Evidences of the New Birth

I received a letter this past
week from a minister who has been my friend for many, many
years. And he is a missionary in the northern part of Canada, way
up in the coal country. He's been there 14 years. And he hasâ€”the Lord's blessed
his ministry. There's been some people converted.
There's been some young men called to preach 1,500 miles north of
Toronto, way up in the woods in Canada. And he requested that
our church have a part in their school library, their native
minister's school library. already ordered and had sent
to him Spurgeon's works, his Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit,
Bishop Ryle's works, and a few others that he was interested
in. He wrote back very grateful and
thankful for our part, especially in getting these books that are
so vital in the life of a young minister. But in the letter,
he asked for my thoughts on a few subjects, wanted me to write
to him and tell him what I thought about a few things involved in
this thing of a man's relationship with God. And the first question
he asked was this, would you give me your thoughts on the
subject, evidences of the new birth, evidences of regeneration? And I put a little time in on
this and wrote to him and expressed my views, my thoughts, that's
what he asked for, on the subject, evidences of the new birth, evidences
that a man knows God or is regenerated, not just religious, but really
knows God. And I feel, I feel that this is a very timely subject,
especially in this day of much religion. And I confess to you
little understanding of the living God. I don't think we ought to retreat
into our orthodox shells and not read and listen to other
people. And I make it a practice to at
least become acquainted with what preachers are saying today
and what people are believing and the things that they're doing
in the name of God. And I'll be perfectly frank with
you, I'm totally disappointed. I was thinking this morning,
it may be, it may be that we're entering into the longest dry
spell, spiritually speaking, that this world has ever encountered
of a real visit from God. We may be moving into the day
of desertion, judgment, I don't know. But there's not much being
said, my dear friends, and there's not much being done by the power
of the Holy Spirit. There's a lot of religion. And
Barnard used to say, ten cup religion, come by and take a
swig. But there's not much from God these days. There wasn't
anything on my television this morning that even smelled like
it came from God. And there's nothing on my radio
this morning that even had any hint or any trace of any power
of God's Spirit in it. Now, you can get all excited
over this religious trend if you want to, but to me, It's
the broad road to destruction. And this is a timely subject,
evidences of a new birth. Not evidences of religious experience,
but evidences of a new birth. Not evidences of a religious
persuasion, but evidences of a new birth. Not evidences of
a home in heaven, evidences of a new birth. Now, a subject like
this is not without its dangers. There's a lot of dangers here,
and I know it. When you set forth evidences or characteristics
of a new birth or regeneration, people are prone to look for
that experience and miss the person. If you give a recipe
for something, people are prone to start trying to fill the recipe
themselves instead of looking to the person who furnishes this
ingredient, who is the source of life, the fountain of life.
It's like I told our class this morning, you don't try to be
humble. If you make humility your goal, you'll miss it a thousand
miles. You'll attain to a false humility, a phony humility, a
religious humility. You don't make love your goal.
If you make love your goal, you'll reach a goal without Christ.
Christ is your goal, to be like Him. Humility comes as we see
ourselves in the presence of our Lord. That's the way Isaiah
got humility. He saw the Lord. And he said,
woe is me. That's the way Job was humbled.
You don't get humility, you're humbled. God humbled you. And that's how Job was humbled. He saw the Lord. That's how Daniel
was humbled. He saw the Lord. And when we
see the Lord in his glory, See, Christ in His glory, in His greater
glory, all these things fade. They fade into nothingness. So
when we talk about evidences of the new birth and evidences
of regeneration and evidences of salvation, there's a danger
in someone trying to produce those evidences and miss the
person. This is a danger of biographies. Now, we have a church library,
a church bookstore, and I encourage you to visit the bookstore and
to read these good books we tried to put out there on the tables
and the shelves, the best books, books by the best authors. But
there's a danger in making too much of any man's book. Here's
the book, Faith Cometh by Hearing and Hearing by the Word of God.
Here's the book. Here's the book. All of these are other books.
This is the book. This is the infallible book.
