It's found in John chapter 1. I would like to read verses 10
through 13 of John chapter 1. He was in the world, and the
world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto His own, and His
own received Him not. But as many as received Him,
to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on His name, which were born not of blood, nor of
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
May God add His blessing to that portion of His Word. Let's pray
together. Our merciful and gracious Heavenly
Father, what a blessed, blessed privilege
it is to call You, the great God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, our Father. And Lord, to know that You have
not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according
to our iniquities, to know that As the heavens are higher than
the earth, so high are your mercies towards them that fear you. And,
Lord, truly we do fear you. Lord, we fear you. And, Lord,
we are afraid to look anywhere but thy dear Son as everything
in our salvation. And, Lord, truly we trust and
rely upon him. Lord, I ask in Christ's name
that He might be glorified at this time. We pray that You'd
give us a true spirit of worship and that You would speak in power
to our hearts. Lord, how we desire to hear from
You. Lord, forgive us of our many
sins. Cleanse us anew. Lord, give us
a new and fresh view of Thy dear Son. We pray for Your continued
blessing upon this assembly. We pray for your hand upon Brother
Mahan tonight as he preaches, and we pray for your blessing
on the services ahead. Lord, we pray for your blessing
on all your people wherever they meet. And, Lord, truly we say,
Thou wilt be done in all things. Lord, we ask that if it could
please You, if it would glorify Your Son, that You would You
would grant those of our number who are sick, who are in affliction,
we ask that Your blessing would be upon them. But Lord, what
joy it gives us to know that as a father pities his children,
so You pity them that fear You. We give thanks. Now bless us
for Christ's sake. In His name we pray. Amen. In verse 10 of our text, he was
in the world. Now, this is where I would like
to begin this message, and this is where I would like to end
this message. He. Who is he? He was in the world. Who is this
one who was in the world. Now, this one is clearly described
in this passage of Scripture in John chapter 1. Look in verse
1. In the beginning. This is when
God created the universe. There was a time when there was
nothing. All there was was God. There was no time. And then time
began in the beginning. In the beginning was the Word. You see, in the beginning, the
Word already was. Now, this is speaking of the
eternal Son of God, this One who never began to be. Now, I can't even fathom what
it means to never have a beginning. But in the beginning, He already
was. in the beginning was the Word. This is who He is, the Word. What's going on in my mind right
now? The only way that you can know what's going on in my mind
is by the Word that comes out of my mouth. Christ Jesus is
the Word of God. He's the expression of the mind
of God. All that God is is seen in the
Word. Not only is He the Word of God,
what's it say next in verse 1? And the Word was God. Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus, the one born in Nazareth,
is God Almighty. He is the God of glory. He is the one whom the universe
cannot contain, and yet all the fullness of the Godhead resides
in His body. This is the He of whom the text
speaks. He is God. Verse 2 says, the same. And this
can only be said of Him. He's the same. You and I change
every second. Up here, down here. He's always
the same. Jesus Christ the same yesterday,
today, and forever. He is the only one truly who
is worthy of this title, the same. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things. were made by Him. This One who is, this One who
is God, this One who is the Word of God, He is the One who made
all things. And without Him was not anything
made that was made. In verse 4 it says, In Him was
life. Now this is the He spoken of
in our text. In Him was life. That means two
things. He possesses life independently. You and I are so dependent. We're so needy. Our breath is
in our nostrils and the Lord can just take it so quick. We're
so needy. He has no needs. He has life
independently. He is life. He's not alive. He
is life. So much so that he says, if I
were hungry, I wouldn't tell you about it. He is life. Not only is he life in the sense
that he is life as God is life because he is God, but he's life
in this sense. My life before God right now
is seated at the right hand of the Father. That is my life before
God. His life really is my life. He is my standing before God. In Him was life, and the life,
the life, the only life that can be said of this life, the
life was the light of men. He's the light that tells us
three who's. In light of Him, I see who God
is. He said, He that has seen me
has seen the Father. I see who man is, who I am in
light of him, and really only in light of him. I see my own,
what it is that I, and I see who salvation is. In thy light
shall we see light. Now this is the he spoken of
in our text. And look what it says next in
verse 10. He was in the world. Look down in verse 14. was made
flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. He was in the world. Now, there was a time when He
was not in this world in the sense of being in the flesh.
