Why Are You A Christian? - [James 1:17-18]

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Ever ask the question why? Sometimes it's from a kid But it doesn't end with the first why?
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You answer the question and then they say why again? And then they say why why why every time you know when my children were little daddy?
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Why did you marry mom? Well because I loved her Why? Well, she's godly on the inside and pretty on the outside.
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Why? And finally sometimes I'd have to say to my kids You can ask this one last question why but if you ask the next question, you're gonna get a spankin
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Why are you kidding? I mean, there's got to be an end of the why questions eventually, right?
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My question to you this morning is why are you a Christian? If you're a
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Christian this morning, maybe there are some people here that are not born again But if you're a Christian, why are you a
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Christian? You say well I believed What's my next question?
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Why? Well, someone brought the gospel to me and showed me my sin and the riches of Christ Jesus his his death on the cross as a sin bearer his literal resurrection and I could see how attractive that was
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My conscience convicted me. I knew how sinful I was and and I couldn't turn away from it Well, I live my life in sin and I and I was compelled to run from my sin and run to the cross by faith why and This morning in our passage.
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We're going to answer that question with the terminal. Why why are you a
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Christian? And the answer is going to be something you already know But it's good to be reminded of if you're a
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Christian today, you're a Christian because God made you one It's not because of your own faith, it's not because of the evangelist that brought you good news
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It's not even based on those people that prayed for you to become a Christian. You are a Christian Because God is the final one who made you a
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Christian Turn your Bibles to James chapter 1 this morning It's been about 19 years since I've been in James.
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And so I thought I would return to James. We will get back to Hebrews in the next week are to jump back headfirst into Hebrews Maybe not headlong but headfirst into Hebrews, but this morning
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James chapter 1 why is anyone a Christian as you know all doctrine as the
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Puritans would say is Practical and all practice is doctrinal and you will notice as we work through James chapter 1
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You'll say to yourself if I made myself a Christian I can pat myself on the back If other people made me
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Christians, then I can pat them on the back. But if God made me a Christian Then I only have him to praise right let him who boasts boast in the
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Lord and if God takes you out of darkness and Places you in delight if you were in the world and now you're in Christ Jesus if you're forgiven for all your sins and God did that Could any man forgive his own sins?
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Could any man make peace with God the answer is no and no, but if God made you a
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Christian then the response is Thank you I don't know if anybody's done something super nice for you before and your your knee -jerk reaction is
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Thank you. And so you'll notice today as you go through James 1 the response for the Christian is probably amazement
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How could you do this God knowing who I was and secondly, thank you. Thank you.
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Thank you I think it will also give you insight into the world's problems Because friend the world is in a total disaster mode and No politician can solve it
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Did you hear me? No Politician can solve it. No doctor can cure it
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No scientists can invent the solution you have to make the right diagnosis first and the diagnosis is there's a sin problem
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And only atonement can solve it The world needs an internal change the
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Christian observer said You might as well try to cure smallpox by scenery as to try to save the world by improvement of environment
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I think you could ask Adam to confirm that my own take this was in the middle of jet lag
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So forgive me, you might as well try to cure greed by the lottery It just doesn't make any sense
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Today praising God from whom all blessings flow the subject of regeneration who causes regeneration
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Who is the author of regeneration? How did you become a Christian and the answer ahead of time is you're a
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Christian because of God's free will God's determining will God's loving will God's distinguishing will
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The ultimate cause for your Christianity is from God Well, let's just go to James chapter 1
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We're gonna focus on verses 17 and 18 today in a book full of all kinds of imperatives.
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There are few indicatives There are a few statements of fact that are wonderful to use Machen's terminology the great theologian
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He said there are some triumphant Indicatives and our verses are going to be 17 and 18
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But I think it would be good for us to see the context and let me read James 1 1 through about verse 12 and then we'll pick up our exposition for today answering the question
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Why is anyone a Christian with the answer? monergistic regeneration
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James a Servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the twelve tribes in the dispersion greetings
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Count it all joy my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and Let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing
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If any of you lacks wisdom Let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given it will be given him
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But let him ask in faith With no doubting for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind
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For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double -minded man unstable in all his ways verse 9 let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation and the rich in his
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Humiliation because like a flower of the grass he will pass away For the
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Sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass its flower falls and its beauty
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Perishes so also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits
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Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial for when he has stood the test
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He will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him verse 13
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You're going to notice that temptation evil temptation. It's from the inside. It's not from God.
