1 Peter chapter 1, and let's
begin in reading in verse 1. 1 Peter chapter 1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ
to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you
and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy
has begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. He has begotten us to an inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time, wherein you
greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you are
in heaviness through manifold temptation. that the trial of
your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and
honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom having
not seen you loved, and whom though now you see him not, yet
believing you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls,
of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently,
who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching
what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in
them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of
Christ and the glory that should follow. unto whom it was revealed
that not unto themselves, but unto us, they did minister the
things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached
the gospel unto you, were the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,
which things the angels desire to look into. Wherefore, gird
up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for
the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not fastening
yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but
as he which hath called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner
of conversation. Because it is written, Be you
holy, for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father,
who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's
work, pass the time of your sojourn in fear. Forasmuch as ye know
that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver
and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your
fathers, that ye were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ,
as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily
was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest
in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God
that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory, that your
faith and hope might be in God. See in you how purified your
souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love
of the brother. See that you love one another
with a pure heart firmly. being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of the incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth
and abideth forever. For all flesh is grass, and all
the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withereth,
the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth
forever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached
unto you. The Apostle Peter here has been
encouraging and continues encouraging throughout 1 Peter and 2 Peter. He encourages these believers
to holiness of life and to love in one another. And he gives
them a number of things here to encourage them to that end.
Here in verse 15 and verse 16 he says this, Be ye holy for
this reason. Because He that has called you
is holy. Your God is holy. He's immaculate
holy, eternally holy. So He says, let this in itself
be an encouragement to you to be holy. And then He encourages
them with their calling. He that has called you. He's
called you to what? To holiness, hasn't He? Even
our calling is said to be an holy God who calls us is holy,
and this calling is to holiness. And then in this chapter also,
He encourages them to holiness by this present promise that
they have. In verse 5, He says, You are
kept by the power of God. What an encouragement that God
keeps all of His children by His power in this ungodly world. And then on top of that, in that
same verse, he adds their future prospects. The future's glorious
for these children of God. He's begotten them into an inheritance
that's incorruptible and that fades not away, reserved in heaven
for you. You can see these things in this
chapter and throughout the book of Peter that he's encouraging
them to be holy. And the greatest encouragement
to holiness, I think, is found here in verse 23, and that's
the new birth. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed. It would be discouraging for
you and me, dear brothers and sisters, if God told us to be
holy without first making us holy. If He told us to be holy
in our conduct as we lived our lives in this world, without
first making us holy, how discouraging that would be. And you may be
here this morning and you say, Bruce, I'm not even a Christian.
Well, I'm not encouraging you to be holy. That's a futile attempt
on my part. And God is not encouraging you
to be holy. How can you be holy in your conduct
and in your conversation until you've experienced a new birth?
until God has made you holy." You're looking at somebody that
tried to be holy for years and I had a bad heart. I had a sinful
heart. And to think about being holy
was my greatest burden and an utter impossibility. But Peter
here says, you've been born again. You are born of this incorruptible
seed. There is a new creation taking
place within you. And what an encouragement that
is, therefore, to be holy and to walk honestly towards them
that are without, and to love the brethren. No, I am not trying to get anybody
here this morning to be holy until the Lord gives you a new
birth. You must be born again. Brother Lurie told us this morning.
So a true Christian can live honestly. He can live honestly
in a perverted society because he has been born of God who is
holy. Did you ever think when you were
lost that you would see a day that you would love holiness?
True holiness. I'm not talking about a pasted
on holiness. I'm not talking about talking about holiness.
But did you ever imagine that you could long to be holy? Long to be followers of God as
dear children? I never did. I never dreamed. I almost gave up thinking, I
can never be a Christian. Well, I can't. And you can't
until God makes you one. You must be born again. A true
Christian can love others. He can love his brothers and
sisters because he's born of God who is love. God is love. And those who are
born of God, they're born of love. A true Christian can be
a follower of God because God is his Father. It's just as natural
for a little child of God to follow God as it is for a little
child to follow his Father around the house. These apostles picked
up on this new birth. The Lord Jesus told Nicodemus,
Larry was teaching to us this morning, you must be born again.