There was a time when He did not have a physical body. He's the Eternal Son. He never
began to be, but there was a time when He did not have flesh and
bones the way you and I had, but when He came into this world,
we read, the Word was made flesh. He was in the world as the man
Christ Jesus. Bone of our bones and flesh of
our flesh. He said, a body hast thou prepared
me. He was made flesh, He came into
the world, and He always will now be the Man, Christ Jesus. Let me repeat that. He always
will be in the flesh. Right now, seated at the right
hand of the Father, there's flesh and bones. The Man, Christ Jesus. He came into this world in a body. And in this body,
he perfectly kept God's holy law. You think of the sin and weakness
that's passed through your mind in the last 24 hours. Never passed
through his mind. He never sinned. He came into this world, the
only holy man, in this sense, to ever live. He never sinned. He kept God's holy law perfectly. And yet, in the body of His flesh,
He was nailed to that cross. Why? When He never, quote, sinned. Why? Why was He nailed to the
cross? because he was made sin as the
great sin-bearing substitute. And on the cross, listen to me,
understand this, when he was in the flesh, when he was here,
you know what he did? He put away the sins of everybody
he died for. I mean, he put them away so that
they are not. Now, there's a reason. God says
there are sins and iniquities I'll remember no more. There's
a reason God says this. You know why he can remember
them no more? Because they're not there. God can't forget something if
it's still there. God's got a better memory than
you and I have. Christ Jesus the Lord put away
my sins. You know this about them? They're
gone. Now, he was in the world. But look what it says next. Now,
that same world that was made by him, It says in verse 10, he was in
the world and the world was made by him. That same world that
he was in, this world that we're walking in right now, that same
world was made by him. And this is given to remind us.
He was in the world and the world was made by him. This is given
to remind us that when he walked upon this world as the man Christ
Jesus, this man is, was and always will be God. When he walked upon this world
as a man, he walked upon this world as God. While he walked through this
world as a man with all the limitations of the flesh, and he had all
of the limitations of the flesh. You think of the limitations
our flesh brings on us. He had all these, sin accepted. Still, he was God over all, blessed
forever. You know, when they came to arrest
him, he said, Whom seek ye? He didn't
say, Let's run, fellas, let's escape. No, not in any way. He
said, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. And I think of the power of his
reply. I am." Remember what happened
next? They fell backwards. He was letting
them know, you're not taking me. I'm giving you permission
to do what you're doing because it's all part of my purpose.
