I'm thankful to be here. It's
a real privilege. And I've just rejoiced to hear
God's word and be able to worship with you. And it's just good. It's just good. I thank the ladies
for all their work and the food was good. It's still good. I plan to get some more. I want to speak to you from the
book of John. While you're looking there, the Lord Jesus Christ has a people
from every kindred, tongue, and nation given to Him by God the
Father in eternity, and He must save them. He must save them. His name is Jesus. Thou shalt
call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. And there is no other name, no
other name given among men whereby me must be saved. Must be saved. Now when God says
that something must be, you and I can be sure it must be. It
must be so. And the title of my message tonight
is what must be in the salvation of God's people. The text we're
going to look at is in John 3, John 4, John 9, John 20, but
we're not going to be here that long. Seven times I find in the book
of John the word must is used if a man or woman is going to
be in the presence of God, worship Him, and enjoy Him forever. Seven times. And I want to look
at these seven statements of necessity, necessity, and ask
the question in reference to each one, why must this be so? Why must this be so? What does
the word of God say concerning what must be so in the salvation
of a man or a woman? And answering the question to
each one of these, I want us to see the person and work of
our Lord Jesus Christ whom to see, to hear is life eternal. And we're not going to look at
these statements in the order as they appear in the book of
John, but if we did look at them in the order we would say exactly
the same thing. The first one we find in John
chapter 3 and verse 7. The Lord said to Nicodemus, marvel
not that I said unto you And to thee, ye must be born again. You know the story. Nicodemus,
a man, a ruler of the Jews, came to the Lord by night and he barely
got a word in. The Lord said, Nicodemus, accept
a man to be born. Accept a man to be born. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, accept a man to be born again. He cannot
see the Kingdom of God. Why is it that man must be born
again? Why is it that man must be born
again? The reason is this, man at his
best, the best of man is only flesh. It's flesh. That which is born of the flesh,
the Lord said in Nicodemus there in verse 6, that which is born
of the flesh is flesh. Think about that for a moment. What can a man and a woman produce?
There's this baby. And this baby has faculties,
all the faculties he's going to have, unless God gives him
life, spiritual life. But this baby has emotions, this
baby has feelings, he's going to grow. And a lot of times people
misunderstand these emotions and feelings as spirit. There's
a lot of worship that goes on that is not spirit. It's flesh. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. It'll never be spirit unless
God gives life. That which is born of the spirit
is spirit. Our Lord said, the Apostle Paul
said this in Corinthians 15, 22. He said, the kingdom of our
Lord Jesus Christ, he said, Know ye not that flesh and blood cannot
inherit the kingdom of God? Look at that with me, 1 Corinthians
chapter 15 and verse 22. Well, I got the wrong reference,
but look at here, it says, verse 22, and Adam all died. What happened in the garden?
And Adam all died. And Christ shall all be made
alive. The text I'm looking for is verse
50. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 50. Now this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth
corruption inherit incorruption. A man must be born of the Spirit
of God or he cannot be in the presence of God and enjoy him
forever. This is a new birth. This is
the first resurrection. The first reason a man must be
born again because that which man is by nature is flesh. Here's
what we're commanded to tell the people in Isaiah 40, verse
6. The Lord said, the voice said,
cry. And I said, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass and all the
goodliness thereof, that's the best of it, is as the flower
of the field. The grass withereth, and the
flower fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it.
Surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, and the
flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever.
And lest God gives life, no man is going to see Him, be in His
presence, and enjoy Him forever, and must be born. And the reason
Not only is man flesh, but man is spiritually dead. Man is spiritually
dead. He does not know God and does
not want to know God. Does not want to know God. And
Adam all died. Died spiritually. And the kingdom
of our Lord Jesus Christ is a spiritual kingdom. A person cannot see
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ except he be
born of the Spirit of God by the word of truth. By the word
of truth. 1 Peter 1 verse 23. You know the
text? Just go read it. 1 Peter 1 verse
23. Being born, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. And this supernatural, mysterious
birth, this is the first resurrection from the dead, is something only
God can do by his sovereign will. He'll have mercy on whom he'll
have mercy. The Lord said to Nicodemus, the
wind bloweth. And you cannot tell. Then bloweth
where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but thou cannot
tell whence it cometh, or whither it goeth. So is every one that
is born of the Spirit of God, by the sovereign free will of
God. By the sovereign free will of God. Ye must be born again. Well, here's the second one.
