If you would, keep your Bibles
there in John chapter 1. John chapter 1. I want to look at just a few verses
from this passage of Scripture this morning, beginning in verse
10. Verse 10 of John 1. We read,
he was in the world. 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, not of the will of
the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God, born of God. And I want us to just go verse
by verse through these just few scriptures here in this passage. Again, looking at verse 10, it
says, He was in the world. The Lord Jesus Christ was in
the world. And the world was made by Him.
And yet The world knew him not. He was in the world. Think about
that. He was made a man. Almighty God took upon himself
the form of a man and he came to this earth. He made himself
of no reputation, took upon himself the form of a servant and he
was made in the likeness of men. What condescension! that Christ
would be made a man, that Almighty God would be made a man. Listen, he stripped himself of
all privilege, of all dignity, and he became a mere man. He was a carpenter. He was known as a friend of sinners. Christ became a man and while
He was in this world, He grew hungry. Isn't that amazing to think that
He that made all things could be hungry? In Mark chapter 10
verse 12, we read that the Lord was returning from Bethany and
that He was hungry. In John 4, verse 7, there was
a woman of Samaria there drawing water. And the Lord Jesus Christ
said unto her, Give me to drink. How can that be? How can God
be thirsty? How can He be hungry? Well, as
God, He can't, but as a man. As a man, He knew those things.
In Mark 4, the Lord and his disciples were on that ship. Remember that
ship they were on that was tossed to and fro by the waves? And
his disciples grew scared. They said, Lord, carest thou
not that we perish? And where did they find him?
Asleep. Asleep on a pillow. He grew tired. He knew what it was like to be
tired at the end of the day. when Lazarus died, his friend
Lazarus. We read in the account of John,
in John 11, that the Lord saw Mary weeping. And He looked and
He saw the Jews, they were also weeping, which came with her.
And He groaned in spirit and He was troubled. Isn't that sad? You and I, I
mean, we know what it's like to be hungry, to be thirsty,
to be tired, to be weary, to be troubled. The Lord Jesus Christ,
and if you read on in John 11, 35, we read this, that Jesus,
the Lord Jesus Christ, He wept. He knew sorrow. He was in the world. He came into the world. He was
made a man. We read in the book of Hebrews,
we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities. Just think about that. Next time
you grow tired. Next time you're thirsty. Next
time you're hungry. Next time you're weary. The Lord
knows these things. He endured them himself. We have not a high priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in
all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. As a man, he's able to sympathize
with his people. The Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ,
when he came to this earth, he was tempted and tried in all
points as we are yet without sin. As a man, he understands
our weakness, our infirmities, our pains, our tears, and our
temptations. He was in the world. What's the rest of that? And
the world was made by him. He's a man, but he's also God. He created it. He's a man, yet
He's God. The world was made by Him. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. He made the world and He came
into the world. He came into this world to bear
witness of the truth. He came into this world to save
sinners. We sing that song, I don't know
all of it, but I know this line, The Great Creator became our
Savior. Isn't that a glorious, glorious
thought? Read on in our text in John 1,
look at verse 11, He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. He came into His own nation,
His own people, His own received Him not. No interest in Him. No interest in Him as the Creator.
No interest in Him as the Savior. Refused to worship Him. Refused
to obey Him. Refused to love Him. Refused
to fear Him. They rejected Him. This world
rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. It's really no different in our
day, is it? Consider this, at his birth,
where was he born? In the finest hospital, in the
finest place? There was no room for him, was
there? No room for the Lord Jesus Christ. He was born in a barn. Consider his life. What did they
say? They said this, can anything good come out of Nazareth? In the temple, when he was in
the temple of all places, they asked him, by what authority
do you do these things? Can you imagine that? Questioning
the Lord's sovereignty, questioning his authority, questioning the
things that he did. Again, can any good thing come
out of Nazareth? They called him the carpenter's
son. They referred to him as a winebibber. They accused him time and time
of blasphemy. They said, you being a man, make
yourself to be God. It wasn't a stretch for him,
was it? He was God. He is God. They questioned him
when he taught. They questioned him when he healed.
