Loving God Under Trials: Part 4

Redeeming Grace Church

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We continue to look at this wonderful verse of Scripture. I never finished last week, and I think God's providence is in that.

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I think there's more to be said and more to be mined.

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And as I was studying, I said, wow, I could probably preach another ten -part series on this whole verse.

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It's so rich. It's so deep. And I believe the Lord has a lot to speak to us from this one verse, from this chapter, chapter one of James.

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So please turn with me there in your Bibles, James chapter one, verse 18.

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One verse, one verse of Scripture. What God can say in one verse of Scripture is amazing, isn't it?

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That shows you the all -enduring, eternal

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Word of God. You see, it's God's Word. Jesus said

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His words are spirit and they are life. Our words are not like that.

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The God's Word are, they're alive, they're powerful.

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Luther says, speaks to me, it chases me, it runs me down.

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Well hear the word of the living God, James chapter one, verse 18, of His own will,

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He brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.

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Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we beseech you,

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Lord, to come in your mighty power, in your blessed Holy Spirit as we've already prayed, and we sense that you are here.

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You've promised to be here, and that means it's true. So help us in faith to believe that you are, that you are a rewarder of them that diligently seek you.

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So my prayer, Father, is come, Lord, and breathe upon us and anoint us to see only

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Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, this morning in your word. Change us to be like Him in our daily walk with you, and we ask this for your glory and in Jesus' name, amen.

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As we've already seen in verse 17, God does not change,

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He's immutable. And if there's any change to be made, it must take place in us.

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Verse 17 speaks of God's nature, that He is unchangeable.

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Immutable basically means without mutation. Change, the mutation, must take place in us.

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God's incapable of mutating or changing to the better or for worse in His holy nature because that's the way

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He is and He always will remain the same. The change must take place in us, and our nature must be changed.

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We looked at that last week briefly, that the problem with this world and with us is internal, it's not external.

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The problem is an internal problem, so the solution must be internal. That is the new birth.

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And I mentioned briefly that there's violence, there's hatred, Jesus said this,

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Jesus says what comes from the mouth proceeds from the heart. If there's fornication, if there's adultery, if there's lying, if there's blasphemies, violence, hatred, you can go on.

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The works of the flesh are endless. I mentioned just a few last week about hatred and racism.

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You see this everywhere, don't we? And it's sad, it's tragic, it's tearing people apart. Drug addictions and pornography and all the filth of this world that's tearing people down, it's an internal problem.

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Therefore the solution is an internal thing. And the remedy is the gospel.

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And I believe that's why we need to hear law and gospel, because the law discovers our disease.

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People must hear that they are guilty before a holy God. They must see they have a problem before they can go to the solution.

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So the gospel gives us this, and actually that's what James is doing, he's giving us the gospel right here in a nutshell.

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Jesus said to Nicodemus, you must be born again to see and to enter into the kingdom of God.

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Warren Wiersbe, in his commentary, the Bible exposition commentary, said it like this.

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In the first barrier, God says, look ahead and beware of judgment. In the second barrier, he says, look around and see how good

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I've been to you. And then he says, but with the third barrier, God says, look within and realize that you've been born from above and possess the divine nature.

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And that's basically speaking of the new birth. So in essence here,

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James has been speaking of God as the father of lights, now he reminds us that he is our father, also that he has given us a unique role in his vast creation.

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We can fulfill that role by obedience to the word of truth, and we'll be looking at that here very soon in verses 19 -27, which

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James gives application to everything he said. In other words, we must be obedient to the word of truth, be doers of the word, just not hearers.

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So we'll be hearing several messages from that, as the

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Lord wills. But here in James 1 -18, this passage outlines pretty much the part played in the new birth by the word of God, and as it is applied to us by the

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Holy Spirit. We are told of his own will he has brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

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So we're going to look a little bit more in detail in this, and this tells us what prompted God to save us of his own will.

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You think of that for a second, he was not forced to do it by any merit within us, right?

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It is God who chose to do this, in his mercy, in his unending love.

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God did it of his own free will. That's wonderful.

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His love to us was unmerited, unbought, and unsought.

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And this gives us cause to worship, doesn't it? And that's what we covered pretty much.

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So as mentioned in the outline in this text, we looked at four questions.

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We only got to one, and I'm going to recap that one. We're going to look at the other three today. There's a lot to be said here.

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Let me recap this. First, in speaking of the new birth, regeneration, number one, who does it?

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Of his own will. Second, what is it?

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He brought us forth. Third, how does it happen? By the word of truth.

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And fourth, why is it done? So that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

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So let's consider these questions carefully. Then we will look at some practical applications briefly after we look at this.

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So let me first recap a little bit to those, to you that were not here last week.

