Today we begin the fifth chapter of 1 John, and take note of the monumental importance of the new birth, and the somewhat unexpected outcome.
Springfield Baptist Church
August 4th 2024 - Pastor James Tyler - 1 John 5:1-5 - "Turns Out We Have Siblings"
1 John 5 verse 1 says, "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father, loves whoever has been born of Him." By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey His commandments. For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. All right, turn, flip back in your Bible to the Gospel of John chapter 3. We'll begin at verse 1, but here's what I want to point out to you. If you'll put verse 1 back up on the screen here of 1 John 5, "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father, loves whoever has been born of Him." This is distinct and different from the other love one another, passages that we've already covered in 1 John, and I want to just emphasize how it's different before we get into John 3, and I explain how it's different. I want to emphasize that what we're talking about is what flows from the reality of conversion is we love one another, and we've got that, we know that, we've covered that a lot. But John's point here in chapter 5 is that it is a shared paternity that drives that love, not a commandment imperative obligation. It's the fact that we have the same Father that motivates and moves us to love one another. So when you, the same spiritual Father, right? So when you, as we're moving along through John 3 here, be aware of that. This is an issue of paternity. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs, you do, unless God is with Him." Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" And Jesus answered, "Truly, truly I say to you, that unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of spirit is spirit. You're not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear it sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit. All right. Lot there. A ton there. So the question that gets asked, "How can a man be born a second time?" As far as I can tell from the text is the first question that Nicodemus asks. Prior to that, he makes a statement, right? Starting at verse two, Rabbi, "We know that you are a teacher, come from God, for no one can do these signs you do unless God is with him." That's a statement. So Nicodemus approaches in the cover of darkness by night Jesus and says, "Hey, I know that you are sent from God because of the signs that you do." The fact that Jesus responds to that statement by saying, "Unless you're born again, you cannot know God. You cannot enter the kingdom of God. You cannot see the kingdom of God." It tells me that Jesus is concerned that Nicodemus thinks that an intellectual acknowledgement that there is something superior about Jesus Christ, Jesus is saying Nicodemus thinks that an intellectual acknowledgement about the superiority of Jesus Christ is sufficient for salvation and Jesus is correcting that notion. An intellectual belief in the superiority of Jesus Christ is insufficient for you to see the kingdom of heaven. It almost doesn't matter what you know about Jesus. It almost doesn't matter because what Nicodemus professes to Christ is pretty good stuff. I know you're from God. I know you're from God because nobody could do the signs that you do unless they were sent from God. If somebody came up to me and said that after I got done preaching, I would be very fearful they're putting that much confidence or praise or approval in what I do as a fallen, wicked, self-preoccupied sinner that somebody would come up and say, "I'm your sent from God." I would be trembling. Thankfully, nobody has ever said that to me. I was blessed by your message today. I appreciate it. For Nicodemus to go up to Jesus and say this, it implies that he has an extraordinarily high view of Jesus Christ. Not high enough to get him to go during the daytime and visit with him. Not high enough to get him out from under the fear and the shame and the guilt which accompanies religious hypocrisy, but enough that he felt the need to go and express to Jesus what he knows about Jesus. And Jesus immediately cuts to the heart of the matter and says, "Unless you're born again, you're never going to see the kingdom of God." What does that tell us? There is a difference between having a high view of Jesus Christ and being born again. There is a difference. And then, oh, it's so, I just love how the world plays right into the Scripture's hands because the world will mock us. They'll go, "Oh, you're one of those born again Christians. You bet. Absolutely, yes, I am. And so should you be if you want to have eternal life and not suffer eternal condemnation for the rejection of the Son of God." Oh, that's so stupid. Oh, how am I going to be born again? Am I going to crawl up into my mom's womb? Well, that's funny that you say that because that's, I mean, I don't think you said it with that attitude, but that's exactly what Nicodemus asked. Let's look at it again. Verse 4, Nicodemus said, "How can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" And Jesus answered truly, truly, which is the second time he says truly, truly. "I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." Yeah, well, I'm born again and I'm not talking about a physical rebirth. I'm talking about a spiritual rebirth. I was physically born the one time and then lived long enough to add my own innumerable sins to the pile which humanity has produced throughout our history. And then I apprehended by faith the person and work of Jesus Christ in such a way that I had a spiritual birth, a rebirth where I was given a new nature. That's what we're talking about. How am I going to be born? No, no, no, no. We don't mean that. We don't mean a biological birth. We're talking about a spiritual birth, one of water and the spirit. Now, water and spirit, we don't think it's all that spooky. I think it boils down to there's the physical birth, which involves some fluids. And then there's the spiritual birth, which does