And they picked up on this. These apostles did. And they
saw the necessity of it. They saw the nature of this new
birth. They saw where it came from, its causes. And they said
a lot of things about it. Listen to what John says about
it in John chapter 1 verse 10 and 11. John attributes this
new birth to God. He said, as many as received
Him, to them gave He power. He gave the authority, the right
to become the sons of God, even to them who believe on His name. Now listen to what John said,
which were born, not of blood, not of the will of the flesh,
not of the will of man, but He's born of God. You must be born
of God. Listen to what James says about
it in James 1.18. He attributes it to the will
of God. Of His own will begot He us with the word of truth. Of His own will. And you know
something? I'll say this about the sovereignty
of God this morning. If you're here this morning and
you're lost, and it's God's will to save you, it's God's will
to give you this new birth, you'll have it. I'm talking about God's
sovereign will, who does according to His will in the armies of
heaven. And oh, that's my heart's prayer
this morning, Wayne, that there's somebody in here that has not
experienced this new birth that comes from God. God is this Arthur,
that this will be the day He'll say, the fullness of time has
come. I'm going to give that person a new birth. And you know
it'll come irresistible? It will come with the power of
God and the will of God behind it. The Apostle Paul picked up
on this new birth, this being born again, and he says it like
this. He attributes it to the mercy
of God. Listen to what he says. Not by
works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
His mercy He saved us. by the washing of regeneration. Our Lord calls it being burned
again. Peter calls it being burned again.
James says it's a begetting. And Paul calls it a regeneration
of the blessed Holy Spirit. And John says this about it.
He attributes it to the love of God. Listen to what John says
about it in 1 John 4, 7. Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God
and knoweth God, and he that loveth not knoweth not God, because
God is love." So there is no holiness of life until one is
made holy within. But in this new birth, we have
that holiness because we are born of God. And let a poor sinner
experience being born again, born of God, and holiness of
life, The conduct of life is not only possible, but it is
sought after, and it is loved, and it becomes spontaneous just
to be honest, just to be holy, to be a follower of God as a
dear child. Now verse 23 and following is
my text this morning. Notice verse 23. The first thing
about it is this. Verse 23, being born again, not
of corruptible seed, but of the incorruptible by the Word of
God which liveth and abideth forever. Now let's look at this.
First of all, Peter speaks here of two births. He speaks of two
births. He speaks of a natural birth
and he speaks of a spiritual birth. One he calls corrupt seed. And one is of the incorruptible
seed. I have said this so often to
you, that you cannot get into this world except you're born. Nothing gets into this world
that lives except it's born. I can't think of a single plant
or an animal, and surely no humans can get into this natural world
except they're born. You must be born of a woman. To get into the Kingdom of Heaven,
you must be born again. We must experience two births. One is natural and one is spiritual. If we compare these two births,
you know something? They're both of God, aren't they?
Both births are of God. No woman ever conceived in her
womb and bore a child naturally until the Lord opened her womb
and she conceived. You know this is one of the things
that's so horrible about abortion? Because that's a lie that God
has given. Listen to Genesis chapter 30
and verse 22. Rachel wanted a son so bad. And
the Scripture says she prayed. She asked the Lord for a son.
And the Lord remembered Rachel. And look at this, God hearkened
unto her prayer and opened her womb and she conceived and bore
a son and called his name Joseph. God can either shut up the womb
of a woman and she cannot bear or He opens that womb and the
woman conceives and bears a son. That's in the natural birth.
There's never been a child conceived in the womb, but God is the author
of it. That's why life begins at conception. There's where life begins. Science
knows that now. The medical community knows that
now. That's where life begins, at
conception. God is the author of that conception. God is the author. And it's the
same in the new birth. God is the author of the new
birth. Nobody ever conceived life in
their hearts until God put the life there. Here's what the Apostle
Paul said about him and Apollos. He said, I have sowed and Apollos
watered, but it's God who gives the increase. In other words,
it's God who makes effectual the Word that we preach and the
seed that we sow. James said it again, didn't he?
of His own will begot He us with the Word of Truth. If anybody
leaves here this morning and they've experienced a new birth,
you know where you're going to trace that to? To God. To God. He's the author of it. Being born again. Born from above. God is the author in both of
these births. Therefore, they're similar, aren't
they? Both births are a mystery. Even the physical birth is a
mystery. I don't know very much about
it. But you talk to doctors that take care of the lady, the mother,
during the time that she's carrying the child. They'll tell you it's
a mystery. It's an absolute mystery how
a child is conceived in the mother's womb and how it grows there and
develops. David said it was a mystery.