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I know Teresa wasn't here, so for her I'm going to do this. We saw first being the first important question,

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I believe, who does it? Who does it? Well, James answers that, of his own will.

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This phrase, again, translates a Greek word that makes that point of regeneration, that regeneration is not just a wish, but as John MacArthur says in his commentary, and I love the way he puts it, but an active expression of God's will.

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It is God's desire, which again, MacArthur says, which he always has the power to accomplish.

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This phrase occurs at the beginning of the Greek sentence, which means James intends to emphasize the sovereign will of God is the source of the new life.

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So it is so true. James used birth as a picture of desire, leading to sin and death in verse 15 of chapter 1, but he also used it to explain how we can enjoy victory over temptation and sin, and that's through new life and a new birth, and that's what

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James is saying in verse 18. The Apostle John used a similar approach in 1

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John chapter 3, in verse 9, when he says whoever has been born of God does not sin, but notice this, for his seed, his seed remains in him.

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It remains in him, and he cannot sin because he has been born of God.

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Notice when John speaks of being born of God, twice in the beginning of the verse and the ending of the verse, there are bookends, speaking, and I believe that's no mistake, it's as the

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Holy Spirit is emphasizing the new birth of regeneration. It begins and ends, and speaking of, and a lot of people can take that verse wrong, like does no sin, well actually you know later on, or previously to that, he says if you say that you do not sin, you're a liar, and the truth is not in you.

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What he's talking about here, when he does not sin, he's talking about he does not habitually continue to practice sinning.

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You see, he hates the sin within him. Sin will take place, that's what

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John is saying, not to confuse this verse with other verses. You have to read the whole, right?

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You just can't pick out one verse, aha, there's sinless perfection here. No, he's not saying that.

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What he's referring to is you do not continue to love that sin.

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You do not continue to practice that sin. Those who have been born of God and born again hate that sin.

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They deal with that sin, and they desire to put it to death. That's what he's saying, and Paul talks about that in Romans chapter 6.

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Do you continue in grace that you may sin, God forbid. And then he says those who have been born of God does not continue to practice sinning.

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Again, why? Because he has the divine nature of God planted within his soul.

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That seed remains in him. Isn't that a beautiful thing? It cannot be taken out.

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It has taken root on good ground when you are born from above. Now, you know, really, if you read through the book of 1

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John, it is an encouragement to God's people to give assurance of your salvation.

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That's why John wrote it, to give God's people the assurance you have been born again.

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So the seed remains. Now, also there's another verse that's very important to the reference here, is 2

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Peter chapter 1, verse 4. Peter says this, You know, you start to see that God, every good and perfect gift comes from above.

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God is a giving God. God gave his son. God gives repentance. God gives life.

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God gives light. It's all through the new birth. God gives. God gives.

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I like what A .W. Pink says about this. It's not that we gave our heart, but God gives us out of himself regeneration.

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And that is so true. It's God's giving that saves us, not our giving. You see, the great and precious promises that Peter talks about is that through these, through the great and precious promises, that we may be partakers of the divine nature.

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Isn't that beautiful? The divine nature. Who's divine nature? God's divine nature. Through the

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Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells within us. Having escaped, don't you love that?

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Escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. So the new birth is divine.

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As Brother Keith said earlier, it's the greatest miracle. It is. You look at all creation and it's beautiful, isn't it?

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And how God spoke it all into existence and God speaks through his creation. It makes a declaration.

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But you know the greatest declaration of God's great work is the new birth.

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Amen. He takes a stony heart out and puts in a new heart of flesh. You beloved are a great creation, a recreation, greater than what we see.

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This new birth is not of the flesh. It's not from below. That's what

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Jesus meant. He told Nicodemus this. It is from above. It comes from God, the

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Father of lights. You see that in John chapter 3. I want to quote it again.

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I mentioned it last week, but this is recapping pretty much everything I said last week. Verses 5 through 8.

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Jesus our Lord speaks to Nicodemus, Nicodemus should have known these things.

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He was a professor of theology in his day. Jesus rebuked him for it because he said you should know these things.

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Then he speaks about how the Holy Spirit, God, works in the new birth and notice in verse 5 of chapter 3 through 8,

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Jesus answered after Nicodemus says how can these things be?

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He says, Jesus says, most assuredly, verily, verily, I say to you, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the

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Spirit. It cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the

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Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel. That means do not be surprised that I said to you, you must be born again.

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He told that to a very religious man. Then Jesus says this about the

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Spirit. The wind blows. Notice how Jesus takes an illustration, an everyday illustration about the wind.

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He is speaking about the Spirit of God actually. The wind blows where it wishes, where it wishes, where it wills.