Look at John chapter 3, verse 14. saying to Nicodemus, in verse
12 he said, ìI told you earthly things and you believe not. How
shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things?î Hereís the
first heavenly thing, ìNicodemus, I that am speaking to you am
God.î Thatís the first thing. That man, Christ Jesus, he is
God manifesting the flesh. No man hath ascended unto heaven,
but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is
in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up." Must be lifted up. Must be lifted up. Jesus Christ,
the eternal Son of God in flesh, must go to the cross and there
shed His blood and die. Why? Why must He die? Was it not enough that he come
and just live in this world and, as many think, just show a good
example how we might live? Oh, no. Oh, no. God saves his people freely by
his grace, but it's through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. It's free grace, but it cost
him. It cost him the life of his dear
son. And without the shedding of blood
there is no remission of sins. There is a matter of God's holy
law and God's justice has to be satisfied if a man or woman
is to be in God's presence without being consumed. The sin that
separates must be put away. He must be lifted up. You know,
the Lord Jesus Christ is the lamb slain before the foundation
of the world. And in that purpose, we're safe. We're sure. But he must put away
the sins of his people by his blood. He must come into this
world and die. See, God's people are not only
dead spiritually, but they're dead in trespasses and sins.
It's not just being dead. It's not like they're dead and
inactive. It's not like we're dead and inactive. We're active
in trespasses and sins. This matter of the sin of God's
people must be dealt with if God is going to save his people
from their sin. You shall call his name Jesus.
Romans 5, 7 says, For scarcely for a righteous man will one
die, yet peradventure for a good man some will even dare to die.
But God commandeth his love towards us. commanded his love towards
us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Substitution for his people. In the room instead, that one
who knew no sin, that holy one, he knew no sin, he did no sin. Not only did he not do no sin,
he perfectly obeyed God's holy law. It wasn't like He was just
inactive and didn't do any no sin. He was perfectly obeying
and establishing righteousness here on the earth. He who knew
no sin for us, He was made sin. He was made sin for us. He took
our sins in His own body. He died for us, much more than
being now justified by His blood. We shall be saved from the wrath
through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to
God by the death of His Son, much more being reconciled we
shall be saved by His life. This is something that we cannot
begin to understand. We cannot begin to understand
how that God, the Holy One, was made sin for us. But if God is
going to save a people, He's got to put the sin of His people
away. It has to be a perfect. perfect sacrifice. It has to
be a sacrifice that will take away the sins of his people. Bless God, he did. He did. God's justice is satisfied. His holy law is vindicated. We're given life. We're quickened
in Jesus Christ. When Christ was quickened from
the dead, by grace are you saved. Now here's a third thing that
must be if a man or woman is to be saved, if a man or woman
is to be in glory. Look at here in John chapter
9 and verse 4. John chapter 9 and verse 4. Our Lord said, I must work the
works of him that sent me while it is day. The night cometh when
no man can work. You know, the background here
is the Lord, there was this man that was blind from his birth
and the disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin,
this man or his parents, that he was born blind? And Jesus
answered, Neither hath this man sinned nor his parents, but that
the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work
the works of him that sent me. The work of saving his people
from their sins It must be a finished work. I must work the works of
Him that sent me while it is day. That is to say, while He
was on this earth. The night comes when He is no
longer on this earth as a man. And if that work is not finished,
no man is saved. This is a finished work. I must
work. He did the work of saving. He established righteousness.
He put an end to sin. He established righteousness
here on the earth. He came to fulfill the law and
he fulfilled it. He filled it full. Every jot
and every tittle. He said this, Father, I finished
the work which thou gavest me to do. This is why it's such
a comfort. To you who believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ, you're complete. There's nothing lacking of wisdom.
There's nothing lacking of righteousness, of sanctification, of redemption. He filled it all. You're complete
in Him. I must finish the works of my
Father. The night of His departure from
this world, He was here 33 years fulfilling establishing the Lord. God said, this is my beloved
son in whom I'm well pleased. I'm well pleased. And that's the righteousness
that his people have. Yeah. That's the righteousness
that people have. It's the righteousness of God
by faith, by the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, by faith in
him, his faithfulness, his obedience. And the Apostle Paul said, I
don't want to be found before God on that day in my own righteousness. Brother Bruce Crabtree said it
very well. If you come before your own righteousness,
there's no salvation. There's no hope. There's no hope. The only hope a sinner has is
to be found in him. In him. The night of his departure from
this world was near, and when he returned to the Father, there's
no work to be done. So, God's people are resting
in Him. There's no work to be done. I like that. I like that. No work to be done. Look at the
fourth thing. John 20, verse 9. John 20, verse 9. This is when the disciples came
to the tomb, and it says there, verse 8, Then went also that
other disciple which came first to the sepulcher, and he saw
and believed. For as yet they knew not the
scripture that he must rise again from the dead. He must rise again
from the dead. Doesn't that speak of sufficiency,
satisfaction? He must rise again from the dead. He died. He went to the cross
and paid for the sin of his people. How much sin? All the sin of
his people. All the sin. And if he doesn't
render satisfaction, then he doesn't come out of the grave.