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Let no one say Let no one say when he's tempted. I'm being tempted by God For God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself emphatically
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Tempts no one the problem with this illicit temptation lies elsewhere It's not found on the outside God.
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It's found from the inside the real blame Is the person I'm the one to blame you're the one to blame want to blame someone the blame doesn't go to God But each person do you know his first 14 is tempted when he is lured enticed by his own desire
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Then desire when it is it has conceived gives birth to sin and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death
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Friends it's easy to say You know what God's tempting me God's arranging providentially such a such a format so that I'm just gonna fall headlong
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Into sin the problems with everybody else. It's easy to be misled and therefore
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James writes verse 16 Do not be deceived if it wasn't easy to be deceived.
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You wouldn't have to write it, but it's easy to blame others Especially to blame God Especially those who have been taught
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Reformed doctrine of sovereignty and providence blaming God for something Don't be deceived and and look at the pastoral heart of the half -brother of Jesus my beloved brothers
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Now you can say when you're getting tempted. Let's not blame God. I'm really the problem.
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I don't want to be deceived But it also bolsters The the one who's being tempted when he looks to God to see what does
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God do in the middle of these things who is God? What's his track record and we come to our two verses for this morning verses 17 and 18
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And you're gonna see that God gives He's a giving God. He's he he's not the cause of some
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Temptation so we can blame him He provides everything salvation and even the remedy in temptation every good gift and Every perfect gift is from above Coming down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change of his own will
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He brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his
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Creatures Here's what we're gonna do today We're gonna look at these verses in context and then we're gonna have some questions and answers about salvation
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Why we're Christians, so we'll do some exposition and then some questions with biblical answers looking back at verse 17
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The good gifts come to us from above our temptation is from within These good and perfect gifts come from Above to see that God does evil and he does sin and he he somehow tries to trip us up That's not true.
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He's a comprehensive giver Do you notice every two times there in English and in Greek every good giving and every perfect gift is from above.
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I Hate the inclusiveness that the world sells, but I love this kind of inclusiveness Everything good comes from God and that word good means useful beneficial
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He's lavish in his generosity If you're in a temptation, you can't blame God because everything God does he he does well, and he he just gives it's like that King that died as the story goes and he had two sons who would be the successor
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And those two little boys laying there sleeping One with his fist tightly shut and the other with his hand wide open
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They said let's pick the boy with the hand wide open and he'll be known as the king with the open hands
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Here's God with his hands open he's not tempting He gives good gifts everything.
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He gives is good everything He makes is good this harkens back to Genesis chapter 1 God saw the light was good
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He called the dry land The dry ground land and God saw that it was good
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The land produced vegetation and God saw that it was good and you know the refrain over and over and God saw that it was good
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Even back in verse 5. Do you notice if anyone lacks wisdom? Let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach
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Everything you need comes from God wisdom salvation family friends and Everything in between and this is not only a good gift.
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Do you notice what the text says? It's a perfect gift It's a lacking nothing gift
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If you like to look at farm animals, you don't see usually too often cows with only one leg or Horses, maybe with two legs
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God gives perfectly God gives completely there's nothing lacking
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When I was a kid we had we didn't have iPhones so we had to use our imagination We had to do things like pull the legs off of big grasshoppers and put them in the spider webs
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You know things like that the boys do that's after we got the magnifying glass and like burned holes in their wings
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Kids had to be creative in those days if you take a
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Microscope and you look at something man -made on the outside It looks pretty detailed and looks pretty good.