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You hear the sound of it but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.

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Then he says this, so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

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That is a perfect illustration. What Jesus is doing in reference, he is giving reference to the prophet

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Ezekiel in chapter 36, verse 24 through 27, we looked at that, that the spiritual washing of purification of the soul is really only accomplished by God's own will.

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That is what Jesus is saying. It's by the will of God. It is through the

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Holy Spirit that one comes into the kingdom. Cannot do it himself. I like what

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MacArthur says, I'm going to say it again. All of us that are heading, right diving down to hell like on a grease slide and God rescues us.

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I like what Sproul says. God just doesn't throw out a life buoy and says here, grab it and I'll pull you in.

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No, God literally dives in and scoots you up and rescues you and then breathes life in you.

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It's like he does CPR, brings you to life. That's what God does.

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It's a salvation to the uttermost. It's by the power of the Holy Spirit.

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It's only through the Holy Spirit. No one can come into the kingdom unless the Holy Spirit is bringing one in.

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And we're going to look at scriptures to that in just a few minutes. So it's through the word of God at the moment of salvation.

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I don't know if you noticed this, but as you study this about the miracle of regeneration, the

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Father has part with it, the Son has part with it, and the Spirit has part with it because God is three in one.

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And I remember reading Tozer about this and he's so right. What God did in creation, all three parts, all three parts of the

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Trinity, not being separate but being one God, had part with creation.

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Just the same with redemption. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit all had part with redemption.

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Our new birth. So the requirement really to see and to enter into the kingdom of God is to be born again.

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So James clarifies this truth that Jesus taught that the new birth that gives new life is by God's own will.

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He exercised that. What does this mean? The phrase of his own will is emphatic in the

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Greek. The word will, I like this, carries the idea of counsel. It carries the idea of counsel.

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So in other words, God himself conferred with himself, you're going to love this, God conferred with himself about what he would do when mankind fell into sin.

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It was already driven. He knew what was going to happen, didn't he? A lot of people stopped right there and said, well if God's sovereign, why did he make

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Lucifer if he knew he was going to rebel? God knew all things. Well, God did know that. Why did

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God do, why did he allow man to sin and all this?

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But you know, God already drew up the plan of salvation. He's already had the solution. It's the way, you know, the secret things belong to God.

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We can't answer all these questions. But I do know this. God had the plan of salvation already drew up before the foundation of this world.

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And he's already had a way for us to get to heaven. That's his creation.

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And God's purposes is really all about his glory. It's not about us. If you're part of salvation and redemption, what little part we are and how little we are in the scope of this something so massive, it's really all about God's glory.

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If you study Jonathan Edwards, and I know Brother Keith and Fee, I read his wonderful Jonathan Edwards' great sermon,

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Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, which is a powerful sermon. But Edwards was so deep about the glory of God, he studied this immensely.

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He was so consumed with it. We should be too. Because everything from Genesis and the 66 books of inspiration of Scripture, Genesis to Revelation, is all about the glory of God.

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It's all about God's glory. Even salvation. A lot of people would just focus so much on salvation, salvation, salvation.

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And it is great. But it's all because God's great. And it's because God is good and it's about his glory.

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That's the end of all of it. So in other words, God himself conferred with himself. And God counseled himself before time began in eternity, resulting in a decision to choose, that means to mark out, predestine, to regenerate those who would believe in his son.

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He already knew this, according to his foreknowledge. But it goes further than that, doesn't it?

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We're going to look at that. God alone would give them a second birth, those that would believe by his act of sovereign choice and power.

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Therefore regeneration is an act of God's power. It is the work of the

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Holy Spirit of God that those who are spiritually dead, according to Ephesians chapter 2 verses 1 through 10, so that the

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Spirit of God, the third person of the Trinity, the Godhead, recreates the human heart, which was a heart of stone, gives a heart of flesh, quickening, making alive, from spiritual death to spiritual life.

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Isn't that a great thing? Where formerly we had no disposition, in other words, no desire whatsoever, no inclination, no desire for the things of God and God, now we are inclined with new desires, this is the new birth, from above, towards God, and for God.

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So regeneration, you know, when you read the Scripture like this in Romans, that in the new birth that God sheds his love upon our hearts by the

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Holy Spirit. Notice that. By the Holy Spirit, by the Holy Ghost, by God.

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God does this. It's an act of God. It's not something we can do within ourselves.

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Now, we'll look at later on about the whosoever will, it keeps going deeper and deeper, and we can really go look further into this, but I'd like to help us, all of us in that, because I've wondered some of the things myself, but after studying it, even repentance and faith is a gift from God, that no one has the capabilities within themselves to do this.

