Here's our text this morning.
We're turning to John, the first chapter. That's the book of John.
The first chapter, verse 12 and 13. Now let me read the text
and then we'll talk about the subject. In John 1, verse 12,
the apostle writes, But as many as received him, to them gave
he the power. That's the word there, power,
but the word is right. He gave them the right or the
privilege. to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name, which were born, not of blood, that is, not of
inheritance, not of family inheritance, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, but they were born of God. Our subject
today is this, the sons of God, the sons of God. Beloved now
are we the sons of God. Now John begins this great book
written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit with where
it ought to begin, where all preaching ought to begin, where
all writing ought to begin, where all witnessing ought to begin,
where all testimonies ought to begin. He begins this great book
written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit with words
of praise and glory and adoration for Christ. Now that's where
everything ought to begin. We ought to talk about not ourselves,
but Christ. Not our works, but Christ. You
know, it says in John 12, 41, when Isaiah saw His glory, he
spake of Him. If we ever see the glory of Christ,
the true redemptive glory of Christ, we'll sing of Him, we'll
preach of Him, we'll witness about Christ. We'll think on
Christ when we see His glory. And so He begins. by praising
and glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 1. He says,
in the beginning. He's starting his book, his message.
He says, in the beginning was the Word. Was the Word. Now Christ is called the Word
of God. Capital W-O-R-D. The Word of God. That is the
communication. What are words? Vehicles of thought. In order for us to understand
what's in the heart of a man, he's got to speak to us. He's
got to express himself. And Christ is the expression
of God. Christ is the communication of
God. Christ is that prophet. He is
that prophet from everlasting to everlasting. It says, In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. He said, Glorify
me with the glory which I had with thee, Father, before the
world was. Jesus of Nazareth was with God,
and he was God. He said, I and my Father are
one. The father speaking of the son said, Thy throne, O God,
is forever. Again, he said to his disciples,
He that has seen me has seen the father. Again, Paul wrote
in Philippians 2, 6, he thought it not robbery to be equal with
God. So here's what we're saying.
When John starts this book off about the sons of God, he takes
us to where we ought to start everything. He takes us to the
source of life, to the fountain of all mercies. He takes us to
Christ. And he says, it doesn't start with man, he starts with
Christ. He says, in the beginning was
the Word. That is, the communication of
God, the expression of God, the exact image of God. In the beginning
was the Word, and he was with God, and he was God, and then
he goes on, he says, and furthermore, all things were made by him.
And without Him was not anything made that was made. Jesus Christ,
our crucified, buried, risen, ascended, seated Redeemer and
Mediator, is the Creator of all things. We have one God, Father,
Son, Holy Spirit. But every expression of God,
every revelation of God, every manifestation of God has always
been and always will be Jesus Christ. You see Him, you see
the Father. If you know Him, You know the
Father. If you don't know Him, you can't know the Father. No
man has seen God at any time. No man knows the Father but the
Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal Him. Listen to Colossians
1.14. In Him, that is in Christ, we have redemption through His
blood, even the forgiveness of sin. Now he identifies who we're
talking about. He said, who is the express image
of the invisible God? You see that? Now you need to
look at that. We've just been Jesus, Jesus, Jesus all our lives,
believe in Jesus, accept Jesus, and we don't even know who He
is. He said, listen again, in Him, that is in Jesus Christ,
we have redemption. Redemption. The forgiveness,
pardon, eternal life. Redemption. Not through his example. Through his blood. Not through
his birth in the manger. The baby in Bethlehem's manger
can't save anybody. It's Christ on the cross who
saves. It's Christ in the tomb and Christ risen and ascended
as the priest at the right hand of God through his blood. Even
the forgiveness of sin who is the express image of the invisible
God, he's the firstborn of every creature, for by him were all
things that are made, whether in heaven or earth or under the
earth, whether they're visible or invisible, whether they're
principalities or powers, they were all made by him. Now that's
the way John starts this great book. Somebody said, read the
book of John. Yeah, start with the first verse
and read it. But don't read any further until you find out who
he is. Because who you are makes no difference. It's who is Christ. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and all things
were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that
was made. In Him was life, L-I-F-E. He's
the source of life, and the life of all men. Now look down at
verse 10. I've got to move along. But here's a sad note. He of
whom all this has been said, who was in the beginning, by
whom all things were made, who is life, who is the creator of
all things, and the upholder of all things. In Him we live
and move and have our being. By Him all things consist. Everything
has been turned over to Christ. The Father put everything in
the hands of Christ. He said, All things are delivered
unto me of my Father. And He was in this world. He
actually took up residence in this world. He actually came
to this planet. He actually was born of a woman
and made in the likeness of sinful flesh and born under the law.