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And then under the microscope you will see the flaws You'll see the imperfections
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But take a flower. I was gonna look at this one. Are these real? Good, it's gonna offend somebody who just gave them
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If you look at the flower and you'll look at under a microscope, you'll see it is close to perfection That's just how
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God does things. It's just perfect It's wonderful smooth clear
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James is saying when you're troubled with persecution in the world Make sure you don't ever say
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God. How could you God? Why would you? Because whether it's wisdom or anything else everything that God does is good
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The Puritan Thomas Manton said God is originally good good of himself Which nothing else is for all creatures are good only by participation and communication from God God is essentially good.
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Not only good but goodness itself. The creature's good is a super added quality in God Goodness is his essence
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He's infinitely good. He's eternally and immutably good for he cannot be less good than he is some people think these verses
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Were a hymn in the original Church the first century church, and if they weren't a hymn, maybe they should have been
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And to look back at the verse again every good and perfect gift is is from above like a
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Jewish man talking about God not trying to say God very often. It's from above from God coming down from the father of Heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows
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This is constant a revealing of who God is unending succession one writer said
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And when you think of father you should say to yourself fathers Create they don't destroy when you think of fathers.
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You should think fathers have compassion They're not trying to get their children to sin reminds me of Jesus when he said in Matthew 7
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Which of you if his son asked for bread will give him a stone or if he asked for a fish will give him a
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Snake if you then though you're evil know how to give good gifts to your children How much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?
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Fathers are good. They're not tempting you to sin enticing you to sin and James keeps going.
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He's what kind of father a father of lights This is all alluding back to Genesis chapter 1
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God making two great lights the greater Light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night.
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He also made the stars and This God who does this and who is this?
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Never is going to change. Do you notice a text with whom there's no variation? That harkens back to Malachi.
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I'm the Lord. I do not change God's not going to cause you to sin if he's this good.
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That's what James is saying now you have moon outside and Sometimes the moon is waxing.
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Sometimes it's waning. Sometimes it's what's a gibbous a Waxing gibbous.
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What does that mean? I know my kids know sound. I know that's what moons do when moons act moonish
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Lee They often wax and wane There are eclipses in the Sun.
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There are clouds that come by and block the light You see
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The stars sometimes and sometimes you don't see them but with God there's no change He's eternally good.
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He's never going to cause you to sin That's why James is saying when things are getting really bad
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Don't somehow blame God Great is thy faithfulness.
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Oh God my what? father There is no Shadow of turning with thee thou changes not thy compassions.
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They what? Fail not as thou has been thou forever will be and James says
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I could sing that song But I'm talking about his goodness At the end of verse 17 who does not change like shifting shadows
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Those things are notorious for change You're persecuted
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Church. You're on the run Church. You want to blame people Church and James says to these 12 tribes of the dispersion
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Don't ever blame God because he's good Generally now he hones in on the specifics
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This brings us to our topic today What's the greatest gift God could ever give oh, it's nice to have rain and it's nice to enjoy a good meal
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But what's the greatest gift if God doesn't tempt to sin? What does he do the best?
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What's the most wonderful gift? you could ever have from God of his own will we move from general now to specific a
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Good God a giving God a perfectly giving God to now the most specific gift of his own will
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He brought us forth by the word This is regeneration.
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It's the language of birthing. It's the language of birth God doesn't tempt us in he's a he's a good
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God who's giving good things all the time Specifically he causes people to use the language of first Peter one to be born again
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How could we ever wag our finger at God and and say God? Why'd you do that? He gives us salvation the most perfect gift
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Isaiah 53 says after the suffering of his soul. He will see the light of life and be satisfied talking about the
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Messiah By his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many and he will bear their
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Iniquity and the writer Blanchard writes what a staggering sentence here
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We have a statement which says that at the end of time when man's existence on this planet has finally come to an end
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The eternal Son of God will look back on the whole Vast enterprise and especially his work of redemption and be satisfied
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Why because it's a good work This is the language of regeneration.