This is the infallible word. And there's a danger in making
too much of biographies of great Christians and great preachers
is that their good points are exaggerated and their bad points
are overlooked. And we begin to try to copy another
man's experience. We begin to copy another man's
lifestyle other than our own. And we become imitators of men
and not followers of the Lord. There's a great danger. Our experiences,
my friends, are going to differ. God's dealings with us are going
to differ. God will work in the life of
his child as it pleases him, and he'll use that child for
his glory and for his purpose. And he's not going to make all
of us John Newtons or all of us Charles Spurgeons or all of
us Horatio Bonars. He's going to have his own image
stamped on you and going to use you, your personality, your character,
your lifestyle for his glory in your place. That's one of
the dangers of picking up a biography and saying, now this man prayed
every morning at 4 o'clock, that means I'll pray every morning
at 4 o'clock. This man did this, therefore I'll do this. This
man did this, and God blessed it, so I'll do... You become
an imitator of a man. You become a follower of a man.
Now, I'm sure you're aware of another danger when we talk about...
when we talk about evidences of a new birth. I'm sure that
you're aware of another danger, and that is all of God's people
do not have the same degree of revelation. That's right. We all have the same light, but
not the same degree of light. We all have the same person revealed
to us, but we have various degrees of revelation. We don't have
the same degree of faith. Our Lord even said that. He says,
Great is thy faith, O ye of little faith. Faith may be great, it
may be little, it may be much, it may be small. There are degrees
of faith. There are people here who have
a confidence and an assurance that can't be shaken. There are
others here whose faith is in Christ, but they're troubled,
and they're full of doubts and fears. We all don't have the
same degree of growth. The tree that's just been planted
is not going to produce the same amount of fruit as a 40-year-old
tree. Forget it. This is one of the discouraging
marks of young believers. They try to know too much too
quick. It's impossible. The babe in
Christ cannot and must not expect to compete with the elder in
knowledge, in wisdom, in understanding, in growth. He can't do it. That's the reason you have grades
over here at the school. You have first grade and you
have twelfth grade. And you don't expect those first grade children
to compete with those twelfth grade students. This is in all areas of life
except the church, we honor this thing. Even in boxing, you have
a heavyweight division and a light heavyweight and a lightweight
and a bantamweight and a featherweight. You don't put a featherweight
in with a heavyweight and tell him to do his best. You don't
expect it of him. You don't put a little first
grader in a class with 9th and 10th graders and expect them
to compete with them. And neither should the babe in
Christ expect to compete with the giant or the elder in Christ
Jesus. So we have to face that danger.
You say, Preacher, you're tearing your message up before you preach
it. No, I'm just laying a foundation. I'm saying there are evidences
of the new birth. The Bible teaches that. Listen
to these scriptures. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.
That's an evidence. If any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he's none of his. Here's another. He that loveth
not knoweth not God. God is love. Here's another. If we say we have no sin, why,
we deceive ourselves and the truth's not in us. Here's another. If we say we have not sinned,
we make God a liar and his word's not in us. Here's another, if
any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him, no sir. We are the household of faith
if we continue in Christ to the end. That's an evidence. But
what I'm saying is this, I'm saying that this type of message
has its dangers in that we begin to present evidences of the new
birth And instead of seeking the person, instead of seeking
Christ, instead of seeking the fountain, coming to the fountain,
people began to try to produce the evidences and produce a likeness
to some great one who's gone before, be yourself. God will
deal with you in his own way. The Lord Jesus Christ dealt with
a woman at the well one way, he dealt with Zacchaeus another
way, he dealt with Nicodemus another way, he dealt with Paul
another way, he dealt with each one of them his own way in bringing
them to faith in him. And don't expect and don't be
discouraged when the tree that's just been planted is not loaded
with fruit. Don't be disappointed when the
babe in Christ cannot answer all the questions put to him
by the fierce forces of evil in this world. Here's a babe
in Christ, been saved about two years, and some demon-possessed,
devil-inspired, argumentative liberal attacks him, and he can't
answer all his questions, and he goes creeping off into the
darkness. He says, well, baby, I'm not saved. I don't know all
the answers. When you've been in the Lord for 50 years, you
still won't have all the answers. And you'll still have to say,
I'm sorry, fella, I don't know. Like that blind man, they said,
who made you? He said, I don't know. He said,
I don't know whether he's a sinner or what he is. I just know I
was blind. He made me see. I do know that. I know I was
blind. He made me see. I can't answer your questions,
he said. I can't debate with you. I can't argue with you.