That's exactly what he was telling them at this time. He was no
victim. They were made to fall backwards
and then they come How do you reckon they felt as they arrested
him at that time? They had some idea of who this
was. They had some idea of the fact
that they're not in control of this. He is. Why, when Pilate
says to the Lord, don't you know? Speakest thou not to me? Don't
you know that I have power to crucify you? And I have power
to release you? Oh, the power of His voice, it
happens to have no power at all over me, except it were given
me from above. Our Lord, as He was in this world,
keeping God's holy law, bone of our bones, flesh of our flesh, He is very God of very God. He
was in this same world that was made by Him. That's a reminder
to us of His absolute control. But look what it says about the
world in verse 10. And the world knew Him not. This world that He was in, that
He made, knew Him not. They did not And they would not recognize
Him. They didn't get it. They didn't get it. You know something that amazes
me? The God-man grew up in a house with brothers and sisters, and
none of them knew who He was. They didn't get it. They did not recognize Him. The earth quaked. And the sun
refused to shine in protest as their Creator was nailed to a
cross. But the men who did it had no
idea who He was. The world knew Him not. And realize this. This is far
more than a sin of ignorance. It's more than a failure to recognize
who he was. How is this word generally used
in the scriptures? The world knew him not. Well,
what did it mean when it said Joseph knew not marry his wife? He did not have an intimate relationship
with her. He didn't love her. When the Lord says, depart from
me, I never knew you. Doesn't mean I don't have any
idea who you are. It means I never loved you. I never knew you to
be one of mine. When the scripture says to the
husbands to dwell with your wife according to knowledge, it's
not just talking about knowing the right stuff you're supposed
to do. It's talking about love, this intimate relationship. The
world did not love him. This world that he made, this
world that he was in, did not love him. That is the crime of
humanity. No love for Jesus Christ. That's the cry. Well did the
Apostle say, if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let
him be anathema. Maranatha. Let him be damned
upon the return of the Lord. That's strong language, isn't
it? Can you say amen to that? If
any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. Look what it says in verse 11. It says, He came unto his own, and his own received him not. He came unto the Hebrews. He
came unto the Jewish nation. National Israel. Now, I want
you to remember Sodom didn't have a Bible. Sodom didn't have a revelation
from God. The Amalekites didn't have a
great high priest. The Hittites and the Jebusites,
they didn't have a sacrifice. They had no revelation from God. You think of the blessing that
the Lord upon the nation of Israel. You remember in Exodus chapter
11 when he's going through in judgment to destroy the firstborn. He says, but against the children
of Israel. Shall not a dog move his tongue against man or beast,
that you may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between
the Egyptians and Israel. He came to His own. What a blessed
people, the nation of Israel. He came unto His own. This special
people and His own received Him not. We did not have this man to reign
over us. He comes as the only Savior of
sinners. What good news this should have
been to his people, this Jewish nation, and they rejected him. They said, give us Barabbas. Let this man be crucified. He came unto his own, his own
received him not, and here's what God holds all men guilty
of, to fail to love and to fail to receive the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that's my problem, that's
your problem, that's where we're all at by nature. This is what
God holds you and I guilty of, whether we acknowledge it or
not. Somebody says, well, I'm not going to acknowledge it.
Well, it doesn't change the sentence, does it? If God says it, that's
the way it is. This is where all men are guilty.
To fail to love, to fail to receive, to fail to believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Is it any wonder that on the
day of Pentecost, when Peter was preaching to that big crowd
that had crucified the Lord Jesus Christ, that he said, God has
made this same Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Scripture says, don't break their
hearts. They were scared to death. They said, men and brethren,
what shall we do? We've crucified the Son of God.
He's seated at the right hand of the Father. Where is His sovereignty?
We're in a mess. What are we going to do? Now,
that's where you and I are by nature. That's why we're born
into this world and our actions have proved it. Here's what God
holds us guilty of. Failure to love His Son. Failure
to receive His Son. Verse 12, we're given this word,
but, now this is a great word. Somebody once said, here's the
definition of grace, but, but God. Remember that scripture in Ephesians
2, 1, and you have to be quickened who are dead in trespasses and
sins. Wherein, in times past, you walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience,
among whom also we often had our conversation in times past,
in the lusts of the flesh and of the mind. And we were by nature
children of wrath, even at others. What are the next words? But
God. Now, there's God's grace. That's
the difference. You know what the difference
between the saved and the lost is? But God. Doesn't your heart, oh, that
is true. You know that's true concerning you, don't you? You
know He's the difference. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for His great love wherewith He loved us even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
you are saved. But, but. And God saw the wickedness of
man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. But Noah found
grace. There's the difference. But God. Now, what's it say? As many as
received him. Now, it's true that the world
did not know him and his own did not receive him, but there
are some who did receive him. But as many as received him,
and I like this phrase as many as. But as many as received him,
that that phrase means everybody in a particular group. Everybody
in the group who received him. As many as, it's found throughout
the scripture. For instance, in Acts chapter
13, verse 48, it says, as many as were ordained to eternal life,
believed. Everybody in that group, as many
as were ordained. I love the language. They were
ordained by God before time began. They were ordained to eternal
life. What'd they do? They believed. What about this? As many as touched Him, as many
as came into contact with Him, everybody in that group, they
were made perfectly whole. Peter said to those people on
Pentecost, for the promise is to you and to your children and
also to our Lord, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Now, this phrase, as many as,
obviously refers to as many as. All in that particular group,
all that God elected. You know, there's another place
where the Lord said, as many as I love, I rebuke and chase it. Everybody in that group that
I love, I rebuke and I chase it. Be zealous therefore and
repent. So we see this phrase, as many as, all in this group.