Listen to what he said in Psalm 139. Thou hast possessed my reins,
he said in his prayer. Thou hast covered me in my mother's
womb. It sounds almost like the conception
of Christ in his mother's womb. The Holy Ghost came upon him.
The power of the highest overshadowed him. Thou hast covered me, and
that word means you have knitted me together in my mother's womb. I will praise Thee, for I am
fearfully and wonderfully made. I reckon we are in our mother's
womb in the darkness that you can't see. Conception takes place
and a little body begins to form. What a miracle that is. Marvelous
are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance
was not hid from thee when I was made in secret. Hid from everybody
else, ain't it? it from the naked eye, but not
from his. I was curiously wrought in the
lowest parts of the earth, that was a mother's womb. Thine eyes
did see my substance, yet being unperfect. In thy book all my
members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when
as yet there was none of them." So what a mystery it is for a
mother to conceive in her womb and be born. to develop in the
womb and be born. How much more, brothers and sisters,
is the new birth? If the natural birth is such
a mystery, how much more is the new birth? And the Lord Jesus
said it was a mystery. Marvel not, He said, that I say
unto you, you must be born again. He said, Nicodemus, you can experience
this new birth, but you can't explain it. It's like the wind. It blows where it will, and you
hear the sound thereof, but you can't tell where it came from,
where it originated at, and where it's going. You just can't tell.
You can feel the effects of it, but you can't figure it out.
And listen to this. Peter tells us here in verse
14 of chapter 1. Look here in verse 1 and verse
14. Look what he said our prior life
was. And look at the mystery of this
new birth. He said in verse 14, as obedient children, not fashioning
yourselves according to the former lust in your ignorance. He said you used to be, you were
ruled by lust. The lust of the flesh, and you
say, Bruce, I never have been a person who went off into open
and propane sin. But it doesn't stop with the
lust of the flesh, does it? It goes to the lust of the mind.
And bud, that's what we can't control. Try as we may. And Paul said we all have our
compensation, living and fulfilling the lust of the flesh and of
the mind. And how does a man go from fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and mind to setting his affection
on things above? How in the world does that happen?
It's a new birth. But can you explain it? Here
you are. You love yourself. You love your
sin. You go sucking on a lust like
a little kid sucking on a popsicle. And the next thing, you are sick
of it. And you are setting your desires upon things above. How does that happen? It is a
new birth. But who in the world can explain
it? How does a man go from being ignorant, Peter said, ignorant
of spiritual things, ignorant of his own nature as sinful? Ignorant of the nature of Jesus
Christ as an absolute Savior. How does he go from that to knowing
himself and knowing the Lord Jesus? How does he do that? A new birth. It's a radical change,
isn't it? It's a new birth. But how do
you explain it? No more than I can explain the
child in his mother's womb. How does a man go from hating
God to trusting Him? How does a man go from hating
Christ to saying He's precious? And He really is precious to
the soul. How does a man go from distrust
to trusting with all his heart? I don't know, but he does. And
it comes by new birth. But to explain that new birth
this morning, I cannot, any more than I can explain the natural
birth. It's the curious and wonderful and mysterious working of God
within the man. It happens, but you can't explain
it. It's a marvelous thing, the natural
birth and the new birth. And consider this, in our natural
birth, there's a new life that has never been before. Here's
the way the natural birth and the spiritual birth are in agreement,
one with another. This is the way they are alike. In both of these births, there's
a new life that has never began before. When some little child
comes out of his mother's womb, that's a little person who has
never been before. He's not been here and now been
incarnated. There's a little soul. There's
a little body that has never been before. He's a mortal being
that now he feels for the first time. He sees, he hears, he smells,
he lives, and then he dies. A little person who has never
lived before in the natural birth. And in the new birth, listen,
there is a new creature who never existed before. There's a new
life that had never lived before that is born to breathe heaven's
air. He's born to hear the words of
life. He's born to taste that the Lord
is gracious. He's born to see the Son of God
with spiritual eyes. He's born to feel the presence
of the Holy Spirit, a new creation born to pray, born to believe,
born to trust, born to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God,
and one born never to die. Never to die. How similar then,
in this way, are these births alike. Charles Spurgeon had this
to say. As no one doubts that birth is
the manifestation of a creation, natural birth, So let no one
doubt that regeneration is the manifestation of the creature
of God as divine, as much beyond the power of man, as much as
the creation of the human mind itself. This new creature, Mr. Spurgeon is saying, is just as
much a new creature, a new being, born as that baby. who came from his mother's womb.