There is no resurrection. And if Christ didn't come up
from the grave, then what we're doing here is in vain. We're
found liars on God. And there's no hope, there's
no salvation for anybody. But the Lord Jesus Christ, He
must be raised from the dead on the third day according to
the Scriptures. According to the Scriptures.
It's not like He went in and it was a possibility that He
wouldn't come forth. It's not how much blood was shed,
it's the blood of who was shed. It's the blood of God. It says so in Psalm 16, verse
10. The Lord Jesus Christ said, no
man takes my life away from me. I lay it down and I take it back.
This commandment I received from my Father. I have power to take
it up again. In Psalm 16, Verse 9, Therefore my heart is
glad, and my glory rejoices. My flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul
in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to seek corruption.
Thou shalt show me the path of life, and in thy presence is
fullness of joy at thy right hand. There are pleasures forevermore. He must be raised from the dead. God's people are justified, we
are justified by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're
justified. Look at Romans chapter 4 and
verse 25, Romans 4, 25. We're justified by the resurrection
of the dead. If he doesn't, he died as a representative
in our stead, in our place. And when he came, we came out
of the grave. When he was buried, we were buried.
And Romans 4, 25 says, who was delivered for our offenses and
was raised again for our justification. Therefore, before God, his people
don't have sin. They don't have sin. They're
justified. Having satisfied the demands of God's holy law, it
was impossible that death should hold him. That's what the apostle
said. It was impossible. I heard this first time when
Brother Mahan said this, and I got stuck, and it's mine now.
Now that you're here, you could keep it as yours, too. But you
know the penal system, the code. If a person breaks a law and
he's convicted, goes to jail. Judgment sentence is passed,
that man is supposed to serve five years in jail. And when
those five years go up, you know who comes and gets him out of
there? Justice does. He's paid. That's not a hotel. He's out. He's paid the debt.
And this is why a person that tries to come before God in his
own works, he'll be separated from God forever because there's
never enough payment. Never enough payment. But the
Lord Jesus Christ, with one sacrifice, perfected forever. Perfected
forever. Satisfaction. And he was raised
from the dead. Now here, look at the fifth thing. John chapter 4 and verse 4. John chapter 4 and verse 4. The Lord Jesus Christ must needs
go through Samaria. Us people are not only dead in
trespasses and sins, but they're lost. They're lost. He's the Good Shepherd. He's
the Good Shepherd that goes looking for His sheep. He not only gave
His life for His sheep, but He must go and find His sheep, because
His sheep are not looking for Him. He must needs go through
Samaria. Why must the Lord Jesus Christ
come looking for you? For me? Because we're not looking
for Him. This Samaritan woman, you know
the story, this Samaritan woman, she was not looking to run across
anyone that day. She had a bad reputation in town,
and she was looking to avoid everybody. And the last person
she expected to meet was the Savior. And the Lord Jesus Christ
came to that well on purpose. He crossed her path that day
and spoke to her. He must go for His sheep, and
He must reveal Himself to His sheep, I am He that speaketh
to you. I am the Son of God. This is life. This is life that
they may know Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom
Thou hast sent. God's people are lost. They're
happy to be so. They're in their own tradition
and their own superstition, their own thoughts and imaginations. The Lord Jesus Christ must come
and reveal Himself. This is where the condemnation
is of the world. The light's coming to the world.