Here's what they all did. Here's the but. The but is God.
But God. He did something for them. And
because of that, but as many as received him, to them gave
he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name. Now, this obviously refers to
the elect of God, but as many as, the ones that believe on
his name. What is their description? How can they be described? Is
there some physical marking that you can tell they're in this
group as many as, like these many as were ordained to eternal
life and so on? How can you tell? Well, what's our text say? As
many as received him. Now, this is what all of God's
people do. This is what every believer does.
They receive. They receive. the Lord Jesus
Christ. When God gives something, it's received. And if you didn't
receive it, He never gave it. When He gives, it's received. And where He's not received,
you can count on this, He never gave. Because those He gives
His Son to, they receive him. Now, what does it mean to receive
him? Now, this is the mark of being one of God's people, this
group as many as. If I'm in that, I'm somebody
who receives the Lord Jesus Christ. What does it mean to receive
the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, we don't have to speculate
about it. I'm thankful for that. Look what our text says in verse
20. But as many as received him, to them gave he power, the right,
the privilege to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name." If I have received the Lord Jesus
Christ, you know what that means? That means I really do believe
on his name. What's that all about? I really believe that the name
of Jesus Christ the Lord, that name at whichever knee is going
to bow and whichever tongue is going to confess, I really believe
that His name brings me into the very presence of the Father,
accepted and holy. I really believe that. I rely
on His Be ye kind, tender, hard, forgiving one another, even as
God for Christ's sake. That's why. Not for your sake. He doesn't do this in response
to me or my faithfulness or my... He does this in response to his
son. Be ye kind, tender, hard, forgiving one another, even as
God for Christ's sake. That's why God will have mercy
on you. Not for your sake. For Christ's sake. And I really
do believe on his name. I'm reliant that the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm going to be carried into glory on the
coattails of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm saved, holy for his namesake,
and I'm reliant on that. You know, the thief did. You
know, the thief, when he was hanging on that cross, and the
Lord revealed the gospel to him, and he looked at that one hanging
on the tree, he didn't say, well, I'm glad I accepted you as my
personal Savior. He didn't say, I know that I'm sure for heaven.
He didn't say anything like that, did he? When he was hanging on
that cross, what did he say? He looked at that one hanging on
the cross and he said, Lord. Everybody else was making fun
of him, but the thief knew who he was. Lord. He said, remember me when you
come into your kingdom. He didn't even have a hint that
maybe he'd be unsuccessful. He's the Lord. I know you're
going to come back as a reigning king. I know that whatever you
do must be successful. There's no way you can fail,
Lord, if you just remember me. If you name my worthless name
before the Father, nothing else needs to be said. Thief understood that. And bless God, I do too. I do too. I'm one of these fellows
described here who's received Him. I believe on His name. I love that scripture in Psalm
106. Nevertheless, it talks about all they did. It said, nevertheless,
He saved them for His name's sake. that he might make his
mighty power known. Peter said, There is none other
name given under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be
saved. And what about those who do receive
him and believe on his name? Look what it says in verse 12.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. In believing, now, I want you
to listen real carefully. May God bless what I'm going to attempt
to say right now. In believing, they were made
sons, and not before then. In believing, they were made
sons. How come the Son of God... What's
it say here? In believing. Now, I realize,
understand, I realize that logically life has to come before faith. I understand that. You can't
believe unless God gives you life. I understand all that.