They're both new. That's wonderful, ain't it? We
have some dear brothers, and I just don't agree with them.
That's all right. But they basically say that God
remodels the old nature. That He teaches the old nature.
He begins to work with the old nature. But you know what Paul
said about the old nature? It doesn't receive the things
of the Spirit of God. It can't know them because they
are spiritually discerned. It's not the remaking of the
old man. It's not a remodeling of what
already is there. But it is indeed, just as much
as I am a new life when I came from my mother's belly, the new
birth is a new life. It is indeed a new creation of
God. Think of this concerning these
two births. In the natural birth, there's a new life communicated. You say, Bruce, you just said
that. No, this is one step further. There's a new life communicated.
Each child has its parents. And the being of every child
comes from their parents, comes from that seed. I can trace my
being back to my dad. He begot me. He can trace His
being back to His dad, my grandfather. And you can trace it all the
way back to Adam. We had our being from somebody
else. That's communication. We're not self-created. We're
not the authors of our own mortal lives. It's communicated to us. It's given to us. And it's so
in the new birth. Where do we trace our life? It's
communicated. It's given. Who? By our Father
who begot us. The life and nature of God the
Father is in every heaven-born son. God has given to us eternal
life and this life is in His Son. God has put life in His Son,
our Mediator, and He gives His life to us. Listen to this. Paul said, I live. Yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me. I don't live, he said. I have
life communicated to me. Can you understand that? I can't
get a hold of that. Can you? He's given me life. I know that. But He is the life
that He's given. What a mystery that is. I live,
not I, but Christ liveth in me. The Scripture says we have the
mind of Christ. We're partakers of the divine
nature. And when Christ who is our life
shall appear, we shall appear with Him in glory. We are as
much partakers of the divine life and nature when we're born
again. as we are partakers of the natural
life when we're born from our mother's womb. Life and nature
is communicated unto us. In the light of that, let's go
into something else about these births. There are traits in the
natural birth that are as much inherited as scales on a fish
or wings on a bird. Almost all of my brothers and
sisters, all of my siblings, but one, I think, has high blood
pressure. And I was determined, my doctor
said, if you ever go on this type of blood pressure I'm going
to put you on, you'll never get off of it. And I said, well,
let me try to regulate my blood pressure. And man, I exercised
and I ate, and it just kept going up. It would take spells, it
would just skyrocket, stroke range. You know how that is,
Kim. It doesn't matter how much you
eat, how much you exercise. And you know what the doctor
told me? You got this from your parents. This is hereditary. There's things we get. There's
traits we get. Some of them are bad. Some people
are just sick. It's not anything they do. It's
not their lifestyle they inherited. Some people are healthy. Some
people smoke all of their life, like a tar kill, and they never
get lung cancer. And I guess you'll have to trace
that back in a certain way. It's hereditary. And there's
little children that grow up not knowing their parents. Maybe
their parents are dead, their dad's dead, or they never knew
their dad. But you let somebody see them
that knew their dad, and they said, that kid acts just like
his dad. I seen the way he had this motion,
or heard the way he said this, but he don't know his dad. But
that's inherited. It's a trait. And you know something? It's so in the new birth. As
soon as you're born of God, you inherit some traits. Every newborn
child of God has traits that he got from God. And just as in nature, you can't
have it. And you'll never get rid of that
trait, this side of death. In the new birth, there are traits
that you have that's just like the Spirit of God in you. You'll
have it. It's natural. It's a natural
thing for every newborn child of God to say, Father, Father. That's natural. Why do you pray
that way? Nobody taught me to say, My Father, in heaven. It
just came so natural. It's a trait the Lord Jesus Christ
had Himself. As soon as you're born of God,
you'll have this trait. You'll love. Nobody has to teach
you. I don't have to say, now listen,
brethren, please love one another. You sisters love one another.