not. And Jesus is calling out, "I'm not talking about your physical birth. I'm talking about a spiritual birth. I've got to be born physically and then spiritually unless you are, you can't enter the kingdom of God." Six, that which is born of flesh is flesh, that which is born of spirit is spirit. Don't marvel that I said, you must be born again. Marvel is a kind word. In our generation, I don't think anybody marvels that we say you must be born again, unless they're marveling at our idiocy and their pompous enlightenment disables them from understanding what we mean. They don't marvel. They mock. They just change it. Don't mock me that I said you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear it sound, but you don't know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is what everyone is born of the spirit. So what we experienced a few nights ago was the wind blowing and man, it did what it wanted, right? Everybody got humbled for a few minutes. Was that Wednesday night? Yeah. Yeah. And I'm driving, I hadn't driven this way since that happened and there were signs. You know how they like twisted, like the sign posts themselves were twisted around and the power poles, Brandon was mentioning to me this morning, he's like, for a mile, they're just snapped off like a weed wacker had come through and taken away. Yeah, the wind blows where it wishes. It certainly does and there's not a thing humanity can do about it. In the same way, Jesus is saying, or we should be clear in a similar way. The Holy Spirit goes where the Holy Spirit wants to go. And so if you want to be born again, if you want to have a spiritual birth and come to know and understand and believe the gospel, what you need is the spirit to move in your heart and in your mind in such a way that you wake up to your desperate need for salvation and the perfect provision that comes from God in Jesus Christ. That's what you need. I don't get mad that the world mocks me for being born again because I realized the only difference between the person who's mocking me and me is the Holy Spirit went where he wanted to go and he got to me. I'm not better than them. Left to myself, I would be mocking way more than they are. That's just a reality. So the wind blows where it wishes, you hear it sound, you don't know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who's born of the Spirit. So there is a concept being taught here woven through this whole idea of the need for new birth and we've blown right past it. We skipped right past it because I've just been talking about the fact that an intellectual understanding or apprehension that Jesus is superior is insufficient. That's all I've really said so far and that you need the Holy Spirit to move in your heart and mind in order for you to come to saving knowledge. But there's something that we've already presupposed that I haven't addressed. Why would you need a new birth? That's your old birth, your original birth, established you in this life in such a way that you are doomed because of the way you're born. You are doomed to an eternity separated from your Creator. If we get to go all the way back to birth and redo that, then something must be wrong all the way back at birth, right? So this is what the Scripture is teaching us and it does it much more directly elsewhere. So jump into Romans 5. Ooh, that was loud. I have to swallow more quietly with this microphone apparently. Romans 5.12, I'd ask everybody to listen even if you're thoroughly disinterested because faith comes by hearing. Romans 5.12, everybody listen. Everybody, therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all sin. What happened when Adam and Eve fell in the garden? Sinned originally is they plunged humanity. Every descendant from them on plunged into a sin-corrupted nature. So from birth, you have a problem and the problem is you're not righteous. You're not capable of righteousness. You can't be pleasing to God. Some birth. So this is why he says, therefore, in Romans 5.12, just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, so death spread to all men for all sin. Psalm 51.5, it said a little bit more poetically, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me." That's not talking about the product of an unwed mother. That's not at all what David's talking about. Jesse seemed from what I can tell to be a man of God. And that was David's father, by the way, and seemed to be raising godly sons. So when David says, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me," he's saying, "I have had this sin nature from the moment of my conception." Job 14.4, let's say everything that I've said so far is true, okay? That you're born with a sin nature, right? Job 14.4, "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?" There is no man. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Ephesians 2, 1, "You were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of body and the mind and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. This is your reality, apart from Jesus Christ, you cannot be pleasing to God. Look right at me, apart from Jesus Christ, you cannot be pleasing to God. You can't be. You can't be. Well then why would he expect me to be? Because you should be, but you can't be because your nature is broken. That's why Jesus tells Nicodemus, "What you need is not an acknowledgement that I am amazing, Nicodemus, if I were Jesus. What you need is a new nature because your nature is messed up. Your nature is corrupted. You can't be pleasing to God by saying nice things about Jesus and saying nice things about Jesus does not undo all of your sin against God." So repeat after me, "I am not a sinner because I sin, I sin because I'm a sinner." Y'all are terrible. You're like trying to jump in too late or too early. Let's do it again. I'll set the rhythm a little better. I'm not a sinner because I sin, I sin because I'm a sinner. This is reality, Romans 5, 15. The free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. You know what? Here Romans 5, 15. Romans 5, 15. The