Well, it's a privilege for me
to be here with you tonight, and I'm so thankful to be able
to be here. First, I would like to give thanks
to the Lord for his love that is manifest in you. And I'm just
thankful to look out and see you all. It's just the grace
of God. And I'm thankful. We are thankful
for you and appreciate your prayers and your love for us. We are going back to an empty
house. Someone asked, I wonder how does
it feel? She said, I haven't been back
to feel what it feels like to be in an empty house. But the
Lord is blessed and we are thankful that they are in school. We are thankful for what the
Lord is doing there in Mexico. That is the Lord's work, and
we are thankful to see the faithfulness of the Lord and his blessings
on his word. I thank your pastor, Brother
Todd, as a dear friend. the things that must be, the
things that must be in salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior,
has a people from all the world, and he is going to save them. It is his kingdom, a people that
was given to him by God the Father for the foundation of the world,
a people that he has loved with an everlasting love. And he is
going to bring everyone to himself, save them to the praise, to the
glory. of God, to the grace of God.
And from every tongue, nation, kindred, all over the world,
we are thankful for the opportunity to preach in Yucatan, Mexico.
But I find in the scriptures all kinds of different people,
different backgrounds, different circumstances. But I see, like
I said in the book of John, seven times the word must The outline is very simple, and
you will be able to remember it. Actually, there are eight
times that the word must is used in the Gospel of John, but once
it is used as a question, repeating what the Lord has said. So I
want to look at these seven times, the things that must be. And
when God says something must be, you can be sure that it must
be. It must be. It must be so. And when I look at these statements,
when we look at these statements together, I want to ask a question. I want to ask a question in each
case and ask this question, why? Why must these things be? If
they must be, why must these things be? And in answering these
questions, we see the person and the work of our Lord Jesus
Christ. This is what we love to see. This is what we desire
to see. purpose among ourselves, this
is what we purpose, to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and
him crucified. He is our comfort. It is his
gospel, our food. I am not going to deal with these
in order as they appear, but if we did look at them in order,
we would be saying the same thing. Not one of them could be left
out, so you could put them in any order you want, they are
always going to say the same thing. But I want us to look
first in John 3. In verse 7, our Lord said, Marvel
not that I said unto you, ye must be born again. The Lord was speaking to Nicodemus.
You know, Nicodemus came to the Lord by night. He was a ruler
among the Jews, and he would compare notes, as it were, this
one who he thought was a master. And the Lord said, Nicodemus,
accept you be born again. You cannot see the kingdom of
God. A man must be born again. Why must a man be born again? Look here in verse 6. The Lord
says why a man must be born again. He says, That which is born of
the flesh is flesh. Our Lord's kingdom is a spiritual
kingdom. The Apostle Paul said flesh and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven. Flesh and blood cannot
enter that kingdom of heaven. This is a spiritual kingdom.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh. Mark that. And that which is born of the
Spirit of God is spirit. When a man and a woman have a
baby, that baby comes into this world and is flesh. Whatever you see there is flesh.
So we think a baby has that which makes up a person, a body and
a soul. The spirit is dead. Dead. That which men call spirit is
actually that which animates the body. The spirit is dead. He's dead. A man must be born
again, or he cannot see. In Isaiah chapter 40, you know
the text in Isaiah chapter 40, in the commission, Isaiah answered
and said, The voice said, Cry. And I said, What shall I cry?
Here's what you cry. All flesh is grass. All flesh
is grass. and the goodliness, the best
of man, is altogether flesh. The grass wither, the flower
fadeth, but 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.
Unless a man is born of God because he is spiritually dead. And it
is not like he is spiritually dead and inactive. Man is dead
and very active in sin. Very active in sin. He is dead,
spiritually dead, does not know God, does not want to know God. The Scriptures tell us in Adam,
all die. All die. Cannot know God. And the kingdom of our Lord Jesus
Christ as I said, is a spiritual kingdom. A person cannot see
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ unless the Spirit
of God gives life. This is the sovereign work of
the Lord God. He does this whenever he wills,
by the Spirit of God, by the Word of God. It says, the Lord
said here, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born
of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God. Unless a man is born of the Spirit
of God, taking the Word of God, the Word of God is the seed that
God uses, is pleased to use. You know the text in 1 Peter
23. It says, being born. And not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible, the word of God. He, of his will, begat
us by the word of truth. And so this is the first thing.