Men love darkness rather than light. And that's us by nature. We love darkness rather than
light. But He must come for His people and reveal Himself
to each and every one or else no one will be saved. He must
come. And he comes in the preaching
of his word. He said to this woman, he said
there in John chapter 4, verse 7, said, Then cometh a woman
of Samaria to draw water, and Jesus said unto her, Give me
to drink. And that just shocked her. That just shocked her. And I know it shocks anyone. No one comes to hear the gospel
with a good motive. It just surprises them. It just
surprises them. No one is seeking God. It just
surprises them. I heard from God today. Well,
this woman, she wasn't expecting to see. She was surprised. And
the Lord spoke to her. Jews, they don't have anything
to do with Gentiles, especially Samaritans. But He said to the
woman, He said, She said, how is it that you being a Jew speak
to me? The Samaritans and the Jews have no dealings. And the
Lord said, if you knew, if you knew who it is that's
speaking to you, we don't know who it's speaking
to. The Lord Jesus Christ speaks to his people. If you knew the
gift of God and who it is that's speaking to you, you would ask
of him and he would give you living water. Well, this woman,
you know, she started, just like all people, we by nature, we
start justifying ourselves and start wanting to compare theological
notes and so on and so forth. She said, I know that the Messiah
is coming. And the Lord said to her, I speak to you and me. What a revelation. What a revelation
to be able to see God in the face of Jesus Christ. the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. She forgot what she'd went there
for. She forgot, like I think it was Brother Jim said, she
left her pot there, she forgot what she was going for. She couldn't
wait to tell others. But God must come, seeking His
people, because His people are lost. We don't seek Him. Now
here's the sixth thing. The Lord said to this woman,
He said, you don't know what you're worshiping. You don't
know what you're worshiping. You have your ideas. No man can
worship God except how God says you're going to worship. We can't just say, I think I'm
going to worship this way. We must worship, come to God
the way he says we must come to him. He says, you don't know
what you worship. This woman said, verse 20, our
fathers worshiped in this mountain. And ye say that in Jerusalem
is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus said unto her,
Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when neither in this mountain,
nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know
not what. We know what we worship for salvation
of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now
is, when the true worshipers, their false worshipers, The true
worshipper shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth,
for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a spirit,
and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in
truth. God is spirit. They that worship
Him must. There is false worship going
on all over the place. What is born of the flesh? Flesh. In order for a man to truly worship,
be a true worshipper, he has to be born of the Spirit, born
of the Spirit of God. The hour cometh now is when the
true worshipper shall worship in spirit and in truth, not apart
from the truth. We heard that this morning with
Donny Bell. You can't worship God in a lie.
The Lord Jesus Christ is truth. It's truth. We must worship Him
in spirit and in truth. That is the new man. The new
man is unable to worship God. Come before God and worship. There's a lot of worship going
on. They say it's very spiritual. It's demonic, really. It's demonic. But it's not the Spirit of God.
It's not true worship. I've got to hurry. When a baby
comes into this world, all he is is flesh. Many people, I think,
confuse that and they say, well, he's a spiritual being. No, God
has to give him. God has to give him. He has to be born of the Spirit
of God. And here's the seventh thing,
John 3 and verse 30. If a man or woman is going to
be in glory, he's going to be reconciled. Who has glory? He's going to be reconciled to
God. You know the story, the Lord came to John the Baptist
and And John the Baptist said, I have need to be baptized of
you, and you come to me. And the Lord said, suffer to
be so, for we must fulfill all righteousness. And then at this
place, the disciples were coming to John and saying, you know
that one that you gave witness to on the other side of Jordan?
People are going to him, and they're being baptized of him.
And listen to what John the Baptist said. I just love this. Verse 25, Then there arose question
between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying.
And they came to John and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was
with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold,
the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. And John answered
and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
I told you, and you didn't receive it. You didn't receive. It's a gift
of God. Everything we have is a gift
of God. If you believe, God gave you
that faith. A man can receive nothing except
to be given him from heaven. You yourself bear me witness
that I said I'm not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.
He that hath the bride, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. He has
the bride. He's the bridegroom. But the
friend of the bridegroom, that's me, says John, I'm the friend
of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him rejoiceth greatly
because of the bridegroom's voice. You're not making me jealous.
This my joy is fulfilled. They heard John, and they followed
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's not making me jealous.
I'm doing the same thing. He must increase, and I must
Decrease he must increase now God in his mercy and grace Has
revealed this to his people? He is the Lord Jesus Christ he
is the king and He has purposed God is purpose that in all things
He has the preeminent He has given him a name which is above
every name And God's people love it that way. Love it that way. There's none in His kingdom who
have any doubt about this. This is the song of glory, not
unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name. And we read there in
Revelations chapter 5, this new song, sang. And you know, in
Revelations 14 says nobody could sing that song except those that
were redeemed. Well, these are the seven musts
that I find in the book of John if a man or woman is to be before
God and accepted. The Spirit of God, according
to His mercy and grace in Christ Jesus, must give life. You must be born again. This
is what God does sovereignly. The Lord Jesus Christ must pay
the debt, all the debt of His people. The Lord Jesus Christ
must finish the work He established righteousness here on the earth,
a righteousness in which His people are dressed and are accepted
in the blood. Perfect is the righteousness
of God. And the Lord Jesus Christ must
be raised from the dead for our justification. It is finished. Its satisfaction is rendered.
And then the fifth thing is He must go looking for His sheep.
He must go looking for sheep. This is what we do. Go into all
the world and preach the gospel. Go looking for His sheep. But
He's the one that's actually looking for them. I know you're aware of this.
When you go out and preach, it's not by accident. It's not by
accident. God has a purpose. He sends His
people and He's going to cross their path. He must go looking
for His sheep. And he must reveal himself to
his people. They must worship in spirit and
in truth. And he must be, God bless forever,
have preeminence in everything.