It's just a trait. You're born of love. And you
love God. You love Jesus Christ. You love
His Gospel. You love His people. You love
your soul. You love the souls of others.
That's just a trait. A newborn child of God can't
help but follow in the Lord Jesus Christ and desire Him to be with
Him. You just can't help it. I mean,
through your doubts and your fears, there's that newborn creature
down inside you that longs to be with its Creator, and it'll
never be satisfied until it's there. That's the trait. It has
traits. Something else. When a child
of God is born naturally, it's complete. It has all its body
parts. All that child needs to do is
develop. It has its little brain, and
its brain is complete. It doesn't grow something else
in the brain. The brain just grows. When a
child is born, it will never grow another limb. It will never
grow another organ. The little child is complete.
All it needs to do is eat and nourish and to grow up into manhood. And it's the same way with every
newborn child of God. As soon as he's born of God,
he's complete. He is complete. He's got all
the faculties of this new creature. He loves and he increases in that love.
He believes and he increases in that faith, but he has it
when he's born. His hope may abound, but he's
born with a hope. The spiritual faculties of the
new creature is complete. He lacks nothing. All he needs
to do is drink the sensual milk of the Word. All he needs to
do is eat the meat of the Word and get spiritual exercise, and
he develops into a full man in Christ. But he's complete as
soon as he's born. Peter tells us here in chapter
2, "...to desire the sensual milk of the Word, that ye may
grow thereby." Why? Because he said you are indeed
newborn babes. And a newborn babe is complete.
He has everything. His organs and his limbs. Don't
undervalue, brothers and sisters, the new birth. Don't undervalue
the new birth. There is as much a new creature
in it as there is in the natural birth. Your natural birth is
not a remodeling of what was there before. It's not a making
over. It's a new birth. The spiritual birth is the same
way. It's not a making over. It's not a remodeling. It's a
new creature in Jesus Christ. Don't underestimate that. Give
me just a few more minutes and I'll not keep you any longer. Let's look at some contrasts
right quickly. Peter says here in verse 23 of chapter 1, look
at this. Here's some contrasts. He said,
being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of the incorruptible. There's the contrast, isn't it?
There's the contrast. There's a vast difference in
these two births. One is a corruptible seed. What does he mean by that? Well,
David explains it very clearly when he said, I was shapen in
iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. He wasn't saying
he was conceived in fornication. He was saying his mom and dad
are sinners. And that seed is corrupt. And when you had your children,
Your seed is corrupt. Every child that's born is born
in sin. It's impossible to have a natural
fallen father and beget something that's holy. It's impossible. That's the natural seed. It's impossible for the natural
man to live holy because he's born unholy. It's not natural
and it cannot happen. It's impossibility for the natural
man to be born and not be corruptible. The flesh cannot please God because
the flesh is corrupt. They that are in the flesh cannot
please God. The very heart is corrupt. I can't say enough about that.
Your heart this morning, everybody that's here, including myself. You were born in corruption.
You were born sinful by nature. And if you don't experience a
new birth, you'll die that way. You'll die that way. There's
no remedy for us but this new birth. Here's the contrast. I love how
Peter says this. In the new birth, This new birth,
this new creature, He's begotten also, but look at this, by an
incorruptible seed. What is this seed? He calls it
here, the Gospel. The Word of God, the Gospel.
The words I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.