A man cannot, this must happen if a man is going to be in God's
presence and enjoy him forever. He must be born again. He must be born spiritually,
a spiritual, a new creation. Something that wasn't there before.
That which is born of the flesh, I don't know how to, I don't
know, I can't understand it myself. But that which is born of the
flesh is flesh and it will always be flesh. And a man thinks that
he has, you know, you see in the religion that people are
very spiritual. They say they're very spiritual. No, that's not
spiritual. That's man's flesh. That's flesh.
Only when God gives spirit. is a man spiritual. That's what
I'm trying to say. Only when God gives a spirit,
only when he makes alive is that person a spiritual person. The natural man cannot perceive
the things that are of God. They're foolishness to him. All
right, here's the second one. If a man is going to be in glory,
In John 3, verse 14, our Lord said to Nicodemus, and as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life. If a man is going to be
in glory, the Lord Jesus Christ must go to the cross. and give
his life and shed his blood to put away the sins of his people. He must die. The Lord is given
the background here, even as Moses. Even as Moses. You remember the story. The children
of Israel murmured against God. We are rebellious by nature.
Like I said, we are not only just dead, but active in that
deadness. Rebellious against God. transgressors
of the law. And God and justice is just strict
justice outside of mercy. This is what we deserve, everlasting
separation from God, hell. But God in his mercy, he told
Moses, he said, Moses, you make a serpent like those fiery circuits
and you lift it up on a pole. And you command everyone to look
and everyone that looks to live. The Lord Jesus Christ was lifted
up on the cross. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us. He was made in the likeness of
sinful flesh, but he knew no sin. He bore our sins in his
own body. He was made sin for us. This
is a mystery, but the Lord commands Everyone, everywhere, look to
the Lord Jesus Christ and live. He must go to the cross. Why?
Why must he go to the cross? Why didn't the Son of God just
come into the world and live? Most people think that's what
he came to do, live and give a good example. But how is that? What's the reason? Why did he
have to die? The reason he had to die was this issue of God's
justice. God's justice. God's justice
against the sin of his people must be satisfied. God is holy. God is just. And he must be satisfied. The soul that sinneth, it shall
surely die. And God's holy law has a claim
on every one of God's people. And if they're going to be set
free, if they're going to be in God's presence and enjoy him
forever, he must put away their sin. Thank God for the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ that takes away the sin of his people. It's efficacious blood. It actually
did that. It put it away. It put it away. Is there sins and iniquities?
I'll remember no more. He said, I'll remember no more
because they're not there. Bless God. You remember them,
but God doesn't. God doesn't. God's people are dead in trespasses
and sins. You happy quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sins. You know the text there in Ephesians
chapter 2. That's the condition of man.
You're dead in trespasses and sins. But the behavior is there
in verse 2 and verse 3. You happy quickened before the
Lord came to you and gave you life. The evidence of that life
is you believe. The evidence that God gave you
life is you believe from the heart. You believe. And if you
believe, God gave you life. It's a gift of God. But that
was your case before. You didn't come into this world
believing. You didn't come into this world like so. You heavy quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sins. When time passed, you walked.
There's a dead man walking. A dead man walking in sin. According
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation or
our behavior in times past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others." That is very important. We were at enmity with God. Children
of wrath there, that means we were angry against God. God has put away the sins of
his people. The example there is Saul of Parsis. Saul of Parsis
was, well, you, just look at your life before. Look at my
life before the Lord had revealed himself to me, to you. We were
enemies in our mind. And yet the Lord has conquered
us. Now we're no longer mad. But that's our behavior before. So that's the second thing. That's
the second thing. God must put away the sins of
his people. He must be lifted up. There is
no other way whereby God can put away the sins of his people. He would not have sent his son.