free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation. How many sins brought condemnation for all of humanity? How many sins brought condemnation for all humanity? One. That's all it took. But the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. The result of the one sin of the one man was all of humanity after that adding all of their sin to the pile for all of history. And what Paul is trying to teach us in Romans 5 is how much superior the gift of Jesus Christ is to the sin of Adam. Superior is the gift of Christ to the transgression of Adam. The one sin resulting in many sins, and that's an understatement. The one gift resulting in justification in spite of many sins. 17, for if because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. What's the outcome of all that sin? It's not that you occasionally have a bad day or get caught and get grounded by your parents or feel bad for a few days until the emotional hangover wears off and then you go right back to it. That's not the consequence of sin. Listen, it doesn't matter if we're talking about the youngest person in this room which I think is Naomi or the oldest person in this room which I think is Frank. See, since I had nothing to do with you, you're just caught in the middle. The consequences of sin is death. No matter how old you are, that's the consequences. We look at Naomi and we're like, "Well, come on, let's not." Unless you're her parents and then you're like, "No, no, we get it. She's over one now. It's all sin all the time." Frank would look at the landscape of his life and I'm sure could fill volumes with the number of things that he believes he's done wrong when laid against the light of Scripture. I'm only 44 and I could fill volumes. Since I became a Christian could fill volumes. The result of one sin is death and I've done innumerable sins and if the Lord grants me the years it would appear if my track record is an indication I will continue to sin and fall short of the glory of God. Death reigned through that one man but much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, Romans 5, 18, therefore as one trespass led to condemnation for all men. So one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass but where sin increased grace abounded all the more so that as sin reigned in death also might reign through the righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So when your Bible tells you in Romans 5, 17, 18, 19, and 20 there that through the one man death reigned in all in the same way through the one man life will reign in all. Don't get it twisted. Don't read that and think oh okay so I'm okay no no no. The way it ends is through Jesus Christ our Lord. And so you might go well it's all right I'm not one of those people who has a low opinion of Jesus Christ. I have a high opinion of Jesus Christ. I happen to think he was a great teacher, very moral, very wise. He obviously helped a lot of people and I'm telling you right now that's insufficient for salvation so don't think that you're going to benefit from the gift of Jesus Christ just because you have a high opinion of him what you need is to be born again. And you'll know you've been born again because you'll look around at other people who've been born again and go you know what I have the same spiritual father as them. So no matter how much they annoy you you love them. That's what John's trying to tell us. If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. The old has passed away behold the new has come. The new birth accomplishes something that feeling really bad never can. Now if you'll look with me at 1 Peter 1 verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy he has caused us to be born again. There it is according to what? According to his great mercy he has caused us to us all together now us to be born again to a living hope not just you right did you see it? It's not just me. He has to cause me to be born again. He's caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance. Now that communicates something about like what would you say? The possessions of the parents flow down to the children right that's an inheritance. So us who are his children together are waiting for an inheritance that's imperishable and defiled on faith and kept in heaven for you who by God's power not your decision not your good works not your feeling really bad about your sin not you resolving to try harder and do better but by the power of God right are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Two things in that passage suggest an unexpected reality that flows from being born again and if you're not born again you're too busy thinking about whether or not you have a high enough opinion of Jesus Christ to be pleasing to the Father. If you are born again you're too busy thinking about how incredible it is that in spite of all of your sin and shortcomings and failures and stumbling and hurting people on purpose and evil that you've done how is it that you could be loved by the one who made you like those there's an identifiable difference between somebody who's been born again and someone who hasn't a heart filled with fear am I doing enough or a heart filled with gratitude he's done enough okay. So what what happens is add to the list of unexpected consequences of the new birth add to the list and inheritance that flows from the father to his offspring that's unexpected like I would be okay with just you you'll have life but it's way better than that you have life with him for all eternity with him and all your brothers and sisters for all eternity you aren't the only one who was reborn so when you look at another annoying Christian at church you start to think that's also my father's child. I'm not saying you don't get annoyed I know half you're probably annoyed with me right now right that's that's part of having like your own preferences and opinions and feelings about things and being an individual as you are occasionally going to get annoyed for no reason whatsoever that's your leftover remnants of sin right and then