works, we know that, nor by our
wills, nor by our religious duties. But Peter says in verse 19, we
were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. The precious
blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
A lamb who verily was foreordained. ordained of the Father before
the foundation of the world, anointed with the Spirit, and
manifested, verse 20, manifested in public view in these last
times for you. He died for you. Who by Him, He died for you. He's manifested to you. who by
Him do believe in God, God that chose Him, the Father who sent
Him, the Father whom it pleased to
bruise Him, who raised Him from the dead,
it says here, who by Him do believe in God that raised Him up from
the dead and exalted Him, exalted Him to His right hand,
and gave Him glory. Gave Him glory that your faith
and your hope might be in God, in this living God. Over here
in Isaiah, you know, our Lord said, turn to Isaiah 45, our
Lord said, In his prayer in John 17, this
is life eternal, that they may know God, the true and living
God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. And that's what Peter
is saying to us here. He was manifested, He who was
foreordained, anointed and ordained was manifested in these lifetimes
for you who by Him do believe in this God, not in a God, in
this God who raised Him from the dead. This God, the true
and living God. And look at Isaiah 45, verse
20, Assemble yourselves, come, draw near together, that are
escaped of the nations. They have no knowledge, they
have no wisdom, no understanding that set up the wood of their
grave and image and pray to a God that cannot save. That's not the God whom we believe,
in whom we rest. But this is the God, verse 21,
"...tell ye, and bring them near." Yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
times? Who declared this from the beginning? Who hath told it from that time?
From the beginning. That's what He said over here.
He was ordained before the foundation of the world. The Lamb slain. But was manifested in these last
days for you who do believe in this God. who told it from ancient
times, have not I the Lord? And there's no God else beside
me. I'm a just God, a righteous,
holy God, an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God and a Savior. And there's none else. So look
to me. Look to me and be your Savior.
All the ends of the earth, Jew and Gentile, whomever, male and
female, look to me. This God. This God. All the ends of the earth, for
I am God. And there's none else. Now back
to the text. This is the God who chose him,
who sent him, who bruised him, who raised him from the dead,
who exalted him, who revealed him. And this is the God, verse
21, in whom we believe. in whom we believe, who raised
him up from the dead and gave him glory, in order that your
faith might be not in yourselves, and not in your creed, and not
in your church, and not in your ministry, but that your faith
and hope, your confidence and hope might be in Paul said, sirs, here's the way
Paul identified this God whom he believed. When that raging
sea was tossing the ship, and all these experienced mariners
were about to jump over the side and abandon ship, he said, sirs,
don't do it. Don't leave the ship. Don't leave
the ship. The ship will be destroyed eventually,
but not one of you shall be lost. Because there stood by me this
night God, whom I serve. And he said unto me, Paul, I
have given you every soul on this ship. Wherefore, sirs, I
believe God. Now listen, that it shall be
exactly as he told me, that it shall be exactly as he said it
would be. That's the only God in whom you
can rest, trust, believe, and have hope. Tell me, he said,
who declared it from the beginning? Who brought it to pass exactly
as he said according to the scriptures? That's the God. When Paul described Abraham's
faith, he said he believed God, that what God promised, prophesied,
God was able to perform. Able to perform. You who by Him,
by Him we believe, faith is His gift to us. By Him we are accepted,
accepted in the Beloved. By Him we are made meet, sufficient. to enter into glory, into the
inheritance of the saint. By Him, we come to God, who is
the way, the truth, and the life. By Him, we have a sure, blessed,
living hope, for Christ in you is the hope, the hope of glory. All right, verse 22, seeing then,
seeing that ye have purified your souls."