You all understand that. But chronologically, as far as
the order of time, life and faith come at the precise same time. In believing, I'm a son of God. entrusting and God command to
you. Everybody in this room, please
listen to me. Please get this. God commands
you to trust his son. Don't try to figure out if you're
one of the elect. Don't try to figure out if you're a child
of God. Believe on his son right now. That is God's command to
you. And your right to believe is
not by figuring out you're one of the elect, or waiting for
some kind of lightning strike, or figuring out something that
happens, and then, well, I must be one of the elect. No! Believe
on His Son. Right now. That's God's command.
That's the command of the Gospel. God commands all of us everywhere
to repent. God's command to me and God's
command to you is to trust His dear Son right now. And in believing, He said, But
as many as received him to name gave him the power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Let's close with verse 13. Well, what a thing it is to be
a son of God. I was reading the richest people
in America, you've seen those lists, and you always see Sam
Wall's kids, you know, the owner of Walmart, and they're listed
in that like top ten of the richest people in America. And those,
I mean, I'm glad they got what they got, but they're paupers
compared to a son of God. Joint heirs with Christ? What does any son of Adam have
that I don't want? I'm a joint heir with Christ.
I'm a son of God. I believe on His name. I surely
do. But look what it says in verse
13. Which were born. Now this is real important. Of course it is. It's the Word
of God. Everything in the Word of God is important. But I love the
language. It doesn't say which were changed. It does not say which were influenced.
It says, which were born. Which were birthed. How much participation did you
have in your birth? Did you help out any? Which were
birthed. Not of blood. I'm not born again. I'm not birthed because my mom
and dad are. It's not because of any fleshly
connection, which were birthed not of blood, not because of
any fleshly connection. What's it say next? Not of the
will of the flesh. Now, please listen to this very
carefully. The notion and idea of free will. That God loves everybody and
Christ died for everybody and God the Holy Spirit is calling
everybody and wants to save everybody, but it's up to your will as to
whether or not you'll be saved. It's up to a decision that your
will makes. That is a lie. There is no truth in that sentiment
at all. Romans 9.16 says, it's not of
him that willeth. How many different ways are there
to take that? Not of him that willeth, but of God that showeth
mercy. It's not of the will of the flesh.
I also would like to say this regarding this. If I'm somebody that believes
free will, I really don't even believe I'm a sinner. That's
the bottom line. You know, the very idea of free
will is an absurdity. Your will is controlled by your
nature, isn't it? And if you have a sinful nature and see
that, you see the idea of free will as ridiculous. And I love
the way the Lord points this out, which we're born not of
blood, not of the will of the flesh. Free will is an absurdity. It's not found in the scripture,
nor will of man. If you're birthed by God, if
you're born from above, it's not because a bunch of people
got together and started praying for you. Now, I'm sure they did,
but that's not why you were born again. It's not because men got
together and said, we're going to have a revival. We're not
going to stop until this many are saved. No. It's not of the
will of man. They were born, what's the scripture
say? Of God. Of His own will. Begadias. Through the Word of Truth. And this is what the Lord uses
to beget. through the word of His truth. Who are the children of God?
Who are the sons of God? Am I one? Well, I know this. Those who are sons of God are
those who have received Him. Well, who are they? Those who
believe on His name. Do you believe on his name? You can answer that question. I do. As a closing hymn, hymn number
452, I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene. And we're
going to have to go ahead and get on out of here during the
song service. And I want to repeat to everybody how much I love
you. Remember me. I hope to be with you, back with
you soon. And love you. We'll stand and sing.