They received him not. And we see that time and time
again throughout his birth and his life, but was it ever more
on display than at the cross? He was stripped. He was tortured. They smote him with a reed and
they said, prophesy and tell us which one of us hit you. They
spat upon him. They took a crown of thorns thrust
it down on his head and then they hung him. They
nailed him to a cross where he hung for everyone there to see. He bore the reproach and indignity
of man and he bore the wrath and condemnation
of Almighty God for the sins of his people. They cried out
all together, and had we been there, we'd have been right along
with him. What did they shout? Crucify
him. Crucify him. That was the cry. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. The Lord Jesus Christ, he is,
listen, he is despised and rejected of men. He's a man of sorrows,
acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from
him. He was despised and we esteemed
him not. Well, look back at John 1. You
still have it, John 1, verse 10. He was in the world. The
world was made by Him. The world knew Him not. He came
into His own, and His own received Him not. Look at verse 12, though. 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. I want to spend a little time
on these next few verses here. As many as received Him, even
to them that believe on His name. As many as received who? Him. Okay? Not a creed. Not a preacher,
not a catechism, not a doctrine. As many as received Him. Salvation. Salvation is in a
person. Salvation is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. As many as received Christ. As many as received and believed
Him. Salvation. Salvation is of the
Lord." That's what we read right there. And I pray that could
be said of us. I pray that could be said of
all that would hear this message. That we have received the Lord
Jesus Christ. That we have believed on His
name. Well, who are those? Who are
those that would receive Those that would believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Well, first I'll tell you this,
they're sinners. They're sinners. That's who Scripture
declares Christ came to save. Sinners. Listen to this. It says, but, in spite of that,
ye are a chosen generation, a royal generation. priesthood, a holy
nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises
of Him that called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Who is this people? It's a people
given by the Father to the Son, a people out of every kindred,
nation, tribe, and tongue. Our Lord prayed to the Father
in John 17. It says this, John 17, 1, 3, Then spake Jesus, and
lifted up his eyes unto heaven, and said, Father, the hour is
come. Glorify thy Son, that thy Son
may also glorify thee, as thou hast given him power over all
flesh. that he should give eternal life to who? To as many as thou
hast given me. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent." Who did he come to save? A people, a people he
prayed for. He said, I pray for them. I pray not for the world. I pray
not for every son of man. I pray for them that thou hast
given me for this reason. They're yours. They belong to
the Father. They've been given to the Son.
Well, continue on here in John 1 verse 12. But as many, as many as received
Him, to them gave He power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. As many as received Him, even
to them that believe on His name. not the works of the law, not
merit, not self-righteousness, not good in me. It's to believe
and receive Him. You see that? In 1 John 3, 23,
we read this. This is the commandment. What
is it? That we should believe on the
name of the Son of God, that we should believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and love one another as He gave us commandment. You
know, there's much in a name, much in a name. We all have names
and we can probably tell what they mean and some of us like
what they mean, some of us don't like what they mean, but listen
to this name, His name. The Lord Jesus Christ, consider
His name. And to believe, listen, it's
to believe on His name. You know, He has many names in
Scripture. What is His name? Well, in Isaiah 9 verse 6, it
says this, His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince, of peace. His name shall be called Wonderful. You know, we, I know I do this,
I carelessly use that word Wonderful. I use that to describe many things. But listen, He alone, the Lord
Jesus Christ, He alone is Wonderful. His name is Counselor. You know,
we go to a counselor when we're in need, don't we? I tell you
this, everything we need, everything we could ever need is found in
the counselor, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the mighty God. We read that earlier. He created
the world, didn't He? Jesus Christ is God. He that has seen Me, He said,
has seen the Father. He's the everlasting Father. He is one God. He is the great
I Am. He's the Prince of Peace. Oh,
we need peace. We desire peace, don't we? Peace
between God and sinful man. Everlasting peace. I ask you,
do you believe on His name? Do you believe on His name? That
He is who He says He is. Again, there's much, much in
a name. And when that angel appeared
unto Joseph before our Lord's birth, that angel appeared to
him in a dream saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to
take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in
her is of the Holy Ghost, and she's going to bring forth a
son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. For he shall save
his people from their sins. Turn with me to Philippians chapter
2. Philippians chapter 2. Listen, there's no other name
like His name. Look at Philippians 2, beginning
with verse 9. Philippians 2, verse 9. Wherefore God hath highly exalted
Him and given Him a name which is above every name. that at the name of Jesus, at
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, every knee should bow of things
in heaven, of things in earth, of things under the earth, and
that every tongue should confess that name, that name which is
above everything, that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." Listen, to believe
Him is to believe on His name. It's to believe this. It's to
believe the record that God has given us concerning His Son. That's what Scripture says. Listen
to 1 John chapter 5 verse 11. This is the record. This is it,
this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life and
this life is in His Son. You know this is the record,
this is the sum and substance of all that is declared in God's
Word. It's what's written in His Word,
it's what His ministers preach, It's by His grace, it's by His
sovereign will, and it's done so according to His pleasure.