It would have been another way. He would not have sent his son. He sent his son to die, to put
away the sins of his people, because they owed a debt they
could not pay. You know, what gives value to
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is whose blood it is. It's the blood of God. God manifests
in the flesh. God manifests in the flesh. And
he put away the sins of his people. when the Lord Jesus Christ was
raised from the dead, was given life. And this is mysterious
to many. He is the Lamb slain before the
foundation of the world, and he was raised before the foundation
of the world, too, in God's purpose and mind. But that's the second
thing. He must go to the cross. There
is no other way whereby man must then be saved, only through that
name, his death. And here is a third thing. I
want you to look at John chapter 9. We are going to jump a few,
but go to John chapter 9. You know the story here. They
came by this man that was blind from birth, and the disciples
asked the Lord. Let's look at verse 1. And Jesus passed by and saw a
man. which was blind from his birth,
and his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin,
this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered,
Neither hath this man sin, 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 while it is day. The night cometh when
no man can work." Here is the third thing I want to say. I
must work the works of him that sent me while it is day. The work of saving his people
from their sins must be a finished work or there is no hope for
anyone. He must work the works of him
that sent me while it is day. The day of his being here on
this earth in human flesh. He is the light of the world. He is the day. While he was in
this world as a man, he must finish. That is to say, he must
establish justice here on earth. He must establish the righteousness. He must fulfill all the law. For you and I to be in God's
presence and be accepted, we must have a righteousness. the
righteousness of God. And he did that. He established
his righteousness here on earth as a man. He finished the work
that the Father gave him to do. In today's modern religion, you
hear it all over the place, God has done all he can do. And now
it's up to you. And that's such a blasphemous
thought. The scriptures plainly teach, I must finish. The Lord
said, Father, I finished the work which you gave me to do.
He cried on the cross, it is finished. That is all that God
gave him to do. On the behalf of his people,
he fulfilled, he filled. That's why Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. He
fulfilled. He established righteousness
as a man. I must finish the work. This
is not a collaboration between God and man. Or salvation is
all of grace, or it is all of works. But you cannot mix the
two. Thank God, all that he requires,
he has provided. His name is Jehovah will provide. He has provided. In himself,
by the Son of God, the second person of the trinity in human
flesh. Well, you see there, the night
is coming. That's why he must finish the
work. You see, the night is coming when no man can work. The night
of his departure from this world as a man, the night of his departure,
he's no longer here. The night of his departure, no
man can work. It can't be done. If he didn't
finish it, there's no hope for any one of us here. There's no
hope for any one of us here. In order for us to be accepted,
and bless God, we are accepted in the blood, accepted in the
Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul spoke of this
righteousness. He said, I don't want to be found in my own righteousness,
but I want to be found in that righteousness, the righteousness
of God, which is by faith. It speaks of a sufficiency, doesn't
it? The sufficiency of his work. Now, here's a fourth one. Look
to John chapter 20 and verse 9. John chapter 20 and verse 9. This is when the disciples. Verse 8 says, Then went in 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." Our gospel is
how Christ died for our sins according to the scripture, and
was buried and rose again according to the scripture. He must be
risen from the dead. There must be a resurrection.
There must be a resurrection, or else our preaching is in vain. We're found liars because we've
testified that God is raising from the dead, and there's no
hope. We're still in our sins if Christ didn't come from the
dead. He must be raised. Must. I heard, the first time I heard
it, I don't know It's probably said many times, but it's stuck. Now it's mine. Brother Henry
Mahan said this. He said, a jail's not a holiday
inn. When that criminal has finished
paying that debt he owes to society, justice comes in and says, get
out. Get out. Well, when that light,
when the sufficiency When God was satisfied, he said,
Let him go. Let him go. I have enough. I
have enough for your eternal salvation. I have enough. He
must be raised from the dead. And this is why those that do
not know the Lord are forever going to be separated from God
in eternity and held in torment Because God's justice never cries,
I have enough. Our sins are so many, and we
cannot pay through all eternity, we cannot pay the sin debt, we
all. But the Lord Jesus Christ, having
satisfied God's justice, God's justice says, I have enough.