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Do you see it? He brought us forth He brings forth new life
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Justification is an outward declaration not guilty based on the work of Christ Jesus his perfect life credited to our account our sins credited to his account confirmed by the resurrection
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It's external. It's judicial. It's courtroom. Now. This language is internal this language is
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New life new birth an inner Recreating of the human nature that's fallen and the
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Spirit of God is pleased to do it. This is a new Disposition that's given to us an inward work now some people think when you hear the word generation they say they think well
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That's like reincarnation, right? the Hindu heresy They call reincarnation some do at least to be born again
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Of course, we know that's Determined for a man wants to die and after that what the judgment this is not language of New Year's Day resolution perpetual
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Resolutions meaning regeneration. This is not word faith Deification dogs beget dogs cats beget cats and God begets little gods
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Has nothing to do with that, but what does it have to do with and now we come to our question and answer time about regeneration
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Maybe we could call this a primer on regeneration Question one is regeneration optional
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We've taught the context we've kind of looked through a little bit What was James trying to say and now let's hone in on let's camp on chapter 1 verse 18
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I'm trying to pace myself because I'm on a different time zone. I know but I've been gone for several weeks and I usually teach the
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Bible five six seven times a week and I did one Bible study in California.
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I taught at the Master Seminary one day and I preached one sermon So I want you to know
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I have a lot of bottled up energy A lot. I think the last time
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I preached from James gas was about a dollar eleven a gallon. So see things have changed Regeneration is it optional?
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Now here's where I'm going We have people, you know, these people I'm a
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Christian. They'll say are you born again? No, no, I'm not one of those Born agains that was big in the 70s.
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I remember my mom complete with the 1974 Malibu Station wagon and she had this yellow sign on the back of it and It was a yellow bumper sticker and then it had black letters and it said
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I found it And you were supposed to go to them and say what'd you find and she's supposed to say I found Jesus Let me tell you about Jesus.
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Do they have those in Massachusetts? You don't a bumper sticker is
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I don't know. I'm a
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Christian, but I'm just not really an uber Christian I'm not really a born -again Christian We'll turn to John chapter 1 if you would please we've been to this text several times, but it's good to see again for Jesus It's not a take it or leave it if you would like to see heaven if you'd like to be in heaven
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You can't say you're a Christian and not born again. You were born into this world fallen Adam sin imputed to your account your own fallen nature and you need to be
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Recreated yes, the judge needs to say by justification not guilty But also there needs to be a change on the inside new affections new new
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New birth, I don't even really say when
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I meet somebody on a plane someone on a plane I don't really say are you a Christian, but I would say to them regularly. Are you born again?
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Are you born again? John chapter 3 verse 1 Jesus commands this regeneration is not
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Optional now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus Remember at verse 2 he came to Jesus by night.
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He knew all about Jesus he wasn't saying Jesus you're you're satanic like some of the
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Pharisees and Sadducees would say he's got a demon. He didn't say any of that you're a teacher you come from God and you perform miracles and Jesus didn't even
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Address what Nicodemus was saying and here the omniscient son Replies I tell you the truth.
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No one can see the kingdom of God unless he's born again If I say to you you're never going to see the inside of my house.
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It means you're never going to go into it That's exactly the way Jesus is talking here You must be born again
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Doesn't he say that in verse 7? You must be born the summer.
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I met an almond farmer and He gave me some of his almonds they were good and He's a smart man, he's a smart farmer
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But he comes across like a farmer. He's not some big speaker or anything. He's a dear man of God and he's a farmer
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And he said I was going to my class reunion my 40th and They asked me to speak because I'm this big businessman in town, but I'm not really a speaker
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So I got up in front of all my friends and I said what then And then now he begins to preach to me the sermon that he preached
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To them and now I'm preaching to you go to high school and get a degree.
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What then? Go to college you get a degree. What then? Go get a job in corporate
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America or someplace else. What then? Find a wife or a spouse and get married have some children.
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What then and he's telling this to his class reunion Work 40 years 30 years retire.
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What then die one day. What then? What's gonna happen and then he said
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I was really just enjoying this as this man was preaching and he said and then I told
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Them you're gonna die one day and stand before God and you're gonna have to have your sins forgiven before you get to heaven
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Heaven's gate judgments gate and you need to have your sins forgiven and there's only one way You've got to believe on the
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Lord Jesus Christ. He died. He was buried He was raised from the dead as a sin bearer and you must believe
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I Just thought there's a church in Massachusetts that would love you Not just for your almonds standing before God this
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Holy God even Isaiah Who wasn't a murderer or rapist or terrorist?