In other words, since this is true, or therefore, since this
is true, since as an object of His grace, by the power of His
Spirit, your souls have been purified. You didn't purify your
soul. That's not what Peter is saying
there. Christ did. Christ purified your soul. Paul
wrote in 1 Corinthians 1, of God are we in Christ Jesus, who
of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, purity of soul,
sanctification and redemption. We were enabled of God to look
to Christ who purified our souls. That's what he's saying. We were
enabled of God to look to Christ, and thereby our souls were purified. And therefore he said, you have
purified your soul by looking to Christ who makes it pure. And notice this is an inward
work, seeing your soul has been purified. This is a heart work. This is an inward work. This
is a work in the soul. Turn to Matthew 15. This is what
the religionist in the day that the Apostle Peter ministered,
in the day our Lord walked this earth. This is what the Pharisee
did not understand. Read Matthew chapter 15 beginning
with verse 8. Our Lord said concerning these
religious people, He said, this people draws nigh unto Me with
their mouths. They honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me. But in vain they do worship
me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Ceremonies,
tradition. And he called the multitude and
said to them, now here, he's talking about their religious
leaders, the Pharisees. And he called the multitude and
he said, now you hear me and listen, understand. It's not
that which goeth into the mouth that defileth a man. It's not abstaining from certain
meats on certain days, meat and drink. It's that which cometh
out of the mouth. This is what defiles a man. Then
came his disciples and said to him, Now, knowest thou that the
religious Pharisees were offended by this? There are certain things
they would eat, drink, wash their hands before they ate and all
this sort of thing. Well, he answered and said to
his disciples, every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted
shall be rooted up. Leave them alone. These legalists,
these ceremonialists, these people who find Try to establish their
righteousness in their works. Leave them alone. They're blind
leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind,
they'll both fall into the ditch." And then answered Peter and said,
Well, Lord, declare to us this parable. What did you mean by
that? It's not what a man puts in his
mouth that defiles him. It's what comes out of his mouth
that defiles him. Tell us what you mean. And the Lord Jesus
said, Are you also yet without understanding Do you not yet
understand that faith is a heart work, salvation is a heart work,
that your souls by the grace of God are purified? Listen.
Whatsoever entereth in at the mouth, goeth into the belly,
and is cast out into the draft. But those things which proceed
out of the mouth, they come from the heart, and they defile the
man. For out of the heart proceeds
evil thoughts, hatred, murder, lust, adultery, fornication,
theft, false witness, blasphemy. These are the things which defile
a man. But to eat with unwashing hands,
that does not defile a man. To drink certain liquids, that
does not defile a man. To eat certain meats, that does
not defile a man. To eat on certain days, that
does not defile a man. It's his heart that's his problem. Now back to the text. So seeing
that you have had your souls purified,
purified. This salvation has visited your
heart, brought to you a new heart. Well, see, listen. Seeing you
have purified your souls and obeying the truth, the gospel
through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren." Unfeigned
love of the brethren. What is this? What does unfeigned
mean? Unfeigned love of the brethren.
Well, if you look the word up, it means without pretense. That's one of the best meanings,
without pretense. It means sincere love. genuine,
without pretense. So seeing that your souls, your
hearts have been redeemed and purified, sanctified by the Gospel
of God, through the Spirit of God, unto sincerity, without
pretense, genuine love of the Brethren, see that you do it.
See that you do it. See that you love one another.
with a pure heart, with a genuine, sincere heart, unpained, without
pretense, without hypocrisy. Let's turn and see what our Lord
said about that in John 13, when He was talking to His disciples
about loving one another. About loving one another. He
said here in John 13, Beginning with verse 33, little
children, John 13, 33, little children, yet a little while
I'm with you. You shall seek me. And as I said
unto the Jews, whether I go, you cannot come. So now I say
unto you a new commandment. This is the Lord's royal commandment. This is what they call the royal
law, a new commandment I give unto you. that you love one another. This is a family relationship
and a family trait. See that you love one another
as I have loved you, that you'll also love one another. And this
is a distinguishing mark, verse 35, and by this, this is a distinguishing
mark, a characteristic of a believer without which all our professions
of religion are vain. By this shall all men know that
you are my disciples. You love one another. Paul said
in 1 Corinthians 13 that I may have the gift of faith, I may
speak with the tongues of men and of angels, I may give my
body to be burned as a martyr, but if I have not love, it profiteth
me nothing. This is the truth. distinguishing
mark of faith. And this love, as Peter says
here, proceeds from a new heart. Over here, look at our text again,
in 1 Peter 1, verse 22. Love one another with a pure
heart, fervently, warmly, warmly, genuinely and warmly. And it's
a sincere love for all the brethren, The poor and the rich, the lesser
and the greater, the weak and the strong. We love all the brethren
and we continue in this love. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 13
a moment. 1 Corinthians 13. This love perseveres. It's not
a passing fancy. It's not something that's here
today and gone tomorrow. It says in 1 Corinthians 13 verse
7, beareth all things, believeth
all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things, and love
never fails. It never ends. And whether there
be prophecies, gifts of preaching, they shall fail. They shall come
a day when they'll not be needed. Whether there be tongues, other
languages, they shall cease. We'll all speak the same language
in glory. Whether there be knowledge, limited
knowledge, it will vanish away because we only know in part.