He actually was in this world. He was in this world. The world
was made by Him. You see verse 10? And the world
fell at His feet, honored Him, crowned Him. No sir, the world
didn't know Him. Isn't that astounding? He was
in this world and the world knew Him not. Light has come into
the world, but men love darkness. Life was manifested, but death
is preferred. He said, you will not come to
me that you might have life. You just won't do it. None of
the princes of this world, in 1 Corinthians 2, 8, Paul said,
which none of the princes, that is the leaders, religious and
government and otherwise, which none of the princes of this world
knew, for had they known it, they wouldn't have nailed him
to a cross. But I had not seen, and ear had not heard, neither
hath it entered the heart of men, the things God has prepared
for them that love him." Here's an even sadder note. Look at
verse 11. Verse 10 says, He, of whom all
this is spoken, was in this world, and the world didn't know him.
Now look at verse 11. Here's an even sadder note. He
came to his own, and his own received him not. What's that
saying? That's saying he came to his own people, Israel. He
was born of the race of Abraham. He was born of the tribe of Judah. He was born of the family of
Jesse. He was born of the household of David. He was the rightful
heir to the throne of Israel. And he came down here, born in
Bethlehem, as the prophets said he would, to the rightful heir
of the throne, Baal and Joseph. And he came to his own, and they
didn't receive him, his own people. They said, we'll not have this
man reign over us. We had but one king and that's
Caesar. We had no king but Caesar. Crucify this imposter. He came
into his own city, Jerusalem. They wouldn't even let him die
in his own city. They took him outside the walls
and nailed him to a cross. Came to his own temple. His own
temple. Stood in his own temple. Synagogue. And they cast him out and would
have thrown him off a cliff. They were going to murder him.
He came to his own prophecies. He's that prophet, He's the branch,
He's the Lord our righteousness, He came to His own promises,
the seed of woman, He came to His own types, to Him give all
the prophets witness, and they all turned thumbs down on Him.
He came unto His own and His own received Him, no room in
the inn. And you can apply that to everything else from that
day forth. No room in the inn, no room in
the temple, no room in the government, no room on the streets, no room
in the city, no room in the hearts of men, but the King of kings
and Lord of lords. He despised and rejected of men
a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. We hid as it were our
faces from him. There's no beauty that we should
desire him. He hath no form or comeliness,
and yet he was wounded for our transgressions. But in the midst
of all this darkness, now listen, in the midst of all this, see,
John takes you back, he said, in the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and
was God and all things were made by Him. Without Him was not anything
made. That was made. And He was in this world. The
world didn't know Him. He came into His own people,
city, things, tabernacle, temple, prophecies. And they received
him not. They wouldn't receive him. But,
watch it, in the midst of this darkness, there is a ray of light. A beautiful, splendid ray of
light. In the valley of dry bones, there's
a promise of life. There's a rustling in the valley
of dry bones. But, the world knew him not. His own received him not. But,
verse 12, as many as received him. To them gave he the right,
the glorious privilege to become sons of God, even to them that
believe on his name. This is the promise of God. What
I was talking about last week, to them gave he the privilege
to become sons of God. That's God's gift. This is the
record God had given us eternal life. The wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life. This is the highest calling,
the power, the right, the privilege to become sons of God. The world,
the world, they're not sons of God. Oh no, no, the world didn't
know it. Even his own nation, they're
not sons of God. Paul said because you're son
of Abraham doesn't mean you're son of God. Our Lord said to
many of those sons of Abraham, you are of your father the devil.