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He sees the holiness of God and he's undone Holy holy. Holy is the
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Lord God Almighty and then he knew how undone he was What we do in America is well,
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God's not quite as holy and we're not quite as sinful And so there's no bridge to gap.
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There's no chasm. We can we can make it on our own Maybe moral reformation or we're just good people, but it's this this gap this because gaping hole
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We can't make that's why God has to do it to you. You have to be born again You need to be declared righteous
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Justification you need to be declared not guilty justification, but you also need to be regenerated.
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I regularly say to people do you think? Heaven is sinless
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Would it still be heaven if there were sin up there? Well, then how's God gonna get sinful people and get them to heaven?
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I've got to be born again It's not optional when you preach the gospel. I think you should regularly tell people you must be born again.
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Are you born again? Question two While we're in John chapter 3 question 2, how does one become born again?
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What's the instrument and The answer found in verse 14 as we know is faith
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Faith alone sola fide as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness
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Remember numbers and the complainers and and the snake bites and There's only one remedy make that brazen pull a serpent put it up on the pole and look
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Take God at his word believe what he said. Look at that serpent. They'll be healed. So must the
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Son of Man Jesus loved to use that designation for himself be lifted up That's the language of crucifixion that whoever believes in him may have eternal life
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Verse 16 whoever believes in him Verse 18 whoever believes in him
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Does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only
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Son of God We need to be born again. And how do we become born again?
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We become born again Through the word and we respond with faith
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Why am I trying to make this a big deal say Mike? It's not that big deal Well, we live in an area where it is a big deal section 1215 catechism of the
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Catholic Church the sacrament of baptism quote is also called the washing of regeneration and renewal by the
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Holy Spirit for it signifies and Actually brings about the water birth of water and the spirit without which no one can enter the kingdom of God end quote
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I Grew up in a baptismal regeneration home you get baptized as an infant it regenerates you this is taught
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By Cyprian even one of the church fathers back in 200 AD He considered water baptism the labor of saving faith and when asked but what about the thief on the cross in Luke?
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23 when Jesus said today you shall be with me in paradise. What about him and Cyprian said he was baptized
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With blood it is through faith and faith alone when
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Paul came to preach the gospel He said I didn't come to baptize Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel and not with words of eloquent wisdom
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Lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power Regeneration is through faith alone.
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Not any other sacrament question three is Regeneration our new birth earned or given
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Regeneration isn't optional. It's through faith alone and It's something that God gives.
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Let's go back to James chapter 1 This is the context of James is great giving God He gives and gives and gives and he's happy to give because he's a good father.
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He's an unchanging father. He's the father of lights He just gives all the time and this is something that God alone gives
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Can't be earned it can't be merited and God's own eternal decree. He the decreeing
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God has decided to do this and James chapter 118 the
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ESV says of his own will he brought us forth The NIV says he chose to give us birth
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The New American Standard Bible says in the exercise of his will he brought us forth
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King James says of his own will begat he us Holman Christian Standard Bible by his own choice.
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He gave us a new birth The net Bible by his sovereign plan.
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He gave us birth God's Word translation God decided to give us life through the word
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Every one of those is God gives God graciously gives God alone gives and what we call.
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This is monergistic mono alone erg
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Working God alone works when it comes to salvation. This isn't a partnership.
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This is not a cooperation This is not dual working. This is the Holy Spirit. He is the only efficient agent in Regeneration, what did
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I contribute? What did I what did I give to God so that he would do that?
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Those are wrong questions to ask no contribution. No cooperation Because men are fallen.
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I think about it one day in heaven. I Know if you could ask any theological question in heaven, you would get the right answer
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But I know in heaven. I think you'll still learn in heaven I hope so because I will still be finite in heaven and God will still be infinite and when the finite is in the presence
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Of the infinite I think they'll be everlasting glory and worship and honor and learning and comprehension
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But what makes you different than your friend who's not in heaven? Remember, there's a heaven and there's a hell and let us
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Christians not be ashamed of those two facts There's a heaven and there's a hell.