We only preach in part. We don't have perfect understanding
or perfect knowledge. When that which is perfect is
come, that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child,
I spoke as a child. I understood as a child. I thought
as a child. But when I became a man, I put
away childish things. But now we see through a glass
darkly, dimly. But then, face to face, now I
know in part. But then I shall know even as
also I am known. Now about it, faith and hope
and love. But the greatest of these is
love. The greatest of these. The day
will come when I won't need faith. Faith will give way to sight. I'll see Him. Come a day when
I won't need hope. Hope will give way to reality.
What does a man hope for if he's already got it? So, I won't even
need faith some day. Won't need hope. I'll always
have love. Because this is a hard work.
Read verse 22 one more time so it can be embedded in our souls and our
seeing then. Therefore, we said we were redeemed
with the precious blood of Christ, who was manifested for us who
do believe in God. Well, all right. Seeing that
you have purified your souls in obeying this gospel through
the Spirit, He enlightened you. The Holy Spirit gave you life. Unto unfeigned, genuine, sincere,
without pretension. Love of the brethren. Love him
that begat you, love them that are begotten. See that you do
it. Love one another with a pure heart, warmly, genuinely. Alright, verse 23, being born
again. Let me see if I can shed some
light on this Being born again. Being born again. Well, the first
thing, this is not a persuasion. This is not when we go to a service
and a preacher uses convincing words, convincing
arguments, convincing doctrine and persuades us to receive what
he says, adopt it, and agree to it. No, that's not the new
birth. The new birth is a birth. And a birth is when life comes. What is a birth? When these precious
babies were born. They didn't exist before. They
didn't live before. Unknown before. Nothing. And then the baby is born and
cries. You give it a name. There he
is. There's little Billy or Betty. That's not a persuasion or a rival at a position. It's a birth. It's a life. It wasn't lived
before. It's not a decision. It's not
your decision. It's a birth. And this birth
is an act of God. Not an act of men. It's not a
work of men. The first birth is an act of
man. That's the reason he said being born again. Being born
again. Nicodemus, you must be born again.
Well, how can I be born again? Enter my mother's womb and be
born? No. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. This is
a new birth. This is being born again. He
hath begotten us again. This is not a work of men, it's
a work of God. We're born of God. He said that
Nicodemus was born from above. Born of the Spirit. Let's turn
to John 1 with me. Let's look at this. John chapter
1, verse 12. as many as received Him, looked
to Him, believed Him. To them gave He the power, the
right, the privilege to become sons of God. Even to them that
believed on His name, which were born. They didn't make a decision,
they were born. They weren't persuaded to adopt
the theology, they were born. Which were born. Not of blood. That is not a family heritage. That's the way I was born the
first time, a family. Came down from John Mahan, and
Henry Mahan, and Edward Mahan, and Jesse. Those are my great,
my father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather.