But I do know this. I was blind, and he made me see.
And maybe he'll make you see. But here are my thoughts on this
subject as the Holy Spirit gives us wisdom and is pleased to anoint
them. I summed it up in five points, evidences of the new
birth. The first one I believe is this,
a regenerated man has a deep sense of sin, a deep sense of
sin. Isn't this where Paul started?
Isn't this where he started? Turn to Romans chapter 7. Isn't
this where Paul started? He said in Romans 7. He said
in Romans 7 beginning with verse 9, I was alive, religious. I was alive once without the
law. But when the commandment came,
sin was revealed. It revived and I died. That's
where I started. I started this pilgrimage. I started this walk of faith.
when I died. That's when I started. A man
begins to live when he dies. A grain of corn begins to live
when it dies. A seed begins to live when it
dies. Paul said that's where I started. When the law came
in the hands of the Holy Spirit and showed me my sin, I died. Now read the next verse. And
the commandment which was ordained to life I found to be unto death. That commandment which God gave
to Adam, do this and live, which was ordained to life, do this
and live. Paul said, I found out that it
was ordained, it slew me. I found out that commandment
which was ordained to life to be my death. It became my instrument
of death. I died at the feet of Christ
when the law showed me what I was. Isn't this where Job started?
Turn to Job chapter 40. Job chapter 40. This man, Job, You know, people get upset when
we say Job was a proud man, but there was a lot of pride in Job.
Job kept talking about his righteousness and how he would hold to his
righteousness and would not give up his righteousness, and he
was a righteous man compared to other men. But God let Job
see himself in the light of God's power and holiness, and that's
what slew him. And he said in Job chapter 40,
verse 4, Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer thee? Now
he wasn't telling these three friends of his that he was vile.
These three friends were asking him what he had done, how he
had sinned, and he said, I haven't sinned. I hold to my integrity. I will not let go of my integrity.
But now here's God talking to him. And he says, Lord, I'm vile. What shall I answer thee? I lay
my hand on my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will
not answer ye twice, but I'll proceed no further. Look at Job
chapter 42. Listen to what he says here,
Job 42, verse 5. This is what I was saying a while
ago. The key to humility is to see the Lord. It's to see the
Lord. Job said, I've seen the Lord. I hate myself. I repent and dust
and ashes. Wasn't this the experience of
Isaiah? When he saw the Lord, he said, woe is me. A sense of
sin. The sinfulness, oh, the exceeding
sinfulness of sin. And this is something from which
Paul never departed. In one of his last epistles,
he wrote this, Jesus Christ is coming to the world to save sinners
of whom I'm chief. Now, let me shock you a little
bit. The average religionist thinks
that This is the way we start. We come like the publican, God
be merciful to me a sinner. Now listen to me. We come like
the publican, and we feel all the terrible, terrible guilt
of sin. We've sinned against God. We're
born in sin, conceived in sin, shaped in iniquity by actions
and attitudes and imagination. Now, that heavy weight of sin,
that burden of sin, When we come to Calvary, it's lifted. There's a sense in which that's
true and a sense in which that ain't so. Now listen to me, I
wouldn't destroy one of our favorite songs, but the burden of sin to a true believer never gets
any lighter. Never. In fact, actually, I'll
tell you this, it gets a little heavier. Now I want you to listen
to David, turn to Psalm 51. Psalm 51. And I'm going to be
totally frank with you because I think some of you are mature
enough in Christ to understand what I'm talking about. The burden
of sin is paid for at Calvary. It's removed as far as God is
concerned at Calvary. It's lifted as far as condemnation
is concerned at Calvary. But I'll tell you this, for the
true believer, the burden of sin never goes away. Now you
listen to David, Psalm 51. Have mercy on me, O God, according
to Thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of Thy tender
mercies. Blot out my transgressions, wash me throughly from mine iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. I acknowledge
my transgression. My sin is ever before me. ever constantly, never leaves,
always before me. Turn to Romans 7, let's see what
Paul says about this in Romans chapter 7. Now these are the
cries of a regenerated soul. This man knows God, Romans 7,
listen to it. Romans 7, 18, I know, he says,
I know that in me, that is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Now, the will is present with
me, how to perform it, that which is good I find not. The good
that I would, I do not. The evil I would not. He's talking
about thoughts here, and imagination, and attitude, and motive, and
so forth. That I do. Now, if I do that I would not,
it's not I that do it, it's sin that dwells in me. Dwells in
me. Dwell it. Continually. He doesn't
say sin that used to dwell in me, but God took it away. He
said that dwells in me. I find then a law that, verse
21, when I do good, evil is present with me. I delight in the law
of God after the inward man, but I see another law warring
in my members, bringing me into captivity. Oh, wretched man that
I what? I was? I am. Now I'm going to give you three
reasons why this burden of sin does not get any lighter as the
years go by. The first reason is this. Now
listen to me. I'm saying a regenerated man
has a deep sense of sin, not only when he comes to repentance
and faith, not only when he comes to Christ, but he has a continual
sense of sin and burden of sin that does not get any lighter.
And here's the reason it doesn't get any lighter. Three reasons.
Number one, the more I understand of God's holiness, In God's righteousness,
the more I understand my failure and my unrighteousness. Now,
the brighter the light, the more blemishes you're going to see.
The brighter the light. The nearer I get to seeing God
in His holiness, God in His righteousness, the more I see of my unrighteousness,
my unworthiness. We begin to talk about, when
we're first converted, we begin to talk about loving one another. And there's a certain understanding
that the new believer has about love. But I'll tell you, the
more you see of God's love for the unworthy, and God's love
for the guilty, and God's love for the unthankful, and God's
love for his enemies, the more you see of just what that love
really is. You might think when you first
start this journey you got a little, but the more you see of his total,
total, complete affection, the more sinful you become. His holiness, his holiness. I'll tell you the second reason,
and that is as we grow, as we come to know more about the spirituality
of the law of God, the spirituality of the law of God, not just deeds,
When a person's first seen, they quit drinking, and quit cursing,
and quit this, that, and the other, you know, and they get
feeling pretty good. You know, breathe better, and
go to bed at night, and rest, and don't hang out down at the
pool hall, and don't hang out down at the jute joint, and you
keep better company, and you get feeling pretty good. But
let me tell you something. The more you see of the spirituality
of God's law, that God's law God's perfect law reaches not
just the deeds of the body, but reaches the thoughts of the mind,
the imaginations, and why we do things, and how we're motivated
to do things, and our attitudes toward each other, and toward
him, and toward life in general. And these things, the greater
work we see needs to be done here. Christ said, cleanse first
that which is within, and then the outside will be clean. We're
starting on the outside and working in. And we begin to understand
something of what it really means to love God with all your heart,
what it really means to love your neighbor as you love yourself,
what it really means to worship the living God, what it really
means to praise God. And I tell you, brother, when
you begin to understand something of the depths of the spirituality
of the law of God that reaches the deepest recess of the thoughts and intents of
the heart. Oh, good gracious, how wretched
man that I am. And I'll tell you something else.