That is, they are incorruptible spirit, incorruptible life. The very nature of God's Word
is incorruptible. It cannot corrupt. It cannot
be corrupted by any outside influences or sources. Jesus Christ is the
Living Word, and He lived among sinners in a sinful world, but
He could not be corrupted, could He? Death itself could not corrupt
him. Why? He's the Word of God. And
the written Word of God is the same way. When it begets a creature
in you, that creature cannot be corruptible because it's born
of the incorruptible Word of God. It cannot produce anything
that's corrupted. That's a mystery, ain't it? The Lord Jesus says a bad tree
cannot bring forth good fruit, neither can a good tree bring
forth bad fruit. This new creature is good. Why? Because he's been begotten of
that which is incorruptible. God doesn't remould the old nature
and make a new one. The old he leaves alone and creates
a new one, and this new one is sinless. Because he is born of
incorruptible seed. Boy, explain that if you can.
Explain that. Somebody asked a question one
time. If you have an incorruptible nature within you, who is it
sins when you sin? Well, I sin. Who is it that gets
forgiveness? I get forgiveness. I cannot explain
it any further than that. But John said, this seed that
is within you, He cannot sin. Why? He's incorruptible. He's
incorruptible. What a motivation to live a holy
conduct in conversation. Just to live out what God has
made us. And what's He made us? Holy. Absolutely holy. For it counts
within ourselves. Here's another contrast right
quickly. Consider their prospects. What prospects does flash have,
looking at His future? Everything is uncertain, isn't
it? Peter said here in verse 24, ìAll flash is grass, and all the glory of man is as
the flower of grass. The grass withereth, the glory
of it just fades away.î My, my, my. Look at a little
baby when it is brought forth from its mother's womb and she
loves it and kisses it and feeds it and nourishes it. But how
is it going to turn out? Is it going to turn out to be
some sort of pervert, a murderer, a drunk? Who knows what the little
child is going to turn out to be. But I tell you this, if God
leaves the little child alone, There is no limit to what it
might do. Why? Because flesh is grass. It just withers. You teach your
children to be moral. You preach the gospel to them.
But how in the world are they going to turn out? If they stay in the flesh, their
prospects are not good, is it? But what is the prospect of this
new creature that is born of the incorruptible seed with age? His prospects grow brighter,
does it not? Because His inheritance grows
nearer. Now is our salvation nearer than
when we believed. Though our outward man perish,
the inward man is renewed day by day. Though we see Him not
yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Gird up the loins of your mind
and hope to the end. for the grace that shall be brought
unto you." Oh, the prospect of this new creature is wonderful. Here he is in the midst of sin
and devils, and yet his prospect is wonderful. Why? He's waiting
for the Lord to take him home. He's waiting for the revelation
of Jesus Christ when he'll enter into his inheritance that's incorruptible
and undefiled. The prospect of the new creature.
I tell you what, I'm more hopeful today and certain than I've ever
been in my spiritual life. Aren't you? Just grow more hopeful
as you get closer to the end of your way. It doesn't get darker.
I'm not saying, boy, I wish things like they used to be. I don't
wish that. I'm just glad that things are just the way they
are. I'm glad that I'm where I am in my life. My prospects
are glorious. This old outward man is perishing.
But the inward man is delighted in the Lord and waiting to be
like Him. Another contrast is this, and
it's a critical one. Peter mentions it here. All flesh
is grass, and it's going to wither. It's going to dry up. It's going
to die and decay. Here's the distinction between
these two natures, between these two births. The first birth is
natural. And look at us. Look at us. There's a big deal today on health
food, eating right. Boy, I'm all for it. But you
know, you see these people that eat all this health food and
they exercise like crazy, they don't live any longer than the
rest of us. They may live better, may feel
better, but they're dying, aren't they? And why? It's appointed
unto men wants to die. We're flesh. We're just flesh. And flesh is going to dry up
and flesh is going to die. But not so this new creature.