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Why is one person in heaven and the other person in hell? And if the answer isn't
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Jesus made the difference. You're not understanding salvation Only Jesus makes a difference say well
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God gives a little bit of grace to both but I made the right choice That's why I'm in heaven
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God foresaw my faith. That's why I'm in heaven. I Weighed the balances a little bit more.
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I have a friend. His name's Scott. I've told you about Scott before My dad was best friends with his dad.
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My mom was best friends with his mom We got our first jobs together. We had a Cabin houses up on the
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Missouri River together. We went fishing together. We went shooting bows and arrows together We did everything together mischief together all this kind of stuff together.
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I'm not talking about the looks That's not the point But just makes an interesting story Scott's nickname is the anvil because he's got this like ZZ top beard that goes down to about here
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Now beards aside As far as I know
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Scott has not bowed the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ What makes the difference between I did and he didn't?
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The answer can't be in either of us because both are sinful But of his own will of his own sovereign pleasure for reasons
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I don't completely understand but will always be amazed by God gave me new birth and He did for you as well if you're a
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Christian Back to my earlier illustration.
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Why why why why we we find ourselves in the eternal? Decree in the eternal past before Genesis 1 and it pleased
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God Just like it pleased God to choose Israel Even though Israel wasn't strong or powerful or rich or smart.
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God just said it just pleases me to do that I will have mercy upon whom I'll have mercy The reason why anyone's a
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Christian is not because they naturally love God because they did good things They did some religious things.
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It is by grace and grace alone. You receive regeneration Sola fide and it is because of sola gratia grace alone
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It's outside of us. And of course James the context is so if God gives that kind of gift never blame him for anything else
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True or false? No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit I hope you said true because that's first Corinthians 12 3 haven't tricked you like that for a while, but you know my ways
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Oh, you can say the words but no one with heartfelt trust and gratitude and real belief can say
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Jesus is Lord unless the Holy Spirit did a work in their life Say well, how does this work?
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I? Thought the way I was raised I believe and then God saves that's the that's kind of like the chronological order
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Is that true? God's waiting for you to believe and then you finally do and he says oh great
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But that's works based Regeneration takes dead people turn to Ephesians 2 for a second.
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This is a good one because it uses the language of birth as well Regeneration takes dead people and makes them alive and then alive people say
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God. I love you The response is yes. Amen. I trust in the Lord Jesus Christ Regeneration proceeds faith and matter of fact it elicits faith
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The cause of your salvation isn't your faith I can put it this way Jesus died on the cross for your sins not your faith
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Your Savior is not your faith, but once God regenerates you and gives you a new life That new life that Has been literally raised from the dead spiritually doesn't say anymore.
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I love sin. I love my own self I love all these things like I used to know I love God I know we know this but it's hard to take because grace isn't very amazing in evangelicalism
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God owes man Nothing except judgment, but he's this good father that regularly and often gives good gifts including regeneration to what kind of people
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Verse one of Ephesians 2 when you were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked
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I mean, this is this isn't this is my resume Following the course of this world
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Following the prince of the power of the air the spirit that's now at work in the sons of disobedience
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Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and were by nature
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Children that's the language there of wrath like the rest of mankind so God takes
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Children by nature wrathful children. He needs to regenerate them to make them children of the
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Living God There's nothing in that dead person That says well
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I can merit this and I can merit that true or false. Here we go again You already know it's gonna be true because it's gonna be a
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Bible verse I'll just rephrase Romans 8 the flesh can't please
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God is faith pleasing God Pleasing to God you better believe it is
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But in the flesh you can't please God because Romans 8 says that and we know because of depravity
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This is why regeneration is what we call We're passive in regeneration. It's something that's done to us.