The reason that this burden doesn't get any lighter is your goal
is continually readjusted. Continually readjusted. Now,
we start out by wanting to be pardoned. Pardoned from sin. That's right. That's where we
start. We want to be pardoned from the penalty of sin. And
when we find that, Great! We're saved! We're saved from
hell, we're saved from sin, we're saved from its penalty, all condemnation
gone. And then we begin to want to
be saved from its power. The penalty of sin doesn't concern
us so much anymore. We want to be saved from the
continual power of sin, that sin that That thing that keeps,
that besetting sin, that stays there. We want to be out from
under its power. And then we come to this place
where we want even to be delivered from sin's practice. I want to
think on that which is pure and holy and of good report. I want
to not only believe in my orthodoxy and in my creed that a man ought
to be holy, but I want to be. I don't want to just say the
Bible says we ought to forgive. I want to forgive. I don't want to say the Bible
says we ought to give a full measure, run it over. I want
to give the full measure. You see, we want to be safe from
the practice of sin. And I'll tell you something else,
as we grow in grace and our goal is readjusted, we long for the
day when we'll be safe from the presence of sin. From even the
presence of it. That's right, our goals are readjusted.
That's the reason the burden's never lifted. It never goes away. We see more of his holiness,
and when we do, the burden gets heavy. We see the spirituality
of the law, that the law goes deeper than do's and don'ts.
It goes down into the heart. And then our goals are readjusted.
We want to be saved from hell, but that's pushed aside. And
then the power of sin, and then the practice of sin, and then
our goal becomes to be like Christ. Know what I'm talking about?
We start out with heaven on our minds and our goal is to make
that city, and as we progress we long to be like Christ. We
start out comparing ourselves with other people and then we
begin to see ourselves in the light of God's holiness. The
burden is never lifted. The regenerated man has a deep
sense of sin. Secondly, the regenerated man
has a deep sense of his unworthiness. Now if you can find in yourself
any reason why God should show mercy to you, it may be that
you've missed him. If you can find any reason why
God should show mercy to you. Listen to David. Who is David
and what is my house that you brought me hitherto? Listen to
Jacob. Oh God, I'm not worthy of the
least of thy mercies. Listen to Peter. Oh Lord, depart
from me, I'm a sinful man. old Mephibosheth, who came before
David, said, Who am I that you should show mercy to such a dead
dog? Now, I'll tell you some questions.
Turn to Job 9, if you will. Here are some questions that
will be weighed by every believer, every regenerated man. In Job
9, verse 2, listen to what Job says. I know it is so of a truth. But
how, how should man be just with God? How? In Job 25, verse 4, he said,
How can he be clean that's born of a woman? Behold the moon,
it shineth not. The heavens are not pure in God's
sight. How much more abominable and filthy is man that drinks
iniquity like the water? A regenerated man has a sense
of sin. He has a sense of unworthiness.
Unworthiness. He has a sense of inability.
How can I be just with God? There's no way that I can be
just with God by walking a church aisle or shaking a preacher's
hand. That doesn't make me just with God. That can't do anything
about my sins. That can't do anything about
my rebellion. That can't do anything about
my evil nature. That can't do anything about
God Almighty's judgment and wrath against me? I may go into this
water and get put beneath the water and brought up, and it
may wash my flesh, but it can't do a thing about my record. How
am I going to be just with God or my nature? That brings me
to the third thing. A regenerated man will have a
clear view of the person and work of Christ. Our Lord said,
He that seeth the Son and believeth on him hath life. He'll have
a clear view. Now, I know men carry on endless
debates, and they always have and they always will, about church
government and church ordinances and church discipline. They'll
carry on endless debates about the place of the law in a believer's
life. They'll carry on endless debates
about prophecy regarding the last days, the Jews and all the
nations, and who wrote this book, and when he wrote it, and why
he wrote it, and the theology of the Reformers, and the theology
of the Puritans, and the theology of the contemporaries. But there's
one area where all regenerated men meet and where they're great. And that is, who is Jesus Christ? Who is he? He's their God of
their God. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world to himself. Jesus Christ, who was before
all things, by whom all things were made, for whom all things
were made. He who thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, made himself of no reputation. He came down here into this earth
as our Redeemer, as our Federal Head, as our Surety, as our Substitute,
as our Sin Offering, as our Sin Bearer, as our Sacrifice. He
came down here in the flesh and by his obedience gave us a perfect
standing, and by his death put away our transgressions. The
believer has a clear view of Jesus Christ, his person, and
his work. A clear view, an unclouded view.