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Only God can do it. Now, in regeneration, God plants that desire, that's the seed, that's the seed for himself in the depraved human heart that would otherwise not be there.

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Beloved, this is an act of sovereign grace. As God said through the prophet

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Ezekiel, and I'd like to quote it again, in chapter 36, verse 25 and 26, he says this,

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I will give. Don't you love that? There it is again. Give.

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God gives. Right? I will give you a new heart. I will put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

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There's nothing there that says, I give you my heart, God, at the altar or something.

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It is God that supernaturally does the giving. Think, what a great and glorious God we have.

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A Savior that saves us to the uttermost for His glory and purpose. You see, the church of the living God is valuable to God and is most important to God.

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John 1, verse 12, I'm sorry, and 13 says this, but as many as received

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Him, that means Jesus Christ, to as many as received Jesus Christ, to them

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He, the Father, gave, there's the word gave again. The right, that means the power, the ability, to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, notice this, not the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

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That's pretty much to the point, isn't it? It's God's will. Well, let's move to question two.

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Question two says this, what is it, James says, he gives us, He brought us forth.

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God brought us forth. What does that mean? He, God, brought us forth.

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He is the same as rendered gives birth, in verse 15.

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In regeneration, God gives birth, gives birth in a sense, gives us the new birth,

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I'm sorry, in a spiritual life. Regeneration is a divine miracle of God, by which the principle of new life is implanted in the very heart and soul of men and women, that is governed by a disposition to make us holy, listen to this, to set us apart from the world, to make us like Jesus Christ, that's in sanctification, but in salvation that happens as well.

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This is what is meant by brought us forth. In Christ, believers actually become partakers of the nature of God.

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I want you to think about that. You start thinking about the greatness of it.

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It causes worship, doesn't it? God's nature is implanted within us.

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New birth is unseen by any human eye. As Jesus was talking about, you do not see the wind, but what he was referring to, but you see the effects of it.

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There's a change. There's a transformation. Paul said that. If anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation.

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Old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new. In other words, look, this new creation, something has happened.

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There is a transformation. I like what Tozer says, if you've been saved by grace, then you have been changed by grace.

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That is so true. There has to be a change. There are many people,

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I say that and I emphasize this, there are people that say they're part of the church today and they continue to live like the world and love sin.

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They have not been changed. I know you and I know people like this, don't we? They profess Christianity, they profess the name of God, but they continue to wallow into their sin.

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There is no transformation. Amen. They are deceived. It is deception and they believe a lie and scripture says if they believe a lie, they're going to be damned.

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That's sad, but that's the way it is. But Jesus says you see the effects because there's clearly seen a transformation.

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And as Jesus says, the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.

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The effects is seen. No one can manipulate the

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Holy Spirit of God. Jesus uses an illustration to Nicodemus of the divine work of the

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Holy Spirit as the wind and the spirit seemingly that blows where it wills. The Spirit of God sovereignly works.

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Likewise, no one knows the origin or the destination of the wind. We don't know which direction the wind comes.

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Sometimes you could say, well, it's coming from the east or south, but what's that wind doing? It can change about any time.

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God can alter it. God does that. But everyone who knows it's there.

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The wind, you feel it. You can't see it, but you feel the effects of it. The Spirit of the living

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God sovereignly moves in where He wills and pleases and gives new birth to those whom

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He is predestined to believe. Now, you got a chapter and verse on that? Absolutely. Absolutely. That is a lot of chapter and verses and I don't have time to go through all of them.

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Let me give you just a few. How about Acts 13, 48? Acts 13, 48.

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Listen to this. Now, when the Gentiles, don't you love that, that's us, the

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Gentiles, heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. As many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

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Did you get that? To as many that had been, had been in eternity past appointed to eternal life believed.

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This is one of the great scriptures of the clear statements of the sovereignty of God and salvation that God chooses man for salvation, not the opposite.

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You see? What about John 6, 65? Look at the words of Jesus. John 6, 65.

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And he said, this is Jesus, therefore I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by my

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Father. MacArthur says of this verse, and I love this, although men and women are commanded to believe and will be held accountable for unbelief, genuine faith is never exclusively a matter of human decision.

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Once again, in the face of unbelief, Jesus reiterated God's sovereignty involved in selection for salvation.

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Look at verse 37. Jesus says, all that the Father gives me, this is

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Jesus speaking, all that the Father gives me will come to me.

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That's emphatic. And the one who comes to me, I will in no means cast out.

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Verse 44 of John chapter 6. John chapter 6 is great,

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I'm telling you. No one, Jesus says, no one again can come to me unless the

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Father who sent me draws him. And then he says this, and I will raise him up at the last day.