He was pleased to give His sheep, those who believe, eternal life. Those that were lost in the fall,
He gives eternal life. The life of God, the glory and
fellowship of God, a life of righteousness and happiness. And He makes His people. This
is where the joy is. His people. Our sins are taken
away. He has saved us. Free from sin,
free from sorrow, free from death. Where is it found? This life
is in His Son. Again, to believe Him is to believe
the record that God has given concerning His Son. To believe
on Him is to rest in Him for everything. To rest from our
labors, to rest in Him. Knowing this, He'll provide. He will provide. That's consistent
with His name, isn't it? Jehovah-Jireh. What's that mean? The Lord will provide. What has He provided? We could
just go on and on, couldn't we? But listen to a few of these.
Perfect pardon, eternal redemption, a perfect righteousness, a full
and complete salvation. How? All in the person and work
of his son. Listen, to believe him and receive
him is to commit to him. That's what Paul said, and he
said this to Timothy, he said, I know whom I believe and am
persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day. I'm in his hands. I'm resting
in him. To believe Christ is to continue
to believe in Christ. Paul said this when he was writing
to the Colossians, he said, you that were sometimes alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
by the body of his flesh through death to present you holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable in his sight. If you continue in the faith,
God's people will continue. We're not of those that, we're
not of those that draw back. continue in the faith, grounded
and settled, and be not moved away from the hope that is in
the gospel." He said, "...which you heard, and which was preached
to every creature which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made
a minister." Those who truly believe will continue to believe. You can't run them off. Well,
back to our text. Look at John 1, John 1 verse 12, as many as received him, now
those that believe on his name, to them, to them gave he power
to become the sons of God. Power, power, as thou hast given
him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou hast given him." This is eternal life. This is
what God's Word says, this is eternal life that they might
know thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ whom thou hast
sent. Power over all flesh to become
the sons of God. Not servants. Sons. Sons. In 2 Samuel, I won't have
you turn there. You turn sometime to 2 Samuel
9 this afternoon. They're just 13 verses. You can
probably read it during the commercial. Be good to use your time, okay?