That's what he said. You're of your father, the devil.
And his works you'll do. He's a liar from the beginning
and so are you. But those who receive him, those
who believe him, those who are born of God, are sons of God. Sons of God. And no need for
that to be misinterpreted. No need for that to be misunderstood.
No need for that to be taken into this view of the fatherhood
of God and the brotherhood of man. There's a sense in which
we're all brothers because our daddy's Adam, not because our
father's God. We're all brothers and we all
act like brothers, black, white, red, yellow, whatever, because
we've got the same daddy, but it's not God, it's Adam. We're
from Adam, he's our father, and we're all brothers in that sense.
But all men are not sons of God, not according to the Scripture,
and that's what we're going by. He said he came to the world
and the world didn't know him. And he came to his own who wouldn't
receive him, but as many as received him. And to them that believe
on him, to them gave he the right and the privilege and the power
to become sons of God. And then over here in 1 John
chapter 3, the same apostle says, Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called sons
of God. And it does not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we'll be
like Him, because beloved, now are we the sons of God. Now,
here's the question. You listening? Who are these
people? Who are these men and women who
have such a glorious privilege, such a glorious right to become
sons of God? Who are they? Well, there's no
need, no need for us to be in the dark. Like Paul says all
the time, I would not brethren that you be ignorant. I would
not have you to be ignorant. There's no reason to be ignorant.
To be rebellious, yes, but not ignorant. Being rebellious and
ignorant is two different things. Most of us are pretty rebellious,
but we don't have to be ignorant. And he tells us, now listen to
it, as many as received him, to them that believe on him,
to them who are born of God, he gave them the right to become
sons of God. Those are the characteristics,
three things there, clearly stated. Now listen to it again, but came
to the world, the world didn't know him, his own wouldn't receive
him, but as many as received him, to them and them only, gave
he the right, the privilege, to become sons of God, even to
them that believe on his name, who were born, not because their
daddies were sons of God, are they sons of God, not of the
will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but they were born
sons of God, born of God. I'm a son of my father in the
flesh because I was born to him and to my mother. And I'm a son
of God because I received and believed on and I was born of
God. Now let's take them one at a time and look at them. Care
to? All right, let's look at the first one. But to as many
as received him. Now there's a whole, listen to
me, there's a whole lot more involved in receiving Christ
than this business of raising your hand. A whole lot more.
There's a whole lot more to this business of receiving Christ
than walking down an aisle and shaking a preacher's hand. A
whole lot more. There's a whole lot more to this
business of receiving Christ than this thing of, I accepted
Jesus as my personal Savior. Among other things, are you interested? Among other things, our Lord
occupies a three-fold office. If you read the Old Testament,
there's a three-fold office. which promises, prophesies, typifies,
and pictures Christ. And it's the office of prophet,
priest, and king. And those who receive him, receive
him as he is. They receive him in his person,
in his character, in his office. You can't receive a third of
a Christ or two-thirds of a Christ. You must receive the whole Christ
for who he is. Now that's true. That's so. We receive him as prophet, priest,
and king in his character and his office. First of all, he's
that prophet. Every prophet of the Old Testament
typified that prophet. Moses said, the Lord himself
shall raise up from among you that prophet, and him you shall
hear. And when the Lord Jesus came,
they kept asking him, are you that prophet? Are you that prophet? Are you that prophet? And the
Father gave the answer when the Lord Jesus was on the Mount of
Transfiguration. He said, This is My Son, hear
ye Him. Listen to Him. And He said, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth
on Him that sent Me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation. You've got to hear from Him.
He's the prophet. The prophet does what? He reveals.
God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake to our
fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to
us by his Son. Hear him, you hear God. And you can't receive Christ
as your personal Savior and not receive him as that prophet,
as the one who reveals the Father. And then he's the priest. He's
a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. David started
talking about that in Psalm 110. He started talking about that
the priest who would come would be a priest not like Aaron or
Levi. He was from the tribe of Judah.
