper. She didn't tell him that all
his righteousness was his filthy rag. She just ran out and kissed
him. She didn't know anything about
him. She just kissed him. She just kissed him. Come on
in. Come on in. You'll be all right. You'll be all right. And with
an impudent face, a strong, hardened, prevailing face, she said, I've
got peace offerings. Peace, peace, where there is
no peace. Make your peace with God. How
many times have you heard that? Won't you make your peace with
God? I had peace offerings with me.
Now listen, this day have I paid my vows. She's saying I'm religious.
This is a harlot. I'm religious. I'm religious. I paid my vows.
I paid my tithes. I walked the straight and narrow.
All these things like the rich young man have I done since my
youth up. Don't worry about me. That's why I'm here. I'm religious.
I'm seeking your face, verse 15, and I found you. I found
you. I rescued you. Come on in. Come on in. Look around here
at my tapestry. Look at my carved works. Don't
you feel good? Ain't this a great place to be? And her bed was perfumed. Everything
that appealed to the natural desires and lusts of a man to
entice him into her house. Come on in. Come on in. Let's
take our fill of love until morning. Let's solace ourselves with love. We just love everybody. That's all she talks about is
love. She's in the love business and
her love and his. Huh? It's all about her love, and
his. It ain't anything but God's love. It's about her love. And with her much-fierce feet
she caused him to yield, and with the flattering of her lips
she forced him. Now, listen. He goeth after her
straightway as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to
the correction of the stocks. Verse 27, Her house is the way
to hell, going down to the chambers of death. Every man, James said,
who is tempted is drawn away and enticed by his own lust. That's how he goes. That's how
he goes. And it may be the lust of this
world, and it may be the lust of religion, but either way it
goes, that's how he's drawn away. That's what takes him away from
Christ. Now listen, verse 16, Do not err, my beloved brethren. Do not err. Don't err in this
thing of faith. You err here, you're going to
spend eternity in hell. Don't err here. Don't err. Don't let somebody tell you,
well, there's folks in a wheel all leading to the hub. All roads
lead to Rome. No, they don't. There are two
roads, and the big road with everybody on it is going to hell.
We've been told that. The Master told us that. Don't
err. Don't err in your concepts and
ideas about God. Don't err in the object and the
means of faith. Don't err. Don't err in the power
and presence of God. You'll be alone. I don't care
what you believe. You'll be sitting there alone.
Now listen, verse 17. This is what verse 17, 18 is
all about. Are you ready? Every good gift. And every perfect gift is from
above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is
no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat
he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits
of him. Everything that pertains to the
salvation of God's elect is a gift by grace, are you saying, through
faith? Is that not of yourselves? It's
the gift of God. It's the gift of God. Not of
works, lest any man should boast. And that's exactly what He does.
Repentance is the gift of God. You know what repentance is?
I hear folks talk about repentance. Somebody told me one time, John
the Baptist's whole ministry was about repentance. And then
Paul and Peter come along and their whole ministry was about
faith. I never heard such nonsense. You can't have one without the
other. I'm going this direction. Repentance means a turn. Now,
Christ is over here. I have to turn to look, don't
I? I have to turn to look. Paul said, I know your election
of God, Thessalonians, because you turned to God from your idols. You turned. Some folks don't
turn. They just keep going the same
direction. There has to be a turning to be a looking. There has to
be a seeing to be a turning. Faith and repentance go together.
They are the same thing. One is the cause, the other is
the effect. You will never turn until you see. You will never
see until you turn. They come at the same time. They
come by the same passion. They come by the same light. Repentance is the gift of God,
and it comes through light, the light of the gospel. comes down
from the Father of life. Faith is the gift of God. Eternal
life is the gift of God. The ways of sin is dead, but
the gift of God is eternal life. And what is eternal life? John
17 says to know Him. That's life. To know Him. To know Him in His true character.
To know Him, who He is. To know His perfections and attributes. To know His Son who declares
those things to you. That's eternal life. And all
these good gifts and perfect gifts, they're none good but
God. They're none perfect but God. Did you know God's attributes
are called His perfections? Perfections. All the good and perfect gifts
cometh down from where they were purposed and from where they
are preserved. in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said, I came down. I
came down from heaven, not due to my will, but the will of Him
that sent me. Who sent Him? The Father of lights. The Father
of lights. It's all Christ. Purposed in
Him. Purchased in Him. Perfected in
Him. Preserved in Him. And God gives
this knowledge, and he will not vary from it. James said he's
not going to turn. There's no variableness in God.
He's not going to turn. These things that he purposed
from the beginning to save a people for his glory, he's not going
to be turned from it. He's not going to be moved from
it. They're not even a shadow, he said, of turning with him.