Born of blood. A Mahan blood. Genes. I wasn't the way I was born this
time. I wasn't born of the will of the flesh. My daddy said to
my mother, let's have a child. That's not the way God's children
are born. Not of the will of the flesh. Not of the will of
man. They're born of God. That's what
we're talking about now. This is an act of God. It's not
of blood. It's not of the will of man or
the will of the flesh. It's the will of God. The purpose
of God, a choice of God, and an act of God. And it's life. And here are some
statements made by some of the other writers. Ezekiel said,
I'll take away the stony heart and give you a new heart. A new
heart. I'm not going to make over that
old heart. I'm not going to soften it up
or change it He changed my heart. No he didn't. He gave me a new
heart. A new life. I'm not a transplant. I'm a new
heart. A new life. Colossians says it's
a new man created in Christ Jesus. Peter said in 2 Peter, we are
partakers of a divine nature. First time a human nature. Born
again a divine nature. John said it is to pass from
a state of death to a state of life. And all these expressions
say the same thing. They tell us of a new life. A union with a resurrected Lord. Regeneration. Recreation. Now I know definitions fall short
of reality. But I found a definition of the
new birth that you won't find in any of the modern writers,
modern books. This goes back a spell. But the
new birth, when a person is born again, it's a supernatural act
of God, whereby into an elect person who is spiritually dead,
A new and divine life, the very life of God, is introduced. And
this birth is wrought by the Spirit of God, by the incorruptible
seed, not of men, but of God's Word. It's His life. It's His nature, holy and eternal. It's created in the image of
the Lord Jesus Christ. It'll never die. And that life
is evidence by change from pride to humility, from hatred to love,
from turmoil to peace, from loving the world to loving God. Being born again. I didn't know it was going to
happen. But it did. God knew it. And we were born again. Now listen. Verse 23. Not of corruptible
seed. Not of corruptible seed. Everything
that's born is born from a seed. Did you know that? Turn to Genesis
1. Every blessed thing that has life. I don't care what it is
or who it is. Everything that, as Barnabas
used to say, rise and wiggles, it comes from a seed. In Genesis
1 verse 11, And God called the dry land earth. And gathering together the waters
called he seas. And God saw it was good, and
God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding
seed. and the fruit tree yielding fruit
after his kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth." And
it was so. And the earth brought forth grass
and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding
fruit whose seed was in itself after his kind. God saw it was
good. Now, it doesn't matter what it
is. The seed is in it. God's not
making new trees and new fruits and new vegetables. He made one. And He made the seed in it. He
made one man. Seeds in him. And everything
that's ever sprouted and come forth and had life came from
seed. After it's counted. Seeds in
itself. I was born from a man's seed.
He was born from a man's seed. He was born from a man's seed.
This new birth has a seed. It says here in verse 23, being
born again, not of this corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, holy,
pure seed. The Word of God. The Word of
God. This Word of God is Christ. Christ is the Word of God. It's
Christ and it's the Gospel of Christ. Christ is the Word which
lives. See, it says, we are born of
incorruptible seed by the Word of God which liveth and abideth
forever. That's not just talking about
this written Word. The Word of God which liveth
and abideth forever." The expression of God. The revelation of God. The Lord Jesus Christ, who was
our Redeemer from all eternity, liveth and abideth forever. But
it's also His written Word. It's also His preached Word.
You can't separate the two. He's the Word of God. I've said
to you so often, what is a Word? It's an expression of a thought.
The only way you can ever know what's going on inside, no man
knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of man in him. No
man knows the things of God, or the purpose of God, or the
will of God, unless God speaks. Words. And His speech to us is
Christ. Christ is the Word of God. No
man has seen the Father. No man knows the Father but the
Son. He to whom the Son will reveal Him. So you say, well,
were we begotten by the Word or the Word? Both. The Word and
the Word. The Word is the Word. Turn to
John 5.21. Okay, separate Christ and His
Word. John 5.21. Listen to this. John
5.21. For as the Father raiseth up
the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will. Verse
26, For as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given
to the Son to have life in Himself. Christ liveth and abideth forever. His Word liveth and abideth forever. His gospel liveth and abideth
forever. His Spirit liveth and abideth
forever. So when a man is born again by
the Spirit of God, by the will of God, he's born, given life
by the Word of God, which is Christ. Which is Christ. Let me give you a few scriptures.
You know this one. Our Lord said, To His disciples,
you go into all the world and preach the gospel. Preach Christ. Present Christ. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. That Word, that's the preached Word. Please God by
the foolishness of preaching. Preaching what? The Word of Christ. Preaching Christ. Please God
for the foolishness of preaching Christ to save them that believe.
Whoso shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But
how are they going to call on Him in whom they have not believed?