because people are also like they also have leftover remnants of sin they're going to do stuff inadvertently or inadvertently to you that that will hurt you and make you angry and make you feel a certain kind of way and you're gonna struggle to get over it you're gonna be like I'd rather they died but I guess I have to love them right that that's all unintended like I didn't sign up for that I was just trying to get my sin dealt with and then it turns out there's a whole bunch of other people that were trying to do the same thing and now God has said and you're all together first of five one everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God and everyone who loves the father loves whoever has been born of him we're so smooth right we're so good that if you get just so you know this is not like an inside joke that only some people in this room know and you don't but I've had a few people ask me like what do you all mean when you talk about reformed that's this is something that I have been mocking for 20 years when I discovered what reformed people make the priority and so the joke is just between me and the Lord and I should quit making it from the pulpit but when you are oh it's not that hilarious let me let it go okay it is it's a good illustration here's how you know you're reformed if you hear if you hear that a natural consequence of being saved is you're saved into the family of God and so you love all the other people who've also been saved and you immediately start going well the people that I don't love just really aren't saved that's how you know you're reformed and shame on you right and shame on me we all do it we're all like well they're just not Christians I'm not even sure they're Christians this is what we think to make ourselves feel better about how our hearts are all gnarled up and unloving they're not Christians because they still sin which is what you're doing right now not loving them come on you weren't I wasn't looking for a family I was just looking for redemption right well God has redeemed many sinners and when you're born again they become your siblings and this begs the question right how do I know I love the brethren how do I know because if I pick the person I told you all this months ago if I picked the person that I'm like oh I can't get over the hurt that they did and are still doing like if I pick that person I got two options they're not really a Christian that's option one or I've got a problem that's option two and so if I if I really like I fixate on them and I go how do I know I love the brethren thankfully John gives us the answer by this verse to you first John five we know that we love the children of God how how do we know well we love God in obeys commandments because that's not helpful that doesn't help me I need to know how I can know that I'm loving the brethren from the one that I struggle most love to the one who is easiest for me to love like and everybody in between I need to know how oh when you love God no obeys commandments I know it's a lot to track and I want you all to be able to walk out here retaining something so just remember this much with me okay God is woven these three things together inseparably just remember this much love me obey me love one another love me obey me love one another that's that's what he's you can't separate one of those so how do I know I love the brethren I love God and I really want to obey him how do I know I love the brethren I love God and I really really really want to obey him okay great how do I know I love the brethren I love God and I want to obey him all right okay what how do I know I love God I love the brethren and I want to obey him how do I know I love the brethren I love God and I want to obey him how do I know I love God I love the brethren and I want to obey him and then how do I know I'm obeying God I love him and the brethren and he's woven these things together because I don't know about you but I can usually get one of them any given point maybe like I love you Lord love you so much thank you thank you for saving me I don't deserve it right you can sit at the foot of the throne of grace and just be like oh hallelujah thank you for salvation and then some person will enter your mind unbidden and you'll be like and curse the day of their birth but the love of God flowing through your heart makes you aware of that and you start trying to deal with it why because you really want to obey him he's made you willing in the day of his power and then sometimes you're like ah man I'm praying and it just sounds like it's hitting the like alright so it's going through the open tile and bouncing off whatever is up there and coming right back down the Lord's not hearing anything that I say or it's not even making it out the car like you roll down the window to try to pray so that God will actually hear it or it feels like it you can't even say any words you just like oh that'll be me at work at about 130 tomorrow where are you Lord but you'll get a text or you'll get a phone call or some kindness that somebody did to you will ring into your mind and you'll be like man I love that person I'm very grateful for them and all that they've done for me throughout the course of my Christian walk and then that will breathe oxygen on the coals of your love for the father because you'll remember oh that's right my father in heaven gave me these siblings these brothers and sisters that look after me and care for me and then sometimes you're not going to want to obey you're just going to be like I don't want to I want to do evil stuff that old nature comes back and you start looking after ways that you can sin and you can sit there and leave me alone up here that's fine but you know I'm right we all do it like I'm if I'm gonna find some good old sin it's gonna be great the love of God the love of your brothers and sisters begins to have a controlling influence in your life you realize you know what if I do this thing and somebody finds out that's gonna be real discouraging to them or I might cause somebody