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In other words, he will be my child. He is a believer. Scriptures indicates clearly that no free will exists in man's nature.

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You know that? We actually, our will is in bondage until God pulls it out.

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Man is enslaved to sin and total depravity, and he's unable to believe apart from God's sovereign empowerment.

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While, at the same time, whosoever will may come to the Father, only those whom the

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Father gives the ability to will toward him will actually come to him. All is invited to come, but all will not come.

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That's clear, isn't it? He only has a few. That's what

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Jesus says. Many are called, but few are chosen. That's the effectual calling.

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You see, the drawing here is selective. It produces the desired effect upon those whom

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God has sovereignly chosen for salvation. Those whom God has chosen will believe because and only because God has sovereignly determined that it, that result from eternity past.

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You see, God is ordained of his own will. He has brought us forth.

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So salvation is all of the Lord's grace provided in the Lord Jesus Christ through faith and faith alone.

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That's why Paul calls it thanks being to God. Unspeakable gift.

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That's what he said. Let's go to question three. How does it happen? How does it happen?

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What he says is, we're brought forth by the word of truth.

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He brings us forth by the word of truth. By the word of truth will be rendered literally in the original, by truth's word.

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By truth's word. That is, by the word of God, by scripture and the Holy Spirit's power, believers are born again, regenerated by the act of power of God's holy word.

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The apostle Paul uses this phrase, word of truth, several times. In his second letter to the church of Corinth, he speaks of commending himself as a servant of God in order to defend his apostleship.

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In 2 Corinthians 6, verse 7, this is what he said, in the word of truth and in the power of God.

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Notice that. In the word of truth, in the power of God, those cannot be separated.

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The word of God and the spirit of God. He also reminded the believers in Colossians 1 .5,

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the hope laid up for you in heaven. That's personal, isn't it?

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To the believers, the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, of the gospel.

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And he admonishes his beloved Timothy in 2 Timothy 2, verse 15, one of my favorite verses, be diligent to present yourself and show yourself approved unto

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God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling or rightly dividing the word of truth.

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The word of truth. So in the broadest sense, the word of truth is the whole counsel of God.

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It is the whole counsel of God. That's the gospel. And Paul speaks of this and states in Ephesians 1 .13,

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in him, speaking of Christ, in Christ, you also, after listening, you have to hear it.

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Paul said that, right? For faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

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That's why the word of God is the agent. The word of God is the instrument and the Holy Spirit takes a hold of that.

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The gospel of your salvation, and then he says this, having also believed you were sealed in him with the

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Holy Spirit of promise. So there's his point. Now, the last question is this.

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Why is it done? Why is it done? Well James says this, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among his creatures.

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James explains why God regenerates those who believe and place their complete trust in the

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Lord Jesus Christ and he gives the purpose. Although salvation is the single greatest possible blessing a human being can receive, it's primarily purpose is not to benefit man, us, right?

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But to fulfill God's sovereign purpose. That's what you got to see. You know, when I first saw this, it just transformed my walk with the

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Lord, that I'm a love gift from God. That God is, it's not all, it's not all about me.

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It's about God. It's about his glory. It's about his sovereign purpose.

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The believers becoming, as it were, the first fruits among his creatures. In other words, what he's saying here, the end of all means of God's purpose in the plan of redemption is for God's glory.

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It's all for the glory of God. And if you read Revelation, you see this. After it's all said and done, the smoke is cleared,

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God pours out his wrath, his judgment comes. And then the word of God, if you read

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Revelation, you see heaven praising the Lord and God for his righteous judgments. And with blessing

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God and all the saints in heaven and all those that God has redeemed are given power and glory and honor to him that sits on the throne.

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Isn't that wonderful? It's all about his glory. Our salvation is all about God's glory.

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If you look at it, when Jesus died on the cross, he died for the salvation of our souls, but he really ultimately died for the glory of God.

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He died for God's glory. To bring men to God.

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It's all about God. To truly understand this, James means in the first fruits. Let's look at this word first fruits.

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We have to go back in the Old Testament because the word first fruits is a language from the sacrificial system of the

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Old Testament. It's an Old Testament language, first fruits, actually. I don't have time to go through all these verses, but if you're writing them down, read this in your devotional times.

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You can read this in Exodus chapter 23, verses 16 through 19,

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Exodus 34, 19 through 26. Let me know if I'm going too fast.

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Leviticus chapter 2, verse 12, Numbers 15, 20 through 21, and Deuteronomy 18, verse 4.

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Those are all referring to the first fruits of what God is speaking of, the first fruits product of the field and the flock, that's what he's speaking of.

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These first fruits were the first and best of the crops that were harvested and were usually an indicator of what the rest of the crop would be like.