Deliver him. Let him go. And all those for
whom he died were raised and the Lord Jesus were justified.
Look at Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4 and verse 25,
who was delivered for our offenses and was raised for our justification. Raised for our justification.
We are justified. How precious that is. Well, here's
another thing. Look here. And the fifth thing
I want us to look at is go back to John, chapter four. John,
chapter four. You know, the man is dead and
trespasses and sins. But like we looked at, he's he's
active and he's not only dead and trespasses and he's happy
to be the way he is. He's happy the way it is. People
are satisfied with their religion. They're satisfied with their
own thoughts about who they are and who God is. And they think
they've got a covenant made with hell. They've got a covenant
made with death. And they don't want you to talk about it. In
other words, what I'm saying is this man is lost. He's not
only dead, but he's lost. And if a man is going to come
before God, God must come looking for him. Here is where it says
in John chapter 4, you know the story. It says there in verse
4, and he must needs go through Samaria. He must needs go through
Samaria. Why is it that God must, the
Son of God must needs go through Samaria? Because God has a people
in that place. The Lord Jesus Christ has a people.
He is the Good Shepherd. who goes out in search of that
sheep that's lost. You never find the sheep looking
for the shepherd. Now, we do have in the Scriptures
the disciples saying we found the Messiah. We understand that. But it wasn't that way, was it?
The Lord found them. And no man is looking for the
Savior. People come even to this place
to hear the gospel, and they really don't think they're here
for that reason. They think they've got it all figured out, but the
Lord is going to cross the path of his people with the gospel
and reveal himself to them. He must needs go through something. He must come to his people. Our Lord said to his disciples,
you didn't choose me. I chose you. He comes looking
for each one. He is the good shepherd, and
he goes out. He leaves the ninety and nine
and finds that one, puts him on his shoulder and carries him
all the way home. He's the good shepherd. Well, that's why, maybe
I'm not doing this right, but I ask the question, why must
he go? Because sheep are not going to come to him. Sheep are
not going to come to him. They're in their rebellion, they're
in their darkness, they're lost, and they like it that way. We
like it that way. Well, he must go to his people. You remember the eunuch. The
eunuch was in Jerusalem at the time of the festival. And he was a person of importance. He would have been right there
with the religious leaders. And I'm sure he heard of that
one named Jesus who the religious leaders said was an imposter. But that one was one of the Lord's
sheep. And so he sends Philip out there
in the desert. He's going to cross the path
of that man in the desert at a certain time and a certain
place. He sovereignly goes for his sheep. He goes for his sheep
for this reason. Here's a fifth one. If a man
is going to come before God and enjoy God forever, But the Lord
Jesus Christ is going to have to reveal Himself to them. The
Lord said this, this is life eternal, that they may know Thee,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. He
goes to this woman and reveals Himself to her. She was a religious
person. She was an outcast. She had a bad reputation. And
she had no idea she was going to run across the Lord at that
day, at that time, in the middle of the day. She went there in
the middle of the day purposely to avoid people. Purposely to
avoid people. And the Lord crossed her path.
She was surprised. She was surprised. And the Lord
said to her, He said, Give me a drink. And she was surprised.
She said, How is it you, being a Jew, asked me to drink? The
Samaritans and the Jews have no dealings. Well, the Jews and
the Gentiles have no dealings, but especially the Samaritans.
They were those half-breeds, as they thought. All the grace of God that surprises
a man. Right? Surprises a man. But the
Lord said this to her. He said, if you knew the gift
of God. She didn't know the gift of God.
He's standing right there in front of her. And who it is that's
speaking to you, you would ask and he would give you living
water. He must come and must reveal himself to his people. He must reveal himself to this
woman. She begins to debate with the
Lord. She's religious. She wants to talk some theology.