to stumble so let me go ahead and drag my carcass out of bed and go to church even though I'm exhausted hang in there we have one more thing to cover so I think everyone feels the way to failure against the results of those tests right love God love the brethren obey him I think this will help first John five three this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not burdensome okay the honest Christians throw their hands up probably have done it dozens of times as we've made our way through first John because like if loving the brethren were the only commandment that one alone feels pretty burdensome not all the brethren but certainly some of them feels a pretty burdensome pretty hard to do so look at Matthew 11 28 few of you have probably seen this verse before or heard it come to me all who labor and are heavy laden this is Jesus talking and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly and hard and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light that's Jesus talking so in John five three it says this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not burdensome and we go I think they kind of are but then Jesus says I mean I'm just being honest right and Jesus says my yoke is easy my burden is light and last week we looked at a handful of old and New Testament scriptures that you know it's an in an effort to try to avoid the single minded God is love theology that's so pervasive in our day like we wanted to see what other things is God besides just love and so we did let's look at some others real quick or you can just listen Proverbs 18 10 the name of the Lord is a strong tower the righteous man runs into it and is safe what is God yeah Psalm 91 1 he who dwells in the shelter of the most high will abide in the shadow of the Almighty so he's a strong tower he's a sheltering shadow Deuteronomy 4 31 says the Lord your God is merciful he will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them merciful strong tower sheltering shadow merciful Deuteronomy 7 21 you shall not be in dread for the Lord your God is in your midst a great and awesome God that's the Emmanuel God with us right and then Deuteronomy 10 17 for the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords the great the Almighty and awesome God excuse me who is not partial and won't take a bribe thank God right because there's people out there that would be paying him right now to deal with me and then back in Matthew 11 we saw Jesus is gentle and humble and hard now consider Philippians 2 8 listen very carefully and Jesus being found in human form humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross now consider John 8 10 and 11 listen carefully Jesus stood up and said to the woman caught an adultery woman where's the crowd has no one condemned you and she said no one Lord and Jesus said neither do I condemn you go from now on sin no more and there's a woman caught red handed in sin her accusers had her dead to rights what word would you say to describe Jesus in that moment gentle strong tower sheltering shadow almighty won't take a bribe he loves sinners and at no point do we see him refuse to give grace to sinners he loves sinners and at no point do we see Jesus refused to give grace to sinners what would make his commandments burdens trying to keep them apart from being loved by God through faith in Jesus Christ would make them pretty burdens trying to keep them apart from being born again would make the commandments pretty burdens trying to keep them with your own sin nature unmitigated by his redeeming love would make the commandments pretty burdensome thank God for the grace and mercy of a gentle humble savior lastly Romans 8 1 says there therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus for the law of the spirit of life and Christ Jesus has said you free from the law of sin and death rebirth new nature free from the law of sin and death for what the law could not do weak as it was through the flesh which means what the law couldn't do was make you behave the law couldn't do it with the law couldn't do we because it was through the flesh God did sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin he condemned sin in the flesh that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit his commandments are not burdensome because they are given in love for your good not in wrath for your ruin they're given in love for your good why does God say don't have sex outside of marriage because he's for human flourishing and he knows he's designed it he's like this is supposed to be for you and just this one other person that you are committed to wholeheartedly for the rest of your days or theirs you take sex and you go I'm gonna do it outside the context of covenant relationship and you never get caught you never get caught nobody ever finds out you did it I promise you your heart will be a little bit broken by what you did I promise you that's just one example I'm not up here sex is evil Satan stuck something on madam after the fall I don't think that I think God gave us sex right or Eve like there's nothing gross about it I'm not that preacher I'm just saying as an example he doesn't give the commandment for one man one woman to be united in the context of covenant relationship because he's proved he gives it for your good love me obey me love one another these things are consequences of having received the free gift you don't try to keep them love me obey me I'm God right in this what I'm saying I'm not God and what I'm saying love me obey me love one another these things are consequences of the new birth you loving God you loving people you obeying God those are consequences of the new birth that is not what you try to do so that God will love you you will not keep those commandments apart from first being loved by God through faith in Christ when you struggle to love the brethren what do you need you need another look at the love of God behold the love of God that we should be called as children and so we are that's what you need all right let's pray [BLANK_AUDIO]