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Now, we're not farmers, right? But if we had a farmer in here today, he would truly understand what

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I'm talking about about first fruits. It's pretty much the best of the crop.

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That's what he's talking about, the best and the finest of the crop. If there's one thing to take home with you, remember that.

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It is the very best and the finest of the crop. The farmer would be inclined to take,

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I got this from MacArthur by the way, to take that early harvest and store it away in case the rest was lost to a drought, the locusts or calamities.

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He would store it up. He would be inclined to do this, but, there's the key word, but the

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Lord required that it was to be the first and best which was offered to him.

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Isn't that beautiful? So what's James saying? He said, we, he is applying the term of the believers in Christ of that time, perhaps especially to the

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Jewish believers, I would think, because there were Jewish believers there among him he was writing to, because he writes to the

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Jews, right, dispersed, scattered abroad. Who were the first of the harvest of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Brother Michael is not here today, but Brackwell, you'll be hearing this. He mentioned that at the day of Pentecost, after Peter preached that powerful sermon, this is an example, he stood up and preached that sermon, three thousand souls came into the kingdom.

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They were a first fruit of harvest. We see that. God brought three thousand souls, the best, right in at the first, and all those who come afterwards are the best as well.

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They were the first of many more to come, and the spiritual harvest that God was beginning.

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You know, really, I think about this most often, if I'm driving, you see masses of people.

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You ever think of this? There's masses of people, and it's almost like the people is like a harvest field.

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I couldn't help but think of this years back. I was running a milk route out in Rosedale, and I was going, you know, how beautiful the country could be, and you see cotton for miles and miles, and I think, you know, that's the way the

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Lord looks upon the souls of men. But yet there's a harvest day that's coming, there's a harvesting, and scripture says that he's going to pick out what is the best, and the rest is going to be burned.

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That's not doing any good. That's the way it is. All flesh is like that.

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It comes up, it's harvest, and it's gone. But the word of the

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Lord endures. First Corinthians 1615, Paul spoke of the household of Stephanas as being the first fruits of Achaia.

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James is saying that those who, of God's own will, have been brought forth by the word of truth as the kind of first fruits of his creatures.

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That's what he's saying. It is the finest birth possible. The new birth is the finest and the best.

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It is the expression of the devotion and our obedience to God. Proverbs 3, 9 says this, honor the

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Lord with our substance, and with the first fruits of all thy increase. There's honor to God, see, and devotion to him.

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Think of it like this, of all the creatures God has chosen, and this whole universe, being born again believers in the

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Lord Jesus Christ, is his highest and finest to him. Not because of who we are, but because of who he is.

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Warren Wiersbe says this, we share God's nature for this reason. It is beneath our dignity to accept

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Satan's bait, in context to James 1, or to desire sinful things.

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And then he says this, I love this, a higher birth must mean a higher life.

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By granting us a new birth, God declares that he cannot accept the old birth.

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Throughout the Bible, God rejects the first born and accepts the second born. This is beautiful.

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Listen to this. He says he accepted Abel and not Cain. He accepted Isaac and not

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Ishmael. He accepted Jacob and not Esau. He rejects your first birth, no matter how noble it might have been in the eyes of men.

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And he announces that you need a second birth, end quote.

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It's seen in Scripture. That's God's perspective. You know, that sums it up, doesn't it?

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First fruits, the finest and best. Let me give application.

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Let's look at this. How does this all work? Well, I think to make sure that you're in the kingdom,

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Scripture is pointedly, it's having yourself to see if you're in the faith. There's nothing wrong with that.

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It's the most important thing in our life. We must make our calling and election sure.

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Apply this to our personal lives and everyday walk. In other words, to be part of this great first fruit harvest, which is the best before God.

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Jesus says you must be born again to see and enter into the kingdom of God.

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There's nothing more valuable than a soul. Jesus says you can gain the whole world, the whole world, and lose your soul.

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It's the greatest tragedy. You think of that.

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Nothing is more valuable to God than a soul. There's nothing in life more important than this.

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John 17, which is considered the Holy of Holies in the Word of God, before Jesus goes to the cross to die for the

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Father's glory and the salvation of His people. I emphasize, He prays these words, lifted up His eyes in heaven, and He says this,

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Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son and that your Son may glorify you. Notice the glory of God.

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Verse 2, as you have given Him authority, the Father gives Jesus all the authority over all flesh that you should give eternal life to as many as you have given

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Him. Notice there, the time again, again. God is the one that gives, even to Jesus.

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The Father gives the believers, the sons and daughters of the living

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God, to Jesus. Isn't that beautiful? This prayer request that Jesus presents to the

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Father will be answered in God the Father's time in history until that last day.