A definite view, it's not Christ, plus my faith, it's Christ alone. I am redeemed, I am justified,
I am made a child of God. Not by Christ and faith, or Christ
and morality, or Christ and good deeds, or Christ and the church,
or Christ and a decision, but by Christ. by his passive work
of obedience, by his active work of obedience, and by his passive
work of death. I am his, and he's mine. He has
a clear view of Christ, and nothing else gets between him and the
Lord. Nothing between my soul and my Savior. Not my works,
or my experience, or my feelings, or my pastor, or my deeds, or
anything else. Or even my sins. But my Redeemer. All right, the
fourth thing, quickly. A regenerated man has a continuing
faith. Now listen to me, and I want
to be as kind here as I can. I know people get enthused and
they join, we start out as kids, we join the Boy Scouts. And you
know, you start out as a tender foot, I think. Maybe you have
to work to get to be a tender foot, but you start out at the
bottom. And you can always tell a new scout. He's gung-ho. He's
got his book with him. He's studying. He's trying to
earn his merit badge. And after a while, he kind of
wears thin. And they don't all get to be
Eagles. Just one out of a thousand. Most of them, you know where
they drop out? Most of them drop out on second
class. That's where they drop out. They're
gung-ho. Or maybe first class. Star. They don't get that far.
Very few. One out of a thousand gets to be neat The same thing
through this do you do you find this true of yourself? You you
joint you're gonna take up God. Don't get some exercise I'm gonna
buy me a $500 set of clubs and I'm going out honey I'm going
out it two times a week and I'm going I'm getting older I need
to get some of this off and get some exercise so boy he gets
ready and gets up and got all that equipment tears out the
golf course and plays nine holes or 18 and And, uh, gung-ho two
days later, and you know, and maybe, well, I don't go the next...
Two years later, they're sitting over in the corner, full of dust.
He's taking up hunting now. He's gonna hunt a while now.
And then he hangs his gun up, and he, well, he's gonna try,
he's gonna try, uh, uh, boating. Gonna buy, fella said, the two
happiest days of my life was the day I bought my boat and
the day I sold it. We, we get enthusiastic, and
this is the thing about joining churches. Fella comes out here
and hears me preach, and I read a few scriptures and preach pretty
good saying, man, I'm gonna join that outfit. That's where the
gospel's preached. That's what I believe. And down
the alley comes, he joins up, and I baptize him. He puts his
name on the roll. And he's here on Wednesday, and
here on Sunday, and here on Sunday night, and goes home and says,
honey, we're gonna tithe. We're gonna start out right.
You write that first check there for the Lord's money, you know.
And boy, for about a month, he just goes growing and all this,
you know. First thing you know, he ain't around. You know what's
wrong? Same thing about joining clubs and taking up sports and
getting enthusiastic, it's all of the flesh. That's all. That's
not regeneration. No, sir. And I wouldn't offend
you, I wouldn't wound you, but the Scripture holds no hope,
holds out no hope, no hope, for those who do not continue in
the faith. The guy, the fellow, Paul said,
that gets crowned is the man that crosses the finish line,
not the fellow that runs fast at the first and fades out, or
even leading at the halfway point or the three-quarter pole, but
the man that breaks the tape. And that's what Paul is saying
in Hebrews chapter 3. Turn over there with me, Hebrews
chapter 3. In the third chapter of Hebrews, reading verse 6,
Christ is a son over his own house. whose house are we if
we hold fast the confidence rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end."