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And then once it's done to us. Yes, we believe Nobody's been regenerated and said I'm not gonna respond with faith
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Every regenerated person responds with faith. See monergism says
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God alone works There's another option. It's called synergism Syn together we work together with God And if I was preaching this message 20 years ago
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It sounds like sin because it is sin to believe in synergism. That's probably what I would say synergism says
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Man's working God's working they work together God kind of brings man to like the 50 -yard line and you got to run the rest away to the to the end zone
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God doesn't respond to a virtue in us because there's no virtue in us. He saves because he's merciful.
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He's good. He's kind He's a father Who has ever given to God that God should repay him for from him and through him and to him are all things
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Now go back to James 1 18, please the language of new birth
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Instead of bringing death it brings a life James has talked earlier in James chapter 1 about life pregnancy giving birth
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But it was the bad side was the awful side if you go back to verse 15
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The desire when it is conceived gives birth to sin and sin when it is fully grown brings forth our births death
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What's the opposite of death? Well, it's life. That's what God does James 1 18. He chose to give us birth
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To make us alive He caused us to be born again if you have
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Believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and you're a Christian it's because God gave you new life question for question for Who is in charge of regeneration?
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Well, I've touched on this but now I'm making what was implicit explicit Regeneration is not optional.
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You must be born again Regeneration is through faith alone.
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It is given by grace alone. And who is in charge of regeneration? Who decides who's regenerated and who's not
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I just talked about this before but I want to make sure it's very clear Martin Luther said the flesh profits nothing
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Quoting Jesus in John 6 and that nothing is not a little something. I like that We've fallen short of the glory of God.
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We've been separated from God Isaac Newton wrote in his first law of motion anybody read that book the first law of motion
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It has some spiritual truth in it. Here's a little extract Everything continues in a state of rest unless it is compelled to change by forces impressed upon it
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That's good spiritual truth Everything continues in the state of rest until it is compelled to change by forces impressed upon it and it's the exact same thing with sinners
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Lazarus I'm appealing to you to Maybe try to figure out where that turban headband is because I don't want you to shock us and and just come out if you could
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It was Lazarus come forth Compelling him walking out there, by the way, we know
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God controls regeneration because we pray like that Don't we? You have a loved one that you'd like to see go to heaven, how do you pray for that person?
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Dear Lord, I I I don't want you to do anything to their will or nature
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Can you somehow arrange it in some serendipitous circuitous fashion so they kind of just Stumble upon your salvation and and and we want we don't want to make them like robots or anything or or some kind of puppet
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Or something so just do what you can round about kind of you know Henry David Thoreau sauntering around Nobody prays like that because we all know
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From scripture that God is the one that gives new birth God save my loved one
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Monarchistically you don't have to pray monarchistically when you pray, but if you do God hears that in a special way
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No, but that's what you're saying. God and God alone. Would you please save my loved one?
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Friends could I could I encourage you I feel bad for synergists when it comes to evangelism
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How am I gonna talk? How am I gonna talk my friend into it? I don't have the answers
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I don't know all this creation stuff and skin pigmentation and and carbon dating and everything else
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Friends, you don't need to because this isn't winning an argument. This is God's entrusted me.
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Good news. Hey friend I have some good news. Would you like to go to heaven when you die? When you die have all your sins forgiven.
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No, thanks Okay, I don't have to say to myself anything. I can just say to God God.
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Would you open his eyes? I know you can do it because scripture teaches it and secondarily you've opened my eyes to see
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You've opened Paul's eyes to see your Peter's eyes to see and So if you say to yourself,
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I've got to convince this person and I've got to do all this work and and salvation is in My hand and I can't go to sleep tonight without evangelizing because I want to evangelize that would be fine
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But I can't go to sleep unless I evangelize someone because people are gonna go to hell if I don't Of course, if you don't evangelize shame on you
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But God is the one who gives new birth and it is a resurrection not a restless
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Resuscitation, thank you You've all seen those raft little deals where you know
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There's somebody drowning and you got to go over with the raft and you kind of put your hand down They put their hand up and you pull them out and you rescue them.
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That's synergism How do you rescue people?
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What's the biblical illustration? God should be taking his raft and going over here
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But here he knows there's people down at the bottom of the ocean and they've been dead for a long time And matter of fact all the fish have eaten all the flesh off their skin
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When I went paddleboarding a couple weeks ago, I thought hmm sharks like yellow paddleboards.