And the Lord said, you don't know what you worship. And that's
who we are. We don't know before he reveals
himself to. We don't know what we worship. True worship, there is true worship.
Now, here's here's the. The sixth thing. True worship. Verse twenty-three, But the hour
cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship
the Father in spirit. What's born of the flesh?
Flesh. The true worshipers must worship in spirit. Only that person who is born
of God truly worships God. There's a lot that goes on that's
called worship that is not true worship, not true worship. Must worship in spirit and in
truth, not apart from the truth, not apart from must worship in
spirit and in truth, that which is born of the flesh that is
flesh. Well, there's several ways to
understand this, I believe, and be correct in this, but God is
not worshipped with man's hands. God is not worshipped in form
and rites and ceremonies and rituals. Down where I live, that's
here too, Roman Catholicism, and men think that those ceremonies
actually have the power to give life. But that's not that's not
worship. And the grace of God cannot be
dispatched by man. Only the spirit of God is the
vicar of the Lord Jesus Christ here in this world, and only
he can give grace. But men, men say they're worshiping,
but they're not worshiping in spirit and they're not worshiping
in truth. Truth is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Apart from it, you've got the Middle Eastern religions and
all these different things. They say they're very spiritual.
No, they're not. They're flesh. They're flesh. Because they feel
that that's spirit. No, that's not spirit. That's
flesh. A man must be born of God. That which is born of the
flesh is flesh. That which is born of the spirit
is spirit. And a true worshipper worships him in spirit. and in
truth, the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, who he is. He is
God manifest in the flesh, what he came to do, where he is right
now. We cannot worship God except we know the Lord Jesus Christ. And here is the seventh thing.
John chapter 3 again. Verse 30. The background here
is John the Baptist had been baptizing, and the Lord came
to John the Baptist, and John the Baptist said, I need to be
baptized of you, and you come to me. And the Lord said, suffer
to be so. You must fulfill all righteousness. And later on, the disciples of
John, or the Jews, it says here. They came to him and they came
to John. They said that one that you gave testimony on the other
side, he's baptizing more. Everybody's going over there.
Everybody's going over there. And I love what John answered.
I love what John answered. Verse 27. John answered and said,
A man can receive nothing except that be given him from heaven.
I told you. I told you who he is. I told you who I am. A man can receive nothing. You
can't believe. You can't have spiritual life
unless God gives you. And you can't receive anything
unless it be given to him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me
witness that I said I am not the Christ, but I am he that
sent before him. He that hath the bride is the
bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, that's me, which
standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly, because of bridegroom
of voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled."
I'm happy. If you're not making me jealous,
I'm happy. You're hearing me preach and you're going to follow
the Lord Jesus Christ? That's what I'm here for. He
must increase and I must decrease. He must increase. Why is it that
He must increase? This is the uniform desire of
all God's people. God has purposed that in all
things He'll have the preeminence. He has the preeminence and He
shall have the preeminence. That in all things. Look at Colossians
chapter 1 with me. In all things, he has the preeminence. Verse 15, who is the image of
the invisible God, the firstborn, or that is the heir of every
creature. For by him, by the eternal Son
of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, by him were all things created
that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible.
where there be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things were created by him and for him. And he is before
all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of
the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things he might have their preeminence. He must increase, and I must
increase. All those people are happy about
that. You know, in God's kingdom, he's the only one who receives
all the honor and glory. Not unto us, not unto us, but
unto thy name give glory. And all those that are around
the throne, they're singing this song to the Lamb who washed us
in his blood. To him be all the honor and the
glory. And you know, this song cannot be learned by anybody
but those that are redeemed. But if a man is going to be in
heaven, he's got to be in agreement with this. He has all the honor,
all the glory. So these seven things I find
in John. A man must be born of God. The
Lord Jesus Christ must give his life, shed his blood. He must
finish the work the Father gave him to do. He must be raised
for our justification. There is no salvation apart from
his resurrection. He needs to go to his people
and reveal himself to them. And they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth. And he must have the preeminence
in all things.