2 Samuel 9. But back there in 2 Samuel 9,
David determined to show mercy to Mephibosheth. Remember that? He sent his servant to him and
he fetched him and he brought him back, found Mephibosheth. He was lame on his feet. Mephibosheth
would have been considered an enemy of the king. He was a rival
family. No reason in Mephibosheth for
God to show him mercy. But the king fetched him, brought
him back to himself. And listen, at the end of that
chapter, he ate. at the king's table. How? Not as a servant. Not as one
that, well, remember that's Mephibosheth down there at the end of the
table. How'd he eat? He sat there at the table as
a son. David said this, he said, as
for Mephibosheth, this king speaking, he shall eat at my table. as one of the king's sons." Isn't that amazing? Turn to 1 John 3. 1 John chapter
3. Behold, verse 1, 1 John 3, verse
1, behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon
us that we should be called, called
what? The sons of God. The world knoweth us not, because
it knew not him. Beloved, now, right now, are
we the sons of God. And it doth not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know that when we shall, when he shall
appear, we shall be like him. We shall see him as he is. Not just any son. Made just like His Son. That's what we read. We shall
be like Him. One day we're going to be made
just like Christ. The believer is. perfectly conformed
to His image, made the very righteousness of Him. Isn't that comforting? Doesn't that give us hope? We're
going to be made the very righteousness of God in Him. Well, back to
John 1. John chapter 1 verse 12. as many as received Him, even
to them that believe on His name. To them gave He power to become
the sons of God. Verse 3 of John 1, or third point
here from John 1, which were born, which were born. See that in verse 13? Which were
born, not of blood, not of the will of flesh, not of the will
of man, but of God. How were we born? How were we
born into this world? You probably don't have too many
memories of it, right? We have pictures. But listen,
I can tell you how we're born according to God's word. We're
born dead in trespasses and sin. I know this, we came forth from
the womb speaking lies. David wrote this in Psalm 51,
5. He said, behold, I was shapen in iniquity. In sin did my mother
conceive me. That's how we were born. And
with that said, we must be born again. A new birth. Our Lord said this in John 3,
verse 3. Listen to John 3, 3. Jesus answered
and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now this
new birth we read of in Scripture, it is absolutely necessary. We must be born again. If we're ever going to be numbered
among God's children, we must Be born again. Born from above.
We're born in sin. We're born the children of wrath,
even as others. To be God's children, we must
be born again. And I confess, there's much that
has not been revealed to me about this new birth. But I can tell
you this much. I don't really know much about
my first birth. How about the second birth? Well,
it's not of blood. We read that right here, isn't
it? It's not of the will of the flesh. It's not of the will of
man. I contributed nothing. That's
true of our first birth, isn't it? We contributed nothing to
it. And this second birth, we contributed
nothing to it. It's of God. It is all of Him. A new man, He creates a new man. with a new nature, a new, remember
Henry, you say a new want to, our want to gets changed. And
maybe you ask this question, have I been born again? Have
I been born again? Well, listen, how can I know
that I'm born again? Do you believe him? Do you believe
him? You can't. from Him. Only God can give life,
and that life is in His Son. Can you say, is that Father?
Remember that asked the Lord to heal His Son? The Lord said,
if you can believe, all things are possible. When He said, Lord,
I believe, help thou mine unbelief. Turn with me to Acts 27. Acts 27. Now, in Acts 27, Paul was, he
was on a perilous voyage to Rome. And Paul spoke to everyone in
that ship. I don't know if they gathered
them all together up on the bow and began to talk to them. But
listen to these words, beginning with verse 21 of Acts 27. This voyage was doomed. But look
at verse 21. After long abstinence, Paul stood
forth in the midst of them and he said, Sirs, you should have
hearkened unto me. and not have loosed from Crete,
and to have gained this harm and loss. I now exhort you, be
of good cheer." How's that possible? I mean,
if you read about this voyage, it was bad. All hope that they
should live was taken away. Be of good cheer. There shall
be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship."
Paul, how can you say that? Verse 23, "'For there stood by
me this night the angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve,
saying, Fear not, Paul, thou must be brought before Caesar.
And lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.'" Wherefore,
sirs, be of good cheer. Again, how can I be of good cheer? Read on. I believe God. I believe God, and it shall be
even as it was told me. I believe God. Have I been born
again? Have you been born again? Here's
the question. Do I believe God? Do I believe
Him? 1 John 5 says, Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Do you believe Him? John 1 10-13 says this, He was in the world. The world
was made by Him. The world knew Him not. He came
into His own. 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. Believe on His name, which were
born, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of
man, but of God. Believe on him. Believe on his name. You know that prison guard back
there in Acts 16, I think about him often. I just think, man,
he must have just been, he was a prison guard. He was rough
and tough. I just feel like he probably
wasn't a pleasant person to be around, but he knew how to run
a prison. The Lord sent Paul and Silas
to preach the gospel to him. And we read that he came and
he, this prison guard, he came trembling and he fell down and
he said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? You remember the reply? Remember
what Paul and Silas said to him? Believe. Believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. I pray he'd enable us to do that,
to just rest in him, to believe on him, knowing that He's done
all things. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.