Now, I'll tell you, and they startle you here, but this is
no novice preaching. I've preached long enough to
win my spurs. Actually, I'm more encouraged
by the fellow that is seeking the Lord, and he's struggling,
and he's having conflicts. He's up and down, but he's here. He keeps seeking. He keeps hungry. He keeps asking questions. He
doesn't have all the answers, you know, and maybe that goes
on for a while. And he has his mountains and
his valleys, but there's right as a medium. He's faithful. He loves this book. He never
departs from the book. He never departs from the closet
of prayer. He never departs from the fellowship
of God's people. He never departs from the enthusiasm
of the gospel. He has his high mountains and
he has his low valleys. I'd rather have that type of
fellow than that fellow that's like that blazing rocket. I know his steam's going to run
out pretty soon. He's just a blazing rocket. He has no valleys. He
has no mountains. He has just a steady climb. He's
full of enthusiasm Yeah, he's gonna get right up yonder and
he's going all the way down the lights going out and he'll be
gone But that old boy has been struggling with you and he doesn't
have all the answers and he's got his doubts and fears and
troubles and Conflicts and sins and all these things. He's still
with you. He's still seeking the Lord still seeking the Lord
He's still striving for that prize of the high calling of
Christ Jesus the Lord. Reality! That's what I want to
see, some real, some human beings that face reality, honesty. We're made partakers of Christ,
verse 14, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to
the end. And that's not my righteousness,
that's looking to him. His cross, and His blood, and
His sacrifice, and His love, and His presence, and His fellowship. John said, if it had been of
us, it would have stayed with us. That's 1 John 2, 19. All right,
last of all, and I quit. A regenerated man has a sense
of seeing. It never grows any lighter. He has a sense of unworthiness
and inability. It's real. Totally unworthy. He has a sight, a clear view
of Christ, his person and his work. It's not anything, it's
Christ. He's not ashamed of Christ. He's ashamed of himself, but
not of Christ. He continues. He continues in the faith. He
continues to seek the Lord. Like every wind of doctrine doesn't
blow him off course, you know. He's headed the same way. He's
headed for Christ. And he's not shifting around,
blowing hot and cold and blowing off course. He's got Christ. All right, last of all, he'll
grow. Yes, he will. I'm confident.
He that groweth not, Spurgeon said, knoweth not God. Turn to
1 Peter 2, chapter 2, verse 1 through 3. Listen to this. He'll grow. He'll grow in faith. It may be
a slow growth. As I say, they all don't grow
at the same speed. There are degrees of growth,
degrees of faith. But he will grow in faith and
love. In 1 Peter 2, verse 1, Wherefore, laying aside all malice
and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and evil speaking,
as newborn babes, Desire the sincere milk of the word that
you may grow grow If so be you've tasted the Lord is gracious turn
to Ephesians 4. Let's look at one more here Ephesians
chapter 4 Along this line of growth Ephesians 4 verse 11. He gave some apostles prophets
evangelists pastors and teachers verse 12 Ephesians 4 for the
perfecting of the Saints the work of the ministry the edifying
of the body of Christ Watch this now till we all come in the unity
of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect
or mature man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness
of Christ. That's what your preacher is for, that you be no more,
that you henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and
carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of
men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive you,
but speaking the truth in love you may grow up into him in all
things, which is the head, even Christ. God's children are going
to grow. They're going to grow on the
milk of the word and the meat of the word as it's preached
to them and taught them by apostles and evangelists and pastors and
teachers, that they might be mature and not children that
are just tossed around by every strange and inviting thing that
comes their way. The Pied Piper comes down the
road blowing his flute, and the children flock and follow him,
but not the adults. They know this excitement is
not it. They've got more important things to tend to. That's the
reason we study, like we're studying today, is that we might grow. We want to preach thy word. We
want to be faithful to the souls of those who hear us, wherever
they might be, whoever they might be. We feel we can say with the Apostle
Peter, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that we
love thee. Thou art our hope, our confidence. Christ is our
Redeemer, our foundation. Other foundations can no man
lay. He's our refuge. We've fled to him. And our sins
are ever before us. We have a sense of our unworthiness.
And yet you've given us by your Spirit a clear view of Christ. Keep us in the faith. Keep us
walking with the Redeemer. Other things come and go, but
He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. Give us that persevering
faith, and grant that we may grow in grace and in knowledge
of Him who is our Lord and our Master, and our pattern and example. In His name we pray. Amen.

Evidences of the New Birth

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Evidences of the New Birth

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