This morning I would like you
to turn your Bible to 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter 1, and let's
consider verse 23, 24, and 25. Let's back up and read in 1 Peter
chapter 1, verse 22. Seeing you have purified your
souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto genuine love
of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure
heart fervently. being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, and
the glory of man as a flower of 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." Now, I want to consider this
morning these four verses. and preach to you the gospel
of God's saving grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. I notice in
verse 22, 1 Peter 1, verse 22, seeing you have purified your
soul. Now notice carefully what has
been cleansed, what has been cleansed in the believer when
God saves a sinner. Notice it's the soul. Your soul
has been purified. We read in Leviticus chapter
17, verse 11, the blood maker of atonement for the soul. You
see, the flesh is still flesh. This old nature is still corruptible. This old nature is still defiled
with sin. That's why we say with the Apostle
Paul, O wretched man that I am. Now listen to me carefully. In
salvation, this old nature is never sanctified, never justified. It's the soul that has been purified. Notice what it says in her text,
seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth. This purification took place
in your soul, and it says here, by obeying the truth, the truth,
the Lord identified himself as the truth, the way, the life,
Obeying the truth through the spirit unto genuine love of the
brethren. Now this purification took place
in your soul by obeying, receiving, believing the truth of the gospel. Salvation in all of grace, salvation
in Christ, salvation all by faith. Through the gracious and powerful
work of God the Holy Spirit in the heart. Salvation is a heart
work. It's what God does in the heart.
And one of the evidences of having a purified heart, having a saving
real genuine interest in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
is genuine love for the truth and love for the brethren. When
Paul describes the fruit of the spirit in Galatians five, he
begins with the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, and
so on. Our Lord Words to his disciples,
he says, By this shall all men know that you are my disciples,
that you love one another. The fruit of salvation is love
for the gospel, love for the word, love for one another. And
this is done by God doing the work of grace in the heart. Now
notice what he says in verse 23. 1 Peter 1, verse 23, being born
again, being born from above. Now, here's the reason we believe.
Here's the reason we love the gospel. Here's the reason we've
submitted to God, bowed to Him in reverence. We're born of God,
begotten of God. This is a supernatural work of
God. This is supernatural birth. and
the sovereign work of God in the hearts of his people. God
who has begun a good work in you will perform. It's not of
him that willeth or of him that runneth, but it's God who has
saved you and called you by our grace. Our Lord told Nicodemus
that it was a must. It's a must. You must be born
again. You cannot enter, you cannot
see, you cannot enter in the kingdom of God, except you're
born of God. And what I'm saying is this,
this new birth is a supernatural, sovereign work of God in the
hearts of his people. One cannot enter into natural
life without a birth, nor can anyone enter into this spiritual
life without a supernatural birth from above. And this is a work
of God, totally. It's not something we do for
God, it's something God does for us and in us. Now, let's
look at something here in verse 23. The first thing we see, I
want to look at three things, but here's the first one. Here's
a sharp contrast between these two births, our first birth and
our second. It says here, being born again
not of corruptible seed. Now that's how our first birth,
we were born the first time, begotten by corruptible seed.
David said, I was born in sin, shapen in iniquity, came forth
from the womb, speaking lies. We are born of a corruptible
seed. Therefore, when we're begotten
and we're born into this life, naturally we're sinful. We have
a depraved nature, a guilty soul. We're separated from God. Our
sin has separated us. Adam's guilt and ruin has been
imputed and imparted to all his seed. We're born the first time
by a corruptible birth. Now here's what's necessary,
and here's the contrast between our first birth naturally and
our second birth. First time we were born of a
corruptible seed. The second time we're born of an incorruptible
seed. You see that in the text? But
of an incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever." The second birth is by the Word of God, by the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself. And it's a birth to a perfect,
incorruptible life in Christ. We read in Scripture in Colossians
2, verse 9 and 10, "...in Him dwells all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily, and we're complete in Him." You see, that which
is born of the flesh is just that. And it will always remain
that, sinful, defiled, guilty flesh. Those who are in the flesh,
Paul said in Romans 8, cannot please God. Flesh and blood cannot
inherit the kingdom of God, 1 Corinthians 15 50. Only that born of the
Spirit can enter into spiritual things. The carnal mind doesn't
receive, the natural man doesn't receive the things of the Spirit
of God. You see the contrast between our first birth, corruptible. depraved were depraved, guilty
sinners before God, guilty before God. But here's what must take
place. We must be born of an incorruptible
by the word of God. And this is describing the second
birth when God gives us life in Christ Jesus. Now, the second
thing I want to look at and notice the difference in these two lives
that issue from these two births. from these two verses. Look at
verse 24. Let's read verse 24, 1 Peter chapter 1. For all flesh
is as grass, and the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower
thereof falleth away. Now here's the life of the flesh
is described as this grass and the glory of the grass that perishes. The natural life and the life
of the flesh is nothing but short full of trouble and ends in death. Sin, when it's finished, brings
forth death. The wages of sin is death. Death is written on every head,
every brow. We read in Hebrews 9, it's appointed
unto men once to die, and after that, judgment. Someone said
this years ago, our pulse is a beating funeral march to the
grave. The life of the flesh That which
is born of a corruptible seed is death, death. Now here's the
contrast. Notice the life of this spiritual
birth, of this incorruptible seed. The life of the spiritual
birth is everlasting. Notice it says in our text, but
of it we're born again of a incorruptible seed by the word of God which
liveth and abideth forever. Now, the natural life is short.