And how are they going to believe in Him of whom they have not
heard? And how shall they hear? Without preaching. And how shall
they preach except they be sinned? I declare unto you the gospel,
Paul said, by which you are saved. If you keep in memory what I
preached to you. Romans 1 verse 16, he said, I'm
not ashamed of the gospel. It is the dunamis, power of God
unto salvation. To everyone that believeth. My sheep hear my voice. And I
give them eternal life. They don't have eternal life
out here. My sheep, hear my voice, and I give them eternal life. And when the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad, and as many as were ordained to eternal life,
believed. They believed Him who was revealed,
and in that hour they were born again. That's just that soul. Look at
that verse again, born again. An act of God, by the will of
God, by the power of God, by the Spirit of God, the very life
and nature of God, partakers of a divine, the divine nature. Verse 24, for all flesh is its
grass, All flesh, this is new life. This liveth and abideth forever. We're talking about this new
birth. It's a life eternal. That's what eternal life is.
Eternal life is not how long it lasts. Eternal life is what
it is. It's God's life. It's eternal.
Spiritual. Because all flesh is His grace. Anything that pertains to my
first birth, First natural life is grass. Now let me show you what this
means, how humbling this is. Take these five words, all flesh
is as grass. All people, good and bad, born
of people. We spring forth like grass. We
live on the grass. You say, no, I eat meat. Well,
that cow lives on grass. I drink milk. Well, that milk
comes from grass. And you can call grass beans,
anything you farmers grow, your turnips, Larry, or grass. They come from the ground. Everything
we have, live on, and we came out of the ground. Think of it
now. Everything comes out of the ground and goes back to the
ground. It appears beautiful for a while,
it appears strong for a while, it's productive for a while,
but then we live out our lives and we die like the grass. And we go back to the ground
like the grass out of which we came. We're just grass in another
form. And flesh and blood and grass
cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. All flesh, oh boy, I tell you,
we are awful proud of this flesh, but look at the next line. All
flesh is as grass and the glory of man as the flower of grass.
What does that mean for you? Well, the flower sort of distinguishes
one blade of grass from another. There's a stinkweed, there's
a goldenrod, there's a gorgeous rose, but it's still grass. As a mom, as a sweet pea, you
just got your favorites and you got that you wouldn't plant,
you wouldn't have it in your garden, but it's still all grass.
And we have certain things, flowers, that distinguish us from another
blade of grass. Honors, riches, intellect, strength, beauty,
certain amount of goodness, Clothes we wear, crowns we wear, but
all of it is just flowers. The grass withereth and the flower
fadeth. But let me tell you this, most
of the time the flower falls off before the grass dies. I've seen that. I've seen some
mighty big shots around Ashland. But the flower went away before
they did. Their distinguishing wealth and power and beauty and
strength, they wound up babbling and drooling and looking like
the flower's gone. It's been gone and folks just
wish they'd die and get on out of here. It's like the flowers
you pick in your garden, bring them in, they look so pretty
and then they don't look so pretty and then you throw them away.
Or in your garden you plant flowers and then the flowers, they fall
off first and then you just got a bunch of grass so you cut it
down. So a lot of times the flower will fall off before the grass
withers, but it's all grass. All flesh is grass. And the flower,
the glory of man is like the flower. And the grass withers
and the flower drops off. And everybody dies. Everything
in this world is uncertain, unstable, fleeting, and corrupt. And this
too shall pass. But, oh, here's where we'll close. But the Word of God, the Word
of the Lord, Christ Jesus, His promises, His Word, His Gospel,
You'll endure forever. And it's the Gospel, verse 25,
that's preached to you right here tonight. Preached to you. How has the Word communicated
to you? It's preached to you. How is Christ known by you? He's
preached to you. How has the will of God revealed
to you? It's preached to you. How is the truth which sets men
free made known to men if preached to them? How can I get out of the grass
into the glory? Born again by the Word. Born again. Let me give you this. Somebody wrote a poem on these
verses. All flesh is as grass. at the
Word of God. The morning flowers display their
sweets, and bright their silken leaves unfold, untouched by the noontide heat
and fearless through the evening cold. So blooms the human face
so fine when young its pride and beauty shows. Farther than
spring, its colors shine, tender as a beautiful rose. But finally,
worn by many years or broken by sickness in a day, the human
glory flower disappears. The short-lived beauty dies away. Let sickness come. Let death
devour. Our Lord Jesus Christ removes
our pains. Perish the grass. Fade the flower. The Word of God eternally remains. And this is the Word preached
to you. What a blessing.