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Again, this is a clear reference to God's choosing of those who will come to Christ.

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This is a biblical doctrine of election, of predestination. And anyone that denies this is not denying men, it's denying

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God. So that means that I sit back and wait on God to save me?

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I do nothing? That's really a good question. Since God does it all, does that mean

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I sit back and wait for lightning to strike? What do you do with that?

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Well, I'll be honest with you, if we had that attitude, we'd all end up in hell. It's the truth, isn't it?

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And there are people that think that. And the teaching of Scripture, let it be evident that we must come to Christ.

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We must come in and repent. We must do the believing. We must do the repenting as the

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Spirit of God is pulling us in and drawing us in. I say pull, really a better word is drawing.

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To repent and believe the Gospel. What does it say in Mark 1, 14 and 15?

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Listen to this. Now, after John the Baptist was put in prison, his ministry was pretty much done.

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He did what he was called to do. He was put in prison. He was okay with it. Because he pointed people to Christ and he knew

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Jesus was the Lamb of God. He says I must decrease, he must increase.

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And he was okay with that. Jesus came to Galilee, the Scripture says in Mark 1, 14, 15.

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Listen to this. Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. He preached the Kingdom of God.

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Why? Because he's the King. Isn't that great? Here's the King himself making the announcement. But really,

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John was the herald that was the forerunner of Christ. But here's the

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King himself even making the proclamation and saying this is Jesus. The time is fulfilled.

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There it is. The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand.

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Beloved, it's still that way. And then what does he say? Repent and believe the

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Gospel. In other words, we are deterred from our wicked ways that which

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God commands, not a suggestion, and turned to Him in faith.

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How do we know this? Well, think of Paul's sermon in Acts 17, chapter,

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I'm sorry, verse 31. Paul preaches at Mars Hill and says, truly, these times of ignorance

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God overlooked. But notice what he says, his language, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.

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Repent, why? He tells you why. Verse 31, he says, because he, he,

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God, has appointed, it's going to happen, there's no escape in this.

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No escape in it. He has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained,

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Jesus Christ. He has given assurance of this to all. How do we know he's given assurance?

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By raising him from the dead. The resurrection. And after this, you can read it.

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A lot of people mocked Paul, what he preached, and some says, oh, consider this again. Let's hear him out again.

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Not everybody came and repented. You see, that is

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Jesus Christ being raised from the dead is confirmation that this is going to happen.

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John chapter 5, how do we know this? Well, Paul knew his Bible. John chapter 5, verse 22 through 27 confirms everything that the

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Apostle Paul preached on Mars Hill. Listen to this. Right here, I would like to say, do not make a mistake in regeneration, then there's conversion.

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What do I mean by that? Okay, let me insert this in real quick. There is a difference between regeneration and conversion.

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Regeneration is not to be confused with the full experience of conversion. And I want to explain this.

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That means repentance and faith. In other words, just as the birth is not our initiation into this world, our first experience into life outside of the womb, so our spiritual rebirth is the starting point of a spiritual life in God.

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It occurs by God's divine initiative. It is God's divine initiative, and it's an act that is sovereign, immediate, and instantaneous.

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Not gradual. We don't gradually come into the kingdom. Now sanctification is gradual, but not the new birth, not regeneration.

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I like this. Sanctification begins where justification ends. Donald Gray Barnhill said that. That is so true.

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Sanctification begins where justification ends. An awareness of conversion may be gradual, yet rebirth is instantaneous.

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No one can be partially reborn any more than a woman can be partially pregnant. You are or you're not.

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John 3 .36. I've got chapter and verse for that. It's not Pastor David. He who believes in the

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Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

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MacArthur says this. That's a powerful verse, beloved. This constitutes, this is

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MacArthur, constitutes a fitting climax to chapter 3 of John. John the

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Baptist laid out two alternatives, genuine faith and defiant disobedience, thereby bringing to the forefront of the threat of looming judgment.

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As John faded from the forefront, he offered an invitation to faith in the Son of God and clearly expressed the ultimate consequence of failure to believe, which would be the wrath of God.

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We are commanded of God through our Lord Jesus Christ to repent and believe the gospel. In other words, to repent and believe the gospel, so better or must we must be born again or we will face the wrath of God.

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That will suffer upon our souls throughout eternity. You know, we've got to hear the bad news before we appreciate the good news.

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That's the way it is. And you know, it's sad today, a lot of churches are not preaching the bad news.

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They just focus on the good news, and don't get me wrong, the gospel is the answer, but to really understand mercy and grace, we must understand what wrath and law is.

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We must see this. We must hear the bad news. Notice, Paul does this in Romans 1.

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You see, repentance and believing the gospel is paramount. That's the good news.