and it ends in death. The second verse, and this life
we have from above, lives and abides forever. Now I'm interested
in that. The incorruptible word and seed
produces an incorruptible eternal life in Christ. The believer
in his new nature in Christ Jesus will never die. Our Lord told
that to the woman Martha there in John chapter 11, you remember?
He said, I am the resurrection and the life. 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. The life Christ has given to
us, my friend, is eternal life. He said, my sheep hear my voice,
I know them, and I give unto them eternal life. Now, listen
to me carefully. Let me help you here. Where do
you find in the scriptures a false doctrine and teaching of having
life than losing it? He says those that are born of
an incorruptible seed, being born again by the Word of God,
by the Lord Jesus Christ himself, they live and abide with him
forever. We read throughout the Gospel
of John that he's given to his people eternal life. He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He obtained for us eternal
redemption. He is bought for us and saved
us with an everlasting salvation. We have eternal life in Christ
and eternally secured in him. The birth of the first fleshly
nature leads only back to the dust. The second spiritual birth
leads to eternal life in Christ. As a man born of the flesh, this
flesh shall die, but a believer in Christ shall never die. He said, our Lord said in John,
recorded in John chapter 4, that he gives us this water of life
that's a wellspring of water springing up into everlasting
life. It liveth, being born again,
Purified your soul by obeying the truth and that soul justified
in Christ and sanctified in Christ lives and abides forever. Now
notice thirdly the difference in the glory of these two natures
and these two lives. The glory of the flesh is described
as a fading flower and we can all relate to that. Frail, perishing,
short-lived. They look glorious for a while.
fresh-cut flowers, but soon they wither, they dry, and they blow
away by the wind. Now, here's the glory of the
flesh, like unto this flower. And we can look at many things,
but let's just limit ourselves to a few. What is the glory of
the flesh? Physical beauty, physical strength.
How soon these fade away. We used to be able to run We
used to have all these physical features that were nice and pleasant
to look at, but how soon they fade away. Others, glory in the
intellect and fleshly wisdom, how soon this also fades away
as well. Our mind grows dim and dull. Sometimes we can't even remember
what day it is, or what time it is, or where we're supposed
to be at a certain time. The glory of the flesh, the intellect
soon fades away like a dying, withered flower. That's why Jeremiah
said, it's recorded in Jeremiah chapter 9, let not the wise man
glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his
mind. Let him not the rich man glory in his riches, but let
him that glory Glory in this, that he understands and knows
me, that I am the Lord, which exercise lovingkindness and judgment
and righteousness in the earth. In these things I delight. The
glory of the flesh is fading. It's short. But how different?
How different the glory of the new nature? What is the glory
of the new nature? Well, it's the glory of beauty.
His beauty. We read in Scripture, He is called
the Lord Our Righteousness. The glory of the new man is to
be just like the Lord Jesus Christ. We read in Romans 8, for whom
He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of His Son. It's the glory of strength. His
strength. I can do all things through Christ
which strengthens me. It's the glory of wisdom. Christ
is our wisdom. It's the glory of knowing Him.
I know whom I have believed and persuaded. He is able. These
things shall never fade away, they shall never grow dim, but
only mature to perfection. We see here through a glass,
darkly, but then in glory, face to face. You see, these things
we have in Christ, the life we have in Christ is eternal. The only question we need to
consider this morning is this. Are we born again? It's necessary. Are you born again, begotten
of God, made a new creature in Christ? It is impossible to possess
eternal life without this new nature given from above. Now,
I didn't ask you, have you joined the church? We've all done that. So have countless others and
perished in their sins. Have you been joined to Christ?
That's the issue. Life is in a person, the Lord
Jesus Christ. I didn't say, have you been baptized?
We've all been baptized several times. So was Simon Maggots,
yet he perished in the gall of bitterness. Have you been joined
to Christ? Have you, by the One Spirit,
been baptized into the One Body, the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you
love Him as He made unto you wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption? Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of an end corruptible by the Word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever." I hope that's your hope in Christ Jesus.