But he was a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Who
was Melchizedek? He had no beginning of days or
end of days. He had no mother, father, no
pedigree. He came out of almost nowhere
and went right back to the same place. Nobody knew him. And Christ
is that great high priest after the order of Melchizedek. He
is the tabernacle where God meets men and men meet God. He is the
priesthood. He is the altar. He is the mercy
seat. He is the sacrifice. He is the
atonement. By one sacrifice, He has perfected
forever them that are sanctified and sat down at the right hand
of God. He is our mediator. There's one mediator between
God and men, and that's the man Christ Jesus. And if you receive
Christ, you receive Him in His priestly office, my friend, or
you don't receive Him at all. And then He's King. This is what
the Jews said. We don't mind you feeding us.
This is what the Israelites said. We don't mind you healing our
sick. We don't mind you feeding us, but you're not going to reign
over us. We're not going to bow to you as King. Well, you can't
have Him as a Savior and not bow to Him as a Lord. You can't
have him as your Savior and not bow to him as your King. Christ
is no man's Savior if he's not that man's King. If thou shalt
confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe in thine
heart God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
He said, if any man come after me, now listen, this is the Master
talking. Let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow
me. He that forsaketh not all that
he hath, cannot be my disciple." Boy, that's a whole lot more
than raising your hand, isn't it? That's a whole lot more than
walking down an aisle and shaking somebody's hand. That's receiving
Christ to as many as receive Him. Who is He? He's God's prophet,
God's priest, and God's King. He's King by design. He's King
by decree. He's King by death. He died that
He might be Lord of the dead and the living. And if a man
comes to Christ, he'll come forsaking all others. That's right. Mother,
father, brother, sister, husband, wife, yea, his own life also,
receiving Christ. To them who receive Christ, to
them gave he the right to become sons of God. Now, next time somebody
tells you all this, the salvation is raising your hand, or walking
an aisle, or shaking a hand, or getting baptized, or accepting
Jesus as your personal Savior, you just tell him, that's not
what Christ said. That's not what Christ said. It's receiving
Him as Prophet, And that means that His word is the last word.
Priest, that is, His sacrifice is all I need for justification,
sanctification, redemption, righteousness, holiness, and everything else.
I am complete in Christ, and He's my King. I bow to no man. I bow only to Christ. Now, second
mark of the sons of God is they believe on His name. They receive
Him in His person and work, and they believe on His name. How
would you define saving faith? Believing. on Christ. He that
believeth on the Son hath life. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. Well, let me give you a few answers.
First of all, him that cometh to God must believe that he is,
that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently
seek him. You can't come to a myth, you
can't come just to a historical character. Can't come to somebody
in whom you don't believe. You got to believe that he is.
The reality of God. The existence of God. The power
of God. God is rewarder of them that
diligently, earnestly seek him. Listen to this. It's to believe
the record that God had given concerning his son. That is the
word of God. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word
of God. You believe what is written. These things are written that
you might believe that Jesus is the Christ. And that believing
you might have life through his name. That's why they're written.
And he said, you search the scriptures, in them you think you have life?
There they which testify of me. So faith is believing the record.
Thirdly, it's to repent toward God. It's to change your attitude.
It's to come before God with a contrite spirit and a broken
heart. It's to repent toward God and
it's to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's to confess Him in
baptism. That's what Peter said to that
crowd at Pentecost, repent and be baptized. That's something
done inwardly and something done outwardly or publicly. Repent,
poor God. Believe on Christ. Confess Christ
publicly. It's to follow Him in obedience.
It's to follow Him in righteousness of life. It's to follow Him as
a new creature. If any man's in Christ, he's
a new creature. Now those are all definitions
of faith, but here's a clear cut to the point, three-fold
definition of faith found in 2 Timothy 1.12. Listen to Paul. He said, Nevertheless I am not
ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded
that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him
against that day of judgment. Now there you have three things.
Faith is based on