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You're invited to come to Jesus, but with that great invitation, we're commanded to repent.

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Our minds, in other words, repent, we're to change our direction, we're to change our mind, we're to turn toward God and turn from our wicked ways and believe the gospel and lay hold of Christ and fly to Christ.

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That's to trust and faith in the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ and admonish that he accomplished on the cross.

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There is an order of salvation here. It's been called in Latin the ordius salutis.

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It's not complicated. I want to simplify this for us real quick in closing. The scripture first, one must be regenerated.

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In other words, regeneration is first in the order of salvation. Regeneration, second, there's faith.

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Regeneration means I must be born again. That's the new birth, born from above. Second, there's faith and repentance, which follows.

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That means believing. Regeneration, then there's faith. Faith basically means to believe.

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Third, this is the order and you can find this in scripture. By believing in faith, one is justified.

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Justification by faith in Christ alone. By the way, the only way we can be justified is by faith.

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That means we trust. We place our complete confidence. We throw everything on God that God has saved us, that God is the one that did the work.

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Then fourth, after justification, sanctification. See sanctification follows.

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Then your walk, that's proof. The way you walk and conduct yourself, that you've been justified.

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That doesn't mean we're going to be perfect, but the direction is in that way.

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See, that's our personal walk with God and personal holiness, how we live before God, before God and men until we die.

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Then after that, fifth and last is glorification.

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You see? It begins in regeneration and ends in glorification. That's ordus salutis.

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That's the order of salvation. That's the order that God has given in the teaching of Holy Scripture.

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Glorification is the last. That's homecoming, beloved. That's graduation. That's the way you say it.

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You graduated. I remember Dr. Benson used to say that when a member of his church, this is a professor at Holmes College of the

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Bible, he said, such and such, graduation, she's home.

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That's the way it is. We miss her and we miss him, but she made it in.

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Graduation. Amen. Homecoming. That's being part of the firstfruits before God.

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Let me close with this great truth about that we must be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures as giving

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God that initial crop as a farmer was required to do is an act of faith, by the way.

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He that comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them, of those who diligently seek

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Him. Brother Keith, as you put that on the, he sent that on the phone. I said, that's in my sermon today.

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I love that verse of Scripture. But it's a very important Scripture. Why? Because you think of it.

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The farmer would fulfill his promise as a full harvest to come. It's by faith. By faith.

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Again, Proverbs 3. Honor the Lord with your possessions, your substance, and the firstfruits of all your increase, that your barns may be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

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In other words, you put the priority right. You honor God. And God will honor you.

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We honor His Word because He honors His Word. God will.

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We have to do this by trusting the Lord with all of our heart, and not to lean on our own understanding, by giving the first and the best to God.

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Next, it says, by being fair. Verse 27 of Proverbs.

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Do not withhold good from those whom it is due. When it is in the power of your hand to do so, we give generously.

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Proverbs 11 .25. The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also water himself.

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And by expressing gratitude for all that God has given us, in Deuteronomy 6 .9

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-11. Well, the result of all this faithfulness to honor God, and satisfaction will come.

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In the same way, believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are the first evidence of God's creation to come.

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2 Peter 3. Let me close with this. It says this. 2 Peter 3, verses 10 -13.

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But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat.

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This is going to happen. Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

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In other words, it will be laid bare. God's going to do this. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons...

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Notice what he says now. He says, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, and I love this, looking forward and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat.

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Nevertheless, you see, believers, we, according to His promise, look for a new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells.

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Christians are the first evidence of God's creation, His new creation, and we enjoy presently our new life in Jesus Christ as just but a foretaste of the future glory to come.

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That's what it says. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank You for this wonderful time.

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You are the one that did the giving. You gave Your one and only begotten

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Son so that we might have life and have it more abundantly. You gave Your Son that we might not perish but have everlasting life.

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But in that giving that cost You everything, we are to believe, we are to believe the

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Gospel. We are to repent and believe the Gospel with all of our heart, not just part of it, all of it.

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With our mouth, confessions made into salvation, but with the heart, we believe unto righteousness.

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Father, we thank You. It's a righteousness that's not our own. It's the righteousness of Jesus that we're dressed in.

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If we're not dressed in His righteousness, we will perish. That simple. So, Father, we thank

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You that we, because of Your divine mercy, that we're so undeserving of,

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You have robed us in the righteousness of Jesus Christ that has been bought and paid for by the precious blood of the

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Lamb. The one that was rich, yet for our sake, became poor that through His poverty might become rich.

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Thank You, Father. The one who

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You made, who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

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Father, we thank You. We thank You for these great and precious promises that's all in Jesus and all and all in Him.