The words I speak unto you, their spirit and their life, and Peter
says right here, the Word of the Lord, it endeareth forever. You are born of that Word, and
you will never die. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, Yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth
in Me shall never die." Shall never die. This new creature
that is born of this incorruptible seed is not subject to death. Death has no dominion over them. They shall never die. The Lord
Jesus had a terrible time trying to convince His disciples of
this. They did not understand it. He said to Martha, your brother's
going to rise again. I know he's dead now, but he's
sleeping. But she said, Lord, I know he'll rise again in the
resurrection. He said, listen, I am the resurrection. I've already
given him life in his soul, a new life, and he'll never die. And
he that liveth and believes in me shall never die. He said,
Martha, do you believe this? Brothers and sisters, do you
believe it? The Pharisees came to the Lord
Jesus one time, and the Sadducees, and asked Him about the resurrection.
About seven brothers having this one woman, and they all finally
died. And whose wife would she be in
the resurrection? And the Lord Jesus said, It's
not going to be like that. You're not going to marry a given
in marriage. He that believeth in Me shall never die. And they
said, What about Abraham then? He died. Our fathers died. Did they? Here's how the Lord
answered them. He said, you remember when Moses
was standing before the burning bush? And he said, Moses, I am
the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. I am the
God of Jacob. I am their God. He is not the
God of the dead, but of the living. And when He gives a man life,
he'll never die. That's why we don't have to fear
death if you're born of God, because that life's not subject
to death. Death will never touch that life. Somebody has already
died in your stead. Death will never sting you. You're
going to live forever. Why? Because you're born of that
incorruptible seed. I was reading a story. He's a famous
hymn writer now. He was just a young boy and he's
becoming very religious. And his mother was encouraging
him to read his Bible, but he started getting other young boys
around him and reading to them. And he started preaching to them.
And there was an evangelist that often come by their house. And
the evangelist said to him one day, he said, son, have you been
born again? And he said, boy, that went home
to my heart. But it didn't stop me, he said, from reading to
the other people and preaching to other kids and telling them
how to live. But he said, every time that evangelist come by
our house to visit, said he looked at me and said, young man, are
you born again yet? And he said, it just disturbed
my peace. But he said, when the Lord saved
me, I realized it wasn't just my reading the Bible. It wasn't me learning. It wasn't
me talking about the Lord to other people, answering their
questions. He said, then I realized I had
to be born again. You must be born again. You got into this world by birth. You must get into God's world
by another birth. And I can tell you this much
about it. I can tell you this much about it. These things get
jumbled up sometime in our mind, but I'll tell you this. Moses
lifted up that serpent on a pole, and he said, everybody that's
bitten, let him look to that serpent, and he'll live. If you're
conscious this morning in your heart that you're guilty, that
you're a sinner before God, then I tell you, look to Jesus Christ. Look away from yourself. Look
away from your guilt. Look away from what you can or
cannot do, what you have or have not done. Look away from yourself
to Jesus Christ the Savior this morning. And then you can know
that you have been born again. You have been born again because
every newborn child looks to Jesus Christ. They trust in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Kept you a long time. We don't
have an evening of service. That's all right. I hope everybody
leaves here today experiences a new birth. I hope that's God's
will. Let us pray. Oh, gracious Father,
what a mystery we've tried to deal with this morning and how
unable we feel ourselves in such a subject. Your ways are so mysterious. They're so wondrous. and yet
we try to preach on them, hoping that you'll use your word to
save and to establish and strengthen your people. I pray this morning,
blessed Savior, oh, our Savior, our sovereign Lord, I pray that
it would be your will this morning to open dark hearts who have
been ignorant up to this very hour, ignorant of themselves,
the desperate need of their hearts. Ignorant of your power to save
them. Ignorant of your grace to save them. Ignorant of you
being willing to save them. Oh, I pray this morning that
you'll give them light. And they'll give themselves up
to you. Even this morning, where they sit, give themselves up
to you. Give themselves away for their
souls to be saved. I pray for your dear children
that this morning you would strengthen and help and establish them.
And for all who are in trouble, help us to turn our eyes upon
Jesus and look full in your wonderful face. We ask these things for
your sake. Amen. He's all I need. He's all I need. Christ is all I need. He's all I need. He's all I need. Christ is all I need. Lord bless you. I see some of
you wasted out. Gillian Clarence has got her
flowers. So, he's going to give all you ladies a flower.