He's going to accomplish this thing. He's going to accomplish
this thing. He will not turn from it. And he's telling us, don't you
turn. Don't you turn. Those who have this faith in
God, listen to verse 18. He said, Of his own will begat
he us with the word of truth. The faith of God's elect is created
in the heart by the will of God, by a new birth. That's how it
comes. And I tell you, you take a man
who doesn't have the Spirit of God in him and you can talk until
you can't talk no more. And I don't care, you can read
him the Bible from cover to cover. You couldn't convince him that
the sun is going to come up in the morning. You can't convince
him of anything. But the Spirit of God comes in
his heart. I can't stand up here and just fumble and mumble and
go on and on. He'll go right straight to his
heart. You'll hear it. You'll hear it. Twenty-five years ago, I preached
to a little group of people up in Danville, Kentucky that was
meeting over in the Kentucky Utilities building, and I preached
my heart out to them, and it just bounced off of them like
bouncing off the wall. The other day, I stood up there
and preached to them, and I watched a big tear come down their face.
What's the difference? Who's in here? That's the difference. He's created in the heart through
a new birth. Turn over to John, chapter 15.
The faith of God's elect is created
in the heart by the will of an unchangeable God. And he cannot
be turned from his purpose, and none can stay his hand or even
say unto him, What doest thou? Listen to this over here in John
15. Verse 26, When the Comforters come, whom I will send unto you,
I'm going to do this. He didn't say if. He said when. When. I'm going to send him to
you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father. He's going to testify of me.
He is. He is. Now turn with me to 1
Peter 1. The new birth not evidenced by
strange tongues and gifts of healing and any of these extraordinary
gifts, these things were given to the apostles to establish
them as the writers of New Testament Scripture. Why should I believe Peter? Huh? Because God took Peter and he
took that man and raised him up. Paul raised one from the
dead. They did things that normal men
couldn't do. God confirmed in them His ministry. They were the writers of new
things. I don't need those things now. I've got a complete canon
of Scripture. I've got a resurrection. Christ
seated at the right hand of God. Why? I need gifts. I don't need
any gifts. Just the ability to speak and
maybe get two or three points out. That's all I need. Listen to this, 1 Peter 1, verse
3, ìBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a
lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away,
reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God
before faith and but especially after, kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed at the last
time, begotten unto a lively hope, a hope not left up to me,
not left in the tomb of martyrdom, but raised from the dead before
witnesses. Over 500 brethren saw him at
one time, watched him ascend back into glory. seated at the
right hand of God, a lively hope, a living hope, one who has satisfied
God, and God confirmed his satisfaction by raising him from the dead.
A lively hope. In him is the righteousness of
God established and accepted. In him is the law of God exalted
and magnified. In him justice is satisfied.
In Him, the truth of God is manifest in our hearts. The new birth is evidenced by
turning from your idols to the living God. The new birth is
evidenced by those who cannot be drawn away from Christ. They'll
persevere. Everyone asks one of them. Why
will they persevere? Because God preserves them. That's
why. Perseverance, preservation. can't be gone away by the love
of this world or the seduction of religion. This living hope
the believer is awakened to is called in Scripture his inheritance. It is the will of the dying testator. And the first fruits, the down
payment, the earnest of his inheritance is that inward desire and joy
and love of Christ. He sees him for who he is, and
he sees God in his true light, in his true character. And he
sees the love of God in Christ who came down here and redeemed
him and called him out of darkness and gave him a life in him, took
a boat in him, set up his kingdom in him. And he loves him. He
loves him. The old man, he goes back into
a cave He's lost, just try to picture this in your mind, he's
lost and he's wandering around in this cave and he walks a little
bit, boom, right up against the wall. Can't see nothing. And
he turns and he walks some more, boom, right into the wall. And
he keeps on walking and he falls into a hole. And he keeps on
walking and he falls in a big pool of water. And he wanders
around in that thing for a week. And he can't see nothing. He
doesn't know where he's going. He's got no sense of direction.
He's just stumbling around in the darkness. And all of a sudden,
he looks, and there's a little pinhole out there of light. And
he goes straight for it. And the closer he gets, the more
light there is. And the closer he gets, the more
light there is, and the faster he goes. And the more he goes,
and the faster he goes, and pretty soon he breaks out into the full
daylight. You reckon he's going to want
to run back in that cave and make his house? I don't think
so. I don't think so. Christ is the
light. He's the light. And once God
turns on that light, I ain't going back in that hole, are
you? I've got no desire to go back there. I've got no want
to go back there. There ain't nothing back there but walls
and holes and darkness and coldness. I don't want to go back there.
I want to go to Him.