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I'll take the red one You're up there in the fog. Oh, no, at least
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I have a tourniquet with me. It's called a leash for all you Folks out there
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These people have been eaten alive and there's some bones down at the very bottom of the ocean and God gives new life if there are a million people at the bottom of the ocean he could pass over all of them he could save all of them and he says
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I want to choose some of them and Give them new birth can an
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Ethiopian change his spot are the leopard its spots Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil?
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I read in doctrinal statements where people say when unregenerate people exercise faith Then they pass out of spiritual death in the spiritual life
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No, no, no God regenerates them and then they respond with faith Do you see the text he chose to give us birth?
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He didn't choose to give it to Judas. He didn't choose to give it to Goliath He chose to give it to us though God did the choosing
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To be God is to choose But as many as received him to them
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He gave the right to become children of God even to those who believe in his name, but don't forget the next verse
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John 1 13 who were born not of blood nor the will of flesh nor of the will of man, but of God He chose he was pleased to choose and our only responsibility is to give people the word
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And you can see it even in your text, can't you? Through the word we preach the word and as we preach the word
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God the Sovereign Spirit Is regularly pleased to open people's heart just like he opened up the heart of Lydia Through the word
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Plumber said the annals of this world. Tell us not of one instance where a sinner was converted
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Sanctified filled with pious hopes made willing to suffer in the cause of God and enabled mightily to triumph over this world except by the gospel of Christ The pressure is off when it comes to evangelism.
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No tricks. No gimmicks I have a book in my office that I have it's a small little booklet about this big and It tells you
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Talk about Jesus a little bit in sin and then ask them if you could pray for them to receive the
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Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and It said it helps if you put your hand up on their shoulder blades and kind of push down a little bit
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So I figured that you all ought to pay for my gym membership in the next year Because I need to work on my delts a little bit more for the for the pressure
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Friends God is a conquering God and he can conquer the fortress of anybody's will that he wants to Because of Scripture and we've experienced that very thing
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And so what you do is you say, you know I have to just give people the word gimmicks and how to evangelize and all that stuff your responsibility is to say
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Let me tell you about guilt grace and gratitude. Let me tell you about a Savior who saves Let me tell you about a sin bearer who should damn men and he loves them and saves them
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High pressure I grew up in a sales mentality and I was a salesman for a long time And then
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I got this job this ministry and I thought do you know what? If I convince somebody to go to heaven with false faith and false stuff, then it doesn't do any good
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You know, you can just do the whole IBM selling thing Okay, summarize the situation state the idea explain how it works reinforce key benefits close
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What good is that gonna do now?
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I must ask as we close. Are you born again? You must be born again with a congregation this big.
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There are people here today who aren't Christians I have a question for you if you refuse to believe in the
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Lord Jesus Christ when you die What then but while you're alive?
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The offer of salvation is open to you to run to the cross through faith in Jesus Christ As we learn from the scripture reading today the way the truth and the life
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Let's pray I thank you father for this day. I thank you for a great harvest of men and women
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You've brought even to Bethlehem Bible Church You've made them alive old life is over new life has begun new creatures in Christ Jesus We still struggle with sin.
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We're still far from perfect when it comes to living this life But we realize we are in Christ Jesus and new creatures and judicially.
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We're not guilty Judicially, we're counted as righteous and on the inside you've changed us
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You've given us faith that makes us think Jesus is the Christ and that we've been born of God And so father today we would offer up our praise because there's nothing in us
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That made you love us nothing in us that caused our salvation Not our faith not our repentance not our parents not water baptism
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Nothing you did it We deserve hell you gave us glory
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We spurned your son. You gave us the Lord Jesus as a friend father all of us struggle with man -centered thinking
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We'd like to think biblically we'd like to think Not resuscitation but heart transplant
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We'd like to think like back in Jeremiah. I'll give them a new heart to know me for I am the
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Lord Help us to do that and grant today by your own sovereign pleasure Saving faith to those that are unregenerate in Jesus name.